《13th  Soul- Book 1 The God Slayer》


 Prologue

    Prologue


    Narrator


    In a black void, with nothing in all directions, there is a mass of white energy compressed so tightly that it could explode any second. The white ball of energy is constantly fluctuating with all the energy brimming inside of it. It''s almost like a water balloon filled with too much water that it can pop with the slightest poke. If you look at the ball of energy you can see some sparks of an energy of different colors. More colors than you even know exist. These are all different types of energies. They varied from total opposites to two energies almost completely the same with only the slightest tint change.


    All of a sudden a pair of hands rips through the darkness. The hands are rough so you can tell that they''ve been worked with and they''re not too old, but not too young. They came from nowhere and they start to fade out right before the elbow. The hands are large enough that the ball of white energy that fits perfectly into the palm of the hands. It''s a perfect fit. Almost hard to tell if the hands were made to hold this ball of energy or if the ball of white energy was molded for these hands.


    All of a sudden the blackness seemed to tremble. The hands that were peacefully holding the white ball of energy changed. They now were starting to hold the ball of white energy clasped between them. If before the feeling of the blackness was a peaceful body of water without a ripple, it was now the feeling of a storm raging about trying to drown and destroy whatever it could. It was a great feeling of unease and danger and it all came from that white ball of energy. The hands were adding more and more pressure on the ball of energy, but they would not let a single bit of the energy out of their control. The pressure was like a mountain being dropped on a piece of coal all with the end result of that piece of coal turning into a diamond.


    Slowly the white ball of energy changed from a water balloon, about to pop, into a pure white marble. It had a solid surface of pure white, not a single blemish and no sign of the previous energies could be seen. The white marble drifted in-between the two hands. Neither hand touching the marble anymore. The hands slowly retracted into the darkness slowly fading away back into the nothingness of the black void. The black void slowly regained its calm and returned to its stillness only this time instead of a white ball of energy it''s a white marble. In this black void its unknown how long it had been in a place without a concept of time, but the stillness and peace could not last forever.


    The white marble slowly started to tremble and the black void resonated with it. Slowly the pure white marble started to form cracks on its surface. If you looked between these cracks under the surface you would see a rainbow storm of energy rampaging within. The marble trembled more and more violently each shake. The cracks on the surface grew longer and wider. Finally, it seemed that it was the end when a brief pause in the tremors before the White marble exploded within the black void. You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.


    An aurora of colored energy burst forth into the black nothingness spreading all throughout it. The energy waves spread everywhere bouncing off of each other and then colliding. The energy keeps spreading out and slowly creating new elements that clump together and creating the first worlds. These worlds are just clumps of metals, dirt, and lava now, but one day they will have the oldest and most powerful beings in this new universe residing within them.


    The universe has slowly started to settle in the center while spreading out. The outer reaches at the same constant speed as the start. In the center, it''s finally calmed down and the new worlds have also started to calm down. As if announcing its ready the pair of hands reemerge from nothingness, but this time they don''t grab onto anything. Instead, the two hands slam together into a clap and then come apart creating a vortex where one energy is drawn in together. A pure white energy comes and starts forming small little flames each one pure without and any other color. The hand holds the almost infinite souls and then it selects twelve of them. These twelve souls float above the hands and then on each of them a symbol appears. These twelve all have one to twelve in roman numerals imprinted in gold on their surface. These are the first twelve souls that then fly in different directions in this new universe. Each with their own unique gift and their own unique fate.


    The hands that are about to release the rest of the souls'' halts. From the black void in-between the new worlds and energies, a new hand appears this one is not like the other physical hands. This new hand is made from a black energy that seemed to have come from nowhere. It''s a more smooth feminine hand compared to the originals. This new hand doesn¡¯t come from anywhere it is just there. In this new hand, there is a new flame, but this one is of a pure black flame that seems to suck in it''s surrounding light. It''s a new soul one that is different from all the others and as if to make it even more unique a roman numeral thirteen is imprinted in a bright red on the soul.


    Before the original hands can react, the black hand release this new soul into the universe. The problem with this soul is that it is not bound to rules, it is not bound to fate, nor is it bound to any set plans that the original hands had. It flies off out of reach of both the hands. The black hand dispersers back into its black energy that fades back into the black void, but if one looked close enough they could see a beautiful face in the black void. The problem wasn''t the face itself or its beauty. The problem was the smirk on the face that said its message perfectly clear. The original hands holding the other souls'' stills for what feels like an eternity as if thinking what they should do. Finally, without any other options, they release the rest of the souls into this new universe. They fly in every direction. All these souls are all bound by their fates and all have a destination for where they''ll end up. It was a wave of pure white washing through this new universe.


    The hands fade back into nothingness as the souls all found their own worlds and settled onto them. The souls took in their surroundings absorbing different energies and different materials slowly building their own bodies following the blueprints imprinted in them that were deemed by their fates. And when each body was completed the lifeless eyes gained a spark of life and each soul began their journey. Fate was flowing like a steady stream. Out of nowhere, there was a ripple in that flow. It was the little black soul looking for a place it could fit into this mix. It did not have a set destination like all the other souls. It was just looking for a chance. A chance to slip into somewhere it could live its own life. A chance to begin its own journey. A chance to create its ripple in the flow of fate. This is the 13th soul.

 Chapter 1

    Chapter 1


    Narrator


    On a nameless world, there is a human kingdom called Lemuria. It is a new kingdom with only three generations of kings, but it''s still the oldest human kingdom in this world. Only a few older kingdoms exist, but they belong to the world''s other races. It was an era of peace in the world. The races weren''t friendly with each other but they weren''t at war either. The only major disputes between races were from the newer and smaller countries that enslave other races. The Lemuria kingdom did not have slavery in its borders, though they did not go out of their way to stop others from doing it.


    In the Lemuria kingdoms nameless capital, there is a very peaceful air around the streets. The people walking around are all in a good mood because today is the day that the new princess has been born. The princess is the second child, with an older brother only two years older than her. Both her parents were currently very loved because the king has helped create a very rich economy so the people were prospering. The current king''s achievements didn''t end there, he had also helped create the new adventures guild that spread all over the country.


    One of the kings past policies was to minimize the army. So with all the soldiers now free of duty and in need of money the King started the adventures guild so they could subjugate the monsters that plague the land. The idea quickly caught on and many ex-soldiers joined the adventurers guild. They weren''t the only ones that joined either. Many citizens who couldn''t be soldiers for various reasons joined up and even bandits changed their ways to join up. This was a major change for the people as the guild spread all throughout the country and even started crossing the border into other countries. The only problem was the other countries were worried that this was an attempt to sneak an army into their borders. Lemuria''s king found the simplest solution to do was relinquish control of the guild to a new council that was formed from the strongest guild members from multiple countries. They became known as the guild council.


    With Lemuria prospering so well it was no surprise that the people were so happy their princess was born. It truly was a happy event, but what no one knew, is that in the castle a baby being held by a mother with a smile filled with love, while being looked at by a father with an equally loving smile, but that baby was different from all the others around it. If one could look at someone''s soul they would see that the parents holding the sleeping baby have white souls with tints ofother colors, while the baby itself has a pure black soul that is so dark that one can''t even tell what is within it. The only thing visible is a bright red "XIII" imprinted on the soul.


    Christen Lemuria


    My name is Christen Lemuria and I am the third king of the Lemuria kingdom. Today Is the day that I will have another child. It does not matter if it will be another son or my first daughter. I''m waiting in the reception room while watching my two-year-old play with his personal maid. I look at my son''s blonde hair and clear green eyes and I can''t help but remember how worried and anxious I was when my wife was giving birth to him. I was pacing back and forth with constant worry. I am glad that I''m far more composed this time. I know the chances of anything going wrong are very small so I''m not worried.


    My thoughts are interrupted by a nurse rushing into the room with a panicked expression where she informed me ¡° Your Majesty the Princess has been born, but she is not breathing and the healers are not able to do anything about it.¡± I felt as if all my blood was drained and I almost collapsed. I used what seemed like the pure will to run into the room to see my wife with tears in her eyes looking at our daughter. Her blonde hair is a mess and she seems like she''s about to pass out. I thin look at my daughter. She''s been placed on a table and the healer is trying to pour as much of her magic power into her healing spell as possible. My daughter is so tiny and already has little blonde hairs sticking out of her head, but her eyes. Her eyes are a beautiful green color just like mine and her brothers, but they are completely lifeless.


    I feel like tears will start during from my eyes when all of a sudden an eerie feeling fell over the room. I look around for the source, but I only see everyone else looking around as well. Everything changes when we hear a cry. I look back to my daughter and see that she is finally crying, but most importantly she is alive. All of a sudden her blond hair change to a pitch-black and her green eyes change to an equally pitch-black color. I do not know where this change has come from them or where there eerie feeling had come from and gone to. Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.


    My daughter keeps crying unattended because everyone is filled with shock, so they don''t know how to respond. I can''t really blame them since I have the same feeling right now. Finally, there is a change when a pair of pale hands come and pick up my daughter. I look and see my wife holding my daughter with a pair of eyes filled with love. She takes her and says, ¡°I''ve already decided your name a long time ago. You, my beautiful daughter, will be named Eva Lemuria and I''m your mother Luna Lemuria.¡± My daughter pauses her crying to look at my wife, but just as she''s about to start crying my wife begins to feed her. I get over my shock at this point and tell my servants ¡°Everyone makes sure my daughter and wife are healthy now and then you can go.¡±


    ¡°Honey you''re worrying too much as long as my baby Eva is healthy and breathing everything is all right.¡± Luna


    ¡°I know my love, but a change like this is something I''ve never heard of. Look she has black hair and black eyes. It''s very unnatural isn''t it?¡±


    ¡°They are different, but I find her to be incredibly beautiful. As long as our daughter is alive it is something to be celebrated. There is no issue with her being different because there''s nothing that can make us love her any less.¡± Luna


    My wife words sent me into a shock. I looked at my wife and then my daughter in her arms. I feel all the unease, doubt, and worry fade from me. What replaced it is the same love my wife most feel right now. Instead of saying anything I just walk over to my wife and kiss her forehead. I then proceed to give my daughter a kiss, but afterward, she seems to start tearing up like she''s about to cry. It''s as if she''s angry that I bothered her meal and I can''t help but chuckle a little as she goes back to feeding. ¡°After everything is cleaned up bring my son here,¡± I tell the maids.


    I look back to my wife and daughter and see that my daughter, no Eva is asleep in my wife''s arms. I''m still very worried about what happened to Eva, but I''ll look into it quietly later. My daughter that should have been born perfectly fine, was instead born lifeless. Then for some unknown reason, she began to breathe again except she had gained black hair and black eyes. I''m not sure if this blessing will become a curse later, but even if that happens she will still be my daughter. I will still spoil her and I will still get rid of any boys she meets.


    ¡°Honey you have a very dark look on your face. Are you plotting something bad even though your daughter has just been born? Are you?¡±Luna asks me with a very sharp gaze that makes me sweat a little. I''m saved by a maid bringing in my son with a bewildered look on her face when she senses the air in the room. I take my son and bring him to Eva and Luna.


    ¡°Look George this is your little sister Eva. You''ll have to grow up to keep all the boys away from her! Ok?¡±


    ¡°Okay, dad!¡± George responds with the right answer even if he probably doesn''t truly understand.


    ¡°Honey, why are you teaching our son weird thing? If you keep doing stuff like this it will cause little Eva trouble in the future.¡±Luna


    ¡°Don''t worry my love I know what I''m doing. I''m protecting our little princess from all the other boys!¡± I respond to my wife and before she can respond I pick up the sleeping Eva from her arms so that I can tell my wife ¡°Come now my love its time for you to go to sleep and stop worrying about the future. I''ll carry little Eva for you so get into bed and sleep.¡±


    ¡°This talk isn''t over, but ill listen to you and go to bed. George come give momma a kiss and I''ll see you tomorrow.¡± Luna


    George walks up to his mother and gives her a kiss on the cheek. Afterward, she gets up from the chair and then laid down in bed. She then looks at me expectantly. No, she is looking at Eva in my arms so I softly chuckle and then hand her Eva. I then pick up George and walk out of the room. I hand George over to his personal maid so he can go to sleep as well.


    I keep walking through the halls until I get to my office. I walk into my office with one wall of books on the right and a couch on the left with a tea table. The center of my office is my desk filled with my enemy, paperwork. I walk past it barely giving it a glance as I move towards the balcony. The capital is filled with lights and the peoples drunk merrymaking. I think to look up towards the night sky. I look between the stars at the black void in-between and I can''t help but think of Eva¡¯s hair and eyes.


    ¡°Shadows¡±


    ¡°Your majesty¡± A shadow appears at my side on the balcony. This is my shadow guards leader. No officials or any of my family know of them. There isn''t even a single rumor about them. I use them mostly for when I need information, but sometimes when I need to bloody my hands in the dark. Every king has these I''m sure. They just don''t keep them as well hidden as mine.


    ¡°I want you to find if what happened to my daughter was by the hands of anyone and if it wasn''t I want you to have someone look for any information on children being born with black eyes and hair.¡±


    ¡°Yes, your majesty. It shall be done.¡± My shadow guard responds before he disappears to do as ordered.


    No one will harm my family. If someone is behind this I will find them. I will protect Eva, George, and Luna no matter what. A family has been one of the most important lessons in the royal family since before the first king and it''s also the most important thing to me. I look back at the night sky and keep thinking of my daughter. I wonder what kind of future fate has for her. I just hope she will be able to live a happy life filled with love.

 Chapter 2

    Chapter 2


    Eva Lemuria-5 Years old


    ¡°Hehehe¡± I quickly cover my mouth so I''m not discovered. My name is Eva Lemuria and I''m now five years old. I¡¯m the princess of the Lemuria Kingdom. Right now I''m hiding in a bush waiting for my chance to slip past the guards. I have always been in the castle and I really want to see outside, but mama won''t let me. So I stole some plain clothes from a maid and then snuck away before anyone came to wake me up this morning.


    My opportunity finally arrives when there a gap between the soldiers so I run as quickly as I can to the wall and then I climb the stairs. I reach the top and quickly make my way to the edge of the wall. I take the rope I had slung over my shoulder and tie it to the brazier. I then quickly wrap my hands in cloth and climb over the edge. I have to slowly make my way down but not too slowly or I''ll be caught.


    ¡°Someone come quickly the princess is trying to leave again!¡± A random guard who spotted me called out.


    I look down and measure the distance to the ground. It might hurt, but I''ll make it, so I let go and drop down onto the ground. I was right and it did hurt. I begin running towards the city while rubbing my butt. As soon as I enter the streets I make my way to where I hear the most noise and it works as I find the market. If it''s here it will take the soldiers awhile to find me no matter how many they send out. My only complaint is that it''s too loud.


    As I make my way through the market I notice all kinds of goods and people I''ve never seen before. I''m very excited to be able to see all these new things. As I''m walking around admiring some strange weapons with a single edge I notice some people are giving me weird looks. I can''t blame them because I''ve always gotten those looks because of my hair and eyes. Having either black eyes or black hair is already uncommon, but having both seems to be unheard of. My dad also seems to be very worried about it. Sometimes I''ll notice him just staring at my hair or eyes with a concerned face. I know he means well but he''s never explained in detail why he¡¯s so worried. I know he loves me either way, but I''ve never felt something wrong with it and mama will always tell me my hair and eyes are beautiful and unique if I ever bring up questions or if I compliment mamas blonde hair.


    As I''m looking through the weapons I notice one weapon. It''s a Black dagger that I''m immediately drawn to. It''s not because it''s small or sharp. It also looks very unique but what draws me to it is its blackness. It''s like my hair and eyes because it seems like such a pure black that it even rejects the light around it. I can''t help but keep looking at it till finally, I start to reach for it. My hand is stopped when another hand is placed in front of mine. I look up and see a young man looking at me with a weird look.


    ¡°Little girl you shouldn''t randomly touch weapons like that.¡± Young man, ¡°If you like the dagger you can come back and see if your parents will buy it for you, but for now I can''t let a little girl play with something so dangerous.¡± He then looks away from and looks at his surrounding ¡°In fact where are your parents? You can''t be wandering around on your own, could you? It dangerous out here without anyone to protect a young girl¡­.¡±


    Before I could hear any more of his lecture I take off running. I know he meant well, but if he kept going on he could have drawn attention to me or worse taken me to try to find my parents. I haven''t seen any of them yet, but I know there are guards probably looking all over the city for me. So I decided the best option would be to go and find something else to do somewhere before I am eventually caught. I wander around the streets looking through the windows of the shops. There''s a lot of neat things but nothing as unique or foreign as the things I found in the market. It''s probably because those are all traveling merchants that set up stands to buy and sell.


    I end up thinking back to that dagger I saw at the one stand. I can''t help but think about it because I feel it would fit perfectly in my hands. I''m not sure where this feeling is coming from but I should do my best to forget about it because I know that by tomorrow that merchant and dagger will probably be gone. That''s what I at least hear from all the maids'' conversations I''ve listened to in the past at least.


    My thoughts are interrupted when I see a beggar walking in the streets. I know she is a beggar because of her very ragged clothes and the little cup she''s holding in front of her. This is not what draws my attention to her, but it''s the torn cat ears on top of her head. They are brown like her hair and they also seem to match her legs. I notice that from her ankles down her legs change from human to something similar to what a cat has paws and all. They don''t have any shoes, but instead, there are bandages wrapped around trying to cover up as much as possible. She also has lifeless eyes and from what I can tell not much money in her cup. If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    She must be one of the beings I''ve heard the maids talk about in hushed voices. A mana mutant. I''m not sure on the details of how they come to be. All I know is that they were once human but because of high exposure to mana, they began to gain characteristics of animals or even the monsters that plague the world. I feel pity for her but for now, I know there''s nothing I can do for her. I don''t even have money I can offer her. I don''t think I''d be able to even get close to her without drawing attention either. Everyone around her is giving her dirty looks filled with disgust and fear. I''m not sure why there is fear but I do know the disgust is because people hate the unknown and different. I''ve seen a few of these looks directed at myself.


    All of a sudden I notice she''s walked into a busy street filled with carts and horses. It seems to be slow right now, but it''s still dangerous. Especially for someone with such lifeless eyes that don''t seem to pay attention to her surroundings at all. I watch her while I slowly make my way past the same street. She almost makes it all the way pass when out of a nearby alleyway, a horse comes storming out. It has pieces of a harness attached to it so it must have broken free from a carriage. The problem is that the horse as if in a mad dash right for the girl.


    I feel my heart almost stop and before I know it my body has moved towards the girl. I feel the world slow around me as I feel my heart beat like crazy. I don¡¯t know what came over me as I keep running towards her. I''m not sure if it''s because I pity her for being a beggar or if it''s because I feel the same as her for being different and experiencing those looks of disgust or the rare pity. I feel my heart beating faster and faster as I reach her. My hands push against her as she looks behind her to see me. I feel like I''ve succeeded till I look to my side and see the horse with mad eyes about to stomp on me and that''s when it happens.


    I feel an incredible pain in my heart as if it''s about to burst. It''s as if an unnoticeable energy that has always been in my body is now rushing towards my heart and it''s about to burst. It''s so painful I can''t bear it anymore and I feel my body stopping and then I fall unconscious.


    Shadow Guard


    It seems as though the princess has extended her playground outside the castle walls. She''s always loved to hide somewhere in the castle and its always taken us at most two hours to find her, but now its been three hours and I''m sure the king will be very displeased. The princess is one of the few who knows of our existence as shadow guards and that is only because it would always require us to find her. I can''t help but worry she may have gotten the idea to sneak out as she did from our existence. I just hope the King doesn''t take our infiltration techniques into consideration when he hears how she snuck out.


    I have all the shadow guards currently in the city looking for her at the moment. I just personally found a merchant who stopped a 5-6-year-old girl from touching a black dagger that has an eerie and malicious feeling to it. The part that caught my attention is the little girl had black hair and black eyes. It has to be the princess so I bought the dagger, to give it to the king, and then I rush towards the direction the princess went. I keep running until I found a crowd looking towards a commotion.


    What I see makes my heart drop. I see the princess pushing a mana mutant out of the way of a rampaging horse. She succeeds in saving the mana mutant, but the horse is about to crush her and I know the little princess will not survive that. I must try to save her.


    As I take my first step I notice the princess close her eyes while clutching her chest and I know at that moment what is about to happen. I know it''s dangerous but I keep rushing to stop the horse. It was an unnecessary move and also a mistake. In an instant, the princess has a forced awakening. Flames burst out around the princess and lightning burst towards the sky. The destruction of these two elements cause is already bad, but the bigger problem is that both the flames and lightning are a pitch black color. Both of these elements would normally light up where ever they go, but not these. The princess'' elements seem to eat away at the light that they touch replacing it with darkness and destruction. The horse is instantly incinerated and even though I was still on the other side of the street I feel my outstretched arm being burned away by the black flames. A bolt of the black lightning then strikes the right side of my chest. I feel my body momentarily stop from the shock and incredible pain. The bolt just skimmed across my chest before striking the ground behind me creating a small crater.


    The chaos soon comes to an end as quickly as it began. All the destruction seems to draw back to the princess as if imploding and then dissipates. I feel shocked for a second before I rush forward and find the unconscious princess lying on the ground with only a few remnants of clothes on her that doesn''t cover anything important on her. A once over look tells me that she has no external injuries so I take what''s left of my cloak and completely wrap up the princess so nothing can be seen.


    Once she''s secured I look up and see the mana mutant looking into the crater with lifeless eyes, but there seems to be some curiosity and shock on her face. I can''t help but look at her in anger and a little disgust because this is her fault. I look over my shoulder to see other shadow guards arriving I point at the mana mutant and signal to bring her. They grab her and we all move towards the castle. I have to get the princess to the healer and then I must inform the king of whathas happened.

 Chapter 3

    Chapter 3


    Eva Lemuria


    I wake up with my whole body in pain before I can even open my eyes. It''s like a boulder has been set on top of me and my chest feeling like it''s been burned from the inside. When I finally open my eyes I see that I''m laying down in my room. I try to sit up but it hurts too much. I look around and see our castles healer sitting at my side with her eyes closed asleep. On my other side leaning on the edge of my bed is Mama. She has dried tears on her face that make me wonder what happened.


    Then I remembered what had happened and I can''t help but start breathing like crazy as if my body is trying to see if it really is alive. I also start to worry so I try to check my body regardless of the pain. I notice that despite my intense pain there doesn''t seem to be a single injury on my body.


    As I keep looking over my body my movement must have awoken Mama. She stirs a little and then her eyes snap open and look directly at me. The next moment she throws her arms around me and pulls me into her chest. All I can feel is the intense love she has for me. Also pain, lots of pain from my sore body that I can''t help but cry out and start crying. I was holding it in but this just pushed it too much. Mama lets me go and then begins apologizing.


    ¡°I''m sorry little Eva. I was just so happy you woke up I forgot the healer told me you would be sore. There, there, don''t cry any more mamas sorry..¡± She keeps petting my head while holding me gently. ¡°Sweetheart I''m glad you''re alright I was so worried when you were brought back.¡±


    ¡°Brought back by who Mama?¡±


    ¡°The shadow guards sweetie. After you awakened they brought you home practically naked and unconscious. Do you know how worried I was? Don''t think we don''t know about the way you snuck out! Don''t think I haven''t forgotten about a punishm¡­..¡± Mama


    ¡°Wait, Mama! Did you say awakened? Awakened what?¡±


    ¡°Your mana heart has been forcefully awakened, Eva.¡± When I look over I see dad looking at me with a concerned but analyzing eye. I''m not sure why, but I felt uncomfortable under his gaze. ¡°Sweetheart, what were you thinking risking your life like that?¡±


    ¡°Dad that girl would have been hit if I did nothing!¡± I''m not sure why I''m being yelled at. I thoughtI did something good.


    ¡°Eva, don''t you know what it is that you saved? It was a mana mutant.¡± Dad


    ¡°Yah I noticed her ears and legs. She was different from others but I don''t know what I did badly.¡± I feel tears starting to form in my eyes and I feel they will start dropping any second.


    ¡°Eva do you know why you don''t see any mana mutants in the castle or even that many outside of it?¡± I shake my head to dad''s question. ¡°It''s because they''re dangerous. A mana mutant is created from when someone''s body is exposed to large amounts of a foreign man. It can come from an artifact or even naturally from the ground. Where it comes from were not sure, but what we do know is that it causes disastrous effects. Those monsters that adventures go out to subjugate are from mana exposure. There are beasts and then there are mana beasts. A beast is still easy to take care of, but a mana beast is a whole other issue. They were once beast that became stronger and even gained the ability to use magic. They are a whole new species that wants to be at the top of the food chain. They can even breed with each other or beast that was from their previous race. These mana beast are dangerous for this reason.¡± He takes a second to face me and I can tell he doesn''t want to tell me these things, yet he has too. ¡°You may be wondering now why I''m telling you these things. It''s because a mana mutant can turn into a mana beast. No, they will eventually turn into one. A mana mutant will only have physical changes at first but over time their minds will become corrupted. In the past, there were countless mana mutants that lived in this country, but slowly they all started changing and then attacked those around them.¡±


    ¡°Why? Why do they do that? Why do their minds change if their bodies have already changed? Why don''t we help them instead of¡­.what does happen to them now?¡± I look at dad with a gaze filled with my sadness and fear of what happens to those poor people.


    ¡°We take them out of the country in exile if we still can, but if its too late we put them down.¡± At this point, I feel a few tears fall from my eyes. Mama wipes them from my eyes. ¡° So the girl that I saved?¡±The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.


    ¡°She''s been escorted out of the country towards a country where apparently they''ve had better luck in helping mana mutants. Now you should know why you shouldn''t have risked your own life. If you had not have tried to save her your mana heart wouldn''t have forcefully awakened.¡± Dad


    ¡°What is a mana heart anyway and an awakening?¡±


    ¡°A mana heart is someone''s focus point. Or a keyhole. Everyone''s body is filled with mana, but they can''t use it until they have awakened. An awakening is when someone reaches a point of maturity where their mana heart is ready to be unlocked. Once it does someone will finally have access to their mana and can use magic.¡± He pauses his lecture and then looks into my eyes with incredible seriousness. ¡°Sometimes someone will have their awakening forced early for various reasons. When this happens it is not like someone picking the lock instead it''s like having a flaming dagger shoved through the lock melting it while blasting it open. It can''t be closed on and the opening is much larger than it should be. Because of this for the rest of their lives, they will always leak a little of their mana.¡±


    I am completely shocked at the moment. I thought I had saved a life, but it seems I have only prolonged it. I am also now able to use magic but it seems i''ll have various issues in the future and i''ll always leak it. ¡°I don''t regret it,¡± I mutter in a small voice, but it seems I was heard.


    ¡°After everything that''s happened, you can still say that!?¡± Mama


    ¡°Yes. I''m glad I saved her even if it was only to give her more time.¡±


    ¡°Why? Don''t you value your own life?¡± Mama was mad and I can see tears forming in her eyes as she holds my shoulders. I can''t take back what''s already been said though so I most finish it.


    ¡°It''s because she''s the same as me!¡± I let it out. My tears are falling uncontrollably. ¡°People kept their distance from her and looked at her with eyes filled with disgust and fear! She was the same as me! Different!¡± At this point, I''m completely crying. I''ve always tried to hold it in so mama and dad don''t worry about me, but I can''t anymore. ¡°Am I a mana mutant is that why I''m different? Is that why I''m hated so much?¡±


    ¡°NO! Sweetheart, you aren''t hated. No one hates you¡± Mama told me while she pulled me into a tight hold. It hurts from the pain but I''m already crying so no one notices. I barely even notice myself. ¡°Sweetheart you''re a little different but you''re definitely not a mana mutant.¡±


    I''m not sure what to think anymore. If I really am a mana mutant it would make sense on why I look different and why my parents never let me go outside the castle walls. I was about to ask but then I noticed the expression on my parents'' faces. There were sadness and fear. Fear not of me but of what else I could say. I decided to just drop my head and keep silent for now. While I''m running through all my thoughts I then remember that my mana heart has awakened. That must mean I can use magic now.


    ¡°Can I now use magic since my mana heart awakened?¡±


    ¡°Technically you can use magic, but yours is a bit special it seems.¡± He pauses looking as if he''s troubled on what to say. ¡°Everyone has a chosen element that''s most compatible with their body. Sometimes people are even gifted with an affinity with two or more elements. There are basic elements like fire, water, earth, and air. There are also other rare elements. An example would be lighting. There have even been new elements discovered in the past by those with two or more affinities. An example is that with fire and earth one could create magma.¡±


    ¡°Yah but what is my element? Do you know?¡± My eagerness is probably showing but I don''t care.


    ¡°When you forcefully awakened before your affinities did show. Your body has an affinity with lighting and fire, but¡­¡±He avoids looking into my eyes with a very sharp look.


    ¡°But what dad? What is it?¡±


    ¡°Both your elements seemed to be coated in darkness. You have black flames and black lightning. Apparently, they look extremely similar to your hair and eyes.¡±


    I feel shocked. I felt as if my whole identity has always been darkness. People have always recognized me by my hair and eyes and now even my magic is going to be darkness. I''m not sure how I could possibly feel about this. I''ve never hated my own color, but I have always been judged because of it. What will people think of me when they see my magic? I don''t know if I even want to use my magic anymore. Something that should have been a light in this dark day has just gone to the darkness that surrounds me.


    I don''t even pay attention to my surroundings anymore. My parents must be trying to tell me something, but I can''t hear them. I need to see for myself the other thing that makes me different. The additional reason I''llbe judged. So I hold up my left and right hand. I then feel my body with my mind. I feel the energy that has always been in me, but now I feel an opening. Where my heart is, there is a gate wide open that I allow some of my mana to pass through. I then envision flames surrounding my left hand and electricity on my right hand.


    I feel time pass till both my hands erupt into their elements. I''ve now confirmed that I can use magic, but there is a problem. My father was right. Both my hands are covered in darkened elements. Both feel comfortable to me, but at the same time, I can''t help but reject them at the same time. As if responding to my feelings both my hands'' elements dissipate and I''m left staring at my hands.


    I finally look up and see that both my parents are shocked at my display. I then look past dad and see George by my door. He has a face as if he''s seen a monster. As my mouth slightly opens to say something he runs off.


    I feel heartbroken that now even my own brother has looked at me like I''m a monster. My parents noticed my brother as well, so my father goes to follow him while my mother keeps trying to talk to me. I can''t help but ignore her. Today has been a very dark day for me and I''m not sure when it will get better. I don''t know what I am anymore. I don''t even know who I am anymore. I turn away from my mother and lay back down on my bed. I close my eyes in an attempt to stop my tears from falling.

 Chapter 4

    Chapter 4


    Eva Lemuria-6 years old


    It has been a year since I''ve awakened and I still haven''t used my magic that much. I have been told that I have a large amount of mana and that if I had awakened normally I would have been at a genius level. Now however for those who are sensitive to mana they see me with a dark outline. Apparently, its as if I''m walking around covered in gentle dark flames. Because of this and the usual problems with my appearance I have begun to avoid people even more. People see me as someone that''s covered in darkness so I stick to the darkness.


    I avoid everyone except my parents. A few of my old maids are still the same and take care of me, but I can''t help but avoid them. As for my other family member, my brother, he avoids me anytime he even catches a glimpse of me. He truly believes that I''m a mana mutant. My parents have tried countless times to convince him that I''m not a mana mutant, but even I don''t believe that so how can he believe it.


    Right now I am with my family and others because my mother has been pregnant for nine months and is about to give birth. I don''t know if it will be a little sister or a little brother, but I hope that they will be like my parents and see me as something other than a monster. I don''t have my hopes up, but I can''t help but have a small part of me that wishes they''ll see me as just a sister.


    My musing is interrupted by the maid coming in she has a happy expression so I can tell that everything has gone well. It''s good that what happened to me didn''t happen again.


    ¡°The queen has given birth to another princess. Congratulations!¡± Maid


    ¡°Kids come on let''s go congratulate your mother. Eva and George behave. Your mother must be really tired and you wouldn''t want your little sisters'' first impression of you to be bad.¡± Father told us but seems to have been mostly looking at George. If I had to guess why it''s because George has been looking at me with disgust, hate, and even a little bit of fear since he walked into the same room as me. This past year has been hard with George hating me so much. I think I''ve finally been able to ignore the stares from everyone but him.


    We walk into the room and I look around. There are several maids in the room cleaning up. I stand in a corner so they can do their job because I know they will avoid me like a plague. Instead of getting my self-hurt from the looks they give me I would rather just keep my head down and have everyone ignore me. I''ve already learned how to blend into the darkness very well anyway. So I just stay in the corner and watch as the maids finish cleaning up and my father and brother approach mother.


    Mother looks exhausted, but I can see the happiness as she holds the bundle in her arms. I realize that little bundle must be my new baby sister. I feel an urge to look at her but I quickly stop that urge. I would probably just scare her like everyone else. My own thoughts are just depressing me more than usual. I would rather be on my own right now, so I start making my way towards the door to leave. I keep my head down to try to avoid being noticed by anyone, but it seems I''ve failed.


    ¡°Eva sweetheart where are you going?¡± Mother questioned me from behind. I look back and see my mother and father looking at me with a concerned expression while George has the same look of disgust. It makes me wonder if he even still considers me his sister. ¡°Eva comeand take a look at your new baby sister. She''s as cute as you were when you were a baby.¡± She looks at me with her usual warm gaze but I just consider whether I should take that last step to the door or go towards my family. My thoughts are interrupted by my mother''s face turning into a pleading one.


    I walk towards my family while trying my best to ignore George. I finally reach my mother and look down at the bundle in her arms, but all I say is ¡°Blonder hair and green eyes huh?¡± That''s right even my little sister is normal. She looks adorable with the little hair she has and here eyes that look around till they focus on me. She doesn''t immediately start crying like I thought she would. Instead, she keeps staring at me and I''m not sure why, but it makes me feel comfortable.


    ¡°Sweetheart please don''t worry about your differences. Look little Lora is looking at her big sister with such interest. Do you want to hold her?¡± Mother offers Lora to me, but I don''t make a move. I keep looking at my little sister and then turn around. I don''t want to end up scaring her. If I avoid her then she won''t come to hate me like everyone else around me. ¡°Sweetheart where are you going? Eva, please come back!¡±


    As soon as I''m out the door I slowly close it behind me and keep walking. I feel frustrated right now so I keep walking till I''m outside. It''s around noon right now so I keep walking to the secluded building in the courtyard. This room used to be for training the royal family but George and I are apparently too young to start training. Even if we wanted to do something George hasn''t awoken yet and my body is still too young for physical training. I walk in to take a look around at the enchantments on the walls. Apparently, these keep the building from coming down but I have no idea how. Maybe one day I''ll go to the library to find out. I look towards the training dummy that has the same enchantments. I raise my hand and decide to let loose. This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    I will my mana through my mana heart to my hand to form a small black flame in my hand. It feels barely even warm to me, but I know that for anyone else it must have an incredible heat. I throw it at the dummy and watch at the dark flames envelope it. It keeps burning for a while till it dissipates. I then raise my hand again palm out. I imagine lightning going down my arm then out my palm. dark lightning does manifest around my arm and makes it to my palm but it completely misses the target. I keep trying again and again. Every bolt misses its target. Finally, I feel my frustration well up and I scream and let out all my feelings. I feel the flames and lighting bursting forth from every part of my body. The entire room is filled with a sea of dark flames and a sky of dark lightning.


    ¡°AAAAHHHHHHHHHhhhhhhhhhh!¡± I scream at the top of my lungs then punch towards the dummy. A blast of pure destruction rockets towards the dummy. I look through my tears at the dummy only to see the top half missing and a dent in the wall behind it. It makes me wonder if the engravings in this room have worn out. It was supposed to be indestructible.


    I keep looking at the wall as I sit in my flames. I feel no discomfort from the flames or the static crawling on the surface. I''m just tired now from using almost all of my mana in my outburst. I''m pretty sure if anyone was around right now they''d confirm me as the monster they all believe me to be. I keep thinking about those around me and before I notice the flames disappear and one of the people I''ve completely forgotten about is behind me.


    ¡°Princess that''s a lot of power you have there. I''m glad you came here to let out your frustrations.¡±


    ¡°Hiiii!¡± When I look behind me I see Shadow standing there with his usual average look and barely noticeable presence. He is fathers captain of the shadow guards. All shadow guards don''t have names but the captain has always been referred to as Shadow while everyone else is given numbers. I know father was not happy to tell me about his secret, but apparently, I was causing him a bit of trouble. ¡°Shadow I''m not playing hide and go seek so there is no point in coming to find me.¡±


    ¡°Princess his Majesty is the one who told me to come and find you. Your parents seemed worried about you and from looking around here I think they were right to worry.¡± He looks around at the scorched room and then he focuses on the dent in the wall. ¡°Princess, you do know this room is enchanted to not break right? This room should have been fine for another hundred or more years.¡± Shadow


    ¡°I thought they were already old. Haven''t they been here a long time now? How do they even work? Do you know?¡±


    ¡°They are old but enchantments like these are designed so they last a long time. These ones have only lived two-thirds of their life. They were engraved in specific patterns that create the spell to keep the room intact and these patterns are connected to others that draw mana out of our surroundings and use that as a fuel.¡± Shadow explains.


    ¡°So it''s like the room is constantly using magic with the mana in the air instead of being like us that use the mana in our bodies?¡±


    ¡°Right in the simplest form. Are you interested in enchanting princess?¡±Shadow asks.


    ¡°Ehhh no not really I just wanted to know why the wall broke even though it wasn''t supposed to, but it seems like its just because I''m a monster that the room can''t contain inside," I say the last part mostly mocking myself.


    ¡°Yes, princess you do seem to have monstrous strength. It makes me worried for your future enemies. It makes me feel like you should have other options than just magic. So your father gave permission for you to have this.¡± Shadow then presents me a knife. No, it''s not just a knife. It''s that knife from the day I saved that mana mutant and the day my life turned upside down. I''m honestly conflicted about even reaching for the knife that''s being presented to me. This knife would be considered a constant reminder of that day. Even though I still don''t regret helping that girl it still had been a bad day for me. I still want to take it because I still feel an attraction for this knife that I had from the day I first saw it. It''s a pitch black single edged straight blade. I''m not sure what the actual name for this dagger is but I can''t help be drawn to it.


    I finally take the blade from Shadow and even though it is still too big for me, I feel like it fits well into my hand. I swing it around, but I have no grace to my movements. I then get an idea. It''s probably a bad idea and if I''m wrong ill definitely ruin my new dagger. I release my mana from my mana heart again and then I coat my dagger in flames. It works and seems as if the blade isn''t heating up at all. I lightly swing it down and a small scorch mark appears on the ground. I then extinguish the flames and channel lightning into the blade. Instead of just being covered in black lightning like I thought would happen, my blade started to glow and seemed a little bit longer. I swing it down and thin cut forms on the ground.


    Before I could continue experimenting I feel what little energy I had left in my body slip away. I fall on my butt and then lay down. I feel really tired and my body is sore. It''s not even close to being like when my mana forcefully awakened so I''m still ok. I look over and see shade look at me with a completely blank expression. It''s a little weird since he has such a plain face.


    ¡°Princess where''d you see that technique? The one where you added your elements to your dagger.¡± Shadow


    ¡°Eh um, well I just thought of it when I was holding my dagger. The idea just came to me out of nowhere. Did someone else already do that? Does the technique have a name?¡±


    ¡°Well, Princess yes someone else has already discovered this technique but its supposed to be hard to add your element onto your weapon. Some people can only layer their weapon with raw mana. The normal technique is called mana edge. Adding an element to your blade can be considered a subdivision of mana edge. Yours would be a lightning edge or flame edge. I''m impressed either way though princess. Now that you are like this we will have to wait to do your lessons until tomorrow. Excuse me, princess.¡± Shadow bends down and carries me over his shoulder. I believe that there are better ways to carry me, but I think he doesn''t want to give me a princess carry. Apparently, Father has frightened almost everyone in the castle to stay away from his daughters.


    ¡°Well just take me to my room I guess. Also, when should I show up for training?¡±


    ¡°Don''t worry ill come and pick you up tomorrow morning.¡± I can''t see his face, but I have a bad feeling about this.

 Chapter 5

    Chapter 5


    Eva Lemuria-6 years old


    I was having such a deep sleep last night that I wish I could have kept sleeping. Sadly that wish did not happen and instead, I woke up to a real-life nightmare. I woke up to the feeling of falling. No, it wasn''t the feeling of falling. I was falling. I was falling from the third-floor window. I don''t even know how I got there. When I thought it was the end I realized I wasn''t falling anymore so I opened my eyes that I had closed. I saw Shadow with a smile on his face looking at me.


    ¡°Good morning Princess. I told you I''d come to get you and I did come. Now it''s time to start your training.¡± He told me this as he threw me over his shoulder again!


    ¡°Aren''t you supposed to protect the royal family?! Didn''t you just throw me out the window?! Also, couldn''t I have gotten dressed first?! Wait what are these clothes?! When was I changed?! Who changed me?!¡± I can feel my blood boiling! This guy is the captain of the shadow guard and he just threw me out the window!


    ¡°Now now Princess you are getting worked up and we haven''t even started yet. You really shouldn''t waste your energy. Anyway looks like we are here.¡± He then set me down and I noticed that we are in the same training room I came to yesterday. It seems someone had come to clean it up yesterday because all the ash and dust is now gone. ¡°Now then we are going to start with running a couple laps. Just keep going and I''ll tell you to stop.¡± I stand there staring in his eyes with distrust before I begin running.


    I don''t know how long I ran, but that definitely wasn''t the end of this hell. After running I did pushups. After that it was sit-ups then squats and more and more. It was hell. I don''t even know how long I was pushed. I was never even given a set number of workouts to do. Shadow would always just tell me to keep going. I feel drenched in my sweat and I don''t know hold long we''ve been going. This started right at the sun up, but now the sun is already going down.


    ¡°Well, Princess that was a good warm up, but we seem to have run out of time before we could get to the actual workout. Ok, you don¡¯t have to glare at me like that. I need to test your physical levels and I have something good to tell you. You are completely average for a kid.¡± I raise my hand and begin to release mana from my mana heart to burn Shadow to the ground. ¡°I thought you''d be happy to be like others. For someone who has so many differences, I thought you''d be excited to be average.¡±


    What he said has completely shocked me that my mana dissipates before I could manifest the flames. I have always been bothered by my difference and it only increased when I awakened. I haven''t even thought of things that could be considered normal for me. I try to think of this more so that I can be more normal, but that thought quickly disappears. I may be upset about my differences but this is not something that I can change. It will take a while but I''ll slowly begin to accept myself for everything I am and everything I''ll become.


    ¡°Then we will just have to change that. If there is something normal about me then we will just have to change it.¡± I will become strong not for anyone else, but so I could have something for myself. So that I can become strong physically and mentally.


    ¡°Well, then Princess we will just have to up the training then. For now Princess its time for you to go rest up. Also, don''t worry about your wake up tomorrow. A maid will come to get you.¡± I''m genuinely relieved about that.


    I wave goodbye and then make my way towards my room. Before I open my door I stop and realize how horrible I smell. I turn around and move towards the baths. We have a large bath that can fit multiple people if we wished, but I''ve almost always bathed alone. I go in and take off my clothes before walking in the baths. I sit in the water and relax. I close my eyes and think of the hell I''ve experienced today. I can''t help but shiver at the thought of what''s to come.


    ¡°If your cold, then comeover here sweetheart.¡± I''m picked up from behind and placed on a naked lap. I look back and see its mother. I''m not sure what to say so I just look down and sit on her lap. ¡°I heard you''ve started training today with Shadow. You must be tired Sweetheart.¡± She begins petting my head and I lower it even more. ¡°Sweetheart if you don''t want to train you just have to say so. If there''s anything you need you just have to ask. Even if there''s Lora in our family you''re still my little Eva.¡±


    ¡°Mhm,¡± I just nod my head. Mother wraps her arms around me and squeezes me gently. I truly do feel warm but I''ve already felt myself growing distant from mother and father since my awakening. Too many things have changed for me and that included my view of people. Mother is constantly trying to convince me I''m normal and that its fine as long as I''m her little girl. At least father has allowed me to start some training so I can make myself better. I don''t have to be normal if I''m better.


    ¡°Sweetheart it is ok to enjoy being young still. It has been so long since you last played. You used to love to run around the castle and play hide and seek. I know you''ve been having such a hard time lately. You''ve had such a lifeless look in your eyes. Don''t think I haven''t heard about how you''re training started only after you blew up a training room. Sweetheart, it''s ok to take things slow. You can come play with your little sister whenever you want. I think you two will get along great.¡± Mother is earnestly trying to convince me. If I was looking up I can only imagine what kind of face she''s making towards me.Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.


    ¡°Mhm. Maybe mother. I want to be serious in my training. I want to be strong.¡±


    ¡°Why do you have such an urge to be strong Eva?¡± Mother took a serious tone that is different from her usual gentle one when she asked me this.


    ¡°Because I''m already different and since I can''t be normal I''ll instead become different from everyone else in a different way than usual. I will choose the way I will be different. I will choose to be strong and then I''ll be happy with what I''ll become.¡± I hope mother can understand my determination. This is something I''ll finish. I''ll miss playing hide and seek but I think training will make me happier in the long run.


    ¡°Eva, you don''t have to worry about what others think.¡± Mother


    ¡°This isn''t about anyone else, but me! I want to be able to look at myself and see something that I want to be, not something I have no choice in!¡± I feel tears pouring from my eyes and mothers arms tightening around me.


    ¡°Sweetheart you''re perfectly fine as you are. Please understand that you''re a beautiful and amazing little girl. You''re my little girl no matter what. Even if you are different from others or if you want to be a strong warrior. Please remember that. I''ll come around to watch you train okay sweetheart and remember I want you to come to me when you''re having a hard time instead of trying to be alone.¡± I nod my head to my mother.


    The rest of the time mother washed my hair and cuddled me. She kept rubbing her face against mine and telling me to stay as cute as I am now forever. I don''t really understand what she means and she''s being really weird. Finally, I decide that I''m clean enough and leave the bath to go back to my room. I wasn''t escaping or anything, I just felt clean enough.


    Luna Lemuria


    Ah, Eva ran away from me with such a cute red face, but it is good to see her acting childish like that. She''s been having such a hard time lately and I can''t stop worrying about her. Even while holding and taking care of Lora I can''t stop worrying. One daughter does not replace another and I hope Eva understood that at least.


    I can''t help but remember when Eva was born. She was born completely still and she wasn''t breathing at all. I was crying and I wanted nothing more than for her to spring to life and start crying. I didn''t expect what would happen is that my wish would come true, but with some consequences. The room was covered in such an eerie air and then little Eva came back to life. Her hair had changed from a blonde to a black and her green eyes changed to the same black. It was something I''ve never seen before. Even though I was shocked I couldn''t stop my happiness. No matter what happens I will keep my baby safe. Nothing will happen to her again.


    I was able to keep that promise no matter how much trouble she caused for 5 years. Eva has always loved to play hide and seek so that is what I thought she was doing until guards told us she had climbed over the wall. I was outraged that I decided that this time I''m going to have to punish her. If only the problem had been that simple at the time. Instead, my daughter was carried back covered in almost nothing but a cloak. When I had heard what she had done I was outraged.


    I can''t understand why she would risk herself for a mana mutant, but then she told us why. I know she knows of them, but I guess we never went into enough details for her to understand. I would never have imagined this is how she''s felt all this time and I''ve never even noticed that people have been looking at her differently. This is a big problem that I''m not even sure how to begin to fix. She''s been suffering by herself all this time The worst part is that she has had a forceful awakening. In the past, some would forcefully awaken their children so that they can get a head start on they''re training, but it also caused a constant mana leak and other problems. Overall it wasn''t beneficial to children. But that wasn''t what was really shocking, Eva''s elements were both tinted in a darkness. It¡¯s something that''s never been seen before.


    My thoughts go to everyone''s reaction to her special elements. Her father and I are both surprised by this, but there is no fear in either of us. My husband was probably thinking of several reasons for this difference, but I was just trying to get Eva to talk to me. It seemed as though she was in shock. She then looked towards the doorway. I follow her line of sight only to see her brother standing there with a look as if he''s seen a monster. I was going to call out to him, but he had run away. I knew that was going to become another problem that will take time to fix, but at that point, Eva started shutting me out and turned away.


    Now that I think back to it that is the specific point that she started to block us out. I''m not sure what to do about this situation. Now that there''s Lora I''m going to have to take care of her while helping my other two children. I remember Eva''s face when I just had Lora. She had just stood in the corner of the room expressionlessly. She seemed as if she thought she didn''t belong there and I must be right because she immediately began to walk towards the door to leave. I had to call her over to look at her baby sister, but she just looked conflicted the whole time before saying in a quite voice ¡°Blonder hair and green eyes huh?¡± I''m not sure what she meant at first, but now I realize how she only felt more alienated. When I asked Eva if she wants to try holding Lora she doesn''t respond before walking out ignoring my calls. I felt as if I was going to cry at that moment. George then asked me something that hurt me so bad, but I was glad at his point Eva didn''t hear him.


    ¡°Mom why are you trying to have that thing here in the first place and now trying to call it back too?¡±George


    ¡°That is not a thing! That is your little sister! How could you say such a hurtful thing? Why have you been treating your sister like that? She''s already not feeling well, but she also has her own older brother treating her like a monster!¡± ¡°Waaaaaaawaaaaa!¡± Before I could continue little Lora started to cry so my husband took George out so I could feed Lora. After that, I went to sleep with her.


    I have been taking care of her all day today and when I finally put her down for a nap I see Eva enter the bath. I wanted to talk to her, but I guess I didn''t really know which direction this conversation would go. At least I hope she understood my intentions. I want her to be happy and if training and becoming stronger in her own way will make her happy I can only support it. I''m also glad I could get some cute and childish reactions out of her before she ran away.


    From now on I think I''ll take Lora out to watch her as she trains. I''m sure eventually Eva will succumb to Lora''s cuteness and come to hold her. I want Lora to have both her older brother and older sister there for her when she needs them. I can also already tell Lora will love Eva like the rest of us no matter what.

 Chapter 6

    Chapter 6


    Eva Lemuria-8 years old


    It has been two years of horrible hellish training. I can''t believe Shadow thinks that this is all right for a child. I will admit that the results have definitely shown themselves. I doubt most other children would be as fit as me. The one weird thing is that I''ve only been training with my dagger. It''s nice to be able to use a weapon, but I doubt ill be using a dagger once I get older. I wish I could use a sword, spear, even an ax could work. I did try to complain about it once, but Shadow just told me that when my dagger feels like an extension of myself instead of just a weapon then he will start training me with other weapons.


    I think I did get that feeling once in a mock duel with Shadow, but I haven''t been able to recreate it. I have been swinging my dagger for about a year and a half till I started using my whole body to fight. Shadow was really surprised when I slashed at him with my dagger to only be surprised when I kicked him in the belly. I had jumped straight at him while shooting my dagger towards his throat like he taught me. When he easily blocked the tip of my blade with the side of his, I shot my foot towards his gut without thinking. It worked, but he did seem a little upset afterward. He still ended up complimenting me afterward, but anytime I''ve tried surprise attacks like that again he always says it''s not right. He always tells me to fight with my instincts, not my head. I don''t understand what he means and he always tells me it''s something that I would have to figure it out myself.


    I have also been working on my magic skills after combat training. I still have my complex feelings about my special elements, but I want to become strong. I''ve learned all the basic techniques that there are for my elements. I apparently am really good at manipulating my elements. My strongest attacks are still my lightning edge and flame edge. I would use my flame edge when I want a more explosive attack. I would then use my lightning edge when I want a more precise attack. Shadow says he is very impressed with how powerful both of my attacks have become. The other day Shadow brought two huge blocks of stone to our training grounds. I''m not exactly sure where he got them or how he brought them in here considering there about twice his size. He told me to attack both of them with either of my mana edge attacks. When I used the flame edge half of the first stone block was destroyed making it look like a monster took a bite out of it. My lightning edge was able to completely cut the block in half. I tried to cut it perfectly horizontal, but I ended up diagonal so the top half slid to the ground. I thought it would shatter when it hit the ground and break, but it seems are more solid than I thought. Shadow told me that for him to get the same results as this he would need to use 2 thirds of his mana.


    I''m glad I''m steady making my way towards being a someone truly strong. I''ve worked hard for the past two years, but it''s still not enough yet. I have been trying to become faster and stronger. Shadow tried to explain the different types of fighters to me. I can''t completely figure out the specific details of tanks, healer, controllers and things like that. The one that caught my interest was the rogue fighter. He tried to go into specifics of everything. I basically decided my fighting style will be based on speed and strength from now on. It works perfectly with my elements too. Lightning is a quick destructive force and fire is an agile destructive force. So after that lesson from Shadow, I began focusing on my speed and accuracy. Shadow says I''m starting to become a little dangerous and he regrets teaching me where to aim at a person. Apparently, he wishes he had just taught me monster weaknesses instead.


    That''s another one of my lessons that I''ve been taught about. He''s been teaching me about the beast and mana beast. He''s taught me their characteristics, habits, eating pattern, even their mating habits have been taught to me for some reason. I still think he was teaching it to me just to make me feel embarrassed but he insisted that it was very important information that I must know. There was one thing I had asked him during these lessons that he got unusually serious about. I had asked about dragons.


    ¡°Shadow what about dragons? Are they mana beast or just considered normal beast?¡±


    ¡°Neither Princess and try not to ever compare dragons to either of them again. Dragons are a full race just like us, elves, dwarfs, and other races. Princess remember that they are a full race ok? They have a more tribal culture than ours. They only stay like that because they choose too. They are far more powerful than us and they also have a better understanding of the world as well. So always talk politely about the dragon tribe because they do deserve some respect. Also, you won''t know when you''re talking to someone from the dragon tribe because they have an almost perfect human form. The only difference is that they have scales covering some of their vitals, but those can be hidden so try not to offend any of the dragon tribe.¡± Shadow


    Shadow seemed really persistent on me not mistaking dragons for anything else or anybody else. I guess there have been past instances where someone has offended a dragon and paid the consequences. So I remembered the lesson before putting it to the back of my mind to continue with the rest of the lesson.


    Most were boring while some were interesting because he talked about mana beast that seems to have some thoughts other than just primal instincts. Apparently, there is some mana beast that has enough intellect to even form a tribe like structures and there much tougher to deal with. For now, these tribes seem to be hidden deep in mountains or forest. People worry one day they might come out to pick a fight with us so for now, we keep an eye out for where they are so we can try to exterminate them before they exterminate us.


    Lessons were always sometimes boring and sometimes they seemed like stories that had me at the edge of my seat. The main problem was that Shadow was still the leader of the shadow guards. He had his original duties before teaching me so these past two years haven''t been constant training. Sometimes he''d have to be somewhere else too. So whenever that happens my mother would seem to always know and she''d be there. Of course, Lora has always been at her side. I can''t understand Lora sometimes. It''s weird because for some reason anytime Lora sees me she become attached to me. She will see me then trot over to where I am and attach herself to me. It''s something I''m not sure how to handle so I can only look towards my mother. The only response I ever get is her not seeing anything.


    When Shadow isn''t around and I have no training the only thing I can do is go to the library and study more. We have a large library compared to other kingdoms is what I''ve been told so it does make me feel a little proud. It is sometimes hard to read when there is a two-year-old attached to my hip. Mother just smiles while watching as if it''s the cutest thing she''s ever seen. Sometimes mother gets this predator like gaze while look at us that sends shivers down my spine. Mother seems very fond of cute things and she has titled Lora and I the cutest things ever. I''m always very careful about when I go to the baths, but she must have someone watching the baths because she always appears. Sometimes she will even bring Lora with her and tell me to wash her hair while she washes my hair. Even though the bath is warm I can''t help but feel cold with her always behind me. It really feels like she''s stalking her prey and one time I couldn''t help but react and turn around while looking at her wearily. What I hadn''t noticed at first is that I held Lora behind my back till mother pointed out that I''m such a good sister for being so protective. That was really shocking for me because I''ve been trying to keep my distance from her for the day she will hate me like everyone else, but instincts kicked in because of her so I couldn''t help it. I tried to comment on it being mothers fault in the first place for giving off such a dangerous feeling, but she just feigned ignorance.


    Currently, I''m in the library now reading through a book on mana beast and theory on how they come to be and their habits. It talks about how there''s possible mana running underground in streams even though there''s no proof. As per what has become usual Lora is attached to me and looking at the book I''m reading. I know she can''t understand the book but she insists on staying where she is so the only thing I can ignore her. Mother is sitting in the seat next to us while reading her own book. It seems to be some kind of romance novel that she loves so much. She tried to get me to read them instead of my usual books, but I could barely read them with our blushing and having and uncontrollable urge to incinerate the books. One time I did when I read something really weird. One second I''m reading it then the next I light the whole book on fire while mother screams that it was one of her favorites. She stopped trying to get me to read those books after that.


    Our reading time and peaceful atmosphere are interrupted by a maid coming in with a smile on her face though it freezes when she sees me she forces it to seem natural after a second. I just ignore her and continue reading my book while mother frowns towards her.


    ¡°Well, what have you come here for while interrupting our reading?¡± MotherEnjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.


    ¡°Your Majesty the Prince has awakened. His mana heart has been unlocked and he can now access his mana. Congratulations.¡± Maid


    ¡°Oh well, that is good news so I guess I should go see what talent my son has. Come on Eva and Lora.¡± Mother announces while looking towards us. Lora climbs off the couch we are sitting on but I stay where I am. ¡°Lora, sweetheart come with me to see your brother. It''s an important family event.¡±


    ¡°I will not be wanted or appreciated there. I''ll just stay here and keep studying. I will not be wanted so you should just take Lora and go. I plan to go train in a bit.¡± I tell my mother the truth and hope she will just leave it there, but obviously, my hopes will not be met.


    ¡°Sweetheart we are all apart of the same family. This is an important day for your brother. It''s important for you to come with us, your family.¡± Mother


    ¡°Can you say everyone will be happy for me to be there?¡± I get up and head for the door, but not to follow Mother. I''m going to go to the training grounds to get rid of some my stress I have. ¡°I will be training while you and Lora can go.¡±


    I walk out and head straight for my training grounds. When I get there I decide to experiment with my abilities. I go to the blocks that Shadow had brought in. I''m still not sure where he got all these or how he got them in here. I take a stance and release my mana through my mana heart. I bring it to my fist and form it. Flames coat my fist and slowly condense around it. I then try my next step of adding lightning to my fist. My fist then has lightning running around my fist fusing with the flames. I haven''t done anything like this since two years ago when I was having a breakdown.


    I keep trying to condense my elements around my fist to make them as small as possible. When I think that I''ve reached the point that is the maximum I threw my punch towards the stone block. The second my fist comes into contact with it, it''s blown away. The stone is completely destroyed and a giant dent is on the wall again. This time it''s much larger and deeper than two years ago. At this point, I can see how much more my strength has increased. I''m excited that I can have such power while only using about one-tenth of my mana. I''m in an excited mood because this is only the first test I wanted to try.


    I then will mana all around my body to create what Shadow taught me is called mana armor. If one could see mana they would see me completely covered in a black energy. I then will this armor to change into a fire. Slowly the armor starts to become visible. At this point, my breathing is becoming very ragged, but I can''t stop yet I need to get farther. Shadow said no one has successfully done something like this so I want to be the first. My mana armor starts to form into what looks like black armor that''s covered in a thin layer of black flames.


    I succeeded at something no one has done. I can''t wait to test it against someone. As I''m about to punch another stone block I feel something go wrong. My mana armor flickers and then it explodes The stone blocks that surround me explode as my flames burst outwards. My clothes are at least still on. Only they are in tatters and I''m definitely going to have to change. Since I''m so exhausted from this failure I guess ill go take a bath and then go back to my room. I only have about a sliver of my mana left so it''s a good point to stop anyway since Shadow said I shouldn''t train with my dagger without him.


    I start making my way towards the bath and think of how this will probably be the first time in a while since I''ll be able to bathe alone. Since mother and Lora are with George to see how much mana he has and what elements he has and affinity with, so they shouldn''t show up like usual. Even though I know it''s always noisy and annoying when Mother shows up I can''t help, but feel a little bit of loneliness. I make it to the baths and like I thought my mother doesn''t show up the entire time. I go back to my room to put on some comfortable clothes. As I''m looking through my closet I can''t help but look at the old dresses I have. Before Mother would always have the maids dress me in the colorful and fluffy dresses but now that the maids avoid me like a plague I''ve been dressing by myself now. I always wear pants and a loose shirt now even if mother complains. So I wear my plain clothes and instead of spending the rest of my time here in my room I decide to go to the library.


    I see a couple of maids pass by me as I make my way to the library. They all have happy faces and seem to completely ignore my existence. Usually, they would look at me in fear or disgust before walking away. Today they seem to be in a really good mood because of Georges awakening. It''s ironic because my awakening was like hell in this castle while Georges awakening is like heaven.


    I make it to the library with no problems or looks from others. I feel a little upset now. Before people would always look at me with disgust and fear, but now I''m not even seen. It''s something I first thought I would like, but I guess I really do want to be acknowledged by others in some way.


    I enter the library and realize I''m not alone in here. There are several people in here that usually don''t come to the library or even read books. Father George and an old man who I recognize as fathers friend who is a magic consultant for the kingdom. I see mother and Lora in here as well. I debate whether or not I should just leave before anyone notices me but it''s too late as Lora spots me and trots right over and attaches herself at the usual spot on my hip.


    ¡°Eva, I see that you''ve finished you''re training. I''m glad you''re here so I can tell you everything that''s happened with Georges awakening.¡± Mother tells me before beckoning me over to where she''s sitting. I really want to just run out the door, but I know I can''t leave at this point. So I go and sit next to Mother with Lora.


    ¡°Why are you here? You should just stay where no one will see something like you.¡± George


    ¡°George! That''s enough out of you. That is your little sister not anyone else or anything else. Now Ronald please continue teaching George please.¡± Father


    I guess Ronald is the magic constants name. It makes me wonder why I never saw him when I had awakened, but he''s here for George. Ronald hasn''t looked at me with disgust or fear, but that''s because he hasn''t looked at me since the initial glance from when I entered the room. I guess he must already have his own opinion about me even though I''ve never met him personally. He proceeds to educate George on mana hearts and elements. A Simplified version of the things that I''ve been learning for a while now. From what I''ve picked up George has two elements compatible with his body the same as me. George has the earth element and a rare sub-element of the earth element with is metal. Apparently, the normal way of testing an element affinity is to surround them with bits of their element and see what reacts to their mana. Rocks are set around, bowls of water, a lit torch, and other small examples of elements.


    Apparently, George was able to levitate the rocks up and the metal minerals slowly crawled towards him. Now his lesson is going towards what advantages he has over what elements. Apparently, his metal can block flames and his earth can disperse lightning. I''m not that surprised that theses are used as the first example. George looks at me as if he''s won something and I can''t help but smirk before saying.


    ¡°You are too naive if you believe that it is as simple as one element being greater than the other. If you truly believe that you will one day have a rude awaking.¡±


    George has an almost comical face. He looks as if he''s eaten a bug and even Ronald face is twitching. So I must have really pissed both of them off. That''s fine I didn''t come here to get friendly with them, in fact, I came here thinking no one would be here.


    ¡°I''ve heard the princess has been training for about two years now. Maybe you''d like to show us an example of how it isn''t so simple. A quick spare between us should show a good example. It''s the best way for George to learn right?¡± Roland


    I''m not sure why he would want to do this and I''m not sure if he has some ulterior motive. I was thinking how bad of an idea it would be but I have been in a bad mood all day and I can tell Roland is underestimating me. He probably never bothered to learn what kind of training I''ve gone through and what my actual strength is. I was going to agree to this little match but I was interrupted before I could.


    ¡°Roland, what the hell do you think you''re doing? Do you think you can do as you please in front of me? Do you believe that you are above others this much?¡± Mother has such a strong pressure that I''ve never felt before. I''ve never realized it but Mother must also be very strong. I can see sweat starting to form on Roland''s head.


    ¡°Your majesty I had made a simple suggestion to help with Georges education. I did not realize there would be such a problem with it. I believe you''re overreacting. This is no way for a queen to behave.¡± Roland seems to grow a backbone as he not only talks back to Mother but also insults her. I am now angry with this old man. I decided even though I had just recently exhausted myself in trying I should at least show this old man that he''s going too far. Before the conversation can go on I draw my knife and infuse it with lightning before slashing it up right next to Roland''s direction. A black crescent flies right next to Roland before cutting through the wall. I don''t know or care how far it went.


    ¡°Old man you sure are getting ahead of yourself. If you think you can talk to my mother like that you are dreaming. If you want my option it would be for me to help you retire early.¡± I look at him in the eyes and let my mana that I always repress from my open mana heart to run wild. If one were to look at me now they''d see a black aura raging around me. ¡°Don''t forget old man you are in someone else''s home. I don''t care what you think of me, but don''t go insulting my mother because of your selfish opinions.¡± Before I could continue I feel myself being lifted off the ground and then enwrapped in familiar arms.


    ¡°Little Eva it''s ok. I think you''ve proven how strong you''ve already become. I''m glad to see you so willing to defend me.¡± She starts rubbing her face against mine as usual. ¡°As for you Roland if I ever find out anything like this happening again I will personally have a sparring match with you so my children can learn. Now Eva and Lora let us go. There''s nothing else here for you to learn.¡±


    ¡°Roland, my wife is right. I don''t know what opinions you''ve formed in your head, but I''ve only asked you to teach George magic because you also have the earth element. Please don''t do anything unnecessary.¡± Father


    After that my mother took Lora and me out of the library and then brought me to my room so I can rest. She gave me a kiss on my head that was down and then left with a sleeping Lora in her arms. I''m not sure why Roland is as he is but I plan to just avoid him for now on to avoid trouble.

 Chapter 7

    Chapter 7


    Eva Lemuria-9 years old


    It has been one year since George has awakened and he has been taught basic magic by Roland while having an occasional training session with Shadow. It seems that Roland has persuaded George to mainly focus on his magic and have little training in sword fighting. He apparently has taken George as his official disciple. I don''t believe that focusing only on magic it a good idea. Even though George is my older brother I''m already physically stronger. Even my magic abilities are stronger than his. I think it because of this that Georges hatred for me has increased even more. I don''t know why he wants to become stronger than me, but since he''s awakened I sometimes notice him watching me train.


    As for myself, I''ve finally become one with my dagger. I don''t even have to think of my attacks when fighting Shadow. I simply move like flames blasting forward or like lightning flowing around my enemy trying to stun them. Shadow says I''ve become strange enough that when I go to the Academy at fifteen years old ill probably be at the top. My only problem is that Shadow has taught me everything he can about magic. He told me that from now on my only limitation was my imagination. All he can teach me now is how to use a weapon that I pick. I just have to find a weapon that fits me. I need something that I can use with my speed and my power.


    To find a weapon that fits me I''ve decided to go to the same place as last time. The street market is the perfect place to look considering its where I found my dagger. Last time I snuck out in a dress as I walked around, but I constantly had to move so I don''t get caught. This time I''m wearing plain clothes with a hood to cover my hair and make it harder to see my eyes. I also have two shadow guards with me. There''s a woman who introduced herself as Guard 1 and a man called Guard 2. I originally wanted Shadow to help me but he''s helping George with his training today. Apparently, he needs a stronger body instead of just spells.


    I do wish that Shadow was here instead because even though these two guards are the best after Shadow they are really weird. The Guard 2 is completely indifferent to me and what seems like everything. He doesn''t look at me in disgust, hatred, or in a friendly manner. It''s a little weird and something I''m not used to, especially since he''s not even hiding anything underneath either. He is truly indifferent to everything. Guard 1 is the problem because she seems to be inflicted with the same illness as Mother. She has been constantly looking at me with a predator like a gaze behind my back but every time I look back she quickly changes it to a gentle smile. It makes me wonder about what I heard about these guys all being like plain puppets. I wonder if Guard 1 works for mother and she specifically ordered her to come when she found out I''m coming to the market.


    Well, either way, I''ve come here with a purpose to find a weapon that feels right to me. It has been years since I came to this street market but it seems the only thing that''s changed is who''s standing behind the stands. The entire air around this place is the same and it''s just a crowded as ever. I''ve grown a bit bigger now so it''s a bit harder to sneak around between the people in this crowd. I keep going between the weapon stalls looking for something different. I see single edged swords that are curved and balls attached to chains. I see many weird weapons each one unique but nothing catches my eye. I finally decided to try my luck and I go towards the stand where I got my dagger. When I find the stand it''s no longer a weapon stand. Instead, it''s filled with fruits that are actually a local product. I decided to buy one of the fruits to eat while I walk around.


    I keep walking around for what felt like a couple of hours, but I don''t want to give up. I finally spot something that caught my eye. It''s a pole arm with an ax on one side that curves inwards down and then points at the top like a spear. The other side of the axhead there is a curved edge sticking out before curving up into another speared point and at the end, there''s a third spear point longer than the other two and seems like the end of an actual spear. The entire weapon seems to be made out of black steel and some sort of blue metal covers other parts of it. I''m completely attracted to this weapon now that I look at it closely. I decide to get a closer look at it.


    ¡°Ah, little miss I see you''re looking at the halberd.¡± Merchant.


    ¡°Halberd? What kind of weapon is this? Where''d you get it?¡±


    ¡°Ah, this weapon I got from the dwarves nation. Apparently, this was a prototype from a Smith that wanted to propose to make them a common weapon for their soldiers but it seemed too difficult for them to use. It''s made out of black steel and mithril. The mithril in the weapon allows it to channel someone mana to the blades. There''s actually mithril veins running through the weapon that will channel the mana even better. Be careful with it because the whole weapon is made of metal instead of a wooden handle like a normal polearm.¡± Merchant.


    I grab the base of the weapon and feel the comfortability of the weapon. I can even feel how easy it would be to use my mana with it. It''s actually almost as if the weapon wants my mana. It''s as if it''s craving it. I place both my hands on the weapon and try to lift it up. It truly is heavy and because of my small size, it doesn''t fit well with my frame for now. I''m only able to lift it up for about a second before I drop it back down and lean it on the rack again.


    ¡°Ok, we will take it. I can tell me and this halberd are compatible. Can you two pay and then help me carry it back? After I''m going to have to get something to start training made.¡±


    The two did as I asked and then we started to make our way back but while walking I saw her. A young girl was begging at the edge of the street. She was a mana mutant with hairy muscular arms instead of usual child arms. I couldn''t help but think of the incident years ago. I walk past her and deposit a good amount of money in her cup. She looks up at me and her eyes widen when looking at me. That''s when I realize that at some point my hood fell down so I quickly cover myself and keep moving back towards the castle.


    I make my way straight towards the training grounds where I see Shadow having George go through the usual training routine. He''s doing the running, pushups, sit-ups, and everything. I will admit that I do feel a little good seeing someone else go through this. George seems to be doing a lot less than what I did at the begging so I guess Shadow is taking it easy. I have guard one and two set my halberd down in the training room against the hall and then I sit next to it. I thought the two would leave afterward but they''re still here.


    ¡°Ah, I can''t take it anymore! Princess, you''re so cuteeeeee!¡± Guard 1 then jumps at me and grabs me to hug me. Ah, I will admit I was thinking this may be a possibility when I saw Mothers same look on her face. She then sits down with me in her lap. I''m pretty sure I have the same dead look as Guard 2.


    ¡°Are you related to mother or something? I don''t think others would treat me like this. Also, let me go! I''m not a stuffed animal! Why are you so strong?!¡± I can''t break free from her grip. In fact, she seems to be hugging me tighter. What is going on? Has she been planning this all day? Is this why she''s been looking at my like that?


