《Larystaro》 INFO--Map/Other So basically, I just made a quick easy map for myself. Key: Black=Mountain/Hill Blue=Rivers/Lakes/Ocean Brown=Bridges White=Cities/Towns/Villages-- Red=Capitals Black Haze= UnknownYou could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. All populated Islands are Hian''s. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Qi System= Spirit Gathering-Foundation Building- Soul Gathering- Soul Severing- Soul Transcendance Magic System= Magic Apprentice-Magic Pupil-Probationary Magician-Magician-Grand Magician?????? Weapon Rankings= Green-Orange-Red-Gold-Purple In both Magic and Qi, the colours to identify them= Green-Orange-Red-Gold-Purple Intensity of the colours show the strenght of that stage. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I''m not an artist or anything so here''s whatever. Royal Larystaro Emblem Larystaro Vanguard Emblem Chapter 1- Larystaro ¡°Your Majesty Yue.¡± A woman in a deep crimson robe opened the door and entered the room. She looked around to find the woman she called Yue. She saw a woman with jet black hair and black robe covering her entire body sitting on a luxurious wooden chair working on a black watch. ¡°You could¡¯ve just called me you know. Those things our department of technology made aren¡¯t just some toys.¡± Yue looked up from the watch and smiled at her. ¡°Oh! Speaking of which.¡± Yue stood up and walked over to a drawer. ¡°I really need this laboratory renovated. I don¡¯t like the colour, way too bland.¡± She took out a ring and looked at it. It was a deep red colour with a golden inscription which read ¡°To my best friend--Saule.¡± She walked over to Saule and hugged her and put the ring in her palm. ¡°Happy birthday!¡± Saule looked at the ring and felt flustered. ¡°Yue~. This is made of Darkyze! You need to stop taking the forgers¡¯ ore, you know how rare it is on planet Yze. Especially if it¡¯s only to make a ring!¡± She complained but the smile on her face never faded. Yue chuckled and asked. ¡°Alright, alright. What did you come here for?¡± Saule quickly composed herself and said ¡°You haven¡¯t been to court for a couple of days now. We know the object you¡¯re working on is important but you still need to oversee the empire.¡± Yue just sighed. ¡°Alright. Call the ministers and prepare a banquet. We¡¯ll talk there. I¡¯ll just finish up on the Dimensional Travel Capsule, or as I call it, DTC.¡± Saule nodded and walked out, the door closing behind her automatically. Yue looked at the door for another couple of seconds before walking back to the DTC.The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. It should just need some more Queo. I think the new planet we found has some. I¡¯ll need to ask during the meetings... I also need the engineers in the department of energy to make a big battery for it, or something that can make it last. Yue looked over everything and sighed. She was nearly done. It took her 10 years to make blueprints, gather materials and build it alone. She would soon be able to leave this plane. She took off her black robes and took a royal purple robe instead from the clothing rack. She walked out of the room and looked around in the hallway. People were walking everywhere. Men and women dressed in bright blue robes, while some were dressed in bright green. Everyone quickly saw Yue as soon as she exited the room. People quickly called out things like. ¡°Your majesty!¡± ¡°Headmistress¡± She smiled at them and walked towards the exit of the building while all the students and teacher quickly made way for her. This building was the empires national university, ¡®Fallen University¡¯. As she walked, she quickly saw her car. ¡°Your majesty!¡± A man quickly walked out of the car and opened the back door, bowing and holding the door. Yue sat inside the car and thanked the driver. ¡°Thank you Kelus.¡± ¡°It is only my job Your Majesty.¡± Kelus closed the door quietly and quickly got into the driver''s seat and drove to the main administration building. As soon as they arrived there many men and women in deep crimson robes were already waiting silently and in a perfect line for her. Saule quickly stepped out of the line to open the door for her. Yue smiled and stepped out. ¡°Is everyone prepared? If so, lets go¡± She looked around and saw everyone nod. She began walking towards the building with the 20 people following her. The huge doors of the building quickly opened and a servant quickly led them to a big lavish room decorated with paintings and a big table full of food. They all took their seats and began to eat. Such was tradition in Larystaro, food before discussion. They quickly finished and began talking. ¡°Your Majesty, we need a name for the new planet we discovered, can we have your blessing for a name please?¡± Zvaik from the department of colonization and astrology spoke out first. Yue thought for a bit. ¡°In my name, Yue ¡°Angel Wrath¡± Rosefell I give the planet PZ-41 the name of Mofet.¡± The ministers quickly bowed their heads and raised them after she finished speaking. Chapter 2- Activation ¡°Thank you Your Majesty!¡± Zvaik quickly thanked her. Yue nodded and looked to the men and women beside Zvaik. ¡°Department of Agriculture, Kaim, has nothing to report!¡± ¡°Department of Crime, Sha, we had requested the departments of Magic and Technology to cooperate with us to make new, non-lethal, weapons against criminals or those criminally insane.¡± ¡°Department of Magic, Lasda, has made a new breakthrough in shielding our ships against the cosmic radiation, we have also cooperated with Crime and Technology to make new non-lethal weapons against criminals.¡± ¡°Department of Technology, Raz, has cooperated with Magic and Crime for non-lethal weapons.¡± ¡°Department of Medicine, Elena, we have used magic and technology to create a new form of pacemaker.¡± ¡°Department of Energy, Protesa, we have created a new battery that works by combining electricity and qi.¡± ¡°Department of Qi, Orla..¡± They quickly reported everything they had. When the last person to speak finished Yue looked towards Protesa. ¡°A new battery? Perfect. I want one as soon as you can.¡± Protesa quickly looked up ¡°Yes Your Majesty!¡± This is my departments chance! If I can impress Her Majesty with this battery she might give us a bigger budget! She nodded quickly in her head with a big smile. ¡°I have one here Your Majesty.¡± She took out a normal looking battery with no brand markings on it yet and passed it over. The other ministers looked at the battery as they passed it over to Yue. ¡°Electricity and Qi you said? So I assume it would be very powerful then?¡± She looked at Protesa slightly confused.A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. Protesa looked at Yue in pride. ¡°Indeed, it¡¯s as powerful as a nuclear reactor. We are still looking into why electricity and qi both make it very powerful, but we do know it can last an extremely long time from our tests in the Time Forest machine.¡± Yue quickly kept the battery inside of her dimensional storage space. ¡°Very good! Kola, increase the Energy department''s budget.¡± Kola glared at Protesa and said with no anger in his voice. ¡°Yes Your Majesty.¡± Protesa nearly squealed from the joy. Her students will definitely work harder now! ¡°Are there any other reports or the like?¡± Yue looked at everyone to see them shaking their heads. ¡°Very well. Then I would like to congratulate Saule on her 2000th birthday!¡± Saule quickly stood up and bowed while the other ministers clapped and congratulated her. ¡°Meeting dismissed!¡± All of the ministers gathered their belongings and walked out of the room. Saule walked over to Yue and began complaining. ¡°You always do this! You know I don¡¯t like it when you tell everyone!¡± Yue just hugged her until she calmed down and her flush faded. ¡°My little War departments head gets flustered over other people knowing her birthday, very cute, isn''t it?¡± Yue teased Saule for another couple of minutes. ¡°Ok, ok. I¡¯m going back to finish the DTC.¡± She was quickly driven back to the university and she rushed to her research room. She wanted to quickly try this new battery Protesa made. On the way to her room she saw the new students who had not yet learned to keep their black wings and purple halo¡¯s. They had very sharp nails and vampire like teeth. When they saw her they were stunned and quickly bowed. ¡°Great Empress!¡± She merely smiled at them. ¡°Work hard, you¡¯re our future!¡± They were clearly flustered and grateful. The Empress spoke to them! It¡¯s not something that happens everyday. When she approached the door it opened and she quickly entered. She once again put on the black robe but kept the purple dress inside of her dimensional storage space. She took out the battery from the space and walked towards the DTC. She fiddled around and made a new port for the battery to be inserted inside. [SYSTEM ACTIVE] A blue figure appeared, this figure had wings and a halo, yet not the teeth and nails from the students before, this hologram looked like Saule and her sweet voice was also Saule¡¯s. ¡°Good. Test systems.¡± [Spacial stability-99%] [Battery-100%] [Map functions- Active] [Game functions- Active] [Analysis functions- Active] [System is all greennnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn] ¡°It¡¯s stuck? I wonder what caus--¡± Her entire vision turned white and she felt weak. Very weak. She hadn¡¯t felt like that since she fought the Jericho Federation and lost. She couldn¡¯t withhold the pain and quickly lost consciousness. ¡°Ana gero smaon?¡± -Do you think she¡¯s ok? ¡°Ne, vai ne feac kad she skoda!?¡± -No, don¡¯t you see she¡¯s hurt? ¡°Parnes jimo.¡± -Carry her home. ¡°Mhm!¡± She heard some voices but she quickly fell back into sleep. Chapter 3- Curiosity Yue opened her eyes. They instantly shone with a blood red colour. She felt very uncomfortable as she felt her fangs in her mouth. She froze, quickly holding her hands to her face. Her sharp nails reflected in her eyes. She felt those black wings she hadn¡¯t revealed in a long time. ¡°No cultivation nor magic?¡± She tried to let out both mana and qi but nothing came out and there was a suppressive feeling. ¡°The world.. The world is suppressing me? Why does the world have a will?¡± She was very confused, but there was no panic. She only sighed and looked around. She was in a big room full of paintings and flowers. The bed was very comfortable and made of very good quality materials. She got out of bed and saw a mirror. She quickly moved to it and saw herself. ¡°Still beautiful as always.¡± She looked at herself and smiled. She suddenly heard the door open behind her. A woman in maids clothing stood there frozen. She quickly dropped the items she was carrying and quickly ran out. Yue got onto the bed and began to meditate, or at least that''s what it looked like. She was in fact feeling the air around her for particles. ¡°Nothing? I wonder if.. Yes!¡± She didn¡¯t have any mana nor qi so of course she couldn¡¯t feel the particles. Of course I need a cultivation technique. My Fallen Angel technique isn¡¯t for such low level cultivation. Perhaps¡­ I guess the Ancient Royal technique works. As soon as she figured what to use. The door opened again. A handsome middle-aged man along with a beautiful woman and a little girl appear. The whole family bow. ¡°Lavet! Pas har Angel!¡± -Welcome great angel! Yue just tilts her head and shakes her head to indicate that she doesn¡¯t understand them. The man quickly tells something to the servant who scurries off. This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work. The little girl curiously approaches Yue and tries to feel her wings, upon contact with the wing though, she retracts her hand quickly. She looks at her finger which began to bleed and runs to her mother crying. Her mother quickly blows on the cut and consoles her. Not daring to look at the angel. How dare that thing touch me? Humph! She kept her cold expression as she continued looking at the man. The servant quickly reappeared with a white sphere. ¡°Dok¡± The servant quickly gave Yue the sphere. She looked at the sphere then at the man. A translation sphere? Perhaps telepathy? ¡°Hello?¡± Yue spoke and the sphere suddenly turned into pieces of light which flowed into Yue¡¯s head. ¡°Greetings divine angel!¡± The man said again, not taking his eyes off Yue¡¯s wings. Yue simply nodded. ¡°Where am I?¡± ¡°My name is Rado and my wife¡¯s name is Nere. My wife and I found you while travelling across the Iridescent Forest and decided to bring you here. You are in Roso of the Hian Empire, continent Everlast.¡± Rado told her everything near instantly, as if it had been practiced. Yue nodded her head and Rado began to speak again. ¡°Does divine angel require anything?¡± She thought for a second. ¡°Do you have anything that holds mana or qi?¡± ¡°Mana? I don¡¯t know what that is but we do have qi stones which are the main currency among nobles and the like. I only have 5 in my vault. Is this enough?¡± Rado replied instantly. They don¡¯t know what mana is? Is there no mana in this world? Only qi? That can¡¯t be, I can sense my own dark and light element. ¡°Yes, perhaps it will be.¡± Yue nodded and the family left quickly. She was still cultivating while they spoke, she looked at her wing tip which had begun glowing somewhat bright green, just like those students¡¯ robes who couldn¡¯t change their appearance yet. I need to get to Deep Green level to be able to change. I assume I¡¯ll have to stay here for perhaps a week. I don¡¯t want to alert the other inhabitants. Who knows what existences are in the dark, waiting to pounce on an unknown like me. A servant entered and gave her the fist sized qi stones. ¡°Master requests for Divine Angels name.¡± He bowed as he said in fear. ¡°Y...Emelia Fellwood.¡± She spoke out coldy New world, new me right? Anyway it will be quite troublesome if an angel from the Jericho Federation somehow appears here and recognizes me. The servant bows and hastily retreated. Emelia looked at the qi stones. This should half the time it takes me to reach Deep Green level¡­ Then I can switch back to my Fallen Angel technique and rise quickly. Chapter 4- Information Emelia nodded to herself and began absorbing the qi stones. As the iridescent light began to flow towards her she began moaning in pleasure. Mhm, I haven¡¯t felt this in so long! ---------- ¡°Mom~~ Can I hav-¡± The little girl reached out towards a bowl of biscuits before her hand got tapped. ¡°Stop! Doce, you¡¯re being disrespectful towards the priest!¡± The mother whispered as she glared at her daughter. A week had already passed. The family had not entered Emelia¡¯s room since that first day, only the servants reported as they sent food and occasionally qi stones. They were in a sort of guest room. The whole family was sitting on one big couch while the other group, a bishop and two priests on either side of the bishop were sitting on another couch opposite of them. They wore white robes with an image of a green human and another humanoid red figure with long ears, an elf. The bishop smiled towards Doce. ¡°In our great lords eyes children cannot be sinful, there is no need to punish her for nothing.¡± Doce looked at her mother who nodded at her. She quickly got up and took the whole bowl and began stuffing the biscuits as the whole room chuckled for a second. ¡°Rev- Reverend Kun, the divine angel Emelia has woken up. You have come at the perfect time.¡± Rado stuttered as he spoke. ¡°You have done very well Earl Rado, in fact, the church might even give you a title for this contribution. Only our great pope has seen an angel before and it was only an image our great lord sent to us. For having found and helped the lords messenger you have gained great merit.¡± Reverend Kun nodded as he spoke. An orange aura, almost like fog around him. It was barely noticeable unless you looked clearly. ¡°D.. Do you wish to see her my lord?¡± Rado looked everywhere except at the priests. ¡°Of course.. Not! Why would we disturb the divine!¡± The priests quickly berated Rado.If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. Rado looked down and accepted everything. He couldn¡¯t talk back, there was a bishop in the room with him after all. ¡°So you are the religious authorities in this place?¡± A sudden cold voice spoke out from the stairs as Emelia walked down. She wore the purple robes she had kept in her dimensional space. Most of the items she had in there had been destroyed from when she had lost her powers. It previously had a storage area of 700 square kilometres. Now only reduced to 1 square kilometre. She didn¡¯t see what was remained inside as she quickly got her robe and went downstairs. The priests instantly stood up and bowed as much as they could doing a perfect 90 degree angle. After holding that position for a minute they looked back up and saw her appearance. She looked like a normal human adventurer, or perhaps some sort of royalty. ¡°A.. Are you perhaps the great goddess¡¯ messenger?¡± Now it was Reverend Kuns turn to stutter. He was only a mere bishop who gave sermons, it was his first time, no, it was the church¡¯s first time speaking to the divine. ¡°Who are you? Who do you represent?¡± Emelia responded back with questions. ¡°Yes, yes! Divine angel, I am Bishop Kun. I oversee the Roso Province of Hian Empire. This city is Palda, only a small city. Our church follows the one true Goddess of Humans and Elves. The capital of Hian is Kas. T.. The enemy of this empire is the Dylarr Empire who is ruled by Elf royalty, on the contrary Hian is ruled by Human royalty.¡± Reverend Kun said hoping to please this divine being. Emelia nodded. ¡°Who else knows about my existence?¡± ¡°No one Your Holiness, we were passing by and rushed here when Rado told us what had happened. We had no way to contact the church so I¡¯m afraid that is why we couldn¡¯t accommodate you.¡± Reverend Kun felt cold sweat on his forehead as he tried to explain why no one arrived earlier. ¡°I see~¡± Emelia let out a sigh. ¡°Well, then I thank you all for your service to the Larystaro Imperium and on behalf of the Imperium we wish you a great journey to planet AfterLife¡± The bishop and priests looked up only to see their vision twisting. When their heads landed they saw pure black wings with deep green tips extended from her body. A bright purple light emanating from the halo above her head. Blood flew everywhere as the walls were covered in red instead of the elegant blue. Emelia¡¯s wings flew behind her into the two parents, cutting their whole bodies in half. Doce was frozen, she couldn¡¯t move. ¡°I like you. Survive.¡± Chapter 5- A teacher and his student Emelia stared at the girl who began running and crying. ¡°Inferior beings like you are all mistakes. Light Beam!¡± Light began spewing out of Emelias body, encompassing the mansion and servants who still could not move. ¡°Great Lord! Please don¡¯t kill us!¡± ¡°We did nothing my lord!¡± The servants could suddenly feel their clothes fusing with their skin and the smell of cooked flesh in the air. The great light quickly started a fire. Emelia looked at them and walked out, the flames not harming her at all. Indeed. Mana is of course the best system for destruction! They must use Qi just to strengthen their bodies and ¡®Become Immortal¡¯ Emelia chuckled at this thought, these ¡®inferior¡¯ beings couldn¡¯t become Immortal due to the restriction of this world. Emelia stopped for a second and took out the damaged DTC from her storage. She turned it on and it flickers before dying again. ¡°Damn!