《The immortal and the personification of mana》


 The reawakening

    I¡¯m immortal but my girlfriend is OP


    Chapter 1


    I woke up from the darkness, my eyes closed tightly from the bright light. I felt like crying for no reason. I was bewildered and couldn¡¯t think properly until I felt someone held me closer and whispered into my ear,


    ¡°It¡¯s all right my boy, everything is fine. I shall name you¡­ Aurum¡±[???]


    After I heard those words I could only stifle my tears back and snuggle more tightly against the women who held me. I remember now, where I am and who I am. I was sent back from the future, I was sent back to reset our mistakes.


    ~ several years later~


    I was around 12 years old and lived in a spacious underground castle cave. I have black hair and dark brown eyes along with it I was wearing a plain white shirt and light brown shorts. I walked on the white marble ground which gleamed while the spirits floated around cleaning the pillar, stairs, chandeliers and such. While going down the hall I was thinking about how I¡¯m going to deal with my future plans. I thought to myself,


    (I remember my girlfriend, Llya, saying goodbye to me when I left to return to the past and I still remember why I came back from the future, it seems my memory is still intact despite losing my immortality.)[Aurum]


    As I entered into my mother¡¯s room, she was writing on some documents. She sensed me coming inside the room and looked back and smiled.


    ¡°Oh my sweet little boy, what brings you here to my room?¡±[mom]


    My mother is a chimera, Zaqia, but she kept it a secret from me because she wanted to hide from me the truth. Except that she doesn''t know that I reincarnated which made a lot of her effort to hide from me in vain. In her human form, she had long red air that seemed to puff out which hid her horn and her eye was orange with a tinge of red and perhaps scarlet. I also knew that I was abandoned by a noble because I wasn¡¯t their legitimate son and there was no use to keeping me. My mother actual mother even sold me to the noble, but I shouldn¡¯t know that and I was planning to use the excuse of finding my ¡®real mother¡¯ to leave. Despite the only mother I loved was Zaqia.


    ¡°Mother, sorry for intruding but, I want to start exploring the outside world.¡±[Aurum]


    She placed her hand on her temple and thought about it. She was thinking and I was planning to interrupt her thinking and gain the advantage, but¡­


    ¡°I¡¯m planning to send you to outside school too, so I believe our thoughts line up quite well. I was hesitant because I thought you¡¯ll want to stay but I was worried for nothing.¡±[Zaqia]


    I was slightly shocked, last life she didn¡¯t allow me to be let off so easily. Sending me to school she said¡­ perhaps it¡¯s because I had knowledge of magic ever since I was young. I did improve on my magic making it better than average just so I can keep up with Llya when I meet her. She must have thought sending me to school would benefit me more than staying. It would mean that my action changed the future. That being said, this is an opportunity, if I can go to school now, I can meet Llya faster than before but...


    ¡°I want to depart more sooner than that.¡±[Aurum]


    ¡°Really? Then that¡¯s worrisome, I¡¯-¡±[Zaquia]


    ¡°I know that you¡¯ll assign me to a school of your choosing, but I want to at least choose my own school and also meet some people to talk to.¡±[me]


    ¡°...¡¯¡¯[Zaqia]


    (I gave her some puppy eye)


    ¡°Fine, I shall allow you to leave, but you must carry some self-defense devices and must come back in a week since I still need to hear your opinion on the school you want to attend to.¡±[Zaqia]


    ¡°Yes! Thank you, mother!¡±[Aurum]


    I kissed my mother on the cheek and ran back to my room. I went and took some treasures to protect myself. They are all minor ones except one, the crown of the mind. It was a ring that floated on top of your head like a halo and had barbed wire enwrapped on the east, south, and west. The north side had a gap instead and the crown would always rotate so it faces that direction. The crown protects me from all mental affliction, even good ones that help your mind such as {mind calmer} which is its only drawback. It can also conceal itself so it won¡¯t attract attention since it¡¯s a big chunk of bronze floating on top of someone¡¯s head. I also prepared the necessary supply to feed myself during the adventure with my storage but I can easily find my own food on my own. Then after saying goodbye to my mother, I left the castle to the outside world.


    //////////


    I was traveling down the dirt road on my way to the location. I was traveling using the flying board artifact because I didn¡¯t want anyone following with me so closely since I was going to a pretty hidden location. Bringing a carriage with me will give me a hard time doing my business silently, but it seems my mother still worried about me and still brought some spirits to tail me.


    I checked my {detection} once again and there is 3 spirit following me, shaking them off will be a pain. The first one is a wind spirit that is concealing itself as a gust of wind and is following pretty close to me. He must be confident in his ability. The second one is an earth spirit moving underground right under me, which is ballsy of it to be so close, and the third one is a water spirit right in my water bottle.


    ++++++++++


    (He flew quite a distance from the castle in one go without a spec of mana used.)[earth spirit]


    (Now that I realize we weren''t able to sense his mana at all when he was about 4-5 years old.)[water spirit]


    The spirits were using {hidden communication} to keep in touch with each other so when a problem occurred they would be able to react. Albeit it¡¯s slower than {telepathy}, {hidden communication} is harder to detect.


    (He probably got his hand on a book that taught him to conceal one¡¯s mana.)[wind spirit]


    In truth Aurum didn¡¯t even need the book of concealment, he already knew the method of hiding his own mana, he simply waited till he pretended to read from the book to start hiding his mana.


    Suddenly he stopped and landed on the ground, taking out a water bottle. In fact, it was the water bottle where the water spirit was hiding.


    (He must be taking a break from his long flight, but it¡¯s incredible he¡¯s able to keep up such a speed for a long time)[wind spirit]


    (Wait is he gonna drinking straight from me!? What am I supposed to do, there is no body of water close by!)[water spirit]


    (Welp I believe you''ll have to start using mana to create water for him to drink)[earth spirit]


    Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.


    (What if he notices the magic reaction inside his bottle!? What if he tried to drink the whole thing since he used so much of his magic power!? I¡¯ll have to abandon this physical body and return back to the castle and I don¡¯t want to be scolded by Miss Zaqia!)[water spirit]


    (Well goodbye, I hope to see you back to the spirit world, your sacrifice will not be in vain.)[earth spirit]


    (youuuuu-)[water spirit]


    (Well now, pls get out of my water bottle. The one in the ground, get out of there you are uncomfortably close and the one who is basically hiding in plain sight show yourself)[Aurum}


    (!?!?!!)[three spirits]


    (How can you access {hidden communication}?)[earth spirit]


    (Well {hidden communication} has a built-in concealment system, but you still actually have to try hiding it)[Aurum]


    (I thought we were well hidden from you.)[wind spirit]


    (you simply underestimated me)[Aurum]


    The spirit revealed himself. They didn¡¯t have a human form but the wind spirit formed itself into a small tornado, the water spirit into a floating sphere and the earth spirit into a golem.


    ¡°Now that you¡¯ve found us, what do you want us to do Mr. Aurum¡±[wind spirit]


    ¡°I want all of you to return back to the castle and stop following me. If you¡¯re scared of Miss Zaqia murdering you just tell her my message, ¡®Miss Zaqia if I can¡¯t properly travel the world without protection then I can¡¯t survive in the real world and I don¡¯t want that to happen, so please can you leave me to my own adventure?¡¯ alright?¡±[Aurum]


    ¡°Yes.¡±[spirit in unison]


    Then the spirit departed to return the message back to the castle.


    ++++++++++


    After I couldn¡¯t sense the spirit, I disconnected from {hidden communication} and flew up and accelerated to full speed, faster than the previous flight in a different direction.


    (Since I already know which school I want to attend to I don¡¯t need to waste time searching for one. I can¡¯t do much right now but I still have one thing that takes the most priority, reclaiming my immortality.)[Aurum]


    //////////


    I finally arrived at a suspiciously hidden cave that was located somewhere close to the sea and under a cliff was a forest that seemed to grow under the cliff.


    (This is the cave. The cave where I received my immortality and the start of my suffering.)[Aurum]


    As I was floating there staring directly at the entrance a voice in my head reached me.


    (Who is there, I need help! Can someone save me!)[???]


    There was the voice, the one who entrapped me and used me as a slave to free herself. The one tried to rob my future and yet coincidentally turn the wheel of fate. As I was thinking nostalgia hit me on the event of past life.


    //////////


    I was 14 at the time and was walking around the garden outside of the underground castle. The garden was there because the plant that needed for ingredients in alchemy and they needed sunlight. I was allowed to walk in the garden but because my magic aptitude was so low in my past life, my mother didn¡¯t even want me to leave at all. There were guards in the garden but the garden itself was actually out of the range of the main barrier. The voice also gathered power and was able to reach much farther to call people. As a result, the voice was able to reach me.


    (Is there anyone, I need help! Can someone save me!)[???]


    (Who is it? Do you need help? How can I help you?)[Aurum]


    Maybe because she chose me because she saw my desire to meet the outside world, maybe she chose me because my magic was so low she thought no one would notice. But she decided to choose me nevertheless.


    (My name is Lidia. I¡¯m trapped in a cave and I need help. I sensed you¡¯re trustful and I decided that you will be the one to help me. You can¡¯t bring anyone with you because you might attract people to you. You have so little mana that you can go undetected most way.)[Lidia]


    (Sorry but I can¡¯t, my mother kept a close look on me and I¡¯m sure you¡¯re far away because If you weren¡¯t I¡¯d have known about a cave apart from the one I¡¯m in.)[Aurum]


    (Please, I implore you, you¡¯re the only one that can save me)[Lidia]


    As I thought about it I decided on my choice. The naive choice that changed everything.


    (I shall see what I can do to help, wait for me around dark and contact me.)[Aurum]


    That night I ¡®celebrated¡¯ with my mother with rich wine for my ¡®first¡¯ ever a wine that I made alone. I already made multiple and wanted to try and present the perfect wine for my mother, but because of Lidia, I decided to make a special one filled with much more special plants the get my mother to sleep. I wasn¡¯t proud but my desire to step out of the castle overshadowed it. When my mother was finally drunk she fell into a deep sleep. But before she did she talked to me a bit.


    ¡°You know, Aurum? You¡¯re a beautiful boy that I love and I still love you, you are my greatest treasure and I will tear down mountains to find the ones who desire you¡±[Zaqia]


    ¡°Please don¡¯t mother, I don¡¯t want to see charred land when I finally walk out to the world.¡±[Aurum]


    My mother laughed a bit and fell into a deep sleep. When I confirmed that my mother fell asleep, I departed back into my room. Since I didn¡¯t have much magic I had many magic tools to help me. I got the flying board artifact, concealment cloth and many others that Lidia told me to prepare. Then I departed from the castle for the first time in my life.


    When I reach the cave thanks to Lidia telling me the location. She was trapped in an urn and told me to sit on the circle in the middle of the cave. I couldn¡¯t recognize the circle but she told me it was okay. I would sit on the magic circle and she would start the ceremony. It was then she would betray me.


    (Naive.)[Lidia]


    ¡°Wha-¡±[Aurum]


    She cast {bounded one} onto me and at the same time, turned me into something else. A different being that was a different existence. I wasn¡¯t human anymore, I couldn¡¯t die anymore and would live forever. I didn¡¯t have a defined form as I was solid, liquid and gas of an unknown substance at the same time. I turned into an Immortal.


    (Wow! It was a success! I knew that it can grant immortality! Those researchers are foolish to think that it was all a lie and wouldn¡¯t even allow me to continue it. They told me it was ¡®Dangerous¡¯ and ¡®cost the lives of others¡¯ but they couldn¡¯t see the opportunity. Now I have an undying soldier that shall serve me forever!)[Lidia]


    As she talked the circle I bubbled on top of slowly started being absorbed into me.


    (Huh, it seems once there¡¯s someone that holds onto the power, it can be replicated again. It doesn''t matter, I can always find another way, thanks for all the tools, they¡¯ll be useful.)[Lidia]


    I couldn¡¯t answer, I was under the effect of {bounded one}. I could only just lie there with my hideous form awaiting an order. I can scream inside all I want but I couldn¡¯t fight against it. I did not have enough mana to break free and immortality didn¡¯t grant me any power apart from a different form. I simply laid there unable to think properly, asking myself, why?


    (Well put yourself together now, turn yourself into a human or something.)[Lidia]


    I pulled myself together. My gaseous form solidified and solid with liquid combined together to create something resembling human flesh. The black color faded and the color itself returned into my defining form. I created a perfect imitation of a human from the DNA of my past human form to the color of the blood. I felt everything moving in me, the blood speeding inside me, the stomach moving, everything. All the parts of my body were ¡®me¡¯.


    (Well, now you¡¯ll have to serve me. Take me and depart to a much safer location from Zaquia, then we¡¯ll start immediately a search for a reincarnation process so that I can return.)[Lidia]


    I walked up to her and grabbed the handle of the urn. Then my form started changing again, I felt myself opening from inside out as I turned into something else. I was a cloud that flew at high speed like a turbulent tornado out of the cave, flapping my wing-like cloud made of a part of me the only solid part was my hand holding the urn and all the tools I bought as we flew over the ocean.