    ¡°Ahahaha Princess I don''t know what you''re talking about. You can call me big sis if you want to be related to me so bad.¡± Dangerous! I really need to escape.


    Luckily Shadow seems to notice us because of the noise we were making. He makes his way towards us and instead of helping me like I thought he would he instead goes straight towards my halberd and begins to examine it. He picks it up and swings it around trying to get a feel for it. You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.


    ¡°So this is the weapon that you''ve chosen huh? As usual, it is something different and unique compared to the usual. So I''m guessing that you''ll want me to have a training version made for you till you''re big enough to use this one?¡± Shadow.


    ¡°Yah I want you to have something I can train with. Have it as close to this one as possible so I can get a good feel for it. Oh and also help me!¡± He is complexly ignoring the petting session that I''m going through. I want to start training myself as well because I always have new ideas for spells and attacks.


    I finally feel myself being freed from Guard 1s arms only to be restrained in my usual cage of Mothers'' arms. I feel as if there are two beasts staring at each other from Guard 1s heartbroken gaze and mothers serious one. I don''t know when Mother came in, but she seems to love sneaking up on me. I look around and spot Lora peeking around the doorway into the room. Lora then spots me and trots over and hugs Mother while looking up at me.


    ¡°This is my hug pillow. Go get your own!¡± She then picks up Lora with her arm and holds both of us. ¡°This one is mine too. Get your own bundles of adorableness.¡±


    ¡°Ah, your majesty you should share with everyone. Nobody else can see little princess cuteness I thought I could get her to myself.¡± Guard 1


    ¡°Can you both just let me start training? I don''t even know what going on. Look you have Lora to hug and squeeze.¡± I point to Lora who''s just smiling with a face that says, ¡°I don''t know whats going on but its fun.¡± One day I need to teach her that mother is using her as a stuffed animal and that I also have been using her as a scapegoat.


    ¡°Oh sweetheart I''ve said it many times but no one can replace you. You are both adorable in your own ways.¡± Mother


    ¡°Princess your mother is right you''re very cute. With the funny looks, you give people, your beautiful straight black hair, and your determination makes you the best. Watching you makes me want to dress you up and keep you to myself.¡± Guard 1


    ¡°Wait when have you been watching me? Also, I feel like you''re having some very dangerous ideas in your head right now. Mother, please let go I wanna train.¡± She finally relents and releases me. I walk away so that Lora can be their cute distraction.


    I take out my dagger and go to my train dummy and go through my usual exercise. I remember Shadow telling me it''s like a dance when I fight with my dagger. I don''t know what the difference between me and him are considering he''s the one that thought me. I keep slashing and the training dummy vitals that I have been thought. Before I used have dummies with their vitals painted on so I knew where to strike but now I do it almost instinctively.


    While I''m training my instincts kick in from something coming from behind. I stop mid-strike and roll out of the way. A rock passes right where I was and strikes the dummy I was training with. I look behind me and see George with his outstretched hand and his palm facing me. Behind him, I see Roland so even I can guess why this attack has happened now.


    ¡°George! What do you think you are doing? Did you just attack your sister from behind?¡± Mother is furious. She then looks and sees Roland and her fury seems to rise another level. ¡°Roland, when did you come in and as his teacher how could you teach him things like this? It seems because I''ve left you in peace while you taught him you''ve grown a bigger backbone.¡±


    ¡°Your majesty I don''t know what you are talking about. It seems as though the Prince wishes to have a spar with the Princess. It''s not our place to interfere with them.¡± Roland says with his annoying grin.


    ¡°Roland I believe I''m going to have a talk with you outside now.¡± Mother moves before anyone could react and grabs Roland''s face before throwing him outside the training grounds. I for one am completely shocked. I knew mother must be strong but she is scary strong. I look over and see Lora looking confused and Guard 1 seems like she''s about to pounce on her.


    ¡°Big Sis, are you okay?¡± Lora runs over to where I am and starts shaking me while pulling on my clothes. I was going to respond, but my danger senses kicked in and I threw a flame fist towards the direction I sensed danger. A rock blew up and I see George looking at me with an angry face. I myself feel my blood boiling.


    ¡°What are you doing?! Are you trying to hurt Lora? Even if you don''t like me it''s unacceptable for you to put Lora in harm''s way. What is wrong with you? Shadow come protect Lora. If George wants a fight then I''ll give him one.¡±


    ¡°Very well Princes but we will stop this if it goes too far.¡± Shadow picks up Lora and then hands her to Guard 2 to watch while Guard 1 has a bitter look on her face a little before looking our way with a serious face.


    I hold my dagger in my hand and infuse my lightning into it while I form another flaming fist in my other hand. George begins forming several rocks orbiting him and then I see two smaller swords float of the training rack. These training swords are dulled so they can''t hurt anyone but they can still be dangerous. The swords float at Georges sides while the stones orbit around him.


    I dash forward while George throws some rocks at me with a cocky grin. I see he''s underestimating me too. The first rock reaches me and I blast it away with my fist creating pebbles flying around and a small dust cloud. I swing my dagger at the direction the other rock was and keep moving. As I exit the cloud I see the rock split in two falling to the ground and another rock that was orbiting George has been slashed as well but it looks like my lighting dissipated halfway.


    I decide it is better to use my flames more here. I form a fire edge around my blade and another flame fist. I backhand a rock that was orbiting George as I reached him. I then slashed in the direction of two more rocks. They are all blown away in a black flame explosion. Now that I''m within his range I stomp my foot creating a ring of flames that push George and the rest of his rocks away. I was going to go forward to punch him in the face, but the two swords came at me. I deflected the first one to the side but the second one I end up interlocking our blades. The second blade rises back up and comes towards my waist. I jump straight up while pulling my legs up as high as I can. I gather flames at the bottom of my feet and when the training blade is underneath my I stomp my feet down creating a small explosion and a crater forms around me.


    The blade is smashed into pieces, but I can relax because I''m still trying to push away the other one. I infuse lightning to my dagger and use a lightning edge to cut the blade in half. It seems as though I was to distract with the blades because now I''m surrounded by stone spikes all around me. George seems like he''s a little too happy about this situation. I guess I''m going to have to use that. I wanted to use it in a sneak attack on Shadow when we are having our next mock battle but I guess I don''t have an option in this situation.


    ¡°Stop it right there Prince! You''re going too far.¡± Shadow toys to stop George. With Georges character, he would never stop anyway.


    The spikes all shoot at me at once and I let my mana rush out of my mana heart and form around my body. I then let my flames infuse with my mana armor and form my flame armor. I succeeded in this technique a while ago and I can keep it up for a little over two minutes. The spikes all shatter and explode on contact. I look at George and see his shock has made him lower his guard. I dash towards him and when I''m right at him I remove my armor on my fist before punching George in his face.


    He falls on the ground and I jump on top of him and keep releasing my punches on his face. I removed my armor on my hands because I would have burned his face with my fist and at worst I would have killed him. He''s still my family even if he doesn''t seem to think of me the same way. I keep the punching going for a while and finish it off with a slap on his cheek. I then get up and dissipate my armor before walking away.


    ¡°If you''re still awake I''ll tell you this. You may think of me however and treat my anyway you like, but do not put Lora or anyone else in the middle of whatever problems you have. I don''t care if you are afraid of me. I''ve never done anything to you but even I have limits to how much I can put up with.¡± I give my warning to him even if he''s conscious or not. ¡°Shadow I''m leaving for now. Please have my training weapon ready as soon as possible. Lora lets go make sure Mother doesn''t kill that old man.¡± Lora runs up to me and grabs my outstretched hand. She looks concerned at her big brother before following me.


    We get outside and see a disaster zone. There are rocks sticking out of the ground everywhere. There are stone pillars sticking out of walls and roofs. The entire ground is also flooded with water. I see Mother is a very strong water mage. I notice some of the boulders and pillars are smoothly cut like my lightning edge but these seem even smoother. I look around and see a mud monster walking towards us. I look around and don''t see Mother or Roland so I grab Lora and start running from the mud monster. I try to run but we are caught and tackled into the mud.


    ¡°Why are you running from me? You''re going to hurt mom''s feelings.¡± Oh, I see the mud monster was Mother. I calm down, but it looks like Lora is still scared. And now we are all covered in mud and I know Mother did this on purpose for reason. ¡°Oh we are all dirty now I guess we will have to all go take a bath and scrub you two clean.¡±


    ¡°No, you definitely did this on purpose. And you''re scaring Lora you mud monster! Wheres the old man? You didn''t get rid of him did you?¡±


    ¡°Of course not dear I would never get you dirty on purpose. Also, the old man should be somewhere. He let his guard down at some point and I blasted him away before seeing you two. Lora momma isn''t a mud monster I''m your momma. I''m just a little dirty. Look at your sister and yourself too. Now bath time!¡± Uh oh, Lora has calmed down and looks excited. I look for escape plans but no opportunity arises so I accept my fate and have bath time with mother.

 Chapter 8

    Chapter 8


    Eva Lemuria-14 years old


    Today is my birthday and apparently I now have to be introduced to the people as a member of the royal family. Apparently, this is a regular event that we all have to go through. I don''t remember Georges two years ago, but that''s probably because every time we saw each other we would either walk the opposite direction or we would start a fight. After our training grounds fight 5 years ago George never went back to the same training grounds and received his own combat teacher. Apparently, his teacher was hired through the adventures guild. I''m a little jealous that he gets to train with an adventurer but Shadow is probably much better. Shadow just can''t tell me stories of his work.


    I have definitely become much stronger in these five years. About three years ago I finally had enough strength to easily start training with my halberd and now I practically treat it as an extension of my own limbs. I even started carrying it around with me wherever I go. Shadow told me it''s a funny sight because even though I can use my halberd its still a little too big for me. Apparently, it''s a sight of a small girl walking around with a large deadly weapon resting against her shoulder.


    The only sad part is that I''m not allowed to have my halberd with me tonight. Mother says no weapons since it''s a peaceful party. I of course plan on keeping my dagger hidden on me just in case. I''ll also keep my halberd in a close room where I can grab it quickly if needed. Mother knows that and disapproves but I feel better with it around. I already relented to wearing a dress instead of my usual clothes. I can''t help but feel dread for tonight. I only expect the same reaction that usual strangers have to me.


    At the very least George won''t be here for the party. He went to the academy almost as soon as he turned fifteen. He went to the academy with other nobles from this country and a few from others. I''m sure he''s been causing all kinds of problems since he''s gotten there. That is because the school also allows gifted commoners in and George has a noble supremest mind because of Roland. I really don''t know why Father would allow Roland to continue being his mentor. The academy even hired Roland as a temporary teacher so he can keep training George. When I go there in a year I know that I will have to deal with George because anytime he learns another one of Roland''s spells he always becomes overconfident and comes to pick a fight with me. I, of course, don''t just sit around all day doing nothing either. I¡¯ve been creating my own spells and even improving my old ones. Our duels always end the same with me punching George in the face.


    My reminiscing is interrupted as the door to my room is opened and some familiar faces come in. It''s my Mother and Lora that come in with someone else. Mother is looking elegant and as beautiful as usual although I know behind that facade is a very dangerous and scary woman. Then there is Lora who''s looking very cute even if she''s grown a bit more. She''s now eight years old and even though she still likes to playground she calmed down a bit more and has been taking lessons from Mother. I just hope that she doesn''t turn into a miniature mother. I don''t want my cute little sister being a cute-obsessed mad woman.


    ¡°Sweetheart, are you thinking something rude again? It''s no good to be mean.¡± How? I know I kept my face natural, but she can almost always tell. ¡°Anyway, sweetheart today we''ve brought you your new personal maid. She''s been personally trained by me so she can go with you to the academy in a year. Her name is Julie.¡±


    ¡°No Mother that''s not a maid, that is Guard 1. What do you mean personally trained? About a year ago she just disappeared and no one told me where she went. Did you kidnap her or something? With that face, I can tell that you did. Look at her she still looks at me like a predator looks at its prey. Have you trained her in this time or just locked her up somewhere and forget? Now both of you are looking away?¡± What is wrong with these two? There both the most dangerous woman I know and that''s only because they do what they want. How will Guard 1 even be a maid? ¡°Wait is Julie a made up name or your actual name?¡±


    ¡°Yes, Princess it is my name at this point in time. Don''t worryPrincess I am fully prepared to take care of you any way you need. Whether it''s cleaning, shopping, hugging, dressing, spying, attending, or anything else you can ask for.¡± Julie


    ¡°There seemed to be some wrong and dangerous things mixed into there. I''m not even sure if that''s your own list of things or if its mothers. I know for sure you''ve thought of doing those things even before mothers supposed maid training.¡± I''m not sure what to do in this situation. Well, I guess I can go with what I usually do and use my scapegoat. ¡°Ok, do you want a new maid, Lora? Think of her as a gift from me.¡±


    ¡°Hehe, Big Sis you can''t regift things like that. Especially in front of the giver and even the gift. Mother taught me this earlier.¡± Damn mother knows me too well. She predicted I would use Lora to get rid of this problem. Ah, I guess I''m out of options and I''ve been cornered by Mother. She even has that confident smile on her face.


    ¡°Now sweetheart don''t be so angry. She will make a perfect maid for you. She already knows all your habits and she will enjoy helping and being around you. She can even start by helping you get dressed. Now, which of the dresses did you pick.¡± Mother walks to my closet but besides my usual training clothes there is only one dress that will fit me and it''s not one of the dresses Mother got for me. ¡°Eva where''s all the dresses I got for you? There''s only this plain black one.¡±


    ¡°Why mother that''s the one that I went and picked out for myself after donating all my other unwanted clothes to the cities orphanage. I feel very proud of this good deed.¡± Haha, I have definitely won this round. There''s no other option and it''s too late to go get another dress. Mother also can''t complain because I gave to the needy. Now she has a very dangerous aura around her, but I still regret nothing.


    ¡°Haaaaa Julie help Eva get dressed. Come on Lora lets go wait by the window.¡± Mother walks away with a pouting face.


    Julie helps me get dressed while taking the opportunity to feel me all over. I can already tell this will be a set precedent. She has a little drool on her mouth. I''m just going to ignore her. The dress really is a good quality design and material. It is pure silk black that has no goofy parts at all. It comfortably hugs my still growing body very comfortably. It has sleeves that end a little before my wrists and goes down just before my feet and have a slit on the side so I can move easily in case I get in a fight. I decided that ill keep my dagger on one of my wrists. In fact, Julie actually put it there before I could do anything myself.


    As soon as I was dressed I called mother over and we all headed to the waiting room. Apparently, we all have to wait till we are announced for introductions. While waiting for father finally walks in and it''s the first I''ve seen him in a while. I usually only see him quickly when I need to ask for permission for things or when I destroy something and get reprimanded. He looks very worn out and somewhat exhausted. I don''t know if anything has been happening in the kingdom that can make him like this. Even when I walk around the city incognito I haven''t heard anything about big events in the kingdom so I''m getting a little worried. You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.


    ¡°Eva dear you look so beautiful. You''re going to make it hard for me to chase boys away. I''m going to have to get my sword sharpened. Hahahahahaha.¡± He''s laughing about it like it''s a joke but everyone here knows he''s completely serious. Although it is good to seem him happy with such a rigid appearance.


    ¡°Your majesty most of the guest have arrived and it''s time to begin.¡± An attendant comes in to inform father that its time so we all get up and move towards the door. It opens and the attendant announces us. ¡°Introducing His Majesty the third king of the Lemuria kingdom Christen Lemuria, her Majesty Queen Luna Lemuria, Princess Eva Lemuria, and Princess Lora Lemuria.¡± The room is then filled with applause.


    My father starts making a speech about how he''s thankful for everyone being here and that he appreciates everyone coming to celebrate my birthday. While my father is talking to everyone I''m observing my surroundings and analyzing everyone''s reactions. Most are shocked while a few quickly go to disgust. I''m not surprised by these reactions because it''s exactly what I expected. I do also see some men with looks of calculations and lust. I''m glad I learned a long time ago about how to keep a neutral face or my disgust would leak out. It seems some of these people are underestimating me.


    I guess it is true that most people don''t know that I''m stronger than most in this room and as deadly too. The few that are stronger than me are actually the shadow guard that I recognize in the crowd. They are all just naturally blending in and most nobles don''t even notice their existence they''re just that unnoticeable. I look at all the disgusting nobles in their pompous outfits and those that are weighed down by the jewelry they wear.


    ¡°Sister lets go get some snacks at the table over there, I''m hungry.¡± Lora comes and grabs my hand to pull me towards the table filled with all the desserts and other goodies. She''s always had a serious sweet tooth and no one helps the problem because everyone just gives her candy whenever she''s cute. She learned a long time ago that being cute equals being fed candy.


    Our little snack time is interrupted by a group of noble kids around my age coming towards us. There are three boys and several girls that are following them with lovestruck eyes. The boys are the ones that I recognize as the ones that were either looking at me with lust or calculative eyes. They actually have the nerve to look over my body blatantly checking me out right in front of me.


    ¡°Hello, Princess my name is¡­¡±Guy 1


    ¡°I''m sorry but does this little boy here think that he has the right to just come up to me and look at my body with lecherous eyes while being followed by love struck noble girls and then just pretend nothing has happened? Then try to begin whatever plan you came up with in your heador that your parents told you to do to come get me to follow along in this little pack of girls?¡± I ask them these while releasing some of my mana. Because of my opened mana heart, releasing mana has always been easy for me. So putting a little pressure on these people is easy enough.


    It seems it''s worked better than I thought as they turn pale and start sweating. The girls behind the boys even start backing away from us with a fearful look. This is good because I don''t care about peoples looks of disgust or fear, but I will not allow them to underestimate me or my family as if they think we''re easy targets.


    ¡°Sister, what are you talking about? Didn''t these people just come to get snacks too? The snacks are really good you know.¡± Of course, Lora doesn''t know why these guys came over here. She''s just been eating snacks with her cheeks filled the max. She looks like a little animal while stuffing her cheeks, but I know that mother will be angry if I let her keep eating only desserts.


    ¡°Well, then let''s let them take over this dessert table while we go and eat something else. I know let''s go look at that table with fruits and vegetables.¡± Her face scrunches up in displeasure so I guess I have to use that. ¡°I''m sure mother would be happier if you eat those instead of these. I don''t know how upset she¡¯ll be if she catches you with these cheeks filled with candy.¡± I tell her while pinching her cheeks and she gets a look of fear before nodding and following me.


    Of course, we naturally ignore the idiot nobles behind us. I ignore them on purpose while Lora just forgets because of the snacks. I look towards Julie and see she''s smiling as if enjoying a good show and I can''t help but feel annoyed by her. I need to figure out a way I can punish her that won''t make this pervert maid happy, but nothing comes to mind at the moment.


    The party continues on for a while till I turn my head and spot a girl around my age. She has a weird look on her face. It''s something I don''t think I''ve seen before. No, I''ve seen something similar from Lora before but I''m not sure what it is. I''m so used to the usual looks of disgust and fear that this one is completely foreign. She''s been looking at me the same way for a while now and I''m not sure what to think of it. I get positive feelings from it but I can''t be sure.


    ¡°Princess I can see you are having trouble trying to figure out something about that girl that has been admiring you for a while. Do you need help with something?¡± Julie


    ¡°Admiration? So that''s what that is. Why is she looking at me like that? I''ve done nothing that deserves admiration. This is the first time any of these people have ever seen or met me.¡±


    ¡°Princess maybe you should go talk to her then. Maybe you''ll make a friend and then your mother will be happy you talked to someone that you don''t cross weapons with. Then you both can wear dresses for your mother. She will be most happy.¡± Julie says with a smile but I think I understand now what mothers training was. Julie''s brainwashing aside I decided I will go and talk to that girl so I start walking towards her. She notices my approach and panics a little she looks around her probably to see if I have another destination, but I head straight for her.


    ¡°Hello, I am Eva Lemuria. I was wondering if there is something you needed from me? You have been staring at me for a while and your gaze is definitely different from the others.¡± I ask with a smile but she seems to just get more nervous.


    ¡°I-I am sorry I was um just watching you um earlier when you were um talking to those other nobles. They are known to treat allwoman as nothing but tools to be of use to men. They probably thought the same as you but you''re too much for them. You''re a woman and strong so you are amazing to me since its a first for me. What do you mean I look at you differently? Wouldn''t more people look at you like me?¡± Only for something like that? I decided long ago ill become strong for myself and that''s what I''ve done and will keep doing. I don''t see a reason why others don¡¯t do the same. This girl also doesn''t seem to have much experience with others if she doesn''t notice these looks I receive.


    ¡°Everyone else in this room is looking at me with either fear or disgust. They look at me like this because of the color of my eyes and hair. It''s because I''m different from you all. It''s because people believe I''m a mana mutant and maybe there right. Since you didn''t know that, now you do so you can join the other gazes.¡± I turn around to walk away, but she grabs my sleeve.


    ¡°Wait, Princess. If you say you''re not a mana mutant then you''re not and I think your hair and eyes are really pretty. Ah, I haven''t introduced myself. My name is Catherine Mercury Daughter of a Duke of the Mercury dukedom. Please call me Cathy Princess.¡± She tells me her name with a bright smile and I don''t understand. She''s either a really kind girl or a really naive girl. I guess I can give her a chance.


    ¡°In that case Cathy please call me Eva. I believe we are of the same age and both should call each other as equals.¡± I tell her with a smile and she blushes while looking away, but peeks at me from the corner of her eye. I hope she doesn''t end up like mother and Julie.


    ¡°Yes, Princ¡­.Eva. I was wondering if you also plan to go to the academy? With how strong you are you''d do well there.¡± Cathy


    ¡°Yes, I plan on joining the academy in a year. Till then I planned on joining the adventures guild. I need some real-life fighting experience.¡±


    ¡°Oh, that''s amazing that you can go do that. You really must be strong then.¡±


    Cathy and I talked for a while and most others left us alone. It''s nice to be able to talk to someone and I can feel she''s been very sincere the whole time. I know that the background has many plays in politics so I will still be careful around her. I can only hope she will be my first real and sincere friend.


    The party ended shortly afterward without any major event. Nobody but those noble boys tried to cause me any problems. Besides my family and Cathy, I didn''t even talk to anyone. After the party had ended I went to the side room to grab my halberd and then made my way to my room. I have already said goodnight to my family and now there''s only Julie with me. I get to my room and change to my pajamas. As I sit on my bed I look at the problem.


    ¡°Julie you may go to your own room now and sleep. No, I worded that wrong. Get out! I''m going to bed now so you''re not needed anymore.¡± This annoying pervert maid.


    ¡°Ah very well mistress I shall go to my room, but I shall come to wake you up.¡± She retreats for now, but I know that''s the beginning of my problems. Well, for now, I can only sleep.

 Chapter 9

    Chapter 9


    Eva Lemuria-14 years old


    I woke up the day after the party a little groggy. I woke up and stumbled out of the bed before making my way to my closet. I then felt my clothes being taken off and swapped with my training armor. When I finally fully woke up I look to my side and see Julie with a happy expression and a little drool. It seems like I had let my guard down and Julie took advantage of my drowsy state.


    I want to say something but I want to stay in my good mood. Today is the day I finally become an adventurer. I will feel proud to join the organization father had helped build. I have been planning this for a long time and it truly was hard to get permission to join. Mother is still against it and Father is worried, but accepted it because he knows I''ll do well there.


    I feel like this is the perfect time for me to join. Recently in my training, I feel as if I have hit a wall. My spells are all as strong as before and my attacks and instincts are the same. Everything is strong, but not strong enough and I can''t seem to get stronger at this point. Shadow told me before that when fighting against something new or risking your life can push people to become stronger. This is my goal to become stronger. I will fight with my life on the line and become stronger.


    I take a look into the mirror in my room and look at myself. I have on my training armor that I had Shadow have made for me. It''s a lightweight dark brown leather armor. It has hardened leather that covers my vitals. My right arm only has minimal cover because it''s my primary attacking arm and most armor will just be a hindrance to the speed of my swings. The armor also has a hood so I can cover my black hair and eyes. The armor has a few enchantments so it''s as strong as iron armor but not as heavy. I have my dagger attached to my hip and now all I need is my halberd.


    I grab my halberd and shoulder it before walking out of my room. Julie follows me as I make my way towards the castles side entrance. The side entrance is mostly used for the castles workers that don''t live on the grounds and when goods are brought in like food and other supplies. It''s less conspicuous because I don''t want too many peopleto know that I plan on adventuring outside. I may be different and hated by many but I''m still a princess of this kingdom so it''s better to not draw any unwanted attention.


    As soon as I reach the gate I turn around and look at my constant headache. I didn''t think she would still try to follow me even to here. She even still has her maid outfit on. Her black dress with a white apron that matches all the other maids in the castle. She''s probably planning on following me under orders of Mother, but there are two reasons I can''t have her follow me. The first is that adventures don''t have maids following them around because it''s just weird and a dead give away that I''m someone important. She didn''t even try to dress up as an adventurer. The second issue is that she is too strong to follow me. If she is there I won''t make any progress because she will be constantly protecting me. She will be a constant hindrance to my training.


    ¡°Julie I think this is where we part ways. I can''t have a maid following me as I become an adventurer and go fight. Plus I won''t get any genuine experience with you around protecting me.¡±


    ¡°Princess you don¡¯t have to worry, I will follow from a distance and I will not interfere with your adventures.¡± Julie


    ¡°Either way people will notice a maid following me around and assume I''m important, which will bring more danger to me. Also, can you tell me that if you see me fighting and possibly getting hurt you can control yourself and not intervene?¡± She truly looks shocked and then her face goes to conflicted and she starts fidgeting uncontrollably. ¡°That''s what I thought. Julie, you should just go back and wait for me to return. Today I''ll just take a simple mission to exterminate a low tier beast.¡±


    ¡°I understand Princess. I will go and wait with the Queen and Princess Lora for your return. Please do not make us worry for too long.¡± Julie is clearly trying to guilt trip me, but it will not work.


    I leave the side entrance and begin walking through the streets. I notice I still have stares on me but I then notice that they are instead looking at my halberd instead. I can''t blame them because it''s a very deadly looking weapon. Not only is it a weapon type that has not been seen around here before but it''s also very unique.


    After walking through the streets for about fifteen minutes I make it to the adventurers guild. It''s a huge three-floor building because this was the first adventures guild that was built. The entire street is filled with weapons and armor shops that aim at adventures. This building used to be the headquarters for the adventures guild when it was still controlled by Father but once it was passed onto the council the made a new headquarters by the Academy because it''s closer to other countries and the Academy has a close relationship with the adventures guild.


    I walk into the guild and immediately receive several stares from everyone inside. I immediately notice what''s wrong with this picture. Only about three-tenths of the guild members are women and more than half of those women seem to just follow the males in their groups without a word. The few woman in here that don''t have males tofollow around or rely on are either ostracized or are being hit on. Disgusting is the only word that comes to mind.


    Since I''m a new face many people look towards me. It''s all evaluating faces, but they can only see the lower half of my face because everything else has been covered. As soon as the men notice that I''m a woman they get lecherous looks while the woman gives me pitying gazes as if they assume ill fall into the usual categories. I heard adventures love to harass each other because they can''t do anything to civilians without getting in trouble, but conflicts between each other will not be bothered with as long as it doesn''t go too far. I''m sure once I''m finished signing up someone will come to bug me but that is what I want. I walk up to the female receptionist who looks tired from all the harassing and flirting. This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.


    ¡°Hello, I am Susan aadventures guild receptionist. I can tell you are a new face to this area, so are you here to sign up or check in from another branch?¡± A check in is when an adventure comes to a new town. They let the guild know where they are in case they get a personal request or if they are in trouble the guild can track them.


    ¡°Yes, I''m here to register as an adventurer. I don''t know how the system and rules have changed so can I please here them and please keep my information confidential to others.¡±


    ¡°Of course please fill out this form while I explain everything.¡± She hands me the papers and a quill to fill out my information. ¡°Okay, the rules of the guild are pretty basic for everyday rules while there are some sub-rules for specific situations. I will just explain the basic rules for you. Fighting is allowed between adventures regardless of rank unless it''s a fight to the death. If you want to fight to the death you need to invoke a dual where you have a guild employee come to monitor the duel for you. Adventures are not allowed to duel or fight any civilians with our heavy punishment. If a non-adventurer tries to fight you unprovoked then obviously self-defense is allowed try not to kill because an investigation will be conducted. Adventures are not to try to fake guild request or falsify any claims or reports. Adventures and request are organized by tiers. The tiers go from the 1st to 7th tier, with 1st tier being of the strongest and the fewest. You will start as a 7th tier. There are two normal ways to rank up in tiers. You can either complete a certain number of missions in either your tier or the next tier. Careful jumping tiers because one shouldn''t overestimate their abilities. The second way to go up in rank is to take a rank up test. These can be taken anytime because we don''t want a strong adventurer to be stuck at a low tier when they are strong enough to be several tiers higher. Now as for completing missions as groups if you want to formally complete a request with a group you may all come to accept a request and the request will be held so no one else may take it. If you go to one request but end up completing another you didn''t accept before hand we will still allow you to complete it, but you will have a twenty percent cut from the pay for not formally accepting the request and possibly ruining other adventures plans. Now that''s all for the basics I''ll just have to file your information. When you come in all you have to do is tell us your name and tier and we will be able to find your information. That''s all for the introduction and basic rules. I¡¯ll go and file your information and register you. If you want the 1st tier request is over there.¡±


    She points me in the direction of a large board will with papers organized in rows and columns. I look through the request for something to gauge my strength. I thought of just taking the tier rank up test right away, but it would be better to gauge my strength and gain experience first. While looking through the request I can feel that I''m being watched still. In fact, some of the peoples''gazes haven''t left me since I walked into the building.


    I spot a request that will probably be perfect for me since it''s on the top of the first tier requests. It''s to subjugate some earth wolves. They are considered a 7th tier monster but the danger is when they come in large numbers. They are just a normal beast without any mana mutations and there''s also a very small chance that there are any mana mutants among them. They are brown wolves that like to burrow in the ground instead of caves or in the forest like other wolves which gives them their name.


    I take the request and go back to the counter. The receptionist is there and she looks a little pale. She most likely has realized who I am and has probably already reported it to her superiors, but because I requested my info be confidential they can''t do much about it. They''ll probably just monitor me and my progress.


    ¡°Well-ll Princ..¡± Susan


    ¡°Please Susan, call me Eva. We are both women around the same age lets get along.¡± She was about to say something really dumb so I cut her off. I tell her this with a slight smile hoping it helps her relax. She seems to realize the problem and takes a breath before returning more to normal.


    ¡°Yes, I understand Miss Eva. Well, then you have now been registered as a 7th tier adventurer. Have you found a request or would you like to take a rank up test?¡± Susan


    ¡°Yes, I would like to take this request for earth wolves. After the request, I''ll probably want to take a rank up test later. Also, fights between adventures will be fine as long as no one dies right? Does it matter who strikes first or even the reason?¡±


    ¡°Yes, that''s right and it doesn''t matter the reason or who strikes first. I can tell that you''ve done your research. I¡¯ll apologize beforehand and good luck on your request.¡± Susan says with a weak smile and it makes me want to cheer her up so I smile and tell her.


    ¡°It''s ok. It¡¯s all a part of the plan anyway.¡± After I say that I turn around and see that someone is already there waiting for me. I can''t help but remember those noble boys from last night. I didn''t even let them speak before I shut them down immediately. I guess I''ll let them try to speak this time.


    ¡°Well, miss it seems your new to being an adventurer here. Because adventures ought to stick together and since you''re a weak female we thought it best if you just follow us around so we can protect you. You only need to pay us back a little with a portion of your profits and maybe a little extra here and there.¡± Wow, I knew this is pretty much what he was going to say, but now I can tell that these guys only see females as a source of extra profit and a place to use their lust on. I don''t think I will properly be able to respond.


    ¡°Disgusting.¡± Nope, that was right. I take my halter of my shoulder rotate it in my hand till the blade end is facing away from him then I swing it with enough force towards this guys head. The blunt end of his halberd connects to the side of his face and then I finish it through and see the guy flying right towards the wall. I could tell from my halberd that at the very leas he will have a dislocated jaw and probably won''t even be able to hear from his left ear ever again. That is if he ever wakes up. When I thought he would break through the wall he instead smashes into it and crumbles onto the ground. Well, now I feel as if he will definitely not going to wake up, but I''m sure he''s at least still alive.


    I rest my halberd back on my shoulder and wait for their reactions. The guys that were in the same party as the one I hit run to him to check on him while the girls in his group just look at him with shock and then small smirks that tell me their true feelings. All the other guys who came to try to force me under them slowly back away in fear and I see some of the women in the crowd look at me with the same admiring looks that Cathy had last night.


    With this, I should have established that I''m not going to be like any of the other weak females who can be put under someone else thumb. I will not be like the other females that are either ostracized or suppressed by others. The fear and admiration are all I see in people''s gazes now so I move towards the door without looking at anyone else. I did not know but from this one single action I took for my selfish reason for not wanting to be bothered by others had given some of those women the courage to change themselves creating a new kind of adventurers guild. I didn''t know or care because I was thinking of how my fight with those earth wolves would be.

 Chapter 10

    Chapter 10


    Eva Lemuria-14 years old


    After my little show of strength in the guild, I decided to go towards the gate out of the city. The guild is placed about right in between the castle and the city entrance so it takes about the same amount of time for me to reach outside the city as it would walk towards the castle. The gate is busy with merchants and commoners coming in and out of the gate with a constant flow. There are actually very few adventures going thought. It makes me wonder what all those adventures in the guild do all day considering they were just sitting around. I hope there are at least some adventures out in the forest doing something.


    I leave the city gate and look in the direction of the forest and realize it will take at least half an hour for me to reach the edge of the forest. I walk up to a merchant''s caravan and ask if I can just ride on through the forest before hopping off. The merchant agrees and I sit on the edge of his cart and wait till we reach the forest. I notice that others have asked for rides as well, but the merchants only agree if it''s not too excessive and the people look trustworthy.


    As were riding along the road I notice only a few adventures walking along the side of the road. It saddens me to see so many women following along these groups with their heads down. It takes only half the time to reach the forest and I hop off the cart and walk straight into the forest without being noticed at all from the merchants.


    I keep walking around looking for my prey. I know that earth wolves like to stay underground so I need to look for a burrow in the ground. I need to avoid the areas where other beast territories are or else ill just run into unnecessary trouble. I wander around for another twenty minutes before I find a hole in the ground. I see claw marks on the edge of the hole and I know that it belongs to the wolves, but just in case I hide in a tree for a while till I see a group of brown wolves crawl into the hole while dragging a sun deer behind them. It''s a beast that has white fur and horns that all glow a little making them look like sunlight. There are about five wolves that have returned and I''m not sure how many are outside or in the burrow. Either way, I know five will be enough for the request so I decided to make my move now.


    I hop down from the tree and sneak my way towards the burrow. I look at the entrance and don''t see any wolves right here so I manifest a flame on my left hand while holding my halberd to my right in a ready stance. I point my left hand at the borrow and release as many flames as I can into the hole. I used about one-third of my mana before the wolves started pouring out of the burrow. They all looked pissed and most had singed fur. About fourteen wolves had come running out of the burrow. Some still had black flames burning them so they ran around trying to put them out. Other wolves immediately noticed me and charged towards me to begin circling me.


    One of the more burned wolves seemed like it didn''t seem to keep any of the calm the others had because of the burns and it charged right for me. Its speed couldn''t even compare towards Shadows speed. Without infusing any mana or elements in my halberd I grip it with both hands before swinging the ax side right at the wolf with a horizontal slash. The wolf is cut right through its middle but is only held together because it had just barely entered my reach. Blood flies towards some of the wolves circling me and they pause.


    Two more wolves charge at me from two directions so I stab the spear ended of my halberd into the skull of one before kicking the other with a lightning infused foot. I didn''t infuse too much mana but it''s enough to shock the wolf paralyzing it. When it falls to the ground I pull out my halberd before swinging it down on the wolf¡¯s neck. That''s three out of fourteen.


    This time four wolves charge towards me from all directions. I grip my halberd and infuse lighting to the scythe blade. My lighting mana forms a full scythe and I swing it in a full circle cutting all four wolves down at once and two of the other wolves that were still circling. Five of the Wolves are instantly dead while the last one rolled out of the way in at the last second but he did lose a paw. The wolf immediately tries to get up and run, but the trees start falling around us. I seem to have accidentally cut a few trees in my attack earlier. The wolf¡¯s torso is crushed under a tree to I jump on top of the tree and stab my halberd in the wolf¡¯s head before looking around to see the five wolves that are still burning are now charging at me with a mad look in their eyes.


    They all madly charge at me with their mouths showing their teeth. I¡¯ll admit even I''m a little freaked out to see five flaming wolves charge at me without a care for themselves. I quickly hop back from the tree and infuse a flame edge on my halberd before swinging it above the fallen tree just in time to blow away two of the wolves while the other three had gone to the sides to take a bite out of me. I stab my halberd into the tree stump before pointing both my palms towards the two wolves at my sides and releasing two black lightning bolts at the wolves. Both the wolves eat the lightning bolts through their open mouths and their dead bodies drop to the ground convulsing. I then sense danger behind me so I grab my dagger infusing a flame edge before turning to the side dodging a wolf trying to bite my head. I swipe up with my dagger and the wolf is split in two with charred organs flying up. I realize that I made a mistake and the wolf has grazed my arm leaving shallow cuts on my right shoulder. I grab my halberd while I hop over the fallen tree to see the two wolves I blew away earlier are slowly buying to death so I quickly stab my halberd in each of their heads to finish them off. If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.


    I take a seat on the fallen tree and look around while I catch my breath. Then it hits me and I puke a little. This is the first time I''ve ever killed anything and it had definitely been a brutal fight. I first tried to fight without my mana because I''m trying to test my strength. I was able to kill some wolves without mana but it took a bit of strength to cut through them. My lightning was able to kill the wolves easily and my flames definitely blew them away.


    My reviewing was interrupted by some barking in the burrow. I then realized that those were probably just pups in there and that I had just killed all their family. I don''t want to kill anymore today, but Shadow has already taught me of what I''m am supposed to do. The burrow is too small and dangerous for me to go into so I form a condensed ball of flames and throw it right into the burrow. The ground shakes and the borrow entrance has a burst of black flames come out before crumbling. Hopefully, the wolves that were all still in there died in the blast so they don''t have to suffocate.


    I then cut the tails of all the wolves I killed as proof of the subjection. Most of the time a tail is considered proof of subjugation of normal beast. For a mana beast, the tail is supposed to be taken and the heart is supposed to be cut out as well. A mana beast has a mana heart just like humans, except when they die their hearts crystallize for some reason. Since every wolf here is just a normal beast I just collect their tails in a bag.


    I finish collecting everything and begin walking out of the forest. Luckily I make it out as easily as I made it in. I''m now in the open plains walking back towards the city. I could have followed along the road again and ended up back at the entrance, but I decided to walk alone along the plains till the city wall and then follow the wall till the entrance.


    As I''m walking along the plains I feel the ground shake underneath me. I instantly take a battle stances and look around me. The plains are completely empty with no one in sight. Out of nowhere, the ground beneath me crumbles away And my instincts kick in as I stab my halberd down. My halberd does not pierce anything like I thought instead it hits the hardened stone that''s covering a large brown wolf. I use the wolf as a jumping board to propel myself outside of the hole. I look back towards the hole and see 4 earth wolves and a larger wolf. This new wolf has the same brown color as the earth wolves except it also has hard stones growing over its body creating a plated armor. I realize that it''s a mana beast that was originally a normal earth wolf. I guess it used its mana to create a tunnel to sneak up on me.


    Jagged stone spike burst from the ground trying to impale me, but I jump out of the way. I throw a bolt of black lightning at one of the earth wolves finishing it in a one hit kill. I decided to eliminate the normal earth wolves before focusing on the mana beast. The spikes that had burst from the ground explode creating shrapnel that I dodge or knock away with my halberd. Some of the shrapnel embeds in my armor, but it doesn''t go deep enough to do any damage because of my armors enchantments. I take my knife infusing it with lighting before I throw it. It becomes a black streak that flies right into the eye of one of the earth wolves killing it. I charge towards the other two but a rough wall of rock forms between us and I can only jump towards it and jump backward as I avoid a swipe of the mana beast. Mid-air I form plenty of flames on my halberds scythe before swinging a flame wave at the wolf. A sea of flames forms around us but besides a few scorch marks on the mana beasts stone plates, it''s unharmed. I then blast flames from the bottom of my feet bursting upward I go over the mana beast and land next to one of the dead earth wolves where I grab my dagger to re-sheath it. Then I dash towards the earth wolves that are still alive. I level my halberds spear tip and run lighting along the entire halberd. Arcs of lightning from all around me and my halberd as I share towards them. Before I reach them I thrust my spear forward and all the arcs of lightning blast towards the wolves incinerating parts of their bodies. Black sparks run along what''s left of their bodies. I can now completely focus on the mana beast which is charging towards me with an enraged look.


    I stab my halberd infused with lightning towards the mana beasts eye only for it to be knocked away by the paw of the beast. I follow the motion and swing my halberd in a circular motion before slashing a lightning infused ax head at the mana beasts outstretched paw. I''m able to cut off its limb so it only has a nub bleeding all over the ground. It roars and becomes maddened because of the pain of losing a limb. I take this chance it roars to draw my dagger while infusing it with flames and throw it into its mouth. It stabs in the mouth of the beast and the beast instinctively closes its mouth only for a burst of black flames to burst from its lips and teeth. The beast falls over rolling around while using it''s remaining foreleg to claw at its mouth. I take this opportunity to infuse a large amount of lightning mana in my halberd before bringing it up and then swinging it down on the mana beasts neck. It cuts through its neck and its other foreleg.


    I collapse on the ground exhausted. I probably only have about ten percent of my mana left. I start to think of how this happened and why. I guess the wolves most have been a second group that went out hunting and they came back to their borrow only to find my aftermath. They must have picked up my scent and came after me. This mission only had a small chance of there being any mana beasts which is why it is only a 7th tier mission. I don''t know what tier this mana beast is but it showed me that I do need to keep adventuring like this. I barely have any injuries but I used far too much mana fighting. I feel as if I made a breakthrough even though I did poorly today. I''ve decided that I will collect the reward for the mission and then find out what tier this mana beast is before taking a test for the same tier as it.


    I get up and collect all the tails before opening the mana beasts jaws to retrieve my dagger. With my dagger in hand, I began opening the mana beasts chest to retrieve its heart. After digging around for a while I find it. The heart is completely made out of a brown crystal. It looks like it will break by me just dropping it on the ground, but I can tell its much harder than it looks. I throw it in the bag with the tails before shouldering it on my left while my halberd is shouldered on my right. I began walking back towards the city before stopping. I turn around to infuse the last bits of mana I can in my halberd then swing a flame wave at the bodies burning them. I walk away as my black flames are burning away the bodies and hopefully any trace of me being here. I don''t want to be tracked for revenge again so soon. With that, I make my way towards the city wall and then follow it to the first open gate.

 Chapter 11

    Chapter 11


    Eva Lemuria-14 years old


    I finally make it back to the guild building and walk in. It seems like everyone is still here except the group members of the guy that I had knocked out earlier. I notice everyone look at me when I walk in. Some of them exchange money from likely a bet on whether I''d come back or not. I also notice the seating arrangements have changed. A lot of the women that belonged to groups before are now sitting together and they are all looking at me with that same admiring gaze. Those admiring gazes actually seem a little more intense than they did before.


    I walk up to Susan since no one else is at the counters and I will naturally prefer to go to her, who knows me, than anyone else. She greets me with a smile but then looks me over and goes to shocked and a little worry.


    ¡°Miss Eva I''m glad to see you come back, but are you ok? You don''t look to be in great shape. There''s blood everywhere and it looks like you have rocks sticking out of you everywhere. Also some cuts and bruises here and there. I didn''t think Earth wolves could give so much trouble.¡±


    ¡°Well, no the earth wolves mostly didn''t give me any trouble at all actually. A mana beast was among them. Here is the crystal.¡± I open my bag and place the brown crystal on the counter. ¡°Oh,and here are the tails from the earth wolves. There are eighteen tails from earth wolves and the tail plus crystal heart from the mana beast.¡±


    ¡°What?! There was a mana beast? That shouldn''t have happened. The chances of it happening were close to nothing? What happened?¡± Susan looks really flustered. I guess I should tell everything that happened.


    ¡°Oh well, I had destroyed the wolves borrow first before leaving and after I reached the plains the mana beast must have tracked me there and attacked with 4 other earth wolves. I would have been fine if there was only the mana beast or just the earth wolves but I had to take out the earth wolves before the mana beast. Anyway, I wanted to know the class of the mana beast. It seemed to have been an earth wolf that grew larger and had hardened stone plates that covered most of its body. I could only cut it with mana infused attacks.¡± I explain to her and hopefully, she calms down once she realizes how I''m fine. She also seems to be attracting a lot of attention so I spoke quietly hoping she follows.


    ¡°That''s a 5th tier mana beast called a berserk stone wolf. It''s known for having an incredibly hard defense that helps it attack without being stopped. Miss Eva, I''m glad your fine and I think you should definitely consider a rank up test to the 5th tier. You should go and sit down to rest while I process these rewards and I also have to report to the higher up that a mana beast had shown up. Please excuse me.¡± Susan walks away after informing me so I do as she suggests and find a corner of the guild lounge to sit by myself so I can recover my energy.


    While waiting I realize I don''t know how the guild tests people for the rank ups. I''m not sure if they will send me on a mission, have me fight a beast, or have me fight another member of the guild. Either way, I want to be ready for it so I keep working on gaining my strength back. I feel like I''m already back up to forty percent of my strength so that''s a good sign.


    ¡°Ummm excuse me.¡± I''m interrupted by a small voice so I open my eyes to see a young girl barely older than myself calling out to me. I wonder how such a meek person could be an adventurer. She''s dressed in light weight clothes and she has a bow strapped on her back so I can only assume she''s an archer. She notices me looking at her and fidgets a bit before asking ¡°I was wondering what your name is. If you don''t mind can you tell us about your weapon and if it''s true you beat a mana beast?¡± She''s so meek and nervous. It seems like I would be bullying her if I don''t respond.


    ¡°My name is Eva. My weapon is called a halberd apparently from the dwarves kingdom and yes I did run into and kill a berserker stone wolf 5th tier.¡± What''s up with that shocked look? It was onlya 5th tier. I would assume that there are stronger adventures here in the Lemuria capital. ¡°Why are you shocked it''s only a 5th tier mana beast? There must be many that can do what I did except without getting injured at all.¡±


    ¡°Well, there are a few adventures that can defeat 5th tier mana beasts, but they are all full parties of 5th tier adventures. There''s, not just one 7th tier adventure that beats it with only a few scrapes and bruises. 5th tier adventures are where adventures become stuck at most the time and anything above that can be considered veterans at that point. To go up a tier does get harder with each tier. To get to 4th tier can be very hard for some so most just stay around 5th tier that''s why 5th tier beast can be considered difficult to fight.¡± Adventure girl is very informative about these things and it makes me more curious on what this rank up test will be like. I can only imagine how long it will take to rank up if I chose to just do missions slowly to rank up.


    ¡°Thank you for informing me. Is there anything else that you needed to know?¡± She''s just stood there while I thought. I assume it because she had something else to say.


    ¡°Yes, I was wondering if we could see you without your hood on so we can recognize you outside of adventuring? If you don''t mind of course.¡± Adventurer girl


    ¡°I''m sorry but I prefer to keep my features hidden. I have some scars that I want to keep hidden so forgive me for keeping my hood on.¡± I hope my lie I prepared beforehand works on her and starts rumors so people don''t become curious about my features.


    ¡°Ahh, I''m sorry I was insensitive. Of course, its fine we were just curious is all. Thank you ill just leave you to be then. Have a good day!¡± She becomes flustered before running away to talk to her friends. It seems like she''s reporting her findings to the other girls. I''m not sure what their fascination is. Well, for now, ill just keep trying to recover my strength because I want to take that test before I go back to the castle today.


    I keep recovering my strength till I feel that my mana is at eighty percent and I get up. I make my way towards the receptionist counter. I go in line after some adventures I haven''t seen before who I assume are adventures who actively go on missions. They finish their work and go to the guilds bar to grab a drink and then it is my turn. I approach Susan to ask about the test.The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.


    ¡°Hello, Susan I''m here to take that rank up test. By the way, what is the test?¡±


    ¡°The test is actually ready for you now Miss Eva. It consists of fighting a higher level adventurer who will gauge your strength and then recommend a level for you. Are your ready to begin now?¡± Susan


    I nod to Susan then she walks out from the counter and beckons me to follow her. I do and she leads me down a hallway and then down some stairs to the basement. She leads me into a room with a steel door. The room is very plain with only small windows around the edge of the top of the room. There are heavy engravings all around the room. It looks like there is even more here than our training room in the castle.


    In the center of the room is a man with a weird single edged greatsword across his back. He has a very lazy look on his face and he seems about to fall asleep. He is a more of a lean man but I can tell he is strong. He has black leather armor that is covered in steel plates in vital areas. I guess this is the man that''s going to determine my rank.


    ¡°Ok, Miss Eva this here is Jones. We won''t tell you his tier till after the duel because it''s better not to. You simply have to attack him to try to knock him out. You probably won''t, but the point is to go at him with everything you have.¡± Susan


    ¡°Is everything here going to be confidential? I want the least amount of people to know about me as possible.¡±


    ¡°Yahhhh, you don''t have to worry about that. We will keep everything confidential. Don''t worry just come at me.¡± Jones even has a lazy voice, but if he''s here I guess I can trust him. I look towards Susan wondering if she''s going to stay. She seems to get my message and leaves while shutting the steel door. I was going to ask a few more questions, but Jones seemed to rather just start the fight.


    He charged and swung his blade towards me. I react by bringing my halberd up to defend. I stop his blade but the strike is really heavy. I felt like I almost lost the grip on my weapon just from this first clash. I need to avoid blocking and just deflect all his strikes. I let his blade pass me and then strike him with a flame edge. He deflects my halberd and the flames strike the ceiling.


    ¡°Black flames? So that''s why you asked about the confidential things. It is truly unique I suppose, but nothing that crazy. Besides the color, are they different in any way?¡± Instead of answering his question I swing repeatedly from multiple directions trying to get past his differences. ¡°Wow its kinda like you''re dancing with that thing.¡± Ah, this guy is annoying. I swing a wide arc and he jumps back. With my leg, I kick creating a flame arc going the opposite way from my halberd. While he''s still in midair I know it will hit. He Instead swings his swords with a mana edge and cuts my flames in half. He lands perfectly fine and dashes towards me. I dash the same way and we go for another round of me attacking him as much as I can and him easily defending. I strike him, but when he tries to parry I lock our blades. I infuse my left arm with mana to strengthen it before removing my palm from my halberd and pointing it at Jones. I channel enough mana and release a burst of uncontrolled arcs of lighting towards Jones at close range I know there''s nothing he can do. So my attack hits him, but all he does is jump backward and I realize he had put up a mana shield at the last second. ¡° Hey, that was dangerous. Well, it''s not like you''re the only one that knows how to use mana.¡± He then positions his sword horizontally and the wind gathers around his blade. I instinctively jump up as he swings his blade in a horizontal line. Wind slices right where I was.


    I don''t think I can keep fighting slowly like this so I form my flame armor. I take one step forward before rushing straight at Jones. I begin another barrage of attacks but instead of just using my halberd I also use my whole body in my attacks. Through my barrage, I can tell that the few attacks that get through have been weakening his mana armor. I jump back creating distance between us and then condense my flames in my fist before covering those with lightning. I notice Jones'' eyes widen before he fully focuses and what seems like the first time he looks awake. I punch my fist forward and a column of black flames and lightning blast straight towards the other end of the room. I wasn''t sure how Jones would deal with this attack considering its raw force. I thought maybe I actually got him with this attack but a cylinder of air burst upwards from the middle of the destruction. My attack was completely blown away and I see Jones through the gaps in his mini tornado. He is back to his lazy look and his seriousness is gone. I take my stance and prepare to keep going.


    ¡°Well, that was certainly a dangerous attack you have there. Geez, you are a troublesome girl you know that? Anyway, I think we can end it here. I have enough to give you a rank now and I want to go back to napping.¡± He tells me that was done, but I don''t lower my guard considering he''s been talking this whole time to try and mess me up. ¡°Calm down were really done. Look I''ll open this door and let Susan in ok?¡± Susan is then let in and looks over the room with some shock and I can really blame her. The whole room is pretty messed up. There''s no physical damage to the room because of the heavy enchantments, but the whole room is basically scorched black. ¡°Now then, to be honest, I want to recommend you to go to 4th tier, but I think you do need more experience before reaching that level so I''ll just recommend 5th tier and my personal advice is to go and fight a few 5th tier beasts and a couple of 4th tier beast as well. You should spend some time to rank up to 4th tier the old fashioned way through missions. After that, it''s up to you. Now I''m going to bed.¡± He really just leaves without giving me the chance to ask questions or anything. What an irritating guy he is.


    ¡°Um well if he says 5th tier then we are going to offer you to rank up to 5 tier. Congratulations on rising from 7th tier to 5th tier in a day! Now please follow me to the front so I can upgrade your status.¡± Susan begins walking so I naturally follow.


    ¡°By the way who is Jones and what rank is he?¡±


    ¡°Jones is a veteran adventurer who likes to work in this capital. He is a 3rd tier solo adventurer. He says he likes working here because he only rarely has to go out and subjugate anything. I think he''s just too lazy to go anywhere else, but either way, we can put him to work sometimes.¡± We reach the counter and Susan begins her paperwork. ¡°Miss Eva now that you are a 5th tier adventure you can take 4th tier missions and below. Please be careful taking any 4th tier missions. It''s highly recommended to take those with a party.¡±


    After she finished all the paperwork she told me it was complete and that everything was official now. She told me I can now take the higher tier missions if I wanted. I was far too tired to continue doing anything today so I just said my goodbye and started walking back towards the castle. Today I feel as if I''ve accomplished my goals and I feel proud to start off as a 5th tier adventurer and even being told I could qualify as the 4th tier with a bit more experience.


    I reach the side gate of the castle and enter before moving straight to my room where I leave all my gear before moving towards the baths. I''m glad no one saw me come in. It gives me the chance to peacefully wash off the blood covering me and clean my wounds. I hear a racket outside the baths, but I ignore it till my little sister burst into the room with a panicked look.


    ¡°Big Sis hurry and run! Momma heard you got injured while adventuring today and she''s really mad. She''s looking all over for you.¡± Lora


    I immediately get up to jump at out of the bath and run, but the water shakes and my entire body is enveloped with a bubble of water with only my head sticking out. I start panicking because I can''t move at all and I''m completely naked. How did she do this I don''t even see her anywhere in here? I then notice mother walk in with a very friendly smile but for some reason, it''s very scary. She looks my body over while it''s floating and I feel she became even scarier. The worst wound that I have are the cuts on my shoulder and then it''s only a few cuts and bruises. I don''t know why she''s so angry but I''m scared.


    ¡°Sweetheart, can you explain these injuries to me? I didn''t agree to you getting injured while adventuring. Now tell me how you got injured.¡± All my instincts are telling me the danger is right in front of me so I tell mother everything that happened today. I feel sorry for Jones but Mother is too scary. ¡°Now I''m going to have to spend a long time treating your wounds and making you feel better¡± Did mother just lick her lips? Why does it feel like the water is tightening around me? Sister don''t try to sneak away! Help me!

 Chapter 12

    Chapter 12


    Eva Lemuria-15 years old


    Today is the day I finally have to go the academy. It has also been a year since I became an adventurer. This year I stayed at 5th tier adventurer and completed many 5th tier missions. They were almost all easy for me to complete without much trouble or effort. The only time I had any sort of complications with a 5th tier mission was when an unexpected factor showed up. Things similar as to my first mission seem to actually happen more often than the guild lets on it seems. I know it can''t just be me running into this problem, but I guess the other adventures have just learned how to deal with these problems.


    4th tier missions are another story. I''ve only completed six 4th tier missions because they were all guaranteed to not have any unexpected factors. It would be really bad for me to take a 4th tier mission only for it to end up as a 3rd tier or above. For that reason, I stuck with the safer missions that popped up over time and each time they were a challenge for me. I fought only mana beasts of the 4th tier during these missions and I actually learned a lot from fighting them. The 4th tier missions were all to subjugate mana beast and each one was completely different from each other. A mana beast uses their magic as pure instincts once their animal instincts take over. A mana beast usually has a more human-like knowledge and way of thinking but once they start fighting their instincts take over and their mana becomes more raw with animalistic characteristics.


    When I was fighting a lightning night tiger it had used magic that gave me an idea that I''ve been working on for six months. The tiger had eaten its own magic and then released a condensed beam of lightning at me. It would have definitely killed me if I wasn''t covered in my flame armor before hand. I don''t plan on eating my own mana but it had given me another idea that I haven''t accomplished yet although I know I should be able to get it in the academy. It where I plan to create and train my new spells.


    This is one of the reasons so many people go to the academy. The Academy offers to teach students spells they can use up to a certain point before they stop giving out spells and instead start encouraging the students to begin creating their own spells. A spell that is customized for someone will always be more powerful than a generic spell that everyone knows. My spells have actually almost all evolved in their own way and I''ve been told most of my original spells are completely different from others, while I personally feel they still need a lot of work.


    This year has been productive in more than just my training. My relationship with others has improved tremendously this past year than in the past. Mother has always been clingy and stuck to me like glue when she can. This past year she would always welcome me back and then begin to treat any wounds I had herself. She may have done it a little forcefully and if my injuries were ever even a slight bit more serious than usual she would take the bandages and tie me up for a whole day so I couldn''t go adventuring. She was a little too serious about my safety sometimes.


    As for Lora, I realized at some point that I had let her in a long time ago. I remember before when she was born I didn''t want to get close to her because I was afraid she''d hurt me the same way as George. Instead, she''s constantly been at my side always clinging to me and treating me as her beloved Big Sis. I still fear the day she will suddenly change like George and either begin to fear me or she will start to hate me. For now, the only thing I can do is just keep the status quo the same. I will keep enjoying my time playing, reading, and talking to my cute little sister.


    As for my non-family, I''ve actually had a couple of get-togethers with Cathy. I really didn''t think I''d see her again after my birthday party, but one day while I was outside eating with Mother and Lora on a day I decided to take a break from adventuring someone came in and announced that Catherine Mercury had come to the castle to visit me. I wondered what she had wanted so I went to our reception room and found her there with one attendant standing behind her with a blank expression. She had told me she came to visit and hoped I wouldn''t mind. I was a little confused on if she came for a specific purpose but she only responded she just wanted to have tea or talk with each other. I agreed and it was a nice day so I told her to come by in all the days that I decided to take a break from adventuring.


    The adventures guild seems to have completely changed in this past year for some reason. Before almost all the women had kept their heads down and followed the males but now there''s only a small portion of the women that still follow. Those few only follow if they actually like the guy or if they really do depend on them.The women have all formed their own parties and sometimes those parties will actually group up to take missions. Apparently, many adventures are actually rising up in the ranks for the first time in a while since they had joined the guild. I''m not sure what brought this change but I do feel a little left out because anytime I talk to the women in the guild they call me Miss Eva instead of just Eva. Still, they are all very friendly and always tell me information if they ask for it and sometimes they''ll ask me about my missions I''ve taken and then they''ll all gather around as I talk about it. I once asked Susan why they treat me like that. I asked if my identity got leaked, but she denied that and then just said they''re admirers. I''m still a little confused about it but most of the time I let it go. Jones from my test is someone I haven''t seen since my test so I assume he''s either sleeping somewhere or on a higher ranked mission.


    Overall this has been one of the best years that I''ve had. One issue would be that George would come home from the holidays and each time he''s become more arrogant and hateful towards me. His hatred has become almost unbearable. It becomes so bad that when he challenges me to a duel like he usually does he actually has killing intent mixed in with his attacks now. He seems to firmly believe I''m just a monster that needs to be subjugated. Our fights have naturally gotten more intense because we''ve both have become stronger than when we were kids. I noticed how most of his spells don''t feel as if they match him. He mainly focuses on his earth element and seems to have completely neglected his metal sub-element. The only difference is he has the ability to control six swords instead of two. I asked Shadow about it and apparently, Roland had only been teaching George his own spells and George hasn''t made a single one of his own.


    It makes it hard to believe that George is actually considered one of the stronger students at the academy. Shadow has told me that George is liked by many of the students at the academy. Girls fall in love with him and guys admire his supposed strength. I decided once I arrive at the academy myself that I''ll try to keep a low profile. Wearing armor is not allowed but people are still free to change their uniforms however they want. When my uniform had arrived I quickly burned the long skirt and had a pair of pants made for mobility then I had a hood attached to it while afterward, I had the entire outfit enchanted. Now I have a uniform that''s a mixtureof white and a dark blue. There''s also some gold trims, but overall I''m satisfied with my uniform in every way except if my hood is down the whole uniform seems to enhance my hair making it more noticeable. This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.


    Right now I''m sitting in a carriage in my uniform headed towards the Academy. Both Mother and Lora are with me and they''re both crying like it''s the end of the world. I guess this is the first time I have noticed they''re a bit too attached to me. I thought Lora might be jealous of all the attention from Mother that I receive, but Lora seems to have slowly become exactly like Mother. It''s something I feared would happen and now it has happened. Since I''m a first-year student I won''t have a break until winter and then after that, I won''t see them till I become a second-year student. This seems to be the reason for the breakdown. I''ll even admit it will be a long time but I''ve luckily brought my armor and my weapons with me. I have my dagger hidden in my uniform and my halberd is wrapped up on the roof of the carriage. Mother had told me not to walk around with it all the time, but what she doesn''t know won''t hurt her.


    ¡°Mother we''ve arrived so its time to say goodbye.¡±


    ¡°But dear who is going to treat your injuries and what if someone is mean to you? Maybe I should join the academy as a teacher like that Roland. Speaking of that old man, if he gives you any trouble feel free to light his robe on fire. We have actually already told him we don''t want him teaching George and more but your brother will not listen to us about this.¡± Mother


    ¡°Mom you have to stay at the castle and take care of Lora. She could awaken any time now so you can''t be an instructor at the academy. As for that old man don''t worry if he comes to cause trouble for me I won''t show any mercy. By the way, you never told me about the enrollment process.¡±


    ¡°Oh, that is a very simple answer sweetheart. There are only two things that you will have to do before tomorrow to be registered. The first is go to the combat testing and tell them you''re already an adventurer so you can skip the combat testing. After that, you just have to test your knowledge on a written test. Shadow has taught you a lot about beasts and I''ve taught you almost everything else so you should be fine with that. After that go to the general area where they''ll tell you where your room will be. Since you are royalty you''ll get your own single room but don''t expect anything fancy.¡± Mother


    ¡°I see then this should all be very easy. I guess this is goodbye for now Mother. Lora its time to let go of me and say goodbye as well. Ok? I need to get going or we will cause a bigger scene.¡±


    ¡°Big Sis I don''t want to let go! I want to stay with you here. Plus without you, mamma will only have me to hug and pet which is no good.¡± I think she just let some of her true thoughts out but ill gives her the benefit of the doubt since I know Mother can be scary.


    I finally pry off Lora before shouldering my halberd while Julie appears from the second carriage with her arms filled with luggage for the both of us. I actually notice that she has more stuff for herself than me. I forgot ill have to rely on her for the rest of my time here and it scares me a little. She is like Shadow where you seem to forget she''s standing next to you or you can''t even feel her presence. I''ve gotten almost completely used to her pretense as of my maid when in the castle. She''s always been there to help me change clothes and other things. The major problems would be she gets a bit too much touchy while changing my clothes and sometimes she''s too perceptive with me. I give Mother and Lora a quick hug before walking away without looking back. I feel a little wetness in the corner of my eyes and wipe it away thankful Julie didn''t comment on it.


    I tell Julie to take our stuff to the general area while I go to the combat testing. As I''m walking I notice that I still draw attention from others, but it''s not because of my hair or eyes, it''s instead because I''m wearing a hood and pants, but I have a clear womanly figure. The other eye catcher is my wrapped up halberd on my shoulder. The looks are annoying but I''m used to far worse so I do my best to ignore them as I follow the flow of new students to the combat testing.


    I reach an area filled with instructors watching students fire their spells at training targets or slash with their weapons at a training dummy. I spot an older man sitting behind a desk filled with paperwork so I walk up to him and see a sign for adventures check in. He seems to be filling out paperwork. I can tell he''s bored of it since not many students become adventures till they after they start school.


    ¡°Hello, I''m here to check in as an adventurer. Is now a good time?¡± I try to be polite because you never know who someone is and I refuse to judge someone just on appearance.


    ¡°Yes, Miss now is a perfectly fine time. All we need to start with is your name and adventures rank. I''ll then look up your information and give you an armband with your rank. I will also give you a paper that will go with the one you''ll receive from the knowledge test that both go to the general information.¡±


    ¡°Okay my name is Eva Lemuria and I''m a 5th tier adventurer. Also please keep most of my information as confidential as possible please.¡± He nods then turns around to an enchanted stone. Apparently, these are used to store information on all registered adventures in the guild. The few stones there are, are all connected to each other which is why only well-guarded locations have them. I''m glad I was polite because this old man must be strong to be the only one guarding this stone.


    ¡°Well, I found you Princess Eva and it seems you have an amazing record with no failed missions and several 4th tier missions completed. I guess the school has an amazing genius this year. Here take this form and then go take the knowledge test. I don''t think you''ll need it but good luck.¡±


    I take the form and ignore everyone else around me before thanking the nice old man after slipping on my armband. I begin making my way to the other side of the school where I find the knowledge testing area. There are several desks in the room and a few instructors just standing at the edge of the room watching all the students seated taking the test. I assume they are making sure no one cheats on the test. I spot a sign in desk and approach it. It¡¯s a similar procedure to the combat test where I give them my name and they give me a test I''m supposed to take with me to an empty seat and complete. I do exactly that and I sit down and finish my test at a slow and careful pace.


    After I turn my test in they check it then and there and then fill out a form that I''m supposed to take to the general area. They quickly dismiss me and I can only ignore the rudeness because they seem to be even busier here than the combat area. I leave without complaint and go to the general area. I spot Julie waiting next to our things and I beckon her to follow me to the center desk where a line is formed in front of a few female instructors. I wait in line for what feels like forever. We finally reach the front and are greeted by a very rude instructor.


    ¡°Yah ok hurry up and give me your two forms if you have them if not go get them or just leave.¡± I just decide to do as she says so I don''t have to speak to her. I hand my papers over and she freezes before looking up. ¡°I''m sorry Princess I didn''t know it was you. Please forgive me. I will have these finished for you quickly.¡± She becomes panicked, but she was really rude earlier so I don''t cause any trouble for her but I don''t try to forgive her either. ¡°Here is your room key, schedule, and other basic information for you. This is the room key for your servant. Her room will be located in a servant room next to yours. Have a nice day Princess!¡± She still seems to be freaking out but I just grab my things and leave.


    Julie and I began making our way towards our rooms but when we entered an open courtyard I''m called out by two voices. Both have complete opposite moods and I recognize both of these voices. One is someone I''m excited to see while the other I could have gone without.


    ¡°Eva!?¡± ¡°Eva!¡±


    The two people are Cathy, my first friend and my brother who hates me, George.

 Chapter 13

    Chapter 13


    Eva Lemuria-15 years old


    Ahh, how have things become so troublesome? I was just going to go to my room and look over the papers I received to learn the rules and look at my schedule. Now I have to deal with these people. George stomps towards me with an angry expression while Cathy is coming towards me with a happy one. The weird thing is they''re both followed by a group of people. It seems they both can be considered quite popular.


    ¡°Hello, Cathy I see you''ve arrived as well. It''s good to see you. I was just on my way to my room to rest.¡± I hope she gets my hint that I want to go. She can be shy and nervous sometimes, but she''s still smart.


    ¡°Ah, I understand Eva I just wanted to come and say hello since I recognized you by your halberd.¡± She looks towards my wrapped up weapon and I realize that if you already know what it is that it''s easy to recognize even if it''s wrapped up.


    ¡°Do not ignore me you monster! I cannot believe Mother and Father let something like you come here.¡± George


    ¡°Well, brother if you are here why would I not be here. I may already be a 5th tier adventure close to reaching 4th tier, but school is still a necessity.¡± The followers of both Cathy and George react to me announcing basically that I''m a princess and that I''m a strong adventurer. I did this so they don''t try to bug me because of these two.


    ¡°That doesn''t change the fact that you are a monster. Are you trying to hide what you are by covering it up? Take off your hood and show everyone what you really are.¡± He reaches for my hood, but I smack his hand away with a mana covered hand. There''s a slight snap heard before he starts screaming. ¡°My hand! How dare you?! You''re nothing but a monster!¡±


    ¡°Oh shut up you idiot. I have been putting up with your attitude for a while now, but if we''re both going to live in this academy you need to learn to stop with your sad little attitude. Ten years is a little too long for a temper tantrum don''t you think? Also, I''ve been told by mother and father to tell you to stop following the heels of that old man. Now if that is all I will be going now.¡± I begin to walk away from them but it seems Georges followers have a similar attitude as him because they block my path to try to keep me from leaving.


    ¡°Stop right there do you think you can just walk away after assaulting the Prince?¡± Idiot 1 told me this. I guess he didn''t realize that me calling George brother means I''m a princess of equal status to George.


    ¡°Yah that''s right and if you''re a monster you should show us so we can know what you are. If there''s someone dangerous we have the right to know!¡± Ah, George, the idiot is followed by idiots. Well, if they want to see me as a monster ill show them a different reason for them to fear me as a monster. I hand everything besides my halberd to Julie and I take a moment to appreciate her skills to balance all the things she''s carrying. I then take my halberd and use both hands to spin it above my head. The force actually starts to create a little dust storm around me and some of the idiots back up a little. I finish my little show by slamming my halberd down while aiming it at the idiots. The ones with good instincts back away while some other idiots charge towards me. I''m thankful that my halberd has been wrapped up so it only has blunt edges right now as long as I don''t use any mana no one will die, probably. When two idiots reach me I simply slam my halberd into one of the idiot''s sides and then keep driving my halberd to the side so idiot one is sandwiched between my halberd and idiot 2. I finish my swing and the two fly into a wall where they pass out, hopefully still alive. Everyone else stops charging towards me and looks in shock. They are somewhat ruining my plan so I charge towards them instead. I stop between three idiots and use the end of my halberd to hit the gut of one before swiping with my blunt scythe edge around the waste of another and swinging him into the guy that just dropped to his knees holding his gut. They both fly away and I finish the last idiot with a simple punch to the face. I think I broke his nose but he''s still alive.


    While everyone is frozen still in shock I release my mana and let it spread over all of Georges friends, but stop before Cathy and her friends. I let my mana pressure them down and then release killing intent. My killing intent is still considered weak, but it''s strong enough for these idiots that have probably never even killed anything.


    ¡°My name is Eva Lemuria and I am a princess of the Lemuria kingdom and you will show me respect! I was nice to you today but do not try to plot against me again!¡± I withdraw all my mana and killing intent. I ignore their pale and scared faces before turning to Cathy and her friends. Most seem shocked by my little show while Cathy has an excited face filled with admiration. She''s still a weird one I see. ¡°Cathy ill take my leave now because I really am tired but don''t worry we have time before the day classes start so I''ll see you tomorrow at the welcoming ceremony.¡± I wave goodbye to her and then Julie starts to follow me with an excited expression.


