ã€ŠThe Humble Beginning of a Fake Fake Cultistã€‹


 Chapter 1: Ten Feet Tall?

    ¡°I gotta turn in the essay tomorrow man,¡± Billy sighed.

    Audible steps. Cars honking, people shouting.

    ¡°Come get your corn steaks!¡±

    ¡°We GOT cheese!¡±

    ¡°When¡¯s the deadline again?¡± I shuffled through the crowd in front, basically shoving people away with the signature phrase, ¡°Excuse me.¡± Sometimes, I wondered why I even bothered to take this darn market road. But I did get an answer from my subconscious¡­¡¯because you won¡¯t see them around here.¡¯

    There were too many people on earth, way too many. Hospitals and markets were like lampposts, attracting people like bugs.

    ¡°Tomorrow afternoon,¡± he sighed again. Large dude, larger than me.

    ¡°25 hours, not bad.¡±

    ¡°Not bad? Wait, did you even start yet?¡±

    ¡°Maybe tomorrow,¡± I shrugged.

    ¡°Dude!¡± He chuckled, almost running into an old lady.

    I grabbed his bulky hand and pulled him towards me. Which was a bad idea cause he almost pulled me back and we ¡®almost¡¯ fell to the floor. Almost because a guy barricaded himself between the lady and us and yeah. Shit.

    When your friend is a literal truck of a dude, and you¡¯re five eight, and not even half his weight, you would stop to think hey, maybe pulling him would be a bad idea and not pull him. But yeah, sometimes my genius brain amazed me with how dumb it was and shit happened.

    Luckily this wasn¡¯t one of those times. Yet.

    ¡°I¡¯m telling ya dude, you need to eat more,¡± Billy shook his head, and thanked the guy. The lady grumbled a bit screaming ¡®Don¡¯t ya have eyes!¡¯ and stuff but we ignored her. Not worth our time.

    ¡°And be fat? Not thanks!¡±

    ¡°You fat phobic sun of a gun,¡± he laughed and his belly moved for a second.

    Yeah, no. It wasn¡¯t that I was afraid of being fat. But rather I was afraid of actually not giving a fuck about being fat. There was a difference.

    Anyway, we somehow were able to make past the market and were finally back on the quiet street. Of course, there were lots of people around and quite a few stores still shouting their stuff but at least I didn¡¯t have to shove past a crowd. Saturdays were always like this. Busy as hell.

    ¡°No seriously though, start early,¡± Billy said.

    ¡°Because you want to copy?¡±

    ¡°No, I want to take inspiration.¡±

    ¡°Oh please,¡± I chuckled. ¡°I kind of want to but it¡¯s so stupid. I mean, who writes about Religion of all things. Why even bother?¡±

    ¡°Because it¡¯s an important part of our life?¡±Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.

    ¡°How? It¡¯s just indoctrination. Besides, everyone knows what it is and what it does or rather has been doing.¡±

    ¡°And where did you get the idea that it¡¯s all false? Did you come up with it, on your own?¡±

    ¡°Yeah¡­ no.¡± My teeth clenched together, refusing to let go. He had me there. While some ideas were truly of my own, there were quite a few arguments I¡¯d borrowed from philosophers and maybe¡­ youtubers. ¡°But I can safely say, there¡¯re no gods.¡±

    ¡°Sure, sure. I can¡¯t prove god¡¯s existence, but you can¡¯t disprove them.¡±

    I kind of wanted to argue, but at the same time, with how exhausted I was from afternoon classes, I didn¡¯t bother. ¡°Yeah, pretty much.¡±

    Billy was fat. Not the massive kind of fat, but he was fat and lazy, and often had a rather weird attitude towards those adult figurines. But he was also the most real guy I¡¯d seen. He didn¡¯t mince words and he didn¡¯t really fucking care about anyone¡¯s view of him.

    And that was also why we were still friends.

    We¡¯d walked so far that the density of people was starting to decrease quite exponentially. One minute there were ten guys around, the next minute, two.

    CHUUU!!!

    ¡°Right on time,¡± Billy said.

    ¡°Yeah, half an hour late as usual,¡± I shrugged.

    The train was still a minute away but we¡¯d arrived at the station. Technically a station but there was nothing in sight. Nothing other than just a train track and the suspicious (definitely not poop) stench.

    ¡°Welp, it¡¯s been nice knowing ya,¡± I leaned forward for a handshake. ¡°Billy goat.¡±

    We acted like we were parting or something. Neither of us were going to get on the train though and it wasn¡¯t going to stop here either. Cause yeah¡­ it wasn¡¯t really a station. Heh!

    ¡°Likewise,¡± he smiled, came closer and- shoved me. ¡°Asshole.¡±

    Instead of shaking my hands, or hugging me like usual¡­ Billy shoved me.

    The world slowed as my heart raced. I was falling, arms flailing for something, anyting to grab onto. Yet, I watched everything in slow motion. I watched Billy as he just stood there, without any emotion whatsoever. The dude didn¡¯t even smile.

    CHUUUUUU!!!

    ¡°Why?¡±

    The word leaked as metal grinded against metal and slammed into me¡­

    WHAM!

    Zzz¡­ everything buzzed my vision failed and I was dragged away. The tracks pushed against my shoulders and¡­I couldn¡¯t really feel anything below, but everything above just burned. Or stung? I wasn¡¯t sure. It was all going away¡­ slipping away. Slowly¡­ slipping away.

    ¡®Well¡­ at least I won¡¯t have to finish that shit essay.¡¯

    ***

    Death.

    Rather simple concept. You get popped into existence, so one day you would get popped out of it. But it wasn¡¯t really that simple. What happened after death? You would get judged by an almighty god and be sent to maybe hell or heaven? Or maybe if God didn¡¯t exist, you¡¯d get shoved into earth¡¯s asshole and spend years waiting to be devoured by some plant roots and turn into fruits or flowers or whatever?

    That was assuming the fact that maybe some almighty god existed or maybe he didn¡¯t. But what if neither happened.

    What if¡­ instead of being judged or being literal tree food, what if¡­

    ¡°Anga sensa ru?¡± A rather tall lady stood before me, as grass stretched up to her legs. It was too blinding to stare up but not looking at those tight leggings and that moderate chest was a major waste.

    ¡®How do you even have that kind of pretty skin?¡¯ And on her thighs no less!

    She was what, ten feet tall?

    She slouched down, face coming closer. Big eyes, pretty flawless skin¡­ just how much damn foundation had she used?

    And so frigging tall¡­ I hadn¡¯t even seen men that tall.

    No wait¡­ I was just short. Short as in¡­ ¡®Holy fuck¡­¡¯ I took a look at my arms and they were tiny. Tiny as fuck. Like, I was a rather thin dude, too thin perhaps. But not this thin. They looked like twigs. Fucking twigs!

    And the lady? White one-piece dress with a silver necklace and tight navy leggings; but parts of her thighs were exposed in a oval manner; weird design maybe? She had red hair, and long ears. No, not long as in large. But long as in pointy and double slitted. Aka, she wasn¡¯t human. And her buddies pointing those fancy bow and arrows at me were proof enough. Buddies, who weren¡¯t there even a minute ago.

    ¡®Asia?¡¯ They didn¡¯t seem Asian though. Which meant¡­

    Yes¡­ the third option. I wasn¡¯t being judged by a god and neither had I randomly become tree food. But rather¡­ I was in another world.

    ¡°Unga suncha lala!~¡± one of them screamed, threatening to let lose some arrows and fuck me over.

    I did not understand them one fucking bit. And yet, I understood them all too well.

    ¡®Fuck.¡¯

 Chapter 2: A New Life

    There were plenty of things I didn¡¯t understand. But two things, I did.

    One, this was another world. I came to the conclusion after I saw those fancy long eared dudes with bows and arrows. At first, I thought they were maybe in costumes, for movies or dramas or stuff like that. But no, those damn things were real. And the grass and world around me was somewhat different. I couldn¡¯t put a finger on it but, something about the air, something about this world was different.

    And two, I was a baby. Not necessarily a newborn, cause I could at the very least move my arms around a bit but I was still a baby regardless. Probably not even six months old. The only sounds I could make were squeaks and laughs.

    Which did bring me back to my original problem though. What I was doing in a random field full of grass with these guys while being a baby? Were one of them my parents? Didn¡¯t seem likely, considering how much they were screaming at each other and trying to argue and stuff. The men were hellbent on killing me.

    The woman seemed to be awfully in my favor, trying to shield me from those guys and stuff. While the guys were screaming nonstop.

    But why?

    ¡®So she¡¯s my mother and probably had an affair and now just got caught and stuff?¡¯ Seemed likely. I was just pulling the scenario out of my ass though, cause I didn¡¯t know if it was like that or not. Did I have long ears? Did all the humans here also have large ears? I had no idea.

    Regardless, I watched them carefully. Why? Cause they were pretty much ignoring me and just arguing. Kind of annoying. But it did give me enough time to think.

    I was dead. No, murdered. Murdered by my own friend no less. I knew the dude for over four years. I met him at a Halloween carnival dressed as count Dracula. Dude had dressed as a werewolf, ready to kill. Kill with that overweight belly of his. He wasn¡¯t large like typical large guys. He just had a wide ass stomach. Meanwhile his parents were on the skinnier side, particularly his mother who for better or worse was the most beautiful woman in our neighborhood.

    ¡®Wait, was it because of that?¡¯

    But it wasn¡¯t my fault his mother came on to me. Apparently that woman had a thing for skinny young boys and I just happened to see her touch herself at the wrong frigging moment. I was staying over at Billy¡¯s place and had to pee late at night cause well¡­ shit bladder. The bathroom door was open and when I pulled the handle, there was someone in there, in the darkness. I turned on the lights by instincts, and there she was, half naked, panties on the floor¡­ touching herself, breathing heavy. Her eyes fell on mine and she grinned, licking her lips. ¡°I¡¯m kind of in a bind.¡± Clear, soft. ¡°Would you help me out?¡± She parted her lips, not the ones above. I could hear her panting; I could see the pink flesh. I could feel her warm¡­that blush.

    Normally, adult movie stars would lock the bathroom door and give into the temptation and have some fun. But no, I was different. And Billy was my friend. I slammed the door shut and ran back to his room and did not fucking speak a word of it.If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

    Of course, holding my bladder meant I couldn¡¯t sleep. And not only that, I had a literal boner.

    Sigh.

    But wait, that was three years ago. And I never really went back to her place. Billy asked me for sleep overs dozens of times but I always declined. I never accepted, ever. And I actively stayed away from his mother. Besides, that woman didn¡¯t really try to force me or come after me either. That was just a one-time thing and probably just a bad call from her end.

    Surely that couldn¡¯t have been a thing, right?

    The ground beneath me moved away. No, I was moved up. Someone had picked me up. The long eared red-head. ¡°Sala un zan!¡± She yelled back. She firmly gripped me, yet, something was tender about that embrace. And warm.

    ¡°Aran Ni!¡± the guys were still yelling and stuff but they laid down their weapons.

    The woman stared at me, and smiled. Not the fake kind. Her mouth widened, her eyes drew closer and honestly¡­ mesmerizing. She was so gorgeous.

    I tried reaching and barely touched her face. So warm. So¡­ ¡®So you¡¯re my new mother¡­¡¯

    ***

    Some days passed by. And I was brought to a hut of sorts. Just me and the woman. I didn¡¯t notice any home appliances, and I didn¡¯t really see any lightbulbs either. Just typical lamps and wood and more wood.

    A cheapo hut in the woods by a pond. Tall trees with some foliage but our hut was barricaded by a thick wooden wall. And the pond was actually inside the wall. Maybe a meter in diameter. I didn¡¯t see many birds or animals but the few I did, appeared different from the ones I remembered. Smaller, or larger or maybe with extra appendages. And then there were random stuff I¡¯d never seen like a lizard with the head of a rooster.

    Again, confirming my theory that I was indeed in another world. And we were poor af. I slept for hours and hours, every day. And had no real control on my bladder but could hold it for a few minutes while I cried, so mother would help me take a piss.

    But hey, all was fine as long as I got to suck those succulent tits! But no. I didn¡¯t get to. Instead, the woman put a frigging feeder on my mouth and cradled me like I was some sort of cat. Maybe she wasn¡¯t my mother? Or maybe this world just didn¡¯t have the concept of suckling? If the latter was true than holy shit, there was no god.

    What kind of sick monster would create a world where babies couldn¡¯t suck their mother¡¯s tits? Argh¡­.

    ¡°Wona wro?¡± She stared at me, cocking her head to the side. She often spoke to me.

    I was picking up a word or two. Obviously, I couldn¡¯t understand her but I did seem to recognize the language a bit more. And sometimes, I could tell the woman was fairly worried when she stared at me with those big puffy eyes.

    I faked a laugh and tried wiggling my feet, doing baby things. What were baby things? I had no idea. I was just winging it cause I had nothing better to do.

    She giggled. Apparently, it worked. She often spoke different things, did weird stuff like making faces and singing and bunch of other stuff. Her voice was soothing and comforting but she was tone deaf and her singing was the absolute worst.

    Yet, I still laughed, pretending. This was a new life, the least I could do was pretend to have fun.

    She didn¡¯t leave the house for long. She sometimes fished near the pond, holding me with one hand and holding the fishing pole with the other.

    As for my food? She would milk a white goat, that would randomly show up whenever I cried and that was that. The woman hardly left my side. Not even when she showered. And although she was too gorgeous and my ideal type¡­ I didn¡¯t really feel anything towards her. Probably because I was lacking the necessary hormones but also because¡­ I kind of always wanted a mother.

    And that¡¯s how the first four months passed by; I started understanding the words some more. I thought life for now would be peaceful and remain typical¡­ it wasn¡¯t. We had a visitor.

 Chapter 3: Warmth

    Someone had come to see us, or rather me.

    He wore a black robe with a spiraling dragon crest on his left chest. And unlike every other human I¡¯d seen so far, he didn¡¯t have pointy ears. He was a real human and he just made it clear, my mother wasn¡¯t human, thus, I wasn¡¯t necessarily human either.

    But who cared? I sure didn¡¯t.

    ¡°He is ready, I assume,¡± the man said. Or at least I thought he said it.

    I could basically understand most of the words but not quite. But at the same time, I understood the man more than my own mother. ¡®Is he speaking a different language?¡¯

    I still wasn¡¯t sure how old I was when I first opened my eyes. I had no idea about babies or the norms or if any of them even applied to this world and frankly, I didn¡¯t care. I didn¡¯t care till now that was.

    ¡°He is¡­¡± mother said, in a rather odd way. She was having a hard time talking.

    ¡®Definitely a different language¡­¡¯

    And I knew this different language more than my own mother tongue. Weird.

    ¡°Please stand back. I will perform the ritual right now,¡± he said.

    Mother sat me down on the wooden floor and took a few steps back. Just me and the man. He sat crossed legged, just before me. With something akin to a chalk, he marked a circle around me and then drew doodles on it. Pretty weird. What¡¯s weirder the doodles started glowing¡­ at least for a few seconds.

    ¡®This world has magic!?¡¯ I actually thought of the world as a fantasy one when I came about. Mother looked like an elf and we lived such primitive lives. Surely there was magic and stuff, right? At least I hoped there was. But I never saw her using anything resembling magic. Nothing at all.

    So, you bet I was excited as hell when the darn white lines started glowing even for just a few seconds. Sure, magic was probably just theatrics but at least they were fun to watch.

    ¡°No talent,¡± the man said. ¡°Ordinary, no magic.¡± He sighed, hanging his head. ¡°Not worth-¡±

    ¡°Shh!¡± Mother lounged forward grabbing the man¡¯s mouth, basically lifting the whole damn body up in the air. Eyes bloodshot, she glared like she was about to murder the dude. And wait, mother was taller?

    ¡®She strong!¡¯ She¡¯d apparently lifted the guy with just one hand and kept him up with ease.

    The man was at least five-ten. Then mother was over six feet?

    Boy was I glad. If my mother was that tall, imagine how damn tall I¡¯d be! Fucking hell, farewell my short as fuck past, hello brand new tall as fuck future!

    Mother slammed the guy on the floor, basically breaking the floor. ¡°Out,¡± she said.

    Panting like he was on life-support, the man staggered to his feet bleeding a bit from his forehead, and ran out. ¡®Bet he can beat Bolt¡¯

    In my previous life, I had little to no talents outside of studying. I studied hard and became 4<sup>th</sup> in the third grade. This kind of tripped my mother and she for the first time, started talking to me. Before that, she ignored me and focused more on my brothers, because I was a waste of time. She started talking to me and took me to afterschool centers, private coaching centers and even got me tutors. She focused a bit too much on me and for the first few years everything was perfect. She loved me, or at least she appeared to, and pressured me to focus more on studies. I got up before sunrise, and slept after midnight: I had no real life outside of studying. I had no friends, just competition. But it changed when I met Billy. I became a bit more sociable and¡­when I failed to retain my top position in tenth grade, she again ignored me. But this time, she also made sure to make my brothers ignore me. I guess they were all disappointed at me, the wasted potential.

    I lived in the same house, but I wasn¡¯t part of their group. I wasn¡¯t part of the family. Why? Because I had no talent. I was a waste of time, a waste of potential. So, I left them. I hated that family, but I had to admit, their extra money did come in handy. I rented a house with dad¡¯s credit card and lived alone. Luckily the guy never bothered to block his card, and I didn¡¯t really misuse the card either. For the first time, I could just be who I was without actually giving a fuck about my mother¡¯s approval.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

    I could be free. I could¡­ and yet¡­ yet I felt miserable. My mother had singlehandedly indoctrinated me to the point where even I viewed my life as meaningless. So¡­

    I could understand, this woman. So, I could understand why this mother was so furious. Why she took it out on the robed man. Why-

    ¡°Don¡¯t listen to him,¡± she swooped in and dragged me to her chest, hugging me firm. She said nothing else. She just hugged me, her eyes and cheeks wet.

    I didn¡¯t care if she was pretending. I didn¡¯t care if this warmth was a lie. I didn¡¯t care if everything was just lies.

    I didn¡¯t care.

    I just¡­ hugged her and sniffled, refusing to cry for the first time since I came to this world.

    ***

    Apparently, that robed man was a priest. And priests in this world held the power to look into the future of individuals and their future.

    If they deemed you dangerous, they had the power to notify the Askalian church and ¡®escort¡¯ you out of society. If they deemed you full of potential for any particular way of life, they could in theory just force you to choose that path. And if they thought you were a waste of time, they also held the power to make sure you didn¡¯t exist anymore¡­.

    But mother didn¡¯t let that happen. Heck, she even went to the church and threatened them.

    How I knew all this?

    Well, another particular dude came to visit. One of those pointy eared guys who were so eager to kill me. Tall, probably a bit taller than mother but thin. Even mother probably had more muscle than this man. And no, he wasn¡¯t any less hostile but he didn¡¯t hurt me at the very least. ¡°Look at me, talking to a literal child¡­¡± He sighed, part way.

    We were sitting by the wooden balcony, watching over the woods. He sat cross legged, a hand on his chin, looking out. While I sat, my feet dangling. Lately, I¡¯d been crawling and stuff, having lots of fun. Who¡¯d have thought some mobility would be this darn entertaining?

    I obviously couldn¡¯t keep my balance up with these darn fatty legs though.

    ¡°So, you better grow up to be a good man. You better not disappoint Lin,¡± he said.

    Lin, or rather Lindell Arnius was her name. I¡¯d found out only recently. I still had no idea what my name was, but given how my mother would often call me Solrel or Sorni, I thought it was one of the two, but hopefully not. I found no real appreciation for either name.

    I stared at the dude, and slowly raised my hand towards him, trying to reach out. I could display a thumbs up but I had no idea what it meant in this world. I didn¡¯t want to accidentally offend him or anything. He was way larger than me and could kill me without any remorse whatsoever. He was the last person I wanted to piss off.

    ¡°Alright, alright,¡± he rolled his eyes, picked me up and to my utter surprise, put on his thighs.

    Silence.

    Awkward silence.

    If there was silence, and it wasn¡¯t awkward, that was proof that you were comfortable with the person. And yeah, I was definitely not comfortable with this guy. Regardless, I didn¡¯t initiate any conversation with him. I had plenty of questions but not for him. Why? Because he didn¡¯t know I could talk.

    And yes¡­

    I¡­ could talk. It was more like I could barely put out some words but yeah, I could talk if I put my mind to it. I hadn¡¯t talked to anyone though. Not even with mother. Cause again, I had no idea what was normal here, and so far, the people weren¡¯t panicking that I wasn¡¯t talking and stuff, so it was probably no big deal¡­ yet.

    I didn¡¯t even know his name but¡­ but he was warm. And he didn¡¯t like me. Which I kind of liked about him. He didn¡¯t bother pretending, he didn¡¯t bother faking it. An honest dude. But guys like him were the scariest. The most unpredictable.

    Billy was my friend. An honest boy. I liked him quite a lot, enough to call him my best friend. And¡­ I trusted him with my life. I thought he felt the same. But I thought wrong. I was wrong. Why did he betray me? Why did he murder me like that? No idea. Hence, I couldn¡¯t trust them anymore. I did like them, honest people. But I no longer trusted them. I no longer¡­ felt safe around them.

    Yet¡­ yet, I wanted to relish this warmth. I wanted to¡­ not feel so damn fucking paranoid.

    Sigh.

    ¡°Tired?¡± the man said, staring down. His name was Den something. At least I thought it was.

    No, he wasn¡¯t mocking or looking down condescendingly. He was genuinely¡­ concerned. No more hostility, he didn¡¯t even grumble like usual.

    I nodded and the dude immediately lifted me up high, running back to the front yard, back to Mother who was apparently washing some clothes? ¡°He understands words,¡± he said.

    ¡°Of course, he does!¡± Mother shrugged, not even turning his way. ¡°He¡¯s been understanding words for like what, two months now?¡± She giggled.

    Wait what¡­ she knew? Fucking hell. ¡®Never underestimate that woman, ever again.¡¯ I etched the words on my very soul.

    ¡°Huh¡­¡± the man sighed, almost disappointed. No, the dude wasn¡¯t disappointed that he hadn¡¯t found something before mother. Rather, he was disappointed because he wanted to get some points with her, using me as an excuse. I could tell.

    I never really had a love life, never fell in love, never even had a crush. Sometimes I wondered if I was asexual or something. And yet, I could tell just from the way this guy looked at mother.

    ¡®Head over heels.¡¯ I had no idea who my father was, but since he wasn¡¯t in the picture, I didn¡¯t care. As for this guy- if mother was okay with him being with her, I didn¡¯t have any objection to that either. He seemed like a decent guy and liked mother; good enough for me. As long as he didn¡¯t force himself on her of course.

    ¡°Oh right, he¡¯s tired,¡± he said, handing me over to mother.

    Mother held me in her arms, so warm. I felt awfully drowsy, and no, this time I wasn¡¯t pretending to be. ¡°Tomorrow we¡¯ll go see some pelicans,¡± mother said, smiling.

    I hated those fat birds though.

 Chapter 4: My mother

    Apparently, Pelicans weren¡¯t fat?

    All my life I imagined pelicans to be fat ducks with a big beak. And yeah, they were fatter than a duck but darn things weren¡¯t nearly as fat as I imagined them to be.

    Wet rice paddies and birds as far as I could see. And I could see for a good two hundred meters. Anything past that, I couldn¡¯t really see; blurry mess. Maybe I was a little myopic? In my previous life, I had pretty okay vision. I wasn¡¯t necessarily myopic but I did have a hard time seeing the blackboard from the second or third bench. Okay, maybe I was myopic¡­

    Anyway, birds!

    Not just pelicans but all sorts of birds. Some swans, and some rather odd shaped ones too. Odd as in, two heads, three tails and five eyes and stuff like that. Odd¡­ yeah, odd didn¡¯t really cover my emotions.

    I pointed at the multiheaded birds.

    ¡°Those are Xen birds. Said to bring good harvest,¡± mother said. Both of us seated on a mound of sorts just by the paddies. Still about two meters away from the wet ground though.

    On our way here, I¡¯d seen some houses. They were like our hut just bigger. One, two humans. They had pointy eared folks too. The people stared quite a lot at me.

    But mother pretty much never let me down, she didn¡¯t stop to talk to them either. She just carried on. There weren¡¯t any roads here, but since there weren¡¯t any hills, walking around was easy. And apparently the forest was safer than these farm lands?

    We didn¡¯t come across any monsters. Yes, there were monsters in this world. Mother called them Fiends, animals who¡¯d absorbed mana and transformed. Some of them were harmless and stayed out of our way, while others viewed us as their mortal enemy. For the most part though, they didn¡¯t take any unnecessary risks when dealing with people. Perhaps a great sign of their intelligence.The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

    ¡°They¡¯re also pretty tasty,¡± Mother said. ¡°I¡¯ll fry one when you¡¯re older,¡± she whispered. ¡°Don¡¯t tell anyone though,¡± her index finger pressed on her lips, while she smiled.

    I did the same and she started cackling, almost falling over with the giggles. She let me down, and I just sat down on some grass. We watched the orange sky light up more and more. Just a meter away, there was some water though.

    For the first time, instead of crawling, I tried walking. And¡­ I fell, I fell flat on my face. I haphazardly looked back, expecting my mother to panic and stuff but she didn¡¯t. She didn¡¯t even get up, almost as though, wanting me to get up on my own and keep going.

    Good, cause I never liked being pampered too much. Almost groaning, I somehow made it back on my feet, taking a step at a time. This body was pretty weird, and kind of fat. Just some months ago, I was so damn lean and tiny, and now I was fat. But- ¡®Move!¡¯ Another step, and then another. By the third, I was walking, almost tumbling over¡­ almost.

    With about seven steps I¡¯d neared the end of the grassland, staring at the wet land and the paddies.

    Mother started clapping, coming my way. But my focus was elsewhere. Namely on the water, or rather¡­ my reflection.

    I didn¡¯t have long ears like mother. Actually, was she even my mother?

    In a split second my heart crumbled, feet went cold, chest ached. What was this? Why? Was I afraid? Afraid of being different from her? Afraid that¡­

    Lin picked me up in her embrace. ¡°What¡¯s wrong? Did you pee in your pants?¡±

    I shook my head. And¡­ touched her ears. Then mine.

    Her eyes opened a bit wide, then narrowed. ¡°Sol,¡± she stared. For the first time she didn¡¯t use any weird suffix on my name. ¡°You¡¯re my son,¡± she said. ¡°Our ears a little different and maybe our races too.¡± She didn¡¯t look away. She was speaking to a baby who was at best a year old. Yet, she didn¡¯t look away, she didn¡¯t try to baby talk; she didn¡¯t try to dodge the subject. ¡°But I ¡®am¡¯ your mother.¡±

    Again, I didn¡¯t know if she was pretending. And again, I didn¡¯t care. I hugged her back, I hugged her tight. Though with my limited muscle mass, she probably didn¡¯t feel a difference. Or at least I thought she didn¡¯t, but then she hugged tighter and almost made me cough. She did ease up a second later though.

    ¡®So she really is not my mother¡­¡¯ I did wonder who my real parents were but considering how shit my previous parents were, I didn¡¯t want to find out. Lin may not have been my birth mother, but she was every bit of ¡®mother¡¯ I could hope from a mother.

    And¡­ that was good enough for me.

    Lin ¡®was¡¯ my mother.

 Chapter 5: Donâ€™t Die Though

    It took Mother a whole six months before she started getting me to talk. During this time, she introduced me to various toys, took me to places, and even showed me some flashy glyph-like stuff that were probably the letters of this world?

    I didn¡¯t recognize the characters. It was not English, that was for sure though. But yeah, she more or less realized a little late that I hadn¡¯t even attempted to speak all this time.

    ¡°Say mommy,¡± she¡¯d often say.

    I did not though. She¡¯d then go on to show me stuff and say their names. She used to do that subconsciously before but now she tried way too hard. It was starting to get a little annoying at this point. Yeah, I got that a table was a table. I didn¡¯t need to know that a table was a table ten times every day for a month straight to know that it was in fact a table.

    And the more I teased her without speaking a word, the more frustrated she got. To a point where she was crying in the balcony, her head buried in her thighs, while she sat in that fetal position.

    Sigh. I felt bad¡­ ¡°Mother,¡± I said. ¡°Okay?¡±

    For the first few seconds, she stared at me, basically dumbfounded. She just wanted to hear one word, so maybe starting off with a broken sentence wasn¡¯t a very good idea? For the first time in my life, I was regretting never going near a baby. Fuck¡­I should have studied those little shits like the rest of stuff!

    ¡°Y-y-you talked!¡± She squealed, taking me up in her arms. She hugged me, gently swaying her body, dancing with excitement. ¡°Say it again. Say Mommy!¡±

    ¡°Mother.¡±

    ¡°Mommy, mom. Mama!¡±

    ¡°Mother.¡±

    She sniffled, and wiped her tears, along with the snot. She was still a little frustrated but did smile nevertheless.

    Yeah, I wasn¡¯t going to call her mommy. Mommy was only reserved for my favorite waifu, and no one else. Not even her.

    But maybe a part of me didn¡¯t want to call her mom, because I didn¡¯t want to be reminded of my previous mother. I didn¡¯t want to be reminded of Mom.

    I wrapped my tiny fat hands around her, not quite reaching. She rubbed my back, and we went in.

    The next day, some guests arrived. Her friends. Six of them. Four guys and two girls.

    Seemed to be about the same age.

    All tall eared folk. Apparently, they were called the Southerners. Because they lived in the south. This particular world didn¡¯t have any distinction between humans and elves other than the tall ears and appearance. Humans and elves lived about the same age, 150 and basically had similar capabilities. Of course, there was still some unique talents specific to race and discrimination. But there was always discrimination regarding skin color and appearance. That was how earth worked, and that was also how this world worked.You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

    ¡°This is Soleir Arnius, say hello,¡± mother said, showing me off.

    They smiled and nodded and stuff. Weird.

    Our guests did try to interact with me, and talk to me, but they weren¡¯t really into me. They didn¡¯t look at me like they looked at mother. ¡®Her friends,¡¯ I thought. And honestly, I was glad. She had friends. Way more than I ever did.

    Now granted I was barely seventeen when I died. And mother was close to what, twenty? Maybe twenty-five. She was pretty young, but old enough to be my elder sister. I didn¡¯t see her as a sister though. She was my mother, and was always going to be my mother.

    Yet, I felt distant. Not because the people here were distant but¡­ but because it all felt like a dream.

    This loving atmosphere, this peace, all this¡­ I¡¯d wanted it long before I first read about portal fantasies and reincarnation stories. I¡¯d wanted it, I¡¯d dreamt of it, over and over again. So, now that I had it, I felt distant. I felt¡­ like I could one day wake up from all this and be back in a hospital or something, attached to a freaking respirator, slowly waiting to die.

    This world, this feeling¡­ her warmth, were too real to be a dream. Yet, some part of me just couldn¡¯t let go. Some part of me just couldn¡¯t accept this.

    I¡­ couldn¡¯t accept this.

    ¡°He¡¯s tired again?¡± Den said.

    ¡°He¡¯s a growing child,¡± one of the girls said. ¡°They sleep a lot.¡±

    ¡°Sol doesn¡¯t sleep a lot though,¡± mother said. ¡°He stays up and just stares out the window, or sits in the backyard.¡±

    ¡°Maybe he¡¯s lonely,¡± the girl picked me up. ¡°I¡¯ll bring one of my kids over, she¡¯s about his age.¡±

    ¡°Um¡­ sure,¡± mother seemed oddly reluctant. Was she afraid of me getting ostracized because of my race? Maybe.

    ¡°Once he gets friends, he might stop being so attached to you,¡± she said. ¡°Kids grow up so fast. Before you know it, they¡¯re stating they¡¯d rather have an adventure out there than to stay home all the time.¡± She snickered.

    But I honestly didn¡¯t want friends. Things were fine as they were. I didn¡¯t want friends, I didn¡¯t want to grow up, I didn¡¯t want¡­ this to end.

    I just¡­

    Tears fell. I didn¡¯t cry. I didn¡¯t think or feel like crying either. Yet, the tears just refused to stop, as I held the girl tight.

    ¡°Give him to me,¡± mother said, taking me in her arms. I buried my face on her chest, sniffling. Trying my best not to cry. But the tears just didn¡¯t stop. Damn this body! Mother didn¡¯t try to wipe them away either. She just held me, swayed her body a little and patted my back.

    It was comforting, her warmth. But at the same time, it was frightening. I was afraid she was going to just stop one day, when I got a little older. I was afraid she was going to leave me, once I grew up and no longer needed her. I-I- couldn¡¯t stop the damn tears.

    Damn it. Damn it all.

    ¡°Well, that¡¯s enough for today,¡± Den said. ¡°Seeya later. Oh, and we have a hunting session next month. He might come to enjoy it.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll think about it,¡± Mother said.

    They left, and although I did stop crying, I couldn¡¯t smile. I couldn¡¯t bring myself to.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong Sol?¡± she asked. She hadn¡¯t asked that before.

    ¡°I got¡­ scared,¡± I tried to sound a little babyish. ¡°You¡¯d leave¡­¡±

    She snickered. ¡°I won¡¯t leave you. I¡¯ll never leave you. In fact, once I die, I¡¯ll haunt you!¡±

    I feigned a shock expression, before chuckling. Yeah, she didn¡¯t quite ease my mind with that. But honestly¡­ yeah, I didn¡¯t want her to leave me. ¡°Don¡¯t die though.¡±

 Chapter 6: The Hunt

    Things were somewhat back to normal. Mother made things for me, and taught me new things, things about this world, and for the first time we were having conversations and every now and then, I would slip up and speak fluently. Weirdly mother didn¡¯t seem to be spooked and probably thought I was some sort of a genius. Or maybe she had a screw lose¡­ not that I minded.

    She didn¡¯t teach me any magic or fighting or anything. Then again, I didn¡¯t know if she knew magic to begin with, and I was just a tad over two¡­ probably.

    After a few weeks, she took me out for a second time.

    This time, deeper into the forest. Vines everywhere, trees growing on top of one another, fighting for dominance. We would have had a really hard time walking around. If we walked around that was. We didn¡¯t. Or rather, mother didn¡¯t. She carried me with one hand, as I clung to her. Basically, she just jumped from branch to branch, almost like a monkey. ¡®Is this how elves traveled?¡¯

    Like monkeys?

    Yeah, I could understand where that heck a strength came from. ¡®Oh well.¡¯ I stopped caring partway.

    Some other southerners joined us. All six of her friends. I actually didn¡¯t know their name aside for the Den guy. Actually, I wasn¡¯t sure if that was his name or some title or whatever either.

    Oh well. I¡¯d eventually know their names¡­.

    Probably.

    We didn¡¯t talk on the trees, and quickly jumped around, until out of nowhere, they all just stopped. Den had raised his hand and when everyone stopped, he motioned his fingers down, in a particular direction.

    I couldn¡¯t really see well but after squinting a little too hard, I could spot something moving. Something brown. Den pulled out an arrow from his quiver and aimed. The other followed suit. But no one shot. Almost like they were waiting for Den to strike first. Mother was holding me, so she didn¡¯t bother attempting.

    Swish!Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

    The arrow flew, blitzing through the air, digging into the unsuspecting prey. ¡°SHIIIKKK!!¡± It shrieked violently, before taking in dozens of arrows and falling flat on the ground, painting it red.

    We finally went down and saw it. A boar? No, a cow? Both? Shaped like a boar but also sized like a cow. Were boars always this big or were they just a tad bigger in this world? The blood kept on pouring out, clouding the area with a metallic bloody scent. They wrapped a rope around the thing¡¯s hind legs and hoisted it up on a branch.

    ¡°This is a bit disgusting but this is how we keep ourselves fed,¡± Mother said.

    ¡®And you¡¯re showing this to a two-year-old¡­¡¯ I sighed. I would have been more than freaked if I didn¡¯t have 17 years of previous world experience.

    ¡°He¡¯s doing way better than my Lia,¡± one the girls said. Same woman who wanted to introduce her daughter to me. Curly hair, somewhat darker toned skin compared to the others here. ¡°She was screaming and crying the whole time.¡±

    These people didn¡¯t seem to care about skin color though, at least this group didn¡¯t. Proof of them being good friends, I guess?

    ¡°He¡¯s a man,¡± Den said, letting out a breath as he sliced the skin off the boar with ease. His knife almost went through the boar like he was slicing butter with a warm knife. ¡°He has to be strong.¡± Not just bows and arrows, these guys were proficient with knives and even swords. At least I thought those were swords hanging on their waists.

    ¡°My kid also handled it like a champ,¡± one of the men said, rather muscular for an elf. ¡°He actually wanted to try himself.¡± He chuckled loud.

    Mother¡¯s grip tightened. She didn¡¯t say a word but¡­ but was she upset for some reason? I tried staring up but her chest was kind of getting in the way. Sigh.

    Anyway, I tried to keep my eyes on the prey but what was I supposed learn from butchering? I¡¯d seen it before. Countless times in my local area. I was really into muscle training and nutrition in the final days of my life. So, I made a habit of buying fresh meat from the butcher and cooking at home. I lived alone, I had basically all the time in the world to learn whatever I wanted. I never committed to doing anything though.

    And¡­ I never found the act of butchering¡­ ok. I knew, something had to die for something else to live and I knew offering fake sympathy to things wasn¡¯t going to work in this world. Yet¡­ why did I feel pity for the thing?

    Why did I feel¡­ like this?

    I wasn¡¯t sad or anything but. ¡°Do things ¡­really have to die, for us¡­ to live?¡± I blurted out.

    ¡®Shit that was too coherent.¡¯

    ¡°Yes,¡± mother said. ¡°That¡¯s living. If you don¡¯t kill, someone else will. It¡¯s either do or die. Either kill or be killed. So never hesitate to kill if your stomach demands it. Never.¡±

    I wanted to say some things, maybe even debate. I always loved debating for no apparent reason but I didn¡¯t. Not because I was just a child and wasn¡¯t supposed to have proper conversation skills (though that was one of the reasons) but because honestly, that wasn¡¯t an argument that I could argue against. Or wanted to for that matter.

 Chapter 7: Gorgeous

    There were seven of us, eight including me. But I doubt they included me.

    For what?

    Meat division!

    Yeah, butchering was over and now they were deciding who gets what. There was a whole debate on why Den was supposed to get the tender loin or whatever. But in the end, it was decided, the meat would be equally divided into seven portions and everyone would receive pretty much identical portions. Of course, that was only possible in theory but not in reality. Yet, they didn¡¯t seem to complain as much.

    These people did try to one up one another but they weren¡¯t inherently trying to scam each other. Which was good. Some trolling was always part of friendship, but scamming outright and murdering¡­ yeah, murdering. Sigh.

    ¡°Tired?¡± Den said.

    Den had the hearing of a literal hound. Every time I sighed, he picked up. And lately he was being a bit too nosy. I guess he was buttering me up before he made a move on mother.

    ¡°I¡¯m fine, Den,¡± I mumbled.

    He stared, visibly confused. ¡°He remembers my name, wow. Kids really do have great memory.¡±

    ¡°Lin,¡± Mother pointed at herself.

    ¡°Mother.¡±

    ¡°Lin, Lindell!¡±

    ¡°Mother.¡±

    ¡°Mommy?¡±

    ¡°Mother.¡±

    I was not going to call her anything other than mother, no.

    She groaned, almost whining. ¡°Sometimes I feel like he¡¯s doing this on purpose,¡± she said.

    ¡°Maybe he is,¡± the curly haired woman came near. ¡°Lyra,¡± she pointed at herself.Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

    The others also introduced themselves.

    Den was Denkar. Apparently, the team leader.

    Curly haired Lyra was the vice leader or something like that.

    Aluc, the green haired tall handsome man, the only guy who had kept his mouth shut the entire time I knew him, was the spotter of the group.

    The other woman, Zena, was somewhat short, and actually the shortest of the bunch but she did make it up with her beauty. It hurt to admit but she was prettier than mother.

    We had two more guys. Xelec and Serec. Brothers. Black guys, both muscular and heavy hitters of the team. One of them always had a shield on his back, and the other had a small axe instead of knives like the rest. But every single one of them had bows and arrows as their primary weapon.

    I guess it only made sense since they were primarily focused on hunting in the forest and the more range they could get out of their weapons the better.

    ¡°Names¡­ too difficult,¡± I managed.

    Nope, I actually had pretty good memory. But not as good as my last life. In my previous life, the reason I was so damn good at studying was partly thanks to my memory and how efficient I was at remembering things. I could basically remember anything as long as I read it twice. Even full-length novels.

    Now that I thought about it, ¡®that was one darn broken ability, huh?¡¯ Yet, I never got to cherish it or enjoy it. I was always under constant stress of remembering the next thing for my exams. I didn¡¯t study to learn, I studied to do well on a test. And it only made my life miserable. So, in a sense I was glad I didn¡¯t have memory that good anymore. At least I couldn¡¯t be pressured like that for having the talent.

    Yet.

    ¡®Why do I feel even worse?¡¯

    I tried my best not to show it on my face.

    ¡°That¡¯s okay,¡± Mother said. ¡°You¡¯ll learn with time. For now though,¡± she stared at the others. ¡°Who¡¯s going to carry all this? Or at least my share.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll do it,¡± Den said.

    ¡°You can¡¯t carry your own portion,¡± Xerec snorted. ¡°I¡¯ll do half.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll do the other half,¡± Serec said.

    With that settled we made way for our home. Yes, our home. They all came to see the two of us off and once we got home with our stuff, they just left. Apparently, they used to hunt every two months before mother picked me up.

    I was starting to get a little fond of them. Particularly because mother felt so lively around them. Not that she was unhappy with being alone with me but¡­ but nothing beat the comfort of friends. ¡®But I have no one anymore¡­¡¯

    ¡°Can I¡­ eat?¡± I asked.

    ¡°No dear. Too soon for you,¡± she said. ¡°Maybe once you grow a little older.¡± She did end up grabbing a feeder though. Goat milk!

    ¡°Okay¡­¡±

    She snickered. ¡°You¡¯re so mature,¡± she smooched me on my forehead.

    I smiled and attempted to smooch her but she didn¡¯t let me and just smiled coyly. ¡°Too slow.¡±

    And then proceeded to give me another smooch and another and another. Wet smooches. I would have been darn disgusted of this in my previous life but¡­ but yeah, I couldn¡¯t help but cackle the more she smiled.

    Gosh, my mother was gorgeous.

 Chapter 8: Lia

    The next week, two girls showed up at our doorstep.

    Lyra, and her daughter.

    Lyra said her daughter was my age but, but she was already taller by three inches. Yes, I could tell. I was super infatuated with my height back in the day and given how I wasn¡¯t a southerner like the rest¡­ ¡®Hello again short as fuck past¡­.¡¯ Sigh. Even among the Southerners, my Mother was tall though. Only Xerec and Serec were taller while Den came at a close second.

    ¡°This is Sol,¡± Lyra said. ¡°And Sol, this is Lia. I hope the two of you can be friends.¡±

    Lia hadn¡¯t spoken a word and didn¡¯t make any real attempt to hide her annoyance. Understandable.

    But I wasn¡¯t a kid but rather an adult inside, so I didn¡¯t really mind. ¡°I¡¯m Sol,¡± I proudly proclaimed. I didn¡¯t yet know if handshakes were a thing in this world or not so I didn¡¯t bother attempting that.

    ¡°Lia¡­¡± she said. Tiny. Her voice was tiny, and had no real charm to it. Then again, she was a kid, so oh well.

    Lyra bent close and whispered. ¡°She¡¯s a little¡­ uh¡­¡± She moved back, winked once. ¡°Try to get along¡­¡±

    ¡®Little uh- what?¡¯

    Lia was taller than me, slightly fairer than her mother but not as fair as me or my mother. She did have long ears and curly hair just like her mother though. If I had to guess I¡¯d say she was three. I was probably two and a half. Mother never celebrated my birthday, so I had no way of knowing how old I actually was, and I had no idea of knowing if mother even knew how old I was either.

    But I did know this world revolved around a moon cycle and had about ten months in a year. It was throwing me off a little so I didn¡¯t bother looking into it.

    ¡°How long are the two of you going to just stand there?¡± Mother said, bending down. ¡°We meet again, Liani,¡± she smiled.

    Apparently, the ¡®ni¡¯ translated to something like ¡®little or small¡¯. She used to attach that to my name all the time but lately stopped for whatever reason.

    Lia nodded and smiled.

    They came in, and mother served Lyra with some hot clear beverage. Green tea maybe? ¡®Do we even have tea though?¡¯

    Heh.

    Mother and Lyra took their seat, I did not.

    I was observing them, while Lia was observing me. She hadn¡¯t said a word but I¡¯d clearly peaked her attention. So, I turned to her. ¡°Yes?¡±Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.

    ¡°Ears,¡± she said.

    Oh yeah, I¡¯d nearly forgotten. ¡°Yeah.¡±

    ¡°No soute-ner?¡±

    Southerner? Is that what she tried to say? She sounded cute but hella rude.

    I sighed. ¡®Do kids sigh this much?¡¯ ¡°Yes, I¡¯m not.¡±

    She cocked her head left. ¡°A see.¡±

    She couldn¡¯t pronounce ¡®I¡¯ for some reason.

    ¡°He picked up language real fast, huh?¡± Lyra said, staring at us.

    ¡°Oh yeah. He already knows both Southern Tongue and Western Tongue,¡± Mother said, coming over here. ¡°Off you go,¡± she shoved us outside. Well, not quite shove but yeah. ¡°Don¡¯t go too far,¡± she said. I guess she wanted me to take Lia to the Balcony and play?

    I didn¡¯t just leave for the Balcony though. Instead, I eavesdropped.

    ¡°Really? So, in theory he maybe from-¡± Lyra paused. ¡°Did you try to find out?¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s quite sensitive around the topic, so I¡¯d prefer you didn¡¯t say anything to him.¡±

    ¡°Is that why you sent them outside?¡±

    ¡°Yeah.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s worrying me a little though. This level of maturity from a child. Is it possible he¡¯s one of the possessed?¡±

    ¡®Possessed?¡¯ I kept my ears sharp and focused.

    ¡°Hey,¡± Lia mumbled.

    ¡°Quiet.¡±

    ¡°Hey!¡± She pulled.

    ¡°What?¡± I snapped back.

    She shrunk down a little, sniffled once and pointed at the forest. Boars, or rather baby boars. Three. They saw us and then ran like crazy.

    ¡®Is it possible¡­¡¯

    ¡°They¡¯re cute,¡± she said, taking a few steps and then running straight after them, going past the damn wall. Fast!

    ¡®Why did they leave the damn door open¡­¡¯ I sighed. And although the conversation inside was quite interesting, I sort of gave up and ran after Lia.

    She was taller than me, and more agile. Meanwhile my fat legs could hardly sustain walking speed, so running was both draining and exhausted my lungs faster than I could call for the goat.

    Goat!

    ¡°Wah!¡± I faked a cry.

    Rustle!

    BAAA!!!

    My lovely white goat!

    Bigger than a typical goat, she was at least half the size of a typical cow. And she showed up every time I remotely cried. Always.

    Sometimes I wondered if she was sort of a guardian angel but I figured she was related to mother. I mean, I had no real way of knowing either. But anyway- I went closer to my white goat (technically my milk mother) and patted her; she licked my ears, and offered her breasts in case I needed a drink. I shook my head and pointed at the forest, hoping she¡¯d understand. But instead, she was hellbent on taking me back. But I was pretty much dead set on going in.

    Yet, every time I took a step, she bit my shirt and pulled me away. But¡­ I didn¡¯t give up- ¡°She¡¯s there-¡± I mumbled. ¡°She ran-¡± I said again.

    This world was special and everything in this world was special. So, it didn¡¯t hurt to at least attempt to strike a conversation or so I thought. But I didn¡¯t think it would lead anywhere. I mean, I was talking to a literal goat. Granted she was my milk mother but still!

    A goat!

    BAAAHH!! She roared wildly, bit my shirt firm, hoisted me in the air and lowered her legs just enough so I fell on her back. Guess, I was going to be hoisted back home.

    Yet, she took steps toward the girl. Lia was gone a while ago but¡­ but we finally started closing in the supposed gap.

    She dashed like a horse, literally. Even with my chubby ass on her back, she ran hard, harder than I could ever.

    I held her neck fur like my life depended on it and it did. Maybe I even hurt her a little yet, she didn¡¯t care and just marched.

    In a minute, we caught up to Lia and the small boars. But the little things were already dead, and Lia was on her bottom staring at something. And that something was staring back.

    ¡°Get on, we need to leave!¡± I didn¡¯t fucking care about fluency or whatever. We had to leave, now.

    But, Lia was frozen, the ground beneath her, wet from her urine.

    Of course, she was. After all, in front of us¡­ a literal tiger devoured one of the dead boars, splattering its guts everywhere. A two headed tiger.

 Chapter 9: Two headed Tiger

    The tiger growled as it eyed us, blood dripping from its mouth.

    ¡°Big cat¡­¡± I mumbled, trying to get some sense into Lia. But the girl was a lost cause, she hadn¡¯t moved a fucking inch. At one point I thought she might have become a stone or something but no, she just frozen in fear.

    The goat eyed me, and I eyed the it back, we clearly understood the situation but it was basically too late.

    Either run now while using Lia as bait or die together. I was technically already dead and I had no idea if I was going to be reincarnated again if I died but¡­ but- I liked this damn life and I liked how things were right now. I didn¡¯t want to lose it all.

    So, the most optimum solution was to run for my life, and run with the goat.

    Yet- ¡°MOOOOM!!!¡± I screamed at the top of my lungs, grabbed a stray branch and braced myself. She always wanted to hear that word but, but now she was probably never going to¡­ so technically, my farewell. ¡®No, no what the fuck am I thinking. Get your fucking head outta the gutter! We gonna survive this!¡¯

    Grrr¡­ the tiger however just glared. It was big, bigger than a typical tiger. I¡¯d seen them in zoos. Those cats were obviously big but this damn thing was bigger than a cow and it had two fucking heads. Both almost sneering at us.

    Ba- the goat slammed her hoofs on the ground. Buzz¡­ electricity streaked in the air, no, it streaked near her horn and grew a ball of streaking light.

    ¡°Magic-¡± I mumbled, grabbing Lia firm, but she wasn¡¯t moving¡­ slap! So, I slapped the hell out of her and pulled her back.

    CRACK! The electro ball of whatever it was, flew and crashed into tiger. Electricity buzzed all around the fucking tiger but¡­ but it wasn¡¯t affected. ¡°Rrr¡­¡± It was almost as though the tiger understood our powerlessness and was laughing at us¡­

    ¡°It¡¯s a fiend¡­¡± the words escaped my mouth. And although Lia had moved, her shaking legs couldn¡¯t carry her weight so she again fell on her behind.

    This was hopeless.

    Fucking, hopeless.

    I had no real talent. When I first popped up in this world, and got carried home by an elf, I distinctly believed I¡¯d have magical powers and an adventure when I grew up. But reality often hits hard, and I got fucked in the ability lottery. Now I probably wouldn¡¯t even be able to grow older. I was afraid mother would stop being mother after I grew up. But fucking hell, I was going to die here.Stolen novel; please report.

    However- ¡®The least I can do is go down in style.¡¯ Last time I got murdered by a fucking train and my own best friend. This time though. ¡°ARGHH!!!¡± I screamed, throwing the stick as best as I could.

    Thud. But it just fell on its feet, powerless.

    Fuck.

    BAAAHHH!

    But- I¡¯d distracted it. I¡¯d successfully distracted the damn thing and its heads for one second. And that was enough for my goat mother to impale the same thing with her electric horns. Or so I thought but the tiger jumped and as a foreboding familiar feeling coursed through my spine, time almost came to a halt.

    I could hear the sounds; I could feel my fleeting heart going crazy. And I could tell, the damn thing was jumping over me, but I wasn¡¯t its target. The shivering girl behind was instead.

    ¡®You could die.¡¯

    ¡®No, after her, you¡¯re next.¡¯

    ¡®That¡¯s why you should run.¡¯

    ¡®Run and go where? It¡¯s going to kill us both!¡¯

    ¡®Mother would come!¡¯

    ¡®But it will be too late by then!¡¯

    It was almost as though I was having a conversation with my own fucking self while the tiger just hung in the damn air. What the actual fuck was happening? I didn¡¯t know. I didn¡¯t quite understand it. However, ¡­ I could move- very slowly, but I could move.

    And I moved- just enough to¡­ get in the way.

    ¡°ARGHH!!!¡± it fell on me, bringing those damn teeth down on my feeble arm, impaling my skin like there was nothing there.

    Burning, stinging- stabbing pain!

    ¡°Arrggh- arrgh- aHH!¡± Drops of blood dripped down, as I flailed my powerless arms and legs trying to not let it cleave the damn arm off. Yet¡­ Yet it didn¡¯t let go, it enjoyed everything. But- but I hadn¡¯t given up. The pain was strong enough to make me go crazy and faint. But I didn¡¯t. I¡¯d already died. I knew what dying was like. And this wasn¡¯t it. This wasn¡¯t nearly enough to kill me. ¡°You want my arm? You can have it!¡± I punched the damn thing¡¯s eye with my other hand, and tried poking it. ¡°Do it, goat!¡± I screamed.

    And the goat?

    She rammed her horns into the tiger. Yeah, straight into its fucking asshole.

    RAAAA!!!

    It roared heinously, letting me go; I fell on top of Lia, barely able to stay conscious anymore. Too much blood loss, I was pretty much out of commission and at this rate, the goat too. But¡­

    I hope this was enough. I hope this was enough for mother to be proud.

    I heard their conversation even though I shouldn¡¯t have. They were probably talking about how I was possessed by demons or something like that. Meaning, even if I kept pretending, it was only a matter of time before she considered I wasn¡¯t who I was and¡­ that was probably the reason I hadn¡¯t run to her first thing when Lia ran away. Instead, I ran after Lia¡­ because I didn¡¯t want to confront mother, because I didn¡¯t want to confront that topic.

    And now¡­ I was never going to be able to-

    ¡°Sol!¡± Mother.

    She was here.

    She was¡­ she jumped past me, and cleaved the tiger¡¯s head in two with her short sword. And she immediately slid down on the ground, grabbing me to her chest. ¡°Mothe-¡± I managed but things just went dark. I vomited some blood and felt my life leave¡­ a very familiar feeling, the same one as before. the same terrible feeling from that back then.

    Mother, no, Mom was here.

    But in the end, I never really got to call her Mom huh? In the end, I was just haunted by my previous mom and her stranglehold.

    ¡°It¡¯ll be okay,¡± she said. My vision was gone but I could still hear her. Everything was going cold yet I could still feel her warmth. So comforting¡­ so¡­ warm.

    Perhaps one last time- ¡°Mom¡­¡± I mumbled, before everything just¡­ went cold.

 Chapter 10: Lindell Arnius

    Lin was sick of her friends, sick of them teasing her about her lack of taste.

    Every now and then they would gather and hunt for food and have some fun away from their families. Lin was an orphan so she never had any family, meaning she was always free and really looked forward to the gatherings.

    However, ¡°And that¡¯s why she can never get a man,¡± Den said. ¡°I mean who would stick out for a-¡±

    Eyes a little misty, Lin left. Usually, she fumed, cursed them, or just gave into the temptation and fought, beating Den to a pulp. However, that day¡­ she didn¡¯t bother. She just left the woods, and traveled due north, ready to leave the south, leave everything behind.

    She didn¡¯t have anything here, no family, no ties. Her friends probably didn¡¯t even consider her their friend. So, why would she stay behind in this mess?

    To her surprise, she was being trailed by those morons but they of course kept their distance. Lin understood leaving was stupid and she was going to change her mind halfway, but since those guys were following her, she kept up appearances and actually fumed even more.

    So, she kept going. She kept going for hours and hours and in the middle of the day¡­ reached a particular point in the field of grass.

    Something, no, a baby was there, in the grass. A naked, baby in the middle of virtually nowhere.

    She stared at the baby. ¡°Are you alone too?¡± She said.

    ¡®I¡¯m talking to a baby?¡¯ She almost chuckled to herself but didn¡¯t. Cause her friends were here.

    The baby had taken a liking to her and stared at her, almost in a daze of sorts. Maybe he¡¯d never seen a Southerner before?

    ¡°Get away from that thing,¡± Den said.

    It wasn¡¯t unheard of extraordinarily high rank fiends to possess the corpses of fallen children and use them as bait to lure in prey. And everyone there knew that. Precisely why they pointed their bows at an innocent child.

    It pissed Lin off. To the point, she ground her teeth, and glared. She¡¯d experienced something similar in the past. When her parents died, no one took her in. They stayed away from her, out of fear. Fear that she might die and then invite strong fiends¡­.

    But she didn¡¯t die. And she wasn¡¯t going to let this kid die here either.

    She picked him up firm in her embrace and faced her friends, or rather former friends. ¡°Buzz off, he¡¯s mine~!¡±

    And walked away.Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.

    ¡°Ow come on¡­!¡± Den grumbled and although the others felt the same, they didn¡¯t or rather couldn¡¯t say anything.

    They stayed in the sidelines all this time, watched the two fight and enjoyed it, and now¡­ they were powerless to do anything anymore.

    Lin took the boy back home, tried her best to raise him on her own. She didn¡¯t have milk, but she did have her guardian angel, Sisna, who came by every time the boy was hungry and cried.

    How old was he? Five months at best? Yet the boy was so patient and so well behaved. Lin did have the lingering feelings that it was possible he was possessed but, but she dismissed it the moment she felt his warmth. She named him Soleir Arnius, after her grandfather Solstar.

    Sol was her light in the darkness. The only thing left in her life. The only thing she could fight for.

    And it didn¡¯t matter what the world said, what the church said, she was going to raise him, she was going to raise him to be a good man.

    ¡­

    ¡°No,¡± she said. ¡°He¡¯s not possessed,¡± Lin said.

    Lyra took a sip. ¡°Well, if you say so. But what¡¯s your secret then? How¡¯s he so damn well behaved and mature?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not sure but¡­ I think he might have some lingering memories of his previous life.¡±

    ¡°Wait¡­ really? Then he might be a hero candidate? I¡¯ve been hearing rumors about the demons being restless. It¡¯s possible.¡± Lyra leaned in, a twinkle in her eyes.

    ¡°No, he¡¯s below average. With no particular talent for magic.¡±

    ¡°That bad, huh?¡± Lyra sighed. ¡°Then just raising him would be tough. But given how mature he is already I doubt the church would be able to do anything to him. They surely won¡¯t give up though.¡±

    ¡°I won¡¯t let them.¡±

    Lyra giggled. ¡°Yeah, I know. But you won¡¯t be here forever. Besides¡­ you haven¡¯t told him about the Passing, have you?¡±

    ¡°Not ye-¡±

    ¡°Moooom¡­!¡±

    Her ears perked up for a second, almost disregarding everything Lyra said. A tiny voice, Lin heard a tiny voice but her ears picked up the voice anyway. She staggered up, the chair fell flat on the ground with a thud.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Lyra stood up.

    ¡°It¡¯s Sol. He never calls me Mom, yet¡­ yet I felt he called out to me.¡±

    ¡°Might just be your imagination. I didn¡¯t hear-¡± She paused. ¡°I don¡¯t sense their presence anywhere near us.¡±

    ¡°Exactly!¡±

    So she ran, she ran straight out, and then noticed foot prints and hoof prints. ¡°Sisna was with them¡­.¡± She almost groaned. ¡°He never calls me mom. Something happened,¡± she ran faster.

    Lyra jumped around in the trees but couldn¡¯t keep up. ¡°We got that much!¡±

    They ran fast and by the time Lin reached the end, it was already over. Sol was hunched over Lia, both a bloody mess and Sisna was engaging a Dual Head Tiger. A midrank fiend.

    Lia¡¯s mind went empty, as she jumped past the boy and cleaved the tiger¡¯s head in a split second. She didn¡¯t care about anything or anyone else, she just grabbed her boy to her chest. And that¡¯s when she realized, the blood¡­ all of it was Sol¡¯s.

    ¡®Oh no¡­¡¯ Her chest went cold.

    The boy was going to die.

    Sol¡­ was going to die.

    ¡°Mothe-¡±

    But he was still conscious, surely- ¡°It¡¯s going to be alright,¡± she tried to sound as reassuring as possible but she herself wasn¡¯t sure.

    ¡°Mom¡­¡± But just then for the first time ever, he called her mom¡­ and went out cold.

    Lin¡¯s eyes leaked, despite her not crying. She just sat there, dazed, unable to close them. Yet, they just leaked.

    ¡°Baah¡­¡± the goat came closer, and started licking Sol¡¯s wounds.

    Lin instinctively tried to move the boy but the goat, Sisna rammed Lin away and kept on licking the boy¡¯s wounds.

    ¡°What is it doing?¡± Lyra descended, grabbed her kid and after making sure she was alright, brought her attention to the glowing goat and the glowing boy.

    The boy stopped glowing as did the goat¡­ and then the goat started leaving, before disappearing completely the goat looked over at Lin and the boy once, and then dashed off.

    ¡°Sharing,¡± Lin said, dragging her little boy back to her chest.

 Chapter 11: Mom

    I got careless. Really careless.

    When the girl ran after those piglets, I should have just told mother and Lyra. I should have informed them and only then ran after her. And when the goat wanted me to not go after Lia¡­ I should have just listened.

    Yet, I didn¡¯t.

    I ran after her. I tried to be a hero. I tried to protect her, so mother would be proud. In the end, I was still the same scared little child. I hadn¡¯t changed at all. I hadn¡¯t grown up at all. Even after leaving home, even after dying.

    And now I was dead again.

    I couldn¡¯t feel anything, I couldn¡¯t hear anything. Just darkness. Just like last time. But unlike the last time, I didn¡¯t open my eyes in a grass field. I wasn¡¯t picked up by an elf. Nothing happened at all.

    I guess, you only got reincarnated once. You only got one chance, and now that I blew it, everything was over. Guess I should have seen this coming.

    Who was I kidding? It wasn¡¯t like I was some fantasy protagonist. I was just a typical guy with literally nothing to show for. I was just a typical guy with no real talent. I was just¡­ a wannabe. A pretender.

    I got to play pretend till the end. Was my new mother proud of that? Did she cry afterwards? Or was she going to forget me and move on-

    No. She wouldn¡¯t. Our time was short but¡­ but she genuinely loved me. It wasn¡¯t just a show. I really felt loved, way more than I ever did back on earth. So, if this was a lie, if my mother was a lie, then¡­ love really didn¡¯t exist.

    ¡°Sol-¡± A faint voice.

    Wait, was my mother just screaming nonstop?

    Give me a break, I was dead. At least let me die in peace. Move on, find a lover, have kids and raise them well. But more importantly, be happy this time around.

    ¡°SOL!¡±

    Gasp! My breath jumpstarted as I stared at the blindingly white light before me. My ears rung and I couldn¡¯t keep my darn eyes open. No, it wasn¡¯t that bright. We were still in the forest. The fresh smell of blood almost made me gag but¡­ but the first face I stared at, Mother¡¯s face put me at ease. She¡¯d been crying nonstop and screaming my name no less.

    She smiled, yet tears dripped down her face. She didn¡¯t cry anymore. She just smiled. A warm smile.

    ¡°Wh-wha happ?¡± I tried to talk but words got stuck. I couldn¡¯t. The world spun, I felt lightheaded and kind of drunk. Like that one time, I¡¯d ran into the cellar, grabbed a bottle of red wine and drank half of it. Tasted sour and sweet and bitter and great! The world spun around in amazing colors. And I felt absolutely shit the other day from both the hangover and my dad unfortunately finding out.This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

    ¡°You did well,¡± she said. ¡°You did really well,¡± she repeated.

    I breathed a sigh and my vision was slowly going dark again. However, ¡­ I knew for a fact, I wasn¡¯t dead and wasn¡¯t dying.

    Why?

    Because mother was here. And she was going to take care of everything.

    ***

    Apparently, I came and went a couple of times over the next couple of days and when I finally woke up a week later, I got greeted with all the Southerners.

    They got worried and came to check on me. But then never left. We just had a small hut in the woods, and there wasn¡¯t nearly enough space for them, so most of them just camped outside but, yeah, these people cared a lot about Lin.

    Speaking of Lin, she hadn¡¯t eaten much of anything since last week and allegedly cut the tiger in pieces before feeding the meat to the fish and other weaker monsters. Yeah, Mother was scary as hell.

    What¡¯s worse, she¡¯d only cut one head of the tiger and the other one was pretty much alive, but helpless, slowly bleeding out the entire time and feeling everything. Meaning, the thing actually felt the whole ¡®being cut to pieces¡¯ whilst alive too.

    ¡®Never ever underestimate that woman ever again!¡¯ I again etched the words on my very soul.

    ¡°And that concludes what I heard,¡± Den said.

    The others were celebrating that I woke up. Mother was crying in the corner. This was only the second time I saw her cry. But she wasn¡¯t sad or anything, those were tears of joy as far as I could tell.

    Anyway, apparently, after biting me, the thing went after the goat and got one of its head cleaved by mother. That much I knew. But after I went out cold, the goat actually sacrificed a bit of her life force and gave it to me, so I didn¡¯t die. And the goat, was technically a spirit called Sisna, who happened to be Mother¡¯s guardian spirit.

    Den went back to Mother, and more or less patted her shoulder while she cried.

    ¡®When did you two get so close?¡¯

    ¡°Would I see her again?¡± I asked. I stared at my arm and it was still here, drowsed in bandages and herbs. I couldn¡¯t move it at all. No, it wasn¡¯t that I didn¡¯t have any sense in the arm, it was just that¡­ darn thing hurt like a thousand fucking needles at once! Argh! ¡®Well, they have bandages at least.¡¯

    ¡°Who, Lia? She¡¯s sitting pretty locked in her room, and wouldn¡¯t come out but sure, I¡¯m sure she¡¯ll come around,¡± Lyra said. I hadn¡¯t noticed her at all.

    They were all here though, they just hadn¡¯t said much and I couldn¡¯t move much. ¡®It¡¯ll be a real pain to go toilet huh¡­.¡¯ Just thinking about it made me cringe and feel shit.

    ¡°Uh-huh¡­¡± I said. It was going to be pretty awkward if I mentioned that I was actually talking about the goat spirit but oh well.

    Anyway- I looked over at Mother who more or less had stopped crying and came over to me. She sat down, smooched me on the forehead and patted my head. ¡°Well done. You saved her life. But next time you pull that, I¡¯ll slap you ten times,¡± she smiled.

    She was not kidding, no.

    And with her barbaric strength? ¡°You¡¯ll probably kill me, so please don¡¯t¡­Mother.¡±

    I got a lot of chuckles. ¡°Oh, and it¡¯s Mom, remember?¡± She smooched me again, this time on my cheek.

    ¡°Okay, okay, Mom¡­¡± My face burned a bit¡­

    ¡°Oh, he was embarrassed to call you mom¡­¡± Zena sneered.

    Yeah, not quite.