    It was only until 7 years later where I would meet Llya. I was gathering ¡®souls¡¯ from small villages and I had caught the attention of the guild. I was apparently a C class quest and wasn¡¯t any lower because I simply wouldn¡¯t ¡®die¡¯, but I wasn¡¯t any higher because I only targeted ¡®peasants¡¯ and not small nobles and such. Llya practically just started adventuring. She was kind of late at the start of her career because she encountered many problems with her ¡®family¡¯ and such. She was surprisingly quick at her job and ¡®killed¡¯ me before I could gather any soul. Whenever I met and the unbeatable opponent I would pretend to ¡®die¡¯ by crumbling into dust and sweep myself away and wait for another opportunity. But since she was practically already OP, she saw who I ¡®was¡¯. She was able to see the shackles that entrapped and controlled me. For the first time in hunting for 7 years, I had to give up after 2 days of waiting for her to tire out but she was still there and her magic still covered the entire village. It should¡¯ve have been impossible with the amount of mana she used, but since when did logic properly applied to her? After I saw no end to her mana I had to give up. I slowly started dispersing myself and left the village.


    I returned to the new hideout. Lidia was still finding a way to reincarnate and was testing souls to experiment. I was about to make a report until the unexpected happened.


    ¡°So this is where you hide¡±[???]


    I turned to identify the voice, it was none other than Llya. It was impossible, I split myself into many pieces, some of myself is still even floating even out there.


    ¡°I have to admit that was pretty good control of yourself out there I couldn¡¯t follow all of you so I simply cast {pursuit} on every single one of you and waited until one of you landed in a hidden place.¡±[Llya]


    (Aurum, remove her!)[Lidia]


    Lidia knew at the moment she said those words, she was a threat. I pounced at Llya in the form of a panther on both sides with the rest of myself arriving. But I didn¡¯t even faze her, in fact, there was simply a burst as her mana simply exploded. There wasn¡¯t a cave anymore but a crater where there were once was. I couldn¡¯t approach her as her emanating mana simply blew me apart like I was a clump of sand. She held the urn that contained Lidia, but she didn¡¯t need to do anything. Lidia was the closest to the source of the burst and she just slowly disappeared unable to utter a single word, and along with it, my enslavement.


    ¡°Huh, no last word then.¡±[Llya]


    She then tossed the urn aside as if it was nothing and turned down her mana output and floated down to me. I was bewildered. I couldn¡¯t understand how my enslavement just ended so abruptly, but I knew she was my hero.


    ¡°Thank you, Thank you, Thank you¡­¡±[Aurum]


    ¡°Oh stop whining for chrissake¡±[Llya]


    She hit me on top of my bowing head and I silenced, but I still cried. She saw my state and decided to comfort me until I was okay. When I finally calmed down she asked,


    ¡°So now that I¡¯ve practically murdered that thing in front of you, what are you gonna do now?¡±[Llya]


    ¡°What Is your *sob* your name *hiccup*¡±[Aurum]


    She smiled softly and patted my head.


    ¡°My name is Llya, I¡¯m an adventurer that is traveling around doing jobs for other people.¡±[Llya]


    ¡°*Sniffle* I¡®m finally free, but I have nowhere to go, *hiccup* can I follow you?¡±[Aurum]


    ¡°Sure.¡±[Llya]


    And that''s how I met her. We would go on so many and yet gather so much regret throughout the whole life, but it was bearable simply because I was with her.


    //////////


    As I finally finish recalling the past life I looked back at the cave entrance. And answered Lidia¡¯s plea.


    ¡°Frankly, Miss Lidia, I believe to have come to hate you for no reason and come to kill you and steal your research on immortality.¡±[Aurum]

 Gathering power

    Chapter 2


    Right after my response, a sharp ringing sounded around in my head. I jerked back slightly since it hurts my ear a bit. I looked up and saw the crown of the mind glowing in a bronze shimmer and the thorns on it glowed red and flaking ash as if it was just pulled out of a fire.


    Looks like Lidia had immediately attacked me with a mental affliction, although thankfully it was blocked by the crown so nothing happened. After the ringing died down I entered the cave to find an almost incomplete magic circle, a pot filled with a black liquid and a lizard roaming about with the black liquid dripping from its tail. Originally Lidia was using her psychic power to control animals or insects to slowly draw out the circle which is a slow and precise task, but now her mental power is still trying to pry my mind open. She couldn''t do much since she was practically an urn just sitting there. There was nothing else apart from the cave looking like a cave.


    ¡°What¡¯s with that crown!? Dammit!¡± [Lidia]


    As Lidia continued to complain, I took out another item from my bag, it was a ribbon that looks like it¡¯s made of glass and yet it felt like a normal ribbon. I tied the ribbon onto the urn and it glowed with pale blue light and then the urn was silenced. With the urn contained I finally can take off the crown without worry, the crown itself wasn¡¯t as perfect since it still allows {thought transmission} and other related spells which are the only loophole. It¡¯s the only mind protection I can get as of right now so it was a big gamble whether she discovered it before it was too late.


    I looked back at the incomplete circle. The lizard had already scampered off but I didn¡¯t need it. All I need is the black liquid and the memory of my past life. It didn¡¯t have a smell but it did feel uncomfortably slimy. After I dipped my finger into the pot and I slowly started drawing out the circle stroke by stroke. It took hours to slowly complete the work and add the finishing touch. Thank god the dried liquid was easy to scrape off or else I would¡¯ve already messed up.


    When I looked at the finished circle I checked the content. I never fully understood it but it¡¯s some kind of disintegration spell combined with some sort of reconstruction spell and other unknown magic circles I can¡¯t understand. But it doesn''t matter because it¡¯ll still function whether I know it or not. I took off all the items that I have on me which I didn¡¯t want to lose during my transformation and then I sat in the middle of the circle and started the ceremony on my own.


    At the end of it, my transformation was instantaneous, I turned into a black mass of mess and the circle was slowly absorbed into me. The feeling that I had in my past life returned to me and my body started changing. Two stars like shape started forming inside of me. One of them was the soul star, it holds my consciousness and is the core of this body. I can have multiple soul star but right now I only have one made from my soul. The second star is the magic star were I store my magical powers, it was really small since I never had much magical potential even as a human. Then a voice in my head resounded


    Congratulations, you have turned into an immortal being. You shall be the only immortal of your kind as there will be no more others like you, other people attempting to copy the process will be unable to do to @#$% reasons.


    Since you¡¯re a new being that hasn¡¯t existed up until now, you can choose a name for yourself.


    Right. Llya and I once tried to replicate the magic circle but the disintegration spell of the circle started melting itself, which wasn¡¯t something that happened when in my past life nor when I drew it. The voice confirmed our theory from my past life, although why did I get the voice now? Maybe because I was in too much pain by the effect of {bounded one} that I simply didn¡¯t hear it. For the names, I¡¯ll have to postpone it for later.


    After analyzing myself and confirmed everything still functioned, my mass started to swirl around. It moved around like a tornado of black sand as I started to take shape. I was able to manipulate its state changing it from solid to liquid, even into a gaseous form. Llya simply called it ¡®dust¡¯, Lidia never bothered to name it and since I never found a better name, I decided to name it just that. My dust starts shaping itself and starts to take the form that I chose, my human form. The dust replicated each part of my body perfectly to the cell. I stood there naked so I put my cloth items back on. My mother would be mad if I lost those cloths. Then I removed the ribbon from the urn. I wasn¡¯t worried about the effect of the {bounded one} since it can only be cast when the living target goes into a change such as my change from mortal into an immortal. Lidia doesn''t have the mana anymore to cast any magic as the ribbon absorbs the mana it¡¯s tied too.


    ¡°Anything to say for your last word?¡±[Aurum]


    (...)[Lidia]


    ¡°So nothing?¡±[Aurum]


    (How did you know all of this, do I know you?)[Lidia]


    Her voice was small since she barely has enough mana to use {telepathy} anymore.


    ¡°Well let¡¯s say I came from the future.¡±[Aurum]


    I answered with a smile before my arms that held her transformed into a gooey weblike substance that wrapped around the urn. The web started to slowly melt the urn and turning it into dust, which means I¡¯m integrating her into a part of my body. I also compressed her soul and magic core turning it into my soul star and magic star. That was also how I collected children''s souls in my past life. They¡¯re trapped with their consciousness still intact and Lidia will put them through experiments since she¡¯s trying to find a way to transfer herself back into a body without destroying her mind and all I can do is sit there and watch. When they¡¯re broken, she would have no use of them anymore and I would wipe their consciousness, putting them to peace and I would put my mind into the soul star to create another me... I looked at the now silenced soul star of Lidia who couldn¡¯t speak without her magic, closed my eyes and sighed before wiping her consciousness from the star, ending the figure that started everything that made me.


    I then took dust that used to make up her urn and transformed it into a mirror. I looked at my proper reflection, yep I looked kind of an offset with my eyes completely black instead of dark brown with my hair slightly longer than normal. I corrected my looks a bit before turning to the pot now empty of the black liquid that was used to draw the circle. This time I just let my dust twirl around it like a sandstorm that disintegrated instead of melting. It seems I¡¯m still proficient in both ways of collecting more dust. I then compressed the extra dust I have to create my 5th star, the storage star, where I can store my extra dust and other items into myself. Which I did with all the other magic items that I bought with me.


    I left the cave, climbed out of it and up to the cliff where I sat on the edge looking down at the crashing waves. I started shifting my dust around testing my limit on how I can control it. I clumped a fist size of dust into a sphere and started to slowly push it farther and farther away from me until I found difficulty doing so. The ball can reach about 5 meters away from my soul stars before I start getting difficulties trying to control it. I decided to see what¡¯s the maximum distance and pushed even further. The sphere started stretching out and shifting from liquid to what look like air-borne dust floating away from me. After the tip of the cloud reaches around 10 meters, it was near impossible to move around anymore. I can only really use it to create a thick mist to blind my opponent and if they inhale the mist I can destroy them from the inside if I get close enough. I would lose control of any dust that exceeds my range. It would just sit there until one of my soul stars comes close enough to control it. If I had enough dust, I can effectively create another body that I can control. To bad soul stars can only be transported to other dust by contact.Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.


    I checked back at the lingering voice in my head,


    Since you¡¯re a new being that hasn¡¯t existed up until now, you can choose a name for yourself.


    I remember how Llya once described to me what I looked like when I first showed her my original form and described that I looked like a drop from the universe. It was the name I decided to name myself with and when I did the voice came back with the same message just like from the past


    Name received: you¡¯re now named Aurum, the droplet of the universe.


    I retract my dust back into me and I stood up from the cliff. Despite that I¡¯m immortal, I still need to get more power. I still have a week before I need to return and within that time I can get more dust. I started reforming myself to make a suitable shape the fly. My two soul core positioned itself so I can have more range of control for my wings. I transformed into a big bird, a much more effective way of flying rather than a flying storm cloud. I walked to the edge of the cliff and jumped off flapping my giant wings, going much faster than the flying board that I was using, and heading to my next destination.


    ++++++++++


    ¡°Puahahaha!¡±[???]


    ¡°They can¡¯t even find us anymore!¡±[???]


    ¡°Silence you fools, we still haven''t lost them yet!¡¯[???]


    We weaved through the forest and ran through holes that branched out into a maze and out of holes only to enter a new tunnel system. The guards chasing us definitely can¡¯t chase us with their armor, mostly when they have to follow us through holes and around the thick forest. We reach to the center of the forest where I met up with my friends.


    ¡°You got the package Bhepo? Along with the treasures?¡±[???]


    ¡°Why do you have me carry both the package and the treasure Dhar!¡±[Bhepo]


    ¡°Because you¡¯re the muscle of our group, now silence both of you or else the guards will be coming our way, Lithus bring us away.¡±[Dhar]


    I immediately started casting {slip away} on all three of us. It¡¯s a long-range spell that can teleport us far away but the distance must be exceedingly far, can¡¯t be used in the close-range like in combat and there must be no active mana source affecting me or the teleporting target. However, it¡¯s my best spell that can transport us far without leaving many magic residues and our base wasn¡¯t close either way. When the contour of the cave started appearing through the bright light Bhepo walked to the bed and dumped all the things she carried with a loud thump on the bed.


    ¡°Haha! A clean getaway while the guards waste their chance to find us, the forest is way too big and they even have to try to search the tunnel system too! And we even got away from Night Return!¡±[Bhepo]


    We had just escaped with the kidnapped daughter of a noble of the house of Elanvital and from the organization Night Return. We were hired to kidnap the daughter from the carriage while they create a distraction for the guards. But once we entered the carriage to get her we found a secret compartment that contained even more value than what the organization offered. We figured that Night Return will probably kill us at the end of the operation since they were infamous and we only took the job because we were planning to ditch them either way.


    We looked through the stash of gold coins and counted them. Ever since the paper was introduced to the economy, it replaced the coin system. Coins such as gold coins are now considered even more valuable since production was halted. The bag has 10 gold coins in mint condition and each coin are preserved by being sandwiched between two magic circle that was still rotating around the contour of the coin increases the value even more. The daughter was probably ready to offer these coins to settle a truce but now they probably won¡¯t get it since it¡¯s in our hand along with the daughter of the Elenvital household. Sure we have to lay low but this is a jackpot.


    ¡°Hey I know we¡¯ll try to ransom the girl, but can¡¯t we just have a bit of fun?¡±[Bhepo]


    He reached for the unconscious girl but I and Dhar didn¡¯t answer him there was something felt off here. As if there was something unusual, then we realize that the cave was slowly getting even darker than usual. It was as if the night outside the cave was rolling inside like a mist, the torch¡¯s flame sputtered as if it was being deprived of oxygen. Dhar approached a bit to the darkness taking a sniff at the mist


    ¡°Doesn''t smell like anything¡±[Dhar]


    Then a tentacle that seemingly made out of mist and liquid reached for Bhepo who was the closest to the cave entrance and pulled him outside the cave. We couldn''t do anything before we heard a snap and then silence.