    It doesn''t take long to find my room since it''s conveniently in a corner of the first floor. I enter and appreciate that there are windows on both sides of my room since it''s a corner room. I also notice there are some minor enchantments in the room that make me wonder what students have done in the past for these to be put in here. I sit on the chair by the window and look out towards the school. I''m glad that these windows are enchanted so that only I can see out but no-one can see in. The only thing they''ll see is a black window, but somehow light can still come in. Maybe one day I''ll actually look into enchanting since I see them so often.While I''ve been musing over enchantments and the garden out my window, Julie has been unloading all my things. She''s set out all my small things and she''s filled my closet with my clothes.


    ¡°Princess maybe I should sleep in the room with you. Just in case right? You never know when you might need my assistance.¡± For some reason, I really want to crush that overly hopeful face.


    ¡°Nope, definitely not going to happen. You can take your things and go stay in that preprepared closet that gave you next door. In fact tomorrow I might just ask them to give you a room on the other side of the building just for my safety.¡±


    ¡°Princess, how could you not want me right next to you all the time? That''s how I feel about it. Please don''t make me go even further away from you! I will go through withdraws without you.¡± What is up with that crushed face and why am I so happy to see it? I seriously need to stay away from this pervert.Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.


    ¡°No, now go away I want to sleep. We can have them set up a shed in the corner of the academy for you tomorrow. Now out you go.¡± I start pushing her towards the door.


    ¡°Princess you''re so cruel to me! I just want to share a bed with you and constantly dress you up! Princess, I think you should have me help you bathe before going to bed!¡± And with that, I slam the door in her face before going to my closet to change myself before going to bed. I hope those enchantments are for keep the room from being damaged and for keeping perverts out.


    Catherine Mercury


    Academy Courtyard


    My name is Catherine Mercury, but friends and family call me Cathy. I actually only allow close friends to call me Cathy because only my close friends are people that I consider to be sincere. As the daughter of a duke often have to deal with when other families would send their children to become close to me. Either they try to become my friend or try to even make me fall in love with them if they''re a guy. This all started around when I was eight years old so I quickly had to mature and recognize people''s true intention. The sad thing is apparently this is a common occurrence among noble children.


    I started to have etiquette lessons and I was also taught some political knowledge with my already full lessons. It truly was a horrible schedule packed with lessons. It became worst when I had awakened at eleven years old. My lessons all stayed the same except my little free time I had become filled with basic magic lessons. My parents told me they wanted me to be prepared for when I go to the academy but I still had a few years before then.


    I was at least still allowed to have time off to spend time with my friends, but only a few of them were actually sincere friends while others are children my parents want me to get close to or their parents want them to get close to me. I rarely enjoyed any of these days with my supposed friends. Everyone has too much polite speech and most of the boys would speak to me as if I''m an idiot that should just follow along with their whims. It''s horrible because I can do nothing about it because my parents don''t want me to seem unreasonable.


    Then there was her. When I was fourteen my parents told me that there will be a party at the royal castle for the princess. Apparently, the princess is my age and not a lot is known about her besides that. She never goes to parties or any other events that people hold. She doesn''t even go to the tea parties where only girls are allowed. She seems like a big mystery to everyone, but what''s weirder is that my father said nothing about her. He didn''t even tell me to try to get close to her or anything. I know my father must know something about her but he doesn''t say anything besides to behave and not to offend anyone.


    We got to the party and almost instantly I had to deal with all the insincere people around me. I knew it would happen but I still wished this could have been a party I could enjoy. While I was brushing aside some compliments from a flirty noble boy the announcer stepped in and told everyone the royal family is here. That''s when I saw her, a beautiful girl with black hair and black eyes like a starless night sky. She had a developing body like me except her body is very well toned. With just a glance one could tell that she''s been training very hard, but the most eye-catching thing was her face. While everyone else in this party, including her family, had smiles plastered on their faces and gave off a friendly feeling, she was keeping an indifferent face while she looks everyone over. She didn''t seem to care about anyone here except her family. At first, I thought she might have just been an arrogant noble looking down on everyone until she followed around her little sister with a slight smile. I don''t know why but I couldn''t stop watching her.


    While she was at the dessert table watching her little sister stuff her cheeks I noticed some of the noble boys approaching her. These guys were known for trying to put as many noble girls under their thumb as possible and I realized that they''re now going to try to go after the princess as well. I thought of several possibilities but not what had happened. Before the first boy could even begin his used speech to try and attract her she completely cuts him off and then tells him off. Afterward, she just talks to her little sister ignoring the group of shocked boys and then walking away.


    She has completely stunned me from her display. This is the first time I''ve seen anyone completely disregard etiquette and tell off someone without caring who they are or who''s around. After that, she just talks to her family and seems happy while doing so. I realize that she''s strong in mind and body from her actions. She someone I wish I could be like because she can do as she wishes not because she has the backing of her family or the position of a princess, but because she just doesn''t want to deal with those things. I''m not jealous of what she can do. Instead, I admire her for doing it without a care. She''s someone I want to be like now that I''ve seen that its possible.


    While I was thinking of her she ended up looking in my direction. I look around me and realize I''m alone so she must be looking at me. For some reason, she had started to walk towards me while analyzing me. Turns out that she noticed my stare because it was different from others. I didn''t understand at first so she had explained that people look at her with disgust or fear because they believe she''s a mana mutant. This is something that I personally find ridiculous because someone so beautiful and composed couldn''t be a mana mutant. After telling me she begins to walk away with a sad smile that I can''t help but reach out and that was one of the greatest choices I ever made. After that, we talked for a while and she even asked me to call her Eva. I was sad and somewhat reluctant when I had to go home. I decided then I will see Eva again.


    After some time had passed I finally had some free time so I decided to take a chance and go to the castle to see if I could see her. I had arrived and wasn''t immediately turned away so I thought that was good. After waiting a short while Eva had entered the room and she seemed surprised at first but then I could see suspicion in her eyes. I couldn''t blame her because even I understand how nobles are. So I greeted her and then looked her over. She seemed the complete opposite of the night of her party. She now had what seemed like training gear on and she had a large weapon, that seemed like a mixture of several weapons combined, on her shoulder. She apparently dressed like this normally and she usually also wears armor because she''s an adventurer as well. She truly amazes me with what she does.


    After that visit, I had been able to visit Eva a few more times. Between those times I focused more on my magic lessons and tried to become stronger myself. I don''t think I have ever been jealous of Eva because she''s my friend and inspiration to change myself. I actually started to become colder to those who aren''t sincere with me and I realized that I''ve become a better version of myself.


    I studied hard and become stronger for today. Today is the day that new students join the academy and also take their test to determine strength and knowledge. Then schedules are decided from the results of the tests. I tried my best on the test so that I could work towards being closer to Eva. After I get all my things done I finally see her walking towards the dormitories. She is wearing a hood that covers almost all her features but I can easily recognize her even if she didn''t have her halberd on her shoulder.


    I had called out to her and ran to greet her while being followed by my friends and those that called themselves my friends. It made me a little envious of Eva having only her maid Julie that I''ve met a few times now. I notice that someone else had called out to Eva but she had ignored him to talk to me. Turns out the other person was her brother the prince and they had a horrible relationship. One thing leads to the other and Eva ended up crushing a few of the princes'' followers. She had easily taken care of them and then gave a warning before leaving, but not before saying goodbye to me.


    ¡°Cathy, how do you know that girl? I don''t think you should get to close to someone like that. She seems too dangerous for you.¡± One of the idiots who pretend to be my friends puts his hand on my shoulder while telling me that but I know he is just an idiot guy who believes woman are nothing. I turn around and punch him in the gut with a mana coated fist. He falls to his knees look at me with disbelieving eyes.


    ¡°That girl is the princess of Lemuria and even more importantly she is my friend who I care deeply about. Do not speak badly of her in front of me. Also do not call me Cathy, I am Miss Mercury to you.¡± I walk away from him and only those that I consider my real friends follow me. Eva already has enough problems without these idiots trying to make things harder for her. I will always be there for her trying to minimize the problems around her.

 Chapter 14

    Chapter 14


    Eva Lemuria-15 years old


    I woke up to Julie telling me that today there is the welcoming ceremony soon. I get up easily since as I have already become used to early wake ups from my training and adventuring. I allow Julie to change my clothes with her usual methods since I have since long gotten used to her. I then wash my face in my bathroom before I grab my halberd and walk to the door.


    ¡°Princess didn''t your mother not want you to walk around school armed?¡± Julie


    ¡°I don''t know what you''re talking about. I''m sure no one here will tell her either or they can go sleep in the nearest city from here.¡±


    ¡°Princess, wasn''t it just a shack at the edge of the school before? Well, I''m sure what the Queen doesn''t know won''t hurt her.¡± Julie


    And with that, we finally started to make our way towards the open field towards the back of theacademy grounds since it''s the largest area available on the academy grounds. I noticed people stealing glances at me and some were just looking at my halberd. I hope rumors have spread about me so no more idiots will come to cause trouble for me. I don''t care what they say behind my back but I don''t want to deal with them in person. I feel like eventually, I''ll get in trouble if I keep swatting idiots away left and right.


    I reach the field and lean against the wall of the closest building. I''m a good distance from the circular stage that the instructors are standing on for the series of speeches, but I should be able to hear with my strength. Apparently the stage they''re standing on is for duels and some lessons so teachers and students would have to reserve the stage in advance or use a smaller one in the different locations throughout the academy. I can already imagine a couple of idiots trying to challenge me to a duel on that stage just to make it public. I''m sure my brother already has a date booked. I feel like just thinking of the future has already made me tired of the academy. I know more problems will just keep showing up too. Actually, it seems like one of them has arrived as if called.


    ¡°Are you Princess Lemuria?¡± As if id answer to some unknown person asking me questions with such arrogance. ¡°Miss I''m trying to find the princess. I¡¯ll ask again are you her or not?¡± Of course, I shall keep ignoring the weird stranger for now. He seems to be getting mad. I wonder if ill have to hit him if he becomes to unreasonable. ¡°I have been told that the Princess carries a weapon constantly while wearing a hood and has a maid with a strange look on her face while looking at the Princess. You match all these points.¡± Of course, my reaction is to immediately look to my side at Julie but she just has her usual smile.


    ¡°Well, a stranger that I don''t know just walks up to me and starts talking as if he owns the place, I don''t know why I would or should answer any of your questions. In fact, the only answer to your questions that I''ve considered is smacking you across the field. Now go away.¡± Wow, he looks absolutely livid. It¡¯s kinda fun in a way actually. I think Shadow once called me something called a sadist. I''m not sure what it means but during that time I was in a bad mood when George challenged me to the duel and I took my time beating him up.


    ¡°How dare you! Do you know who I am? I can have you kicked out of this school if I want. I doubt a barbarian like yourself could be the princess either way. Some violent weakling has no right to be in this school.¡± Did he just call me weak? I may be many things, but I refuse to be acknowledged as weak! I take my halberd of my shoulder and begin unwrapping the bladed end. I will end this guy before he has the chance to piss me off more.


    ¡°I guess before you die I''ll tell you the name of your killer, it''s Eva Lemuria, 5th tier adventure, and new student of the academy, oh and I''m also a princess of the Lemuria kingdom.¡± And with that, I swing my halberd at the annoying guys head fully intent on taking it off. He had frozen up when I said my rank and then had become pale when I said that I''m the princess he''s looking for. I had intended to just finish him quickly and then burn his body before other started noticing, but my blade was stopped by a plain double edged sword. I looked towards the owner to see its a middle-aged man with a instructors uniform. He''s very calm while looking at the situation of me cutting of this guys head. It wouldn''t be the first time I''ve had to do this either. I realized about six months ago that I needed experience killing humans so I took a bandit subjugation mission and had been able to finish the job, but I threw up afterward. After that, I took only a few more till I was able to overcome this weakness. I still feel slightly upset when I kill someone, but I''m fine with that because it''s better than feeling happiness or even nothing from killing.


    ¡°Carlton I told you to find the princess not instigate her enough to want to cut your head off.¡± The annoying guy just falls on his butt and stares at the blade that was about to remove his head. Apparently, his name is Carlton, but dead guys have no names so it doesn''t matter. ¡°Princess I noticed you''re putting more force in your blade instead of withdrawing it.¡±


    ¡°Of course middle-aged guy. How else would you suppose I am to remove annoying guys head since someone put a sword in my path?¡± I tell him this with as brightest of a smile as I can but he just looks at me with a face that asks if I''m serious. ¡°Now middle-aged guy if you would be so kind as to remove your sword from my blades path. I would rather not use any mana since you never know when it will be needed. If it makes you feel better ill ask you as Princess Eva of Lemuria to please move while I am making a royal execution.¡±


    ¡°Well, it''s good that we have found the right princess although she''s far stronger that we thought. If you can give me a hard time and you''re not even using mana. I must ask you not to cut off Carlton''s head even if he was annoying. Just because you call it a royal execution doesn''t mean it''s allowed either.¡± This middle aged guy is being so unreasonable. ¡°Princess I feel like you''re making a face as if saying I''m the unreasonable one here, but it''s hard to tell with the hood.¡±


    ¡°Eva! What''s going on? Are you ok? Is that man doing something bad to you? Should I get help?¡± Oh, it seems like Cathy is here now. I don''t want to kill someone in front of her or she¡¯ll start to think badly of me too. Damn middle-aged man ruining everything. ¡°Oh isn''t that Carlton the Student councils secretary?¡±The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.


    ¡°Yes, this is Carlton the student council''s secretary and he was supposed to find Princess Eva but apparently things didn''t go the right way. Hahaha, also Princess I''ve noticed you still haven''t withdrawn your weapon.¡± Middle aged guy


    ¡°Wait has Carlton been being mean to Eva? In that case old guy you should just let Eva finish their duel. I fully support it.¡± Well, that''s unexpected. I can''t tell if Cathy knows I planned to kill the annoying guy or not. Either way, I feel happy having someone so supportive of me.


    ¡°No Miss Mercury I think there has been some kind of misunderstanding here. Carlton was just supposed to come tell the Princess that she has to come and give a speech as the top scorer on both the knowledge test and the combat test. Since she scored high in both we thought she would make a good representative.¡± He says with such a happy face this terrible news. I do not want this and I refuse to do it. It would be better if I just pretend I never got the message. ¡°Princess, why are you adding mana to your weapon now?¡±


    ¡°If there is no one to deliver the message that means I didn''t get it!¡± I form a lighting blade and I instantly cut his sword in half before taking another swing at his head, but he barely dodges it. This keeps repeating as he frantically dodges all my attacks no matter from what angle. I jump back and level my halberd to charge at him with a lighting spear. As my black lighting form, it becomes clearly visible as it arcs around my spear. Middle aged guy and annoying guy both looked shocked but I use it to my advantage as I charge and stop before starting forward and releasing my attack, but it fails as a mana shield form between us.


    ¡°I seethat you have a unique magic and you''re also clearly stronger than a 5th tier. At the very least you should be the 4th tier. Ah, I still haven''t introduced myself. My name is Instructor Isaac. Now Princes why don''t you explain why you want to silence witness here.¡± Instructor Isaac


    ¡°It would be simpler to pretend I know nothing than having to deal with the so-called student council and whatever annoying things they want. It¡¯s as simple as that. It''s mostly not personnel Instructor Isaac.¡±


    ¡°That''s too bad because we have already decided that you will be the freshmen representative which means being a part of the student council.¡± I look behind and see some older students behind Cathy. There are about eight students and some of them seem really weird. The guy who talked is the weirdest because he''s really plain. He seems like a really common person you''d pass by without anyone noticing. ¡°I am the Student Council President. My name is Steven and most people just call me President.¡± He even has such a boring name. It just changes him from sad to suspicious. ¡°Princess Eva the student council would like for you to come with us to give a welcoming speech to the other new students of the academy.¡± I guess now is as good ass time as any to test out that new technique. It might be my only way of escaping this quickly and easily.


    I release large amounts of my mana and as it becomes denser it starts to become visible. Everyone tenses up because I''m covered in black mana. I then change it all to a lightning element before I slowly start to withdraw it back into my body. I start with my hands. As lightning mana enters my hands they seem to come apart. No, they actually start to become lighting. I had this idea watching a mana beast consume its own element before firing it as a beam. My hands become lightning and then the rest of my body changes as well. I slowly become a head with a body of lighting.


    ¡°Julie make sure you don''t forget my stuff here.¡± My voice sounds weird because my throat has already become lighting. As soon as my head changes my world changes with it. Instead of being everything like usual I only see black and white. Everything''s black except faint edges of objects and I can see people glowing different colors. I never made it this far with this technique. I would always fail and just burn my hands. I look around and then I will my body to move as lighting and it takes a second till I''m racing straight up into the sky. I keep twisting and turning till I get the right destination. I aim for the dormitories and pass through a door someone had opened before yelling about lighting. I aim towards my room and before I reach the door I feel myself slow down and I crash into the door in my normal form. I feel blood falling from my head but I ignore it as I get inside my room as quickly as possible because I realize I''m completely naked. I hope no one saw me like that or Mother will definitely punish me. I go to the bathroom and look into the mirror. I look horrible because of the blood running down my head and I also seem to have burned parts of my body. They''re only slight burns, but for doing something so crazy I feel like this is getting off light.


    ¡°Princess! Are you here?¡± Julie barges into the bathroom and sees me naked. She ends up drooling a little before noticing my injuries. ¡°Princess we have to get those injuries treated. What did you do? I''ve never seen magic like that before. I''m not even sure if that can even be considered magic. After you had disappeared those student council people seemed shocked enough that I could grab your things before they noticed and then I slipped away.¡± She explains what happened on her end while she applies burn ointment and bandages all over my body. She even adds it to my face and partially wraps up my face. I look ridiculous but most my body has normally been covered anyway so I ignore it and lay on top of my bed. ¡°Princess those student council people won''t give up just because you gave them the slip. They''ll probably become more aggressive now that you have shown them that new spell.¡±


    ¡°Correct! We absolutely must have you now! What are you doing?¡± All of a sudden two of the females that I remember being a part of the student council barge into my room. I''m not sure if they''re shocked because my whole body is covered in bandages or because at some point Julie had crawled on top of me and started to give me a massage while avoiding my burns. ¡°Whats up with this weird scene and black hair and black eyes? I guess it''s true what we found out.¡±


    The one who has been yelling is a short redhead girl with brown eyes and a flat chest. She seems like the hyperactive type, but I don''t care because I''m pissed people can just enter my room like this. I don''t have much mana left, but it should be enough to blow them out so I point my palm at them and from both my fire and lighting together.


    ¡°Ah, that seems really dangerous! Wait we just want to talk about this there''s no reason you can''t listen. We just want you to join us is that so wrong?¡±


    ¡°Why don''t you go to the forest and capture a mana beast then? You''ll probably have a better reaction to it than you would with me. I don''t want to join your club so get out of my room and never bother me again.¡±


    ¡°We probably should just get a mana beast if were going to have something like this join us.¡± The blue haired girl with green eyes decided to finally speak up and she''s not afraid to show her true colors.


    ¡°Gena! We didn''t come here to pick a fight. We came here to invite a promising talent to join the student council.¡± Oh, I see. She probably thinks the same, but they want to use me since my strength is already great and ill probably get stronger. I wonder who is behind this. Either way, its time for them to leave.


    ¡°Julie I commend you to show these two out of my room and then go find out why strangers can just come into my room uninvited. Tell the school that if this is a common issue I will contact my parents about it and let them handle it.¡± I withdraw my hand and mana since I''ll let Julie handle it.


    ¡°I understand Princess. You two have interrupted the Princess while she''s recovering. I will now remove you two.¡± Before they could react Julie rushes them and grabs both of their necks before lifting them and walking out the door. She then closes the door with her foot to go do the rest of her task.


    Now that that problem is out of the way I think of the bigger problems I have to deal with. I have my brother who''s out for me, the student council is determined to use me for themselves, and there''s someone who not only gave them information about me but also gave them access to my room. Today was supposed to be a simple day of listening to the welcoming ceremony and then being given a tour of the academy. I don''t know who is ruining my academy life when it hasn''t even started, but I''ve decided that I will show them no mercy. As soon as I perfect my technique I will use it to get my revenge. After that, I will hopefully enjoy my academy days while occasionally spending time with Cathy till I can go back to adventuring and officially rank up.

 Chapter 15

    Chapter 15


    Eva Lemuria-15 years old


    The next day I had woken up and followed the same routine to get ready. The only difference today is that I''m still covered in bandages and Julie told me not to try my new technique until I''m fully healed. I agreed with her because I think I was lucky my technique worked at all even with slight burns. As we leave my room I look at my schedule and realize that almost all my classes will be in the same room for knowledge courses and any combat or physical classes will be located elsewhere.


    I have seven classes today which are Beasteology, Adventures guide, Magic theory, magic combat, weapons combat, history, and etiquette. These are all the classes that the Academy has decided I should take. Each class is also split into parts that the students take through multiple years so all my classes I''ll take only the basics this year and then continue some of them next year. If I can do well enough in some of the classes then they may deem it unnecessary for me to continue and give me another class.


    Beasteology is a class that will teach about beast and mana beasts. We will learn about their habits in the areas they live, how they interact with their own kind and other beasts. Most importantly we will learn about the beasts weaknesses. I have high hopes for this class because I have already learned about several beasts from Shadow, but his knowledge is limited while the Academy will have the latest knowledge that anyone could have. The academy can be considered the humans center of knowledge.


    Adventures Guide will probably be useless to me since I''m already a 5th tier adventure and I''ve gone on multiple missions over the past year. They are supposed to teach about what the adventures guild is and also what missions there are. The most common are beast Subjugation, but there are also other missions like escorting merchants, bandit subjugation, and even retrieval missions where you are supposed to go look for an object or plant. Most people ignore gathering missions because sometimes people will even put in a request for their grocery shopping. I mostly stuck with beast subjugation for the experience in fighting.


    The magic theory class is going to be a class that is exactly what it sounds like. It will be talking about theories and what magic is and why it works. It will discuss what a mana heart could actually be and why mana beast grow a mana heart when they mutate. Why living beings mutate from large quantities of mana exposure is another talked about subject. This is a class I''m eager to go to since these will be asking the questions that I''ve had myself. I hope I might be able to learn something about myself. I know the chances are low for me to learn something other than the possibility of me being a mana mutant, but I still want to try.


    Magic combat will be a class where students can physically train their magic spells. They will be able to fight each other or targets. The class is supposed to give students the chance to try their own spell except with help from instructors that will be present. The only problem is that the basic class will mostly be lectures and the class will barely use any actual spells. Apparently, at most, they are going to have us use basic spells on training dummies for the first year. This class I will probably just look for a tree to lay down under and sleep.


    Weapons combat will be a class completely useless to me. Apparently, they''re supposed to train students in a weapon of their choice. They''re going to mostly just be attacking a training dummy while occasionally sparring with other students or instructors. My problem with the class is I doubt anyone would be able to help me with my halberd because it''s such a rare type of weapon. Apparently, it''s from a dwarven kingdom and even there its supposed to be rare. I''ll probably just take the same actions as the magic combat class of sleeping under a tree.


    The history class is something that will be interesting in later years so I have to put up with it for now. The class will be teaching about the history of the world and various kingdoms. It will talk about history before the kingdoms even started to rise from what little sources there are. Apparently back then there weren''t that many people recording what is happening so history before the kingdoms is a gray area for us. The class will also talk about the other races as well which is why I want to stick with this class. We won''t get to this part until another year, but I really am interested in the other races.


    Finally, there is my most dreaded class that I will have to take, etiquette. It''s a class that''s basically supposed to teach girls how to become proper ladies. They''re supposed to know how to walk, talk, and even smile like a proper lady. Mother has been trying to teach me these things for years, but I have refused all this time. I wonder if Mother had a hand in me taking this class or if they just make every girl take it. Either way ill just have to try and not burn down the classroom and go with my usual plan of just sleeping.


    I reach the room where all the noncombat classes will take place. The class is filled with first-year students. I don''t really recognize anyone, but that could be because I don''t know many people. I look around and the only seats left are in the front by the window. I take the seat and lean my halberd on the window before waiting. I notice several people are giving me weird looks but at this point, I don''t care about their reasons. I just quietly sit while looking out the window. Julie had gone to the back of the room with the few other attendants because only certain students are allowed them.


    An instructor finally comes into the classroom and introduces himself as the beasteology instructor. Instead of starting lessons he starts to talk about our future schedule. He doesn''t go into anything specific, but it seems like he''s trying to leave a good impression on us. He talks for about half the class time before students start asking him questions. After a while, no one else has questions so he says he will leave early today and that we should just wait till our next teacher. The next instructor is the adventures guide instructor and he does almost the exact same thing of just talking before answering the questions. After this, I begin to understand how today will be. After that, the magic theory and history instructors came in and followed the same routine. Finally, things made a slight difference as an old lady came in and told all the guys they could go to their next classes now.


    ¡°Now my name is Instructor Ingrid and I shall be teaching you how a lady should act.¡± She looks around the room looking for each girl to judge them. When she gets to me she has a look of disgust on her face and I can feel a vein on my forehead bulging. ¡°Who are you? How can there be a lady that dresses like you and carry around such a barbaric thing?¡±


    ¡°My name is Eva Lemuria. I am a princess of the Lemuria Kingdom. Nice to meetcha!¡± Wow, that shocked look is so hilarious. Oh, now she looks confused.


    ¡°How can that be possible? The Queen is known to be one of the most refined and graceful ladies in the noble circles. If you are the princess how could the queen let you be so unrefined?¡± Ohhhhh I didn''t know mother had such a reputation. I feel like we''re thinking of two different people because my Mother is an overly affectionate cute thing addict.


    ¡°Mother has tried, but I found the whole thing to be pointless and the only point is to keep women as the social norm. If there''s one thing I am it''s not normal so give this your best shot and see how well it goes for you. It would be best if you just ignore me and let me sleep.¡±


    ¡°I cannot do that! It is my job to make proper ladies out of all of you now remove your hood and come stand up here.¡± I sigh and then go and stand in front of the class but I do not remove my hood. She notices my actions and reached for my hood. ¡°I said remove your hood. There is no reason for it.¡±


    ¡°The last time someone tried to touch my hood the ended up with a broken hand and his followers ended up worse.¡± Her hand stills.


    ¡°So that incident was you? I heard it was the prince and his friends that had gotten hurt but no one said who it was so the issue was dropped. I guess I can tell those in charge who it was now.¡± Wow, that idiot didn''t say anything about the incident. I thought he would definitely try to get me in trouble, but he must have something else in mind. ¡°Either way remove your hood it''s unladylike also where is your skirt? It''s a part of all girl uniforms.¡±


    ¡°I have my own reasons that have nothing to do with you. As for the skirt, it was mysteriously burned to ashes so I decided pants are better. Now I feel slightly sick so ill be taking me leave now. Hopefully, I will show up to this class tomorrow goodbye.¡± With that, I grab my halberd and walk out of the class. I was being too annoyed by that old lady and felt I would go insane listening to her ideas of how a lady should be. I still have awhile until the combat classes so I guess I will just go find a tree now for the future and mark it as mine. If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.


    I find my way to the academy training grounds where my classes will be. There seems to already be a class here taking what seems to be a weapon combat class. There are students all striking training dummies with simple weapons like swords, daggers or spears. There are also a few with bows and arrows. As I keep looking around I notice a tree next to the weapon rack so I make my way over there and lean my halberd on the tree before leaning against the tree myself. I decide to just close my eyes because I''m sure that Julie will tell me when my class is here.


    As I''m sleeping I feel a shift around me and I open my eyes to see a boy grabbing my halberd. I jump up and grab it before pushing him away.


    ¡°What are you doing? Why''d you push me?¡± Student 1


    ¡°Why would you go around touching other peoples weapons? This is not like those training weapons over there. This is a real weapon and one that already has an owner too.¡±


    ¡°So you just attack someone for touching it? Who are you anyway? I don''t think you belong to this class.¡± Student 1


    While we are arguing we seem to attract the attention of other students. They start crowding around us. All of a sudden one of the students looks me over and then panics before running over to the student I''m arguing with.


    ¡°That''s the Princess from the rumors you know Princess Eva of Lemuria. She''s supposed to be crazy strong and violent like a beast.¡± Well, the rumor is mostly how I want it to be. ¡°You really shouldn''t fight her. Look she even has a 5th tier adventurer armband on. Are you blind?¡± Student 2


    ¡°Crap let''s just go then. I don''t know why she''s here but let''s just leave her alone then.¡± Student 1


    Good, the rumors have worked how I wanted. Hopefully, it will keep people away and only those who don''t believe rumors like that will approach me and ill-treat those who are friendly the same and those that look for trouble ill give trouble. After everyone leaves me alone I sit back down and close my eyes again. I don''t know how long I waited but the class that was here left and then my class showed up, but I stayed where I am until the instructor showed up. The instructor was a red headed woman with a big and flashy robe that matched her hair.


    ¡°Ok, class I am instructor Nana! I will be your magic combat Instructor, but please hold your applause!¡± She still ends up pausing as if we would all start applauding her anyway but most students are just looking at her weirdly. Her energy seems to fade a little. ¡°Ok, today I want everyone to throw a simple spell for each element you have at the training dummies. We will go one at a time so we can all compare it with our own. Ok, now you go!¡±


    She points to a random student and he walks up before shooting a bolt of water at the training dummy, but it barely even shakes the dummy let alone leave a mark. This same thing repeats itself several times. I do notice that two of the students who had a 6th tier and 7th tier armband did better than the other by leaving a slight mark on the training dummies, but that''s all. After a while, it was finally my turn. I knew eventually others would find out my magic is different I guess I just wasn''t expecting for it to happen on the first day of classes.


    I decided I''ll do a very simple fire bolt and lightning bolt so I don''t seem too flashy and I can try to keep as many of my spells concealed. I raise both my hands towards two training dummies and release my mana through my mana heart. I then form the two spells in my hands and I hear surprised gasps behind me as I release both the spells. The lightning creates a hole in the dummy on the left and the right dummy has a dent on its chest while some flames are still burning on it in all their darkness.


    I turn around and look at everyone''s surprised faces. I guess they weren''t expecting something like this. I look over to Instructor Nana and see her eyes are bugging out. I can''t blame any of them for these reactions because not only are my basic spell stronger than all theirs, but they are also both black. As I''m observing the actions of my fellow classmates'' Instructor Nana runs up to me and begins shaking me by the shoulders.


    ¡°What was that? Why were they black? Is this a technique you learned? Does the technique also make your spells stronger?¡± While she keeps shaking me her intensity increases which the shaking and eventually my hood falls and her eyes open wide and she backs up. ¡°What is this? How are you like this? What are you?¡± This damn instructor has completely ruined everything for me. I quickly pull up my hood before walking to my halberd and sitting back against the tree except for this time my halberd is on my lap. ¡°Wait I''m asking you questions!¡±


    ¡°Instructor Nana! May I remind you that not only are you being rude to all your students by ignoring them, but you are also being incredibly rude to Princess Eva while ignoring the academy policies of not asking any of those questions?¡± Julie stops Instructor Nana from coming any closer to me while letting off a very intimidating pressure.


    ¡°She''s right Nana. No matter what you are being rude to everyone here and completely unprofessional. Do you want to lose your job as an instructor you worked so hard for?¡± A woman who looks almost completely identical to Instructor Nana walks over except she has dark green hair and heavy armor on. The armor is steel with dark green trims. She comes over and pushes Instructor Nana behind her before bowing towards Julie and I. ¡°I am sorry for my sister. She doesn''t mean any ill intent but she is completely obsessed with mana research and forgets herself sometimes. She''s worked hard to become an instructor at the academy in hopes of advancing her research, but it seems as if she''s done something unforgivable. All I can do is apologize and promise she won''t do it again. I am Instructor Nala and I am supposed to be this classes Weapons combat instructor.¡± She bows her head while grabbing Instructor Nana''s head and forcing it down. I am still pissed so I''ve decided not to speak anymore and just let Julie handle it.


    ¡°This doesn''t change the fact that her actions have already caused the Princess a number of problems and she doesn''t seem to reflect at all. Turn around and look at the students behind you and tell me if you think this is a simple problem of an apology.¡± Julie tells them to look and when they do they see my classmates faces filled with fear and disgust. Just the usual looks that I receive like everywhere else. I had wanted to be not seen this way here at the academy for a little longer, but it seems half a day was what I got. After this, the rumors will spread to everywhere.


    ¡°It seems my peace has ended here at the academy. From now on I will only ask questions when I need them, but besides that, all you two can do is ignore my existence and leave me alone. I do not need someone like her helping me with my magic and I doubt you can even help me with my weapon choice.¡± While speaking up I point to them both with anger in my voice. They both seemed a little shocked and then seemed sad for some reason that I don''t care about. I knew eventually I would be found out, but this has just ruined any peace I''d have for a while. I get up from under the tree and begin to walk away. I would rather just go to my room and take a bath at this point.


    Instructor Nala


    My name is Nala and I have a sister named Nana. The both of us are orphans so neither of us has last names and we just decided to never think of one for ourselves. We both grew up in our orphanage since young and because we refused to separate we were never adopted by anyone. Over the years we both found our talents. I was a strong fighter and Nana was strong with the mana control. I would train with different weapons constantly while Nana would spend all her time researching mana.


    We both worked hard and eventually we were accepted into the Academy as students. We had to go through years of hazing from nobles and we had almost no friends. It was ok as long as we had each other, but most of the time it was me fixing Nana''s mistakes she created because of her personality. Finally after years of hard work we both graduated and were allowed to become instructors at the academy. I was excited because I could train my skills while helping future students with theirs. Nana was excited because she could continue her research and maybe discover new spells or techniques.


    It was our second year of teaching and I was standing under a tree watching Nana give her lessons as usual. At this time I don''t have a class to teach so I always watch Nana while I wait for my class right afterward. Nana was her usual self, but then she called up a hooded girl I had noticed earlier. She was different from everyone else. She was a girl, but wore pants and had a hood on her uniform. Even with that, you could still tell that she is a girl from her figure, but then you''d think twice when you see the weapon she''s carrying around with her. I''ve never seen anything like it before and it makes me excited to teach her. The girl then cast her spells and I may be standing far away but I can still see her unique spells color and power from here.


    I get a bad feeling in my gut so I start making my way towards Nana''s class. Nana starts freaking out and shaking the poor girl so I quicken my steps but stop once the girls hood falls. She is a beautiful girl, but she has completely black hair and black eyes. They are like a starless night sky, but I know these weird features must be why the girl was wearing a hood. She pulls her hood back on and goes back to the tree she was sitting at before. Nana tries to question the girl, but a maid I hadn''t noticed before steps between them and I realize this girls Identity must be important. I hear the maid speak and I realize Nana has made a terrible mistake this time. I try to apologize for Nana but they just tell us to look behind us. When we do we see the other students reactions and I feel appalled by these looks they''re giving this girl. The Princess then tells us that she will not be needing us to teach her and that she will only come to us if she needs something. I can''t help but feel saddened by this because I genuinely wanted to teach the princess and it seems Nana feels the same way. I watch the Princess walk away and I can''t help but wonder if she knows how lonely her back looks from here.


    ¡°Nana you have messed up big time. Forgetting about her identity you have completely ruined that girls future peace at the academy. I would normally help you fix your mistake, but I don''t know what could be done in this situation. Look at the students'' faces. Did you ever think of why she wore a hood or why she was alone in the first place? Or did you just think of your own mana research?¡± The only thing I can do now is scolding Nana.


    ¡°Nala I know I messed up. I thought she had a technique she was using to create those black elements. I didn''t even think that maybe there was another cause for her spells being different. It seems like all these students think she''s a mana mutant, but that''s impossible. Every mana beast has always had animal like features. Even if she has the same color as a night panther or other black beast she would still have other features like a tail or animal limbs. She''s a normal girl who has different hair, eyes, and a unique magic. Nala what do I do? She''s someone we both would be eager to teach.¡± Nana asks me this but I have no answer we can only wait and see if she comes back. The least I can do is help her get a little revenge. I turn around and begin teaching my class. I hold nothing back and make them work till they drop while Nana is under the tree the girl was looking deep in thought. I will just have to wait till she comes to us to ask something and hopefully she sees we sincerely want to teach her.

 Chapter 16

    Chapter 16


    Eva Lemuria-6 months into school year


    I¡¯ve been at the academy for a whole six months and I feel as if the whole experience has been completely pointless. I originally came here in hopes of finding instructors that are able to help me, but I have only been isolated. Ever since Instructor Nana revealed my true looks in front of the class rumors have spread a wildfire and now the whole school knows that I have black hair and eyes. I am now avoided like the plague by most students. Almost everyone looks at me with this same eyes filled with disgust or fear except a few just look at me with pity. The only one who has treated me the same is Cathy. She has been by my side the whole time talking to me like any other friend, but I had noticed that it was negatively affecting her. I avoid her as much as I can now so that she can have a more normal time and not be dragged down with me.


    Surprisingly one other person has continued to treat me the same. Instructor Ingrid also seems to treat me the same as before, but she still hates me either way. Although she hates me because of how I act not what I am. I still go to all my classes, but I would still wear my hood and keep my head down so I can go by unnoticed and learn the few things I don''t know in these beginner classes. In all my indoor classes, except etiquette, the teachers ignore me for the most part and the students have to ignore me so they can pay attention to the classes. Only Instructor Ingrid is still dedicated to making a lady out of me. She would still make me stand and take off my hood, but I refused for a while till I decided that she must not believe in the rumors. I took off my hood expecting some kind of reaction but she only said was ¡°About time you took off your hood. Now if only you could walk straight.¡± This old lady really only had etiquette on her mind. I still go to her class only because I enjoy fighting with her.


    For my combat classes, I still go, but I keep my distance from the students and instructor twins. I notice them constantly looking towards me, but the only thing I do there is staying under my tree sleeping, sitting, or reading. Sometimes I would train a little bit because I would sometimes feel like training instead of wasting my time. It would sometimes seem as if Instructors Nala and Nana try to come towards me when I''m training but they always stop and turn back around. I only do light training in the combat classes while afterward, I would go to an old training ground at the edge of the academy where I would do my serious training. I''ve actually made good progress on my spells there. My newest technique where I turned into lightning was one of the hardest techniques for me to get a good grasp on. It took many burns and injuries till I was finally able to gain some control over the technique. I decided to call my technique lightning shift. Whenever I shift it seems like I go to another world and the feeling of moving in any direction with just a thought is amazing. It takes too long to actually shift so I haven''t actually been able to incorporate it into any of my fighting techniques yet. It was already hard enough to shift while keeping my clothes on and then to shift while keeping my halberd with me so I feel like I''ve already accomplished a lot.


    Besides my training, the only other exercise I get is from when I''m challenged to duels. It seems many students think of themselves as heroes whose destiny is to vanquish the evil monster that is me. The always come to me and then give a self-righteous speech before challenging me to a duel. Most of the time they will just attack me if I refuse to say it''s a monster subjugation. It''s ridiculous how this keeps happening even though I always badly beat each one of them. More still show up believing they''re stronger than the last. I¡¯ll admit some of the few older students that came did actually give me a challenge, but most don''t have the experience I have from my time as an adventurer. Even if it was one year I seem to have an edge on all the other students. The few that have also spent their time as adventures seem to be unbothered by me and just ignore my existence.


    Another annoyance of the Academy is the supposed student council. They haven''t stopped trying to get me to join them even though we both know they only see me as a beast they want a collar on. They have been incredibly persistent and they seem to always show up wherever I go. I still haven''t figured out who told them about me, but I can only guess it was either my brother or Roland. I still haven''t seen that old man yet because he seems to stay in the older students teaching areas or his private training yard with George. I don''t know how strong George has become, but today I''m supposed to find out. He finally challenged me to a duel on the schools'' main stage and it has drawn a lot of attention because he¡¯s spread the word about it probably hoping the pressure would make me accept. I plan on showing up, but that''s only because I have another plan.


    I''m making my way through the academy now so I can face Georges challenge. I know many are going to be there to watch the show and they''ll also serve as witnesses. I finally reach the field and see that it''s packed around the stage. There are students from all grades and there seem to be some instructors as well. I see that no one wants to stop a fight between brother and sister here because everyone already has a firm belief that I am the monster and George is the hero. I finally reach the stage and jump up onto it and see George at the other end with Roland. They both seem far too confident in themselves.


    ¡°Well, Princess Eva I''m glad that you came to the duel. A fair rivalry between sibling is truly a good thing for growth.¡± Roland is the first to speak, but I ignore him and focus on George. He looks unusually focused and seems to have finally learned how to keep his cool.


    ¡°George I will accept your duel, but under one condition. If I win this duel you will no longer be allowed to ever see Roland again. He will not be your master and you won''t be his disciple.¡± Both of them are shocked by now and Roland seems completely pissed off.


    ¡°It is not your place to decide something like that Princess. He is already my disciple.¡±Roland


    ¡°I¡¯ll accept your bet, but if I win then you will no longer call yourself a Lemuria. You will no longer infest my family you monster.¡± George accepts but sets his own condition.


    ¡°Do you really not see me as your sister at all? Do you truly believe I am nothing but a monster out to get you? Fine, I¡¯ll accept your condition.¡± It truly hurts my heart to be treated like this by my own brother. I can''t help but feel saddened when I think about how I have never had a big brother to protect me all these years instead he''s trying to kick me out of the family.


    ¡°Very well. Then everyone here will be a witness to our agreement. After today you will no longer be considered a princess of Lemuria.¡± George


    We both go to opposite ends of the stage and Roland jumps off. I decided today I will fight while showing all of myself so I take off my hood and get into a fighting stance. George has a special case with him that holds all the swords he uses in his fighting style next to him. Eight swords float out and then he kicks the case off the stage. Thestage shakes and stones come out of the arena floor and float around George. He crosses his arms and looks towards me. I point towards a random student. ¡°You flip a coin and we will begin when it lands on the arena floor.¡± Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.


    The student does as told and flips the coin. It feels as if time slows down as I''m watching the coin from the corner of my eye. When the coin finally lands on the arena George and I both make our attacks. He launches several stones at me from the front and both sides. I immediately cover myself in my flame armor since over the years I''ve become able to maintain it for far longer than a couple of minutes. I dodge the first stone as it passes my head before I punch one and deflect another with my halberd. I then slash behind me as the stone I avoided earlier is now coming back at me. These simple attacks seem to be testing me so I do the same. I turn back around to face George and form a lighting scythe that I swing at George creating an arc flying in a horizontal line. A wall of earth rises from the ground between me and George. My lighting goes right through the earth wall but when the wall comes back down I see four of Georges swords plunged into the ground creating a wall. It seems George learned that he can divert my lightning to the ground with his metal swords.


    I decided to try a frontal assault towards George. I charge at him while I slash several flame edges in his direction. His stones intercept all my attacks while he aims all his swords at me. I draw my dagger with my left hand and I begin defending with my halberd held in my right hand. I fuse both attacks with a lightning edge in my dagger and a flame edge on my halberd. I keep defending against George''s attacks as best I can but his swords don''t move like how a normal human would hold a sword. They''re instead flying around like birds diving at me from all directions. I can only deflect them as best I can, but some of them I can only deflect minimally so the end up cutting me a little but only small scratches. I then realize all the swords are actually coated in a mana edge. It seems George has finally come up with his own technique. It''s just barely strong enough to get through my flame armor.


    I through my dagger straight up before I grab one of Georges swords that are flying by and I heat it up with my flames. Instead of imbuing it with an element of a normal flame edge I am instead using the flames on the blade. The blade glows red and then begins to melt so I throw it towards George, but a stone intercepts it. I catch my dagger in my hand and then form a lightning edge as I cut down on a sword I had just dogged cutting it in two halves. I then stomp my foot down creating a wave of flames that spread outwards so George rises up on a stone pillar.


    I bring the flames back to me and form a cylinder of flames that rise straight up. I use flames at the bottom of my feet to rocket up the cylinder of flames just in time as swords slice through where I was. Midair I twist my body to face down so I''m pointing at headfirst at where George is. I then use a boost of flames to propel myself out of the pillar. Midair I sheath my dagger and gold my halter with both hands forming a fused element I called a destruction edge. Black lighting and flames form on my halberd and when George looks up I swing my blade at him. His six blades quickly fold over each other forming a circle shield. My halberd collides with his makeshift shield and the shield is blown to pieces. The shrapnel flies in all directions, but the instructors had put up a mana shield earlier so the students are safe. I keep flying towards George as a stone pillar rises from underneath me. I swing my halberd overhead right at the pillar and it splits in half.


    I land on the ground closer to George so instead of taking a second to catch my breath I charge at him. Stone spikes keep rising from the ground to get in my way. As I''m about to reach George I feel a sharp pain in my back and right leg. I can''t help but scream out. ¡°AAAAAAHHHH!¡± I look at my leg and see half the sword I had cut earlier is in my leg. I pull it out and then reach for the one in my back. George doesn''t give me the chance to finish as the spikes that had been aiming at me earlier now are breaking apart in shards and spinning around in a swarm. They change direction and head straight for me so I form another destruction edge and try to swipe them all away. I get most of them, but some of them still strike me.


    I charge at George again and this time he starts running towards me too. As he runs plates of stone rise from the ground and form around him. It seems like he was inspired by my flame armor so he created his own. Our fist meet and his stones crack while I use my halberd to try and blindside him but a stone rose from the ground and blocked my attack. I look and realize it''s the stone George used to block the sword I melted and threw earlier. I kick him in his side and he blocks with his free arm. I drop my halberd and punch him in the face. My punch ended up stunning him so I take my chance and send another at his face. This punch knocks him on his back and I jump on top of him. I begin raining punches on his face. He still has his stone armor on so I keep my flame armor up. I keep punching him till his armor cracks and I take that chance to raise my hand and infuse it with some lightning before I slap him in the face. His armor breaks and his head twists to the side and I can see a burning red hand print on his face. His whole body is twitching from the lighting I slapped him with. He still seems conscious so I grab his head and electrocute him weakly while slowly increasing the mana I use. Finally, his eyes roll back and some foam comes out of his mouth. I check and see he is still alive so I get off him after grabbing my halberd.


    As I stand up I notice it''s really quite so I look around and everyone has shocked faces. I look towards Roland and see he is pale and seems to be opening and closing his mouth. Everyone else doesn''t seem to know how to react until I hear some clapping so I look towards the direction and see Julie and Cathy next to each other at the edge of the stage. Behind them, there are the twin instructors Nala and Nana and some other students who I barely recognize as those that have never bothered me or looked at me in disgust or fear. I appreciate the support, but I didn''t do this to be recognized. I reach behind me and pull out the blade stuck in my back and then I begin pulling out the stone shards that are still stuck in me. I walk towards Roland''s direction and stop right at the edge of the stage.


    ¡°From this day forth George Lemuria is no longer your disciple Roland. You shall stay away from him and will not attempt to contact him in any way.¡± I then look towards another instructor. ¡°My brother is injured and needs medical attention so hurry up and help him.¡± Finally, I walk towards those that were clapping for me earlier and stop at the edge of the stage. ¡°Thanks for everything but for now it''s goodbye. Sorry Julie and Cathy, but please tell my mother I''ll be back eventually.¡±


    With my message left I begin to shift. I see Julie come out of her shock and jump towards me, but she too late as I enter my shift and quickly move towards my dormitories roof. I unshift to grab my bag before looking over the academy.


    ¡°Can you tell me where you''re going?¡± A voice comes from behind so I turn around and point my halberd at the old man from the adventures sign in desk from the combat test on the testing day of the academy.


    ¡°How''d you know I''ll be here and why''d you come here?¡± I know I was polite to him before but with this situation, it''s hard to be polite.


    ¡°I''m just wondering why a genius such as yourself is running away. I will tell you that I am a part of the adventures guild council so I may be able to help you.¡± Guild Council Member


    ¡°I can''t stay here any longer. I can''t take the looks from others. It''s always the same and I can''t take much more of it. I plan to just be gone for a while. Where no one will know me. Somewhere where even if I''m found out again for being a monster I can just leave to go somewhere else. I¡¯ll probably start with moving towards the border of the dwarven kingdoms. The only thing I would ask of someone with your power is to not report my sign Ins at the guild to anyone. Not even my parents. I know it would be hard since my father was the founder, but I need this. So please do this for me?¡± I bow my head to him hoping he''d agree. If not I will have to avoid the adventures guild as I move around.


    ¡°Very well Princess Eva. The guild will stick with our confidentiality policy no matter who asks for you. I hope you don''t keep your family waiting too long.¡± After he tells me that he turns around and begins walking towards the door downstairs. I look back at the academy and see Cathy, Julie, Instructor Nala, and Instructor Nana rushing towards the dormitories. I shoulder my bag and halberd before shifting. I move straight up into the sky and then I rush in the direction of the dwarven kingdoms.

 Chapter 17

    Chapter 17


    Eva Lemuria-16 years old


    It has been six months since I ran away from the Academy and since then I have been keeping my head down. I have mostly stayed out in the wilderness for the first three months surviving off the land. Afterward, I would only go into towns when I needed supplies. I would always wear some plain clothes with a hood on. I would also avoid bringing my halberd into town with me because I know its to recognizable. I have to be careful because I never know when someone in the crowd is actually a shadow guard. I have mostly been walking on my journey because I don''t want a black lighting bolt to be spotted flying over the sky. Also on the ground, I can fight and beast that attacks me. At this moment I have several mana hearts in a bag slung over my shoulder. They are all 5th to 7th tier mana hearts and some other tails, but I should be able to get a good amount of money when I reach the adventures guild I''m headed towards now.


    It has actually been a full month since I''ve been in a town or village. I have been following a road that''s supposed to lead me to the last town until I reach the kingdoms boarder. I probably could have made it there a long time ago, but I have been walking the entire way. Sometimes I wouldn''t even follow any roads and just walk through any forest or open plain. There is supposed to be a large town filled with adventurers and kingdom guards where I''m headed towards now.


    I finally reach the end of the road, but there is nothing in front of me. The dirt path just ends and there''s only a patch of grass in front of me. I set my things on the ground and I shift straight upwards. I unshift when I am high enough and look all around, but I see no town or anything besides the grass fields for miles. I then look down to prepare for my landing. I notice as I''m falling that at the end of the road there is a large circular patch of grass that is greener and full of more life than all the grass around it. I land on the ground after a quick blast of flames from my feet to slow my fall. I realize the town was here before but it''s gone now and seems to have been covered up.


    A month earlier I had inquired from the last townspeople about this village and from the way they talked about this town, this town most have been here one month ago. I''m truly confused because even if the town was destroyed by someone or something there would be evidence. Instead, there is nothing here. There is no rubble, no building foundations, and no signs of life at all. I don''t know if this has been reported already or not, but I need to tell someone. I walk over to my things and grab them before looking north and shifting. I immediately fly upwards and then race towards the north. I know from some olds maps I saw in my history class that the border is a vertical line here so if I keep moving either north or south I should reach one of our border towns eventually.


    As I''m flying through the air I notice some signs of life walking in the same direction I''m moving. I notice they''re humans from the electric signatures I see them as in my shift form. I''m not sure if they are the ones responsible or if they''re travelers like myself so I decide to confront them. I aim for in front of their path and land. All they would see is a black lightning bolt striking the ground and then a woman walking towards them. They do take up defensive positions and get in a formation of two swordsmen in the front and male archer in the middle and a female mage in the back. I notice both the archer and the mage have short swords too so they must understand the importance of being prepared. I stab my halberds blunt end in the ground and drop my bag on the ground before raising my hand to show no danger. I walk a little forward and stop to show I want to talk.


    ¡°Who are you and where did you come from? There was just a strange flash of black and then you appeared.¡± Adventure swordsmen 1


    ¡°My name is Eva a 5th tier adventurer. I just came from where a town was supposed to be south of here and noticed you coming from the same direction so I thought I''d ask you if you know anything.¡± They lower their weapons but do not get out of formation.


    ¡°We are a group of adventures that took a scouting mission to confirm a missing town. About one week ago it was reported so it took us awhile to reach the supposed location, but we saw nothing there. We thought we might have gone the wrong way so we are headed back to our town about 3 days from here.¡± Adventure Swordsmen 2


    ¡°I see. So you weren''t able to notice it then? The grass in the area was healthier than all the grass that surrounded it. It was also too tall for grass that could have grown in less than a month.¡±


    ¡°How is that possible? No, we didn''t notice it, but this just means we probably did find the right location there''s just something weird going on. We really need to report this as soon as possible.¡±Adventure Swordsmen 1


    ¡°Do you mind if I follow behind you guys till the next town. I would rather not have to search for it. Don''t worry ill take care of myself and just follow a bit behind.¡± I was going to ask if I could join them till I realized its better to keep my distance to keep myself hidden. I cant risk much interaction until I''m in another country. They look at each other as if having a silent conversation before they nod one by one. I''ll be honest that I am somewhat jealous of their familiarity with each other. I wish I could have something like that or someone like that.Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.


    ¡°We don''t mind if you follow behind. I hope you don''t mind we will keep a close eye on you just in case though.¡± Adventure Swordsmen 2


    I nod my head to accept this deal since I''m really the only one that''s benefiting from it. I walk back and grab my things before stepping aside to let them pass me and when they''re a little ahead of me I begin to follow behind them. They seem like a party that is very experienced working together. There movements all seem in sync and each one is paying attention to a different direction. I wonder what rank they are individually. Either way they must be a trusted group if the adventures guild had assigned them a personal mission of checking a entire towns safety.


    We keep walking until it starts to turn dark and we reach the edge of a forest. They decide to set up camp on the outer edge of the forest. They start a fire and have a prepared mealwhile casually chatting. I decide to climb a tree right on the edge of the forest. I secure myself to a branch and then close my eyes to rest. I feel as if I''m only two-thirds asleep because I still need to be aware of my surroundings. I don''t fully trust the adventures the same way they don''t fully trust me. The next day they pack up their things and begin moving through the forest. I follow behind them while keeping myself in their view so they don''t react to me disappearing. As we walked through the forest the group was only attacked by 7th and 6th tier beasts. They were all easily dealt with minimal effort by the group and I only had to defend myself when a beast would attack me. They were all weak enough that I did not have to use any mana. We spent another night in the forest before making it out the next day. We had reached the town before it got dark out luckily. I then followed the group of adventures as they made their way straight to the adventures guild.


    As we walked through the town I did my best to keep my head down and hope I don''t get noticed by anyone. I know the chances are slim, but you never know when there''s a shadow guard watching. They were always the best at finding me as a kid. I observe the town and notice it''s a very peaceful place. It seems like everyone knows everyone else here. Guards presence also seem to be high here since it''s a border town. Not a single person seems panicked or even slightly worried that a neighboring town had just disappeared. The guild must have done an excellent job keeping this information concealed.


    We immediately reach the guild building in the center of the town. Its smaller compared to the capitals. It still has its own charm and seems to be one of the nicer buildings in this town. I follow inside and all eyes turn our way. Everyone seems to recognize the four adventures while they give me a skeptical look. A receptionist notices the adventures and gets up to probably inform the guild manager. A middle-aged man with brown hair comes out.


    ¡°Its good that you''ve all returned safe and sound. Come to the back and give a verbal report. Who''s that behind you?¡± Guild Manager


    ¡°She''s another adventure that came to report the missing town, sir. She ran into us and we allowed her to follow us to report her findings.¡± Adventurer Swordsmen 2


    ¡°Ok Miss please follow me to the back and you can all give your reports at the same time.¡± I follow them to a back room with a desk in it and we all stand in front of it as the manager sits behind while grabbing a pen and paper to record our reports. ¡°Ok, I''ll start with the Miss so you can go get signed in afterward and do as you like.¡± He is probably going to ask for a report on me from the Adventures team since they are trusted and I am an unknown, but I cooperate because I have no reason not to cooperate.


    ¡°Right I was planning on going to the missing town so I can sell some mana hearts and tails. I was also planning on staying awhile to rank up before visiting the dwarven kingdom over the mountains. I had reached the end of the road where it ended abruptly. I used a technique to get in the air to look around for the town when I saw only grass all around. The only difference was that the grass underneath me was different from the rest. It had more life in the patch of grass than the grass in its surroundings. This patch of grass was in the location of where the town was supposed to be and it was also the size of the town. There was no signs of destruction or even building foundations. There was just tall grass that could not normally grow in less than thirty days. That is the time it took me to reach that town from the last. After that I headed towards this town to report it when I ran into these adventures.¡±


    ¡°I see. Thank you for coming to tell us. You can go and sign in now if you want.¡± Guild Manager


    I leave the room and head towards the receptionist. It''s the same guy that had informed the guild manager earlier. I tell him I want to sign in before I give him my information. He looks up their records they have on me. I then give them the mana hearts and tails that I have collected. He goes through everything that I have and then tells me the results.


    ¡°Congratulations Miss Eva with these mana hearts and tails as proof of subjugations you would need to take only one more 4th tier mission to rank up. Would you like to take one now?¡± Guild Receptionist


    ¡°Yah I¡¯ll accept a mission, but I won''t go on it until tomorrow. Thanks.¡±


    I left the receptionist counter and made my way to the board with 4th tier missions I want to find one like the missions that I have been taking with no chance for other beast to show up. I look for a while analyzing each mission and the best one I could find is a 4th tier with a ten percent chance of something unknown happening. I decide I don''t want to waste my time here so I accept the mission. The mission is for subjugating a flame bull ape. I remember lessons on this mana beast from Shadow so I should be fine. I thought of staying in town to find out about what happened to the missing town. I quickly turned down that idea because I know something weird like this will defiantly draw people to investigate it from the capital. I¡¯ll finish the mission so I can move up to 4th tier and then I¡¯ll go across the border.


    After I accept the mission I immediately leave the adventurers guild building and enter an inn. It''s not high class although its also not a shack. I came here for one reason and its to take my first bath in a month. I am in luck because the Inn has a room and I can reserve the bath for myself. As I sit in the bath I think of how I have been alone for six months. All this time I have either been alone in the wilderness or alone in an inn. Tomorrow I will finish that mission as quickly as possible so I can move on to somewhere it wont matter if I''m recognized.

 Chapter 18

    Chapter 18


    Eva Lemuria


    I woke up the next morning in the inn. I felt refreshed and ready to rank up today. I left all my things here in my room before heading downstairs with only my essentials. I decided that I will have a proper meal in the inn since ithas been a while. After eating I begin my way out of town and back towards the forest I had come from yesterday. It''s hard to believe there is such a dangerous mana beast like the flame bull ape in this forest when yesterday we had only run into the weak and normal beast. I know I''ll probably have to walk around for a while till I find the flame bull ape.


    As I''m walking around the forest looking for any signs of my target I have been frequently attacked by lower tier beast the whole time. That in itself is strange because normally these beasts wouldn''t be so aggressive and they also wouldn''t all be so close to each other. There are different wolves, birds, and other different types of beast all so close to each other. It''s too weird because the beast was all very territorial. I can only assume that it''s my target that is causing the trouble to appear. It''s probably the reason that is was flagged for a subjugation mission. If I had to guess I would say that lower tier adventures had come for a mission and were attacked by my target.


    I kept wandering around while defending myself from the crazed beast for what seemed like half a day. Finally, I reached a landmark that was mentioned in the mission request. A small cliff that had a cave on it. I noticed that there were trees leaning against the cliff making a makeshift ramp leading up to the cave. Just this alone tells me that this mana beast has more intelligence than others and is probably close to being a 3rd tier mana beast. It''s good that I''m going to take it out now before it can rank up more.


    I know this beast will probably be one of the strongest mana beasts that I have ever fought. I need to take a more safe approach to this fight or else I can seriously mess up. I find a hiding place where I won''t be noticed from any direction and I camp out to observe the cave for a while. I watch the cave for a while and try to listen to anything coming from it. After focusing I hear some noise from within the cave. I think it is the flame bull ape inside sleeping from how heavy the breathing is. If it really is sleeping this could be a great chance for me to take it out without having to fight seriously. If I fail to take it out in one shot then it will definitely go on a rampage and its instincts will take over.


    I slowly make my way into the cave and notice there are some scorch marks all around the cave walls. As I go down into the cave I notice my surroundings are getting wider and deeper. I keep going down and feel the heat increasing slowly. I finally notice some light coming from the end of this tunnel and slowly approach the opening. I look at the new room and see that there is a large opening with a dome ceiling. I realize you could probably fit half a town in this cave. The cave is completely glowing because there is lava flowing around the edges and a large pool of lava at the very center of the room. The only ground to walk on is the circular ring of stone thatis between the pool and outer edge of lava. I had immediately spotted the mana beast when I had walked in because the thing is large. The beat is at least two stories tall and is currently half way in the lava pool. I can''t see its lower half, but the upper half of the beast that is sticking out is definitely my target. It has large arms with flames constantly burning on its forearms. Its head is a mixture of an ape and a bull with large horns coming from both sides of its head. It has black and red fur on the parts of its body that aren''t covered in lava or fire. The other end of the lava pool I see a bull tail slowly moving side to side. I decide that it''s better to do this quickly before it can notice me.


    I infuse a destruction edge on my halberd before covering myself with my flame armor. I slowly creep my way toward the upper body that''s laying outside of the lava pool. I look at its neck that''s wide open and prepare to cut off its head. As I swing my blade down its stopped by the horn of the beast. My blade barely gets halfway through before the force throws me back towards the cave wall. I crash into the wall and have all the air pushed out of my body. I begin to fall towards the outer edge of the lava so I shove my halberd into the cave wall and hang over the lava. As I catch my breath I look towards the mana beast and notice it standing up. It''s looking at me with almost a mocking pair of eyes and I realize that I''ve been too late. This mana beast is definitely now a 3rd tier mana beast with such human characteristics. It must have noticed me outside and set this trap for me.


    Before I could even think of escaping it walks over to the entrance and punches the wall next to it. A wall begins to lower over the entrance and I realize that it even has a door to keep me in here. Then I realize it had just used earth magic and I go pale. This is definitely an evolved flame bull ape. I had thought this cave and its lava was natural, but it must have been this mana beast. It must be able to even use the lava element. I am in serious trouble this time. Itlooks at me as if asking me what I''ll do now.


    I pull myself up and place my feet against the cavern wall. I begin to channel a new destruction edge into my halberd as I pull it out of the wall and then propel myself forward. I use a flame boost as I fly towards the mana beast. It throws a punch towards me and I use my destruction edge. Our attacks clash and the only thing I manage to do is cut a single finger of its fist before it pulls back its fist and then swats me with its other hand. It¡¯s now pissed off as it looks at its missing finger. I had luckily landed on the ring of solid ground when I was swatted. The mana beast then dips both of its arms in the lava and pulls them out. lava is sticking to its arms like armor, but I know that it doubles as armor and a weapon. The mana beast then charges towards me and swings its fist at me. I can only dodge its strike because it''s like a massive wave of lava coming at me. Its fist misses me while the lava from its fist keeps flying and covers the spot I was standing in lava. I realize I can only dodge to the sides or up now. I can''t just jump backward or the lava will follow me.


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    I am out of its range for a physical attack so it scoops some lava up and throws it at me. I jump straight up but the ball of lava follows me and I send a destruction edge and cut it in half so I pass throughit. I charge at the beast because this fight will be too dangerous if I only stay on the defensive. I reach where the mana beast is and point my palm at its face. It crosses its arms as a shield. While it defends its upper body I form a lightning scythe and cut one of its ankles. It cuts through and the mana beast roars in pain as it falls to its side. While it''s falling I run towards where I think it will land so I can attack again, but before I can reach it my footing begins to disappear. The only ring of the ground is slowly crumbling away and the lava is rising. I see the mana beast hold its self up with its arms as it looks at me with furious eyes.


    I jump up and draw out my dagger. I reach a cave wall and stab my dagger into it to support me. I hang there while watching the mana beast. It''s looking really pissed and I can tell his instincts are going to take over soon. It puts one of its arms on the cave wall and the next moment a spike begins to shoot out of the wall where I''m at. I block with my halberd, but it still propelled me off the wall and towards the lava-covered ground. I use a flame boost to keep myself from falling and I form two destruction edges on my halberd and dagger before swinging them at the ceiling. The whole cave shakes and large boulders begin falling from the ceiling.


    The mana beast roars in anger as I destroy its home. It starts to send more lava fist at me while I begin jumping from boulder to boulder sending more destruction edges towards the ceiling. I keep dodging lava fist while jumping and attacking the ceiling. The boulders falling into the lava finally starts to stack up and create some footing for me but I keep going with my destruction. I know I am deep down, but I can try to escape and attack the mana beast with falling boulders. While I''m jumping I notice a pause in the lava fist and see the mana beast use both hands to scoop up a large ball of lava. It''s at least as big as the mana beast and he then throws it at me. I focus a large amount of mana into my armor and then I focus more mana at the tip of my halberd. A destruction edge forms as a spear point with both flames and lighting coming from the single point. I jump up and then twist my body to face the giant lava ball as I propel myself off a random falling boulder. The boulder rockets into the cave wall as I shoot towards the giant lava ball. As I reach it I can feel the intense heat seeping through my mana armor. I pierce into the lava as I feel parts or my armor burning away and I feel a searing pain burn me. I keep most my attention on my destruction spear as I finally push through the giant lava ball and rocket towards the mana beast. It couldn''t see past its own attack so it was surprised to see me come out of its lava ball. The mana beast couldn''t defend in time as my destruction spear reaches its chest and pierces through. I could barely see anything myself so my destruction spear point hit the center of the mana beasts chest but it didn''t hit anything vital. I keep my halberd in the mana beast and position my feet against its chest. I form plenty of flames on my feet and throw a lighting edge with my dagger at the mana beast eyes. I manage to get one eye before spring boarding off of it. The force pushes the beast on its back and I shoot straight up. I look where I''m going and see the giant lava ball seems to have done more destruction to the ceiling than me. Everything is crumbling down and I see some sunlight pour into the cave as I keep jumping boulder to boulder up while avoiding falling lava. I reach the last boulder and flame boost out of the hole that has been created.


    I look down the hole and see boulders falling everywhere and the mana beast is still holding its eye as its buried under the boulders. I take a knee as I watch the hole collapse on itself. I don''t let my guard down because I know it''s not over yet. As if responding to my thoughts an explosion of lava comes from the ground. Like a volcano exploding lava flies everywhere and I see the completely enraged mana beast crawl out of the hole its created. I can tell its instincts have completely taken over and it''s no longer going to attack me with clever plans. It completely charges at me as it spews flames from its mouth. I sheath my dagger and use my free hand to blast my own flames forward while preparing a destruction scythe on my halberd. Our flames are completely equal and when the mana beast reaches my striking distance I send a diagonal slash towards it. The mana beast tries to roll out of the way but my attack cuts of one of its horns and half of its arm. It stands back up with an arm dangling on its side and a horn on the ground. It grabs its horn and throws it at me, but I just jump straight up to dodge. It then does something I wouldn''t have expected. It uses its good arm to rip off its bad arm and then it uses it as a whip to attack me. Since I''m in the air I can only cross my arms and take the strike. I focus more mana into my flame armor as I receive the attack. I shoot through the air and smash through two trees before I crash into a cliff. I can feel the damage that attack did to me as I cough out some blood. I feel so tired from that attack but I can''t stop here. I also can''t run away and leave a rampaging beast like this around. The beast begins to charge towards me again. Although it''s slow and awkward because it''s missing a foot and arm it can still charge at me with a quick speed.


    It''s completely engaged so I form a flame edge that I threw towards it. It doesn''t dodge and a wall of flames explode in its face. It keeps charging towards me so I take my dagger and form a destruction edge on it and throw my dagger. The mana beast is still blinded from my flames earlier so it doesn''t dodge as my dagger pierce its eye. It roars in pain again as I charge towards the beast. Now is my chance to finish this as the mana beast is holding its face. I attack from its side without an arm and form a lightning edge to try and cut its head off. My halberd makes it halfway through the throat and blood puts out of the mana beasts throat. I hold my halberd as I form a flame boost on my leg and kick my halberd to give it that extra boost to cut through the mana beasts neck.


    Finally, the beast stops rampaging and its head falls to the ground. The body begins to topple forward so I jump and roll to safety. I get up and walk to the cliff and lean against it. I look around at the destruction we have caused. There''s now a hole filled with lava and the forest is on fire. Half the forest has normal flames and the other half has black flames. I know I should get up to put it out, but I''m too tired to even move. I look at the beast and cant help myself and feel proud. I have defeated a 3rd tier mana beast all by myself.


    While I''m thinking a storm cloud seems to form overhead and it begins to rain. I feel lucky that the weather has changed so the forest won''t burn down. I rest against the cliff as I let the rain wash away the blood I''m covered in. I keep resting for a while to regain my strength while the weather seems to get worst. The wind starts to pick up and lighting starts to fall from the sky. I feel a little shocked because this weather is completely abnormal for this time of the year. I keep watching the sky change for the worst before I get up and make my way towards the mana beasts corpse. I want to get its mana heart before I try to escape this storm. I reach the mana beasts head and remove my dagger before I make my way towards its chest. I was about to cut into the beast when I hear a roar that seemed to pierce the sky. I feel myself begin to sweat and I have some kind of instinctual fear towards whatever let out that roar. I quickly cut into the mana beasts chest and pull out its mana heart. I put it under my arm and begin to run towards the direction the town is. As I''m running I hear crashes behind me and when I try to look back I''m blindsided by something and I crash through a tree only to slam into another. I fall to the ground and look up to see a nightmare.

 Chapter 19

    Chapter 19


    Eva Lemuria


    In front of me is a dark blue dragon with large wings folded on its back. Its four arms are wider that I and it has a tail moving behind it. The most ominous thing is the eyes of the dragon. They are completely white. They feel incredibly ominous to me and that might be because I have black eyes, but at least my eyes are just black irises while there''s still white in my eyes. The dragon''s eyes are completely white. I can''t see its iris or pupils. It''s like a cloud is covering them.


    ¡°Have I offended you somehow? I will apologize if there was something I did to offend you?¡± Shadow has specifically told me dragons are an intelligent race and that I should be polite to them, but this dragon looks completely like a beast to me.


    The dragon doesn''t respond at all and instead, it swings its arm at me and I drop to the ground as the tree behind me is completely obliterated. I realize my best chance to survive is to definitely escape. This dragon seems to be completely berserk for some reason so I don''t want to accidentally lead it towards the town. The dragon slowly makes its way towards me as if playing with a toy. I realize that it completely doesn''t see me as a threat, but for the first time I am ok with that because it will allow me to escape. Since it''s taking its time to come at me I have the opportunity to lightning shift. I shift and immediately shoot towards the sky to try and escape.


    As I''m flying through the storm several lighting bolts all charge towards me and push me down. I wasn''t harmed by the lightning. If anything I feel like I might have absorbed some of it, but it had pushed me back to the ground where I crashed and was forcefully unshifted. This was the first time it''s happened so I feel lighting rampage in my body a little. I get up off the ground and grab my things to try and make a run for it. As I am about to start running I feel myself being pushed by some wind into a tree as the dragon has landed right where I am.


    It roars at me again before swinging its arm at me. I realize that escaping seems to have been a naive thought. I guess the only thing I can do here is dying, but I will not die without fighting for the chance to survive. This might be the first time that I have ever felt such a large urge to survive. The dragon is definitely stronger than me and I''m already injured from a fight I just had. This is more that just fighting an uphill battle. This will probably be considered the impossible.


    I drop everything except my sheathed dagger and halberd. On the ground is my bag filled with tails and supplies. I also drop the mana heart from the mana beast I fought. I look the dragon in the eye and can''t help but feel hate towards those white eyes. I form a destruction edge on my halberd and slam it on the ground between us. The ground explodes creating a crater and a dust cloud. I take this small timing before the rain settles the dust to charge forward. I form a lighting edge and slash at the Dragons front limbs. As my halberd comes into contact a small little cut appears before the dragon smacks me to the side. I crash through a tree and look at the tiny cut that can barely be considered a paper cut.