    ¡°You can call me Mama if you prefer,¡± Mom said. Proudly smirking.

    ¡°Mother,¡± I said.

    She sighed. ¡°Alright, alright¡­¡± She rolled her eyes. ¡°See, I told you he¡¯s just teasing me.¡± She complained to her friends.

    Now they all laughed.

    And with that, my heroics came to an end. And I didn¡¯t end up dead either.

    And for the first time, I was actually able to call Mother, Mom, without worrying about it too damn much.

    But Mom made it very clear that I was never to try that shit ever again. No sir!

 Chapter 11.5: Denkar Borges

    I was maybe too hard on Lin.

    She was boasting about how men just weren¡¯t her type and they were such brutes and all that. It pissed me off. To the point where I lashed out at her. I told her, she would never get a man in the first place because of that attitude. Or at least I tried to.

    But I didn¡¯t believe that. Heck, if anything that attitude was cute in a way. I expected her to lash out at me as usual. We always made fun of each other, always dishing out insults. Always together. And I expected us to be together in the future too.

    However- Lin cried.

    For the second time in my life, I saw her tears.

    I saw her¡­ crying.

    Lin ran off, and I couldn¡¯t go after her. My friends were awfully quiet today and although they tried to console me in their own ways, it wasn¡¯t working. Yet, I couldn¡¯t just stay put either. ¡®I¡¯ve to apologize.¡¯

    So, with a deep breath, I trailed her. Lin was mad. But eventually she¡¯ll come around. When her anger calmed enough, I could just apologize and-

    And¡­ Lin found a baby.

    ¡°Get away from that thing!¡± I screamed.

    No, not because I believed it to a possessed of a monster. I didn¡¯t feel anything of that sort from that baby. I just¡­ I just didn¡¯t want it to be near her. I was afraid. Afraid it would take her away.

    I was afraid.

    But Lin didn¡¯t listen. She took the baby in and stopped seeing us, and even told us to not get near her.

    And I couldn¡¯t do or say anything¡­.

    ¡°You know, you¡¯re a wuss,¡± Zena said one day.

    We were out hunting. Like we usually did. Just without Lin. She wasn¡¯t an integral part of the hunt but she had the skills to basically replace any one of us if she wanted. She was far too versatile¡­ and she was one of us.

    Yet- she was gone. All because of me.

    ¡°I know,¡± I said.

    ¡°Since you know, you should go apologize, yeah?¡± Xerec yelled, slicing off the deer¡¯s leg.

    ¡°I did but¡­ she just won¡¯t listen.¡±

    Zena whined. ¡°Idiot.¡±Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.

    The others sneered, almost like they understood something I didn¡¯t. Maybe they did. And maybe I didn¡¯t. But, it was too late. The baby was growing up, and Lin was too occupied with that.

    And as I was afraid, things just¡­ remained stagnated.

    Until, one day, out of nowhere, Lin showed up on my door.

    ¡°I need you with me,¡± she said. ¡°We¡¯re storming the church.¡±

    ¡°You¡­ what?¡± First of all, I was confused. Lin never liked the church. But even she wasn¡¯t stupid enough to storm the place.

    And second, seriously, she wanted to storm a church?

    ¡°You coming or what?¡± She walked away.

    I grabbed my quiver and my bow. ¡°I¡¯m coming, I¡¯m coming!¡±

    Apparently, Lin wanted to threaten the priests so they didn¡¯t report anything back to the headquarters in the west.

    And although she was a distinguished warrior herself, she needed some leverage to her words. And that¡¯s where I came in. I was her bargaining chip. If they told the head church about her boy, I¡¯d go and murder their families¡­. Obviously, I wasn¡¯t stupid enough to actually murder priest families and spend the rest of my days in isolation, but Lin was. Which was why, I played along. And luckily the priests were westerners who were somewhat afraid of us. They were far from home, far from their families, and far from the protection of the head bishop.

    However, I knew for a fact, things wouldn¡¯t last. Our threats were only as strong as we. And eventually, we¡¯ll grow old. Eventually, we¡¯ll be unable to protect the boy. He¡¯ll be on his own.

    Which only meant the boy would have to grow up strong.

    So, I showed up at their place, I spoke with the boy, and surprisingly, the little thing was quite mature for its age. But it was still a baby and demanded attention. While tending to the thing, I weirdly made up with Lin. And we were friends again.

    We even went out hunting and¡­ honestly things were good for once.

    I was friends with her, and if things worked out¡­ maybe I could even be more. Maybe.

    ¡°Hey, did you hear? That brat, stood up to a Dual Head tiger,¡± Serec said one day, out of literally nowhere.

    We often hung out, went drinking, partying and stuff. He was married but he loved fun, and I loved hanging out. This was one of those times. We¡¯d hardly even started drinking.

    ¡°Huh? Dual head? You¡¯re joking.¡± I shrugged. Surely that kid wasn¡¯t stupid enough to.

    I mean, for his age he was mature, and he was quite sensible. He wasn¡¯t possessed but I had a feeling he might have carried some memories from his last life. Which did bring the question, why he was so damn weak. But life was hardly fair. So, it was understandable. However, that boy wasn¡¯t conceited enough to challenge a monster of that caliber.

    ¡°Oh, he did. He stood up to the tiger to protect Lina. Or was it Lima? What was Lyra¡¯s third brat called again?¡±

    ¡°Lia¡­¡± I mumbled, stared out the window. Already evening, ¡°When was this again? And how¡¯s he?¡±

    ¡°I heard this morning. He was dead, I heard.¡±

    ¡°Fuck¡­¡± the words leaked out.

    I didn¡¯t like the boy. I didn¡¯t hate him either. But, but we had an understanding amongst us. And¡­ Lin loved the boy. If he was truly gone¡­ ¡®I need to be by her side. I need to-¡¯

    Breath erratic, I ran, I climbed, and I jumped around, till I reached her house.

    I ran in, found Lin, and hugged her tight. ¡°I heard. I¡¯m so sorry,¡± I said.

    She didn¡¯t shove me away. She just¡­ embraced me back. Not a word.

    But it was then I realized, the kid wasn¡¯t really dead. He was in a bed, bandaged, herbs slathered all over him; definitely not dead. Serec lied? Or maybe he didn¡¯t know. ¡®Act quick man, act quick¡­!¡¯

    ¡°Can I-¡± I said, gulping. ¡°Teach him some things? He eventually needs to learn how to defend himself so this doesn¡¯t happen.¡±

    ¡°Hmm¡­¡± She nodded or at least I felt she did. She moved back, wiped some tears. ¡°Yeah,¡± she said.

    She was crying. For the boy.

    And she needed someone by her side. And I was going to be that someone. Maybe not a special someone. But as her friend.

    For now at least.

 Chapter 12: Did This World Have Cake Though?

    So apparently, Lia blamed the whole thing on herself and shut herself in her room, and though I was fine, refused to see me.

    Fine by me, I didn¡¯t want to be friends with a literal idiot like that either. But, it kind of felt wrong at the same time; she was three for crying out loud. So, I kind of volunteered to help. Definitely not because I was trying to impress Mom or anything.

    Aka, go over to Lyra¡¯s place and uh, yeah.

    ¡®What am I even doing?¡¯

    After nearly two whole weeks of recovering, Mom took me over to Lia¡¯s place. I was pretty busted and she more or less had to change my bandages frequently. She wouldn¡¯t let me see the wounds but I had a feeling I didn¡¯t have much meat on my arms. I mean, I could tell. And I couldn¡¯t really move my arm much. It hurt, but it was also quite numb. But, I could at least move around now.

    They lived close to the rice paddies, so it was somewhat of a familiar terrain. And not just Lyra, Apparently Den and Zena also lived nearby.

    But I could visit them later. For now, I stood by Lia¡¯s door, unable to muster enough courage to knock.

    Their house was pretty much the same as ours just larger with two distinct floors and six rooms while we just had two rooms. And they had like five people here. Lyra, her husband, and her kids. Two boys, who were both older than me and Lia. And apparently the fourth one was on the way, or so I heard.

    ¡®It¡¯s now or never dude. You came here for this!¡¯

    Mom and Lyra both just let me be and were doing other stuff. But I had a feeling they were keeping an eye on me, or us, so we didn¡¯t accidentally repeat our previous incident. For now though-

    Breath in, breath out¡­ Knock, knock!

    ¡°It¡¯s me¡­ Sol,¡± I said.

    No response. So I waited a minute. Maybe she wasn¡¯t wearing much and needed some time to get changed.A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

    But that time never came and the door didn¡¯t open.

    ¡®Or maybe she¡¯s sleeping?¡¯ So, I knocked again. ¡°We need to talk,¡± I said.

    Again, no response. I knocked with my left hand but even just moving my body made me tired, and kind of stung.

    I sighed. ¡°Look, if you don¡¯t want to talk, just say so. I¡¯m pretty busted up and staying like this is making me a little lightheaded. I¡¯d like to sit.¡±

    Nothing.

    So, after a minute or two, I gently stomped my feet, making a sound on purpose.

    If she still didn¡¯t open the door then¡­ that was that and I¡¯d just leave without a word.

    However¡­ squeak! The door opened, as she haphazardly came out to find the passed-out boy on the floor. I was anything but passed out though. I grabbed her hand, pulled her out of the room and pinned her next to the wall, staring. ¡°You look¡­ bad,¡± I said. Basically panting, I could hardly stay up and since I only pinned her with one arm, she could easily just slip out from the other side.

    My attempt at faking baby talk had mostly failed, so at this point I kind of started giving up halfway.

    She didn¡¯t look me in the eye, and just kept her gaze low. Dry skin, messy hair, more or less shit health.

    With a sigh, I let her go. ¡°It wasn¡¯t your fault. I did what I wanted to do,¡± I said, and kept on walking. ¡°And while I don¡¯t think you consider me your friend, if you ever need a friend, I¡­¡± I didn¡¯t finish, or rather, I didn¡¯t get to.

    She¡¯d grabbed my shirt, and pulled it¡­ eyes moist, she didn¡¯t say word. At least for a few minutes. She finished silently crying and stared at me. ¡°Thank you¡­ Sol.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re welcome. Lia.¡±

    ***

    Lia spent the vast majority of the evening gulping down food and water like she was starving for days. She proceeded to unload everything right back up an hour or so later though. Yeah, not eating for a while and then eating a lot at the same time probably wasn¡¯t the best way of going about this, especially if you were as young as her. But it was her choice, so oh well.

    But¡­ at least she came out of her room. And even if she blamed herself, she was right. Because it was her fault. It was her fault she got into that. But it wasn¡¯t her fault I got hurt. That was my choice, and I wanted to make that bit clear.

    Anyway, we came back home and Mom made me some soup.

    ¡°Lately that goat isn¡¯t showing up anymore,¡± I said. ¡°Is it because I don¡¯t need milk anymore?¡± I asked.

    I was two and a half, ready to just let go of milk.

    ¡°Maybe,¡± Mom said. ¡°Drink it all,¡± she said, leaving the room.

    She often changed the subject or downright avoided it when I spoke about the goat. That goat had saved my life, and¡­ I wanted to thank her at the very least.

    But¡­ ¡®I guess you can¡¯t have your cake and eat it¡­¡¯ I¡¯d just have to try again later.

    Come to think of it, did this world have cake though?

 Chapter 13: We Understood Each Other

    I was recovering. But quite slowly. Mom changed my bandage a couple of times over the last few weeks and even applied herbs and stuff but the arm just felt weak.

    It wasn¡¯t until the fourth week, aka, after a whole month did I finally see the outcome. My arm, or rather what was left of it, didn¡¯t look that different from a typical arm. It was just that¡­ it was missing meat in some places; awkwardly sewn together like Frankenstein. At one particular place, I barely saw any meat whatsoever. Just a thin bone and skin that was barely attached. The whole arm was calloused and full of weird pus like yellow liquid. Gross!

    ¡®No wonder it¡¯s so weak.¡¯ And it was my dominant right arm no less. ¡®Doesn¡¯t this mean I¡¯m fucked for life.¡¯ Well at least it didn¡¯t stink.

    No wait, considering how I didn¡¯t have any good abilities, I was already fucked for life. I had to be grateful I had an arm and at least it at least moved

    I sighed. A really, extravagant exaggerated sigh.

    ¡°What?¡± Mom said. She cleaned my wound, and without making a disgusted face like I did. ¡°What¡¯s wrong? Hurts?¡±

    ¡°No. It¡¯s just that¡­¡± I chuckled. ¡°I¡¯m so weak¡­¡±

    Now, Mom sighed. ¡°You¡¯re not weak¡­ you¡¯re just a little different now.¡±

    ¡®Yeah, like changing the way you view your disability is going to make it any different.¡¯ I rolled my eyes but didn¡¯t quite say anything.

    Lately, we had fairly fluent conversations, and I didn¡¯t bother to hide my intellect. And Mom didn¡¯t quite view me as suspicious either. At least I thought she didn¡¯t. I still didn¡¯t find out anything about this ¡®possessed¡¯ thing and honestly, I didn¡¯t want to fight out. Just yet.

    Sitting back and just staring at the damn wall all day was getting awfully boring. But this world didn¡¯t have books. No, strike that. I didn¡¯t know if there were books or not. Just because Mom didn¡¯t have any, didn¡¯t mean there weren¡¯t any books at all. Besides, she taught me to read, so there had to be books!

    ¡®She didn¡¯t teach me math though¡­¡¯ ¡°Mom.¡±

    ¡°Yeah?¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s five plus five?¡±

    ¡°Um¡­ uh- Ten?¡±

    ¡°How about ten divided by 5?¡±

    ¡°2?¡±

    ¡°Forty times 3?¡±

    ¡°Um¡­uh¡­100!¡±

    No, that¡¯s 120.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

    Hmm¡­ so she knew basic math. But didn¡¯t quite know enough.

    Hmm¡­.

    ¡°Did you,¡± Mom paused. ¡°No, never mind.¡±

    She seemed to be a little conflicted. Was she thinking about that possessed thing?

    ¡®Wait, she didn¡¯t teach me math but I still.¡¯ I groaned inwardly. No, no, wait. Though she messed up, I didn¡¯t say the right answer. Still safe, we were still safe!

    Back then, Mom and Lyra were having a conversation. A conversation I didn¡¯t want to barge in, because I was afraid to. ¡°What¡¯s a Possessed?¡± I spoke. And the minute I did, I regretted it.

    After all¡­ Mom¡¯s expression crumbled. She sighed anew. ¡°It¡¯s when monsters, really high ranked monsters, take over the corpses of young children.¡±

    ¡°And you guys think I might be one of them?¡± ¡®Why the hell did I say that?¡¯ Perhaps curious¡­ perhaps afraid.

    ¡°Wh-no!¡± She slouched closer. ¡°No.¡±

    ¡°I-¡± I wanted to tell her.

    I wanted to tell her, I wasn¡¯t from this world. I wanted to tell her¡­ I had memories of a different life.

    I¡­

    ¡°I love you, Mom.¡±

    She snickered. ¡°I love you too, Solni.¡± Giggling, she moved back. ¡°By the way¡­ I¡¯ve made soup.¡±

    ¡°More soup¡­¡± I groaned. Actually, milk was better than soup in this world. It was just veg flavored water without any spice other than salt. Argh¡­.

    Or maybe Mom just didn¡¯t know how to cook¡­ but I discarded that possibility immediately.

    ¡°It has meat in it though,¡± Mom said, smirking.

    ¡°Meat!¡±

    Finally!

    ***

    Okay, I had to admit, the meat flavored soup was actually pretty good. And mother added some spices, cumin and coriander seeds. But considering how little she used and how she didn¡¯t use it on anything else, the spices were either very rare, or very pricy or maybe even both.

    Still, it was pretty delicious though. And Mom had cut the meat in such small pieces, I could eat and chew for once! She only gave me very little amount of meat though.

    It took me some time to notice but, Mom had never handled a baby and knew virtually nothing about babies. She didn¡¯t bother contacting her friends for the first year, for some odd reason and that¡¯s why she didn¡¯t feed me anything other than just goat milk back then. But after having multiple conversations with Lyra, she started giving me solid food. She was still super careful though.

    I didn¡¯t know why but I found that oddly cute.

    Knock! Knock!

    Mom opened the door. A wild Den had showed up. And he¡¯d bought¡­ birds? No, Chicken!

    ¡®This world has chicken!¡¯ Let¡¯s goo!

    But upon closer inspection, those weren¡¯t chicken. Chicken wasn¡¯t that big and chicken didn¡¯t have two heads. Not just two heads, they even had multiple eyes and¡­ wait, weren¡¯t these birds just¡­ those ¡®good fortune¡¯ ones? They were oddly fat though.

    Well, Mom did say they tasted good, so I guess oh well.

    Den gave the birds to Mom and came over to me. ¡°How¡¯re you doing?¡±

    ¡°Better than before,¡± I said, giving my arm a look; Mom had only just applied some herbs. No matter how I stared at it, it was pretty busted and I was probably never going to be the same.

    ¡°Good. Rest well. Starting next month, we¡¯ll start training.¡±

    ¡°Training?¡±

    ¡°She hasn¡¯t told you?¡± Den looked back but Mom didn¡¯t give him the time of day. Rolling his eyes, his brought his gaze back to me. ¡°Yes, train you. So this,¡± he pointed at my busted arm. ¡°Doesn¡¯t happen again. Of course, you have the right to say no. But,¡± he came closer, eyes dead center, no blinks. ¡°Think how much she will be sad if you just died in a ditch like last time.¡±

    ¡°One, I¡¯m not dead. Two, I wasn¡¯t just dead because I wanted to. And three¡­ you¡¯re right, I need to train.¡±

    He moved back. ¡°Kid already makes excuses,¡± he proclaimed loudly.

    ¡°Pretty sure, he has a point,¡± Mom said, almost dumping a bowl full of Soup on Den¡¯s chest but somehow Den stabilized that.

    Man that was close. I almost resisted the urge to scream.

    ¡°Uh-huh¡­.¡± Den chuckled and started drinking. ¡°Oh, this is good!¡±

    ¡°I know, right,¡± I smirked.

    He smirked back.

    Yep, we understood each other.

 Chapter 14: However

    Exactly a month later, Den dragged me out of the hut and took me to the outskirts of the forest. I hadn¡¯t yet seen this part.

    Just endless fields of grass and grass¡­ no, wait, I had. Mom found me around here. Brought back memories. Back then I couldn¡¯t even stand up on my own feet. Mom took me in, fed me, kept me safe and taught me everything I knew about the world. If she hadn¡¯t¡­ maybe I wouldn¡¯t have made it. Maybe some stray monster would have just eaten me. Come to think of it, what was this body doing before I came to this world? I didn¡¯t bother thinking about this before because well¡­ I didn¡¯t want to think about having killed the previous owner and take over the body. ¡®But isn¡¯t that the same thing as the ¡®possessed¡¯ mother spoke about.¡¯ yeah, just worrying about all this wasn¡¯t going to get me anywhere. Besides, if it was really alive and all that, it wouldn¡¯t have been just randomly abandoned in a field, right?

    I looked up at Den, his head blocked the sun and it was kind of blinding; he looked down and then without a word, he kept on walking. Was this dude going to take me to the site where he found me and explain how I wasn¡¯t a real Southerner and stuff? Too bad I already understood that crap.

    Actually, Den took a few steps and stopped, turned and grinned. Not the gentle kind. ¡®I¡¯m gonna eat you up¡¯ kind. He was probably going to beat the shit out of me.

    ¡°How¡¯s the arm,¡± he said.

    ¡°Better than before. Still can¡¯t move it well though,¡± I said.

    I had mostly recovered. Moving my arm wasn¡¯t painful anymore and I didn¡¯t need herbs layered on top. I was hoping we¡¯d have some wild healing potion or maybe some healing magic at least¡­ but neither seemed likely. I didn¡¯t even get to see a doctor, assuming there was one. Instead, Mom just used some herbs on my arm and that seemed to be enough.

    I was glad we were over that messy pus-filled gross phase. However, I never really grew the meat back, and the whole boney look on some places didn¡¯t look the least appealing; the scarred look didn¡¯t suit my juvenile body either. If the Southerners didn¡¯t like me before, they were definitely not going to like me now. Speaking of Southerners, these folk were mostly tall, white people. I did see some variation of color, but that was oddly rare.

    Den threw a wooden knife at my feet. ¡°Pick it up and try attacking me. You know what we¡¯re doing out here, right?¡± He had his bow on his back, and sword stuck to his waist. He didn¡¯t draw either.

    ¡°Yes?¡±

    ¡°Good.¡± He clapped once, as if to signify he was ready.

    I picked up the wooden knife, grabbed it firm and ran ahead swinging awkwardly with my left hand, only to be dodged and then slapped on the back. Yeah, he definitely just wanted to spank me. ¡°Again!¡± He screamed.

    Moving this lazy body drained more stamina than I¡¯d anticipated, so I was a little out of breath; it only got worse. The whole thing repeated a couple of times before my frail body finally gave up.This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

    On the grass, amidst the bugs I panted, staring at that beautiful blue sky. Some white fluffy clouds. Since when was the last time, I saw a sky to calm and peaceful?

    During my two years here, I never once saw the sky growing dark. Sometimes it grew grey and rained but¡­ never dark. I never saw any storms or lighting. It was surprisingly peaceful here. And even out here, there were no monsters.

    ¡°She said you were below average and she was not kidding, no,¡± Den sat down, sighing.

    Mom was a pretty versatile warrior, or so I¡¯d heard. But she never really attempted to teach me anything related to fighting. Maybe she didn¡¯t want me to pursue fighting. Or maybe she didn¡¯t want to bother since I wasn¡¯t worth it? No, that didn¡¯t seem likely. She actually cared. So, there was another reason¡­.

    ¡°Yeah,¡± I said. ¡°The priest said I was worthless or something, but Mom beat him up. So be careful.¡±

    ¡°Well, I don¡¯t think you¡¯re a waste,¡± he didn¡¯t look at me. He just stared at the distance. It was too damn peaceful to not watch.

    Grass swaying with the wind, a peaceful calm breeze. Some trees and huts in the distance. This world¡­ this place, was amazing. Those weird large two headed husky dogs were also pretty amazing. I could admire them all day! As long as they maintained their distance of course.

    ¡°Then why are we out here, when you know-¡±

    ¡°To assess you so I can properly build a regimen for you to train,¡± he shrugged. ¡°Normal training won¡¯t suit you.¡±

    ¡°Wait, you¡¯re building a regimen, just for me?¡±

    ¡°Yeah. You clearly lack stamina, even for a three-year-old, you¡¯re¡­.¡± He grimaced. ¡°Let¡¯s just say, you¡¯re going to have to run a lot from now on.¡±

    ¡°I can do that!¡± Yeah, I¡¯d been thinking the same. I was growing pretty lazy thanks to Mom babying me all the time; ever since the incident, she was hellbent on monitoring my every activity. ¡°But do you think¡­ do you think I can actually¡­ grow strong?¡±

    He flashed his teeth in a triumphant grin. ¡°Practice diligently and you¡¯ll turn out stronger than typical Southerners.¡±

    Better than nothing. As long as I was better than average, that was enough to flash a middle finger to the bastard priests and move on.

    ¡°Say Den,¡± I said. ¡°How come the church has so much power? Why do people not do anything about them?¡±

    ¡°Well, they control everything, from the nobility to even typical villages like ours.¡± He stood up, walked towards the forest and judging by that look, I was to follow him back.

    Wait, we lived in a village? I could have sworn, every house was its own village considering the next house was at least half a kilometer away. Or maybe that was just our huts.

    ¡°But think about it, they¡¯re just guys in robes. And Mom was clearly stronger-¡± I followed him.

    Den leaned closer. ¡°Such words would be seen as heretical and you¡¯d be branded as a Heathen.¡±

    ¡°Noted,¡± I said. ¡°But aren¡¯t there any other religions?¡±

    ¡°Religions? Yes, I believe there are some in the western world. But the Askavan church controls everything, so every minor religion is just snuffed out of existence. Besides, why would people even be interested in minor religions when everyone knows Askavan is the only true religion?¡±

    To be fair, I¡¯d asked the same question to Mom who vehemently answered- ¡°Don¡¯t bother wasting your efforts thinking about the church. They can¡¯t hurt you.¡± Obviously, she mistook my curiosity as fear instead.

    ¡°What is Askavan anyway?¡±

    ¡°God. Lin doesn¡¯t believe, so she didn¡¯t tell you but, but Askavan is the Dragon god of Lunara and he is the god everyone worships; allegedly all powerful.¡±

    ¡°You mean, there are other gods?¡± I tread carefully.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know. Frankly, I don¡¯t know if this dragon exists either.¡±

    ¡°Careful now, you don¡¯t want to be branded as a Heathen, do you?¡±

    He snickered and ruffled my hair. ¡°Wise words, kid.¡± He then picked me up and we were more or less done for the day.

    However.

    I did learn some very important things. One of which was the existence of this village. And if there was a village and a church, there had bound to be a library, right? I felt stupid for not thinking about that sooner.

 Chapter 15: Youll Like Him

    My training began from the next day.

    Den wanted to take things slow but steady. So, he made me run around the house twice, taught me how to do some pushups and set up a pull up bar so I could do those too. He didn¡¯t instruct me to do anything else like sit ups or skips. For now running, push-ups and pulls ups were enough.

    He did say he was going to increase the intensity every week and honestly, I agreed with him. Everything he did so far were very reasonable.

    Yet¡­ yet my pathetic chubby body couldn¡¯t even achieve that. I wasn¡¯t just weak, I was extra lazy. My weak arm was much less of a handicap than I thought. Maybe it just needed some movement? I could only do two push-ups and a single pull up though. I did everything, slowly, but I still did it anyway. And ended up in a panting session. I didn¡¯t have asthma but I sure felt like I had it, huffing for every breath.

    ¡°I¡¯ll tell Lin to give you more meat but do request extra if you¡¯re hungry. Meat is your friend from now on,¡± he said.

    We practiced in the outskirts of the forest just like the first time. He argued, it was good to be walking around and just walking enough should have helped me in the stamina department somewhat. But I was so out of it, he had to carry me back home on his back anyway.

    And honestly, this dude was really tall. Not as tall as Mother maybe an inch shorter but still that was already over six feet. And things from up here¡­ just different. I never had an experience like this in my previous life.

    ¡°Got it.¡±

    Den said he was eventually going to repeat this same thing in the afternoon and even take me to regular hunts from next year after my fifth birthday. The guy actually seemed to be really into it.

    Which was great but I was kind of starting to get a little suspicious. ¡°Mom¡¯s real pretty today, huh?¡±

    We watched Mom washing clothes and stuff in the pond. She was quite far away, so she probably couldn¡¯t hear us, even with that superhuman level hearing of hers.

    ¡°Yeah,¡± Den said.

    He wasn¡¯t the least bashful he just said it in a matter-of-fact manner. ¡®Hmm¡­¡¯ ¡°Lately, I¡¯m getting a little lonely, you know,¡± I said. ¡°Maybe it wouldn¡¯t be the case if I were to have a little brother or sister like Lia¡­¡± Speaking of Lia¡¯s younger sibling, Lyra was apparently 7 months in. Just two more months to go!

    The guy looked at me, almost squinting, almost infuriated. At least try to hide that a little, geez. ¡°Have you spoken to your mother about that, yet?¡±

    ¡°No, not yet.¡±This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

    ¡°Good. You want friends, right? I¡¯ll ask some kids to come play with you.¡±

    ¡°Well¡­ it¡¯s more like I wanted to see more of the village.¡±

    He sighed. ¡°I¡¯ll ask someone to take you around; actually, I¡¯ll just take you myself!¡± He put me down, scratched his head and walked away. ¡°And he¡¯s three?¡± I could have sworn I heard him say that as he kept on going. And no, I was three and a half, dude.

    Sometimes later Mom came back and looked around for Den. ¡°Where¡¯d he go?¡±

    ¡°Beats me.¡±

    We went back in the house and had lunch. Yeah, lotsa meat.

    ¡°Mom.¡±

    ¡°Yeah?¡±

    ¡°Den¡¯s a nice guy.¡±

    ¡°Yeah. Has a bad habit of saying weird things at times though. He¡¯s not as honest as he should be.¡±

    Weirdly that was true for others. But Den often just spoke frankly with me. And for better or less, he didn¡¯t try to put on a mask around me. Weird indeed.

    ¡°Yeah.¡±

    I wanted to give them a push but at the same time, it didn¡¯t seem like I needed to. They already liked each other and were moving at their own pace, at least that¡¯s the impression I got. I knew for sure Den liked Mom. And Mom respected Den but I wasn¡¯t sure if she liked him romantically. And although I was curious, I didn¡¯t want to intervene.

    I didn¡¯t want to intrude. I already had my fun teasing Den anyway.

    The rest of the day flew by quickly as did the week. Den taught me things and by the end of the week I was starting to get a hang of things. At least till Den made me run double my initial runs. To say I was exhausted was an understatement. I felt just like the first day, huffing for air.

    ¡°I think we¡¯re done for today,¡± I paused at every word, taking a loud breath every time.

    The sky was blue today too. So pretty. So colorful.

    But sadly, we had to get back. And for that, I had to walk back all the way with my huffing lungs. Which proved to be a chore, so I put my hands up and stared at Den.

    He sighed once, shrugged twice, and picked me up on his back without a word. The guy actually cared¡­ somewhat. On our way back, he even gave me a weird apple shaped fruit and¡­ uh¡­ sweet!

    ¡°Go clean up and come back in five minutes.¡± He dropped me off just outside the fence.

    ¡°Wh-why?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯d like to introduce you to someone today. You wanted to look around the village, remember?¡±

    ¡°Oh yeah¡­¡± My head spun but I managed to stand up straight.

    Yeah, I did want to see the village and stuff, but he wanted me to meet someone? Oh well, beggars couldn¡¯t be choosers.

    ¡°Don¡¯t tell Lin. Tell her, we¡¯re just going out for a walk.¡±

    ¡°You got it!¡±

    I ran back, wiped my body with a wet towel, grabbed a clean shirt and ran out. But then I went back in. ¡°Mom, I¡¯m going on a walk with Den!¡± I screamed and then I ran out.

    As long as I said something loud enough, no matter how far Mom was, she could hear me. She probably couldn¡¯t reply and even if she did, I wouldn¡¯t hear her but if she knew, where I was, that was good enough for her to not worry.

    Ever since the tiger incident, she was really reluctant to let me go anywhere alone. The incident was pretty much in the past now but, even now, we didn¡¯t know how the Two Headed Tiger made it this close to our house. Monsters were scarce in the woods, and they were never supposed to be near our hut.

    Granted, me and Lia went out, but, those piglets. It was almost as though those Piglets worked together with the Tiger to lure us out but the Tiger betrayed them and then shit happened. But again, how did the Tiger get there? Mid rank and above fiends were not supposed to be in the forest. Yet¡­

    So yeah, she never let me go out on my own. And I could understand why. But my curiosity couldn¡¯t be sated. Hence, I had to get Den¡¯s help.

    And yeah, today, after a long wait. Finally, I could see the rest of the village.

    ¡°So, who¡¯re we meeting?¡± I asked.

    Den picked me up. Jumping around the trees was apparently a way faster way to travel. Mom traveled faster on foot though, as far I could tell.

    ¡°Oh, you¡¯ll like him,¡± he said.

 Chapter 16: Duly Noted

    Den took me out to the forest for a walk. That was our cover. I wasn¡¯t sure if Mom bought it or not but it was worth a shot.

    Den swung on the tree branches like Mom had before but unlike her, he was sweating and looked quite tired. Was I heavy? He was even panting now!

    ¡°Should we walk?¡± I said.

    He stopped, and tried catching his breath. ¡°Yeah, good idea.¡±

    We went down and he let me go, but he didn¡¯t let go of my hand. Den was tall, really tall, yet, his hand reached me, or rather, I had to reach up to him but his hand was warm and¡­ yeah, made me feel warm inside.

    When I was five, my father had picked me up for the first time in my life. I¡¯d fallen off my bed, and broke an arm. So, he picked me up and took me to the hospital. It wasn¡¯t a loving embrace, but rather a cold one. And after we were done at the hospital, he¡¯d slapped me a couple of times and installed guardrails on my bed and window. The whole room looked like that of a prisoner¡¯s.

    But I didn¡¯t feel that annoyance in Den¡¯s vision. I had a feeling me might not have liked me. But he liked Mom enough to just roll with this. And I didn¡¯t really find this situation to be amazing but¡­ but I didn¡¯t mind it.

    ¡°You look happy¡­¡± Den murmured.

    ¡°Always wanted to see more of this place.¡±

    He snorted once. ¡°Well, there¡¯s so much we probably can¡¯t finish in a single day, but maybe I¡¯ll take you out again if you promise to do your training diligently.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯d try hard, even if you didn¡¯t make me promise.¡±

    ¡°Trying hard and trying diligently isn¡¯t the same. You can try hard all the time, but unless you know what you¡¯re doing and how to make progress, your hard work is wasted.¡±

    ¡°Really?¡±

    ¡°Yes. And watch out,¡± he lifted me up gently, so I didn¡¯t trip over some vines.

    We were in that vine infested zone again. ¡°How come I don¡¯t see any monsters like that?¡±

    There was hardly anything here that wasn¡¯t normal. Just typical foliage and typical animals¡­ maybe a bit larger than usual but that was about it. The foresty smell was quite enticing but given how I¡¯d lived virtually all my life here, I more or less got used to things. Even the random weird sounds.

    ¡°Monsters? Fiends?¡±

    ¡°Yeah?¡±

    Crap, I¡¯d slipped. These people called everything horrible- fiends! ¡®Really need to work on the terms¡­¡¯This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

    ¡°Well, most fiends are too afraid to come near us. The mid rank ones are intelligent enough to know if they attacked adults, they¡¯d end up dead. But they could easily just lure and eat children and then run fast.¡±

    ¡°Like the last time.¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°The pigs¡­ small pigs,¡± I said. ¡°Those caught our attention.¡±

    ¡°Could have been from a different pig,¡± He sat me down on his shoulder and we kept on walking.

    I didn¡¯t say anything, he didn¡¯t either. We just kept on walking, or rather he did.

    And after nearly half an hour, the trees and vines spaced out, and eventually just disappeared. Instead, they were replaced by huts, lots of huts by a lakeside. Not really big enough to be called a village. Roughly a kilometer in all directions, I guess?

    There were twelve-ish huts. And the earth was mostly just grass. A paved muddy road stretched across the land, to a mansion.

    And actually, there were proper houses on the other side of the lake. A good fifty or so; and a big fancy white church! I guess that¡¯s where the more well-off people lived.

    ¡°That¡¯s where the village elder lives,¡± Den said, pointing at the mansion. He didn¡¯t bother explaining the church and other stuff. I wasn¡¯t expecting him to either.

    ¡°I¡¯m guessing that¡¯s not where, we¡¯re going.¡±

    I mostly saw Southerners, but there were also humans here. Humans were called Westerners, since they mostly lived in the west. Despite that, I still attracted attention. No one shot any slurs or whatever, but they did shoot dirty glares. I was not welcome here, no.

    I still didn¡¯t know the names of places or countries or if we even had countries here. But that was kind of why I wanted to come here. If there was a village, here had to be a library or at least some books. I could always just brag to Den about how Mom had taught me to read and write and hopefully he¡¯d pick up on the hints. If I was lucky, I could have also found a map or something.

    ¡°Of course not,¡± he shook his head, turned my head and pointed at a shabby house, that was on the verge of breaking down in the west corner of the lake; there was only one house nearby and that was exactly the opposite, too nice. ¡°That¡¯s where our man is.¡± But our destination was definitely the shabby one.

    My face contorted to a grimace as I conjured up the possibility of Den secretly holding a grudge against me, at least a grudge strong enough to sell me off to shady people. But yeah, I was probably just being a little too paranoid.

    Den wouldn¡¯t do that, right?

    Right!?

    Paranoia aside, we walked for the shabby hut, reached the place and Den knocked. Took a minute but we were welcomed in by a blond elf. Chiseled jawline, perfect eyes, perfect nose¡­ basically the most handsome man I¡¯d ever seen in either of my lives. However, the dude was in rags and so was his hut.

    Suspicious as fuck.

    ¡°Now what do I owe this pleasure, Denkar?¡± he said. He gave my arm and ears a small glance but proceeded to not give a fuck.

    ¡°Just taking a stroll with the kid,¡± he said. We went in.

    Small hut, way smaller than ours. We had two rooms. One for mom and me to sleep in and the other for everything else. But this hut was just a single room, and this man was even more disorganized than me, and I used to just throw everything on the floor, even plates! Anyway, it smelled like ass in here.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t know you had kids,¡± the man shrugged.

    ¡°Me neither,¡± Den shrugged.

    ¡®Is this dude playing me off as his kid?¡¯ I gave a confused look at Den and he winked. Better play along for now.

    And by play along, I mean keep quiet.

    This place was shabby, dirty but not a kidnapper¡¯s den.

    ¡°This is Sol,¡± Den said. ¡°Sol, this is James. He¡¯s the best Spirit Master I know,¡± Den smiled proudly.

    ¡®Spirit master?¡¯

    Hearing the praise, James also cracked a smile, it wasn¡¯t working though. His lips lifted up, his eyes drooped but something about that¡­ something just felt awkward and I could feel my face cringe up.

    ¡°He¡¯s also got a terrible smile. What a waste of potential,¡± Den sighed.

    ¡®Duly noted.¡¯

 Chapter 17: Acquired!

    James, was a handsome man who couldn¡¯t smile. Probably not the best combination but it was what it was, and I didn¡¯t come here to pity this man.

    Instead, ¡°What¡¯s a spirit master?¡±

    ¡°How old is this kid?¡± James peered. ¡°And are you sure he¡¯s your kid? Seems like a West-¡± he paused, stared at Den with pity in his eyes and sniffled once. ¡°Is your wife faithful?¡±

    Den stared with blank eyes. He didn¡¯t quite bother. ¡°He¡¯s four.¡±

    Wait, I was? I always thought I was almost three and a half, but I was apparently off by a few months? Or maybe the dude just assumed?

    Oh well.

    ¡°Speaks fluently for a kid,¡± James mused. ¡°Let me guess, a literal prodigy?¡±

    ¡°Barely average.¡±

    ¡°Wait, what? Then why?

    Why did Den brought me here, or so James wanted to ask. But he was awfully hesitant to actually say anything in front of me now that he understood that I understood stuff myself.

    ¡°I want you to check for Spirit compatibility.¡±

    ¡°What?¡± He sighed. ¡°Does he even have any Southern blood in him?¡± James whispered, or attempted to whisper but the guy couldn¡¯t whisper. Why he went close to Den¡¯s ears only to speak basically at the same intensity was kind of beyond me.

    ¡°He¡¯s a rare case,¡± Den said. ¡°One of the forest spirits shared some mana with him.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s rare¡­¡± James stared at me. ¡°I don¡¯t feel anything from him though.¡±

    ¡°Could be latent, hence I brought him to you.¡±

    ¡°Hmm,¡± James bent down, put a hand on my head and closed his eyes. He glowed in a green hue, and didn¡¯t really say anything but¡­ but I could feel something in him. Something different. Different from me. Yet, familiar. The same feeling I got from the goat! ¡°No, I don¡¯t really feel anything; no magic whatsoever. If a spirit truly did share their mana with him, there¡¯s a good chance the mana has already been used up. And if he¡¯s truly as average as you claim to be, you shouldn¡¯t openly bring him here, might be dangerous for him.¡±

    The church was just across the lake, along with the priests¡­ I could understand where he was coming from.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.

    ¡°That¡¯s why, I¡¯m with him,¡± Den said.

    ¡°But it¡¯s not like you will always-¡± He paused. ¡°Anyway, I don¡¯t think this boy could be a spirit master.¡±

    But I wasn¡¯t really interested in their conversation. And I wasn¡¯t really into the whole this and that thing. Instead, I¡¯d located something in this garbage room. Something very nice. A black leather coated pile of pages. If my eyes weren¡¯t betraying me, it was a book. So, I slowly tiptoed to the corner of the room and picked up the book.

    Den and James kept on talking and thinking about my potential and stuff. But yeah, who cared? I already knew I was pretty much useless in terms of abilities. If I couldn¡¯t get stronger physically or magically though, I could still get stronger intellect wise right? Even if this world was ruled by magic or monsters, surely there had to be a place for knowledgeable people, right!?

    With that thought alone, I picked up the book and briefly looked at the contents table. Or I would have, if there was such a thing. It was just a pile of pages, hand written and¡­ uh¡­

    ¡®Today I went to the brothel again¡­ Sara¡¯s stomach is the best. Those lustrous thighs-¡¯

    Slam!

    I slammed the book shut and that caught the attention of James who rushed my way so fast I thought he was going to knock me over. But instead, he just took the book, hid it in a bookshelf that he produced from under the rubble and said no word of it. But wait there were more books, and they looked like actual books not some pervy diary thing.

    ¡°He can read?¡± James wondered, albeit cautiously.

    ¡°Can you read Sol?¡±

    ¡°Just a little. Lin taught me.¡±

    ¡°Lin? Lindell Arnius? That brute can read?¡± James shivered once.

    I stared at the man, or more like glared at him.

    ¡°He¡¯s Lin¡¯s Kid, just so you know,¡± Den said.

    James lifted his arms as if to surrender. ¡°Sorry, sorry, I didn¡¯t mean it like that. She¡¯s really strong and often beats me up, you see; I was bullied often by her.¡±

    I rolled my eyes and said nothing of it.

    ¡°Kid¡¯s got a temper,¡± he whispered, or attempted to.

    Meanwhile Den shrugged.

    Anyway, I went past him and took a look at his catalogue of seven books. ¡®Let¡¯s see¡­. Volume 1-5 of The Sexy Concubine. The Maid Strikes the Hot Rod~!¡¯ I sighed. All the damn books were just erotic novels. But then I caught the sight of the last one¡­ no, it wasn¡¯t the weird diary. Rather. ¡°The Tale of Two Empires: A gateway for historians.¡± I spoke aloud. ¡°James, are you trying to be a historian?¡± I spoke completely disregarding the other books.

    ¡°Yeah, yeah,¡± he quickly caught my drift, grabbed the book from my hand and flaunted random facts about the world. ¡°In the Spiral year 445, the thunder god Xorax charred the mountain side, we call that place Zorarred in his honor!¡± He could have sounded cool if he didn¡¯t open the book and stare at it contents while talking.

    ¡°Really? Amazing!¡± I tried to be excited, but couldn¡¯t. This was getting awfully taxing on my weird ass body.

    ¡°Tell you what, this is really expensive but I¡¯ll loan it to you for a couple of days,¡± He really came close and I knew he was just going to whisper-

    So, I spoke before him. ¡°Nice, I¡¯ll leave right now and read it all day!¡± I grabbed the book, and pulled on Den¡¯s shirt. ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡±

    Book acquired!

    Den was also pretty much over this shit. ¡°Thank him for the book?¡± But he still had his priorities straight.

    ¡°Thank you so much for lending me the book for free James.¡± I smiled. I did have a feeling he wasn¡¯t lending it for free so I made sure to emphasize on that.

    ¡°You¡¯re welcome.¡± He smiled back.

    Gosh he looked shit despite having that face.

 Chapter 18: Reading

    I was back home by the evening. Mom was cooking something. Before picking me up she used to be out almost all day, hanging out with friends, hunting, having fun. These days, she hardly ever went out of the house though. Sometimes, I had a feeling she might have been a bit too dedicated.

    ¡°So, how was the walk?¡± Mom said the moment I entered the room. She didn¡¯t even have to look at me to realize, it was me.

    ¡°It was fine,¡± I said, hiding the book behind my back, expertly. Since she wasn¡¯t looking, I slowly made my way to our room¡­

    ¡°Really?¡± Her voice had an odd mix of curiosity.

    ¡®She knows!¡¯ Gulping I stopped in my tracks. ¡°Well, might have taken a little detour and stuff.¡± I chuckled.

    ¡°Who did you meet?¡± She lifted down an iron pot, set it down on the table and went back to get some plates and bowls and other stuff.

    ¡°Guy named James.¡±

    ¡°Oh, that imbecile.¡±

    ¡°Says, I have no mana or whatever that was.¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t seem to be that surprised.¡±

    I shrugged. ¡°Priest said the same.¡±

    ¡°Oh yeah.¡± She poured in some soup. Lately, all she made was soup. I was starting to think maybe Mom didn¡¯t know how to cook other stuff? I didn¡¯t have the guts to actually say it out loud though. ¡°You didn¡¯t eat anything, right?¡±

    ¡°Den fed me a weird red fruit, it was nice.¡± Looked like an apple but tasted like peach. It was pretty good. Actually, it was probably just a nectarine.

    ¡°Huh. You¡¯re still hungry though, right?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    Smiling, she served me some food.

    ¡°What else did you do?¡± She seemed a bit too curious about the whole thing. Then again, she always stayed indoors and my little adventure was probably piquing her interest.

    ¡°James can¡¯t smile.¡±Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.

    ¡°Women still flock around that thing though,¡± She chuckled. ¡°Be sure to not end up like that.¡±

    I smiled, pretending to be ignorant of what she just said. I was still a child for crying out loud. Yet, people just treated me like I was not. And there was a reason for that.

    Apparently, southerners believed in reincarnation and assumed all mature kids are just kids with some past memories that helps them navigate the world. It was common knowledge and Den was hesitant to share it with me. But he still did. At least on the premise of ¡®if¡¯ I was one. But then he concluded I wasn¡¯t, since the core differential between a reincarnated and a new human/elf was the fact that reincarnated people had way, way more potential than the new ones. And I was worse than even the typical average people of this world, so yeah.

    That was kind of why people didn¡¯t find mature children weird here. Lucky me, I guess. Unlike in the stories though, I kept nearly all of my previous life¡¯s memories. Not just select few like language and swordsmanship stuff. Yes, the most common stuff was apparently ability related, not memory. So, reincarnated people didn¡¯t know they were reborn and instead just considered themselves talented. This often led to oblivious pride, hence Den told me to never take my language skills for granted and be conceited about it.

    ¡°Oh, and I got this,¡± I finally showed the book.

    Mom let out a knowing smile. ¡°You know, you look real cute when you try hiding things.¡±

    I let out a strained laugh, trying to hide the awkward realization that yep, this woman knew virtually everything from the start. ¡°Some words are hard to read, can you help me?¡±

    ¡°Sure!¡±

    ***

    Mom laid back against the wall, with a pillow behind her and the bed beneath us. She sat me down on her lap and put the book in front of me. I could probably read the whole thing on my own if I wanted to but I let her read it out to me. I kind of wanted to spend some time with her.

    Lately with how I¡¯ve been busy with practice and other stuff, Mom was kind of getting a little lonely¡­ or so was my excuse. But it was me who got lonely. I had a feeling Den would eventually propose and they¡¯d get married. She would have another kid and stuff. But before all that, I wanted to monopolize her. I wanted to be spoiled rotten.

    ¡°Well, you sure love this story.¡±

    I cackled, and yeah- we had fun.

    It was a literal four-hour story but the gist of all it follows-

    ¡®This world existed for longer than ten thousand years but no one knows what happened before. Some theories have been proposed about how there were multiple worlds. A different world for elves, humans, demons and beastfolk which included merfolk. But strangely no one really knows if that is true or not. No religion has attempted to answer either. We also don¡¯t know why this world has all of these mysterious races of people.

    Our story starts ten thousand years ago, when a single God, the Dragon God Askavan (whom the church is named after) isolated the demons in the continent of Demonica and forged the rest of the lands into two continents. One- the west. And two- the south. Demons had long terrorized mortals; Westerners and Southerners alike were in constant battle with the demons. Askavan stopped this and he claimed to provide guidance to mortals and ended all conflict. Or so the church teachings went. But his guidance was basically just soft guidelines to live by, and the church had no real following or influence.¡¯

 Chapter 18.5: Reading Part two

    ¡®But after a few thousand years, the continents came ever closer thanks to the bastard demigods of Askavan and Slovia. These powerful individuals, known as the thirteen heroes, slayed monsters, threw feasts, ushered a new era of magic and supernatural abilities, and forced the massive continents to merge once more.

    And there was peace¡­ for a few hundred years. But westerners, or humans had begun to search for new land, and since the south was bountiful and fertile, they marched into the southern forests and just started taking things. Which prompted the Duran War and thus began the thousand-year-long war, which as the name suggested didn¡¯t last a thousand years but rather, 1457 years instead.

    A peace treaty was signed and everyone lived happily ever after, except they didn¡¯t. Tensions were rising as a massive Sea Serpent ravaged the seas and seafood became unbelievably scarce. Forcing tension in the borderlands to escalate more and more. Another war was coming and everyone knew it. However, one particular Neogod descended from the heavens and claimed to have slain Askavan and the other gods. He proposed a new religion and equal treatment for Westerners and Southerners and even the demons who could now be reached via the sea route thanks to the continued efforts of the demigods who had apparently slain the sea serpent.

    This Neogod and his ideals were rejected but the Askavan Church took the pre-concept of equality in the religion as a tenant to promote their religion but of course they and everyone else still rejected the demons. And with as a proper route to Demonica flourished, more and more demons were captured as slaves and playthings. Not only that, but Westerners and Southerners alike now discriminated against the demons and started setting up colonies far from home. Revolutionaries rose up in all three kingdoms and people rioted. Which prompted another thousand-year long war, this time encapsulating the whole world. This one lasted about two centuries only. But yes, that was just the prologue and the real war was yet to come.

    Humans didn¡¯t learn from their mistakes and continued to take over land and enslave others throughout their conquest for more and more power; Southerners joined them to torment the demons who¡¯d done the same to them millennia prior. Which inevitably led to another war and this particular one was the most brutal one yet. Apparently, some guy named Aldruin the hero led the conquest against the vicious Sea Demon Zalbanzathor and eventually sealed him in the depths of the Zalbian Sea. But that was of course near the very end of the war, and by that point, most people were just¡­ dead. This war, heralded as the worst war in the history of the world and as ¡®The world killer¡¯ ran for about two thousand years and killed over 90% Westerners, 100% beastfolk, and 70% Southerners before Xorax Supreme Deity of thunder personally came down and laid waste to some mountains and stopped everything. Merfolk and Demons were not listed as casualties.Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

    After the war, the Askavan church swooped in, seized control from the monarchs and basically ruled the world through their 6 core commandments.

    <ol>

    <li> Askavan the dragon god is the supreme god and is all powerful</li>

    <li> One must obey the church and pay regular alms to the church.</li>

    <li> Murder, adultery and interspecies procreation is henceforth forbidden. Demons are not part of the holy continent and thus are exempt from all continental rights and its regulations.</li>

    <li> No noble, nor citizen may attempt to seize the land or rightful property of another be they demon or men. </li>

    <li> All men are equal. Demons who convert to Askavan may also be considered equal.</li>

    <li> Under no circumstance, can one question the holy church and its commandments.</li>

    </ol>

    At first glance, they seemed like typical religious commandments but they were not. They were specifically designed by the church to exploit people who were na?ve enough to think this religion was anything more than just a sham.

    Regardless, the religion spread like wildfire and within a thousand years, the whole world, even demons had embraced the religion and thus began the unified year calendar. Demons in particular were somewhat coerced into accepting the religion, otherwise they could be branded as ¡®heathens¡¯ and their lives ¡®could be¡¯ accidentally forfeit thanks to slavery and other practices.

    Right now, it was year 3034 of the unified calendar and the world was at peace.¡¯

    Yeah, or so the book emphasized. And I didn¡¯t really think the book was being very honest. Humans were greedy, but not everyone was the same yet the book was constantly just mocking humans. Then again Southerners also joined in on the fun so¡­. And it said the world was at peace but, what about the minor skirmishes? What about the discrimination? What about the church choosing who got to live and got did not; where was the equality in that? What about the demons?

    ¡®Who¡¯s the writer?¡¯ I checked and it was JRR S. Sarton.

    Was this guy a Southerner or a Westerner? I asked Mom and she had no clue. But she did think the book was mostly factual, and not just a bunch of fairytales.

    But¡­ gods and demigods huh? And not just one or two¡­ many.

    ¡®Did they really exist though or was it just a bunch of high-end magic no one understood?¡¯

    Then again, this world had two-headed tigers and supposedly magic so, gods and demi-gods didn¡¯t seem that farfetched.

 Chapter 19: An Intermediate Guide

    Okay so, just a single book was not able to sate my curiosity. I kept asking Mom questions and questions and she kept on dodging them. So, I eventually went back to James, with Den of course.

    I returned the book.

    ¡°I have some questions,¡± I said.

    ¡°Sure,¡± he seemed to be in an oddly Zen mood. A relaxed smile with barely any questioning glares at all. And smelled?

    A rather, rather familiar smell¡­ hmm¡­.

    ¡°Did he eat something funny?¡± I whispered to Den. I was tempted to say ¡®smoke¡¯ but didn¡¯t want to give it away.

    ¡°Might have,¡± he said. ¡°But it¡¯s normal, don¡¯t worry about it.¡± Oh yeah, he knew.

    Anyway- ¡°According to this author, Westerners were really horrible people and demons were of course worse but, they didn¡¯t mention much about why the church makes less than average people disappear.¡±

    ¡°Hmm¡­ I think you got this a bit wrong,¡± he said. ¡°The church doesn¡¯t make just anyone disappear it¡¯s-¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s not,¡± Den said.

    ¡°No, let¡¯s,¡± I said. I got that he was trying to shield me from something but not knowing was only going to make me more anxious.

    He sighed and gave up.

    So James continued. ¡°The church is mostly based on the West and unlike the south, it¡¯s really tough there. So, they usually don¡¯t permit below average individuals to live since they¡¯ll only bring down the civilization.¡±

    ¡°I see¡­¡± Yeah, I got what he meant.

    If you let below par individuals live, eventually those individuals would make more below par individuals and at that point if you got hit with a natural disaster, your race would be finished.

    And if the land was exceptionally cruel, it was only a matter of when, not a matter of if. I could totally see where he was coming from. Yet¡­ ¡°But¡­ no one choses to be born bad¡­¡± I mumbled.

    ¡®Shit, that came out way sulkier than I attempted.¡¯

    I was trying to sound a bit more my age but these days I only sounded weirder and weirder. Den patted me on the back but he had no words to offer. James either.

    I didn¡¯t really want to be comforted though.

    ¡°Do you have any other books? Other than your story books,¡± I said.

    His face twitched for a second. ¡°I think my cousin had some. I can provide you the books, but they¡¯ll cost you.¡±Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.

    Cost me¡­ money. Yeah, money. I still didn¡¯t know anything about money. ¡°Cost me what?¡± I spoke innocently.

    ¡°Coins boy,¡± he smiled. ¡°Do you know what they are?¡±

    I shrugged like an ignorant little boy. He chuckled.

    ¡°They¡¯re used to buy things,¡± Den said. ¡°Think about it, you wouldn¡¯t give away something precious to you to strangers, just because they asked nicely, right? You¡¯d want something in exchange, and coins are for that purpose.¡±

    Rather rudimentary but efficient explanation. ¡°But I don¡¯t have any.¡±

    ¡°Lucky for you, I do.¡± Well, someone was feeling generous today. ¡°How much,¡± Den said.

    ¡°Two gold a piece. They cost her about five a piece, I think. I¡¯m giving you a massive discount.¡±

    ¡®They use gold and stuff¡­¡¯

    Yeah, I didn¡¯t buy that. No one was dumb enough to believe he would sell something that was worth five gold for two. Either the books were heavily ¡®shit¡¯ or unreadable. Or he was just upselling them.

    Den¡¯s smile more or less crumbled. I guess his pocket wasn¡¯t that generous. I pulled on his sleeve, stared at his eyes. ¡°I don¡¯t need the books,¡± I said.

    He took a breath in, and then one out. ¡°We¡¯ll buy em!¡±

    Excuse me what?

    Hey, I said I didn¡¯t want any!

    Didn¡¯t seem like he was going to give up trying to be a dad, so I instead took charge. ¡°Only the one, I want of course,¡± I said. I¡¯d just pick the best one and call it a day. Sure the guy was probably scamming us, but Den trusted him, and for now¡­ I was going to trust him.

    James rolled his eyes and went out, motioning us to follow him.

    We followed. And he took us to the house next to his. The fancier one. Larger than our place and way cleaner. We went in, and found the whole place¡­ empty. Empty of people.

    His cousin wasn¡¯t around but he still messed with her stuff anyway.

    ¡°Take your pick.¡±

    A wooden bookshelf, filled with about thirty or so books. Different colored covers, and mostly skin covers. Thick-ass books. And rather fancy too. Okay, maybe the guy was serious about the whole five gold thing¡­.

    ¡®Guide to Askavanian Religions.¡¯

    Wait, they had derivative religions?

    ¡®The Tale of Five Soldiers.¡¯

    ¡®The Dragons Are Coming!¡¯

    ¡®Reborn to be a sorcerer!¡¯

    ¡®Demigods Are Coming!¡¯

    Mostly just stories. But given this fantasy world¡¯s track record, they probably had some form of truth in them.

    I kept on checking the books and some books were in weird writing. ¡°What are these?¡± I wondered.

    ¡°Written in Western tongue,¡± James said.

    No wonder. ¡°Can you teach me how to read Western?¡±

    ¡°Sure. Will cost you 1 gold.¡±

    I grimaced. 1 gold to learn a language? ¡°I¡¯ll learn it myself-¡±

    ¡°Ask Zena, she knows Western,¡± Den said. ¡°Just give her a Honeycrisp and she¡¯ll happily teach you.¡±

    Honeycrisps were the apple nectarines and the most cultivated fruit of this village; they looked like apples but were totally nectarines. Wait, did this place have a name though? Upon asking, Den, yeah, no. Our village was nameless.

    Anyway, I didn¡¯t know what these books even said, so I asked James to translate the titles.

    He listed off the titles in a monotone voice. Dude didn¡¯t have a care in the world.

    Eventually, one book caught my attention. ¡®Magics and the spirits. An intermediate guide.¡¯

    ¡°Is there a beginner one?¡± I asked.

    ¡°No.¡±

    He kept on listing the rest of the names and they were all not worth my attention.

    ¡®Black?¡¯

    Most of the books had colorful spines and covers but, this one didn¡¯t have a title page and just a black cover. I opened it and although it was written in a combination of Southern and Western tongue, I didn¡¯t understand any of the contents. However, the book was about spirits, and even had illustrations¡­. I didn¡¯t put it back.

    I kept on searching the whole bookshelf but found absolutely nothing of importance. ¡°I¡¯ll take this,¡± I said. It sucked that the book wasn¡¯t necessarily a beginner one but hey, any information was better than nothing.

    I kind of wanted the religion one too but¡­ yeah, without really knowing how much a typical gold was worth, that was hardly a good decision.

 Chapter 20: Right!

    It didn¡¯t occur to me, gold was a very precious metal. Not because it was pretty but because it had a whole lot of uses. And this world wasn¡¯t an exception.

    Not only was gold used as jewelry by the upper-class people but magicians and sorcerers often used gold as a catalyst for various spells. And yes, I hadn¡¯t seen them because most of them were in service of kings or churches or famous rich people¡­.

    Anyway, just 1 gold coin was enough to provide rations for a bachelor for up to 1 whole month. Aka, it was worth about a thousand bucks.

    And Den blew two grand on me and my book hunting.

    How did I know this? He told me of course! Well, not me specifically. But he told Mom; or was forced to. Mom brought us outside, made us hold or rather pull our own ears and just stand in the sun and reflect. It was sort of chilly today, so the sun actually felt pretty good.

    Well, this was a weird sort of punishment.

    But I kind of felt relieved she wasn¡¯t spoiling me rotten. I wanted to be spoiled sure, but I didn¡¯t want to randomly pick up the habit of spending money frugally. Especially other people¡¯s money. This was a nice reminder. I felt shit though, and awfully embarrassed.

    Why?

    Because we had visitors¡­ Lyra and Lia had come to visit and they were peeking at us from the window¡­.

    Sigh.

    Fuck.

    ***

    Mom gave me a lecture on money.

    She was holding it back till I reached my fifth birthday when she would have started giving me an allowance. So, she really was keeping track of my birthday?

    Anyway, the values are as follows.

    1 Gold= 10 Silver

    1 Silver = 10 Copper

    If 1 gold was 1 grand, then 1 silver was 100 bucks and 1 copper was 10 bucks. They even had a minor currency called small iron which was valued 10 times less than the large copper so 1 dollar. And yes, apparently, things were really expensive in this world, especially books.If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

    I felt shit about making Den buy me the book. But the dude bought me out of sheer pride!

    Anyway, we both promised we¡¯d be careful about money and mom agreed to give me a monthly allowance of 1 copper. She also confiscated the book for safe keeping till I learned my lesson.

    Shocker¡­.

    ***

    ¡°I¡¯m not letting the two you roam unsupervised anymore,¡± Mom said, pouring us some soup.

    Den gulped but- ¡°Did you make anything other than soup?¡±

    We didn¡¯t have a large table, so we all came outside and just sat on stools while Mom handed us bowls.

    ¡°No.¡±

    Den didn¡¯t say anything else.

    ¡°Do you even know how to cook anything else, Lin?¡± Lyra asked.

    Mom said nothing. For the first time I actually saw her blush in shame. Okay so, my assumptions were not off the mark. She really didn¡¯t know how to cook.

    ¡®Yet she learned how to cook meat soup just for me.¡¯ Because I always complained the soup was bland and stuff¡­ ¡®Maybe I¡¯ll complain some more.¡¯

    ¡°Is 1 gold coin, really a lot of money?¡± Lia asked.

    Birds chirped quite a lot today. Wait, actually there were birds I hadn¡¯t seen before; rather fat and white. Winter birds? Was it winter somewhere else?

    ¡°Yes dear, remember those large pineapples daddy brought you? They cost 2 copper each. You could probably buy hundreds of them with a gold coin,¡± Lyra said. Was it me or had her stomach swollen considerably?

    Hmm¡­ I¡¯d say, she was at least 6-7 months in.

    ¡°But he bought a book¡­¡± Lia stared at me as though I was stupid or something.

    Yeah, I didn¡¯t blame her. I was pretty stupid myself.

    ¡°Mom¡­ I want to learn a new language,¡± I said.

    The two most used languages were the Western Tongue and the Southern Tongue. There were also two minor languages, Demon Tongue and the Sea Tongue but since most people knew at least one of the main two languages, people didn¡¯t bother learning the other ones. Though I had a feeling it had more to do with looking down on those people, than anything else.

    ¡°You already know the Western tongue,¡± she said.

    ¡°Yes, but I don¡¯t know how to read it¡­¡±

    She stared at me, almost conflicted. ¡°Read and then what? What will reading anything get you? I say practice with Den and-¡± She paused, sighed once. ¡°You just want to learn how to read Western Tongue, right?¡±

    It was almost as though she was afraid¡­.

    ¡°Yes¡­¡±

    She eyeballed Den for a few seconds. ¡°Alright. I¡¯ll talk to Zena.¡±

    All this time, Lyra was giving me quite the smirk but she hadn¡¯t said a word.

    But yeah, I really did piss off Mom. And I had to properly apologize otherwise things were only going to get worse.

    After lunch, Lyra and Lia left. They¡¯d come to see how I was doing and check on Lin. Once they were gone, Den also left, giving me the perfect opportunity to help Mom clean up and have a proper conversation.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t know,¡± I said. ¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not mad at you for not knowing. I¡¯m mad at you because you didn¡¯t even tell me you were going. And when you went there, you just-¡± She sighed. ¡°I thought you were smarter than that¡­ but I¡¯m sorry too. I didn¡¯t mean to punish you like that.¡± She finished cleaning up, washed her hand, dried it, and then picked me up in her embrace. ¡°Money is the basis of life but it also leads to corruption and hellish times. I don¡¯t want you to become a conceited idiot who doesn¡¯t know the inherent value of things and misuses trust.¡±

    I kept quiet. I didn¡¯t really know what to say. I¡¯d messed up, but it wasn¡¯t my fault. But some bits of it were my fault. And that hurt her.

    It hurt Den.

    It hurt¡­ me too.

    ¡°But let this be a learning experience,¡± Mom smiled. ¡°So, you don¡¯t mess up in the future.¡±

    ¡°Right!¡±

 Chapter 21: Yes. Yes, I am.

    My training session went smoothly. Den gradually raised the intensity and by the second month, I was running five laps around the house, walking to the outskirts of the forest and even swinging a wooden knife at Den. He didn¡¯t give me any pointers or lessons on how to wield a knife and just seemed to let me be on my own devices. I guess he was letting me try out how this worked and stuff? I was getting a better handle at swinging but my accuracy and movement were pretty shit.

    I made some progress in the stamina department but I didn¡¯t really gain any strength. My body did shape up better than my previous chubby version but I was still pretty chubby regardless. And given how I wasn¡¯t even five yet, this wasn¡¯t going to go anywhere for a while. ¡®Hard to imagine I used to be thin as fuck.¡¯

    Den made me repeat our training sessions three times a day. He wanted to increase the count to four but Mom forbade him. I bet Den just wanted to come see Mom and needed me as an excuse.

    ¡°By the way Sol,¡± One day before leaving, Den produced an envelope of sorts from underneath his shirt and threw it at me. ¡°I¡¯ll be out for a week. Keep practicing.¡±

    A clothed envelope; I caught and opened it ¡­ just a crude short knife and a leather cover; somewhat sharp? ¡°Thanks,¡± I said, but he was already gone. I strapped the knife to my belt and went inside to show Mom.

    ¡­

    On my spare time, I asked Mom about how to make money and how things worked around here. She was happy to share that she didn¡¯t really work to make money. Instead, she grew veg, sew clothes, gathered food, hunted stuff, all by herself. And has been for years. Basically, she was alone. I wasn¡¯t sure if she had any family or not, but she never spoke about them, so I didn¡¯t feel like asking either. We¡¯ll cross the bridge when we got there.

    But Mom did make ¡®some¡¯ money. Mostly from the hunting sessions. She¡¯d hunt with the others and get a portion of the hunt money. Apparently, people in the village bought meat, skin, or other parts of a hunt for some money.

    ¡°Doesn¡¯t that mean you could have sold the tiger?¡± I wondered.

    Mom smiled awkwardly. ¡°Yeah¡­¡±

    Anyway, I kept pestering her about stuff and yeah, this world was amazing. First of all, there were much bigger cities inside the forest. Towards the long south, there was a capital city called Aihan. A massive Honeycrisp tree lay at the center, and the fruits were said to be twice as large as the ones found here. They were sweeter, tastier or so Mom emphasized. Not to mention they even had a bit of tartness which made them truly divine.Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

    My mouth watered at thought. And I stared at Mom with hope. ¡°There¡¯s also the holy church there, so we can¡¯t go,¡± she said.

    My mouth opened in disappointment but I wasn¡¯t going to be a bitch about it. ¡°I see.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll buy you one for your fifth birthday though,¡± She smirked.