¡± She had wanted to see if the other systems were still possible to activate but clearly it doesn¡¯t even work anymore. She sighed and just tossed it back into the storage. I guess.. The capital? Though this civilization¡¯s technology is basically non-existent it should have the raw resources to repair it¡­ Let''s go with that then. She took out a map from her pocket and looked behind her at the house which had already become just ashes. She looked at the barn beside the mansion which had just caught fire and the animals inside were panicking. She walked over and saw a green horse sized wolf. Perfect! I always wanted to get a mount but everything was too weak for me. Emelia kicked open the gate holding the animals back and stretched out her wings to stop the animals from fleeing.Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. She pointed at the Wolf who only stared at her with reverence. It seems the creatures of this world all know to respect us superiors! That makes it easier for me. She flew onto the wolf, the wings and halo simply fused into the air as if they had never been there. ¡°Hmm.. The Heavenly Wolf language should work with you right? Let''s see..¡± Emelia said as she sprawled on the wolf¡¯s furry back. ¡°Arrg, arrh!¡± -Forward! The wolf ran forward obeying her clearly. His green fur glistening in the sun. He moves faster than one of those ancient cars the research department made.. --------------------------- ¡°Teacher~~! I found the homogenous Larvix!¡± A teenage girl sung cheerfully to her teacher with her cute ocean blue eyes. ¡°Indeed, Kalene is my best student!¡± Gorden patted the girls head as he inspected the flower in her hands. ¡°Teacher. I also found this, what kind of flower is it?¡± Kalene lifted up the other flower in her hand. Gorden¡¯s eyes widened as he quickly slapped it out of her hand and put the pill directly in her mouth. Kalene looked up at Gorden tearfully. ¡°Kalene, quickly eat this! That¡¯s the Baneum plant! It poisonous just from touch. How long have you had it in your hand?¡± Kalene swallowed the pill. ¡°I was on the way back here when I found it so I¡¯ve only had for at most 2 minutes.¡± Kalene suddenly fell back. Her hand had begun turning black with her veins bulging. ¡°No, no, no, no, no! Kalene!¡± Gorden looked at this student whom he considered his daughter with despair. ¡°Teacher! Cut my arm off!¡± Kalene spoke decisively yet quietly. ¡°It¡¯s too late. It¡¯s already gotten to your brain, which is why you fell. Your motor functions are failing.¡± Gorden shook his head. As he raised his head he saw a wolf walking on the road beside them. On the wolf he saw a woman and he felt a pressure as he looked at her. Someone powerful! I need that wolf! ¡°Miss! Miss! My student has been poisoned, we urgently need that wolf to get to an alchemist. I can pay you with anything!¡± Gorden bowed deeply. ¡°Anything? Very well. We¡¯ll speak soon.¡± She hopped off the wolf and walked towards Kalene, who was unconscious at this point. ¡°Thank you miss!¡± Gorden looked at her gratefully and quickly ran towards Kalene. ¡°Wait.¡± Gorden stopped and looked at her anxiously. ¡°Detox.¡± Gorden stared as light began flowing into Kalene. Kalene revealed an expression of pain and spewed out black blood. ¡°Thi.. This.. How is that possible?¡± Gorden stared at Kalene as colour began to return to her face. Gorden lifted her head and moved his orange coloured Qi inside. He sighed in relief and looked at the woman deeply. ¡°Thank you, my name is Gorden and this is my student Kalene. Can I request your name?¡± ¡°My name is Emelia Fellwood.¡± Chapter 6- Invitation Emelia Fellwood? I haven¡¯t heard of any powerful person with that name.. Maybe I can¡­ ¡°Miss Emelia.. I am an Elder of the Divine Cult. The great Goddess of Death and Wisdom blesses our cult. As a reward for saving a student of the cult we offer you a position in the cult which will come with all the benefits of being in it of course!¡± Gorden held out a token and held his head down. An awkward silence paused over the group for a couple of minutes. Gorden felt his hand become lighter as he could no longer feel the emblem. Emelia looked at the emblem with some surprise. Isn¡¯t this our Fallen Universities identification? The emblem had a woman looking up with a purple halo and black wings expanding to cover the rest of the emblem. ¡°This symbol is very beautiful, where did you get the inspiration to make it?¡± Emelia inspected it closer and found a #803 on the back. I wonder what the original number is.. ¡°You like it? Our founder and ancestor told us that he had seen the same illusion as the Pope, but instead of the white-winged angel he had seen a black-winged angel instead, because of this, the two religions have been fighting since the founders¡¯ age.¡± Gorden smiled as he explained. Emelia nodded with a smile and began walking towards the wolf. ¡°Where are you headed to now miss?¡± Gorden spoke as he saw Emelia walking away. ¡°The Capital.¡± She quickly replied. ¡°What a coincidence, we just finished our mission so we are also returning to the capital!¡± Gorden clapped and walked towards a bush.You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. He grabbed it and pulled to reveal a black wooden carriage with a red knight emblem. He opened the door and laid Kalene onto the bed-like seat. He slowly crept out and closed the door quietly. He around but couldn¡¯t find Emelia, all of a sudden he felt a breath of air and saw Emelia sitting inside of the carriage and the wolf running away. ¡°Miss Emelia! Your wolf.. It¡¯s runn--¡± Emelia hand up a hand and shook her head. ¡°It¡¯s fine, it has done its job.¡± She put her hand back to her lap and didn¡¯t move anymore. Gorden stared at the woods where the wolf had ran off, worried for the creatures inside. Eventually he just sighed and went to the drivers position. ¡°Yah!¡± The carriage began moving towards the road, and from the road to the capital. ------------------------------------ A week had passed on the journey to the capital. Kalene was always bothering Emelia, asking questions that were never answered, and answering questions that were never asked. One could say that Kalene looked at Emelia as an idol or a friend. ¡°Emelia~~ remember that boy, Zhang Wei, I told you about? Well~~ he told me that if I finish this mission, he¡¯ll give me his sword. You know that sword? His sword is the Dragon Sword! Only the Emperor''s relatives and close friends get that sword! I¡¯d love to see his face when I come back!¡± Kalene giggled to herself maniacally, when she saw that Emelia was paying no attention to her she just continued rambling. ¡°So, my dad is a Duke, yeah? He¡¯ll probably give you some reward for saving. Hey! Do you wanna stay at my house? My family will definitely welcome you! If they won¡¯t let you I.. I won¡¯t talk to them!¡± As she thought of this her eyes sparkled at Emelia. ¡°I plan on finding my own home. Money would be appreciated.¡± Kalene looked down at her blue dress, her eyes downcast. ¡°Yeah¡­ Oh! I know! You can move into a house near us!¡± Life filled her eyes again. Emelia opened her eyes for the first time in hours, adjusting her vision to the light. She looked at Kalene. ¡°Sure.¡± ¡°Yay!~~~ Teacher! Did you hear that! Emelia said she¡¯ll come live near us! I can¡¯t wait!¡± Kalene started bouncing up and down, taking the carriage with her. As she was jumping around she saw massive walls outside the window. ¡°We¡¯re here! Emelia we¡¯re here!¡± She looked over at Emelia and saw her nod. As they approached the gates a guard dressed in snow white armour protecting his whole body walked towards them. ¡°Count Gorden? Welcome back from your journey.¡± The guard quickly let them pass once he saw Gorden. He nodded and drove inside. When they entered, Emelia could instantly hear many sounds and smell many scents. She saw troops patrolling the streets and vendors shouting. Merchants and shopkeepers also took part, making as much noise as they could to attract potential customers. ¡°Look Emelia, see that wall over there? That''s where the noble district is. That¡¯s where we live!¡± Emelia followed Kalenes finger to see a giant wall. Chapter 7- Duke Kar ¡°Why is such a high wall necessary?¡± Emelia looked confused. A wall to seperate districts? To her that is just a waste of perfectly good space. ¡°Miss Emelia, the wall is of course necessary. There have been a couple of revolts in years past. The wall is there to keep harm from coming to the nobles. The other reason for the wall is incase of an attack, most likely from the Dylarr Empire.¡± Gorden said seriously as he approached the gate. This time the guards that stopped them did a full check on the carriage. These guards also had a black rose on their chestplate. ¡°Count Gorden? You¡¯re done a mission? Who is this? Why is she with you?¡± A senior looking guard with a full thick beard appeared from the post and immediately started questioning him. ¡°General Jin! Indeed, we have gotten a Larvix as the Imperial Physician requested. This is--¡± As he was about to introduce Emelia she interrupted. ¡°I am Emelia Fellwood of Larystaro. I have been invited here by Kalene.¡± Emelia stared at General Jin as he was glaring at her. He slowly nodded and turned sideways. Emelia walked back into the cabin and under the revering gaze of Kalene began to meditate again. ¡°Wow Emelia~~! You¡¯re so brave! I could never stand up to Uncle Jin, he¡¯s very scary! Hey hey, what is Larystaro?¡± She started nearly drooling over Emelia, but when she didn¡¯t get any answer she obediently sat down. ¡°Pass!¡± General Jin¡¯s shout was heard and the giant gate began to ascend. Gorden nodded to General Jin and drove forward. ---------------------------------------------------------------Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. ¡°Duke Kar! Kalene has returned!¡± A servant entered a study room. Bookshelves acted as walls, and there was one desk in the background. At the desk was Duke Kar. He was the best general of Hian until he retired. He still has much of the authority in the military, inspecting them often. Although one wouldn¡¯t call him handsome, he was within that range, even for an old man. Duke Kar looked up from the letter he was writing to the servant and nodded. ¡°Prepare a feast. Invite my children from the university.¡± He stood up and walked out of the study, watching as the servant hurried to the kitchen and ordering the other servants around. He slowly walked down the stairs, as he reached the last step he saw Kalene running towards him arms extended. He cringed and braced himself. ¡°Daddy~~!¡± When Kalene rammed into him he nearly got winded. With a hopeless look he patted her head. ¡°Duke Kar.¡± Gorden bowed to him. Duke Kar looked beside Gorden and saw Emelia. ¡°Duke Kar, Miss Emelia is not a stranger, I have given her a token, instantly giving her the Bright Star rank.¡± Gorden saw him look at her and told him about this little agreement. ¡°Cure poison instantly? I thank you Miss Emelia for saving my daughter. I am only a Dark Star, the rank below yours, so I hope you can accept my gift.¡± Duke Kar said seriously as he waved his servant forward. ¡°In this bag are 1000 Mid-Grade Qi Stones. I hope you can accept this.¡± Mid-Grade? I see. I assume the bigger they are the better grade they are? The ones in that last families must have been Low-Grade¡­ Indeed. A noble living in the countryside is different from a noble in the capital. What Emelia didn¡¯t realise is that in the countryside, there isn¡¯t much use for qi stones, so having Low-Grade was already massive. Emelia nodded as she received the pouch and stored it inside of her robe, of course, as soon as she put it inside, hidden from others, she stored it in the storage space. ¡°Oh oh! Daddy look, my cultivation is Foundation Building now!¡± As soon as she said that an orange aura appeared around her whole body. Duke Kar¡¯s eyes sparkled and let out a small grin. ¡°Of course my little prodigy is rising fast! When your sister was your age she was still in Essence Gather stage!¡± At the mention of her sister Kalene perked up. ¡°I..Is sister back from the Dylarr Front?¡± Seeing Kalenes hopeful eyes, he couldn¡¯t keep teasing her. ¡°Of course, she came back a day after you left, you should have seen her eyes. It was like she lost a puppy!¡± He full on laughed, like a raging ogre. ¡°Yay~~! Emelia! I can¡¯t wait until you meet my sister! Oh yeah, daddy, meet Emelia. Oh wait, you already did¡­¡± Kalene bounced around and then stood still as she realised she lost the opportunity to introduce Emelia, she glared at her teacher and went back to hugging Duke Kar. Chapter 8- Party ¡°Emelia~~ come on! My sisters and brothers are already at the table!¡± Kalene pulled Emelia to the dining room which had been festively decorated. Around the table sat 2 of Kalene¡¯s brothers and her 2 sisters. As soon as they saw Kalene the oldest exclaimed. ¡°Now they have another sister! Ai, why is life so hard for us brothers.¡± Leo and Agor were twins, Leo being born earlier than Agor making him the heir to the dukedom. Though they acted immature, they are both 24 years old. Kalene glared at him and hastily brought Emelia to a more mature, beautiful version of Kalene, her sister Isabella. Beside Isabella sat Kornela who only looked around 10 years of age, a large contract with the 20 year old Isabella. ¡°Sister! Meet Emelia! She saved me from the poison of the Baneum and she''s really nice.¡± Isabella stood up and walked around Emelia with a curious look. ¡°So you¡¯re Emelia.. What rank are you? There¡¯s no aura around you. You can¡¯t be a normal mortal.¡± Emelia nodded and an orange light quickly suppressed Isabella¡¯s own aura. Colour drained from Isabella''s face. She quietly apologized and sat down in her seat, no longer looking at Emelia. ¡°Sorry about sister, she¡¯s very protective about us and she was just curious.¡± Kalene whispered to her and Emelia only smiled lightly. As soon as the servants brought out a few more plates of food and left, Duke Kar stood up. ¡°I¡¯d like to toast towards Miss Emelia. She saved Kalene from certain death, the culprit being a Baneum flower. For saving my daughter, you, Miss Emelia, have earned my favour. I hope you use it wisely.¡± Duke Kar lifted his shot glass and quickly downed the drink. Emelia did the same and everyone started chatting and catching up on how they were. It was rare for all the siblings to get together.Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. -------------------------------------------------------- Night fell quickly and the party only started getting more lively. As he saw his children having fun he smiled and looked towards Emelia. Emelia felt his eyes and quickly looked back at him. He made a motion and left back towards his study room. Emelia stood up and excused herself to follow him. As she approached the door to the study the guards opened the door and let her enter. She looked around and saw him sitting, writing a letter. He motioned towards the seat in front of the desk as he continued. Emelia sat down and made herself comfortable. ¡°Is there a reason for Duke Kar to want me here?¡± Duke Kar finally looked up at her. ¡°Are you a spy from Dylarr, or some other country?¡± He questioned her seriously. ¡°You just so happened to come across my daughter and Gorden, just as Kalene had been poisoned by the Baneum flower, which is known to be extremely toxic. You also just happened to have the cure. So you must understand if I am curious.¡± He continued slowly. ¡°I won¡¯t do anything if you are a spy. I¡¯m no longer a general. I have no reason to cause a ruckus.¡± He looked at Emelia¡¯s smile which only got larger. They stared at each other for a couple of minutes. Emelia nodded as she continued staring at him. ¡°I am indeed from a different country.¡± Duke Kar¡¯s eyes turned serious, he was only questioning her because he thought that Emelia was someone who only wanted some glory or a favour from him. ¡°But. I¡¯m not from a country that you know of. My Empire can consume this entire world and not even spit it¡¯s bones out. If we wanted to, there would be chaos, fire and murder everywhere. And now, since you know this, there can only be one choice for you, Duke Kar, join my Empire and become my vanguard.¡± Emelia stood up. Behind her black wings appeared, spreading out. On her head a purple halo emanating light like the sun. ¡°The consequence of not accepting this proposal is that you, and your whole family shall be exterminated. Then, when my true vanguard appears, this world will be set on fire, leaving no one.¡± Light distorting around Emelia, this was her combining her Light and Dark magic. In a way, she was letting out dark light, which just consumed all light. She smiled towards Duke Kar. ¡°Which will it be. General Kar, or Martyr Kar?¡± Duke Kar by this point had begun sweating. He couldn¡¯t move. The distortion effect had him paralyzed, it was like he was blind. He could see, yet he felt like he had no eyes. Blood began to flow from his eyes and ears. Emelia released some of the pressure and Duke Kar instantly fell from the chair he was sitting on, kneeling down and nearly started shouting. ¡°This Duke Kar accepts my lords proposal, I shall better myself and become the vanguard for my lords army. I shall never desert and will always be loyal.¡± Chapter 9- My People Emelia revealed a smile and helped Duke Kar up. ¡°Lord.. How should I address you?¡± Duke Kar kept his head down while cleaning himself with his sleeves. ¡°In private you may refer to me as Yue or simply Empress. In public you must not, I repeat, must not refer to me with those names. I am known as Emelia here and I plan on continuing like that until my Empire comes.¡± Emelia warned him, her wings and halo becoming faint before fading once again. She sighed as she fell into the chair. ¡°Oh right, that little vow you made, it has been accepted by the Larystaro Imperium¡¯s Military Court. In my name of Yue Rosefell I grant thee the title ¡®Larystaro Imperium¡¯s Vanguard¡¯, or in short, ¡®The Vanguard¡¯. She waved her hand and Duke Kar stood up. ¡°I want a drink, come, bring out anything good you have for us to enjoy.¡± She peered at the cabinet beside the desk. He followed her gaze and felt helpless. ¡°Come on, share a little.¡± Emelia chirped happily as she saw him walk towards the cabinet and take out a bottle with green liquid. ¡°E.. Empress.. This is Tiger Nectar, made from many toxic flowers combined to make this alcohol, it¡¯s extremely strong.¡± Duke Kar warned her as he took out 2 glasses. ¡°It¡¯s fine, by the way, you¡¯re one of my people now, call me Yue. The only time you have to refer to me as the Empress is in public or when it is an official matter. I don¡¯t treat my people badly.¡± Emelia stared at the bottle in his hands. ¡°Yes.. Yue.¡± He opened the bottle and began pouring. As he looked at the liquid flowing he felt his emotions fluctuating before settling down.This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. Hopefully she knows what she¡¯s doing. She¡¯s powerful enough to restrain me despite her only being at the top of Foundation Building stage. I can only see what she does in the future.. As they drank, the sun began to rise. They had drank the whole night, only exchanging a couple of words. Duke Kar was snoring in his chair, face flat on the desk with a half empty glass in his hand. Emelia took the glass from his hand and drank it, licking her lips as she savoured it. ¡°Sleep well General Kar, enjoy this peace while you have it.