    I will not lose hope from this though. I will fight till the bitter end. I swing at the dragon and repeatedly attack it with destruction edges while dodging its claws being swung towards my head. All I seem to do is annoy the dragon as it roars at me with enough force to push me away. I feel my ears ringing from the roar. The dragon then looks up as lightning crashes down on it. I thought that nature is trying to help me, but it seems the dragon just absorbed the lighting before opening its mouth. I get a good look at its teeth as lighting runs along the dragon''s body and rushes towards its mouth. I get a bad feeling so I cross my arms and focus more mana into my flame armors arms. Slowly a shield forms from my crossed arms just as the dragon releases all the built up lighting. I''ve seen similar attacks from mana beast, but this is on a whole new level. The blast rages forward for a couple of seconds and I feel my shield slowly crumble away. I feel like parts of my armor is being blasted off and my skin is being burned off.


    When the attack stops I look around and see that everything around me has been incinerated. It''s like a giant black scar has been cut into the forest. I don''t stop to look as after the dragon attacked I charged forward with a destruction spear. I focus as much mana as I can at a concentrated point before stating it into the dragon''s shoulder. This time I make it penetrate and it may be the first time I''ve inflicted a serious wound on the dragon. As I feel accomplished for my attack the dragons tails tip wraps around my ankle and throws me away. I fly through the air before crashing to the ground. I had luckily held onto my halberd so I use it to support myself up. The dragon has blood flowing from its shoulder and looks enraged.


    The dragon unfolds its wings and flies into the sky. It circles around me before the storm seems to intensify where we are. Lighting begins to pour down on the circling dragon before it moves right above me and stops. It somehow hovers above me as it opens its wings wide open. From the dragons, wings lighting begins to pour down on me. I quickly stab my halberd into the ground and charge it with lighting. All the falling lighting attracts to my halberd and flows through it. Most of the lighting passes through my halberd while some of it goes through me. I can normally channel a little lightning from others, but this is too much. I can feel my insides burning from this attack. As the lighting stops, I feel nothing but pain while there''s smoke coming off of me.


    The dragon dives down at me and I quickly form an unstable destruction blade on my halberd I swing it at the dragon and my halberd clashes with an electrified claw. I feel a mountain press on me before both of me and the dragon is then blown away. The dragons hand is completely mangled and my halberd has a big piece of its blade broken. I feel sad that my partner has been damaged for the first time in all of our fights, but I can''t give it rest. I must not let up and keep fighting. I charge the dragon again and it attacks with another lighting claw while I slide under it and form a lighting scythe pointed upwards. I slide under the dragon while cutting its underside. This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work.


    While under the dragon I notice something abnormal. There seems to be a glowing white nail head sticking out of the dragon''s chest. It gives me a more ominous feeling than the eyes of the dragon. As I completely pass under the dragon I roll away as its tail chops down where I was. The dragon backs away from me and begins to coat its whole body in lighting. I feel as if the weather starts to get more intense as tornados begin to touch down on the ground. I feel my body is starting to slow down significantly so I want to try and make my next move. It''s a long shot but maybe the nail in the dragon''s underside is some kind of weakness.


    I start to add more mana to my flame armor. Instead of trying to make it denser like I usually do, I instead make my armor bulkier and heavier. I form a large ball of my destruction element in my right hand and throw it at the dragon. It dodges the attack by jumping to the side and I take this chance to follow my attack. When it passes the dragon I turn towards the dragon and charge it. I use my shoulder to knock the dragon over on its side. My surprise attack works and the dragon flips on its back. I weaken my flame armor before flame boosting straight up. I weaken all my other spell including my flame armor and focus almost all my mana into a destruction spear point as I drive my halberd down. I pierce through the dragon''s gut and I succeed in pinning the dragon down. I leave my halberd to hold the dragon as I quickly move towards the chest and focus all my remaining mana into my right fist. I form a condensed destruction fist and then slam it down on the white nail. The second my fist touches the white nail and explosion of energy burst forth. All I can see is white as I feel my right arm slowly being incinerated and the right half of my body is being burned away. I feel like the lower half of the right side of my face is being burned as well. I feel myself be blown away and then land in some mud. I look over and see the dragon pull out my halberd pinning it to the ground. It seems like the energy release harmed it too, but the white nail is still there except it seems to have been damaged and is about to break. The dragon rolls to its side. I can tell it can''t get up without lying on its damaged chest.


    With my last bit of willpower, I try to get up myself, but I noticed the right hand of my body is completely destroyed. My arm seems to just be a little-burned muscle and bones while the rest of my right side is burned to just my damaged muscles. If I survive I''ll probably be a cripple the rest of my life. I manage to get up somehow with only my left arm and I slowly make my way towards the dragon that''s still trying to get up. If it had never tried to play with me it would not have ended up in this situation. I don''t know how I offended this dragon, but I will not spare it at this point. As I''m walking towards the dragon I pull out my dagger. When I finally reach the dragon I put what little mana I have left to for a simple mana edge on my dagger and then I stab the white nail on one of the cracks that formed earlier. The nail shatters and I don''t even see a wound on the dragon from it.


    The second I destroyed the nail I felt an incredible pain come from my chest. I look down and see the dragon''s tail piercing through my chest right where my heart should be. I look up and see my own blood and heart have splattered onto the chest of the dragon. I feel blood leaking from my mouth. The tail comes out of my body as I fall to the ground on my back. I try to get up and move, but I can¡¯t. I try to yell for help, but I can¡¯t. I try to feel my mana, but I can¡¯t. I feel tears form in my eyes as the world starts to go blurry. I look to the dragon and see those white eyes I hated so much are now a dark blue like its body. The eyes no longer hold a wild rage. They now have confusion as they look around and then shock as it looks at me. The last thing I see is the dragon starts to glow a dark blue light before I feel all control slip away and I die alone with tears in my open eyes.


    Shadow


    I am currently walking through a small border town that looks over the dwarven kingdom. The reason that I am here is that we have received a report on rumors of a missing town before and now another similar report has come in except this town is on the other side of the kingdom. It''s highly suspicious because there are no actual signs of the town at all. They simply vanished as if they were never there. It''s highly troubling because all the people vanish with those towns.


    I originally didn''twant to take this mission, but it was too serious to leave to a subordinate. I was originally assigned to finding Princess Eva. A few months ago the princess had completely disappeared from the academy after a fight with her brother the prince. The Princess did do her family a huge favor by forcefully getting rid of the annoying old man Roland, but after the duel, she completely disappeared without a trace and even us shadow guards are having trouble finding her. The king had actually yelled at me for teaching her too well. The Queen and Princess Lora have been completely distraught as they walk around almost lifelessly. When they heard that the Princess had disappeared they broke down then and there while the Queen tried to leave to look for the Princess herself. Luckily the King could restrain her. Since then the shadow guard has put in all our efforts to try and find her.


    A more troublesome thing is the adventures guild completely refuses to help us find her. We know the princess will probably use adventuring as a source of income so she would have to sign in at some adventures guild branch, but the guild refuses to help. That had even refused the king himself by saying they will stick to their confidentiality policy that the king himself created. It''s like the adventures guild is protecting the princess for some reason.


    We had shadow guards going town to town looking for any sign of the princess, but nothing has shown up until now. I''m at an Inn right now where supposedly a young female stayed a night. The weird thing is she kept all her features hidden, she paid to bathe in the baths alone, and she carried a large weirdly shaped weapon. I know it is a good chance that it''s her so I go to the adventurers guild and ask for the guild manager. When I finally get in the room alone together I disappear from his sight and appear behind his back with a dagger on his throat. I get him to tell me that there was an adventurer who signed in yesterday and she was named Eva. I knew the Princess would keep adventuring to raise her rank. She''s always been a little bit of a fighting maniac.


    I leave the guild and then send a message to the king to inform him of my findings. After the message was sent I remember I came her for the missing towns so I turn back around to the guild so I can peacefully talk to the guild manager again. I know the princess will come back to this town so, for now, I will wait for her here as the king sends more shadow guards as back up. I don''t think the princess will peacefully come back with us so I can''t be blamed for asking for help. Hopefully, by tomorrow I can bring the Princess home safely so she can go back to her family.

 Chapter 20

    Chapter 20


    Saras Skyclaw


    How did things end up like this? I was supposed to just wander around the lands to learn about other cultures and how the people are. I was just keeping my head down while enjoying the new experiences. How come I am now standing over the dead body of the girl that saved me from myself?


    My name isSaras Skyclaw of the dragon tribe. My family has had a strong bloodline for wind dragons for generations. For dragons that mate the offspring will usually have one or the other parent''s element affinity. We aren''t sure why it happens, but we believe it''s somehow related to how dragons all have two hearts and one is usually our mana heart while the other functions as just a heart. We are the only species that have a hereditary magic system. The wind dragons are all known for having dark green scales and the fastest flight speed. My parents were both wind dragons and I have two older brothers that also wind dragons. I am a rare type of dragon that somehow came from my parents. I am a storm dragon with elements for the wind, water, and lighting. I can be considered a very rare and unique existence to the dragon kind. Because of my type I have always been treasured by my family. My brothers have treated me like a princess and my parents have always spoiled me by giving me everything.


    Because of my unique type I had attracted the attention from everyone in the tribe. All the families wanted me to marry their sons so that I can boost their standings in the tribe. My family had never agreed to any of the marriage proposals and always say they will let me marry for love. All my childhood growing up I had people trying to get close to me while all I wanted was to just play at home with my brothers.


    Playtime ended when I turned old enough to begin training though. All of the dragon tribe have the capability to use mana when we are born, but the young aren''t taught until the age of twelve. When I turned twelve my family told me that since there are no storm dragons around right now besides myself that they can only teach me wind magic. Any other magic I would have to discover myself or look through books to find any mention of storm dragons. I rarely trained my mana until I was taught how to use my humanoid form. When I could finally transform I ended up really liking my humanoid form. I enjoyed being smaller and playing around on two legs. Overtime I only had a few spells that I could use, but they were all very powerful. My most unique ability was that I could create storms around me. I only had to will it and the weather would change with me as the center. Besides changing the environment itself all my spells became stronger in my storms. The rain, wind, and lightning all seemed to come to me naturally. My parents had told me that it would sometimes start to rain when I cried as a child.


    When I had turned fifteen it was time for my journey. All dragons are supposed to go on a journey though other lands so they can experience the cultures of different races and kingdoms. This is supposed to help young dragons quickly mature by experiencing the other races. Most dragons don''t have a high evaluation of other races. They don''t hate other races, but they do look down on them. Almost all young dragons go on this journey except a few exceptions. My family had actually tried very hard to persuade me to stay home with them, but my curiosity was just too strong. I wanted to see the different people and cultures. I am supposed to journey for two to five years before returning home and becoming a young adult in the tribe. All dragons humanoid forms follow our age until age twenty. In our humanoid for we will always look twenty even though dragons have an average lifespan of fifteen thousand years.


    I had begun my journey while deciding I would wander around the dwarven kingdom first. I enjoyed my time while keeping my head down to not draw attention. As far as anyone was concerned I was just a human girl seeing a new place for the first time. I wandered around the kingdom for about six months before I decided to cross the mountains to go to the kingdom called the Lemuria Kingdom. It is supposed to be a very powerful human kingdom. I look forward to it because I most resemble a human and I could even stand out a little more while trying to make friends.


    The nightmare had started as I was crossing the mountains by foot. I was just peacefully walking on a trail I had found when from out ofnowhere I felt an invisible force push me to the side. I don''t know what had happened as it felt like I was falling except I was level with the ground. I had kept flying to the side until I hit a large tree. Instantly I felt my body being wrapped up by vines. I decided to show my true form to scare off whatever is attacking me. As my body enlarges in a flash of dark blue light the vines that were wrapped around me began to snap away.


    Two people had then come from behind a tree and I thought they would show fear or respect since I''m a part of the dragon tribe. Instead, I felt an invisible pressure pushing my body down. Tree roots burst from the ground wrapping around my limbs. I keep struggling, but for every root, I tore off another takes its place. Soon I can''t move anymore as I''m being held on the ground. I feel scared because I wasn''t supposed to get in any trouble while on my journey because I was just supposed to wander and observe. I feel myself being pulled back as I''m pressed against the big tree again. No matter how much I try to struggle I can''t get loose. I will a storm to begin in the sky. Clouds begin to form and become denser, but just as the first drop of rain fell the two people came close. They both had black cloaks covering their entire bodies so I couldn''t even see their race. The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    One of them holds up something I''ve never seen before. It''s a large white nail that''s almost glowing. It gives me a sense of dread and I feel scared. I wanted mom or dad to come rescue me then. Instead of being saved the nail is held against my chest by one and the other pulls out a white hammer. They then swung the hammer and with one hit it entered my chest, but it missed both of my hearts. Instead of a physical pain, I feel a pin I have never experienced before. It was like my very essence was being hurt and when I tried to scream no sound came out. I realized that I had no control over my body anymore. I could feel, hear, taste, see and think normal, but it I could not control myself at all.


    My body was then dropped onto the ground as the roots and vines released my body. My first thought was to fly away not, but I still couldn''t move. Instead, my body turned towards a direction and started to move. It kept moving until it reached a mana beast walking through the mountains. My body then attacked the mana beast like a wild animal tearing and ripping it apart. After my body ate parts of the now dead mana beast it moved on. It found another mana beast and attacked it. My body just kept moving on its own attacking anything it caught site of. Eventually, my body had passed the mountain and started to walk through an opengrassland. My body stopped and turned to it left. What I saw through my body is a group of human adventures. I heard about adventures a long time ago and this would have been my first time seeing them, but I had only felt a sense of dread. As I feared my body attacked the humans. It ripped their bodies apart and consumed some of them before moving on like any of the other times before. I want my body to stop, but it kept moving. Days passed and then months passed. My body ate when it needed food and rested when it needed to rest. I lost count of time and how many died by my body as my mind started to go numb and in a daze.


    Eventually, my body made it to the current forest that its in. It looked up and saw a pillar of lava shoot up and I assumed it was another two mana beast fighting over territory. My body moved and what I saw made me feel shocked for the first time in a while. I felt my self-wake up a little and pay attention for once. My body was looking down on a girl probably my age except she had beautiful black hair and eyes. She was looking over the body of a giant mana beast that was completely mangled. She herself was badly injured. For some reason, my body instead of attacking like usual started using my magic to create a storm. My body fought the girl at my full strength and I could feel the pain she was inflicting onmy body.


    Suddenly she changed her strategy and she started trying to destroy the nail in my body. I begged the girl in my mind to save me. I want her to stop me no matter what. I can''t take much more. There''s a flash of light and when I regained my own senses the girl seems to be missing half her upper body and my own tail has pierced through her heart. I''m finally free from myself, but as I look at the girl''s face I cant help but feel despair. I have never seen such a strong desire to live. She has tears in her eyes filled with sadness and despair. I finally can control my body and all I can do is cry. I don''t know this girl or why she''s here, but I owe her my life.


    As I''m crying I remember an old story I was told my mother had told me. A dragon had fallen in love with a human and gave him one of her hearts. He was able to live as long as a dragon''s lifespan would be. I know that what I''m about to try is stupid, but I can''t do anything for her. She had saved me from me. No matter who she is or how she will feel about this I hope she will forgive me for everything I''ve done.


    I grab her dagger that''s fallen beside her and I try to stop the trembling in my hands as I stab into my own chest. It hurts incredibly badly as I slowly cut open my chest. I reach my hand to the cut and open it more. I have to try my best not to start gagging as I look at my own insides and take the dagger to cut out one of my hearts. I see tears start to blur my eyes but I can''t stop. I will be in pain for a while, but I''ll survive and so will she. I keep my heart covered in my mana and I hold it in her open chest. I then start to channel mana into it. A dragon can slowly heal itself if it uses mana and what I''m basically doing is tricking my own heart into believing it''s in my body so it should heal itself in place. I keep channeling mana into the heart while I ignore my own injuries. Slowly it seems my heart begins to heal her. It''s slowly becoming one with her. I notice that the heart is basically connected to her and has become her heart at this point.


    As soon as the heart becomes hers an ominous feeling falls over the area. It is like a cold hand has reached around my neck and could snap my neck with ease. I''ve never felt such an instinctual fear. Dragons are considered the top of the food chain, but even my instincts are screaming danger at me and what ever this is far above me. Where her heart is I see a flicker of a black flame with some red markings. Before I could get a better look the hole immediately starts to close up, but not with skin. Black scales start covering her heart now and I watch as her crippled arm starts twitching around black muscles start forming over her damaged arm and it slowly becomes red afterward. The black scales start to grow along with her arm and the right half of her body with some parts of the right side of her jaw starts to be covered in scales now. I don''t know whats happened to her, but I do know she''s alive now so I begin to use the rest of my mana to start to heal myself. As soon as I am able I pick her up and begin to carry her away from this location. I stop and see her weapon. Even though it damaged me so much it is hardly damaged. I grab it so I can give it to her when she wakes up. I move in a random direction and keep walking hoping that ill find a cave or something for us to heal in. I only hope no more beast show up because I am tired of my body killing so much. If I ever see those people again I will definitely run for my life.

 Chapter 21

    Chapter 21


    Eva Lemuria


    I feel like my mind is covered in a fog. I can barely think right now for some reason and I feel so tired. I slowly open my eyes and see that everything is blurry so I keep trying to look around until my eyes start to refocus and I see that I am inside a cave. It''s just a plain old cave with no signs of mana beast anywhere. I notice that I am lying on some leaves and grass. I don''t know where I am or why I''m here, but my body hurts and I feel exhausted. I decide to check my mana, but something is wrong. Everything inside me is different from before. It''s hard to explain what exactly is wrong. It''s like the mana in my body before was like a small stream flowing through my body, but now it''s like a giant jet of water flying through my body at incredible speeds. My mana has seemed to have evolved into something else entirely. I then check my mana heart and notice that my damage from my forceful awakening has almost completely healed somehow.


    It''s too weird so I force myself to sit up and I grab my chest where my heart is. What I first feel is a sharp pain from where my fingers touched my chest. I look down at my hand and my eyes seem to bulge out. My hand is covered in black scales and my nails seem to be like small claws. They aren''t huge enough that they''ll be inconvenient, but they are sharp enough that they pierced parts of my chest. I follow my hand up my arm and see the scales keep going up my arm. The further I follow my arm the more I panic from what''s changed. I get to my shoulder and notice I don''t even know where the shirt I''m wearing came from. I take it off and see that I have scales covering my right side of my body. It covers part of my right breast and keeps going up. I follow it with my left hand to feel the scales go all the way to my face. I also seem to have scales covering where my heart should be and I start panicking because I remember now.


    I should be dead. I had definitely died from having my heart pulverized by that dragon tail. I had died. I am dead. I shouldn''t be alive, but I can feel a heart beating under those black scales. That''s impossible though because I saw my own heart splattered on that dragon''s chest. I begin to freak out and unconsciously leak my new mana. It''s like a dam breaking and water trying to pour out all at once. The cave starts to shake from the raw force as my panic attack seems to increase. I keep freaking out until I spot my halberd leaning against the wall. I run to my halberd and grab it with my left arm. I raise it up above my right shoulder, but before I could bring it down I am tackled from behind.


    ¡°Stop! What are you doing? Why would you try to do that?¡± Unknown Female


    I''m lying under a girl I''ve never seen before. She has dark blue hair with some tints of green and eyes that match. She''s a very beautiful girl, but I have no idea who she is. M instincts are to push her off so I do that with both arms. I feel as if it''s incredibly easy and she actually flies backward out of the cave. I walk back over and grab my halberd except for this time it''s with my right hand out of habit. I walk out of the cave to see the girl standing up.


    ¡°Who are you? Why would you stop me? Did you do this to me? What have you done?¡± I feel my anger, pain, and frustration is coming out when I usually try to keep calm, but I don''t care.


    ¡°Please calm down. I saved you because you had freed me. You had died while saving me so I gave you one of my hearts.¡± She tells me this, but all I realize is that this is the dragon in her humanoid form.


    Instead of speaking I form a destruction edge and swing quickly towards her. I still feel groggy and unfocused so my attack misses her, but it completely destroys rows of trees and boulders. It''s like a force has pushed away everything in front of me. I go wide eyed before refocusing on the dragon and charge towards her.


    ¡°Wait, stop I''m not being controlled anymore since you saved me! I don''t understand.¡± She keeps dodging my attacks but I won''t give up!


    ¡°You killed me! I had never offended you and you came after my life! And then you turn me into this! What is your game? Why are you doing this to me?¡± I pause to wave at the scales covering my body while also realizing that I''m still shirtless, but it''s okay because I don''t care and dragons can''t tell anyone. ¡°Why would you turn me into a mana mutant? Am I just an experiment to you? Are us humans just play things to you dragons?¡± I can feel some tears coming from my eyes as my emotions keep spiraling out of control.


    ¡°I didn''t want to do any of that! The nail was forcing me to do those things. You then fought to free me from its control, but you had died in the process. I couldn''t let my savior die like that so I gave you my other heart so you can live. I just didn''t know what the repercussions of that would be.¡± Dragon


    ¡°Free you? I was trying to kill you! I thought it would kill you! I wanted you dead then as much as I want it now! So I free you so you turn me into a mana mutant?¡±


    ¡°What is a mana mutant? If anything you''ve become even stronger now. Please stop attacking so we may speak.¡± Dragon


    I stop attacking her and drop to my knees because I still feel completely exhausted. I can barely even move, but I keep glaring at her through my blurry eyes. I don''t care what her reason is for attacking me. She had killed me in her rampage and then brought me back to life. I don''t even know how to feel about it. Being brought back from the dead feels wrong somehow, but at the same time, I feel that it would be too early to die for me. I wanted to keep living so strongly before I passed out, but now that I am alive it feels wrong. Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.


    ¡°You turned me into a mana mutant! A person will gain body parts from wild beast because of too much mana exposure and eventually, they will lose their mind turning into a wild beast themselves. You have turned me into a mana mutant! Why?¡±


    ¡°Dragons are not a beast! You can''t turn into a beast because those are dragon scales. This only happened because of the heart I gave to you became yours. It had adapted your body so you can survive. I don''t know exactly what happened or why the scales are black.¡± Dragon


    What she told me made me start to think. If I''m a mana mutant right now does this mean I will turn into a dragon eventually or will I really just stay as is? I am so confused right now because I don''t know what''s going on.What she said about my scales only surprised me a little, but I don''t think I can feel that shocked about the black color as much as the scales themselves. I have always been covered in blackness so that''s not what bothers me. Even if what she said is true no one else will believe me. If I go home I will just be exiled anyway because I will still seem like a mana mutant. I still don''t believe that I''m not a mana mutant either way. Everything that I have worked hard for will have been pointless once I turn into a mana beast. All the strength I have worked hard for will have been pointless when some adventurers are sent to subjugate me.


    ¡°Whats the point? It seems like you don''t even know. You killed me and then gave me your heart because you felt guilt over it. You turned me into a monster for your own selfish guilt because you claim to have been controlled. You are a dragon. Who could control you when you''re are at the top of the food chain?!¡±


    ¡°Please, I only wanted to help you by giving you your life back. You were strong enough to have beaten me even if I am a young dragon I am still a storm dragon. With such strength and determination to live, I couldn''t let you die because of me.¡± Dragon


    I realize that the entire storm was caused by her. I thought that the storm seemed unnatural, but for a single dragon to create such a large and violent storm shows just how strong she is. I really want to go home now. I feel as if all my energy is being drained from me as this feeling of hopelessness keeps weighing me down. I stare blankly at this dragon as I drop my halberd because I don''t know what to do anymore. This dragon should have just let me die instead of cursing me like this.


    ¡°I can try to take you back to the dragon tribe. They might be able to do something about this if you want. I can''t think of anything else to do to help you. Please don''t try to hurt yourself anymore because I owe you too much so let me try to make it up to you.¡± Dragon


    I guess this is my only option at this point. I just nod at her and remain to kneel where I am blankly staring forward. I know the dragon tribe is powerful and have been relatively secretive about where they live. They keep quite not because they''re afraid of people knowing that, but because they will find it annoying if people always come to bother them. Before I would have been excited about this opportunity. Now I just don''t care about where I am going. I just wish that they will be able to help me with this problem. I want them to return me back to how I was before or else I don''t know what I''ll be able to do anymore. The dragon comes back to me while holding all the stuff left in the cave. She has hand made a basket filled with fruits and nuts that she must have been collecting earlier. She is also holding the shirt I was wearing earlier towards me, but I ignore it because I simply don''t care about modesty right now. She realizes I''m not responding so she starts to put the shirt on me while blushing.


    ¡° I will transform back into my real form so I can carry you back to my home as quickly as we can. Even in my real form, it will take about two days to arrive. I hope you can endure with just this to eat because I will fly us there without stopping. By the way, what is your name? I am Saras Skyclaw.¡± Dragon


    ¡°I am Eva Lemuria. I don''t care so just take me. I¡¯ll probably be fine.¡± She shows a shocked expression before a concerned one.


    After that, there is a flash of a dark blue light and then there''s a dragon in front of me. I shiver a little when I realize that she really is the one who had killed me. I feel her tail wrap around me before I am picked up and placed on her back. The same tail that had pierced my chest had now gently picked me up and moved me around so carefully. She then walks over to my halberd and grabs it with her claws. The starts to flap her wings and begins to fly up.


    This is the first time that I''ve flown through the air without using my lighting shift. In my shift form the world is only seen through a weird static sight so I can''t see anything that isn''t solid, but while riding on her back I can see all the clouds underneath us and the blue sky. It¡¯s definitely a beautiful sight for sure. If only I wasn''t so consumed with my feelings of helplessness and despair I could properly appreciate this feeling of freedom.


    We keep flying till it gets dark out. I then remembered Saras said she would keep flying continuously. I move my head for the first time in a while to look straight up. The night sky is beautiful tonight with bright stars and the moons are both crescents tonight. I remember learning in school that some people believe that the moons were two powerful beings that had each split apart their bodies to create our world and now they watch over us in the night sky. There is a small portion of the population that believes this and warships the moons to show their gratefulness. Their symbol is the two moons next to each other but to me, it''s just a blue and red circle next to each other. Tonight they''re both crescents facing each other while surrounded by stars. It''s a beautiful sight, but I focus between the two moons. Between them, there are no stars or any light at all. It is only pure pitch black darkness. I keep looking into the darkness while watching it as if it is watching me too. I feel myself focusing more on the darkness as I become lost within it. All of a sudden I feel as if I''m surrounded by nothing but darkness and I look around me to see nothing at all. When I look forward there are to giant eyes looking at me with a look I can''t even comprehend. I then realize the eyes are both black like mine and I begin to panic for some reason.


    I snap out of my daze and tumble backward from my sitting position. I roll right off of Saras back and begin to free fall. I still feel myself shivering and my mind is hazy. I don''t know what I just saw, but it seemed to have been a really weird hallucination. I must still be tired from this experience if I''m seeing a weird thing like that. I look up to try and see the two moons again, but all I can see is Saras diving towards me with one of her claws stretched towards me. I remember how sharp these claws are as they were previously trying to kill me and I begin to panic. I cross my arms over my face to protect myself. I don''t feel the death I was expecting. Instead, I''m held carefully as if I could break with the slightest movement. Saras seems to be trying to say something to me, but I can hear. I am too tired. I can''t even struggle in her grasp as I feel my conscious start to fade. The last thing I do before I pass out is to look past Saras towards the darkness between the moons, but all I see is a starless night sky.

 Chapter 22

    Chapter 22


    Eva Lemuria


    I woke up in an unfamiliar place. Its dark, but there''s light coming through the thin walls. I look around and see that I am sleeping on a weird mattress on the ground and most of the furniture in this room is unfamiliar to me. I get up and look at my body that''s wrapped up in some unfamiliar clothes. They''re like robes held closed by a cloth belt around my stomach. I don''t recognize these type of clothes at all so I look around the room for my own clothes, but I found absolutely nothing in this room. I look around the room till I spot an opening in the walls that I assume is a gap in the door. I push on it, but it doesn''t move forward so I move it around till it slides to the side. It''s weird at first for me, but I can see the convenience of not having a door swing in or out.


    I look outside and see a beautiful courtyard with a lovely garden. I don''t stop and admire the garden long as I move down the path till I find more rooms, but they are all empty and covered in dust for some reason. It seems only my room was clean. As I am walking through this building while looking through rooms I notice that I have been using my right arm as naturally as before and I cant help, but feel disgusted for it. I reach for where my dagger would normally be till I remember I don''t have anything. I keep walking till I see a gate that will hopefully lead me out of here.


    I push open the gates and look around. I seem to be in a small village area, but everything is extremely well made. Its simple, but has and amazing elegance to it. I notice that there are no people around and a lot of this small village is dirty and seems as if it has been abandoned. As I am about to go take a look around I hear wind rushing and large wings flapping. I look up and see several dragons coming toward me. I cant help myself and to be scarred of their appearance. I realize I probably now have a slight trauma from my death so I cant help but be defensive. I will my mana and around me, to form a ring of flames from the ground to surround me. My flame armor then wraps around me and I take a defensive stance. The dragons land away from me and I get a good look at them. There are two green dragons, one red dragon, and a familiar dark blue dragon.There are flashes of light and the dragons are gone and people have taken their place, but I do not let my guard down.


    ¡°Eva please calm down. No one here means you any harm ok? These are my parents.¡± Saras waves two the two that are dressed similarly to each other in green robes. ¡°And this is a scholar from our tribe.¡± She then waves to the one in red robes with a face that looks like he should be a general instead of a scholar. She herself is wearing the same green robes as her parents.


    I finally realize that we had made it to the dragon tribe and this little village must have been for their human forms or something else, but the dragons must prefer their true forms. I look around past the village and see that we''re in some kind of valley surrounded by tall mountains in all directions. I see in the distance that there are some giant buildings embedded into the mountains that must be the dragons homes. They are big enough to fit the Dragons comfortably it seems.


    I keep looking around and realize I should calm down so I take a breath and release my flame armor and the ring of fire around me. I absolutely don''t trust anyone here so I still keep my guard up. Three of these people are strangers and the last one had killed me before cursing me.


    ¡°Do you mind if we can come closer and inspect your arm?¡± The red robed dragon asked me so I nodded my head before outstretching my arm and pulling up my sleeve. He slowly approaches while introducing himself. ¡°My name is Zane Sunspot and I am a scholar and record keeper in our tribe.¡± He reaches me and then grabs my wrist as he probes my arm with his other hand. I don''t care that he is a little rough because my arms scales seem to be a natural armor.


    While he keeps probing my arm the other three approach as well. The man and woman that are Saras parents both look like her in the facial features, but Saras has dark blue hair with tints of green while their hair and eyes are both different tints of green. The woman has a more bright green while the man has a darker green. They are both looking at me with analyzing eyes trying to figure out everything about me. Finally, the man opens his mouth to speak first.


    ¡°Your name is Eva Lemuria Correct?¡± I nod my head. ¡°You are the princess of the humans the Lemuria Kingdom?¡± I again nodded my head with a saddened look. ¡°One of our past members that went of his journey had heard rumors about you in the kingdom. It seems the rumor about you being different is true now that I look at you.¡± I glare at the shitty dragon talking nonsense. I cant tell if he is trying to piss me off or not. I know those rumors all say I''m a monster.


    ¡°What my husband means is that we have heard of you and we are grateful that besides rumors you were kind enough to save our daughter.¡± Saras mother seems to try and recover the situation, but she seems to have gotten something fundamentally wrong.


    ¡°I guess she skipped the part where I wasn''t trying to save her. I was trying to kill her. I thought I had found a weakness not whatever was controlling her. I wanted her dead then and I still kinda do.¡± I decide that nothing really matter now so why not tell the truth straight out. They both look shocked before turning towards their daughter who looks back at them with a saddened gaze. ¡°Where are my weapons? My dagger and halberd are both important to me even if they''re damaged. And my clothes are gone so who changed me?¡±


    ¡°We have given your weapons to our blacksmiths so that they can try and fix them and also study them a little. They are both different from the things we''ve seen before so they wanted to look them over a little. As for your clothes, my daughter and I changed you so that we can look at the scales covering your more private parts.¡± Saras mother explains to me composed before looking saddened. ¡°Do you truly feel that way about my daughter even after she cut out her own heart and saved your life?¡±


    ¡°She killed me! She had completely destroyed my heart and she cursed me with this!¡± I rip my arm out of Zane''s hands and showing them my arm. ¡°Do you not understand how I will be treated by others now? I have become a mana mutant that will be exiled from my own country. I''m already tainted in black, but now I have this. I will have no place to accept me!¡±


    I feel my uncontrolled anger bursting forth. The emotions that seem to have been blocked are finally rushing out. They can''t even understand how I feel. One just wants to study me like a specimen while the others are probably thinking the same as everyone else. They look normal, but I know they are only seeing me in disgust. I won''t accept this. I form my flame armor before I throw a destruction fist at them. Saras dad snorts before holding out his palm, but when it crashes with my attack his face shows shock before my attack explodes in his face and he''s sent flying into the abandoned village. ¡°I will not be looked down on! I won''t take those looks from you!¡± I start my lightning shift except this time it was different. Before I have to slowly shift my body one part at a time. Now my whole body shifted instantly and I moved straight above the abandoned village and look at the dragon getting off the ground before there''s a green flash and a dragon is standing there in his true form. I hold both my hands up and start to gather destruction element into a ball. I let it keep growing and Saras dad seems to realize my thoughts as he flies towards me with a panicked expression. I throw my attack straight down at him as the wind starts to gather around him forming a bubble. My ball of destruction clashes with his shield and stops so I form a destruction fist before throwing it at the ball of destruction. It pushes forward and both my attack and the dragon crashes into the ground before exploding. You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.


    As I am about to rush forward I am blindsided by Saras again. She stopped me from cutting off my arm before and now she snuck up on me again. She is in her dragon form this time and I can''t help but shiver from seeing her.


    ¡°Get away from me!¡± I try to throw a punch but she wraps her arms around me and her tail also wraps around me. I try to struggle free from her, but I can¡¯t. As I am panicking My right arm starts to slowly free itself from her and once it''s free I try to punch her away, but another tail completely wraps around it. Saras mother is also in her dragon form now holding me. They make their way back down to the ground as I keep struggling. I start to release all the lighting in my body as I thrash around. All of a sudden I become dizzy and have trouble breathing. The air is becoming thinner around us. I feel my body slowly losing its strength. Damn it! I cant pass out here. I don''t know what they will do to me if I lose conscious here. ¡°Damn it! Let go! Aaaaahhhhh!¡± I let lose all my mana that I have and as if there is an eclipse the light starts to fade from the area around me. No, it''s more like my mana is tinting everything it touches black. I feel their grip loosen. I take the chance and release a wave of condensed mana around me to push them away. Once free I jump up only to be blasted away by something. I crash through the abandoned village before rolling to a stop. I look up to see Zane in his dragon form. He lands right on top of me and holds me down. I keep thrashing, but he is far stronger that the other two. The air starts becoming thinner again only quicker this time since I already discovered their trick they don''t try to do it stealthily. I can''t keep going anymore. The world is becoming blurry. I feel myself be release, but I cant even move my body anymore. I slowly lose consciousness.


    Talia Skyclaw


    I am Talia Skyclaw a wind dragon of the dragon tribe. I cant be considered a very powerful dragon in our tribe, but I am still a dragon so I can be considered strong to other races. This just makes it more unbelievable how this little girl was able to overpower us. It took Zane holding her down just to give us the chance to knock her out. He is a scholar, but he was also born with the incredible strength and his knowledge allows him to use it to the fullest potential.


    I look back to the black haired girl that my daughter had brought home and can''t help but feel a headache. We were home relaxing as a family when a dragon came in and told us our daughter had returned from her journey. He had a complicated face when he told us but we ignored him as we rushed towards our daughters location. She was at the valley entrance and was being held up there for some reason. Normally a dragon can come and go as they like so the guards are only supposed to stop other races. When we got there I noticed Saras was injured so I rushed past the guards to get a better view. I saw my daughter protecting the human girl and wouldn''t let anyone approach. We couldn''t even get a good look at the girl so I asked my daughter who the girl was and my daughter told me it''s her savior. My daughter wouldn''t let anyone approach until they would tell her the girl will be same no matter what. If the human was my daughter savior so I don''t know why anyone would want to hurt her. While we were trying to connive my daughter the family heads all showed up because of the disturbance being made. We all agreed with my daughters demand so she finally let us approach and get a good look at the girl she claims to be her savior.


    The girl was a shocking sight. She had black hair and my daughter says she had matching eyes. It was really shocking that she had scales covering parts of her right side. My daughter then explained everything that has happened to her. While talking she had broken down in tears while speaking. When she got to the part where she cut out her second heart everyone had mortified faces. This is a really serious matter because someone has attacked our dragon tribe and my daughter has done something completely unheard of with unknown repercussions. My daughter said she got the idea from old stories and I feel my headache increase. Those stories are incredibly old and no one really knows if they are true but she did it anyway. I''m not sure if I should feel pity for this girl or hate her for causing my daughter to suffer that pain and whatever repercussions her actions will have. While we were talking the earth dragons notice the girls weapons my daughter was carrying so they took them to study because they''ve never seen them before. The rest of the tribe heads leave so we take the girl to the abounded village that we would use when we have a guest from other races.


    My daughter and I cleaned up the girl while Saras told me the girl was named Eva Lemuria and she was a princess of the human kingdom. Apparently, this girl was someone we had flagged because of rumors about her being a monster. I can see now that she does seem to be different and she had the strength to defeat my daughter. I can¡¯t imagine what having my daughters heart and that arm will do for her now. We cleaned her before putting her in some guest robes. We had used some wind earlier to clean a room for her to rest in before I took my daughter back to our house. We got there and I saw my husband Dan Skyclaw talking to Zane. Apparently, Zane is interested in Eva because of her hair color and her arm.


    We talk for a while about our plans and what we should do about this situation. We decide that the best thing would have been to talk to her first so we fly back over to the abounded village only to see her already awake. She''s standing outside the main residence in nothing, but the sleeping robes we put her in. I thought that she''s incredibly indecent at first before realizing we left her nothing else. When she spots us she instantly went on the defensive. After that she allows Zane to examine her arm, but my husband seemed to have said the wrong thing to her in a very condescending tone so I try to save the situation, but it seems my daughter left some things out of her story. Everything that Eva had said did seem reasonable. We argue till Eva¡¯s emotions seem to burst forth and then the situation completely deteriorates. She ends up being far stronger than we could have expected as she completely overwhelms us. It takes Zane to hold her down so we can knock her out.


    Here we are standing over a crying girl that we had knocked unconscious and it gives me a very sourer feeling. My husband seems completely enraged, but it''s probably just his pride thatis hurt from being overwhelmed by a human girl. Saras is crying while holding Eva. I don''t know why she cares so much, but she seems to have become attached to the girl that saved her. Zane is looking very serious probably trying to come up with a solution.


    ¡°We shall take her to the prisons and chain her up. She seems to have strength slightly above you green dragons, but you are known for speed and agility, not strength. We will have to use those chains to hold her down there.¡± Zane


    ¡°We can¡¯t! She is completely innocent! She''s scared and emotional from her experiences!¡± Saras cries out


    ¡°Saras we will make sure that she''s comfortable there, but until she''s more stable we cant have her running around. We also cant let her go or kill her because we don''t know what effects Saras giving her heart will have. We don''t know if their might still be some connection between you.¡± I hope she understands that this is the best option. We will make sure she''s comfortable till we can feel safe letting her out. My daughter nods with her consent and we pick her up to move her.


    After we secured Eva in the giant cell made for dragons we leave Saras behind to watch Eva. The rest of us make our ways to the archives to find some answers. We are going to look for information on that story I told Saras and we will also look for anything about Eva''s black hair and eyes. We will also look for anything about black dragons because I have never heard of anything like a black dragon. The closes thing was a gray dragon called the ash dragon, but he was a variant like Saras. We know that the scales one Eva are definitely dragon scales and not a reptile like snakes. For now, we can only look for answers while we wait for Eva to become more stable. We might consider sending someone to inform her family as well because of its easier to avoid any political problems later on.

 Chapter 23

    Chapter 23


    Eva Lemuria


    I wake up again in an unfamiliar place and I feel upset that this has been happening far too often. I look around at my obvious confinement cell. I feel multiple chains on my right arm and chains around my other limbs as well. There''s one chain around my neck that feels like it''s coating my whole body in a shield that keeps all my mana in. I can also tell these chains are all engraved with enchantments like the rest of the stone prison. The stone walls are covered heavily in enchantments. They put me on a bed, but it seems kinda pointless. It feels like false sincerity. I look forward at the bars to my prison cell and see that Saras is sitting on a bench out side my cell sleeping. I get up off the mattress and see that they have changed me into some green robes that they wear themselves. I''m a little annoyed because with every one of my little movements my chains rattle. I grab a blanket off my bed and move towards the corner of my cell to sit down wrapped up in a blanket. It seems at some point my movement had awoken Saras.


    ¡°Eva! You''re awake! How do you feel? We had to knock you out because you were becoming dangerous. We only plan to keep you here till you calm down or we find out more about me giving you my heart so we can just release you.¡± I don''t respond because of there be any point. She''s speaking as if it''s something so simple, but who knows if I¡¯ll ever leave this cell alive. I guess the only thing I can do is spend my time quietly in here. I have no accesses to my mana, but I can still move so I might work on my body more. I won''t be able to do much because of these chains so I''ll have to be creative with my exercises. I¡¯ll wait till one day that I can escape from these damn lizards. ¡°Eva please understand that I didn''t want this, but you were too unstable. You were already strong enough to defeat a young dragon and now that you have my heart and that arm you are much stronger than before. That arm is more than just scales. It was completely rebuilt from the bones up while I was watching it. Its strength is no joke and if you had used it earlier you could have really hurt us. While you are here I will be taking care of you so just ask if there''s anything you need.¡±


    I don''t speak to her because there''s nothing that she can give me that I would want. I highly doubt she would give me my weapons and I don''t think she''s dumb enough to believe me if I said the chains are too tight. She''s incredibly naive but not necessarily dumb. I think even she realizes I would definitely try to escape. While she keeps looking at me expectantly my stomach starts to growl and I realize I don''t even know how long it has been since I ate. I think the last time I ate anything was days ago before I went into the forest to hunt that mana beast. Saras gets up with a small smile before leaving the cell. I take this chance to examine the chains that are wrapped around me. I notice all the chains have more simple engraving so they must only be enchanted for strength while the one on my neck is keeping my magic in check. I walk forward towards the bars to see how long my chains allow me to reach. I am able to reach right before the bars and not even a little bit closer. I look at the bars and see they have the same engravings as the rest of the cell. I look for a bit before going back to the corner and sitting back down.


    Saras comes back shortly with a tray of food. I was expecting some kind of gruel considering that I am a prisoner while instead, I received a decent meal that seems to be something that is high class and reminds me of the food they had at the academy for noble students. Eva walks towards the gate with the food and stops to put the tray of food through the slot on the bottom of the gate and slides it forward.


    ¡°I would bring it closer to you, but my parents didn''t give me access to the gate. I don''t think they trust me not to let you go. I probably would have let you go free by now if I could so they''re not wrong I guess. I promise we would not withhold and necessities or comforts. I don''t think you''ll be here long anyway.¡± Saras


    She truly seems like a naive girl. Apparently, she was on a journey through other races nations. I don''t think she was able to have a long journey to truly learn how the world works and what people truly are like. I wouldn''t be surprised if they learn that I am a mana mutant and kill me in this cell. I have no hope of leaving here. It doesn''t mean that I won''t try to survive for as long as I can. I get up and take the food off the ground before moving back to my corner. I eat all the food and I must admit it was delicious and at the same time a very healthy balanced meal.


    After eating I throw the tray back under the gate and move to the center of my cell. I then drop onto my hands and begin doing pushups. I keep up the exercise until I''m exhausted and then I move onto my next exercise. While working out I can''t help but reminisce about the days I first started training with Shadow. I was a little girl then that just wanted to become stronger to make myself feel better and now I don''t think anything has changed. I want to become even stronger than I am now, but I want it all to be my own strength. While thinking that, I put my right arm behind my back and notice the difficulty has defiantly increased. The right arm is something caused by Saras so it''s not my own strength. I don''t even think my mana can be considered my own anymore since I know have another heart. Since I can''t use mana or anything else right now I will make my body stronger than even a dragons.


    After I exercise for a while I notice that Saras has stayed there the whole time just watching me. I feel angry overtime I look at her and then I realize that I have always been calmer than this. I would not even get angry when my own brother was cruel to me, but all these strangers are enraging me so much is strange. I start to think about how they keep telling me I''m unstable so I start to think about it. If they want me calm I will try to meditate. Shadow had taught me that meditating will calm the mind and stabilize the body when I was younger. At the time I wasn''t able to succeed at all because I would rather work on my magic and weapon techniques. Now that I have nothing else to do so I''ll try to meditate. Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.


    I sit at the back of my cell and cross my legs while folding my hands in my lap. I close my eyes and focus on myself. I keep looking into myself to learn every part of my body. I look at myself and try to understand it as well. I don''t know how much time has passed, but I feel like I''ve finally found something. Inside my body, I can do more than feeling my mana now. It''s like I can see it and my mana is all a pure white, but once it goes through my mana heart it always becomes black mana. I begin to look at my mana heart and realize that my heart isn''t really anything that special. My heart is actually more of a container for what seems to be my real mana heart. I keep looking at it and it becomes more clear as time passes. It¡¯s an ethereal black flame that floating right where my heart is. I realize that what ever this is, it''s the reason all my mana is black and it must affect everything else too. I start to think of what this is and as it becomes more clear I notice there''s something on it. There is some kind of red marking on it. It''s like it''s imprinted on the flames themselves.


    As I keep focusing on what these marking on I feel myself leave my body. I feel myself being pulled into a different space and I when I open my eyes I am no longer in my cell. Instead, im standing in a circular room with doors in each direction. Almost all the doors are blank but a few of them have strange symbols on them. I look up and see that all there is above is darkness. There''s no roof or anything just darkness with no light at all. The ground has the same symbol I saw on that black flame embedded in a weird red glowing marble. The rest of the ground and the room is a mixture of a black and white marble.


    I walk towards a door that has an eye on it and Iopen the door. Inside I see a very plain room, but there is a giant crystal in the room. I look at the crystal, but all I see is blackness. I look for anything else and I even tried touching the crystal, but nothing changed. I leave the room and go towards the door that has a six point star marking it. Inside I find a giant library that seems to go on for ever. Almost all the shelves are empty though. I walk to one of the few books there are and when I try to open it, it doesn''t open. I look around and see a pillar sticking out of the ground with an indent in it. I put the book on the indent and watch for a reaction. I look up at the strange images that are appearing above the pillar and feel shocked because these are showing parts of my life. This is one of the days that I was training when I was a young child. It was just the typical training regimen that I would always do with shadow, but I don''t know why I am seeing it now. I forgot about this insignificant day, but watching it now I know it''s real as I can remember it. I keep watching and I can guess every single thing that happens before it happens so I know this is a real memory.


    I take the book off the pillar and run to grab another one to see which memory it is. I keep going through the books and wonder why this is all here. Why are my memories in these books and what is this place? I keep thinking of what this place is and then I wonder how I got in and how I will get out. I leave this library and stand where I came in. None of these doors seem like an exit so I don''t know how to get out. While I''m thinking this the symbol I am standing on glows and I feel myself being lifted before I suddenly feel delirious as I close my eyes and when I open them again I am back in my cell chained up again. I look around and see that I am in the exact same spot as before and that Saras is gone. I also feel incredibly hungry even though I had just eaten a little while ago. While I was pondering what I just did I hear footsteps and Saras walks in. She looks into the cell and sees me standing in the middle of the room.


    ¡°Eva! You''re finally awake. You''ve been ignoring me for a whole week now. I kept trying to call you, but you just sat there.¡± I go wide eye and realize that my meditation session took longer than I thought. I''m just not sure how much time it took meditating and how much time I spent in that weird space. ¡°You must be hungry. Hold on I''ll run and get you some food.¡± It seems she has begun to understand me even though I won''t speak to her if she can tell that I''m hungry just like that. I sit back down and keep thinking of that space. I think I may have been inside my own mana heart which is completely unheard of. I know the people that would have the most knowledge on these things are the dragons, but I absolutely can''t trust them so, for now, I will spend my time training my body and meditating. I will wait in this cell till I''m released or I am given the chance to escape.


    ¡°Eva I brought you food so here you go. I always have to bring you a lot because you always starve yourself like this. Eva, I know you won''t forgive me but I will stay here to make sure you are all right until I can persuade my parents to let you out. You don''t have to speak to me if you don''t want to. I will still make up for what I have done so please let me do that.¡± She looks at me pleadingly. I stare at her and feel some rage, but when I think of her true form I also feel fear. I just nod my head towards her and continue eating.


    While I eat Saras keeps talking about the dragon tribe and how their hierarchy works. Apparently, there are multiple families in this valley that all make up the dragon tribe. Each family has a family head that can be either the oldest wife or husband. It seems like a dragon will marry a different type of dragon and the offspring would usually be one or the other. They don''t have to marry only their own type. Saras''s parents are both just coincidently wind dragons and she somehow ended up as a variant. While Saras is explaining her family life I had finished my meal and began working out again. Saras proceeds to talk about how all the other families want the children to marry her because she''s a variant. Because of all the other boys around her with ulterior motives she''s only ever trusted her brothers who simply enjoy treating her like a princess. She asked me if her experience is really how a princess is treated and I only scoff as I remember only my parents, sister, Julie, and Cathy ever acknowledged me as a princess. My mind started to wander towards them so I shook my head and focused back on training my body.


    Saras kept talking and talking for hours without end till I got up and laid on my bed. At this point, she said goodnight and left herself. The following days these patterns continued with my training and meditating while Saras brings me food and talks to me about various things. Slowly the days started to merge together and I lost track of time. How ever long it was the only person I talked to in this time is Saras so I wondered how they were doing their research on me without seeing me. The regular pattern did change one day when Saras didn''t show up, but three other dragons.

 Chapter 24

    Chapter 24


    Nigel Skyclaw


    I am Nigel Skyclaw the next head of the Skyclaw wind dragon family in the dragon tribe. A lot of the dragon tribes can be very formal and follow etiquette very closely even amongst themselves. Our family is much more closeto each other because we drop formalities with each other. We are only formal when interacting with another family. I am happy about this because it has allowed me to spoil and play with my younger siblings as much as I want without restraint. My little brother has always followed me and grew up trying to be just like me and our father. My little sister was very special. She was born as a rare storm dragon and because of that, she attracted a lot of attention.


    Other families would normally have prearranged marriages for the children from the day they were born, but we did not follow this custom. We would always marry for love in our family so when all the families came to our house to try and tie Saras to them we had to refuse all of them. These families new our policies but had still kept pestering us. Eventually, we had to allow those families children to interact with Saras. We thought maybe she will actually find someone she likes this way. Instead of playing and having fun with the other children Saras would actually act cold to them so we realized Saras seems to have a very good intuition towards people. She would instead love to play with her brothers Drew and I. We got along so great with our little sister that we couldn''t help but to spoil her and constantly play with her whenever she wanted. We still had obligations to allow the other families children to interact with Saras but she did not respond to any of them. Even when she gave them the cold shoulder they had assumed this was her personality so they did not give up on their marriage ideas. We decided that the best thing to do was to just ignore their advances and let them believe what ever they want.


    We spent years following the same pattern of days. Saras would see some of the boys that believed they had her heart and then she would come and train with us before playing. She had amazing abilities because she was a rare variant, but she just enjoyed playing around most of the time. She already had incredible strength but she was too young and naive. I remember all those time she would become upset and the valley would be covered in a storm until we managed to calm her down using various means. Sometimes we would simply coax her with words, sometimes we would even trick her with sweets, and sometimes we would actually have to make her pass out. We only had to revert to these extremes whenever she was truly upset and a very powerful storm was raging.


    Eventually, the time had come for Saras to go on her journey to experience the other races and cultures. I remember when I went on my journey and I enjoyed all the experiences and I was able to bring back souvenirs for everyone in my family. I didn''t stay away for very long because I didn''t actually socialize much with others as to avoid attachment. It did get lonely sometimes but overall it wasn''t that hard considering it is just a small portion of my life. My parents had actually wanted to keep Saras home instead of sending her on the journey. We were all actually surprised at how excited Saras seemed about going on this journey so we sent her on her way for her journey.


    She went on her journey to start her journey and we all continued with our own lives while we waited for her return. We knew how excited she was to go and explore the world so we expected her to be gone for a long time. That is why we were surprised that she had returned in just one year. Saras returned injured and with some weird girl that had dragon scales and she had black features. We were all shocked and worried as she told us her story. We didn''t tell Saras but after her story we sent out some dragons to investigate this and if there''s any group or even Kingdom responsible for hurting her we are already planning on destroying them. Saras was completely focused on the girl named Eva after she returned. She was completely obsessed with making sure Eva was all right. Even when the girl attacked our parents and her, Saras kept defending her and making sure she wasn''t harmed. When Saras wasn''t around I even told my parents we should put that girl down, but the denied it. Over time we noticed that the only time we saw Saras now was at small intervals of when the girl was apparently sleeping. Saras just kept on going back every single day to take care of the girl and then coming back to tell us about what she talked about today with Eva and then she would go to sleep herself. I noticed that overtime Saras told us about her day that Eva didn''t actually say anything to Saras. It seems as though she just sitting in her cell most of the time while also doing some simple workouts. We couldn''t understand why Saras wanted to keep taking care of this girl and when we offered to have someone else do it Saras denied our offer immediately saying she doesn''t trust others.


    We had some of our people actually go to the girl''s kingdom to look her up and we learned that she had runaway a year ago from her kingdom. She apparently wasn''t very popular among her own people. They all believed she was either a mana mutant of some other kind of monster. She had runaway after a duel with her brother that she won before banishing her brothers master. She was missing for six months before she fought Saras. She was brought here and now it has been six months that we''ve had her locked up and she hasn''t said a single word since the first day. We found out that her family is still looking for her and apparently they have intensified their search since they found the sight of Saras and Eva¡¯s battle. We still haven''t decided to contact her kingdom yet about us having her.


    We had actually finally found a clue to the story that mentions a dragon giving a human a heart in the past. Apparently, the story is true and the dragon tribe at the time had been disgusted by the incident so they banished them out of the valley. Years later the dragon''s family went to look for her and when they did they saw that she had a nice family growing and had human offspring with incredible magic capabilities. The only problem was that the dragon and the human had unstable feelings for each other. They seemed like they couldn''t bare to be separated from each other. Apparently, at the time they said that they are connected with each other and share everything without even speaking. They didn''t go into details in the records that we had, but there was a note saying this situation should definitely be avoided in the future.


    This piece of news had us all worried about what will become of Saras. She has already been very obsessed with taking care of Eva so we worried if it will become more intense feeling for her. While we were worrying Zane mentioned that both the human and dragon had both changed while Eva seems to completely disregard Saras. We decided that we need to speak with Eva without Saras alone so after a lot of persuading Saras agreed to take a day off from taking care of the girl. She agreed but not without making us promise not to bully Eva. I did feel a little hurt that Saras assumed we would be mean to the girl when all we wanted to do was ask some questions.


    So with mother watching Saras Zane, Drew and I make our way towards the prison. We arrive at the heavily fortified gate at the bottom of a cliff. There are only two guards watching the entrance, but currently, we have only one prisoner here so its pretty much enough. We go inside and make our way to the only occupied cell. Inside the cell its dark with only candlelight from outside the cell to illuminate our surroundings. Inside the cell we see one girl sitting cross-legged with her hands folded in her lap. Her entire body is covered in chains that are attached to the back of the cell. The entire cell is so quite that you can even hear the slight breeze that flows through the cell. The atmosphere changes when the girl opens her eyes and stares at us expressionlessly. Her eyes are like a black void as she stares at us and I cant help, but feel uncomfortable. Before I felt a little guilty about locking up such a young girl with so much chains, but now that I look into her eyes I feel as if she can easily kill me.This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.


    ¡°Miss Lemuria we wanted to ask you some questions so I hope you will answer. We wanted to know if your feelings for Saras has changed in any way.¡± Zane starts things off by going straight to the point. Eva has been analyzing us for a while now but shows no signs of responding. ¡°Miss Lemuria you seem much calmer than six months ago. Before your temper seemed to be very unstable now you seem different so you must have a better understanding of your own emotions. So please tell us what you feel about Saras.¡± Her eyes momentarily widened when we mentioned the time she''s been here before she looked slightly away to ponder before looking back at us without responding.


    ¡°Tell me how you feel about Seras! We need to know because it''s important.¡± I decide to try and intimidate her, but her expression doesn''t change. So I decided to tell her why. I start to explain to her the story of the past dragon and human. She has various reactions though out the story, but every action is very slight making it so I can barely read her. We had wanted her to calm down before, but it seems she has a whole new kind of calm. I finish the story and she stands up before walking forward with the chains rattling the whole time.


    ¡°Hatred. I feel nothing but hatred for her and the rest of you.¡± Eva''s voice is hoarse from not speaking for so long and her face is completely blank as she answers my question, but I can see the hatred in her eyes. ¡°Do you expect me to just suddenly start to feel anything else for the one who had killed me? She then cursed me while you locked me up.¡± She lifts up her arm and this is the first time I have personally seen her black scales that match her other features. ¡°I don''t care what she feels for me or what any of you think. I feel only hatred burning inside me.¡± She then walks to the back corner of her cell to sit back down. She closes her eyes to signal that she is done answering our questions.


    I don''t think we would be able to persuade her to speak anymore so I lead us out of the prison. I don''t think she was lying at all either. Either Eva and Saras are different from the human and dragon in the past and Saras truly wants to help Eva or for some reason, only Saras is being affected by giving her heart away to Eva. For now, the only thing we can do is keep observing Sarasand make sure her behavior doesn''t become more out of control. I think it would also be fine to send someone to inform the Lemuria Kingdom of this. I will have to wait to ask the council first though.


    ¡°Brother, did you bully Eva?¡± While we were flying back home we were intercepted by Saras. She''s actually in her true form even though she usually stays in her humanoid for lately. ¡°You better have been nice to her. I can tell if you weren¡¯t.¡±


    ¡°How can you tell? That girl shows no reaction to things and she only spoke a few words.¡± I don''t want to tell her that those few words were about her hatred for Saras and the rest of us.


    ¡°Eh, when I''m with her I just know. So if she''s in the worst mood later ill blame you. She''s already usually upset anyway.¡± Saras


    ¡°Why is she usually upset? If she''s upset you don''t have to constantly take care of her if she''s being mean to you.¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s upset because she hates me. Even if she hates me I won''t stop trying to make up for what I have done to her until she tells me to. Since she doesn''t speak then its fine. If anything I am a little upset she talked to you and not me.¡± Saras seems to already completely understand that girl. She explains that she''s hated as if it¡¯s the most natural thing in the world. I really don''t like my little sister acting this way. She''s been loved since she was born, but now she speaks as if being hated by this girl is a good thing. The other families in the tribe have been trying to get her to like them for years, but one girl who would want nothing to do, but kill Saras has her full attention willingly. ¡°I am going to go and give Eva a meal now brother.¡±


    ¡°Miss Saras please wait!¡± Right as my sister was about to leave some other young dragons fly to where we are. These are the usual young dragons who have been trying to court my sister for years. They all seem to believe that they''re one step away from capturing her heart. The one speaking is the strongest red dragon of their generation, Vance Sunspot. He is Zane¡¯s nephew but is completely different because he''s arrogant and a typical supremacist. Apparently, his journey only lasted for one year before. He felt that all the other races were beneath dragons and should either be ruled or crushed by dragons. ¡°Miss Saras where are you going? I''ve heard that you''ve kept a pet monster since you''ve returned. Instead of taking care of it yourself you should let someone else take care of it while you come spend some time with me.¡± Even I must admit that if it wasn''t for Vance''s mindset he would be a very charming person, but if the overcast that just appeared in the sky says anything its that his approach is wrong.


    ¡°Mister Sunspot I will ask that you do not speak so carelessly around me in the future. Eva is someone that is far more important to me than almost anyone else. She is someone that I have given my heart to.¡± I know that Saras is technically not lying but her choice of wording is definitely to mess with these boys. No one but the family heads knows that Saras literally gave her heart to Eva. These boys have completely shocked faces and some of them quickly turn to disgust and the sky is completely darkened by storm clouds.


    ¡°You love a female human enough to say this to me? They are just bugs to us so I could accept you to keep one as a pet if you like. I cant accept you disrespecting me for one of those humans. Now come with us or maybe you''re little pet might get hurt when you''re not looking.¡± Oh crap, this is bad. The sky is completely raging now. The rain has started to fall and the wind is picking up. How has Vance not noticed this? These kids should clearly understand that the reason they were told to approach Saras is that she''s a powerful storm dragon.


    ¡°Vance! You are going too far. You are overstepping your bounds here. I don''t know what my brother has told you, but Saras does not belong to you and you will absolutely not touch a guest of the tribe!¡± Zane


    ¡°I will never let anyone hurt her. She already has suffered enough because of me and now you threaten her because of me? I will protect her until she can herself. I have already taken her life so I won''t let anything else be taken.¡± Lighting is pouring down from the sky now and the tornadoes are starting to touch down on the ground. It seems like these kids have finally started to notice that something isn''t right. Saras has always been passive before. Now she seems completely intent on protecting Eva no matter what. This is the first time I''ve ever seen Saras actually use her storm calling consciously. She holds up a claw and lighting strikes it before she swings at the group of young dragons. They don''t seem experienced in fighting at all so they don''t dodge the attack. All the dragons that were struck are slightly electrocuted, but overall they seem fine besides some static on their bodies.


    ¡°What was that? You dare try to scare us away with that. My father is the red dragons family head! How dare you!¡± Eva doesn''t respond but just points up. Everyone including myself looks up to see all the lighting in the storm collecting above us. I now realize that somehow Saras has charged these guys so all the lighting will be attracted to them. I didn''t realize that Saras could be so creative with her magic. Her storms don''t even use much of her mana besides initializing the storm so all this lighting will cost her almost no mana. Storm dragons seem to be a truly terrifying existence it seems.


    ¡°Saras that enough so please stop your attack and clear away the storm. I was on my way to call the heads together anyway so I will remind them that our tribe guest is not to be touched at all and if anyone does they will definitely have a dispute with our family.¡± Saras pauses, but the storm does slowly disperse and the static leaves their bodies. She turns around and continues to make her way to the prison as if none of this happened.


    ¡°Vance I do not approve of the way you have acted today and I will definitely discuss this with you father. As for our guest if I hear a single word about you approaching her I will have your tail. For now on stay away from Saras. Go home while we call the family heads together. Your name will definitely come up in the meeting so I hope you will properly reflect.¡± Zane seems to be as angry as I am about this incident. I follow him as we make our way to summon the family heads for a meeting to discuss if we should contact the Lemuria Kingdom, what to do about Eva, and to see if any other news has come from outside the valley.

 Chapter 25

    Chapter 25


    Eva Lemuria-18 years old


    I have apparently been locked up in this cell for two whole years. I actually didn''t really know or pay attention to the time until one day Saras came in saying happy birthday before telling me I am now eighteen. It probably has also been some time since then as well, but not another year or she would have tried to celebrate again. She would celebrate all alone though. I have not spoken since Saras''s siblings came to question me about our connection. At first, I was worried that I would end up like the human in that story, but if anything my hate may have lessened a little bit, but it''s definitely still there. As for Saras, I don''t think she loves me at all. If anything she is slowly being consumed by her guilt for what she has done and wants to make up for it. There were several times that I wanted to just tell her to leave me alone but I would rather her come here every day and look at me as a reminder of what she''s done.


    Over the years I have never once been given a prisoners usual gruel for food or been tortured in any way. I do believe they have drugged me multiple times because sometimes after I ate I would fall asleep only to wake up with new clothes on and a washed body. If I had access to my mana I wouldn''t be so easily affected by and poison or drugs because of a technique that Shadow taught me years ago. He had actually wanted to start building up my bodies immunity with poisons, but it seems both my parents had denied the idea saying it would be too painful.


    Even though they were way too overprotective of me I can''t help but miss them sometimes. Whenever I feel lonely or homesick I will start to meditate and reach that space I have. Inside I simply have to go through my own memories of my past and enjoy seeing the fun times I had as a child. The worst time was when I was apparently in that space for two weeks straight and I woke up extremely weak that I couldn''t move so Saras had to feed me through the bars because I couldn''t even move. From then on I would have to be careful of my time meditating even though I have no way to tell the time here. All I can do is keep training and meditating while Saras talks to me about nonsense. Apparently, she has become very attached to me. She had actually attacked some noble boys that were bad mouthing me. I can''t blame her for that considering I''ve done the same thing. I can tell that she wants me to start talking to her ever since I spoke with her brother and Zane even though she also knows I won¡¯t. Zane has been the only other person I have seen come to my cell in this time as well. He would only come to tell me about any research he has dug up about me, but even he has no records on someone that has both black hair and eyes as well as black elements. There are obviously people that may have black hair or eyes but never both or black elements. I wasn''t expecting much from his research either way. One thing he has tried to convince me of is that I am not a mana mutant. He says a mana mutant will have mana slowly invade their minds before they go out of control. My mana is completely settled and doesn''t seem to be trying to invade my mind at all. He has instead decided to call me something called a hybrid while all I see myself as is a monster.


    The weird thing is that these past couples of days are that Saras has been acting very weird and it had given me some troubling thoughts. Before she was always a bubbly person who smiled even as I glared at her, but the past couple of days she has been strangely more mellow and quiet. She must know something that I don''t and is worried about it. Right now her whole life is about making up for what she''s done to me so the only thing that would worry her is if something has changed. It¡¯s actually a new morning now and she hasn''t arrived like she normally would so I can only continue training like I have usually done. After a while, Saras finally comes in with some food. Except for this time she has a very depressing face while looking at me. After I get my food and begin to eat she finally starts to speak.


    ¡°Eva the truth is that your family knows you are here.¡± Well, I admit that is a little shocking to hear for the first time. They had probably known for some time now I''m guessing. I don''t know why I am only being told this now or why this seems to be causing Saras to look so troubled. ¡°They¡¯ve to know for about one and a half years and the entire time they have demanded that we give you to them or let them at least see you. We haven''t actually told them why we have you or anything about your situation. We''ve only told them that you are staying here for an indefinite amount of time and they can''t come into our valley. I don''t think they even know where this valley is and a dragon is hard to follow.¡± She pauses and takes a deep breath before continuing. ¡°The reason I have told you this is because I want you to know that we''ve been monitoring your family and that we''ve been researching you to better understand you. Our people now believe that you are a threat to us. They seem to believe that you''re physiologically likely to come for revenge if they let you go. You and I both seem completely stable after I gave you my heart, but they believe that even your normal personality is a danger to us. They have told me that they want to just keep you locked up, but I know that they are thinking of just putting you down.¡±


    I see that it''s exactly like I thought. I knew that I would probably never make it out of this cell. All this time I''ve been trying to train my body beyond its limits, but even if my body has become ridiculously strong I still can''t break free of these chains let alone get out of this cell. I guess the only thing I can do now is waiting for the lizards to finally ok my execution. I wish they had never told my parents that I am here. They could have just believed I had run away never to return. Now they will know that I am being held here and eventually they will know that I have died. Such wasted time trying to become stronger all this time only to die again. Everything is this naive dragons fault. As if sensing my thoughts from my glare Saras lowers her head.


    ¡°If that''s all then tell them to hurry up.¡± After I tell her that in a barely audible hoarse voice I get up and walk to the back corner and just sit. There''s no point in training or meditating now. My throat actually hurts from speaking for the first time in so long.


    ¡°Eva I won''t let them kill you! I will make a deal or find a way to threaten them.¡± Saras


    ¡°So you want to prolong my suffering? Have me live a pointless life trapped in a cage? You''ll make me suffer even more because you feel guilt!¡± How dare she pretend to truly care. She should understand that I refuse to live such a pointless life.


    She seems to understand because she just lowers her head in shame before walking out. I just sit down and think about how long I will have before someone comes to kill me. I feel as if all the hope that I had is gone now. I had only wanted to live for a little bit without the judging eyes constantly looking at me. I just wanted to rank up as an adventurer before exploring the world. I was going to become one of the strongest with my own hard work before returning home. I wanted people to look at me with different eyes than as if I was a monster. I finally start to feel my eyes tear up. I haven''t cried all this time because I still had the hope of leaving this cell and being able to live. I even ignored the feeling of wrongness from having someone else¡¯s heart in my chest just so I could live. I keep crying till I fall asleep. A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.


    I wake up sometime later to the sounds of metal being dragged. I look up to see Saras walking in with my halberd and a bag over her shoulder. I look at my halberd and see that it has been fixed. I¡¯ll admit that I feel a little emotional while looking at my partner. I look back to Saras and see that for the first time in two years the gate keeping me in my cell has been opened. Saras comes in with a ring of keys in one hand and some clothes in the other.


    ¡°You are right. I can''t let you just stay here so I can make myself feel better. I managed to steal the keys from my parents for your chains. After you take them off you can wear this. I had it made so it can hide all your scales. It will seem weird at first, but I know you will prefer this because it will hide your arm completely.¡± Saras comes to me and unlocks all the chains on me except for the one around my neck. ¡°This collar is whats holding in your mana so the second it''s taken off it will be like a dam breaking. All the clan heads will instantly feel your mana rushing out so I''ll take it off after you are ready and then you will have to run.¡±


    She helps me take off all my clothes and then I put on the tight black pants and black boots. She gives me a black undershirt and then she wraps up my right arm in some black bandages. She puts my right arm in a harness that hugs my arm right under my breast. She then helps me put the white over shirt on. It is a pure white shirt with pieces of cloth hanging in the front and back that reaches my knees. The bottom has black flames on it and the sleeves have black lighting. It seems she must have really thought of me while making these clothes. She then wraps a mask over the lower half of my face. With this, I look like I am missing my right arm while my breast looks a little perkier. She then gives me a harness so my halberd can rest on my back instead of me holding it on my shoulder. She then puts my dagger in my shirt so I can grab it with my left hand easily.


    With everything finished with that, she grabs the last key and unlocks my collar. My left-hand shoots out and grabs her by the throat. All of a sudden I feel my mana rushing out of my body. It''s like a flood rushing out of my body. It¡¯s so intense that the ground beneath me cracks and crumbles away. Even with my mana weighing her down and my hand on her throat Saras has no fear in her eyes. There is only shame and guilt in her eyes as she looks at me and for the first time, I don''t feel anger while looking at her. Instead what I feel is disgust while looking at her so I throw her into my cell and walk out of it. I grab the bag she brought and I can tell there is food in it. ¡°Thank you for finally doing the right thing.¡± I walk out of the prison with a vow to never return.


    Narrator


    The dragon valley was completely quiet because it''s barely dawn. The sun hasn''t started peeking over the mountain, but there was still some light starting to illuminate the sky. All the family heads were all preparing to get up and greet their families when out of nowhere the whole valley was covered in a heavy pressure. All the adults only felt the pressure while the younglings were all falling to their knees and breathing heavily. Everyone was confused on what was happening except the family heads and other members of the council. They all knew there was only one prisoner who had an incredible strength that would be released all at once if that prisoner was ever released. All the family heads yell for everyone to rush to the prison.


    The green dragon family the Skyclaw family was also shocked before they all realized how this happened. They had told their daughter the councils decision but didn''t really think she would ever do something like this. Then the second they realized that their daughter could be in danger now they all got up and rushed faster than any of the other families.