    ¡°Yesh!¡±

    ***

    The next day, Mom took me to Lyra¡¯s place. Or I thought so. But instead of entering Lyra¡¯s house, we took a slight detour and moved past theirs, towards a much fancier looking one.

    Just a standalone house, or rather sort of a mansion in a sense. Obviously built out of wood just like any other house around these parts but, but this particular house was wide, two floored and had color. Paintings outside, on the wood. And not typical doodles but rather¡­ actual paintings. Some even good. They even had flowers outside!

    ¡°One of her kids paints,¡± Mom said knocking on the front door.

    ¡®She was married!?¡¯

    I could have sworn she looked younger than Mom and¡­.

    We waited by the door. I stared around. They had a fence like ours and ponds of their own. There was fish in there. Some of the fish jumped around. Such clear water¡­.

    People in this world didn¡¯t have filters, so they had to keep the water clean. They boiled water regularly. But since most households didn¡¯t have a pond like this, that more or less made water a precious commodity. Especially clean water like this.

    A few minutes later the door opened and we were greeted by a boy younger than me; probably three. ¡°MOOM!¡± The kid yelled back, running too.

    His mom came soon. Zena. Dressed in a rather baggy dress, and caked in dust. ¡°Oh hey, thought you were coming next week?¡±

    ¡°No, we¡¯re actually a week late,¡± Mom said.

    ¡°Oh¡­ okay.¡±

    She welcomed us in.

    ¡°She always gets the date wrong. I mostly have to cover for her,¡± Mom said.

    The inside wasn¡¯t really all that impressive. There were paintings here and there and, on occasion, weird malformed clay sculptures. But aside from that, it just looked like a typical house, like ours. Just bigger and with more rooms and a separate floor. Very spacious though.

    ¡®Why¡¯s it so bright in here?¡¯ They had a second floor, so it probably wasn¡¯t a hole in the ceiling. So what? I examined the ceiling quite closely and eventually found the source. A lightbulb like structure. A tad larger than my head, and a tad bulkier too. Yet, the light it released was hardly enough to compete with a typical 10¨C15-watt LED. The light was well defused and very mild. ¡®Maybe because it¡¯s still sunny outside?¡¯

    ¡°What is that?¡± I said. I didn¡¯t see any wires or other electrical appliances, so maybe the bulb wasn¡¯t electrical?

    ¡°That¡¯s a Magic Lamp. They¡¯re really popular these days,¡± Zena said. ¡°Oh, and feel free to take a seat. I should be done in half an hour.¡± She took a hand broom and went upstairs. While her small boy just stared at us from across the room, staring awkwardly.

    ¡°They¡¯re really expensive,¡± Mom said.

    ¡°I¡¯m not asking you to buy me one,¡± I said.

    She didn¡¯t say another word, and I didn¡¯t either. Sometime later, Zena came back and the real talks began.

    ¡°So,¡± she smiled. ¡°You ready to learn a new language!?¡± She¡¯d washed her hands but her face and hair were still a bit dusty.

    ¡°Yes. Yes, I am.¡±

 Chapter 22: Here we go!

    Zena drew some weird scribbles on a chalkboard and since I already knew the Southern tongue, she helped me get a feel about which character sounded similar to the other.

    The languages were quite different, yet the writing style was somehow similar. Kind of like Chinese and Japanese.

    ¡°Keep on practicing and you should be fine,¡± Zena said. ¡°Why bother learning this though? Are you planning on running away?¡± She spoke, quite suggestive.

    I get that she was joking but maybe it wasn¡¯t the best joke because Mom¡¯s stare turned to a glare. Which made Zena shut up but yeah¡­ why was I learning Western Tongue? To read books or to become independent in case¡­

    KNOCK! KNOCK!!!

    Someone rammed on the front door.

    ¡°What the-¡± Zena mumbled, slowly reaching for the door. ¡°Who?¡±

    ¡°MOM!¡± She opened it and a teenager rushed in; panting, wheezing, hair all disheveled. ¡°It¡¯s Dad. He¡¯s-¡± She was freaking out.

    Mom grabbed me firm and with me in toe, she quickly made it past the duo. ¡°Where?¡±

    ¡°West Cave,¡± Tears welling, she was trying desperately to not break down. ¡°Wild fang.¡±

    ¡°Stay here,¡± Zena said, grabbing her quiver and bow. ¡°I¡¯ll see.¡±

    The girl sniffled but-

    ¡°You stay-¡± Mom said.

    ¡°I wanna go,¡± I said.

    She rolled her eyes and contemplated reality for a good three seconds before agreeing. That was weird. I thought she¡¯d just leave me here and run off on her own.

    Yet, Mom just picked me and ran behind Zena.

    We ran back into the mountain and since this part wasn¡¯t covered in foliage, we didn¡¯t have to climb the trees. Apparently, most Southerners were faster on the trees. And although Mom was fast on the tree too, she had to carry me, which was why she often chose to run instead. After seeing Den struggle with just carrying me around, I could understand why. But then again, Den was just weak when it came to anything physical.

    ¡°What happened?¡± I mumbled.

    ¡°Probably serpents¡­¡± Mom murmured. ¡°You have antidotes just in case, right!?¡± She yelled.

    ¡°Yeah!¡± Zena was already behind us.

    We almost stumbled into trees on several occasions, but never quite. Mom was an excellent runner and she ran fast, probably faster than all runners back on earth. Sometimes I wish, I had that kind of stamina and speed. But maybe one day.Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

    The foliage changed. Trees got denser, and there was an odd smell. Not the usual foresty smell but rather¡­ a bit of rot. A bit of dread. I instinctively covered my face but the others didn¡¯t seem to be bothered by it. I suppose they¡¯d seen this coming.

    ¡°It¡¯s really dangerous inside, so you better stay with me,¡± Mom said. ¡°The terrain often changes inside, so be careful to not get lost either.¡±

    ¡®It changes?¡¯

    ¡°Right-¡± Before I could finish, she stopped and we were in front of a cave.

    Small opening, barely enough to fit two people. And that was all, there was nothing behind it. The cave was underground. Didn¡¯t look the least threatening. However, there was something chilly about the thing. Something¡­ really creepy.

    No birds, no animals. Just brown trees and a weird smell. And maybe some distant howling. I didn¡¯t like this place.

    Yet, Mom and Zena lit some pyres and we went in. Zena led with a short sword in hand, while Mom followed her, her knife out.

    The girl hadn¡¯t said much, yet, these two pretty much understood what happened. So maybe this was typical and happened a lot? And yet... something of course didn¡¯t feel right.

    The climb down was gradual and there were steps carved into the earth. But the hole stretched more and more. So far, nothing inside, but the sound dampened, and the smell only got worse.

    No monsters, no animals. Just some spiders and centipedes crawling around. With the occasional rat squeaking.

    It didn¡¯t take long. It didn¡¯t take long for me to find the source of the smell. Flesh. Dead flesh. People. Bodies. Skeletons. And bugs crawling in those filthy rags¡­.

    Death.

    My arms shook, as I clutched onto Mom¡¯s leg even tighter, breath spiraling out of control.

    ¡°It¡¯s alright,¡± Mom said. ¡°I¡¯m here¡­¡± she ruffled my hair once.

    ¡°Not here, yet, he¡¯s alive,¡± Zena said.

    The steps went down and down, and the bodies just kept on piling up behind next to the steps. More and more.

    ¡°Huh?¡± I mumbled.

    ¡°The dead gather here¡­.¡± Mom said.

    Wait, so the bodies get mysteriously carried here? That sort of explained the excess skeletons¡­.

    I kept my eyes closed for the vast majority of the walk, only focusing on Mom¡¯s warmth. I was never good with cramped places and smell like that. ¡®People died here¡­¡¯

    Just the thought alone was starting to make me sick. Death was inevitable. Everyone died. Even your loved ones. Yet, you always stay in the illusion that they won¡¯t die, they won¡¯t one day leave you behind. And when they die, your illusion breaks, and¡­ ¡°Cough!¡± I almost threw up¡­

    Mom patted on my back.

    ¡°Maybe you shouldn¡¯t have brought him here,¡± Zena said, but she was cautious and the two moved really slowly.

    ¡°He has to learn¡­¡± Mom didn¡¯t clarify yet just trailed Behind Zena. ¡°Find anything yet?¡±

    ¡°Just steps.¡±

    We came to a fork. One path led deep into the cave, while the other, straight down. The paths were very similar and almost the same size in terms of space.

    ¡®How freaking deep is this thing?¡¯

    Mom examined the floor for a couple of seconds. ¡°Right.¡±

    So, we went deeper into the cave. And in about a minute or two, the cramped walls widened and we were in a room of sorts. Given the space¡­ ¡®Feels like a boss room¡­¡¯ The ceiling was lifted, there were three paths on the exact other side and a man on the floor in the middle. The resemblance to a boss room was too uncanny. And what was worse¡­ the boss wasn¡¯t here.

    ¡°Derek!¡± Zena rushed to him, checking his body for signs of wounds. Mom meanwhile stayed calm and observed the room for fiends.

    Buff dude, not as buff as typical bodybuilders but the guy was packing some serious stuff. And he was passed out on the floor, and out cold no less. A bit of red near the edge of his pants; rather large holes for a typical snake? Zena examined the wound, gulped down some antidote, or at least I thought she did but instead, she lifted up the cold body, broke one of his fingers with a snap so he screamed in literal pain and then she kissed and fed the antidote directly to the man.

    Eyes wide, he panted, coughing a few times. ¡°One hell of a way to wake up,¡± he chuckled.

    ¡®Now that¡¯s a strong dude!¡¯

    But as his laughter echoed. Another sound followed.

    Slithers!

    ¡®Here we go!¡¯

 Chapter 23: Well, this canâ€™t be goodâ€¦

    A slithering sound echoed throughout the cave. The rats and mice squeaked like they were dying and just ran out frantically.

    Yeah, something was coming. Something big.

    Something really big.

    Mom dragged me closer to her, while she kept a firm grasp on her bow. The thing was coming from one of the dark entrances on the other side but I couldn¡¯t be sure which one. But mom pointed at one particular one, drew the string, and¡­ crack! Shot.

    The arrow blitzed through the air, jolting into the eye sockets of a snake as it crawled out of the darkness. A snake thicker than my head, and taller than Mom, while two-thirds of its body was still on the ground. Basically, it was three Moms tall! Yeah, probably not a great comparison but that thing was way over 7 meters in length and it was hissing like crazy.

    Mom had only shot one eye, and though she tried to shoot again, the thing just swayed like crazy, dodging the arrows. It was intelligent and very agile. Constantly flicking its tongue out, the damn thing knew where we were at all times and what we were doing.

    Given the size, I assumed it was an anaconda or something like that. But no¡­ it was a viper. It didn¡¯t have an extra head but it did have massive fangs. And they were sticking out!

    ¡°Careful,¡± Derek warned. ¡°Get too close and it¡¯ll paralyze you with its breath,¡± he coughed.

    ¡°Where¡¯s that idiot when you need him,¡± Mom sighed. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I know how to handle these things,¡± she again drew her bow. But instead of one arrow, there were four. Four!

    Whip! Her arrows danced with the wind. The snake swayed on one side trying to dodge but the arrows curved midair, crashing into one another, forcing the last one¡¯s trajectory far right¡­ where it met the snake¡¯s other eye and crashed into the thing.

    ¡®Can arrows even do that?¡¯ Mom was kind of¡­ amazing.

    The snake continuously wiggled, struggled and slithered. Perhaps it hurt that much? I once got some paprika in my eyes. Burned like hell. And this snake didn¡¯t have eyes anymore. I could only wonder what the hell it was going through. However, we still couldn¡¯t nonchalantly move closer to the thing. Particularly because snakes could sense heat with their tongues, and Mom somehow knew that. Probably experience.

    She drew more arrows and aimed. Meanwhile, I¡¯d lost track of Zena. She hadn¡¯t attacked the snake and I didn¡¯t see her anywhere either. What the hell was going on?A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

    Swish! Mom fired her arrows and again midway the last one changed its trajectory and hit the snake right between the eyes. It hissed and swayed its head around like a maniac- but just then¡­ something dropped from the ceiling. A bat, a rat? No, it was a Zena!

    Hah, jokes aside, Zena quickly sliced off the snake¡¯s head and jumped away. The snake contorted into a coil while the severed head bit into itself like it was still alive. We maintained our distance. Apparently even the blood was paralytic.

    Mom and Zena helped Derek back on his feet and together we slowly backtracked. ¡°How come it didn¡¯t eat him?¡± I said.

    Mom gave me a rather weird look. As though this wasn¡¯t the time to be asking that. ¡°They prefer when you die and turn a little smelly¡­¡±

    It made me cringe up and fall behind a few steps.

    There was a problem though. The cave wasn¡¯t wide enough to fit three people side by side, so they had to compromise. Given how massive Derek was, the only logical choice was for Mom to carry him¡­ and she did. Zena helped, and I was oddly just behind them.

    There wasn¡¯t much in here other than just the bugs and with the snake now dead, we were more or less out of danger¡­ crack¡­ at least I thought we were. But then¡­ the ground beneath me slowly cracked before my very eyes. Mom and Derek had already made it past the crack. While Zena stood on the verge alongside me.

    ¡°Don¡¯t move,¡± Mom said calmly. ¡°This happens from time to time, don¡¯t move and it¡¯ll be fine.¡± She was trying to get closer. ¡°It¡¯ll repair itself,¡± she said. Yet her voice shook. For the first time ever, Mom¡¯s voice shook and she was sweating buckets. She didn¡¯t sweat even moments ago when facing a snake¡­

    No bad idea. At this rate she was going to just make the floor crack even more and take us all down.

    I tried to move closer to her instead, slowly, slowly- crack! One feet went inside the damn earth, but only till my knee. There was earth beneath the crack. A sigh of relief escaped. They all basically relaxed¡­.

    Zena slowly moved aside while I took a second step.

    And then¡­ I fell.

    I was wrong. There wasn¡¯t earth there. Just some dirt that I¡¯d mistaken as earth. And it fell along with me. Yeah, I should have stayed put like she¡¯d said. Sigh¡­.

    ¡°SOL!¡± Mom basically dived in, only to be pulled away by both Zena and Derek.

    Her screams reverberated as the world turned darker and darker before my very eyes. I was falling, in slow motion, falling on my back, just like that time I got murdered.

    And again, I was powerless.

    My face twisted into a smile¡­ and I didn¡¯t even know why.

    One second, two second, ten seconds¡­ I kept on falling and falling without meeting the ground. At this rate¡­ I was going to die. Surely, I was going to break something and-

    Splash!

    Cold. Cold water or something like water caked my body. It was light, awfully light and I went in, and in and I could breathe? The light of the ceiling, disappeared, along with Mom¡¯s voice.

    I kept falling through the unknown light medium; drowning deeper. It was too dark to see but it felt like heavily aerated water!

    Splash! I heard another splash- did Mom come after me? No, it wasn¡¯t from up, but rather down?

    Argh- I fell on the ground with a thud¡­ my head hurt. But not as much as I thought it would. I massaged my head and stared around. Too dark to see¡­. But the darkness did clear up little by little. The first thing I noticed, was the water above my head. Or rather, the water-like substance. It was floating?

    And the next thing¡­ another hole in the wall¡­ another entrance.

    ¡®Well, this can¡¯t be good.¡¯

 Chapter 24: Only One Way Forward

    I waited for roughly half an hour. No one jumped in.

    Which was a good sign, after all they didn¡¯t know if there was water or whatever down here. Sure, I wasn¡¯t hurt. But what if I was? Normally I¡¯d be dead, and they too if they¡¯d jumped.

    But since I wasn¡¯t, I wanted to scream. I wanted to scream for help. Mom had been screaming my name the whole time. Yet, when I fell into the aerated water, I stopped hearing her. In fact, I didn¡¯t hear anything anymore other than just the dripping sound. Besides, I could have sworn I saw the light disappear.

    Screaming needlessly was only one reason for not screaming of course. The other one was simple. This was a cave. And judging by the severely connected and complicated flooring, it was some sort of dungeon or labyrinth. If there was one fiend, there had bound to be more. Giving them my location willingly when I had no real way to defend myself was the last thing I wanted.

    My vision gradually got brighter and it was now I debated whether to venture forward or just stay put. ¡®They haven¡¯t jumped and there¡¯s no guarantee they will.¡¯ Everything was connected in one way or another. So, there was a good chance I could leave this place. The hole above was already closing by the time I reached the water. Staying here didn¡¯t guarantee Mom would come here¡­.

    But I had nothing to base that on. ¡®You¡¯re not a kid anymore, stop panicking!¡¯ I tapped on my shaking knees, trying to get some sense back into my body.

    Sure, I was in a dungeon of sorts, alone. But I wasn¡¯t completely powerless. If push came to shove, I could at least try to defend myself, even if¡­ no, I didn¡¯t want to die. Not again.

    ¡®Should I cry?¡¯ I¡¯d tried before, to summon the goat. But she never came. So, taking that risk here, was a stupid idea.

    I took a deep breath and a step. I confirmed whether the ground was really solid or not. Things were solid but I was still somewhat traumatized from before. I carefully made my way to the door like opening. It didn¡¯t lead down, but rather just straight. Which was good, because I was already pretty deep and didn¡¯t want to just randomly keep going down to the center of the earth.

    Heh, as if that was possible.

    I could see pretty well now. But that was thanks to the glittering water. Wait¡­ glittering water?

    My dress was half drenched and also had a faint glow. I had no idea what that water even was but it didn¡¯t hurt to carry some. So, I took out a bag from my pocket and grabbed some water; less than a liter. I was not going to drink something so suspicious but as long as it was going to be my light source, I had no qualms.Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

    ¡®How the hell did I not realize this sooner?¡¯ When my eyes started adjusting, I didn¡¯t even consider the possibility of the water being the light source¡­ I guess I was still a child in some departments. Which did mean one important thing- ¡®Be more mindful.¡¯

    The water glowed through the bag. It was a rather faint glow like a small led. But just that was enough to light up the dark. I waited another half an hour. Still nothing. ¡®Alright.¡¯

    Took a lot of courage but I strode out. The hallway led straight, deeper. Crude walls, no sign of any fiends¡­ and wait, there were no bugs here.

    ¡®Doesn¡¯t that mean there¡¯s something worse?¡¯ Or was it that most people didn¡¯t come down here, so there was nothing to eat? The former seemed more plausible but I hoped that wasn¡¯t the case. And if there really was some beastly thing in here, there was a good chance that thing would come to this room to drink the water, right?

    Na?ve? Sure. But I had to find a way to escape this place and survive.

    I tried to tip toe as best as I could yet my steps reverberated. Just my steps, nothing else. I always had issues with cold damp places. Yet, for some reason I didn¡¯t feel cold. Meaning this place was well insulated. And my dress was only half drenched. ¡®But I still should feel at least a little cold, right?¡¯

    Trickle¡­ some pebbles trickled down. I immediately took a defensive stance but there was nothing there.

    ¡®Is there a floor above?¡¯ If so, the possibility of someone being up was high. Or maybe there was a fiend there instead.

    I kept on walking cautiously. So far, I didn¡¯t see any forks or stairs or holes or anything. No monsters, no bugs. It was both good and bad. Good because, I wasn¡¯t in any imminent danger. Bad because it meant something worse was around.

    I¡¯d played a lot of games in my life. I¡¯d read a lot of novels. And in a vast majority of them, stuff like this happened. The hero found himself in an impossible situation only to have a mysterious power awaken in him or maybe make a pact with something sealed in the depths of the ruins. But again, I wasn¡¯t stupid enough to conclude I was some protagonist just because I¡¯d been reborn. I was below average and had little to no chance of survival against a strong foe. Besides, I didn¡¯t want to fight in the first place. If I could do without fighting, why would I?

    I reached the end of the corridor, and found my first fork. Two paths. Both leading the same way, down. Behind me there was only the glowing water room and nothing else. ¡®Maybe I should go back there and just wait.¡¯

    But I didn¡¯t have drinking water and I didn¡¯t have any food. I was confident I could survive for a few days. But given how I was awfully young, I¡¯d be in no condition to fight in that state. I wait a day, get weak and then what? What if no help comes? What if someone convinces Mom that I¡¯d be dead from a fall like that? Would I then just wait to die?

    No.

    ¡®I can¡¯t¡­ you can¡¯t go back.¡¯

    There was only one way forward.

    And even if it meant going down to the depths of hell. I had to. I had to go forward.

    Then again if there were fiends ahead, I wouldn¡¯t mind just running back here¡­.

 Chapter 25: Ke K Eke

    I made a mental note of things that could go wrong and slowly descended. Despite being so far down, there were actual stairs. Carved into the earth. It did make me wonder whether this whole thing was man-made or if people just came down here for some purpose and made it easier for them to explore. The walls weren¡¯t crude. They were like actual corridors. And this place could change layouts and regenerate places? ¡®Who the fuck even built this?¡¯

    But one thing was easy to understand, people in the past definitely used this place for something. Yet they had to abandon everything. Hmm¡­

    I reached the end of the stairs and another hallway spread before me. This time, there were about five or six different paths, all going down. But why? Why was I just keep going down and down and¡­

    No, this wasn¡¯t good. At this rate I was just going to end up lost so-

    So, I had to turn back and just stay put in the first room¡­ or so I thought as I turned. But the stairs had disappeared.

    ¡°What the fuck¡­¡± the words leaked out. And it reverberated.

    Trickle!

    More and more pebbles tricked. Something was definitely above. But nothing on the ceiling. The stairs leading up had vanished and I could only go down.

    I could of course stay here but I wasn¡¯t sure how safe it was. It was warm, it was quiet but I had a feeling I couldn¡¯t stay put, an instinct of sorts. And this baggy damp shirt was really getting annoyi-

    Wait¡­ the cloth had more or less been stuck to my body like it was wet. Which it kind of was but¡­ I gently looked into my shirt, and stared at my arm. ¡®It¡¯s recovered?¡¯ The scars were still there but the meat had regenerated. Somewhat.

    Something dawned on me¡­ a little too late, but¡­ the aerated water was a healing spring. ¡°Argh¡­¡± I sighed hard. How the hell did I forget common game sense, I had no idea.

    But wait, I did pack in a liter worth of the stuff. That had to be worth something, right? Considering how Mom used herbs and bandages instead of that stuff, this was pretty rare¡­.Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.

    So yeah, with a bit more confidence I drew a random number in my mind and went with descending stairs number 3.

    Same with the next floor. The previous stairs disappeared and more and more stairs led down. Almost as though the dungeon itself wanted me to go down or something. However, the thing above just¡­ got closer? I mean, we were still separated by a floor at least but it was definitely getting closer in a sense. After all, I could actually hear its steps and even some growls. I considered it could be Mom. And though Mom was sort of a beast when it came to raw strength, she wasn¡¯t a literal beast. That thing above was quadrupedal and I could bet my unborn children on that thing being vicious. And I had no issues with betting unborn children on anything, cause well, they weren¡¯t born yet.

    Anyway, descending was a good choice. Leaving behind the healing spring probably wasn¡¯t but what¡¯s done is done.

    And despite going down a few more floors, the scene didn¡¯t quite change. It was almost as though I was just running around in circles. At least until I went down exactly 13 floors.

    All of a sudden, the stairway leading up didn¡¯t disappear and the corridor opened up in a big room. Yeah, I didn¡¯t like where this was going. Not one bit.

    But wait, there were stairs on the other side. Stairs leading up. Tempting as fuck¡­. ¡®No risks no merits¡­¡¯ I really wanted to punch my subconscious but I took cautious steps. Confirming the floor wasn¡¯t going to break I made it into the large open room. I waited to hear any slithering or other sort of noise but nothing. Not even the growls or trickling from before. Which was good but¡­ wait, this room wasn¡¯t empty. Something was here. Something ¡­ above.

    Uh-uh¡­yeah- totally made sense. It stared at me as I stared back. Big red eyes, a perfectly white body that almost blended with the ceiling and scales. No, it wasn¡¯t a snake¡­ four legs and a tail. Yeah, totally made sense¡­. But I wished it didn¡¯t.

    Wham!

    It crashed before me dusting up a cloud, but I jumped back just in time. I had to cover my eyes so I didn¡¯t get dust in. ¡°Cough! Cough!¡±

    A lizard.

    A big lizard, bigger than a monitor one: probably double. The scales were oddly similar to that of a Nile croc. In fact, it was basically the size of a salt water croc.

    ¡®Well, that¡¯s not good.¡¯

    I pulled out my knife and kept an eye on the exit so I could run? ¡®What exit?¡¯ Both had disappeared.

    Yeah, okay, so, this was definitely a boss room. ¡°WAHHH!¡± I cried¡­ nothing happened.

    Nothing other than the lizard thing cackling. Oh yeah, thing was intelligent. ¡°Stay away from me. Or my Mother would torch your fucking head and feed it to the fish.¡±

    ¡°Ke k eke!¡± It kept cacking and in a split second drew in lots of air and¡­ ¡°FUUU!!¡±

    Blew it out in a yellow fashion. Houston, we had ignition!

    ¡°AHH!¡± I screamed and rolled.

    Fucking hell it was a fire breathing lizard. No wings, and small as fuck but that thing was a dragon.

    A DRAGON!

 Chapter 26: Grief And Rage

    Lin was furious.

    Not at the cave, or the people holding her down, but at herself. She did this. She was responsible for the boy. Sure, Sol was more mature than most boys his age, however, bringing him to a deadly cave she knew to be extremely dangerous, was the stupidest thing she¡¯d ever done in her life.

    At the time she didn¡¯t think much of it. Sol was at the curious age and he eventually had to learn how things worked. He had to learn, just how dangerous the world truly was. That not every time Lin or Sisna was going to be there when a random tiger bit down on his arm. Even after having his arm nearly chewed off, Sol had hardly showed any signs of fear. In fact, the boy was now eager to learn how to hunt. And worse, Den even promised him that he''d take him to hunts from next year. So, she wanted to scare him a little. Perhaps to make up the excuse to keep him to herself for a few more years.

    She knew the day would eventually come. The day when Sol would grow up and leave. However, before that¡­ she could at least¡­.

    But again, her intention was only to scare him; they entered the cave, he started shivering. And since he was scared, it was all good. She fought the serpent, secured Derek, and all was good. Mission accomplished.

    Crack.

    But then- everything fell apart. In one fell swoop Sol fell, and the next thing she knew, the floor closed up. No matter how much she slammed the ground, nothing happened.

    This wasn¡¯t the first time she experienced the harshness of the west cave. Back in her early teens, she¡¯d been na?ve enough to come here alone and fight off a few giant spiders; Lin was young, had no real family and wanted to prove herself to the world. Not because she wanted recognition but because she wanted to show the middle finger to everyone who thought she would die.

    The spiders had her surrounded and she almost died. Or she would have, if the floor hadn¡¯t caved in. She fell to the fourth floor where luckily, she met three brothers. Lin joined their party, and somehow made it back out alive. She¡¯d grossly underestimated the cave, and the dangers it posed. ¡°Teach me more about this place,¡± she said. Lin bent her ideals a little and put her pride down the whole time.

    She became fast friends with the brothers, and they were technically her first friends. Serec, Derec, and Xerec. Lin of course still valued her independence and only relied on the brothers in case she really needed their help. In return, she helped them out when they were in need. However, together they dived into the cave again and again, hunted monsters, collected rare treasures and became somewhat famous in the village.

    Lin came close to death on several accounts, so she really did know just how dangerous the cave was.

    Yet-

    ¡°You know the floor would only grow back stronger,¡± Zena had said.

    Derek was breathing quite heavily. The antidote was working but he¡¯d lost a lot of blood and they had to get him medical attention quickly. And Zena alone couldn¡¯t carry him back.

    Yet, Lin couldn¡¯t bring herself to move from the damn spot. Her heart raced, and squeezed in her chest. She breathed, she breathed and she breathed a ton, yet, air didn¡¯t seem to get in there.

    ¡°It¡¯s alright,¡± Derek sweated, barely conscious. ¡°Let her be¡­¡± He passed out.Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.

    Stomping her feet one last time, Lin grabbed one arm of Derek. ¡°Let¡¯s get him out. Zorin should send someone over, so stay put outside.¡±

    ¡°What about you?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m going in.¡± She was going to get Derek out, and then head straight back in. Lin knew how the cave worked, and she was confident she could find him¡­ she had to!

    Zena didn¡¯t say a word but she knew how dangerous it was in the deeper parts of the cave. Given how long the fall was, Zena was sure the boy wouldn¡¯t survive. But she prayed, at the very least his body didn¡¯t show up at the entrance. She knew just how much Lin cared for the boy.

    They reached the entrance and both of them heaved a sigh of relief. Sol¡¯s dead body wasn¡¯t here. Meaning the boy still had to be alive.

    However, one thing did bother Lin. While there were multiple floors and rooms and paths in this cave. People who fell through the crack to the depths, usually didn¡¯t show up at the entrance. So there really was a good chance Sol fell and died in the lower floors. The floors inaccessible through the typical pathways.

    But-

    But it still did give her hope. If he wasn¡¯t here, he had to be alive. He just had to! ¡°Alright- be careful-¡± Lin took off. Or would have, if something didn¡¯t hold her down.

    It was Derek, he¡¯d regained consciousness and held the lady¡¯s arm. ¡°It¡¯s suicide. The fourth floor is crawling with those things. Only one followed me up, but there were at half a dozen.¡±

    ¡°I can take them.¡±

    ¡°No, you cannot!¡± He coughed, wheezed but didn¡¯t let go.

    ¡°Fucking let go!¡± Lin almost punched the man but stopped at the last second. ¡°Please¡­ He¡¯s my boy.¡±

    ¡°I know,¡± he said. ¡°Get some help, go!¡± He urged Zena, who for better or worse had frozen stiff.

    But, with some egging on from her husband, she quickly left.

    Meanwhile, he still held Lin firm. ¡°Look, I understand you want to run in there right now. But wait till Den and the rest get here. They¡¯re your best bet to save him.¡±

    ¡°Den¡¯s not here¡­¡± Lin groaned. ¡°He left for Aihan¡­.¡± She slammed her fist on the wall.

    Each passing breath only made her chest grow heavier and her eyes moister. She could break into tears any moment now. Yet, she held everything back. She had to go back.

    She just¡­

    ¡®Sol¡­¡¯

    Zena quickly brought some help. Serec and Xerec.

    ¡°I¡¯ll take him back. You three take a look,¡± Serec picked up Derek. ¡°You put on some weight man,¡± like a potato sack.

    ¡°Shove it,¡± Derek mumbled.

    ¡°Yeah, yeah. I¡¯ll get back as fast as possible!¡±

    He left right away.

    While the three ran into the cave. Running was highly dangerous since the floors could break. Yet, Lin intentionally ran. If the floor broke, great!

    But they didn¡¯t. She passed the second floor, she passed the third and on the fourth, there were six serpents. Mostly juvenile serpents. Perhaps the one on the second floor was one of their parents.

    Hiss! They came in all together. Yet- Lin fired off all her arrows in a frenzy! Xerec swung his axe around with ease, as though it had no weight. While Zena covered them both.

    The snakes were agile but they were merely an issue. ¡°We need to find another path,¡± Xerec said.

    The way ahead was filled with poisonous blood from the snakes. They couldn¡¯t risk going into that. There was always a chance more snakes would pile up here thanks to the smell of flesh and blood. Not just snakes, possibly something even worse.

    But Lin knew the other path would only lead them back to the entrance. ¡°No, we go-¡±

    ¡°No, we don¡¯t. Your kid wouldn¡¯t want you to be dead,¡± Xerec grabbed her and dragged her back.

    ¡°But I brought him here! I have to save him!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not your fault man,¡± Xerec was at a loss for words. He just didn¡¯t know what to say at these moments. ¡°He¡¯s a smart kid, he¡¯ll stay put!¡±

    If only that thin moron was here- or so he thought.

    Zena was thunderstruck. From the moment the boy fell, she couldn¡¯t believe her reality. It was her- she thought. It was her fault. The floor cracked when she took a step. And if she hadn¡¯t moved, the floor wouldn¡¯t have cracked anymore. If she just hadn¡¯t gotten off¡­ No, thinking about that wasn¡¯t going to help. It cracked, he fell, and now they had to rescue him. That was it.

    Yet¡­

    Yet, she ground her teeth in frustration.

    And although they did drag Lin back out, Lin almost overpowered Xerec who was touted to be the strongest Southerner in the whole village. ¡°LET ME GO!¡± And she was relentless.

    ¡°We must wait till the venom disperses,¡± Xerec said.

    ¡°It¡¯s going to take hours!¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ll camp here,¡± Zena finally said. ¡°We¡¯ll. We¡¯ll all stay here and-¡±

    Lin was furious. She wasn¡¯t furious at the others. But she was furious at herself. However- ¡°No, go home. You have people who need you right now.¡± However, she wasn¡¯t completely overtaken with grief and rage.

 Chapter 27: Golden

    Okay so, this thing was tough.

    It was fast, it was agile, it was breathing fire and I was basically powerless. Yeah, I had a knife but that wasn¡¯t going to work.

    It reminded me about that one time I got lost in an arcade with about a hundred bucks. Yeah, I had money yeah, I knew how to get home and I probably could have gotten out of the arcade if I¡¯d just asked an employee nicely. But with all the sounds and colors¡­ could you really blame me for splurging all my money trying to beat that monkey?

    Okay, terrible comparison¡­ and wait, was I always terrible with money? Hmm¡­

    ¡®But it¡¯s intelligent, right?¡¯

    ¡°Hey!¡± I yelled. ¡°I¡¯m telling you, my mother would kill you!¡± I ran around, avoiding the thing¡¯s fiery breath.

    It hadn¡¯t yet attacked me seriously yet. As though it was having fun toying with me, like a cat playing with a mouse before eventually¡­ eating it.

    Yeah, this certainly wasn¡¯t good. But I didn¡¯t have any way to resist. Running around in circles was all I could manage.

    Threats are no good.

    ¡°Argh-¡± I grabbed my right arm which burned. Did I accidentally get scorched? No. there was no such sign. It¡¯s just that¡­ my right arm was so damn warm and even burning. It reminded me of that time it was chewed by a tiger. ¡®This is not the time to be panicking!¡¯

    ¡°Kek ke ke~!¡± The thing laughed, stayed put for a second as I was ready to piss myself any minute now.

    Oh god, I wished it¡¯d never come to this. I wished I didn¡¯t come with mother; I wish¡­. ¡®Who the fuck am I even wishing to?¡¯

    Shaking my head violently, I gripped my knife firm and charged in a blind swing. The thing dodged immediately and yet, didn¡¯t burn me to a crisp first thing. Yeah, it really was enjoying the fight and prolonging it for some reason?

    ¡®So, you like a prey when it struggles¡­¡¯

    Clicking my tongue, I jumped back and panted. My mind kept up with the thing, but my body could not. I was at my limit.

    And yet, my arm just burned? Wait- was this thing¡­ a spirit? I didn¡¯t feel the same feeling I got from the goat or even James but¡­ it was similar? Maybe. ¡®Worth a shot?¡¯

    ¡°You want food and prey right? I¡¯ll get you them! Let¡¯s get out of here and find lots of foo- WOAH!¡± I jumped sideways, haphazardly dodging the incoming fire.

    I ran, and it came running with about the same speed, almost licking me with those flames, but never quite burning me. ¡°Ke ke ke~!¡± Laughing the entire time.

    ¡°Lots of food and lots of prey!¡± I yelled.If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

    But it was not listening.

    My brain churned, trying desperately to find something that would help. But what? What could I possibly offer a monster? What could I possibly- ¡°Meat!¡± I screamed. ¡°We have a lot of meat! Tiger, boar, cow, whatever! Meat!¡±

    It stopped.

    Stared.

    ¡°Mea-¡± It spoke or attempted to? Definitely intelligent. ¡°Huek eke k eke!¡± Its face retorted as the mouth stretched into a crescent, as though it was smiling, the eyes a bit too crescent as well; creepy. ¡°You- Mea-¡± And then it jumped, on top of me, pinning me down on the ground.

    A familiar, very familiar sensation. I was about to be eaten¡­ again. ¡°Tch!¡± I dug the knife deep into its leg but- it kicked the knife away, and licked its wounds, while keeping me pinned with the other legs. The wound healed and the damn thing smiled even wider.

    That¡¯s right, if it had good meat before its eyes. Why would it bet on getting meat later (which it might not get) instead of eating me right now?

    Sigh¡­ the ceiling was so far away¡­ yet-

    ¡°I give you my word, I¡¯ll get you the best meat I can find,¡± I said. ¡°They¡¯re delicious. Far more than me.¡±

    ¡°Ke k eke!¡± It bit¡­ just near my ear, almost biting the ear off but not quite; a mild sting ran down my ear¡­. I saw the teeth. Allegator.

    Still teasing.

    ¡®No, no, no, don¡¯t panic.¡¯

    I was definitely dying at this rate. ¡°If you don¡¯t believe, fine, eat me. But if you eat me, where will you get more meat? Eat me now, you¡¯re good for a day. Don¡¯t eat me, and I¡¯ll bring you food every week!¡± I kept my poker face on.

    Yet, the thing only smiled and snickered.

    However, it let me go. ¡®The fuck?¡¯

    Wait was it¡­ was it actually falling for that? Huh?

    ¡°Prov- loyal-¡± It smiled, showing all those sharp yellow teeth. The voice, oddly juvenile. Almost like a child¡¯s.

    ¡°How?¡±

    ¡°Hand, give. Hue ki ki ke!¡±

    I instinctively grabbed and hid my hand behind my back but now it was slowly coming towards me. And I slowly took steps back.

    However- ¡®It¡¯s going to kill me either way. But if there¡¯s a chance¡­¡¯ I could stop the bleeding with the glowing water. I could survive this without a hand. But I could also die.

    Wheezing like I had pneumonia, I stopped, pulled my left hand forward but it ignored the arm and stared at the right. You got to be fucking kidding me. I literally just got it back!

    Argh.

    There was a chance the water could regrow the limb but I wasn¡¯t betting on that. It hadn¡¯t fixed my scars and the skin was still pretty dead. But it had somehow regrown the meat inside¡­ at least some of it.

    Oh, fuck it! I almost shoved my shivering hand at its mouth. It opened wide, showing all those jagged teeth and then closed the mouth, with my hand still inside.

    Cold¡­ and then searing-

    ¡°ARGHHH!!!¡± I screamed but didn¡¯t flinch. I stood there. Panting, wheezing, crying. But- ¡°You protect me, make sure I don¡¯t die. I give you meat,¡± I said. ¡°You don¡¯t betray me, I don¡¯t betray you!¡±

    Even with my hand inside its mouth, the damn thing smiled and opened the mouth. I got my hand back with multiple half inch holes. I was missing my index finger too. Burning and stinging like hell, I desperately drank and sprayed some water on the wounds. They sizzled and closed up; scars. But the finger didn¡¯t grow back. Just scars.

    Yeah, bones didn¡¯t grow back. Still panting I stared at the thing and it still had that weird smile.

    My hand burned anew. Wait, didn¡¯t I just seal the wounds? Poison? I screamed, and was about to scream- ¡®You tricked me!¡¯ But then I noticed something white on my hand. A lizard insignia. Just the head, like the thing before me. My missing finger tickled and itched and started wiggling like a maggot¡­ I grew a finger, a white finger with scales. But a finger regardless. And the scars? They loosened.

    Body wobbling, I was losing consciousness. Something warm coursed through my pants¡­ oh wait, it was just my golden stream.

    ¡®Pathetic.¡¯

    And while I did agree with that sentiment, it wasn¡¯t my thought. Rather, the voice was directly injected into my mind.

    Along with that sentiment, something else popped up in my mind before I went under.

    Rexen; its name. And ¡®Every week. Be late, I eat your family.¡¯

 Chapter 27.5: Lia Bright

    To be honest, I was jealous.

    Mama kept on saying how much of a prodigy Aunt Lin¡¯s boy was. Apparently despite being a Westerner, he was great at controlling his emotions and quite mature. At least that¡¯s what my mother kept on telling me.

    She sang praises of that boy, despite only meeting him twice. She constantly corrected my own behavior by comparing me to that boy and even berating me. Even though I tried so hard to be nice, so hard to not mess up. Even though I was so much more talented than him.

    Lork And Joseph were both so much better than me, so I tried really hard to not mess up, yet to Mama¡¯s eyes, I was always messing up.

    So, it wasn¡¯t a stretch to say, I didn¡¯t like Aunt Lin¡¯s boy.

    ¡°I¡¯m Sol, nice to meet you,¡± he said.

    He spoke so fluently. I¡¯d been talking for over two years, but I couldn¡¯t even keep up with his speech, let alone imitate it. Just from a single glance, I could tell, the short boy before me¡­ really was as good as my mother said.

    So, I tried making fun of him. I tried making fun of his ears. Yet¡­ he didn¡¯t seem to get mad, but rather¡­ sad?

    I was confused and before I knew it, we were outside and I saw some cute pigs. I gave him a push, and ran after the pigs. I was bigger than him and I could run way faster. So, I felt great! I was better than him at least in something!

    But that sense of pride died, along with the pigs.  Those three little piglets died before my very eyes and my legs had given up. I soiled myself at the face of the adversary, and it gleamed at me with those hungry mocking eyes.

    Lork always mentioned how he nearly escaped a tiger fiend once. He would often recount his failed adventure and how lucky he was. But if Lork had to run away, what chance did I have when I couldn¡¯t even climb trees?

    ¡°Lia!¡± Sol showed up, on top of a goat.

    A spirit! Surely- no, wait, herbivore spirits were guardian angels, they were never meant to stand up to fiends. They would be destroyed and heavily punished by the spirit king¡­ no spirit in its rightful mind would-Stolen story; please report.

    Yet, the boy didn¡¯t stop, and the spirit attacked the fiend.

    And the rest was history.

    He¡¯d died before my very eyes, yet I could do nothing but watch. He died for me, to protect me, yet¡­ I could do absolutely nothing.

    Powerless. Worthless.

    What was the point of my talent? My hard work? My pride? What was the point if I felt this powerless?

    ¡°SOL!¡± Aunt Lin showed up and cut the tiger. She grabbed Sol and didn¡¯t even look at me.

    I meant nothing to her¡­

    Mama dropped from the tree and held me but she too just stared at the boy. I meant nothing¡­

    But then the unthinkable happened. The guardian angel shared bits of her soul with the boy. Something I¡¯d only heard in the legends. And then she vanished.

    The boy managed to survive.

    But my pride did not. I locked myself off, refused to eat anything and just stayed put. Southerners could survive for days without food; I wasn¡¯t an exception. But¡­ but I knew I was just being stupid. I knew I was-

    Yet¡­

    I couldn¡¯t bring myself to open the door. I couldn¡¯t bring myself to see him. I couldn¡¯t¡­ stop crying.

    A few days passed. Mama stopped trying to get me out of the room. She¡¯d always been easy on me while she was hard on my brothers. I guess, I wasn¡¯t worth her time. But¡­ I was hoping she¡¯d at least try¡­ try a bit more.

    She didn¡¯t.

    Then one day¡­

    Knock! Knock!

    ¡°It¡¯s Me Sol.¡±

    He kept on knocking and saying stuff until I heard a thud. Did he fall? Did he just pass out?

    He was weak and wounded so it was possible. ¡®Again because of me¡­¡¯ I rushed to the door, opened it and to my surprise, Sol was fine. But he was bandaged and looked horrible. Yet, he had the nerve to tell me I looked bad. Take a look in the mirror, idiot!

    But¡­ but he¡¯d forgiven me. he¡¯d forgiven me and held nothing against me, even though I couldn¡¯t forgive myself.

    So¡­

    ¡°Thank you Sol.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re welcome¡­ Lia.¡±

    And that¡¯s when it started¡­ that¡¯s when I finally made¡­ my first friend. I didn¡¯t really attempt to check on him for the next few weeks. But I did make Mama keep track. And when I went to visit him in a while, his mother was making him pull his ears in the sun. It was funny, and I might have laughed.

    However, ¡­

    ¡°Sol fell in the west cave,¡± Uncle Serec came rushing one afternoon.

    ¡°What?¡± Mama dropped her spoon.

    We were in the middle of going through some snacks together. Mama had lately been more of a picky eater than even me.

    ¡°How¡¯d he get there?¡± Mama continued.

    ¡°That¡¯s what I¡¯d like to know but that¡¯s not important. Lin¡¯s banging her head against the cave. We can¡¯t control her. I know it¡¯s too much to ask when,¡± Serec sighed. ¡°Would really help if you were there,¡± he said.

    Mama¡¯s belly had become really large. She was close¡­ she just told me the other day, it could be any day now.

    ¡°Alright,¡± Mama put down her food. ¡°Liani, keep watch.¡±

    ¡°Okay¡­¡±

 Chapter 28: Nothing Can Stop Me

    Lyra arrived at the scene and found Zena panting on the floor. ¡°She went in,¡± she said.

    Lyra groaned once. Her body was in no shape for this cave but-

    But before she could go in, two people rushed out. Xerec and Lin. Xerec was basically dragging Lin out.

    ¡°Lin!¡± Lyra yelled. ¡°You alright?¡±

    ¡°Do I look alright?¡±

    She didn¡¯t. in fact, her eyes were puffy, her hair was somewhat disheveled and at first glance anyone would mistake her for a girl who just broke up.

    ¡°You don¡¯t,¡± Lyra snickered.

    It was already evening and soon this place would be covered in a thick mist. Making it awfully dangerous. Yet, Lyra was here. Even in her state. ¡°What are you doing here?¡± Lin managed. ¡°You know you shouldn¡¯t be here.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m here for you. Heard Sol fell.¡±

    ¡°Yeah,¡± Lin rubbed her right arm, looking down. ¡°I brought him here.¡±

    ¡°It wasn¡¯t your fault. You know how the cave works.¡±

    ¡°I do¡­ but I still brought him here. It is my fault.¡± Her eyes moistened and she shed a few tears.

    Lyra knew Lin from a young age. The two of them were rivals. Always fighting over who was stronger, who was faster¡­ who was prettier. Some battles Lyra won. Others, Lin. But they weren¡¯t just rivals, they were also friends.

    And throughout those years, Lyra only saw Lin be emotional in a handful scenarios. Yet, these days, Lin was always emotional. No, that wasn¡¯t right. Lin was emotional for Sol.

    ¡°You¡¯ve changed,¡± Lyra managed. Her face retorting a little.

    ¡°I¡¯ll set up camp,¡± Serec said, and got to work.

    Zena stayed for a while to check on things and after a brief exchange, left. Her house was in shambles, and she had to be there.

    Lyra too had to leave. She couldn¡¯t be out here and- ¡°Oh, no,¡± she said. A hand on her stomach. ¡°Not now¡­¡± Her face darkened. Liquid dripped.

    ¡°Fuck,¡± Lin groaned. ¡°Burn some wood! We need fire and warm water!¡±

    It would virtually be impossible to carry Lyra back to the village. And although it would be somewhat possible for them to bring a midwife here, they knew no one was stupid enough to come to this place at this hour.

    ¡°Serec, Xerec, keep watch!¡± Lin barked the orders. She was the only one here with enough experience and enough expertise. Lin knew how to do everything. She¡¯d taught herself, forced herself to learn. Over and over again. She didn¡¯t like being dependent on anyone or anything. Yet, right now, she was hoping with all her fucking guts, something would happen and her kid would mysteriously be okay while she dealt with this.Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.

    As they were shaking and trying to sort things, one of Lyra¡¯s kids showed up. Tall, almost of age. Joseph. ¡°What the fuck¡­¡± he mumbled. ¡°Shouldn¡¯t we carry her back?¡± He got the situation in an instant.

    ¡°Runt, get to work! Make your mother comfortable,¡± Lin said.

    ¡°I¡¯m not a runt anymore Lin¡­¡± He whined but did as he was told.

    The fire grew large and they got their warm water. Lyra laid down in a bunch of cloth and other stuff. They were originally planning on camping out here, at least Serec and Xerec were, so they¡¯d bought in some camping here. Who¡¯d have thought it¡¯d all come in handy like this?

    And although none of them were calm perse, Lyra was the one who wasn¡¯t panicking. She¡¯d already been through this three times and it didn¡¯t really hurt as much as the first few times. ¡°It¡¯s only the water kids, calm down,¡± she snickered. ¡°Just keep me warm and let¡¯s get this done!¡± And she was excited no less. Another addition to the family. I hope he makes it out okay¡­ She only had one thing on her mind.

    Lin though, had a lot of things to worry about. The birth came first, but her mind really was back in the second floor. Where she lost her boy.

    Yet- yet, she bit her gums hard and steeled her nerves. This wasn¡¯t the first birth she was going to oversee and certainly not the last. So- she draped a cloth over Lyra¡¯s legs, and started the usual routine. ¡°Look at you, already so big,¡± Lin snickered. Or at least attempted to.

    ¡°Oh, shut up,¡± Lyra rolled her eyes, ¡°ARGHH!¡± And groaned. But compared to the previous few times, especially the first time, this was nothing. And she could feel the baby slowly positioning its head against her. If it wasn¡¯t for the rotten smell and the oncoming mist, this would have been a great experience.

    But since she didn¡¯t have that luxury-

    ¡°Runt what are you still doing here? Go get your dad or something!¡± Lin yelled.

    ¡°He¡¯s not home, why do you think I¡¯m here!?¡±

    Lin rolled her eyes. ¡°I see the head, keep pushing!¡±

    Meanwhile, Serec and Xerec were trying to not watch. They¡¯d never seen childbirth, not even their own kids. So yeah, they were kind of curious. But they knew the moment they even attempt to take a peek¡­ Lin would beat the living shit out of them. Even now, even after growing such strong muscles, they knew that beast was beastly in terms of strength. What¡¯s worse, she was in a really bad mood because of her kid. Right now, she was somewhat distracted but¡­

    Gulping, they just kept the watch. Luckily, no dark wolf actually came near the camp.

    ¡°ARGHHH!¡±

    In one fell swoop the baby just came out.

    ¡°WAHHH!¡±

    ¡°Well, that was easy,¡± Joseph managed. ¡°Didn¡¯t it take like hours with Lia?¡±

    Yet it only took one hour for this one.

    ¡°It took a whole day for you,¡± Lyra panted. Face flushed with sweat, she was bleeding, and yet¡­ yet her smile didn¡¯t vanish.

    Lin cut the ambilocal cord with a knife she just boiled. With the stuff cut, she wiped the boy, put a cloth around it and gave the child to its mother. ¡°Well congratulations Runt, you now have more competition for your father¡¯s estate,¡± Lin shrugged.

    ¡°Nah,¡± the boy smiled. ¡°I¡¯m kind of tempted to just give him stuff anyway.¡±

    That said, Lin got ready for the placenta which also came out surprisingly easily. This really was, the easiest birth Lin experienced. And she was glad for that.

    ¡°Think I¡¯ll name him Solin,¡± Lyra said.

    However- ¡°After I clean you, I¡¯m going back in,¡± Lin said. ¡°And maybe decide on names with the father present or something?¡±

    ¡°You can¡¯t be serious!¡± Xerec came over. Serec kept watch. ¡°You know, we can¡¯t leave her right now. We don¡¯t know how to do anything!¡±

    Lin struggled to hold back the groan. It was already close to midnight. She¡¯d murdered all the snakes in the first four floors and there was virtually nothing there. This was her shot at going down. She knew she¡¯d be fine on her own. But the cave was unpredictable. Specially during the night. And with Lyra like this, she couldn¡¯t just leave her out here either. The other three were just boys. Maybe if Zena was here¡­.

    ¡°I¡¯ll stay for an hour. But after that, I¡¯m going in and nothing can stop me.¡±

 Chapter 29: Reception

    When I came to it, the ceiling was moving. Or was it that I was moving?

    I was on top of something, something cool. And everything else was moving. The ceiling, the walls, the bugs¡­ bugs? I stared around and my goodness there were bugs. Mostly just centipedes. Giant centipedes, bigger than my arm; all slathered across the walls and ceiling. I wasn¡¯t being carried by centipedes though, right?

    Right!?

    Phew. To my surprise, no, I was just being carried by a group of lizards. Smaller than the large one from before but they were still pretty sizable, basically small crocs. ¡®That one had kids?¡¯

    Where even was he though? And yes, he. His voice was somewhat childish when he spoke out loud, but when he spoke in my mind, I could definitely tell¡­ definitely a he.

    I checked my hand and on hindsight, it was fine. The mark was gone, the finger looked perfectly normal¡­ except, that was just my imagination and the lack of light. It was all there; both the mark and the white finger. I really thought I was going to die back there.

    My glowing waterbag (which I was weirdly still carrying) was the only light source. But I did see a lot better than before. Probably because I had my eyes closed all this time.

    I squirmed a little but for the most part, remained calm and didn¡¯t move around. If these things wanted me dead, I¡¯d be dead. But I wasn¡¯t. I was alive, and my finger had regrown. It was a mighty gamble but it still worked. ¡®A contract with a giant lizard though¡­¡¯ Oh well, I¡¯d just brag that it was a big dragon or something. Heh.

    Now, how the hell was I going to find the meat though?

    As I kept on contemplating reality, the cramped walls around me widened and the bugs more or less became scarce, actually no, I just fell upside down towards the ceiling! Ow- with a thud, I fell and well, apparently, the lizards were carrying me upside down the whole time.

    Oh yeah, typical boss room pattern.

    The lizards quickly vanished. However, instead of the familiar lizard I was greeted with snakes? There were like six, maybe seven? And all dead? There fumes were making me a little nauseous but otherwise I was fine. I didn¡¯t recognize the area but I guess the right way was forward? Because the path on the other side was actually leading up for once!

    Massive headache, but I managed to walk just fine. My pants were barely hanging while half of my shirt was missing. My knife nowhere to be found. I still had the water bag though.The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

    Without even a second of delay, I ran up, and straight up the damn stairs, crossed some lonely corridors and some more snake corpses and found my way to another set of stairs, also leading up. So far, nothing out of the ordinary. No cracks, no monsters. But the corridor widened and the ceiling went up high. Another boss room. However, I recognized this one; there was a dead snake in the middle. And I recognized the space on the other side that wasn¡¯t cracked. Holy shit, I was actually almost there.

    ¡®They literally carried me all the frigging way?¡¯

    I was not expecting that, no.

    It took a lot of courage, really, to cross that cracked space; it wasn¡¯t cracked anymore but there was no mistaking it. I remembered every little detail about this place and even the smell of the dust!

    I actually, didn¡¯t fall down this time! Face lit up, I ran up the stairs as though I had all the stamina in the world. There were skeletons around, and there was that shit smell. But hey, I didn¡¯t care. I just ran up, and up, and out!

    It was pretty dark outside and I immediately fought the urge to shiver. Not only was this place dark as hell, it was also covered in mist and kind of freezing. Okay maybe it wasn¡¯t freezing, but after coming through that comfortable warm cave, I just couldn¡¯t deal with this cool mist¡­.

    ¡°Rest for now, we¡¯ll go back in early morning. We¡¯ll find him!¡± Some rather distant voices.

    ¡°Try to get some rest,¡± a familiar voice.

    ¡°Are you fucking serious? I said I¡¯m going in!¡±

    I walked towards them, slowly. Slowly. Before long, I saw a fire. A tent. And as I kept on approaching, they haphazardly looked in my direction, bows pointed. But- ¡°Guys!¡± I waved, and ran. One of them, a woman, ran my way, really fast.

    It didn¡¯t take me a second look to recognize her. It was Mom.

    ¡°SOL!¡± She almost squealed as she hugged me tight falling flat on the ground. She panted, wheezed, yet¡­ yet her heart was so calm. A little racing, sure, but she was calm. No, relieved. ¡°Oh, thank god!¡±

    Sweaty. Even in this cold ass weather, Mom was sweaty and kind of smelled. But honestly¡­ I didn¡¯t mind it. Her scent put me at ease.

    ¡°Our resident atheist is actually thanking god for once!¡± Xerec broke out in laughter but we all ignored him.

    ¡°Mom¡­¡± I said, rubbing her back. I got a chuckle in response.

    ¡°How?¡± Male voice. Serec.

    ¡°Yes, how?¡± Lyra said, her stomach nowhere to be found. Wait¡­ she had a baby in her arms. And there was a guy next to her. If I recalled correctly, Lia¡¯s brother?

    Wait, wait- did she¡­

    ¡°Sol, how did you get out of there?¡± Mom asked.

    ¡°Dragon spirit,¡± I said. I showed her my hand. ¡°Big white lizard. Carried me.¡±

    Her eyes went wide. As did everyone else¡¯s. Wait, was getting a contract with spirits that abnormal? I wouldn¡¯t say the lizard was a good spirit perse but it did save my life¡­ it did almost eat me though.

    ¡°Dragon spirit? Are you sure it was a dragon?¡±

    I mean, lizards were technically dragons¡­ right?

    ¡°My arm burned and-¡± And I showed her my arm. Which was healed. ¡°I fell in water,¡± I said. ¡°Water healed me.¡± I also showed them my glowing water. ¡°Then I went deeper and found a lizard that tried to eat me.¡± I then showed my finger with the scales. ¡°In the end, I somehow contracted with it and¡­¡± I was having a very hard time explaining without sounding too natural or creepy.

    Mom hugged me again while the others looked at me with pity. What was going on? This certainly wasn¡¯t the reception I was expecting.

 Chapter 30: Alright

    Mom took me home, fed me some soup and we went straight to bed.

    The lights were out. Crickets outside. Soon it¡¯d be dawn. A new day.

    Yet, neither of us had any sleep in our eyes. Mom didn¡¯t really ask me questions and I didn¡¯t really have the guts to ask anything either.

    On our way, Serec did try to explain just how hectic things with Mom were but I could have gotten that much even without him explaining.

    Lyra was pretty weak but Xerec and Lyra¡¯s son took her and the newborn baby away safely. Or so Xerec reported before leaving for his own home.

    All in all, everything was settled and I was back in my mother¡¯s arms. And yet, there was this looming uncertainty hanging in the air. And though I knew it was there, I couldn¡¯t understand why.

    In the end, I stopped worrying and giving a fuck. I just¡­ rested my head on her arm, wrapped my arms around her like she was some bodypillow, and tried sleeping. I¡¯d slept for a few hours in the cave so I wasn¡¯t feeling very sleepy. Yet¡­ her warm chest, her warm embrace made me drowsy, and I eventually fell asleep.

    ¡­

    Lin

    Sol was back. Back to her arms. Yet, she couldn¡¯t rest. She couldn¡¯t calm down and she couldn¡¯t really find a way to sleep.

    He was back, sure. But she¡¯d lost him for her lack of oversight. She wanted to teach him a lesson. She wanted to impart some wisdom before she had to let him go. Before the passing. Yet, it had gone all wrong. Sol was smart. And he made it back somehow. Even if he had to be contracted with a malicious spirit, he was still back. And that mattered more than anything.

    However-

    Keeping him safe from the church was going to be impossible now. Sooner or later, they would know of his existence, and the existence of the contract. Sooner or later¡­ they would come for him. And when it does happen, would she be able to protect him?

    Lin was a fighter. She was a hunter. She was a homemaker. She¡¯d learned all the skills she deemed to be necessary. However, she wasn¡¯t a mother. After all, that was one thing she never expected to be. She didn¡¯t dislike kids. But she didn¡¯t really like them either. She knew enough to survive on her own, but not enough to help a baby survive.The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

    Yet, Sol had survived. He was almost four and a half. And soon he¡¯d be five. Lin was looking forward to that. To his fifth birthday.

    Yet¡­

    She sighed once, looked out the south window. Trees moving. The wind was strong tonight. If one thing- just one thing hadn¡¯t gone right, Sol wouldn¡¯t have been there. The boy claimed he¡¯d fought the lizard for a couple of minutes and even ended up sacrificing his hand but the lizard only ate the finger. What if the lizard ate his hand? What if it pretended and then ate him too. What if-

    Lin sighed once more. Worrying, thinking, overthinking, none of that was helping. Right now, Sol was in her arms and no matter what, he was going to be in her arms. She was going to make sure of that. Even if it meant leaving her home. Even if it meant leaving the village. Yet, she knew leaving now would only endanger his life even more.

    ***

    The next morning, Lin cooked some more soup. She¡¯d been trying to learn some new dishes but so far, they weren¡¯t any good, so she kept on trying new ways to make the soup taste better. Spices, new vegetables, different meat. Of course, the soup did taste different but¡­ just soup wasn¡¯t enough to satisfy Sol anymore.

    So, Lin had started growing some wheat and rice just outside the house. She wasn¡¯t sure what she was going to do with them but that was a different story.

    Zena visited first thing in the morning, and thanked both of them extensively. She¡¯d brought a gift of sorts. A whole basket of Honeycrisps.

    ¡°How¡¯s Derek?¡± Lin asked.

    ¡°He¡¯s doing all right. Might have to cut the leg,¡± she said. ¡°Oh, Xerec and Serec went to the cave first thing. They said, they¡¯ll skin the corpses and sell it to the mayor.¡±

    The antidote had worked. However, Derek¡¯s leg had already suffered serious injuries and was mostly¡­ dead.

    ¡°You can use this,¡± Sol said. Offering a rather thin vial of glowing liquid. After discussing about it with Lin last night, both of them had come to the conclusion that they¡¯d share some with Derek if need be. And not just Derek-

    ¡°What is this?¡± Zena said.

    ¡°Elixir basically,¡± Lin said. ¡°I just used some on my finger earlier and it has both rejuvenating powers and regenerative one too.¡±

    Zena¡¯s hands shook. ¡°Something so precious. You could sell it for at least a couple of gold and-¡±

    Lin shrugged. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it. If it bugs you that much, teach some more things to this little brat,¡± she went over to the kitchen.

    Sol had a rather dissatisfied look. ¡°Brat? Seriously?¡± He sighed but got over it rather quick. ¡°I have a whole bunch more. So, feel free to use it.¡± And in fact, he planned on sharing 1 vial with the whole group. They were there when Lin was in distress. Sol wanted to repay that kindness.

    ¡°How? You fell down and-¡±

    ¡°Got lucky?¡± The boy snickered. ¡°Anyway, we¡¯re about to head over to Lia¡¯s place. How about you?¡±

    Zena stared at her hand, at the vial. ¡°I¡¯ll catch up.¡± That said, she left.

    Sol grabbed a fruit and almost bit into it. Almost because, his mother had taken it away from him. ¡°Finish your soup, then dessert.¡±

    ¡°Alright.¡±

 Chapter 31: Not Die

    We went to check on Lyra. She was doing fine; the baby too which incidentally had the name Solin. Her family was with her, and soon all her friends arrived as well. I was surprised to see a whole bunch of new people.

    They were hosting a party outside the house, in their backyard. Meat skewers were the main dish. And although they didn¡¯t have any alcoholic beverages, they were serving lemonades to basically everyone. Did people here not have gastric issues? Anyway¡­ ¡®What about wine and stuff though?¡¯ They had some fruit at least so how come they didn¡¯t try fermentation? Maybe they didn¡¯t know? No, that didn¡¯t seem likely. Lots of kids around, so maybe that¡¯s why?

    The meat sticks and lemonade weren¡¯t that bad though. Pretty good actually. Mom was too busy catching up with Lyra and her friends inside, so I hung out alone while sipping the juice.

    Although I did see some humans, they were mostly scarce. And for some reason, they were glaring at me. No. That wasn¡¯t right. They weren¡¯t glaring at me with hostile intentions. It was more in the lines of¡­ pity?

    So, somehow, I snuck closer to one of them. ¡°Pretty party,¡± I said.

    He nodded. Old fellow. Close to a hundred. Somewhat bald and droopy skin. But he was fine. He could stand, he could walk and judging by how he was dancing a few moments ago¡­ yeah, he was fine. He didn¡¯t say a word though.

    I guess he wasn¡¯t interested in having a conversation?

    So yeah, I focused elsewhere and noticed Lia glancing at me across the field. She had company. About four or so boys. All tall and perky. Elves¡­. Pretty boys. Actually, everyone here was good looking. I guess if you keep good looking strong guys and killed the rest¡­ you¡¯d only be left with good looking people, so that wasn¡¯t very surprising. Kind of annoying, but not surprising.

    She¡¯d realized I was staring back and walked my way. Well, this can¡¯t be good.

    ¡°Did you try the skewers?¡± Lia wore a frilly white dress. Nothing fancy, nothing glittery. But she did look good¡­ for a five-year-old. Meanwhile I was wearing just half pants and a weird shirt mother sew for me. Weird, because it didn¡¯t have any buttons and rather frilly.

    I almost had the instinct to pat her head, but then I recalled something from the past and proceeded to eat up all the feelings.Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.

    ¡°Yeah?¡±

    ¡°Nice. I helped.¡± Lia hadn¡¯t come alone though. She¡¯d brought her friends. ¡°This is Jarb. This is Mack, And this is Tan.¡±

    ¡°Sup.¡± They crossed their arms and looked down me. Mostly because they were taller.

    ¡°Haloo.¡±

    ¡°Bud.¡±

    Their attempts at intimidating me were awfully cute. ¡°Soler Arnius. Nice to meet you.¡±

    They blinked amongst themselves. ¡°Prodig?

    ¡°Genis!¡±

    ¡°Mater!¡±

    ¡°Mater!¡±

    ¡°Mater!~¡±

    What the fuck was wrong with these kids?

    Yeah¡­ this was why I hated toddlers. Obnoxious brats. They were laughing, giggling and all that amongst themselves. Oh wait, they meant Master¡­.

    ¡°Stop it!¡± Lia hissed.

    Their smiles vanished and they all just stood there like children being scolded by their mother. Kind of fun to watch.

    ¡°Nice to meechu-¡± the tallest kid said. Apparently, Jarb.

    I shook his hands. Mostly because he was the one who initiated the shake. So people do shake hands. Yet, I¡¯d hardly seen anyone do that.

    Then again, I never spent much time outside and the few people I¡¯d made contact with, considered me a literal child. So¡­ yeah.

    ¡°Arni, how old are you?¡± Mack, the fattest of the bunch asked. He was even chubbier than me! His cheeks were very pinchable. And wait, no one called me Arni before. Also, his speech was surprisingly good.

    ¡°Four and a half.¡±

    ¡°How much is that?¡± Mack turned to his right, towards the shortest of the group. Tan. He was still taller than me though. Damn those Southern genes!

    ¡°Less by two months!¡± He chuckled. ¡°Same age!¡± he proclaimed.

    Uh-huh.

    The kids kept on laughing and telling me stories about how Mack one time ate too much and farted juice all over the place. I had to try my best not to let out a disgusted snort but I was amazed how these kids found that funny. I mean, it was kind of funny but juice fart huh¡­ heh!

    Anyway. That out of the way, I noticed Mom walking out in a fury so I followed her.

    ¡°We¡¯re leaving!¡± She grumbled.

    The fuck happened? I hadn¡¯t seen her that pissed¡­ ever. Mom did an excellent job of suppressing her anger near me. I did see her lash out at Den every now and then. But only when I wasn¡¯t around. I did peek at them from outside the window but I had a feeling Den knew what I was up to. Oops.