¡± She took the blanket which had been spread over her couch and placed it on him. Taking care not to disturb his sleep. While she did this, she invaded his body to see if she could improve the constitution of this subordinates body. As she tweaked some things she discovered that his meridian system was like a starved man. This location had enough Qi to cultivate yet it was not enough for him. This was akin to a rich noble who was obese and ate every day suddenly turning into a poor beggar who could barely find any food to eat. Since she noticed this she tried to open up some more areas for Qi to enter his meridians but quickly stopped. She couldn¡¯t do it with only her power at this stage. It seems that I need to find a Pill forger, or whatever these inferiors have. My people cannot be this weak and he definitely won¡¯t move his entire life just to search for an area of high Qi to live in. Perhaps he was banished from somewhere.. Interesting.. Since you have become one of my people, you and your family shall be protected by Larystaro. She placed 2 fingers on his forehead and spoke in the Laryian. A purple image of 2 wings appeared on his forehead, exactly where Emelia had placed her fingers. In the whole manor, all the descendants of Duke Kar instantly had that same mark, only no one noticed because they had passed out from drinking. Emelia chuckled to herself, she found this funny. In one moment she was threatening to destroy everything he knew, and in the next she was giving him protection. She went to the room she was given by the family and began to meditate, waiting for everyone to awake to see what to do next. Chapter 10- Investigate ¡°Great Empress Eina, may you and your reign last long. I am Toki Kan of the Kand Protectorate. I have been sent here by our kingdom to request support for our kingdom. Dylarr forces have always had skirmishes with our own, but nothing too hostile, until last week.¡± Toki was kneeling, his whole body touched the floor, it looked like he was almost lying down. ¡°Last week! Last! Week! They dared to invade! They sent an army of elven mortals and a dozen Foundation Building stage cultivators to, apparently control them.¡± He began shouting and tears threatened to fall out of his eyes. ¡°I beg merciful Empress Eina to help us! We are a mere protectorate of Hian, we have no forces to defend ourselves!¡± He finally looked up at the Empress. She was sitting with one leg above the other and her head resting on her hand. Seeing that he was finally done speaking she sat properly and did a rising motion with her hand, indicating for Toki to stand up. She put on a helpless and pained expression. ¡°I am afraid I have nothing for you. All of our forces are currently in combat with the barbaric tribes to the north. Until the campaign there ends, we have nothing to assist.¡± Toki faltered and nearly fell down. His eyes had lost their life. That¡¯s it. I¡¯m dead. I won¡¯t be able to return without assistance. Our Kand will die. His eyes fill with water. ¡°But.¡± Toki looked up instantly to Empress, hope blazing in his eyes. ¡°I can give you a loan, you may hire any mercenary in my whole empire who agrees to your conditions.¡± Toki was about to speak but she held up her hand. ¡°Paper! Ink!¡± She called to the servants on her side.Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. Not long after the servants carried the items towards here and put down a small foldable desk for her to write on. Toki was sweating and his heart beat fast in anticipation. The Empress looked up at Toki for a couple of seconds before continuing to write. After a full 5 minutes she was done. ¡°This is a letter to Duke Kar, the best general of our Empire. Note, this is only a recommendation, whether he wants to join your little mercenary band or not is his decision. Understood? If so, you may leave and begin your adventure in search of people.¡± Empress Eina handed the letter to her servant, who in turn handed it to Toki. Toki bowed multiple times while thanking her. He asked her where to find Duke Kar and quickly scurried away after he found out. ¡°Keep an eye on this Protectorate of ours, and check out the Dylarr. There has to be a reason for this sudden invasion. It can¡¯t have just been coincidence.¡± Her voice trailed off and asked for the next person to see her to come in. The next person looked like a priest, except extremely extravagant. The Empress raised her brows. ¡°Pope Vinicus? We haven¡¯t met since your daughter''s birthday. Speaking of which, how is Angelic Priestess Roze?¡± She saw his serious face and didn¡¯t expect to be answered, she was just putting in some small chat with this large authority. ¡°Your highness Eina, 3 of my priests, including a bishop, have gone missing in your empire. May I enquire as to what had happened?¡± This was the pope of the Human and Elven Goddess, Zmo. He looked at the empress with an accusatory gaze and continued staring. ¡°Although it is public knowledge that I follow the God of War, Val, I still respect Goddess Zmo. I would never do something that would anger her like that!¡± She put on a confused and defensive look. Pope Vinicus stared at her and nodded after some time. ¡°I would like Empress to investigate this. The disappearance of a bishop is large. If it so happens that there is someone who dares to attack of kill someone of our church, there shall be retribution.¡± Empress Eina nodded. ¡°Of course! The Empire will not deal with that matter. We shall investigate, but as always, we need funds to do something for the church.¡± She smiled at the Pope and tilted her head slightly to appear more cute. Vinicus glared at her and sighed. He opened his bag, lifted it upside down and Qi Stones began to fall onto the ground. He stayed in this position until the Qi Stones looked like a natural rock formation had formed inside of the palace. Chapter 11- Forgery ¡°On behalf of the Hian Empire. We thank you for your contribution. We shall of course investigate thoroughly and you should receive an answer in, at most, a year.¡± Eina exclaimed joyfully. ¡°Greedy witch, choke on it.¡± He grumbled quietly and headed out of the room. Eina regained her composure and regal golden aura. She waved at the servant. ¡°Next!¡± ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª ¡°My Empress, the forging room has been completed, we are now only waiting for resources from the Heaven Gathering Market. We have also sent out a mission for Dark Star enlistees to look for and buy them.¡± Duke Kar held his head down as he read the report in his hands. In front of him sat Emelia who was behind a desk. Her legs which wore black stockings on the desk giving her a very seductive image. Her purple dress just barely covering her lower body. Even is someone did look up, all they would see is darkness. ¡°Thank you.¡± She smiled at him lazily. ¡°My Empress! I can¡¯t accept this thank you, it is only my job.¡± Duke Kar exclaimed. The door suddenly opened and Kalene ran inside. She completely ignored the fact that Emelia was the one sitting, while Duke Kar was standing. ¡°Daddy~ Some old man is looking for you. He says the Empress sent him here.¡± She ran out without even waiting for them. Emelia stood up slowly and walked towards Duke Kar who was waiting at the door for her. ¡°Lets go.¡± Duke Kar nodded and walked out. As they walked in the hall they looked out the window and saw a luxurious carriage with a black and white flower on it.The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. Duke Kar squinted and let out a slight cry. ¡°That¡¯s the symbol of the Kand Protectorate. They are our buffer zone with the Dylarr Empire. Something must¡¯ve happened.¡± They rushed to the reception. When they arrived they saw this man, though he wasn¡¯t old as Kalene had described him. He was a very plain looking middle-aged man. The only thing that looked special about him was his sky blue coloured suit which looked out of place in the orange hue of the mansion. ¡°Great Duke Kar, I am Toki Kan of the Kand Protectorate. I have a letter of recommendation from your Empress, I wish to recruit men as mercenary¡¯s. The Hian Empire has no troops to support us so I can only accept mercenary''s. Please accept my offer of 1 million Mid-Grade Qi Stones. That is all that my nation can afford for a great general like you.¡± As soon as he saw Duke Kar he held his head down and spoke loudly while holding out a letter with a seal. Duke Kar nodded at his servant and he went to get the letter. Duke Kar opened the letter and read through it. His expression looked like he just saw a joke. He looked back at the man and felt pitiful. Toki Kan finally looked up and saw a woman beside Duke Kar. ¡°Mistress Kar, please support us!¡± Emelia looked him straight into the eyes and smiled, while Duke Kar began sweating. He couldn¡¯t afford to anger this god. He quickly changed his expression to that of anger. ¡°How dare you call Emp.. Miss Emelia that! Get out of my home! Never return you beast! Toki Kan stared at them until Duke Kar unsheathed his sword and began walking towards him. Then Toki Kan screamed and ran, nearly tripping in the process. ¡°I¡¯m sorry Empress Yue. T.. The people from the Kand Protectorate are like that.¡± He bowed a full 90 degree angle quickly spewed some bullshit. ¡°It¡¯s alright, all of those inferiors shall be exterminated. For now, what I want to focus on is that forgery. The room itself has been built, are there currently any resources?¡± She spoke while turning to walk towards the construction area. ¡°Yes Your Highness. The forgery has a full blacksmithy and if need be, several apprentices and master forgers ready to come under you. I hope they will be satisfactory, and of course, some resources, though not the rare ones you requested, have been prepared.¡± Duke Kar walked behind her and quickly reported. After turning a corner they instantly saw what looked like a miniature factory. Emelia began giggling when she saw it. Finally, I can create some weapons for myself. The quality of weapons here is atrocious. Emelia pushed open the door and multiple, constant sounds of a hammer hitting metal sounded. Then, everything turned silent. ¡°Greetings to Forge Lord.¡± Forge Lord was the title people had given to people who controlled or owned a forgery. Chapter 12- Getting Started An old man in heavy black overalls composed himself and walked up to Emelia. ¡°Greetings, Forge Lord. I am Yang Fu, but everyone calls me Uncle Fu.¡± Uncle Fu smiled at her. Emelia nodded ¡°Uncle Fu.¡± ¡°Come, come! Let me introduce you to my two disciples, Mo Ye and Chu Yan. You two, come, greet our new employer!¡± Uncle Fu shouted at the boy and girl, which clearly startled them as they jumped and ran to them. The two stood in front of them, heads lowered. They both looked to be around 14 years old. The boy, Mo Ye, looked like an average boy, yet he had a big build which he had earned from his work in blacksmithing. The girl, Chu Yan, on the other hand looked very beautiful, her hands where one would usually find calluses were completely dainty. Emelia put on a confused gaze ¡°Brother, Sister?¡± Mo Ye and Chu Yan looked at each other and then at Emelia, then after a couple of seconds they realised what Emelia had asked. ¡°Yes, yes. We are twins.¡± Emelia had checked out their bodies and found a blood connection, yet, they looked nothing alike. Yang Fu saw Emelia''s confusion and quickly explained. ¡°This.. Chu Yan was very sick when she was young and fortunately, got a drop of Phoenix Blood which made her body incredibly strong and, of course, very beautiful.¡± At this comment Chu Yan blushed and looked away. ¡°Unfortunately, during the procurement of the blood, their parents died and they were left orphaned, until I took them in as my disciples, and as my children.¡± Mo Ye and Chu Yan¡¯s eyes teared but quickly turned around and walked back towards their work places. Uncle Fu looked at them for a bit as he slowly composed himself. ¡°Anyway! What does Forge Lord need? We have already acquired most of the materials needed for weapons. Does Lord need a sword, a saber? Perhaps even a hammer?¡± ¡°Not yet. Show me what materials have been delivered and then we¡¯ll see what can be made.¡± Emelia looked at the two who were working on a sword and saber respectively. ¡°You two, keep working on them. If it becomes orange quality, maybe I will teach you some sword and saber techniques. Lord, follow me to the storage room.¡± He closed the door behind Emelia and walked to the back room. Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. The qualities of of equipment were ordered in the colours that they release when used, green being weak, orange being normal, red being strong, gold being epic, and purple which is of course legendary. ¡°Here, 1 kg of steel, 10kg of feather ore, 10 kg of lava stone and¡­ 5 kg of charged crystals. We¡¯re currently waiting on--¡± As he was listing the items a shout was heard. ¡°Uncle Fu! Uncle Fu! Your Phase Crystal is here!¡± Uncle Fu looked at Emelia strangely and shrugged. ¡°Ok well, perfect, no need to wait, the final item is here. I¡¯ll go get it, you can just tell those two if you need something done.¡± He took off his dirty overalls and briskly walked out. Shouting back at the man. ¡°Dare to shout at me, see if I don¡¯t reduce your pay!¡± Emelia chuckled slightly and walked towards the two youths working hard. ¡°You two, do you have any graph paper or the like around?¡± Mo Ye jumped at the sudden voice behind him and put a slight bit more force into his strike, breaking the heated the sword in two. Chu Yan, scared by Mo Ye¡¯s sword breaking in half also broke her own saber. Emelia stared at the two of them speechlessly. She hesitated before slowly saying. ¡°Well. This is fine too, you can help me make something much more advanced, and in the process, I¡¯ll teach you a bit.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll get the paper.¡± Chu Yan said very slowly, holding a sob in. ¡°I¡­ I¡¯ll get some tools.¡± Mo Ye held his head down. They both ran out of the forgery together, leaving Emelia staring at their backs. She stood on the spot awkwardly, her gaze slowly floated towards the sword and saber. ¡°Well, I suppose I¡¯ll compensate them.¡± She raised her hand, and as she did that, the two weapons floated towards her and began to glow red, even turning slightly viscous. The four broken parts slowly floated towards each other and reconnected. Emelia hesitated and ultimately decided to add a small enchantment to it. This should make it a couple of grades higher than it should have been. The two items glowing in orange floated back onto the two workbenches and quietly laid down. The door to the forgery opened and Uncle Fu, Mo Ye and Chu Yan walked inside. Uncle Fu walked over to the workbenches and looked at the sword and saber which had reconnected. ¡°Broken? If this is broken in your eyes, what have you been doing all these years?!¡± Uncle Fu looked at them with disappointment and the two ran over to him and stared at the two weapons which had been reconnected. ¡°Th.. This.. Uncle Fu, I..¡± He looked over at Emelia whose body was half hidden by the door to the storage room. He let out a big smile and rubbed his neck. ¡°Sorry Uncle Fu.. I think I drank a little too much of that Healing Rum you gave me¡­¡± Chu Yan had already taken her saber to her workbench and checked it out completely. She let out a big smile towards Emelia and ran to her. ¡°Here you go.¡± She handed a pencil and paper to Emelia and ran back to her bench and cleared it. ¡°Mhm, alright, Uncle Fu, go get all of the materials and bring them here. Chu Yan, I¡¯m going to draw something here, you must follow all the instructions I¡¯ve written down, and lastly, Mo Ye, you will forge the basic components.¡± Emelia quickly ordered them. Uncle Fu wanted to say something but just nodded and walked to the storage room. Chu Yan walked over to Emelia and saw her drawing a strange door handle and writing some points about it. ¡°Now, cut and purify the ores according to this, it has to be exact. There can be no room for mistakes. If there is a mistake, throw it away. Got it?¡± Emelia stressed as she looked at Chu Yan. Chu Yan cutely nodded and ran over to Uncle Fu to help him. Mo Ye began to prepare his equipment as Emelia approached him. ¡°We will be working on the forging together, you will create the basic things, and I will finish it.¡± Mo Ye nodded and put the sword he was working on to the side. Chapter 13- Phase Pistol A whole month passed as Emelia worked in the forgery together with Uncle Fu and his two disciples, Mo Ye and Chu Yan. ¡°The situation in the Kand Protectorate grows more dire. As the Dylarr army advances into the country, Hian begins seeing it as more of a threat and finally sent some troops into Kand to support. ¡°The army was not stopped though. They continue to advance today, nearing the border ever more. According to the Imperial General Lord, troops are being recruited from normal citizens. ¡°Mandatory Conscription hasn¡¯t been decreed since the last great war between Hian, Dylarr and the destroyed Jian Empire.¡± Uncle Fu read his newspaper out loud while Emelia and Mo Ye were working. In this month Mo Ye and Chu Yan were taught many techniques and even Uncle Fu benefited greatly. The last hammer finally sounded and Mo Ye let out a sigh of relief, he barely ever got a break, and now that his job was done, he could relax. ¡°Uncle Fu. Phase Crystal.¡± Emelia extended her hand and Uncle Fu quickly grabbed the crystal from the desk and handed it to her. Emelia stared at the crystal and slowly inserted it into the weapon. This weapon had a long barrel and small body. It almost looked like a Ray Gun, apart from the fact that it was completely black. As the crystal fell into place a golden light began to flash from the whole gun. Uncle Fu staggered and nearly fell down. ¡°Le.. Legendary! This is a golden Legendary light! How!¡± Mo Ye and Chu Yan stared at the light, tears welling up in their eyes. Pride began to shine from their eyes and they hugged each other, though their eyes never left the pistol. ¡°Finally, a weapon I can use.¡± She picked up the broken down Charge Crystals that became very sharp and slotted them into the pistol. She aimed the pistol at the wall and fired. A purple light shone from the pistol and a blue light shot out leaving a charred hole that went straight through the wall. If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. ¡°This is a Phase Pistol, a very basic weapon. You guys have the blueprints to it now. You just need many of these Phase Crystals.¡± She looked at the crate full of pistols, all missing Phase Crystals. ¡°Also, I¡¯ll be taking all of this ammunition, so, if you follow that list I gave to Chu Yan, you¡¯ll be able to recreate it. Got it?¡± She put the pistol and the three sacks of ammo into her shirt, and opened up her space to store it. Chu Yan and Mo Ye ran up to Emelia and hugged her suddenly. Due to the suddenness Emelia nearly fell down. As she felt the two of them on her body, she let out an awkward smile to Uncle Fu, who was now staring at the crate. ¡°Alright, let go now. Take these, in the future they will come in very handy for you all.¡± She took out three badges. They looked very similar to the Divine Cult and Fallen Universities emblem. The difference being that these badges had two swords crossing each other in front of the image. She handed it to them and Uncle Fu clearly looked confused as he took out his own Divine Cult emblem. Seeing this she pulled him to the side and whispered ¡°This will be very useful in the future, if anyone ever mentions something like ¡®Larystaro¡¯ immediately show them this, don¡¯t lose it, take it as another life.¡± The old man felt his ears turn red as she slowly whispered into his ears. ¡°Y..Yes, of course!¡± Emelia chuckled as she saw him being flustered. She waved to the two teenagers working hard on their weapons before walking out of the forgery and towards the mansion. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Larystaro, capital government building. ¡°¡±This is an emergency of the greatest magnitude!