    When everyone arrived they saw the front gate of the prison blasted open and the guards are motionless on the ground either dead or alive. In front of the gate, there is a single female that most have never seen before. Only the Skyclaw family and Zane recognize this female as the one that was brought in two years ago. She is wearing a beautiful outfit that makes it look like she''s missing an arm, but they know it''s still there. She looks up at every dragon in the sky with eyes filled with anger and disdain.


    ¡°Wheres my daughter?¡± Dan Skyclaw demands. Eva only points her chin towards the now destroyed prison.


    ¡°Come quietly with us. We don''t want to hurt you.¡± The Sunspots family head speaks quietly in a calming tone.


    ¡°HAHAHAhahahahaha. Do you all take me for a fool? I have been freed from an unjust imprisonment. I will never be chained down by you lizards again.¡± Eva starts laughing at their attempt to fool her. If she was a naive child like Saras she might have actually fallen for it. Eva reaches over the side of her body and lowers the right side of her outer shirt and then takes her bandaged arm out of its harness. She clenches her fist a couple of times before she disappears in a black flash right in front of everyone. The next thing that happens is Dan Skyclaw crashing into the ground creating a crater and Eva is where he was with her right fist where his head was. She disappears in another flash of black light before appearing on the Sunspots heads back. There''s an explosion of black flames as the Sunspots head flies down and Eva rockets towards the edge of the valley. Eva looks back one time and sees Saras had made it to the prison entrance. Eva looks away and shifts into lighting before disappearing right when the sun finishes rising.


    ¡°Damn it! She knocked me out of the sky again!¡± Dan Skyclaw


    ¡°Pfft¡± Saras has to cover her mouth to stop from laughing, but she attracts everyone''s attention with that small sound. All the dragons converge on her and some seem truly displeased.


    ¡°Saras why would you release a prisoner? Do you realize you basically just released a dangerous enemy?¡± Nigel Skyclaw


    ¡°Since when had you all stopped calling her a guest and instead of calling her a prisoner?¡± With that one sentence from Saras, every dragon can only shut their mouths. ¡°I did not bring her here to be imprisoned while you all talk about what day to execute her. I brought her here so you all can help her, but instead, you all turned her into the dragon tribes enemy. Before she hated me completely but she did not hate the tribe. You all imprisoning her and treating her as a prisoner when she was my savior is what made her an enemy. If she comes back one day for vengeance then I will support her too.¡± After that Saras transformed back into her real form and flew off.


    The rest of the surrounding dragons have no way to refute her claims because she has completely pointed out the truth of the situation. They all just fly off one by one until there are only the family heads. They remain silent till they begin discussing what they should do. Finally, they come to the conclusion that they should send out some dragons to find Eva and just monitor her. The family heads leave and the only ones that remain are the Skyclaw family.


    ¡°Saras is going to be very mad at us for a while.¡± Talia Skyclaw


    ¡°You all said that she was powerful and I felt a little guilty when I saw a young girl chained up so much in the prison. After watching her completely knock father out of the sky I feel like those chains were the right amount with her strength, but Saras was right that we wouldn''t need those chains in the first place.¡± Drew Skyclaw


    ¡°Shut up! She caught me off guard so I couldn''t react!¡± Dan Skyclaw tries to defend himself, but his wife and children just look at him with pity.


    ¡°For now we can only watch out for Eva while we try to appease Saras. I think after this none of the young dragons will come to bug her about marriage for a while. Instead, they will probably try to punish her so we have to protect her now.¡± Nigel Skyclaw


    The rest of the family agrees with him and they fly back home to look for Saras. While the dragons were worrying about Eva, she was making her way through the sky in a random direction. She didn''t know where she was or where she was going so she just flew in a random direction. She didn''t know what to do know. She was just happy that she was now free.

 Chapter 26

    Chapter 26


    Eva Lemuria-18 years old


    I flew in a straight line through the sky for about two days in a random direction. At one point I flew over a forest and I have been over the forest for an entire day. I can fly over entire kingdoms in a day so I am surprised that this forest is so big. At one point I realized this could only be the elven forest. I thought for sure I would have reached a city by now, but it''s still only trees as far as I can see. I decided that maybe I should finally just land on the ground and walk around to look for any markings or signs. The forest floor is filled with dead leaves and grass. There are tree roots making natural obstructions so there''s no clear path that I could easily walk through.


    For now, I just keep walking forward when I can and I shift to easily get over any of the larger obstacles. I could probably just climb over some of these larger obstacles, but it would be hard to do it with one arm. I have been traveling for a while, but I haven''t seen any life at all. Even when I shift I can''t see anything in this forest. I haven''t even seen any beast in this forest since I landed. The forest is beautiful but silent. I feel like I can literally breathe in the life here.


    As I''m walking I start to notice something is wrong in the forest. I feel like I am not actually moving forward at all. The scenery changes, but it feels like nothing is actually changing. It''s hard to explain, but I think it''s like a sixth sense of some sort. It just feels wrong somehow so I stop in place and scan my surroundings but I still don''t see anything or anyone. I realize I don''t even see a bug here and the trees themselves all seem to be connected. It''s like the trees are all a part of some spell. I start to gather large amounts of mana under my feet and then I release waves of flames. The trees around me are all slowly burning away so I up the intensity. The trees are starting to be incinerated almost instantly, but they grow back almost as fast. I decide to go full force with my attack and see just how powerful my magic really is now. The flames start rising up and twisting forming a giant pillar of flames. It slowly starts growing outwards creating a bigger space inside my firestorm. My flames start to get weakened from the outside so I lower my flames to just a small ring around me. The ground has been completely scorched and I have a wide space around me. I look at the edge of the destruction to see that I''m surrounded by a water vortex that is slowly dying down. The second the water is gone the trees and grass start to grow back over the ash, but at a much more noticeably slower pace.


    Now that the water vortex is gone I notice several pale faced elves that are sweating and breathing roughly. It seems that they struggled to try and stop my flames. They didn''t actually succeed because I canceled my magic myself. They are all wearing leather armor with green cloaks. The non-mages draw their weapons and point them at me.


    ¡°Who are you? And what are you doing here? Why would you try to burn down the forest?¡± The one to speak seemed to have nicer quality gear than the rest so he must be a captain or something.


    ¡°I am Eva an adventure. I''m looking for the closest city in this forest so I can find a place to rest and find information. I burned down this part of the forest because I figured whoever was watching me trapped in there would show them selves.¡± I figured I must have been in some kind of spell that was keeping me trapped in the spot of the forest. I don''t know if someone had activated or if it was a trap I stepped in. I started burning the forest to draw them out or escape the trap.


    ¡°How would you know if someone is there? This is the elven protection ring. It surrounds our entire kingdom and only has one entrance. The second you stepped into it, we knew, but you shouldn''t have.¡± Elf Captain


    ¡°Does this affect the air too? I was flying over before I even decided to come down. What would you do if you trapped a dragon up there?¡±


    ¡°We have caught some dragons before but they usually wait till we let them through. Only those people that keep walking are usually the ones that don''t belong here or know where they are. Most don''t notice anything at all while we monitor them to judge whether their safe or not. Even those that do notice wouldn''t just incinerate a part of the forest to catch our attention. You could have even just called out.¡± He seems kind of mad now. I can''t be blamed for this because I don''t know about this ring so it probably isn''t well known public knowledge and peaceful communication didn''t even occur to me who has been locked away for a couple of years.


    ¡°Well, what now? I need to go find some place to get food and rest. So will you take me to a city or out of the forest?¡±


    ¡°I think the best thing for us would be to take you into custody.¡± The ring of flames at my feet start to grow big again. ¡°I will scrap that plan because I don''t think we would be able to capture someone with such a powerful magic without some casualties. I will instead ask you to let us escort you to a city while we ask you some questions.¡± Seems like he can adapt quickly to the situation. I extinguish the ring of flames and motion for him to lead the way. They all start moving in a circular pattern around me so I keep my guard up as we move through the forest.


    While we were walking through the forest I noticed that it became easier to travel through and I no longer had to jump around or shift to move. While we were traveling the Elf Captain kept asking me questions and I answered the ones I wanted. They were the typical question like who you are and what are you doing here. I really didn''t even plan on coming here since I just traveled in a random direction. Now that I am free I wanted to first go home and see my family but I don''t know what to say to them or how to explain whats happened. For now, I will just keep wandering around. Maybe as soon as I find an adventurers guild I will tell them I''m alive.


    Finally, we arrive at a city they introduced as Yanlin. Apparently, this is the closest trade city that they have. Most of the elves don''t allow other races further into their territory so they made specific trade cities for the other races to come to. Yanlin has tall walls surrounding the entire city. Normal City walls will be plain and only made for the purpose of defense, but the elves like things to be beautiful so their wall is a mixture of stones and wood that''s molded together into a beautiful design. As we enter the gate I notice several merchants from several races all lined up to enter the city. I am lead right past the line and into a tall tower on the side of the gate. Even though these are guard barracks they have also been beautified by the elves taste. I¡¯ll admit it does look good but I can instantly tell I am going to get tired of these designs quickly. Inside the barracks, I am taken to a plain room where I am sat down at a table and told to ¡°Please wait.¡± When they came back it was the Captain guy and another elf who is wearing more formal clothes than armor. Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.


    ¡°Hello, I am the city advisor. I am in charge of keeping the city running and the only one above me here is the city, Lord. I was called here because they said the caught a suspicious person, but it seems like you''re not locked up at all although you do seem a little suspicious.¡± City Advisor


    ¡°My name is Eva and your guards merely escorted me here. It would have cost too much for them to try and detain me. I did cooperate though. I can''t blame you for finding me suspicious either considering my uniqueness. I am merely here to find some information and supplies before I continue my travels.¡±


    ¡°I see. I understand and the captain had questioned you earlier all the standard question so I will just ask you where you plan to go from here.¡± City Advisor


    ¡°Well, that''s what I am not sure about yet. I am at a point where I am not sure if I should go home or keep traveling. So that''s why I will probably spend some time here before leaving.¡±


    ¡°Do you mind me asking where you call home?¡± City Advisor


    ¡°I guess it doesn''t really matter anymore since I am not trying to hide anymore. My name is Eva Lemuria from the Lemuria Kingdom.¡± Well, I guess by the wide eyes this city must have been one that was searched while looking for me.


    ¡°About two years ago we had some humans combing the entire city asking about that name. I take it you are that missing princess? Why do you appear here now?¡± City Advisor


    ¡°Well, I have been in a situation for a while and I was freed from that situation and the first place I wandered to is here in the elven forest. You may report this to whoever you like.¡±


    ¡°I understand and with that, this discussion is done now. I will ask you to try not to cause any trouble while you are here. I don''t think you will get much trouble from our own race, but some others still might try to find trouble with you so please be careful. You are free to go now.¡± City Advisor looks really exhausted now. Well, it probably has nothing to do with me so I grab my things and let them lead me out.


    I finally reach the main street that is full of merchants driving their carts in the middle of the road and people walking on the sides. I look at my surroundings and feel a headache at the overly beautified city. It seems every building design was decided by the elves and even if the owner is of another race they have to put up with it. As I am looking around I notice that many of the other races seem to share the same opinion as me.


    The elves have always had this weird taste for beauty. They do not discriminate others for their races, but they do discriminate if someone is considered ugly. They don''t go so far as to kick them out of the city or refuse service to them. They will instead be rude and talk behind their back most of the time. It seems that I can be considered a beauty to them even though it seems like I am missing an arm and I have all black features. I''m flattered, but don''t plan on doing much interacting with anyone here.


    As I am walking I see something that shocks me enough that I freeze while walking causing some people to avoid me. There is an adventurers guild branch here in the elven territory. Two years ago they were barely spreading through out all the human kingdoms and I didn''t think that the other races would allow them to spread here. It''s a little weird to see the standard guild branch covered in the elves beautification but I guess they don''t want to break their theme. I start walking into the guild building. The inside is a completely standard guild branch with no beautification from the elves so I feel a little relieved about that. There is barely anyone in here and the few that are in here are mostly other races besides elves. I guess the adventures guild is still a foreign concept to the elves so they don''t have a lot of people signing up. I walk straight up to the guild receptionist who''s a female elf.


    ¡°I would like to sign in to this branch. My name is Eva Lemuria 5th tier adventure and I am probably marked as dead or missing.¡±


    ¡°Wow, a 5th tier. You are probably the highest ranked member in this branch right now. We will have to send in the documents to the kingdoms the main branch which will take about two days. As for the missing or dead report, I will need the details of the report.¡± Receptionist


    ¡°Well, basically I haven''t signed in for over two years and I imagine that I left a big scene at my last known location. I originally wanted to rank up here, but I guess since there''s no one strong enough here to test me I will just have to wait. So I will just have to come back in two days when you have my information?¡±


    ¡°Yes, I will send out the report and request for information now. You just have to wait till then. I would recommend the Inn across the street from here. It was built at the same time as the adventurers guild branch so they are made to accommodate adventures.¡± Receptionist


    I nod to the receptionist before I make my way toward the door only to be blocked by a group of human adventures. They all look the typical smug adventures, but their faces are very plain so I imagine the elves must not treat them well here. There are two swordsmen and a single archer in their group. I guess they didn''t hear the receptionist very well and assume that I am a new adventure they can try and bully.


    ¡°Well, hello there little missy. I don''t think this is the place for a young beauty like yourself to be. A woman and a crippled woman shouldn''t be trying to be an adventurer. Well, if you really want to we wouldn''t mind letting you join our party.¡± What an annoying guy this adventure is. It has been awhile since I saw someone look at me with lecherous eyes.


    ¡°No thanks. I would rather not have a bunch of low tier weaklings follow me around as I take care of them. Now get out of the way so I can leave. I can''t believe I have to deal with this situation again. Just so you know the last guy that tried to keep me from leaving the guild is probably still in a coma.¡±


    ¡°What can a cripple like you do? We''re just offering you some protection in exchange for a little service.¡± Adventurer


    I only sign before I grab him by the face and squeezed. He starts screaming like a pig and his two buddies are shocked before they charge at me. I just swing the adventure around knocking his two buddies to the side before I threw him through the front door. I walk out of the guild and see him lying on the ground with his eyes rolled back. This idiot got lucky and won''t fall into a coma, but he will probably avoid me in the future.


    I make my way across the road to the inn that the receptionist had recommended to me. The inside is definitely nicer than the guild and I notice it seems like everything is brand new so they probably haven''t received a lot of guests. The inn keeper is actually asleep behind the counter so I poke him in the head a couple of times. He doesn''t wake up from that so I slam my hand heavily on the counter startling him. He looks around till he notices me right in front of him. He quickly puts on a professional face.


    ¡°Hello miss. What can I do for you today? Need some directions are something?¡± Inn Keeper


    ¡°What? No, I want a room. I will for now stay for two days. I may extend the time later depending on my situation.¡±


    ¡°Really? Well, okay then. You can take room one then.¡± Inn Keeper


    He seemed really shocked and then incredibly happy to have a guest. I pay him before going to my room. After I enter I take a second to appreciate how clean the room is. I put my things in the corner of the room before I lie down on the bed. I will wait two days before I go back to the adventures guild and see what kind of status is on me right now. Tomorrow I will probably go shopping for my some supplies so I can leave as soon as I have to if I want. Depending on the circumstance I just might stay in this city for a while and maybe do some missions for the guild before I move on. I just have to figure out my own situation before I make my next move.

 Chapter 27

    Chapter 27


    Eva Lemuria


    After a good nights rest at the inn I decided to just walk around the town and pick up some supplies so I can leave any time. The city of Yanlin is truly a beautiful trade hub. There are so many races here getting along I cant help but to feel surprised. I didn''t expect the races to be able to cooperate like this, but I know that Yanlin probably isn''t a example of every city. I know from experience there is always discrimination. Just because someone doesn''t hate an entire race doesn''t mean they wont hate a certain group of individuals. Like how the elves dislike plain or ugly things. One thing I have noticed is that here the majority of stares that I''ve received are looks of curiosity while only a few give me the usual looks of disgust or fear. I really do feel comfortable here and I think I wouldn''t mind staying for a while.


    As I am walking around I have stepped into various stores and market squares. I haven''t stepped into any weapon shops because I have the only weapons I would need. I¡¯ve been trained to use almost all other weapons, but my halberd and dagger perfectly fit my fighting style. I finally spot a tailor shop that can do custom orders so I step in. They have several pre-made outfits on display, but none of these interest me. I want to get more outfits like the one Saras had made for me. I hate those lizards to the bone, but the outfit is truly well made and comfortable. The style is also made so I can perfectly pull out my hidden arm if I have to. I walk up to the simple looking old lady behind the counter.


    ¡°Hello I am the tailor of this shop what can I do for you?¡± While she was talking she was analyzing every part of my outfit. She especially paid attention to my right side.


    ¡°I need more outfits like the one I am wearing. I would prefer it to bemade exactly the same including the material. As for designs they can be what ever you think will match my style.¡±


    ¡°Just by looking at this outfit I can tell it was made specifically for you. With your unique features, it definitely makes you look amazing. Just looking at you gives me several ideas to make you beautiful. I will make your outfits for you, but I must ask if you want anything else. Perhaps some dresses?¡± Her passionate face is a little scary, but I can tell she will definitely be able to make my clothes perfectly.


    ¡°I will decline the dresses. Do you have a changing room? I will take the outfit off and let you measure that while I stay in the changing room. I have scars I don''t want to be seen. I hope you''ll understand.¡± Using scars has always been the best excuse to hide my features. Just this time I am not hiding my hair or eyes.


    ¡°Very well. The changing room is there. There''s a bench you can rest on while I measure these style to make for you. Too bad about not wanting dresses.¡± I hear her mutter the last part but ignore it.


    I enter the changing room and begin to strip my clothes after setting all my things to the side. I thought about getting some armor like I had before, but at this point I can use flame armor or mana armor that''s stronger than any enchantments I could use. I pass my clothes through the curtain before I sit down. I grab my pouch of money that Saras had put in my bag of supplies. I count the common currency that every known kingdom uses. No one knows who started spreading this currency or why every kingdom quickly adapted to it, but now everyone uses these simple copper coins. They all have a simple 1,5,10,20,50, or 100 imprinted on one side and a complex enchanted seal on the other side. The enchantment just makes the money indestructible, but it''s such a unique enchantment that only the top enchanters can make it. Any top enchanter would be well known so its almost impossible for someone to forge these coins without being known. Saras had given me quite a bit of money, but I am already running low now because of these outfits and other supplies I have picked up. I will have to start taking some missions when I get the chance. If I still had that crystal from the 3rd tier mana beast I defeated, I would have been able to rise to 4th tier adventurer.


    My mussing is interrupted as my outfit is handed through the curtain. I put it on and head out of the dressing room. I see that the tailor is already behind her counter drawing designs for my outfits. The one she''s working on already looks like it will perfectly match my features. I am impressed with her skills and look forward to what she will make me. I ask her how much it will be and she just mumbles some numbers so I leave behind the money before I say ill check in tomorrow to check the progress.


    I leave the tailor and start walking around for a place to sit and relax. While walking around I spot a beautiful park with children running around and parents watching them. The entire park has such a peaceful air around it. I spot a small cafe by the park and decide I will spend time there since it''s so peaceful around here. I enter and notice that there isn''t the usual smell of tea. Its something completely different from a teas usual aroma so I ask for a table and menu. I look over the menu and notice tea is served, but something called coffee is the main focus of this shop. I order a cup of their standard cup and some small pastries to enjoy. When my cup is served I take a second to appreciate the aroma before I pull a part of my mask down and take a sip. It''s a little bitter so I take some of the sugar they provided and add a cube. I pull down a part of my mask again and take another sip. It''s bitter and the aroma really suits my taste.


    I spend the rest of my time in the shop drinking and snacking while overlooking the peaceful park. I stay there until it starts to get dark and the shop tells me that they are closing up. I get up to leave after paying my bill and make my way back though the streets. I am still wide awake so I decide to just walk around the city to take in the street life. This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    As I am walking around I notice that I am being watched from somewhere. I don''t know how long I have been watched, but this is different from the usual looks. Its like they''re analyzing me. I feel such an intense stare that I know that it''s more than a passing glance. I keep walking through the streets following the crowds around. Who ever is following me stayed with me the entire time no matter where I went. Finally I enter a deserted dark alley and I walk to the middle of it and turn around. Nobody enters the alleyway after I do. I thought whoever it was wanted to confront me with no one around so I tried to lure them out but it seems I was wrong. I lightning shift and use my senses to look around for any hidden signatures and I do see one hidden on the roof to my left. I head straight for the signature and when I unshift I see a human man crouching on the roof looking up at me with wide eyes. Before he can make a move I throw a fist right at him from above. He manages to roll out of the way at the last second and my fist creates a web of cracks on the roof. He stands up and hold his hands up to surrender. I look him over and see that he is a very plain man. He wears plain clothes and has no remarkable features. I realize why it was so hard to spot him is because he would fit perfectly in a crowd.


    ¡°Wait! I mean no harm. Princess Eva, I am shadow guard 17. I was sent to monitor this city because it''s a major trade hub and one of the few entrances to the elven kingdom when I noticed your features. Every shadow guard has a prime mission of looking for anyone that has your unique features so when I saw you I knew you must be the princess. So please tell me you are Princess Eva?¡± Shadow Guard 17


    I guess I should have seen this coming eventually. My father likes to have information on all the kingdoms so I am not surprised that he would even have a shadow guards in the other races kingdoms. I lower my guard but keep my eye on him because if I lose sight of him I probably won''t see him again. I guess I should just allow him to report that I am alive and well to my father. I won''t be returning just yet to home, but I can at least stay in this city until they send me a letter or something.


    ¡°Yes, I am Eva Lemuria. I just got to this town yesterday and before I was in the dragons valley. I stayed there for two years and wandered around our own kingdom for six months before that. I don''t know when I will return home, but I will stay in this city for a little while. With that, you can make your report. Also, tell my father to just leave the dragons alone and stay away from them.¡±


    I don''t think it would do my father any good if he knew why I was in that valley. If he knew all this time I was imprisoned for almost no reason at all he would be outraged and probably try to fight the dragons. Besides the basic info, I don''t feel like going into details on where I have been. I turn around to leave, but the shadow guard grabs my arm. He has a frantic look.


    ¡°Wait, Princess! That''s all? Won''t you come back with me? Are you just going to give me that? What happened to your arm and what were you doing with the dragons? Princess your parents have been incredibly worried about you. They have practically turned the entire kingdom upside down to look for you. They only calmed down when the dragons told us they had you with them.¡± Shadow Guard 17


    I wave my arm a bit and he is thrown backward. The shadow guards are all strong, but it seems they are no longer a match for me. I know everything he said is true but I cant return yet. I need time to think and I am afraid of what my parents will say when they see me.


    ¡°I have my own things to do. Tell my parents that they can send me letters while I am here, but I won''t be staying here for long. I will return back home when I am ready. They don''t understand what its like for someone like me to live there. Don''t keep following me around either. You know where I am staying I''m sure so just deliver the letters and then go back to doing your normal job.¡±


    Before he can try and stop me again I shift to fly away to the other side of the city. I land in a shadier part of the city. There are brothels and other bars all along this street. Luckily its night time so no one could see the black lighting bolt that just flew across the sky. I walk around the street looking for something that would be interesting for me. I finally spot a large building brightly light up from candles and magic. I enter the building and look over everyone here. The place is packed with guest with fancy clothes and everyone is playing games. I walk around listening in on everyone conversations and I learn that this is a gambling den, but it''s legal because the city lord supports it as long as it follows the rules he set. I am sure he also gets a nice cut of the profit but the place does seem to be run well compared to the underground gambling dens where someone could supposedly lose their life.


    I keep walking around looking at the different games they had. I''m sure that if I watched one table long enough I could learn how to play the card game they have. Instead I chose to go to a table with number on it and a round wheel with a ball. I listened to the conversation and learned its called roulette. After watching for a little bit I understand how its played so I take a seat at the table. As soon as I sat down a waitress came by and asked if I would like anything. I looked over the menu and ordered some whiskey to enjoy. I will just have to be careful and only move a part of my mask to drink it. I ignored her weird look she gave me as I place my first bet on evens. I bet only 50 for this first try to test my luck. I actually won the first round so I keep going. Hours go by as I play this game. By the end of the night I had won quite a bit of money. Through out the night my winning streak had attracted quite a lot of attention from others. Some guys would come to hit on me, but they would quickly walk away after a little bit of mana pressure.


    I decided it was best to end it there so I gathered my winnings after paying my tab and made my way for the exit. I noticed several of the guards watching me as I made my way out of the gambling den. I am sure they will report that there''s some lucky woman winning everything from them later. I doubt I will be lucky again if I come back again.


    As I am walking through the almost empty streets I can tell I am being followed again except this time I can feel their malicious intentions. They are sorely underestimating me if they think they can rob me. I was tempted to just blow them away until I remember the city advisor asking me not to cause trouble. I decide to walk into an alleyway and shift onto the roof above. I watch as five incredibly suspicious looking thugs walk into the alleyway before they look around to find no trace of me. I don''t know if they work for the gambling den or if they''re unrelated so I will leave them alone for now. As long as they don''t go too far I won''t do anything to them.


    I make my way through the sky and fly directly into my roof through the open window on the second floor. I left it open because there nothing of value in here. After I am in I close the windows and make sure everything is locked up before I begin undressing. I take of everything except my underwear and my undershirt. I know that if anyone saw me they would never think that I am a princess of a kingdom. I go to the bucket of water that was placed in my room and begin to wash myself. I take the bandages of my right arm and wipe my scales and use my dagger to clean my nails. After I am cleaned I wrap my arm back up and lay down on my bed. I look up the ceiling as I think about the past and future. I feel a heavy mood start to take over me so I just close my eyes and try to fall asleep as quickly as possible.

 Chapter 28

    Chapter 28


    Eva Lemuria


    I woke up this morning to the sound of knocking on my door. I feel drowsy as I make my way to the door, but before I open it I see my arm wrapped in bandages and realize I am still not dressed. I quickly yell ¡°Hold on¡± before I get dressed in my clothes. When I open the door I find the innkeeper with a note for me. I look it over and see that it''s from the adventurers guild telling me that they have my information and that I can now sign in. I thank the innkeeper while ignoring his outstretched hand as I close the door.


    I finished grabbing my things including some supplies because I plan on taking a mission after I sign in. I have enough money from my gambling last night to live comfortably for about a week, but sitting around idly every day doesn''t seem to sit right with me. I want to keep getting stronger now. I will finally rank up here and keep taking whatever missions they can offer me. I assume since there are not many high ranking adventurers here, there must not be many high-rank missions around here. It would be like how a merchant follows supply and demand for their merchandise.


    As I enter the adventurers guild I notice that there still few people here as the last time I came here. I also notice the party I beat up last time is sitting in the corner with their heads down. When I enter everyone looks at me and the party I beat up throws some glares my way. I ignore everyone as I just walk up to the receptionist I talked to last time.


    ¡°Hello, Princess Eva. We have received your records and updated your status. You haven''t shown up at the adventures guild in quite a long time. Even though you were about to rank up to 4th tier as well. Well, we still have all your records so you still only need to complete one 4th tier mission before you can rank up to the 4th tier. Also, I have a message for you from the city Lord. He said that because of your unique status you should go to the city lords mansion for an introduction. He says he can help you with your rank ups if you''d like.¡± Receptionist


    ¡°I have my adventurers information as confidential. So my name is Eva and no one else should know anything else about me. The city Lord may know who I am, but he shouldn''t know my status or be able to use you as a messenger. This is a large breach of the guilds policies.¡± I start to release my mana pressure to make sure they understand that even if this is a guild branch in another kingdom its still the adventures guild. I don''t want my status to be known by other, but somehow this branch has shared my information. ¡°Bring me your branch manager.¡± By now the ground beneath me has cracked and the building is shaking a little bit. This is still only about ten percent of my new capabilities.


    The receptionist goes pale and runs to the back and the other adventures start to back away. I guess that since this branch doesn''t have any veterans here they feel that they can do what they want. If it got out that the elves were using an adventures branch to spy on adventures statuses the consequences could be huge. The adventures guild is already more powerful than a single kingdom so most wouldn''t normally try to mess with them. Two elves come running into the room and I stop my pressure from rising anymore and release it. It''s the receptionist and a male elf who I assume is the guild manager.


    ¡°Princ¡­¡± The guild manager is stoped by my hand covering his mouth as I hold his face. I squeeze a little bit just as some petty revenge before I release him.


    ¡°My name is Eva. Anything else you call me will be breaking the guilds policy even more than you have. I will be sending out a report about the way that you are running this branch. I don''t know what gave you the idea to give away my private information but there will definitely be consequences.¡±


    ¡°Miss Eva there''s a misunderstanding here. We don''t know how any information about you has been released.¡± Guild Manager


    ¡°Then how come the city lord knows my rank and what I need for a rank up? How come you have a city lord using the adventures branch as a messenger? The two must be completely separate. Do you know by giving the city lord my status you''re telling him my strength? You are basically helping him endanger my life¡±


    The guild manager goes pale. I ignore him as I walk past him to grab a 4th tier mission and I look over the 3rd tier missions. I cant take them now, but I can complete the mission before my rank up and then turn in the mission afterward. I find two mission I will do and give it to the still pale receptionist before I leave the guild building.


    With some missions to complete I make my way out of the city. My mission is a 4th tier lightning forest horse and a 3rd tier rain storm raven. I know that I should be able to find the lightning forest horse quickly because it usually runs through the forest creating destruction. It¡¯s a rare mana beast that doesn''t have its own territory but constantly hit and runs other beast territories. I just have to move around for a bit until I see the beast running around.


    I ended up running around for about two hours before I found trails of lightning attacks and some other beast with burns. I follow the trail while trying to hide my presence until I find a horse with two horns on its head and spikes along its body. There''s lighting flowing between the horns and along the spikes. Its just blasting arcs of lighting at some 7th tier forest monkeys. They are justa simple beast that likes to hide in the trees and drop tree branches on people. They''re more of a nuisance than a danger to people. The lightning forest horse is clearly just bullying the beast for no reason at all. I decide that to get back into shape and retrain my body I should fight this horse straight forward.


    I grab my dagger and charge straight at the horse. While running I form a flame armor around me and jump straight up. The horse notices my approach and turns around while shooting lighting at me without even looking at me first. Either this horse has amazing instincts or it¡¯s an idiot. I shift to the side of the horse and kick it with a flame edge. The horse is blown away crashing through several trees. It looks up shocked at me. I guess its used to being one of the strongest in this forest so it wasn''t expecting someone like me to come along. I charge it again as it shoots a beam of lighting at me. I dodge the beam and reach the horse. I kick it under its head before I slash its throat. It dodges at the last second as I my knife passes so I change my direction and stab my knife into the horses shoulder. I abandon my knife as I grab the horses horn and bring its head down. It tries to electrocute me, but it¡¯s not nearly powerful enough to do damage to me. I bring the horses head down as I knee it in the face. The horse flies away again and I still have its horn in my hand. I must admit this horn does channel electricity very well. I could probably sell it to a lighting mage. I charge back at horse as it tries to get up. It tries to shoot another beam of lightning at me, but it only flies to the left instead of straight. It seems the horse needs both its horns to channel it¡¯s lighting properly. I stab its horn into the horses eye and it neighs it pain. I grab my knife from its shoulder and slash its throat before jumping back. The horse is bleeding out while it randomly blasts lighting in all directions. Luckily it¡¯s getting weaker or it might start a fire. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.


    Once the horse finally drops dead I walk over and break its other horn before pulling out the one I stuck in its eye. I store the two horns in my bag and then proceed to cut the beast open. I find the heart quickly and look at its bluish color. I store the crystal and the horses tail with its horns before I look at the dead forest monkeys. I harvest their tails as well but leave the living ones for some lower tier adventures. I just killed a 4th tier mana beast but I don''t feel tired at all. I could rest, but instead, I decide to go and hunt down my next target.


    The 3rd tier rain storm raven is a mana beast that makes is nest high up in the mountains. It always sets up its nest in caves on the side of the cliff so it can¡¯t be easily attacked. It would always use long distance attacks so its prey has no chance to retaliate. It will only come to the ground when it picks up its prey to take back to its nest. Its given the name rain storm raven because it has a water element. It basically pours water down, therefore, its called a rain storm raven. It¡¯s not like Saras who can literally create storms from nothing.


    I start walking towards the mountain that the raven was reported to be at. I decided that I will look for the raven at its nest while keeping an eye on the sky. I finally see the small mountain range so I lightning shift and approach the mountain range. I start to circle the mountains while looking for any thing that looks like the raven''s nest. After about five minutes I spot it so I shoot myself straight at it. Today is about testing my strength so I am here to fight not hunt.


    The raven is currently tearing apart some other mana beast. I cant tell what the beast is anymore because its torn up so much. As soon as I reach the raven I unshift and throw a destruction fist right at it. My surprise attack lands on its head, but the raven actually has a mana shield. My attack created some cracks on the shield but I couldn''t break it. The raven flaps its wings and I am blown out of its nest. I land on the ground and look up as the raven takes off. It circles me before drops of water starts to fall. The water droplets start to speed up until eventually their like arrows shooting at me. I throw up my flame armor and draw my dagger. I slash a destruction edge straight up and create an opening in the rain. The opening lasts a second till it closes up again with more rain. I keep throwing destruction edges up until they eventually reach the raven. The raven by then is easily able to evade my attack. I guess I will have to take a gamble and try fighting in the sky. I shift straight up towards the raven and when I am right under it I throw a destruction edge that hits its shield and breaks some of it off. The raven is burned a little, but water just covers its wound. Water endlessly flows out of the raven until there is a thick water shield surrounding it. I keep shifting around the raven throwing attacks at its shield, but I cant get through as it is. I cant even attack with good footing because I have to keep shifting to stay in the air to attack.


    Eventually the raven goes on the offensive and blasts a pillar of water at the spot I was before I shifted away. I shift high above the raven and sheath my dagger before I grab my halberd with my left hand. I shift it downwards and form a destruction spear. I let gravity guide me down. It seems the raven still believes in its shield because it doesn''t dodge my attack at all. The second my attack touches the raven''s shield a burst of steam blasts around us and I feel my halberd stab into something. I hold on tight as I feel the raven scream out in pain before it dives down. My halberd is right on the base of its wing. I channel lighting through my halberd and the raven stops its nose dive to try and through me off. I keep holding on, but I feel as if it is pointless to just keep hanging on so I pull my halberd out and flame step on the raven''s back. The force pushes the raven down as I go straight up. The raven had been flipped over and it¡¯s trying to right itself back over. I flip my halberd around and form a destruction edge and use gravity to bring me down. I use some burst of flames to move through the air to align my attack. The second the raven rights itself in the air I drop from above and try to cut off its wing, but a blast of water from the side changes the direction of my attack and instead I cut off the raven''s tail before crashing into the ground. I look up and see a 4th tier rain raven. It''s the previous tier of the rain storm raven. I guess these two are comrades. The rain raven isn''t really a threat to me right now, but it will be a nuisance if it keeps messing with my attacks.


    I undo the harness around my right arm and switch my halberd over. I lighting shift and head straight for the rain raven. It¡¯s not nearly as fast as the rain storm raven so it can dodge at all. I stab my halberd right into its shoulder and then flip it over on its back. I burst of flames from my back drives us both straight down. The rain raven tries to struggle but I keep forcing it down. Right before we crash into the ground we are knocked sideways by the other raven. We both crash through some trees till I pull my halberd out and shift away. The two ravens are now on the ground and the rain raven looks like it wont be easily getting up for a while. I just have to leave it their till I can finish off the rain storm raven. The rain storm raven looks at me and I can tell its instincts are starting to take over so it flies back up and covers itself in water. Overtime it flaps its wings blades of water fly in random directions. They barely even come towards me and instead they''re destroying everything around us. The raven then flies straight down towards me and it keeps building up water till it slowly becomes a giant ball of water that''s covering the entire sky. I stab my halberd into the ground and then expand my flame armor out into a flame shield that''s completely surrounding me. I cant see through the black flames, but I can feel the second that giant ball of water crashes into my shield. It keeps shaking and then I feel it settle. I don''t know what is around me so I decide to expand my shield outwards and then I release my shield. Where my shield was there''s a wall of water that collapses and rushes towards me so I shift up on top of a nearby tree. The entire area is now flooded with water and has basically become a lake it seems like.


    I look up and see the rain storm raven is still fine and is intact preparing another attack. It''s gathering a lot of mana in its mouth and I know its probably going to use some kind of beam attack, but I don''t know how water can work like that. I shift and then shoot straight up towards the raven. It opens its mouth a shoots a tiny stream of water at me. I find it funny until I watch it easily cutting through trees and boulders behind me. The raven moves its mouth towards me, but it cant get a good aim on my as long as I am shifted. It¡¯s staying on the offensive so I cant unshift like this. I keep dodging its attack while trying to get above the raven, but it keeps stoping me. I finally get a idea, but its something I''ve never thought of doing before. I move directly under the beast and then shoot straight up. The raven''s water jet tries to hit me but I just barley dodge any movement from the attack. As soon as I reach the raven instead of unshifting I keep going. I fly right at its gut and pass right through. As soon as I exit the raven I unshift and swing a destruction edge down. My attack leaves a deep cut in the raven''s back. It now is missing its tail, a hole in its gut, and a slash going almost all across its body. The raven''s attack stops as it screams out. I draw my dagger and slash the ravens wings with both my weapons. The wings fall off and sheath my dagger before stabbing my halberd into the raven''s back. A burst of flames come from my back as I drive the raven down. It tries to struggle, but without its wings its useless. We soon reach the ground and the raven crashes down creating a small crater.


    I pull my halberd out of the raven and jump off it. Water starts to slowly flow into the crater so I cut off the raven''s head to make sure it''s dead before I cut open its chest and grab its mana heart. I jump out of the crater onto a tree. I can no longer see the raven''s body anymore. I look around until I spot the rain raven floating on top of the water. I jump from tree to tree till I reach the rain raven. It can''t really move because of its previous injury so I decided to just sheath my halberd and draw my dagger. I finish the rain raven off with a lighting edge to decapitate it and then I jump on its body before removing the mana hearts and it starts to sink down.


    I jump to the top of a tree and look over the destruction. The land is completely flooded and trees are completely destroyed all around. It also seems like I have created a new pond where the rain storm raven fell. I''m not sure how long it will take for this water to disperse, but I honestly don''t care. I hide my arm before I shift and make my way towards the city. I finally arrive at the city gate and notice that the grass around the outside is actually wet from my fight. I pretend I have nothing to do with it as I enter the city.

 Chapter 29

    Chapter 29


    Eva Lemuria


    I make my way towards the adventurer guilds building as I ignore the stares looking over my soaked appearance. I thought about using fire to dry myself, but I don''t want to ruin my only outfit until I get my other outfits from the tailor. I enter the guild and notice a lot of people are panicking and running around. I also notice some city guards yelling at the manager. I ignore everyone as I walk right up to the receptionist and drop the lighting forest horses mana heart on the counter with its tail.


    ¡°That should be enough to raise me to the 4th tier.¡±


    ¡°Yes, Miss Eva this should bring you up to the 4th tier. Let me just go process it for you.¡± She goes to fill out the paper work.


    ¡°Are you Eva Lemuria?¡± One of the eleven guards that were arguing with the guild manager calls out to me.


    ¡°I might be. What would it be to you?¡±


    ¡°The city Lord had wanted to invite you over to stay at his mansion, but it seems you didn''t get the message. We were expecting you for a while now over there.¡± Guard


    ¡°No, I received your message, but I am not here to see some city, Lord. I don''t plan on staying with some unknown person. If your city lord wishes to speak to me he can come to find me.¡±


    ¡°Miss Eva congratulations you are now an official 4th tier adventurer. You can now also take 3rd tier missions.¡± Receptionist


    ¡°Then I¡¯ll take the mission for the 3rd tier rain storm raven.¡±


    ¡°What? That''s perfect because it seems that mana beast has just had a confrontation with another mana beast. I will call for the other emergency adventurers who are going to subjugate it and you can work together.¡± Guild Manager


    ¡°There is no need for that. I have the mana heart right here. Also, this is the mana heart of a 4th tier rain raven that showed up in the middle of the fight.¡±


    ¡°What? Then the flooding is from your fight?¡± I stay silent. ¡°All the land around the city has become muddy! It will take days maybe even weeks for it to dry up!¡± I still stay silent. It could have been from somewhere else for all I know. The guild manager is practically pulling out his hair now.


    ¡°Anyway hurry up and process these. I probably won''t do any more missions till tomorrow and I have other errands to run today.¡± The receptionist gathers the things and the fills out the forms before telling me it''s all complete. The guild manager clearly wanted to say something else, but I didn''t give him the chance as I just walked out the door.


    ¡°Miss Eva please wait! The City lord insists that you come and stay with him at his mansion. He doesn''t believe someone of your status should just stay at an inn.¡± City Guard


    ¡°Tell him his opinion has nothing to do with me. If he wants something from me then he can come ask me. If not then fuck off already.¡±


    They finally pause their steps. It''s probably because they didn''t expect a princess to use that kind of language. I don''t want them following me all over the place so I enter an alleyway and jump up onto the roof of the building next to me. I jump roof to roof until I believe I am far enough away. I jump down into another alleyway before exiting it and making my way towards the tailor shop. The streets are just as busy as yesterday when I was shopping.


    I finally reach the tailor shop and enter it to find the place is a mess. Clothes are a mess on their displays and there are papers with designs all over the place. I don''t see the tailor anywhere even after I had called out so I make my way into the back room to look for the tailor. I find her asleep in a chair and one of my new outfits is on a mannequin next to her. The outfit looks just like how I want it to be. It''s similar to my current outfit except its black with red lilies on the bottom and sleeves. Overall it''s a beautiful outfit that even I can tell will look good on me. Next to the outfit is a stack of papers with designs. I look through the rough sketches and almost all the designs I can tell will look good on me. I also notice that the tailor designed a few dresses even though I asked for none. I shake her awake so I can check to see if I can take the completed outfit now and when the next one will be finished.


    ¡°Hmmm oh, it¡¯s you. Ahh, you must be here for your order. I have stayed up all night and finished just this one outfit. I probably could have got more done, but I would always stop to draw another design while I was inspired by working on this outfit. I think people will really like this design. Tell me where did you originally get these clothes?¡± Tailor


    ¡°The dragon tribe gave me them.¡± She looks completely shocked before bursting out laughing.


    ¡°Hahaha, fine don''t tell me. Everyone has their secrets. I won''t ask that anymore, but I will ask do you mind if I start to sell these designs to others as well?¡± Tailor


    ¡°I don''t mind as long as my order is finished first. Is this one here finished now? I am in need of more clothes.¡±


    She nods her head and takes the outfit off the mannequin before handing it to me. I take the outfit to the changing room and change my clothes. I put the old outfit into my bag before I walk and say my goodbyes to the tailor before I leave her shop. After I leave I start to make my way to the little cafe I went to yesterday. It''s still awhile before they close up shop so I might as well go and relax before I go to the gambling den again. I enter the shop and ask for a private corner to sit in on the top floor overlooking the park. They are luckily able to accommodate me and I can have a bit more privacy now. My order is served and I sit back and relax there. A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.


    I had just defeated some mana beast that probably could have destroyed this city if they wanted to. It''s hard to believe these people can live here for so long with no one strong enough to defeat those beasts. I definitely don''t think that the guild manager could have done it and usually, a guild would have someone strong enough at each branch. I hope they don''t plan on trying to tie me down here because I will probably be gone soon enough. I just have to wait until the shadow guard reports back to me with news from my family. As long as they don''t go looking for trouble because of me ill be fine and probably come home in at most a year. I might go visit the dwarven Kingdom like I originally planned after this. My musing is interrupted as someone sits across from me. Luckily I had pulled my mask up after every sip of coffee, but I won''t be able to drink with him here. He is dressed extravagantly and has two masked guards behind him. When I look at him I can''t help, but get an uneasy feeling. He looks like he wouldn''t be a threat to me, but I get a very dark feeling from him that I can''t explain.


    ¡°Hello, Princess Eva. I am the city lord Lucas Sylvari. I sent some men earlier to invite you to my mansion, but it seems as if you had been busy then.¡± Lucas Sylvari


    ¡°Yes, as you can see I am very busy right now. Even though I am so busy you still came here. So what do you want? I hope it''s not something stupid or I''ll throw you out a window for ruining my peace.¡±


    ¡°Yes, I can definitely tell you are very busy so I will get right to it. I don''t believe a lady of your status should be staying at a simple inn and even more, you are coming to such a shop with a foreign drink. You should come and stay at my mansion. I would be able to take good care of you there. Don''t worry nothing would be uncomfortable there. In fact, once you stay a night you''ll probably love it there and want to stay.¡± Lucas Sylvari


    ¡°I¡¯ll have to say no thank you. I am comfortable where I am so there is no point in going somewhere else. I did not come to this city to be taken care of by others so your kindness is unnecessary. You should just focus on your job instead of some runaway foreign princess. I heard recently there''s a lot of flooding in your land. You should go take care of that.¡± I am glad he can''t see the smirk underneath my mask. ¡°Another thing before you leave. The adventures guild is not to be underestimated. They don''t like nobles trying to control them or steal their members status.¡±


    ¡°I understand. I will come again to invite you to come stay with me. The city is peaceful but every place has a dark side so be careful here. The flooding of the land is truly a mystery and it will be hard to fix. Don''t worry I just want a peaceful relationship with the adventurers guild. Sometimes while speaking a few things slip from both parties. Nothing to worry about.¡± Lucas Sylvari


    After that, he gets up and leaves the cafe with his guards in tow. He left for now, but I know nobles don''t like it when they don''t get what they want. He will keep pestering me until I agree and if I don''t he will probably resort to some other stupid methods. Nobles pride is too high and he seems even worse. I don''t know what is under that smile, but my instincts were screaming danger around him. I can''t help but wonder why he is so desperate to get me to come to his mansion. At first, I thought he was just a typical noble that wants to use my position to try and grab more power somehow. Now that I have met him I feel there is more to it than just that. I will definitely avoid him and his guards as much as possible. I don''t even know how he knew I was here which just shows he''s a dangerous person.


    After the city lord left I went back to relaxing in the cafe while I thought about what he could want and why. It''s troublesome that my identity is known. I should not have told the city advisor when I got here, but I thought it could help me get in without much trouble. I got in easily, but other trouble showed up because of it. For now, I will wait and see what happens before I leave this city.


    I keep relaxing at the cafe until the server came to tell me they were closing so I could only pay my bill before I left to go do some more gambling. I will admit that I am having fun at the gambling den. People, there are all very lively and the place can really bring up someone''s spirit. For most, it''s probably just the booze they serve. For me, I enjoy the feeling of looking at everyone panicked faces when they lose their money to me. I''m pretty sure that if my family finds out I am spending my nights at the gambling den they will probably want to rush here and drag me away so I hope that shadow guard isn''t still watching me.


    I reach the gambling den and look around at the lively scene. I noticed that as soon as I walked in one of the guards at the side rushed away probably to inform them that I am here. I thought of going to play roulette again, but I instead went to watch one of the card games being played. The game I was watching is called blackjack. It seemed to be a relatively simple game at first. It seems to mostly depend on luck, but as I watched I noticed that there are patterns that can be followed. After following the game for a while I begin to understand the game and I can predict the cards with a pretty high accuracy so I take a seat. I thought of just betting a high amount right from the start but I decided to just start low until I double my winnings and then I''ll keep my original bet and use whats left to play so I don''t actually lose anything. The same as last time a waitress comes to serve me and I order a whiskey. I keep playing and when the waitress comes by I notice there''s some extra alcoholserved to me this time, but not enough to affect me at all. I just use the technique Shadow taught me when consuming poison. I spend a couple of hours gambling and drinking at the gambling den and tonight I actually made less than I thought I would. The pattern I found was actually kind of hard to follow at first so I kept losing almost as much as I won. Either way, it was fun so I kept playing till I got tired so I collected my winnings and left.


    Like I thought would happen I was followed out the door except for this time there are even more thugs following me. I decidedill teach them a small lesson tonight so they don''t keep trying this every night wasting my time. I start walking towards the city gate and when I reach it I just wave to the guards as I leave the city. I walk over to an open area and wait for all the thugs to show up. There are about fifteen of them this time. I am surprised that they followed me all the way here. They must really want to take my money. I guess since I am unknown around here they think that I am just a traveler without any backing that would come after them.


    ¡°Well, Missy looks like you didn''t run away this time. It''s good that you came out here so you can hand over your winnings and maybe even give us a sample of yourself.¡± Idiot Thug 1


    ¡°Seriously that''s why you thought I came out here? You are clearly an idiot so tell me now if you have a boss that orders you around.¡±


    ¡°What''d you say?! Well, since you probably won''t even be able to form a thought after we''re done with you ill tell you that the den doesn''t like some nobody coming in and taking all its money so we decided to just take it back.¡± Big Idiot Thug 1


    Seriously I already guessed it, but I was just asking as a formality. I really didn''t think they would actually tell me. They are seriously underestimating me. Can they not see the giant deadly halberd on my back? I know it''s currently wrapped up, but they should be able to tell that it''s heavy. Are these guys so weak that they have no danger sense at all? Well, I guess I can just finish them off quickly before I go back to the gambling den tomorrow night and take everything they own. I guess the thugs have gotten impatient because they all charged at me. They didn''t even draw their weapon as they try and grab me. When they''re all about to reach me I release lightning from my feet and let it travel through the soaked ground. The flooded ground made it perfect for my spell to easily electrocute all the idiot thugs at once. I watch as they all stop and open their mouth for a silent scream and they twitch nonstop. I keep going until I see all the thugs start to smoke and I cut the lighting. They all fall over with their eyes roll back. I don''t know if they survived or not, but if they did the ones that fell face first into the water will definitely die later. I look them over before I just walk over their bodies and make my way back into the city. I make my way all the way to the city gate and wave at the guards who seem to have seen the little scuffle considering their pale faces. I go to my inn and head straight for my room. Tonight I easily fall asleep without any heavy thoughts.

 Chapter 30

    Chapter 30


    Eva Lemuria-One month later


    It has been about a month since I arrived in Yanlin and my time has been relatively peaceful with only a few minor annoyances. I would take some minor missions of the 4th rank and only one 3rd rank mission from the adventures guild. When I finish I would walk around town shopping or go sit at the little cafe by the park. Its become one of my favorite spots and they even save me a seat because I have become a regular after only one month. Apparently, because I am such a peaceful customer who doesn''t bother any one ormake ridiculous demands I am popular there. All the money I have spent there probably also has something to do with it. I would also sometimes go and take a nap in the park as well. All my outfits have also been collected from the tailor and she''s now trying to advertise the design to others but doesn''t seem to have had much luck yet.


    The annoyances are the thugs that I fried before had ended up living and reported it to the gambling den. Apparently, they didn''t like it, but they cant ban me from the gambling den or else what they did will become public. I go in almost every night and gamble some money. I have had nights where I have completely lost, but overall I have won a lot of money from the gambling den. They have tried to send thugs to me multiple times, but the land outside the city dried up after a while so I couldn''t just keep electrocuting the thugs that follow me. Sometimes I would actually have to beat them up with my fist which is very annoying now. The one time they tried cheating me at the table I destroyed the table and crippled the dealer so no one else had tried to cheat me since then. I am sure they still believe they can win all the money back from me, but I will probably be leaving soon. I think I should receive a letter from my parents soon because that shadow guard probably sent the report out that very night so a month is more than enough time to receive something back.


    The other annoyance is that the city lord Lucas Sylvari has constantly been approaching me. He has tried flirting with me multiple time, but overtime I sense an ulterior motive from him as I turn him down. He had started off with appearing wherever I go, but he''s slowly been trying to become more aggressive lately. He walks closer to me and had even appeared at my inn asking to speak to me. He tried to put his hand on my shoulder before but I caught his wrist and broke it. To be honest that was just instincts at the time but I probably would have done it anyway. It got really annoying when I went to the adventures guild and they started saying they cant assign me any missions. They kept making excuses until I started to pressure them. They finally gave in when people outside the adventures guild started passing out with there eyes rolled back. I knew that it was the city Lord that told them to do it, but this is just going to cause the adventures guild to make a move now.


    Today I plan on going to exterminate another 3rd tier mana beast. Before I fought the beast as a test of strength, but now I am going back to hunting so I will try to kill the beast as quickly as possible. Yesterday I had meditated all day to raise my mana capabilities and today I feel my mana has definitely become even stronger. I have rarely meditated lately but the benefits are definitely there. It¡¯s the second best way to raise my strength after real life and death fighting.


    I am currently making my way towards the adventure guild now. The past month I have made a reputation there which is ¡°Don''t mess with her!¡± It really is amusing to see the few adventures here completely avoid me like a plague. I head directly to the mission boards and look over the 3rd tier missions. I find one that sparks my interest. It''s a mission to hunt down a 3rd tier ice reaper viper. This viper is the considered to be incredibly dangerous because it doesn''t use its intelligence to fight but to hunt. It¡¯s basically a deadly assassin of mana beast. If I can hunt this hunter it would definitely prove my skills are good enough to move on to the next tier and I will start to seriously try to rank up. I take the request and give it to the usual receptionist. She looks it over and seems she wants to say something, but she shuts up with a simple glare from me. She processes the mission and I begin to make my way out of the city. Today''s outfit is white like my original except it has black birds on it. The birds seem to be on fire and the tailor said they are apparently called phoenixes.


    I reach the forest and begin running through the forest in the direction that the ice reaper viper was reported to be seen. To be honest it¡¯s going to be like trying to find a needle in a haystack. I wish I could just start burning parts of the forest down, but I am pretty sure the elves won''t just give me a warning like when I caused the forest to be flooded. I decide the fastest way to find the viper will be to shift and look for a snake signature. As I fly through the forest I see many different beast silhouettes but no long snake like ones. Some notice me but I am already gone before they can react.


    Finally, after a while, I find the beast I am looking for hiding in some trees while looking at two other mana beast fight. I unshift far away from all three mana beast and look towards where I saw the snakes silhouette but I don''t see anything at all except some bushes. I cant even sense anything there so I shift again to check for the viper. I see it and guess that it plans on taking out the winner of the two mana beast that is fighting. It¡¯s definitely a smart beast for attacking the weakened winner. The two mana beasts are a 3rd rank black bone wolf and a 3rd tier abyss terra lizard. The black bone wolf is a giant wolf with black bones forming plated armor on its body and it has almost unbreakable spike all over its body. The spikes are all retractable and it can use wind magic to propel the spikes forward like arrows. The abyss terra lizard looks like a very plain beast but its very agile and is known to easily go underground and pop up to attack. It has a sleek appearance to help it move quickly as if swimming through the ground.


    Their fight is already reaching its climax as they both are covered in wounds and the area is a complete wrecked. There are bone spikes and holes everywhere including in the trees. I hope I won''t be blamed for this as well. The beastslook exhausted and I prepare myself by taking out my right arm and unbinding my halberd. I have had my presence erased this whole time and I am trying my best to keep from being discovered from the three beasts. I am sure that as soon as the winning beast lets down its guard the viper will strike and I will strike it at the same time.


    This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    Finally, the lizard dives into the ground and before the wolf canput up a defense and search for it the lizard immediately dives up and bites the wolf¡¯s neck. Before the lizard would stay underground and wait for a bit before attacking so that''s probably why the wolf was caught off guard. The lizard grips tightly onto the wolf as it tries to break through the bone armor. The lizard drags the wolf underground and I can only hear the wolf¡¯s screams before the lizard drags its body back to the surface. The wolf looks like it was crushed from all sides and even has cracked bone armor and snapped spikes. The lizard takes a second to take a breath before it begins to pry off the bone armor on the wolf so it can eat.


    That''s when the viper strikes. First there is nothing but a blur shooting towards the lizard, but afterward, I get a clear view of the Viper for the first time. It is big enough it could probably eat me in one bite and makes me wonder how it could hide so well. It is a dark purple color and has dark blue ice covering random spots on its body. Its head has multiple purple ice spikes sticking out of its head like horns. It¡¯s currently coiled around the abyss terra lizard while biting down on the back of its neck. I notice that anywhere it touches the lizard is slowly freezing over. The lizard''s neck is freezing faster than the rest from the bite.


    The Viper seems fully concentrated on killing the lizard so I take this chance and shift straight at the viper. I appear behind the vipers head and swing a flame edge right for the neck of the viper. Right before my flame edge can touch the viper I sense danger from behind and shift away. When I unshift I see that the vipers tail is where I was and that it''s basically shaped like a purple frozen sword. The Viper lets go of the half frozen lizard and it gets in a defensive position while watching me. I notice that the lizard is still alive, but is seems to be completely unable to move. It also seems to be bleeding from its eyes and mouth. I guess any of the viper''s purple ice must actually be frozen poison. The Viper only has purple ice on its tail and head so I just have to avoid strikes from those. I don''t know if the technique Shadow taught me can handle the viper''s poison.


    The viper swings its tail at a tree behind it and then uses its tail it throws the tree at me. I cut the tree with ease only for the viper to appear in my vision so I put up a flame shield between us and the viper changes directions mid attack and goes to my left. I hold up my left hand towards it and use a blast of destruction before it can reach me. I then jump backward and form an intense flame armor. I would usually keep the flames concentrated so I don''t burn down my surrounding, but now I let it go full force to ward off any ice around me. I charge towards the viper with a flame edge and it only nimbly doges my strike by moving a part of its body before counter attacking. We keep going back and forth with neither landing a hit on the other. Until I notice that my surroundings are starting to freeze up. It seems like the viper was building walls of ice around us while attacking. We are now both trapped in a cage of ice. I could just shift up and over the ice, but I am here for the viper so I won''t run away.


    The Viper takes some distance from me and opens its mouth to bombard me with shards of ice. I counter it with a flame thrower until the attack stops and I cant see the Viper anymore. I look around me till I spot a hole close to where the viper was. It must be using the tunnels the abyss terra lizard made earlier and I cant even sense the viper at all from here. I form a ball of flames and throw it into the closes tunnel and flames burst out of several holes close by but I still don''t see the viper. All of a sudden from bellow me the purple snake tail burst under the ground and I can only use my halberd blade as a shield as I am thrown straight up. Midair I look and see my halberd is covered in a purple frost so I burn it away just in time to see the viper has jumped at me. I stab a lightning spear at it, but the viper just twists its body midair and its head goes past me while the tail wraps around me. We both fall to the ground as I am entangled in the viper. I am not touching any purple ice, but I can feel the cold even through my flame armor. My armor is protecting me from piercing and slashing, but I can still feel my bones being crushed as the Viper tries to squeeze me to death. I feel a sudden stabbing pain in my right arm and see the vipers tail has passed through between its own body. The tail could barely make a scratch on my arm, but its still enough to know that the poison has entered my body. I can feel my arm starting to numb me so I try Shadows technique of circulating my mana through my body to try and push out the poison, but Its hard to do while maintaining my flame armor. All of a sudden I feel the pressure increase on me and I feel my ribs breaking and I cough up some blood from some internal injuries. I start concentrating all my mana on my armor as I push it outwards. Slowly I can push the viper away from me as even its ice couldn''t keep up with my flames for long. I quickly switch my mana to fight the poison as I drop my armor.


    I am now injured and defenseless but the viper seems to be covered in burns now and it looks pissed. Even its tail seems to have melted so it must have been artificially made by the viper for a weapon. I charge at the viper and swing with a simple mana edge because I know I cant use too much mana or the poison will not get better. The viper dodges all my attacks, but I keep pushing it back until it crashes into its own ice wall. I take this chance and turn my halberd over and form a quick lighting scythe before I swing it for one-second before concentrating back on the poison. My attack worked and the viper had its lower body completely cut off. It screams in pain as both ends of the tail swing around spraying blood everywhere. I jump back and the viper bites the end of the cut and freezes over its own wound, but it can''t reattach the lower half of its body. The viper looks at me enraged and I can tell that its beast instincts are taking over so I can hopefully avoid having to deal with its clever attacks now.


    The viper creates ice spikes all over whats left of its body before charging straight at me. I easily dodge the enraged viper and then I cut it with my mana edge. It cuts it, but I don''t cut off anything like before. This keep repeating for a while as I add cuts to the viper while trying to ignore the pain from my injuries and my slowly numbing body. Finally the viper uses another blast of ice shards and instead of going underground it attacks from within the wave of its own attack. I spotted it mouth wide open charging right on my right side so I manage to lift up my halberd and form a destruction spear and stab it into the vipers open mouth. My halberd goes deep into the mouth of the beastuntil reaches all the way to my arm and then bites down. I scream from the pain of the direct poison entering my body. The viper died after its suicide attack, but if I don''t move quickly Ill follow it. I pry open the vipers mouth and rip its fang out of my arm. I leave my halberd where it is for now and use my dagger to start cutting open the viper. I am making a mess of it, but I can barely move my body at this point. I finally find what I was looking for. I didn''t go after the mana heart, but instead I found the beast poison gallbladder. I am so glad my halberd didn''t pierce it when it passed through. I swallow the gallbladder without a second thought and manage to keep it down as I swallow it. I immediately sit down and begin trying to get the poison out of my body. My body is completely numb and I can''t move, but I managed to stop the poison from reaching anything important. I begin to meditate while getting rid of the poison.


    After what was probably a couple of hours I can finally move again so I get up and rip out the vipers'' mana heart before I move to the other two beasts. I cut open the black bone wolf and take its mana heart and tail before I move toward the abyss terra lizard. When I reach the lizard I notice that it is actually still alive. It is still frozen and has unfocused eyes so I use my dagger to quickly finish it before cutting it open to remove its mana heart and tail. I now have three 3rd tier mana hearts that I can turn in. I am sure other would probably go crazy from the luck I had today. I pry my halberd out of the viper before I begin to start walking out of the forest.

 Chapter 31

    Chapter 31


    Eva Lemuria


    As I begin to make my way out of the forest I hear a sound. It¡¯s a very annoying squawking noise coming from one of the trees that had been destroyed earlier. I walk over and see a nest with a bunch of broken eggs with dead baby birds and a mangled crow. I look it over and realize this is a completely normal crow with no mana or anything. It can''t even be considered a 7th tear beast so I can''t help, but to wonder how it got all the way out here in the first place. I carefully bend over while trying to make sure I don''t worsen my injuries and I poke the crow but it just squawks at me. An egg falls out of its mangled wings and I realize it must have been the only egg it could save. I pick up the egg and the crow starts squawking even louder at me. It¡¯s really getting on my nerves and there no way I will nurse this bird thats stupid enough to set up a nest in a 3rd tier beasts territory. I pull out my dagger and stab my knife into the crow to finish it off. I was going to smash this last egg, but I decided that I can raise this crow to be a companion for me so I don''t always have to travel alone. I move the egg into my hidden right hand since it will be warm there and I continue to make my way out of the forest. A couple of minor beast had tried attacking me, but I either out ran them or swiftly killed them.


    I finally made it out of the forest and reached the city gates. Everyone that saw my beat up appearance seemed surprised and kept staring at me. I ignored everyone as I made my way straight to my inn. I thought I could turn in the three mana hearts I have, but I would rather go and take a rest to treat my wounds. I know my special constitution will survive the poison and other injuries, but I still have to keep using my mana to control the poison. I reach my inn and head straight for my room. I enter it and begin undressing myself after closing up the windows and locking the door. I wear my underwear and only a shirt because it''s easiest to treat my injuries this way. I place the crow egg in a makeshift blanket nest as I sit in a chair in the room and closed my eyes to meditate.


    While meditating I hear a knock on my door. I open my eyes and I can tell it''s now night time. I don''t know who it is, but I am not in the mood to deal with some thugs or the city lord. I don''t even feel the strength to get up right now, let alone put up a fight. So I decide to just speak from where I am.


    ¡°Who is it?¡± I yell at the door with a slightly hoarse voice.


    ¡°It is me number 17. I have some things for you.¡± Shadow Guard 17


    ¡°Come in. I am sure a locked door won''t keep you out.¡± I pull up my mask and use a blanket to cover the right side and lower half of my body. Shadow Guard 17 easily unlocks my door and enters me. He seems a little shocked at my appearance. He closes the door and approaches me.


    ¡°Princess what happened to you?¡± Shadow Guard 17


    ¡°Never mind that. Just tell me what you have. I want to keep resting.¡±


    ¡°Well, I have some news about Lemuria and your family. I also have a letter, but let me pass the news onto you first.¡± I nod my head in consent and he continues. ¡°First the Prince has started to take his studying seriously since your duel and Roland was supposed to be apprehended, but he had simply disappeared before anyone could catch him. There has also been some activity around the borders, but nothing major has happened. Another thing is that we have seen a lot of individuals that we believe to be dragons in their human form wandering around the capital asking about you and the rest of the royal family. Eventually a dragon did come as an ambassador and has since been staying in the palace. We still aren''t sure what they want.¡±


    Damn lizards can''t just stay in their holes. I guess for now they are just monitoring the capital, but they''re probably waiting for me to show up. I will probably stay away for now so I can avoid them for a little longer. I am also glad that George is starting to behave, but Roland disappearing does worry me as I don''t know what an annoying guy like that will do. The mention of borders makes me remember the town that disappeared so I decided to see if 17 has heard anything.


    ¡°Do you have any information about that missing town on the border two years ago?¡±


    ¡°Yes, the information that was passed onto me then because we thought it might be related to your disappearance. We had found your trail at a nearby town and we thought we might have finally found you, but instead you disappeared and all we found was a mana beast corpse and some mass destruction. We also found a piece of your weapon so we knew it was you. As for the town we couldn''t find any information on it. Instead several other towns started disappearing. It actually happened mostly on the border for the dwarven kingdom and the Anerris Kingdom. Those border towns were considered our first defense so we aren''t surprised that both kingdoms seem to be making moves, but we doubt either will go towards war. Thats pretty much all the information that I can give you now princess.¡± Shadow Guard 17


    I nod my head and take a second to think over everything that he has told me. I hope there isn''t a war. If a war does start I don''t think I will have much of a choice, but to return and fight with my people. I hold out my hand towards 17 and he hands me a sealed envelope. I hand it back to him and look at my right side and he seems to understand as he open the envelope for me and hands me the letter.


    Dear Eva,


    I know you probably think that we can''t understand why you would run away or why you still haven''t returned, but we do understand. We could tell you were silently suffering all the time as you were. You were always such a happy child until you had your forceful awakening. We knew you were unique and we always tried our best so you understood that we loved you no matter what. You became incredibly strong and also became so self reliant that we would feel as if there was nothing we could do of you sometimes. The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.


    We hoped that you could make some friends and people you could trust at the academy. Instead it seems like you only suffered more there at the hands of those we thought would be your friends. We wouldn''t have sent you to the academy if we knew it would lead to this. Instead we would have supported you here at home. We were really glad when we heard that you got rid of the Roland problem while trying to set your brother straight. It was only after that we learned that you ran away that we were devastated.


    We spent six months without a single piece of news from you. Shadow had mentioned that he was proud about how well you''re sneaking capabilities were so we locked him up in the dungeon for a week. After that we learned that you had been spotted near the border but when they went looking for you they only found destruction. It almost broke us down with worry. It wasn''t until another six months later that we heard that you were with the dragons of all people. We couldn''t get any information from them about you besides that you were alive and wouldn''t be able to return yet. Even now we don''t know why you were there. We had only just found you again when Shadow Guard 17 spotted you in Yanlin. He said you are a completely different person now. He says you show your hair, but hide everything else.


    I don''t know what has happened to you in this time. Whatever has happened does not matter to us. You have missed so much since you have been gone. Lora has grown into a splendid young lady and has turned into a miniature version of your mother. She even gained her water affinity. She will soon go to the academy herself and wishes that you will see her off then. Your Mother has been filled with constant worry about you since you were gone. The only thing that kept her from attacking the dragons is your new younger sister. You have a sister that is two years old currently named Anne Lemuria. All these things are what you are missing at home and I want to tell you to return, but I know that I can''t do that.


    I know deep down that you should enjoy yourself and continue this journey of yours. I know that if I try and force you to come back it would not help you at all. So please only come back home when you are ready. I know your mother and sister would try to kill me if they found about this letter so when you do come home don''t tell them we found you in Yanlin. I know if I told them you would see them at your door the very next day. For now all I can ask from you is to please keep in contact. If you leave please inform 17 so he can inform other shadow guards. I know you probably won''t like the idea of us tracking you, but it will let me worry less about you. I love you sweetheart so please be safe and come home when you are ready.


    Love,


    Your father Christen Lemuria


    I feel the tears running down my cheeks while I read through this letter. Damn it. I truly didn''t think I was seen through so easily. This letter has truly answered all the questions that were weighing down on me though. I have been so worried about my family since I left back then. I feel my resolve crumbling just from reading this letter. I didn''t even know I have a new little sister. I feel like I need to go back just to make sure Mother and Lora don''t corrupt her too. I know that my father is right about me continuing my adventure. Therefore I will not return just yet.


    ¡°Come back tomorrow night as well please. I will have some letters for you to deliver for me.¡±


    Shadow nods his head and then leaves shortly after that I begin to write three letters. I am basically telling my mother and sister that I am alive and well, but I don''t tell them where I am or when I might come home yet. I talk about random things and I speak about my new style and how mother should try some coffee. I had made to very casual letters for those two while I began to write a serious letter to my father. I write everything that has happened to me in more detail. I include why I was with the dragons and I also describe what has happened to my body. I write heavily that nothing should be done for now. I tell him that for now I just want to ignore those lizards and try and continue my life. Even though I could escape them after a surprise attack, I would not be able to put up a long term fight.


    I finish writing the letter and then look at the egg sitting next to me. I feel like now would be a perfect chance to test something that I have had on my mind for a while now. I have always wondered if there was an effect my mana has on things besides myself. I find it hard to believe that my mana is simply black with no other abilities. Sure my flames are hotter and my lighting is more destructive, but that doesn''t seem like all there is to it. I know this egg will probably hatch soon because its sibling all looked completely developed when they passed away. I want to conduct this test before it hatches. I don''t know what could happen so it''s better to not get attached to it after it hatches before experimenting.


    I hold the plain white egg in my black scaled hands. It looks like a monster holding a pure life. It''s not necessarily wrong, but I would rather not think about myself like that. I slowly release a tiny sliver of my black mana from my mana heart and guide it to my hand and then wrap it around the egg. I slowly try to infuse the mana into the egg, but I am not making much progress. I keep going until I feel the egg start to shake and then I stop. I try multiple methods like splitting my mana into needles and ejecting them or trying to condense my mana and soak the egg in it. Nothing works as I concentrate until I slowly enter a meditative state. I once again see the black flame inside me with the red marking. I focus on the red marking and get an idea. I open my eyes and imagine forming my mana around the egg into that marking and slowly it begins to glow before sinking into the egg. All of a sudden the egg shines with the same red marking from before. It glows timely before it fades away. After that I somehow feel completely exhausted, but I want to keep observing the egg. I was expecting something to happen like the entire egg turning black or even exploding. I focus on the egg and notice there is some small little connection between me and it, but I am not sure what it is. I don''t know if my mana is connected or if it''s something else, but there is definitely a connection there now.


    Hopefully what ever is born from this egg will be a companion to me. I feel lonely traveling on my own and I also get bored so I can teach the bird to poop on people like the city lord would be great. As I am thinking about what to call my new pet the egg begins to crack. It''s really small, but I can hear the crow trying to break free. I want to help it, but I know I shouldn¡¯t. If it will follow me around it will have to be strong. Slowly a gap opens in the egg and I try to look into it only to see darkness. Finally more pieces of the egg is chipped away and I get a clear view of the little fuzz ball. It¡¯s completely pitch black and kinda slimy. I grab the blanket I used for its nest and start wiping it down while it squeaks at me. It''s looking right at me and I finally notice it has black eyes and my hands shake a little. Even its parent had blue eyes even though it was black. After the little thing was cleaned I set it back on the table and watch it tries to move around. As I watch it I take the end of my hair and hold it to the crow to see they are the exact same shade of black. I feel a little shaken by this, but then I can''t help it, so I just pick up the little thing.