    Anyway- ¡°What happened?¡± I grabbed her finger and trailed out of the place.

    She did not say a word, no.

    And so, before I knew it, we were back home and things moved as though nothing happened at all. Yet for some reason Mom didn¡¯t smile for the rest of the day.

    ***

    A few days later Den got back and lectured me for a long, long while. But not just me, he also lectured Mom. Apparently, the cave was really dangerous and even adults didn¡¯t go in alone. He then proceeded to drag me out of the forest to the grasslands.

    ¡°But you did well to survive. Actually, you might have a knack for surviving. Maybe you were talented in something after all?¡±

    He could have just told me that without dragging me out here though, right? So, what was he getting at?

    ¡°Pretty sure, I was just trying not to die Den,¡± I said.

    ¡°Huh.¡± Den came closer swung his foot straight at me.

    I haphazardly rolled, barely dodging. ¡°The hell you doing?¡±

    ¡°Trying to nurture that will to not die.¡± He smiled, and then I saw it¡­

    Demon.

 Chapter 32: Plums

    Den beat the shit out of me. Literally.

    I was battered and there were scratches all over me. His demonic side was really, demonic. And here I thought elves were supposed to be peaceful.

    ¡°Also, what¡¯s up with the lifesaving elixir thing? How lucky can you get?¡± He grimaced, albeit disgustingly, and sat down next to me. Den grabbed my hand for a second, took a look at the white insignia, and rolled his eyes. ¡°And you went and got yourself cursed too. Moron.¡±

    Apparently, that elixir thing was rare but not super hard to find. In every dungeon, there was a special room full of that stuff. But the only way to access that special room was to clear the whole dungeon. And that took anywhere from a month to a few years. And some dungeons were unclearable. Mom didn¡¯t clarify what you needed to do to actually clear a dungeon but I guess it meant defeating a boss of sorts? The amount of water I recovered was worth about eighty or so gold coins; In money terms, that was approximately 80 grand. So technically me falling into that glowing water was really damn lucky. Mom took all of it though.

    As for the contract¡­ well, it was complicated. Apparently, lizards weren¡¯t categorized as dragons. And lizards were somewhat despised. This was particularly why I didn¡¯t see a single one out in the wild. They were hunted past extinction. The few that survived, survived in caves and places humans didn¡¯t frequent. The same went for snakes. Our friend Rexen was one of the higher lizard forms and considered a malicious spirit since it¡¯d devoured roughly 17 villagers so far¡­.

    No wonder the damn thing was laughing so much while toying with me. It¡¯d been toyed for generations¡­.

    So, although the contract did have some benefits (and helped me not die), it came with a lot, and I mean a LOOOT of baggage. Hence, Den and everyone else called it a curse.

    ¡°It¡¯s a long story.¡±

    ¡°We have all day,¡± Den said.

    ¡°No we don¡¯t. You beat me up, I¡¯m going to tell Mom and you can guess what¡¯ll happen next.¡±

    His proud face more or less crumbled. ¡°I¡¯ll buy you a Honeycrisp so chill. Just say you fell or something.¡±

    ¡°Ten.¡±If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

    ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°Ten Honeycrisps.¡±

    Dude intentionally kicked me around in the name of training. I was not going to have mercy, no.

    He sighed once. ¡°Alright. Fine.¡±

    That said, we stayed put for a while and watched the blue skies. ¡°What does it mean to be contracted anyway?¡± Mom never elaborated and forced me to wrap my hand with a cloth. I of course kept it on but it was coming loose.

    The sun felt good. Warm, full of life. Not burning at all. Yet for some reason I was missing the comfort of that damn warm cave. Fucking hell.

    ¡°You¡¯ll be able to perform specific stuff. Like be more physically similar. It was a white lizard, right? So maybe you¡¯ll have better regeneration capabilities. Obviously not like the lizard but better than a Westerner. You might grow up to be stronger than typical ones too. But most people don¡¯t notice too much of a difference, so don¡¯t bet on it. Specially since you didn¡¯t have much to begin with, you may never notice a difference.¡±

    Ah yes, assuming it gave me a ten percent boost on strength or stamina, how was I going to notice that if I let¡¯s say had a stamina of 2 or maybe 3? Does this world have a level system though?

    I did try shouting Menu and stats and other stuff one time and Mom genuinely thought I¡¯d gone mad, so I tried not to do that.

    ¡°But does this mean, I¡¯ll have to leave this place though?¡±

    He stood up, picked me up on his back and we were on our way back. ¡°You would have had to leave eventually.¡±

    So that was a yes.

    Lately Mom was often sighing and didn¡¯t smile as much. I got the feeling she was hiding something but¡­ I¡¯d have to leave?

    ¡°And why is that?¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s only one way you can legally stay in the Southern woods.¡±

    ¡°That is?¡±

    ¡°Get your balls chopped off.¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡±

    ¡°Yeah.¡±

    Excuse me? huh? What!

    I got that these people didn¡¯t want weak humans to spread their seeds. But seriously?

    ¡°That¡¯s the only way?¡±

    ¡°Yeah. And before you turn ten, since that¡¯s when you¡­ well.¡±

    I gulped. ¡°Fucking hell¡­¡± No wonder all those guys were looking at me with pity like that. Fuck!

    But wait, I still had about five years then, right? Phew.

    ¡°Where the hell did you learn how to curse?¡± Den said. But his words just fell on deaf ears.

    My mind was totally elsewhere. I imagined a pair of plums¡­ sitting tightly. And then some guy coming in with a pair of scissors and just cutting them off¡­ oof!

    Painful! Too painful!

    Why!

    We got home. I did say I fell but Mom still gave Den an earful. And with that we were kind of done for the day. I couldn¡¯t get the idea of plums falling from the sky though. Sigh¡­.

    I trained, ate, trained, and ate. Absolutely no abrupt change in my strength or stamina at all. I did improve slightly but that was a result of deliberate training, not the contract. As for the regen thing, my spit did have some effect but licking my scratches proved to be difficult. Every time I licked myself, Den and anyone else around me would just¡­ look at me with such pity.

    Sigh.

    However, on a positive note, Xerec sold the serpent thingies for a pretty penny and Mom bought me some nice delicious Honeycrisps. Coupled with the fact, that I blackmail-ahem- got some nice Honeycrisps from Den too, life was good. Somewhat.

 Chapter 33: Nightmares

    A month passed by and Lia often came with her friends. Every time she came with one boy, and we hung out. It was always from that group I met at her little brother¡¯s party.

    Lia was cute but I didn¡¯t think she¡¯d have those boys wrapped around her finger like that. That girl was still young but I had a feeling she¡¯d grow up to be a Manizer (Playgirl?), assuming that was a thing. Isn¡¯t she like barely 6 though?

    We hung out, and it was somewhat fun. A break from all the grinding. She never brought more than one guy at a time. She was young, but she was a pro, that was for sure. I hit it off with the guys. At some point, the boys came to hang out with me on their own. Pretty weird. We did have a lot of fun though.

    ¡°And then, and then, he started rolling around!¡± Lia said. Her speech had improved significantly and I could finally understand the phrase- look how fast they¡¯ve grown!

    Mack had come to hang out and we were just walking around the rice paddies when a wild Lia had shown up. In these past few weeks Mack and I became fast friends. We had much to talk about. He was often fat shamed and so he felt somewhat relieved to be talking to me. Now granted I wasn¡¯t fat by any means, but when everyone around you was thin as a branch (super fit), even if you found someone just a tad chubbier than the rest, you¡¯d be relieved. But Mack was probably just worried for nothing. He was barely six and kids around that age tended to be on the chubbier side. Especially when their mother would force feed them boundless soup and meat. ¡®No, that¡¯s just your mother¡­¡¯

    ¡°Maybe not let the newborn roll around?¡± I said.

    ¡°He¡¯s a man, he¡¯ll be fine,¡± Mack snorted. And he scowled at me ever since Lia came.

    I got the feeling that he just wanted to be alone with me? I didn¡¯t peg him to be the jealous type.

    It¡¯s a baby dude¡­ No seriously, this world had awfully weird standards.

    ¡°Yeah, by being dead,¡± I snorted.

    His face kind of crumbled at the word ¡®death.¡¯ Lia stared at me quizzically. ¡°Why would rolling on the ground kill him?¡±

    ¡°Because he¡¯s awfully young, doesn¡¯t have a developed immune system and can die from virtually anything. Even eating honey. Especially eating honey.¡±

    ¡°Mama says honey is good for you.¡±

    ¡°They¡¯re terrible for babies though,¡± I said. ¡°And young children. That¡¯s why Mom doesn¡¯t let me eat any.¡± And totally not because we couldn¡¯t afford any¡­.

    Lia was quite confused and Mack too but they just shrugged off my comments as facts. They apparently regarded me as the guy who spent money frugally to buy books. I was known as a stupid but knowledgeable boy. I still didn¡¯t know what to feel about that though. I only bought one book folks, one book!Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

    ***

    I had to make regular offerings in the cave. Once a week. Every time I went there, a group of white lizards awaited me; the big one never showed up. I didn¡¯t go alone of course. Den took me and made sure to carry me the whole way, so I didn¡¯t get lost. I found it a little funny how he always carried a large pitcher in case we did fall into that aerated water stuff again. We never did though.

    ¡°Not today either huh?¡± Den wondered, sighing. We watched the little lizards devour all the meat and then made our way out.

    All in all, life was fun. Life was slow. And life was¡­ good.

    But good times hardly last.

    A few weeks later, in the middle of the night I heard a thud and walked out of the room. Mom wasn¡¯t on the bed; kind of dark. Did she fall down or something? It was a really loud fall and I might have even heard a groan.

    I came out and well¡­ there was someone on the floor but it wasn¡¯t Mom. It was a guy in a robe of sorts. And mom was standing next to him. The robbed fellow was passed out and bleeding. Wait no¡­ he was dead.

    My teeth shook, my blood cooled down as though the temperature just dropped by twenty degrees Celsius.

    ¡°Mom¡­¡± I mumbled.

    She didn¡¯t look at me. She didn¡¯t even face me. ¡°Go back and don¡¯t come out for a while.¡±

    ¡°Okay.¡±

    I didn¡¯t question her. I didn¡¯t have the guts to. I didn¡¯t see any weapon. And I honestly didn¡¯t want to.

    I considered Mom many things. Cook, hunter, tailor, farmer. A warrior¡­ many things. But never a murderer.

    I couldn¡¯t stop my shivering body, and neither could I stop my rapid breath, but even so- ¡®It¡¯s just a nightmare. It¡¯ll disappear the moment I wake up tomorrow. Yeah, yeah, definitely just a nightmare!¡¯

    But that was a person Sol, a person! ¡®No, it was just a nightmare.¡¯

    Someone died! ¡®Nightmare.¡¯

    Someone died!!!

    Argh! I grabbed my ears, somehow forced my thoughts to die. ¡°It¡¯s just a nightmare¡­¡± I mumbled to myself, reassuring everything would just disappear in the morning.

    Yet¡­ the shivers didn¡¯t stop. The pounding didn¡¯t stop. And neither did the tears.

    ***

    The next morning, I woke up all groggy. Suffice to say, I couldn¡¯t sleep a wink. Not even when Mom had come back. Not even when I felt her warmth.

    There wasn¡¯t any spot of blood or any scratches on the floor. Everything was clean as though nothing even happened. Mom didn¡¯t mention anything and I didn¡¯t find the right time to ask either. Before breakfast Den showed up and exchanged awkward glances with Mom.

    ¡°It¡¯ll be tough but I think I can convince him. I did save his life,¡± Den said; a bag on his back and he was geared pretty oddly. He was ready to leave?

    ¡°Are you going somewhere Den?¡± I asked.

    ¡°A little out of town,¡± he said. ¡°Be sure to practice¡­ oh and don¡¯t go out till I return. Zena will come by and take the offerings.¡±

    ¡°Be careful,¡± Mom said.

    He left just as quickly as he¡¯d arrived.

    ¡°Is this because of last night,¡± I said.

    Mom shook her head. I wasn¡¯t sure if that was a yes or no, but she didn¡¯t talk. What had she done? Bury the body? Maybe burn it? Or had she thrown it away in the cave for-

    No, that was just a nightmare, forget it, forget it!

    I proceeded to erase all my queries. Things between me and mom were starting to get real awkward so- ¡°Did you escort that man out tomorrow?¡± I asked, innocently. ¡°Did he come to check on us or something?¡± I said.

    Her eyes opened wide for a second but she managed to keep a normal face. ¡°Yes.¡±

    And that was the end of the conversation.

    Den didn¡¯t show for the next two weeks. And my training more or less stagnated.

    Mom kept an eye on me always and for the next few days Serec offered to guard our place at night. But guard us from what, that I didn¡¯t quite understand. Did the church¡­ want me dead? But hadn¡¯t Mom already sorted that out and¡­ ¡®Then what?¡¯ The insignia? But I was keeping it wrapped in bandages and¡­ and¡­ then what?

 Chapter 34: Fuck you Askavan

    Before I knew it, things changed and came my fifth birthday. But along with the birthday came a shocking surprise just five days before.

    ¡°What do you mean?¡± I said. ¡°You can¡¯t be serious. What about you?¡± My voice rose oddly high.

    I never liked yelling. Not in my last life, and definitely not in this one. Yelling felt like I was losing¡­.

    ¡°I¡¯ll be here. Once you come back from your trip, we¡¯ll-¡±

    ¡°Mom!¡± I yelled. ¡°Ten years. Ten years is a long time!¡±

    She stared down. Her eyes, unwavering. ¡°Yes. But your education is also very important.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t need to go to school!¡± Heck, as long as I had books-

    No. That wasn¡¯t it. Learning was important. Specially since my talents were non-existent. I knew all that. However¡­ ¡°But Mom, I have to make regular offerings and-¡± And I was making excuses. I knew I couldn¡¯t stay. She wouldn¡¯t allow me to. Especially when my balls were on the line, and the church wanted me dead. But I still should have had at least 5 more years, right?

    I still had a lot to learn. I still wanted to stay with her. I still-

    ¡°I¡¯ll take care of that.¡±

    ¡°But I can¡¯t just leave you!¡±

    ¡°THAT¡¯S ENOUGH!¡± She yelled, raised a hand up to hit me. But she never did. ¡°That¡¯s enough. You¡¯re going. If you don¡¯t go, the church would take you and put a collar on you like a slave. Do you want me to see that? Do you want me to see my boy become a slave or be executed?¡±

    I balled my fists¡­ but¡­ I didn¡¯t have anything to say in return; she was right. ¡°Okay¡­¡± In the end, I had to accept.

    I had to accept this world¡¯s ridiculous rules.

    Sigh. Fuck you Askavan.

    Fuck you God.

    ***

    Mom didn¡¯t tell me anything. So I went on a final training session with Den. I went at him blindly, swinging my knife, taking out my rage on him. He just dodged everything, not once hitting me back.

    We went at it for hours, and eventually I fell on the grass, face first.

    As usual, Den sat next to me but he didn¡¯t say anything. I didn¡¯t either. We stayed like that for some time.You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

    Eventually Den started talking. ¡°It¡¯ll be primarily a Western school, so-¡±

    ¡°So, you can¡¯t come see me.¡±

    ¡°No, ¡®you¡¯ can¡¯t come see us.¡±

    ¡°I see. Works perfectly for you.¡±

    ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°With me gone, nothing is stopping Mom from-¡±

    Flick! The guy flicked my forehead hard, and with an absurd amount of force. ¡°You know that¡¯s not true,¡± he said. ¡°You¡¯re young. You¡¯re smart. But I get the feeling that you don¡¯t trust me at all Sol.¡±

    ¡°No, I trust you.¡±

    But I also doubted him. I doubted myself. I doubted everyone ever since I came here. I guess¡­ I really didn¡¯t trust them. He was right.

    ¡°Then have a bit more faith.

    ¡°Life¡¯s not short Sol. You¡¯ll have time to get everything back. Maybe you won¡¯t get back your childhood, maybe these days would never return.

    ¡°But as long as you¡¯re fine, as long as you keep on living, everything would be fine. You¡¯ll probably detest us for doing this, but eventually you¡¯ll understand.¡±

    ¡°But what if they investigate me in the school. They¡¯ll easily figure out how weak I am.¡±

    ¡°Why do you think I¡¯ve been teaching you? Most kids start learning after they¡¯re five. You started two years too early. They¡¯ll eventually catch up to you, but you just have to try harder. Your life, depends on you.¡±

    ¡°And what about after that ten-year period?¡±

    ¡°I was hoping you¡¯d shape up a bit more, maybe wiggle your way into some noble brat¡¯s room and¡­ well-¡± He chuckled.

    ¡°I¡¯m five.¡± I said, deadpan.

    ¡°Well,¡± he ruffled my hair. ¡°Not anymore kid. You¡¯re an adult from here on out¡­ sort of.¡±

    Yeah but¡­I was five!

    ***

    As a graduation ceremony Den gave me three things. One, a bow, ¡®bout half the size of a typical compound, which he never taught me how to use: Actually, he didn¡¯t teach me anything other than just how to build up my strength and stamina. Two, a robe that was way too big for me and just draped everywhere. And three, a book.

    ¡°I know how much you love reading them, so,¡± so he got something for me.

    It was the same one he bought for me. I guess the guy finally rescued the book from Mom¡¯s clutches and got me the book. Too bad I neglected learning the Western tongue. I mean Zena did attempt to teach me but I hardly tried. I still have a couple of days. And I sort of knew the alphabet¡­ hmmm¡­.

    I actually didn¡¯t get to read books and I never went back to James either. So why or how these people got the idea that I ¡®liked¡¯ books, was kind of concerning.

    ¡°Thanks Den.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re welcome kid.¡±

    I was going to be sent off to somewhere called Saint Schalion Academy. I was slated to spend approximately ten years there. Alone.

    Den did say he was going to visit every now and then with Mom but, I doubted that statement. The reason they were sending me off was to hide the fact that there were rumors about me. Yes, rumors. Mom first found out about those rumors back at Lyra¡¯s party and ever since then she¡¯d been freaking out. And her worries had turned to paranoia basically. That priest entering our house in the dead of night didn¡¯t do her any favors. Besides, killing a priest was a cardinal sin. So- technically- Mom might have been a fugitive. Sort of. And I even heard her say stuff along the lines of how she was ready to leave any day now¡­.

    I got that she was worried and even paranoid to some degree but¡­ but I didn¡¯t want to leave her. I didn¡¯t want to leave behind such comfort.

    Comfort? ¡®Is comfort the reason why I don¡¯t want to go?¡¯

    What about love? What about Family and friends? What about Mom?

    The more I thought about it, the more shit I felt. I was just using these people. I was manipulating their trust. And I never even got to say I wasn¡¯t just a five-year-old. Though I had a feeling they really did know.

    In the end, did I deserve their trust? Did I deserve their love?

 Chapter 35: It Was Fine

    I was trapped in a melancholy.

    The days did pass but they passed slowly. With each passing day, the dreaded feeling only got worse and worse. Yet I had to hold it in. I had to smile in front of her. And she had to smile in front of me. But we both knew¡­ neither of us were smiling.

    Mom had initially wanted to leave with me. But upon realizing the church was pretty much onto us or rather her, she had no other choice. I understood that. I really did. Yet¡­.

    Sigh.

    The days did pass slowly. But eventually they just passed. And my birthday arrived. I woke up early, and left home. My destination¡­ the cave; I didn¡¯t tell Mom since she wouldn¡¯t approve. Serec saw me, but weirdly didn¡¯t stop me and just trailed me instead. I took some jerky, and traveled all on my own.

    These days, I knew my way around the forest somewhat and could easily avoid low rank fiends. Low ranks were mostly just two headed deer and birds. And for their part, they tended to avoid me too. Anyway, I eventually made it to the cave and upon entrance was greeted by a familiar shit smell.

    On the second floor I was greeted by the white lizard squad. There were about twelve of them. And I¡¯d brought about thirteen pieces of jerky.

    I wasn¡¯t supposed to come today and they had no way of knowing. Yet, they knew. Meaning, the lizard had at least the basic idea of what I was thinking. ¡°I know you¡¯re around,¡± I said. ¡°I¡¯m leaving for a journey tonight. I won¡¯t be back for years. Mom or maybe one of her friends would bring your meat here. Can¡¯t say much about whether it¡¯d be weekly or month but-¡±

    Trickle¡­.

    The lizard dropped from the ceiling. Unlike last time, I didn¡¯t jump back. I knew it wouldn¡¯t hurt me.

    ¡°Ke k eke!¡±

    I never liked that laugh. But oh well. ¡°So this is goodbye for now,¡± I said, handing the bag full of jerky. It bit into the bag, but didn¡¯t touch the meat and instead gave the stuff to its kids?

    That said, I turned and left.

    ¡®Call upon us. When danger prevails.¡¯

    The words reverberated in my mind and I felt tranquil for a few seconds before the nauseating smell made me regurgitate some spit¡­ argh.Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

    Glad I didn¡¯t have breakfast.

    ***

    I came back and Mom didn¡¯t really ask me questions. She probably thought I¡¯d gone out for a walk. Which was good and I wanted to keep it that way.

    So, I gave Serec a wink and he winked back. These past few days he¡¯d been camping outside our house during the night. Serec was touted as one of the strongest of the village. And any sane person wouldn¡¯t really want to mess with him. Or so I¡¯d been told. He¡¯d camp outside for the night and when morning came, just leave without a word. He did sometimes join us for breakfast but today wasn¡¯t one of those days.

    ¡°You reek,¡± Mom said. ¡°Cave?¡±

    Sigh. I might have forgotten how sharp her intuition was for a second there. ¡°Yeah.¡±

    ¡°Go shower. We¡¯re expecting guests.¡±

    She¡¯d cleaned up the living room and neatly decorated the place. We were going to have a party. A tea party of sorts.

    Good enough for me. It was just that¡­ every time I thought I was going to leave¡­ my chest shivered and I felt¡­ odd.

    ¡°The goat never really did come huh?¡± I wondered aloud.

    ¡°She¡­ won¡¯t be back,¡± Mom said. I tried not to think too much about the deeper meaning behind those words.

    I went and got a shower. Before I could wiggle out of the pond though, Lyra saw me. Not just her, Lia too. She took one look at me, looked away, and then turned back to me for another look and repeated that for a while. Was she embarrassed? It¡¯s not like you¡¯re the one being peeked at.

    Anyway, we went in and Mom greeted them as usual.

    ***

    Many of Mom¡¯s friends had come; Zena, Serec, Xerec. Some of mine did too. Jarb and Tan. Unfortunately, the fatty couldn¡¯t make it. ¡°He¡¯ll come swing by the evening though. Said he wanted to tell you something,¡± Jarb said.

    Next came Derec. The only guy I hadn¡¯t seen in a while was Aluc, the team spotter. Apparently, he was out in an excursion to the capital and would be back next year. Guess, I¡¯ll never see him again. Then again, we never spoke a word, ever, so I wasn¡¯t going to miss him.

    ¡°Sure.¡±

    Mom served everyone her trademark soup. But it wasn¡¯t just soup today. We had roasted fowl, wheat bread and rice too! A feast!

    I wasn¡¯t feeling it though. The food was amazing. Perhaps the best I¡¯d tasted so far. And it wasn¡¯t just because Mom cooked it all. The food really was good. But-

    Sigh.

    Den came late. He greeted us and sat down a bottle of what I could only describe as¡­ wine.

    White and cloudy and when I took a sip it was sweet and really cold. Not alcoholic at all. Date juice.

    ¡°I had to keep it cold with ice,¡± Den showed the wet bag he was carrying it in. ¡°Ever seen ice Sol?¡±

    ¡°Nope,¡± I lied as I breathed, touched one wet cube and- ¡°COLD!¡± The other kids also hurried and took the cubes in their hands.

    ¡°Cold! Cold!¡± Well, they sure seemed to have fun. Mom and the others laughed too.

    We all took small sips and it was pretty much gone by the time I took a second sip. There were no date palms around these parts. And winter never touched the woods either. So that meant Den probably went far to get this. So that¡¯s why you were gone for three days.

    A smile ran across my face. I couldn¡¯t suppress it. People were chatting. They were laughing. And¡­ although this was only possible because I was here¡­ it still gave me hope they¡¯ll be fine even if I wasn¡¯t.

    Besides Mom was fine all this time. She¡¯ll be fine in the future too. I did accuse Den and I did think he¡¯d try stuff but maybe it was better he did. If Mom was happy, I was going to be happy.

    So yeah¡­ it was fine.

 Chapter 36: Rival

    Time for presents.

    Lia gave me a bracelet. Lyra gave me a glove. I guess they were hellbent on making me keep the mark on my hand a secret. A little late though.

    Zena gave me what seemed like a small magic lamp. ¡°Wasn¡¯t this stuff really expensive?¡± I asked.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it,¡± Derec said from a distance, a large half eaten fowl drumstick in his hands. I guess the present was from him too.

    Serec and Xerec gave me one thing. A knife. Slightly longer than what I was used to. I couldn¡¯t call it a machete but it sure looked like one; and damn shiny. ¡°This is too heavy for me,¡± I said.

    At least three kilos! I can cut someone¡¯s neck with this¡­ The mere thought grounded me with discomfort.

    ¡°You¡¯ll get used to it,¡± Serec said.

    Xerec gave my back a thump and I almost tumbled over. He burst out laughing along with his brother Serec.

    And apparently Derec, Zena¡¯s husband was also technically their brother, albeit from a different mother, or so I¡¯d been told.

    Den had already given me a present but he still gave me another one anyway. A set of clothes? No¡­ uniform. Black pants, navy blazer and a tie; awfully fancy. Starting school huh?

    And that left Mom who held a packaged box in her hands. I already knew what was in there. So, I opened it up and yup¡­ it was there. A big Honeycrisp. It wasn¡¯t twice as big as a typical one but it was still pretty big and smelled delicious. I took a bite and as I imagined, it was delicious. Looked like an apple, tasted like peach. A very delectable one at that too.

    I offered Mom a bite and she happily took one. Followed by Den for some reason and¡­ everyone else too. ¡°Hey, hey it¡¯s mine!¡± I yelled but they just laughed. This was no laughing matter! I could tolerate them ravaging through our food stock but this, this was a no go!

    They only took small bites though and I still had half of the stuff left, which I ate voraciously and almost choked. Almost¡­

    Satisfied, I turned to everyone. ¡°Thank you, everyone. It was fun.¡± I got some smiles, and even some chuckles. And with that¡­ it was time to say goodbye. I¡¯d be leaving very early tomorrow and I¡¯d probably never see any of them (apart from Den) again. So- ¡°Please do come hang with Mom every now and then,¡± I spoke to her friends in particular. Perhaps it wasn¡¯t my business to say that but- ¡°And please take care of her.¡±

    ¡°Course we will!¡± Serec grinned. The rest too.

    Yeah¡­Mom had good friends. I didn¡¯t get to know them that well. And I probably never would. ¡°Alright then. Guess I¡¯ll see you all in about ten years?¡±

    Probably not.The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.

    ***

    Everyone left apart from Den and Lia. She wanted me to write letters to her for some reason.

    People communicated mostly through letters though some rich nobles had faster communication methods which weren¡¯t known to general public. They had light bulbs that didn¡¯t need electricity; I had a feeling they had all sorts of things just running on magic. So, not surprising at all. Did got me pretty curious though. Maybe I¡¯d look into those stuff in the academy.

    Knock knock!

    Were we expecting anyone else?

    Den carefully opened the door and revealed our fat friend, Mack. About six, he was slightly taller than me and basically double my girth.

    ¡°Sorry, I¡¯m late.¡±

    He came in, had some stuff to eat and more or less dragged me outside. ¡°This is my first and last request to you,¡± he said. ¡°Please fight me.¡±

    Okay, I was kind of confused. Dude came in late. Ate our leftover food. Dragged me out and asked to fight me?

    ¡°So, a duel?¡± Den asked.

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s a duel?¡± I asked.

    ¡°The two of you fight on agreed terms.¡±

    I stared at Mack and he continued. ¡°Please use all your strength and defeat me. I need to know your true depth.¡±

    What the fuck was this six-year-old saying to me?

    To be honest, I was getting a little sick of the whole fantasy trope. I got reincarnated, things were super fun and I had a mother who wasn¡¯t a jackass and for the first time in my life, I¡¯d found peace. Yet, for some pathetic loser of a god and its followers, I had to leave home and now this¡­ I was sick of this weird shit world.

    ¡°Alright.¡± I needed somewhere to vent my frustration anyway. So why not?

    However, I did remain cautious. Last time I got murdered by my friend. But not this time.

    ¡°Nothing too serious boys,¡± Den said. ¡°We¡¯re not looking to kill each other. We¡¯re just here for some friendly sparring and if any of you forget that, I¡¯ll be sure to whack you on your butts, so be careful.¡±

    Den provided wooden knives.

    Mack stood before me, his focus primarily on me. The sounds vanished. My breath was so clear, I could finally breathe and my beating heart meshed with the intense warmth.

    ¡°HAH!¡± I swung, he dodged back. He was fast.

    He plunged his left fist straight for my head. I ducked, and swiped his legs. But he saw it coming and just ducked even lower, making the move pointless. WHAM! Too bad though, cause now he was open and I punched him on his face.

    ¡°Argh,¡± Mack rolled on the ground.

    ¡°Ah,¡± I shook my hand. ¡°That kind of hurt¡­¡± My knuckles stung and swelled a bit.

    Mack held his face and groaned. And wait¡­ he was bleeding through his nose. Oh boy¡­ I didn¡¯t mean to hit that hard. I thought he was just going to dodge like the first time but, maybe he was just giving it his all?

    I looked at Den and he shook his head. ¡°Looks like you need a little whooping.¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡±

    Den picked me like a potato sack and slapped my butt a couple of times. ¡°AW AW!!¡± While I screamed in agony and shame.

    Mom was watching damn it! And she was giggling!?

    Panting, Mack stood up, wiped the blood and glared. ¡°You¡¯re strong. I respect you. And that¡¯s why I¡¯ll stay here, I¡¯ll try my best. And I¡¯ll be strong enough to defeat you when you come back.¡± What the hell was this guy even saying. ¡°So don¡¯t slack. Cause if you do, I¡¯ll beat your ass and take her¡­¡±

    Take her? Who? Surely he wasn¡¯t aiming for Mom was he? Then again Mom was a beaut, so maybe-

    I traced his vision and¡­ well, not Mom. Rather, Lia. Phew.

    Oh, I see. So, he was dueling me for Lia¡¯s hand. It wasn¡¯t like Lia was some sort of item on display that he had to do that though. Not that it mattered to me. I just saw her as a friend. Also, I was five.

    ¡°Sure thing dude. That¡¯s the plan.¡±

    He showed his teeth. ¡°This is for you. Take it!¡± He gave me a silver coin. ¡°My allowance for next three months!¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t man. It¡¯s too much.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t be shy. I consider you my rival. Just take it!¡± He proceeded to leave, with a hand stretched over his head, waving.

    ¡°Well, that was something¡­¡± I mumbled.

    ¡°Yeah,¡± Den said. ¡°Kids grow up fast. ¡°

    Sometime later Lia¡¯s brother came to pick her up and that¡¯s when we said goodbye. It wasn¡¯t anything fancy. Just a farewell.

 Chapter 37: Time To Go

    Mom helped me pack stuff.

    She¡¯d bought me a big backpack that was basically bigger than me yet was somehow light and anything carried within it was also proportionally lighter. A magic item like the lamp Zena had given me; technically called Magical Devices. And I bet it was really expensive too.

    ¡°I¡¯m packing your brushes and-¡±

    And clothes, underwear (I didn¡¯t need to wear any yet) and a whole bunch of stuff I thought I¡¯d never need. But Mom had me covered. She wasn¡¯t done though.

    ¡°What¡¯s this boxset?¡± I asked.

    A wooden box. I opened it and there were small vials in there. Vials of glowing water. ¡°Better than carrying a water bag that might leak, right?¡± Mom said.

    If I recall correctly, we¡¯d given a vial to Serec, Xerec, Den and Lyra. But the vials themselves were a little pricey at 3 silvers a pop. So technically, Mom spent a pretty penny here.

    ¡°Shouldn¡¯t you like¡­ not spend so much money?¡± I asked.

    I got a snicker but no reply. She kept on giving me stuff and before I knew it, the enormous bag had more or less been filled with at least something. Felt like I was carrying the whole house at this point.

    The bag wasn¡¯t that heavy though. At best two kilograms. Which was good cause I didn¡¯t or couldn¡¯t carry that stuff. But wait, if they had something like this, maybe they also had Item Bag or whatever the hell that was called, the magical stuff that let you inventory everything in just a small pouch. Wouldn¡¯t this be more realistic though? I wasn¡¯t in a very realistic world though.

    ¡°And last but not least,¡± Mom slouched down, buttoned up the first button of my shirt (I liked it unbuttoned). ¡°Some pocketmoney.¡±

    A bunch of copper, some silver¡­ and a gold. She deliberately hid the gold in my sleeve.

    ¡°This is too much Mom. You need-¡±

    ¡°I can do anything, and everything on my own. Besides, I kept a vial or two in case something happens,¡± she winked and flashed me some empty vials.

    ¡°They¡¯re empty, Mom.¡±

    She cackled. I nearly forced her to take two vials of glowing elixir or whatever it was called.

    And with that, we were done. Den had been waiting at the door all this time. Somewhat dark outside, no, strike that. It was really dark outside and soon it¡¯d be dawn. I¡¯d hardly slept last night.

    And I had a feeling Mom and Den didn¡¯t have much sleep either.

    ¡°Guess I¡¯ll see you in a decade?¡± I turned, looked back.

    ¡°Yeah.¡± She smiled. Not a trace of tears.

    I made an effort not to cry and took my first steps out of the house¡­ knowing I wouldn¡¯t be returning for a while. I walked out the front door, through veranda and past everything I¡¯d know for the last four and a half years. The pond, the wheat, the rice, the veg¡­.

    I didn¡¯t look back. I knew I couldn¡¯t. The moment I did, I wouldn¡¯t be able to stop myself. I wouldn¡¯t be able to stop my tears. And¡­ and mom wouldn¡¯t be able to either. Don¡¯t look back¡­

    When I first came here, honestly, I didn¡¯t think the elf would last. I didn¡¯t think Lin would last. I didn¡¯t think she¡¯d keep up the ¡®mother¡¯ attitude for long either. She was awkward, I was awkward and¡­ I wasn¡¯t even a baby.

    Yet, she persevered and by whatever miracle¡­her miracle, she managed to not give up. She managed to change my way of thinking. After two whole decades, for the first time, I could put a hand on my chest and declare¡­ I loved my mother. I truly did. And I could bet my unborn children, heck, I could bet my own life that she loved me just as much if not more.

    So yeah¡­ Lin¡­ my mother¡­ ¡°I¡¯ll miss you¡­¡± the words leaked out.

    ¡°I¡¯ll miss you too!¡± Mom yelled. Her voice shook a bit. ¡°Don¡¯t get deceived by cute girls. Only marry someone you love, okay?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m Five, MOM!¡± I yelled back; getting a glance of her face. Some tears, a smile. Yeah, I couldn¡¯t stop my tears either.

    Den chuckled, picked me up and- ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡±

    ¡°Yeah.¡±Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

    Time to go.

    ***

    As we strode out of the forest, reality began to sink in. My heart was quite calm till now. But the further we walked from home, the more I wanted to scream and run back. Yet, I couldn¡¯t.

    ¡°See that hill, that¡¯s where we found you,¡± Den said.

    We actually never traveled that far. Den would take me out of the forest, train me in the grasslands and then take me back. He never took me past the grass, past the houses, towards the hills.

    Green as far as the eye could see. And yes, I could see quite far, maybe two hundred-ish meters now. Everything past that was blurry though. I guess my Myopia never really got much better. It didn¡¯t get any worse though, so that was good.

    Morning sun slowly illuminated everything. Dew on grass glittered, and the smell was quite refreshing. The breeze too.

    ¡°Was I alone,¡± I said.

    Birds flew by. A new day, a new dawn.

    ¡°Yeah. You were just sitting on a grass. Kinda suspicious if you ask me.¡±

    ¡°Yeah.¡±

    ¡°Do you ever wonder who your parents were?¡±

    Den was probably trying to keep me distracted or something. ¡°Not really. Why should I care about people who abandoned me?¡±

    I didn¡¯t have any memories of what happened before I took over this body. I wasn¡¯t sure if the baby was dead, or I¡¯d murdered it. It never really bothered me that much, to be honest. I had way too many things on my mind and worrying about a six or so months old baby or what happened to it was the last of my worries. I wasn¡¯t necessarily running away from the thought; I just didn¡¯t care. Perhaps that made me an asshole or something worse but¡­ but I really didn¡¯t care. I was just glad to get the chance to spend some time with Mom.

    ¡°Or maybe they were trying to protect you by running away from their country since they knew you¡¯d be killed by the church?¡±

    ¡°Funny, how you¡¯re doing the exact opposite to protect me.¡±

    Den chuckled. ¡°Maybe. But I¡¯ve taught you many things and trained you. I have faith that you¡¯ll be fine.¡±

    ¡°Right.¡± I rolled my eyes. ¡°You trained me and taught me many things such as how to run and do push-ups.¡±

    Dude walked faster.

    ¡°Tell me more about the academy,¡± I said, barely keeping up with his pace.

    He slowed his pace and reluctantly opened his mouth. ¡°Large school. Attended by nobles and citizens alike. Various races. You might even come across Demons. They¡¯re not as bad as you¡¯d expect but they aren¡¯t friendly guys either.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re seriously going to send me to a place where you know I¡¯ll be discriminated against?¡±

    ¡°You know what discrimination is?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not a child,¡± I retorted.

    ¡°You¡¯re five.¡± Well, he had me there.

    We walked for some time. The houses disappeared and then it was just green and green. Some ponds, some trees, barely any monsters. ¡°Are there any strong Fiends out there?¡±

    ¡°During the day? Usually not. You might find some during the night but I wouldn¡¯t recommend it.¡±

    ¡°Why are you talking like I¡¯ll go out and confront one.¡±

    ¡°Well, you are quite curious.¡±

    I didn¡¯t know why but for some reason Den had a peculiar impression of me. To him, I was this genius kid who just didn¡¯t have any physical powers¡­ like him. Maybe he sympathized with me? But unlike him I didn¡¯t have any talent with the bow or tree climbing. I tried but my vision was so shit, I had to give up. And no, they didn¡¯t have glasses here. At least I hadn¡¯t seen any so far.

    ¡°How far is the academy anyway?¡±

    ¡°Once we cross the hills, we¡¯ll come across a town. We¡¯ll take a stagecoach from there to Axel Port and take a ship to Xanir, and then another two days hike and we¡¯ll reach your school.¡±

    Sounded like more than a few weeks at least.

    ¡°You really want me gone that bad?¡±

    Den shook his head in frustration. ¡°If I wanted you gone, I¡¯d just throw you at a fiend and pretend like I had nothing to do with it.¡±

    ¡°Fair enough. Why didn¡¯t you though?¡±

    ¡°Lin would have been sad.¡±

    ¡°At least pretend like you didn¡¯t want to?¡±

    He chuckled and I waited for him to say something. But he never did. Dude was serious. Absolutely serious. Fucking hell¡­

    ***

    I¡¯d walked a lot. And thought that I¡¯d walked a lot. But apparently¡­ I hadn¡¯t walked a lot. Why? Because we weren¡¯t even halfway there.

    They made it so easy in the movies and anime¡­ But in reality, walking for hours in the sun was just draining as fuck. ¡°Hey Den.¡±

    ¡°Yeah?¡± He drooped just like me.

    ¡°Carry me?¡±

    ¡°Carry yourself.¡±

    Yeah, he was pretty much a weakling himself. Den was agile, and the best hunter in the group. However, whenever anything strength related came up, he was hardly ever the primary choice. Still, he did possess a lot of stamina even among his friends. Yet, for some reason the guy was just as hammered as me.

    Which did make me wonder. ¡°Just how much of a weakling do you have to be to not be able to carry two kilos of weight¡­¡± I wondered aloud. Apparently somewhere down the line, the guy had picked up my bag stating it¡¯d be easier for me to go. So, I let him, and now he was dying from it.

    I could almost hear a snap but he just clicked his tongue and walked faster. ¡°And what¡¯s a kilo?¡± he stomped ahead.

    ¡°Measurement of weight?¡±

    Apparently, they used crude stuff as measurements. Stuff like ¡®he was as heavy as a Cowpig.¡¯

    They didn¡¯t really have any proper units for measurements as far as I could tell. Of course, that was only true for the village and I wasn¡¯t sure if that was true for the rest of the world. In that village, you didn¡¯t need any units. So, they didn¡¯t care.

    ¡°I never heard about it though¡­¡± He mused.

    I didn¡¯t bother. ¡°Can¡¯t remember where I read it.¡±

    He didn¡¯t bother either. And we kept on going. And panting alongside each other. There were no proper roads and we didn¡¯t have any maps so I had no idea how Den was navigating.

    ¡°Let¡¯s just take a break. After a while of walking, we sat down by a tree. The calm breeze felt great but the green grass was starting to fade a bit. I was seeing more and more patches of just earth. Raw earth. I guess we were getting further and further away from the forest.

    After a brief break, we crossed some hills. They were hills but they weren¡¯t that steep. And after roughly another two hours¡¯ worth of walking we finally reached a city with tall walls. Wooden walls but walls regardless. Den paid a fee and they let us in.

    Lots of houses, lots of people, and a whole different atmosphere. But just as the excitement of a new world was beginning to stir, my mind snapped back. I really am going away. I really would not see her for a decade.

    Sigh. ¡°The Coach leaves in an hour, so we should hurry,¡± Den said.

    ¡°Yeah. Let¡¯s.¡± Yet, I put on a smile and marched ahead.

 Epilogue: Own It!

    Lin didn¡¯t want to kill him.

    That evening, after finishing up everything Lin went to bed with Sol. She even read him some fairytales. Sol always loved fairytales. Particularly about the three lords and the forgotten princess. But not just that. He loved hearing about all sorts of stories. Dragons, sea serpents, the demigods, everything. He just ate up the stories yet, hardly ever listened to the end. Why? Because halfway through, he¡¯d always fall asleep. Adorable- in Lin¡¯s own words. She traced her fingers through his hair. ¡®Maybe¡­ maybe I¡¯ll come with you.¡¯ Sooner or later she had to part ways with Sol. But it was still too soon. If Sol couldn¡¯t stay here, surely she could just-

    Tremble¡­

    Lin¡¯s eyes snapped to the door and she slowly slid out of bed, grabbed a knife and carefully twisted the handle.

    It was faint, but someone just entered the house. She¡¯d locked everything and she should have heard the intruder before he came in. Yet, she didn¡¯t. Meaning it had to be an assassin or at the very least someone agile. But¡­ would the church really send in an assassin of all things?

    No. ¡®They won¡¯t.¡¯ They¡¯d rather capture them with proof and then execute them as an example.

    She didn¡¯t exit the room and just kept a close watch outside. The intruder was definitely inside the house and he was in the living room.

    ¡°I know you¡¯re awake,¡± he said.

    The intruder, Priest Zanak didn¡¯t hide himself and just walked to the center of the living room. Tucked inside a robe, he¡¯d come alone, it would appear.

    ¡°What are you doing here Mr. Zanak?¡± She hid the knife in her sleeve and walked flawlessly forward.

    ¡°Well, I just came here for a quick chat.¡±

    ¡°At this hour?¡± And while breaking in no less.

    ¡°Yes, I think the topic would inspire great interest,¡± he smiled.

    It was dark. Too dark to make out either of their facial expressions. Yet, Lin could tell, the man wore a rather greedy smirk. Almost¡­ lust driven. She could feel it. She could feel his piercing gaze rise up from her legs to her chest. If the man could feel her expression though¡­ perhaps he wouldn¡¯t have spent another second in there.

    ¡°Well, do continue,¡± Lin said, motioning for the chair.

    The man however didn¡¯t take a seat. ¡°Well, the thing is, I heard your pe- boy has recently contracted his first spirit. So, I came to congratulate you. Perhaps, I was wrong in my assessment?¡±

    ¡°Thank you. But it¡¯s quite late so-¡±

    ¡°It would be quite a hassle-¡± the man walked closer, fairly close to her, an inch away. His breath fell on her neck, her supple thin neck. He whispered. ¡°If I were to inform the bishop. Not only is he untalented, but contracting an evil fiend.¡±

    Lin had worn a nightgown, and though it wasn¡¯t revealing, it did outline her well enough for him to guess her size. And his eyes were often glued to certain parts of her body.Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.

    ¡°Yes, quite the hassle. But I¡¯d expect you didn¡¯t just come here to say that and not offer a solution.¡±

    In the past, Lin and Den had threatened the priests to keep quiet about things. However, a curse was a far greater deal compared to mere lack of talent. Just threats alone wasn¡¯t going to get Lin anywhere.

    ¡°Correct.¡± He smiled. A vulgar smile. ¡°As long as I keep quiet, he would be fine.¡±

    ¡°And what would it take for you to keep quiet?¡±

    His smile widened as he stared at her chest. ¡°You know, I was quite humiliated that day,¡± he touched her neck, gently caressing her, tracing his fingers around the soft warm skin. ¡°But I promise it won¡¯t be that embarrassing. I mean, your son is asleep, yes? As long as you stay a little qui-¡± Almost surprised! Lin leaned in for a kiss. ¡°He he, that¡¯s right.¡± He kissed her back.

    Her lips planted on his as he desperately tried to suppress a chuckle and caress her chest. He tried to grab them soft delights, but a stinging sharp pain broke his focus. ¡°Hngh!¡± He tried to speak but only croaking noise came out, as he choked on his blood. Impossible. To think the Southerner would impale him¡­ a priest of the Church of Askavan? Impossible!

    He struggled but Lin held him in place and forced the remaining life out of him. Zanak stared in disbelief the entire time. He finally saw those eyes. Those cold¡­ detesting eyes.

    Killing a priest was akin to high treason and soon she¡¯d be hunted. Of course, only if the high church found out. And the church would always find out. Lin sighed as she lowered the body.

    All the dreams she had, all the possibilities of life in front of her slowly faded away. Slowly¡­ crumbled to pieces.

    ¡°Mom¡­¡±

    But then, her thoughts just disappeared. Sol had seen her, covered in blood. Sol had seen her.

    ¡°Go back and don¡¯t come out for a while.¡±

    Murderer.

    Lin was a murderer. And soon she¡¯d be hunted by the church and executed. But at this rate, Sol too. Even if she chose to leave with him, they¡¯ll eventually catch up and kill him. So¡­ she had to make a decision.

    Get rid of the body for now. Send Sol away with Den and¡­ leave herself. Go somewhere far away, far away from all this. Lin could live alone. Lin could do everything alone. And by the time Sol would graduate, he¡¯d also be able to live alone. Maybe she¡¯d never see him again. But knowing he was alive was good enough for her. And in time, Sol too would probably appreciate she chose to do it this way and¡­ yet, why did it hurt so much? ¡°Damn it!¡± She groaned inwards, almost slamming her fist on the wall. Almost.

    Tears streaming, she cried in silence. ¡®Weak¡­ you¡¯ve grown weak Lindell Arnius¡­.¡¯

    She caught her breath, stared dead ahead at the darkness in front. ¡®However.¡¯ With a deep breath, Lin picked up the body and headed into the woods. ¡®What¡¯s done is done and you gotta own it~!¡¯

    ***

    Some days later Lin sent Sol away. Chest tightened, with a baited breath, she watched her boy disappear into the forest.

    As the sun rose, some of her friends came to see her, no, they came to see her off.

    ¡°You sure you didn¡¯t need to tell him?¡± Lyra said.

    ¡°I¡¯m sure Den will. Guy¡¯s a blabbermouth,¡± Lin said, packing up her stuff.

    ¡°Maybe wait for Den to-¡± Xerec attempted.

    ¡°I could stand guard as usual till he comes back,¡± Serec offered.

    ¡°No,¡± Lin said and smiled. ¡°I¡¯m sure he wouldn¡¯t want to associate with a murderer and get dragged-¡±

    ¡°Lin,¡± Zena grabbed her shoulder, looked her in the eye. ¡°I prefer not getting into other peoples¡¯ businesses but, but you should know how he looks at you. You know he¡¯ll follow-¡±

    ¡°I know,¡± Lin said. ¡°That¡¯s why I don¡¯t want him to come along. I don¡¯t want him to suffer with me.¡±

    ¡°But it¡¯ll just make him suffer even more¡­¡± Xerec sighed. ¡°Look, at least let the man make his choice. Please.¡±

    The others shared the same sentiment as they almost forced her to stop packing. But Lin didn¡¯t want to stay here anymore. She couldn¡¯t bear to live in this house, alone¡­ ¡°Can I come over for a few days?¡± She asked Zena.

    ¡°Of course!¡±

    She was of course going to cause massive trouble for them, for her friends. Yet¡­ Lin just discarded all that and accepted help. Lin could do everything and prided herself in that. She loved being independent.

    But¡­ she had to admit, sometimes, having friends who had her back, really did feel the greatest in the world.

 Chapter 38: Hopefully (Volume 2 Begins)

    ¡°You had one job. One Job!¡± Mom slammed the exam papers on my desk.

    Silence. I couldn¡¯t look at her. No, not because I was ashamed but rather¡­ I couldn¡¯t see her. I couldn¡¯t see her face.

    Mom kept on screaming about how I was a good for nothing. How I was only good for studying and how I was ruining my life for not doing that.

    ¡°It¡¯s all that boy¡¯s fault. Never see him again. In fact, I¡¯ll call his mother right away and-¡±

    Familiar walls. The same shit green color, exhausting, nauseating. Yet, nostalgic. What was going on? Why was I back? Why? Was it all just a dream then? Everything¡­ a dream?

    ¡°Stop!¡± My mouth opened. The words came out.

    What¡¯s going on?

    It was almost like I was watching a movie. A movie I wanted nothing to do with. A movie, I wanted to forget and¡­ move on.

    ¡°Stop? You¡¯re talking back to me?¡± Mom stepped back and almost stumbled.

    ¡°Yes. I don¡¯t want to study like this. I don¡¯t want to waste my life doing what you want me to do. I want to do what I want!¡±

    She paused for a few seconds before screaming once more. She screamed, and she hit me a couple of times. I didn¡¯t know what she said. No, I didn¡¯t care.

    After all, afterwards, I¡¯d stolen dad¡¯s credit card and just ran away.

    Ah, now it made sense. I was dreaming¡­ I hadn¡¯t had that dream in a long time. Back when I first left home, I used to have this dream every night. I¡¯d wake up in the middle of the night, all sweaty, all panicking. Yet¡­ now I didn¡¯t feel that panic. Perhaps I¡¯d accepted the fact that I ran. Maybe I shouldn¡¯t have. Maybe I should have just stood up to her and talked things out like an adult. But I was hardly fifteen at the time. I didn¡¯t know right from wrong.

    And I didn¡¯t want to talk with that woman. I didn¡¯t want to be manipulated anymore. I just¡­

    Yet. Why?

    Why did I feel so shit¡­ Why did I regret it? Could we really not have worked something over? Lately, I¡¯d stopped having that dream, I¡¯d stopped dreaming about that woman, because of Lin. But-

    I woke up on a carriage. The horse tugged onwards on the muddy road. Grass and some trees in the distance, nothing else.

    There were seven other folks in here with us. Den included. Seats on either side, it wasn¡¯t that crowdy but the seats were just flat stools and not very comfortable. ¡°How long will this last again?¡± I asked.This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

    ¡°Till evening,¡± Den spoke in a matter-of-fact manner.

    Sigh.

    Well, at least something was happening. And despite the journey being boring as fuck so far¡­ it was still an adventure. And boy did I love adventure. Or so I thought until the boring part got even more boring.

    Sigh.

    ***

    When I first went into the city, there were plenty of things that caught my eyes. Particularly the houses. Not typical cabins in the woods but actual houses made of stone or clay; the layout of the city was kind of hectic but mostly symmetrical. And people! Lots of people. Mostly just Southerners but I did see typical humans around too. The moment I wondered none of those people had their balls attached though was also the moment I subconsciously hid my jewels and walked faster.

    I thought we¡¯d spend the night here, but Den quickly got us across the town and we boarded a carriage which had been waiting for us. I didn¡¯t even get to taste the local cuisine!

    Then again, I wasn¡¯t hungry and just thinking about eating something was making me nauseous, so all good.

    The carriage was underway and I¡¯d fallen asleep. And maybe it would have been better if I was still asleep cause I was sighing like hell.

    Judging by how the sun was still up and burning, we had at least a few hours before the sunset. I didn¡¯t have much to do so I tried opening my bag and read a book, only to be stopped halfway by Den. ¡°We¡¯re not looking to get robbed,¡± he whispered.

    I nodded and stayed put. Books were absurdly expensive. Granted, I hadn¡¯t come across wicked people in this world so far, but I knew for a fact how greed could change a man.

    I sighed and watched the greens. There weren¡¯t that many houses around. The few that were, had people working in the fields. Abundant fields surrounded us. Mostly just wheat. Golden wheat. Almost time for harvest.

    In the past, I never really understood how people could live in the rural areas. How people could just live so far away from the city, in such villages and the countryside. I couldn¡¯t. I couldn¡¯t even live away from my phone for a minute, let alone months without internet. Yet, here I was without internet, without my phone, without any technology whatsoever.

    ¡°Where are you going kid?¡± A man asked.

    Among the seven Southerners only one was human. And that human just spoke to me. Deep voice. Poking facial hair, and really long wavy hair. But he was built like a tank. Not big or muscular but¡­ but something about him screamed ¡®warrior.¡¯

    ¡°School,¡± I said. ¡°What about you mister?¡±

    ¡°School.¡±

    What? Him? He looked at least thirty. ¡°Never too late to learn, I guess,¡± I said.

    He nodded, and looked away, disinterested.

    Anyway, I wondered why Den was so quiet and realized, the man had been sleeping. He actually fell sleep quite fast. He was that tired.

    ¡°You don¡¯t look alike,¡± the man said. He wore a rather rugged black leather armor that was full of scuffs and scratches. A large sword rested behind his back. And though he spoke softly, his voice almost boomed.

    A powerful presence.

    For someone who clearly wasn¡¯t interested, he was sure trying hard. I suppose he was kind of bored. ¡°Yes, I get that a lot.¡±

    ¡°Well spoken for such a young child.¡±

    ¡°Thank you. I get that a lot as well.¡± I debated whether it was good to give him my name and eventually. ¡°I¡¯m Sol.¡±

    ¡°Alastur.¡±

    And with that our conversation died again. The other passengers often stared at me and the man but never really spoke much.

    Awkward didn¡¯t even begin to explain the situation. I kept my eyes on the road, and the greens. Whenever I saw houses and people, particularly children playing, my heart warmed a little. But at the same time, I felt shit. I wondered what my own mother was doing now. She spoke about leaving once I was gone but I doubted she¡¯d leave the woods. The woods was her home and¡­ would she leave?

    I didn¡¯t know. But, I wanted to believe, after ten years, when I¡¯d finally go back, when I¡¯d finally come back home, she¡¯d be there, waiting for me. Maybe with her trademark soup ready on the table, and that big damn smile. I almost chuckled just thinking about her.

    Hopefully.

 Chapter 39: Surreal

    The carriage stopped. ¡°We¡¯re there?¡± I mumbled.

    But I didn¡¯t see much of anything in our near vicinity. So, the obvious answer was ¡®no¡¯. So why did the carriage stop?

    The actual answer ¡®bandits.¡¯

    About twenty or so. Half of them stood in the distance, hidden among the trees, with arrows drawn. The rest came towards us. One man leading. A robe on top, hair going everywhere. He looked similar to Alastur¡­ wait- Alastur got up and slowly got out. He- he was a bandit!?

    ¡°Leave all your belongings and we might just let you li-¡± The leader stopped, as Alastur walked passed him without a word.

    A second later, the man¡¯s head slid off his shoulder as a single smooth cut appeared out of nowhere.

    No, it didn¡¯t appear out of nowhere. Alastur cut him. But I hadn¡¯t seen him move or draw his sword; in fact, it was still sheathed! I didn¡¯t see anything at all! He kept on walking, towards the other bandits who hadn¡¯t yet processed what just happened.

    ¡°Ru-run it¡¯s the Severer-¡± One of the archers yelled, stumbling while trying to run backwards.

    The others instantly paled and turned tails. Alastur took his sword in one hand and sliced vertically, just a slice. None of the bandits were in range.

    Yet¡­ they were cleaved in half. Eighteen of them. Two managed to escape but he didn¡¯t bother running after them.

    ¡°What the fuck,¡± I mumbled, unable to follow anything.

    How? How the hell had he done it? This is the level of talent that exists? I did find it odd how despite me being perfectly normal, the priest had said I was below par. I really did think it was odd. But now I understood. Their ¡®normal¡¯ was clearly different from my ¡®normal¡¯.

    The driver and some of the passengers went over to gather the bodies and collect whatever valuables they had.

    ¡°So they¡¯re stealing from the bandits just like the bandits would have stolen from them,¡± I said.

    We were out in the middle of nowhere and the sun was more or less setting. Orange in the sky, some clouds. Birds going back home. And yes, there was nothing or no one for miles.

    ¡°You don¡¯t seem very scared,¡± Alastur said.

    I was. But my mind hadn¡¯t yet caught up to the whole thing. It just felt so¡­ surreal. Bandits coming to rob us, and then dying so fast. So easily.You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

    Surreal.

    ¡°Huh?¡± Den woke up. Wait, he¡¯d been sleeping through all that?

    ¡°I¡¯ve¡­ seen things,¡± I mumbled. But instantly told myself, that was just a nightmare.

    A second later my hands shook but I hid it¡­. I couldn¡¯t focus anymore. The smell of blood was making me slightly nauseous.

    ¡°I see.¡± He wiped his sword, and then put it away. It was big, it was clean, and it was way too shiny. I really would have loved to hold it once- ¡°Want to hold it?¡±

    You can read minds? No, he just saw it on my face. ¡°Yes, please.¡±

    He stood very close, obstructing my vision. ¡°Don¡¯t unsheathe it,¡± he said, giving me the sword.

    ¡°WOAH!¡± I almost got crushed. Damn thing weighed like twenty-something kilos!

    50 freaking pounds!

    A sword~!

    Fuck!

    He immediately lifted the sword and just held it in front of me. ¡°Th-thanks,¡± I managed and enjoyed the engravings on the sheathe. He was probably trying to get me distracted while the adults were robbing the corpses. Quite the thoughtful guy; and it was working. ¡°It¡¯s a beautiful sword,¡± I said.

    ¡°It is,¡± he agreed, and boarded the stagecoach. Just as before, he put the sword on his back and leaned on it.

    The others also came back and a fire burned near the road. ¡°Reeks,¡± I said.

    ¡°That¡¯s how we deter others from going down this path,¡± Den said. ¡°But I suppose, hunger triumphs over fear.¡± He yawned. ¡°You okay?¡±

    ¡°I suppose¡­ I¡¯m fine Den.¡±

    We still had some journey left but the sun was more or less gone. I didn¡¯t see any more birds. The driver knew these roads, so he didn¡¯t bother lighting up a pyre.

    I thought everyone onboard were passengers but that wasn¡¯t quite true. The driver was the owner and Alastur was a mercenary. Apparently, he was known as the Severer because of how clean his cuts were. All the collected money would go to the owner while Alustur would keep the equipment.

    ¡°What?¡± Alastur said, noticing me.

    ¡°Well, I find you interesting,¡± I said.

    ¡°Interested in working as a mercenary?¡±

    ¡°Not really.¡±

    The term mercenary in this world was analogous to Adventurer. They both worked for the same guild. While Mercenaries only took on escort and monster slaying jobs, Adventurers also picked up collection or fetch quests. And yes, there was a guild and it did feel very fantasy like. I¡¯d seen one back in the town we¡¯d started at.

    However, I was sick of the whole clawing your way up as an adventure trope. Besides, I didn¡¯t have any way to compete with these people anyway. Hence, I was not interested. Or rather I was forced not to be.

    ¡°Hmm¡­ most kids I meet want to be strong Adventurers or Mercenaries when they grow up.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t get me wrong, I want to be strong but¡­ but I don¡¯t want to go on an adventure. I¡¯d rather be home and live a peaceful life with my Mom,¡± I said.

    ¡°Yet, you¡¯re on a journey now, on your way to school.¡±

    ¡°Well,¡± I chuckled. ¡°We can¡¯t have what we want.¡±

    ¡°Yet, we want what we can¡¯t have,¡± he smiled. A faint smile. Yet¡­ it was a smile regardless.

    Yeah, everyone had their own shit to worry about. Life wasn¡¯t fair, and it wasn¡¯t the same for everyone. Some had money, some had good looks, some had lots of talent, some had nothing. But every single darn person had things they worried about, things they didn¡¯t like. And they wanted things they couldn¡¯t have. I suppose that didn¡¯t change no matter which world you were in.

    But, honestly¡­ I wanted some superpowers these days, so I could live peacefully¡­.

    ¡°Yeah,¡± I said, staring out the wilderness. Darkness. Stars glittering in the sky, hidden among the clouds.

    A calm quiet night. Almost as though the earlier bloodbath wasn¡¯t even real.

    It felt so damn surreal, yet, real.

    A little late but, This really is a damn weird world.

 Chapter 40: Huhâ€¦

    We reached Axel port just shy of midnight. Thick wooden walls had the whole city cradled, nothing fancy; they did have a footpath of sorts on top of the wall though. Some sort of checkpoint at the entrance, guards came out. Pyres were burning atop. As usual, Den paid a fee and we were in the city.

    It was basically midnight, so I expected the city to be asleep. Yet, there were quite a lot of people out. ¡°Let¡¯s go find a place to eat first,¡± Den said.

    Inns, restaurants, diners, and even just roadside stalls. This place was bustling with activity. Most wore at least some form of armor, while others wore garbs, fur coats, and stuff. A far cry from what I¡¯d seen in the village where people had dressed so casually. Streetlights were mostly just magical lights like I¡¯d seen back at Zena¡¯s place. But not just that, they also had pyres lit up here and there. Since it was sort of winter, the fire felt good.

    Den held my finger and pulled along.

    ¡°Once you see me off at the academy, would you go back to Mom, Den?¡±

    A fresh salty smell permeated in the air, along with a familiar sloshing sound. The origins was still quite the ways off, and it was pretty dark to make out anything.

    ¡°Yes,¡± he said. ¡°But I will come back to check on every now and then.¡±

    ¡°Works for me.¡± Though I would have preferred if Mom was the one who came to see me. But I knew she couldn¡¯t.

    ¡°What do you want to eat?¡± Den said.

    ¡°Anything that¡¯s not soup.¡±

    He actually chuckled, and quite loudly too. ¡°I know right.¡±

    He led me to a dinery; Pig¡¯s Steak.

    ¡°Pork?¡±

    ¡°They only serve steak. And no, not pork.¡±

    ¡°Say¡¯s Pig though,¡± I said.

    ¡°It does?¡± Den stared.

    But then I realized, wait, it was written in Western tongue. My Western reading was actually pretty shabby. Zena had tried but I still couldn¡¯t bring myself to learn. Guess, I was too caught up with things. I did however have exemplary spoken Western tongue.

    ¡°It¡¯s read as Cowpig Steak,¡± a man said. Alastur. I was not expecting him here, no.

    He did remind me that there was a literal pig-cow hybrid thing in this world. Anyway- ¡°Let¡¯s just go in.¡±

    Chatter. They were busy.

    We took a seat by the edge. Since there weren¡¯t that many seats available, Alastur also sat with us. He¡¯d saved our lives, and though he was paid handsomely for it, I was still grateful. Precisely why I didn¡¯t tell him to relocate to the free table that just opened up next to ours. Totally not because he was super strong and I was afraid of pissing him off or anything, totally not that.Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators!

    ¡°Two steaks,¡± Den said.

    ¡°One steak,¡± Alastur said.

    There was a surprising number of humans here. This was a port city, so I suppose that shouldn¡¯t have been surprising. I did wonder how many of them were jewelless though. wait, could it be that Alastur was also-

    ¡°I¡¯m not,¡± he said.

    No, seriously, you can read minds?

    He didn¡¯t say a word.

    Our steaks arrived roughly ten minutes later. Three plates of steaming loin steak fried in butter. They¡¯d added some rosemary on top and even provided some sort of white sauce with the steak.

    My mouth watered. I hadn¡¯t had actual steak in a long, long while. So¡­ so, I couldn¡¯t control myself and just dug in with my fingers. ¡°Ow, ow, ow¡­¡± Hot!

    Den snickered. ¡°Lin didn¡¯t teach you huh?¡± He proceeded to show me how to use forks and knives.

    Even I felt a little embarrassed¡­ burning my hand was shameful, getting butchered by those gleeful smiles from across the room even more so. No one was mocking me though. Well, technically you look like a child.

    Clink! Hard meat, but I was able to cut through it. I punctured it with the fork and put it in my mouth. Dry. Hard. Rubbery. And kind of gamey. A hint of pork.

    Yet- my eyes teared. Finally, some damn steak!

    I tried the sauce next. Basically, sweet mayonnaise. It worked and somewhat hid the gaminess of the meat. Not bad. Not my first choice as a condiment but not bad.

    I ate fast and finished way quicker than I expected and before the other two too. ¡°Want seconds?¡± Den asked.

    ¡°I¡¯m good,¡± I said. It wasn¡¯t that bad, and I hadn¡¯t had steak in a long while. However, I couldn¡¯t really eat more of that.

    ¡°Then how about desert? They have Honeycrisp pies, I think.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll have some.¡±

    He ordered some for us. Yup, peach pies. Pretty good. And now I was pretty much full.

    Once done, Den paid up. All that cost only five Copper. Apparently, Den had booked our lodgings a few days prior and that cost 3 Silver (a little on the higher side). So, all in all, 1 gold really was a lot of money. Yeah, I¡¯d also be furious Mom¡­

    There were still people outside. Not as much as before but quite a handful. ¡°People get kidnapped often around these parts. Be sure to never leave my sight and wander into the alleyways,¡± Den said. ¡°And do keep that in mind when-¡± he paused and didn¡¯t finish.

    ¡­

    Our lodgings happened to be just next to the dinery; Brown Rice Inn. Two floors, wooden, decent.

    The reception was empty, as were the seats on the first floor. ¡°Pretty empty,¡± I said.

    ¡°Reserved for us,¡± Den said.

    I noticed Alastur making his way into the inn following us.

    ¡°You paid for him too?¡±

    ¡°No, but since I paid for the whole building, I invited him anyway,¡± he shrugged.

    Well, he did save our lives. Wait, did he just say- ¡°You bought the whole thing!?¡±

    No wonder it cost three frigging silvers!