    ¡°{Soul resonation}!¡±[Dhar] He broke the silence with the spell


    ¡°How many?!¡±[Lithus] I said, pulling out my sword


    ¡°There are about several things outside, I don¡¯t know how so many manage to get this close!¡±[Dhar]


    ¡°Did the guards know this place beforehand, how!?¡±[Lithus]


    It can¡¯t be the Night Return because we¡¯re technically still in the operation was still going and they must not come in contact with us or else it might expose them as the mastermind. Even if Bhepo openly declared our betrayal, they knew where we are and simply would come to visit us when after everything has settled.


    ¡°You should look properly. I certainly don¡¯t look like a guard.¡±[???]


    A man who seems to be wearing a knights helmet that had no eye hole but rather two glowing eye slits that floated where his eyes should''ve been. He also wore a trench coat that flowed behind like a black wave while stars were decorated all over it and he walked towards us. His boot seemed to be made of many smaller pieces that each moved differently but clamped the floor making a metallic sound each time he took a step.


    ¡°Wha- all of those signals are all bunched into him!?¡±[Dhar]


    I slightly knew why. {Soul resonation} was detection magic but it resounded with people¡¯s souls. If he has multiple signatures one him that probably means¡­


    ¡°You¡¯re a murderer.¡±[Lithus]


    ¡°?¡±[???]


    ¡°If you have so many soul signatures on you, you probably went and killed many people who cursed you and strapped themselves souls on you. You must also be trying to run away, I¡¯m sure that we can reach an agreement.¡±[Lithus]


    ¡°Hahaha¡­¡±[???] he laughed softly ¡°I guess it¡¯s true that I did kill many people, but these souls aren''t grabbing onto me like a curse, it¡¯s just that I¡¯ve many souls that are me. Most of them from monsters but some from people like you.¡±[???] he said pointing towards me and Dhar. His eyes moved and positioned itself in a way you can tell he¡¯s smiling and bowed while introducing himself.


    ¡°My name is Ultimias and this shall be your last night, I hope you enjoy.¡±[Ultimias]


    A shadow seemed to split from him and a clone of him walked out from his body and placed himself at the entrance of the cave, blocking the exit.


    ¡°That copy also has its own soul and magic is also emanating from it¡­ it¡¯s a perfect cop-¡±[Dhar]


    Then he started choking before falling on the floor, black mist pooling out of his mouth and what looked like small jagged rock protruding from his body


    (The mist!) I jumped back from the now accelerating mist that is now closing even faster on me. It doesn''t seem to be poison since rocks are protruding from him, perhaps the mist can take different forms and it destroyed him on the inside when he went to smell it. Then I shouldn¡¯t come into contact with it.


    ¡°{Suit: Biohazard}¡±[Lithus]


    A protective layer covered my body which blocked the mist from entering and provided fresh air to me without needing to take air outside of the suit. The man¡¯s eye frowned to the magic cast and muttered a bit.


    ¡°I guess it does work against it...¡±[Ultimias]


    I saw that the mist was still eroding my suit, I have to make a fast decision. I sprinted towards him with my sword out ready to pierce him. Even if he has a perfect clone, it¡¯s still a clone. If I can kill the main body the other it should disappear. I reached him but he didn¡¯t even budge from the place. Is he confident about the defense of a trench coat? It¡¯s probably enchanted with some protection magic. I silently enchanted {pierce} onto my sword and thrust at him. The blade plunged into the body, got his heart and out through his back. The was a feeling of relief until a felt something else plunge into my body. A sword appeared out of nothing into his hand and impaled me through the suit. I looked back at him with shaking eyes. His glowing eyes just looked at me as if it didn¡¯t care that I just impaled him. I fell to my knees and he pulled his sword out, I just looked at him in a daze as I fell sideways with Dhar¡¯s body in view. The mist was solidifying around him and is devouring like how a slime would with its prey. As the mist started rolling up on me I thought,


    (So this is our fate, what would¡¯ve happened if we simply didn¡¯t betray the organization¡­)[Lithus]


    ++++++++++

 The Elanvital house

    Chapter 3


    Ultimias? What kind of name is that? I could''ve given Aurum and it would¡¯ve been the same, the girl wasn¡¯t going to hear it and the bandits were going to die either way.


    I looked at the disintegrating man¡¯s body and then looked back at the unconscious girl with brown-green hair. lying on the mattress. These past few days, I¡¯ve been going to the hideout and cleaning them out of bandits. Most of the hideouts that I raided were the ones that I and Lidia found when we were trying to find our own hideout in my past life. I remember this girl still being here when we crashed into this place. That means this girl stayed kidnapped for at least 2 years. This hideout is difficult to locate since it was in the middle of the prairie, which is supposed to be prone to monsters and beast, but in this case, there are none for some reason. We only found this place because we were being chased by a noble that cared for the poor people and killing a noble will prompt other noble to hunt us down which Lidia didn¡¯t want. My memory was a bit fuzzy but I remember the girl being in ragged clothes, this is still wearing her accessory and seem to be part of the noble family, so why didn¡¯t the bandits try to ransom her in my past life? Well, for now, I¡¯ll have to wait for her to wake up, then ask questions.


    I sent a big cloud of mist containing several soul stars and storage stars to create a big dragon at the entrance of the cave to guard it. When the dragon was complete I changed it a bit so it would look like a white dragon standing on four limbs and have feather-like wings rather than a dragon that looks like the starry night.


    //////////


    I was practicing my quick forming, seeing how fast I can create a weapon with my dust. Then I heard a stirring to my side. I looked sideways and saw the girl waking up from her sleep. She had slept through the whole night, by then I had already searched the entire hideout, even found ten gold coins perfectly preserved by magic circles. In my past life, we only found three here and there was no preservation magic on the coins at all, they probably wore off. The waking girl saw me and immediately backed herself into the wall looking side by side. Probably looking for the original bandit that kidnapped her in the first place but now there are no signs of them.


    ¡°They got away, left the cave and I couldn¡¯t give chase since I needed to take care of you. And what¡¯s with your guards? They should¡¯ve at least already found you right? You slept and entire night and they still aren¡¯t here. You look like a nobleman¡¯s daughter from your look but I apologize that I don¡¯t know which household you¡¯re from since you don¡¯t have a visible crest on you. So I had no idea where to carry you.¡±[Ultimias]


    She took a little moment to process, but in the end, she ignored most of my questions except one. She looked down and gripped her dress. A sign of guilt, but for what?


    ¡°So the guards didn¡¯t come to try and save me¡­ am I unwanted?...¡±[girl]


    I looked down at her, unwanted? Why is that?


    ¡°So you call yourself an unwanted¡­ why is that?¡±[Ultimias]


    ¡°I- I don¡¯t have the magic talent like my sister¡­¡±[girl]


    ...uh? Wait wait wait, no way. I have a special way to upgrade my magic stars and it''s by scraping other magic stars within me and feeding it to the magic stars I want to upgrade. I''ve held a magic star made from her in the past and whenever I feed it my scrapped magic stars, the star¡¯s mana concentration increases much faster than my other usual stars. To add to that her magic is specialized in shaping other souls to different shapes creating superweapons. This ability matched well with me since I have so many soul stars that can be used and since an immortal¡¯s soul are practically indestructible so were the weapons made from them. There was no way she doesn''t have talent, even if we consider her sister to have a more powerful version of her ability, was there a sabotage in her proficiency test?


    ¡°You took a proficiency detection test right?¡±[Ultimias]


    ¡°Yes, it showed I didn¡¯t have one.¡±[girl]


    ¡°And what did the detector look like?¡±[Ultimias]


    ¡°It has the shape of an orb, there¡¯s what look like needles were pointed towards the center. the light gathered at the center.¡±[girl]


    ¡°Where was the test taken?¡±[Ultimias]


    ¡°Privately, because the one in charge of my test said it needed to be done without disturbance and asked everyone else to leave.¡±[girl]


    I looked at her with my eyebrows raised. The girl gave a good enough description of a proficiency detector, except you don¡¯t need privacy for it to function. Somehow there was false information given. I then started walking towards the exit of the cave gesturing her to come with me.


    ¡°By the way what¡¯s your name? Mine¡¯s Ultimias.¡±[Ultimias]


    ¡°My name is Lania and I¡¯m from the Elanvital family¡±[Lania]


    ¡°Oh, from the Elanvital family, then we¡¯re far away. No wonder the guards couldn¡¯t find you in a single night, not like we¡¯re somewhere in a deserted area.¡±[Ultimias]


    After hearing my words she walked out of the cave entrance to find herself in a prairie, there wasn¡¯t a single ounce of civilization anywhere. She looked around and yelped at the sight of the white dragon standing near the entrance.


    ¡°Oh don¡¯t worry about him, he¡¯s a good boy, now let¡¯s see how far your house is.¡±[Ultimias]


    I took a map tool that I borrowed from my mother¡¯s castle from one of my storage stars and proceeded to check the locations as Lania just gazed at the dragon.


    ¡°Sir, you have a tamed dragon?¡±[Lania]


    ¡°Yeah, I¡±m an adventurer with a tamed dragon, what about it?¡±[Ultimias]


    ¡°You look more like a secret worker from a noble that works in the shadows.¡±[Lania]


    ¡°Is it because of my black getup? Ahahaha, I won¡¯t be working for anyone anytime soon.¡±[Ultimias]


    ¡°But sir if you have a dragon then how did the bandits get away from you?¡±[Lania]


    ¡°The dragon wasn¡¯t at the cave entrance when I entered the cave but rather flying in the sky, I wanted him to find any other enemy that might be coming since I thought there would be more than 3 people. When I confronted them, they used a short distance teleport on themselves and when they got out of the cave and used what I can only guess {slip away} since there was no hostile presence within 3-meters. That¡¯s how they got here in the first place, the range is far and I guess they ran a bit in the forest near your city before using it. I was still in the cave and the dragon was up in the sky, no way for him to get to the bandits fast enough, does that answer your question?¡±[Ultimias]


    Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.


    She nodded her head in response. I can¡¯t tell her that they¡¯re already dead if I do, there¡¯s a chance she¡¯ll tell her family and if they want proof I don¡¯t have anything to show. I don¡¯t want to be caught of suspicion of kidnapping a noble daughter, except really my mom who¡¯ll think it¡¯s funny.


    ¡°Now let''s go and bring you back home.¡±[Ultimias]


    I made the dragon bend its head down and I grabbed the horn on its head. With one swift motion, the dragon tilted the head up while I pulled myself up straddling onto the neck and holding both horns like handles. I looked back at the girl and realize that she can¡¯t do such maneuver, so I made the dragon open its wings so the girl can climb on to it like a ramp. She slowly walked on its wing until she reached me and sat behind my back. She then whispered,


    ¡°I never saw a dragon this obedient to its owner, he didn¡¯t complain a single word to you when you allowed me to step on him. I thought dragons were supposed to have a lot of pride.¡±[Lania]


    ¡°Well, then this is a silent good boy. He doesn''t talk that much in the first place. Now let¡¯s depart for your home.¡±[Ultimias]


    The dragon lifted its wings and with a big flap flew right into the air toward the city of Till.


    //////////


    ¡°By chance does your city have some sort of signal to say that the dragon we¡¯re riding is a tamed dragon and not a dragon coming to annihilate the city?¡±[Ultimias]


    ¡°There are no signals, usually when a person comes to this city on a dragon we were told beforehand to prepare.¡±[Lania]


    ¡°So what do you suggest we do? We¡¯re starting to approach the city right now.¡±[Ultimias]


    ¡°Ummm, slow down and land near the city gate and talk to the guard?¡±[Lania]


    ¡°Sure.¡±[Ultimias]


    I slowed the dragon and descend until I reached the front gate of the city. The guards were watching me with wide eyes as they were walking back slowly. Then they noticed Lania sitting behind me and one of the guards turned and enter the gate, probably to tell everyone else there¡¯s a dragon and that the daughter of the Elanvitals is found. We simply dismounted the dragon and were bought inside while I made the dragon simply lay down beside the gate and wait while the guards at the gates were sweating a bit. It was only a few seconds until a man with a big belly walked in. The man has brown hair and is wearing a full armor apart from the helmet which he laid on the table in front of him as he sat down.


    ¡°Hello my name is Gaud and I¡¯m the captain of the city¡¯s guards. I was told you bought a dragon and miss Lania Elanvital to the gate.¡±[Gaud]


    He looked at Lania studying her feature on her. It could¡¯ve been passed as if he¡¯s trying to find details on her to confirm it is Lania but I don¡¯t like the sparks in his blue eyes. I noticed the guards practically radiated with unprofessionalism. This captain is essentially a sloth that feeds of other people and you can see it.


    ¡°Yes, I bought both a dragon and a noble¡¯s daughter to the gate. I¡¯m here to return the daughter to her family. The dragon doesn''t have to step into the city.¡±[Ultimias]


    ¡°Alright, you can leave now, we can bring the daughter back to her hou-¡±[Gaud]


    ¡°No, I shall accompany her.¡±[Ultimias]


    There was no way I¡¯m leaving her to such a guy like you. I can see it with most of the guards, they gave looks of displeasure. I had already sent clones of myself throughout the city as the form of shadows and birds without being noticed and I can see bribery happening right now. I''m pretty sure that¡¯s how they ''lost'' Lania to the bandits, someone is pulling the strings behind the scene. His eye twitched a bit, then he leaned back into his chair with a questioning gaze.