    ¡°Today you will be named Munin. You will fly with me from now on.¡±


    I check for its gender and see that it is female and I feel more comfortable with her. I have no fear of males, but they are all more annoying and I have had far more good interactions with females than males. I poke Munin a little bit until she starts squeaking at me. I go to my bag and pull out some trail mix I had. I then realize I am going to have to act as a mother for Munin and I feel embarrassed as I chew her food for her before I spit it in a spoon to feed her little by little. When she''s done she nestles in my hand and falls asleep. I walk over to my bed and place her on the pillow beside my own before I lay down myself. I am glad I experimented before she was born. I don''t think I would have the nerve to do anything to her now.

 Chapter 32

    Chapter 32


    Eva Lemuria


    I feel something on my face tickling my nose and I try to ignore it as I try to sleep, but it doesn''t stop until I end up sneezing before sitting up. I look at what fell on my lap only to see a black fuzzball. I pick it up and look over Munin. She still looks like the same clueless fuzzball. She starts happily squeaking and trying to move around a bit in my hands. She''s very slow, but she can already wobble around a bit. I get out of bed and put her on the table before I get dressed in my usual outfit. It feels a little weird with two eyes following my every move. I guess she will be pretty smart when she grows. After I am fully dressed I feed Munin the same way as last night before I pick her up. She''s still a little too small to stand on my shoulder so I tuck her into my clothes so she can peek out a little, but not fall out. I can feel her making herself getting comfortable before her head pops out.


    I grab my bag filled with mana hearts and tails and make my way out the door. I leave the inn and go straight towards the adventurers guild branch. I enter and as usual, all eyes turn to me and then immediately away. I walk up to the usual receptionist and she has a face that seems to say, ¡°Why me?¡± all over it. I smile a little under my mask before I pull out the ice reaper vipers mana heart and tail as I set it on the counter. She looks a little shocked before she just begins to process them without a word. I walk over to the mission board and I grab the black bone wolf and abyss terra lizards mission requests. I return to the counter as the receptionist sets a bag of money on the counter. While I set another two mana hearts and two tails on the counter. She looks at the mission requests and then the mana hearts before looking at me.


    ¡°How?! It was only one day! This just seems like too much.¡± Receptionist


    ¡°Squeak!¡± Munin


    ¡°It was all coincidence and luck. Anyway please process these two.¡±


    It seems she didn''t hear me as she''s looking at my breast. More specifically she''s looking at the squeaking bird looking at her. She looks back at me with dead eyes before taking the two mana hearts to process. I look down at the clueless Munin before using a finger to rub her head. I watch the receptionist fill out paperwork and think about if I should ask her for her name later. She comes back with another two pouches of some money and I take them both.


    ¡°Will you be accepting any other missions today?¡± Receptionist


    ¡°No, I will probably take a couple of days to rest and then I will be back at it. Don''t worry I''ll be back.¡±


    I leave the frustrated looking receptionist and walk out of the adventurers guild. I made my way to my usual cafe and am greeted by the familiar waiters. They guide me to my usual seat and I order some snacks for myself and ask if they have anything for Munin. They come with my coffee and some pastry crumbs. I set Munin on the table and relax as I smash the crumbs to even tinier crumbs for her. She begins nibbling on the crumbs while I look over the park and feel myself relax.


    It seems like all good things come to an end as one of the usual annoyances I have to deal with sits across from me. Lucas Sylvari has once again shown up uninvited and he has his usual two guards behind him. He still gives off that uneasy feeling and I really wish I could just throw him far away, but I don''t think the elven kingdom would appreciate that very much.


    ¡°Princess Eva I heard that you had returned from your little hunting expedition injured. I think this would be the perfect opportunity for you to come and stay with me at my mansion so you can have the servants take care of you. It''s probably for the best that you just come until you are fully recovered.¡± Lucas Sylvari says with his usual smile.


    ¡°Thank you for your concern, but I will be fine. I heal very quickly and I wasn''t that injured. I learned a long time ago how to take care of myself so help is not needed at this point. If that is all you came for I would like to ask you to leave so we may relax.¡±


    ¡°We? Oh, I see that is a very interesting pet. I didn''t take you for someone that would like to keep cute things around you.¡± Lucas Sylvari


    ¡°I must have picked it up from my mother. Now if that''s all I really would like to continue with my rest. You interrupted my meditation. Plus I don''t believe a city Lord should be so free as to be able to come talk to a foreign woman so much.¡±If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    ¡°Yes, I guess you are right. Well, my doors will be open to you. I will be waiting.¡± Lucas Sylvari


    He gets up and leaves after that. I don''t know why, but today he seemed different and the uneasy feeling I get from him seems to have increased. I feel like whatever he''s been plotting is going to happen soon. I feel uneasy, but the only thing I can do is wait and see. I don''t even know why he wants me to visit his mansion so badly. If he is plotting something against me he must realize that I am one of the strongest people in this city currently. Maybe I should ask shadow guard 17 when he comes for those letters tonight. I left them on the table in my room for him when he comes, but hopefully ill be there when he comes. For the mean time, I''ll just keep relaxing and playing with Munin.


    I stay at the cafe for a couple more hours until I decide to leave. I say my goodbyes to the employees before I start to walk around the city. I was planning to go straight to the gambling den to play around some more, but I decided that some fresh air will be good for me. I enjoy the cold air that''s flowing around me as I walk the quiet streets. I am basically walking on the outskirts of the city where it''s more peaceful at night. I could take a direct path to the gambling den, but I felt like walking this way and taking my time to walk around. This way I will probably be less likely to run into the usual thugs. They have been trying to keep me from gambling, but the funny thing is they have never once just asked me not to come. I probably would still show up, but I would definitely take less of their money. I already have more than enough just from my mission rewards. The only thing that could make this night more peaceful is if Munin wasn''t constantly squeaking at me. It seems like she''s trying to have a conversation with me. I don''t think a two-day old crow is supposed to be smart enough to ramble on like this, but it''s somewhat cute so I let her squeak as much as she wants. I start to think about what I will do tomorrow and I decided that I will spend the whole day meditating and as soon as all my injuries heal I will finally move on. I feel like there is no longer any specific reason for me to stay here any longer. I have ranked up and even communicated with my family for the first time in a couple of years. Besides the legal gambling den and the cafe I like, there''s nothing else here for me to do so I will move on.


    After a while, I finally make it to the gambling den and enter. I seem to attract a lot of attention from others as they all turn their heads my way and start whispering to each other. I ignore them as I head to a random table and start playing. I keep playing and enjoying myself for hours. Others would always play close to me hoping my luck would rub off on them, but most of my winnings I calculated. Obviously, I am wrong a lot of the time so I can lose as much money as I win, but it isn''t even about the money. I simply enjoy the risk of gambling and the joy of winning. Today might end up being my last day in this city and I don''t know when I will be able to enjoy a legal gambling den again.


    As the night starts to get late and it''s almost time for the sunrise I decide that I have played enough for tonight. I pack up my average winnings and make my way out. I detect the usual thugs following behind me so I put Munin in my hidden hand and carefully hold her as she sleeps. I then make my way outside the city as per usual. I am really surprised they have always waited for me to leave the city. All this does is reaffirm my assumption that the city lord must be involved with the gambling den.


    I reach the gates and the second that I pass the city boundary I speed forward until I reach the tree line. I could have run fast enough that the thugs couldn''t even follow me, but then they would just try again so I keep a speed they can follow me with. As I reach the trees I take Munin and set her on top of a low tree branch with an empty birds nest so she won''t wake up. I turn around and see the thugs have all finally caught up to me. It¡¯s embarrassing that they come after me even though they''re out of breath just from this short jog. The one who looks the least tired steps forward as the leader.


    ¡°Woman today is the day that we get all the money you have taken back. You have taken too much from us so we will get it back while avenging our fallen brothers. Even if you want to surrender you will not get away tonight.¡± Thug Leader


    The only response they get from me is a tired sign before I rush the thug leader. I throw a punch right in his gut and he bends over to puke up some food and blood. While he''s down I move to the next one with a punch to his face and a kick in the chest of the thug that tried to sneak behind me. Both go down unconscious after flying away. I rush the next one and trip him before grabbing his leg and swinging him around and releasing him at another thug. I kick another thug in the head and then smash my foot into his ribs before kicking him away. Two thugs try a pincer attack, but I just rush at one and punch his jaw hard enough that several teeth fly out of his mouth. I lean back as I dodge the other thug''s fist and then smash it between my elbow and knee. After a nice snapping sound and a loud scream, I grab the thugs face and smash his head into the ground. I notice leader has gotten up along with some other thugs that can still move. They all draw swords before rushing to surround me.


    I draw my dagger and wait for them to make the first move. Instead of attacking me they all jump a couple of steps back and walls rise from the ground to surround me leaving the only opening towards the forest where several fireballs appear from. I realize they must have finally learned from their past mistakes and planned ahead, but it''s useless. I intercept the fireballs with my own flame edge and then I cut down the walls with a lighting edge. My attack goes all the way through the walls and even cuts some of the thugs down. I threw my dagger at the leader while it''s enhanced by my lighting and it flies right through his head and about three trees before it stops embedded in a fourth tree. I shift and follow after my dagger and appear next to the tree. I grab my dagger and shift again deeper into the forest. I find the mages who were shooting at me earlier and they''re still looking at where the thug leader fell down dead. I sneak behind one and stab my throat through his throat before I move to the next one. She is a woman, but it means nothing if she''s just going to follow thugs like these so I stab my dagger directly in her head for an instant death before I move on. I silently kill four mages before they notice me in the middle of them and they all launch spells randomly in fear. I shift straight up and watch as their spell hit each other and then I move towards the ones still living and simply pass through all their chests. They never even realized that it wasn''t a spell that killed them, but my own body. I leave the mages and go to finish off the rest of the thugs. I swing a powerful distraction edge at the survivors and watch as the last of the thugs are blown to bits as simple as that.

 Chapter 33

    Chapter 33


    Eva Lemuria


    I look over the dead thugs and the few that managed to stay alive from my counter attack. They can''t blame anyone, but themselves for being so persistent in they''re attacks. If anyone comes to find trouble for me because of these thugs I only have to say it was self-defense. I am sure some of these thugs had friend and family or maybe even some children back home, but I will not show mercy at this point. The gambling den should already know that I have already killed some of their men. They either concealed that information or believed that me sparring the other thugs in the past was anything but me being in a good mood.


    I start going through the intact bodies and taking any valuables they have on them because they won''t be needing them anymore. I get half way through the bodies when I remember Munin is still in the nearby tree so I start making my way towards her. All of a sudden I feel myself being pulled to my right side and I fly through the air. I look to my side and see nothing actually touching me and I suddenly stop midair over some clean ground and feel my body slam into the ground. It feels like a mountain is pressing on top of me and I see a circle is starting to indent around me. I can barely move my fingers under this pressure so I use my flame armor to try and decrease the pressure on me. I do feel the pressure lighten up, but I feel a constant strain on my armor. I slowly push myself up and look around for whatever iscausing this. I see a figure hidden underneath a cloak slowly approaching me while holding his hand towards me. I push myself all the way to my feet only for the figure to move his hand slightly down and I feel the pressure on me increase. I am pushed down to my knees and can barely move my arms up. I feel my armor start to crack under the pressure so I push more mana into my armor.


    ¡°Princess Eva I wish that you would have accepted my invitation to come and stay with me. If you had obediently come I would have been able to do this so much easier instead of having to use force like this.¡± The figure removes the hood on their cloak revealing Lucas Sylvari the city Lord.


    ¡°You bastard! What the hell are you doing? How are you doing this? Release me!¡±


    ¡°Princess Eva I didn''t want to have to use force against you like this. I originally had several plans to knock you out so I could do this when you aren''t conscious, but you are very stubborn and untrusting. Now I have to hold you down while I use this." He pulls out a familiar white nail and I get a sense of dread and my body tumbles a little. ¡°Have you seen this somewhere before? That really shouldn''t be possible unless you''ve seen one of the experimental ones. Hmm, tell me where''d you see this.¡± He holds the nail towards me and I notice that this one has some weird engravings on it instead of just a pure white like the one that was in Saras.


    ¡°Get away from me!¡± I release a wave of destruction around me hoping to push him back, but he has a powerful mana shield. ¡°Release me now!¡± I keep pushing against the force holding me down, but I feel like I am just hurting myself. I refuse to give up because I know from Saras that those nails are hell. I get off my knees and take a step towards Lucas Sylvari.


    ¡°Now Princess you''re only hurting yourself here. The pressure holding you down is called gravity. I won''t go into details about it, but what you need to know is you can''t fight it. It''s not like how a flame can be extinguished or lightning that can be diverted. In a couple of minutes, you will be telling me anything I need to know anyway so I guess I can just go straight to hammering in the nail.¡± Lucas Sylvari holds his hand up and my body instantly flies up. Instead of feeling pressure, I now feel weightless as I float around. He then throws his hand down and I feel the pressure become even greater as I crash into the ground. I land on my back and my armor shatters as I feel all the air escape my lungs. I feel the pressure on my completely holding me down. I feel my blood is even being pushed down with my organs.


    Lucas Sylvari walks over me and then pulls out a white hammer and I try to summon as much strength as I can to move, but it¡¯s no good. He holds the nail over my chest and he swings the hammer upwards. I try to keep moving, but I can only feel tears forming in my eyes as feartakes over from that nail on my chest. I can only watch as Lucas Sylvari brings the hammer down and slams the nail into my chest and the next thing I feel is a pain I''ve never experienced. I feel myself enter my body. It feels like when I am meditating and I slowly enter my own body. I look around and see the tip of the white nail slowly approaching the black flame that has always been in me. It seems everything around me is slowed down and I can''t even move within this space. I watch as the second the tip of the nail touches the flame the red symbol on the flame glows a bright red as the black flame flares up and then the nail starts to slowly shatter and then crumbles away.


    I feel myself rush back into my body as I watch the nail still connected to the hammer explodes in a white light. I watch as an explosion of energy bursts out from my chest. The nail and hammer completely disappear in the explosion and then Lucas Sylvari arms that were holding them are caught in the explosion as he''s thrown back. This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work.


    ¡°Aaaaahhhhhhhh!¡± Lucas Sylvari screams in pain and rolls on the ground. ¡°Ahh, what the hell happened? My arms! My arms! What was that?!¡±


    While Lucas Sylvari starts panicking about the sudden turn of events I notice that the pressure that was holding me down is now gone so I get up on my feet. I feel a little wobbly and I feel like all my strength has been sucked out of me. I start to make my way towards Lucas Sylvari as I reach over and unbind my right arm. I stand over Lucas Sylvari and look at his completely charred arms. It looks like they can be blown away as ash at any second. He looks up at me with fear and then focuses on my arm.


    ¡°What the hell are you? What was that? I thought you didn''t have that arm and why does it have scales on it?!¡± I just look down at him and feel anger burst forth. I stomp on his left arm and watch it crumble away. Lucas Sylvari stops his screaming and looks at his arm in shock. ¡°You bitch! I¡¯ll kill you and your whole family!¡± I immediately stomp on his other arm before I bend over and stab my dagger in his leg. ¡°AAAhhhhhhh. It wasn''t supposed to be like this. They told me there was no chance for the nail to fail. It worked on the others.¡± After he screams he starts whimpering and talking with a low voice.


    ¡°Who are they? Who gave you this? What others? What were you planning on doing to me?¡± I twist the dagger in his leg before I pull it out and do the same to his other leg.


    ¡°AAAHHHH! I was going to order you to tell me everything about your secrets and then send you back to your kingdom. I was told to have you be a spy and I would have you work on moving your kingdom how we wanted. We haven''t been able to get anyone close to the Lemuria royal family. We had someone close, but he was banished. We have spies all over the world now.¡± His breathing is really ragged, but I won''t give him a break.


    I pull my dagger out of his leg and stab it into his gut. I make sure to miss any vital because I still need answers. As he''s about to open his mouth to say more the ground begins to shake. I look around for the cause then look down because I am far too used to this situation now. I jump straight back and several tree roots burst from the ground and wrap around Lucas Sylvari. He starts screaming while saying "stop I haven''t revealed anything important," but the roots completely enclose him and then squeeze tightly as blood seeps out of the roots. The roots burrow back into the ground and a young tree rises up.


    ¡°Well, that''s no good. I came here expecting another follower, but all I see is another failure. I guess we will have to make more adjustments. This is the second time the nails haven''t worked right. First was that dragon and now you a young woman. Tell me, what are you?¡± A female that''s completely covered in a cloak approaches me from within the forest. It seems like she had just arrived when I was questioning Lucas Sylvari. I can''t tell anything about her, but she seems to also have weird abilities similar Lucas Sylvari. I have never heard of gravity or the ability to grow trees, but these abilities are strong enough to hold a dragon so I must be careful. ¡°I really am not sure if I can win against you in a fight. Look around I can tell that you have some fire magic with is a bad matchup for me. I''m really not sure what to do in this situation since it would be bad to leave a wild card like you running around. Well, for now, I guess I should just retreat.¡± As she says that more trees begin to sprout our and I grab my halberd and slash a flame edge towards her, but the trees grew too fast and I miss her. I keep throwing flame edges at the trees until their ash, but it''s too late. The cloaked woman is gone without a trace and Lucas Sylvari is now buried under a tree.


    ¡°Damn it!¡± I swing a destruction edge randomly at the forest and watch as a large scar cuts through the trees. I am pissed that this has happened. I don''t know who Lucas Sylvari and that woman were or why they were after me, but I know that the woman will have others come after me. They also seem to be aiming for the Lemuria Kingdom and the other kingdoms as well. I didn''t even know who they are. They could be the elven kingdom or someone else entirely, but Lucas Sylvari didn''t seem like he worked for the elven kingdom but instead was a spy himself. I can''t help, but to start shivering when I think of what would happen if that nail worked. Would I have been a mindless puppet that would have to watch as my own body harmed my kingdom or would I end up like Saras rampaging in random direction killing anything and anyone I come across? The idea scares me more than being imprisoned in the dragon tribes cell for all my life.


    I now have only one thought with is to leave from this place as soon as I can and hopefully avoid who ever will be coming after me. I grab all my things and hide my arm. As I am about to leave the area I remember Munin. I turn around and run towards the tree I left her in. I luckily found her and am incredibly glad that this tree had remained untouched. I pick her up out of the abandoned nest and look her over. She is perfectly fine and surprisingly still asleep. She had slept through this entire event easily. I know she''s young and needs lots of sleep, but I basically blew up a part of the forest a little while ago. I poke her head with my thumb but she just nuzzles in my hand getting comfortable. I decide to leave her as is and rush back to the city. Ispeed past everyone and rush straight into my room at the Inn. I look at my table and see that the letters are gone and curse a little because this means that shadow guard 17 already collected my letters so I won''t have a way to report whats happened to father. I don''t even know how to find 17 because he would always find me.


    I quickly pack up all my things including my supplies I have gathered and all the outfits I had ordered a long time ago. I had planned on staying in the town for another day or two, but it seems like it a bad idea at this point. Once all my things are packed up I leave through my window instead of the door and I jump from roof to roof as quickly as I can. Instead of going towards the gate I keep running towards the closest wall and jump to the top of it. The guards are all walking back and forth while talking. I spot a flask on the wall and grab it. Before I am noticed by any guards I jump to the other side. It was easier because all the city guards are looking out instead of in. As I am over I look around to get a better sense of my bearings and then head in the direction of my original destination a couple of years ago. I head towards the dwarven kingdom.

 Chapter 34

    Chapter 34


    Eva Lemuria


    It has been a while that I have been constantly moving towards the dwarven kingdom. I think it¡¯s been about three or four months that I have been constantly moving around but I haven''t paid attention. Sometimes I will run while other times I will simply walk along roads or animal trails. I have avoided shifting not because I don''t want to move quickly, but instead, I just don''t want to be found. I have only gone into towns at night and stole food and other supplies. I do this so no one could see me and I can stay hidden. I had left the elven kingdom rather quickly and I have mostly been moving through some woodlands and minor human kingdoms now. I really don''t know exactly where I am, but I don''t think it matters too much. I will hopefully be able to make it to the borders of the dwarven kingdom soon.


    I look up at the black speck that has been flying above me while I run. It comes down and lands on my shoulder. Munin has almost completely matured in this time and I have to say she is way too smart for a bird. She seems to understand everything that I say and has incredibly human like feelings. If she doesn''t get something she wants she will pout, if she finds something funny she will make a weird laughing motion, and if she''s angry at me she will give me the cold shoulder and ignore me until I spoil her. She really is a cute traveling companion. Over this time I have been trying to feed more mana into her like before she was born, but I can''t seem to get any results. I have fed her a lot of mana and I know she has actually taken it, but besides absorbing it she has shown no signs of any other reaction. I guess it''s good that nothing bad has happened to her, but I must admit I did kind of want to see her spit out a fire ball or something.


    I am amazed that she can keep up with me running as fast as I can. It¡¯s nowhere close to being as fast as when I shift, but she''s still amazing for keeping up. I have been having her scout for me to find either villages or hunting targets. She seems to always go for prey that she wants to eat. I know this because I have sensed closer prey, but she always goes for the ones she wants. I let it pass because I am fine with spoiling her as long as it''sjust this much. I look at Munin on my shoulder and see that she''s using her wing to point forward so I keep going the same direction.


    I believe my next stop should be the dwarven border post. It will be a small fortress that guards an entrance into the mountains. The dwarves like to keep their homes on the side of the mountains and throughout the whole mountain range. I have never seen one of their cities, but I heard they''re a breathtaking sight. Unlike the elves, the dwarves are fine with other races going into all of their cities. There aren''tany specific cities made just for trade, but that''s probably because they don''t have a lot of trade that''s even possible with the cities deeper in the mountains because of natural obstructions.


    I finally exit the forest I have been wandering in and I am in a large open plane and I see the mountain range far off in the distance. I don''t see anything else in sight so I just start walking straight ahead. Munin jumps off my shoulder and flies up and starts doing circles and pointlessly flying around. I thought she was going to go scout the mountain range for me, but it seems she just wants to play around.


    ¡°Munin! Go see if you can find and border posts or anything towards this mountains!¡±


    ¡°Squawk!¡± Munin


    After I yell up to Munin she responds before flying towards the mountains. I just keep my same pace of leisurely walking toward the mountain while I keep my senses up as I search for anyone or anything. I never know where an attack can come from so I will keep my defense up constantly. After about thirty minutes I see Munin come back and she lands on my shoulder. She then points her wing slightly off from the direction I am walking so I readjust my path and pat Munin¡¯s head as thanks. After about two hours of walking at a slow pace, I finally can see a giant gate at the entrance to a valley. The gate is nothing fancy like the elves, but anyone can tell its very sturdy and almost impossible to pass. As we get closer I notice the entire gate and wall are covered with designs, but if one looked closer they would see that there are countless enchantments carved into the gates that they look like a piece of art.


    The dwarves truly are master artisans. This gate was built with the sole purpose of defending this entryway, but they still worked the enchantments into such an overly complex design. The dwarves have always been one of the most advanced when it comes to advancements like this. They have some of the best enchanters and smiths in the world and its believed that they are the ones that created the current common currency. I have two reasons that I really want to visit the dwarven cities. I want to first look around at what they have to offer and take in the sights and culture. The other reason that I am coming here is to see if they are a threat to the Lemuria Kingdom. A lot of towns and villages have been disappearing on our border and it''s basically giving the dwarven kingdom a clear shot at us and that worries me as much as it probably worries my father. I am sure that father has his own spies already looking around the dwarven kingdom, but I want to take a look for myself and see things up front, unlike the shadow guard who is always listening in but never talking themselves. The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.


    I reach the gate and notice a large absence of merchants and the main gates are closed, but a smaller gate on the side is open with dwarfs guarding them. The dwarfs almost look just like a normal human except much shorter. They are basically a compressed human because their strength is equal even though their half our height. I look them over and see there are two armored guards on both sides of the gate and each one has heavily enchanted armor. I slowly approach and see the look me over before speaking.


    ¡°What business do you have here and where are you from?¡± Guard 1


    ¡°I am on a journey around multiple kingdoms to experience different cultures. I am just a wandering orphan. Why is it so empty here? I assumed I would have to wait behind a long line of merchants and other travelers.¡±


    ¡°I see. So just a traveler? Well, it''s empty because this isn''t actually a very popular pass. The direction you came from is mostly wilderness and small human kingdoms. Beyond that is the elven kingdom so not many come from that direction here. Another reason could be our kingdoms tension.¡± Guard 1


    ¡°You don''t need to speak about that. You will just end up persuading her to go somewhere else instead of here. Look at how she''s dressed she could have some very unique goods to sell and look at that weapon on her back. I don''t know what it is but my curiosity is overflowing. Tell me whats your name?¡± Guard 2


    ¡°My name is Eva. I don''t plan on getting involved with anything that causes tension either way. I just want to look around and experience your culture. My weapon is called a halberd and it was apparently made by a dwarven smith. Apparently, it would be a soldier standard weapon if it wasn''t so large and hard to use effectively.¡±


    ¡° Oh? Well, I have never heard of it so if you''re here to look for the smith it could be hard with how many smiths we have. It would be easier depending on the quality because you could trace its origins easier. Well, I guess the only other thing we have to ask is whats that?¡± Guard 1 points to Munin on my shoulder.


    ¡°Squawk!¡± Munin


    ¡°That is Munin a young crow that has been with me since she was born. Don''t worry she''s a good girl. I¡¯ll keep her with me instead of flying around when in cities or towns.¡±


    ¡°Ok, that¡¯s good enough as long as she doesn''t go pooping on people.¡± Both Munin and I look away. ¡°Right. Well, you can go through now, but try to behave please.¡± Guard 2


    After that, I am let through their smaller side gate and I see that there is a straight road leading deeper into the mountains. There is no smaller paths or other trails to follow so I can only go on the one path towards the closest city which can''t be that far. I keep walking and notice that there is definitely a lack of trees around here, but the other vegetation seems to strive.


    After a while, I finally reach the first city and I must admit itis an amazing view. The city is built between two mountains and most of the city is built on the face of the mountains. There''s hardly anything on the actual ground and everything else is on the mountain faces including buildings and homes. There are even bridges that connect both halls and even some lifts that move back and forth. In the center, there is just one central tower that connects both sides. I have to look high up just to see the highest points in this city. I approach the city and notice that there''s mostly only walls around the central tower and guards surrounding it. I look around and see that this is the only way to reach the upper part of this city. It looks incredibly difficult to climb the mountain faces because thereare basically only steep cliffs.


    Another thing I notice is that there is almost only dwarfs and no other races are here. Any that look at me don''t give me the usual looks probably because they don''t know how out of the norm I am as a human. Elves have their border cities filled with multiple races but even though this can also be considered a border city and the dwarfs are very open there is almost no other race. I guess this is good and bad for me because I don''t have to deal with discrimination here, but I won''t be able to get information as easily from dwarves as I would from a human. Races always trust each other more than others.


    I make my way to the central tower and the guards just look me over before signaling me to move along. I enter the tower and notice that there is a huge staircase on the edge and in the center, there is a large tube with a flat disk in the center. There are two uniformed dwarves constantly on it. I approach it and follow the what the others do as I stand in the center of it. I watch the uniformed dwarves for as the work. One of them seems to be using earth magic to levitate the stone disk and the other is using wind magic to push us upwards at a constant speed. They stop it several times where stone pillars would be pushed under the disk to hold it in place as people get on and off. I stay on until the very top of the tower before I get off. At the top, there seems to be a nice viewing platform to look around the city for tourist, but all the pathways connected to the tower are all blocked by metal gates and guards. I follow the paths with my sight and see they all lead to the nobles homes. They are all fancier than the rest of the city and I cant help but to feel disgusted by them literally trying to be above everyone else. Nobles will aways be nobles it seems.


    Thinking of nobles I remember Lucas Sylvari and cant help but put my guard up and look around. Lucas Sylvari was considered a noble so I have to keep my guard up here as well. From the waythat he spoke his group must be everywhere. I have to be careful of others it seems like. I leave the top floor of the tower and wander around looking for a cheap Inn. I had asked around and it seems like there''s no adventures guild in this city but there are several cheap Inns on the first level. I looked around and found an inn that didn''t have a lot of guests, but I could see that it was very secure just not well kept. When I entered the bar it was filled with dwarves, but apparently, they were all just workers relaxing after a long day. I paid for a single night and private use of the baths they had. The baths were relaxing and I finally got the chance to wash Munin and it seemed like she enjoyed the bath almost as much as me as long as she didn''t go directly in the water. After the bath, I went to my room and checked it before undressing and laying down to sleep.

 Chapter 35

    Chapter 35


    Eva Lemuria


    The next day I left the inn and looked for a cheap market to buy supplies. I have more than enough money for almost anything at this point, but the best supplies for adventures are actually always the cheapest. I was tempted to go have an expensive meal before I leave, but I decided against it and just went to the bottom of the tower before I began to start walking out of the city. I was tempted to spend more time in the city but I would rather make my way towards the dwarven capital. I had listened to the conversation all around me my entire time I was here and it seems like no one really knows about anything outside of their own city. It will probably take me awhile to make my way all the way to the dwarven capital, but it will be worth it if I can gather good information. I will probably stop in each town and village I pass so that I have a higher chance of being spotted by a shadow guard.


    While walking I hear a noise come from some bushes and see some tattered looking dwarves with weapons come out of the bushes. They all look dirty and worn out, but there''s also a hungry crazed look in their eyes. I guess every kingdom has its problems that lead to bandits and the dwarves is a food problem. The bandits all have quality weapons but are all basically skin and bones. Well, they have a little bit of my pity but that''s pretty much it.


    ¡°Miss please make this easy and leave all your possessions here. Leave the bag, the big hunk of metal on your back, and that snack on your shoulder!¡± Bandit


    ¡°Squawk!¡± Munin


    ¡°Hahahahaha. Munin you''re a snack? Hahahaha. Maybe I should let you take care of this? Munin can you go prove you''re not a snack?¡±


    ¡°Squawk!¡± Munin


    Munin pecks my head a couple of times and then turns her head away from me to ignore me. I shift forward and reappear with my hand in the bandit that was talking chest. He can only look down before I shift to the rest of them killing them all instantly. As I unshift I look where I was expecting to see Munin on the floor, but I don''t see her where I was expecting her to fall. Instead, I feel a poke on the side of my head and I look over to see Munin is still on my shoulder. I am completely shocked because no one can shift with me. I have tried it before with some thugs but their entire bodies inside and out were completely charred. I shift again while watching my shoulder and notice that Munin isn''t shifting with me, but instead shifts on her own a second after I do. I grab her and bring her to my face.


    ¡°Why didn''t you tell me you could shift?¡±


    ¡°Squawk.¡±Munin


    ¡°This entire time we could have been traveling so much faster, but you didn''t even show me. You could have also been fighting yourself. Did you see what I did with my hand there? Now you go do it to that bandit that''s hiding in the tree there.¡±


    I point towards a random tree and the leaves shake and an archer falls out and begins to run away in fear. Munin looks at her and then me, but when she sees my stern eyes she instantly flies towards the bandit and right before she reaches the archer she shifts and shoots right through the bandit''s guts. The bandit falls down while holding her stomach and I just shake my head and walk over to stab the bandit in the head with my dagger.


    ¡°Munin you need to learn how to aim. Its good you can finally do some work, but it''s not good to torcher your enemies like this unless they really piss you off. Go for the head, throat, or heart. Do you understand?¡±


    Munin looks over the places I point at and then where she hit and lowers her head. I go over and pet her head before I pick her up and place her on my shoulder. It seems she learned so that is good, but it''s annoying that she could use my lightning shift this entire time. I don''t know how she learned it since I have barely used it since she was born. The point is that this entire time she could have been fighting too and we could have been moving faster if she fights too and shifts with me. I look back at her with a glare and she turns her head away. I focus back on the road and keep walking for a while. Until I get bored of walking and just shift up. I could just shoot in a random direction, but I decide it''s better tofollow the road until I reach the capital.


    2 Weeks


    I fly next to the roads for days while occasionally stopping at villages or towns as I make my way towards the dwarven capital. It was a relatively peaceful journey after the first day with the bandit encounter. I haven''t had to fight at all and the few beast that came to attack us while we were walking on the road were killed by Munin because I made her. She has basically become a living spell that kills her enemies almost instantly. I feel very proud of her strength but I haven''t found a way to classify her strength yet. She is supposed to be a normal crow without any usable mana, but now she can use my lighting shift. Its even black like my own so I know the cause is definitely the experiments I did with her before she was born.


    I hear a roar in the distance and figure its probably a high-rank mana beast. I could probably easily keep walking, but I kind of want to see if Munin can pierce its defenses so I change our direction. I walk towards the roaring and noises of destruction while keeping my presence low. What I see is a small army of dwarven soldiers fighting two giant bears. One has flames running along its black body while the other has lightning. It took me a moment to search through my memories until I realized that they are a 3rd tier flame destruction grizzly and a lightning destruction grizzly. They both come from the same lower tier species, but their evaluations took different paths and judging by their strength they must be about to evolve to the 2nd tier which is why the dwarves came here to exterminate them. Once a mana beast reaches the 2nd tier they become a unique existence. They may be similar to others but each one is completely unique on its own evolutionary path.


    I decide to watch the battle so I can analyze the fighting strength of these two beasts and the dwarves as well. I won''t do something like stealing their kill even if they''re not adventures themselves because I can imagine they will definitely make trouble for me. I keep watching the battle and realize how bad the situation really is because the two mana beastsare working together. They clearly must have always been together from the way they cooperate together so easily. They may look like they''re fighting each other and the battle is a three-way fight but the two grizzlies attacks completely miss each other. They are perfectly timed so that the attacks miss each other and only hit the dwarves. It doesn''t seem like the dwarves have even noticed this at all and just keep trying to pit the beast against each other. The question is wether I should tell them, help them, or ignore them. I guess for now I will just warn them so they can still fight the grizzlies and weaken themselves so I can take all the spoils later if I have too. I look around and spot a dwarf in the back with nicer armor than the rest and a sword twice his size filled with enchantments. Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.


    ¡°Hay! They are working together! This isn''t a territory dispute it''s a trap. They only pretend to work together. You won''t be able to get them to fight each other.¡±


    ¡°Who are ya? What are you doing here? Are you a spy from the humans?¡± Dwarven Leader


    He points his oversized sword at me and completely takes all of his focus off the fight. I don''t think they will win this battle with this guy as a leader. He completely ignored the danger and faces me. He also completely ignores what I actually said to him, and he''s pointing his weapon at me instead.


    ¡°Are you and Idiot? Did you not hear what I said at all? Are you just going to keep letting those soldiers die or will you actually think about this battle you''re fighting? I don''t care if you die because I can just take all the spoils afterward. So go. Go and let those mana beast claw and chew your body.¡±


    ¡°Shut up you damn human spy. You''re probably here to kill us after we beat these beasts and then take their cores for yourself. But what can a cripple like you do? I¡¯ll end you now so you can''t do anything later!¡± Dwarven Leader


    I was going to simply walk away and watch the fight, but it seems this dwarf has issues with humans. He no longer even tried to speak with me as he lunged forward and brought his sword down. I shifted to the side and watched as his sword cut through the ground and forest creating a nasty scar on the ground. If he''s this strong why was he just watching the battle before? I appear to his side and throw a lightning fist at him. He uses the side of his blade to block it and then pushes me away. He quickly moves his head to the side and a black bolt of lighting flies past him and lands on my shoulder. Munin seems to have become really good at coordinating with me even though I have been making her do all the fighting. I look around and see that this battlefield is becoming a complete mess and since it has reached this point I should just kill everyone here to leave no witnesses. I take my right arm out of the harness and grab my halberd as I unbind it. The dwarven leader looks completely shocked and before he can react I quickly charge at him. I swing my halberd at him and he blocks with his sword again except this time he loses his footing and flies back. His face looks completely shocked and he mutters ¡°Monster¡± over and over. Its quite, but I can hear him. He''s not necessarily wrong, but I still don''t want to hear that from him. I charge at him and swing my halberd straight down on him with a flame edge. He brings his sword up to block and my attack pushes him to his knees while burning him in a fiery explosion.


    ¡°Ahhhhhhh!¡± The leader screams from his burns and I throw a distraction edge right at him. And he has no time to block as he explodes into charred pieces and bits of armor flies around. It''s a little disgusting even for me. I don''t know why, but he didn''t even have a mana shield. He only had enchanted armor, but it doesn''t seem to have done much to block my destruction edge. It seems my attack created a big enough commotion that I attracted everyone''s attention from the other battle. The dwarves all look my way and even the grizzlies look over before they continue attacking the dwarves.


    ¡°Leader is down?¡± ¡°Who is that?¡± ¡°Why is there a human here?¡± ¡°We cant win without the leader! He was supposed to attack when we created an opening for him!¡± ¡°Everyone runaway while we can. We cant beat the bears and this human.¡± ¡°She killed leader though! Are we not going to get revenge?¡±


    The dwarves all fall into chaos and all move secretary. Before they were working together in small teams, but now some are running, some are still fighting, some are talking and freaking out, while some are charging at me with bloodthirsty eyes. I grab my halberd and then point at the running dwarves with my free hand and Munin shoots right at them while I charge towards the dwarves coming at me. I swing a lighting scythe at them and cut almost all of them in half at once. I don''t know what these dwarves expect from their armor if it cant even stop any of my attacks. I stab my spear end into one of the dwarves eyes and then I kick one of the dwarves with a destruction step and his chest and armor caves in. I leave my halberd in one of the dwarves as I rush the others I concentrate a lighting edge on my right arm and swing my hand creating a five lighting edges from my claw like hand. And I grab another dwarf by their head and stab my right hand into their chest before I light them on fire and throw them at the last of the attacking dwarves who are frozen in fear. As soon as their mission is blocked by their dead comrade I throw a powerful destruction fist at them and they all die almost instantly in an explosion.


    I look over all the dwarves that were attacking me and confirm they are dead before I look up and see Munin fly through the head of the last dwarf that was running away. She then immediately appears on my shoulder with her chest poufed out asking to be praised so I pat her head. I look back over and see the dwarves are starting to slowly lose their battle with the grizzlies. This battle could be what pushes the grizzlies to evolve into the second tier if they win and survive. Their wont be much of a physical change for them, but their mental capacity will go one of either two ways. The first would be a more human like intellect where they can interact better with each other and learn how to survive in more efficient ways like finding a mana beast village that''s rumored to exist. The second path is a more primal instinct evolution where they will become stronger and more battle focused. They will probably become like battle maniacs and rampage through the forest until they''re either killed or evolve again to a 1st tier. There so close to the dwarven capital that if they go down the second path they will definitely be killed in their rampages.


    At this point, it seems like the dwarves have no chance of winning and are fighting a losing battle, but they know they cant run because either the grizzlies will kill them or I will. So they decide to fight with honor against the grizzlies and I will respect that by not stabbing the ones fighting in the back. I grab my halberd out of the dead dwarf and then make my way to a boulder that I sit on and watch the fight. While watching the raging battle of the dwarfs toughing suicide attack after suicide attack at the grizzlies Munin has been poking my right hand while sitting on my lap. I¡¯ve been petting her with my left hand, but I switch to my right and she nuzzles right into it and I cant help but smile under my mask. There''s a good chance she doesn''t understand why I hate and hide this arm, but she doesn''t seem to care as it''s the hand that first held her.


    I watch as the last of the dwarves all charge the last of their mana and run at the two grizzlies. The grizzlies seem to sense the danger as they cross their arms in defense and block the destructive attacks from the dwarves. After the attacks land the grizzlies are covered in wounds and are severely weekend, but now nothing is stopping them from slaughtering the rest of the dwarves. One dwarf looks at me and his face is filled with anger, sadness, and determination.


    ¡°Please defeat them to avenge my brother and sisters! Please!¡± Dwarf


    ¡°¡­¡­¡­.No.¡±


    His face looks shocked and pained as he lets his guard down only to be instantly killed by the paw of the flame destruction grizzly. He was the last one and the only one of those dwarves I don''t respect for fighting to the last breath. He knew I was an unsympathetic enemy considering I killed his comrades who were all running away. He begged me to kill his enemies when I probably won''t even have to fight them at all depending on what evolutionary path the Grizzlies will follow. Judging by their teamwork I can already guess they are smart enough not to fight me though.


    The grizzlies look at me after finishing off that last dwarf and I just calmly meet their gaze. The growl at me and I just continue looking at them calmly. One of them takes a step forward and I immediately release all of my mana pressure and the boulder I am sitting on begins to shake and crack and the ground around my starts to crack as well and the entire forest clearing we are in is being pressed by my pressure. Its like there''s a dark haze around me slowly spreading out. It doesn''t really have any affect except intimidation. The bears immediately perk up and their fur stands up as they look at me. Just from this pressure they should know that at most this fight will end with some injuries for me and more for them. They slowly back up into the forest and disappear into the trees. I reel in my pressure and then stand up as I put Munin on my shoulder. I hide my arm and sheath my halberd. I look over the entire clearing and then release waves of flames from my feet. The flames start to slowly consume everything around me. The bodies and even armor are consumed by my black flames. Once my flames disappear all that''s left is ashes and molten metal. I just look at the destruction and move on. My next stop will be the dwarven capital to find information and hopefully avoid trouble.

 Chapter 36

    Chapter 36


    Eva Lemuria


    I am slowly walking along the wide mountain path and I notice that there are more and more merchants and travelers passing by here. A while ago I bought a cloak to cover myself with just because I want to stay inconspicuous until I get into the dwarven capital. I know I should be arriving anytime now from the conversations I have been listening in on. There are mostly dwarves around and a few humans that are traveling on this road. I have been keeping my senses sharp and trying to pick up if anyone is watching me because I can''t trust anyone at this point.


    Finally, I reach the dwarven capital after another hour and I can''t help but take a minute to appreciate the beauty of this city. The entire city is basically surrounded by a circular ring of mountains and one giant mountain in the center. The outside of the ring of mountains looks just like normal mountains, but the inside is covered in houses, buildings, factories, workshops, and other things. There almost not a single piece of nature inside the ring and the central mountain is completely covered in beautiful homes that I assume are for nobility. There are several towers around the ring that connect bridges and waterways around the city. At first glance, it''s a beautiful city, but the longer I look at it the more of a headache I get. Besides the central mountain, the rest of the city seems to be a complete mess. Buildings are built on top of homes and the reverse is also true. Waterways practically run all over the place and I can see every street and walkway is packed with people.


    I take a deep breath and proceed forward towards the security checkpoint. They have a huge line at each gate and I watch as the security guard let each dwarf quickly pass through, but the humans and elves all have to stop and answer a long list of questions. I guess since it''s their city they can do what they want, but I am too impatient for this. I immediately walk away from the lines towards a hidden spot behind a tree and I shift. I immediately fly low towards the wall low on the ground and before I hit the wall I shift up and then to the side as I make my way over to the gates. I easily slip unnoticed through the gates and then I fly through the city until I find a spot with no one around and I unshift. I thought of going over the wall, but I don''t know what kind of enchantment the dwarves have. For all, I know they could actually have a giant shield over the city so I won''t take the chance.


    Now that I am in the city I slowly make my way through the streets. Munin is sticking closely to my head and looking all around. It seems like she''s a little nervous because this is the first time she''s been around so many people. Usually, she would be playing around or making a bunch of noise, but not she''s basically trying to stick to my head in an attempt to remain hidden. I find her actions cute so I pet her head in hopes of comforting her.


    This city really is crowded and noisy. I have had my shoulder bumped more times than I can count and it¡¯s only been half an hour that I have been here. Right now I don''t really have a destination, but I am looking for any place I can get news like a bar. I keep looking around until I eventually spot a road that seems to have considerably fewer people walking it. It¡¯s practically completely covered by other buildings and walkways so it''s more of a tunnel than a street. I decided I could probably find information and other interesting things if I go that way. As soon as I enter the street Munin perks up and starts acting normal since there are fewer people around. I notice this street is literally filled with shady people. Half the people are covering their faces and the rest look like they''re bandits and thugs. The young one all look like they''re going to make a move on me which I would welcome with open arms, but the older more experienced one pull them back. The older ones must all seem to be able to sense the danger that I represent to them. I am truly impressed by their instincts to not come cause trouble with me. It seems this street is where the veterans and the like hang out.


    After a while, I spot a nice little shady run down bar. It practically screams danger so I enter. Inside is exactly what I expected which a simple bar and dangerous looking people all around. I wonder if there is some kind of rule that you have to have scars on your face to enter because even the woman have scars on their faces giving them a very dangerous but still attractive look. I walk up to a bar stool and sit down as I place Munin on the bar counter. I then look at the human bartender behind the counter and see that she is just an employee of the dwarven man on the other end of the bar who''s giving me a glare.


    ¡°What can I do for you lady? I can tell your strong, but this still isn''t really the kind of place for you when I look at your high-quality clothes.¡± Bartender


    ¡°A glass of whiskey for now and how much would it cost to have this flask filled?¡± I hand her the flask I finished long ago. I stole it a long time ago and just kept refilling it. It has probably been about two weeks since I had a drink so I am glad I found a bar finally. I will admit I wanted to find a bar for information and a drink.


    ¡°Okay, I will grab you a glass and to refill that would probably be 20. Is there anything else you need?¡± Bartender


    ¡°Yeah, you have nuts or bread crumbs she can snack on? If I don''t give her something she will goof around and go annoy people.¡± I point to Munin because she really is a little troublemaker.


    ¡°Sure I''ll grab some nuts for her and add it to your bill.¡± Bartender


    After that, she walks away and then comes back with my drink and flask before walking away again. I put the flask into my clothes and then I start to enjoy my drink while listening to my surroundings. The bartender comes back with a bowl of nuts and puts it in front of Munin before watching Munin eat them. The bartender watches for a while before she reaches her hand towards Munin only for Munin to lighting shift to the other side of the bowl. The bartender and those that were watching look completely shocked and then they look at me. I am glad I changed my mask so it always covers my scales otherwise everyone would have caught me with my mask down. It used to be just a cloth mask but now it has a metal face guard that has a piece where the mouth is that can be removed.


    ¡°She¡¯s a very special bird. She''s also a bit shy and only like to come in direct contact with me.¡±


    ¡°No that''s not the point! She just turned into lightning! Not just lighting either, but black lightning!¡± Bartender


    ¡°It¡¯s just dark in here. You''re seeing things which are a clear sign you''ve been working too hard. You should rest more often I am sure you always have to work hard and listen to people.¡±


    ¡°Yes, people always come in here and get drunk and then spill their secrets all over me. If it was anywhere else I would probably be killed for hearing some secrets. Wait! No, you''re just distracting me from your bird!¡± Bartender


    ¡°Now who wants to talk about this immature brat when we can just talk about something else. I have been traveling for so long that I don''t even know what the world is like. Tell me why''s a human working in a dwarven bar like this?¡± Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.


    ¡°I can tell you''re not someone that will spill their secrets when they drink. Well, I guess I''ll just comply and tell you. I simply had a merchant family who abandoned me in this mess of a city and I have lived here since. By the way whats your name? Mine is Mira.¡± Mira


    ¡°You can just call me Eva. Sad about your family and should someone that lives in this city call it a mess?¡±


    ¡°Well, it can''t be anything but a mess. I''m sure you could tell at first glance beside the nobles mountain everything else is pretty much anarchy. Here your drinks empty. Nobles will pretty much stay on their mountain and guards only care about keeping people away from nobles. Oh by the way which country are you from?¡± Mira


    ¡°You¡¯re so clearly trying to get me drunk, but whatever. Why does it matter which country I am from? I haven''t been there in about three years. I will probably go back after I play around in this city though.¡±


    ¡°Well, this country is probably going to go to war soon. They are looking for any humans from certain countries, but the main one they''re targeting is the humans the Lemuria Kingdom. I don''t know why considering they''ve never even had much contact with each other and their border has always been peaceful. So where are you from? I can''t even get a read on you with that calm face of yours.¡± Mira


    ¡°Hahaha. Don''t worry about me I will be fine no matter what. I am not from any close by kingdoms. I told you I have been gone for so long that I am not even close to my home here so I will be safe. Are you caring for a complete stranger? I wonder why.¡±


    ¡°Dwarves are always trying to take advantage of other races and it''s even worse for females. We have to look out for each other here. To be honest I am surprised no one has come to cause trouble for you yet. You are a beautiful young female and you also seem to be missing an arm so I''m not sure why no one has targeted you yet.¡± Mira


    ¡°That''s because the veterans have an incredible danger sense. I''m truly impressed actually. They not only have a great danger sense, but they''re actually preventing the young from making a move. The criminals in this city seem to have strong comradery. I''m just waiting for someone to come along that isn''t part of that though. It will be interesting to watch their face when they realize they shouldn''t have bothered me.¡±


    ¡°Oh, I actually saw a change in your face. It was just a predatory look in your eyes that sent shivers down my spine, but it was still a change. To be honest the only people that will make trouble for you are the guards that are questioning humans. I¡¯ve actually been expecting them for a while now because it''s well known that a human works here. My sources say they''ll arrive soon. Maybe we will get to watch a good show soon.¡± Mira


    ¡°Have you been hoping I will be a distraction so you yourself will remain unnoticed? Is that why you''ve constantly been feeding me drinks? Also another refill, please. Seriously though I am looking for information while I''m here. Do you really not know anything about this countries war efforts?¡±


    ¡°Can''t someone just want to see a pretty lady drunk? Well, this country has been aggressively recruiting manpower. They''ve even release criminals so they can be enlisted into the army. Word has it that an army left in the middle of the night a couple of days ago, but where they were going no one knows. There was also an elite squad that was sent out to train by fighting mana beast, but they still haven''t returned either.¡± Mira


    ¡°Hasn''t anyone told you flattery gets you nowhere? So they''ve just been randomly sending out troops? This city really is a mess. Maybe I should go grab an official and ask them some questions?¡± I mumble the last part, but it seems Mira heard.


    ¡°I don''t think that''s a good idea, but if that''s the way you want to go now is a perfect time, because it seems the recruiters are here now. That''s the captain of the 3rd squad leading those city guards. He is a son of a minor noble so you probably can already imagine his attitude.¡± Mira


    She points out the window at the uniformed troops that are walking towards this bar. I can''t help but feel annoyed by her teasing smile. I don''t do anything, but extend my empty glass at her again. I really have lost track of how much I have drunk. It looks like it''s already dark outside too, but It''s hard to tell on this street. The troops surround the store and only five dwarves enter the bar and everything goes silent. There is a dwarf which gaudy armor and a flash sword on his him leading the other four dwarves in.


    ¡°We are looking for any humans. We will just ask some questions and then arrest any possible spies. Don''t worry we are fair and agreeable people.¡± 3rd Squad Captain


    ¡°Squawk!¡± Munin


    I look over at Munin and see that she''s finished her bowl of nuts so she''s pushing the bowl towards Mira. I smile under my mask at her gluttony and I pat her head before I push my empty glass at Mira and give her the same childish pleading look. Mira seems to be incredibly annoyed and I am sure the noble behind me has the same vein bulging on his forehead as Mira.


    ¡°Really? Just so you know the bird is cuter than a drunk lady begging for more to drink.¡± Mira


    ¡°Are you ignoring me human? Turn around so we can inspect you! And someone shut up that bird!¡± 3rd Squad Captain


    I slowly turn around and see one of the soldiers approach Munin with his dirty hands and quicker than anyone can see I use my hand to form a lighting edge and cut off his hand that was stretched towards the oblivious Munin who''s just watching Mira grab her some more food. The soldier stops and before he can scream I knock him on the temple and he falls over unconscious. All that left is the sound of Munin Squawking at Mira to hurry up.


    ¡°Geez stop yelling at me I have your food. How can a cute bird be so aggressive about food¡± Mira comes back and then sees the scene in the bar ¡°Come on! I looked away and one of them is already dead? What the heck did you do?¡±


    ¡°Arrest them! No mercy!¡± 3rd Squad Captain


    The other three soldiers draw their weapons and charge towards us. It seems like they don''t actually plan on trying to arrest us, but instead kill us in cold blood. I draw my dagger and slash a simple lighting edge at them, but the instant deaths I was expecting does not happen. Instead, the runes on their armor light up and my attacks are diffracted so I shift and avoid their weapons. I appear behind them and use a destruction edge to stab one of them and my stack goes through, but it felt like I was using a spoon to dig through a wall. I sheath my dagger and draw my halberd out. It''s weird using my left arm, but not impossible. I quickly through another destruction edge at the last two and they try to use their shield to block my attack, but they''ve been completely blown away. I then look at the 3rd Squad Captain and shift behind him where I hit him with the blunt end of my weapon. I then look at Mira who''s holding her face in her hands and Munin is eating again. I walk over and put Munin on shoulder grab a bottle of whiskey from the counter to hide in my bag.


    ¡°I think you should come with me at this point. Guilty by association or something like that.¡±


    ¡°Ahhh, why''d you have to go and do that? Such a peaceful job is pretty much ruined! What about all the other soldiers out there? I can''t turn into weird lighting like you!¡± Mira


    ¡°I¡¯ll take them out and then you will lead us somewhere we can hide. I''m sure someone that has been around here as long as you can find someplace. Well, goodbye everyone.¡± I wave at the other drunks who have been silently watching before, but now they''re exchanging money for bets.


    I go outside and look at the soldiers that seem to understand whats happened just from the blood on my clothes and the fact that their own people haven''t come out. I flip my halberd around and charge a powerful lighting scythe. The second the first soldier steps forward I release my attack and then theirs a second before all the soldiers fall over as they''re split in half at their chests. I watch as several rows of building start to fall over and crumble as well. I thought I would just have enough to get through their enchantment, but it seems I was wrong. I sheath my halberd and walk into the bar to grab the unconscious 3rd Squad Captain. I then follow the pale Mira as she starts running between streets and alleyways for a couple of minutes until we end up at an inconspicuous door in an alleyway that she unlocks and enter as I follow her. It seems to be a very secure hideout with enchantments all over the walls. She walks over to the captain and drags him into another room where I hear some chains rattle and then she comes back out and looks at me unloading all my things. I grab my bottle of whiskey I stole and begin to down it. I admit I have been feeling a little tipsy for a while now. Mira grabs my shoulder and helps me to another room where she sets my on the edge of the bed and I notice I somehow finished the last of my bottle. It seems at some point Munin fell asleep and now there''s only me and Mira.


    I really feel like I am actually drunk for the first time and then Mira grabs my shoulders and begins to kiss me. I am completely shocked that I can''t even react before I am pushed onto the bed and Mira¡¯s on top of me taking off her shirt. She looks at me with a mixture of lust and sadness, but I can''t even react because my head is spinning. I hear Mira mutter ¡°what happened to you Princess?¡± and then she just seals my lips again before I can react. I feel my head get hazier before I feel myself start to slowly lose consciousness. The last thing I remember is Mira opening my shirt and me trying to struggle to stop her.

 Chapter 37

    Chapter 37


    Eva Lemuria


    I wake up with my head feeling like it will split in half from a horrible headache. I don''t think I have ever had a hangover this bad before. When I try to bring my hand up to massage my temples I find that my hands are chained together behind my back. I begin to panic and try to stand, but I am chained to the floor of the room with nothing, but my underwear. My vision finally clears and I realize that I am in a room with only a door and enchantments and I begin to panic because I¡¯ve been imprisoned again. Is it the dragons? Where am I? How did I get here? I then remember the events of last night and that I was with Mira and then everything blank. I know that this room isn''t a dragon prison, but it''s still strong enough to hold back my mana. I try to pull on the chains holding me with all my strength and it feels like my hands will be ripped off, but I don''t care. I don''t want to be imprisoned again. I don''t want to be chained down. It hurts, but I want to be free even if I lose my hands. The door opens and Mira walks in with nothing, but underwear the same as me. She looks at me and then drops the food she was holding and pushes me down.


    ¡°Get off! Let me go! I won''t be chained again! Who are you? Why?! Why? Why?¡±


    ¡°Princess calm down please. Shhh. It¡¯s all right. I won''t harm you. I just have to keep you here until ordered otherwise. Princess please listen to me.¡± Mira


    I feel my heart beating faster and faster. I keep thrashing trying to free myself from these chains, but nothing I do works and I can tell Mira is using mana to strengthen herself as she holds me down. I feel scared and feel tears running down my face. I stop moving and Mira slowly gets up, but I just push myself into the corner of the room and face away from her. I don''t want to feel scared anymore.


    ¡°Princess, I am a part of the shadow guards. We were given an order that if we found you we were to capture you unharmed and wait for others so we can bring you home. I just didn''t expect you to have changed so much. I was one of the hidden guards that would protect you before you were sent to the academy. Princess to tell you the truth I wasn''t even sure if it was you until I was given your name and I saw your magic. They told us your current appearance and that you''ve become very aggressive, but I didn''t expect this is why. Princess, what happened while you were away?¡± Mira


    ¡°Just let me go! You see what I am now. Do you really believe I can return like this? Let me go! Unchain me!¡±


    Mira just looks at me sadly before she picks up the spilled food and leaves the room. As soon as she leaves I try to break free again, but I can''t muster any strength anymore. I look and see a spot on my arm and realize that Mira must have drugged me when she was holding me down earlier. I feel more tears spill from my eyes and I can''t seem to calm down. After being freed I never realized how much I fear being imprisoned. After a while, Mira came back with food in one hand and a big bird cage with Munin inside. I can tell its Munin because it''s a black lightning bolt bouncing around inside the cage. She sets the cage and the food down and then comes to me with a spoon filled with food. It''s clear she wants to feed me, but I refuse food that could be drugged. She watches me, but when she gets no reaction she grabs my chin and forces the spoon into my mouth before I could react and I accidentally swallowed the food. She holds my chin and runs her finger across the scales on my jaw.


    ¡°Why did you do that last night? I assume I was already drugged, so why?¡±


    ¡°Princess I am sure you don''t realize, but you''re a unique beauty. I admit that I also had a few drinks while working at the bar and the second I realized who you were I hastily drugged you. When I brought you back here and saw your drunk look I couldn''t stop myself, but I stopped after I took off your shirt and you passed out.¡± Mira


    ¡°So you saw what a monster I am and decided to chain me up in a windowless room.¡±


    ¡°No! I would have kept going if I hadn''t remembered that you''re a princess and also you had passed out. I don''t care whether you''re a girl or if you had scales.¡± Mira


    ¡°Then go chain up a dragon instead of this monster! I would have returned home when I felt like it. My Father promised me I canstay away until I am ready. What changed?¡±


    ¡°I don''t know the details Princess, but we only know that the message was passed around to capture you alive and safely bring you home. It was only said that you''ve become incredibly strong and that you''d refuse to come along. I hope you don''t hate me for this Princess, but it''s important that you go home it seems. I also wished I had the chance to do things better, but I made the hasty decision and captured you last night because in this city I don''t know when I would see you again.¡± MiraYou might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.


    I don''t respond and just glare at Mira as she continues to feed me. I allow her to only because I know right now she could easily force me to because of the drugs and chains. When she''s done she leaves the room and I see that Munin has finally calmed down and is looking at me with concern. I just gently smile at her to calm her down since I can''t rub her head like I usually do.


    I don''t know why Father has ordered my capture now. He should have received my letter explaining everything to him. Even worse is that he allowed these kinds of methods to be used when he knows whats really happened to me. I guess my only option now is to hope that a chance comes for me to get free. While thinking of escape methods I hear something outside the room and then theres some shaking. All of a sudden the door bursts open and Mira runs in with my bag and clothes I was wearing before. She sets it on the ground and then runs out then back in with my weapons.


    ¡°Someone snitched on this hideout. It seems like the criminals only look out for each other as long as they''re from the same country. Take your things and run away. This drug will counteract the weakening drug I gave you. Please forgive me and don''t blame the shadow guards for this. We all truly care about the little princess we all had to chase around the castle years ago.¡± Mira


    She injects another needle into my arm and I can feel it quickly taking effect. After that, she unlocked my shackles and then handed me my clothes. I was tempted to just kill her, but I just couldn''t hurt her. I wasn''t sure if this was a weakness or just mercy from me, but it pissed me off. I put on all my clothes and then opened Munin''s cage and she instantly shot into my chest and kept rubbing herself on me so I rub her head before moving her to my shoulder. I hide my right arm and then grab my halberd before following Mira out the door. I look around and see a hole in the wall and several ordinary looking humans fighting dwarves. I guess there were multiple shadow guards hidden through out this capital. I look further out and see several dwarves standing on roof tops. They''re all the criminals I saw in the bar last night and I even see the bar owner with them.


    I immediately release all my mana pressure to the very max and watch as the entire area looks as if it''s become night. Everyone stops and looks at me with different expressions. The shadow guards all have scared looks like their children caught doing something bad and the dwarves have looks of fear and confusion. The criminals have looks that seem like they expected this. I form a destruction edge on my halberd and threw it at the rooftops first. Some of the older criminals jump away but most are caught up in the destruction and then the buildings collapsing. I then threw a destruction edge towards the battle between the dwarves and shadow guards. The shadow guards look shocked and then run away. The dwarves are still confused and before they could calm down their chances to run is already gone and most are blown away with the buildings.


    ¡°Princess before you leave I want to tell you something I found out for you. Your halberd was named Consuming Behemoth. It was the prototype for a weapon that can destroy enchantments, but the dwarves didn''t want something like that to exist so they denied making it a standard weapon and punished the creator so it wouldn''t leak, but the creator didn''t want his best creation to disappear so he sold it to a random merchant and it has been passed around till it ended up with you. I don''t know the specifics, but it can easily pass through enchantments that aren''t made specifically to counter it.¡± Mira


    As I am about to walk away from the flames and destruction an injured Mira comes to tell me about my halberd. She is holding her arm and seems to have fought right at the front. She has an incredibly sad look in her eyes and it pisses me off by looking at it. If you''re so sad about what you did then don''t do it in the first place. I form a large destruction edge that begins to even warp the space around it a little and then I aim right for the city entrance that leads towards Lemuria. I slash down with my halberd and my destruction edge shoots forward cutting through buildings and everything and everyone inside them. Now, theres a giant clear line leading straight out of the city and I begin to walk out. After a couple of steps, I look back and see that the shadow guards are still standing around so I glare at them and they come out of their daze from my pressure. I turn around and begin walking towards the exit again while ignoring everything else around me. There are screams and cries, but this entire city can be considered my enemy now.


    ¡°Princess I interrogated that captain you captured yesterday and it seems like theres already an army that can be attacking Lemuria any day now. It seems they hid it very well and they''re actually preparing to send another army soon too as reinforcements. They say they''re attacking now because the Anerris Kingdom is attacking from the other side. It seems like the entire Lemuria Kingdom will become a battlefield.¡± Mira


    It doesn''t make sense because we haven''t had bad relations with either of these kingdoms. Now they''re both attacking at the same time for no reason. I don''t know why when both kingdoms have good land and no known problems. This situation is incredibly fishy and I need to go home to help with the war effort. These armies are going to be ready to fight another army, but they won''t expect a monster like me to show up.


    While walking through the destruction I created we were attacked multiple times by city guards, but they were all easily killed. I also noticed that some of the shadow guards had at some point disappeared to probably try and blend back into the city to continue spying. We soon reach the city gate and notice that most guards have finally learned and are running away now. I was actually expecting a hard fight, but the strongest warriors have probably gone with the armies to attack already, which is more of a reason to leave as quickly as possible.


    Finally, we made it through the gate with no one else mustering up the courage to try and stop us. Everyone just looked at us with fear and kept their distance. I just kept walking until we were a good distance away from the city and there were no merchants or traveled around. I turn around to look at the shadow guards and see that at least half had separated at some point to try and hide within the city. They all look at me with respect and no fear or disgust. The only one different is Mira, who looks at me with sadness and what I think is longing. I do not say anything except look at Munin on my shoulder and then I shift. I fly straight up and towards the direction of the Lemuria Kingdom.

 Chapter 38

    Chapter 38


    Narrator


    The Lemuria Kingdom was currently a complete mess of chaos and fear. The people were in fear because their peaceful lives were now being threatened by two kingdoms that had no past grudges. Many nobility and commoners were wondering why this was happening to them and why was there two enemies on opposite sides attacking. Many were joining the army immediately just so they could protect their families while others were packing their things because they see no hope in this situation. The Lemuria Kingdom has been good to them for all their lives, but a bleak situation has shown the true character of some of these people.


    The kingdom''s armies were split in two and sent to opposite directions to oppose the invading armies who threaten their peaceful lives. Both armies were led by royalty themselves to give moral to the soldiers and to personal protect their homes. The king Christen Lemuria was leading an army to confront the Anerris Kingdom army while George Lemuria the prince is leading an army of equal size to confront the dwarven kingdoms army.


    George Lemuria can be considered young but he has been trained and taught since he was a child to be a leader. He used to be known as a very arrogant and cold person. He did change when he challenged his younger sister to a duel and lost to her before she disappeared. After his teacher disappeared his attitude took a turn and he became calmer and wouldn''t aggressively fight anyone that got in his way. The only problem is he still seems completely cold to his sister who defeated him and anytime her name is brought up he would lose control of his temper.


    This was the first real act of being a princebeside speaking with some nobles occasionally, but those talks were always about small things and never any serious political issues. Today he did have several officials supporting him in leading the army but he would have the final say in any matter. He was feeling proud, but at the same time nervous because he had realized that he has an entire armies life in his hands. If he fails today it wouldn''t be a mistake he can make up for another day because his kingdom would fall.


    As the army moved forward they finally spotted their enemy in the distance. The dwarven army was a little bigger than the Lemuria Kingdoms army and they were prepared for this war and are here to attack. The Lemuria Kingdom was quick to respond, but the people weren''t mentally prepared. They did not except a war like this to happen when they signed up for the army, but now they are here to protect their homes.


    The dwarves are banging their weapons and shields together while shouting as they get into their attack formations. The Lemuria army has a more solemn air around them as they get in their own formation. Both sides line up and stare each other down as a psychological pre-battle. Finally, Prince George rides his horse forward followed by two soldiers on horses carrying boxes.


    ¡°Soldiers of Lemuria! Listen to me as I tell you why we are here today! We are here for no other reason to protect our homes! You may think that I as a member of the royal family does not have the same feeling as you, but you would be wrong! This kingdom is where my family is, where I was raised, and where my people, you, are! Today for no reason and no notice this army of dwarves are here to attack us. They make no demands and say no other words but ¡°war¡±! We will not just let them trample on our home! We will defend our home and drive off these war maniacs! Are you with me soldiers of Lemuria?!¡± George


    After Prince George finished his speech he turned his horse around to face the opposing army and then he lifts his hand up. The boxes on the horses beside him burst open and dozens of blades explode outwards. They all look the same with a triangular shape and a handle in the blade. The all float above the prince and then he throws his hand forward and as the signal for the war to start his blades lead the Lemuria kingdom forward. The dwarves do not stay idle as they lock shields and march forward as well.


    The first to be hit is the frontline of dwarvesas Prince Georges blades kill dozen instantly by hitting the gaps in their enchanted armor or piercing right through. The blades instantly fly back to George as if attached to a string before they fly forward again to kill dozens more. The dwarven mages step forward and make stone walls pierce through the ground with small gaps in the walls where fire mages launch waves of flames out but the human mages throw up waves of water that extinguishes the flames and destroys the walls of stone. After the first strategy fails the dwarven mages simply resort to throwing random spells at the humans and the human mages do the same.


    Soon there is total chaos with humans and dwarves killing each other. The armies group attacks have simply become fights of one versus one or few versus few. Prince George stands on his horse back before leaping into the air where he lands on one of his blades that slowly starts to fall with him on it, but he simply runs from blade to blade until he is at the center of the battle where he dumps down followed by his blades. His fist hits the ground and the ground trembles as cracks appear and all those around him lose their balance. He takes his opportunity when everyone is trying to get they''re footing to quickly bring his blades down on the unprepared dwarves. Prince George then grabs one of his blades out of the air and dashes at another dwarf to attack. The soldiers of Lemuria seeing their kingdoms Prince fight right on the front line gives them the moral boost they needed and they charge forward with him.


    As the dwarven frontline is almost completely broken up the second line of dwarves in black armor with heavier enchantments move forward. They do not have any war chants or shouts of war. They instead move towards the Lemuria soldiers. Prince George sends his blades towards the approaching second line, but his blades either bounce off of their armor or they stick in without penetrating through. Prince George is shocked for a second until he raises his hand and his blades fly back above him. His blades than interlockat their ends forming what looks like windmills as they slowly start to rotate. They soon reach speeds where they cut through the air loud enough that everyone can hear and then Prince George throws his hand forward. The windmills fly forwards at the same speed as before but instead of bouncing off the soldiers they cut right through and then the windmills flying the ground, but they do not get stuck. The windmills cut through the ground as if it was the air and then they fly right back to the Prince after passing though some more armored dwarves. The Lemuria soldiers cheer for their powerful Prince as they keep charging forwards themselves.


    Stolen story; please report.


    The dwarves were about to lose some moral until one of the windmills that were about to cut a soldier in half was completely stoped before the blades burst apart in an explosion of wind. The soldiers look up to see one of the dwarven elites flying above them with his wind magic. He wears light armor and only has a single rapier. He looks at the Lemuria Kingdoms Prince and then charges at him. He didn''t expect the Prince''s blades to create a shield and block his attack, but he quickly flies back as windmills pass where he was. He lands on the ground but hands made of earth spring up on both sides of him and try to grab at him, but he just flies straight up. The hands slam together and then explode in a cloud of dust. The dwarven elite tries to blow away the dust, but before he finishes a blade pierces his shoulder. He reaches behind him to pull out the blade but realizes it has barbs on the end like an arrow. He feels a pull from it and then sees that he isbeing pulled towards the Lemuria Prince as if he''s a fish. Then dozens of blades fly at him and before he can erect a shield they pierce between his defenses. He is still alive as he falls towards the ground until a windmill comes from the side and cuts him cleanly in half.


    The dwarves watch as one of their few elites was so easily killed before he could even take out more than a few human soldiers. Their moral instantly takes some damage, but they keep charging forward with their brothers to fight the humans. Until the next elite shows up.


    Prince George looks at the fallen dwarf and takes a breath as he pulls all his blades back towards him and then has them surround him as he grabs one of them to attack while he waits for his mana to build back up. The soldiers see their prince keep fighting even while exhausted and they keep moving forward. The Lemuria soldiers feel hope in this battle and keep charging forwards even as clouds appear overhead and start to darken the sky.


    While the Lemuria soldiers charge forward a wave of flames rushes at the fighting soldiers killing both human and dwarves and then a wave of water washes the dead and ash away. Two dwarves in matching robes are walking forward with angry expressions as they look at the human soldiers in front of them. They are two more elites that have come to the frontline to help the dying soldiers. They are not brothers but get along well enough that one would assume they are. They both create a ball of their respected element, which is fire and water before they slam them together creating an explosion of steam that slowly covers the area around them. No one can see inside except an occasional flash of flames, but they can hear the screams from the soldiers inside the area. Soon some mages gather together to use wind magic to blow away the steam to reveal their comrades either burned to a crisp or cut in half. The Lemuria soldiers know they cant depend on their Prince for everything so the use a combined assault to try and kill these dwarven elites.


    On the other side of the battlefield, a Lemuria General is confronting another dwarven elite. Their fight doesn''t seem to go anywhere, but all who come close to their fight are killed from the collateral damage. Both warriors are specialized in using mana with their swords instead of their elements and are crossing blades with enough force to destroy buildings. Mana edges are being thrown all around killing friend and allies alike. They both know the damage they''re doing, but they cannot let up or they will give their opponent the opportunity to attack.