¡± My ass! How dare you!¡± A scream was heard throughout the entire building. ¡°Saule, calm down, we must remain calm during this time.¡± Sha, the head of the department of crime spoke slowly. Saule who was raging immediately put all of her focus on Sha. She stared at this ancient man and huffed. ¡°Grandfather Sha, we have to think of something quickly! Who knows where Her Highness is!¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry, nothing can happen to the Empress.¡± He continued, still as steady as a tree. He glanced over at one of the guards who quickly approached the table to place down a green tablet. Saule looked at it and found it familiar, then her eyes widened. ¡°A DTC?! But how?¡± She reached for it but Sha slapped her hand lightly, she glared at him as she rubbed her hand. ¡°We found it in Her Highness¡¯ workshop. I, along with Raz and Protesa tried to make it work, but it seems to be missing a component. The only good news is that it has a messaging system. But, we assume that Her Highness'' DTC is damaged otherwise she would have long tried to communicate.¡± The other ministers in the room nodded. ¡°So.. There¡¯s nothing we can do?¡± Saule sat down limply. ¡°Well.. Since you¡¯ve already lost this much hope, I suppose I can tell you..¡± Sha hesitated before continuing. ¡°There was a remnant signal from where she disappeared. We just finished tracing it and, thankfully, the signal was, just, just enough. If it were any weaker we would¡¯ve lost it.¡± He stared at Saule slowly becoming more and more lively. ¡°Well come on old man! Quickly tell us where it is!¡± The young and beautiful head of the medical department snapped at him. ¡°Ok, ok. No need to shout at this poor old man.¡± Sha pouted as everyone looked at him with a strange gaze. ¡°I suppose I shouldn¡¯t be teasing you little catacylsisms, but the signal comes from Devil''s Maw.¡± He chuckled grimly. All of the ministers apart from Saule let out a groan, they all know what Devil¡¯s Maw is. ¡°Well? Send a ship, come on! We need to rescue Yu-Her Highness!¡± Saule became ecstatic, she jumped up from her chair which fell backwards. ¡°Saule, Devil¡¯s Maw is.. A Black Hole..¡± Raz, who sat next to her, picked up her chair and sat her down. Chapter 14- Jericho Federation ¡°Black.. Hole? A..Are you sure? Hasn¡¯t it been proven that nothing can survive a black hole, so why is the signal able to escape its pull?!¡± Saule focused on the aged Raz. Raz seemed prepared for this as he adjusted his round glasses and placed some papers on the table. ¡°Indeed, nothing can escape a black hole.¡± Raz adjusted his collar as everyone stared at him. ¡°But.¡± He paused for a second. ¡°Didn¡¯t we come to this place through a black hole in the first place.¡± This one sentence of his caused everyone to become stunned. Saule and a couple of the other ministers were too young to know this, but indeed. The oldest members began to reminisce about that old time. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Jericho Federation, Black Hole observatory ¡¯Solemnity¡¯. An old man looked outside of his thick window at the black hole the observatory was somehow orbiting. He held a gaze of pity as he stared at the thousands of dots, which were in fact escape pods, being ejected towards the black hole. He slowly threw gaze back into the room where a black haired woman in dirty rags sat on a metal chair. She and her chair were completely soaked, water even pooling underneath her. She also stared out into the abyssal black hole, tears continuously flooding from her eyes. Behind her sat young men and women, all of them shared the same expression. Disbelief, anger and sorrow. ¡°Yue.. Oh Yue. You should¡¯ve chosen right. Now, because of you, everyone will die. This rebellion of yours was too much. Do you know how many people died during this period? Do you!?¡± Holy General Valin shouted towards Yue and the people behind her. He glared at them with tears in his eyes. Killing intent pouring out from him. ¡°Do you know how many planets you destroyed? How many families you seperated? How, many, people, you, killed? Answer me!¡± He ran up to Yue and struck her, along with her chair which had been bolted down, to the ground. ¡°It was.. For our people. Something you simple minded sheep wouldn¡¯t understand.¡± Yue spat out blood onto Valin¡¯s military boots.Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. He laughed hysterically. ¡°You.. You killed billions of soldiers, and millions of innocent civilians because¡­ because you didn¡¯t like the rules?!¡± He laughed as if it was the funniest thing he¡¯d ever heard. ¡°Rules? Why should we be punished for being different? Just because we have black wings? Why should we be slaves to your ¡®superior¡¯ white wings? It¡¯s been genetically proven that we only have slightly different genes, we are not completely different species! So why should we be slaves?¡± Yue glared at him with fire in her eyes. Valin was about to kick her but stopped himself. He looked at her as if she was just a corpse. ¡°I won¡¯t bother with you anymore. You¡¯ll die soon anyway. All those in the rebellion have already been obliterated in the black hole, now only you, the core leaders are left.¡± He looked back out at the window as he pressed a button on his desk. Shortly after, a dozen guards entered. They slowly took them one by one, not together, clearly being afraid that they would try and escape together. During this period, they would comfort each other. They knew they would die but there was nothing they could do, so they could only go to death with positivity. It was finally Yue¡¯s turn. They guards carefully unbuckled her from the seat and stood her up but she showed no resistance, her eyes had already become a void. Valin during the process never looked at them, instead only stared out at the black hole. Yue walked through the plain corridors of the station until they approached a shuttle which was completely surrounded by thousands of guards and a couple of space ships on the outside, ready to fire at any moment. The guards pushed into the ship as the other prisoners which were also sent here quickly helped her up and onto a seat. They quickly closed the door and the guards began marching outside of the launch area. Inside the ship, they felt the engines begin to rumble, clearly this was an old generation ship as it had not been repaired in a long time. It needed no repairs as it¡¯s only purpose was to send them into the black hole. ¡°Empress Yue. We have followed you for centuries, we won¡¯t stop now, and we won¡¯t stop even in death.¡± One of the young members began to shout at the top of his voice. ¡°Sha, there¡¯s no need to vocalise this, of course we will. It never needs to be said! I love you¡± A Young Raz said as he hugged a young girl. ¡°I will always love you more.¡± Young Orla gave him a kiss on the cheek as she hugged him with tears in her eyes. They all staggered as they felt the ship detach from the connection to the station. They huddled together, with Yue being in the middle, as if it was a line of protection against the great black hole. Yue stood up and hugged them all one by one and then, suddenly they began speeding up very fast, even faster than light speed. And then. Nothing. Nothing happened. They all grew confused as they looked out the window. They saw no black hole, no station. They only saw many, thousands upon thousands of escape pods and ships. They were in disbelief, until, from one of the ships came out a hologram. The hologram was completely purple, apart from the middle in which a black person with black wings was shown. Slowly, the other ships all showed the same symbol, the escape pods began to gravitate to the nearest ships, forming a circle, as if there was an invisible planet and they were the belt around it. Yue and the others stared at this for minutes, until Sha began laughing. Then the laughing erupted as everyone started shouting and whistling. ¡°Raz quick, go, send the Imperial Insignia!¡± In the pandemonium Sha shouted at him. Raz quickly nodded and ran to the controls. He quickly inputted his magic energy into it and projected the same hologram, except at the top of it the person, was a glistening red crown. Almost instantly, all the ships and escape pods began to break formation and flew towards their ship. ¡°Follow me in death? Then let us now begin anew!¡± Yue savagely looked up and roared, her magic and qi intertwining, the magic becoming words, and the qi becoming sound that could be heard in the void, being sent straight into everyone''s head. A response was quickly received. A radiant purple colour flew from every ship into the void. It quickly became so large it looked like a new star had formed in the vast expanse. Chapter 15- Travel and Relative Dimensions in Space Raz awoke from his stupor to see the younglings looking at them, these old men and women with confusion. He wiped his eyes as the others also awoke. ¡°Indeed, that was a glorious time.¡± They all whispered the same sentence and laughed. Raz smiled and Saule and opened up the booklet. He took out some charts and graphs which made Saule¡¯s eyes swirl. Raz chuckled and only simply pushed a paper to the front of the table. ¡°This paper is the oldest paper of theories we have. This is my first paper. The theory of Travel And Relative Dimensions In Space. I began to research this when we came to this.. Dimension, or more likely, Universe.¡± Raz¡¯s eyes swelled with pride as he spoke of this. ¡°You see, we did indeed try some experiments, many volunteers appeared among our ranks to travel into black holes to see what happened, but most of the time, the ships blew up before our eyes.¡± Regret filled in his voice he croaked out. ¡°Until, we sent something into Devil¡¯s Maw.¡± He paused as he stared at Orla. She nodded and continued for him. ¡°Yes, before you were born Saule, I had sent a couple of my disciples into it, but the ship didn¡¯t get destroyed, it disintegrated. That was a first in our experiments. But we disregarded it because after all, we saw it get destroyed before our eyes time and time again. Now though, we¡¯re getting this signal from it. Which means, Raz was right. And my disciples are still alive in most likely, the same place Empress is.¡± Orla slapped the table as she let out a big smile. Saule became ecstatic and once again nearly fell down from her chair. ¡°Come on then! Let¡¯s send a ship!¡± She pleaded with them. Sha only shook his head again as he looked to Lasda. She nodded and waved her hand. Colourful light began to flow from her fingers which created an image. In the center of this image was a black mass with grey orbs floating around it. On the outskirts of this image were tiny motes of red all surrounded by hexagonal blue light. Lasda pointed to the red and furrowed her brows. ¡°See these? These are Intergalactic Void Beasts, they seemed attracted to the black hole so we surrounded both them and the black hole in a Qi-Magic forcefield made out of very precious items.¡±A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. ¡°We need to slowly get rid of those beasts, only then can we try and inspect it again.¡± Lasda stared at Saule. ¡°Lasda Yami, Magic Department nominates Saule Letz for Temporary Commander role.¡± She stood up and put her hand up to her face, splitting the two sides. The other ministers all hesitated before following Lasda. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ As the people of Larystaro panicked about the Empress disappearing, the person herself was about to enjoy a grand feast in Duke Kars home. Sounds of construction rang out from every part of this place. And if one had a birds eye view the mansion, which had been extended and grown into a palace, was the epicenter of the growing base. The Duke had been given lots of land in the city yet he never used it, keeping it forested, almost as if it was a tiny forest within this city He began to build many buildings. Of course that was only on paper, Emelia was the true person supervising and puppeteering him from behind. She began by building homes and shops for the common people in the outskirts of his territory. In some secluded hidden areas there were tunnels leading underground, where Emelia planned to install barracks¡¯ and warehouses. In order not to arouse suspicion from the ruling powers in this capital city, they could only do everyone slowly and carefully. Fully vetting everyone before they can work. The work on the new extensions to the new palace were done first and fast. They then began work at the barracks underneath. Due to Duke Kar being retired and not very social, not many people visited him. Most people in the city feared him. Because Duke Kars birthday was nearing he, like every year, sent out invitations for his comrades and loyal ex-subordinates to celebrate with him. Every year, at that exact time, the capital city would be filled with military personnel. In the dining room, the room was filled with vibrant music and colorful lights. The two double doors at the front of the room were suddenly opened and all the chairs were shoved back as the inhabitants stood up. ¡°Greetings to Teacher, greetings to Father!¡± All of Duke Kars children stood up and shouted at the same time. Duke Kar let out a small cough. His children called out Emelia first, not their own flesh and blood father. But there is nothing he can do about that. During the month where Emelia had been building the phase pistols she had also been teaching Duke Kar and the children magic. How to gather it, refine it, use it, and let it out. They were all innately good at magic, which is why they suffered under Qi. Especially Kalene, who grasped it first and was currently the most powerful. While the rest of the children were mere Magic Apprentices, Kalene was already a Magic Pupil, nearing a Probationary Magician already. A delicious aroma flowed in the whole room, the table was completely full. Duck, chicken, pork, lettuce, carrots, tomatoes, you could find anything you wanted. Nothing was left behind in the kitchen, causing the chefs who cooked it all to moan, but they didn¡¯t complain. They loved Duke Kar, the main reason being that he paid them, but the other reason was that they were military chefs that followed Duke Kar even after he retired. Emelia smiled at them and sat down at the family head seat, while Duke Kar was relegated to the side seat. ¡°Let¡¯s eat.¡± She announced and they began to dig into their food. As they ate, Emelia looked around, inspecting them one by one. When her gaze reached Kalene she furrowed her brows. ¡°Kalene, meet me after dinner, I need to discuss something. Duke Kar, come with her.¡± Duke Kar nodded along with Kalene and continued to eat. Chapter 16- Space Energy Inside of Duke Kars study. Emelia sat at the desk, staring at the parent and child who looked worried. Kalene had her arm laying flatly on the desk, with Emelia¡¯s dainty fingers on her wrist, she sent out energy from her own body to search around Kalene. She slowly opened her eyes. ¡°Congratulations Kalene, you have the rare ability to gather Space energy, few people possess this ability, with it you can become a support type wizard that can teleport, block attacks and if you are really lucky, you can learn to use Space to attack.¡± ¡°Ah~~¡± They both let out a relieved and confused sigh. ¡°You see, the Qi System isn¡¯t very diverse in the first place while magic, magic has many roots and branches, this Space magic is only one of many.¡± Emelia slowly explained, trying not to go too fast to lose them. The Qi System that exists is mainly split into 3 sub-systems. Qi and Heavenly Qi, they are both the same, only that Heavenly Qi is much purer, which in turn makes it stronger. The third sub-system is Body Cultivation, which is as the name implies, strengthening your body. Body Cultivation is the peasants and poor cultivation, while Qi, which is stronger is the cultivation of nobles and royalty due to the resources needed. Duke Kar practices a Qi technique, but he didn¡¯t pass it down to his children. He made them practice Body Cultivation first, as he did. To lay the foundation for Qi is very important for him. This concern for his children''s foundation made them perfect to practice magic, being able to gather lots of energy within their bodies. After they digested this new knowledge they felt as if a new world appeared before then. Though she taught them how to gather and release energy, she never taught them anything else. Kalene¡¯s mouth became a huge O as she tried to feel around for this new Space energy. ¡°You won¡¯t find it, it¡¯s not something you can actively gather, only passive, which is only one of few weaknesses. But the good news is, you have an advantage, you gather this energy very quickly due to your Body Cultivation origin.¡± Emelia slightly teased.Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on. Kalene pouted and tried to feel for her own energy reserved, and now that she knew what to look for, she quickly found these invisible and incorporeal strands of Space. Suddenly, her outstretched arm spasmed, Space Energy flew out from the tips of her fingers and formed into a ball above the desk. It got darker and darker. Emelia glared at the ball and exclaimed. ¡°Focus Kalene! This is a storage space! Quick focus on it and try to put this inside.¡± She placed a paperweight on her hand. From the ball, the black energy extended a strand to pick up the paperweight, it grew smaller and slowly floated up towards the ball. As it entered the ball, the darkness in the room began to dissipate. ¡°Congratulations! You should now be able to feel as if there is an extension of you that you can feel around you, yet you don¡¯t see anything? That is the new ¡®Storage Space¡¯ that you have created by folding space. You can access it at any time, with no Space Energy loss. You merely need to focus on it and reach out.¡± Emelia patted Kalene head, who in turn, closed her eyes and enjoyed it. ¡°In the future, when you learn Qi techniques, you will be able to see inside, currently you can only take out what you remember, so if you forget something inside there, it will only take up space, but you won¡¯t know what to take out.¡± Emelia released some of her own Qi inside Kalene to carefully and slowly open up the meridians inside. ¡°Now, take that paperweight out, it is only a waste of space.¡± Kalene nodded with enthusiasm, as she extended her hand and focused. She sat in that position for 5 minutes before the black ball appeared again, and the paperweight expanded as it flew out and suddenly dropped onto the ground, producing a sharp sound. ¡°Great! Now, you tell your brothers and sisters that, tomorrow, I will be training them.¡± Emelia looked at her with pride as Kalene flew out the door shouting. As Duke Kar proudly and lovingly stared at his youngest daughter running, he remembered her words. ¡°Training? A..Are they not learning enough?¡± Emelia chuckled. ¡°They are fast learners, all thanks to you and the values you imparted to them, but only learning magic is the same as only focusing on your upper body when training. I need to teach them some fighting techniques, otherwise they will get bullied in the future, even with magic. Pure magic may be strong, but as long as someone gets close to magician, they will be able to kill them as easily as squashing a bug.¡± She coldly ended. Duke Kars eyes grew darker instantly, clearly anyone who wanted to hurt his family would face his fatherly wrath. Emelia nodded as she saw his emotions. Someone like this is a good subordinate for her. Good values meant loyal people. ¡°Speaking of which, where is Gorden, I haven¡¯t seen him this whole month.