    ¡°Since I bought a daughter of a noble back I would like something in return, perhaps a compensation?¡±[Ultimias]


    Lania looked down a bit in a sad tone. I must''ve hurt her feelings a bit, she probably thought I just went to save her just for money.


    ¡°Very well we shall-¡±[Gaude]


    ¡°No, I don¡¯t want money, I have enough of that. What I want is a proficiency perception tool, I need it for an apprentice.¡±[Ultimias]


    Then a soldier came in with a piece in hand. He handed the paper to Gaud and whispered something to his ear. He then turned and walked out of the room. Gaude turned and read the piece of paper. After he was finished he turned back to me.


    ¡°It seems that the house of the Elanvital invites you to their lunch.¡±[Gaude]


    ¡°Very well, I shall accept the lunch invitation.¡±[Ultimias]


    ¡°Do you not want gold? We can also provide you more money than what the magic perception tool is worth.¡±[Gaude]


    ¡°No, what I need is a proper tool. I don¡¯t want a lower class one but a high end one, a proper proficiency perception tool¡±[Ultimias]


    I emphasized my words a bit, he nodded slowly with his face slightly white, and walked out of the room, I noticed him talking to soldiers before the door started closing, I¡¯m sure that there¡¯s trouble coming. I followed along with Lania who looked a bit better since she thought I¡¯m not just doing it for just money now. When we got to her house I was partially amazed how rich in life it was. They allowed trees and plants to grow everywhere and they weren¡¯t simply just weeds on the path. There were was exotic and beautiful plants, although most of them I recognize as dangerous plants. I¡¯m pretty sure there someone that can use chlorokinesis somewhere in the house. They can control these plants to fight off unwanted visitors, as expected for a house that is known for controlling the force of nature and life if I remember well.


    When we entered the house Lania¡¯s parent greeted her with open arms, it seems she¡¯s quite loved by her family despite her lack of self-confidence back at the cave. Although I can¡¯t say the same for other people like the noble guards, probably the same situation as the city guards. I was given a room and was asked to change into clothing for lunch. After I was given privacy and made sure there was no hidden surveillance magic I absorbed my trench coat, metal boot, and helmet away. Then I shifted my looks a bit with the mirror in my room. I adopted a form of an adult in a black uniform with a white tie, hair, and silver eye to match the dragon color outside of the gate. I walked out and proceeded to roam the mansion a bit since there was quite some time until Lunch and I was kind of bored. I met Lania and a girl sitting outside hugging each other and perhaps were crying a bit. The girl Lania was hugging seemed to look familiar to me but for some reason, my memory seems to fuzz a bit. I decided to walk outside to meet them.


    //////////


    ¡°Oh, Ultimias, this is my sister Nila and Nila, this is the person that saved me from the bandits.¡±[Lania]


    When I heard the name it hit me. Nila, the green-haired girl I only saw in the picture that Llya once showed me. She was her friend and was one of the victims of the incident at her high school. I kept a straight face as best I could as I listened to her.


    ¡°She has a really good talent in chlorokinesis and she even has a special ability to grow plants out of nothing without needing to spread seed, though the plant is small. She will definitely grow stronger and has a lot of potentials.¡±[Lania]


    Nila looked at the back of her sister. I could see the sense of guilt in her eye but Lania didn¡¯t feel it. Lania also seems proud of her sister but I know there¡¯s a sense of sadness for herself.


    ¡°Well, usually I would try to call my dragon to come to me and play but I don¡¯t want to panic the people of the city, so we¡¯ll play with these. And don¡¯t worry my dragon is probably just sleeping like a sloth right now.¡±[Ultimias]


    I released my storage star inside me, but instead of the black dust, I immediately compressed the dust around two of my soul stars along with a magic star that split in two. The two magic stars are going to be weaker than half the power of the original magic star but it doesn''t matter. I then created what looks like a big orb made of glass with a shining light in the middle. I combined the soul star and the magic star so it¡¯ll look like a single star. Then I made them appear in my hand as if I simply did a street magic trick.


    ¡°These are similar to my weapon, star orb, but these are made for people to practice or to safely play with. It is easier to create shapes with these. But this thing only really has a range of about 5-meter.¡±[Ultimias]


    ¡°So how are we going to play with this? And I don¡¯t think Lania can¡¯t use it, she doesn''t have proficiency in magic. If she can¡¯t play, I won¡¯t.¡±[Nila]


    ¡°Despite the fact it might look like it uses magic from the user, it is powered by the light at the center of the orb.¡±[Ultimias]


    I pointed at the light and both Nila and Lania looked at the light with wonder.


    ¡°It almost looks like a star.¡±[Nila]


    ¡°Yes it does, that¡¯s why it¡¯s called a star orb. Now let''s see who can create the most unique shape.¡±[Ultimias]


    The magic star within the orb is the same magic star I got from Lidia, which means her telepathy power is still intact within the two separated star. When the girl took the orb to play, the magic star within the orb connected their mind and the soul star. The connection allowed them to control dust that¡¯s disguised as the glass orb. It was really fun because it was still difficult since it was their first time, but they eventually got used to it. Lania learned how to control it faster than her sister I made sure the orbs functioned just like her soul bending power would. It¡¯s important because I¡¯m sure there¡¯s trouble coming.


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to worry about injury, it¡¯s just a practice tool for people to play with.¡±[Ultimias]


    I let the girls play while I walked around studying the architecture of the house. There were potted plants everywhere, it¡¯s the perfect home defense for people that can control plants while still maintaining the looks. There are also water ruins placed over the plants. From what I guess they¡¯re for watering the plant and also putting out fires too. Each floor is stacked on each other with the stairs running on the sides making it so you can see the top ceiling from the bottom floor. On the side of the stairs of each floor, hanging on a hook over the chasm that falls directly to the first floor, are long vines hanging down. I walked up to the stairs until I was close enough to touch one of them. I observe the plant and the vines have what looks like dragon scales on them, some of them were extending out which made it look like a torn but behind them were pink flowers that bloomed behind them. Then suddenly the large vine moved and the tip of it tickled the back of my head. I jumped back in surprise.


    ¡°Looks like our adventure let his guard down.¡±[???]


    I look around to find an elf maid standing a few meters away from me. I saw her next to Nila when I and Lamia arrived and she was also one of the first people to hug Lamia when she came back. She¡¯s probably the assigned bodyguard for the two sisters. She then bowed down to me.


    ¡°Hello, my name is Ley. I wanted to thank you for saving Lania.¡±[Ley]


    ¡°No, it¡¯s all right, after all, I¡¯m still asking for a reward at the end.¡±[Ultimias]


    ¡°True, but simply asked an item to detect one''s proficiency, we can provide some magic cores for your apprentice and you along with the item.¡±[Ley]


    I can absorb the magic cores and create magic stars but I don¡¯t need such things right now.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but I¡¯ll have to decline, I''ll feel like I¡¯m in debt to you instead.¡±[Ultimias]


    ¡°Very well, but I want to ask, why do you have an apprentice if you don¡¯t know what is his talent?¡±[Ley]


    ¡°You see when I look at someone I get this feeling about them in my guts and I usually tend to trust those gut feelings.¡±[Ultimias]


    Another maid came and bowed at us.


    ¡°Mr. Ultimias, The Elanvital family now invite you to their lunch.¡±[maid]

 conspiracy within the house

    Chapter 4


    I entered a room with a long rectangular table at the center of the room. Nila and Lania were both sitting together and eating. It wasn¡¯t a grand feast but rather just some sweets and biscuits, it looks like the sister¡¯s parents just wanted to talk. I saw the two adults sitting on the other side of the table and they gestured towards me to come. I walked up to them and was intrigued by them. The father was a human with brown hair with a white streak on the side while the mother was an elf with the bright green hair. I didn¡¯t realize that Nila and Lania were part elves, they didn¡¯t have pointed ears.


    ¡°Hello Ultimias, My name is Fael and this is my husband, Hor.¡±[Fael]


    ¡°Nice to meet you. Pardon my rudeness but I didn''t know you had an origin of an elf.¡±[Ultimias]


    ¡°I hope it doesn''t bother you. My mother was a human adventurer but for some reason, I just look more elf~ish than half-elf. My daughter looks more human but they still got my green hair, Lania the older with dark hair and Nila with lighter ones.¡±[Fael]


    I nodded and took a sweet before eating it. I didn¡¯t need to eat at all with this body. The food that goes into my body simply just gets absorbed and turned into dust. Despite the fact I don''t need it, I can still make taste buds a wow these sweet taste good.


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to explain what you did back at the cave, Lania explained it to us. We just wanted to thank you for saving our daughter. ¡±[Hor]


    I nodded before asking my questions.


    ¡°I wanted to ask, how was Lania kidnapped by the bandit? You both seem like loving parents and I wouldn¡¯t want to believe that she could¡¯ve been that easy to take along with these too.¡±[Ultimias]


    I put on the table the ten gold coins that I took from the cave. They gave the gold coins with a solemn look. They looked back at the sister but the table was long enough that they wouldn''t hear us.


    ¡°Lania also told us about these gold coins. They weren¡¯t supposed to be in the carriage, Lania found those coins hidden in a secret compartment and she tried to hide these coins from the guards. She speculated that the guards at this mansion put it there and wanted to bring them back to tell us but got kidnapped instead. We though the bandit managed to take them away when they escaped you it seemed like you didn¡¯t give them time to take a single one. If she stayed kidnapped we would¡¯ve never got the news, thank you.¡±[Hor]


    ¡°As of how the bandits got to her, I communed with the plants that were close by when the event happened. First, there was an explosion somewhere on or near the carriage flipping it over. The explosion released a large amount of white smoke. Some guards rushed in immediately and some exited carrying ¡®wounded¡¯ soldiers. Then the bandits emerged from the smoke and ran for the forest. the trees in the forest showed me that they used some sort of teleportation spell after they lost the guard but I didn¡¯t know where they went. I also couldn¡¯t get a proper view of the explosion because the grass, which isn''t as big plants like the trees, could only give blurred images and with the smoke blocked the view even more. The closest ones got burned by the explosion so I couldn¡¯t get information out of them. All the big plants like the trees of the forest were too far to give a proper view.¡±[Fael]


    ¡°Although I want to ask where do these guards come from? They don¡¯t seem too loyal.¡±[Ultimias]


    Their crest¡¯s shape was clicking something in my head but I couldn¡¯t pin-point the feeling at all. All I had are just chill and sense of unease whenever I see the crest they wear.


    ¡°These guards were bought in by a company named the guardians of the sunset. They¡¯re a company that was supposed to provide guards if you hire them and they provide protection. My husband wanted more protection for his daughters but I guess instead we hired robbers.¡±[Fael]


    She pinched Hor¡¯s face with a hard face and a scary aura around her. But I can only fixate on the name of the company. Then slowly a memory started flowing in¡­


    //////////


    ¡°Don¡¯t you realize Aurum?¡±[???]


    I struggled with the restraint on me, it glowed in a dark green light. I couldn¡¯t change my form nor disperse myself to escape this restraint.


    ¡°We were under all of your noses but no one saw. We got favors from noble and they paid those favors back, and us, we took their treasure without them knowing. We protect the nobles and they also protected us from rumors since they were just ignorant fools. We followed on this mission to help you but now I betrayed you.¡±[???]


    He picked me up by the hair and leaned me against a tree. While I was still struggling against the restraint he took out a sort of metallic cylinder.


    ¡°This mission was extremely beneficial. The artifact that we needed to find was right here and you bought us for it. And we also need a soul of an immortal and your here just for that.¡±[???]


    He plunged the cylinder into me and I can feel it enter me. Then it wrapped around one of my soul stars. It entered the tube and when he pulled it out I couldn¡¯t sense that soul star anymore. When I try to control the soul star from the inside, it was suspended in the cylinder so I couldn¡¯t make contact with anything to turn to dust. He then put his mouth next to my ear and slowly said,


    ¡°Remember, we are the guardian of the sunset and we protect the organization until the night returns. If you want to find the night return, you must go through us first.¡±[???]


    Then there was an explosion and Llya walked out through the smoke, her hand holding the horn of a decapitated demon duke''s head. She saw me sitting against the tree, dropped the head and started sprinting at full  speed to us


    ¡°Wow, taking a demon duke all by herself, she¡¯s a monster.¡±[???]


    The person took out a scroll and started opening it. The scroll then shone and he started to shimmer. Llya saw what he was trying to do and threw her sword with full strength, it was spinning straight to the man in a whirlwind of pure mana. Unfortunately, that threw it off balanced it and only took an arm as the figure disappeared. The sword smashed through the tree I was resting against and tore the tree in half right over my head. With my first ever thought of permanent death against that sword, I slowly fell unconscious from shock as Llya ran towards me with her face full of worry.


    //////////


    ¡°Hello?¡±[???]


    I snapped back, it seems like I dozed off a bit too much. But that was a flashback, so if it did happen, then¡­ I looked at the girls, they still haven''t heard anything, good.You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.


    ¡°Fael and Hor, It¡¯s just a strong hunch but do you perhaps believe these ¡®guardians of the sunset¡¯ are perhaps connected if not related to the organization, night return.¡±[Ultimias]


    They looked at me with a serious look with Fael looking with an even deadlier look than she gave her husband moments ago.