    George has been slowly fighting his own battle as he keeps taking out one dwarven soldier after another. He just keeps killing and slowly his feeling towards these deaths get pushed further and further to the back of his mind. A while ago he had killed some criminals to know what it is like to kill so it is not his first time killing, but it is a first seeing a battle filled with so much death and blood. The fights around him are incredibly gruesome as there is no easy death here. He watches as his soldiers attack some dwarves only for the weaker attacks to fail to get through their enchantments and the attacker is killed by the dwarves. He can''t even tell who is winning this war battle because the ground seems to be filled equally with both dwarven bodies and human bodies. George rushes to kill another dwarf when his senses tell him to jump back as a spear of ice stabs into the ground where he was.


    George looks and sees a female dwarf with an almost mad look charging towards him while swinging her arms wildly to throw more spears of ice his way. George throws his hand behind him and feels his mana grasp his blades as he throughs his hand forward. His blades shoot forward to intercept all the ice spears, but every blade that touches the ice begins to frost over and falls to the ground. George takes the blade in his hand and then grabs another out of the air before he charges the dwarven ice mage. She has a mad smirk on her face as she runs forward. She takes a step, but she stops and jumps to the side as a stone spike explodes upwards where she was and she moves forward dodging more spikes. She stops and then slams her hands on the ground and a thick layer of ice covers the ground. George knows he can break through the ice, but it is not worth the mana it would cost so he charges forward without wasting mana. George finally reaches the dwarven ice mage and swings one of his blades right down on her with a mana edge and then horizontally attacks with the other. The woman creates swords of ice and intercepts them. Instead of breaking like George thought, the ice swords hold up to his own blades. Georges blades quickly start to frost over and he can feel the biting cold headed towards his hands so he releases them and jumps back. The woman laughs as she charges George and throws a punch towards his gut. It wasn''t even close to landing until George felt a pain in the back of his leg that makes him stop. The ice mages attack lands in Georges gut and he falls back while grabbing the ice spike in his leg.


    The second Georges back touched the ground he felt his back start to go numb and realized his armor was freezing to the ground. The dwarven woman then jumped on top of George straddling him as she drove two ice swords into his shoulders. George only grunts from the pain and the ice mage laughs even more hysterically. She forms an ice dagger and then raises it over her head to stab it into Georges.


    As soon as she motions to bring the ice dagger down there''s a loud roar in the sky and then a rumbling. Afterward, there''s a terrifying pressure that covers almost the entire battlefield. There almost a blanket of darkness that starts to fall over everyone as the feel them selves being pressed by the pressure. Both human and dwarves feel fear as they look up and see a bolt of black lighting racing through the clouds. No one knows what this pressure is except George. He knows what is creating this pressure because it is the target of his hate and fear. Something that he has always tried to surpass but always seemed to fail. The ice mage seems to notice Georges shaking as she looks back down at him only to see his face filled with a weird mixture of anger and fear. She looks back up just in time to see the black lighting stop above her position and then shoot straight down. It crashes into the ground beside her and George blowing them both away. Whats now standing where the lighting hit is a beautiful woman, but she is also one of the most terrifying things both armies had ever seen. She had ominous black hair and eyes and was holding a weapon that looked like it was meant for killing everyone here. She seemed to only have one arm, but no one could underestimate someone that could put out so much pressure. Then everyone notices on her shoulder is a crow the symbol of death and everyone no matter what strength or age feels fear from her.


    Eva looks around and spots where her brother landed and then spots the woman that was straddling him earlier. She raises her halberd and forms a destruction edge before bringing her halberd down. The woman is on her knees trying to get up, but sensing the danger she slams her hands on the ground to create an ice shield, but it''s completely blown away without putting up much resistance. She takes damage from the attack but she''s still alive to see Eva, that was far away from her, appear instantly next to her and cut her head off. Eva then looks at her brother and smirks under her mask.


    ¡°Sorry, brother I killed your girlfriend. You can just add it to the list of reasons you hate me. Hahahahaha!¡±


    ¡°Squawk!¡±


    Some thought Eva¡¯s laugh was one of the most beautiful things they ever heard. While other felt it was the laugh of a mad goddess enjoying the blood of her enemies on her weapon. The one thing everyone could agree on was that Eva¡¯s appearance can be considered a historical point in today''s war.

 Chapter 39

    Chapter 39


    Eva Lemuria


    This battlefield is a complete mess filled with chaos and death. I didn''t except to run into my brother, but I must admit that I enjoyed seeing him in such a bad position with that female mage straddling him. Even though I have such a bad relationship with George I couldn''t just let him be killed. So I saved him, but not without some teasing to piss him off. He still has this same eyes when he looks at me though. His eyes are filled with hatred and fear towards me.


    ¡°Why are you here? Why did you come back and not die?¡± George


    ¡°Because wether you like it or not this is my home. I was always planning on coming back and now is a good a time as any. I was in the dwarven capital when I got news about this war so I destroyed a good portion of the city then came straight here. I''m sure the city is in flames right now.¡±


    After I say this loudly the dwarven soldiers around me here and go shocked before they speak to each other in the midst of their battles and then it spreads like a wildfire to almost every dwarf here. Soon they all know that a black haired human has burned down their home and is now here to finish them off. Soon countless soldiers look at me and charge, but the humans keep attacking them as the dwarves turn their backs. The one thing I am upset about is that the Lemuria soldiers are looking at me in equal fear and disgust, but as long as they leave me alone I can put up with these looks.


    ¡°Munin go and fight a little bit. I think those weaker looking dwarves can easily be killed by you, but I don''t think you will be very successful fighting those with thicker armor, but you can try if you want.¡± Munin nods then shoot off as a black bolt of lightning towards the nearest dwarf and goes right through his chest before moving on. ¡°Well, brother looks like you''ve become a lot stronger than before. I am sure you will try to kill me again at some point, but I hope you get over your own fear to realize who the enemy is today.¡±


    I don''t wait for his responds which would probably just be some angry yelling. I instead walk toward those two strong looking dwarves I saw earlier. The Lemuria soldiers were throwing themselves at them, but still haven''t done much so its probably more important than the human and dwarf warrior pair fighting while destroying their surroundings. I spot the two dwarven mages and I am instantly disgusted by their nasty smirks as they look at the Lemuria soldiers attacking them with pure determination.


    I use a flame step and shoot myself right at them like a arrow let loose. By the time they react I am already next to them and I swing my halberd at the water mage. His smirk quickly changes to a look of shock as he raises a water shield to block my attack. He succeeds in blocking my attack, but that was only an attack with without any mana at all to test him. I attack again except with a lightning edge. His annoying smirk had reappeared when he blocked my attack before, so I really want to cut off his head. This time my attack passes through his shield easily but a burst of flames pushes my attack at his shoulder and I cut of his arm.


    ¡°Ahhhhhhhh. My arm!¡± Dwarven Water Mage


    ¡°You bitch! We¡¯ll kill you! Who the hell are you?¡± Dwarven Fire Mage


    The fire mage runs to his friend and then burns his shoulder to seal the wound. I appreciate their friendship for a second before I charge with a destruction edge and try to kill them. Their faces really piss me off for some reason. My attack reaches them but they dodge at the last second and my attack destroys the ground behind them. I use a flame step to shoot my leg forward and kick the fire mage far away. I bring my halberd back around and attack the water mage again, but he jumps up and uses a blast of water to shoot my attack back and propel himself towards the fire mage. I shoulder my attack and slowly walk towards the two that are supporting each other. They each form a ball of their element and then slam them together creating a giant shroud of steam. Blades of fire and water both start attacking me from all directions so I simply through up my flame armor and the attacks do impact me, but they don''t get through my defenses. I try to sense where the two mages are, but it seems like this entire cloud of steam is made out of magic and interfering. I guess I have to respect those two smirking mages for this spell, but they still have to die. I shift and go straight up out of the cloud. One I reach a suitable hight I unshift and then I gather lightning at the tip of my halberd and thrust it straight down. Black lighting rains down into the cloud of steam creating explosions where ever they land. I keep throwing attacks as I fall down until I hear a scream of pain so I land back into the mist. I flip my halberd around and form a lightning scythe and do a full rotation. My attack cuts through the entire cloud of steam and then it slowly disperses. I look around until I spot the fire mage on the ground with a charred wound on his chest and the water mage is above him. I do feel that if this was a fair duel I could be considered an honor-less cheater. Too bad this is war. I walk over to the water mage and he looks at me with fear and his usual smirk is nowhere to be seen so I quickly cut his head of to be done with it.


    With that done I look towards me next target and see those two warriors are still going at it. Once again I shall ignore honor and respect by intruding on their fight. Too many Lemuria soldiers are dying and I am sure any second the dwarves true powerhouses will show up to join this war. I dash straight at the dwarven warrior with a destruction spear aimed at his back. I thought I for sure had him, but he dodged out of the way and my attack collided with the other warrior''s weapon and pushes him back. So I chase the dwarven warrior throwing destruction edge after destruction edge at him. The landscape that was being damaged before is now completely destroyed since I joined this fight and I can tell the dwarven warrior wont be able to keep up under the pressure for much longer. I instantly shift to his side and stab at him with a destruction spear but he deflects it, but I follow through with the attack and shift again so my attack hits him. He doesn''t block this time and his arm and the side of his body is blown away. He is still alive, but will definitely bleed out in a matter of seconds so I stab my halberd into his head for a quick death. The human warrior looks at me in anger.


    ¡°Why would you interfere in our fight? There was no honor in a win like that. He was as worn out as I was! Who are you?¡± Human Warrior


    ¡°Eva Lemuria. Remember this is a war, not a duel. Kill them wether they''re weak or strong.¡±If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    His shocked face tells me he understands who I am and that there''s no way he can continue this argument with me. So I turn away from and charge at the next target. While running I notice Munin appear back on my shoulder and she looks tired so I let her take a break as I slaughter the dwarven soldiers one after the other with simple mana edges. I kill and kill as my feelings to the death and blood become numb. I will slaughter these weaklings until the big players come out and then I will slaughter them. I will protect my kingdom


    After a good half hour of slaughtering a change finally happens. As I cut down another dwarven soldier a blot of lightning blasts me from the side and It was strong enough that if I didn''t have my flame armor up I would have definitely died. I look over and see a dwarven warrior with black armor on and multiple spikes sticking out of the armor. The spikes all look like mana beast horns. The entire armor is covered in lighting running up and down it and he is clearly a powerhouse. The warrior has a weird weapon that looks like a sword except it has two spikes instead of a blade and there''s lighting running between them. I increase the density of my flame armor and form a thick lightning edge. We gauge each other before both of us charge at each other.


    Our weapons interlock and stray bolts of lightning fly everywhere around us as we try and push each other back. It takes all the strength in my arm to hold against this guy as he uses both hands to push his weapon forward. I throw his weapon to the side and kick his side with a flame step that explodes on contact launching him a couple of steps back, but he just points his weapon straight at me and I can now tell why he uses those spikes as a weapon as I jump to the side just in time to avoid a blast of energy. It seems he stole a mana beasts raw mana blast concept and used it for himself. If I had my right arm out it would have been blasted off from that attack. I feel excited for this fight now. I know I am fighting a war right now, but this fight is just what I need to push myself froward. Either I will die from this fight or I will become stronger than before. I release a massive firestorm that surrounds both of us and blocks the view from everyone else out side the fire storm. I reach over to pull half my robe off my shoulder and then undo the harness holding my right arm. I clench and unclench my arm before switching my halberd over to it. I can''t tell what kind of reaction my opponent has because of the full body armor, but it does not matter.


    I once again charge at him and he points his weapon at me as I shift. I appear right in front of him and stab my halberd between the two spikes on his weapon. I then shoot my other hand with my dagger towards his head, but he tilts his head and then grabs my wrist. I feel my entire body is being shocked before I shift away. As I unshift I cough a little blood from the my internal injuries and I pull down my mask because its soaked in blood now. I haven''t felt the pain from a fight like this in a while so I am excited. I need to get stronger to defeat those lizards so I will use this person as a stepping stone. I charge again with a destruction spear. He points his weapon at me again so I use a flame step to launch myself forward. Instead of locking our weapons I kick his weapon to the side as it releases a blast of lighting and then I stab my destruction spear at his shoulder. The spikes and some plates are blasted off his armor, but it seems like he still has some layers of armor to spare. I charge at him again and swing my halberd at his head and then shift. I appear upside down and my halberd sweeps at his legs knocking him on his side. I shift again and appear above him as I slam a destruction edge straight down. He doesn''t have time to defend or dodge and my attack lands. The explosion is big enough that I am thrown back. I quickly get up and see that he has already gotten up himself except he is using his weapon to support himself and all of his chest armor is gone leaving only the chainmail underneath which is also in bad shape.


    He stands up straight and the points his weapon at me again and fires a blast, but the quick beam I was expecting doesn''t happen. It reaches where I was and then stops like a massive sword. He then swipes it at me again and it easily cuts through the air without any resistance. It burns a part of my arm before I jump to the side. I keep dodging and rolling around avoiding his attack while he just stands in the same spot. I shift and appear above him, but he just attacks me in midair so I shift again. His attack doesn''t suffer any air resistance so his reach is almost unlimited and his reaction speed is too quick. I shift straight at him while barely dodging his attacks. When I finally get in range I partially unshift my halberd and stab at his chest. He swings his weapon at me, but I just shrink my lighting and follow through with my attack. Basically my halberd is the only physical part of me right now so anything that wouldn¡¯t affect lighting wont hurt me. My halberd stabs through his damaged chainmail and pierces his chest. With my weapon in him I let go and charge through my halberd and into his body where I incinerate every thing in his chest before I shoot back out of his chest while grabbing my halberd again. I unshift and watch as he drops to his knees trying to breath. I do not give him the chance to recover as I quickly cut his head off with a lightning edge. When I see his head fall I grab his weapon and its unique sheath and tie it to my waste. I then hide my arm and face before I lower the firestorm I have constantly kept up through the fight.


    I see both the Lemuria army and the dwarven army on opposite sides and in the middle lay the dead bodies of hundreds or even thousands. It seems like my battle created a big enough distraction that both armies retreated to see the winner. The humans look happy, but still have fear when looking at me while the dwarves seem absolutely shocked and disheartened. I stay where I am and scan my surroundings. I see my brother is now at the front of the Lemuria army and then I see a dwarf in uselessly flashy armor that even has a cape move to the front of the dwarven army. The more I look at this dwarf the more of an uneasy feeling I get from him. I keep getting a familiar feeling as I watch him until I remember what it is and I instantly charge right at him. I appear in front of him and he looks shocked as my halberd cuts through his armor on his chest. When his armor is torn to shreds I see a disgusting white nail inside of his chest and feel my anger rise. I kick him into the middle of the battlefield and then let my mana pressure loose once again to hold him down. I walk over him and see he is shocked and doesn''t know how to react as I raise my halberd over my head and bring it down on the white nail. The very second my halberd and the nail make contact theres an explosion of white energy that burst forward, but this time I am unharmed because I kept my distance with my halberd. After I look at the dwarf and see he is alive, if barely, so I grab him and throw him back at the dwarves.


    ¡°You should retreat and heal your wounded soldiers! Your best has been defeated and your leader has been controlled! You should not fight without a reason anymore and go home! If there is still some among you who want revenge then you may come after me! My name is Eva Lemuria the Princess of the Lemuria Kingdom! Now you will retreat or die!¡±


    The dwarven army and the Lemuria soldiers all look shaken from my announcement. I cannot blame them because they know that if what I said was true the situation will become very complicated. Some official looking dwarves come forward and order their men to take back the controlled noble looking dwarf before they announce their retreat. I watch as they slowly make their way back while watching us in the corner of their eyes. At some point Munin came back to my shoulder and is watching them retreat with tired eyes. I know she must have worked very hard today so I sheath my halberd and pat her head.


    I then notice that a Lemuria soldier takes a step forward with trembling hands and draws a arrow with his bow and points it at the retreating dwarves. He releases the arrow, but before it could get far I incinerate it with a black fire ball. I then face the Lemuria army and create a wall of black flames behind me while I watch my brother. I hope he shows me that he really has grown a little in this time. He does not disappoint me as he raises his hand as a signal to retreat.


    ¡°Where is Father and everyone else?¡± George takes a second to probably decide whether to respond or not before he tells me.


    ¡°Father is leading the army to confront the Anerris Kingdom army. His battle should have started even earlier that this one. Everyone else is back home.¡± George


    After that, he turns his back on me and follows the rest of the soldiers back to their camps. I watch them walk away before lowering my flames and then I shift. I fly straight up and towards the other side of the kingdom while keeping an eye out for any other armies.

 Chapter 40

    Chapter 40


    Eva Lemuria


    After flying for almost an hour I have to stop in a clearing that has no danger for miles around. I am both exhausted and injured. I thought my injuries weren''t that serious, but the second I landed on the ground I puked up some blood and collapsed on the ground. I know that I will definitely be fine, but I will need to concentrate on healing so I begin to meditate. I enter my body and again find myself at my inner flame. I enter it and go straight towards the library I have always come to when I feel like reminiscing about the past. I quickly find the book I want and take it to the pillar so I can watch my memory. I watch a scene from my days before I awakened where I played with George. He used to be such a caring brother to me then and its also the reason I always go easy on him when we fight. I am glad that he''s become so strong even with my defeat being his goal.


    I keep reminiscing for what I think is an hour before I wake up and look at my surroundings. It seemed that while I was meditating Munin fell asleep on me so I carry her in my arm and then I shift again towards the direction of the Anerris Kingdom. I fly for another hour until I find a camp with the Lemuria Kingdom flags flying high. The sun is currently set so fires are being lit all around the camp to keep visibility as high as possible as a safeguard against night attacks. I look overhead until I spot the biggest tent that is either the strategy tent or my father''s personal tent.


    I decide that its easier to just make my presence known straight away so I shoot into the tent and look around at everyone signatures. I unshift right in the center of the room and see that I am in the middle of several tables covered in maps and reports. The second I unshift everyone draws their swords and points them at me with clear suspicion in their eyes.


    ¡°Stop! Lower your weapons! Eva is that you?¡± Father


    I look over and see my father, but he definitely does not look good. If you ignore his injured leg and the head bandage he looks so much older than the last time I saw him. His hair is almost completely gray and his face looks hollow, but the one thing that hasn''t changed is the strong light in his eyes. He tries to get up, but I walk over and push him back into his seat as I bend over and hug him with my arm after I set Munin to the side.


    ¡°Hello, Father. I just came from the other battlefield. I helped repel the dwarven army, but I don''t know how long they''ll stay silent. I came here now to help you.¡±


    ¡°Eva you didn''t have to do this. I told you that you could continue your journey. I am glad you were able to help and I hope you and your brother didn''t start your own war. Still, right now we''re at a ceasefire so I don''t know how much you could do here.¡± Father


    ¡°Father, what do you mean when you say to continue my journey? Did you not give an order to have me brought back by the shadow guards?¡±


    ¡°No, I didn¡¯t. I simply gave the orders to keep tabs on you when you appear. Not to restrict you but just for a personal peace of mind. The shadow guards tried to capture you? How? When? Who was the one that tried to capture you?¡± Father


    After that, I quietly tell me, dad, what has happened in the dwarven city. We have both said quite while mentioning shadow guards since not everyone knows about them. I wish I could speak more casually with my father, but the situation does not give us such a luxury right now. After I finish speaking my father stays silent for a while with a very serious face.


    ¡°I don''t know what this is about Eva. I can tell you that after this war is finished we will work towards getting to the bottom of it so don''t worry. For now you can stay in my personal tent where you can rest. Don''t worry I don''t plan on keeping you from this war since I know you are a incredibly powerful card to play.¡± Father


    ¡°Actually Father I think I know a way to stop this war now, but it''s risky. I think someone is controlling this war from the background. Do you remember the white nail in the dragon I found before? Well, I found another one in the dwarf in charge of the attacking army and I destroyed it. Also, the night that I left the elven kingdom early was because I was attacked by the city lord of Yanlin, Lucas Sylvari. He tried to put one of this nails in me, but it had failed. He also used some strange magic and another woman appeared who also used a strange magic. They mentioned I think spies in almost all kingdoms.¡±


    ¡°Eva this is very serious matter. After this war, we will have to search everyone that has a high position in the kingdom. I really don''t know whats going on anymore, but are you implying someone has a white nail in the opposing army?¡± Father


    ¡°Yes, Father that''s what I believe so I am going to go over there with the cover of night and see if I can sense anyone with the nail and then I''ll destroy it. I assume they will gain control over themselves and hopefully stop this war before there''s a second battle. If the dragon I fought before is the same they will be watching everything going on without control. I will go now so that hopefully this will be over in the morning. Munin you stay here with Father.¡±


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    ¡°Squawk!¡± Munin


    ¡°Wait, Eva! We should talk this out and plan it more. We can send help with you. Also, why are you leaving a crow here?¡± Father


    I don''t respond to Father as I walk out the tent and then shift right away before heading in the direction of the Anerris Kingdom army camp. I will not let this continue because I don''t think my Father can handle it just by looking at him. If there''s no one controlling the Anerris Kingdom army then I will simply destroy it then and there myself. A human army will probably be far more easy to destroy than a dwarven army considering they''re weaker and don''t have the same kind of enchantments.


    I finally reach the Anerris Kingdom army camp and I quickly spot the similarities to our own camp and I almost instantly find the large tent. I stick to the shadows as I make my way to the tent and look through the tent and see that there are only three people here. One of the people I sensed had the same ominous and uncomfortable feel so I knew that they had a nail in them. I unshift and then slip under the tent flap and stick to the shadows as I watch the scene in front of me. There is a human man with brown hair with two woman and they are having sex right in the middle of an army camp. The human man is shirtless and I can see that disgusting nail in his chest, but I find it weird that the woman don''t seem to notice it at all. I don''t know why so I keep watching them until I notice one of the woman''s hands passed right through the nail head and I realize the nail isn''t a physical thing at all. I don''t even know why I can see it at this point, but I don''t care because I will use any advantage I can get at this point to protect my family. I shift and appear besides the bed as I hit both woman in the heads quickly knocking them out before I punch the man in the face. After that I draw my halberd out and then I bring it down on the nail and what follows is an explosion of white energy as usual.


    The explosion is bright and loud so after it happens I shift and fly straight up and look around for anything else that''s suspicious but I find nothing. So I leave the area around the camp and make my way towards the Lemuria camp. I arrive back at the camp and head for the same tent as last time. I enter and this time there''s only my father in his seat looking at Munin that''s on a table across from him. Neither seems to have even noticed me come in because they''re staring at each other so intensely. I don''t know what the hell they''re doing so I walk behind Munin and begin rubbing her head.


    ¡°Father this is Munin. She''s been with me since she was an egg and she''s a good girl that always helps me when she''s not playing. Why were you staring so intently at her?¡±


    ¡°Munin huh? Well, I was staring at her because she has the same eyes as you. She has black feathers and black eyes. I felt like I was looking at you when I looked at her childish eyes. Earlier she was harassing all the generals and since I couldn''t send her away I sent them away.¡± Father seems to be more tired than before. I wonder why?


    ¡°She''s alway been like that. I may have taught her how to tease people when she was younger and she''s never really dropped the habit. She has my eyes because I experimented with my mana when she was still in her egg and now she has my color and she can even use my lighting shift. Black lightning and all, but she hasn''t used any other magic. Anyway, I found the target and took him out quickly before running. I don''t think there was anybody who saw anything more than a bolt of lighting if they even saw that.¡±


    ¡°Eva, why did you run without speaking? We could have helped you with this without taking any risks. We could have created a diversion or sent some shadow guards to help you. Maybe we had information that would have made things easier for you. Eva, you could have had my help if you simply asked.¡± Father


    Father has always been gentle to me, but it''s unneeded now. As long as he supports me I will be fine. I will tell him that I fight alone and hopefully, he will accept it.


    ¡°Father I am already used to doing things alone. I have always been alone when I fight. Adventuring, the academy, my journey, at home and even when I was imprisoned I was alone. I have only had Munin for a couple of months and she only follows me around to keep me company. Could you see your subordinates looks they gave me from behind couldn''t you? Do you really think my strength will change the way they view me? If anything they will fear me even more than before as a monster. I did not strive for strength for anyone else but myself. If I am going to be a monster then I will be labeled that because of my monstrous strength. Not my looks.¡±


    ¡°I understand sweet heart. If this war truly ends tomorrow what do you plan on doing then? Will you come back to the castle or will you continue your journey? If you do come back I can imagine it will be hard to leave again with your mother. Also that maid Julie is also constantly with your mother, but she has been taking care of Anne. Anne is young but she already has the concept that her big sister is super amazing and will someday come home.¡± Father


    ¡°I will come home, but I will need my space. I hope you talk to mother and them about keeping their distance physically. It cant be like before because I still don¡¯t know how to explain whats happened to me yet. I sent them letters but I mentioned nothing of the past or my current looks.¡±


    ¡°I understand sweet heart. I will speak to her after our return. For now, you should use the tent next to this one to get some sleep. No one will bother you so you can have your privacy.¡± Father


    I nod to dad and then I put Munin on my shoulder before I start to walk out, but I sop and turn back to my father. I walk to him and then remove my mask as I give him a goodnight kiss on the cheek before I put my mask back on and rush outside. I enter the tent to the side and then undress before quickly falling asleep.


    Christen Lemuria


    Eva has truly become a beautiful young woman, but she still stuffers so much. I can tell her heart is empty just by looking at her eyes. Even if her eyes weren''t black they would probably still be filled with darkness with the way she is now. She is still alone even though she is in the tent right next to me. I want to help her, but she wont let anyone help her which is why I let her continue journeying, but now that I see her here I can tell that we have to force ourselves on her. We will have to do it slowly though. Otherwise she will immediately run away so I have to find a way to control my wife so she does not make Eva uncomfortable.


    Luna was so devastated when news came that Eva ran away. She was about to go storming to the academy until I reminded her that she was already pregnant. I know its bad of me to think this but I am glad that Luna was tied down at home because of Anne. At least I am glad that she''s become better since she received the letter from Eva. I don''t think I will ever want to tell her where she''s truly been though. It really would be impossible to stop her from attacking any dragons even the one that has been staying in the kingdom for a while. They''ve stayed quite and polite, but I don''t know why they''re here or how Eva will react to them.


    Hopefully, Eva was right and this war will stop tomorrow, but the aftermath will be another headache for sure. I feel as if I have aged too much in these past years, but I will keep working hard now so that in the future George will be able to rule easily. His character has become so much better now that Roland is gone, but I had wanted to capture that man to ask him a few questions. To many things are happening in the world right now and I really don''t know what I will do to protect my family.

 Chapter 41

    Chapter 41


    Eva Lemuria


    Today I am riding in a carriage with my father back to the capital. My plan worked and it seems like the brown haired man I freed from the white nail woke up and immediately ordered a retreat. It seems he also asked for heavy guards and has been really jumpy. That part is not my problem though. We packed up most of the army while leaving some soldiers to begin to build a fortress on the border just in case. I was glad that we can go home and my father can finally rest, but he seems to have definitely sustained a permeant injury to his leg. I wish I had arrived earlier to help stop this war quicker.


    Apparently, we will head straight to the castle and then my father will make an announcement with news to all the nobles that are being told to gather now. It has been so long since I have seen my home and then I realize that no matter how long I have been gone I still think of this place as my home. We had finally reached the city and I open the curtains to look out the window and watch the city pass by. I feel like everything is exactly the same as it was before. There are almost all humans here except a few rare people from the other races. I even see a few dwarves, but I know that they are probably being watched by the shadow guards until things calm down more here.


    We soon reach the castle gates that are grandly opened to a line of troops on both sides of the road to welcome my father. He doesn''t seem to care at all because this whole time he seems to have had his eyes closed. I wanted to talk to him some more but I don''t know what to say at this point. I have never been very good at talking to others and because Father has always been so busy I have talked to him less than others. It doesn''t change my love for himbut I always wonder if he understands how I feel.


    We soon reach the entrance to the castle and I look at the grand doors that I have never actually walked through myself because I have always gone to the side or just jumped through a window. I guess I really was a tomboy like my mother once said. We walk through the doors and then continue walking down the large and grandly decorated hallway until we reach the doors to the throne room. Some knights open up the door and me and father simply walk straight in while ignoring all the gathered nobles here that were summoned earlier. I notice that many are specifically looking at me. Some seem curious about my identity while others seem to realize who I am.


    We soon reach the back of the throne room where several thrones sit to represent the current royal family. There are currently five thrones so I guess they haven''t made one for Anne yet. I take off my halberd and lean it against my throne before I sit down. I place Munin on my right arm rest since I won''t be needing it before I cross my ankle over my knee and lazily lean with my chin on my left hand. Munin looks at me before she starts to look over the shocked nobles. I can''t blame them since the dust on my throne clearly says that I have never been seen here and everyone probably realized why I wasn''t around. I have never once participated in politics, but today I personally walked into the throne room and sat down in what will be a discussion concerning the future of this kingdom. What probably makes it worse is my looks and attitude, but my father doesn''t seem to care as he just walks to his throne and leans his cane against it before sitting down. Father then gets straight to the discussion.


    ¡°People of the Lemuria Kingdom. Today I called you here to tell you that both wars that we have been forced to fight should now be over. I wish we could have fought with fewer sacrifices, but we still have lost many men who we will make a memorial for later. Now then I am sure both kingdoms will probably be sending some ambassadors here later because it seems this war had some very special circumstances that I will only tell a select few of you later.¡± Father


    ¡°Father I don''t think anyone in this room has one. You can speak about it if you like, but nothing that shouldn''t be found out about the enemies later. It seems they can force others to speak if they wish.¡±


    ¡°I see. Very well I will speak of it now. Everything started with what my daughter Princess Eva has told me earlier. I trust her so I hope you will all believe what I am going to tell you now.¡± Father


    After that father proceeded to tell the nobles about the nails and what they can do. He left out anything about my personal experiences but still informed them of everything they needed to know. I can see some hold doubt while others seem to not even care. Only a few actually show a serious expression to show their concern. I am sure my father can see them just as easily as I can so I will ignore it. My father then speaks of the battles that happened and how my intervention with both armies stopped the pincer attack. At that several nobles began to yell and ask questions about me and how I did it, but my father did not answer them and simply ignored any question about me. I through out the discussion was just playing with Munin while watching the nobles from the corner of my eye. Eventually, the throne room was filled with debates on what to do next and what precautions our kingdom should take. At this point, my existence seems to have been forgotten so I just analyze everyone and Ilooked for those that are corrupted or just normal scum. The fat pigs are obviously corrupted if the can be that big and greasy. Then there''s those that look like they are carrying their own weight in gold jewels.


    I was having fun looking at some of these nobles that simply look like clowns until it happened. The throne room doors that were closed because this was a private meeting burst open and then in walked the living storm that is my mother. Her eyes scanned the room filled with nobles and no one said anything because of the natural pressure she was giving off right now. Even I think I was pale and sweating a little from fright. Her eyes then locked on to me and she marched right up to my throne and looked down on me as I shrunk back into my chair. Mother reaches her hand towards me and grabs my shirt before pulling me up to her height. She looks me in the eyes until I feel an intense pain on my cheek and my head was thrown to the side. I look up at Mother and see an incredibly fierce face as I reach up with my hand and feel my burning cheek. This is probably the first time mother has ever shown such an angry expression to me and also it''s probably the first time she''s ever struck me. No matter what trouble or problems I got into in the past she would never actually hit me or seriously scold me. Mother then pulls me into a tight hug that feels like she trying to truly crush me. I was about to say something until I felt liquid dripping down on me. I look back to mothers eyes and see she''s crying so I just lower my head. Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.


    ¡°So you know how to come home! You run away without a word and then come back without saying anything to me! Just watch how I will take care of you! I won''t let you out of my sight again! Do you know how worried I have been about you for years? I only got a letter from you after so long, but it says nothing about where you''ve been or whats happened to you. Look at how much you''ve changed and you just sit there like it''s the natural thing to do¡­¡­¡± Mother


    Mother kept rambling on while slowly tightening her hug that''s around me. I don''t think she would be able to actually hurt me if I put any strength into my defenses, but I could actually hurt her if I did that. I look around the throne room until I spot Father watching with an amused grin so I glare at himwith a little killing intent. His grin quickly vanishes and then he stands up to walk over.


    ¡°Cough, Luna love why don''t you let Eva go now. We need to finish this meeting so the nobles can go home and then you can continue attacking, Cough, checking on Eva. She''s here now and that''s what matters. Plus looking at her I don''t think she knows how to react right now so come sit down over here with her. You two should come sit down as well.¡± Father


    Mother releases me but doesn''t take her hand off my shoulder as if I will run away. I turn to look at who my Father was speaking to and I see George with formal clothes and an incredibly cold expression as he walks straight to his throne beside Father and sits down. Behind George is a little girl that looks like Lora when she was younger. She seems to have a much more meek appearance as she hides behind the familiar maid. I look up from her to the owner of the leg, Julie. She is looking straight at me with tears in her eyes. She then does something completely unreasonable for a maid and pounces at me with open arms. I shift to the side a little and she flies right past me onto the ground. I walk to my throne that is beside Mother''s and sit back down.


    ¡°Princess Eva! Why would you dodge my hug? I have missed you for so many years! Princess if you wanted to run away I would have joined you! I wouldn''t even inform your parents!¡± Julie


    ¡°What was that you damn maid?! And don''t just abandon Anna so quickly! You are such a hopeless person. Where is Anna?¡± Mother


    Mother looks around until she spots the little girl that had waddled to where I was sitting. She''s looking up at me with clear curiosity and I am completely helpless. I was never good with Lora when she was a little girl like this. Lora would just follow me around everywhere and was satisfied with just that so I never actually played with her that much. I don''t know what Anne wants from me so I can only watch her watch me. The staring contest is broken though as Mother walks up and picks up the Anne and then places her on my lap. Anne opens her eyes wide until she seems content and just shifts around until she''s comfortable sitting across my legs.


    ¡°Whats wrong Eva? Don¡¯t want your own little sister sitting with you?¡± Mother


    Mother still has very cold eyes as she looks at me and It¡¯s really affecting me. I can tell she''s still very angry at me for running away and will definitely not let this go easily. She walks over and sits on her throne next to me. She keeps staring at me waiting for an answer. So I can only shake my head and mutter quietly ¡°No.¡±


    ¡°Good, She''s already grown up listening to stories about how great her big sis is from her other sister and perverted maid. Of course, she would want to spend time with her big sis that she hasn''t actually seen all her life because her big sister decided to run away.¡± Mother


    I never knew Mother was so good at pressuring someone with guilt like this. Her expression is so cold looking at me that I can only look down. When I do look down I can only watch Anne sitting comfortably on my lap while Munin is having a staring contest with her while sitting on my arm rest. They keep staring at each other until Anne reaches for Munin, only for Munin to shift out of the way. Anne doesn''t give up and keeps reaching for Munin as she shifts back and forth. I just put my chin on my hand as I get comfortable to watch this probably never ending game of theirs.


    ¡°Ahem, now then we can get back to trying to come up with some plans for the future. With the information, my daughter has brought we know that these people are dangerous and are almost unnoticeable with the white nails in their chest. Then there is also those with the white hammers that are used for putting the nails in others. For now, I believe we should just simply strengthen our defenses while keeping an eye open for any suspicious movements. Also, I would like to announce that both my son George and daughter Eva have authority to move our soldiers if they want. I will assign Eva to look for those with the white nails so if she moves or asks for anything I expect your cooperation. Is this fine with you Eva? Of course, this will happen in a couple of days after you rest at home for a bit.¡± Father


    ¡°I understand¡±


    I mutter quietly before my father then dismisses everyone to leave the throne room. I am sure he probably wanted to speak more and bring up other discussions, but the glare he''s receiving from Mother seems to have pressured him to end it today. I want to run away but I can''t with Anne and Munin playing on my lap. As soon as the doors to the throne room shut the only sound left is the noise Anne and Munin are making as they play. I keep my head forward even though I can feel Mothers gaze directed at me.


    ¡°Mother, why are you bothering with her? Nothing had changed since she was gone. You barely would have seen her anyway in this time. She either would have been at the academy or she would have been adventuring away from home either way.¡± George


    ¡°Because she didn''t say anything! She doesn''t seem to have cared at all that she left us without a word for years and then she shows back up while looking like this. Your father told me she was injured, but to be missing an entire arm! She doesn''t even seem to appreciate that we were worried. And take off that mask as well! Why do you wear that? Is there another injury that you have?¡± Mother


    Crap mother starts reaching for my mask and I can''t move without dropping Anne of my lap. Luckily Father steps in and grabs Mothers hand while gently patting it.


    ¡°Luna you know that if you keep acting this way you will simply drive her away. You need to give her some space so she''ll be comfortable. We don''t want to pressure her so much. I know in the past you loved to just pour out your affection, but she''s an adult now. She''s already nineteen years old.¡± Father


    ¡°Hah?¡± Am I nineteen?


    ¡°Look at that she doesn''t even know how old she is! She''s been doing who knows what all this time and comes back looking like that! I want to just lock her up and keep her at home at this point!¡± Mother


    ¡°No!¡±


    I panic at the mention of being locked up and without worrying about Anne I shift while grabbing my halberd and gain distance from my Mother. Everyone is looking at me as Munin appears on my shoulder and then I shift again and fly out of the throne room and run away. I keep flying until I am outside and I spot my old training ground. I go inside and lean against the wall while holding my head. I didn''t think I would react that way, but I don''t think I can ever be in that situation again. I cannot bear to be locked up anymore. I didn''t think I would grow such a serious fear of it to the extent I would run away from my own family. I think I even dropped Anne on the ground. She will probably start to fear me like George now. I lay down against the wall and closed my eyes as I take deep breaths. I will go back after I have calmed down a bit.

 Chapter 42

    Chapter 42


    Luna Lemuria


    I watch my daughter turn into lighting and completely disappear after panicking. I feel completely dumbfounded because she just started panicking all of a sudden before disappearing with her crow for no reason. I look over and see that Anne is sitting where Eva was with teary eyes while rubbing her butt. It seems she dropped down, so I walk over and pick her up before placing a kiss on her forehead. I then looked towards my husband for an explanation. He notices my stare and puts on a very serious face, but I notice some pain in his eyes.


    ¡°Luna please do not ask me. I will not tell you where she''s been or what she has been doing. If you want to know she has to tell you herself, but I suggest you do not ask her. If you push her, she will just run away again. She has her scars both physically and mentally it seems. If you push her and treat her the same as when she was a child you will definitely run away again.¡± Christen


    ¡°What do you suggest I do then? Did you not see how she acted right now? Why was she like that just from something I said? How am I supposed to treat her when I don''t know whats wrong? Just tell me what I should do!¡±


    ¡°Luna, you just need to speak to her like you normally would, but remember she has already started living her own life and experiencing her own things. Also in the future, I want you to know I will be asking Eva for help with the fighting. Before you say anything you should know she''s already at the strength of a 3rd tier adventure maybe even a 2nd tier adventurer. She is strong in both body and mind, but that doesn''t mean she is perfect. She has many problems that for now she wants to work on by herself.¡± Christen


    Christen simply starts walking out of the throne room after giving Anne a kiss. I thought of calling to him, but it doesn''t seem he will tell me anything. I then look towards George who''s been sitting on his throne looking at something that isn''t there. I know he hates Eva terribly and he also has a deep fear for her for some reason. I know that, but he should have at least seen her fighting earlier and might be able to tell me something so I call out to him.


    ¡°Mother you should just leave her alone. I can''t understand why you people worry about her. She could just be here for a specific reason before she leaves again. All I know is that someone with her strength does not need others. I hate to admit it, but she is incredibly powerful. Far more power powerful than you. Earlier when you hit her she could probably easily have remained completely unharmed, but she let you do what you want. Remember Mother that she''s dangerous. On the battlefield, she killed hundreds easily and she also took down almost all the elites by herself. With her abilities, she can be almost anywhere anytime, but it seems she hates being held down. If you want her happy never speak of anything that could hold her down or this castle could be destroyed in a black inferno.¡± George


    George also gets up and walks away after that except he looked far more frustrated than my husband. George is probably frustrated because his goal for power is to become stronger than Eva, but it seems like Eva has come back with monstrous strength. I want to know what Eva¡¯s experienced to get a power that only most veteran adventurers gain. She''s only nineteen, but she has the strength of an adventure at least forty years old. I wish I could say that she''s probably just a genius, but I know that it''s more than just that. I can tell she''s suffered through things to get to where she is.


    ¡°Mama, big big sis?¡± Anne


    ¡°You want to still see your big big sis?¡± Anne nods her head ¡°Then let us go find her. We will start checking all her old places she would hide. Julie lets go to her room first.¡±


    Julie nods but she still looks very sad. I can''t blame her since Eva basically ignored her existence since we''ve walked in. She really has done a good job with Anne though. Anne is also subjected to her attacks, but Anne just finds it funny. I do sometimes question my decision to have this shadow guard become a maid, but it seems she was a good choice. Behind her perverted nature is a very serious person who wants to always protect those she cares about. She even still considers herself to be Eva¡¯s maid as well as Anne¡¯s.


    We begin walking out of the throne room and first head towards Eva¡¯s room. Inside we find signs that she was definitely here earlier since we find her bag in the room. I can''t help myself and walk towards her bag to peek inside. I find clothes that are all a similar style to the ones Eva was wearing earlier. Beneath those, I find mana hearts ranging from the 5th tier to 3rd tier. I keep looking and I find a flask at the bottom of her bag. I open it and smell alcohol. The flask was definitely used and I realize that Eva seems to have picked up her father''s habit of drinking as I find a rather expensive bottle at the bottom of the bag. I put everything back and leave her room.


    We then start to walk around the other places that Eva use to frequent when she was younger. We finally make it to the training grounds Eva used to go to all the time and we see signs that she was here. There are clearly footprints in the dust and it looks like she had also sat down for a bit, but now she''s gone again. What I can tell is that just by sitting here in the dust she''s probably really dirty now. There''s only one more place she could be at this point and I am glad it¡¯s our favorite place.


    We all start walking towards the baths. Anne seems to notice where we''re going because she starts to squirm in my arms for some reason. I don''t know why but she really hates baths for some reason. Well, I just hold her tighter and continue until I notice that there are several maids surrounding the door to the baths. I approach them and they all quiet down until one of the veteran maids steps forward while making a slight bow.


    ¡°Your majesty I am sorry if you are here to use the baths, but they can''t be used right now. We can''t get the door open and if we force it we could do damage to the whole wall. We will go and contact the carpenters in a bit. I apologize for the inconvenience.¡± Veteran Maid


    ¡°No, it¡¯s all right to just ignore this. I am pretty sure that Eva has just locked the door somehow as to not be disturbed in the baths. You all can go for now and do not worry if it is like this in the future. Eva likes privacy so just keep that in mind for when it involves her. Oh, but if anyone slights her or anything I''ll kill them and maybe even their families.¡±


    Some of the new maids go pale with fright while the older ones who''ve been around to remember similar threats nod their heads before walking away. I noticed once that some maids were planning on mistreating Eva before so I got rid of them in the past and new maids came in where I informed them not to mistreat anyone. They all scurry off and I stand in front of the door thinking about what I should do. The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.


    ¡°Your majesty, will we wait here for Princess Eva to come out? I am sure we could get the door open, but it would definitely be broken for a while. I don''t think anyone will really be willing to use the baths when there no door.¡± Julie


    ¡°There are many secrets to this castle. We will use one of the ones that the last perverted King used in his free time. Come follow me.¡±


    I lead her past a couple of doors away until we got to a simple study room. There are a desk and some bookshelves surrounding the walls. I walk to the fireplace in the back and reach into it as I press one of the bricks. The brick indents a little and I inject some mana into an old enchantment. The bookcase next to the fireplace shakes a little and then it slides back. I walk into the dark tunnel that has been revealed and I have Julie light a torch as I press another enchantment to close the bookshelf. It wouldn''t be good for some random maids to stumble upon these secret passages. It''s not that they will lead to a secret treasure or an escape tunnel, but it would be embarrassing if people found out their real purpose.


    ¡°Your Majesty how come I as a shadow guard don''t know about these tunnels? They seem like important information for your safety.¡± Julie


    ¡°Hah, that''s because they''re not escape tunnels. They were made by the last king in his youth so that he can peep. They lead to several guest rooms and the baths. There are multiple peep holes that have been enchanted to not be noticed from the other side and doors so the king could enter the rooms if he wished. Do not tell anyone about these! Not even Shadow knows about these tunnels and peep holes because only my husband and I know about them. Also, I guess you and Anne know as well, but I guess Eva will find out soon as well.¡±


    Finally, we reach the right marking on the wall and I spot a slot I can open up and look through. When I do I can tell that I am in the right place because there is a lot of steam blocking my view from actually seeing anything. I can roughly make out the shape of someone on the opposite sides of the bath, but I can''t see any details. What I can see is the shape of Eva¡¯s crow Munin flying around the baths while looking down at Eva. All of a sudden Eva stands up and my eyes go wide as I can see the silhouette of two arms shooting up and catching Munin before Eva sits back down.


    ¡°Munin stop playing around until I can wash you clean. I will be gentle and use my left hand, so don''t worry. Geez, I am already almost empty so I guess I''ll have to raid fathers stash later.¡± Eva


    I''ve heard enough so I look at the wall next to the peeping hole and spot a brick with a familiar enchantment so I inject my mana and then hand Anne to Julie as I wait for the door to open. The door shakes and then slides over as steam rushes into the tunnel.


    ¡°What the fuck?! Who''s there?¡± Eva


    I walk into the baths and then use my magic to force all the steam to fall. The room is now clear and I get a good view of everything inside. I first notice that where Eva was before is a bottle of alcohol and her crow Munin, but Eva has jumped all the way back to the wall and is now covered in her flaming black armor so I can''t see anything, but her black eyes. What I do notice is she has two arms right now and Eva truly has become a fully grown woman, at least physically.


    ¡°Eva how can you take a bath without us? You had run off earlier during our discussion, but if you wanted to take a bath first we could have done that. I also notice that you''ve picked up your Fathers habit of drinking and even in the baths.¡± I look over at the door and notice she''s used her halberd and dagger to lock the door. The door is definitely going to need some repairs later. ¡°Eva that''s not really a good place to leave your weapons. You could have leaned them against the wall instead of putting them into the door. Oh, I also noticed that you seem to have a perfectly fine arm there. Care to explain these things to me, Eva? I am just your mother so what do you need that flame armor for?¡±


    I try to use my sweetest voice possible but she just keeps slowly backing up and looking all around. Her flame armor is very strong, but it''s one defect is that her eyes are perfectly visible so I can see them looking all around for an escape path. It¡¯s a good thing we are in the baths and every inch of the room is wet. As soon as Eva¡¯s hand touches the wall I condense the water where she touches and I form a barrier. Eva notices that her armor is creating steam and she stays away from the wall, but her eyes don''t stop darting around.


    ¡°Mother, why are you here? How are you here? Are there seriously secret tunnels in this castle? Why didn''t I know this?!¡± Eva


    ¡°Sweat heart the tunnels are just for peeping so..¡±


    ¡°You had tunnels made so you can peep on the baths?! I can''t believe this! Did you get the idea from that perverted maid Julie?¡± Eva


    ¡°I didn''t have them made. They were made by your grandfather in his youth. Either way, the tunnels are not the point here. Stop trying to change the subject. Eva drop your flame armor and talk to your mother.¡±


    ¡°NO! I refuse. Don''t think I won''t destroy half this castle just to run away. Mother a while ago you were talking about locking me up and now you are even using secret tunnels to sneak up on me in the baths. Mother this is ridiculous! I have my secrets just like how you kept those tunnels a secret.¡± Eva


    I bite my lips because I know Eva has a point and her father even said the same thing earlier. I notice that Eva releases a little lighting, but with how much moisture is in this room it would defiantly hurt us if she used any lightning so she stops. She just stands there looking for a chance to run away. All of a sudden I hear Julie scream and then I look over as Anne runs around the baths.


    ¡°Stop!¡± Eva


    Anne runs up straight to Eva and right before she''s about to jump at her Eva drops her flame armor. Eva had told me before that her Flame armor will burn anyone it touches if they get too close so Eva would either have burned Anne or dropped her armor. Anne hugs Eva by the waist and Eva turns her body to the side and covers her chest. No, she doesn''t cover her breast or anything, but she''s covering a black spot. I run up to Eva and grab her hand that''s covering her chest. I look at Eva¡¯s chest and see that there are little black scales covering where her heart is. I then look at the left side of Eva¡¯s body that is covered in more of these black scales that reach all the way up to her jaw. I hold Eva¡¯s shoulders as I look over her body and I feel tears form in my eyes. I am not crying because of Eva¡¯s body but because of the amount of pain I see in my daughters crying eyes. No mother wants to see their daughter have so much pain in their expression. I quickly pull Eva into my arms and I held her tightly as I pet her head. Eva keeps struggling to get out of my grip. I am holding her tight enough that she would have to hurt me to get rid of me so I know she won¡¯t. She suddenly stiffens and I look at her right arm and see Anna is hanging from it.


    ¡°Big big sis! Whats this? It''s cool.¡± Anna


    I notice again that Eva doesn''t know how to respond to the situation. Mostly because she always expects peoples fear and disgust. When someone shows her something besides those two emotions she doesn''t know how to respond. Anne¡¯s basically grown up worshipping the big sister she''s never met so something she doesn''t even understand is simply cool to her just because her big sister likes it.


    ¡°Eva it¡¯s ok. No matter how much you change nothing will matter. You will always be my daughter. Even if you''ve grown scales it won''t matter. We will go to the other countries and see their research on mana mutants. No matter what you will be fine.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not a mana mutant. I am something else. These are dragon scales, not a lizard or snake scales.¡± Eva


    Eva¡¯s voice is really low, but I can still perfectly hear her. I pause a second to think of whats she said. Dragons do not have mana mutants and no mana mutant will mutate into a dragon. It''s one of the main arguments that dragons aren¡¯t monsters but a proper race. If Eva has dragon scales then something besides a mana mutation happened to her and I am more confused now. I look at Eva and see that she looks so tired and doesn''t even seem to have any strength anymore I lower her into the bath again. I take off my clothes while I whisper a few commands to Julie. Julie takes off Anne¡¯s clothes. As soon as Anne is free she runs to the bath and hugs Eva¡¯s right side. Eva freezes and then just reaches over to her bottle and brings it to her mouth and takes a good gulp. I notice that Eva is glaring at the hole that''s still in the wall so I signal Julie to go close it as I get in the water as well. I look over at Eva and I wait for her to start speaking.


    ¡°Fine. I do not want you running off to start a war after this though. It started about six months after I initially ran away¡­¡­¡­¡± Eva

 Chapter 43

    Chapter 43


    Eva Lemuria


    I keep talking for probably hours and I feel my head getting dizzier as we sit. At some point Anne had moved from my side to my lap and is now using my breast as a pillow. I can''t understand her attachment when we haven''t even really spoken to each other. I keep speaking as I just look at the wall. No matter how much I look I can''t spot anything that looks like a door. I can''t believe grandfather was such a pervert. I soon finish telling my mother everything and I notice that this whole time I have not ran out of alcohol. I look behind me and I notice that theres a pile of empty bottles next to Julie as she opens another bottle of alcohol. She seems to notice my stare as she looks up from the bottle. She shoves it behind her back and then looks away as if the ceiling is the most interesting thing ever all of a sudden.


    Damn it I am completely drunk that I can barely feel my conscious. I guess this is what those lizards feel when they drink. It took a pile of bottles just to get me drunk instead of just the usual buzz. I have basically spilled my guts to my mother. I know normally I wouldn''t speak no matter how I drunk I would get, but I guess deep down I feel comfortable with mother that this slight push made me spill everything to her. She''s too sneaky. I look over at mother and see that she has a very furious expression. She''s already promised that she wont go picking any fights with the dragons, but I am sure theres still others she can inflict her wrath on. She could probably go after the elves for having Lucas Sylvari as a noble. I can imagine my mother flooding an entire city in her rage. I think she will probably go after father first though. She probably tried to get something out of him, but he remain very tight lipped. I cant remember if I told her that Father knew where I was from our letters or not, but I am sure he''s doomed either way.


    All of a sudden Mother looks over at me and I tense up. I try to scoot away but she''s already had her arm around my waste for a while. I feel afraid so I pull my bottle close to my chest. It seems the stare wasn''t about the alcohol as her looks change to a ¡°What are you doing?¡± kind of look. I just keep drinking. I know they''ve gotten me drunk on purpose so I will just keep drinking until I pass out so they can''t question me.


    ¡°Eva,¡± My mothers gentle voice brings my attention back to her from my bottle. ¡°I don''t plan on taking your bottle so you don''t have to be so protective. You''re acting just like your Father. Eva I wanted to know why you didn''t tell me about this and instead hid it from me. Eva no matter what I will always love you. You don''t have to be afraid of our feelings ever changing about you. You are still my cute little moody child. Eva I think Anne perfectly represents how we feel.¡±


    I look down at Anne who seems to have fallen asleep on my chest. Her head is resting right on the scales on my chest, but she seems perfectly fine. It seems like she''s not much of a talker yet, but she''s still very affectionate and cute. I think she''s still too young a naive to understand whats going on around her. She had just ran straight at my when I was clearly covered in my flame armor. If I didn''t dispel my flames she definitely would have been badly burned.


    ¡°Mother she just doesn''t understand anything going on around her. She called my arm cool even though almost anyone else would have called it terrifying. Look this is not a hand, it¡¯s a claw. I will not change how I¡¯ve been covering it. Others would scream in terror and then when the people find out they''ll demand I leave the kingdom or worse. For now I don''t want to be kicked out of my own kingdom yet.¡±


    ¡°No matter what others want I wouldn''t allow that. I am a mother before I am a queen. I will always protect you from those kinds of people.¡± Mother


    ¡°Mother you cannot abandon your duties for someone like me. Also I am stronger that you now mother. How can you protect me when I am stronger? I was able to get a good punch on some adult dragons before escaping. It was purely an unfair surprise attack and I basically used the physical strength of a dragon, but I still knocked a dragon down! Mother I am very strong now. Hahahahaha... but I am still not strong enough.¡±


    ¡°Yes, sweetheart you mentioned beating up a dragon earlier. That remind me that we still have to discuss the dragon that''s been staying here for a while. She just showed up someday saying she''s an ambassador, but she hasn''t actually done anything. If she wasn''t a terrifying dragon I would actually say she''s a perfect guest. Very polite and never complains about anything. I am not sure if we should ask her to leave or not.¡± Mother


    ¡°It¡¯s a she? What colors her hair? What did she say her name is? Crap is it her? Why would she come here? I have to know! Munin! Come let''s go fight a lizard!¡±


    ¡°Squawk!¡± Munin


    Munin gets up of the ground and shoots at my shoulder. I throw Anne over my other shoulder and I grab my bottle before I make my way towards the door. If its who I think it is I kind of want to kill her. Why would she come here after everything? If it isn''t her I can still kill what ever dragon it is.


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    ¡°Eva! You''re not wearing any clothes! Also, why are you carrying Anne like that?¡± Mother


    ¡°Right clothes are important. I can''t let people see my scales yet. Also, Anne was fighting with Munin earlier remember? Anne wants to sit on my shoulder like Munin does.¡±


    I set the two children down as I hear my mother say "That''s not the point." before I start getting dressed and I hide my arm for now. I pull my weapons out of the bathroom door before sheathing them. I then pick up Munin and put her on my shoulder. When I go to pick up Anne she isn''t where I left her, but Julie is holding her now. I shrug my shoulders and grab my bottle before leaving. I get outside and stop as Julie calls out to me.


    ¡°I will take Anne to her bed so she can continue her nap. Princess Eva ambassadors would be in the guest wing of the castle. There¡¯s only the dragon ambassador and some servants there.¡± Julie


    I say a quick thank you before I begin walking towards the guest wing of the castle. It¡¯s been years but I still remember my way. I also notice that almost everything is the same. The same rugs, the same paintings, I even notice the same cuts in the walls from when I would play around with my dagger indoors. I look at the cuts in the wall, but I notice a menacing glare behind me so I keep walking.


    ¡°Eva you''re not going to start a fight that will destroy the castle right? Are you? Because I don''t think we can afford to replace some of the things we have in the guest rooms. I don''t want to have to spend more money. Since the wars started trade had been down in the kingdom. It will probably start up again if the wars have truly ended though.¡± Mother


    Mother has actually been talking quite a bit, but I have mostly ignored her. I have a set goal in mind right now. I want to see with dragon is the ambassador to my kingdom. If its just some random dragon here to watch my movements then fine. If it¡¯s her then I don''t actually know what Ill do. Maybe I will just get rid of her or maybe Ill just ignore her. For now I just need to get there without getting lost or falling over. If I do I am sure mother will call me drunk and have me go to my room or something.


    We finally make it to the guest area and I throw open the large doors that lead to the guest central area. There are couches and books so the guest can relax outside of their private rooms if they like. There''s a fireplace and the walls have several bookshelf filled with different pieces to read. Nothing is of to much value here, but its all very nice. I scan the room until I spot her in a chair next to the fireplace with a stack of books by her. She doesn''t notice me at first because she''s so engrossed in her book so I slowly approach her. When I am a couple of steps away I pull my arm back and throw my bottle towards her. My bottle barely misses her head but it seems I have drawn her attention from the book. She looks up at me and her face goes pale and she jumps up. She holds her hands up as she starts backing up.


    ¡°Eva! I am not here to cause any trouble. I swear!¡± Saras


    ¡°What the hell are you doing here you bitch?!¡±


    ¡°I am here as an ambassador! My punishment for letting you go was to be banished from the dragon valley so my parents suggested I come here for you, but I would never do that! I just had nowhere to go. I wanted to check up on you, but you still had not come back after you left the valley so I stayed here.¡± Saras


    ¡°So you are not even an ambassador? Eva, why are you attacking her so much? Who is she? How do you know her?¡± Mother


    ¡°She¡¯s the dragon that killed me and then turned me into what I am now! She killed me and then when she tried to help it only made things worse. Now that she''s suffering the consequences she comes here? I think now would be a great time to evict her or better yet dispose of her.¡±


    Without a second thought I charge at Saras with my fist raised and I form a destruction fist. Saras screams and dives out of the way as my fist passes her and my attack flies at the fireplace behind her. The fireplace explodes and bricks fly everywhere. I stabilize my wobbly feet and look at Saras¡¯ pale face as she looks at me. She opens her mouth to say something, but I just charge at her again and use my legs to form a lighting edge as I try to cut her down, but she just dodges and my attack cuts through some bookshelves and the wall.


    ¡°Wait! I surrender! I don''t want to fight! Please stop already. You can barely even stand right now!¡± Saras


    ¡°Shut up and die you lizard!¡±


    I charge at Saras again except at this point I undo my arm from its harness and I form a lighting claw on my hand before I attack her again. I bring my clawed hand down towards Saras who has fallen down while running from me and I am excited to get rid of this lizard, but right before my attack lands I am blindsided by a geyser of water. I am blasted toward the destroyed fireplace and the water forms a bubble around me. I can¡¯t determine up from down as I look outside the water bubble. I spot mother with her hand outstretched towards me and the other towards another bubble. Inside is Saras who looks as surprised as I am. Both our bubbles open up just enough so our heads are sticking out, but the pressure keeps our bodies stuck.


    ¡°Eva I specifically told you not to destroy anything. I mean look at the destruction you caused in barely a couple of minutes. Are you going to pay for this? I didn''t think so.¡± Mother


    ¡°Mother! She killed me! Not metaphorical death, but literal death! She then turned me into more of a monster. How can you stop me?¡±


    I feel my rage increase and I start form my flame armor. My flames clash directly with Mothers water. The water starts to quickly boil and steam begins to form. Before I could continue Mother¡¯s water bubble encloses my head again and then the bubble starts to spin. I have no way to brace my self as I am spun around in multiple ways and then mothers bubble completely stops and I am thrown straight up. I am so dizzy that I feel like I will puke as I land right back into mothers bubble. Thankfully it stopped spinning around.


    ¡°Do you believe I don''t also want to kill this girl? I want to rip her throat out with my bare hands right now and then send her head to her family. I want to do that, but you said it yourself that we cant afford to fight the dragons. Especially now that there''s some group out there reaching for power. I will lock her up in our best dungeon. We will keep her there for now and I don''t think the dragons have any right to complain if we lock up one of theirs. Are you even listening to me?¡± Mother


    I am listening, but I cant focus my eyes anymore. What does mother expect from me after she got me drunk and then spun me around like that? It¡¯s a miracle I haven''t already puked at this point. Mother drops her water and I fall on the ground, but I cant even get up because everything spinning. The last thing I saw is five Munin''s looking down at me before I passed out.

 Chapter 44

    Chapter 44


    Eva Lemuria


    I woke up and the first thing I felt was a splitting headache. I think this is what it feels like when I cut peoples heads open. Well, its probably not the same, but my head really hurts. I open my eyes and immediately squint them because of the bright light. I am in my old room now and the curtains are wide open. I try to get out of bed, but I fall down onto the floor. After a minute of trying to keep my stomach from bursting out I slowly stand up. I notice some water on the table and I walk over to directly grab the pitcher of water and I begin chugging it down. I practically finish the whole thing in one breath. I notice that Munin appeared on the table watching me with a hint of amusement in her eyes. I look around the room as I ignore the evil bird and spot my things in the corner of the room. I see my halberd leaned next to my bag as well. I walk over and pick out one of my outfits to put on. I always find these to be comfortable because it''s loose but fitting.


    After everything is on and I grab my halberd I fill up my flask with the bottle I had in my bag and then I hide it in my clothes. I open my door and find a pair of maids standing outside chatting. When they notice me they stop chatting and look at me fearfully before telling me that my family is waiting for me to have breakfast. I grunt in reply before making my way towards the castles smaller dinning room. We have a large hall for feasts and then we have a small dining room for just the family or a few close guests. I notice that all the maids that see me go pale with fright before running away or going back to they''re cleaning duties. I don''t know where the looks of disgust went, but this is honestly preferable.


    I finally make it to the dining room where I find almost all of my family. The only one missing it Lora who is now at the academy. I hope she is having a better time than I did. I doubt she will run away after a couple of months like me. I notice that even George has shown up, but he is just staring forward without acknowledging me. I quickly make my way to the only other place that has been set, which is coincidentally between Mother and Anne. I sit down and ignore mother who is smiling at me and Anne who is looking at me without much expression, but somehow her gaze is still very intense. Food is quickly served to everyone and we begin to eat.


    ¡°So how are you feeling Eva?¡± Mother


    ¡°Yes, I heard things got out of hand yesterday. I don''t think everything can be considered your fault, but we still have to fix the entire guest''s wing and the main baths door.¡± Father


    I look at them blankly for a while before I slam my hands on the table and stand up. I finally remembered what happened yesterday. My head begins to hurt and I feel dizzy as I fall back into my chair while clutching my head.


    ¡°Where is she?¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s locked up in a hidden dungeon. No, I will not tell you where for now. I can''t have anything happen to her right now since the world already seems to be becoming more and more unpredictable.¡± Father


    ¡°I can accept that for now and I won''t kill her for now, but I still want to know where she is. Also, Mother care to explain what yesterday was about? I am pretty sure I could have easily taken her out if I wasn''t completely trashed! Who gets their daughter completely drunk like that?!¡±


    ¡°Eva dear I noticed in your bag that you seem to have picked up your father''s habit of drinking so I thought we could share a few drinks while bathing. Is there something so wrong about that? It''s not my fault you let everything out with me.¡± Mother


    ''What sharing? You didn''t even drink anything!"


    I have never been that drunk before so there''s no way I could have known I would become loose lipped like that with her. I can barely even remember what exactly I told her, but judging by fathers pale face I seem to have said a few things I shouldn¡¯t. I look over at Anne and notice that she has at some point left her seat. She is now next to my chair looking up at me so I offer her my hand and pull her up onto my lap. I then pull out my flask and take a good drink.


    ¡°Eva, you are still drinking? Even after yesterday and I presume your current hangover? I was hoping you''d drink less after how much you had last night.¡± Mother


    ¡°If anythings changed its that I appreciate drinking more now. You took out a lot of expensive bottles from Fathers reserves. They were really good so I appreciate the treat. I will have to look for his stash later.¡±


    ¡°What?! Luna is it true? I had a lot of expensive bottles in reserve. Some of those were for special occasions. All gone just like that.¡± Father


    Mothers only response is a cold glare before she continues to eat. I eat as well while feeding Anne and Munin the things I don''t want. They both eat everything I give them even if they probably don''t like it. They seem to be competing for my attention, but I ignore there attempts to get my attention. I instead focus on my father since everyone has now finished eating.


    ¡°I guess we should talk about what everyone is going to be doing from here on. I will be writing letters to the other kingdoms to request a conference with all of those that accept. I plan on sending a letter to the dragons as well. Eva I hope you can keep calm with them around. The same goes for you Luna. This will be conference about possible spies in all the kingdoms and hopefully we can figure out who is behind this. George and Eva will be coming with me once we get responses from every kingdom. Till then you may do what you want.¡± Father


    ¡°I will be staying away from that as much as possible. I will go train with the army since we will probably be seeing more fighting in the future. Goodbye.¡± George


    George promptly leaves without saying anything else. Both mother and father frown a little. They then look towards me to figure out my plans. I have to take a second myself to figure out what exactly I will be doing.


    ¡°I will go speak with Saras. I want to see from the other side of some bars. So tell me where she is.¡±


    ¡°Hahhhh. Very well then. She is being held in the shadow guards base of operations. They have some heavy duty prisons there that can hold a dragon. I assume you still remember where the shadow guards are. You can go there, but keep an eye out. I still don''t know how a message was passed around telling the shadow guards to capture you.¡± Father


    ¡°I will be taking Anne to continue her lessons on being a proper lady. I cant have her turning out like a certain someone.¡± ¡°Do you mean yourself?¡± ¡°Who said that?! Anyway since Lora turned out to be a proper lady I assume Anne will as well. Now come Anne.¡± MotherYou could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.


    I look down at Anne who''s gripping my clothes with all her strength. She looks up at me with teary eyes begging me to help her, but the only thought I have now is how cute her teary face is. She quickly realizes she wont be getting help from me and then looks around for another source of help. She doesn''t find anyone so she lets go of my shirt and lets mother pick her up before she''s carried away with a face that say it¡¯s the end of the world. She''s so cute.


    ¡°Are you smiling under you mask while watching your sister get taken away.¡± I stay silent. ¡°Anyway, I just wanted to tell you to be careful Eva. Also, don''t destroy any more rooms and stay out of my liquor!¡± Father


    Father gets up and makes his way out of the room. I am the last one in the room because the maids ran away as soon as I was the only one left. I grab Munin and put her on my shoulder and then make my way towards the shadow guards base of operations. The shadow guards all have their own hidden lives if they want, so they have to have alibis for the people they know. Their base is where they all gather for information. Its where most of their locations are recorded and the less important missions and evidence are kept. I have only been there a few times when I was a child. I simply wanted to see so I annoyed father continuously until he showed me.


    I reach the seemingly empty courtyard in a remote corner of the castle. I look at the plain wooden door and use a simple coded knock on it before I open it. I¡¯ve been told it would be dangerous if I didn''t knock by the shadow guards because there''s always guards listening and they don''t want someone casually entering without knowing the knock otherwise they will probably attack before even looking at who came in. I look around the room and notice several shadow guards surrounding tables filled with maps and papers. They look over and see me. Some go wide eyed unable to react while others quickly do a quick bow before getting back to work. I ignore them all and walk deeper into the room. I look for a more veteran shadow guard so they can tell me where Saras is. I spot one and he definitely looks older and has a few white hairs on his head.


    ¡°Wheres the dungeon with the dragon girl? I already have permission from my father.¡±


    ¡°Hello, Princess. Yes, we have already received news that you would be coming. I¡¯ll show you the way. Just follow me. Just call me Shadow Guard 3¡± Shadow Guard 3


    ¡°Thanks. How did you already know I would be coming? It hasn''t been nearly long enough for that to pass around.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha. Please, Princess, leave us with some of our secrets. We all have been watching you and your family for years so we know you can keep a secret, but some things we cant tell you.¡± Shadow Guard 3


    I leave him be and just follow him down the winding corridors that seem like a labyrinth. At several points, we have gone down some stares and back up some more. I have never been in here without a guard with me. Even if I am confident in my memory and sense of direction I would not want to wander around down here.


    Finally we reached a large metal door. Its covered in excessive locks and seems to be heavily reinforced. Shadow Guard 3 simply walks next to the door and touches one of the bricks next to it. It glows before I hear several clicking sounds and Shadow Guard 3 opens the door for me while smiling. I think he was hoping I would react to the simple way to open the not so simple door, but I don''t feel like giving him the satisfaction so I keep a straight face and walk in.


    ¡°I will wait here. She''s in the first cell and the rest are empty so you shouldn''t miss it.¡± Shadow Guard 3


    I walk towards the first cell and look into it. I feel a sense of d¨¦j¨¤ vu as I look at the girl with chains around her neck and limbs as she sits in the middle of the room that''s covered in enchantments. Except instead of black hair and cold black eyes, she has dark blue hair with tints of green and matching eyes. Instead of being cold and angry she seems almost excited to see me. I hope she is not expecting me to let her out of this cell. I take a seat on a bench opposite of the cell and stare at Saras.


    ¡°I am sure you¡¯re thinking this is feeling like d¨¦j¨¤ vu. Well, you wouldn''t be wrong except I am willing to speak even if I am the one locked up this time.¡± Saras


    ¡°I wish you wouldn¡¯t. You do not seem to understand when to stop speaking. Why did you come here? You''re a naive idiot, but even you should have expected to possibly die if I saw you. You should know if I wasn''t completely drunk yesterday that you would have died then and there.¡±


    ¡°I already knew you wouldn''t be very happy to see me, but I really didn''t have anywhere else to go. I guess I should tell you this now, but half the dragons running around your capital are to watch me while the other half are to lookout for you. I only have my family so they probably want to keep me watched even if I have been banned from the dragon valley.¡± Saras


    I can understand that a little since my parents also have been trying to keep tabs on me my whole life. They even wanted to keep tabs on me with the shadow guards as soon as I was found again. Loving parents are like that I guess. I personally find it annoying since it''s useless for them to try and watch me now since I can just disappear. It does remind me that someone has ordered the shadow guards to capture me at some point.


    ¡°Have you felt anything ominous since you''ve been here? Like the white nail? Someone might have infiltrated the Shadow Guards and ordered them to capture me.¡±


    ¡°Yes, I have felt something like the nail a couple of times since I have been here. I would feel an ominous presence randomly while I was reading or even laying down. I didn''t think it would have anything to do with those horrid things.¡± Saras


    I notice that Saras turned pale at the mention of the nails and I don''t blame her since they are terrifying things. She doesn''t seem to have seen any more nails since her experience but has probably sensed them occasionally like me. I begin to tell Saras about my experiences with the nails. I tell her only things directly related to the nails and those that had them so she understands what its like.


    ¡°So have you felt it from specific people or anything? I haven''t really found anyone yet, but it was probably one of the shadow guards.¡±


    ¡°No, I didn''t see anyone any of the times. There were usually some maids close by, but they were there before and after the ominous feeling. I did feel that the feeling was always somewhere I couldn''t directly see so it must have been a spy or something. Eva, please stay away from them! You should understand how terrifying those nails can be.¡± Saras


    ¡°What I do has nothing to do with you. I will fight to protect my family even if it means fighting those things. You''re just a naive dragon who''s only had one bad experience, but has had someone helping you and protecting you since you were born. I am different. I only have my family, but they cant protect someone like me. In case you haven''t noticed since you got here, but I am different from others.¡±


    Saras lowers her head and seems to shrink the more I speak. She knows everything I say is true at least. I can''t understand why she''s here or what she wants. She should have known this is probably the best situation she could have ended up in with me. The worst would have been her death, but I can''t have that option anymore. Even if she is banned from the dragon valley, I know that if something happened to her her family would defiantly come for revenge. She''s basically a princess to the dragon tribe.