¡± Emelia lightly asked. ¡°Ah, Elder Gorden is currently on another mission, but he should return soon. Approximately another month, just in time for my birthday.¡± His dark expression turned into one of happiness. ¡°Also, slowly my subordinates have been entering the city, but I think that we should make another base elsewhere, this place is in the capital, and the soldiers will only suffer inside those dark, damp barracks.¡± Duke Kar spoke carefully. Emelia stared at him for a couple of seconds and her brows furrowed. Duke Kar began to sweat. ¡°Empress.. I.. I didn¡¯t think of what I sai--¡± Emelia stopped him. ¡°No, no. How stupid of me, you are completely right, I didn¡¯t think of this. I suppose since the work has already been done, make this a hidden base. Do you have any land outside of the capital?¡± She laughed at herself. Duke Kar, whose back was leaking with sweat let out a nervous chuckle. ¡°Yes! Yes! I.. I do! It is a forest, I bought it for logging when I needed to build this house but we replanted. It¡¯s been many years so I assume it should be a fully fledged forest again. It is in the east, just south of the Han mountain range. In fact, I assume it to be within the Han mountain range territory, so we should also be able to own the whole mountain!¡± Chapter 17- Village Sword Mountain, southernmost mountain of the Han Mountain Range. It had taken a week to travel from the capital, XiXi to this mountain by tigers that had red wings called Flame Steads. When they landed, they fed the 3 tigers some meat and they flew away, stranding them on this mountain. ¡°Haa. Such a beautiful view, isn¡¯t it?¡± Emelia looked behind her and saw Leo, Agor, Kornela and Kalene, all panting. Isabella had to return to the Dylarr Front once more so she couldn¡¯t participate in this journey. ¡°Indeed, water anyone?¡± Duke Kar took out a pouch from his sack and passed it to Leo, the oldest. Kalene let out an exhausted laugh as she concentrated onto nothing in particular until her Storage Space opened. ¡°Sis, Sis! Gimme some! Please~~¡± Kornela jumped up and down in front of Kalene. Duke Kar only brought water, while Kalene brought other types of drinks, and since the Storage Space is static, the drinks were cold. Kalene teased her for a while until handing her a glass bottle. Kornela chugged the whole bottle and let out a satisfied smile as she handed the bottle back to Kalene. ¡°Ok, everyone set up camp here. Leo, organise and take care of everyone. Agor, camp fire. Kornela¡­ relax.¡± Duke Kar very seriously handed out orders. Emelia laughed quietly as Kornela pouted. She then followed Duke Kar, who began walking down the mountain and into a forest. As they approached the forest, Emelia saw that it was dark inside and waved her hand slightly. A ball of flames appeared above the two of them and Duke Kar frowned. ¡°Empress.. This fire..¡± It was quite dangerous to bring a flame into this forest, as it was quite thick, anything could catch fire easily. Emelia saw his frown and only picked up a branch which she put into the fire. She held it there for a couple of seconds, but nothing happened. Duke Kar¡¯s eyes widened. He lifted his hand and put it in the flame. Nothing. He felt nothing from the flame, yet the light it emanated was as if it were a torch. The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. Emelia only smiled and didn¡¯t explain. ¡°Your Majesty, this way. The woodchoppers'' small village should be in this direction.¡± Duke Kar pointed to a fork in the road leading deeper into the forest. Emelia nodded. They walked on this path, enjoying the scenery and peace until they began to smell a delicious scent. They saw some wooden walls and a hole in one of them, clearly leading into the village. Emelia put out the fire that was above them and approached it. They calmly entered the village and the dozen or so villagers dropped whatever they were doing to run towards them. The crowd began to surround them, yet leaving a path right down the middle of the road, allowing them to walk on it. They didn¡¯t shout, yet they stared at Duke Kar with happiness and love. Duke Kar nodded and shook each of their hands. Only when he did that, did they walk back to whatever they were doing, but still staring at them in that way. After some time, when all the villagers were pacified by Duke Kar¡¯s wonder handshake, they continued walking on the road until they approached a slightly bigger and more luxurious looking house straight in the middle of the village. ¡°This was my relaxation and leisure home. I stayed here when I returned from campaigns. I mean, who wouldn¡¯t. Lovely forest, fresh air and great people. A stark contrast with the battlefields.¡± Duke Kar sighed with emotion as he looked at the house and surroundings. Though this was a rural village, it was very clean. The inhabitants clearly taking care of everything, even the long abandoned home. When compared to the dirty and smelly capital, it was very refreshing. Emelia took a deep breath and let out her Qi around the whole village and forest, even just barely managing to sense Leo, Agor, Kornela and Kalene, though it was only vague images as it was too far. Seeing that nothing had happened to them, she retracted her Qi and followed Duke Kar into the house. As she entered, she expected the house to be covered in cobwebs and be very dark. But when Duke Kar opened the door, all she saw was a normal home. Nothing was out of place, the stairs leading up were clean with no filth, the fireplace had no sut, and the kitchen was fully stocked. ¡°It seems that the villagers took great care of this place.¡± Emelia smiled at Duke Kar. ¡°Of course. I take care of them every month, sending a bit of money and lots of food. Only very rarely do caravans come through this place, so the food is important, they have their own well, so water isn¡¯t as important.¡± Duke Kar nodded as he lit up the hallways with lanterns. He walked over to one of the lantern holders and pulled down on it with force. It slowly tilted and the wall beside it began to slide aside. There appeared a dark staircase leading down. Emelia had already known that there was another floor when she released her Qi so she only nodded when Duke Kar looked at her. They carefully walked on the old creaking stairs, careful not to break them by accident. As the lantern lit up the whole room, the only thing that appeared was a white shine. The walls were full of swords, reflecting the light. In the middle of the room was an armour stand. On it was shiny red armour. The helmet covered the whole head, apart from the face, which was fully revealed. On top of it was a long purple plume. The chestplate was big, clearly for a robust muscular man. It was clearly defining a man''s physique. There seemed to be very little armour for the legs, clearly to allow for mobility, as it only covered the thighs and shins. The metal boots had fur on the inside which was quite soft. ¡°This is.. Megan. My campaign armour. It was created by my wife, Megan, 3 years ago. It¡¯s quite silly to name armour after my wife isn¡¯t it? She laughed when I told her that. I said I always wanted to have her by my side.¡± He sighed. ¡°Yet, when I returned from my campaign, I learned she was sick, so I retired immediately and have kept it down here all this time to keep this memory of her.¡± Duke Kar touched the armour with care as he spoke to Emelia, who was also appreciating the armour. Chapter 18- Spar Emelia stood silently, waiting for him to return from his dreamland. As she looked around, she saw maps and many books on a table. They seemed ancient, the paper yellowing and the writing growing blurry. It showed the Dylarr Empire controlling the whole mainland. And the Hian Empire, which on the map was called Levut, controlled only the islands. As the maps looked more and more new, so grew the territory of Hian, until it controlled the north of the continent. In the most recent map, the capital had moved from the island to the mainland. ¡°Our small and primitive country grew into an empire. Quite amazing is it not? Although it took centuries, it was all worth it. And it will be worth it when the future generations fight too.¡± He stared at the maps. ¡°I wasn¡¯t the first general, and I won¡¯t be the last. Those bastards in Dylarr don¡¯t deserve to rule the world. Us, Hian, we will fight them with every ounce of strength!¡± He glared at the words ¡®Dylarr¡¯ on all of the maps, only softening as he saw the words becoming less and less magnificent. Emelia nodded. ¡°As long as you, the informal representative of Hian, give yourself to Larystaro. Dylarr will be nothing more than a bug, while Hian will become a shining star within this world.¡± Duke Kar stiffened as he heard her words. ¡°Although I don¡¯t doubt you, my Empress. Dylarr is quite powerful, calling them bugs isn¡¯t very appropriate?¡± He pointed at the map. Emelia laughed. ¡°If a tiny country like Hian can fight against Dylarr, then Larystaro wouldn¡¯t even need to acknowledge its presence to destroy it. Here look at this.¡± She reached into her jacket and pulled out her Phase Pistol. Duke Kar stared at it confused. ¡°What¡¯s the least valuable item within this room?¡± Duke Kar looked around and pointed at a metal box in the corner. Emelia glanced at the box and slightly raised her hand to shoot the box. ¡°Pa~¡± Duke Kar looked at the box and saw a hole. The surroundings of the hole were red hot, even melting. He ran over to the box and moved it away from the wall. Behind the box, the wall also had a hole. ¡°This.. This wall and box both are made of Dragon Steel. How did you..¡± He stared at the gun.If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. ¡°This is a very basic and primitive weapon. It has even become obsolete a couple of hundred years ago in Larystaro, in favour of much better weapons. So think for yourself. If such a weapon were to be used in a war in this world, what would happen?¡± Emelia revealed a big smile as she spoke. Duke Kar stared at it as he contemplated. His eyes slowly widened. He parted his gaze from the gun and looked back at Emelia. ¡°You say.. A powerful weapon such as this¡­ Is obsolete?¡± He stared blankly in disbelief. ¡°Mhm. Though, it doesn¡¯t matter does it? If someone gets close to you, it won''t matter if the gun is powerful is it? That is why we train in melee combat also. I dare say, no one in this world can even compare to the melee combat of the basic infantry of Larystaro.¡± Emelia walked around Duke Kar as he followed her with his gaze. ¡°Kar, you must be very able since you became a general right? Even if you are retired, you must still have those skills. Come, spar me.¡± Emelia once again put her hand, which held the pistol, into her jacket. But instead of taking it out empty handed, she pulled out a small dark purple dagger. Small intricate marks on the dagger glowed a red light. The royal Larystaro emblem embedded on the black guard. As she did this, with her other hand she sent out a strand of Qi which made one of the swords on the wall fly towards Duke Kar. Duke Kar saw it fly towards him and barely caught it. ¡°Your Majesty! I don¡¯t think we shou-¡± Emelia jumped towards him and swung the dagger down. Duke Kar quickly lifted the sword which deflected the dagger to the side. ¡°Good reflexes¡± She praised as she back away in a flash. Duke Kar suddenly realised that she wanted to test his ability. He quickly took up a defensive position, the sword in his hand straight in front of him, legs apart for stability. Seeing that Duke Kar readied himself, she charged again. Emelia grinned as she sent a stab towards his shoulder, which Duke Kar struggled to react to, nearly causing him to be stabbed. Then quickly again, she slashed at his throat. Only this time, he didn¡¯t manage to react. As he saw the blade approach him, he could only look at Emelia to tell her he couldn¡¯t react. And indeed, before the blade reached him, it stopped. Emelia slightly nodded. ¡°Your reaction speed is quite good, but it¡¯s not enough. You need to train more.¡± She casually said ¡°Now, attack me.¡± She stood as if nothing was going to happen. Duke Kar grimaced and began running towards her. He was preparing to slash in a second, but as he was about to stop running, he tripped. He dropped face first right in front of Emelia black boots. As he slowly stood up he heard Emelia laugh quietly. ¡°You shouldn¡¯t just focus on your target. What about your surroundings? Come on. You wouldn¡¯t just charge at a singular person in a battlefield would you? Come again!¡± Duke Kar glanced at the ball of blue light that Emelia held in her hands and understood that she had been the one that tripped him. He walked back to his original position and closed his eyes, preparing his body and feeling his surroundings. He suddenly opened his eyes and once again ran towards Emelia, this time keeping an eye on anything that could trip him again. As he was about to stab, he felt a force strike his head from behind, planting his face into the ground as he tripped again. ¡°Friendly archer accidentally shot you from behind, dead. Again!¡± He stood up and glared at Emelia and quickly walked back to his position. ¡°Friendly fighter accidentally stabbed you from the side, dead. Again.¡± ¡°Enemy fighter threw something at you, dead. Again.¡± Chapter 19- Training At the top of Sword Mountain, in a little cave, smoke rose from a bright fire. The small group of Kars sat huddled around the campfire. It had already turned night, so it was cold, especially on a 5000m mountain. This mountain is the highest in the area so nothing gave cover against the harsh wind.. ¡°Big Brothers, I¡¯m worried about Teacher and Dad. They¡¯ve been gone a whole day, maybe something¡¯s happened. We should go look right?¡± Kornela looked at the entrance of the cave. It had begun to snow, but they were fortunately deeper inside so it didn¡¯t reach them, though it wouldn¡¯t matter even if it did reach them. They were trai ned in Body Techniques since birth, so although it is very cold, they can easily absorb and hold more heat from the fire. ¡°It¡¯s fine, didn¡¯t Dad say that Teacher was way stronger than even him?¡± Kalane exclaimed heartily. As she said this, her stick, which was above the fire slowly cooking a sausage began to burn. ¡°Ah, Ah~? Ah!¡± She let out a few different sounds before realising the fire. She quickly tapped Leo who just laughed at her. As she was about to throw it down, the fire extinguished. She stared at it confused. ¡°Thanks for the sausage, a bit crisp but I guess it¡¯s a fine return gift.¡± She quickly looked beside her to see Emelia sitting down, hot steam coming from her mouth as she held the roasting sausage in her hand. ¡°Teacher!¡± They all exclaimed. ¡°Where is Fa--¡± As Kalene was about to ask Emilia, they heard cursing outside the cave. ¡°God damn fucking snow.¡± Duke Kar looked like a snowman, his whole body was covered with snow, and his long hair had begun to freeze into icicles. When he entered the cave he saw everyone staring at him. Seeing them not let up their gazes he quickly shouted at them. ¡°What¡¯re you lookin¡¯ at? Give me some damn clothes, it¡¯s freezing!¡± He blushed, either from embarrassment, anger, cold or all three. Leo looked at Agor, and he nodded quickly as he threw one of his bags to Duke Kar. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. ¡°Alright, while he gets into some new clothes, the rest of you, follow me.¡± Emelia finished her sausage and stood up. ¡°Come, we¡¯re going to train.¡± She began walking outside. As she neared the entrance, all the snow outside began to visibly disappear, in place of the snow, water and slush appeared. And as she got closer, the water began to evaporate. Thick, compact fog surrounded them nearly instantly. ¡°Your first mission is to find each other, and don¡¯t worry, you won¡¯t be able to get injured here.¡± Kalene heard Emelias voice coming from every direction as she held her hand to her face, seeing how far she could see. I won¡¯t disappoint you! Kalene made a fist and quickly spread out her Space Energy. Emelia had told her that Space Energy was superior in scouting and the like. Instead of seeing the usual rough outline of objects as she normally would, she only felt darkness, as if she hadn¡¯t done anything. Space Energy doesn¡¯t work? Then.. What are we training? ¡°T..Teacher! What are we training for?¡± She shouted out. She waited for a response but got nothing. ¡°Mhm! Teacher knows what''s best, I must overcome this!¡± Kalene tried every method she knew. Normal Magic Energy? Useless. Space Energy? Useless. Walking around and hoping for the best? Useless. After walking around for a long time she just sat down hopelessly. She had hoped that by walking everywhere she would be able to find someone at the very least, but no, she didn¡¯t find anyone. Her only wish was that she could be everywhere, then she would definitely find someone! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ In another part of the fog, close to Kalene was Agor. Unlike Kalene, who was having a relaxed time, Agor, sword in hand, was fighting a tiger. It was fully white, made of fog. Whenever his saber reached the tiger, it only slightly deformed it. Quickly reforming as he backed away. It felt completely real, whenever he slashed, he felt the resistance. Whenever it roared, it shook him. ¡°This god damn training! I don¡¯t want to die, teacher!¡± He roared back at the tiger with some fear as he stabbed it. The misty tiger glared at him lifelessly. He got down low, ready to pounce. Agor quickly got into a defensive position as the tiger near instantly jumped on top of him. Agor raised his saber to be right in front of him, then he felt the whole weight of the tiger on him. The tiger jumped right into the saber which pierced it completely. Mist flew out from both sides of the holes, it quickly deformed and deflated. ¡°Haa~~ That was close..¡± He was about to relax as he saw another animal, this time a 3 tailed fox appeared. ¡°This.. A Magic creature!?¡± He let out a shriek as he ran away. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ¡°Empress, would you like some tea?¡± Duke Kar asked as he stared dumbly at his children stabbing and slashing the air right next to each other. ¡°Yeah, thanks!¡± Emelia giggled as she waved her hand towards Agor who had just fallen. Then she looked at Leo who was also in the same predicament as Agor and began to laugh menacingly. Duke Kar also glared at Agor and Leo. They both began to run in place, yet getting closer and closer to each other. Emelia looked at Kalene with disappointment, she was just sitting there doing nothing. She then moved her gaze onto Kornela who was just spewing out magic from her sword into the illusionary eagle constantly pecking at her. ¡°If you could see your children..¡± She sighed towards Duke Kar who could only blush as he stared at them. ¡°Well. Maybe I should teach them a bit more theory before rushing to the practical bits, I was hoping that maybe one of them cou--¡± Before she could finish speaking she put her full focus onto Kalene. As she stared she began laughing, even more menacing than before. Chapter 20- 6 Emotion Space As Emelia was analyzing the other children, Kalene was sweating and deep into her meditation. She had a sudden epiphany at her own words. Multiple places at once¡­ Multiple places¡­ At once¡­ Multiple.. Me¡­ White orbs began to appear around her moving around her in a circular pattern. Suddenly in her mind she saw herself appear, then another, and another, until she was surrounded by 6 of herself. They had different expressions, one was smiling faintly, one was laughing, another glaring at one of them crying. Kalene glared at the one glaring and after the glaring figure stopped, she nodded and smiled at her. ¡°Lets go!