    ¡°Do you realize what kind of claim you¡¯re making? All from a hunch, if this is false we might as well be attacking innocent people. Although now that they have attempted to steal treasures from our place, I¡¯m more inclined to believe you but not to this extent.¡±[Hor]


    ¡°Despite that, it might be too much I¡¯m just listing one of the suspects. There might be more but that organization is my go-to target because I¡¯m sure that they have already come here before you hired the guards.¡±[Ultimias]


    ¡°What. How did they get into our household? Explain to us.¡±[Hor]


    At that moment a maid came in an orb in her hand, it was a proficiency perception tool. The maid handed to me silently and bowed while I nodded in return. The maid turned to leave and I turned back to the parents and whispered,


    ¡°The maids can be trusted, right?¡±[Ultimias]


    ¡°Yes, they¡¯re all saved from my mother. I doubt they¡¯ll betray us. Most of them use chlorokinesis, but there are some exceptions.¡±[Fael]


    I nodded again and started viewing the object in my hand. It was an actual decent tool, looks like the captain delivered. Of course, this tool was improved in the future. Before I added the improvement with my dust I asked some questions to Fael and Hor to answer their question.


    ¡°According to the story of Lania, her proficiency test was taken privately. What made you think there needed to be no disturbance?¡±[Ultimias]


    They looked at each other and slow realization was creeping towards them like a premonition of what I¡¯m about to reveal. Hor was the first to answer.


    ¡°Well I was born in a family that never used magic so I was never tested, but my family was known for their architecture, I was the one that designed and built this house. However, since I never took a proficiency test I didn¡¯t know the process¡±[Hor]


    I nodded and looked at Fael, waiting for her answer.


    ¡°In my clan, we didn¡¯t have a tool, but an old man that would look at our palm to see what we¡¯re proficient at. Although ever since my clan was destroyed by deforestation, most of the people are gone including the old man. So when I needed to find a person to check our daughters we hired a random person who claimed he can help us find our daughter''s proficiency. When he asked for privacy, I thought the tool he carried has the same ability as the old man but he said it would pick up other people''s mana from other people within the room.¡±[Fael]


    ¡°I guess those are a good explanation but sadly the proficiency perception tool isn''t that faulty. And if my guts are right then I think Lania has magic powers.¡±[Ultimias]


    As I finished the sentence I started walking towards Lania who was still talking to her sister. I also started attaching dust to it making it look like a miniature planet with a ring around it. My dust can''t turn into the exact materials, but it can copy characteristics and it was good enough. I held the orb that now floated on my hand to Lania and asked her,


    ¡°This is slightly modified from the usual orb but it should be the same result, can you touch the orb, it should be able to show what kind of power you have.¡±[Ultimias]


    ¡°But I don¡¯t have any power, nor proficiency. I¡¯m just like my father.¡±[Lania]


    ¡°Well it doesn''t hurt to try¡±[Ultimias]


    She looked at me and back at the floating orb as her parents slowly stood up. She closed her eyes and her finger slowly approached the orb. When they were about to touch there was a spark and her eyes snapped open. The orb started to bask in a proper golden light and letters started appearing on the ring. I read the character on the ring silently to confirm if she has the same kind of magic as my past life. They stared silently as I nodded and took out one of the glass orbs that the girl had handed back. I reached into one of the orbs and pulled out the shining light which was my soul star and handed it to Lania and I quickly formed a broadsword with my dust and showed it to Lania.


    ¡°I want you to shape that light until it looks like this sword. It should function just like the normal orb when it was still encased.¡±[Ultimias]


    She nodded, slightly dumbfounded, as she cupped her hand slowly around the light and closed her eyes. Then it began to form as it starts taking shape of my sword. When it was done it was a near-identical copy but instead, it was pure white and it seems to fade around the edge. The whole sword appeared ethereal.


    ¡°Well, you see according to the orb, Lania had the power to shape a soul into a weapon and those light are souls from animals that I use to control my weapons. I hope you know what this means, right?¡±[Ultimias]


    They slowly realize many things. Their daughter has a power that was unique from most users and that the man that came to ¡®help¡¯ them lied to them.


    Hor and Fael both moved separately. Hor first called for the maid to perhaps attempt to find the mysterious person, although I¡¯m sure that he¡¯s far gone by now. Fael went and bought some other maid with her to kick out the guards.


    ¡°Ultimas, is it okay if we can hire you to protect our daughter?¡±[Fael]


    ¡°Sure, I also want to catch the night return. But I can only stay a few days so let us hope we deal with this matter before I need to leave.¡±[Ultimias]


    When they left I looked back at the girl, they were hugging each other for a bit of comfort since now they realize that she had powers. Another maid directed us from the room and onto the third floor, the highest floor of the house. We could only wait but I decided to hand a few soul stars to Lania.


    ¡°Since your parents are busy right now I guess we can only practice, I think we should improve on your fighting skills. Let¡¯s move to a more proper room to fight and I¡¯ll be your instructor for both of you. I don¡¯t believe they would give up on you easily.¡±[Ultimias]


    Both sisters nodded and we moved to a bigger reinforced room. There were also beasts that their parents caught for them so that they can absorb its mana, so we decided to use them as punching bags. When the girls fell asleep I patrolled the hall since I didn¡¯t need to sleep. The first day simply passed without much accident apart from the rebelling guards. Oh and I should mention that there was also some spy, but they didn¡¯t last long.


    //////////


    ¡°Why did the guards'' captain give them a working perception tool!?¡±[???]


    If it wasn¡¯t for the armor he was wearing he would¡¯ve died when I pushed him against the wall, but he still fell unconscious nevertheless. After shaking the man a few times I sighed and dropped him on the ground.


    ¡°Take him back to the main base, he shall be a ¡®volunteer¡¯¡±[???]


    ¡°Yes, master Behn.¡±[Butler]


    He opened a scroll and wrote some things on it before putting it down on the table next to him.


    We discovered that one of our seers managed to predict that there would be a girl that can shape one¡¯s soul. She was supposed to be captured so we can bring her back to the main base and use her power, but instead those bandits did the exact opposite. It was good that the mysterious adventurer bought her back but now instead he somehow revealed that the girl had the power that needed to be protected and kicked out the guards we took so long to place into the mansions. After that message from one of our spies we lost contact with them, they probably were discovered. He may have ruined some of the plans but now that the girl was back, we still have a second chance. It¡¯s not yet over.


    ¡°Bass, please gather the soldiers around the city.¡±[Behn]


    ¡°Very well, at the same time, I shall report to the higher-ups.¡±[Bass]


    I clicked my tongue silently. Despite that Bass is serving me right now, he was simply here to ¡®watch¡¯ over me. This time I will succeed, I will not become a ¡®volunteer¡¯. The scroll beside him glowed and he looked at it, then he turned to me


    ¡°I received just a message we do not need that soldier as a volunteer, his blood is saturated with drugs, he¡¯s not fit. You can kill him and absorb his power.¡±[Bass]


    I looked at the unconscious soldier, then I extended my hand towards him and purple mist started appearing from my palm. The mist made contact with the unconscious man and his skin slowly started melting until it reached his bone leaving it clean. Then a voice resounded in my head.


    You absorbed Blaude Calor¡¯s power.


    Your mana pool increased by 102 points.


    I nodded and looked back at Bass.


    ¡°We¡¯ll attack tomorrow, around nighttime once we gather enough force.¡±[Behn]


    //////////


    The wolf ran around dodging the vines that sprouted between the tiles. It tried to attack Nila because she seemed to be the defenseless one but Lania always blocked the attack with her glowing sword. The sword left burn marks that slowed down the wolf and the thorns on the vines were poisonous. Eventually, the wolf couldn¡¯t stand anymore and fell. Lania looked at the wold and extended a hand towards it, a white light appeared from the wolf and floated in her hand. She just received her third soul, and both girls absorbed the mana in the wolf.


    ¡°You''re not going to absorb the mana?¡±[Nila]


    ¡°No it¡¯s your kill, your parents caught those beasts themselves, and I''m sure that they''ll attack around tonight so you need to prepare as much as possible.¡±[Ultimias]


    When you kill a living creature you can absorb the residue mana to increase your mana capacity, same said for animals too. The only thing is that I can only upgrade my magic stars by scraping other stars. If my stars were able to absorb residue mana that means that if I go to a mana rich zone I can absorb all the mana x the amount of magic star I have x the magic potential that each star hold. Sadly I don¡¯t have the luxury to do such a thing. I get magic stars by capturing magic cores from living things or a magic object. Since I don''t ''absorb'' the mana the system doesn''t acknowledge it and dismisses it and the result is that I don''t get any messages. I also can''t take magic cores from living creatures while they''re still alive, I need to weaken their life force or kill them to be able to process anything into stars or store them in my storage stars.


    ¡°I can at least give you the wolf body, I still feel indebted to you.¡±[Lania]


    ¡°Then I will take it, thank you. By the way, how much mana you have?¡¯¡¯[Ultimias]


    ¡°I received 176 points.¡±[Lania]


    ¡°Wow, I received 98. Do you absorb more mana than normal?¡±[Nila]


    ¡°Yeah, I think so.¡±[Lania]


    "And those souls look more like little fairies floating around you. At least you don''t need your own proper container."[Nila]


    //////////


    It was the dark of night and we sat there waiting. Lania and Nila are already secured inside the vault that is protected by giant leaves that blocked the entrance. Then the front door started creaking, Fael and the maids got into a stance with their chlorokinesis ready, Hor with his armor and ax and me with the black suit that had glowing stars on it except for the helmet which had a pair of glowing eyes instead. I stood on the railing up on the third floor with a pair broadswords ready. Then the door broke loose and havoc poured in.

 The battle in the night

    Chapter 5


    People in big black cloths started pouring in, they¡¯re trying to use the darkness and advantage in number to get to the girls, they aren¡¯t even trying to stealth it. The maids threw down small stones that had some white glowing letters on it. The maids, Fael, and Hor all looked away right before the stone hit the floor. There were several flashes of light and the peoples in black tumbled around blinded. I didn¡¯t bother looking away, the light doesn''t hurt my eyes. As they fumbled confused the vines started wrapping around them and the maids started flinging seeds on them. Upon contact, the seeds burst out vines and started wrapping the invaders.


    Some of them recovered their witts and realize that a full-on charge will not help them. They took out something, ranging from stones with red letters carved in them, scrolls that glowed red from the inside, other just plain torches that they lit with magic and lighters. It was obvious what they are trying to do so the maid started pulling levers on the walls and the water runes started glowing and showering the place. Their clothes grew damp and as a result, where heavy. It seems like Fael and Hor are handling the bottom floor really well. But now it¡¯s my turn to get rid of people who are smart enough not to step through the front door. I stood upon the railing and stepped back landing once again on the floor. The invaders crouched in the dark, they seemed to have climbed through the windows and are now crawling towards me with their blades ready. I unsheathed my two swords and twirled them a bit.


    ¡°You know if a guy has glowing eyes you should guess that they can see in the dark.¡±[Ultimias]


    ¡°...¡±[???]


    ¡°Well, come to me.¡±[Ultimias]


    They lunged at me at full speed, looks like they¡¯re done with stealth. I slowly wind up my blade making it clear that I was going to do a vertical cut, the one in front just lifted his dagger, he seemed confident he could stop it. If only he knew that the dust that makes this body also gives me incredible strength. Just when they were about to get into my ¡®range¡¯ I suddenly lunged forward with tremendous speed. The first assailant was caught by surprise and flinched, then my blade went right through his dagger, cutting it in half, and straight down on his head. The other assailants jumped back, now aware how fast I can be. I twisted my body and swung my other blade at the nearest person. This time he reinforced his blade with magic but that didn¡¯t stop me from smashing him through the railing and sending him falling to the bottom. The two other invaders separated, one was going for the vault and his dagger was etched with a purple light on the edge and mist billowed from it. The other stood in between me and the one with a dagger. he has a clear crystal that had a magic circle inside. I threw one of my swords at the crystal stone, the man pulled back his hand and the sword barely hit it. Instead, it struck the man behind him and he died on the spot and he dropped the dagger and a box. Whenever my dust leaves my range of control, it will still retain its shape, I just can''t control it. Though I really should¡¯ve taken the time to at least put a soul star in it. The assailant looks back at his fallen comrade and back at me before he tightened his hand. The clear crystal shattered and the circle that was inside now glowed in midair. It started sucking the assailant dry, killing him. Then there was a bright flash and a fissure appeared on the floor. Even darker shadows started spreading from it and a hand reached out and pulled itself out of the crack. When the creature got out, the crack sealed itself and the thing simply stood there. I looked at what was probably a demon that can be controlled by that box, but he''s dead now. So why did the assailant sacrificed himself?


    ¡°I see that you¡¯re a strong opponent.¡±[???]


    I looked behind me and spotted another man. This time he didn¡¯t bother wearing the long cloth like his friends. He was simply dressed in a suit and a tie, with his white hair in complete view. He isn¡¯t even trying to hide his identity.


    ¡°Hello, my name is Behn, I see that you''re a skilled adventurer, it¡¯ll be a shame if you have to die. I do hope we can reach a consensus.¡±[Behn]


    ¡°Consensus, yeah, walk out of here and you don¡¯t come back ever again, I know why you¡¯re trying to get the girl.¡±[Ultimias]


    He sighed and took out a cube that looked like the one that the assailant dropped. It had a bunch of machinery that¡¯s holding itself together. Oh, so that¡¯s why the assailant still bothered to sacrifice himself. The gear inside the cube started spinning and he gave an order.