    ¡°Keep your voice down kid,¡± Den shrugged again. ¡°And yes. There¡¯s like only four rooms, so not that big a deal.¡±

    ¡°Uh-huh.¡±

    ¡°Also comes with complimentary breakfast.¡±

    And for 3 silvers only! Talk about cheap! I mean, I still didn¡¯t know what you needed to earn 3 silvers but still!

    ¡°Just for reference, how much were they paying you for your services,¡± I asked Alastur who had been awfully quiet this whole time.

    ¡°7 Silvers.¡± Seven silvers for all that?

    Huh¡­hmm. Fuck. Den¡¯s habit of spending money frugally was worse than mine.

    ¡°Den, next time, let¡¯s be a bit more careful with our money.¡±

    ¡°O-our?¡±

    ¡°Well, you¡¯re going to marry Mom, right?¡±

    His face kind of blanked out. For a second there, he just stood there, dazed. ¡°Huh¡­¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re seriously not going propose or something?¡± Okay so, I¡¯d always been passive about the thing. I tried to steer clear of their way and not mess with the whole thing. However, it was getting tedious. This guy never made a move and at this rate¡­

    He blinked a couple of times. ¡°A-are you okay with that?¡±

    I rolled my eyes. ¡°It¡¯s not like they¡¯ve cut off your balls or something,¡± I mumbled. ¡°It¡¯s her choice, right? So ask her. I¡¯m fine either way.¡± I made way for the stairs. ¡°I¡¯m really sleepy so,¡± so I paused and waited for him to get the hint.

    ¡°Right, let me show you to your rooms.¡±

    Alastur just silently followed us.

 Chapter 41: Shit Eyesight

    After a good night¡¯s sleep, I woke up early and stared out the window. Well, I say early but it was probably around nine in the morning; pretty bright outside. Den slept in the room next door, so I wasn¡¯t sure if he was asleep or not. I didn¡¯t really care either. Our boat was going to leave after midday, so we had plenty of time.

    This place was quite something though. Thousands of people in the streets, going about their days. Horses, carriages, carts. The whole scenario screamed Middle Ages. However, their architecture was pretty good. And the city¡¯s plumbing, even better. They had running water~!

    Ah, how I¡¯d missed having an actual decent bathroom for the last five years! Our toilet wasn¡¯t really that bad but we did have to carry water in there, so¡­ yeah. Glad that was over.

    A sort of tranquility settled in. This was a new world. A world of new possibilities. However, this world had its own problems. And one of those problems was this shit religion of Askavan. They were standing in the way of my peace. In the way of me spending time with Mom. I hated my mother, I hated her all my life for being manipulative. However, Lin was different. I loved her, and I wanted to be near her; with her. I wanted to be pampered by her. And I wanted her to love me.

    And if a shitstain church was going to get in the way of that. ¡°Then¡­ wouldn¡¯t it be better if they just disappeared?¡±

    ¡°What?¡± Den knocked once and came in. ¡°What disappeared?¡±

    ¡°Oh uh,¡± he¡¯d caught me off-guard. Why the fuck had I spoken aloud? Fuck. ¡°Fiends, Den.¡±

    Den rolled his eyes. ¡°They have their place too kid. Come, let¡¯s go get breakfast. Did you get fresh?¡±

    ¡°Not yet.¡±

    ¡°Then get to it.¡±

    ¡°Yeah.¡±

    ***

    Breakfast consisted of meat soup, bread and some meat balls. Not terrible, nothing great either. Apparently, breakfast was often made from last night¡¯s leftovers. So yeah.

    Once done, Den showed me around town. We had a few hours to kill before our ride hit the shore, so we went around touring. The streets were bustling with fruits and wares from across the globe; same for people too. Different people from across the world. I suppose a port city was a port city no matter where you went.

    Alastur had some free time, and he joined us as a guard, thanking us for lodgings. I had a feeling this was going to be a battle of gratitude sooner or later.

    There wasn¡¯t much to see in town though. I mean it was a port city and had a lot of stuff port cities had, but I didn¡¯t really find them that enticing. Compared to the other city I¡¯d been in, I suppose this was a massive improvement though. The entrance was littered with inns and restaurants but the further you went, there were just typical houses and stuff. At the center, a large mansion stood out from the rest. The mayor¡¯s house. But something else stood out even more. The church. Wretched scum.A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

    I didn¡¯t necessarily want to destroy the church. I had no way of doing so. And even if I somehow did, then what? Religion, as shitty as it was, held back human carnal desires. It acted as a buffer between rationality and irrationality.

    But I did want Askavan to lose all its powers¡­ but to do that and to not fuck up society, I needed something else to take up Askavan¡¯s place. But what? What could possibly take place of a religion that¡¯s been literally circulating for thousands of years?

    ¡°Another one,¡± I said. Why not just make another one? Better, less shit and¡­ wouldn¡¯t get in the way of me and Mom.

    Hmm¡­

    ¡°Another Honeycrisp?¡± Den said. We were both eating some fruit.

    ¡°Yes, please.¡±

    He rolled his eyes. ¡°You sure love them.¡±

    ¡°Yes sir, I do.¡±

    He chuckled and bought me another one from the vendor down the street. We casually ate the fruits watching the roaring sea. Yes, sea. It was here all along. I just didn¡¯t notice it last night since it was so dark. Then again, I kind of expected it to just be a big river or something but no, it was an actual sea with that familiar salty breeze. Rather calm; the water seemed oddly green rather than blue. We watched over the port from a distance, not quite going over there. At one point, Den had picked me up and showed me the ocean and I acted a little surprised and said- ¡°Looks like a big lake!¡± He¡¯d chuckled and told me it was much bigger than a lake.

    ¡°Are their fiends in the ocean?¡± I asked.

    ¡°Yeah, but ships have dedicated adventurer and mercenary guards, so it isn¡¯t that risky.¡±

    That risky. Well, travel of any sort was risky in some way but there were fiends in the water. According to the history book I¡¯d read, sea travel had been far, far safer now compared to the past. Back in the day, massive sea fiends emerging and taking whole ships below water wasn¡¯t unheard of. And although those things were mostly gone, I was hoping they remained gone and didn¡¯t make a random guest appearance during our journey.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯m also traveling,¡± Alastur said.

    You were still here? ¡°What do you mean Mr. Alastur?¡±

    ¡°Hey, you never call me Mister,¡± Den grumbled. I ignored him.

    ¡°Alastur¡¯s fine,¡± he said. ¡°You are traveling to Saint Schalion, right?¡±

    ¡°Yeah.¡±

    ¡°Me too.¡±

    Oh yeah, he did say he was going to school and the only good school near us was apparently Schalion Academy. I did some digging on the school. It was founded three hundred years ago by the court mage of Siran. A rather old but traditional school that didn¡¯t differentiate between nobles or commoners. Then again, Askavan also emphasized equality to some extent, so things were pretty decent for commoners in this age. Assuming you weren¡¯t born poor or talentless. In that case, fucked you were.

    I also found out about the country we were in right now. Although the Southern and Western continents were named as such, there were quite a few countries here. We were in the country of Jarun, central Southern state, and the academy was on the very border of Slovia, Siran and Jenvola, western countries. They had a bunch of other names going around and the actual countries were kind of small by earth¡¯s scale. They were more akin to large cities like NYC, than actual countries. The names were so atrocious, I didn¡¯t bother remembering.

    ¡°That puts me at ease,¡± I said.

    ¡°And having me doesn¡¯t? I¡¯m the best ranged Hunter in the village, you know,¡± Den said.

    ¡°Keyword, village.¡±

    Den grumbled but begrudgingly shrugged. ¡°A little early but our ship¡¯s here,¡± he said.

    Where? All I saw was water and a dot? The dot came closer and closer and yeah, definitely a ship¡­ Shit eyesight.

 Chapter 42: Peer Pressure

    It took me a while to actually make out how the ship looked. It was big, but not as big as typical cruise ships. Mostly made of wood and by the look of things, there were maybe a hundred or so people on board; three distinct floors and the deck. The bottom floor was fully submerged.

    The ship had arrived about three hours early. And there was a good reason for that. Namely, passengers were going to get off the ship. But not just passengers, merchants had a lot of crates lined on the deck which too had to be disembarked. Afterwards, they would clean the ship and that would also take a few hours. Den said, often the ship is delayed past the afternoon and sometimes it barely leaves the harbor by the evening. It was a miracle they arrived early.

    Basically, they operated like trains. Hopefully they wouldn¡¯t run over me though.

    ¡°Will you be joining us for lunch Al?¡± Den said.

    ¡°Yes, Den,¡± Alastur said.

    When the fuck did you get so friendly?

    Seriously, I was with them the whole time and yet¡­ sigh. Anyway, we located a restaurant and went in. Pretty busy, no open seats. So, we had to wait for a group of people to finish. Once they finished, we sat tight, ordered some meat and bread and devoured them. Den got me a Honeycrisp pudding and it was pretty good. Since it was so busy, we didn¡¯t have time to relax and were promptly shown out.

    ¡°Now what?¡± I asked. ¡°Do we train or something?¡±

    During my travels, I actually kept a wide eye for Burgers or Pizza but so far, I didn¡¯t have any luck. Maybe I¡¯ll find some in the next port assuming they existed in this world. I mean, I did see goat cheese every now and then on sale, so it wasn¡¯t unlikely they had some sort of pizza.

    ¡°No, would be counterproductive,¡± Den said. ¡°The guild isn¡¯t that far from here. Why don¡¯t we take a look?¡±

    ¡°Not far? It¡¯s literally on the other side, Den.¡± I rolled my eyes. ¡°Besides, I don¡¯t have any interest in becoming an adventurer.¡±

    We were pretty much at the end of the city. Walking back to the other side would take us a good half an hour at the very least.

    He still started walking anyway. ¡°So, how will you be paying tuition?¡±

    ¡°Excuse me? I thought you were-¡±

    ¡°For the first year, I would. But eventually you¡¯ll have to start earning money to live, right?¡±

    He had a point. But I was too damn young to be worrying about money of all things. heck, I wasn¡¯t even supposed to be having this journey in the first place. I was supposed to be sitting on my Mom¡¯s lap and just sleeping or something. Fuck!

    ¡°And you didn¡¯t tell me that sooner because?¡±

    ¡°Because¡­¡± Den paused, and looked conflicted for some reason. ¡°I didn¡¯t want you to worry needlessly. Besides, I resolved to somehow gather the money and-¡±

    ¡°Wait, how much is the tuition?¡±

    ¡°Fifty gold a year,¡± Alastur said. ¡°Includes a shared dorm and meals.¡±

    ¡°You got to be kidding me,¡± I sighed. ¡°You know that¡¯s too much.¡±

    ¡°But it¡¯s one of the few schools not run by the church,¡± Den said. ¡°And one of the few we could afford.¡±

    Fifty gold? Fifty grand? Seriously? Even college didn¡¯t cost that much! And I was talking about America!

    Okay maybe some colleges did cost about fifty grand but that was for international students not local ones! Well, you are technically international though¡­ sigh.

    ¡°How much can you sell a dual head tiger for?¡± I asked.

    We were of course walking towards the guild which happened to be near the entrance we came in last night. Aka, all the way across the city.

    ¡°About a gold, if the pelt¡¯s in good condition.¡±

    So basically, my life wasn¡¯t even worth a gold. I mean, that thing was definitely beyond me. And anything stronger than that was also beyond me.

    Suddenly my shoulders got heavier. Even when I¡¯d run from home, I didn¡¯t feel like this. I mean, I had Dad¡¯s credit card but¡­ damn it. Fifty grand was a whole lot of money.Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it,¡± Alastur said. ¡°Work diligently, methodically, and safely and you should be able to scrap together 20-30 gold a year. The rest your family can cover.¡±

    Even so, that was a lot of money. And I was five. I could hardly take a swing of my knife. I had no real talent as a hunter. Heck, I never even hunted anything in my damn life. But wait, adventurer jobs weren¡¯t all hunting jobs. Some were also collecting and- No, no, no! It won¡¯t work and-

    And we¡¯d arrived. A two-story unassuming building with nothing but noise coming out of it.

    The door was already open and I could see a lot of people. Like a lot of burly men just going about their days, laughing and telling stories. They had a bar of sorts in the corner, and some guys singing while drinking. They were pretty hammered by the looks of it.

    A guy was approaching us with a menacing look but the moment he noticed Alastur, he just scrammed. Well, our harassment event didn¡¯t quite pan out, I suppose.

    Den took me over to the counter and explained a few things.

    The guild was an intermediary. They got jobs from clients and used adventurers or mercenaries to complete them. They provided jobs, while adventurers provided service. The guild kept a 15% cut for adventurers and 12% for mercs, and failure to complete a job netted you a 10% penalty. Standard stuff I was familiar with. However- they had no quality control on who could join. As long as you had life and three limbs, you could join the guild any day! And you didn¡¯t even have to pay a fee! You did have to pay a security deposit for your first job however.

    ¡°Press your thumb here,¡± the receptionist brought out a metallic box that had a glass ball attached to it. I was supposed to press my thumb on the ball. I did. ¡°Wait a few minutes.¡± She went back but gave me a piece of paper with some words.

    <ul>

    <li>Adventurers are required by international law to comply with the Askavan Church¡¯s rules and regulations</li>

    <li>An adventurer may not commit any crime whatsoever deemed by the local government. High Rank individuals are exempt.</li>

    <li>While adventurers are not required to directly answer to nobility and the church, you may wish to do so. If you don¡¯t, the guild would protect your rights in reasonable manner</li>

    <li>The guildmaster holds all rights regarding payment and job availability. In case of a missed payment, the guild holds rights to delay and reimburse you within 30 days.</li>

    <li>During emergencies, the guild may issue quests for all adventurers and mercenaries. These quests are mandatory.</li>

    <li>You may decide to take a break from adventuring without any penalty. However, you may not take a break during a job.</li>

    <li>Failure to uphold guild reputation and regulation would result in termination. Once terminated, you may not be able to register again, without express permission from the guild master.</li>

    </ul>

    Well, that was a lot of rules. But I didn¡¯t expect the church to butt in first thing. Though I suppose, I should have. Also, if you were high enough rank you could break the law? Actually, they had no rules about criminals not being able to join¡­ hmmm.

    The staff members were all beautiful women. Again, as expected. I¡¯d seen all this in video games and anime so damn much that nothing really surprised me. Not even when I saw a random fire ball crash into a guy with a big shield. Nope.

    Fireball? Wait, Fireball~!!!

    ***

    Apparently, magic did exist.

    I¡¯d only seen actual magic once, no, twice. Back when our Goat Sisna electrified the tiger and when our buddy Rexen tried to fry the fuck out of me. Apart from that, I¡¯d only read about magic and how rare it was.

    But now, that was a fireball! And actual fireball! Who fired it? A young girl in baggy robes? Or maybe Gandalf like geezer with his proud beard!

    Ah-

    Oh¡­ it was a dwarf. A fat dwarf who laughed hard, drank some ale and screamed- ¡°FIRE IN THE HOLE!¡± with an oddly Scottish accent. And lit something and threw it¡­ fire ball.

    Fush! No explosion, just a spark of flames. And the guy who blocked it, laughed along with the others. Apparently, people were having fun.

    Sigh. ¡°I thought it was a fireball for a second there.¡±

    And yes, dwarves were a thing in this world; referred to as the mountainfolk. I was not interested in them at all.

    ¡°It is a fireball, though,¡± Den said. ¡°Anyway. You¡¯ll be starting out as F rank and can only take F rank jobs. The guild allows you some leeway up to 1 rank either way but for F ranks that¡¯s not available.¡±

    ¡°Because they want newbies to prove themselves,¡± I said.

    ¡°Exactly!¡± Den smirked. ¡°I¡¯m B-Rank by the way.¡±

    ¡°How cool. But wasn¡¯t the ceiling like S rank or something? So how come you never made it that far, Den?¡± I said, deadpan.

    His face twitched for a second. ¡°Because it¡¯s impossible without a party or talent like him,¡± Den motioned.

    I followed his gaze and found Alastur being casually harassed by the pretty ladies. They were all over him, smirking, throwing kisses and all that stuff. The guy didn¡¯t even bat an eye at them even for a second.

    Well, someone just won my respect. ¡°What¡¯s his rank though?¡±

    ¡°A.¡±

    Wait, Alastur was A? The guy literally killed 18 bandits in less than ten seconds and with real ease. He was just A? There were stronger guys than him?

    I grew up in a village. People there were exceptional. My Mom too. Strong and exceptional. However, Alastur was still a monster compared to them. And THAT guy was just A?

    ¡°Ho-how strong are S ranks?¡±

    ¡°Never met any,¡± Den said. ¡°They¡¯re pretty¡­ ah,¡± he chuckled.

    The receptionist came back and handed me a card. A fine bronze card with some writing.

    Name: Soler Arnius

    Race: Human

    Age: 5

    That was it. There were some other blank spots but nothing written there. ¡°Is this supposed to be so blank?¡± I asked.

    ¡°That¡¯s a magical card. The guild is loaning it to you. When you decide on your occupation or party, they¡¯ll update the card; be sure to not lose it or they¡¯ll charge you 1 silver.¡±

    Uh-huh. Made sense. ¡°Any rules I should be worried about?¡± I did read up the rules but maybe there was more?

    ¡°Don¡¯t screw up the job, don¡¯t screw with the clients, and don¡¯t cause any unnecessary fights or trouble. Typical stuff,¡± Den said.

    Typical to you. Technically, common sense to me.

    Anyway, that¡¯s how I was coerced into being an adventurer. Sigh, peer pressure sucks.

 Chapter 43: Painful

    We didn¡¯t bother taking in any jobs. I mean, we already spent a lot of time in the guild, and our ride was probably ready by now.

    ¡°Are there different guilds?¡±

    ¡°Nope. But there are branches in almost every city. And every country too. Oh and, for now, don¡¯t really join any parties. It¡¯s okay to explore and see the guild and stuff but don¡¯t take in any jobs for the first six months either. Always prioritize your safety and take safe easy jobs like finding cats or something. And I mentioned how there are kidnappings, remember? So be mindful of that too.¡±

    Uh-huh. Den had warned me about kidnappings before too. And though I thought it was normal for people in this world to treat kids as adults, just one look at Den¡¯s face made me think otherwise. Despite everything he was in agony, pure agony. Frustrated. I guess despite everything, he wasn¡¯t okay with me going to boarding school.

    ¡°I¡¯ll keep that in mind,¡± I said. ¡°Besides, the academy is safe, right?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    I never really let go of his finger and just followed him around. My feet were pretty much dead at this point with all the walking. These last few years, I¡¯d trained and my stamina had increased considerably. However, it was hardly enough. Yeah, I was a literal child but it wasn¡¯t going to fly from now on.

    Den and Mom were trying their best, but their hands were tied. It pained them just as much as me or perhaps even more. Especially Mom. I just worried what would happen to me and all that crap, but what about Mom? How was she feeling? How would she deal with this?

    Sigh.

    By the time we made it to the seashore, it was close to the afternoon. I was worried the ship would leave. But as expected, it had barely started taking in passengers. ¡°We have a single cabin on the second floor,¡± Den said. ¡°Should be decent.¡±

    The harbor was mostly made of stone. They had a carved stairway and lots of ships. Mostly just small fishing boats with one or maybe two large ones. Incidentally our ship was the largest of the bunch. It wasn¡¯t as loud as it was in the morning but the ambient noise still made me reminiscent of grandma¡¯s place.

    ¡°How long would the ride last?¡±

    ¡°A week.¡±

    So, we were moving quite far. I could see why Den mentioned I wouldn¡¯t be able to go see him or Mom. This world was too dangerous for a kid like me. But we had no choice.

    We went down, and after confirming with one of the ferry staff, went in. Large deck, no apparent smell or distractions¡­ so far. We were led to the second floor (from bottom) and it was for the general public; smelled like it too, musty, ammonia-ish and definitely that age old lovely brown stuff smell. Yeah, I hated ships and trains for that one reason.

    Our cabin was pretty small with two bunk beds. Next to the beds, we had a closed window that was half submerged and a stool. That was it. But hey at least it didn¡¯t smell in here! Or so I wanted to say, but it still smelled pretty shit. Literally.

    ¡°We¡¯re staying here for a week, so get used to it,¡± Den said. ¡°Which one do you want?¡±

    ¡°Top one,¡± I said.

    I didn¡¯t trust these beds. What if the top one just broke down and Den fell on top of me? I¡¯d be pretty dead. So the logical choice was to choose the top one. Worst case scenario, I¡¯d fall, break Den¡¯s nose and that¡¯ll be the end.

    ¡°Sure. Also, I¡¯m sure you¡¯re aware but be sure to lock the door whenever I¡¯m out. And don¡¯t let anyone in.¡±

    ¡°Got it!¡±Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

    That said, he actually went out and I locked the door.

    With the door locked the smell was somewhat bearable but that was about it. This ship was wooden but the window was glass. Though wood, it was strong thick ass wood. And they had some sort of a lighting system next to my head and a small hole in the ceiling for ventilation. Are they using oars and stuff? Didn¡¯t seem like a rowboat. And didn¡¯t seem like they had any sort of engine either. They weren¡¯t solely relying on wind or something, right?

    Well, it wasn¡¯t my problem. Yet.

    Tremor. The ship shook and then shook again. Before I realized, it started moving, the water. No wait, the ship was moving¡­backwards?

    No, the cabin is backwards, dummy.

    So yeah, just as the afternoon sun blessed us with its orange presence, the ship departed from Axel port on route Xanir port. No sound, and no excessive shaking either.

    Normally it took 5 days to get across but Den told me to not be so optimistic. Given how he knew much about this route and the journey, I didn¡¯t doubt him. Besides, I knew how these estimations worked.

    Sometime later Den came back and we just watched the green water swirl together. ¡°How¡¯s the ship moving?¡±

    ¡°They have a Magical Device that pushes on the water. It¡¯s downstairs.¡±

    ¡°I see. Are Magical Devices common?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t think so. You can find some in dungeons, that¡¯s why people risk their lives to venture within. But most are created by the high society and sell for pretty high prices.¡±

    ¡°So Derec was going into that cave to search for magical devices?¡±

    How come I hadn¡¯t heard of it before?

    ¡°No, he was in there to hunt for the giant centipedes. Those things are a delicacy of sorts and people pay for that privilege; bigger they are, more luxurious.¡±

    I almost gagged. The shit smell wasn¡¯t helping. ¡°Anyway, if these devices are expensive and dungeons exist here and there, how come people still haven¡¯t found all of them?¡±

    If people were diving into said dungeons to look for the devices, shouldn¡¯t they have found them all at this point?

    ¡°Well, we don¡¯t really know it¡¯s a dungeon until we hit the bottom layer and deal with the master of the dungeon. Besides, most of the dungeons are unknown and often you¡¯d see floors change in dungeons. Remember how you fell down and found yourself in a room we couldn¡¯t access no matter what?¡±

    Made sense. Dungeons in this world tended to change shape and layout so it wasn¡¯t unlikely for most people to not have an accurate way to navigate and find all the treasures. ¡°Who created the dungeons, anyway?¡±

    ¡°Who knows.¡±

    Well, Den wasn¡¯t helping. But I was glad to have a talking partner. If I was alone right now, I¡¯d be pretty much freaking out. I did travel alone in my previous life. But never longer than a single day¡¯s worth. If I had to travel maybe two or three days, I¡¯d bring a friend. I could see how I was just being a wuss but¡­ but yeah.

    We watched the orange color over the water slowly turn dark and soon it was time for dinner. However, just the thought of eating in this hellhole made me wince a little. ¡°Are we going to eat here?¡±

    ¡°No, let¡¯s not,¡± Den understood. ¡°It¡¯s more fun to eat on the deck anyway.¡±

    ***

    When Den said it was more fun to eat on the deck he meant simply one thing- pain.

    Blegh!

    Apparently, when I boarded the ship, I forgot for a second that sea sickness was a thing. And no, I wasn¡¯t really sick. But a handful of the other passengers were and they were having quite the time unloading everything by the guardrails. The breeze was going against them, so I didn¡¯t smell anything. And I hoped it would stay that way.

    ¡°Better than eating inside though, right?¡± Den said, smirking.

    Fucking hell, dude was enjoying this! ¡°Do-do you happen to like seeing people in pain?¡±

    ¡°Only some people.¡±

    Sadist.

    Anyway, I somehow made myself ignore the ongoing cries and focused on the dazzling sky and the roaring calm seas. Sip! This soup was actually pretty decent. But after having Mom¡¯s soup for years, it wasn¡¯t doing for me. Wonder how she¡¯s doing¡­

    ¡°Would we be able to sleep at night?¡± I wondered. ¡°The ship would sway a lot, right?¡±

    ¡°Lucky for us, it¡¯s winter.¡± Den sipped his warm drink. Probably tea.

    Speaking of winter, I did feel somewhat chilly.

    ¡°What would happen if it wasn¡¯t winter?¡±

    ¡°Remember those occasional drizzles? Well, other parts of the world and particularly the sea, gets really wild during those times. There¡¯s so much rain and wind, you¡¯d get swept away.¡±

    Well, he did have a point though. The ship was surprisingly still.

    Bluergggghhh!!

    Yet people were going crazy on the other side. Did make me wonder how they traveled during the summer and rainy season. This world didn¡¯t have air travel or teleporters and stuff. So how they handled themselves in midst of a storm, that I was awfully curious about.

    ***

    As the night deepened, so did my horrors.

    In a word; I could not sleep, no.

    The ship didn¡¯t move as much as I thought it would and that was great. But the smell, the horrible creaking noise, and the occasional cries of infants or toddlers was pretty much screwing with me; hearing heightened as hell, I could even hear people snoring from across the hallway! And that continued for hours and hours until somewhere very late night, I finally fell asleep only to be wakened by my raging bladder.

    Sigh¡­ yeah, nights were painful here.

 Chapter 44: Nope!

    My day started with joining a line to shit. Yes, literally.

    There was a long line of people and just one toilet. One. Fucking. Toilet. And it stank! There was plenty of water, sure. But it stank! And it was dirty! And arghhh!

    Anyway, with that mess out of the way, my day began in earnest. I ate breakfast with Den, watching the flurry of pukers running around and the fluffy white clouds that oddly got denser as we traveled. The weather too, got colder and colder. I suppose we were going to a cold country? Maybe they¡¯d have snow? I¡¯d never seen actual snow in my life. Maybe this time I¡¯d have the luxury to. Then again, since I lived mostly in temperate zones, I wasn¡¯t looking forward to freezing weather.

    Anyway, I spent the early morning to early afternoon, talking to people. Yes, talking to people. I didn¡¯t know anyone here, and they didn¡¯t know me. So that meant, I could talk, embarrass the hell out of myself, and just do it all over again. The first few encounters were really, really awkward but eventually I got into the flow and spoke for hours on end. It was mostly just me asking who they were and where they were going. Yet, that¡¯s all it took for most people to talk about their life and how their wives were evil and didn¡¯t have enough sex. I had to pretend like I didn¡¯t know what sex even was but, seriously, people told five year olds every little fucking thing here. Geez.

    Women meanwhile were awfully chill for some reason. They didn¡¯t complain as much as I thought they would¡­ at least until I met the complainers. They put men to shame and went on for hours on hours describing how terrible their husbands were in bed and instructed me to be careful, gentle and respecting and all that. ¡°Mam, I¡¯m five,¡± I¡¯d say deadpan. And they¡¯d laugh.

    Seriously, this world had weird standards. Speaking of weird, I didn¡¯t see many children. I did see maybe five kids but they were older than me. Maybe one or two babies every now and then.

    We ate lunch late every day, in the afternoon. During this time, Den would also make me run around in circles. Since I was a kid, the crew didn¡¯t bother trying to stop me. I did wonder what would happen if Den was also running. Would they slap him a couple of times or throw him in a cell thinking he¡¯d gone mad? Oh, and that was a thing apparently. Throwing people in cells.

    People caught the ¡®sailor¡¯s disease¡¯ and went bonkers on long trips. But since ours just started, I hadn¡¯t seen any so far.

    And that¡¯s how the first three days passed. No issues whatsoever (other than me not being able to sleep at night). But then came day four. And a myriad of issues along with it.

    Issue number one: the Magical Device that was creating torrents for us, decided it was prime time to take a dive underwater.

    Issue number two: we had no real way of finding the device and actually do anything.

    And issue number three: Our food supplies was going to run out in five days.

    Welp, I suppose that was it. ¡°How long do you think people realize that there are just bags of food walking around,¡± I said.The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

    ¡°Don¡¯t say scary stuff,¡± Den almost cringed.

    The two of us, watched the calm seas. This ocean was quite calm for the last couple of days. Den said, it got pretty shit during the monsoon and I didn¡¯t want to know more than that.

    ¡°But it¡¯s true you know,¡± I said.

    Den sighed. ¡°Sometimes I do wonder what goes on in that head of yours. But be careful not to express that concern to anyone else. Remember, you¡¯d be one of the first targets,¡± he pointed.

    ¡°Oh yeah¡­¡± I almost forgot how damn powerless I was compared to your average child, let alone adult. ¡°Hopefully, a giant squid would come attack us, the mercenaries on board would kill it, and we¡¯ll have food for decades,¡± I said.

    Den chuckled. ¡°Hopefully.¡± He didn¡¯t seem to mind that prospect I suppose. Speaking of mercenaries, I hadn¡¯t seen Alastur the whole time. Maybe he took a different ship? No, I remembered seeing him get on the ship.

    Still, stranded huh? You¡¯d think the crew would have had a backup magical device just in case of an emergency like this, right? But yeah, they didn¡¯t. Some magical devices were really, really expensive, so I could understand why. But I did hope they at least had a contingency plan just in case.

    ¡°Are there any bandits in the sea?¡± I asked. No one talked about pirates and I didn¡¯t have any ¡®real¡¯ way of knowing about them.

    ¡°Sea bandits¡­ you mean, pirates. I haven¡¯t heard about any in these parts.¡±

    Wait, really? None in these parts? But that did mean there were pirates here. Of course, there were. As long as there was some form of poverty and hunger, people would find ways to stanch that feeling. Even if that meant robbing or even killing another human being.

    ¡°How long would it take for us to reach the nearest island if we took one of these and just rowed?¡± I said.

    This ship had about four small rowboats. Our ship did have a sail of sorts but wind wasn¡¯t a thing here. Like seriously, we barely moved at all.

    ¡°Three days, assuming the sea remains calm like this and if we don¡¯t get lost.¡±

    ¡°Worth a shot.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t get ideas. I¡¯m sure the captain would figure something out.¡±

    ¡°Where the hell is that guy, anyway?¡±

    I¡¯d seen most of the staff members so far. But I didn¡¯t see the captain of this ship, even once.

    Anyway, since I had nothing else to do, I went about listening to people¡¯s anxieties as usual. And surprise, surprise, they were even more talkative. Some spoke how they were going to be late for their daughter¡¯s marriage, or birth, new job, or something along those lines. Apparently, unless it was super damn important, people didn¡¯t bother moving towns of all things. Especially on the sea route since it was so dangerous and unpredictable.

    After a brief period, I came back to Den, who was still watching the water and the sunset.

    ¡°You know, you won¡¯t have to come see me every year,¡± I said.

    The sea was pretty dangerous. And form my understanding my school was only accessible through this sea route or a mountain route that was even more dangerous with horrendous fiends and stuff.

    ¡°I was planning on going every 5 years but sure, I¡¯ll keep that in mind.¡±

    Asshole, I cursed under my breath. ¡°Won¡¯t we be late for my enrolment though?¡± I asked.

    I didn¡¯t know much about the enrolment and the courses I¡¯d be taking. And Den wasn¡¯t being generous enough to shower me with that information either.

    ¡°It¡¯s special enrolment, so you¡¯ll be fine.¡±

    ¡°Uh-huh.¡±

    Despite the utter lack of movement, the people actually didn¡¯t panic and didn¡¯t create a scene. Which did make me wonder, if this was a typical thing that happened often. Or if people of this world were really this understanding.

    The people I¡¯d encountered so far, were genuinely good people and understanding, so maybe that was true. But there were also people like that priest mom nightmared out of existence, so maybe that hypothesis wasn¡¯t very apt. Just because I hadn¡¯t come across someone exceptionally shit, didn¡¯t mean someone like that didn¡¯t exist. But least we wouldn¡¯t have to deal with the puking company since the ship was no longer moving.

    Bleguh!

    Nope, people were still seasick.

 Chapter 45: A Free Meal Is A Free Meal

    Day five began with some damn good news. Apparently, two merfolk just happened to be in the area and helped us out. Scaly green skin, like a sea horse and no legs, also like a sea horse. Actually, they were just oversized sea horses with massive heads and eyes and arms. And they helped us out of the good of their hearts.

    At least that¡¯s what the staff told us, and the ship resumed its course. But when I¡¯d snuck into the bottommost floor staffroom (they let me) for some random time pass session, they opened up. Long story short, the merfolk did return the magical device but only after getting a whopping 100 Gold as compensation. One round ticket on this ship cost 5 silvers, and it could transport about 100 people and some cargo at once; some of the first-class seats did cost maybe 8 or maybe even 9 silvers but that was it. So in theory, even if the cargo netted double money than the passengers, the ship owner or the crew rather, still lost a good chunk of their money. Yes, they lost money. Profit wasn¡¯t even in the picture. And since they already charged people, they couldn¡¯t really charge us again either.

    So, suffice to say, the staff lounge was pretty much a morgue with how they were sighing and looking all dead.

    Given how quickly they showed up- ¡°Perhaps they took down the magical device themselves,¡± I said, trying to test out the water.

    ¡°But why not just take it away and sell it? I mean it¡¯s worth at least 12 Stellers.¡±

    Unbeknownst to me, there was an even higher currency than gold. Steller Coin. These were roughly equal to 100 gold but were not in circulation. In other words, they were place holder money used by the government in case they needed to reward some hero or warrior and they were lacking in the gold department. Of course, you could always just cash in from a high-born noble lord or maybe even the royal treasury if you were influential enough.

    ¡°Or they could wait a few years and keep doing this to you for generations,¡± I said. ¡°Wait, does this happen often?¡±

    ¡°As a matter of fact, it does,¡± one of the sailors said. ¡°Kid, what¡¯s your name?¡±

    ¡°Sol.¡±

    ¡°Well Sol, I think you have a point.¡±

    Most of the sailors were men and basically jacked. This guy, more than others. He looked like Alastur, just taller and with more flowy dreamy hair.

    ¡°Maybe,¡± I said. I wasn¡¯t sure though. I mean, who wouldn¡¯t want instant profit?  ¡°Wait, how long do merfolk live anyway?¡±

    ¡°200 years on average,¡± he said. ¡°Some can live up to 500, or so I heard. This is my first time experiencing this but I heard my grandfather dealt with this twice during his time,¡± he sighed. ¡°But what can we do? They¡¯re a minority and if we did anything, they¡¯d just say we¡¯re discriminating and¡­¡±

    ¡°And the church would have their back,¡± I wondered aloud.

    They just stared but didn¡¯t say anything. One of them got up, stretched. ¡°I¡¯ll go sweep the deck.¡±

    The rest followed suit. Apparently, our little conversation was too depressing.

    The large man didn¡¯t leave though. He just sat there, thinking. ¡°I¡¯ve heard this happen to other ships too.¡±

    Pretty profitable business actually. 12 Steller coins was a lot of money. Even most mid rank nobles didn¡¯t have that kind of money just lying around. So who would these merfolk sell to? Besides, if they were selling something so precious, they also ran the risk of being caught. So wasn¡¯t it better to just take money offering the solution to a problem they created and just keep doing that? The money would be green, their reputation would be good rather than terrible, and they could just keep doing it to all ships while scheduling like a pro, so people would think this happened naturally.Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

    ¡°Can you show me the device or how it works?¡± I hadn¡¯t yet seen the magical device myself, so I was really curious.

    ¡°Sure.¡±

    I wasn¡¯t sure if he agreed because I was a kid, or because I helped him catch onto something so blatantly obvious but he didn¡¯t really mind with showing me around. Incidentally the engine room- or rather, the device room as they liked to call it, happened to be next to the staff lounge.

    We were at the center of the ship, at the very base and there was water here. A large hole of about eight centimeters across. And on top of that hole, a glowing black orb rested; barely the size of a baseball. It prevented the water from coming up, and oddly swirled a current, almost manipulating the whole ocean beneath it. All this time, I thought the magical device was merely forcing a water stream like an engine but no, it was forcing the water itself to- ¡°Does this work if water didn¡¯t touch it?¡± Technically it was floating over the water.

    ¡°No. It won¡¯t work.¡±

    No wonder they couldn¡¯t just put it here and protect it with some sort of an encloser. ¡°But does it work if you perhaps covered it up with a mesh of sorts?¡±

    ¡°What mesh?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know, let¡¯s say you have a couple of tangled wire tangled in a specific way to prevent outsiders from grabbing it, and it would also prevent the orb from falling down and stuff.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t think anyone has anything like that.¡±

    ¡°Then make it?¡±

    He scratched the back of his head. ¡°If only it were that easy.¡± He shrugged. ¡°I already suspected as much you know. But no one listened to me. The crew didn¡¯t even believe me till now.¡±

    ¡°So that¡¯s why they were so uninterested when I brought it up.¡±

    ¡°Yeah.¡±

    Figured. We proceeded to get out of the room and talk about the possibilities. Apparently, it was virtually impossible for the thing to just fall in water since it always floated. But sometimes it might decide to slip under the boat and that would instantly cause problems since most people weren¡¯t stupid enough to jump into the ocean and even the few that were, wouldn¡¯t be able to actually swim under the giant ship, find the missing orb that would be impossible to locate under water, and come back alive.

    You¡¯d think since this thing was so damn important the crew would keep at least someone here in this room, but no they didn¡¯t. Mostly because the mana density or whatever in this room was so damn high, your body would rot from within¡­ basically like radiation poisoning.

    ¡°Maybe we could try a cloth,¡± I said. ¡°Assuming we¡¯re wrong about the Merfolk, that should prevent the orb from falling down, right?¡±

    ¡°But sea water corrodes everything, so I doubt that¡¯d last.¡±

    And even if the sea didn¡¯t, this thing would. Given long enough, this thing would corrode virtually everything. Even these reinforced wooden planks. Which did make me question the safety of Magical Devices but this guy was kind enough to tell me, most magical devices weren¡¯t dangerous that. keyword, that.

    ¡°True that.¡± While talking, we¡¯d climbed the stairs and made it back to the deck. Lively and bright. Midday! ¡°Don¡¯t you have work to get back to?¡±

    ¡°Not really. I¡¯m free.¡±

    ¡°Really?¡± Meanwhile every other member of the staff I¡¯d seen so far were pretty much working their asses.

    Witnessing my utter confusion the man smiled, decked his hat and showed me those crooked teeth; I wish he hadn¡¯t. ¡°Captain Ayne Vorn. Master of the Dectorn.¡±

    Dectorn was the ship¡¯s name. And he was the captain. I hadn¡¯t seen him the entire journey so far and it only made sense concerning the guy was a lazy ass who did nothing. Wait, wait, I shouldn¡¯t have been that quick to judge him. I had seen him at least once or twice before, surely-

    ¡°But it only happens in a few years though, right?¡± I asked.

    ¡°Yeah.¡±

    ¡°Then I don¡¯t see why you should worry,¡± I said. But then I realized, things never really go according to plan. Sometimes a monster might attack. Other times, the ship might break down, a sailor might just die. Or maybe the mercenaries might ask for greater compensation. And oh yeah, I hadn¡¯t even that into account; money was money and a net loss was definitely a pain. ¡°Forget I said that. Kind of hard to imagine sea fares aren¡¯t astronomical when you consider all additional costs,¡± I said.

    ¡°No, you¡¯re right. I¡¯m just making a big deal out of it. A hundred gold is nothing to sneeze at, but in the grand scheme of things, it¡¯s hardly a dent in our pocket.¡± He chuckled but then abruptly stopped. ¡°Sea fares?¡± He snorted. ¡°My boy, even pricing the fare at 5 silvers isn¡¯t doing it these days. You have more and more ships popping up and prices just keep going down and down.¡±

    But wasn¡¯t that a good thing? ¡°Well, you still seem to be doing pretty well,¡± I said. I mean, he didn¡¯t have a single empty room on his ship. He perked his nose with pride. ¡°That means, you¡¯re really rich, right Mr. Ayne.¡±

    ¡°Pretty much.¡±

    ¡°Well, be sure to treat me to a luxurious lunch sometimes,¡± I said.

    ¡°And why would I do that?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know, maybe because we get along so nicely and I¡¯m getting kind of hungry?¡±

    He laughed, he laughed really loud. ¡°Sure, but it¡¯ll be one of the cheaper options.¡±

    Heh, a free meal was a free meal.

 Chapter 46: Ha Hah!

    The first floor was considerably better than the second floor. First class of sorts. Most people on the first floor were somewhat rich and full of themselves. But some weren¡¯t that bad. In fact, the most rich were the most humble. The middle of the pack rich was the arrogant bunch.

    Some of the really rich ladies offered me cookies and tea every now and then but Den didn¡¯t let me go. He¡¯d say ¡°They might decide to eat you too,¡± but I had no idea what he was talking about. I guess, you could have called me cute but steal me? Rich ladies of all people. He was probably just jealous himself or something. Surely, he wasn¡¯t suggesting those ladies would use me for sexual purposes or something. Heh, as if people were that depraved.

    A literal shiver went down my spine as I considered the possibilities and immediately just erased the thought.

    Anyway, I wanted to spend some time reading my book but Den had issues with that too. He asked me to read the book only once I¡¯d reached the dorms and alone. Apparently, this ship wasn¡¯t necessarily that safe either.

    Sigh. So, there wasn¡¯t much to do. And I¡¯d basically spoken to most of the staff and people here.

    ¡°You could maybe hang out with the kids?¡± Den said.

    ¡°Maybe, but I kind of don¡¯t want to,¡± I said. The few kids here were rich kids. I could probably pretend to be rich too and fit in, but I didn¡¯t really want to.

    I stared out the half-drowned window. The sea was still pretty green but lately it was getting bluer. I never saw any fish, but I did see some floating Lilypad like things. wait, lily pad?

    ¡°Den,¡± I said. ¡°What are those?¡±

    The ship came to a crippling halt not soon after.

    Den let out an exaggerated sigh. ¡°The Lily Field. On rare occasions, ships get caught in it.¡±

    ¡°Means we¡¯re stranded?¡±

    ¡°No, means, we¡¯ll be stuck here for an extra day.¡±

    Argh!

    Fuck!

    Still, with Den I went to the deck and quite a few others also had the same idea.

    The Lily Field, as Den said, was a field of lilies for literal miles on all sides. Just the leaves; roughly ten times bigger than the stuff I¡¯d seen in my last life. I didn¡¯t see any actual lilies. There were a bunch of staff members at the front end of the ship, carefully getting the lilypads out of the ship¡¯s course with giant oars. ¡°Why not just run through them?¡±This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

    ¡°Some merfolk inhabit this place. They¡¯re easily offended.¡±

    ¡°I see.¡±

    Not just me, quite a few of the passengers had similar concerns and urged the staff members to just plow through. Of course, they did no such thing. Before long the Captain made his appearance and explained things. Now that I thought about it, it wasn¡¯t that the captain was just some lazy ass who never showed up but rather, he just didn¡¯t seem like a captain and I might or might not have just discarded the fact that he could even be the captain.

    My bad I guess.

    That aside though, watching the lilypads and occasional movement was sort of fun. Just below those waters, a village or maybe even a city was bustling as we passed by. There were actual people down there, underwater. I couldn¡¯t help but wonder how a civilization could even be possible underwater. ¡°Do they all look like those fish people earlier?¡±

    ¡°Some look pretty humanlike actually,¡± Den said. ¡°I¡¯d once met a really pretty lady,¡± he chuckled.

    ¡°How pretty?¡±

    ¡°Prettier than Lin actually.¡±

    Coming from him, probably meant the lady was gorgeous as hell. ¡°Hopefully, I¡¯ll meet one someday too.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t get your hopes too high though. They might look pretty but their assets are nonexistent,¡± Den sighed. ¡°Flat chests, barely any meat on the bottom. They don¡¯t even have-¡± He stopped outright. He proceeded to laugh really loudly and awkwardly. Dude apparently realized he was talking about boobs and butts to a five-year-old. Heh.

    ¡°What¡¯s so funny?¡± Alastur showed up. I actually hadn¡¯t seen him all week. He was given a quarter on the first floor but he was never there.

    ¡°Den¡¯s sad because pretty merladies don¡¯t have assets. Are they that poor?¡±

    ¡°There are dungeons in the oceans. But strong fiends guard those, so merfolk in general don¡¯t go wandering or searching. The ocean also has vast sources of gold and other precious things but again, guarded by strong fiends. So, for all intents and purposes, yes, they are poor.¡±

    Wow, I was not expecting that. I took the dude to be the quiet and cool type of dude but he was clearly seeking company. Or maybe I was just a bad judge of character. Considering I got murdered by my best friend, yeah, the latter was probably true.

    Well, now things were just plain awkward. We watched the lilypads and eventually those were behind us. ¡°I do hope one day, I could meet one,¡± I said. ¡°Those pretty ladies you spoke about.¡±

    ¡°Hmm¡­ interested in pretty ladies?¡± Den smirked.

    ¡°No, I¡¯m just curious how they¡¯re different from those fishpeople earlier. And why you¡¯d go as far as to claim they are prettier than Mom.¡±

    ¡°Huh.¡± He shrugged. And we went back inside since there wasn¡¯t much to do.

    The journey lasted one more day, and on the eve of the seventh day, we reached our destination. The port city of Xanir. The port was roughly twice as large as Axel and they had way, way more ships here. Some bigger than our one. Their lighting system already surpassed everything I¡¯d seen so far and we hadn¡¯t even entered the damn city!

    ¡°This way,¡± Den grabbed me, and with our things in toe, I bid farewell to the crew and made out of the ship.

    The captain and the rest waved. Wait- Dude didn¡¯t buy me lunch!

    Argh!

    But anyway- finally, some damn fresh air! And lots of swaying! Yeah, the world around me swayed and it was kind of amusing to walk in a straight line. Mostly because I couldn¡¯t walk straight. I felt drunk, literally. Den too, ha hah.

 Chapter 47: Nuets

    It was kind of like Axel port, but also kind of not. There were WAY too many people here, and the lighting was miles better. Definitely more Westerners than Southerners and a lot of familiar things. Dudes in suits, briefcases and of course¡­ women. No, it wasn¡¯t that I hadn¡¯t seen women outside before. It was just that¡­ these women weren¡¯t wearing much. And they were human women with basically bikini armor, assuming you can even call that armor.

    ¡°Umm¡­ Den?¡± I asked, looking up.

    He had quite the conflicted look. I almost laughed looking. ¡°Women in these parts tend to get pretty high body heat, so that¡¯s only way.¡± He tried to make excuses. That was actually a first how much he struggled to keep a straight face.

    ¡°In winter?¡± I pressed. I kind of liked how he was struggling and wanted to mess with him.

    ¡°Just ignore them,¡± Alastur said. ¡°They¡¯re not doing that because they want to either.¡±

    That said, he pulled us both along a straight line out of that place and we eventually made way into the more normal streets. Normal as in no more lightly dressed women.

    So prostitutes? Made sense. No one loved being a prostitute. They probably had their own shit to worry about. As did everyone else. I felt a bit bad about thinking so inconsiderably. Anyway- ¡°So what now? Did you book a place here too?¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t actually. I was counting on the ship making it before the morning. But even if it didn¡¯t, I kind of wanted to try going out during the night.¡±

    ¡°You were the one who told me-¡±

    ¡°Well,¡± he shrugged. ¡°It¡¯s kind of less dangerous around these parts since the guild and local knights regularly hunt fiends.¡±

    Basically, dude wanted to use that excuse, show off and get some money. Of course, I was just pulling that out of my ass but- ¡°I don¡¯t have the energy to actually stay awake tonight.¡±

    Besides, I couldn¡¯t even walk around straight. Even now, the world just swayed left and right, up and down. Kinda fun but also kinda annoying.

    ¡°Yeah, me neither.¡± He chuckled. ¡°Let¡¯s get a place, I guess.¡±

    ¡°I know a place,¡± Alastur said. ¡°You helped me out in Axel, I wouldn¡¯t mind helping you here.¡±

    ¡°Great!¡± Den accepted readily.This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

    Something about that though¡­ hmm. Meh. I couldn¡¯t care less. ¡°I¡¯m starving.¡±

    We followed Alastur into a rather rowdy place. The guild. Not the first place that whipped out in my mind, no.

    ¡°And don¡¯t come back!¡± A loud shrill, followed by something crashing into us, or rather into Alastur since he was in front.

    Alastur stared, unconcerned, as the man who crashed into him groaned and writhed on the floor. His focus was instead on a woman, who had supposedly thrown the man. He didn¡¯t say anything though.

    The woman, assuming she could be called one, was more muscular than any man I¡¯d seen in this world. ¡°Oh? Didn¡¯t think you¡¯d show your face again here,¡± she smirked and moved away. Holy shit those pecs were big! No wait, those are just boobs.

    Meanwhile, Alastur slowly walked forward and although he didn¡¯t really look at anyone, the people here looked at him. No, they glared at him.

    ¡°They don¡¯t like him?¡± I whispered.

    ¡°Most people don¡¯t like him,¡± Den whispered.

    ¡°But he¡¯s such a nice guy.¡±

    Den didn¡¯t answer that one. Come to think of it, the dude casually walked out during a bandit invasion and sliced off their heads with ease. Maybe people were afraid of him going berserk? Or maybe he had gone berserk before. Better stay outta his way.

    Some moments later, one of the guild ladies came running over to us and took us upstairs. Apparently, the third floor of this building was for lodgings. They were only provided to A rank and up but Alastur made some arrangements and we were in. The lady even said that if I were ever looking for a place to stay, I was welcome to come here and check if there were any vacant rooms. Maybe she was trying to impress Alastur or something.

    But the rooms were pretty good. Spacious, fluffy beds and oddly clean; no shit smell detected! People in this world really valued strength, so if you were strong, they respected the hell out of you and treated you way too nicely. But the reverse is also true, I guess.

    Without worrying too much, I went to bed, and fell asleep fairly easily. Considering what I¡¯d been through the last few days, it was hardly surprising.

    I was woken up sometime later as Den brought me some food. I ate in a half-awake state and went back to bed. I had no idea what I ate or said¡­.

    I jerked awake to the ship¡¯s massive anchor as Den beat the living shit out of me while screaming ¡®Diz Nuets!¡¯. And then I woke up for real.

    I slept like a log. For the first time in days, I had some great sleep. Guess I had to thank Alastur for that. So, after doing my business and getting fresh, I walked out of my room, knocked on Alastur¡¯s door and¡­ he didn¡¯t come out. I knocked on Den¡¯s door and he did come out. ¡°Something happened to him?¡± I asked.

    ¡°Oh, he left.¡±

    ¡°H-he left!¡±

    Wait, what! I thought he was going to stick around till we reached the damn school. I thought he was going to-

    ¡°You didn¡¯t expect him to-¡± Den yawned. ¡°-be with us the whole time, right?¡±

    ¡°Might have.¡±

    ¡°His services cost a lot you know.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I guess. Compared to lodgings and all other stuff, he wasn¡¯t that expensive though.¡±

    I mean, he only got 7 silvers from the whole guarding the carriage thing; but the ship only cost 5 silvers though, right? Den eyed me, smirked and went inside. I had a feeling, the dude was mocking me but oh well. I went back to my room and for the first time read my damn book.

    That one about spirts and monsters and- Den was already knocking at my door. Argh. I put the book away and opened the door.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡±

 Chapter 48: Interesting

    Greenery. Lots of greenery. But something was different. Something was foreign. Quite significantly so.

    This grass wasn¡¯t as green as the ones from back home. And these things weren¡¯t as lush. The trees around these parts didn¡¯t have the luster I was used to either. Yeah, I was in a different continent. And not just that, the further I walked from the port city, the duller the colors went.

    ¡°Most fiends around these parts can be sniped from a distance. We¡¯ll be walking for two days straight. But instead of pushing ourselves, let¡¯s take it easy and practice.¡±

    Made sense. Den had given me a bow but he¡¯d never taught me how to use one. Xerec and Serec had given me a large machete like thing that I couldn¡¯t even lift properly, let alone use. I couldn¡¯t even properly use a knife either.

    When I asked Den to teach me, he kind of just dodged the topic altogether.

    ¡°Den¡­¡± I took a breath. ¡°Do you think I can survive here?¡±

    ¡°The chances are not zero.¡±

    He didn¡¯t mince words; he didn¡¯t give me false hope; but if he really thought my chances weren¡¯t zero- ¡°Then I¡¯ll give it my best shot.¡±

    With a smile he ruffled through my hair and together we traced the unpaved road ahead.

    Since we just left a port town, there were plenty of houses around. And this whole area was supposedly just a village area with horses and carriages constantly trotting by. Of course, that didn¡¯t mean we could take it easy and let our guard down. After all, bandits waited for you to screw up. I kind wished Alastur would accompany us to the academy but there were plenty of things in life you just couldn¡¯t have just because you wanted.

    I expected fields of rice or wheat. But instead, I just found loads and loads of potatoes and onions. Again reminding me, yup, winter. No snow so far though. This place was definitely colder than the woods. But not by a lot. Maybe 10 degrees at best. I could feel it but it wasn¡¯t something I couldn¡¯t deal with¡­ yet.

    ¡°What are those?¡± I pointed at the distant river. Stuff that looked like big boats was just going around in that river. Strangely the boats didn¡¯t have any people on them. Black boats.

    ¡°Ghost ships,¡± Den said.

    ¡°During the day?¡± I wondered. ¡°I mean doesn¡¯t stuff like that appear during the night for the biggest effect?¡±

    He raised an eyebrow. ¡°At least act a little scared?¡±

    This was a fantasy world. And I already saw big stuff like lizards and two headed tigers. A haunted ghost ship was not that surprising or scary even. Frankly, I couldn¡¯t care less. ¡°Do you think those ships might have treasure?¡±

    He sighed. ¡°Yes but if you take them you¡¯ll get cursed.¡±

    ¡°Cursed? Like what?¡±

    ¡°Like bad things would start happening to you. People around you would get hurt or you¡¯ll trip and hurt yourself, simple stuff.¡±

    ¡°Isn¡¯t that just crap idiots made up to justify their own misfortune and stupidity?¡±

    Den opened his mouth but was at a loss for word, so he shut and just walked faster. Typical.

    We walked for a good hour, took a break and then kept on walking. At noon, we stopped by a pondside tree and watched a group of wild birds. ¡°Remember, each arrow is precious. We can only carry a limited number of arrows and if you run out at a bad time, the bow is kind of pointless.¡± He gave me one arrow. Just one.

    ¡°Exactly,¡± I said. ¡°It¡¯s pretty useless.¡±

    ¡°Pointless, not useless,¡± Den reiterated. ¡°Anyway, take aim.¡±

    He helped me with my handling and aiming and stood back a little. I aimed for a fat bird. Generally, you didn¡¯t see fat birds in nature. But during winter some birds appeared fatter than others. In most cases they were just cold and fluffing up was a good way to insulate themselves. But boy did these birds look juicy!

    I pulled on the string. Small bow, but quite tough to pull.

    Swoosh! The arrow raced towards the birds and most of them just flew off. Tick! It missed the bird, and flopped on the ground. ¡°Go get it,¡± Den said.

    I rolled my eyes but ran for the arrow, picked it up and came. Sometime later the birds came back and I repeated the thing.

    I tried a couple of times throughout the day with no real success. I was getting a hang of the aiming thing but just when I thought I might have a shot, things just went wrong. Maybe the wind, maybe the lighting, maybe just some random bird warning the others, things just went wrong. Sigh¡­.

    Den didn¡¯t give up. He was hellbent on teaching me. Where was this spirit a month ago? What the hell was he going to teach me in two days, was beyond me.

    Anyway, night came in and we knocked on a farm. Den asked if he could sleep with the cattle in exchange for cleaning the barn tomorrow. The owners, an old couple, agreed.Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.

    ¡°Why¡¯re they trusting random strangers with their animals?¡± I asked.

    He was teaching me how to craft an arrow with my knife. He also went over how to maintain my bow and what to do when I broke it or broke the string.

    ¡°Most people are good people. And stealing livestock is more trouble than it¡¯s worth. Hardly recommended.¡±

    Yeah, I didn¡¯t really care. I just wanted to sleep. Even if my bed was made of straws or something, I really didn¡¯t care. At least I wasn¡¯t sleeping on a hard ass bed, with a shit smell!

    Argh¡­ actually, it was worse. We used a mat over the straw but I kept getting poked here and there. And although I didn¡¯t smell any human shit. Cow dung and piss was a thing and it was more than just annoying. Horse shit even more so!

    Stay calm, stay calm. This is temporary, temporary!

    ***

    The next day, we cleaned the place and left before noon. They actually gave us some food for the road while also providing us with breakfast. Generous people, those farmers. I made a mental note of returning the favor someday.

    Once we were back on the road, Den more or less made me pick up stuff where we left off yesterday. I had no luck though. Somehow, I was even worse than yesterday and kept messing up.

    ¡°This is not working,¡± I said.

    ¡°The wind is getting in the way today,¡± Den said. ¡°But that¡¯s a good thing. You won¡¯t have ideal conditions every time. Learn how to use the wind to your advantage. If you can do that, you¡¯ll be better than most archers.¡±

    Strangely, even out here there were houses. I never saw empty fields like back home.

    ¡°Alright, alright, I¡¯ll try again.¡±

    We reached a town by the afternoon. It was massive. Way bigger than I had anticipated. When Den mentioned how the academy was not affiliated with any country and without the influence of the church, I honestly thought it wouldn¡¯t have much of any people actually living there. However, I was wrong. I failed to realize, there were hundreds, no, thousands of people who didn¡¯t like God and his bullshit. And I failed to realize, just how massive a city could get.

    For one thing, I could barely see the top of the stone wall. How¡¯d they even make something so tall and thick? Yes, thick. It was three Dens thick! And no, not three Dens side by side but rather three Dens stacked over one another from feet to head!

    Okay maybe it wasn¡¯t that thick, but they did have a room of sorts inside the damn wall. ¡°Halt!¡± And they actually stopped us for once. ¡°Identification first.¡±

    Den showed them his ID but then their eyes their eyes fell one me. This never happened before. Do we need passports or something? I mean we did cross countries and actually, continents.

    I reluctantly showed them my card, the adventurer one and with that we were in. They did take a fee of 3 silvers though. Apparently, every time you entered a new city, you had to pay a fee. You didn¡¯t have to pay anything if you left though. ¡°So, let¡¯s say a quest needs you to go outside to gather herbs or something, would you still have to pay a fee?¡±

    ¡°Yeah. But- why would you go outside to gather herbs? Just grow them if they¡¯re important,¡± Den basically just made all herb gathering quests irrelevant.

    Oh well.

    Tall buildings. Paved footpath. And streetlights. Very similar to Xanir port. However, there was a key difference. Namely, the streets were so clean. People had thick vests and there were quite a few people here with just uniforms; these people mostly resembled teenagers but they also had kids running around; old people too.

    However, the biggest difference was that the tallest and most extravagant building here didn¡¯t belong to a church or a nobleman. Rather¡­ ¡°That¡¯s Schalion Academy?¡± I said.

    Four tall buildings, pointy tops; one a bit too tall. Resembled a particular university I¡¯d frequented before; The Imperial College of London. Of course, I didn¡¯t go to college in my last life. I was murdered roughly two weeks before I could attend. But I did take some trips to London before actually moving. Schalion Academy looked similar but not quite. Their buildings were made from black bricks and yet, shined for some reason.

    Of course, the academy itself was quite far away, yet I could see it, even with my shit eyesight. Perhaps a testament to how filthy huge the damn thing was. Poised at the very center of the city, it was still at least five kilometers away.

    Den took a turn and instead of academy, we were heading off in a north axis. ¡°I thought we would go to the Academy first?¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s someone I want you to meet first. I already told Lin but, but I¡¯m not just going to leave you here unattended. I know a friend, although he won¡¯t look after you. He¡¯ll vouch for you if something goes wrong.¡±

    Couldn¡¯t he have just told me that? Did you even know how frigging worried I was? For sucks sake man. Then again, I wasn¡¯t that worried anyway. So, with a shrug I just trailed behind him without a care.

    The streets of this place were hella clean and the people didn¡¯t look awfully miserable. People in general had the signature ¡®I¡¯m going through shit¡¯ look. Earning was hard, spending was simple and you had virtually zero freedom thanks to Askavan; so pretty understandable. The only people I hadn¡¯t seen wallowing in their own sorrow were Mom¡¯s friends but even they had problems to deal with. Perhaps they were just putting up a face when I was around. However, these people kind of looked cheerful compared to the typical crowd I was used to. Which was good, cause I was getting a little sick of the whole ¡®no one is as sad as me in this world¡¯ crap.

    Fruit stalls, clothing store, stationary stores, lots of stuff. I hated marketplaces and noisy areas in general. However, after spending a quiet life for a while, I kind of found myself being amused. These feelings would probably just stagnate in the future but for now I wanted to enjoy them. I wanted to enjoy the thrill of this adventure.

    Not just the typical stores, but they even had merchants showing off their wares outside, on the streets. Blacksmiths were displaying their works and showcasing their strengths too. Things were pretty pricey though. Some were charging 2 silver for a knife. While proper swords were selling for a gold a piece or above. ¡°Were weapons always this pricey?¡± I mumbled.

    ¡°Yeah,¡± Den heard that.

    Before long my eyes spotted some familiar clothing¡­ lingerie. I tried not to look at the goods or the people buying said goods but yeah you couldn¡¯t fault me for staring¡­. Have shame mam, have some shame!

    We walked around, went through some alleyways and took some turns. Gradually, the stores and people disappeared and the streets went quiet. There were few people here and they looked somewhat shady; the clean streets gradually darkened and filled with garbage. You¡¯re not going to sell me a kidnapper, right? Huh, yeah, I knew he wouldn¡¯t.

    But still, this place looked like the ideal place for a napping.

    And just on cue, we reached the end of an alleyway and got surrounded by about twenty or so burly men. Big men, with clubs and mohawks and buzzcuts. Some had flowing hair too. They didn¡¯t have much cloth on their bodies though. ¡°Aren¡¯t you people cold?¡± To my surprise I ended up blurting out.

    ¡°Yeah, kinda,¡± one of them said. Woman. Okay, so they had a woman in revealing torn clothes too¡­ interesting. ¡°Hurry, come inside. Boss is waiting.¡±

    Okay so, they came out to intimidate us and now would force us to get inside and then capture us? Hmm¡­ with a grin I stared at them. Surely, we could stall them till they were freezing and-

    ¡°Yeah, of course. Come, Sol,¡± Den said, tugging me forward.

    Wait what? No, seriously, you didn¡¯t come here to sell me, right?

    RIGHT!?

 Chapter 49: Soler A. Barack

    Step right in, step right in! To our humble abandoned building. To our right, we have a bunch of kids fighting for scraps in rags. To our right we have a bunch of burly men fighting for scraps. In what you might ask? Also rags!

    Dirty floor, ceiling with holes, some mold plastered in the walls, yup, downright abandoned. Oh wait, there were people here so- oops.

    ¡°Wh-what are we doing here again?¡± I asked.

    ¡°They¡¯re your guarantor,¡± Den said.

    ¡°My what?¡±

    ¡°Guarantor; someone who vouches for you and-¡±

    ¡°I know what it means!¡±

    Before long, the guys in rags cleared and brought out stools. Three. Two for me and Den and one for a burly man in rags. This one had even less cloth on; just enough on his loins for me to not see stuff. I still saw stuff though. Anyway- ¡°Ah, welcome. Denkar.¡± He grinned, giving Den a shake.

    ¡°Good to be here, Sharmon.¡±

    This Sharmon man had wavy hair, a handsome-ish face with chiseled jaws, and poking facial hair. Maybe he¡¯d cut them last week but they were growing wild. Modest muscles, with rather lumpy pecks.

    ¡°Are you like selling me or something?¡± I whispered.

    Den gave me a rather awkward glance- as though implying ¡®what are you smoking?¡¯ ¡°Anyway, this is Sol. Soler Arnius.¡±

    ¡°That woman¡¯s son, huh¡­¡± He perked his lips almost as though forcing them out. ¡°Well, son, from today on, your name¡¯s Soler A. Barack.¡±

    ¡°Wh-why?¡±

    ¡°He didn¡¯t tell you? I mean, we¡¯re a noble family you see.¡± He waved his hand around.

    How exactly? Dude barely had anything on and was living in a pile of nothing but ruins. And he was nobility? Was this supposed to be a joke? Was I supposed to be laughing?

    Hey!

    ¡°And?¡±

    ¡°I heard you were smart but, maybe still young¡­¡± He paused. ¡°You see, we¡¯re going to sponsor you to the university as if you were one of our own. That way, most people would treat you better. Since nobility do still have some respect here.¡±

    ¡°How are you nobles, again?¡±

    ¡°Oh, in name only of course,¡± he shrugged. ¡°So do be aware that if you ended up screwing up and just dragged our name down, we wouldn¡¯t really be able to get you out of any danger. The purpose of changing your name is to prevent minor squabbles.¡±

    Uh-huh. ¡°But what rank are you, sir?¡±

    ¡°Viscount.¡±Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

    Hmm¡­ that actually wasn¡¯t bad. I suppose using his name was going to be a good thing after all. ¡°You¡¯re not falsifying your title or anything though, right?¡±

    ¡°Of course not~!¡± He chuckled.

    Yeah, he definitely was. Regardless. ¡°Well, as long as I don¡¯t cause any major incidents, it wouldn¡¯t be an issue, I suppose.

    ¡°By the way, what should I be aware of the family? I mean, I won¡¯t mention much about the family and pretend, but I do have to know enough to pull that off. Like family history, names, estate and stuff.¡±

    The man flicked his finger and someone brought out a book. It was more of a bunch of papers bundled together but got to job done I suppose. What job you might ask?

    Well-

    Sharmon Barack (Family head)

    Alayla Barack (Sharmon¡¯s wife)

    Shia Barack (First child)

    Then I saw a whole bunch of other kids. Like ten of them. Mostly from the mistresses and stuff. I guess those were the other kids who were looking at me.

    And lastly- Soler A. Barack (Second Child)

    Apparently, the other kids weren¡¯t counted among the ranking, since they weren¡¯t official heirs. Technically I wasn¡¯t either though. So, they¡¯d already agreed to take me in like that¡­ but why? I got that they were indebted to Den, but why go this far? Hmm¡­

    The Barack family was based in the northern Atlantia city, the city of whales, in Slovia. They made a name for themselves there and gained the attention of the local noble Count Behilde who appointed him as a Baron first and then a Viscount. However, after an assassination plot, The Barack family had to run from their homeland and come here to live in exile. With no real wealth left, they were working from paycheck to paycheck. That was the official story.