¡± She exclaimed joyfully, both in her mind and out loud. As soon as she said that ghostly figures of her appeared and began to run in all directions. ¡°I won¡¯t be out done either!¡± She hopped up and ran in the one vacant direction that her figures didn¡¯t go to. --------------------------------- ¡°What in the world is that? H.. How did she do that?¡± Duke Kar asked with joy. ¡°That is the 6 Emotion Clone. Emotions are in all types of magic, for example, indifference would be water, anger fire, yeah? Well basically, the Space element combines all of them into one. I honestly didn¡¯t expect Kalene to be able to access the emotional part of Space until later in her training. Even I, after training in Space magic for a decade had I learned that technique.¡± She glared at Kalene with fake anger. ¡°So, this is good news right?¡± Duke Kar stared at Kalenes joyful ghost hopping about. ¡°Well, under normal circumstances, yes. But Kalene hasn¡¯t learned to control her emotions with normal magic, yet she dared to use something that uses all 6 of her emotions. Remember, it took me a decade to learn that technique. Want to know why?¡± She rhetorically asked Duke Kar. ¡°It¡¯s because I was a hot headed little brat. I was forced to learn to be patient by my mother. Only after a decade of scolding was I supposedly prepared. Even then, I could barely control my emotions.¡± She took a sip of the tea Duke Kar had served. ¡°Mhm, nice tea, get more for me later.¡± Her eyes turned into crescent moons as she sipped the tea.This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon. ¡°Of course Empress.¡± Duke Kar let out a smile as he was also happy she liked it. It was his own special tea that only he grew. ¡°Anyway, the situation is actually very good for Kalene, she isn¡¯t like what I was. She is a very energetic and joyful girl, so her emotions are more in sync.¡± She nodded to herself. --------------------------------------- ¡°Kalene!? How did you manage to..¡± Leo who was constricted by the fox¡¯s tails suddenly spotted Kalene walking towards him with a blank, even somewhat cold face. Then he looked a bit closer at her and saw she was translucent. ¡°W..What¡¯s going on!?¡± He let out a groan as the fox applied more pressure on him harder, then all of a sudden the weight disappeared, and what appeared in front of him wasn¡¯t the fox¡¯s condescending face, but a translucent knife. ¡°Follow.¡± Kalenes voice echoed without any emotion. She began sprinting, but Leo was much older than her and caught up easily, staying near. As they travelled in the smoke, Leo was constantly looking around. Shortly after they began running, a figure appeared beside Kalene. ¡°Hi Leo~~!¡± The other Kalene giggled as Agor appeared behind her. The two looked at each other bewildered as they continued to follow the 2 Kalenes. After running for another short while they spotted the solid figure of Kalene panting. Leo and Agor slowed down but the 2 Kalenes kept running. ¡°Sorry~!¡± The laughing Kalene exclaimed fakely before rushing into her with a burst which pushed Kalene back. Indifferent Kalene didn¡¯t say anything and just ran into her, also disappearing, but this burst pushed her onto the ground. ¡°Kalene! Are you ok?¡± The two brothers quickly ran to her and hugged her. Kalene let out a gagging sound and separated quickly. ¡°Bleh.¡± Kalene spat out some blood which flowed from her nose to her mouth. Suddenly Kornela appeared, holding Kalenes hand. Kalene was looking around everywhere and shivered as she held onto Kornela. ¡°Kalene! What magic is this!? Can you teach me!? Please! Please~~!¡± Kornela let go of the ghostly Kalene and ran to the real one. The cowardly Kalene saw Kalene and instantly ran into her. As she did so, more blood began pouring from her nose. ¡°This..¡± Leo and Agor stared at the blood flowing from their little sisters nose and quickly looked for any medical cloth they had. ¡°Here.¡± Emelia appeared in front of Kalene near instantly. She opened Kalenes mouth and put in a pill. ¡°Swallow it.¡± Kalene nodded and swallowed. As she did so she quickly felt better, and the blood stopped flowing. ¡°Good girl.¡± Emelia petted Kalene. Kalene closed her eyes and rested her body in Emelia''s embrace. Shortly after she closed her eyes, a slow breathing, a cute snore came from her mouth. ¡°Come.¡± Emelia whispered to the quietly sobbing figure beside Duke Kar. The crying Kalene nodded and walked towards Emelia. Emelia stretched out a finger towards the crying Kalene and she instantly transformed into a blue orb. She then pointed at the sleeping Kalene and the orb slowly and peacefully floated into her. Emelia stood up with Kalene in her embrace and walked towards Duke Kar. He quickly stretched out his arms to hold her carefully. He then enshrouded himself in Qi and began walking down the mountain. When they got far enough Emelia looked at Leo, Agor and Kornela who just looked both confused and excited. ¡°Very good everyone. There is improvement, especially you Kornela, good job using magic. Leo and Agor, please at least try to incorporate magic into your attacks. Remember what I taught you? You can even use your swords as mediums to channel magic.¡± She scolded Leo and Agor. The both of them didn¡¯t use any magic in their attacks. Solely relying on their sword techniques. They both blushed. They wanted to use magic but they didn¡¯t have enough time to channel anything before getting attacked, so they just used their fast sword techniques. ¡°Well, there will be more chances later, go follow your father.¡± She pulled Kornela into her embrace and let out a purple light before disappearing. Leo and Agor enviously glared at Kornelas small figure in their minds before making their way down. Chapter 21- Birthday ¡°Dad~! How do I look?¡± Kalene spun around in a puffy white dress, her long blonde hair fluttering everywhere. ¡°Beautiful, very beautiful of course!¡± Duke Kar patted Kalene. Kornela followed not long after, she jumped out of the changing room and also spun around. Her dress was a simple light green colour. ¡°What about me dad~?¡± She looked up at Duke Kar with a wide smile. Duke Kar grabbed her and threw her into the air. ¡°Very cute Kornela!¡± Kornela giggled as she floated for a second before falling back into Duke Kars embrace. Her brown shoulder lenght hair covering Duke Kars old face. Emelia walked out just as Duke Kar managed to barely catch Kornela and raised an eyebrow at him. She wore a simple black dress. She needed no makeup nor any accessorys. She was simply that beautiful. In fact, those things would probably even ruin her beauty. Her straight long black hair only complemented her dress. ¡°Very beautiful my Empress!¡± Duke Kar exclaimed as he struggled to hold the escaping Kornela. But Duke Kar was no match for Kornelas slippiness and slickly escaped to run to Emelia. All of them had already gotten used to Duke Kar calling her ¡°Empress¡± when he accidentally called her that during a meal. ¡°Waaa~~ Teacher! You¡¯re sooo beautiful. Up! Up!¡± Kornela lifted her arms, expecting to be picked up. Emelia obliged seeing Kornelas big sad puppy eyes staring at her and lifted her onto one arm. Seeing that Kornela escaped to Emelia, Duke Kar made a very sad face. ¡°It¡¯s my birthday and yet you still run away to others, not caring about your own father at all. I see how it is.¡± He turned away pretending to be very sad. ¡°Noo! Dad~.¡± Kornela quickly got off Emelia and ran back to Duke Kar. As she was about to run into him for a hug, he turned around and began tickling her.Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. ¡°Haha, dare to run away again?¡± Duke Kar said angerily. ¡°No, No, I swear I won¡¯t run away~ Stop~~~¡± Tears began to flow from Kornelas eyes as she couldn¡¯t stop laughing. ¡°Good girl!¡± He stopped and carefully fixed her hair and dress. ¡°Alright lets go. Ilas, you lead of course.¡± Emelia looked at Duke Kar and he nodded as he set Kornela down. Duke Kar walked to the door and pushed them both open. As soon as he opened them a loud cheer erupted. ¡°Father, everything is prepared and everyone is satisfied.¡± Leo and Agor stood beside him, both in black refined suits. Beautiful golden ceremonial swords on their hips that stood out making a perfect combination with their suits. In front of them stood a near thousand people in this big hall, and almost all of them big high ranking military men in red ceremonial military garbs, the medals on their chests plain to see. Only a few scholarly men in blue robes stood in the center of the hall, in their own enclosed group clearly not fitting in with everyone else. There were not many women. At most a couple dozen. And only one stood with the military men at the front. The rest were in the outskirts in their own groups. ¡°Long live Great General Kar! Great Hero Kar!¡± The whole mansion shook from their roars. Duke Kar put up his hand and the roars instantly settled. Clearly having great respect for him. ¡°I would like to thank all of you for coming here today! Today I am celebrating my 90th birthday. I am becoming an old man now. My conquests of past are only a fond memory now. Times are troubled now as all of you know. The Dylarr are a bunch of bastards, and it¡¯s up to the younger generation to fight them. We old men should just sit back and watch them. Cheers all!¡± He grabbed a drink from Leo and drank all of it quickly. The old men began to laugh while the younger military men exclaimed in mock anger. ¡°Enjoy yourselves everyone!¡± He began walked downstairs and towards the end of the hall where the main seat of honour was. He, of course sat in the very middle. Emelia sat to his right and Kalene beside her. Kornela sat to the left of the duke, and left a space beside her for Isabella. Leo and Agor sat at both ends of the table. It didn¡¯t take long for people to begin whispering and asking about Emelia. The person in question though, didn¡¯t care and kept drinking and eating anything and everything placed in front of her. Kalene just stared in amazment as she kept placing random foods onto Emelias plate. Emelia would only momentarily glance at Kalene, who was staring at Emelia blankly, and then eat, whereupon her eyes glowed with joy. As everyone was staring at Emelia like a convicted criminal, the big doors opened and Isabella in a big light blue dress appeared with a young handsome man in armour holding her hand as they walked towards the main table. Duke Kar began to let out a chilling killing intent that everyone in the room felt as soon as he saw the man. Isabella stopped for a moment but just shook it off, clearly having felt that intent many times. ¡°Dad! Please give your blessing for me and Karl to marry!¡± Isabella and Karl both knelt down, clearly very firmly as the ground let out a thump as they fell. The temperature sharply decreased. ¡°We¡¯ll talk about it after the party, for now, join us here. Imperial Prince can sit anywhere else.¡± Duke Kar said firmly Isabella glanced at Karl and he nodded. Only then did she come to sit beside Kornela and Duke Kar. The atmosphere quickly returned to being jovial and whispers once again flooded the hall, yet instead of talking about Emelia, the focus was on Karl and Isabella. Karl went to join some of the younger military men, who quickly grabbed him into their circle and began interrogating him. Chapter 22- Serena ¡°Empress, should I order some more food to come here?¡± Duke Kar asked as he saw his daughter feeding Emelia. Their whole table was nearly empty, most of it being eaten by Emelia, Leo and Agor. Emelia looked at Kalene, who quickly nodded. Duke also nodded and looked at one of the servants to the side and made a small hand gesture. Just as the servant was about to approach Duke Kar, a small scuffle erupted as the elderly scholars approached the main table with their long blue robes dragging across the floor. ¡°Happy birthday Duke Kar. Today I am here to present a message and a gift from her Empress Eina.¡± He spoke loudly so his voice reached the whole room. Everyone quickly stopped what they were doing as soon as they heard him mention the Empress. The man leading the scholars reached into his robe and pulled out a very decorated scroll. He slowly unfurled the scroll and began reading. ¡°I wish Ilas Kar a happy 90th birthday. Ilas has helped this country many times more than I ever could. For his many years of service, I am increasing your pension from 1000 Qi Stones to 5000 per month. I am also granting Duke Kar the new title: Epoch Guardian.¡± The old mans voice began to weaken and as soon as he spoke out the title he quickly waved for one of the servants holding water. The young boy briskly walked over and handed it to him. The old man carefully handed the scroll to one of the old men as the drank from the glass. Feeling refreshed, he checked his hand for any dirt or moisture and carefully took the scroll again. ¡°Ahem. This ¡®Epoch Guardian¡¯ title will be exclusive to him. His descendants shall all be granted the ¡®Epoch Seeds¡¯ title. The owner of the ¡®Epoch Guardian¡¯ title gains the authority to control the army at the same level as a Junior General and the ¡®Epoch Seeds¡¯ have the chance to gain the ¡®Epoch Guardian¡¯ title while also having the authority of a 500 man battalion. I Empress Eina Valentina hereby grant these to Iles Kar and his descendants.¡± The old man stopped and the whole room was quickly filled with applause. At the main table Emelia was cringing. She got closer to Duke Kar and whispered. ¡°Epoch Seeds? Really? I am embarrassed for them.¡± Duke Kar felt her warm breath on his ears and he quickly turned as red as a tomato. ¡°Embarrassed? They gain a title, why would they be embarrassed?¡± He truly felt confused. They would gain a promotable title and authority within the army alongside it.Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. She just shook her head and Duke Kar stood up to accept his titles. Meanwhile, no one noticed that Emelia had vanished in an instant, almost as if she was never there in the first place. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ¡°Kur? Kur?! Nada!¡± (Where? Where?! I need it!) Inside of Duke Kars office a low voice muttered as a figure opened all the drawers and cabinets, searching desperately yet still having enough time to fix everything as they were.. The figure wore the same red/silver armour as the guards who had been patrolling the whole mansion. After rummaging for another few seconds they suddenly stopped. They took out some of the papers and quickly skimmed through revealing military plans and Hian¡¯s defense front. ¡°Tur!¡± (Got it) The voice whispered. ¡°What d¡¯ya have there eh?¡± The figure froze instantly. They didn¡¯t move even a muscle, yet clearly trembled. ¡°C¡¯mere, and take off that helmet, let me see your face.¡± The figure slowly turned around to face Emelia who stood by the closed doors and began limping to Emelia, slowly, one step at a time. They stopped right in front of Emelia and their hand rose tremblingly towards their head and heavily lifted it until it revealed the face. A beautiful feminine face appeared, long silky blue hair became like a waterfall as it fell onto the armour. As the hair moved away from her face, her deep ocean coloured eyes stared at Emelia with regret and fear. And the most important feature, the ears! Long pointy ears poked out of her blue hair. Emelia began caressing her smooth white face and then moved onto her ears. These ears? Are they perhaps not human? No one I have encountered before had these¡­ A mutant maybe? The girl stared at Emilia''s eyes full of curiosity and wonder. She felt confused. Emelia moved both of her hands towards the girls temples and closed her eyes, her hands began to shine a slight white as the girl also closed her eyes. As soon as she closed her eyes she found herself in a total black void. And across from her, Emelia stood there. ¡°What is your name? What are you? Why are you here?¡± Emelia clearly and slowly spoke in Larystian. ¡°!?¡± The girl trembled slightly and opened her mouth but nothing came out. ¡°You merely need to think, and we can communicate, a language barrier is nothing.¡± Emelia had heard the girl speak a different language, and for the sake of convenience set up an easy Consciousness Conversation spell. ¡°H..How are you doing this?¡± The girl asked slowly. ¡°Answer me first, you can¡¯t escape from this dreamscape, at least, not at your level. And even if you want to, you can never die until I want you to. So, who are you? And what are you?¡± Emelia smiled mirthlessly at her. The girl looked around and saw that there was truly no escape so she just slowly tried to sit down, and seeing that nothing happened she relaxed. ¡°I am Serena Vernale of the Black Light tribe of the Dylarr Empire. I was sent here by Commander Quithan Vernalus.¡± She spoke out. ¡°Very good, but what I really and truly want to know is, what are you? Some kind of mutant, or a different species?¡± Emelia looked at Serena with interest. Seeing Emelia eye her up and down like some kind of animal made her feel embarrassed, especially in this dreamscape. ¡°W..What do you mean by m..mutant? Or species?¡± She stuttered and stared at Emelia weirdly. Chapter 23- Subject ¡°What do I mean? From those ears of yours and your physical body, you¡¯re clearly not a human. A species would be for example.. A fox and a cat, they are not the same animal even though they look the same right? They are 2 different species, and you, you are in the same situation with humans. So what are you?¡± Emelia saw confusion arise in Serena''s eyes. She thought that she didn¡¯t understand still so she was about to explain a bit more, but Serena started talking. ¡°Uhhh.. I am an Elf. We are indeed not humans.. You¡¯re definitely a strong expert, how do you not know what we are?¡± Emelia raised an eyebrow at that. ¡°An.. Elf? Are there also other intelligent species in this.. What¡¯s it called.. Pytha world.¡± Serena nodded hesitantly. ¡°Of course, there¡¯s us, the elves. Then there¡¯s the humans, then the Cyans who live in the water and the Winged people of the sky, and¡­ I guess some of the Magical Beasts are intelligent, though they don¡¯t have our forms, only their beastly ones.¡± ¡°Mkay, well, let''s end this here.¡± As soon as Emelia said this, she disappeared and Serena felt the heavy pressure that was on her quickly disappear, soon she started feeling her body again. She struggled to open her eyes and as she did, she got startled by the sight. Duke Kar stood with 4 guards at either side of her, holding her. He stared at her angrily. ¡°I¡¯m taking her to my room, I need to experiment on her a bit.¡± Emelia waved her hand and Serena followed willingly, knowing she couldn¡¯t resist. Though she didn¡¯t forget to stamp on the foot of one of the guards who was holding her tightly. Fortunately for the guard, he was wearing armoured boots, so he only felt a tickle from it. ------------------------------------- ¡°Undress.¡± Emelia stared at Serena with a deadpan expression. Serena stood in front of Emilia''s big king sized bed while Emelia herself sat in a chair with her legs crossed, though one couldn¡¯t tell because of the black dress she had on. If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Serena blushed and glared at Emelia. ¡°We¡¯re both women here, or do you want me to take them off you?¡± Emelia smirked as Serena quickly shook her head and began to slowly take off the armour she had stolen. Though she had turned around Emelia could see her beautiful pale skin and curves. ¡°Face me.¡± Serena turned towards Emelia while covering herself with her hands. Her breasts weren¡¯t large so her hands easily covered them. ¡°Good girl, now, lie down on the bed, hands by your side.