    ¡°Shadow demon, go and kill this adventurer.¡±[Behn]


    The demon''s eyes glowed purple and it lunged at me. I didn''t give it attention and started running towards Behn. That demon was definitely being controlled by that cube, smash it and it¡¯ll probably retaliate against him. I ran towards him but when I reached closed I noticed that the dust that covers me was slowly detaching from me and melt into a liquid onto the ground. Great, it turns out that that man also knows some sort of acid magic which I guess why he was fairly confident in himself. He smiled smugly, as he sees me now trapped between a choice of being mauled by a shadow demon or melted by an acid cloud. Unfortunately, he didn¡¯t expect me to keep running without hesitation.


    ¡°Why aren¡¯t stopping, your suppose to be melting, dying! Why isn¡¯t you shape changing, I can see the acid slowly melting pieces of you off, but why do you still have everything on?¡±[Behn]


    ¡°Well, I¡¯m more confident in my armor than you with your acid.¡±[Ultimias]


    Really I¡¯m just releasing some dust in my storage stars and was using those dust to replace the ones that melted off. I¡¯m not worried about the ones that do melt off because they can¡¯t be destroyed, I can always gather them again. The demon gave up chance and was slowing down because it couldn¡¯t chase me into the acid cloud. Behn now looked really panicked and finally decided to retract his acid cloud. I was about to reach him with my sword until I heard,


    ¡°{summon: Acid snake}¡±[Behn]


    And it was blocked by a stream of acid. The acid circle around him like a snake and the sword got stuck inside of it. Before I could react, the demon came and hit me on the side. I smashed through the railing and off the third floor. A few of my stars on my suit also detached and landed on Behn. He looked down at me who managed to grab a vine before falling to the second floor.


    ¡°Shadow demon, go and occupy that man.¡±[Behn]


    The demon walked off and flew towards me as I tightened my grip on the vine ready to confront the demon. Behn turned around and ran through the melting mess that used to be part of my armor. He wasn¡¯t affected by his acid along with the cloth that was specially made for him. He brushed off the stars that attached to him when I was hit and proceeded to the vault. The snake then slithered off his body and slowly but surely, started melting through the thick giant leaves that blocked the entrance.


    Those leaves grew on the trees from Friaca and they have a high amount of resistance to physical attacks. It has evolved as such because it didn¡¯t want animals to feed on their leaves off and as a result, it has a high amount of physical resistance. Unfortunately, that means those leaves don''t have any magical resistance.Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.


    ++++++++++


    The snake was halfway through the leaves. When it goes completely through I can start pouring acid cloud into the hole and threaten the girls to open the vault. Though I need to be quick, that star man might actually be able to single handily take down the demon on his own. His armor must be a special armor with a high amount of self-repairing ability if I was able to melt off that exorbitant amount from his body.


    Then suddenly I felt something enter my body. He looked down to find a long blade that pierced him through the gut. I looked back to find the star man looking at me dead in the eye, his eye shining in the darkness. Did he already kill the demon? The man in black snapped the blade and walked back. I turned with my back against the leaves. I saw another man in black fighting against the demon, but that one has more stars, is he able to create clones of himself? I looked at the floor and spotted that the mass of melted armor that was supposed to be there was now gone. So that suit has regenerating property and create more copies of itself the more it¡¯s damaged? I laughed as I pulled myself up, I may have a blade in me but that man broke his weapon for some reason and I can still turn the table against him.


    ¡°Well, it''s too bad I can''t start my own melting process until your basically already dead.¡±[Ultimias]


    I paused and looked at the man with confusion.


    ¡°But despite that, I can¡¯t disintegrate you right now, I can do this.¡±[Ulitimias]


    He snapped his fingers and the broken blade retracted into me and started churning inside of me. Before I realized what he meant the black mass inside of me grew into spikes and pierced all of my organs. I looked at him as the spikes slowly started liquefying along with my pierced organs. I only managed to squeeze out,


    ¡°What are you.¡±[Behn]


    Then I lost consciousness.


    ++++++++


    Once the man was entirely melted I got my second body to join the fight with the first body. Although now the demon was trying to escape since his master was now dead. When I was about to catch he turned and went down on his knees and bowed, his head touching the floor.


    ¡°Please spare me, Thazeloc, the shadow demon, oh immortal.¡±[demon]


    I looked at him with a bit of surprise, I certainly never mentioned that I was an immortal.


    ¡°What makes you believe I¡¯m an immortal?¡±[Ultimias]


    ¡°The demon king of this era is on his way to gain his immortality but your soul has already reached the end of the path. Along with the multitude of versions of yourself.¡±[Thazeloc]


    ¡°Alright, but you¡¯re not allowed to tell anyone that I¡¯m immortal.¡±[Ultimias]


    He nodded and one of my body went and picked up the cubes. One from Behn and the other from one of the assailants. I didn¡¯t attempt to absorb the dead assailants because I need to make up a story and I¡¯ll need proof.


    ¡°For now we¡¯ll wait for this mess to finish, while at the same time guard the vault with me. Oh, and change into a more human-like form.¡±[Ultimias]


    The demon changed his appearance into Behn which kind of took me by surprise a bit and I fused two bodies back into one. In the end, the battle was cut short because their main objective had failed and the fact I bought my dragon body to the front of the mansion, blocking them between the defenders of the mansion and a dragon. They understandably surrendered on the spot. The invaders were revealed to be the city guards and the other guards that Fael and Hor had kicked out, along with some unknown faces. When they saw me standing next to a demon they were wary of it but I explained the situation. I told them that the two assailants tried to summon Thazeloc against me but I killed them before he could do anything. I made sure not to mention Behn to them. In the end, Thazeloc agreed to serve the Elanvitals as long as I destroyed the cube, though he agreed to bind himself in a contract instead. Once the mess was cleaned I waved goodbye to them because I needed to return home. However, I needed to make one more visit.


    //////////


    Behn failed.


    I sighed and served myself some tea. It was a shame, Behn had potential but he was rash and rushed things. I suspected that the adventurer was powerful since he had a tamed dragon. Behn could¡¯ve waited much later because I knew adventurers don¡¯t tend to stay in one place for a long time. The Elenvital family also wouldn¡¯t be hiring guards anytime soon because they''ll be too wary in hiring more guards. If he waited patiently and constructed a better plan he would''ve had a better chance, after all, there really was no deadline. Though now I¡¯m interested in this Ultimas, he managed to handle a demon and Behn on his own. He shows much potential, especially since he already found this hideout.


    ¡°Bass, sire! The intruder is slowly approaching here, we need to evacuate right now.¡±[Soldier]


    ¡°No, continue to defend the hold your ground.¡±[Bass]


    ¡°But¡­¡±[soldier]


    I filled my right eye with a bit of magic and gazed at him. He stopped talking with his entire body shaking. He bowed and went out the front door. I sat back and listened to the cry of the fallen soldiers, the sword through flesh, and the clanking of a metal boot. I was told by my master to serve Behn but now that he¡¯s dead, I can go back at my own leisure. I sat there humming and took out the sword by my side. It wasn¡¯t my favorite sword, my master didn''t want me to carry such a treasure everywhere, but it was still good enough. I noticed that it was silent and I smiled, then the door burst open and a man wearing a black trench coat decorated with stars, a knights helmet, and metal boots stepped in.


    ¡°Killing everyone in this facility uh¡­¡±[Bass]


    I stood up and bowed to him and introduced myself.


    ¡°My name is Bass and you must be Ultimias. I¡¯ve heard of your feats and us, the Night Return wants to recruit you.¡±[Bass]


    ¡°I¡¯m not interested to join an organization that has people willing to kill every single one of his soldiers for silence.¡±[Ultimias]


    I smiled. He¡¯s smart, he saw through me despite being the first time seeing me. I don¡¯t know how but he somehow knows my personality, I wonder how.


    ¡°I don¡¯t want the noise of running soldiers ruining our silence don¡¯t we?¡±[Bass]


    The man sighed and drew a sword out of his arm. Interesting, it seems he can form blades because he was bending that arm a few moments ago, so the blade couldn¡¯t be there at that moment. I snapped my hand and then the silence became deafening. He put his hand against his ear and tipped a bit, but managed to balance himself. I smiled, this man is experienced.


    ¡°{Silence for the music king} is a fun spell. The ones affected cannot use their ears at all, not even their vestibular to keep their own balance. The only voice that your ears will listen to is my voice and music.¡±[Bass]


    He looked at me with a look of despise.


    ¡°Oh don¡¯t misunderstand me, I can still hear everything and I wouldn¡¯t want to hear the sound of running soldiers.¡±[Bass]


    He twirled his sword, positioned himself and launched himself towards me. I took out my sword and was about to make contact before the sword turned into a black mist. My sword swung through it and the now empty-handed man tried to land a punch my sides. I breathed out intensely and cast {melody of the wind} and tried to blow him away. My magic is amplified by the effect of {silence for the music king}, but his boot locked him in place and he didn¡¯t budge. The blow hit me and I heard a few of my ribs snapped. I smiled through the pain and cast {melody of snapping bones}. The spell created a giant a pulse that flew at him, he put up his arm to block it but instead it entered his body and started bouncing everywhere inside him. He staggered a bit and I heard one of his bones snap. I smiled and cast {melody of snapping bones} again and another giant pulse traveled at him. I saw him look up in time and noticed his whole body seemed to blur. Don¡¯t tell me he can turn his whole body into a mist just like his sword. Before the pulse hit him his entire body exploded into a cloud of black mist and I stepped away from it while covering my mouth. Then a black snake decorated in stars emerged from the shadow. It was made entirely of liquid but when it made contact with the floor it hissed and created a purple mist. It almost looked like Behn¡¯s magic¡­ I shook my head and cast {melody of hissing acid}. The entire snake started hissing and sputtering but it didn¡¯t slow down. I sighed, I don¡¯t believe I can face this persistent man with my current set of equipment. I strengthened my leg and smashed the ground scattering debris everywhere. With the sound of rocks hitting the floor, I cast {melody of falling rocks} and the entire hideout started shaking. The snake paused a bit while it was still bubbling and looked at me. I smiled and took out a scroll. It seemed to realize what it was and lunged at me, but I was already gone in a bright flash before it even reached me.


    I stepped on a pillar and looked at the caved ruin of my hideout. That man is still probably alive but it¡¯ll probably take some time for him to find out whether he is climbing up or down under the effect of {Silence for the music king}.


    ¡°I hope to meet you again, perhaps with better equipment and a better time. But we¡¯ll see, we¡¯ll see¡­¡±[Bass]


    I stepped away and left the ruins.


    ++++++++++


    ¡°...We¡¯ll see¡­¡±[Bass]


    Stop whispering in my ears got damn it.


    I created some pillar that started pushing the rubble around me up or away. I don¡¯t know if I¡¯m sitting upright or not. When the pillar pushed away enough space for me to take my human form and I coughed a bit. Accidentally got some actual dust inside me when I reformed. I took a few pebbles and dropped them to determine where¡¯s up and down. Then I turned into a mist and went through cracks until I got out the mazes of rubble and reformed myself. Once I formed my eyes I looked around the mess. It seems like Bass left, but I don¡¯t believe he and Night Return will attempt to capture Lania for a long time¡­


    Anyway who was that Bass fellow? I don¡¯t know him at all. He was casting his magic without saying a word so he definitely must be a powerful figure, or so I hope. And that area effect magic is definitely troublesome, if only for the fact that my boots literally held me in place by locking itself on the ground. Though I probably never heard of him because Llya must¡¯ve wrecked him in my past life before I even met her.


    I gathered myself and looked at the rising sun. Yeah, I definitely need to start going home now or else my mother is going to go on a rampage as she did in my past life.

 Starting test for Clear Lake

    Chapter 6


    ~a few days later~


    I managed to convince my mother that I found a new power that I can use. She was skeptical of it but in the end, I showed that it wasn¡¯t dangerous to me or anyone else except for my opponent. It didn¡¯t suck my soul or suck the life force out other people. She was just scared that my body wouldn¡¯t be able to reform itself if something ever happened to me since my whole body is made from dust now. But it was okay, I¡¯m still Aurum and the new body helped me by giving me more physical strength. Since it''s made of dust I can cluster dust together into a structure that will help me to strike harder or go faster. It''ll really help to have a strong body in battle. She was relieved at the end and asked me which school did I want to go to.


    ¡°Clear Lake.¡±


    ¡°...Uh? But isn¡¯t that one of the top high schools? With one of the hardest entry test?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, but I¡¯m confident I can pass this test.¡±


    ¡°Oh¡­ just be careful alright?


    She pulled her hair back with a sigh of worry without thinking, revealing the horns on her head for the first time. She noticed what she had done and tried to hide them again. I put my hand out and stopped her.


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to worry, I knew for a long time. You don¡¯t have to hide it anymore.¡±


    She looked at me with surprise.


    "When did you know that I had horns?"


    "Well, your hair didn''t do the best job hiding it..."


    Her eyes went teary and she cried about how she spent hours trying to puff up her hair to hide it from me.


    "You don''t have to hide anything from me, you can share stuff with me. I believe I''m ready to share secrets now." I said, holding my hands on hers to comfort her.


    She looked down a bit as if she felt guilty about something.


    "Mom, you seem to be hiding something from me. I told you, I can handle secrets."


    She tensed up but sighed at the end and looked at me directly in the eye.


    "There''s... a secret that I kept from you for a long time. The secret will hurt, are you sure you want to hear it?"