    Very believable, if you asked me. But good enough. Viscount was a middle of the pack noble rank. And if I used it just right, I could live a dignified life. I wouldn¡¯t be bullied and I wouldn¡¯t really be subject to harassment from the noble brats either. But maybe money would be an issue. Nobles tended to have lots of money even if they were going through poverty. So they would expect me to splurge a lot of cash here and there. Oh wait, I could just say, I hated my family¡¯s wealth and wanted to earn my own cash. A hard sell, but I could make it work.

    ¡°This¡¯ll work,¡± I whispered. ¡°Actually, this is better than I could have hoped for,¡± I said. ¡°Thank you, both of you.¡±

    Sharmon crossed his legs, smiled. ¡°Anything for Denkar¡¯s brat.¡±

    It was getting awfully dark, so they started lighting up pyres here and there. The more they lit up the place, the shabbier it looked. Actually, I¡¯d have preferred this place remain dark.

    ¡°I¡¯m not his brat,¡± I said. ¡°Yet,¡± I shrugged. ¡°Oh wait, technically, now I¡¯m your brat.¡±

    Sharmon broke into laughter. ¡°Fair enough.¡±

    ¡°So, where¡¯s my mo¡­ther and sister.¡± I almost stumbled. But got over it anyway.

    ¡°Alayla works in a nearby church,¡± he said. ¡°Shia¡¯s at school. Oh wait, no, she was supposed to arrive already?¡± Who the hell was he asking. ¡°Shia!?¡± All of a sudden dude just yelled.

    ¡°Yeah Dad?¡± a girl yelled from the other end of the room. Huh? One of the kids was larger than I¡¯d anticipated. She was a foot taller than me. Yellow hair, although she did wear a dress, it had holes and patches here and there. And kind of dirty. ¡°What¡¯s up?¡± She came over, cheery, bubbly almost. ¡®Bout thirteen?

    ¡°This is your younger brother, Sol. He¡¯ll be attending the school from next week.¡±

    Next week. Meaning, they were going to show me around and stuff?

    ¡°Oh, hi. I¡¯m Shia, fifth year.¡± She spread her hands, and smiled warmly. Honestly, I was expecting a brute, given the state of this place. But I suppose I was too hasty to judge.

    ¡°Nice to meet you, I¡¯m Sol.¡± I gave her a shake and though she let go immediately. Something about that gaze¡­ why was she staring at me like that?

    I guess she wasn¡¯t happy I¡¯d just blitzed into here and used her family as a¡­ no- she wasn¡¯t looking at me with anger or discontent. Rather¡­ curiosity. Oh well.

    ¡°If you find anything difficult, or need any help, don¡¯t hesitate. We¡¯re family now,¡± she snickered and left for the back of the room.

    ¡°Thanks,¡± I mumbled. ¡°What about the rest?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll introduce you guys but I don¡¯t expect you to remember their names,¡± he shrugged and introduced them to me.

    Most had blond hair, some brown and oddly similar faces. Yup, this guy really was a womanizer that was for sure.

    And as he said, I didn¡¯t catch any names.

    I spent the night in an inn with Den.

 Chapter 50: Acknowledged

    The academy didn¡¯t have a campus or so Den told me. They had a small area in the middle of its four buildings; supposedly the campus? Too small though according to Den. To my eyes it was half a kilometer wide but sure Den, small¡­.

    The buildings had different colored roofs; all bricks. The one with the tallest tower had a white roof, the other three had Green, Red, And Blue respectively. The black one had cell like rooms with laundry hanging. Probably the dorms. All buildings were brick buildings. Black shiny bricks.

    No apparent walls separated the academy from the city, and no guards either. Strange.

    Anyway- Den led me inside. I didn¡¯t see many students though. There were like a handful walking about with bags and books. Maybe they¡¯re in class. I mean we did just walk in late morning.

    ¡°Do we need to meet anyone?¡±

    ¡°I know one of the teachers,¡± Den said.

    ¡°You sure know a lot of people, Den.¡±

    Den perked his nose with pride and walked with dignity. I had this urge to warn him about watching out for flattery but then didn¡¯t. I mean, he was probably only acting like that because he was trying to impress me. I¡¯d seen him with other kids, and people. He was never like that near them. He really loves her, huh¡­

    We entered the building with the green roof. Four distinct floors. Each with quite a few classrooms. As I expected, students were taking classes. Mostly theory? Every class I saw, were apparently just theory based. Teachers were writing stuff on the blackboard and students were either writing that down or digging their fingers in their respecting books. Some teachers were giving full on lectures about monsters or other stuff. Can¡¯t say I wasn¡¯t interested.

    ¡°Do they provide the books or do you have to purchase them separately?¡± I asked.

    Books were really expensive stuff. But I wasn¡¯t sure if that was because some academy was manipulating sales or if paper was just that hard to make.

    ¡°They¡¯ll lend you books for a small fee if you can¡¯t buy new copies,¡± Den said.

    Uh-huh.

    All the classes I laid my eyes upon had large children. I didn¡¯t see a single one my age. Maybe these were just the more advance rank students. This school didn¡¯t have a year rank system. So instead of saying I was in grade 1, it was more like I was a beginner student with F ranking in all subjects. Yes, they¡¯d gamified the whole system. And if you gained a rank, as in, if you got good in a certain subject, you could take advance classes and move up in rank. So in a sense, even if you spent 10 years here and be Intermediate or Advance or whatever, you could in theory still be stuck in F rank for some subjects if you didn¡¯t possess any talent. This system did have one merit though. Namely, if you were good at something, you were going to excel at it and be rewarded heavily. The opposite scared me though.

    ¡°What sort of subjects would I be taking?¡±

    ¡°I actually don¡¯t know.¡± He gave me the same answer before and I thought he was just joking. Dude was not joking.

    Eventually we reached the end of the building, or so I thought but nope, stairs led up. We kept on climbing till we reached the fourth floor and actually, there were kids here who were more my age.

    ¡°Classes started last month,¡± Den said. ¡°So you¡¯ll be a little behind from the regulars.¡±

    So, a transfer student of sorts. I doubt I¡¯d be the center of attention and it¡¯d be utterly hard to make friends but considering I¡¯d be working with children and I¡¯d technically be a noble, it wasn¡¯t going to be that much of a problem. This university was bordered by some countries, so there was always a chance a prince or princess would attend here. But them attending my class was astronomically improbable. Same for high profile nobles. At best maybe some count¡¯s 11<sup>th</sup> son or something. But in that case, I¡¯d either steer clear of him or suck up to him depending on the circumstances. Nodding to myself calmly, I smiled and with Den, entered a classroom at the far right.

    Thirteen benches, twelve students. One teacher. Elf, or rather, a Southerner.

    ¡°Denkar,¡± she said.

    Wow¡­ massive. She wore a white shirt, blue sweatpants and a warm smile.

    ¡°Chamille,¡± Den nodded. ¡°I believe I might be a bit late,¡± he said.

    ¡°You are,¡± she said. The kids meanwhile all just stared without any chatter. Well behaved. She inched closer and although I stared at her face, which wasn¡¯t half bad, I could not unfocus my peripherals from that voluptuous- ¡°And you are?¡± She picked me up and brought my face even closer to those heavenly, spongy-

    Den grabbed me and pulled me away. Phew. Good job Den. ¡°This is Sol. Go on,¡± he egged.

    ¡°Soler A. Barack,¡± I brought my hand closer to my chest and nodded. Apparently, that was standard Slovian noble man¡¯s bow. ¡°First Son of the Barack family.¡±

    ¡°Chamille Alphanose.¡± She returned a similar nod but whilst tilting the hem of her skirt, bowing slightly forward.

    Did they just¡­ bounce!?

    I instinctively gulped. All this time I thought my burning desire for women didn¡¯t exist since I felt nothing while looking at the women close to me. Heck, I didn¡¯t feel like drinking milk either. But gosh did I want to suck them- okay, now, come down. Deep breaths. Calm, calm.A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

    So they just had to be big, huh? Sigh¡­.

    She introduced me to the class and that was it. I was going to return here a week later and start classes along with the kids. ¡°Maybe we could get a drink later?¡± Chamille said, staring at Den.

    ¡°Sure.¡±

    With that, we were on our way back.

    ¡°So, I¡¯ll have to climb all these stairs daily?¡± And on multiple occasions no less?

    ¡°Think of it as the next part of your training,¡± Den said, slowly climbing down the stairs, while I maneuvered him from his shoulder like Remy from the Rat cooking movie.

    Once we were down, Den walked toward the black building. That Chamille lady had given us a piece of wood with the western letter ¡®Kha¡¯ on it. I had no idea what I was going to do with it but since Den said nothing, I didn¡¯t bother

    ¡°Pretty convenient how these buildings are so close.¡±

    ¡°Yes, you can even rent a house from second year onwards,¡± Den said. ¡°I don¡¯t recommend it though.¡±

    In a sense the housing market here was pretty decent. Things weren¡¯t inherently pricey since most students just return to their home country after graduation. You can either rent or buy those houses for cheap depending on their distance from the university. If you couldn¡¯t afford those, you could always just move to the edge of the city. It would take you hours on foot and at least one whole hour even if you got on a carriage. That was fine though. But considering the costs would add up, especially if you had to build your own house, I didn¡¯t see how that would be profitable unless you knew teleportation or maybe at least had the ability to fly. On that record though, magic itself was pretty rare, and I didn¡¯t really hear much of anything so far about warp or teleportation or even flight skills. Back in the old era, there was some beastmen who did possess flight ability. Half birds, half humans. Harpies came to mind. But harpies were also technically demons. So¡­ maybe some were still out there?

    We entered the black roofed building. This was slightly different from the academic building. Namely, instead of medium or large classrooms they had small cell like rooms. ¡°Do I have a roommate?¡±

    ¡°I have no idea.¡±

    There was a guard on the entrance. Upon seeing me and realizing I was new he filled me in on some particular detail. Although the building looked like one coherent building, it wasn¡¯t. there was a wall in the middle, and that divided the two sides. Left was used solely by girls, the right, solely by boys. No mixed dorms. I wasn¡¯t allowed to traverse through the left without being escorted by a girl, and the same for a girl, they couldn¡¯t come into the boy¡¯s dorm without a boy. ¡°Doesn¡¯t that mean a guy could just bring a girl over to his room and-¡±

    The guard knit his brows and frowned. ¡°Son, are you a hero candidate?¡±

    ¡°The hell is that?¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s not,¡± Den said. ¡°He¡¯s just a bit weird. Read too many books.¡±

    ¡°Ah, book nerds. I see. Oh in that case, you may volunteer at the library, they¡¯re looking for helpers. You could read all the books you want and for free too.¡±

    Yeah, I knew what a library was. But this guy went out of his way to tell me that and also informed me how they were looking for a helper. So, in a sense, he wanted me to work there and thought I was dumb enough to just work as long as I got free books. Well, I kinda was, actually.

    ¡°I¡¯ll keep that in mind, sir.¡±

    ¡°Donald.¡±

    ¡°Mr. Donald.¡±

    That said, I finally entered the building. Or I would have if the guard didn¡¯t just run after me and took the wooden plank. ¡°Let¡¯s see 3R5. Oh and don¡¯t bring anyone not affiliated with the university in the dorms. It¡¯s against the rules.¡±

    ¡°Okay,¡± I said.

    And then we entered the building. Yes, for reals this time.

    ***

    3R5 meant, the third floor¡¯s 5<sup>th</sup> room from the right side. The rooms were mirrored on the other side but separated by metal grills with a door in the middle. Most of the rooms were empty since classes were ongoing. But some didn¡¯t bother going to school. I mean, I¡¯d probably be one of those guys too if I wasn¡¯t pressed for excellence. Oh wait, they¡¯re not pressuring me to be first. They just wanted me to live¡­.

    My room didn¡¯t have a lock. It was sandwiched between two other rooms which were larger. Did make me wonder if mine wasn¡¯t a double. It wasn¡¯t. Just a single room with a bed and a table. It had a window but since there was another room behind the window, when I opened it, I just got greeted by my neighbor, a fifth-year Intermediate student. Huh. Weird.

    I closed the window, shut the curtains tight and let it all sink in. Okay, since this was a single room, that was good. I didn¡¯t have to worry about a roommate. But it also meant now I had to worry about all sorts of other things. If I had a roommate, they would have filled me in about the university and various other things. But- argh¡­

    ¡°Disappointed? It¡¯s quite small,¡± Den said, looking around.

    ¡°It¡¯s not that small.¡± Two meters on either side, it was on the smaller side but it wasn¡¯t terribly small for my taste. The thin walls and weird placement of the window was kind of alarming though.

    ¡°So, I guess this is it?¡± I said.

    ¡°What do you mean?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯ll leave now?¡±

    Den smiled. ¡°I have a lot of acquaintances here. Figured I¡¯d spend the week catching up.¡±

    ¡°I see.¡±

    ¡°They have a store at the base. It¡¯s on the left side but I¡¯m sure you can find it. Use your money wisely and¡­ well, how about we stay in the inn while-¡± he paused.

    Den seemed to be quite conflicted. He acted calm and cool the whole time but dude was clearly shaken up by the fact that he was leaving a five-year-old in a very unfamiliar territory with the possibility of me being found out and then executed. And I had no idea how any of this worked either. And he knew that.

    I smiled. ¡°It¡¯s fine. I need some time to adjust anyway. Why don¡¯t you come visit me tomorrow instead. For now, help me unpack?¡±

    He smiled. ¡°Right. Oh, and we should buy you some toiletries and a mat, and hmm¡­¡± we both stared at the bed. ¡°Yeah, we need a mattress too.¡±

    ¡°And a lock,¡± I said.

    ¡°Yes, and a lock.¡±

    Also, the room was utterly dark. So, I guess, Zena¡¯s gift was a godsend.

    Den showed me around, or more like we ran around the place figuring out where what was. Den had actually studied here for a year; he told me eventually. But back then he was so displeased with the whole discrimination and mistreatment that he more or less just ran away. Also, a lot had changed about the academy since then and he was pretty young back then so he didn¡¯t remember much so maybe he was just misremembering some things. Upon asking his age, Den told me he was thirty-four this year. I always thought he was twenty-five but oh well.

    Come to think about it, wasn¡¯t this world a 10 month-year world? Hmm¡­ heh, I didn¡¯t bother.

    We bought some things, decorated our room, my room, and then for the last stop of our journey, I walked Den out of the academy. At the very border where the city started and the academy grounds ended, I stood. ¡°Guess, I¡¯ll see you around?¡±

    ¡°Yeah,¡± Den said. ¡°Try to get along with the kids. And, well, don¡¯t write to us. We probably won¡¯t be there¡­¡±

    ¡°I know,¡± I said. I¡¯d already figured that bit out. ¡°Do write to me though,¡± I chuckled.

    ¡°I will.¡±

    That said, I stood there, and watched Den walk away. ¡°You could just go back to Mom right away, you know.¡± I yelled. He said he was going to stay here for a week but I doubt he was doing it for his friends and himself. Rather, he just wanted to comfort me. That was why, I couldn¡¯t take up on that kindness. Mom needed him right now. And he needed to be with mom.

    ¡°You sure you¡¯ll be fine?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll be fine.¡± And that why- ¡°Good bye Den.¡±

    He lifted his hand and just waved, without looking back. He didn¡¯t tell me how to live, he didn¡¯t tell me how to do anything. He just left everything up to me. Den acknowledged me, even though I was just a child.

    And¡­ I didn¡¯t know what to feel about that.

 Chapter 51: Not Thinking Straight

    Alone.

    I felt alone.

    The first time I left home, I was greeted with a brand-new world. I was scared, I was panicked and I didn¡¯t know jack shit. I had this innate fear that everyone would just rip me off or someone would come steal my (dad¡¯s) credit card and I¡¯d be on the streets.

    With a literal throbbing heart, I made it to a real estate agency and confessed. The staff member was hesitant to let me stay or even help me. I mean, from his perspective, I was a rich kid who ran away from home. And who knows when my father would just outright cancel the card.

    But in the end, he agreed to help me when he saw me bawl my eyes. He charged me for three months of rent and told me to buy a lot of non-perishable groceries in case Dad figured out his card was missing and canceled it; he also advised me to take out some money from the atm since the card didn¡¯t have hefty fees. But Dad never canceled. Not even after a whole year.

    The first few days were the absolute worst. I was always paranoid. Paranoid thugs would knock on my door in the middle of the night, beat the shit out of me, and steal everything. Paranoid I¡¯d be scammed outright and be on the streets. Paranoid, I¡¯d lose my one and only source of money; the card.

    But as the days passed by, the fears slowly died. My friends helped me out, especially the fatty. Things were finally looking better; and my family didn¡¯t just come knocking on my door. I took a tutoring job for one of my friend¡¯s little sister. The pay was below par but they provided some snacks which made it worth it. I of course saved up however much money I could and didn¡¯t spend money frugally just because dad hadn¡¯t cancelled it yet. For all I knew, he could have just forgotten about the card and could remember any day now.

    And that¡¯s how my days went. Miserable, somewhat alone, and mostly paranoid. Granted that did change towards the end of the year, but it didn¡¯t completely disappear. The feelings were always there.

    But this time, it was different. For one, I didn¡¯t have a credit card. I did have some money Den and Mom gave me, but that was all. I didn¡¯t have a cushion to fall back on and I didn¡¯t have friends who would keep me company.

    First order of business should be gathering as much as information as I can about the church.

    If I knew the ins and outs of the church, there was a good chance I could defend myself in case the situation turned ugly. But that wasn¡¯t all. If I knew their history, their real history, then I¡¯d be able to find their weak points and do something about it.

    But what?

    Build a new religion?

    That wasn¡¯t going to work. According to Den, there were multiple minor tribal religions that never really went anywhere. And although there were some variations with the Askavan Church itself, their core tenants were always the same. They had basically brainwashed the people for ages. So even if I somehow managed to create a new religion and even made it somewhat famous, why would the people who were so damn accustomed to Askavan, switch over? Besides, Askavan would surely crush me down, if I took the role of a messiah. So, it can¡¯t be me¡­

    It had to me someone important. Someone powerful. Someone¡­ princely. That being said, I opened my window and located my neighbor who was busy reading something. ¡°Hello,¡± I said.

    ¡°Hi,¡± he smiled. Rings around his eyes, cheekbones sticking out, brown disheveled hair. Prime example of a shut-in high school student. I looked just like him once. He seemed a bit old to be a fifth year though. Close to fifteen?

    ¡°I¡¯m Sol by the way. Soler A. Barack.¡±

    ¡°Ah, Shia¡¯s brother huh.¡± His face paled. ¡°G-Gerar Shirvana¡­ 3<sup>rd</sup> son of Baron Gelvan.¡± He almost shivered.

    Huh, was it me or was he afraid of my (fake) sister? That won¡¯t do, that won¡¯t do at all! ¡°Nice to meet you Mr. Gerar!¡± I shook his hand with a bright smile. He relaxed his shoulders a little. Good, good!

    ¡°Nice to meet you. Call me Gerar¡­ can I call you Soler?¡±

    ¡°Sol¡¯s fine. I¡¯m fairly new to this place. Would you mind filling me in the rules and stuff sometimes? When you¡¯re not busy of course.¡±

    ¡°Of course, of course!¡±

    I wanted him to give me a tour too. But that would have come out as a bit too demanding if I did it right now. But first thing¡¯s first. ¡°Where¡¯s the library?¡±

    ¡°Down the hall, towards the right. Be careful not to step over the line. You¡¯ll see a distinct line there.¡±

    Apparently, they had a library in the middle of the dorms, rather than the academic building. Weird.

    ¡°Anyone I should be worried or watch out for? Any high ranking noble, I mean.¡±

    ¡°Oh, you might want to watch out for Nisa,¡± he said.

    ¡°Who¡¯s that?¡±

    ¡°You know, one of the sovereigns of Siran.¡± Siran was one of the bigger nations on this continent. Actually, some claimed it was the biggest. They didn¡¯t have proper measuring tools or a satellite that could map out the region for them though, so I was doubtful.The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.

    ¡°She, is a sovereign?¡±

    If memory served me right, there were exactly nine sovereigns in Siran. They were kings of sort. But not quite. Kind of like the US Senators. I didn¡¯t know jackshit about the senators though.

    ¡°Oh, no, no. She¡¯s the third daughter of Sovereign Zenec.¡±

    ¡°I see, I see. I¡¯ll keep that in mind.¡±

    Well, I guess we didn¡¯t have any prince or princesses, but this Nisa lady was going to do for now. Gerar warned me to watch out for her, but I could always just suck up to- wait, no. Most people in my situation would also suck up to her, and do the same. Meaning, she¡¯d probably see it coming. Instead¡­ hmm¡­

    As I kept on wondering, I went out, found my way to the library and just sat in a corner staring around.

    It was big, the library. Glass roof, with adequate lighting. And it was exactly four stories tall, with spiraling staircases on either side of its symmetry, reaching all the way to its bottom floor. Boys and girls alike were reading books or just chatting quietly. There was a clear line of course and most students seemed to respect it. Some didn¡¯t though.

    It took me a moment to realize but Gerar had actually came with me. He took a seat near me and took some time to analyze the whole section. ¡°That¡¯s her,¡± he said, not quite pointing. ¡°Third floor, just below us, golden braids.¡± His focus was on his book but dude sure knew how to do things.

    Ten. She struck me as a ten-year-old blonde girl who was about to hit puberty. Somewhat upstart, somewhat not paying attention. A crowd of students had her flocked, all on chairs and reading or trying to chat with her. But she was ignoring the lot. A loner of sorts? She looked bored if nothing else.

    If she¡¯s the daughter of someone important, means she¡¯s prideful. Especially since she¡¯s the third child, she¡¯s probably even pampered a little. So, she¡¯s used to flattery.

    Compared to her rank, my fake family was nothing. So, I couldn¡¯t take the opportunity to officially meet her. but even if I could meet her, what the hell was I going to do?

    ¡°Aren¡¯t you distracted,¡± someone snorted. Taking a side view, I noticed a rather pretty lady walking my way.

    ¡°You talking to me, miss?¡±

    Beautiful face, a clear dashing smile!

    She snorted. ¡°Is that how you greet your sister,¡± she pinched my cheek. ¡°Huh?¡±

    ¡°Sorry.¡±

    She giggled and took a step back.

    Shia. The first born of the Barack family. Last time I met her, she was wearing rags. Now, she was in a decent uniform but she had a few buttons undone on her blouse and her skirt was a little too short for my liking. In other words, she was probably in that rebellious age. She did look good though.

    Gerar was shaking. Dude¡¯s teeth clattered audibly. He was clearly older than Shia but afraid?

    ¡°This is my neighbor, Gerar,¡± I said.

    ¡°I know,¡± she said, taking a seat.

    The moment she did, almost all the students in the near vicinity just looked away, almost scared themselves. ¡°You have quite the reputation sis,¡± I said, looking around.

    ¡°I know,¡± she smiled. I hope she wouldn¡¯t be violent with me at least, assuming she was violent to begin with. ¡°Well, back to my question, distracted? Or do you like her?¡±

    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t say, like.¡± I didn¡¯t stare at the girl below. But Shia did hit the bullseye. ¡°But it doesn¡¯t hurt to build connections. Who knows when you¡¯d need powerful friends.¡±

    ¡°I like how you think. But our families are at odds.¡±

    ¡°Why? We¡¯re from two different countries-¡±

    The Barack family was based in Slovia. While the sovereigns were from Siran and they were high nobles. How could these two families be at odds?

    ¡°Well, I don¡¯t really like her.¡±

    Oh, I see. They had history. I sighed, quite audibly.

    She shrugged. ¡°I could help though.¡±

    ¡°With what?¡±

    ¡°You two being friends.¡±

    Okay, okay, time out.

    First of all, I barely knew this girl. Second, she clearly didn¡¯t like Nisa and she was also some sort of a delinquent who the other kids were afraid of. And yet, she was going to help me become friends with the daughter of a sovereign? Didn¡¯t that sound a little too fishy?

    Yet- ¡°Okay.¡±

    Something¡¯s wrong with me.

    I knew what I just agreed to was dumb. I weighed the merits and potential gains against how this all could have just gone down and how much reputation I was going to lose out of this. But in the end, there was only one answer. Hypothetically if I said no, I¡¯d been have out of options. Not only was I going to antagonize my only supposed to family and ally, I¡¯d also be out of luck on what to do with the whole being friend with Nisa thing¡­ so yeah, there really was only one answer. Or maybe I¡¯m just not thinking straight.

    ¡°Okay then, just sit tight beneath the chestnut tree behind the second academic building tomorrow afternoon.¡±

    ¡°Which one is the second one again?¡± I asked Gerar.

    ¡°The one with the red roof.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll be there,¡± I turned to my lovely sister who was grinning and all but I had a feeling she was scheming something pretty nasty. Oh well.

    Nodding, she left. But then stopped halfway. ¡°What are you having for lunch?¡±

    Den and I came here a little after morning, but it wasn¡¯t lunch time yet. People in this world ate lunch just before the afternoon.

    ¡°I don¡¯t have any plans actually.¡±

    ¡°Come with me.¡±

    I bid farewell to Gerar and trailed behind Shia. She took me around the building, towards the other end. Yes, to the left side of the dorm. I¡¯d been warned not to go there alone but Shia was a girl so it was fine, right?

    ¡°Food¡¯s better here,¡± she said.

    The canteen. Large open area on the second floor. About eighty seats, ten tables. Definitely not enough but I guess most people didn¡¯t hang around in the canteen. They had a lot of things on display. A lot of things like Bread, soup, and curry. Okay, maybe it wasn¡¯t much¡­.

    Both sides of the dorm were clean, but this side just screamed more color. I got a lot of stares from the girls. No, she got a lot of stares.

    ¡°Do they just provide meals or do you have to pay separately?¡±

    ¡°You have to pay separately but,¡± she smiled. Actually, she was always smiling for some reason. Almost made you think, she was up to something. ¡°I¡¯ll treat you.¡±

    Welp, free meal.

    She bought me a big soft piece of bread with a nice brown tan, and some sort of dipping sauce, along with a glass of milky white liquid; milk. She bought the same for herself and we took a seat on one of the empty seats. ¡°Gets pretty crowded near lunch time, so either come early or late,¡± she chomped on her bread. Early would be preferred. Late would mean, I¡¯d basically be having dinner.

    The bread was surprisingly good and not bitter at all. Come to think of it, most of the food I¡¯d had in this world wasn¡¯t that good. Especially the vegetables and rice. They were bitter and hardly palatable. But considering the alternative (which was starving) I had to make peace with the taste. But this, this bread was actually pretty good! ¡°This is really good,¡± I said.

    ¡°Yeah,¡± she snickered. ¡°Oh, and what classes are you taking?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not sure. They never told me.¡±

    She grumbled audibly. ¡°I see.¡±

    That was the end of our conversation. As promised, she paid (2 copper) for me and together we marched out of there. Just moments later, the whole place was flooded with more and more people. Lunch time.

 Chapter 52: Good

    I spent the afternoon talking to Gerar through the window. It acted more as a general portal to his room than a window as this point. He gave me some pointers like the dorms had a midnight curfew, which professors were assholes, which students to stay away from and the like.

    Gerar was clearly afraid of my sister and when I asked about it, he just avoided the topic. He didn¡¯t seem afraid of me though and indulged all my questions without a fuss. He was a good guy, or at least he appeared to be.

    ¡°But Lady Nisa huh,¡± he wondered out loud at one point. ¡°Didn¡¯t think you¡¯d actually go after her.¡±

    ¡°Well, there¡¯s two ways to stay away from dangerous people. One is to stay away from them at all costs.¡±

    ¡°And two is to befriend them, right?¡± Gerar snorted.

    ¡°Exactly. If you can¡¯t beat them, join them.¡±

    ¡°While I don¡¯t doubt it¡¯d work, I do find your sister¡¯s involvement worrisome.¡±

    ¡°Why?¡± I tried acting ignorant.

    ¡°I mean, you know¡­ you¡¯ve been living with her for a while, right?¡±

    ¡°No, actually. We¡¯d been separated due to family circumstances. Our family has been on the run for a while. And for my safety¡­¡± I tapered off, feigning sadness. ¡°I couldn¡¯t even see my mom¡­¡± I said. Somewhere down the line, my fake sadness turned to real and I noticed tears streaming. Fuck¡­ I quickly wiped everything off and just smiled. ¡°Sorry about that. I just haven¡¯t had the time to get to know them.¡±

    ¡°I see,¡± Gerar said, smiling. ¡°Well, your sister¡¯s a nice lady, and don¡¯t let anyone tell you otherwise. People get quite jealous of beautiful ladies.¡±

    Was he trying to cheer me up or shield me from my sister¡¯s reputation? Probably both. He was intermediate in four subjects. Which subjects, he didn¡¯t tell me. But he was on the path to becoming advance in one of them by the time he graduated and apparently that was pretty good. Most people didn¡¯t advance in any subject and only went intermediate in maybe two or three at best. Of course, there were geniuses everywhere. My sister was one of those, being intermediate in three and advance in one subject despite being a fifth year. Which subjects, again, I didn¡¯t know. No one seemed to go through that. Anyway, Gerar was intelligent and he was trying to be really considerate. Which was good but I had a feeling he¡¯d eventually hide things from me and that would lead to complications down the line.

    ¡°It¡¯s fine,¡± I said. ¡°No matter how she is, she¡¯s still my family and that¡¯s all that matters.¡±

    ¡°Right!¡±

    We¡¯d been talking for hours. And it was getting late. I didn¡¯t have a clock, and I didn¡¯t have a way to know what time of the day it was either since I didn¡¯t have a window leading outside. But Gerar did and I could tell from his window, it was close to being evening.

    ¡°Think I¡¯ll go out for a walk. Thanks for the chat.¡±

    ¡°Anytime,¡± he closed his portion of the window. And yes, portion. Apparently, though I only had one window, Gerar had two. His second one was literally attached to mine. We could only see each other, if both of us kept our windows open; I guess this was a large room in the past but they put a wall to make two individual rooms. Technically that solved the privacy issues. But if he ever brought back a girl, I¡¯d probably be able to hear every little detail. Not that I was hoping to. He he he.

    The scenery outside was quite different. This academy didn¡¯t have much of a campus but according to Gerar the whole city was sort of a campus, hence they didn¡¯t have any walls and stuff near the academic buildings. They had some trees on the other side the though.Stolen story; please report.

    ¡°Oh and,¡± Gerar came out at the same time. ¡°Sometimes you see a black cat. Be respectful and you should be fine.¡±

    ¡°Okay.¡±

    Black cat, huh? Did this world have that stupid superstition too?

    Anyway, enough staring. I raced down the stairs.

    I was expecting to see some fields. Namely for sports. The vast majority of students here were either kids or teenagers. They had to have some sort of entertainment, right? Yet, I didn¡¯t see kids running or having fun. I saw some kids practicing or rather just swinging swords around without really doing any sparring; some others, reading books in a cluster.

    I liked swords, but I didn¡¯t like idea of using one. Knives were far more practical for me. But yes, whenever I saw a cool sword, I just¡­ I just loved the damn idea of seeing it in use. To say I had a fascination for strong swordsmen was an understatement.

    As I wondered around the half a kilometer long area of our so-called short campus, I eventually spotted a group of kids who didn¡¯t look like they were reading or practicing. Rather¡­

    I approached them and when one of them noticed me, he and the rest just glared. ¡°What do you want?¡±

    Rather hostile today, aren¡¯t we?

    ¡°Nothing really, just got curious as to what you¡¯re doing.¡±

    They had sticks and they were dragging a round flat thing across the grass; didn¡¯t travel much. Almost like ice hockey; there was no ice though. Just crude sticks and they didn¡¯t even have goals and stuff. Finally, some kids stuff.

    ¡°None ¡¯f  yar business!¡±

    ¡°It is actually, I wanted to play too,¡± I said.

    One of them snorted, the rest just scowled. They did not want outsiders among them, no. Well, I am a noble sort of, so maybe it wasn¡¯t a good idea anyway.

    ¡°Yeah, like you can keep up,¡± they laughed.

    ¡°Is that a challenge?¡± I retorted. Hey, I didn¡¯t have great stamina, but I wasn¡¯t a sucker you know!

    ¡°It is!¡±

    Welp, I didn¡¯t really need friends. But I did need some cannon fodder. And what better way to get some? At least that was the official excuse. In reality, I was just fucking lonely.

    I picked up a dry branch, and well, ran around with them, laughing, playing, just¡­ having some fun; I missed this kind of shit from the good old days. Back when I didn¡¯t have to worry about studies, or Mom or being first or whatever.

    That said, I did get some scowls from passersby every now and then, especially some adults. Maybe this wasn¡¯t such a good idea. Yet, we didn¡¯t stop, and just¡­ had fun.

    With the sun basically down, we sat down and caught our breath; like me, quite a few of them were also panting but they weren¡¯t as hammered as me. They were talking about fun things and I had no idea what was fun. But staying quiet was making me anxious so- ¡°One time I farted really loud and fart juices came rushing~!¡±

    They paused and I felt my heart had stopped for a second there. ¡°AH  HA H A HAAA!¡± They laughed I felt like a weight just got lifted from my chest.

    The fuck am I doing? Yet¡­ I felt alive. And guilty at the same time¡­ I wasn¡¯t a kid. I was just pretending to be one.

    ¡°Name¡¯s Mike,¡± the leader of the bunch introduced himself. Bout nine, red hair. Kinda similar to mom¡¯s, just not as silky or crimson.

    The others introduced but I didn¡¯t really bother remembering their names. If we hung out again, I¡¯d probably make an effort.

    ¡°Sol.¡±

    ¡°Well, ya can play anytime.¡± We shook on it.

    That said, I stood up and met someone I wish I hadn¡¯t. The blonde¡­ Nisa. She was with her usual entourage and they all jeered at us saying stuff in the lines of- ¡°Look at these country bumpkins, all dirty.¡±

    Obviously, I didn¡¯t bother. But Mike did. ¡°Hey, watch what yer saying Mongrels.¡±

    Wow, guy had guts.

    For some reason the kids more or less paled and just quickly dispersed. Weird. Oh wait, they were noble kids, so they were clearly afraid of getting dirty themselves. I see, made sense. One kid didn¡¯t scowl though, Nisa herself. She just eyed everyone curiously and then left.

    Oh well. First impressions of me would be for fart juices huh. I slapped my head. Yeah, I fucked up. Shit. Anyway- ¡°Thanks guys. Later,¡± I bid them farewell.

    But it wasn¡¯t just Nisa who saw the whole thing. There was another. Shia. She¡¯d been standing by one of the trees, just watching with a peculiar grin. ¡°I shouldn¡¯t have done that?¡± I asked cautiously.

    ¡°Why not?¡±

    ¡°I mean¡­ technically I might dragging the family-¡± I also dragged my clothes. Then again, I was just wearing casual gear and hadn¡¯t even touched my uniform though.

    Do they have laundry here?

    ¡°Oh fuck the family. It¡¯s already fucked enough,¡± oh wow, her cursing tendencies were worse than mine. ¡°You had fun though, right?¡±

    ¡°Yeah.¡±

    ¡°Good.¡± She grabbed my hand. ¡°Come, let¡¯s go see which subjects you¡¯ll be taking. You¡¯re already one month behind, so we better make sure you¡¯re up to speed while we still can.¡±

    So that¡¯s why the weeklong break.

 Chapter 53: More!

    Something about Shia was strange. I felt it the first time we shook hands. And I felt it even more as she dragged me forward. Her hands¡­ were warm. They were tender. And she¡¯d been quite nice. It didn¡¯t feel superficial but, why¡­ why did I feel this way?

    Why can¡¯t I trust her?

    With Shia I made it to the faculty office in the blue roofed building. The red one was academic, the green one too. Black, the dorms. But then what the hell was white roofed one? It was literally the tallest building in the whole city too!

    Anyway, the blue roofed faculty office: It was pretty white and clean inside, marble floors; mostly empty. Shia took me to the registrar¡¯s office. Once there she demanded more information regarding my enrolment. Yes, demanded!

    Staggered at his feet, the scrawny middle-aged registrar ran back into some storage room and came back with a thick file. ¡°Let¡¯s see¡­ Sobi, Soka, Soler¡­ yes, Soler A. Barack. Special enrolment. Four classes. History, Literature, etiquette and¡­ spirit taming.¡±

    There was a pause for the last one. Spirit taming. Wait, wait- ¡°I thought generally you needed to study 8 subjects?¡± They had more subjects; swordplay, fiend taming, even some technology-based classes. And of course, magic! The one frigging thing I was looking forward to!

    ¡°Special enrolment students are exempt,¡± he said. ¡°We could squeeze you into any class you want to take but if you fail in them¡­¡± He didn¡¯t finish.

    I had a feeling he saw through my circumstance. ¡°Thank you,¡± I said.

    He nodded. Shia though wasn¡¯t satisfied. ¡°I would need a stamp and your signature.¡±

    ¡°You want to rent books?¡± The registrar asked. ¡°Wouldn¡¯t it be better to just buy-¡±

    Wait, was she asking his permission to get the books from the library or something? Den said the academy lent books for a small fee and gave me some coins but he didn¡¯t explain how to get them.

    ¡°I¡¯m not looking forward to using my family¡¯s money, if I can help it,¡± I said. ¡°I¡¯d rather earn that money myself.¡±

    The registrar examined my face for a good twenty seconds before smiling. ¡°I see.¡± And then merrily stamped some papers and handed them over to me.

    We strolled out in pleasant moods. Or so I thought. ¡°That was unnecessary,¡± Shia said. ¡°You almost made it out that your family doesn¡¯t love you and you¡¯re trying to go independent.¡±

    Wait¡­ ¡°Yeah, didn¡¯t think that through.¡±

    Shia sighed. ¡°Well, I¡¯ll walk you back.¡±

    ¡°Technically we¡¯re both headed to the same place,¡± I said.

    It was somewhat dark outside. But they had a lot of street lights. And the city was bustling with activity. I could hear the laughter in the air. Okay that was a stretch, but it was a fun atmosphere. And wait, students were still out and just having fun and stuff.

    ¡°How long can they stay out?¡± I said.

    I had a vague recollection of Gerar saying something about Midnight curfews.

    ¡°All night if you want to.¡± Shia didn¡¯t let go of my hand. ¡°Though you¡¯d have to inform the dorm keeper in that case; she gets cranky if you go missing after midnight.¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s a dorm keeper?¡±

    ¡°Yeah. And you don¡¯t want to make her angry.¡±

    ¡°Noted.¡±

    We made it back to the dorms. I spotted a familiar guard. He hadn¡¯t moved from that spot the entire day. Was he going to spend the night here too? As I wondered I saw another guard who looked very similar to him take his place. Both guards exchanged some words as they stared at us and nodded as we passed by. Weird.If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

    The dorm was brighter. Almost like a modern-day building. Somewhat blinding actually. Come to think of it, my room didn¡¯t have lights though. So, students required to bring their own magical devices then? Made sense, considering there was nothing in my room apart form a bed and a table.

    ¡°Well, I¡¯ll see you tomorrow,¡± Shia took her leave.

    ¡°Goodnight Sis.¡±

    ¡°Shia¡¯s fine.¡± She was gone.

    She did not bid me good night though. Not that I minded. Strange.

    She was so chirpy and stuff yet by the time we finished and parted ways, she was¡­ in a foul mood. Oh well, even if she was pretending, at least she wasn¡¯t actively trying to harm me. For now¡­.

    Oh wait, dinner¡­

    To no one¡¯s surprise, the canteen was jam packed. I could always not eat tonight¡­ I mean, I had some left-over hard biscuits in my bag anyway.

    ***

    I woke up early in the morning. I tried sleeping last night but could hardly sleep. As sounds died out, my thoughts kept on bottling. All the worries I¡¯d suppressed came back and¡­ and made my heart race. Would Den reach Mom in time? Would she be alright? Would everyone still be there when I go back? Maybe skipping dinner on top of that wasn¡¯t such a great idea.

    I wasn¡¯t particularly hungry but I was groggy as hell.

    Yawning, I tried my best to wipe my face and headed off to the bathroom. I half expected it to be smelly and there be a line. But there wasn¡¯t. Most students hadn¡¯t woken up yet. And since there were multiple toilets, there was no line. The same for the shower rooms which were directly opposite to the toilets. Anyway, this place also had running water, so great!

    Since I was at it, I also took a shower. It was winter and I didn¡¯t sweat much, so I didn¡¯t smell much either. But I hadn¡¯t had a proper shower in a while and yesterday I was running around a bit too hard. So, it didn¡¯t hurt. The water was freezing though, ¡°Acchoo!¡±

    I put on some warm clothes and headed out. I didn¡¯t see a sun but I did see some red in the eastern sky. Not empty, there were people here. Mostly just training and stuff. The city was also waking up and some students were coming in from the streets. Guess they lived nearby.

    Anyway, I stretched and ran around. Basic morning routine. Just one lap around the academy had me out of breath though. How much of that was from fatigue and how much from my lack of stamina, I didn¡¯t know. But it couldn¡¯t go on like this. People of this world were strong as monsters, I couldn¡¯t surpass them, but I could at least try to keep up.

    ¡°Oh, ya wake up early too Sol?¡± Kiddy voice.

    Mike, the redhaired kid from yesterday.

    ¡°Yeah. I run around and stuff.¡± I was pretty much out of breath though.

    ¡°Nice~!¡± Pleased, he nodded to himself. Incidentally I¡¯d caught him running around before I came and he wasn¡¯t even sweating much. Even at this age dude was amazing.

    Maybe I¡¯ll be like that too if I keep up? I mean I still had a few years, right? Mike was probably ten- hmm, ¡°What grade are you in Mike?¡±

    ¡°First year.¡±

    Oh? A little late for first year though, right? ¡°How old are you?¡± I asked.

    ¡°Six this year.¡±

    The¡­ what?

    Shellshocked. The word came to mind. I was taught that wasn¡¯t a very good word and use just shocked or stunned instead. It still came to mind though.

    This guy was six, was already a few inches taller than me, looked way fitter and had the stamina of a horse~!

    Argh¡­ this so wasn¡¯t fair!

    Still¡­ sigh. ¡°Me too. I would start my classes from next week.¡±

    ¡°Nice, nice.¡± He was smiling so innocently, ignorant of the fact I was jealous of him. Made me feel a little guilty.

    ¡°I can¡¯t run well, so I¡¯ll go exercise some more and head back.¡±

    Most of my exercises were basically push-ups and pull-ups though.

    ¡°Still got some runnin to do! Catch up later!¡± Excited, he darted away.

    That said, I did some pushups, followed by some planks and stuff and then headed back. Shouldn¡¯t I have showered after exercising? I messed up, cause now there was a line.

    Sniff, sniff. Well, I didn¡¯t really smell that bad. I could always just wipe off the sweat with a wet cloth anyway. Yeah, let¡¯s just do that.

    So, I did that, casually strolled into the canteen which was mildly crowded and ordered my food. The same stuff I had yesterday. The food was pretty mid though. I guess Shia wasn¡¯t kidding when she said the other canteen had so much better food. I couldn¡¯t just waltz in there though.

    Sigh.

    Also, the food cost 1 Copper and 5 irons. They cost 2 coppers if you bought two portions. So I suppose from here on out, I¡¯d be buying two portions, aka, 4 items; two milk, two bread. With my current financial circumstances, I could probably live on this for at least a year if I was careful. Can I save even more money if I did some shopping instead though? I mean, I was growing and needed a lot of meat. The milk here was fine and a good source of protein but I needed more!

    *** A/N***

    (Working Syn)

    Allen is whisked away to another world after hugging a train a little too tight. He has the option to start fresh, go on an adventure or maybe even settle down with his new elven family. This new world is full of potential but is hounded by a church controlling the entire nation. What¡¯s worse Allen or rather Sol, has no real potential and is thus a target of the church and could very well be erased in the future. He can train, and hope to prevent that. Or at least that¡¯s what he thought until a certain incident shook his very beliefs and forced him to accept that he is powerless to stop the church, he is powerless to protect the people he held dear.

    Forced to retreat to Scalion Academy, Sol is given a choice to live. To survive. But instead, he chooses to start a cult. The cult of a fake god. At least that was supposed to be the case until one day¡­ the god decided to pay a visit to him.

 Chapter 54: Library and the Librarian

    I didn¡¯t have much to do since I was still free till next week. No wait, I can always just catch up. I had no idea what my fellow students learned these past few weeks so I¡¯d be a little lost but I could always just read the first portion of every book that was on the curriculum.

    Oh wait, I didn¡¯t get the books yet, did I? I searched my table and found last night¡¯s stamped paper easily enough. Come to think of it, I didn¡¯t read that book about spirits despite having time yesterday. Guess I was too damn entranced by the whole moving thing.

    I stayed put in my room for a few hours and then eventually head to the library after confirming no one was coming to see me. I half expected Den to show up stating he was just worried or something, but he didn¡¯t. Shia didn¡¯t either. And Gerar was still sleeping so that was that.

    Oh well, I wore some good clothes and headed out; half pants and an embroidered shirt. Nothing fancy but Mom made them so all good. Surely, I don¡¯t look like a bumpkin, right?

    There were plenty of students in uniform. They were presumably heading off to class. One of them looked like a hotshot who was walking in the middle with a group of sorts so I stood aside.

    ¡°What¡¯s that look for freshman?¡± He asked, looking down.

    Fairly young. Maybe ten. Or maybe six. At this point I wasn¡¯t even sure how age worked anymore¡­. He did have fancy clothes though, like the actual fancy ones with lots of colors and embroidery.

    ¡°Nothing,¡± I said, keeping a minimal eye contact.

    ¡°Hmph!¡± A rather quirky snort, almost like a pig. ¡°Do you even know who I am?¡±

    Was he that desperate for people to get to know him? Really? ¡°I don¡¯t.¡±

    I didn¡¯t even get in his way. He was getting in my way. Like intentionally.

    ¡°Nonsense! I¡¯m Darious! Son of Viscount Alindious!¡±

    What was up with the Ious? And he was pronouncing it like ass. Anyway. ¡°Incidentally, I¡¯m Soler A. Barack. Son of Sharmon Barack who also happens to be a Viscount,¡± I said, politely offering a nod. So technically, we¡¯re the same rank¡­ probably not.

    He gulped. ¡°Shi-Shia¡¯s brother!¡± he shrieked and hurriedly left. ¡°Sorry to bother you sir.¡± Some of his lackeys offered apologies in his stead.

    Peering my eyes away from them I noticed a bunch of other curious stares too. How infamous is she? Well, I was going to find out one of these days anyway.

    The library was quiet in the morning. It was quiet in the evening as well. Why? Because the librarian had clearly emphasized it was evident you must stay quiet in the library. Common sense to me, but I suppose it wasn¡¯t to some because a boy and a girl were quarreling.

    ¡°No, you stepped in first!¡±

    ¡°I was just looking for a book!¡±

    ¡°There should be a copy in your section as well!¡± The girl screamed.

    ¡°It¡¯s already taken!¡± The boy retorted back.

    They kept on going. No one stopped them. No one till the librarian came about. Old lady, saggy skin, barely standing without shaking. Yet, when she arrived everyone went deathly quiet. They were afraid of her, clearly. Better not get on her nerves.

    The two fighting quickly bowed, apologized profusely and disappeared. Huh.

    Anyway, it was good I found her because I slowly made my way to her. ¡°Good morning, Mam.¡±

    As long as I respected the library rules and didn¡¯t offend her, I wasn¡¯t going to get in trouble. So I made extra effort to watch my language and tone.This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.

    ¡°M-mo-mo-morning YOUNG MAN!¡± She started with a few stutters but screamed nevertheless.

    I hadn¡¯t spoken that loud but at least her ears worked¡­ somewhat.

    ¡°I have this stamped paper and would like to borrow some books,¡± I said. ¡°You would mind helping me out?¡±

    ¡°SURELY!¡± For someone who liked having a quiet atmosphere, she sure wasn¡¯t quiet in the least.

    We went down a couple of floors and on the second floor, she gave me my four books. ¡°T-t-t-t-t-Two GOLD SON!¡±

    I quickly fumbled the two gold coins and gave it to her. Den had given it to me before he left. He told me I wouldn¡¯t really need money for anything else for the rest of year as the academy would cover everything. But I suppose he¡¯d failed to mention meals cost money. Or maybe things had changed since he went here, or was he expecting me to grow money? Either way, apart from what Mom had given me, I had no other- no wait¡­ didn¡¯t Mack give me a silver? Oh yeah, he did.

    That said, I thanked the lady again and went back up to the fourth floor where I spent a few hours trying to make head from tails.

    First of all, the books were worn as hell. The pages were barely hanging so I had to be delicate. Second, they were written like IKEA manuals, worthless. History was boring and not chronological at all! Spirit Taming book was basically unusable thanks to half of the pages being ripped out! The Literature book had literal stories missing and the few that were there were boring! Only the etiquette book was somewhat in shape but I guess that was because no one bothered taking this thing seriously.

    I¡¯d gone to the second floor and taken a look myself and found that the other books in even more hideous condition. Which was why I located the librarian and pleaded she give my money back. I gave the books back of course. She sighed once but gave the money back. Yah!

    ¡°So-so-so What Will You Do- now? B-b-buy new!¡± She wasn¡¯t screaming like usual but still spoke loud.

    ¡°No, actually,¡± I said. ¡°I will probably suck up to a friend and just pay extra attention in class. The books weren¡¯t that complicated to begin with.¡± I just spoke my honest feelings on the matter. They were boring, sure. But they weren¡¯t anything I wasn¡¯t familiar with. Okay, maybe the spirit thing was new but most of the stories in history and literature, I already knew. Etiquette wasn¡¯t that important. No wait, you¡¯re a noble now. And I could always just consult my other book about spirits anyway. In fact, that even had crude drawings this thing lacked.

    ¡°I see¡­¡± she said. ¡°Come back later, I might have better books available.¡±

    ¡°Understood. Thank you, Mam!¡± I thanked her and then left.

    Wait a minute¡­ didn¡¯t she speak totally normally now?

    Hmmm¡­.

    ***

    Instead of leaving the library outright, I kept an eye out for good books. I could only access one half of the library but there should have been the same books on both sides, so I was fine. I found some good books on history, literature and a bunch of other stuff. But there was a problem. They didn¡¯t have the concept of taking your book out with you unless you were renting out text books. And you couldn¡¯t just read here either¡­ unless you had a membership. And yes, memberships cost a lot. 10 gold to be exact.

    Argh¡­

    Didn¡¯t the guard say they were looking for helpers?

    Hmm¡­ I went around looking for the old lady. She was furiously shaking and restacking some books. ¡°Mam, I heard you were looking for helpers?¡±

    She gave me stare. Almost examining me for a second. ¡°Do you like books?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°Do you have one?¡±

    ¡°I have one, yes.¡±

    ¡°Bring it here.¡±

    She wasn¡¯t going to take my book hostage or anything, right?¡±

    Also, what the fuck! You can talk normally! ~

    Ah, no. wrong old lady. This one wasn¡¯t as old as the last one. I was off by ten or so years.

    I came back a few minutes later with my book that I hadn¡¯t really read. She took one look and gave it back to me. Phew!

    ¡°Where¡¯d you get it?¡±

    ¡°I bought it off of my father¡¯s friend.¡±

    Obviously Den wasn¡¯t my father but this lady didn¡¯t need to know that.

    ¡°For how much if I might inquire.¡±

    ¡°Two gold.¡±

    ¡°Really,¡± she smirked. ¡°Did that man really own the book?¡± She took it again and flipped through some pages.

    ¡°Yes. Though it was more like the book belonged to his sister.¡±

    Her eyes paused, on a particular page. ¡°I see.¡± She slammed it shut and gave me the book back. ¡°It¡¯s a precious book. And has been kept with great care. I will entrust you with the books here and expect you to care about them just like this one. In exchange you will be paid 1 gold a month.¡±

    Wait, really? Holy shit!

    I¡¯d be paid!

    ¡°C-can I get to read a few books too?¡±

    ¡°As long as you do your job, I don¡¯t see why you couldn¡¯t read a few books a month; though if I see you slacking, I¡¯ll be deducting the library fee from your pay, so do be careful.¡±

    Good enough. ¡°Thank you very much!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯d like for you to start today but since you¡¯re still pretty new, explore the library a bit more and then start stacking books according to their letter and this catalogue,¡± she handed me down a rough looking wooden book that had information on how the library was organized. Fairly typical stuff. Doesn¡¯t this mean I can now access the girls¡¯ side of the library too? But that also meant, I¡¯d be working a lot. ¡°You don¡¯t have to put the books away until you¡¯re certain they¡¯re in the right place. I¡¯ll teach you for the first week. But if you appear to be unfocused, I¡¯ll kick you out.¡±

    I nodded. She smirked and that was the end of that.

    Tracing my feet back to the fourth floor, I finally sat down and opened my damn book. Let¡¯s give this a read.

 Chapter 55: Rage

    Magics and the spirits. An intermediate guide

    ¡®Magic, is not all powerful. It is a gift from the gods to their children, the demigods. However, the demigods gifted it to mankind and in time people gained the power to use magic depending on the amount of demigod blood they¡¯d inherited.¡¯

    All this time I thought the book was about spirits and monsters. Not magic. I was wrong, I was stupid¡­ nay, an imbecile for not actually looking up the proper word. Now granted it was written in mostly Western and I didn¡¯t know how to read Western for a while. Even now, I had issues with certain words. But I¡¯m sure I read Magic back then too. So had I forgotten or just¡­ anyway, I flicked it open and began to scan the contents.

    Unlike the textbooks, this wasn¡¯t a mess and nor was it boring. Actually, I found the contents rather engaging. I did have to look up a lot of words but the librarian was kind enough to actually sit with me and help me read. Apparently, she got excited every time someone showed great interest in books¡­ at least that was my hypothesis.

    Speaking of hypotheses, this book had a lot of them. The book introduced me to the concept of magic and what it did: aka, affecting the natural order of the world. However, the author did not know how. And no one knew how for that matter. People didn¡¯t even question it. They just accepted the fact as a gift from the gods. But the author explicitly tried coming up with theories. Something about magic running in our blood: mana. Something about how we draw energy from nature (Cultivation thingy maybe?) and even a theory regarding how drinking virgin piss gave you supernatural powers! I wasn¡¯t buying it. Doesn¡¯t hurt to try though, right? I mean, I was a virgin myself¡­.

    Of course, I didn¡¯t say it out loud but the librarian was giving me quite the look. I shook my head vigorously and ejected the piss drinking notion immediately. Instead. I kept on reading.

    You could only learn magic if you had demigod blood in you. Luckily most people did. how? Well, that was tricky. I wasn¡¯t sure if it was because demigods in the past were really inclined to have fun with mortals or maybe there was some sort of ritual involving eating of the demigods and¡­.

    ¡°How do I find out if I have any their blood in me?¡± I asked.

    ¡°Flick your finger and imagine a loud crack.¡±

    Flick!

    I hardly ever flicked in this body, so no sound produced. ¡°You don¡¯t,¡± she said. She was reading something herself.

    ¡°Oh, okay.¡± I shrugged.

    I mean, I already knew I didn¡¯t have talent for magic and stuff. So that was that. I still had half of the book on magic remaining. But that bit was no longer important since I couldn¡¯t use magic to save my life. Spirits however-

    ¡®Spirits are a manifestation of nature itself. When the gods granted their children magic, they also granted them divine vestige. Their divine blessing reached the earth, reached the seas, and even the sand beneath.¡¯

    ¡°If nature turned to spirits, then what about fiends?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sure all is contained within the book. Or are you having trouble recognizing words again?¡±

    ¡°No, I¡¯m fine.¡±

    Yeah, I was bothering her at this point. She was reading yet generously offered me help when I needed but I kept barraging her with questions. It wasn¡¯t like I was paying her to teach me or anything. She was here on her own volition.

    I kept reading. Spirits first showed up during the first great war along with the demihumans. And that was fine. But fiends apparently also multiplied a lot at that time. It wasn¡¯t like they didn¡¯t exist before the war, but only after the war did they spread so quickly.

    One key characteristic separated a Spirit from a Fiend: hostility. No, not towards men, but rather towards anything. As long as the thing wasn¡¯t hostile to things around it, it was considered a spirit.

    Basically¡­ both of them were same fucking thing. ¡°Then Fiends are spirits,¡± I mumbled.

    ¡°Exactly,¡± the woman didn¡¯t even glance at me, Unnecessary.

    It was a lot to take in so I decided to take a walk. But then realized, it was already¡­ evening. Oh no¡­ oh no, no no no!

    FUCK I PROMISED I¡¯D BE THERE!

    The Librarian frowned but I gave my book to her and ran like my life depended on it. It did.

    ***

    I was supposed to meet Shia behind the red roofed building this afternoon. But thanks to me being an idiot I forgot. As I kept on running there, a rather odd crowd blocked my way. Yeah, this wasn¡¯t good. This wasn¡¯t good at all.

    ¡°COMING THROUGH!¡± I screamed and just rushed through the damn crowd.

    I got annoyed grunts all around me but pushed through hard, and someone actually helped me through too! Mike!

    As I thought, not good.

    Why?

    Both Shia and Nisa were there. But¡­ the situation was pretty terrible. Like actually terrible, terrible.

    Blood dripping, they were glaring at each other. No¡­ that wasn¡¯t it. Shia was bleeding. And Nisa had people on her side but- no one was doing anything and things weren¡¯t good as they were.This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

    ¡°What the hell¡¯s going on here!¡± I yelled.

    Their eyes snapped on me. All of them were now looking at me¡­ all of them. Quiet, deathly quiet. I could hear my breath, my coarse breath. A twinge of shiver ran down, but I just glared.

    ¡°She attacked me,¡± Nisa said.

    ¡°I just tried talking and one of them punched me,¡± Shia said.

    ¡°So, you returned the favor by having your goons beat her up?¡± I said, staring at Nisa. ¡°And you claim she attacked you.¡±

    ¡°No, I-¡±

    ¡°Hey! Watch it!¡± One of her followers raised his voice, dude had turned pink with excitement. Big, like actually big. Yet, for some reason he looked comical. Like your typical school bully, just fat. What is up with rich people and fat¡­.

    ¡°Fuck off Mongrel,¡± I said. My heart started pounding. Really so. ¡°I get that your mother never loved you. I get that you need to get your anger out on innocent girls or you have to cry yourself to sleep. But, seriously, just fuck off. No need to harm others because you were never loved.¡±

    He stared at me, kind of shocked. And then started sniffling. I was half expecting a swing but he just fell on his knees. Well, that¡¯s new. Dude was more unstable than I thought. Who¡¯d have thought my words would actually hit home. I was seriously prepared to take a hit¡­ and then take them to the headmaster or principal or whoever was running this place.

    I went over to Shia. She was bleeding from a cut lip. I stood before her, glaring everyone down. ¡°I knew this academy had issues but I also thought I wouldn¡¯t have to deal with aristocratic bullshit bullying here.¡± I spat on the ground. ¡°I thought wrong.¡±

    I had no idea what happened here. But it was half my fault. I agreed to Shia¡¯s offer. Maybe she planned on using me as an excuse and exacting revenge on them or something. But since I wasn¡¯t here, that turned out be a major fuck up and she ended up getting beaten instead. Now granted, I didn¡¯t have anything to do with it and it wasn¡¯t really my fault when you considered the whole thing. But¡­ although fake, she was still my family right now.

    I had two siblings in my past life. They never stood up for me. Never. I despised them for it. And Maybe Shia would despise me for actually standing up for her. But who cared. I was doing this to satisfy my ego. I couldn¡¯t give a fuck.

    ¡°Was anyone here from the start?¡± I asked.

    ¡°I was,¡± Mike said. ¡°Your sister said something and they attacked.¡±

    ¡°And only then she attacked, right?¡± I said.

    ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± Mike said, proudly too. ¡°She never hit Nisa though.¡±

    Some of their faces went pale. Particularly the three hanging in front of Nisa. Nisa herself looked unconcerned. Stuck up bitch.

    ¡°Thanks,¡± I took a breath. ¡°The headmaster¡¯s in the white roofed building, right?¡± I asked.

    ¡°Yeah? But,¡± Shia sighed. ¡°Let¡¯s just go. Not worth it.¡± She grabbed my hand and pulled.

    ¡°Okay.¡± I sighed and stared around the crowd. ¡°Why are you cowards still here? Go and suck your mother¡¯s tits you fucking losers!¡±

    We had a rather surprising end to the farce. Apparently neither party was interested in fighting. The whole thing was a misunderstanding between that fat moron who misheard Shia and punched her. Shia punched back but by then people surrounded them and thanks to Shia¡¯s reputation things just escalated quickly as people sided with Nisa¡¯s group. Of course, Nisa could have dissolved the whole thing immediately but she didn¡¯t.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t know you had such a terrible mouth,¡± Shia mumbled.

    ¡°Me neither,¡± my hands were shivering. My whole body was shivering for that matter. The whole thing felt like a literal fever dream. What did I do, what had I said and what just happen? Did I just fuck up exceptionally? What about my plans on starting a new religion and using Nisa as a pawn?

    Sigh.

    Yeah, I fucked up. Badly. I could have handled that situation way better than I did. I could have prevented the whole swearing shitshow. I could have even made them apologize on the spot if I used my cards right.

    But I didn¡¯t.

    I raged. And I ended up losing instead.

    So what the fuck changed? Isn¡¯t this the same as last time¡­ sigh. ¡°There was an infirmary in the administrative building (blue roof) right?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m okay. This is nothing, really.¡± She didn¡¯t look at me, and she didn¡¯t let go of my hand. She just pulled along as we strolled by everyone.

    ¡°If you say so.¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t think you had it in you.¡±

    ¡°Me neither.¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t think you¡¯d stand up for me.¡±

    ¡°Me neither-¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re supposed to say, ¡®I love you sis¡¯ or something like that.¡±

    ¡°Didn¡¯t you tell me to call you Shia?¡±

    She chuckled. ¡°Sure, whatever.¡±

    We made it back to the dorm. It was already pretty much night. Shia didn¡¯t let go of my hand the whole time and took me straight to the girl¡¯s side into her room.

    I got a lot of weird stares but nothing out of the ordinary. I suppose it wasn¡¯t unnatural for brothers to enter their sister¡¯s rooms. Besides, we were too young to be suspected of anything.

    Why the fuck am I even thinking about that?

    Unlike my room, Shia¡¯s room was a double and this one had a shower attached. Just a shower though, not a toilet.

    Which was good cause she needed a shower. Her roommate wasn¡¯t around so I made some nice use of the top bunk. She immediately went into the shower.

    The sound of water was pretty refreshing. She didn¡¯t lock the bathroom door for some reason. ¡°Hmmm¡­ hhmmm¡­mmhhh.¡±  Nice voice.

    She was only humming though. Few minutes later she emerged from the bath in a towel, steaming, trying to smirk. Wasn¡¯t working with that lip. And I of course didn¡¯t bother staring at her. Rather, I focused on the room. Pretty decent room with books, some clothes, some furniture. That about it. Girls have warm water¡­.

    ¡°You can at least blush?¡± She said, putting on underwear. Was she lacking shame or just teasing me?

    ¡°Sorry sis, but you¡¯re just not my type. You sure you don¡¯t want to put anything cold on that?¡±

    ¡°Tch.¡± She finished dressing and lied down on the bottom bed. ¡°Why weren¡¯t you there? Thought you¡¯d abandoned me.¡±

    ¡°I..uh¡­ sorry, I was reading an interesting book and forgot.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    We stayed quiet for a while. Kind of awkward but, hey, at least she wasn¡¯t screaming at me for being an idiot. Though I would have just preferred to be screamed at¡­.

    ¡°Why didn¡¯t you hit her?¡± I eventually said.

    ¡°Cause you wanted to be friends¡­¡±

    Arrr¡­ what?

    Squeak. The door opened and a lady came in. She looked¡­ fifteen? Perky skin, two mounds on her chest. And some freckles on her face. Definitely going through puberty¡­. ¡°You have a guest,¡± she said eyeing me.

    ¡°Soler A. Barack. Pleasure to make your acquaintance.¡± I sat down.

    ¡°Jessica Wilder. Pleasure¡¯s all mine.¡± She dropped her coat on a chair and just sat down on it backwards, pressing her chest into the chair. ¡°Heard about you. Thought you¡¯d be cuter.¡±

    Cuter? Was she calling me cute then? Nah.

    ¡°And I thought you¡¯d be prettier, miss.¡±

    A snort. ¡°Oh, you¡¯re calling me pretty?¡±

    ¡°Alright,¡± Shia said. ¡°Little early but let¡¯s go get dinner.¡±

    ¡°Lunch for me. Forgot to eat.¡±

    ¡°You weren¡¯t kidding when you said you were engrossed in a book. What was the book even about?¡±

    We both got down. ¡°Magic and spirits.¡±

    ¡°Would you mind showing me?¡±

    ¡°Sure. I gave it to the librarian though. We could read it tonight or maybe tomorrow if you want to.¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s go there after dinner.¡±

    ¡°Okay.¡±

    ¡°Sorry about the whole thing earlier,¡± Shia said as we strode out.

    ¡°Wait, you¡¯re ignoring me?¡± Jessica attempted but gave up.

    ¡°Don¡¯t be. I¡¯m sorry as well.¡±

    That said, we shook on it. I didn¡¯t know who was wrong, who was right. I didn¡¯t know if this lady before me was evil or something.

    But at the end of the day, I didn¡¯t really care. Guess I¡¯ll have to find a different pawn.

 Chapter 56: Well Fuck

    After a hearty meal (Shia treated me), we read my book in the library for a while and then I went to sleep. Before sleeping I thought about what I did. How I screwed up, yet how I didn¡¯t regret it. I guess in the end that mattered more. Unlike last night, I actually slept like a log.

    Chirp. Chirp.

    Birds were up, and so was I. Like yesterday, I took a shower and went out. Granted I could have delayed the shower but given how there¡¯d be a line, I didn¡¯t bother.

    I ran around just like yesterday and ended up running into Mike. ¡°Hey, thanks for yesterday.¡±

    ¡°No problem.¡±

    I matched his pace and ran with him for a while. We didn¡¯t talk much. We just ran together. After a while, I got tired and took a break. He took one with me.

    We said nothing though. I mean, we didn¡¯t have much to say to each other anyway. ¡°I didn¡¯t know ya were that woman¡¯s brother,¡± he said, eventually.

    ¡°To be honest, me neither.¡±

    ¡°The hell is that supposed to mean.¡±

    ¡°I was away from my family for a long while. I don¡¯t really know them¡­¡±

    ¡°I see. Happens a lot,¡± he said, striking a thoughtful pose.

    Dude, you¡¯re six. Then again, I was five, so who was I to say?

    ¡°Why didn¡¯t you say ya were a noble?¡± Mike said, staring.

    ¡°I¡¯m honestly not interested. I mean, we¡¯re friends and that matters right? Why should our ranks interfere with that?¡±

    He smiled. ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± He did some stretching. ¡°Guess I¡¯ll see ya this afternoon?¡±

    ¡°You bet!¡±

    I came back to the dorm, wiped myself and made way for the library. A little early but I was going to be diligent about the job. As long as I put in effort, I could read books, make enough money to sustain my food expenses and- No wait, I still need money for tuition¡­. Sigh.