¡± She quickly got in the bed with her face fully flushed. ¡°K..Ka del?¡± Serena whispered as she saw Emelia approaching. ¡°Sleep.¡± She put her hand on Serena''s face and quickly, a deep breathing appeared from her mouth. ¡°Now.. Let¡¯s see what is different and why that is..¡± She looked around and found a small gem from the multitudes of gems that Duke Kar had given her. She covered the blue gem in her hands and a light blue began shining from her hands. After a couple of seconds the light receded and she inspected the gem. ¡°Zzzzzz~¡± If someone brought the gem up to their ear, they could hear a slight hum. Being satisfied she threw it above Serena and it began to shine a bright blue light on her body. ¡°Yue Rosefell, Empress of Larystaro, titles titles titles, blah blah blah. Age, forgotten, probably a couple of tens of millenniums. Larystaro calendar year...9974 AL(After Life), April 2nd. Pytha, Hian calendar year 96 NE(New Empire), Sunfire 3rd.¡± She spoke out loud as if there were other people in the room, but it was only her and an unconscious Serena. ¡°Subject study: Elf (Sub-species? New species?). Indigenous to Dylarr. Proceeding to scan the brain of subject designation ¡®Serena¡¯. Scan successful, no anomalies, same as a human brain. Proceeding to scan organs. Scan found anomaly, an extra organ has been found. Organs are weaker than humans indicating weak body strength. Continuing with beginner scans. Proceeding to scan reproduction organs, meridians and magic vessels. Anomaly, magic vessels missing. Meridians are expanded allowing for greater use of Qi (To compensate for weak body?). No equipment to investigate DNA and anomalies: Extra organ, magic vessels. Case Dylarr-1 is being archived.¡± Emelia spoke robotically as she touched all around Serena¡¯s body. Although her voice was robotic, her eyes were anything but. A fire which had been gone for a long time was sparked in her eyes as she stared at Serena and the mystery of elves. She reached for the gem which had been suspended in the air and it quickly flew into her hand. It began to let out Emelia¡¯s voice and reflected images of what had just happened. ¡°Good, this will probably interest those old people in the departments.¡± She stretched her hand and the gem disappeared instantly into her storage space. She took out another 2 gems, red in colour, and began to enchant them as well, though this time it was faster because she didn¡¯t need to add an image enchant on it. ¡°Language: Hianese. Country of origin: Hian. Language family:??¡± She spoke fluent Hian into the gem and once she was satisfied with all the vocabulary, grammar and etiquette she threw it into her space as well. She placed the extra gem she had taken onto the desk beside her as she mediated, waiting for Serena to wake up. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ¡°Your majesty Young Emperor Synlthius, lord of elves and the Dylarr Imperium. I am Toki Kan, the diplomat f.. From Kand. W.. We would like to negotiate peace, please don¡¯t forget we have the Hian behind us.¡± The old Toki Kan that had requested help from the Hian Empress was now prostrating himself before the Emperor of Dylarr. He looked worn out and a sword wound had appeared on his cheek. His clothes tattered, even though he was a diplomat, as he was crossing the border into Dylarr, none of the elves spared him, they attacked and robbed him at will, and he couldn¡¯t do anything. He had to take it for peace. Chapter 24- Dylarr Royalty ¡°Ha, so you crawled all the way here? How did an old man like you survive my kind citizens? Very funny, but unfortunately for you, I am not my father, I will lead my Empire to rule the world. As for peace? Who needs peace when you are superior?¡± He burst out laughing maniacally. Emperor Synlthius was only a young elf, merely 20 years old. His father died at the border Dylarr/Kand while he was attacking a Kand fort with a company of Soul Severing Qi cultivators. Clearly being a young elf, yet having to take the position of Emperor and ruler of all elves did not go well with his mentality. He himself was a Soul Gathering cultivator, which was the bare minimum for him to become Emperor ¡°W.. What do you mean?¡± Toki Kan stuttered as Emperor Synlthius got off his throne made of a black steel. Emperor Synlthius only shook his head and pointed a finger at Toki Kan. ¡°Burn.¡± In an instant fire engulfed Toki. Screams pierced the palace as the elven guards stood staring at Toki indifferently. The smell of burning flesh quickly spread throughout the throne room. He stared at Toki with a big smile as Toki was slowly becoming a charred pile of ash and small bones. ¡°Clean that up, and send the bones to Kand with a note. ¡®From Gilran Synlthius, for my father.¡¯, got it?¡± Emperor Synlthius glanced at the elven knight in black armour beside him. The knight nodded and walked over to Tokis bones. Slowly picking them up and placing them into a bag. Some servants entered with a broom and a plate and brushed all the ashes onto the plate. Just as quickly as they entered, they left, leaving no trace of Toki being there. ¡°Your Majesty, Royal Princess Serena hasn¡¯t returned; she''s probably been captured.¡± An old elf entered just as the servants were leaving. ¡°That¡¯s fine Relt, she¡¯s probably dead by now, find someone else to do it.¡± Emperor Sylthius answered indifferently. The old elf nodded and also left, only leaving behind the emperor, who just closed his eyes and relaxed. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ¡°K, Uo~, R~. Kur.¡± Serena opened her mouth to allow Emelia to see where to put her tongue to pronounce words. This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. ¡°Kur. Was that pronunciation ok?¡± Emelia asked ¡°Ah~, ok next.¡± Serena nodded. Serena woke up and found Emelia staring at her body with intense passion, but seeing that she was dressed again she relaxed. She was quickly confused again as Emelia began to speak, she quickly understood that Emelia wanted to learn her language. ¡°You¡¯re a very fast learner, you must have a good talent in languages.¡± Serena spoke a bit too quickly so she repeated it again for Emelia. ¡°Mhm, ie supwose, ie now ma~ni languag.¡± Emelia spoke seriously but Serena only giggled. ¡°You¡¯re speaking like a baby would.¡± She laughed out loud as she saw Emelia¡¯s serious face speaking like that. ¡°Uou¡¯re rite, com hyry.¡± Serena shuffled over to Emelia. Coming into range, Emelia put her hand on Serena¡¯s temple. ¡°Is this better? The one true weakness of this thing is that I need to know some vocabulary before I can acquire the accent and all.¡± Emelia spoke confidently. Meanwhile Serena¡¯s jaw nearly dropped. She pointed at Emelia and stuttered. ¡°B¡­ But! How! It takes decades for humans to learn our language and even then it¡¯s still difficult!¡± ¡°Who said I¡¯m human?¡± Emelia smiled mischievously at her and patted her head. Serena looked confused but didn¡¯t complain anymore. ¡°Now that we can properly communicate, who are you?¡± Emelia pulled out the red gem from before and put it between her and Serena. ¡°Communication between Yue Rosefell and Subject Serena in Dylarrian beginning now.¡± Serena glanced at Emelia speaking a weird language she couldn¡¯t even begin to try and pronounce, all she heard was her name in a very weird pronunciation. ¡°Mhm, my name is Gilran Serena, a royal branch of the Dylarr Royal Family, my cousin is the Emperor. I assume you know nothing of elves, so I¡¯ll just say some random things. We elves use the first name as a surname and the second name is our name. Opposite of the way humans have it.¡± Emelia nodded as it was the same way in the Jericho Federation. Being rebellious, they changed it so that the surname comes first. Emelia took out her Fallen University emblem. ¡°Do you know this?¡± ¡°Oh yeah, isn¡¯t that the Divine Cult¡¯s Emblem? My father was part of that¡­ Before my brother..¡± Serena trailed off. ¡°Ok, well, since you¡¯re a leader of Dylarr, I¡¯ll introduce myself. I am Yue Rosefell, Empress of Larystaro. But you call me Emelia Fellwood. I am taking you under the banner of the Empire, you can¡¯t leave anymore, not that you have a choice.¡± Emelia smiled happily at Serena. ¡°What¡¯s Larystaro, I¡¯ve never heard of such an Empire, is it one of those small nations?¡± Serena looked at Emelia with a raised eyebrow. ¡°Puff, a small nation? It isn¡¯t even in this world, if anything, this whole world is just a backwater place.¡± Emelia bragged with pride. ¡°You know what, inspect that emblem.¡± Emelia gave it to Serena. Taking it, she looked carefully, only seeing the black figure with wings and a pair of red eyes. ¡°There¡¯s noth--¡± She jumped up and covered her mouth as she stared at Emelia with fear. ¡°Ahh, feels nice to stretch.¡± Emelia sniggered at Serena''s shock. She had stretched out her black wings and flapped them slightly, as if she were about to take off. ¡°Haaa~¡± She poured a cup of tea for herself. ¡°Ilas really makes the best tea leaves.¡± Serena was completely stiff. She rubbed her eyes multiple times to make sure she wasn¡¯t hallucinating. She wanted to reach out and touch them but didn¡¯t dare. Embarrassed, she looked at Emelias face and nearly cried out. Blood red eyes and a small purple halo above her head. She quickly picked up the emblem she dropped when she jumped and compared them. Nearly the exact same, only that the emblem had left out the halo. ¡°Y.. You¡¯re from the divine race imprinted on the emblem? A.. And you¡¯re the leader of all of the people? S.. So doesn¡¯t that mean that you¡¯re the leader of the Divine Cult? And who are the divine beings that the Goddess¡¯ Church worships?¡± Emelia raised an eyebrow. ¡°Goddess¡¯ Church, those guys? They worship the Jericho Federation, a bunch of bastards." Chapter 25- Spicy Roast ¡°Jericho Federation? So there are empires even in the divine realm?¡± Serena looked at the emblem with complicated feelings. ¡°Think of it like this, Hian is Larystaro and Dylarr is the Federation. The only difference is that we rebelled and were pushed out of the Federations universe. Though by now we are probably strong enough to completely destroy them.¡± Emelia picked up 2 knives from the bedside table. Then she grabbed a glass. ¡°See this glass? This is your world, Pytha. These knives? Larystaro and the Federation. Watch.¡± She tossed the glass up and threw the 2 knives after it as quick as lightning, even leaving a trail of silver. The glass fell onto the fur carpet below not damaging it at all. Serena looked confused, did Emelia miss? Walking over casually she picked up the glass and held it in front of her face. The knives had left 4 holes in the glass yet somehow didn¡¯t break it. ¡°Do you understand?¡± Emelia smiled as she waved for the knives, which quickly returned to her. Serena still having her hand in the figure of holding the glass shook her head. Emelia nearly facepalmed and sighed. ¡°Basically, we can both destroy Pytha without any effort and still continue forward.¡± ¡°Oh yeah, keep that emblem, it¡¯s yours now. You¡¯re not royalty anymore, you¡¯re now the general of the Larystarian Elf Vanguard.¡± She smiled as she said this. Serena held the emblem staring at Emelia. She put on a complicated expression before slowly becoming resolute. She dropped to her. ¡°Serena Synlthius greets Goddess Yue. I wish to have the chance to avenge my father under Goddess.¡± ¡°Granted. You may as well take it that he¡¯s dead already.¡± Emelia placed her hand on Serena''s head. Serena felt her forehead itch and her body become restless, as if she was full of energy. The same symbol that had appeared on the Kar family quickly etched itself onto her own forehead.Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. ¡°You are now a Larystarian, go, speak to your new brother. Tell him to build up forces, increase his own prestige and to train Kalene according to this book.¡± Emelia took out 2 old looking books and carefully gave them to Serena. ¡°¡®Uhm.. Something-Hian dictionary¡¯ and.. I can¡¯t read the other title?¡± Serena looked up from the book to ask but Emelia was nowhere in the room. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ¡°Yum~. What¡¯s this called? Spicy Roast? It¡¯s quite good, prepare another 20 will ya¡¯?¡± Hearing the order, the dapper teenager who clearly only just started working nodded like a chicken and swiftly walked to the counter. Sitting by the window, Emelia stared out at the street full of wooden carriages being pulled by different animals. Those who were more military or armed were pulled by wolves and other dangerous animals, while those normal merchants who sold jewelry and apparel were drawn by mostly horses and rarely, some sort of elephant/rhino hybrid called an Arotho. She was currently in a big name restaurant which had many different branches open. Of course, since this was the capital of Hian, the headquarters was this building. She wanted to taste the local food, but she wouldn¡¯t stoop to the level of the peasants who ate spiced up rats, insects and the like. The Spicy Roast she was eating is really just Arotho meat with some different types of salad and 2 buns on top and bottom. Basically just a glorified burger. ¡°Here you go miss.¡± The waiter blushed, glanced at her face from time to time, as he put down all 20 of the burgers wondering how she was going to eat them all. ¡°Thank you, ah.. Ricardo.¡± She gave a great big smile as she opened the next burger. ¡°N..No problem!¡± He nodded as seriously as he could before he went to go brag to one of the other young workers that such a cute girl talked to him and even called his name. Happily eating another couple, she took out the map of Hian she got from Duke Kar and spread it out on the table. North of her was the cold and lifeless front that Hian was fighting for with the barbarians. East was merely the ocean, just a nice tourist trap. West was the ancient capital of Hian, Oltam, located in the middle of a lake. Being the previous capital, it still had a lot of authority, and it was only second to the current capital. Many officials and rich merchants had bought property in Oltam. It was the place most people went to for learning Qi, martial arts or just scholastic activities. It held competitions ranging from making medicines to military strategy. The most important city in Hian according to most people. South were many normal towns and cities. South of the towns and cities was the Kand Protectorate of Hian and the bordering Koris, a vassal of Dylarr. Making up her mind to go to Oltam to scout for some more talents to add to her army she rolled up the map and threw it into her space along with the burgers. She raised her hand for the waiter, who quickly ran over. ¡°Hello miss! C.. Can I help you?¡± Ricardo began crying as he saw his co-worker attend to Emelia Meanwhile the official¡¯s family he was currently serving were instantly confused as they saw his eyes water. The father looked at where he was looking and patted Ricardo telling him to sit down and talk about it. ¡°Yeah, where¡¯s the closest animal shop, doesn¡¯t matter what kind. This is for you and Ricardo.¡± She winked as she put 4 gold coins into his hand. Seeing this money, he put quickly into his pocket and gave a secret thumbs up to Ricardo, which she clearly saw, before ripping a page from his notebook to draw a map. ¡°Thanks Milos.¡± She patted him and left the restaurant. Milos ran to Ricardo who was spilling out his feelings to the family and hugged him. ¡°She said my name too! And look! She gave us 2 gold coins each!¡± They both began crying, holding each other in their arms. The family sat there dumbfounded and irritated at these 2 unprofessional waiters. Chapter 26- Lagi ¡°Beasties and Mounties. Sounds interesting, thank you.¡± Emelia tossed a golden coin at a dirty and clearly malnourished child she had found that led her to this shop. Taking the coin fiercely, he ran away, afraid others would see. This was just the way of the streets, friendships could end easily upon seeing such a large amount of money, especially children on the streets. Emelia knew she couldn¡¯t change anything so she just sighed and walked into the large zoo-like shop. As soon as she stepped in she saw the reception full of animals, both small and large. Seeing Emelia walk in, one of the better dressed shopkeepers walked over. Informing him of what she wanted he nodded and took great care of this fat sheep. He handed her a book of all the creatures they had in stock and as Emelia flicked through, there were almost love hearts in her eyes. Restraining her temptation to buy those cute furry animals she went to those large and ugly war beasts. ¡°What¡¯s this?¡± Emelia pointed to a big red bird with flames on top of it. ¡°This is a Flame Hawk, despite the picture, they are quite small so I wouldn¡¯t recommend it as a mount. But being magical fire beasts, they can use fire in their attacks.¡± He quickly explained any questions she had about the bird. Nodding, she continued until she saw a cute white fox with 3 tails behind it. ¡°This?¡± She raised an eyebrow. A fox appearing in the warbeast section, clearly a mistake. ¡°Ahh, this is our prized possession here in the capital. This is a 3 Tailed Demon Fox. They¡¯re very rare so the price is quite big for it.¡± Seeing Emelia not budge at his words he continued. ¡°This 3 Tailed Demon Fox was caught in the Frost Mountains, east of the capital. They¡¯re known for their abilities in Illusions, Ice and strangely Fire. They are very strong and therefore suitable to be mounted. Usually, young ladies have these very cute foxes, I can see that it would fit you perfectly. I do have to warn you though, they are very strong. I don¡¯t recommend you to buy one if you don¡¯t know any martial arts, or if your body is weak.¡± Despite being a businessman, he didn¡¯t want to see this cute young girl hurt so he warned her appropriately.Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. ¡°It¡¯s fine, how much?¡± Emelia reached into her storage bag that Duke Kar had given her to hide the fact that she had her own storage space. ¡°This.. Since you are buying our most expensive beast, how about this, 200 High Energy Qi Stones. This is the lowest I can go.¡± The shopkeeper was confident that she couldn¡¯t buy at this price. Even normal viscount couldn¡¯t afford this if they sold all their possessions. ¡°Good.¡± Instantly taking out all 200 Qi Stones in a bag, she handed it to the shopkeeper. His eyes bulged as he took the bag and only sighed sadly. ¡°Come with me.¡± Following him, Emelia saw all the beasts in their own habitats. ¡°Miss is actually lucky, she is the last one we have and she is very young, may she serve you well.¡± Quickly reaching the habitat that was built for the fox he put in some of his Qi in the metal door that was surrounded by thick glass. ¡°Fox! You see miss, we don¡¯t name them after capture so customers can grow alongside them, though the fox is young, only a year old, she can already be mounted and fight.¡± Not long after he called out, a fox as big as a car appeared from thin air. ¡°This is one of her illusion abilities, something like camouflage.¡± Emelia nodded at the man''s explanation as she walked to the fox. ¡°Who, who, who?! Who are yu~. Hehe, stinky old man, I¡¯ll escape one day! Hmm, who are you?!! Who, you smell funny, I like it. Funny~¡± The fox jumped around yipping, her 3 tails as thick as arms smacking into the surrounding trees. ¡°Very good. Come with me, you¡¯re mine now.. Let¡¯s see.. Lagi? I like that. Let¡¯s go Lagi.¡± She waved for Lagi and she followed. ¡°Humph, humph! Lagi Lagi will escape hehe, I¡¯ll follow you for now hehe, you won¡¯t see me escaping haha.