    ¡°Eva I didn''t want this. I have noticed how you are treated. The maids basically treat your name as a taboo. The younger ones don''t even seem to know you exist. Eva if we hadn''t have met how we did I am sure I would have wanted to be close to you. I am different even in the dragon tribe so I can understand how it is to be treated differently.¡± Saras


    ¡°You were pampered and treated as a precious treasure by everyone. I only have my family and that doesn''t even include my own brother. We may be different from others, but you and I are even more different from each other! You were loved while I was hated. The only time we''ve had a similar experience is now. Except you have only been locked up for a day, while I was locked up for years. I spent years in those chains and only able to see the person who had put me in that situation.¡±


    ¡°Eva I don¡¯t want you to always see me as your enemy. You must understand that I couldn''t control what had happened before. I don¡¯t want you to hate me I want¡­¡± Saras


    Saras didn''t finish her sentence because her body tensed and her eyes went wide. She turned pale and started to sweat. I cannot blame her because I had the exact same reaction. I quickly jump to my feet and draw out my dagger before turning towards the dungeon door. In walked someone who I was not expecting to see because I had simply forgotten about him. He walked so silently that I wouldn''t have noticed him if it wasn''t for the ominous feeling the was coming from his chest. In walked my teacher from my childhood and the leader of the Shadow Guards, Shadow.


    ¡°Ah, here you are Princess. I had just returned from a mission when I heard you had returned as well. Figures you would be in the shadow guard base again. Tell me all about your journey.¡± Shadow


    It was his typical smiling face, but I don''t lower my guard. I reach over and undo the harness on my arm. I switch my halberd to the other side and prepare to fight. Saras stands up and tries to run towards me, but the chains keep her locked up and unable to transform somehow. She tries to pull the chains out of the wall, but it obviously doesn''t work. Maybe if she actually trained or was a full adult dragon, but not now. Shadow doesn''t even seem fazed by us. He still has the same smile he''s always had, but the ominous feeling seems to have only been increasing. He looks just like the usual Shadow I grew up with, but I know the real Shadow is only watching from within so I will free him.

 Chapter 45

    Chapter 45


    Eva Lemuria


    I observe Shadow because I know even though he looks innocent with that smile he still is a complete danger to me right now. He didn''t even bat an eye when he saw my arm. I can tell that there is something seriously wrong with him just from that. Saras has been screaming for me to run away for a while now and I really want to yell at her to shut up. She doesn''t want me to fight and instead run away. I would never run away from this and I especially wouldn''t do anything that she told me to do. I have to destroy the white nail or Shadow will continue being trapped within himself. I have never actually fought Shadow seriously because he has always only trained me. I don''t even know what his fighting style is.


    ¡°Princess, is there something wrong? You seem very agitated.¡± Shadow


    ¡°Enough games. I will free you now.¡±


    It looked as if he had something else to say, but I charged right at him with a fire spear. Shadow jumps to the side and my flames harmlessly pass by him. My flame armor slowly starts to cover every part of my body. I spot Shadow at the other end of the dungeon with a thin dagger in hand. He is casually tossing it around while looking at me with the same carefree smile. All of a sudden the air around us stills and then a tornado it wraps around Shadow. When the wind calms down Shadow is now covered in wind constantly rushing around him like armor.


    ¡°Princess you have truly created a wondrous technique. My wind armor has been helping me a lot lately.¡± Shadow


    I shoot another ball of flames at Shadow, but it just disperses against his wind armor. I charge at him with my halberd and form a destruction edge. It cuts through a part of the wall when I am swinging it towards Shadow. The wall is blown away, but I cant afford to be distracted. Shadow brings up his dagger wrapped in the wind to deflect my attack as it blows apart Saras'' cell. I take a quick glance and see she''s still in chains, but none of the chains are still attached to anything else. Shadow charges at me aiming for my hands to probably disable me. It seems he''s been ordered to capture me alive after getting the white nail.


    ¡°Don''t you want to check on her? She is basically your prisoner Princess.¡± Shadow


    ¡°You''re talking too much. I¡¯ll listen when it¡¯s the real Shadow!¡±


    I form a large destruction edge and slam it straight down. The entire dungeon shakes and rumbles as it begins to collapse. Stones fall and walls collapse. Shadows expression finally changes as he looks shocked and forms a wind barrier around himself. I shift through the rubble and appear next to Shadow''s barrier as I slam my halberd into it sending him flying back. I shift and appear in his trajectory and slash a destruction edge up. I connect my attack to Shadow''s wind barrier blowing it apart and sending Shadow exploding up. He flies up and I shift to follow him to the surface. I realize that we are now above a garden and servants are trying to look at us, but we are too high. I know my father will be pissed because of the shadow guards possible exposure, but I cant do anything about it. I look up and see that Shadow has reformed his wind armor with what looks like wings on his back. The armor is barely visible, but it looks like he has figured out how to fly. I should try that later, but for now, I only have my flame steps.


    A burst of flames comes from my feet and then explodes. I rocket towards Shadow and swing a destruction edge at him. Right before I connect to his dagger that he had brought up to defend himself with I shift and appear behind Shadow. I almost connected my attack, but Shadow pulled out another dagger and used it to push himself out of the way of my attack that exploded outwards. I quickly respond by kicking up with a flame step that he blocks with his arm, but it explodes throwing him back. I notice that his arm is slightly burned so at least my attack worked that time. I suddenly feel the wind around us stop and there''s a moment of silence before the area around me completely explodes in a miniature storm. I am inside a tornado rampaging and attacking me from all sides. I slowly form a second layer of flame armor and then I begin to expand it out. My flames collide with the tornado around me, but I have trouble pushing it apart so concentrate on one spot and push through a small hole. I shift and quickly shoot out of that hole.


    As soon as I exit the tornado I feel something is wrong. I feel my lighting form slowly dispersing and I am forcibly reverted back to my true form. I even feel my flame armor start to flicker away. I slowly start to fall and realize I can''t even breathe anymore. I look up and see that Shadow is holding both his hands towards me. He is creating an area without air around me. I feel like my insides are being sucked out and I am trying to hold what little air I have left. I crash into the ground and try to summon some strength to get up, but without air, I feel myself suffocating. My mind is beginning to become hazy and I look up at Shadow still concentrating on keeping me in the airless void. If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.


    All of a sudden I notice clouds start to blanket the sky and I get a sinking feeling in my gut. The sky begins to rumble with lighting as rain begins to fall. Behind Shadow, I spot Saras in her dragon form. I try to yell at her to stop so she won''t hurt him, but nothing comes out. Instead, Saras whips her tail at Shadow and his danger senses warn him just in time to bring up his arms and defend himself. He is blown away and I can finally breathe. I look up and see that Saras has shown up in front of me and shehas quickly shifted to her human form as she approaches me.


    ¡°Eva are you alright?¡± Saras


    Saras reaches for me, but I smack her hands away. I don''t know how she got out and I can''t worry about that now. Saras attack was enough to stop Shadow for now, but I don''t think he is down. He is too strong for that. I get to my feet and look at the sky to find him.


    ¡°Stay away from me! I don''t know how you were freed from those chains but I will personally lock you back up later. Your storm better not harm my kingdom or I¡¯ll kill you.¡±


    I don''t wait for her response as I instead reform my flame armor and condense it as much as I can before I shoot straight up into the sky and into the clouds. I fly around looking for Shadow until I see him shoot up from some rubble on the side of the castle. At this point, I notice more guards and even my family is rushing towards this area. Shadow flies above where I was before and looks for me. Instead, I shoot down right towards him and unshift right above him as I bring a destruction step right above his head. He crosses his daggers above his head to block my attack, but it¡¯s not enough as one of his daggers is directly shattered and Shadow shoots towards the ground. I shoot towards the ground myself and slowly approach Shadow as he is now standing. All of a sudden dozens of swords are floating around me while pointing at me. I look over and see my brother with his arm stretched towards me is standing not far away.


    ¡°I knew it was a matter of time before you tried to destroy this kingdom. You even attack the man that trained you your whole childhood.¡± George


    ¡°George stop now! I know Eva has a good reason for this.¡± Father


    Father appears as well, but he is still using a cane to walk around so I can''t expect much physical support from him here. Instead of responding to either of these two I keep my eyes on Shadow as he slowly starts to float back up to the sky. He has a smirk on his face as he sees me being attacked by my own brother. I look over at Saras and feel my blood boil because of what I am about to do.


    ¡°Saras! Hit him outside of the city sky. I need him in the opening.¡±


    Saras eyes widen at my request for her and I feel my blood boil more for having to ask her of all people for help, but she''s the only other one I know that can fly here. She nods her head and transforms into her dragon form before taking off. I look towards my brother and see the cold rage in his eyes and shake my head.


    ¡°I thought I told you to get over your fear brother.¡±


    ¡°I am not afraid! Do not speak down to me like that! You are just a bomb thathas finally exploded.¡± George


    I can only shake my head at him before I sheath my halberd and then I quickly grab two of the sword flying around me before I shift straight up into the sky. I watch as Shadow easily avoids Saras as she keeps trying to hit him in directions away from the city. I fly above them and wait for my opening. When I see my chance I unshift and throw one of George¡¯s swords down after coating it in lighting that propels it forward. The air around it explodes as the sword shoots down faster than I can follow with my eyes. Shadow barely dodges the first blade that shoots past him and explodes into the ground beneath him. As soon as he dodges that one I throw the other blade down and the same as the last one it explodes down. Shadow barely dodges again, but I notice he has a deep cut in his side. It¡¯s a serious injury, but not something that can stop him as he can still cross his arms to defend against Saras¡¯ claw. He isn''t shredded to pieces but is still blown away towards the open area outside of the city.


    I quickly Shift and follow him outside of the city. I appear above him as I look down on him. Shadow is standing in a crater with his clothes torn apart and I can finally see that damn nail in his chest. Shadow quickly forms his wind armor again and looks up at me, but I shift and shoot back up into the clouds. When I am in the clouds I unshift and use a flame step to keep myself in the air and I hold up my arm. I begin to form a fireball while constantly pouring my mana into it. Soon it grows to a humongous size and it begins to push the clouds away. I see Shadow flying towards me, but stops as his eyes go wide. I am sure from his point of view it looks like the sun is eclipsed by a giant ball of black flames. Hopefully, this attack will force him to use up all his mana and I can finally free him from the nail. I throw my hand down and the fire ball follows the motion and shoots at speeds you wouldn''t expect for something its size. Shadow quickly pushes his hands forward and creates a wall of rampaging wind, but it¡¯s not enough to stop my attack or even slow it down. He quickly reinforces his wind armor and then crosses his arm and a ball of wind forms around him. My fireball collides with his shield and begins to rip it up but the wind becomes more violent and is slowly being pushed down. My fireball is almost completely dispersed when I shift and shoot down. I fly right through my fireball and see there is only a flimsy shield of wind protecting Shadow now and I shoot right through it. I appear right in front of Shadow and focus half my remaining mana into my fist. I punch Shadow in the stomach and his armor completely shatters. He coughs up a little blood before he shoots at the ground. I disperse the rest of the fireball before I land on the ground beside Shadow. He is battered and bruised with cuts all over him and I am probably in the same condition as him. I take a step back and raise my halberd up.


    ¡°See you when you wake up.¡±


    I bring down my halberd on the white nail and there is an explosion of white energy again. This time I am too weak to stand my ground against the blast and I am thrown back. I lay on my back and see that the sky is starting to clear up and that annoying dragon is flying towards us. I still shiver a little when I see Saras in her dragon form, but when she''s in her human form I just want to punch her in the face. I see her land beside me and shift to her human form and I begin to lose my conscious. She''s trying to say something, but I just pass out after hitting her hand away that was trying to touch me.

 Chapter 46

    Chapter 46


    Saras Skyclaw


    I was kicked out of the tribe for freeing a dangerous prisoner or so they claim. There was a lot of debate in the tribe about what to do about me and what to do about Eva. Some thought Eva should be hunted down, but it was decided she has already probably contacted her family so if we do anything now we will have to deal with one of the races possibly starting a war. I was to be kicked out of the tribe, but my father told me that if I can bring back Eva myself I will probably be forgiven. I would never try to bring back Eva even if it means my own happiness with my family. I did get the idea to go to Eva¡¯s kingdom from that though. When I had arrived I lied and said I was an ambassador here for peace. They obviously didn''t believe me because it seemed the tribe had sent spies to look for Eva and to watch me.


    I had tried my best to be a perfect guest and not cause any trouble until Eva came home. I am not surprised that she didn''t come home yet after what happened to her. I know that when she does come home there will probably be some trouble for me, but I will accept anything that happens. The only problem I have is that sometimes I feel something ominous around me. It reminds me of when I first laid eyes on the white nail, but I don''t see anyone different from usual.


    The day finally arrived that Eva had returned. I was told by a maid that she had returned to help with the wars her kingdom was going through. I am sure with her strength she easily destroyed any opposing armies. All I could do then was wait for when she finally sees me. I did not expect that when we met I would be wholly consumed in my book and that I would be almost hit in the head with a bottle. I looked at Eva and first noticed she still had the clothes I gave her and that she was completely drunk. Her face was tinted red and her eyes seemed very cloudy and angry to see me. She kept trying to kill me but was stumbling all over the room. I know I shouldn''t say this about someone that was trying to kill me in a drunken rampage, but she was kind of cute and funny.


    The queen had stopped everything that happened by capturing both of us in bubbles of water. She knocked Eva out in a very unconventional way that made my head hurt just by watching. When the queen looked at me I felt my whole body go cold. Her stare was filled with killing intent and I felt the bubble around me slowly start to tighten. She had then told me.


    ¡°I want nothing more than to kill you right now. Someone who hurt my baby and made her suffer more than she already has should immediately be eliminated from this world. I want to kill you so badly, but I can''t because of who you are. When the opportunity arises I will definitely eliminate you. Shadow guards take her to your dungeon.¡± Eva¡¯s Mother


    After that, I felt myself being chained with enchanted locks and then a smelly bag was put over my head. I was grabbed roughly and dragged around for a while before the bag was pulled off. I found myself locked up in a small dungeon with many enchantments covering the walls and chains. The cell could probably rival the dragon tribes. The people who brought me here were now looking at me with the same eyes as the queen. I guess Eva is truly loved by the people she lets come close to her. I look at my situation and realize this must be how Eva felt when she was locked up.


    It took a full night until Eva appeared before me again. She didn''t look too good because of her hangover, but she was still drinking out of a flask. I didn''t think it was a very good habit but it wasn''t my place to say so. Eventually, I felt that ominous feeling and Eva seemed to have felt it too. A man walked in who seemed very familiar with Eva, but she drew her weapon and then their fight started. I was blown away with my cell after their fight escalated. Because I had no defense I was knocked out but unharmed. I woke up with a maid standing over me. She was looking down at me coldly, but I didn''t pay any attention to her as I was looking for Eva. Those white nails are more than just a tool to control others. They can be considered a phycological weapon as they can make loved ones fight each other. Eva must be fighting someone she''s close to. All of a sudden the chains around me come undone and I look at the maid.


    ¡°You are the only other one that can reach their fight. You will help Eva and if you die in the process all the better. If you don''t I hope you expect to be locked up again. Even if you run we will hunt you down for hurting her.¡± Maid


    This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    I don''t think much before I nod and then transform into my true form. I fly up and begin to try and help Eva with her fight. I try my best to stay out of her way because she is far more experienced than me. Eventually, Eva actually asks me for help. Her face was extremely bitter, but I was still happy that she had asked me for something. I did as she asked and she continued her battle. Eventually, she created a massive ball of black flames that partially covered the sun. It was like an eclipse as Eva''s attack practically devoured the light around it. I realized then just how powerful Eva has become. Her power doesn''t seem to ever stop rising as she reaches for more strength. Eventually, her battle ends and I see a white explosion.


    I approach the crater that Eva and the man were lying in. They were both in bad condition but Eva was mostly exhausted. I tried asking her how she is, but she doesn''t respond except swatting my hand away when I tried to touch her. She shortly passes out. I check her for serious injuries before I walk over to the man and make sure he''s still alive. I don''t know who he is but Eva seemed almost desperate to help him. I take off the outer robe I had and bundle it into a pillow before putting it under Eva¡¯s head. I heard horses approaching us so I pull Eva¡¯s arm and hide it in her clothes. I don''t think many were able to keep up with the fight earlier so I am sure she still has her secret.


    A small squad of black-clothed guards and the king and prince arrive at the crater. The all rush in and the king begins shouting out orders to bring a carriage and for medics to help both people. The king also instructs for the unconscious man to be chained up until he can be questioned. I am sure Eva got rid of the nail so if its like mine he should be fine now. The king then looks at me.


    ¡°I will thank you for helping my daughter, but debts are not paid back that easily. Guards lock her up in another cell.¡± Eva¡¯s Father


    Some guards come and begin to warp me in enchanted chains. I do not resist at all. Eventually, a carriage arrives and Eva and the man are loaded in as I am too. I watch Eva throughout the ride hoping she is fine. I know she physically heals fast, but she is still scarred physically and emotionally. There is no way for me to help her since I am only viewed as an enemy. I can only hope one day she will heal and maybe even forgive me one day.


    Eventually, we reach the castle again and Eva is carried off somewhere else while the man and I are led to a dungeon. I was locked up in a cell that''s also heavily enchanted, but not nearly as much as the last cell. I could probably break out if I work hard, but I don''t really have a reason too. This is probably the only place I can be now. The man is locked up in a separate cell with much less security and no chains. I can only bitterly smile at the difference of treatment.


    I sit in my cell for a while until I eventually get some visitors. The queen, little princess, and the familiar maid come in. They first check on the man before sitting on the bench across from my cell. The maid and queen look at me coldly while the little princess is looking all around with curiosity. I wonder if this is how Eva sees me. A naive little princess who doesn''t seem to know much about the world and the people in it. After a while of being stared at, the queen speaks.


    ¡°You did well in helping Eva. You really don''t know how to fight as anything but a beast though. It was enough to help Eva, but I cant understand how you would be able to fight Eva before. You may have helped this time but at most you''ve given yourself more time to live. It was also smart of you not to run otherwise everyone would have been given free rein to hunt you down.¡± Eva¡¯s Mother


    ¡°I didn''t do it hoping to be freed. I did it to help Eva. I know no one really views me in a good light because I hurt Eva and then because of my naivety she was locked up by my own people. I just want to make up for it to her and to be honest if my life will make her happy I would give it to her. But only she could take my life. If it wasn''t her I would never let myself be killed because I still need to make it up to her.¡±


    The queen stares at me for a while, but I do not avert my eyes from her. After a while, she sighs and then gets up and approaches the bars of my cell. She looks down at me and her eyes suddenly soften a little bit.


    ¡°Eva has always had trouble with others. Sometimes the only way someone can get close to her is if they forcefully intervene in her life. Eva now needs someone strong enough to follow her. They must also be willing to throw down their life for her. If you want to make up what you have done to Eva then follow her and help her whether she wants it or not. We will give you a collar to prevent you from transforming while you follow Eva. To be honest I still want to kill you right now. I feel very conflicted because I hate you for hurting my daughter but I know it''s mostly not your fault. Since I cant fully trust you no matter what we will give you the collar as a safeguard. You will simply be Eva¡¯s aid. Only Julie here has ever followed Eva for long and even she was left behind by Eva. She will hate you and she will probably hurt you both emotionally and physically. Are you willing to be a slave to Eva for the rest of your life?¡± Eva¡¯s Mother


    I am completely surprised by this offer. The queen is basically asking me if I am willing to go from a prisoner to a slave. To have my true form sealed and possibly suffer from someone that hates me. A normal person might not have agreed, but this will work out for me. I can help Eva whether she really wants me to or not. If what the queen says is true then Eva needs someone to help her. I have always been trying to get Eva to let me make up for what I have done, but now it seems that the best thing I can do is forcefully help Eva. I look towards the queen and slightly bow my head down towards her head.


    ¡°Please let me help Eva.¡±

 Chapter 47

    Chapter 47


    Eva Lemuria


    I wake up with my whole body sore and covered in bandages. I know I got hurt fighting Shadow, but I feel that these bandages are a bit excessive. I try to sit up, but a hand pushes me down. I look over and see Julie is above my while holding me down though I wish she wasn''t getting a feel in while pushing me down. I knock her hand away and stay laying down.


    ¡°How long have I been out?¡±


    ¡°You have been out for about a day Princess. Since your body is a bit special I nursed you back to health myself. Don''t worry I know how to take good care of you.¡± Julie


    Damn it. Why would she be the one to do it? Surely mother could have done it or even any other shadow guard. I would rather one of them learn my secret instead of this damn pervert being the one to take care of me. While I was glaring at Julie she sits me up and put a few pillows behind me so I can sit up. Now that I can look around the room I notice that besides Julie there is only Anne laying against my legs and Munin is doing the same. I shift my legs because they are actually asleep from having Anne on them. Soon Anne and Munin wake up and they look at their surroundings. They spot me almost at the same time and Munin shifts to my shoulder and rubs against my cheek. Anne crawls next to me and sets up the pillows to match mine and she sits next to me while watching me. She really is a weird one.


    ¡°Where is Mother?¡±


    ¡°The queen should be returning shortly. She had some business to attend to.¡± Julie


    Just as Julie spoke the door opened up and Mother walked inside my room. She looked very relaxed even with the events that just happened. Behind Mother was Saras in a maid uniform and a black metal collar with complex inscriptions on it. I instantly got a bad feeling.


    ¡°Shouldn''t she be in a dungeon right now where she will never see the light of day again? Not in a maid uniform inside my room. Wheres my dagger and halberd by the way?¡±


    ¡°Don''t worry about those things sweetheart. I have here a new maid that will be taking care of you. She will follow you everywhere and do whatever you say. And she has a nice little collar that will keep her in this size. Isn''t this a nice present?¡± Mother


    ¡°Is this a joke? Why would I have her follow me around? She should rot in a cell instead of being around me. Why would you try and force this lizard to follow me around? How can you not hate her?!¡±


    ¡°Eva I am doing this for you. If you truly hate her then keep her as a slave and torment her to your heart''s content or you can just ignore her existence while she follows you around. Either way, I don''t want you being alone anymore and let us be honest there is no one else that can be with you. You won''t accept any guards following you and no other maid will be willing to be with you no matter how much I try to make them accept you. Eva, you should know how much we have worried about you and to be honest, someone that disappeared years ago doesn''t have a right to complain about this now.¡± Mother


    ¡°I was locked up for a couple of years. That''s not my fault.¡±


    ¡°Yes, but would you have come back in that time anyway? Would we have even heard from you within that time? I bet that if you wanted the shadow guards wouldn''t have even been able to find you in that time. Eva If the event had changed for you I don''t think anything would have changed for us. We would have still missed you and wouldn''t see or hear from you.¡± Mother


    I try to sit up to walk away, but I feel my body hurt and then I get a strong hand on my shoulder that holds me down. I look at Julie and see that even though she is holding me down she is looking out the window to respect our privacy. That''s probably the first time she''s done that. Mother is looking at me with tears in her eyes and her entire face is pleading me. I don''t like to see my mother look like that, but this is too much to ask for. I want to compromise with Mother but she¡¯s asking too much this time since Saras had literally killed me.


    ¡°Mother this is too much. She has literally kill¡­¡±


    Before I could finish my sentence my bedroom door burst open and Lora stormed into my room. She looks like a teenage version of Mother. She scans the room first looking at Saras who has kept her head down and has been silent this whole time. Then she looks at Mother who''s tears have completely disappeared and now has a composed, but gentle smile on her face. She then looks at me in the bed and her face is instantly covered in tears. She runs up to the bed and practically jumps on me while hugging my waist. I grunted in pain when she landed on me, but it seems she didn''t hear. She holds me tightly and I don''t know how to react so I look around the room for help. Julie is still staring out the window ignoring the situation and Mother just looks at me with a glare that seems to tell me I better behave. I gulp and then reach up to rub Lora¡¯s back with my left hand. I hid my right arm under the bed and am facing right with the right side of my face away. Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.


    ¡°Big Sis I missed you. Where have you been big sis? No one has told me anything. I was just suddenly told that you reappeared a couple of days ago so I left the academy to see you. I am glad I was able to enter the academy now, but just thinking that that place made you disappear I can''t help but hate it. Now you are back, so I can finally have my big sis back.¡± Lora


    ¡°Big Sis my Big Big Sis.¡± Anne


    All of a sudden Lora was pushed a little aside and Anne took her place at my waste. I again grunted from the pain but was ignored. Anne and Lora start staring at each other with unhidden hostility and I can''t comprehend why they don''t hate me. Even Mother hit me when she first saw me. The staring contest ends when Munin shifts in-between them and puffs up her chest in pride for some reason.


    ¡°What is this? And why does it seem to be showing off for some reason? It¡¯s very annoying. Big sis, what is this thing? Also, Anne, this isn''t over.¡± Lora


    ¡°It''s Munin a crow I picked up. I have raised her since she hatched and shes basically a baby still. She has been fighting with me for a while, but is still very weak compared to other beasts.¡±


    ¡°Oh, Big Sis why are you in bed still? Also, who is that?¡± Lora


    Lora asks a question I honestly don''t know how to answer. I don''t know what I should say to her and I also don''t know how to explain where I have been to her. I don''t want to hurt her with the truth but I also don¡¯t want to lie to her. She even asks who Saras is. I can''t blame her for asking since onlythe family is in the room right now and she is a new face to Lora since Saras arrived here after Lora went to the academy.


    ¡°This is Saras and she will be Eva¡¯s new personal maid. She is eager to help Eva in any way she wants. Also, Eva came home injured so you probably shouldn''t be jumping around on her. You to Anne. Look how pale she is right now.¡± Mother


    Crap. Mother has basically forced Saras as my maid at this point. Saras finally raises her face at this point and there actually a happy smile on her face, but she quickly turns away when she notices my glare. My little sisters finally get off me and I breathe a sigh. Munin stays where she is and actually starts to get comfortable ontop of me, but she''s light enough that I can deal with her. She also does well at ignoring my sister''s glares.


    ¡°By the way Lora, how are you here when you should be in school?¡± Mother


    ¡°Uh um well, when I found out that Big Sis returned I quickly made my way to the central building and asked around for permission to leave. I didn''t have much luck until I ran into the twin instructors Nana and Nala. They listened to me and immediately gave me permission to leave the academy to see Big Sis. They showed really painful faces for some reason.¡± Lora


    I remember those two instructors. They are part of the reason I had left the academy in the first place. Instructor Nana had revealed my looks to the whole class and soon the entire academy found out about me. They tried to apologize and did seem sincere about being sorry, but I was still mad at them so I stayed away until I left the academy. Now that I look back I really shouldn''t have blamed them. My looks would have been found out eventually and now I don''t care since I walk around with my features out for all to see anyway.


    ¡°I should pack you up and send you back now, but it¡¯s a special occasion so I will let it slide for now, but in a month you will definitely go back. Now, let us go so that Eva can rest. She has a maid to take care of her now so we don''t have to worry. Since she has to stay in bed no matter what it would be a good time for Eva to get used to being taken care of.¡± Mother


    My sisters and the perverted maid all start to make their way out of the room with reluctant looks. My mother is the last out the door but not before giving me a look that seems to say ¡°Stay in bed and don''t destroy anything.¡± The door closes and the room is filled with silence as I stare at my killer. I don''t know what she is doing because she''s not smart enough to come up with a clever scheme or anything. She walks next to a chair by the window and sits down with her hands folded in her lap.


    ¡°Eva I don''t want anything other than to make up for what I have done to you. I know you hate me and I am ready to do anything. Even if you want to torture me so that you can feel better. Your mother came to me with this offer and I accepted no matter the consequences. She gave me this collar that prevents me from using my true form and to be honest I wouldn''t be surprised if it could kill me anytime she wants as well. I willingly put this on so I can be of some help to you. Even if you want me to just follow you around and be your shadow. So please let me help you.¡± Saras


    ¡°For some reason my mother wants you to stay by me so I will allow it. When we are around others you will act like a normal maid, but any other time I don''t even want to notice you. I want to forget about your existence. Do you even know what a maid does? I don''t know what my mother is thinking allowing a naive princess like you to be my maid. I don''t even need a maid I have been taking care of myself perfectly fine till now.¡±


    ¡°Well, I did prepare all your meals before and I have already taken care of you for a long time."I glare as hard as I can at her "Sorry I will just wait for you to need something here.¡± Saras


    Saras quickly shut up after I looked at her. The first thing she will need to do is stop talking about the past. I don''t want to think about it and I don''t want her to slip and let someone know something that they shouldn''t. I think I will go to the adventures guild later and officially test my strength to see what tier I am. I might even be able to use Saras as a shield against some beast. I am sure a dragons defense will be a great help even if they''re in their human form. Saras suddenly started shivering when I looked at her for some reason. I look away from her and grab Munin to hug while sleeping. I quickly fall asleep after that.

 Chapter 48

    Chapter 48


    Eva Lemuria


    It has been a few days since I fought shadow and in this time he has not awoken yet. His condition hasn''t been getting worse and in fact he seems to be improving but he has not regained conscious yet. I hope he wakes up soon and I can ask if he knows who put that nail in him so I can hunt them down. I think this time I will try to capture them so I can find whoever is messing with the world behind the scenes. I can''t figure out their goal because so far they have just started wars for no reason and other chaotic things. I don''t even know what they have done in other kingdoms because we don''t have any close relations with any other kingdom. Hopefully that will change with the assembly Father is trying to organize. Father hasn''t gotten into any details but it does seem like several kingdoms have agreed to meet and that includes the Elven Kingdom, Dwarven Kingdom, and even the Anerris Kingdom. This will be good since its all the biggest kingdoms and it means they at least recognize that something is happening in the world right now.


    Right now I am getting out of bed and stretching my body out. It is no longer sore so I am happy I can move around again. I am barely dressed right now since I have become used to sleeping with little clothes so my windows are covered right now. If the blushing dragon in the corner tells me anything its that it''s a good idea I have covered the window. At first she had tried to help me change, but I quickly shot her down because I do not want to go back to having someone else dress me. After I stretch out I begin putting on my clothes and getting ready for my day. Except my door is blown open with a bang. My mother barges into my room once again and I feel a headache because of my mother''s lack of privacy. She didn''t even knock at all and just kicked open my door. It wasn''t locked or anything so she could have opened it. Father yelled at me a couple of days ago about destroying so much of the castle so I have been behaving, but Mother just goes and ruins my door.


    ¡°Eva we have something for you that I think you will like.¡± Mother


    ¡°Mother why did you ruin my door. Father just yelled at me for things like that. I will not take the blame for that since you are the one that did it. Mother you also don''t have to come and tell me this first thing in the morning. I was just about to head to the dining room.¡±


    ¡°Eva who is the mother and who is the daughter here? Anyway I have something for you. It had arrived from one of the shadow guards in the Dwarven Kingdom. I think you will really like it and it will definitely be useful for you. Here it is.¡± Mother


    Behind Mother Julie walks in with a large box in her arms and I must admit to myself that I am curious, but I wont give the satisfaction to Mother so I keep a blank face. Julie sets the box onto the table and I approach the box. I notice that Julie is standing really close and I can actually feel her practically hugging my back. I look back at her and she just has a bright smile on her face. I point to Saras and tell Julie.


    ¡°Go stay in the corner with the other one. Just stay over there you perverted maid.¡±


    Julie instantly goes from smiling face to a heartbroken one and then walks with her head down towards where Saras is. Saras was just giving her a very strange look, but I don''t think I can mentally afford to pay attention to them anymore. I open the box and look at its contents. At the top is a letter and underneath looks like a piece of armor. I decide I will read the letter first for an explanation.


    Hello Princess,


    I am sure you don''t want to hear from me since I seem to have upset you. Even if you may hate me I am still loyal to you and the rest of the royal family. I have to follow orders so that is why I had captured you, but I am not writing you to make excuses. Princess I have seen your body so I know why you hide yourself and I can understand that you have not had a pleasant experience while you have been missing. After you had helped me and the other shadow guards escape the Dwarven Capital we all went our separate ways to find new places to set up at.


    I made my way towards the second biggest city and while I was there I had this made for you. This will still hide your arm, but it will also allow you to live without people thinking you are a cripple. Most shadow guards understand your personality very well Princess so we know that you hate others pity so please accept this gift.


    I had this design from my limited memory of your arm so it might not be a perfect fit. I did have it made from a black steel and some mithril similar to your halberd. It was enchanted so that you can wear it and it will feel natural. It wont even feel like a glove because it will be like your own arm. It also has very strong defense enchantments so it will not break on you even in your fights. There is a limit so when you fight stronger opponents it will be more likely to break. The armor also had mithril infused with it so that you can use all your magic the same as before. I hope you will use this Princess. Not for me, but for yourself so you can go a little bit closer to normal. This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.


    Sincerely


    Shadow Guard 37


    Currently Mira


    I finish the short letter and do feel a little conflicted. I do hate what Mira had done to me, but I don''t think I really hate her. I have trouble hating any of the shadow guards because they truly care about the royal family, but have to follow orders. After my fight with Shadow it was quickly figured out that he was the one who made the order to capture me. We are still trying to figure out what other orders Shadow gave before he was controlled and after so we can stop anything suspicious. The worst thing about the nails is that they control someone almost perfectly. They have even all there small habits so its hard to tell who''s being controlled.


    I look back to the armor and undo my right arm that I have had bound already. I let that part of my clothes drop and then I grab the armor to start putting it on. My mother had come over to assist me with it since it does seem to be a two person job. The armor is relatively simple, but it still has a menacing look. Its black with some dark blue timing so I feel that it matches my halberd well. It also has slight clawed fingers because my natural nails are similar to claws, but still short. Once the armor is on I move my arm around to get a good feel for the armor. I move it in any angle I can and the arm follows perfectly. I grab my halberd and swing it around and It truly feels as if I am not wearing anything. I channel my mana through my mana heart and feel it pass through the armor easily. I then shift to the side and feel the armor shift with me naturally. I then stick out my arm and begin adding more pressure onto the armor. I keep adding to the pressure until my arm is completely covered in a dense black haze. I can''t see my arm, but I can feel the Armor start to shake so I disperse the mana. The armor doesn''t have any cracks or dents in it even with that concentrated mana pressure that could probably crush a person. I truly am satisfied with this and I don''t have to unbind my arm anymore to fight. I put my halberd on my back and look towards my mother.


    ¡°It looks good Eva. I hope you like it and use it. It does make me wonder how that shadow guard was able to measure you so well, but it''s not something to worry about now because we are late for breakfast. Come now everyone else is waiting. Don''t forget your maid again.¡± Mother


    I nod to Mother and follow her out the room while thinking of how Mira got the measurements of my arm so well. I decided it would best for my peace of mind not to think about it too deeply. I look over at Munin that appeared on my shoulder and is now looking at my armored arm. She then looks away from it with what feels like a snort of disgust. She doesn''t seem to like the armor, but thats probably because she was basically born into my right hand. She does seem to be having more and more human like emotions and expressions. I really wish she could use some magic besides my shifting ability, but she doesn''t seem to have picked anything else up.


    Soon we reach the dining hall and everyone is here including Lora. She doesn''t have much time with us it seems so she has been spending it all with us. I sit down between Mother and Lora and then I feel tiny hands tugging on my pants. Without even looking I reach down and then set Anne on my lap. She has become very attached to me and Lora is glaring at her a little bit.


    ¡°Big sis whats with your arm. I was under the assumption that you lost it, but Mother would never clarify and you would avoid the question. What exactly happened? Even Anne said she knows earlier, but she wouldn''t tell me no matter what I offered her.¡± Lora


    When Lora mention this I looked at my arm and realized I was tightly hugging myself like how my arm was when it was still hidden. I guess it has become a habit that I will have to break. I then look down at Anne who is usually very quiet but seems to have shown off to Lora earlier for some reason. My little sisters seem to be very petty. I sigh before answering Lora so she doesn''t cry.


    ¡°I did injure my arm a while ago and have kept it hidden within my clothes. I wont go into details about what happened or what my arm looks like. One of the shadow guards sent me this armored arm because they know about my injury. I will at least be able to use my arm now. Father any news on Shadow or the assembly?¡±


    ¡°Yes, several kingdoms have agreed to send people. The academy and adventures guild have also agreed to send some people to the assembly. It will be in two weeks so until then keep an eye out for any problems that can arise. Also Lora you''re going back to the academy in one week. It will be safer with you there since the academy has many powerful figures protecting it. Anne you will always stay with your siblings or mother. As for Shadow, I haven''t gotten word of his awakening yet, but apparently he has shown signs of awakening soon.¡± Father


    ¡°The main guest wing has been damaged, but it''s mostly still usable. I have had the damaged area blocked off and have ordered everyone to explain to the coming ambassadors that an assassin was caught there and it led to a fight. I don''t know if the servants will stick to this story considering who is involved.¡± George


    George has become a good leader and even took action without any orders. He seems to be growing up, but still seems to like taking jabs at me with his words. At least he hasn''t tried fighting me. The rest of the meal we continued talking about preparations and everyone plans. I was mostly free to do as I wish as long as I keep an eye out for anything like the white nails. With everything talked about everyone began leaving one by one. I left by myself because I plan on going to the adventures guild to hopefully rank up. I don''t really need the adventures guild anymore, but I am sure it will be good to understand my own strength.

 Chapter 49

    Chapter 49


    Eva Lemuria


    I left the dining room and went back to my own room. The first thing I did was grab the weapon I stole from the dwarven elite. I still think it looks like a fork, but I know what kind of power it has so I want to start carrying it with me as an alternative weapon. I sheath it at my hip and then I also grab my bag filled with monster cores that I have been saving up. Most are 4th their while a few are also 3rd tier. I think I might actually check and see if there''s a request for a 2nd tier mission if there''s no one at the 2nd tier at the adventures guild to test me. I think it will be good to get stronger now that I have healed. I then turn around so I can head out but I feel myself jump a little because behind me is Saras. She has stayed perfectly silent this entire time so I didn''t notice. She looks a little confused at me and I feel annoyed.


    ¡°You should stay here while I go to the adventurers guild. Go clean something or I don''t know.¡±


    ¡°I am supposed to go everywhere with you Princess. Even the adventures guild or a mission.¡± Saras


    ¡°Don''t call me Princess. It sounds weird coming from you. You''re a bigger princess than me. Why would you follow me to the adventures guild? You are no fighter and your strength only comes from your natural body constitution.¡±


    ¡°Princ¡­ Eva, it¡¯s my job to follow you now. I do not need you to protect me as I am simply going to follow you to ascertain your well being. If I have to be stronger to follow you then I will work on getting stronger while following behind you. I will become stronger so I may follow you on your adventures and maybe one day I may be able to help you as well.¡± Saras


    ¡°Why would I need or want you to fight with me? Do not think for one-second that I do not still loathe you and wish I could kill you where you stand. I have not killed you because Mother wants you to be my maid for some reason, but I believe you are useless. I do not need someone to take care of me. I can cook, bathe, and survive on my own. Anyone that would follow me would have to be strong both physically and mentally, but I feel as if you would never be able to willingly dye your hands in red, but since you insist I will show you hell. Here then take this and learn how to wield it. I will give you a chance. I will let you become stronger in your human form and then I will take you to kill. Not a beast but humans is what you will be killing so keep that in mind as you dream of following me.¡±


    I begin unbelting the dwarven elites weapon I had just equipped. I had planned on using it as a secondary weapon, but hopefully, it will lead to Saras getting herself killed. I look at Saras as she bites her lips and then takes the weapon. I doubt she will be able to do anything really so I can probably dump her anytime I go on a mission. Without giving Saras a second glance I walk out of my room with just my halberd, dagger, and Munin on my shoulder.


    I leave the castle and make my way towards the adventurers guild. It has been a long time since I have walked around the capital. The only difference is I am out in the open now and not hiding who I am. I even tied my family crest onto my hip. People look at me with fear and confusion because they simply can''t understand who I am. It seems most people have truly forgotten that I am the eldest princes of this kingdom. Its funny how quickly they have forgotten me, but most talk about how lovely Lora and Anne are. They also speak of how courageous George is and how he will make a great king in the future. I agree with them except he will have to get over his obsession of defeating me. I don''t want to be conceited, but George will not beat me anytime soon with my rising strength.


    Eventually, I reach the adventures guild and enter. As per usual everyone looks at me to see who came in. I notice some look very confused, but some members mostly females look at my halberd and their eyes go wide. I ignore them as I walk straight up to the desk and notice that the receptionist looks familiar. I remember now that she is the receptionist that I was friendly with when I was younger, Susan. She studies me up and down as if she''s not sure until she sees the crest I tied to my hip.


    ¡°Princess! You are back. It has been so many years that you have been gone. We were worried about you since you were basically the leading figure of the woman here.¡± SusanStolen story; please report.


    Susan¡¯s excitement seems to have overcome her reasoning and she basically screamed my identity to everyone here. I can already hear the murmuring around me and even the woman all quickly realized that I was the female who signed up a couple of years ago. Now that I look at the woman around they all look stronger and more independent. They used to follow the men like slaves but now they seem so much stronger and independent. I will admit I was not adventuring so my actions would lead to a female adventure revolution, but I am happy about it. I look at the men and see some woman still with them, but the men are a lot less arrogant looking now.


    ¡°Hah, Susan you aren''t supposed to call me that. Remember? Well, whatever it doesn''t matter much anymore. Also, I don''t know what you''re talking about. I have been adventuring for my own reasons and kept myself hidden for obvious reasons. If I gave others courage then that''s good, but my purpose wasn''t to help others. Now I came to check in, turn in some mana hearts, and request a test for a tier advancement. I want to test for a 2nd tier rank so please arrange that.¡±


    ¡°I understand Miss Eva. I will process the mana hearts and then I will have to go speak with the guild manager to arrange the test. Someone that can give you that high of a test is not easy to come by. I will take care of all the paperwork for you, but in the meantime, you can take a request and turn it in tomorrow if you like.¡± Susan


    ¡°No thanks. I will be heading home for today since there''s nothing else to do. I need to test my strength before I take higher ranked request. I thought of testing myself on a 2nd tier beast, but I think a safer option would be better for now. I will come back tomorrow for the news.¡±


    After that, I left Susan to do the work and began to make my way out of the adventures guild. I noticed that some of the female adventures stood up while watching me. They looked confused and as if they wanted to say something to me, but I kept walking towards the door. I left the guild and stood outside as I contemplated what to do next. I decided I would simply wander the markets because I simply don''t want to go back home yet. So I started to walk around the capitals markets looking for anything of interest but all I found was a nice looking bottle of whiskey that I will drink later. The difference between my father and I is that I won''t save a bottle in a collection.


    While walking around I noticed that I was being followed and I instantly went alert but tried not to show it. I kept moving through the city in random directions. No matter where I went or what speed I walked my follower stuck at the same distance. Eventually, I entered a dark alley and walked to the end. I crossed my arms and leaned against the wall of the dead end and waited for my pursuer. After a while, a figure completely covered in a black cloak walked slowly into the alleyway looking around. I did not attack immediately because they don''t have an ominous feeling coming off them and I don''t sense any ill intent, but I do not let my guard down. Finally, they reach several steps away from me and then stops before they take down their hood and I get a good look at their face. The second I looked at them I felt shocked. There are brown cat ears on top of her head that matches her brown hair. Her ears are also a little torn up. I look into her eyes and see a very weird look that seems almost like worship and some other weird emotions mixed in. She then bows to me before speaking.


    ¡°Princess Eva I am sorry for my rudeness in following you. I am here to represent the Kaiser Kingdom. My name is Summer and I don''t have a last name to give you. We know your circumstances so we would like to invite you to the Kaiser Kingdom so we can help you. The research on mana mutants has advanced a lot recently and we believe we can help you. I am proof that our methods work because I am still alive and sane. You may not remember me, but you saved my life when we were children. You didn''t even know who I was and you didn''t care that I was a mana mutant, but you still pushed me out of the way of a runaway horse. Your mana heart forcefully awakened after that so I have felt guilty about it since. So please let us help you.¡± Summer


    I stare in shock at the girl that has appeared before me and I think back to that day all those years ago. It was the day that can be considered to have been one of the worst days for me. My mana heart was forcefully awakened, I almost died, and my own brother began to fear and hate me. I guess it can all lead back to this girl who now seems to worship me as her savior. Her eyes are basically glued to me and are practically glowing with anticipation.


    ¡°I think you are mistaken on a few things. First is that I am not a mana mutant no matter what I look like. I am something else entirely, but that is not information you need to know. Second is that even if I was a mana mutant I would rather just die than live with a false hope without my family. The third is I was a naive little girl who didn''t even know what a mana mutant was when I saved you. If I knew what I know now I would not risk myself like how I did before to save you. I will also not follow some stranger to another kingdom for some strange reason. In case you haven''t noticed the world is falling into chaos and I need to stay here to protect my family. You should go back to your kingdom and tell them that if they want something from me they should accept my father''s invitation. If you don''t need anything else I will leave now.¡±


    I do not look at her any longer because she just brings up bad memories for me. I turn around and pull out my flask to take a drink before I begin to make my way back to the castle. I will have to tell father about her and the Kaiser Kingdom. They seem to have made big advancement in mana mutant research since that girl is still alive. I had almost completely forgotten about her. She was just a beggar with lifeless eyes as she wandered into the busy road. Now she has grown up and her eyes seem to have become lively and also have a touch of worship when she looks at me. She actually makes me feel a little uncomfortable especially since I can still feel her intense gaze on me as I walk away. I quickly leave the alleyway and turn the corner of another before I shift and fly straight back to the castle. Hopefully, I won''t run into her again tomorrow when I go to my tier test.

 Chapter 50

    Chapter 50


    Eva Lemuria


    I finally make it back to the  castle after that weird encounter with the girl I saved long ago. I don''t hate her because I was the one who saved her and it wasn''t really her fault. I just don''t like seeing her because of the memories that she brings up. I remember the day I felt my whole life turn upside down and my dark life began. I try to stop think about Summer for now as I make my way to my room so I can relax till I go to bed. I had entered the side gate of the castle as usual so I was more low key, but I still see the maids look my way and then run away. I don''t believe I have ever done anything to the maids so I don''t know why they runaway from me now. I know I look disgusting to them because of my hair and eyes, but they used to just look away. Now they seem to fear for their lives, but I feel as if they''re not afraid of me, but something else. I look over to Munin on my shoulder.


    ¡°Do you know why they are avoiding me like a plague? Or are they avoiding you? Are you dirty?¡±


    ¡°Squawk!¡± Munin


    Munin shakes her head in denial and then make a very offended look. It seems she considers herself to be very clean because of the occasional bath that I give her. I think tomorrow I will get a low ranked quest just for her. I want to see if the adventures guild would let me register her. I cant stop myself from smiling under my mask as I thing of Munin being a 4th or 5th tier adventurer. I wonder if any adventurers will come pick a fight with her like they did with me when I joined.


    I finally make it back to my room and enter, but when I do my danger senses scream at me to runaway. I was about to run back out the door, but when I turned around Julie was blocking the door. I look around my room to survey the situation and look for any escape routes. I spot Mother sitting in a chair with an ignorant Anne in her lap and then I look at Saras standing next to Mother with her head down while holding the sword I gave her tightly to her chest. Saras looks up and gives an apologetic smile before looking back down. I look at the windows that have all been shut and also seem to have a little condensation outside which I am sure Mother set up before hand. I refocus on mother who is looking at me while playing with Anne¡¯s cheeks.


    ¡°Eva can you explain why we found your new maid in the training grounds trying to swing a sword instead of following you? She''s supposed to be your maid and not a soldier.¡± Mother


    ¡°If she''s going to be following me around without her dragon form she needs to be strong so I was generous enough to give her a very nice weapon I looted from a fallen enemy so she can get stronger.¡±


    ¡°Thats nice and all, but how do you expect an ignorant dragon to learn how to use a weapon that even you would have to figure out how to use. Clearly you are trying to leave her behind whenever you go out and do something that requires fighting. With you that would probably be almost everyday! Eva I want her with you always and if you want her to be stronger you can train her yourself. Think of it this way if you can teach her you would probably get stronger yourself. So from now on she goes everywhere with you and if you want her to fight you will have to teach her. You have already done something similar to Munin there on your shoulder. If you can teach a bird how to fight I am sure you could also teach a dragon how to fight.¡± Mother


    ¡°Mother you cant compare the two. One of them is a natural born fighter while the other is not. Look at Munin she''s been with me since she''s been born and she can even use my magic. The two cant be compared.¡±


    "Am I really ranked less than Munin in fighting strength here? I still have my bodies natural constitution. I am definitely strong magically and physically even without one my hearts. And when my second one finishes growing back I will be even stronger. Eva I will slowly learn as I follow you. I promise I wont get in your way or interfere in your affairs.¡± Saras


    ¡°I dont think I have a choice either way, but I already know you will be nothing but trouble. For now I will go take a bath. Alone! Then I plan on going to talk to father about some things.¡±


    Before I can walk to far away I feel a strong grip on my shoulder. I look behind me and see my mother looking at me with some anger. I don''t know why she is so angry or how she moved so fast. I think she might have started training again to keep up with me.


    ¡°Eva how about we both go and see your father so you can tell both of us about these ¡°things¡± that you are talking about. I know you don''t want to just tell your father and that you were planning on telling me later but lets just go together.¡± Mother


    After that I could only nod my head as Mother led the way to Fathers office. The maids all bowed to my mother as we passed them, but then their faces paled when they saw me. I still cant understand how the faces that were a mix of fear and disgust have turned into just fear now. I wish I could ask them, but they run away if I ever get to close to them. I decide to turn to the maids who don''t run away. I look at the pervert and dragon maids. Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.


    ¡°Why are the maids so afraid of me right now? They were afraid before, but they were mostly disgusted. What has changed?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t kn¡­¡± Saras


    ¡°Its simple Princess, the maids asked how the crater in the abandoned courtyard was made and your mother answered them. She told them that you were upset at a certain maid that slighted you and the crater is the result. Obviously we couldn''t tell them the whole truth and luckily most didn''t see everything since the courtyard was abandoned anyway.¡± Julie


    I look at my mother and wonder why she used that as the lie. She probably could have said almost anything else, but instead she made it seem like I am a cruel monster that will crush the maids. I guess they will listen to what I say now although it is mostly out of fear. I just look at the maids we pass with a calm expression as they keep their heads lowered. I think I even see some of them have sweat on their foreheads.


    We eventually reach my fathers office and without knocking my mother directly enters the room. We find my father is casually sitting at his desk while watching us all enter. Once everyone is inside the room my father waves his hand and a shadow guard jumps though the window next to Father.


    ¡°Hah you interrupted a report honey. Can you please knock for once so the shadow guards wont jump out the window to hide all the time? Or wait for them to finish their reports?¡± Father


    ¡°It can wait Eva has something to tell us for now so lets Both listen to her. I think we should both listen to the ¡°things¡± she has to say and then we can hear the shadow guards report. Now Eva lets hear about these ¡°things¡±¡± Mother


    I sigh before I proceed to tell everyone in the room about Summer and her offer for me to come to her kingdom. There are several problems with this with include the fact that she approached me like this instead of coming to the castle with this offer. It could be because she wants me to have this decision alone since it is my life or it could be because she doesn''t want my parents to know because theres something suspicious about it. Another problem is the fact that they think I am a mana mutant in another country and want to recruit me even though I am still a princess of another kingdom. I don¡¯t even know how much they know about me. Do they think I am a mana mutant just because of my hair and eyes or do they know about my scales as well? The last problem is the fact that Summer is still alive and sane. If the Kaiser Kingdom has really found a cure for mana mutants then they will have a powerful force in the future. Summer seems to have been cured, but she still has her beast features and probably the strength that comes with them. If all the mana mutants go to the Kaiser Kingdom and get cured then they can slowly form a large and powerful army. We discuss all these things for a while before I become tired of it and point towards the shadow guard who has kept his presence low to wait patiently.


    ¡°Lets put this on hold until we can get more information. For now lets here what he has to say so that we can move one. I still want to take a bath and relax because I will be busy from tomorrow on.¡±


    ¡°Eva is right. So what do you have to report now?¡± Father


    ¡°Your majesty our leader Shadow has awoken and has requested to speak to you and Princess Eva. We told him to wait where he is for now and I have come to get you to decide if you would like to see him now and if you would like to bring Princess Eva.¡± Shadow Guard


    ¡°We will go right now and I think everyone here wishes to go as well.¡± Father


    Farther looks at Mother and I so we both nod our heads and follow behind fathers as he makes his way towards the dungeon. To be honest Father is moving very slow because of his injury and I do feel a little anxious, but I know I can¡¯t rush him because this is not his fault. He hasn¡¯t said anything about his condition, but we know Father is getting older with each passing day. We know that he is very worried about the direction the world is heading and wants to work towards an easier life so George does not have to worry about these things when he is the ruler. Soon we reach the dungeon entrance and we all enter to find a few shadow guards standing outside one of the cells talking to Shadow. Shadow sees us and despite his injuries stands up and bows towards us.


    ¡°Your majesties and princesses I am sorry for the things I have done recently. I was on a mission in a neighboring kingdom a couple of months ago and a woman in a cloak that seemed to be able to control plants captured me before hammering that white nail into my chest. After that it is a little fuzzy, but I know she did order me to create chaos in the kingdom and to capture Princess Eva alive for her. I don¡¯t know what she planned after that since she told me to simply leave. Then the only thing that I believe that I did that was suspicious was giving the order to capture the Princess. I cant remember everything because it was all a little hazy. It is probably better to just have the shadow guards trace all my past orders for now.¡± Shadow


    ¡°I understand. For now please rest and recover so you can come back to the shadow guards. I am sure you are yourself now since Eva has reacted to you and her senses for these nails seem to be very sharp. Everyone is safe and we have learned that this mysterious enemy wants Eva alive for some reason. Eva be safe with whatever you do from now on. I know that you are to free spirited to be stuck in this castle so the only thing I can ask of you is to be safe.¡± Father


    ¡°I will be safe so do not worry. Tomorrow I plan to take a rank up test at the adventures guild to test my strength and then if I have time I will probably take a request. I will also take the lizard maid with me since its what mother wants.¡±


    ¡°Ok then for now you should go rest up while I ask your mother why a prisoner is following you in a maid dress.¡± Father


    ¡°I guess Mother doesn¡¯t share as well. Shadow rest well. We still need you and you will probably be the best person to fix anything you might have messed up.¡±


    Shadow nods his head while looking at me with a gentle face. It¡¯s different from before because theres no ominous feeling coming from his chest. I look at my father who is angrily glaring at my mother who is just smiling while looking at me. She is even holding the sleeping Anne that Julie was holding earlier. Mother is very sly it seems and is constantly going at her own pace. I turn around and leave as quickly as I can to avoid any trouble that will rise from my parents. Mother will probably be wrapped up for a while so I can probably go take a bath peacefully. I reach the baths rather quickly and I order Saras to stand outside and not let anyone else come in. She seemed disheartened, but I couldn¡¯t bother to ask why. I took a relaxing bath while giving Munin a quick wash as well. After that I went to my room and ignored the lonely looking dragon as I simply went to bed.

 Chapter 51

    Chapter 51


    Eva Lemuria


    I woke up relatively early since I didn¡¯t stay up all night drinking. I got dressed but decided to let Saras help me put my armor on my right arm. Her smile while she is helping me is very annoying for some reason. I thought of visiting Shadow but he is probably busy with questioning to figure out anything else he has done recently that is suspicious so I decided not to bother him. I begin walking out of the castle while trying my best to avoid anyone. I don¡¯t want to be bothered by my family before I leave so I avoid them and the maids that would report my location to them.


    I succeed in leaving quietly with only Saras behind me. I had made her change from the maid uniform to simple clothes an adventurer would wear. She already stands out because of her beauty and the unique weapon on her hip so I don¡¯t want a maid uniform added to that mix. She has been very happy ever since I agreed to let her follow me without trying to ditch her anymore. I don¡¯t actually plan to teach her anything because I simply can''t bring myself to care enough. I have been feeling that my hate for her has lessened lately, but I still don¡¯t want her around. We arrive at the adventures guild quickly but before we enter I turn around to Saras to explain a few things.


    ¡°I will say this now, don¡¯t speak often to me or anyone. Only answer question when asked. We will register you as an adventurer because it will be easier to explain why you are following me around. The seniority will be me, then Munin, and then you. I trust Munin to watch my back more than you right now. I will take my rank up test where you will watch and not interfere at all. Then you will follow me as I go take on a request that will hopefully be 2nd tier. If I need help anytime ever I will tell you, so do not ever interfere.¡±


    ¡°Squawk!¡± Munin


    Munin agrees with me before I walk straight into the adventurers guild without giving Saras anytime to respond. I look around as usual and everything looks the same as usual. I walk straight up to Susan who luckily is completely free right now. She sees me and instantly puts a smile on her face.


    ¡°Hello, Miss Eva I am glad you came early since we are ready for your rank up test. This test will be held outside of the city because of potential collateral damage and it won''t be for a specific rank. As long as you fight with everything you have you will be ranked accordingly. We actually found the perfect person for your rank up test. By the way who is that with you Miss Eva? I don¡¯t think I have seen her before and you are kind of known to fight alone. A lot of adventurers will be very jealous of her if she is following you around.¡± Susan


    I look around and see several female adventurers are glaring at Saras while looking at me with the same admiration. Some female adventurers actually got in line behind us so they can glare directly at Saras. I look at Saras and she looks like she is about to cry. I think I am smiling under my mask as I look into Saras¡¯ eyes that are begging me to help her. I completely ignore her as I turn back to Susan.


    ¡°She is someone that will be following me around in the future. She is here to sign up as an adventurer so please do that quickly. Her tier does not matter for now so no test is necessary. Also, I don¡¯t care if you bully her so do what you want.¡±


    ¡°Eva! Why?!¡± Saras


    Saras cries in protest as I stand to the side and wait for her to finish signing up. Susan has a weary grin as she helps Saras sign up. The adventurers behind her heard what I said and have scary grins on their faces as they watch Saras¡¯ every move. I really think they want to drag Saras behind the adventures guild and start beating her up which I would probably watch for a while, but after she signs up I want to go straight to my rank up test and I have to take her with me. Saras finishes her sign up and Susan goes to finish the paperwork. When it is done she tells Saras about being a 7th tier adventurer before she gives me details on where to go for my rank up test.


    We leave the city while taking our time walking. Susan told me the test will be on the left of the road shortly after we enter the forest. Apparently, there will be markings that will lead me towards a clearing and my tester will be waiting there. Saras has been quietly sulking while following behind me. Apparently, she doesn¡¯t like being bullied by others. Munin is facing Saras and I cant tell what she is doing but if I have to guess I would say she¡¯s mocking Saras. Munin always seems to hate when others try to get close to me. I may have spoiled her a little, but that is fine.


    Eventually, we reach a clearing in a perfect circle. Trees make a natural barrier around the edge and everywhere I look I can see signs of past fights. Trees are slashed and the ground has been turned over. I look around and see several adventures are hanging around the trees watching us enter. They are sitting in the trees or hiding behind them. I spot a familiar group of female adventurers and realize they must know a shortcut to this clearing. I then look at the only figure in the center of the clearing. It''s the same guy who I fought with for my first test Jones. Before he was just supposed to be a 3rd tier adventurer, but I guess he has ranked up over the years. He has a very lazy look on his face and the same single edged greatsword next to him. When he sees me he gets up while grabbing his sword.


    ¡°Ah hello, again Miss Eva or should I call you princess? Well, I guess you probably don¡¯t care much about that with your personality. Hah, Miss Eva, I am supposed to give you your test but I am sleepy let''s do it another time.¡± Jones


    I don''t respond to Jones as I ready my halberd and lower my stance. I know he loves to talk while fighting and I shouldn¡¯t take him seriously. Jones looks confused at me as he scratches the back of his head. Munin flies off my shoulder and sits on top of Saras¡¯ head and I point towards the female adventurers. Saras seems to understand that I want her to get out of the way, but she starts walking towards the opposite side from the female adventurers that are glaring at her. Munin begins to peck Saras and Saras dejectedly turns around and walks towards the female adventurers. I smirk as Saras stands in the middle of several women glaring at her as she¡¯s surrounded. I turn my focus back to Jones as he looks at Saras with a weird face.


    I take advantage of Jones being distracted to launch myself forward with a flame step. I shoot straight at jones and form a lighting spear aimed right at Jones. Jones quickly reacts and looks at me shocked before he brings his sword up to block me. My halberds spear tip collides with Jones¡¯ sword. Sparks are flying off my halberd and Jones has one hand on his handle and the other on the flat of his blade to hold back my attack.


    ¡°Hahaha, a sneak attack doesn¡¯t seem like something a princess should be doing. Princess your maid seems to be being bullied by the Black Thorns group. She also seems to be being bullied by that bird. What a pitiful maid.¡± Jones


    I knew this would happen as soon as I saw Jones standing in the middle of this clearing. He started talking as soon as our fight started. He really is annoying, but I need to keep calm and collected while fighting him. He is either a 1st or 2nd tier adventurer and even though he talks a lot he must have strength to spare. He even realized Saras is a maid even though she isn''t dressed as one right now.


    I shift behind Jones and attack with a destruction edge. I am sure his eyes are probably wide with shock since I disappeared right in front of him. When my attack is about to reach his back its again blocked by Jones sword. This time its wrapped in wind. I look at his sword and watch as it disperses my explosion. Jones jump forward and turns around to face me. His sword is covered in a large wind edge that actually seems to make his large sword even bigger.


    ¡°Miss Eva I sensed a little bloodlust in that attack. I feel like you want to kill me. Hahaha, surely that cant be. You are a very nice princess. Right?¡± JonesUnauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.


    My response to this question is to gather lighting all around my halberd and swing out. This time I didn¡¯t attack with a lighting edge but instead, multiple bolts of lighting shoot forward in random paths towards Jones. Jones'' face turns serious as he goes on guard and a cyclone starts forming around him. Most of the bolts of lighting flow around him, but some crash into his cyclone. A few almost break through but he just slashes them. During the barrage of lightning bolts, I quickly shifted with them and moved into his cyclone and followed it around as I appeared on his side and slashed down with a destruction edge at him. He steps back and wraps his leg in wind before kicking at my halberd pole. My arms shoot up with my halberd and Jones doesn¡¯t waste this chance as he slashes with a large violent wind edge. My flame armor instantly forms around me as his blade connects with my stomach and I am thrown away. It feels like a hurricane is constantly pushing me back so I stab my halberd blunt end into the ground and stop myself from moving back more. The wind disperses just in time for several cyclones of wind to shoot at me very similar to my barrage of lighting earlier. I decide to form a dome of flames around me. I feel the wind smashing my shield and quickly wearing it out, but I reinforce it. I feel my mana pouring out of my dragon heart at a rate I haven¡¯t ever felt before and I feel excited. All of a sudden the ground beneath me explodes and a spike of wind shoots up as I step back and bring my halberd up to guard as I block the sword aiming for my head. Jones actually tunneled under me. Why do I always get attacked from below like this?


    ¡°Just so you know I don¡¯t have an earth affinity. Hahaha, I am pretty clever huh? I came up with this when¡­¡± Jones


    I admit he might have finally started to get under my skin as I expanded my armor witha second layer and then I let it explode outwards. Jones quickly shuts his mouth and guards against the explosion that send him through my flame shield. I shift straight up into the air and then let my flame armor blaze out as two large wings of black flames form behind me. I feel my self slowly falling so I form a second pair of wings and I truly feel I can now stay put here without constantly shifting or using flame steps. Jones looks up and scratches the back of head before he puts on a serious face and wind starts spinning around him and quickly he launches up at me. There''s a small tornado around his lower body that is propelling him forward. I thought he would make a joke again, but he finally has a completely serious face as his eyes are locked right on to me. I bring my halberd up and slash down with a destruction edge. Jones intercepts my attack with one of his violent wind edges. Again he disperses most of my attack but I just keep attack with destruction edges and he attacks with more wind edges. Almost all of our attacks are blocked, but we both do get some attacks in.


    I switch to attacking with one arm and draw my dagger out as I instantly stab at an opening. I am shocked though when my dagger pierces into Jones¡¯ hand as he caught my danger and hand that I was attacking with. He get a firm hold on my hand and pulls me in close before slamming the handle down on my shoulder. The wind violently explodes on my shoulder and I shoot down at the ground. If I didn¡¯t have my flame armor I would have definitely broken my shoulder. Luckily he attacked my right shoulder that is far stronger. I look up as a tornado quickly shoots down on me. I shift out of the way and watch as the tornado completely destroys the spot I was standing. I look up as several tornadoes start touching down all around us. The sky darkens as clouds form around us. I quickly look at Saras and she seems to understand what I am asking as she quickly shakes her head in denial.


    I look back up as Jones floats in the air and I feel my blood boil. My armor seems to burn with more intensity with my excitement. The wings reform on my back and launch me straight up at Jones. Behind me several pillars of black flames shoot off the ground and collide with the tornados creating giant cyclones of rampaging fire and wind. I reach Jones again and we continue our collisions of attacks. I suddenly hear an excited laugh and realize that it is mine.


    ¡°If I knew the princess was such a battle freak I don¡¯t think I would have agreed to this. The guild is going to have to find a new testing ground after this.¡± Jones


    Jones finally starts to talk again, but this time he sounds somewhat dispirited. It sounds like he is very annoyed with having to fight me. My response to his comment is to shift back, but this time I leave my flame armor where is as it keeps moving on its own. As long as Jones doesn¡¯t notice that my eyes are no longer seen in my armor he probably won''t notice. I appear behind Jones and form a concentrated destruction fist that I launch at Jones¡¯ back. He doesn¡¯t expect it as I land the attack his body launches and crashes right into my flame armor that explodes. I spot Jones flying away from the explosion, but I ignore him as I shift to my weapons that also flew away.


    I grabbed my weapons and fly right back to where I saw jones land. He is at the very edge of the clearing and is using his sword to stand up. He looks up at me as if I am the greatest annoyance of his life. I smile under my mask as I land in front of him. My flame armor reforms around me and then two more sets of armor form at my sides. I can probably only use these two and they probably would move with the strength and speed of a 3rd tier adventurer at most. I can also only control them well if they are in my sight. They both launch forward and two cyclones shoot out of the ground to intercept them and Jones launches underground very quickly. I walk over to the hole in the ground before I open my free hand over the hole. I then begin to pore flames constantly into the hole. I watch as parts of the clearing begin to randomly explode. Finally, Jones pops up at the other end of the field and jumps to the side as the spot he was standing at earlier explodes.


    ¡°Princess! Are you crazy? I feel like you are trying to kill me! I thought we were friends. Are you really trying to kill me?¡± Jones


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    Jones seems shocked that I actually responded to him and I quickly launch forward as I form a concentrated destruction edge on my halberd. Jones quickly comes out of his shock and raises his hand up before bringing it down towards me. I look up and see the entire sky around us is a raging storm. I see he has been stalling for time. I stop and let my attack grow larger until it is a giant ball of flames and lighting. I point it up and shoot it forward before I bring up my halberd to defend against an attack from Jones. He is back to his serious face. He keeps his sword locked with mine as we fight for dominance. Then we are both blown to the side as we are hit with a shockwave. I look up as my ball of destruction explodes in the eyes of Jones storm. Clouds are pushed away and we can see a part of the sky again.


    I stand up and see Jones with his sword raised and wind gathers around him. The wind is so loud I can¡¯t hear anything. Jones must be planning on trying to end this soon. I am feeling a little tired my self so I form a concentrated destruction spear. I also take my dagger out and then throw it forwards while it''s charged with lighting. It explodes forward fast enough that I can barely follow it with my eyes. Jones barely steps to the side in time as his raised sword is lowered to dodge. I take this chance to shoot forward. Jones never took his eyes off me as he strikes horizontally instead of overhead. I take my dagger and use it to intercept his attack as I throw mine forward. My left arm feels like it''s being torn apart from Jones¡¯ attack and Jones crosses his free arm to block my attack aimed at his chest. Jones entire figure exposes in front of me as I am thrown to the side. I stand up with my arm completely torn up and covered in blood. The entire left side of my body actually feels like it has been torn up. I look and see Jones isn¡¯t standing up. I slowly walk towards him and then see that the left side of his body is burned and his armor is completely destroyed. I also notice that he seems to be awake but is pretending to be asleep. I take my halberds blunt end and start poking him in the gut.


    ¡°Stop. Stop already. I don¡¯t want fight anymore. No more I am tired and hurt. I already know we can both probably keep fighting but I already have your rank. Stop poking me you battle freak. Jeez, we have already caused enough destruction.¡± Jones


    I stop poking Jones in his gut and look around. The entire clearing is completely destroyed. If the ground hasn¡¯t been caught up in an explosion then its been scorched black. I look at the tree line and see several walls of earth and some water shields are formed as adventures with pale faces watch us. I don¡¯t know why they didn¡¯t run away when the realized they were to close. I look over as one of the water shields disperse and I see Susan walk towards us cautiously while Saras with Munin on her head run to catch up to her. She reaches us and bends down to start poking Jones in the face.


    ¡°So what rank would you say Eva is? It seems like she was kind of kicking your ass there. If you aren¡¯t sure you can keep fighting. Hm, so what is it?¡± Susan


    ¡°Stop! Why are you all poking me so much? Cant, you see I am clearly injured here. We have a very vicious princess in the royal family. I am a 1st tier adventurer and she can fight equal to me so obviously she is also a 1st tier adventurer. Happy? Now have someone come to carry me away. It hurts and I am tired. Wait! Listen to¡­¡± Jones


    Susan and I both stop listening to Jones after he gave his evaluation. We walk a little away and I notice Saras pull medicine and bandages from inside her maid uniform and she wordlessly begins work on my injuries. I thought of shooing her away, but decide to just ignore her as I focus on Susan.


    ¡°Well, congratulations Miss Eva you qualify as a 1st tier adventurer. You aren¡¯t technically a 1st tier yet because besides the physical test you also need to go to the adventurers guild headquarters to get approval. It requires an interview with the leaders of the adventurers guild to get to 1st tier. They just want to know of an adventures character and background. Sorry, but there are no exceptions to this rule.¡± Susan


    ¡°I understand. I will pay the headquarters a visit when I go to the academy with my sister when she returns. I will go home now since I am tired and injured. I will see you later Susan. I guess its probably your job to take care of him now.¡±


    I nod my head at Jones who is still on the ground pretending to be asleep. Susan makes a difficult face as she looks down before she just walks away. I smile a little before I also walk away while Saras is still wrapping my arm in bandages. She is about to trip while trying to wrap my arm and walk so I stop. She finishes and then smiles at me. I reach my hand towards her head and she looks incredibly happy for some reason. Munin hops from Saras¡¯ head to my hand and I place her on my shoulder. Saras¡¯ face falls and her shoulder slump as she lifelessly follows behind me. I am glad she can''t see the small smile under my mask.

 Sorry I lied

    Ok I know I said I wouldn''t stop writing but I need to go back and change things. I had a couple of chapters prepared for release but I am going to scrap those. I want to improve my story so I am going to ask my friend about how to improve my story. Especially my character development. I somewhat understand what I have to do but I am not sure how. If I change something in the old chapters I will let you know. I am thinking it might take one or two months for me to redo my current chapters. Anyways sorry but I want to make this a good quality story. I was thinking of writing a nonsense unplanned story just for fun but who knows about that. Please patiently wait for the next release. This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.