    Oh well.

    ***

    My job was pretty simple. Put back the books where they belong. This world only had two standard languages: Western and Southern Tongue. Of course, there were other minor languages but almost all races spoke at least one of the two standard tongues, so I didn¡¯t really need to learn other languages. Till now that was.

    Since I didn¡¯t know anything about the demon tongue and the sea tongue, the librarian advised me to at least learn the alphabet of one of them. Apparently not many people learned these languages and you could get a decent job as a translator if you were good enough. I could always just decline but in that case, she was going to decrease my pay to 5 silvers a month, since there were books here written in Demon or Sea tongue. Kind of a drag. But hey, at least she was going to teach me for free because I was young and could learn them easily if I tried or so she said.Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.

    ¡°I wasn¡¯t expecting you to be this good,¡± she said, as I put back some books. She was quite surprised to learn I could put back the books without an issue.

    I used to frequent a library often. I was your typical bookworm courtesy of my mother who liked making me read everything. I could remember stuff with just a read, so reading a lot did help me retain a lot of useless knowledge. Knowledge that I wasn¡¯t going to use, ever. Now that I thought about it, I hardly used my knowledge from last world in this one. On one hand I wanted to change society and maybe make the world better. But on the other, I didn¡¯t want to bother. I mean, this world had its own rules and I didn¡¯t want to go out of my way to change the world just for my benefit. Guess I was afraid of creating a paradox of sorts. Or maybe I was just paranoid?

    ¡°And I wasn¡¯t expecting you to be this young,¡± I said. Apparently, she¡¯d dropped another ten years.

    First time I saw her, she was over seventy. Now she was barely fifty. Judging by the pace, she was probably going to reach my age by the end of this week.

    She did not comment, no. I helped her stack the books and we were done. Yes, that was it. People would come here all day and mess up the library and we would do a thorough cleaning before midnight and early morning. If she¡¯d told me that yesterday, I might have come earlier but I guess I could always do that tomorrow.

    ¡°So, I won¡¯t have to do this throughout the day?¡± I asked.

    And she¡¯s going to pay me 12 gold just for this?

    ¡°You could help out if you want to. I won¡¯t pay you extra though.¡±

    ¡°Well, for now 1 gold is enough.¡±

    ¡°For now?¡± she smiled, I smiled too.

    I mean, now that she knew I was better than she thought and was totally dedicated to help her and could potentially get better at my job, I could always negotiate better pay. I still needed some extra gold toward tuition. If I could get it from here, then I could just¡­

    With nothing to do, I focused on studying. Most of the things I already knew. Some were new though.

    Mostly facts. I¡¯d forgotten half of the stuff from the book I read about the history of Askavan. But I knew it wasn¡¯t this stupid. Stupid, as in, all these books glorified humans above everyone. And I thought that book was biased.

    Rolling my eyes, I read some stories. Then skimmed through the etiquette book and finally gave the spirit taming book a read. The whole course only involved basic knowledge about spirits and contracting some spirits to reach intermediate stage. In order to reach advance stage, I¡¯d need to contract 10 spirits and 1 High Rank spirit. That was going to be impossible for me. In order to contract spirits, you needed compatibility. I didn¡¯t have that. I did have something else however, namely some of Sisna¡¯s blood and a contract with Rexen. I couldn¡¯t tell them about Rexen who was technically a high rank spirit, albeit a malicious one according to society. You could only contract 1 high rank spirit at a time, so yeah, that was why it was impossible for me to reach advance rank.

    Noon arrived and my stomach roared, reminding me I didn¡¯t have breakfast yet. I¡¯m getting way too lax at this point.

    Sighing, I made my way for the canteen.

    Den never really came back. He¡¯d left. Which was good. I wanted him to reach Mom as fast as he could and be with her. I couldn¡¯t be with her. She was hurting. But Den could ease that pain. Den could¡­ if she had her own kid, will she remember me? The thought scared me, yet made me feel relieved at the same time. No, no, she won¡¯t.

    ***

    When I actually thought about it, maybe making an enemy of a Sovereign family wasn¡¯t such a good idea after all.

    I didn¡¯t regret it though. Am I getting invested in my fake family? Huh¡­ I guess I was forgetting my goals already. I was never one to fully commit myself to anything. Always making goals, always making plans, always thinking about the future, but never really sticking to anything.

    Yet, I wanted to stick to this one. I wanted to exercise. I wanted to study. I wanted to go back to Mom. And I wanted to do something about the world so it wouldn¡¯t be impossible.

    Yet¡­ at the same time, argh! I screamed, and clapped once. My fingers jolted in pain but it narrowed my focus. You can do this! I just had to find-

    Someone grabbed my collar and pulled me into their room. Warm lighting, a lot of things here and there, rather unorganized. But that wasn¡¯t the problem. The real problem was the fatty blocking the way to the exit.

    The fatty I badmouthed yesterday in front of everyone. Boy was he looking down on me. But no, not just him; there was someone on the other corner of the room¡­ a girl... Nisa.

    Well fuck.

 Chapter 57: Sigh

    Nisa stood before me as I sat on the floor looking up. Our fat friend was standing by the door making damn sure I didn¡¯t get to run. I could always scream right? Yeah, I kept that as a last resort. We were on the second floor of the boys¡¯ side. Surely, someone would come to my rescue, right?

    Probably not.

    Nisa sat on a chair, cross legged. She wore some fine clothes. Fine as in, no embroidery fine. Oddly, almost all rich folks wore hardcore embroidered clothes. The more gold you had on your dress, the richer you were. Of course, you could get mugged for wearing too much but rich people often had guards. This lady though, didn¡¯t wear something fancy. Yet for some reason, her plain clothes screamed of elegance.

    So far, Nisa hadn¡¯t said anything. That fat kid, who I still didn¡¯t know the name of didn¡¯t either. He didn¡¯t seem like he was going to hit me or anything. Nisa didn¡¯t seem infuriated either.

    ¡°I¡¯m not going to apologize, if that¡¯s what you¡¯re after,¡± I said, eventually. The whole ¡®not talking¡¯ thing was starting to get annoying. I still hadn¡¯t had breakfast and it was way past lunch time too. I was not in a great mood, no.

    ¡°I wasn¡¯t looking for an apology,¡± she said. Looking closely, I could tell, she was a beauty, despite being so young. Her parents were probably good looking. Most high nobles were. To them, beauty meant more than quality. At least that¡¯s what I read in novels. I didn¡¯t know how true they were, but for the most part those bits held up. I guess her beauty was another reason she had so many followers.

    ¡°Then what? You¡¯re going to beat me here? I must tell you, I¡¯ll definitely report you-¡±

    ¡°No,¡± she shook her head. ¡°I misjudged. I hope you do not harbor ill intentions towards me and Jake. That is all.¡±

    Huh? Ill intentions? Jake? Who the fuck was that?

    And hey, you didn¡¯t apologize! I felt like exploding again. But I wasn¡¯t stupid. At least I didn¡¯t think so. For the most part¡­.

    Sighing once, I stood up. ¡°I see.¡±

    That said I made way for the door. The fatty, moved away but he stared at me sentimentally. ¡°How¡¯d you know?¡±

    Know what? Oh yeah¡­. ¡°I could tell from the look in your eyes.¡± I spoke some vague shit like those shady fortune tellers.

    He sniffled loudly. ¡°It hurts man¡­ they don¡¯t love me; they don¡¯t want me.¡± He howled, tears streaming down, painting his face ugly.

    If he was trying to make me feel bad, it was certainly working. ¡°Yeah, it hurts when you want people to like you but they don¡¯t like you back. One trick is to not try too hard. Though that too fails when you really want it to succeed. Anyway, see you around,¡± I waved and left.

    Just outside, I breathed a sigh of relief. That truly was something. I didn¡¯t really get what was going on or rather, what I was supposed to do. She was the daughter of a Sovereign, a king of sorts. She couldn¡¯t possibly lower her head or even say sorry. I understood that. And that¡¯s why I wasn¡¯t really expecting her to own her mistakes or admit she¡¯d committed any in the first place. So, it was a shock. Her bodyguard or friend crying was another one.

    Ow, ow¡­ well, I could always worry about it later. Right now, I had to eat something. Anything~!

    After calming my stomach, I thought things over. Right now, I needed someone powerful to fall back on. Someone who could shoulder the responsibility as a club leader of sorts. Wait clubs. I knew this academy had a few. But I wasn¡¯t sure what they were. But can I start a new one? It could be something as simple as a religious club dedicated to uncovering the true meaning behind Askavan¡¯s teachings. Then I could slowly poison them from within with logic and facts and slowly corrupt the members into eventually starting a new improved version of Askavan. If these members became the next head of their household and secured a top position in the world, they could easily influence the church to reflect said small changes to the religion. I¡¯d read about such events in the past. Part of accepting the demons as fellow followers of Askavan was one such change. But wouldn¡¯t that be too slow? Hmm¡­ but it did seem effective in theory. So maybe I could create another plan, and have this as a backup? Yes, that seemed about right. Start a club, slowly poison the members¡¯ minds and force the church to change slowly, while also establishing a different plan to influence the church rapidly. Given how the world was centered around the church and its shenanigans, it was impossible to create an entirely different religion, so why not just improvise and improve Askavan?If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.

    But how? The slow process was¡­ well, slow. And the fast process wasn¡¯t something I could just come up on the spot¡­. While thinking, my feet moved on their own and I found myself back in the library, already putting back books subconsciously.

    ¡°You sure love working,¡± someone said.

    ¡°Money and knowledge are great motivators,¡± I said, without looking.

    ¡°I suppose. Feel free to pick up any book that fancies you. You¡¯re free to do whatever till the evening. But you should help me before midnight and turning in.¡±

    ¡°Su-re¡­.¡± I stared at the woman, middle aged, and¡­ it¡¯s the freaking librarian¡­ She¡¯d dropped another ten years. She was probably going to be my age before the week ended. I attempted to ask about that, but she never entertained my curiosity.

    I spent most of my time in the library and then went out. Although people here often referred to the campus as non-existent or small or whatever, it was pretty big for me. Partly because I was small, and partly because I was used to not having any campus space whatsoever in certain schools I¡¯d attended.

    ¡°Yar late. We were getting worried ya got lost,¡± Mike said.

    ¡°Who isn¡¯t a little lost in life?¡± I cracked a joke and expected them to laugh.

    They didn¡¯t.

    They just stared. Mike in particular was dead serious. ¡°True, true,¡± he nodded.

    They¡¯re supposed to be kids, right? Right!?

    We ran around today, playing tag. I¡¯d never played tag, so I had no idea what ¡®It¡¯ or whatever was. But I had fun running around. It was weird to be honest. What was so fun about running around, chasing each other? I¡¯d always asked that question watching kids play outside. I¡¯d watch them from my window, one hand writing away while I watched the kids play. I never understood what was so fun just running around aimlessly, laughing like idiots.

    Yet, I suppose I was the idiot.

    There really wasn¡¯t any point in running around, playing tag. Yet, that itself was liberating. And I didn¡¯t even understand why. No, that wasn¡¯t true. I didn¡¯t try to understand. It didn¡¯t matter. I had fun, that mattered more.

    Around evening, we finished and made our way back to the dorms. I found Shia hanging around the entrance, waiting for me.

    ¡°You reek, go take a bath.¡±

    I knew I sweated a lot but she didn¡¯t have to rub it in like that!

    That dorm wasn¡¯t that cold. Actually, it was pretty warm. Like they had central heating or something. I was already sweating so, it made me sweat even more, to the point where I drenched my shirt.

    Luckily there wasn¡¯t a line around this time. So, I got to take a proper shower (not a bath) and be free!

    Yesn¡¯t.

    I was dragged by Shia to the roof.

    ¡°So, our plan A failed,¡± she said, staring outside, grabbing the railing with quite the force. This dorm was pretty tall, taller than almost all the buildings of this city, but it couldn¡¯t beat the central white roofed building. That one was too damn tall. How many bones would I break if I jumped?

    There wasn¡¯t anyone else here. Just us. I had a feeling we didn¡¯t have permission to be here either but I opted to not worry about that.

    ¡°You have other plans?¡±

    ¡°As a matter of fact, yes. How about I hire some of our people to kidnap her and you go rescue her in the meantime?¡±

    Where had I heard about that plot before?

    ¡°No, that¡¯s too dumb. And anyone looking into the matter would find out they were ¡®our¡¯ people and thus render the whole thing meaningless and cause more rift between our families; first of all, how would a five-year-old save a girl from kidnappers anyway? Oh, and I actually met Nisa this afternoon. She didn¡¯t apologize but admitted she was in the wrong.¡±

    ¡°Hmm¡­¡± Shia paused. ¡°In that case, you have a shot.¡±

    ¡°A shot?¡±

    ¡°Go confess to her.¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡±

    ¡°Confess your love to her.¡±

    ¡°Excuse me?¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t love her?¡± She cocked her head.

    ¡°No?¡± I cocked mine too.

    What in the actual hell was she smoking? Seriously.

    ¡°Err¡­ I see,¡± she grumbled.

    A shiver ran down¡­.

    ¡°What-what did you do?¡± I asked¡­ carefully.

    ¡°I might or might not have started a rumor,¡± she smiled. Almost like an angel, but I could see the devil instead.

    ¡°You what¡­¡±

    Sigh.

    As I thought, this woman was not to be trusted¡­ I was stupid to think she was even remotely¡­ sigh.

    Well, I brought this on myself.

 Chapter 57.5: Azura Genesis Pride

    Azura Genesis Pride trudged through the vibrant grassland searching for a particular boy.

    She¡¯d been ordered to track down one Western boy in the Southern woods and bring him to justice. This poor soul had been defiled by the wretched cavern lizards. The high priest made it clear she was to capture him alive and hand him over to the church to ¡®purify¡¯ him. However, if he were to resist, she was allowed to use as much force as necessary, even kill him or other protestors if he proved to be a danger to the world.

    Still for them to go so far to send me¡­ Azura had heard some things about this boy. Apparently, he was a failed Hero candidate with some connections to the forest spirits and had murdered a priest who went after his mother. Even at the age of five, the boy was capable of felling fearsome foes and murder adults. Even if he was a failed hero candidate, he was going to be a decorated warrior in the future. However, that future was robbed of him by the cavern filths. Just thinking about how much potential the world lost, made her grind her teeth in frustration, glaring at the forest in front.

    No fiends at all? She¡¯d been expecting at least some mid rank fiends. But she saw nothing so far. Few that were around, were the harmless sort. They ran at the first sight of her dazzling silver breastplate and green holy sword. Of course, her blue robe covered the sword and the armor, but fiends had a sixth sense of sorts. They could tell who they could mess with, and who they could not.

    Peaceful¡­ she reached the woods and asked for directions. She didn¡¯t yet know the name of the boy, only his surname. But when she mentioned he was a Westerner, they pointed at a particular direction in the woods. None of the villagers had much to say about the boy. They did however mention how his mother was a brute but a decent person nevertheless.

    They pointed her toward a particular house. A little far from the actual village. Crude house: Somewhat abandoned. The fields before it was dead. The pond, dirty. The roof, covered in moss. What was perhaps once a home for some¡­ was a home no more.

    ¡°They¡¯re not here¡­¡± She mumbled, but her eyes focused elsewhere, towards a mysterious bush. It moved just slightly. Someone or something was there. ¡°Show yourself!¡±

    A boy rose from the bush. ¡°A-are you a Templar Knight?¡±

    ¡°I am¡­. You are?¡±

    ¡°Mack¡­ Sneider¡­¡±

    A fat boy: Southerner. According to Azura¡¯s source, the western boy was slightly chubby. This boy fit the bill. However, those long ears were proof enough that his boy wasn¡¯t her target. However, since he was here, she could always make use of him. Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

    ¡°Mack Sneider¡­ do you happen to know the people who lived her?¡±

    ¡°Yes¡­ but they¡¯re gone.¡±

    ¡°Where did they go?¡±

    ¡°They didn¡¯t tell me.¡±

    ¡°Then¡­ what are you doing here?¡± Her tone shifted, albeit slightly. Ordinary people perhaps couldn¡¯t tell. But there was something sharp in her voice. something¡­ deadly.

    ¡°I¡­ I came here to clean their windows.¡±

    ¡°I see. Can you tell me more about the people who lived her?¡± Of course she spoke with sincerity, even towards this child. She maintained her amiable demeanor and hid her intentions.

    ¡°I-I-¡±

    Templar knights held the same sway as a mid-rank priest. They could even start their own churches in remote villages; only after getting permission from their respective high priests and after retiring of course. Disobeying their commands amounted to heresy. You could not only lose your life, but even your family¡­. But even among Templar Knights, Azura was special. She was one of the seven. A special seven. And perhaps the boy had caught on to that¡­ because he was shaking and sweating like swine on a hot summer day.

    ¡°Don¡¯t be afraid. I¡¯m not here on official business. I had some personal connections to the Arnius family, you see.¡± She moved closer, spoke softly, assuring him¡­.

    ¡°I see¡­¡± Mack took a breath. ¡°I don¡¯t know much about them but¡­ I did know Sol for a few months. He¡­ was a good boy.¡±

    ¡°Yes, I¡¯ve heard as well. He was quite powerful too, right?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, couldn¡¯t beat him in a fight¡­¡± He laughed but sighed.

    ¡°Did he¡­ change?¡±

    ¡°Change? A little¡­ but he was just worried about attending school and leaving-¡± Mack paused, eyes going wide. His face had the signature look of ¡®oops¡­¡¯

    Azura smiled. A rather delighted, beautiful smile. But it almost made Mack piss his pants. After all, he¡¯d never seen something so blatantly artificial¡­ yet organic. ¡°So, he went out to attend a school¡­ which school?¡±

    ¡°Not here¡­ I don¡¯t know.¡±

    ¡°Are you sure?¡± She touched his ears, staring down at him, smiling. As she leaned closer, some of her white locks pressed against her ears; annoying.

    ¡°I¡¯m sure! They never told me!¡±

    ¡°Hmm¡­ there¡¯s only two places he could go from this place¡­ hmm¡­ hmmmm!¡± Mouth widening. ¡°Thanks kid. You were a big help.¡±

    That said, Azura left the house and headed for the village. This village didn¡¯t have a name. But it did have a church. And she could easily find more information there. After all, a priest died here.

    And although some dead priest didn¡¯t mean squat to her, she could always¡­ use that as an excuse too¡­ right?

    Hmm¡­ but both schools are quite far away. If she went over to one of them and that proved to be the wrong school, she could be late by months, if not a year. So, before making her choice, she had to gather as much intel as possible. The people living here, left. But their friends and family were still here, right? They knew something, right?

    With a snort, Azura kept on walking. A proud smile clouded her face. She¡¯d been looking. She¡¯d been looking for a while for someone special. Someone¡­ she could use for that purpose. Even if the boy was a little corrupted, she could always just purify him and use him anyway. I wonder how many fingers I¡¯ll have to unnail?

 Chapter 58: AHEM!

    Rumors.

    Usually when they start, they start as simple things like ¡°Mr. Cat drank some wine the other day.¡± But as they go around from people to people, it usually transforms to something sinister like, ¡°Mr. Cat drank his own piss the other day while dancing naked in front of a crying baby which was on fire.¡± Who would set a baby on fire you say? Well, yours truly might or might not have accidentally done something similar in the past¡­ now that I think about it, wasn¡¯t that kid Billy¡¯s baby sister or something¡­. Wait, wait, was that dude holding a grudge over that? I could have sworn I explained that it wasn¡¯t my fault!

    Anyway, my rumors were similar but it wasn¡¯t that extreme¡­ yet.

    Apparently, Shia in her infinite wisdom had spread rumors about me liking Nisa. A lot of people liked Nisa, so that wasn¡¯t an issue. It was a totally normal thing to like people in power. However, that was a ploy on Shia¡¯s end and she meant to say some good things about me and offer to make us friends. I was confused. Was she that dumb? Or was she plotting something super sinister? The latter¡­.

    The moment things went just a tad bad, Shia immediately started stalling. She was waiting for me to return and hoping I¡¯d take Nisa¡¯s side and that¡¯s how we¡¯d be friends and stuff because I was clearly different from my sister and ¡®liked Nisa¡¯. Except that never happened. I took Shia¡¯s side instead. I called out the bullshit and things ended.

    But they didn¡¯t. They didn¡¯t end just there. Kids talked. They spread rumors about my manners, about my preferences, about my bathing habits¡­ and even that I loved Nisa but wasn¡¯t a simpleton. That kind of rumor would have been fine, really. But lately, some people were saying I liked my sister instead. Others were stating, we had a really intimate relationship and I often visited her in the wee hours of the night for some fun activities.

    And here I thought people of this world were a sensible bunch.

    I tried my best to not worry about the rumors. Rumors were¡­ well¡­ rumors. As long as I didn¡¯t show any unnecessary concern, people would eventually forget and move on. Right now, I was the center of attention but as soon as some other guy screwed up, I¡¯d be totally out of the spotlight.

    ¡°Nodding to yourself for no reason is pretty¡­ odd,¡± someone said¡­ Nisa.

    Library, books. She didn¡¯t have her followers with her but I saw a lot of eyes on us.

    ¡°I sometimes like to visit palaces in my mind, you see.¡±

    ¡°Oh, you fancy palaces?¡±

    I meant to say places but said Palaces¡­ ¡°Who doesn¡¯t fancy crystal palaces¡­¡± So I had to well¡­ make something up. Good thing I played a lot of Final Fantasy

    ¡°Crystal palaces? Like they¡¯re made of gemstones?¡±

    ¡°In my mind? Yeah.¡±This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

    Nisa didn¡¯t show much emotion. She was what you¡¯d call a stoic beauty. Though in most cases she looked like a frigging statue than a human being. Like those typical renaissance sculptures.

    ¡°Didn¡¯t take you to be a palace lover. Hmm¡­ how about I invite you to our palace: Father¡¯s holding a tea party next month. It¡¯s not made of crystal but surely it would soothe some of your fantasies, yes?¡±

    ¡°Why? I don¡¯t mean to be rude but given what just happened just the other day-¡±

    ¡°Precisely because of what happened as a token of¡­ appreciation.¡±

    There was a pause before she said appreciation. I had a feeling she was going to say Apology but instead switched to that when she noticed all the stares around us.

    Well this is tough. On one hand we have the rumors. On the other, the whole fiasco¡­ but declining her here, in front of everyone would kill my chances entirely. I¡¯d somewhat given up on winning Nisa over. Particularly because I didn¡¯t like her, and particularly because she didn¡¯t seem like the ideal pawn. Even so¡­ this chance might never come again¡­ And the fact that she invited me in public, if something were to happen to me on the way or over there, her whole family would be held responsible. Of course, she could be plotting something sinister but, in the end, I didn¡¯t really have any way to progress my plans without her¡­ yet. Therefore¡­ ¡°Thank you very much,¡± I offered a noble nod, a faint smile and spread my hand forward. ¡°I look forward to visiting your palace.¡±

    ***

    ¡°You did what?¡± Shia was of course furious.

    She¡¯d dragged me to the roof first thing. It was close to afternoon, and even with the sunny sky, it was getting a little chilly. I didn¡¯t tell her, but apparently information spread pretty quickly around here. A little scary if you asked me.

    ¡°I had no reason to refuse,¡± I shrugged.

    ¡°Clearly it¡¯s a ploy to win you over!¡±

    ¡°Technically that was the plan all along, right?¡±

    ¡°The plan was for you to be her friend on an equal footing. Not become one of her followers.¡±

    Oh, so you did know that. But she still created that whole rumor fiasco. I couldn¡¯t really fault her though. I was the one who accepted blindly. Yet, the gamble had somehow paid off. I had a once in a lifetime opportunity to visit the castle of a Sovereign and deepen my relationship with them. Even if the whole change the religion thing didn¡¯t pan out, I could always just marry into one of their vassal noble houses and survive. But that was only a contingency. I had no intention of just giving up on screwing Askavan, no sir.

    Shia grumbled as she scowled. ¡°Don¡¯t forget you¡¯re the first son of the Barack Family. You are more valuable than you think. Don¡¯t sell your family short.¡±

    Sure, thing sis, sure thing.

    ¡°I will keep that in mind.¡±

    ¡°Good¡­¡± she let out an exasperated sigh. ¡°There¡¯s been an odd rumor.¡±

    ¡°That I¡¯ve been visiting you and stuff.¡±

    ¡°Yeah. So, for now¡­ you don¡¯t have to visit.¡±

    ¡°For now¡­ hmm¡­¡± Was it me or was she a little embarrassed? Well, she was in that age. She¡¯d probably just hit puberty and started being a bit more mindful of these things.

    I didn¡¯t really care though.

    ¡°You two aren¡¯t supposed to be here,¡± a lady said. ¡°And you, I¡¯ve been looking for you,¡± she said, staring at me.

    ¡°Me?¡±

    Ah those bouncy¡­.

    ¡°Yes, you. Denkar put me in charge of you so I¡¯ll be grinding some knowledge in you every now and then.¡± She yawned. ¡°You¡¯re all settled down I¡¯d assume?¡±

    Oh yeah, I¡¯d met her. I almost certainly forgot her face but I couldn¡¯t forget that bouncy goodness. Why the fuck is my mouth watering¡­ calm down son!

    Ahem! ¡°Umm¡­ what will you be teaching me?¡±

    ¡°Everything you need to know. Come, let¡¯s go.¡±

    Shia shoved me forward. ¡°Get going. She¡¯s pretty strict but not a bad person.¡±

    ¡°Thanks, but get out of here before Principal Akkas comes here,¡± the lady said.

    Shia¡¯s face went white as she¡­ jumped!? One second she was there, and the very next, she jumped over the frigging guard rails!

    ¡°Woah!¡± I hurriedly went over to check but she was gone. And no, there wasn¡¯t a puddle of blood or a mangled corpse beneath. Phew.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡±

    ¡°Yeah¡­¡± Slightly unnerved, I focused on my breathing and followed her around like a duckling¡­ Boy do I wanna suck tho- AHEM!

 Chapter 59: Moundly Motivation

    If I had to say what excited me in this world, I probably couldn¡¯t give you one answer. I had some things to look forward to and I had some things I wanted to do: and some things I absolutely detested. But I didn¡¯t have anything remotely close to a proper goal. Like sure I wanted Askavan to fall. Sure, I wanted to go back home, hug mom and eat her soup. I had those goals but I didn¡¯t know how to actually achieve those and that made things¡­ difficult. That made things hazy. I didn¡¯t have an end goal, like what I wanted to do with my life, settle down or do other things and stuff. What if I screwed Askavan and things got good. Then what? Lately, I kept missing video games and even those third-class novels and manga I used to throw away¡­. I really wanted some entertainment¡­.

    But, right now, in this very moment I felt a surge. A surge of emotion with the pure heat of a thousand suns, I must touch them!

    Unlike the other complicated matters, this one wasn¡¯t very complicated. I could feign weakness, have her pick me up and then¡­ except I wasn¡¯t a creep and I didn¡¯t want to disappoint her. Besides, she knew Den and that complicated things even further. To begin with, was she even single? ¡°Are you married, mam?¡±

    ¡°Not really. Never thought about settling down to be honest.¡± She was leading me somewhere. Somewhere to study.

    Yes, yes, yes, yes, YES!

    Okay so I had a shot. Calm down, calm down. What shot? You¡¯re a student. You¡¯re here to survive. You¡¯re here to escape the church. You can¡¯t be chasing ti-girls!

    Yet my heart was not listening. I hadn¡¯t gone through puberty yet, so my little buddy wasn¡¯t actively saluting but my heart was more than just pounding, it was going full throttle, threatening to go over the manufacturing limit. I might have looked five, but technically I was 22 when you counted my previous life.

    This was bad, really bad. I might or might not have fallen for her ti-I mean, her.

    She stopped, turned, opened a door and invited me in. I gulped. I kept having fantasies of what we were going to do inside that room¡­ hmm¡­ Get your head outta the gutter!

    I didn¡¯t even remember her name and yet my mind just wouldn¡¯t calm down!

    I took deep breaths, really deep breaths and followed her in. Yeah, I admit I like her. I have a crush on her. Now for fuck¡¯s sake, calm down you throbbing meatbox!

    Once inside, she locked the door and stared down at me. ¡°Now, mind telling me about that rapid breathing and ogling? Something wrong?¡±A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

    ¡°Ah¡­¡± The words stuck in my throat. She knew¡­ she frigging knew.

    This wasn¡¯t bad, this was a disaster.

    With a snort, she smirked. ¡°Well, I suppose you are nearing that age. Of course, you¡¯d be interested in the opposite sex. However, it is very rude to stare like that. Hmm¡­ Maybe I should give you a proper course on sex education first. Oh and don¡¯t worry, your impulses will pass and you will become a respectable adult-¡±

    ¡°I love you, mam!¡± I declared, not missing a beat. Oh yeah, it wasn¡¯t just a crush. I didn¡¯t believe in love at first sight. Heck, I didn¡¯t believe in love at all. Yet, yet I wanted to jump into those round mounds and pummel my face in the softness of her being and live. Isn¡¯t that just lust? Well, fuck it, lust it was then! ¡°And it is not just an impulse. I sincerely love you, and always will. It will not pass.¡± I spoke the boldest I could, knowing full well, that wasn¡¯t the truth.

    ¡°Oh my¡­¡± her smile broke into an awkward laugh as she sweated and tried swatting the lock behind her, still facing me. ¡°Do you even know what you¡¯re talking about?¡±

    ¡°Yes. And I plan to take full responsibility. I will marry you, shower you with praise every day, take care of all your needs, and love you till you die and I only ask that you return my love and let me ju-hug you¡­.¡±

    She gulped, quite audibly. Great going dick, you done fucked us both¡­ Sigh.

    ¡°Well you know, women like strong men. Right now, you¡¯re just a little kid. I don¡¯t like kids.¡±

    ¡°That makes me very motivated to work hard mam.¡±

    She facepalmed herself with a sigh. ¡°I like your dad, not you¡­ sorry.¡±

    Huh.

    Wha?

    Oh¡­

    Ah¡­

    Shit.

    ¡­

    ¡­¡­

    I didn¡¯t know what happened after that but I somehow ended up in my room. Gerar had been poking my nose for a while now but I couldn¡¯t really say or do anything. Actually, I couldn¡¯t even blink properly.

    My first ever proposal, and my first ever rejection¡­ arghh!!!

    I felt like tearing my frigging hair out. ¡°Woah! Calm down,¡± Gerar held me down. ¡°What happened? You look¡­ dead¡­.¡±

    ¡°I feel dead too. Like my heart just crumbled and died.¡±

    ¡°Did you get shot down?¡±

    I sniffled, stared at him as he studied my face with amusement, and nodded.

    ¡°Oh damn, that sucks. Who did you propose to?¡±

    ¡°¡­ An older lady.¡±

    ¡°Yikes.¡±

    ¡°She said, she only likes strong men¡­¡±

    And Den wasn¡¯t even that strong! Damn it!

    ¡°Well, you could always work harder and try again.¡±

    ¡°Won¡¯t work but I¡¯ll work harder from now on¡­¡± I sniffled and wiped the tears. ¡°Thanks dude.¡±

    ¡°No problem. Thanks for the cookies.¡±

    What cookies?

    Without me knowing there was a plate of cookies on my desk and Gerar took two and left. I stared at the cookies for a few minutes before realizing they were from the teacher. The note said, ¡®I apologize for handling the situation in such a poor manner. It is unbecoming of a teacher. However, what I said were from my heart. I do not find you attractive in any way whatsoever. You are your father¡¯s son, so you¡¯ll grow up to be a wonderful man, I¡¯m sure. However, by that point, I¡¯ll be middle-aged and unworthy of your attention. Therefore, I cordially decline. I hope you understand.¡¯

    A sigh escaped. Yeah, I knew what she meant. I didn¡¯t have a shot to begin with. I was a kid, so who was I kidding. It wasn¡¯t like I was back in my teenage body or something. Actually, even in that case, it wouldn¡¯t have worked out. Yet, it still kind of stung. Let¡¯s try to not make things too awkward¡­ I mean, I still wanted to at least stare them even if I couldn¡¯t have them¡­.

 Chapter 60: Letâ€™s pretend

    To distract myself, I tried hanging around the library more. I put the books away, dusted the shelves, and often helped readers find books. At first, I thought the girls would complain why a boy was lounging around their territory freely but they didn¡¯t really complain. In fact, they were more welcoming than most boys who were jealous for some reason.

    I made little progress with the foreign letters but according to the librarian (who was now 25 and a brunette¡­ somewhat of a beauty?), I was better than the average. Yeah, I already knew that much. I did have good memory but it was nothing compared to what it was in my last life. And the more I compared my memory of this world to the previous one, the more pathetic I felt. I knew I was being hard on myself but at the same time, I just¡­ wanted to be better.

    ¡°That should be enough for today. Maybe try reading a picture book in Sea tongue,¡± she said.

    She¡¯d stopped shedding years around 20. And was slowly gaining it all back again. Apparently, she went through 20 to about 80 every two weeks. She didn¡¯t tell me the reason why and although curious I didn¡¯t probe too much.

    ¡°Will take me a while,¡± I said.

    ¡°But will be more useful than wasting all these good papers.¡±

    I found writing on paper to be far easier than on a small blackboard with chalk. That stuff was triggering all sorts of allergies. But she was right, paper was expensive and I was wasting a lot of it.

    From that day on, I limited my exposure to the outside world. I only went of the dorms twice. One, to get some exercise and two, to play with Mike and the others. I didn¡¯t really spend my entire day in my room though, rather I spent most of it in the library. I guess the library being a part of the dorms was a good thing after all.

    Mike did notice my sullen mood but he opted not to comment. He was young but he was really considerate. We were probably going to be good friends¡­ assuming he didn¡¯t betray me of course.

    Actually, I didn¡¯t trust people as easily as before. Sure, I didn¡¯t let is show, but on an instinctive level I put up a barrier between me and the rest of humanity. I had a feeling some of them noticed that. Den was probably the first to.

    Anyway, I exercised more than before and gradually increased it. I didn¡¯t want to accidentally screw my body just to satiate my urge to not cry. I also spent an extensive amount of time reading through foreign texts in the sea tongue since I wanted to visit the underwater cities one day. Reading without knowing the letters was pretty exhausting though. I had to look up letters and words almost every time. Still, I was making some progress which was good enough for me. For now at least. The same couldn¡¯t be said about the demon tongue though. That was beyond me.

    I didn¡¯t encounter Nisa or that boy. And Shia wasn¡¯t really visiting lately either. The rumors had more or less calmed down but something new was rolling. Namely, I was heartbroken. Technically that wasn¡¯t a rumor, rather, it was the truth. But people made up all sorts of fantasies about me asking this person and that person and all that; apparently, I¡¯d even asked out a guy too. I couldn¡¯t even begin to care at this point.

    So, as usual, I buried my face in books and work. And just like that, the week passed. Den didn¡¯t visit, I didn¡¯t make any significant progress in anything but things were at least moving¡­.

    Once this night ends, I¡¯m officially back to school, huh?

    ¡°Your class starts tomorrow, right?¡± Gerar opened the window. Mine was already open. ¡°And that girl is in that class?¡±This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

    Beginner classes mostly had young kids like me. But some students were older than most. ¡®It¡¯s never too late to learn¡¯ was this school¡¯s motto. It made sense in hindsight but what if you were on your deathbed? What would learning something do to you then? Not a great example but just food for thought.

    ¡°I¡¯ll be fine.¡±

    ¡°If you say so,¡± he said. ¡°I wanted to show you our practical grounds but you seemed so busy, I didn¡¯t. So, how about I take you there tomorrow?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t have any practical classes for months, so I¡¯m fine,¡± I said.

    On any given day, I was required to take two classes. But I could opt to take all four if I so desired. I had two subjects I¡¯d need to take practical classes on: One, spirit taming and two, etiquette. But the first class wasn¡¯t due for at least three months, so I was good for now.

    ¡°Okay.¡±

    During these last few days I figured some things about Gerar. The guy was nice, sure. But he hated Shia. Obviously, he didn¡¯t let it show and acted meek around her but boy did that guy hate her guts. Enough to spread rumors. Yes, this guy spread rumors about Shia. And he might have spread some rumors regarding my rejection too. Boy was I glad I didn¡¯t say who I proposed to, otherwise he¡¯d have ruined my and her life too.

    Right now, I didn¡¯t have any way stop him without antagonizing him for real, so I tried to keep our interactions to a minimum. Part of why I didn¡¯t spend too much time in my room. Gerar though, never went to class or did anything; he just spent his whole day inside his room. He sometimes visited the library every once in a while, but that was about it.

    That said, I turned in for the night and tried to sleep. Den was probably near Axel Port by now or maybe he even reached the port and was already on his way home. If everything went right, he and mom would probably go on a journey together, at least that was my guess. Sooner or later the church would find out she murdered a priest and would punish her for it. So leaving seemed like the best bet. It was also why she didn¡¯t come with me.

    Sigh.

    Let¡¯s just sleep.

    ***

    For the first time, I put on my uniform. A clean white shirt with a navy blazer and navy pants. It kind of looked like a suit but was somewhat long like an overcoat. Or maybe I¡¯m too short? Some fancy golden embroidery over the breast area and a small badge. Navy was the noble color. High nobles wore golden while commoners wore green. If you were attending classes, you were required to wear your uniform.

    This was comfortable so I didn¡¯t really mind. How would this feel in summer though, was the real question.

    I¡¯d woken up earlier than usual, finished my exercise and library duties so I was pretty much done for the day and could take all the classes I wanted. Assuming the classes weren¡¯t terrible, I planned on taking all of them. Specially that teacher, Chamille Alphonse¡¯s. She turned me down, sure. But I had no plans on making things awkward between us. And I had no plans on not stealing glances either¡­ obviously without the whole heavy breathing and ogling; discreetly as they come!

    With all that in mind, I went into the first academic building, slowly traced my steps to the fourth floor and searched my way into one particular classroom. Half full, still some time before the first class. I didn¡¯t see anyone I knew and the first seat was empty, so I took it; the seats were wide so four kids could sit as long as they were okay with rubbing shoulders. Moments later a kid walked up to me. ¡°That¡¯s Arom¡¯s seat. You shouldn¡¯t sit there.¡±

    A lot of kids were looking my way. Not just kids, there were some adults mixed in too. Almost all of them were commoners but some were nobles. No high nobles so far.

    ¡°Are seats reserved for students?¡± I asked. It was merely curiosity.

    Yet, the kid¡¯s face paled as he slowly backed off. The fuck? As time went on, the classroom filled and eventually I noticed two familiar faces. One, Mike. We were in the same class I guess. I inwardly screamed YESHH. And the second¡­ that fat kid from before. Our eyes met and he grumpily made his way to me. He glared down, wait no, he was just tall. ¡°He-hey,¡± I said.

    Was this his seat? Was that why the other kid warned me? Why am I so thickheaded sometimes?

    ¡°You¡¯re in this class too?¡± He said, taking his seat next to me. He took literally half of the bench space all by himself. impressive¡­.

    Nodding to myself I moved a little to my left. ¡°Yeah.¡± I didn¡¯t really see him the first day, or maybe I wasn¡¯t paying attention.

    Before long, Mike took his seat on my left and the three of us started conversing. What were we talking about? I had no idea. I just nodded¡­ and smiled.

    ¡°Take your seats,¡± Miss Chamille came in, set down some papers on her table, eyed me once and started taking attendance. She wasn¡¯t fazed at all.

    Let¡¯s pretend I¡¯m not either.

 Chapter 61: The guild of all guilds

The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.

 Chapter 62: Is This A Date?

    Busy streets.

    Just the two of us. Like lovers. I say lovers because Mike for some reason was bashful as hell as he walked by my side. ¡°Is this your first time out here?¡± I asked, unable to suppress my curiosity.

    He flashed me a creepy grin. ¡°Without guards? Yeah.¡±

    No wonder dude was excited like a girl on her way to prom. Anyway, ¡°Do keep an eye out. We don¡¯t know who might have ill intentions.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I get it,¡± he said.

    Did he though? Our destination was the main building of the adventurer¡¯s guild. We didn¡¯t really come to take on any jobs. We were merely going to familiarize ourselves. I would take lessons from Mike, practice and once I was confident in my abilities, I would start with small jobs sometime next month or maybe a few months down the line depending on my progress. This wasn¡¯t a game. I wasn¡¯t going to get a retry if I failed. So I had to take everything seriously even if it meant I was moving at a snail¡¯s pace. But the more I thought I would, the laxer my attitude got.

    I guess I didn¡¯t really recover from that rejection, huh?

    ¡°How many churches does this city have?¡± I asked, my vision occupied with a particular building. We¡¯d merely walked half a kilometer and already seen over half a dozen churches. Small ass buildings, but they were still churches regardless.

    ¡°Close to fifty? You¡¯d be surprised how even the most unreligious start praying when things go wrong.¡±

    The houses so far have been the fancy kind. I guess most of the wealthy bunch stayed in these parts.

    ¡°Nope, not surprised at all.¡±

    I distinctly remember praying to God ¡®somehow fix all my problems¡¯. I¡¯d wish for him to make me taller, give me a better face and even¡­ he never gave me anything though. I was damn close to declaring myself as an atheist at one point, having fed up with God and his bullshit. Actually, I might have claimed I was an atheist as some point in my life too.

    Kind of ironic, huh?

    Snorting, the two of us passed the people by. There were hundreds of people here on the road. Kind of crowded but kind of not. Students were also out and most of the shops here sold fresh produce and meat. Students who could cook probably shopped here.

    ¡°How much are these?¡± I asked, noticing a particular fruit¡­ Honeycrisps!

    Most just medium and small. None of the large ones. Oh wait, you could only find the large one in the capital.

    ¡°Five silver a piece,¡± the vendor said.

    The fuck? I could have sworn you could buy a whole dozen large Honeycrisps from the capital city no less, with that kind of money! ¡°How come they¡¯re so expensive?¡± I asked. And they didn¡¯t even look that good, kind of unripe!

    ¡°They¡¯re imported straight from the green city.¡±

    Huh¡­ so they didn¡¯t grow here? Hmmm¡­ ¡°You threw these away?¡± I asked, staring at the trash pile.

    ¡°Those are vile. Wouldn¡¯t recommend eating them. I could just sell you some of the stuff that¡¯s about to go bad for cheap, if you want.¡±

    ¡°How low can you go?¡±

    ¡°Two silvers. That¡¯s how much I bought them with.¡±

    I was tempted to buy one. But I could basically live a whole week with that kind of money.

    ¡°I¡¯ll buy one,¡± Mike said. Apparently, he wanted to buy me one.You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

    ¡°Don¡¯t, I¡¯ll feel bad.¡±

    ¡°Then how about we pay 1 silver each?¡±

    I sighed. That was still a lot of money. Roughly 5 meals. But- ¡°Okay.¡±

    So, we bought a Honeycrisp from his ¡®about to go bad¡¯ pile. I personally ravaged through the whole bag and found a decent one. We used the vendor¡¯s knife to cut it open and share the fruit.

    Not as good nor sweet as I remembered; kind of soft and not in a good way. But it still reminded me of home¡­ ¡°Delicious¡­¡± I mumbled.

    ¡°I¡¯ve had better,¡± Mike said. ¡°But yeah, I always liked the flavor of this fruit.¡±

    ¡°Hey, can I keep these seeds?¡± I asked the vendor, pointing at his trash pile.

    ¡°Feel free.¡±

    He provided me a bag free of charge. Apparently, he was meaning to throw that away too. Lucky me, I guess. Though I had a feeling he was merely taking pity on me.

    If these things were going to grow, people would have already grown them. So why the hell was I taking them with me? I honestly didn¡¯t know. Yet, I wanted to. Was it hope perhaps that I¡¯d find a way?

    Or was it just me doing something for the sake of doing it? I wasn¡¯t sure.

    But anyway, ¡°It¡¯s still far, huh?¡± I said.

    ¡°Yeah, we have a long way to go.¡±

    You could take jobs from any sub branch but in order to register you had to show your face at the main building.

    And the main building was closer to the entrance of the city. Sigh¡­.

    ***

    After hours of walking, we finally neared the main building. During our short journey, I saw countless people going about their days. But no, that wasn¡¯t the issue. Rather, I saw plenty of sketchy figures going about and eyeing me. And almost all of the sketchy figures were¡­ somewhat familiar. So all bad guys here are family¡­ Sigh.

    No wait, maybe the Barack family did things differently and were just looking out for me to honor Den? No, they probably had better things to do.

    Anyway, finally we made it to the guild main building. Large two-story building with d¨¦cor and a signboard stating ¡®you need it, we got it!¡¯ It¡¯s not like you¡¯re a Home Depot or something.

    The door was open. I was expecting to find lots of burly macho men inside. But instead, I was met with loads and loads of teenagers. Hot blooded ready to rebel, huh? I was like that once. Always thinking I had some sort of secret power that would manifest one night and it¡¯d solve all my damn problems. Well, that sure didn¡¯t happen. But I did get beaten up by several upper classmen for fun though. Fun for who? Definitely not me.

    ¡°That¡¯s the register,¡± I said.

    ¡°I know,¡± Mike said. ¡°Let¡¯s go and register,¡± he said.

    ¡°I already did.¡±

    ¡°I did too.¡±

    Then why the fuck were we coming here? I remember the conversation I had with him. he wanted to come here. SO, I assumed he wasn¡¯t registered¡­. Sigh, I guess he assumed the same. ¡°Okay, so we had some miscommunication¡­¡± But, ¡°Well, we could at least take a look at the jobs.¡±

    ¡°Yeah,¡± he smiled, embarrassed.

    He could make that face too, huh? Wait¡­ doesn¡¯t this feel like¡­ date? I shook my head vigorously. Nope, he¡¯s a guy, get over it.

    Most of the jobs were cat quests.

    <ul>

    <li>Find My Naked Cat</li>

    </ul>

    Looks like a black cat, but is naked without fur. Likes pastry and scratching noses.

    Reward: Four Copper Coins

    Finding a naked cat in a city this big for four Copper? Also, all cats are naked!  Who would be stupid enough- before I could finish my mental gymnastics, someone snatched the poster and went over to the reception. I looked over the other jobs and they paid even less. Three Copper seemed to be the average.

    On the contrary, finding dogs seemed easier and more rewarding. Average pay was 7 Copper. I¡¯d need to do four distinct jobs in order to earn enough money to buy one almost bad Honeycrisp¡­ sigh.

    Some jobs did pay well but¡­

    <ul>

    <li>Church Cleaners Required</li>

    </ul>

    Open to students and part-timers but you must be of good faith. Must help keep the West Minister Church clean 4 days a week.

    Reward: 1~4 silver daily.

    ¡°Not bad,¡± Mike took the job in hand. ¡°What?¡± He tilted his head quizzically.

    ¡°I¡­uh, don¡¯t like the church.¡±

    His eyebrows rose a bit but he smiled. ¡°Me neither,¡± he whispered. ¡°But, we gotta do what we gotta do to survive, right?¡±

    No, seriously, kids in this world were so damn mature. Meanwhile, some adults were stupid as fuck.

    We went to the reception to get a better idea of the request. Apparently, this particular church was bigger than the ones we saw but was stuck in a rather bad part of the town. And was rundown¡­.

    ¡°The pay is good,¡± the receptionist said. ¡°But I wouldn¡¯t recommend going there. That place is under those Barack Hooligans. And lady of the Baracks...¡± She cleared her throat. ¡°Let¡¯s just say, I wouldn¡¯t recommend going there.¡±

    ¡°Oh, so basically your mother runs the place? Oh, I see, that¡¯s why you didn¡¯t like that church,¡± Mike said.

    ¡°Mother¡­¡± The receptionist paused. ¡°You-you¡¯re lord Barack¡¯s? I mean¡­ Soler Barack, the first son,¡± her voice trailed off. ¡°There goes my paycheck¡­¡± She mumbled.

    ¡°Sorry miss, did you say anything? I whacked my head earlier and me ears be ringing,¡± I said. ¡°Oh, and you said something about recommending this church? Or was it the otherwise?¡± I intentionally raised my voice just a little.

    ¡°Totally recommended!!!¡± She smiled, forced. ¡°IT¡¯S AN AMAZING PLACE! YOUR MOTHER IS THE MOST BEAUTIFUL LADY THERE IS!!!¡±

    ¡°True that,¡± I smiled.

    Boy oh boy was I getting stared at!

    Anyway, I didn¡¯t want to take the job but given the circumstances, I had to. I¡¯ll quit right after, I guess.

 Chapter 63: Scary

    The church was located in the shabby part of the town. I¡¯d already visited that place and I knew my way around. I saw many mean looking people on my way, and for some odd reason they all nodded at me.

    Almost feels like I¡¯m committing a crime¡­ Wait, could it be¡­ could it be that they were nodding at me so I¡¯d lead Mike to them and- Oh no¡­. ¡°Are you sure you want to go there?¡± I said. ¡°I might have acted like I wanted to work in front of the guild lady but-¡±

    ¡°Well, I kind of just wanted to meet your mother. See how she was and all. If you¡¯re uncomfortable, we can go back.¡±

    ¡°Yeah I am kinda-¡± I froze.

    A lady came over. I knew her. The barely clothed lady. ¡°Good morning, Lord Soler. Your classmate I presume?¡±

    ¡°Yes. We¡¯re here to visit the West Minister Church. I heard they were hiring cleaners¡­.¡±

    ¡°Cleaning duty? But my lord, you¡¯re the first son of the Barrack family!¡±

    ¡°But she¡¯s helping there too, right? Besides, it is a noble cause!¡±

    What the fuck am I even saying!

    ¡°Very well then, follow me.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re easily influenced, huh?¡± Mike whispered.

    You¡¯re the last person I want to hear that from!

    Took us a few minutes but we reached the church area. It was in the middle of a slum. There were people everywhere, just sprawled on the ground. Some on top of mats or cloths, while others just lounging on the solid ground. Some of them had something fancy called a tent. The smell was as you¡¯d expect; profoundly nauseating.

    Luckily the church was kind of far from the guild main building while also being close to the academy, albeit still being half an hour away on foot. Not to mention I¡¯d have to come through this shady area.

    As I walked past the crowd of malnourished people, their eyes glanced at me, darted around before going lifeless again, uninterested.

    ¡°Weren¡¯t most people here just students and their parents?¡± I asked.

    ¡°Yes, but not everyone can pay tuition. And not everyone¡¯s parents live forever,¡± she said. ¡°Besides, we get our fair share of refugees and they¡­¡±

    So when luck fucks you over, you end up like this? The nearest city was about three days of journey away. On a carriage you could probably cover the distance in a single day. So, these people didn¡¯t have the means to do even that? Or maybe they didn¡¯t have the will to.

    Maybe some of them had run from home, came here for a better life but instead got fucked. Now they could no longer go back. If somehow, I ended up screwed in my previous life, I probably would have been like this too. I probably would have never gone back home even if I lost everything¡­.

    ¡°That¡¯s the church,¡± the lady said. ¡°Lady Alayla should be inside.¡±

    ¡°Thank you very much,¡± I said.

    ¡°Of course, my lord!¡± She left with a smile.

    She¡¯d been treating me kindly but I¡¯m sure she knew I wasn¡¯t part of the Barack family. These people can act pretty well¡­ I didn¡¯t even know her name though.

    They said this church was one of the biggest of the town but it was pretty rundown. One story building with a dome on top and some pillars barely holding down the building. Some parts of the walls were missing. It looked more like Greek ruins than an actual church. People live here?

    ¡°It¡¯s not going to break down or anything, right?¡± I mumbled.

    ¡°Let¡¯s hope not,¡± Mike said.

    I almost knocked on the door but opted not to. The wall next to the door had a large hole, so we went through that instead. ¡°Anyone here,¡± I said.This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

    Like a Christian church, this place had some seats. There was an alter at the very end and some glass windows above, on the dome. Very reminiscent of the churches I was familiar with. However, there were scales and paintings of dragons everywhere. Specially the windows above.

    Two women stared our way. One had a nun uniform while the other¡­ a priest. Just staring at her and that dark suit reminded me of certain stuff from the past.

    ¡°Yes?¡± The Nun said.

    ¡°We¡¯re here on a cleaning quest,¡± I flashed the paper. ¡°We haven¡¯t accepted the quest. We¡¯re merely here to get details about what we¡¯d actually be doing.¡±

    ¡°Shouldn¡¯t you greet your mother first?¡± Mike whispered.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know which one is, I¡¯m only half you see,¡± I whispered.

    ¡°Oh¡­¡± He cleared his throat. ¡°Micheal Chewbosky, Second Son of Duke Arale,¡± he said.

    Duke? As in¡­ fuck. Wait, you were Important all along! The fuck! And wait, wasn¡¯t Duke Arale like the most prominent Sovereign of the east port?

    I didn¡¯t know jackshit about nobles and titles but even I knew about that guy!

    I sniffed hard and could have sworn there was snot leaking out. The eyes turned to me. ¡°So-Soler A. Barack¡­¡±

    The priest came close, gently knelt down and dragged me to her chest. ¡°I thought you¡¯d come sooner,¡± she mumbled, wiping my nose with a handkerchief. On a closer inspection, I did see some resemblance to Shia. Chestnut hair, a beautiful face and really amazing figure. You wouldn¡¯t be able to tell she had kids. ¡°And job well done,¡± she whispered and winked.

    What job?

    She gave Mike a glance and turned back to me. ¡°So, you¡¯ll be cleaning from today, right?¡±

    And wait¡­ wait, she was a priest? Like an actual priest?

    Doesn¡¯t that mean I¡¯m fucked?

    ***

    Our work was simple enough. We just had to keep the floor clean. There was one tiny problem though. The walls kept on drizzling dust everywhere. I¡¯d been told the walls would hold for at least a century longer. It¡¯s literally falling down, mam.

    Apparently, they were using a magical device to hold the place together. But said device couldn¡¯t keep the dust out, so they had to clean the place regularly. That¡¯s why they needed helpers. Since the academy was half an hour away, I could always just come here running in the morning instead of just jogging around the academy. Mike wanted to do the same but I didn¡¯t want him to. He still took the job though.

    ¡°You sure about this? You¡¯re technically a very high ranked noble and stuff,¡± I said.

    ¡°Who cares about that crap? Besides, wasn¡¯t it you who said ranks shouldn¡¯t matter in our friendship? Also, I believe you said cleaning the church is a noble cause and stuff.¡± Dude really had me there.

    Yeah, that¡¯s because I thought you were a commoner and would have hated me for being a noble and acting like one¡­ anyway- ¡°Glad to hear that!¡±

    We were going to be paid 1 silver every time we showed up and cleaned the place. If we came again in the afternoon, we¡¯d be paid 2 silver a day. That means if I kept doing this 4 days a week for a month, I¡¯d earn 16-17 silvers. That was more than what the library was paying me. Combined I¡¯d have about 30 gold at the end of the year. Still 20 short of tuition and lodgings. Not to mention I had to worry about food. Maybe I can come in three times? No, their budget was four silvers to begin with.

    My head was clouded with thoughts but I kept my arms and hips moving and dusted and wiped the whole place. I lived alone for quite a few years and had a habit of keeping my room clean after randomly catching chronic bronchitis from my garbage filled room. So, this was an easy-ish job. Especially because there weren¡¯t any people here. Apparently, people prayed 3 days a week, the days I didn¡¯t have cleaning duty. Of course, some pious people prayed almost every day but those were rare. This meant there wouldn¡¯t be that many disturbances in this job.

    Meanwhile, Mike had a hard time getting the hang of things. I suppose he never spent time learning how to clean. He was the son of a Duke, so he probably had loads of servants and stuff. He was trying hard though. Commendable if nothing else.

    ¡°Speaking of money,¡± Alayla had shiny coins in her hand. ¡°How much is your allowance right now? I forgot to give Sharmon his allowance, so maybe he didn¡¯t give you much?¡±

    Hmm¡­ was she giving him allowance? The what? Wasn¡¯t Slovenian nobility a patriarchy? Or maybe Mrs. Barack just did things differently. Well, while he is lazing around, his wife is working, so maybe¡­.

    ¡°I¡¯m not taking any allowance, part of why I¡¯m trying to work-¡± I shut up.

    Alayla glared down at me. She really did. ¡°That imbecile,¡± she sighed. ¡°Take these. Must have been hard to live on barely nothing,¡± she gave me a pouch full of coins. All silver. About thirty. That¡¯s more than the whole¡¯s months salary!

    ¡°I can-can¡¯t take this. Besides, Shia was buying me lunch every now and then and-¡±

    ¡°Oh you two get along, nice,¡± She smiled and brushed my hair with her hand. Her smile ceased as she grabbed my hair gently. Eyes came close, they were quite open. ¡°Take the money, eat, exercise, study and live proud like a noble; I have high expectations from you. Working at the church is a noble duty so I¡¯ll allow it. But don¡¯t do anything stupid,¡± she emphasized, moved back and smiled. ¡°Understood?¡±

    If I said no, will she gut me? Because I got the same impression from serial killers¡­ and I might or might not have been friends with one. Come to think of it-

    ¡°Yes Mother.¡±

    ¡°Good.¡±

    What the fuck? This woman reminded me of my birthmother, that woman was oppressive too. But she wasn¡¯t this scary!

    Mike took his payment, and with that we were out of the damn church. I breath a heavy sigh of relief as I traced my feet outta there.

    ¡°I can see why you didn¡¯t want to come here. Honestly man, she¡¯s scarier than my mother.¡±

    ¡°Yeah¡­¡±

    Sigh¡­ I missed Lin.

 Chapter 64: Assassins?

    So, I made some precious discoveries. One, as long as I worked decently well, I could make enough money to live here indefinitely thanks to my connections. Two, Mike was the second son of a Duke and he didn¡¯t like the church but he wanted to prove daddy wrong, part of why he didn¡¯t wear the high noble uniform and just stuck to navy. As long as I can convince him, operation ¡®Screw Askavan¡¯ was a go. And three¡­ there was a problem.

    How was I going to convince Mike, the son of a Duke to abandon his beliefs and start something new with me? Sure, we became fast friends. But what would stop him from betraying me?

    Hmm¡­ it can¡¯t be my idea then.

    With all that in mind, I carefully laid my plans out. First, I¡¯d spend nearly all day with him and get close. Second, I¡¯d slowly mention how maybe ¡®doing this¡¯ or ¡®doing that¡¯ would have been better for the church. And then eventually, I¡¯ll hint on how we could influence the church once we were older or something.  Of course, reality wouldn¡¯t be that simple. Plans would fall apart and maybe our friendship wouldn¡¯t go far enough for me to use him. But in the end, I could just start over with maybe Nisa.

    And who knows, if I waited a year, maybe some prince or princess would come to study here.

    ¡°Focus!¡± Mike yelled.

    I¡¯d been practicing thrusting with him every evening. We went to the church together at morning, cleaned up the place; Mike took things seriously and was getting decent at cleaning and often stayed behind to learn more! I came back and attended classes. We played in the early afternoon, cleaned the church again in the late afternoon and practiced in the evening. Once done, I went back to the dorms, caught a break and then moved to the library to clean the place. I didn¡¯t show up for morning cleaning sessions but since I was studying and learning how to read the Sea tongue at a fairly decent rate, the librarian didn¡¯t say anything. She was back to her old age and steadily losing the years again.

    ¡°Focus Sol, focus. What are ya doing,¡± Mike smacked my but with his spear handle and sighed. ¡°When thrusting ya got to move your legs and upper body and always stay vigilant!¡± When we were around nobles, Mike would use proper language, when it was just the two of us or our friends, he would always resort to country side language. Where the hell did he even pick that up?

    He wasn¡¯t a great teacher but he was at least trying. I couldn¡¯t say the same about Den. That dude didn¡¯t give me any instruction- no wait, he did teach me how to use the bow. I didn¡¯t have time to actually use it though.

    ¡°Do you know how to use a bow, Mike?¡±

    ¡°Nope. Impractical for me.¡±

    ¡°Hmm¡­¡±

    Maybe I¡¯ll practice with that every now and then.Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.

    I just had a long pole but Mike had an actual spear. Kind of crude but it looked heavy. Yet he moved it around with ease. This guy would eventually grow up to be a literal monster, that was for sure. I was glad he was my friend.

    The sun set and the campus lit up with Magical Devices. Some of the students were going back to their homes, some to the dorms. ¡°Do you live in the dorms, Mike?¡± Usually, he kept on practicing for hours longer. I never saw him leave before me.

    ¡°No, I have an apartment over there,¡± Mike pointed. We could actually see the building. It was dark but I could tell the building was big. Three floors. And looked pretty good too. ¡°I¡¯m on the third floor. It¡¯s pretty spacious.¡±

    ¡°Oh, cool.¡±

    ¡°If you¡¯re ever in a bind, you¡¯re welcome to stay-¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s cool. I appreciate the thought. See you tomorrow?¡±

    ¡°Yeah!¡±

    We fist bumped and I headed off to the dorms. It¡¯d been a week since classes started but I already made a lot of progress with both Mike and the money-making business. If things kept going at this rate, I¡¯d be able to-

    Oh¡­ fuck.

    Blood. There was blood before me. A kid was lying there on the grass, as fresh blood spilled out of the three distinct streaks on his back.

    ¡°ARGHHH!!!¡± A kid screamed. Followed by some others. They all surrounded the corpse and although some did stare at me, none accused me. I mean, I just came here.

    But¡­ Someone died here¡­. Someone with hopes and dreams like me. Someone with goals in life. And someone¡­ with family, and perhaps someone to go back to. And it could have been me.

    In a split second the world clouded over. Yeah, this was a new world¡­ this was a cruel, unforgiving world.

    And there was no redo.

    ***

    We didn¡¯t find out who the murderer was but it was said a giant Panther had killed the boy. Judging by the massive claw marks I saw on its back, I didn¡¯t doubt their claim; but if it was a Panther, where the hell was it?

    I was one of the first to notice the dead body so they questioned me thoroughly but since I saw nothing, that led to nowhere.

    Gerar had warned me about a black cat but it was a panther? And hadn¡¯t he said the thing was harmless?

    Then what the hell?

    We had a new curfew in the dorms. Students were no longer permitted to out after the afternoon. There went my evening practices. How long would this curfew last? I had no idea but Shia came to visit one evening and told me some things. Apparently, she¡¯d seen the cat a few days prior and it wasn¡¯t feeling good.

    ¡°I¡¯m telling you, they¡¯re just overreacting. That cat never harmed anyone before,¡± she said, entering my room. ¡°And given how sick it was, I doubt it could have done anything to begin with.¡±

    Calling a Panther a cat was pretty brutal but oh well. ¡°But now it has. I saw the marks sis. They were definitely from claws.¡±

    ¡°But cats aren¡¯t the only thing with claws you know. There are many mercenaries who use claws as their primary weapon. Some assassins too.¡± Shia made herself comfortable on my bed, legs crossed. I took a seat on my chair instead.

    ¡°But why would anyone kill-¡±

    Why would anyone kill a student? The moment I was about to ask the question, various possibilities surfaced.

    ¡°He probably had a bounty on his head. This place is safe for nobles and commoners. But what if you pissed off an arrogant noble back home or a brat here? They couldn¡¯t do anything to you at school but they could very well hire assassins and, you can guess the rest.¡±

    ¡°Huh¡­¡± She was damn right. ¡°Guess, I¡¯ll keep that in mind.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, the Barack family will protect you. I mean, we wouldn¡¯t want to kill one of our own,¡± leaning closer, she whispered and giggled. ¡°And most hired help knows who not to mess with.¡± She winked.

    Wait, wait, wait¡­ did she just imply¡­ We have assassins in our family! And hired help? So they collaborated with each other and stuff?

    Holy shit this family was scary as fuck. What did you even get me into Den?

 Chapter 65: Fruity Endeavors

    Despite the scary premonitions, my daily life continued as usual. I got up, exercised, went to church, came back, studied like hell, hung around the library, went back to church, came back, hung around the library and cleaned it and repeat!

    My relationship with Mike had been progressing smoothly. I even managed to get some non-committing comments from him like ¡®how he¡¯d force the church to acknowledge the poor folks¡¯ once he got power. What sort of power? He had no idea. He kind of didn¡¯t want to inherit his father¡­.

    Meanwhile, the same couldn¡¯t be said about Nisa. I didn¡¯t even see her these days. Sometimes Jack hung around. We didn¡¯t have much in common but he seemed like a chill dude. That size difference was pretty odd though. Odd because I never really saw him eat much. Perhaps it was an illness of sort or maybe genetic? Or maybe he was eating loads in his room or something.

    Anyway, my rumors had mostly died down and these days I was seen as a good kid. A good kid you weren¡¯t supposed to mess with. If you did, his brute of a family would come for you and stuff.

    They really love spouting weird shit. The weird shit was going to be pretty real though if someone did end up messing with me¡­.

    I had some free time this afternoon. One of my free days with no church activity. Of course, Mrs. Alayla still expected me to show up and that was part of why I had to go there every day despite not really having any work. Sigh. But today I took a free leave and here I was, carrying some rotten manure in a bucket and some seeds. The seeds in particular looked like apple seeds and the tree was also like an apple¡¯s. Actually, even the fruit looked like an apple! Tasted like peach though.

    Honeycrisps.

    They didn¡¯t grow here, in the cold climate. So, I was taking them somewhere special. After having a long conversation with Miss Chamille, she directed me to the Herbal Club. Apparently, there was a circle in this academy that specialized in rare herb growing. I wasn¡¯t sure if they would help me with my fruity endeavors but we¡¯d cross the bridge when we got there.

    All circle activities happened off campus in private houses. And the Herbal Club wasn¡¯t an exception. Their headquarters was just south of Mike¡¯s house. I never really went over to Mike¡¯s place but I knew which one. Dude never stopped boasting about how he had plenty of rooms and they were just being wasted and all that. Yeah, I got that he had a big house but he didn¡¯t have to brag and all!

    Is this the place?

    An ordinary house. I didn¡¯t see any gardens or even grass here, let alone rare herbs. Maybe I was in the wrong place? Maybe I read the map wrong and it¡¯s on the other side of town?

    ¡°Woah!¡± I almost crashed into someone, a girl.

    ¡°Hey there,¡± she said, bending down a bit. Tall girl, light brown hair, probably fifteen? ¡°Looking for something?¡±

    Most of her features were hidden behind a hood but I could tell- she was a beaut.

    ¡°The Herbal Club.¡±

    ¡°Oh, you¡¯re at the right place. Come with me.¡± She grabbed my hand and led me forward.

    Ordinarily my danger sensors would be tingling and stuff and I¡¯d have run away. But I didn¡¯t feel any malice from this girl, not that I had that kind of power to begin with. I also felt some familiarity? Maybe I¡¯m just tired?

    Or maybe I¡¯d become too lax lately because I considered this place safe.