¡± She followed Emelia willingly. Walking all the way to the outer gates with Lagi in tow, everyone stared at the 2 cute duo, a cute fox and a cute girl. Finally exiting the capital Emelia sighed. ¡°Alright Lagi, follow me.¡± She walked far enough that she couldn¡¯t see anyone at the gate anymore and jumped on Lagi. Getting close to her ear she whispered in a strange tongue. ¡°Listen here Lagi, there won¡¯t be any escaping under my watch, understand? If you try to get away, you¡¯ll soon find yourself in darkness. Understood?¡± Like a devil finishing a deal in a charming voice she spoke slowly for Lagi. Lagi stood frozen, first terror and then confusion appeared in her eyes. ¡°Yu.. Yu can understand me?¡± Rubbing Lagi¡¯s soft fur she ¡®Mhmed¡¯. ¡°Names¡¯ Yue. Now that you understand the consequences of running away. Let¡¯s have a good friendship.¡± She laughed like a devil as she stroked Lagis head. ¡°Now run¡­ Let¡¯s see¡­ West. That way.¡± She pointed to a direction and Lagi began running, her tail had shrunk so that it wouldn¡¯t hit anything along the way. ¡°How can Yue understand and speak like this?¡± Lagi asked while running. ¡°Not Human.¡± Emelia spat out an answer and Lagi let out a sound of acknowledgement. ¡°Of course of course. The Humans are too stupid to understand us hehe.¡± Lagi laughed and felt comforted as Emelia kept petting her all over. -------------- ¡°Yue! Yue~~!!¡± Emelia woke up groggily to see people floating in front of them. Or more accurately, flying. Instantly becoming alert at seeing their white pair of wings. There were a dozen people in total, each of them had swords, bows and arrows. Ready to attack if Lagi got any closer. ¡°Stop. You are entering the Holy Kalo grounds of the Angel State.¡± A man holding a white sword shouted calmly at Emelia. Chapter 27- Demonic Beast In front of her were a dozen skinny men and women with furious expressions ready to attack at a moment''s notice. At the front lead an middle aged burly man. Angel State¡­ Emelia blankly stared and shivered slightly. Ever since she had been banished she had never seen white wings among her people. As she thought of this her eyes flashed with a golden light. Hybrids? They have both Human and Archan blood? ¡°Oh! I¡¯m very sorry, can you please let me through?¡± Emelia smiled charmingly towards the cyan robed men. In an attempt to look more charming she put on a helpless expression. All of the angels blushed and looked at him.. ¡°Squad Leader Taret, she is only passing by, what can a little girl like her do?¡± ¡°Yeah yeah! She¡¯s no threat boss! Come on.¡± ¡°Quiet!¡± Taret shouted at them. He turned his gaze back at Emelia and Lagi. He stared for another couple of seconds before sighing and softly saying. ¡°Lady, you have to be careful in these woods, there¡¯re many dangerous animals around here, got it?¡± Under his stern gaze Emelia, in her cutest voice chirped out a small ¡°Ok!¡±. ¡°Boss! I¡¯ll escort this lady out of the woods!¡± A young boy shouted out to Taret. As he was about to respond, one of the girls shouted back at the boy. ¡°Ahh? Why would she want a boy to escort her? You pervert, you just want to chase her! Boss, I¡¯ll go with the girl!¡± ¡°No, I will!¡± The teenagers began to shout at one another. Taret looked back at them with a stare that could kill. Immediately they shut up and got in a line. Glaring at them he looked back to where Emelia was. ¡°Miss, do yo-.¡± He looked around and found Emelia nowhere to be seen. If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Smiling wryly he shook his head then put his attention back to the angels. ¡°You little bastards! You dare to try and enter the border patrol squad with your discipline!? As soon as we return from this patrol you¡¯ll all be given twice the work of your peers!¡± He shouted at them full of rage. They trembled but slowly calmed down, knowing that he was just scaring them. They were from the aristocracy and had come to the border patrol only to laze around. The Angel State has no enemies and is on friendly terms with all of their neighbors therefore it was acknowledged that the border patrol is the easiest and best job to gain merits. ¡°Alright, left turn march!¡± Taret barked out and led the angels. By this time Emelia had already traveled a distance on Lagi. ¡°Lagi. You must be tired, it¡¯s getting dark, let¡¯s set up camp.¡± Emelia stroked Lagis lead with a satisfied grin as they stopped in a clearing. ¡°How about you gather some wood for a good old fashioned campfire and I¡¯ll get us some food?¡± Lagi knowing she had no choice nodded and ran around the clearing grabbing sticks and fallen logs with her tails. Emelia stopped just as she was about to leave the camp. ¡°By the way, do you have any way to light a fire?¡± ¡°Ya ya, look!¡± Lagi half sneezed half coughed out a glob of blue fire which quickly lit the stick on fire, nearly burning it into ashes instantly. ¡°Alright¡­ Just make sure not to burn the fire instantly, use a little less powerful fire.¡± Seeing that Lagi could take care of herself she set out. Walking through the thick jungle-like forest at a slow yet constant pace Emelia looked around. Sounds from animals and insects came from every direction, yet when she looked she couldn¡¯t see anything, almost as if wherever she looked things disappeared. Seeing that she couldn¡¯t see anything, she closed her eyes and used her Qi as a radar and sent out bursts which acted as echolocation, drawing a rough picture of the surroundings. After a couple of seconds her Qi picked up 5 people running towards her direction from a large mass. Although they were running fast the mass could easily keep up with them. ¡°Oh well, guess having some company other than Lagi is fine too.¡± In her mind she had already invited these people to join her and Lagi in eating whatever this animal was. ---- ¡°Elder brother Jer!¡± The 5 people Emelia had seen running towards her all had terrified expressions as they ran forward. One of the men in front had fallen but was quickly picked up as they ran behind him. ¡°It¡¯s nearly caught up! Fuck, how could we get so unlucky to actually meet a C-Grade Demonic Beast here!¡± The man named Siji had picked up Jer and looked behind him. A large brown boulder-like boar was chasing them, knocking all the trees to the side in its path. Clearly the boar was not in the least bit affected by the trees, just bulldozing them all to the ground. ¡°Elder brother Jer! What do we do now? We can¡¯t run anymore!¡± The men were all exhausted. There were much more people, but when the Demonic Beast attacked they had lost 25 people, only leaving these 5 from that group. ¡°Fuck! Let¡¯s fight it! It¡¯s been heavily injured by our brothers, don¡¯t make their deaths be in vain! Siji and Olar, back up, use ranged attacks. Alexander and Icarus distract it, I¡¯ll go to it¡¯s back and try to jump on it.¡± Jer roared out and ran to the side where the Demonic Beast couldn¡¯t see him. Siji and Olar ran a bit further and quickly started firing arrows at it, aiming for the eyes or its wounds. Grimly, Alexander and Icarus roared at it and ran around it as it charged. Alexander tried to dodge to the side but got impaled by one of its large tusks. ¡°Alexander!¡± Icarus eyes became bloodshot at seeing Alexander being impaled. The Demonic Beast, seeing that the humans it had chased finally stopped running tried to stop. It bent its head and put its tusks on the ground to slow down. Alexander, who was still alive, had his lower half and the back of his head ground down into paste as it finally stopped. Behind it, a trail of blood, bones and cloth was left behind, almost like a red carpet on the forest floor. It finally turned around and as it did, Alexander''s back was revealed. He limped back and from the back of his head, his brain fell out, it swung as a small membrane held it from falling to the ground. Chapter 28- Thorny Retribution Seeing Alexander die like that, Icarus felt himself nearly throw up, but he forcibly suppressed it. He couldn¡¯t do it now, the Demonic Beast was staring at him intently, waiting for him to make his move. Seeing the Demonic Beast not moving he calmed down slightly, as long as he could stall, he wouldn¡¯t move. ¡°Sqwee!¡± The Demonic Beast squealed as it charged forward madly. In the back of its head stuck out an arrow. It madly shook its head as it charged, throwing the corpse of Alexander far into the forest where it hit a couple of trees before falling. ¡°Icarus!¡± Distracted by Alexanders body being thrown, he forgot about the Demonic Beast in front of it. At Jers yell, he looked up and saw a claw from the Demonic Beast. A look of dread and panic flew through his eyes before his body slid down in a diagonal fashion, blood spewed out from the 3 sections of his body that had been cut off in one move. His upper torso slid off first as it landed with a splat, it was quickly followed by the rest of his torso and then his legs that collapsed on themselves. Still conscious before death, Icarus saw his heart still pumping blood out from his aorta and into the sky. Tears collected in his eyes before finally his eyes shut. ¡°You.. Fucking bastard bitch of a pig! I¡¯ll fucking kill all of you!¡± Jer landed on top of the Demonic beast and shoved his long sword into the wound created by one of the arrows. It easily penetrated and twisted his sword as he stirred the Demonic Beasts brain. It let out a squeal as and shook its head furiously, flinging Jer into a sparkling blue arrow. It easily penetrated his shoulder and continued forwards and hit the Demonic Beast, though it had lost most of its power from penetrating Jer and just bounced off it¡¯s hide. After the Demonic Beasts final struggle, it dropped onto the ground, shaking it lightly. ¡°Elder brother Jer!¡± Stared at the Demonic Beast and saw that it didn¡¯t move for a couple of minutes and began running towards Jer cautiously. Jer was lying in the fetal position beside a tree, the arrow caused a fist sized hole in his shoulder. It had ripped through even his bones which were sticking out.Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. ¡°I¡¯m so sorry Elder brother Jer! I.. I didn¡¯t expect it to fling you!¡± Siji said grimly with guilt. ¡°Junior brother Siji, he¡¯s not conscious right now.. And we don¡¯t have any more medicine for him. You should¡¯ve been more careful.¡± Olar said with a dark look and blame in his voice. ¡°We.. We can take him to a physician right? There must be a town or something nearby!?¡± He croaked, he knew that there wouldn¡¯t be any town in a forest like this, especially this close to Oltam. ¡°Oh.. I came a tad too late huh?¡± A small voice appeared behind them. Siji and Olar quickly took out their daggers in a defensive position in front of Jer. In front of them stood Emelia, looking like a 16 year old in a cute red dress decorated with golden flames rising up. Seeing her, the 2 blushed and put their daggers back into a slot in their leather boots and smiled like fools. Emelia could almost see Siji slap his forehead as his face turned into one of distress. ¡°Little sister¡­ Are you from a nearby village or something? Please help my elder brother Jer!¡± Siji pointed at Jer who now had a puddle of blood surrounding him. How is he still not dead? Losing that much blood¡­ ¡°He¡¯s lost so much blood, he already has one foot in the grave. But¡­ I have something in my possession, a ¡®Thorny Retribution¡¯. If he can survive it, he will not only heal, but become stronger too.¡± Her eyes glinted with glee as she approached him. She ¡®took out¡¯ a small blue, lily like plant from her bosom. Siji looked at her with surprise and joy. Had he been lucky enough to meet a witch, and a kind one at that? Olar on the other hand stared at the plant with suspicion and was about to stop her but restrained himself. He placed his hand on a small knife he had on his wrist, ready to strike at any moment. Plucking a leaf from the lily, she directly placed in the hole, right on top of his shattered humerus. After a second of nothing, the leaf visibly began to melt, turning into a liquid that went to both holes, covering them, not allowing them to see what was happening inside. As it did this, Emelia twisted her wrist in a circle a couple of times, gathering Qi in her palm and pressed it to his forehead. Spreading out from her hand, a nearly neon green covered his head and like snakes started digging and moving about in his body. Not long after she did this, she smiled and the image of a 2 purple wings appeared on his forehead. Jer moaned in satisfaction and remained unconscious, yet a smile had appeared on his face. Siji and Olar saw the green and chuckled, the neon green looked to be from someone who just started cultivating. The very beginning of Spirit Gathering. They felt confident now that even if she did something, they could catch her easily. What they hadn¡¯t seen were the purple wings, which meant that this comrade of theirs had now become a Larystaran citizen Siji was looking through his bags for food when he looked at Jer and saw a purple halo and a faint outline of black wings. Nearly dropping his bag, he blinked heavily and saw nothing. I¡¯m just hallucinating, that must be it.. He quickly told himself as he turned his attention back to the bag in front of him. ¡°Hey uh. I have a camp nearby, you guys wanna take that Demonic Beast and have some food? I already have a fire going, and was looking for food.¡± Olar and Siji stared at Emelia who invited them charmingly. They looked her up and down and a predatory instinct nearly overtook them as their eyes flashed with lust. ¡°Haha, of course, of course. I¡¯m Olar, this is our younger brother Siji and that is our elder brother Jer. Since you healed our brother, we can definitely share.¡± Olar chuckled as he said the last word. ¡°That''s great then. Let¡¯s go, take that Demonic Beast and Jer!¡± Emelia completely ignored the fact that they were nearly drooling looking at her and laughed lightly. Chapter 29- Attempt ¡°Mhm¡­ That bastard actually tastes quite good.¡± Siji let out a moan as he put a piece of cooked meat into his mouth. They had no cooking instruments so they just put the meat on a stick and waited for it to cook. Lagi had prepared a large bonfire for them by nightfall, and she was rewarded for it with lots of cooked meat. A fox, indeed, she¡¯s just a rich man''s daughter at most and nothing more, she doesn¡¯t even have an escort. Olar and Siji observed Emelia the whole time, trying to guess her background before coming to that conclusion. Emelia sat directly beside Jer just in case he had any accident, Siji and Olar sat opposite of them. After nearly a whole day, Jer finally had some reaction as he smelled the meat. He slowly opened his eyes only to see Emelias cute face stuffed with meat. He felt a strange connection and trust towards her, not knowing the reason he furrowed his brows. ¡°Gwood mworing.¡± Emelia said jokingly as she chewed. After being confused for a second, his face became savage as he tried to get up, but no matter how much he tried he couldn¡¯t. He was constricted in a sleeping bag. Hearing the commotion from Jer, Olar and Siji quickly stood up. ¡°Elder brother Jer! You¡¯re finally awake! We were so worried.¡± Concern and joy appeared on their faces as they rushed to see Jer. ¡°Where is this? Who is she?¡± Seeing that Olar and Siji were here, he quickly let go of his vigilance as he smiled happily. ¡°This is¡­¡± Siji was about to answer when he put on a wry smile as he looked at Emelia. ¡°I¡¯m Emelia, I saved your life, in other words, you owe me your life.¡± Emelia smiled as she bit off another piece of meat. Jer narrowed his eyes at that comment and looked towards the pair. They saw his gaze and nodded, indicating that she did indeed save him. ¡°Elder brother.. You were near death, I think you even stopped breathing!¡± Siji exclaimed, not bringing up the fact that he shot Jer with an arrow.This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings. ¡°Thank you benefactor Emelia.. I.. I¡¯ll try and compensate you somehow.¡± Jer stood up and bowed, thanking her. Emelia waved her hand as she petted Lagi. ¡°I¡¯m going to bed, you guys should probably get to sleep too.¡± Emelia giggled as she saw Siji and Olar looking at each other and nodding lightly. --------- Late into the night Siji, Olar and Jer were quietly arguing in the outskirts of the clearing. ¡°C¡¯mon elder brother Jer! We¡¯ll have some fun and then repay her! She¡¯s just an ordinary girl, she should be glad we give her something, look in fact, I¡¯ll give her the core of the Demonic Beast. That way she can start cultivating!¡± Olar faintly whispered as he stared at Jer. ¡°Yeah! I.. I¡¯ll put in the refined blood! The refined blood will make it easier for her to cultivate, brother Olar, didn¡¯t you see she had only started, at the very start of Spirit Gathering! We need a release, and she¡¯s the only one here!¡± Siji piped in as he took out a vial of blue blood. ¡°Why? She saved me, I won¡¯t repay her like this. How about this.. Once we¡¯re back at the sect I¡¯ll give you some pills?¡± Jer tried to persuade them. Siji and Olar shook their heads. Suddenly Olar swung his hand covered in a bright orange aura, indicating low-level foundation building. Jer had no time to react so he was instantly knocked out. He had only just recovered from a fatal injury, so he had no strength to react. ¡°Sorry elder brother Jer, we can only do this. Forgive us.¡± Olar dragged Jers body to his tent. The pair looked towards Emelias tent on the other side of camp and felt goosebumps. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± Olar whispered to Siji, who nodded in turn. Outside of Emilia''s tent, Olar and Siji undressed, until there was not a piece of clothing on them. Listening in, they heard 2 faint breaths. After making sure Emelia was indeed sleeping they began to slowly push the 2 covers acting as a door aside. Their breathing became faster and deeper as they saw a body curled up with a large thick blanket. On the other side of the tent was a sleeping Lagi laying in a circle. Lust filled their eyes as they both pounced on the body. As soon as they landed on the body, they knew something was wrong. The body was too soft, almost pillow-like. As they realised that Emelia wasn¡¯t there they both became flushed with rage floating through their eyes. They quickly tried to escape the tent. As they ran out of the tent, Emelia greeted their eyes with their daggers in her small hands. ¡°Hoho¡­ How interesting, some ants dare to enter my tent?¡± Emelia laughed out coldly, twirling the daggers. ¡°You bitch! Come on Siji, rush her, she¡¯s only a Spirit Gath-¡± Olar only managed to say this before suddenly stopping. As he was talking, Emelia had thrown one of the daggers straight into his forehead and through the back. Siji saw her throw the dagger and looked over at Olar for a second, but a second was all that was needed. He didn¡¯t even get to look at Emelia another time as his own dagger pierced through his temple. ¡°Well, since you were so kind to give me gifts to compensate for those little things, I¡¯ll take them.¡± Emelia cheerfully took their belongings into her space storage. Pulling out the 2 daggers, she felt around her body, she had nowhere to put them so in an instant, in place of the dress and long black robe appeared. It fit her perfectly, the sleeves stopping at the wrist, even when extending. The skirt of the robe stopped at her feet, so it didn¡¯t touch the ground. It even had a hood that perfectly hid her face. ¡°Indeed, a dress is inconvenient.. A robe is always better, even if it does make me look old.¡± Emelia let out a sigh as she put the daggers in a hidden part of her sleeves. ¡°I wonder how my little prodigy is doing.¡± She let out a chirp, as if it wasn¡¯t her that had just killed 2 people.