    "I''m sure that I''m ready to hear it."


    "Aurum, I want you to know, I''m not your actual mother. I found you in the hand of a dark-cloaked man. It was a cold winter and he was on his way to the canal. I was in the town to pick up some seeds for my plant back in the garden until that man bumped into me. When I saw Him, I grew suspicious and I followed him. When he was on the deserted bridge I was in the shadow watching, only to find in horror that the man dropped you down into the canal. He left quickly and I jumped shortly after into the water to pick you up. you were a frail boy that was freezing numb in the cold. I managed to warm you up. I figured that you were abandoned, so I decided to name after the flower that I was planning to plant back at my home Auriel Plum. I cut a few words so that It''ll fit better which ended up with Aurum. The plant could only grow during winter and it was used to create a calming cold scent. When you grew up I couldn''t bring myself to tell you the truth."


    I held my hand up next to her cheeks and put my forehead against her''s.


    "I may not know who my mother is but to me you were my mother."


    She burst out crying and I comforted her as much as I can. When she finally calmed down we both agreed to go and make a final celebration for my departure.


    //////////


    I was standing on an empty plain with nothing in view but a single sign that said ¡®Sky castle stop¡¯ I looked up at the blue sky with a red suitcase. Then through the cloud came flying down a giant castle. It flew down and then right stopped above my head. Then a magic circle appeared under my feet and it ascending like a platform with me on top of it.


    Once I got into a castle I was directed to a room inside for me. Since the school was so far, I¡¯ll have a few days of traveling ahead of me on this flying castle. That means that this place is the room I¡¯ll stay for the duration of the travel.  I put my stuff in the room and locked the door behind me as I took a stroll. The entire castle was powered by a core at the bottom of the castle. It was created by an inventor that somehow removed a monster¡¯s heart and placed it inside a container where he reanimated the heart. after it reanimated it started producing an immense amount of mana. This sort of invention immediately became widespread and it¡¯s still being used today.


    As I walked around I noticed a group of kids huddled together. They were all listening to an adult. I realize that they are probably kids on a field trip and the adult is probably a teacher. I looked around and noticed other people were listening. I also decided to sit back and listen. The teacher made the group of kids sit down and she started talking.


    ¡°This is Elienzah, the world as we know and live on. This world is filled with mana and as a result, magic exists. Many people learned how to harness the mana that they can create all sorts of unique magic. From talking to animals to lifting mountains, the different kind of powers seems endless. To add to this, when the churches lost the right to regulate magic lessons, other sources of miracles were introduced to the world. Ranging from alchemy, ruin crafting, to even the magic core that helps this castle to fly through the sky. It¡¯s still developing but there is still much potential to it. Unfortunately magic comes with a cost. Because mana is everywhere, the ecosystem is also filled with mana. This causes animals to gain magical power that allows them to kill many people. Thought thanks to the knights and guards, we¡¯re protected by most monsters thankfully.¡±


    The lady will continue to teach her lessons and the students listened. I stood at the back listening to the lessons. The days flew past without knowing and I finally reached my destination. The place where I will take the test to determine whether or not I can make the cut to enter Clear Lake or not.


    //////////


    I walked among the group of kids, that chattered while they walked down the pathway. I looked up in the sky, it was a bright blue sky and I stared at it without much in mind. Then suddenly a shadow swooped above us and people started chattering and pointing at the black shape that flew over us. It was a red wyvern being ridden on a knight in red armor.


    ¡°Look, it is the red dragon knight!¡± one of the kids shouted. A generic name but it¡¯s a blunt name that described him, except the ¡®dragon¡¯ part was more of an insult to most actual dragons. Wyverns, along with many others of its kind, are subspecies to dragons. They are not actual dragons.


    The wyvern landed on an open field and the knight got down from the wyvern. He walked on the podium and stood beside other people in uniform standing side by side in a line at the back. A single man was standing behind a lectern and he was wearing a uniform that looked like to be part of the palace suit that had golden rope wrapping around him. He waited for all the kids to reach into the clearing before he started talking.


    ¡°Hello, my name is Owen Scott and I welcome you to Clear Lake. You¡¯ll be spending your school year here but you¡¯ll have to earn it by going through a series of tests. If you fail one test you don¡¯t have to worry because you can still catch up on the other tests. You can use any method as long as they are not meant to kill. Teaming is allowed but there can be no more than three people no extras. Although any methods are allowed, we kindly ask of you to play fair games as some moves might decrease your credibility to enter the school. These adults shall oversee the tests to make sure you''re not cheating, along with today''s special guest, Red Dragon Knight! Although the organizers didn¡¯t want an actual dragon on the field so they forced him on a wyvern instead.¡±Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.


    I nodded at the fact, at least the R.D Knight wasn¡¯t a scammer of some sort. He just wasn¡¯t allowed to bring an actual dragon. After all, the dragon has a much bigger figure and can be a danger to students if it emits too much magic. Although I can''t blame the organizers. Monster taming is actually extremely new, to the point that getting a horned rabbit as a pet is almost exciting. that man had already tamed a dragon, getting him on a wyvern was already enough to impress people. I wonder what''s his story with his dragon.


    While we waited for teachers to take us to the first test, I was running around in the crowd trying to find someone. Come-on, where is she? I couldn¡¯t find her in the crowd of people. I start rubbing my fingers on my temples and started thinking. My mind was still extremely blurry but I was thinking real hard if I was her where will I want to be. She uses to tell me that she didn¡¯t like meddling with people when she was small because of the discrimination of her own family despite having a higher mana capacity. So she ended up avoiding contact with other people. Wait, if she really does try to avoid contact, wouldn¡¯t she be far back?


    I turned and started pushing past people slowly reaching the past the back of the crowd. There were a few trees at the back with some students sitting with their backs against them. I didn¡¯t mind them and walked around searching for her. Then I spotted her and my heart was about to leap until it got squished down my annoyance. She was surrounded by other boys and I heard some of them talking.


    ¡°What are you doing here, you shouldn¡¯t be here you hybrid.¡± A boy stepped closer to her and she clenched her fist tighter behind her back. The boy smiled and tried to approach her even more.


    ¡°You¡¯re just another product of your father who spared his pity to a woman but the women simply fled and left you. Although you¡¯re pretty so I¡¯m willing to-¡±


    ¡°Hey, you guys don¡¯t mind leaving her alone?¡± The boys turned their heads when they heard my voice. The one with blond hair and yellow eyes that seemed to be the leader stepped forward.


    ¡°What do you want?¡± he replied. It was clear he looked down on me and I stood my ground with my arms crossed.


    ¡°I want you.¡± I pointed my finger at his face.


    ¡°To stop bothering people with your useless chant and get out.¡±


    The boy looked at each other and laughed.


    ¡°Do you realize who you''re trying to talk too?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t know don¡¯t care. Now get out of my face.¡± I replied and pointed my thumbs behind me.


    They laughed before walking away from her, but when they reached me the one with blond hair whispered into my ear,


    ¡°You¡¯ll regret talking to me so nonchalantly.¡± I just shrugged


    ¡°Then I¡¯ll be waiting for you,¡± I answered and they left us.


    I looked back at the girl. She had long black hair but the light that reflected in it gave a light blue color instead. Her eyes also Green-blue. She had those blue color because of the slight saturation of mana that spread in her body, but it made her beautiful.


    I approached her awkwardly as I waved my hand.


    ¡°Well, hi. My name is Aurum, what is your name?¡± She looked at me with a kind of gaze that question whether I¡¯m an enemy trying to trick her or a person trying to be her friend. Then a voice resounded in our head.


    ¡°Students, We want to start lining up behind the line, your first test will be starting.¡± My arms drooped a bit because our conversation was interrupted but as she passed me she told me,


    ¡°Llya, my name is Llya.¡± I smiled a bit and followed her to the starting line.


    A person stood right in front of the starting line. He clapped his head a few time and then the group of students fell to silence. Then there¡¯s a booming voice in all of our heads. Her lips didn¡¯t move but she still made gestures with her hand.


    ¡°The first test will be a race through the forest. There will be traps since just running in the forest is too simple. Some will be pits, others will be traps that will transport you to a different world where you¡¯ll face challenges. Don¡¯t worry these worlds are created by our magic expert and these worlds can always be collapsed in case of emergency and such. If you do succeed these challenges you¡¯ll be transported further along the track. Fail and you''ll continue to be entrapped in the world. Note that time might flow differently from the outside world. Any sort of magic can be used and you¡¯re allowed to craft items such as potions, ruins, and other objects. The space behind the start line is counted as the safe zone. You¡¯re allowed to stay behind that line to build your items, but you¡¯re not allowed to use offensive magic within this zone. But past this line, you¡¯re allowed to use offensive magic on other people who have crossed the line. The race shall be starting in a few minutes, you can start making your preparation. People who don''t want to race and such, please follow me to another area.¡± She then left with a group of people following her to another zone.


    Everyone started preparing themselves for the race. People started buffing themselves with speed magic and others sat down with kits and started to brew potions/craft other items. The ones who thought they were smart are starting to cast a teleportation spell. People who noticed are trying to team up with those people. I shook my head looking at them since it may as well be a bad idea. I looked around and found Llya again close to the start of the line instead. There¡¯s a barrier placed to stop people from having a head start.


    As I got close to her I called her out ¡°Hey do you wanna team up?¡± She turned and looked at me then shrugged and asked


    ¡°Do you know any teleportation spells?¡±


    ¡°I know a spell called {slip away} but I don¡¯t believe it¡¯s a good idea,¡± I responded shaking my head.


    She looked at me with a questioning gaze as to why I thought so. I placed the spatial magic star I had, crouched down and peered at the forest. That allowed me to see the entrance of the worlds


    ¡°We¡¯ll you see when you cast a teleportation spell, the spell is usually supposed to transport you to the designated location. But I¡¯m sure that the examiner thought of that. These small worlds aren¡¯t a joke you can pass by. If you attempt to teleport through them you¡¯ll be pulled into the world instead. Of course, it¡¯s not impossible to teleport through the whole race. But if you can, you probably deserve it.¡± I explained. She nodded her and looked at the forest.


    ¡°So what is your plan then?¡± she asked.


    ¡°If we want to reach there record time we need to jump into these worlds. When we get in, we go and complete the challenge and it¡¯ll launch us further into the race. It¡¯ll be much faster than running through the whole course and dodging the traps.¡± I pointed at an entrance to the world.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know if you can see it but I can see the entrance and the intensity of the mana that is pouring out. Since there¡¯s more mana, then the challenge behind the must be harder than the other worlds. I¡¯m guessing since the challenges will be harder, it will transport us further.¡± I looked at Llya with to see if she understood. She looked back at me and nodded.


    "I can sense the mana but I can''t pinpoint the exact location. Thanks for pointing it out." I clapped my hands together and stood up straight.


    ¡°Great, now that we have established a somewhat good plan all we have to be careful of now are our opponent.¡± I looked back behind me and spotted the boys that were harassing Llya moments ago.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll take care of them,¡± Llya told me. I looked at her with a pleading look.


    ¡°But can I at least beat up the blonde one?¡± She looked at me with a bit of surprise then smirked.


    ¡°Well, I also have a grudge against him, how about we take care of his friend and then we go to town on him?¡± I smiled and she nodded with one too. Then the voice started counting down the final seconds.


    ¡°Llya, what¡¯s your magic by the way? Mine¡¯s being able to transform my body into a substance called dust which can take into different forms. I can use those dust to strengthen my body so I have better strength than the normal person. I can also use those dust to create weapons and I can use a lot of different kinds of magic.¡±


    ¡°Mine¡¯s infusing mana into object or body to empower them. Unfortunately, sometimes I infuse too much mana they end up breaking. Although I can¡¯t say the same for my body, I can infuse a lot of mana into my limbs but I¡¯ll feel numb. Of course, you don''t have to worry, I can still take care of the boys.¡± she replied with confidence.


    I nodded. She still doesn''t know what is the true form of her power, in fact, I don¡¯t know if it had taken shape yet. But it doesn''t matter. Right now it is all it matters.


    ¡°Thanks for telling me. Now let¡¯s win this race.¡± She saw my smile and did the same. I looked back at the entrance of the temporary world, the dust that formed my leg tensed up into a coil-like structure. For Llya, her mana flooded into her leg. We were both ready, then the countdown hit zero, the barrier went down and we both sprung with full speed for the entrance of the temporary world.

 Shortcut

    ++++++++++


    The mana in my legs ignite as if it was fuel being set on fire and I burst forth with speed. I followed Aurum closely, though I''m surprised, he''s really fast. He did tell me he uses some sort of dust power of some sort. never heard of it but I have the feeling that it''s special.


    When he reached the area he pointed to, there''s a sudden cracking sound and he disappeared. I followed closely without hesitating and then a bright flash enveloped me and I was thrown right into a completely different world. A voice resounded within my head once again, the voice that doesn''t speak much but the one many people recognize.


    You''ve entered a temporary world. The objective: hunt the emerald grass serpent.


    I laid on the ground slightly dazed from the flash and then I noticed a hand reaching out to me. Aurum had already got up and was giving me a helping hand. I grabbed it and he pulled me up. I pattedthedirt away and looked around. It looked like we''re in a jungle-like environment. The was cries of animal that can be heard andit was hot. Then Aurum turned to me and started talking.


    "Wow, this is realistic, how long do you think they took to build this environment?"


    "Hours, definitely." I looked around once again. The objective of this world is finding the emerald grass snake since this is a jungle biome. We can expect difficulty.


    "How long did you wait for me on this side?" I asked him. The examiner mentioned that time flow differently from the outside world.


    "I waited for about ten seconds before you came tumbling through."


    "So that means time flows slower outside by 10 seconds to one. By the way, do you know what an emerald grass serpent looks like?"


    Aurum just shrugged.


    "Great, how are we going to find the snake then?"


    "Yout forgot that I can use my power?"


    "You''re going to what, spread a cloud of dust and feel something moving in them and that way you''ll know?"


    "I can do that, or I create another me."


    I looked at him questioning what he meant. Then suddenly a black mist started seeping out of him. I took a stance, ready for whatever is to come. I followed him a bit but I don''t completely trust people, mostly people I just met. Then the mist slowly started taking shape and then another Aurum was standing right next to the other Aurum. I just looked at both with confusion. Then the new Aurum spoke.


    "Surprised?"


    "You never mentioned about being able to do that."


    "Yeah, my dust can do a lot of stuff, but it can''t make an actual copy of anything like gold. It can copy the shininess and hardness, but not become gold itself. Heck if look at my bodies closely you can see it''s not actual flesh."


    "Alright, but that black mist didn''t look like ''dust''"


    "My dust can take different forms like water. Liquid, gas and solid."


    "And human flesh?"


    "Well, it''s just a combination of liquid and solid form mashed together to create something that looks like flesh."


    "How many can you make?"


    "A lot."


    He said it with a smile and then more mist started to seep out of him and next thing you know there are dozens of them. They all started traveling different directions at the moment they''re created and while more were coming out, a single one came to me.


    "So I guess we wait it out until my clones find something close to a snake?"


    "Well, it depends. The word ''serpent'' is often mistakenly used for other species like lizards and dragons even."


    "So I guess I''ll keep on searching and bringing back something that looks green and long. So what do we do while we''re waiting?"


    "Other people can enter this world so I advise that you try to avoid contact with people, we want to hide our cards. Unless if the blonde guy comes."


    "I don''t think anyone will. People will normally see these worlds as an obstacle, not as a slingshot."


    Then there was a loud boom and I swirled at the direction of the sound. A giant serpent seems to rise from the ground and up to the sky. Itrose extremely high, almost three times taller than the trees that I was standing next to. I can see bodies being thrown up and one of them crashed right into the tree next to me, with an arm missing. The part that is supposed to be exposed was black and seemed to be covered in star-like light and the ''blood'' that was flowing at was replaced with mist that billowed out of it looked exactly the mist that dry ice would produce but black. The one I was just talking to ran towards the serpent. Then the one that was missing an arm started talking.


    "It looks like we found our serpent. A big one even, almost completely buried, it''s scale look exactly like grass but it''s hard and sharp."


    He stood up and stretched a bit. The mist that flowed out started swirling and solidifying around the area where his arm was missing and then his arm was back as if it there all along, even his cloth seem to be made out of it. I just look at the direction of the one that ran towards the serpent and the one that just came crashing.


    "Wait, are all of your clones connected like a hive mind?"


    "Mmmh, it''s more like all the copies are my real body. So they''re all me."


    "And what are the stars in your missing arm?"


    "Oh, they''re stars that I use. I have three different kinds. the soul star that controls the dust, magic star that let me use different kinds of magic and storage star where I can store stuff, except living things. But storing stuff doesn''t put the items into stasis or whatever."


    I nodded satisfied with the explanation and looked at the serpent thrashing around. The objective was to hunt the serpent and his clones, or body, or whatever you call it, keep on getting thrown around. I can see some mist trying to enter its mouth but it would keep onmoving to a different spot the moment it notices the mist. He definitely can take down that serpent eventually but this is a race. We need to finish this fast. I turned at the Aurum next to me.


    "I can kill that serpent faster if you can bring me there."


    "Alright, but where did you need to go and how?"


    "Just close enough. I can infuse mana into my sword and cut that thing in half."


    "Didn''t you say infusing too much mana might break your sword?"


    "I can always get a new one."


    He nodded and then another Aurum appeared out of nowhere, that must be the one with the teleportation magic star. It seems like he can''t transfer stars without contact so that means he needs to bring the one that has it.


    "To where?"The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    "High over the snake. Though give me a few seconds, I need to infuse the mana carefully, I don''t want to break the sword before I use it."


    "Sure, let''s do it up there."


    Then I found myself in the air. I panicked a bit before I realized I was being safely held. I looked upto see Aurum holding me. Wings have sprouted from his back andit looked like the night sky. They flapped gently giving me a stable flight. I was kind of embarrassed from being held like this but I guess that''s all he can do right now. I drew my sword and started working my mana into it. It''ll take time, butat the same time, I have questions to ask.


    "Hey, Aurum..."


    "Yeah?"


    "You never questioned my power. As in my power is essentially just a better version of what people can already do, putting mana into objects. I may have more mana than a normal person but it doesn''t change the fact that''s all I can do.Along with the fact that my mother abandoned me and being a child from a noble to a random woman gives me a hard time."


    "I also was under such circumstances when I was small. My mother sold me to my father, although it''s more of a bribe. Then he tried to kill me to hide the truth. I was just saved at the last moment and the person that saved me eventually became the mother I love. She has taught me not to judge people from their magic and when Isaw you get bullied I wanted to help you. I won''t judge you by your power so don''t worry. I hope that we can still be friends."


    "Yeah, thank you."


    My hand touched his arm that is holding me and we both smiled. I looked down at the serpent who''s still thrashing around.I''m almost finished infusing the mana into the sword. Once I finish the sword will start to break down immediately.


    "I''m almost finished."


    "Alright, So do I just, let go?"


    "Sure, but are your clones going to be alright?"


    "Don''t worry. You already saw one missing its arm. They''re just going to be blown away at best."


    "Good. You can let me go now."


    "Be careful Llya."


    "Just enjoy the view."


    He released his grip and I started free falling towards the serpent. I put my finger at the tip of the blade and added the last touch. at that moment the mana burst from the sword and the blade glowed brightly. Despite my magic is simply infusing mana to things, I studied a bit of rune crafting andused the knowledge to make my mana infusing more effective, but I''m not a complete expert. The serpent noticed the intense mana suddenly being released. Unfortunately, it couldn''t react before my blade came down. I came crashing down like a meteor andI created an explosion that looked like a giant aurora. I stood up a bit dazed, in between the two almost unrecognizable pieces of the serpent and looked at my sword. Itcracked all over and small pieces are falling off, releasing a small aurora every time a piece fell off. I just dropped the sword and it shattered like glass. I looked around and noticed I was in the middle of a crater. All the Aurums were blown away but they all still seemed alright with the one flying moments ago coming down to help the others. Some of them still released and enthusiastic "Whohoo!". They started high-fiving but each time they did, they infused into each other until there was only a single one left to high-five me. Then the voice resounded in our head again.


    Objective complete, exiting the world, viewing performance... confirmed. Reward: Teleportation to a location near the finish line.


    Then there''s a bright flash and I can see the end of the race, only to find a single boy with white hair standing there. I looked back at Aurum and he was also surprised.


    "..."


    "..."


    "How did you get there?"


    "Teleportation."


    Aurum let out a sigh.


    "Well I did say if you can teleport without being sucked into a world deserve the win..."


    "No, I did get sucked into one."


    "What?"


    "I teleported out, and it even rewarded me by helping me teleport to the finish line without interruption."


    "Then you deserve it even more if you can teleport out of a world. Wow."


    I just shrugged and walked towards the line before Aurum stopped me. I looked at him with a questioning gaze


    "You want to be second? Sorry but I''m not giving it up. I''m still trying to prove myself to my family that I''m strong."


    "No, you can have the second place, it''s just that the examiner is evil. There''s another entrance to a world where you were about to walk into, just move a bit sideways."


    I complied and walked pass the line and Aurum followed me behind. since we arrived a bit early we talked a bit with each other. The boy that just teleported was named Travis and he comes from a family that studied teleportation and the possibility of traveling to actual real worlds that might exist. It might explain why he can teleport out of the world when he got stuck, using information that his family already knew to other world teleportation. While we were talking two other girls came through the forest. Or rather the forest moved away for them. The first one definitely knows chlorokinesis but the second one held a white glowing sword. Aurum seemed surprised to see them. They both crossed the line dodging the hidden world entrance and they introduced themselves as Lania and Nila. Lania has brown green-hair and Nila had green ones. It seems that the color green is widespread in their families. Apparently, the whole forest was a maze but Nila just made the tree move away for them and they just had a straight path to the end while the trees also told her where the traps are including the one in front of the line. Then emerging from the forest was lightning bolts traveling everywhere but eventually gathered into a single spot to reveal it was the blonde boy all along. He looked at me and Aurum with surprise and stomped his leg.


    "How did you get past me! I definitely saw you enter headfirst into a world and then I never saw you for the rest of the race. That whole place was a maze!" His hair sparkled as electricity traveled through it.


    "Well you see, when you enter a world it gives you a challenge. Complete the challenge and your reward is teleporting closer to the end." Aurum told him with a smile.


    "But they barely teleported anywhere!"


    "Well, I guess we''re just better than you at doing the job."


    "I''m not going to be stuck in a world spending my time picking flowers, I just did so fast that it charred the flowers."


    "Well too bad marigold."


    Electricity started sparkling even more and he charged in the form of a lightning bolt towards Aurum. He just stood there with a smile. I doubt lightning will hurt him with his dust body, but he doesn''t need to do that. Right before the lightning could reach him it was transported into the hidden world''s entrance. Aurum then just walked away with a smile.


    "Well, Llya, I had my revenge, now it''s your turn to screw him over."


    "Thanks"


    Eventually, everyone got through the finish line with a few exceptions. The blonde boy actually came from behind us because the world teleported him forward but the examiner was already here and no fighting was permitted now that the race was over. They still haven''t told us what our next test is but we were put in an area in a big building made from stones. So all we can do is stay here and wait until the professor comes and tell us our next test. I sighed and sat down Aurum walked up to me.


    "Hey, you alright?"


    "Yeah, just going to take a nap."


    "Sure"


    He stood beside me and I saw one of his starsexpanded and the glowing light took shape of a book before the light seem to trickle off into his palm revealing a book that he started reading. So That''s how he stores object. His dust envelops the object and I guess he compresses the shape into a star. I guess that''s why he can''t store living things or else they''d die or something. I wonder what happens if he tries to store fire. I was starting to get tired from using too much mana to beat that serpent. I laid my back against the wall and took a nap, falling into darkness.


    ++++++++++


    A group of people was gathered around a large table covered in sand. The light runes shone brightly and the people gathered around the table waiting for someone. Then Owen Scott walked through the front door. This time he was dressed casually in normal clothes.


    "Alright, what were the result of the students?"


    "Well first, gotta say I actually can''t believe you wore that suit." Replied a slightly deep voice. It was a bald man with muscular arms.


    "I needed to make a first impression."


    "As a fancy boy that what? Work for a queen?"


    "Oh quiet, just report what you have okay?"


    "I have a student that has exceptional healing ability, but her personality... I''d say she likes dissection classes." The woman looked at her pages of notes and back at Owen.


    " I know there''s a lot of students but I want to specifically point out a boy." Said a man with tattoos etched all over him.


    He put his hand in the sand on the table and started flowing mana through it. The sand started to move andthey took shapes of trees that resembles a jungle with two contestants to the race standing in the middle of the jungle.


    "That boy is Aurum and the girl is Llya. Although the girl has an extraordinary amount of mana, the boy is slightly more interesting. "


    The boy suddenly started creating a bunch of clones and they started spreading out searching for something.


    "This is the world where you''re supposed to find the emerald grass serpent."


    "I know, the boy can create clones to find the snake, what does it matter? It''s also just a weakened version." Replied another woman dressed in red.


    "But one hit can is still lethal. In fact, I was worried I needed to open the portal when so many of them were blown away." answered a lady who was still covered in the shadow of theone area.


    The man with tattoos nodded and fast-forwarded to the moment the snake burst out and nocking all the clones away. They saw many of them end up with lethal injuries, but all the were healed in a matter of seconds. They then went to battle, casting much different magic until they stopped and end up just distracting it for Llya to land a one-shot.


    "Alright, many of them have regeneration and they all can cast different kinds of magic, it doesn''t matter since the real one was safe, right?"


    "That''s the problem. Every single one of them gives a signal of life. Not one of them is ''fake''. In fact, Aurum will switch bodies to talk to Llya multiple times. I don''t think it''s simple cloning. Or at least one that is discovered this advanced."


    She stayed silent thinking.


    "Then what do we do about it?"


    "Well, I guess we''ll have to wait for more. Now is almost time for the next test. are the preparation ready?"


    several people nodded.


    "Then everyone to their designated area, make sure no one dies."


    They all got up. the tattoed man freed his hand from the sand and the whole structure collapsed with some sand trickling down. They all then walk out of the room, getting in their position for the next test.


    ++++++++++

 Authors note

    I''m sorry but lately, it''s been hard to post a chapter at least once a week. I''m just busy with school and never got myself to keep on writing the story. I think I''ll start posting chapters at a slower rate starting today. Although there''s going to be no actual schedule to it. Also, I''m thinking of completely removing the voice from the story. I don''t think I need it in the story, what do you think?Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.


    And don''t worry, I can cover up the parts were the voice appears and put something else there instead.


    By the way, how do you move the poll so it''s under this texts?