    She knocked on the door, some minutes later we went in. Warm orange lighting. Not just the lighting, the temperature was shockingly warm in here. About ten degrees higher.

    ¡°So, you want to join our club?¡± She said.

    I didn¡¯t see any other members and I didn¡¯t see any herbs. It looked like an ordinary house, if nothing else. They had a maid though. A real-life maid! Sadly, she didn¡¯t have animal ears or large tits. Instead, she was just an old lady. Sigh.Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

    Still a maid though¡­.

    ¡°Yes, assuming I can grow a tree.¡±

    ¡°Tree? Not herbs?¡±

    ¡°Yes, a tree. A Honeycrisp tree to be specific.¡±

    She put a hand on her cheek. ¡°That would be problematic.¡± She walked towards the stairs. Strangely there were two sets of stairs. One leading up, one leading down. We took the one going down. ¡°See?¡±

    It was bright in here. Bright like a warm summer day bright. I didn¡¯t feel the intense burn of the sun but I did feel amazing. And there was a breeze, guiding the flowers and the herbs and the-

    Wait, what?

    What was going on-? ¡°Magical device?¡± And probably not just one.

    ¡°Yes, but it¡¯s a secret. Part of why we keep it here.¡±

    In about a 4x4 or 16 square meter area, there were hundreds of plants. Growing lush. Grass mixed in, the gentle atmosphere reminded me of home¡­ our open fields. Ah, a wave of nostalgia hit me as I pictured myself crumbling down on the grass after a long day of training. I¡¯d go back home, mom would wait for me with a bowl of soup.

    Can I ever get those days back?

    ¡°And you¡¯re sure you should be telling me that?¡±

    ¡°Well, you¡¯re lord Barack¡¯s son. He¡¯s one of our patrons, you see. Your family loves our poison lilies.¡±

    Uh-huh.

    ¡°Ah, I see.¡± I cleared my throat. ¡°Sorry for the late introductions. Soler A. Barack. I might not join your club but thank you for showing me around.¡±

    ¡°Now, now, don¡¯t be too hasty. I said it would be problematic but I never said it would be impossible.¡± She smiled. ¡°And it¡¯s Baron Anya Borges by the way.¡±

    Baron? Borges? Wait¡­ wait, what! ¡°You¡¯re Den¡¯s-¡± Come to think of it, she had long ears hidden in that hood of hers. And that beautiful but petite figure-

    No fucking wonder I felt a familiarity.

    ¡°I¡¯m his cousin, third removed,¡± she giggled.

    You couldn¡¯t have told me before leaving? No wait, maybe he wanted to stay the week to introduce me to various people and¡­ sigh. But wait Den was from a noble family? Wow. And here I was wondering how he knew so many people in high places. But couldn¡¯t he have just, wait no, he couldn¡¯t. His cousin was a Baron, while the Baracks were a viscount family. To protect myself, the viscount rank had way better odds. Dude really wanted to help me till the end.

    I smiled awkwardly. ¡°Then you know.¡±

    ¡°More or less¡­¡± She shrugged. ¡°And don¡¯t worry, I love Honeycrisp too! It¡¯s too expensive here and barely has any taste. Let¡¯s create the most wonderful fruit in existence!¡± She grabbed my hand and we jumped around.

    What in the actual fuck am I even doing?

    Welp, anything for a good peach!

    ***

    We had four seeds.

    So, we had four shots. The first experiment involved trying to sprout them outside. The second, inside. We would use two seeds each and test things out. There had been attempts to grow Honeycrisps on this continent but we didn¡¯t have any written records, so we were on our own.

    Obviously, this was going to be a lengthy process so I would have to come here regularly to keep a tab.

    I went back three days later but got nothing. Seven days later there was some bad news. Apparently, some damn squirrel stole one of the seeds. We moved the other one to the basement. Nine days in, one of them sprouted. There had been records of seeds sprouting in the west but they never really made it past the first week.

    12 days in, all three sprouted and the first one even had two true leaves. 15 days later, the first one wasn¡¯t doing too well. The other two seemed to be doing fine though. Hopefully they¡¯d survive.

    18 days later, all three died.

    And that concluded our experiments. Or would have if Anya hadn¡¯t bought more seeds. She¡¯d bought 12. She hadn¡¯t planted them before since we needed some starting data beforehand.

    ¡°They sprout but then perish once their true leaves settle in. Makes me think we¡¯re missing some key nutrients,¡± Anya said.

    ¡°Like what? I¡¯m sure rotted manure has everything.¡±

    ¡°Perhaps but¡­ maybe the environment is lacking.¡±

    The temperature and care weren¡¯t the issue. Then how would the environ- ¡°Fiends,¡± I mumbled. ¡°Back home in the forest, there were thousands of low ranked fiends. They weren¡¯t aggressive, so I guess you could call them spirits instead.¡± And fiends possessed odd mana, which they took in from the environment and gave back.

    ¡°Ah, spirits. You¡¯re right. Luckily, I have a pet cat spirit,¡± she said, calling the little guy out. Orange cat. ¡°Lucas!¡± Looked dumb.

    But the cat could understand words and so, we tasked the guy to watch over the potted seeds; its job was to tap the pots with its tail every now and then and if possible, dangle some mana (Spirits could do that). We potted 4 just like the last time.

    I came back a week later to find all of them fully sprouted and with true leaves too. And another week later, we had actual seedlings that weren¡¯t dying. And yes, this phase had also been achieved before albeit in a rather grand setting at the royal palace. But we achieved it relatively easily, so a success.

    The real problem was, how were we going to grow them here? Eventually we¡¯d have to move them to the outside and they¡¯d die there. Honeycrisps bloom in winter and ripe in spring. But here, winter was cold and so the southern trees never bloomed.

    ¡°This is still a major success,¡± Anya said.

    ¡°Yup.¡± Well, we still had more seeds and all the time in the world!

    Probably not though.

 Chapter 66: Who With The What

    While I was busy with my fruity endeavors, a lot of things happened at school.

    Let¡¯s turn back time for two weeks. One evening I was coming back from the church. It was a little late. An old man at the church just wouldn¡¯t stop talking and wouldn¡¯t let me go. He was babbling on and on for hours about how exciting it was when he was younger and now everything just feels dull and all that shit; he even went on to claim he regretted not taking a major risk and instead played it safe; he regretted it to the point that he wanted me to take every decision seriously. Thanks to him, I was late and past my curfew.

    I was probably going to be chewed on by the dorm keeper. That would have been fine.

    But instead, I met someone or rather something on my way back. A being of darkness.

    Cat.

    Not just any cat.

    A fucking black panther!

    Giant Turquoise eyes. Majestic black fur and those tall ass legs.

    Oh, I¡¯m so dead.

    Or so I thought but the cat wasn¡¯t even remotely aggressive. It looked at me, tail all swirled up. I carefully passed by while it licked itself. Poor cat had a festering wound on its leg.

    Some steps later I looked back and the thing was gone. Breathing a sigh of relief, I made it to the dorm and explained my situation to the guard. He let me in and promised not to tell the dorm keeper. But that hag still somehow found out and hammered me for an hour. I told her I met the Panther and nothing happened. She wasn¡¯t really surprised. Apparently, that cat had been here for the last decade or so but never harmed anyone. It was infamous for stealing food though.

    Gerar was right as was Shia. In hindsight at least.

    I rested on my bed for an hour, thinking. Lately things were okay. But at this rate progress would eventually stagger. Although I didn¡¯t really make much progress with the spear, I did get better at the bow. I remembered what Den taught me and as long as I focused and practiced, I got better albeit slowly. I couldn¡¯t hold a candle to people who were gifted in archery but I was definitely getting better. But if I no longer had time to master one of the few things that I already knew, I was definitely going to fall far below average. Den said I had a head start and could use that to my advantage. I was the first son of a viscount here so that gave me the benefit of the doubt.

    But eventually people would find out I was powerless. Eventually people would signal me out. And that would mean the end of me and everything we¡¯d built. All our efforts would be for naught. And that was the last thing I wanted.

    I have to find a way.

    It wasn¡¯t a month yet but I could always request some practical lessons on things. I was paying a hell of a lot of tuition, so the least the academy could do was teach me all sorts of things. Even if it meant I had a higher chance of being exposed, I just had to take a lot of risks and actually get better.

    With that in mind, I went to the library for our cleaning session; I grabbed some quick dinner beforehand. It was too early to start cleaning, so I just helped some students find books.

    ¡°Umm¡­ Sol?¡± a girl called me over. I had no idea how she knew my name or why she was addressing me like she knew me personally and stuff but she seemed to be wearing a blue outfit so she was a noble I suppose.

    ¡°Yes?¡± She dragged me over to the girl¡¯s side and before long I was surrounded by girls. ¡°How can I help you.¡± I spoke cautiously.

    Five girls. All double my height.Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

    ¡°We¡¯re looking for this book,¡± the leader of the group gave me a paper. I looked at the title once and immediately knew why they were being shy.

    I cleared my thought. ¡°You¡¯ll find this on the top floor, second shelf, very bottom; I doubt anyone would care but you can use the far left table on the third floor if you don¡¯t want attention.¡±

    ¡°Thanks!¡±

    The group left. Well, I suppose they¡¯re at that age¡­ grinning to myself I made my way out of the girls¡¯ side only to find a group of boys obstructing my view this time. Teenage boys. I suppose they were also looking for some hot and steamy stuff. Too bad most romance or steamy books in this library were catered to the girls.

    ¡°Something wrong, guys?¡±

    ¡°What were you doing over there Mr. Barack?¡±

    ¡°Nothing much. They wanted to find a book.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sure they could have just asked the librarian.¡±

    ¡°Well, I¡¯m technically also a librarian.¡±

    They ground their teeth, clearly not happy with my situation. Don¡¯t even think about sending assassins boys. Heh.

    ¡°I see. They tend to get mad when you stay on the other side for too long.¡±

    ¡°Understood,¡± I said.

    We all nodded and they stepped back. I really didn¡¯t have any interest in these girls, so I didn¡¯t understand why the boys were so jealous. If there was anyone, I was interested it was probably Miss Chamille and her big¡­ ahem.

    Leaving all that aside, I brought my focus back to my own book, the one about magic and spirits.

    It had detailed information about spells and what spells could do. It also had detailed information on spirits and how to tame them even if you¡¯d didn¡¯t have much affinity. Kind of useless for me since I didn¡¯t have any affinity. But I found that a little hard to believe, considering Sisna really liked me and Rexen seemed to be willing too. Then again, the lizard was merely in it for the meat and probably forced the contract. I felt a rather stinging sensation on my finger¡­. It subsided quickly but, so we¡¯re totally connected¡­ should have figured.

    These days I¡¯d been wearing gloves on that arm and had a bracelet over my contract spot. No one really bothered to even notice it, let alone ask about it so I nearly forget about that everyday¡­ till I had to take a shower and stuff.

    There were various types of magic. But magic was really rare among the Westerners. Southerners were a little more blessed but compared to demons and Merfolk, and even Demihumans, they weren¡¯t anything special. One out of every 10,000 humans and 1 out of every 5,000 elves were magicians or rather had talent to be able to cast spell from one discipline. There were ten disciplines. The typical Fire, Earth, Water, Wind were the most common. Ice, Lightning, Holy, Shadow were rare and could only be wielded by beings with godly blood. But Poison and Void were even rarer. Of course, there was another one, Time Magic, only one individual in existence had been said to have that and he was the late Demon Lord Azmanthas. Apparently, dude was alive back when the demigods slayed the massive sea monster or something like that.

    One magic in particular interested me. Void. Void magic allowed the user to summon monsters or weapons, store away stuff, and even hide away entirely in another dimension. It interested me the most.

    Why? Because it had to do with pulling and putting things in another dimension. Aka, it confirmed my hunch of there were more than just this world and earth. Then again it was certainly possible that void magic only connected my world and this one. But I doubted that. I¡¯d read about heroes summoning giant birds as rides, villains summoning big fat juicy metal boxes and all that good stuff. There were robots on earth and maybe the giant birds were just planes. But I really doubted that¡­ mostly because that would have been hella anticlimactic but anyway, I read on. Wouldn¡¯t teleportation also be possible? I didn¡¯t see any mention of instant transportation though.

    Void magic was one of the few magic, alongside Time and Holy magic where one needed innate knowledge about the art itself rather than just dumb luck of being born with talent. Doesn¡¯t that mean I might be able to learn it? If it were that easy though, everyone would be learning the stuff. Knowledge about how this stuff worked wasn¡¯t easy to come by. In order to learn void magic your best bet was to track down a master and become his disciple. There was only one void magician in the Western continent. And to become his disciple you needed to be royalty, and offer a massive, and I mean a massive amount of gold.

    How I knew that? Well, a random Nisa showed up and bestowed the knowledge to me. What are you, my tutorial?

    Rolling my eyes, I kept reading. Nisa took a seat next to me and read her own stuff.

    Innate knowledge? Maybe imagining what I wanted or where to find it and stuff? But even if I knew that, then what? If I didn¡¯t have mana, the thing that made the spell work, how was I supposed to make it work? Use some gemstones with mana? Those are super expensive though. Then what else? But if mana was in the blood¡­ maybe I could just drink some blood?

    Yeah, maybe if I was a vampire that would have worked. Hmm¡­ ¡°What has mana and is a food?¡± I asked.

    If there was mana in the food, maybe I could temporarily absorb some in my blood and use it?

    ¡°Maggots,¡± Nisa said. ¡°Fields maggots are excellent for mana bait. You could easily catch big Manafish.¡±

    Who with the what?

 Chapter 67: Fishing

    On one particular afternoon, I found myself shoveling grass, trying to unearth maggots from rotten wood carcasses.

    ¡°Oh, come on you wimp, it¡¯s only been ten minutes!¡± Nisa howled.

    It wasn¡¯t just the two of us, Jack was here too. She wasn¡¯t shouting at Jack though, she was shouting at me and my stamina-less ass. I could barely hold the shovel, let alone dig with it.

    Mana maggots. They were called maggots but were actually worms. Big fat juicy- ahem¡­ worms. These things were underground, but unlike typical worms you couldn¡¯t find them willy-nilly. You needed special conditions. One of which was rotten Barmawood that was under the earth for about a year or so. But in that case, wouldn¡¯t they just run out and stuff? No, because one particular rule of this place was ¡®Doesn¡¯t matter how many holes you dig you, you¡¯re always going to have to plant more wooden planks.¡¯ So there was always a surplus.

    And what place you might ask? Well, at the very west corner of the city, there was a lake barricaded from the city. On four parts of the lake, you had big ass fields full of these worms. Nisa had rented the whole field for us today. So, we were the only ones. Or would have been if some of her goons hadn¡¯t shown up. They were staying, far away though. respecting our, or rather Nisa¡¯s privacy maybe? The same with the guards.

    ¡°I¡¯m taking a break,¡± I huffed and puffed, falling flat on my butt.

    ¡°Weakling,¡± Nisa mumbled.

    ¡°Don¡¯t want to hear that from someone who¡¯s just standing there, looking pretty.¡±

    ¡°Why thank you, I am quite pretty,¡± she flashed me a smile.

    I always pegged Nisa for the stoic type. I suppose that was an act? Or was this an act instead? No, this was too authentic to be an act. But wouldn¡¯t someone who wanted this to be an act, think that and- yeah, I was just confusing myself with that. Who cared what was her real self? She seemed to be having fun and doing me a favor, so it was all good. Until she asks for the favor to be returned.

    Come to think of it, the moment she brought up Manafish, she immediately suggested we go fishing for it. She didn¡¯t need any prodding from my whatsoever. Kind of suspicious.

    Jake meanwhile, didn¡¯t complain and just did his job. He was quite good at it too. ¡°Do you do this often?¡± I said.

    ¡°Yes. Lady Nisa likes to fish every now and then.¡±

    So, I was just an excuse.

    But wasn¡¯t fishing an old man¡¯s hobby? No wait. This world didn¡¯t have much entertainment, so maybe it wasn¡¯t.

    ¡°That should be enough,¡± Nisa said.

    We or rather Jake caught about twenty-ish worms. These worms were imbued with a particular mana that Manafish loved to eat; they looked like just typical black worms though. Technically, these worms were safe for consumption too but ordinary people didn¡¯t really want to¡­ at least I didn¡¯t; also they tasted horrible. As for the Manafish? Well, I heard it tasted really good and was cultivated here for that reason. The owner of this place, Count Albide made double profit thanks to expertly controlling who got to rent this place and how much fish he provided to the local market. Crafty guy. I made a mental note of eventually getting to know him and figure out some of his tricks.

    ¡°How much does it take to rent this place anyway?¡±

    ¡°For a day? About a hundred gold,¡± Nisa said.

    The what?

    Huh? Wha- fucking hell¡­ I tried to keep my poker face plastered on but God damn it wasn¡¯t working. ¡°Oh and I¡¯m sure you know how to fish but this is how you hook the maggots,¡± she said, giving me a live demonstration.Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.

    Yeah, I didn¡¯t need that. I¡¯d never fished in my life, so maybe I kind of did. Jake helped me put it on, so maybe I didn¡¯t? Just make up your fucking mind already¡­.

    Also, this lady wasn¡¯t afraid of mangling a worm in her hand? Wow¡­.

    Crude fishing equipment. Just bamboo rods and strings and a hook. Yet, it felt authentic for some reason. Everyone who were here took this seriously and were concentrating like their lives depended on it.

    I threw the baited string into the lake without hooking it to anyone¡¯s dress on my third attempt. ¡°What now?¡±

    A small white thing bobbed on the water, apparently that was our window into the bait¡¯s condition.

    ¡°We wait,¡± Nisa said, elegantly throwing it. Girl knew how to do things in style that was for sure. ¡°I heard you¡¯ve recently started working at your mother¡¯s church.¡±

    We¡¯re going to stand here the whole time? A lot of kids had brought stools and stuff and some were even sitting on the damn ground. But we were merely standing. Technically, Nisa was of higher standing so I couldn¡¯t sit even if I wanted to. But we¡¯re from different countries though. Nah, I didn¡¯t want to accidentally disrespect her. Hang in there my legs!

    ¡°That¡¯s right.¡±

    ¡°You even made that Micheal go with you.¡±

    ¡°I suppose? He willingly went there, just so you know.¡±

    ¡°Smart. Make him think he¡¯s doing it on his own volition so he doesn¡¯t realize you¡¯re controlling him. Were you trying something similar with me?¡±

    Huh?

    What did she just-

    ¡°I¡¯ll take that as a yes,¡± Nisa said.

    She had gotten me. I was prepared for a lot of things but not a direct confrontation like that. I took her for a spoiled rich kid. But she clearly had some brains. ¡°Perhaps,¡± I said. ¡°What are your opinions on the church?¡±

    Still it wasn¡¯t over. Even if I couldn¡¯t use her as a pawn, I could at least try to salvage this relationship. Having strong connections meant I could do a lot of things. If Den didn¡¯t have connections, I wouldn¡¯t be here.

    ¡°Corrupt¡­¡± she said under her breath. She said it so faintly, only I could hear. And she hadn¡¯t moved her mouth either. People can do that?

    I flashed a smile and brought my attention back to the bait. ¡°Should it do that?¡± I said.

    ¡°Gently pull, once you¡¯re sure it¡¯s hooked, give a strong pull.¡±

    ¡°Got it!¡±

    I followed instructions and when I eventually pulled it, I got nothing. Even my bait was gone. Sigh.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, that happens,¡± Jake said. ¡°Let¡¯s try again.¡±

    Meanwhile, Nisa reeled in her first catch. A carp-lookalike; I never fished but I knew my fish from the grocery store. So that¡¯s a mana fish? This thing had red scales and blue eyes. And it was about a kilo at best. ¡°Put it in the bucket,¡± she said. I was surprised her bamboo rod didn¡¯t just break from the weight.

    We continued fishing. We didn¡¯t talk much but I got the impression that Nisa didn¡¯t really like the church. I may not be able to use her but what about a collaboration? No, having my name would be suicide.

    Damn it! is there no way-

    I felt a pull. So, I pulled with all my might and¡­ a fish! Half a kilo and really black but still a fish!

    ¡°That¡¯s not edible¡­¡± Jake managed. ¡°It¡¯s one of the bad ones. That¡¯s what happens when fish consume too much mana.¡±

    So, too much mana turns it black? Was that why the worms were black?

    ¡°Why is it not edible?¡±

    ¡°Tastes terrible; worse than the worms.¡±

    ¡°Not poisonous or anything like that right?¡±

    ¡°No, but the more mana you have, the nastier it tastes and you usually develop a fever.¡±

    ¡°Means nothing happens if you don¡¯t have mana.¡±

    Jake smiled awkwardly. ¡°Everyone has mana Sol.¡±

    Uh-huh. Not me though. At least everyone who assessed me told me as much and deemed me a failure of a human. No wait, that was just that damn priest.

    ¡°I¡¯m keeping it as a souvenir. I mean, it¡¯s my first catch.¡±

    ¡°Okay,¡± Jake said, reluctantly taking the fish.

    That said, we kept on fishing. By the end of it, Nisa had caught four and I, zero. Jake also tried his luck and caught two big ones. On his third, the rod snapped in two.

    All in all, we caught about ten kilos worth of fish. Each Kilo sold for about Gold, so technically we barely made 10 gold.

    Major loss from my perspective, but considering we had fun and Nisa¡¯s goons also fished and all that stuff, didn¡¯t seem that bad of a deal. At least not for me, since I didn¡¯t pay jackshit¡­ yet.

    ¡°Alright, let¡¯s go,¡± Nisa said.

    ¡°Thought we had to plant planks.¡±

    ¡°They have to, we don¡¯t,¡± Nisa shrugged.

    Oh, so that¡¯s why¡­.

    That said, we were on our way back on a carriage. It was already evening but since I was with a literal princess, things would be fine, or so thought.

    ¡°This is the second time,¡± the dorm keeper took me to her room. Just me, not the others.

    ¡°Sorry, I got carried away.¡±

    She sighed. ¡°I understand your family runs the business but accidents happen. And I don¡¯t want another one of my patrons dying on me.¡±

    Patrons? She considered students who lived here, patrons? Or maybe my family¡­ hmmm¡­.

    ¡°Understood mam.¡±

    ¡°I hope you do.¡±

 Chapter 68: Home?

    So, I had two fish on my hand. The first one I caught myself and second one, Nisa gifted me.

    But there was a problem, I couldn¡¯t eat the fish raw. I¡¯d rarely cooked even with proper cooking ware. Well, this is going to be an issue.

    The dorm keeper had given me some ice to keep the fish cool. I could have left them outside and since it was still winter, things would have been fine. But these fish were pretty expensive, so there was a big chance they would get stolen. But at the same time, keeping them in this warm room meant the ice would melt before even midnight and stink up the room pretty bad.

    If only I could use ice magic, sigh.

    ¡°You¡¯ve got quite the catch,¡± Gerar said. ¡°And¡­ wait, why do you have that Rotten Manafish?¡±

    Apparently black Manafish were called rotten because they smelled rotten to people. Smelled about the same to me though, fishy. ¡°My first catch, so kept it as a souvenir. Do you know how to cook?¡±

    ¡°Nope.¡± Heh. ¡°Maybe you could bring them to your family? I¡¯m sure they¡¯ll appreciate it. Besides, I doubt you¡¯ll be able to eat the whole fish yourself,¡± he moved away from the window. Our interactions were basically small talk and since the dude wasn¡¯t actively trying to screw with me, I didn¡¯t bother putting up my guard around him, at least on the surface.

    I mean, he had a point. My rotten Manafish was about 1.5 kg while the other one was nearly 3 kg (Jake caught it). I didn¡¯t know how to gut the fish, and I didn¡¯t know how to cook. So, the only logical explanation was to go home.

    But the immediate problem was what I was going to do about keeping these things fresh. It was pretty late, so I couldn¡¯t just head home. Technically, it wasn¡¯t my home anyway. Maybe I could go to the dorm keeper for more ice?

    Agh, all this back and forth over some damn fish was giving me a headache!

    Sigh. With nothing better to do, I picked up the fish, made way for the dorm keeper¡¯s room, knocked and entered. ¡°I don¡¯t know what to do with these,¡± I said.

    Her room was basically an office, with a desk and a sofa. I had no idea what she even did here but the women knew almost everything about the dorm and what was going on.

    ¡°Leave them here,¡± she said. ¡°Be sure to bring me the bones.¡±

    ¡°You sure? I could even give you some of the-¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m only interested in bones.¡±

    ¡°Okay!¡±

    Good for me!

    So, I left the stuff in her care, marched into my room and slept!

    I woke up sometime past midnight in haphazard fury. I might or might not have forgotten to have dinner and clean the library. Argh.

    ¡°You could have just come tomorrow morning,¡± the librarian was still up. I never bothered remembering her name.

    ¡°I¡¯ve to show up early at the church, so can¡¯t do that.¡±

    ¡°I see.¡±

    Yawning, I helped her put the books back. She¡¯d mostly cleaned up the place but with my help, things sped up and we were done in less than half an hour. ¡°I can¡¯t study today,¡± I said.

    ¡°It¡¯s fine. You¡¯re making steady progress, but I would appreciate if you didn¡¯t push yourself too hard. Who knows when your body no longer keeps up.¡±

    ¡°Understood.¡±

    ¡°Do you though?¡±

    I had no idea what she was even talking about. My life was busy, sure. But I wasn¡¯t necessarily pushing myself too hard. It was still within my abilities, so everything was fine.

    I went downstairs to have dinner. There were like a handful of people still lingering here. The soup was a little cold but the food (the bread) was good as usual.

    The next day, I woke up early and went to the church with my fish; I dragged a sleepy Shia with me. Mrs. Alayla took one look at the fish basket, smiled and told me to finish quickly. Then we went home soon after. Or their home.

    Once at home, Mrs. Alayla took charge of the fish and started cooking. What she was cooking, she didn¡¯t tell me. Actually, she kicked me out of the kitchen before the gutting process. She also advised me how it was utterly stupid of me to keep the black fish. But I explained it to her that I had barely any mana and it was probably fine for me. Of course, I didn¡¯t want to tell her, particularly because she was a priest. But considering Den had left me with this family, I figured it was probably fine. Mrs. Alayla still rebuked me anyway. But she did agree to roast the fish. She also assured me, she was a good cook so even if it was a shit ingredient, it was still going to be tolerable. I took her word for it.The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

    Cooking was done and I was led to a table on the second floor of this shabby ass building. It was surprisingly clean here. Barack senior joined us. The kids didn¡¯t sit with us and sat on the floor instead. They all received a bowl of rice and some fish soup with small portions of fried fish.

    Anyway, compared to that, the table before me had way better food. We had rice, we had good bread and we also had porridge. Fried fish, fish kebab, and even some meat dishes. The main dish though was Indian style Fish curry with mustard. Ah, the luxury! Indian food crossed worlds huh?

    No seriously, human food was so better than elven bland ass food. Specially the bread and rice here was way better than the stuff I ate back home. And yet, why the fuck did I keep missing Lin¡¯s food? I guess nothing beat Mom¡¯s food, huh? Speaking of Mom¡¯s food, Mrs. Alayla really was a good cook.

    The Barack family didn¡¯t speak during meals. Which was kind of good cause I wasn¡¯t feeling chatty. My focus was primarily on the damn food; the curry was exquisitely good; Manafish tasted somewhere between Hilsa and Tuna. The texture was definitely that of Salmon though. Pretty weird.

    I kept eating and eating and before I knew it, my stomach was totally full.

    ¡°Would you like some more?¡± Mrs. Alayla said.

    I was done and so were both of the head Baracks.

    ¡°I¡¯m full.¡±

    ¡°Hmmm¡­. Then what will you do about the other one?¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s more!?¡± Sharmon said.

    ¡°He also caught a black one,¡± Alayla whispered.

    Sharmon¡¯s face crumbled but he chuckled. ¡°Well, we shouldn¡¯t eat luxury food everyday anyway,¡± he laughed loud. ¡°You have my thanks though Sol. Been meaning to treat the boys but money¡¯s tough around this time of the year.¡±

    This wasn¡¯t just luxury, this was divine! No seriously, Mrs. Alayla really knew how to cook Manafish!

    ¡°No problem,¡± I said.

    ¡°How did you even get the fish anyway?¡± Shia said.

    No one asked me where I got the fish till now, so I thought they didn¡¯t really care all that much. But Shia was different? ¡°I went out fishing with Nisa the other day.¡±

    ¡°Nisa? Nisa Alzania?¡± Sharmon said, eyes going slightly narrow. Wait, Shia said the families were at odds. I thought she just didn¡¯t like her. Could it be?

    ¡°Yeah?¡±

    ¡°Well, first Micheal, now Nisa. You¡¯re actually pretty good,¡± he said dismissively. ¡°Just what I¡¯d expect from the first son.¡± Yet, something was cold about that glare.

    But I didn¡¯t lose my poker face even for a second. ¡°Thank you, father. I am your son after all.¡±

    Wow, that was a disgusting grin. ¡°Good. I hear you¡¯ve been invited over for a tea party?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right.¡±

    ¡°Got any good clothes?¡±

    ¡°Not that I remember¡­¡± My clothes were pretty commoner-ish. Well, that¡¯s because you ARE a commoner. ¡°I¡¯ll probably just wear my uniform.¡±

    He sighed. ¡°Shia, be sure to do some shopping with him.¡±

    ¡°Umm¡­?¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t think you¡¯re going alone, right?¡±

    I was kind of confused but didn¡¯t bother. They were helping me a ton anyway. ¡°Very well,¡± I said. Can you even take a plus one to a tea party?

    Shia nodded while stuffing her mouth. Apparently, she wasn¡¯t done eating yet.

    The kids were done though, and some were looking expectantly at us for seconds. They didn¡¯t get any though. Instead, they got fresh fruits? Huh?

    Hey, even I didn¡¯t get any fruits!

    Anyway, with that over, I hung around the house. There were some chores to do, namely cleaning and keeping the place from falling to pieces. I also helped the kids and played with them. I didn¡¯t remember their names but their faces were even more forgetful. They all looked the same if I was being honest. Meanwhile, I was the only one who didn¡¯t look like them.

    Around noon, I rested upstairs in Shia¡¯s room and promptly fell asleep. When I woke up, I could have sworn I felt different. My skin was sensitive and for the first time, the world seemed more colorful, as though I was seeing stuff.

    Why do I feel high?

    Was mana just drugs and magic just illusions or something? No, probably not. After all, I did see Sisna and Rexen use magic quite flexibly.  Those couldn¡¯t have been illusions, at least their effects weren¡¯t.

    I tried imagining fire, water, earth and stuff on my hand but nothing happened. No matter how I imagined it, nothing happened. I couldn¡¯t really move the tingly feeling in my veins either, at least not willingly.

    Pointless, I guess?

    I felt hungry, so I went downstairs and found my roasted Manafish. Mrs. Alayla was kind enough to warm it up for me. She took some days off but it was rare. So, I wasn¡¯t expecting her to stay here after breakfast, yet she was still here.

    For some reason, no matter what, I couldn¡¯t get a hold on the personalities of this family. On the surface they were something, but they all had some layers. Each layer felt like a different person. Mrs. Alayla on first impressions seemed strict and cunning. But right now, she was caring and loving. Maybe tomorrow I¡¯d see another side to her and then something else. The same with Shia and her father. Maybe I really am a shit judge of character.

    Anyway, I tried the Manafish. It was alright. Tasted okay, not too shit but not good either. Especially considering what I ate before. And no, it wasn¡¯t the cooking. If anything, Mrs. Alayla had somehow managed to make this thing edible with all the herbs and spices she used.

    I ate small bits and eventually managed to eat like one quarter. The rest, I could not manage so she put it in a container.

    ¡°The dorm keeper wanted the bones,¡± I¡¯d nearly forgotten.

    ¡°Hmm¡­ I kept some from the other one, you can have half.¡±

    ¡°What do you even use the bones for?¡±

    ¡°Alchemy, sorcery, magical catalyst and such.¡±

    Wait, didn¡¯t that mean, these things-

    I slapped my forehead. I was dumb, really dumb. Sighing, ¡°Thank you.¡±

    ***

    I went back to the dorm, handed some bones over. ¡°These are from the normal one, and these are from the rotten one.¡±

    ¡°I expected more,¡± she said. ¡°I¡¯m going to use some myself.¡±

    ¡°I see.¡±

    As I kept eating the black Manafish, the tingly feeling only increased and made me shit about five times a day. That was about it.

    For the next week, I kept my daily routine going and tried experimenting with the bones. I learned a few things. Namely, even if I ate Manafish daily, my actual mana wasn¡¯t going to improve in any meaningful way. However, as long as I chewed on the bones, particularly the ones from the black one, I could feel mana coursing through my veins and see bright colors. It made me feel a little high but it wasn¡¯t addictive¡­ yet.

    However, I couldn¡¯t replicate any magic. Not even the void thing, which I should have had an edge because I was from earth.

    I didn¡¯t let it deter me though and kept going. Only on the second week did something connect. The words of the librarian.

    The body could no longer keep up: I had successfully caught a cold.

 Chapter 69: My Magic

    For as long as I could remember, I rarely ever caught colds. Both in my last life and in this one too. Actually, I probably never caught any disease since coming to this world. At first, I thought maybe I was special or maybe because diseases weren¡¯t a thing here. Obviously neither turned out to be the case. Apparently, people with little mana weren¡¯t affected by the pathogens of this world which invaded mana rich systems and used mana to replicate. Didn¡¯t that actually make me somewhat special though? This was why, most people didn¡¯t eat the black Manafish as that would temporarily increase mana capacity a bit too much, rendering people susceptible to disease. Of course, there were various ways to prevent that and even medicines you could take daily to not get any disease at all (which were pretty expensive). Also, most people didn¡¯t really like the taste of the black one and I was one of them.

    Once you got a disease or fever, there was nothing one could do but let it run its course. You could mitigate the effects, sure. But you could not just whack the fever out of you. Unfortunately, antibiotics didn¡¯t exist here.

    Sigh.

    My fault for not being more mindful. My fault for not looking into it more. I was granted a new life. A new life full of potential, without any of the chains from my old life. Yet¡­ I hadn¡¯t changed at all. I was still the same lost kid who was pretending to be an adult. Actually, I was probably worse than most of the child geniuses going here.

    What the fuck am I even doing? At this rate, what chance did I have against the church?

    .

    ..

    ¡­

    Sometime later Shia came to visit and she¡¯d brought me lunch. We chatted for a few minutes before she went out. Apparently, the cafeteria served porridge too, so she¡¯d brought me that. Tasted okay.

    I didn¡¯t have a bad fever. Just a bad case of runny nose and sneezes. Didn¡¯t feel particularly serious, so I was probably going to be fine; Miss Chamille advised me to just stay in my room. It¡¯s only the first day though.

    Day two began with a high fever. Not too high but at least a hundred and one degrees. I basically slept the whole day. Shia came by to give me a cold wipe but that was about it. Oh yeah, she¡¯d brought me food.

    Day three, the fever worsened. Mike came to see me today and although I didn¡¯t feel particularly good, we chatted for a while and that eased my mind a little. Again, I slept the whole day. At this point, I was sleeping like 20 hours a day, I guess?

    On Day four, the fever more or less died down. My runny nose was now a stuffy nose and although I did get some sneezes, I didn¡¯t have a cough and I felt good. My mouth tasted shit and I smelled terrible though.This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.

    Better take a shower. I was supposed to show up at Anya¡¯s place three days ago but that couldn¡¯t be helped.

    The next day, I recovered fully. I wanted to get back into my daily routine, but considering how sick I¡¯d been just two days before, I took it slowly. There was no point in trying hard and falling sick again.

    I showed up for work, sure, but I didn¡¯t do any work. Strangely, my work shifts were covered. Both at the library and at the church. Apparently, Mike and Shia covered for me. Neither did a good job and probably did more harm than good but they covered for me.

    I made a mental note about treating them some good food and thanking them later. I also pledged to help them in their time of need.

    ***

    Catching a fever was bad but it did give me some ideas about mana. Maybe my idea of mana was wrong. I always imagined it as something mystical that gave you mystical powers. But what if it was like electricity or radiation? Energy in other words. Energy in some pure form that you could change into other forms. Dark energy maybe?

    The best way to change raw energy was to maybe convert it to heat energy. So, fire magic. I knew how fire worked. I¡¯d read about it since middle school. I even had ideas regarding plasma, blue fires, and even white fire. Besides, Rexen used Fire magic too and since I was connected to him, I should have had an edge, right?

    Well, hopefully.

    I took a fishbone in my mouth. Felt wrong. I literally just recovered too¡­ wait, wait! I couldn¡¯t just try this in my frigging room!

    So, I went outside.

    Early afternoon, so kids were practicing and some were playing. I saw Mike and friends in the distance but I didn¡¯t go towards them.

    Let¡¯s see, oxygen helps burn the hydrocarbon stuff but it should also burn any carbon in adequate manner, right? When I imagined a fire, the first thing came to mind was natural gas burning on a stove. Natural gas was mostly methane and it was made of hydrogen and carbon atoms. There was hydrogen and carbons in the air but the amount was pretty negligent compared to oxygen. So, combining them (I didn¡¯t know how) and burning, would have been impossible, at least for me.

    Meanwhile, creating a new compound (again, I didn¡¯t know how) and controlling it would have also been pretty much impossible.

    So what? How about just converting raw energy to heat energy like I originally planned? But how¡­.

    Hot? I imagined hot, or rather, a fire burning in my hands. I concentrated but I didn¡¯t really see much of anything. So, I closed my eyes and tried. Again, nothing. Then burn the oxygen, I guess? Just igni-

    Whoosh! In a split second, all the tingly feeling of my body warped to my hand, concentrated there and everything lit up!

    ¡°WOAH!¡± I fell on my behind from the intense heat. A flaming tornado spun in my hand for about a second before vanishing in thin air with a white smoke. Crunnch! My teeth clamored against each other. The bone in my mouth was gone, like there was nothing left of it, not even the dust.

    Students rushed to me, some helped me get up, others drowsed with me water. I didn¡¯t really burn myself but I was damn close to doing so. No wait, my palm was pretty busted.

    ¡°You okay?¡± Mike said, concerned.

    ¡°I¡¯m fine¡­ just wasn¡¯t expecting that¡­¡± I said. My heart beat so fast, I wouldn¡¯t have been surprised if it jumped out of my chest.

    ¡°Me neither. Didn¡¯t think you¡­¡± he didn¡¯t finish.

    The world felt light as I was floating. My head hurt; my skin burned a little but¡­ but¡­ Damn¡­ that was magic.

    My magic.

 Epilogue: An Odd Inn

    The boat swayed. We were out at sea, Lin and I. It¡¯d been three months since then.

    When I first reached the woods, Lin was already done packing. She was going to set off a few days prior but somehow Xerec and the others had convinced her to stay till I got back. Our farewell was pretty simple. Lyra just kicked me out of the woods, literally. You¡¯d think birthing her fourth pup would mellow her down a little but, nope.

    Couldn¡¯t she be a little gentle? I was traveling literally all month at this point!

    Sigh. Anyway, the two of us took the local ports and somehow made it to the Northern point of Ayun empire and made way for Shirushi port. Around this time, I heard some peculiar rumors. One of them were how there was a templar knight on our tail or something like that. But that wasn¡¯t surprising. The surprising one was simple¡­ it had something to do with a particular letter from an acquaintance. I was really hoping Sol would write to us, but he probably forgot? Calling her an acquaintance would have been an understatement though. We almost had a thing going. Almost.

    Apparently, my boy made a move on her and she had to brutally reject the kid; my kid had taste that was for sure. But the rejection became fuel for the kid as he soon awakened new passion for training and hard work. Right now, he was working for a church and the library and earning a good amount of money too! But not just that, he apparently awakened magic somehow? How the hell? I wasn¡¯t keen on being skeptical but I clearly remember the boy having no talent in magic whatsoever, actually, he didn¡¯t even have much mana if any!

    I told Lin about the boy, minus the whole bold proposal. She was ecstatic. I hadn¡¯t seen her jump around like that since¡­ well, forever. Lately, she¡¯d been so mellow it was almost frightening. Like she could let loose any day now and murder all the sailors on board. But I was glad to see that she really loved the kid.

    We traveled through the northern woods and mountains and eventually made it to Shirushi port from where we took a cruise ship to travel continents.

    Right now, it wasn¡¯t safe on either of the two central continents. We had to move to the land of demons instead. Which was the plan and the journey should have only taken three weeks.

    But I¡¯d been a whole month since then but we were still at sea.

    ¡°It¡¯s calm,¡± Lin said.

    Another morning. Two of us stared at the calm seas. Reminded me of that time when me and Sol went on a little journey of our own.

    ¡°Yeah. Hopefully it¡¯ll stay like this and we¡¯ll get there in time.¡±

    ¡°When does these things ever reach in time?¡± She shrugged. ¡°Come, we need to practice.¡±

    What¡¯s worse than boredom on a cruise ship?

    Training on a cruise ship of course. Especially when you had to spar with a literal brute! She only ever used a knife yet she overpowered the heck out of me. Like what the hell! How could women even have that kind of physical strength? She was definitely screwing my manly pride that was for sure! And she was actually getting stronger by the day!

    Would Sol grow up to pass me too- My thoughts staggered. Would the boy even have the chance to grow up? I didn¡¯t doubt his potential. And if he¡¯d awakened some sort of magic, whatever it was, he had a shot at living a decent life. However¡­ would the world really let him live?Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

    Eventually we¡¯d be caught. And the church would probably trace the threads straight to him. His life would eventually¡­ crumble.

    No, then let¡¯s just not get caught!

    ¡°You seem excited for once,¡± Lin sneered, dangling the dagger like I was a cat waiting to be fed.

    Sigh, I had to first survive this woman though. If I propose, won¡¯t I have to keep doing this-

    Lin caught me off-guard, slammed me on the damn floor, and beat the shit out of me. Sometimes I wondered whether this woman had a literal grudge on me or something!

    ***

    We landed on Moon Port in the evening of our 35<sup>th</sup> day at sea. This place was different from what I was used to. First of all, the ground was brown. Not green. Not chocolate.

    Brown.

    Reddish brown to be specific. IT was a clear sign that this place wasn¡¯t fertile at all. And even without setting a foot in, I could tell, this would be hot. And it¡¯s not even summer yet.

    No walls, just a tidy irregular city with odd shaped houses. Some were rectangular, some were just round, while others had warped shapes and floors. How were the buildings even standing? Magic?

    I saw more Westerners than Demons. People around these parts wore Turbans and white shawls and even their clothes were white. I suppose that served more than just as a fashion statement.

    ¡°We need to buy a lot of supplies,¡± Lin said.

    Even here, in this demon continent, Lin turned heads. Out of ten people, at least 8 turned to get a second look at her face. Not only was she a beauty, she also had a nice figure which attracted attention everywhere and people hit on her despite be being around. Apparently, I was seen as either her little brother or just a side kick.

    Aren¡¯t I technically older though?

    ¡°First we need to get our currency exchanged.¡±

    ¡°The guild then.¡±

    ¡°Yeah.¡±

    We went to the guild. Both of us were adventurers in our early days. I, in particular was a B ranked adventurer. While Lin, C; she¡¯d climbed to B rank with our recent jobs. With the party name White Crow, we took jobs here and there on our way here to make it seem like we were just a typical band of old adventurer buddies who recently started adventuring again. But I¡¯m sure that wouldn¡¯t be enough and we¡¯d have to keep on moving.

    With our money exchanged for the local coin, we started searching for a place to settle down for the night. Shopping would have to wait for the next day.

    ¡°I have some Southern bread, so if you can¡¯t eat the local food, we can eat that,¡± Lin said.

    We walked past the crowd, and the street vendors. I had my hands over my pockets and I always kept an eye on the bags and the surroundings. You could never be too careful, especially in port cities were pickpockets run amok.

    ¡°I thought we ate all that?¡±

    ¡°You ate your portion, I saved most of mine.¡±

    A commendable approach. When moving to a new location, particularly a faraway land, you had to take your time to get adjusted to the local food. If you moved too fast and immediately made the switch, your body was going to screw you over seven-fold. But I wasn¡¯t expecting something like that from Lin. ¡°Well, that saves us some trouble.¡±

    Most of the Inns around the city¡¯s entrance were booked. Strange, considering Demon continent wasn¡¯t necessary that popular of a tourist spot. OH well, we kept on going deeper.

    After a point, Westerners became scarce and demons became plenty. They didn¡¯t stare at us with open hostility but they were weren¡¯t glad to see us that was for sure.

    ¡°Considering what we¡¯re doing to them, not surprising,¡± I said.

    ¡°The situation could very well have been reversed,¡± Lin said. ¡°We could have been like this instead.¡±

    She was right. In war there was no right and wrong. As long as you won, you were right. And we won, we were right. If we¡¯d lost, we¡¯d have been treated pretty much the same like these people.

    ¡°True.¡±

    With most of the Inns closed, we had no choice but to seek out a rather shabby one. It looked like James¡¯ shack. Probably a little worse.

    ¡°We¡¯re going to sleep in that?¡± Lin said, a little disgusted.

    I could understand but it was better than sleeping on the streets.

    We prayed the door wouldn¡¯t break down and somehow entered the building. The inside meanwhile¡­ was clean? No, not just clean. It was spotless and dustless. A white interior with metallic chairs and tables and doors? They had white ceiling lights and an actual ceiling.

    And wait, I thought for sure this place was just a single floor with two rooms but, there were four large staircases leading up which were moving automatically and hundreds of visible rooms? What was going on?

    ¡°Welcome,¡± someone came to greet us in really pristine clothes. ¡°To the Inn of another world!¡±

    The what?

 Chapter 70: Spoiled

    ¡°You know, there was a time when I thought I hated you,¡± Billy said.

    A breeze was blowing. The sun, setting. We stood on a small, really tiny bridge with basically nothing around.

    ¡°The feeling¡¯s mutual. I thought for sure, this fat kid has ulterior motives.¡± I still remember the day Billy called me over to sit with him instead of my usual seat. I was the new kid at school and he¡¯d been there for years.

    We were fast friends. Actually, I usually almost always hit it off with people. Particularly because I was the typical ¡®class genius¡¯ everyone praised and tried to be friends with because their parents wanted them to. It was a little different with Billy though. He never asked me how I studied or how I always remembered everything and all that.

    ¡°Who you calling fat, you literal stick,¡± he sneered.

    I snorted. Well, he had a point. Lately my health had taken a turn for the worse and I¡¯d been losing weight quite readily. Not that I was trying to gain weight but that still kind of stung.

    We laughed together just like usual. We spoke about dull things, exciting things, horny things and so on. We had a lot in common. But towards the very end¡­ Yeah, I¡¯m dreaming again.

    Dreaming of the past. Dreaming about what could have been. But¡­ Billy betrayed me. He threw me in front of the damn train.

    He murdered me.

    ¡°Why did you do it Billy? Why you, of all people? I thought you were my best friend,¡± I said. Surprisingly the words came out.

    More surprisingly, Billy just stared, he stared at me with wide eyes, ¡°Ah, so this wasn¡¯t just a dream. Sorry, dude.¡±

    I woke up.

    I was in my room. A big fat cat was sleeping next to me. No, it was a cat lady with cat ears, seven tails, and big boobs!

    Wait, wait, was she Miss Chamille, cosplaying!

    Can-can I tou-

    And then I woke up for real.

    ***

    It wasn¡¯t just my hand, my clothes were pretty singed too. So we had an infirmary at this place? Kind of stung to move around.

    To my utter disappointment, there wasn¡¯t a cat lady in this room. Just a sleeping Shia. She was sleeping right next to me for some reason.

    Yawning, I stared outside. Pretty late. Midnight probably.

    ¡°You sure you won¡¯t catch a cold?¡± I said.

    ¡°Mmm¡­.¡±

    She was kind of cute¡­ the drool and snot on her face wasn¡¯t though. Is she sick or something?

    Come to think of it, I hadn¡¯t really seen her for the last two days.

    ¡°You okay?¡± I asked.

    ¡°I¡¯m fine,¡± she rubbed her eyes, waking up. ¡°How about you?¡±

    ¡°As you can see.¡±

    ¡°Didn¡¯t know you could use magic. Thought you couldn¡¯t?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I shouldn¡¯t have been able to. But I think I might have found a way to.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s good,¡± she yawned again and closed her eyes.

    ¡°No seriously, you alright? You look sick.¡±

    ¡°Eating some of that black stuff wasn¡¯t a good idea¡­¡± She mumbled.

    Oh, so she sto- ate some of the other fish. ¡°How much did you eat?¡±

    ¡°One bite. I threw it up though. Vile.¡±

    ¡°It wasn¡¯t that bad.¡±

    ¡°It was that bad.¡±

    We snickered. ¡°Well, I¡¯ll be heading off to my room. How about you?¡± I said.

    ¡°This bed is comfy, so I¡¯ll stay here¡­¡± she passed out.

    I sighed. I kind of wanted to get away from here but at the same time, I didn¡¯t want to just leave her here alone. What if her fever worsened. Actually, I checked her fever and it wasn¡¯t that high. She didn¡¯t even have a fever. Just a runny nose that was leaking all over her face¡­ Kind of disgusting but I was like that literally three days ago.If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

    I surveyed the room. There were other beds here. But no one else. Just us. Not even a nurse. I mean, what kind of a school infirmary doesn¡¯t have a hot nurse?

    Sigh. I tried searching the cupboards and found some blankets. This room was pretty warm. But if she felt cold, she could always use them I suppose. So, I left them by her side, took one for myself and lied down on a separate bed. My burns were slathered with some green stuff, very reminiscent of the stuff Mom had used on me. The minor burns would probably heal within a week or two. Can¡¯t I just heal this instantly with my elixir though?

    Typical colds couldn¡¯t be fixed with elixirs, I¡¯d already tried. But maybe I could cure this! No, it¡¯s just a minor burn. I don¡¯t want to waste that stuff.

    Suffice to say, I was the ¡®don¡¯t waste anything even in the last boss battle¡¯ type of gamer.

    ***

    It took me three days to fully heal. During this time, I didn¡¯t dare touch the fish bones. I did experiment with trying to light a mini fire on my finger but only managed to spark a smoke¡­. Shia also recovered and together we took some days off.

    Apparently, I was banned from both the church and the library for exactly a week. I guess they were more concerned about my health than I was.

    I spent the first day lazing around, the second day visiting Anya and the third¡­ going shopping.

    What kind of shopping?

    ¡°I know a good place,¡± Shia said.

    We received a pouch full of coins from Barack senior; 3 gold coins, 8 silvers and 4 copper. In all honesty, that was a lot of money. And we were going to spend all of them on clothes?

    Like seriously?

    We walked in the not so shabby part of town. The place where you¡¯d see prominent noble kids renting or even owning places. The academy itself wasn¡¯t too far from here.

    Over the course of the last few days, people didn¡¯t really ask me about how I could use magic; they just took it for granted. Their attitude towards me had changed though. In the past, I was seen as this harmless kid whose family would murder you if you hurt him. Now, one group of students considered me the next prodigy or whatever and the other, their doom, especially the kids who¡¯d acted all haughty with me before. Some girls were being a bit too friendly at the library though. They were older than me, so it was probably just my imagination.

    Not much changed. Our academy had about twenty-three students who could use magic, and I just happened to be one of them and was definitely not special in anyway, or so I told everyone who tried getting close to me just for the sake of it. Obviously that kind of backfired and that was part of why I was banned from the library. As for the church, well¡­ let¡¯s just say Mrs. Alayla wasn¡¯t very happy about me being really sick after eating her cooking when she¡¯d clearly warned me. Sigh, yeah, I brought it on to myself. Also, apparently, she wanted me to stay home to fully recover before anything else.

    ¡°That¡¯s the place,¡± Shia said.

    While my head was in the clouds, we somehow made it to the mid-section of the city; this place was full of stores for the middle-class nobles and in the back, you could see middle class house¡­ for nobles.

    Just from the outside I could tell, it was a tailor shop. They had ready-made stuff hanging in the display. The glass display was a little crude and full of imperfections but at least they were trying.

    Ring!

    ¡°Ah, Lady Shia and¡­ you must be-¡± A bald man came to greet us. Bald, thin, glasses.

    ¡°Soler A. Barack.¡± I offered a noble now.

    He smiled and cordially greeted us. I didn¡¯t see other customers but he did have two attendants who took our measurements before anything else.

    Fancy place, but not even close to the places I was used to back home. Now granted, my family might have been on the high-income spectrum but¡­ anyway- Doesn¡¯t that make me a spoiled brat?

    ¡°So, what do I owe this pleasure? Let me guess, Duke Alzania¡¯s tea party?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯ve guessed it,¡± Shia said. ¡°I¡¯d like a dress while,¡± she gave me the side way.

    ¡°A suit and pants,¡± I said. Before coming here, Shia and her mother explicitly explained two things to me. One, I had to say A suit and pants, and two¡­ I was to, under no circumstances, bargain.

    ¡°Splendid!¡±

    He brought out the materials and although I didn¡¯t think he could show me something that would blow my mind¡­ something blew my mind.

    One of the fabrics was practically glowing with mana. ¡°Did you make this with Manadust?¡± Apparently crushed Manafish Bones were called Manadust. I only learned it recently. And no, you weren¡¯t supposed to eat it¡­ as long as you wanted to live that was.

    So, it was kind of a miracle I was alive.

    ¡°Ah, I did not know my lord had such splendid eye for details. Indeed, it is imbued with the finest Manadust and a perfect companion for a man of your caliber,¡± he came closer. ¡°Not many magicians awaken with such a magnificent outburst of flames, you know,¡± he whispered.

    Seriously, this dude seemed more like an information broker than a tailor. ¡°You seem sure I¡¯d pick this.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯d be disappointed if you don¡¯t.¡±

    Well, I¡¯d be disappointed too. I actually liked this. Somewhat indigo but under some lighting, it could be almost blood red, while under others, black! I really liked it. ¡°How much?¡± I said, bluntly.

    ¡°Three gold my lord, considering this is your first visit, I will take off two silvers.¡±

    The what? Just for the freaking fabric?

    I stared at Shia and she didn¡¯t seem bothered at all. What about your dress, miss?

    I started sweating. With a small sigh. ¡°Very well,¡± I said, producing a pouch full of coins myself. ¡°The least I can do is buy my own fabric.¡±

    ¡°You seem to be mistaken sir,¡± he said. ¡°Tailing price is already included.¡± It was still pretty pricey though. Three grand for a literal suit? Even if it¡¯s glowing that¡¯s too much! Considering I had two very expensive suits like these though¡­ No, seriously, I was spoiled as fuck.

    ¡°I see.¡± I shrugged. ¡°Good price,¡± I said. I have no idea if it¡¯s actually good or bad though.

    His face lit up. ¡°It would honor me greatly if my lord continues the family tradition of being our patrons.¡±

    ¡°As long as you don¡¯t rip me off, I¡¯ll visit yearly.¡±

    His face soured a little. ¡°Surely, I wouldn¡¯t dare¡­¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll take your word for it.¡±

    We shook as I handed him two gold coins and eight silvers. My hands stung a little. That was literally a whole month¡¯s pay. Argh¡­.. And wait, he didn¡¯t even bother showing me designs and stuff!

    Shia chose a dress herself. Violet, with flowery embroidery. Cost about a gold and 9 silvers. So, we had some money left. Or rather, she did. which she surprisingly just gave to me with a wink (Only after taking out two whole silvers). The hell was she doing anyway?

    So technically I only made a net loss of 11 silvers.

    With our dresses ordered, we strode out of there and headed back home. Apparently, the dresses would be ready by next week. The tea party was going to be held the week after, so there was still plenty of time.

    ¡°You know,¡± Shia said. ¡°You¡¯ve changed since coming here.¡±

    It¡¯s only been two months since I came here miss. I¡¯ve just adapted. I haven¡¯t changed one bit, I assure you.

    ¡°Maybe.¡±

    She snickered.

    We went back home. On the way, we picked up some meat skewers for 3 coppers each. They were good.

 Chapter 71: Come Here

    I had a lot of questions regarding how magic worked. But since I was forbidden from entering the school building, I decided to just do some brain storming with Shia who happened to be somewhat of a prodigy. She couldn¡¯t use magic though.

    My knowledge on the subject was solely based on the book I¡¯d read. But I did have a decent understanding¡­ I think.

    ¡°So what am I supposed to be doing?¡± Shia said.

    Our house had a small backyard area where our thug- I mean, employees trained and hung around. And yes, Barack Senior ran a rather complicated company which I deliberately avoided learning more about. It was always better to act with caution regarding these. Who knew when they¡¯d claim I learned too much and dispose of me.

    Right now, there were about five burly clothed guys hanging in the corner, chatting. One of them was the girl I encountered twice already. I actually didn¡¯t see any other girls among the employees.

    ¡°So you can¡¯t use magic at all, right?¡± I said.

    ¡°Nope.¡±

    It¡¯d be evening soon. Our chores for the day was over. Finally, some free time!

    ¡°How about your mana reserves?¡±

    ¡°About average. But I have no affinity, so that¡¯s why can¡¯t.¡±

    ¡°Hold your hand, and imagine a fire.¡±

    She followed my instructions. ¡°Nothing¡¯s happening.¡± As expected.

    ¡°How about you try to burn the air-¡± I stopped. ¡°No, no. Only imagine air burning just above your fingers and in a very, very small area.¡± She had way more mana than me. I didn¡¯t want to accidentally screw up the whole place.

    ¡°Just so you know, I¡¯ve done this before.¡± She again concentrated, this time with her eyes closed. Nothing happened. ¡°See, nothing.¡±

    ¡°Hmm¡­ I didn¡¯t want to try this but,¡± But I gave her a normal Fishbone. ¡°Only keep this in your mouth. Don¡¯t chew, don¡¯t swallow.¡±

    ¡°Who would swallow a fishbone?¡± She stared at me with rather dubious curiosity. ¡°Fine.¡± We waited for about a minute before Shia felt something¡­ ¡°Tickles,¡± she giggled.

    We¡¯d also caught the attention of our burly friends who were now coming this way. Time was limited. ¡°Now, burn a fire. But think of it like you have a candle on top of your finger and that¡¯s burning.¡±

    ¡°Right!¡±

    Whoosh!

    Some sparks, and then smoke¡­ but no fire. ¡°WOAH!¡± Shia jumped around, spat the fishbone on the ground which turned to dust. ¡°AGAIN!¡± She tried, this time the same, a spark and then a smoke. Surprisingly she could keep doing it without the bone. A natural.The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

    I tried the same and yeah, nothing happened. It only worked for me about once a day. Not even a spark. Useless without the expensive ass fishbone, huh?

    ¡°Wow, how¡¯d you do that little miss, I didn¡¯t know you could use magic.¡±

    ¡°Sol taught me!¡± She seemed eccentric enough.

    Now that she said it though, their attention fell on me. ¡°OH yeah, I heard you awakened some mysterious flame powers young master. Mind showing us a bit?¡±

    Young master? I wasn¡¯t like I was in a manhua or something.

    ¡°If you don¡¯t mind me accidentally burning this whole place down, sure.¡± I smiled.

    They smiled too, albeit awkwardly. But yeah, I wanted to try magic myself. Part of why I had some ordinary fishbone. Apparently, even typical fish had some mana. Scratch that, everything had little amounts of mana. So, with a bone in my mouth, I imagined just a small flame on my fingertip¡­ it lit up and didn¡¯t burn my finger; phew. A slowly swirling flame. Can it change color though? What made red or yellow fire blue? More oxygen? I steadily imagined burning more oxygen, or more like sucking it into the fire. So a combination of wind and flame? I was using two methods to control the flow. One, small amount of mana from the fishbone and two¡­ my intense concentration. It got brighter and the color almost resembled a blue stove fire but¡­ not quite. How do I turn it off though?

    I spat the fishbone. The fire continued burning but gradually shrank and disappeared after about a minute. Tired? And sweating no less. I guess I couldn¡¯t do this for extended periods of time.

    ¡°Phew, you had us scared there for a second,¡± one of the burly men said. All of them were sweating. Guess they were really scared. ¡°Congratulations!¡± They proceeded to clap.

    ¡°That was awesome!¡± I hadn¡¯t seen Shia this excited¡­ ever.

    This is definitely going to be useful. But doesn¡¯t this mean, everyone can use magic? No, that wasn¡¯t quite true. People could use magic if they had my knowledge of how burning worked. I could probably expand and try other elements too¡­ Even if they didn¡¯t know the actual science, they could still understand as long as I explained in a proper way. Even without me, many probably could. But that wasn¡¯t the problem. The real problem was mana. You needed active mana circulating within your body. And fishbone was a good way achieve that. But most people already had mana in them and in some cases the mana from the Fishbone could clash with mana within people, especially if they had a lot of it. This was also why many people got sick from fishbones. Particularly why Manafish wasn¡¯t a popular cuisine among magicians. No one wanted to accidentally dampen their immune system and screw with their mana reserves just to have some good food. Sharmon probably would though. I mean, Shia already did.

    Anyway, even if there were people like me who could understand and use this method, it was still a really expensive method. Normal fishbones weren¡¯t anything special but they weren¡¯t sold on the market. You had to buy the fish first. And they barely had enough to light a fire like a large candle. Meanwhile, Manafish bones were way expensive and that point just buying a Manafish seemed more reasonable. Meanwhile, fish scales were also mana rich but they always smelled shit to me so I didn¡¯t bother. Maybe I should stock up just in case.

    ¡°What are you two doing?¡± Mrs. Alayla said. Apparently, she was back.

    The burly men quickly dispersed.

    ¡°Umm¡­ nothing,¡± Shia said. ¡°Just trying out some new magic. Oh yeah, I can now use magic!¡± She showed her spark and smoke.

    Her mother smiled. She smiled at me¡­oh boy¡­. I knew that smile. I knew that smile way too well. ¡°Come here,¡± she said.

    .

    ..

    ¡­

    Suffice to say, I got quite the earful for the next half an hour. Just me though, why not SHIA!?

 Chapter 72: Big Mouth

    I had some days to laze around but instead I decided to visit the magics class. I didn¡¯t have that one. But I couldn¡¯t help but be curious.

    Miss Chamille had banned me from the typical classrooms but hey, she didn¡¯t ban me from the practical ones. Besides, I had practical classes from next month anyway.

    The red roofed building was slightly different from the typical green roofed one. Namely, the classrooms were bigger, the kids too. All the classrooms had decent flooring and no tables or chairs. Some classes were teaching martial arts while others were teaching swordsmanship and the alike.

    The magical classes took place on the third floor, so that¡¯s where I headed. Pretty straightforward place. The very same as the other academic building. Just with bigger and brighter classrooms.

    On the third floor I found a bunch of kids. There were three magical classrooms, each consisting of mages with different kinds of talents and experience. I was mostly interested in the very basic class which only had about 7 people.

    ¡°Oh?¡± The teacher, a tall man stared at me. ¡°I wasn¡¯t expecting you Mr. Soler Barack.¡±

    ¡°Couldn¡¯t contain my curiosity Sir,¡± I said. ¡°Or would you prefer if I addressed you as Lord Arjan Heins?¡± Apparently, the guy was a count and a guest lecturer here; he knew more about magic than any teacher at this academy. I got the information courtesy of Gerar.

    ¡°No need. You¡¯re in school, I¡¯m a teacher. Ranks don¡¯t matter,¡± he spoke in a matter-of-fact manner. Practiced, that was for sure. ¡°Take any seat you prefer.¡±

    This classroom wasn¡¯t as big as the ones below. It was smaller than even typical classrooms and they had chairs. No tables though? ¡°Understood.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ve already gone through the basics,¡± Mr. Arjan said. ¡°However, let¡¯s do a quick recap for your sake.¡±

    The other kids didn¡¯t object. If memory served me correctly four out of these seven, didn¡¯t yet know how to use magic. They merely had affinity. None of them were rare magic users.

    ¡°How much do you know?¡± He asked before starting.

    ¡°Simple stuff. Affinities, mana as a tingly feeling and rarities.¡±

    He smiled. ¡°They¡¯re not that simple. Even the very basic principle of an art can be sophisticated as long as you master them well.¡± Well, he had a point but I was just answering him for the sake of answering. ¡°Perhaps you read mana as this mysterious thing that runs through your blood and helps you change the natural order.¡±

    ¡°Kind of.¡±

    ¡°Well, you¡¯re not wrong but I believe in equal exchange, the very basics of alchemy.¡±

    Now you¡¯re spitting stuff from FMA? Really?

    Rolling my eyes, ¡°So, like an energy source that you can convert but what you can do with it depends on the amount you have?¡± I mean, that felt obvious.

    ¡°EXACTLY!¡±

    ¡°If I might ask, what kind of magic do you use Sir?¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t use magic,¡± he said. ¡°But I¡¯m more knowledgeable in the subject than even court magicians.¡±

    Okay, maybe choosing this class wasn¡¯t such a great idea. Who even boasts like that? Hmm¡­ I guess I could test out whether he actually knew his shit. ¡°What¡¯s the rarest magic and why?¡±Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.

    ¡°Time magic¡­ or so I¡¯d like to say.¡± He paused for a good minute. ¡°But it¡¯s actually having every single affinity. Those who are blessed with magic, are often blessed with multiple affinities. However, in more cases than not, they cannot use more than three or at best four affinities. Only a demon lord was able to use 7, and that was the rarest.¡±

    Huh!

    I just expected time magic, honestly.

    ¡°You really are knowledgeable, Sir.¡±

    He flashed a cheeky grin. While the students rolled their eyes. Yup, this was normal.

    He went on to explain the basics of mana manipulation. I was sort of wrong. Mana didn¡¯t flow with the blood. But rather, it flowed in your bones and stored there like calcium and other minerals. I mean that made sense considering I got mana from just chewing bones too. Is mana a tangible mineral then?

    He also cleared some of my earlier misconceptions regarding capacity. It was true your mana capacity was virtually unchangeable after birth. However, in special circumstances, especially if you had mixed blood or had connections to spirits (Which I had) you could gradually increase your mana capacity over time. Actual progress would be super slow and would take decades; not years, decades. But it¡¯s still possible.

    ¡°I¡¯ve heard that you use fishbones to get some boost in mana,¡± Mr. Arjan said. ¡°While that¡¯s not a bad way to go about this, it¡¯s pretty terrible of a way to stay in bed for months.¡±

    Apparently, the source of my strength had leaked. Probably thanks to our thug network. It didn¡¯t bother me though. Most sane people wouldn¡¯t think of chewing on fishbones and contracting fevers.

    ¡°But if I don¡¯t misuse and use it sparingly, I¡¯m less likely to be sick, right?¡±

    ¡°Sick? Ah, you think disease is the only drawback. You see, your body eventually gets adapted to higher concentrations of mana, and at that point if you don¡¯t supply it, you get withdrawal symptoms. Kind of like drinking wine. Ah pardon, you¡¯re too young to understand that. But yes, perhaps your analogy of ¡®sick¡¯ was correct.¡±

    Nope, I totally understood that. So, it just becomes a drug. I mean, I did like the tingly feeling now that I thought about it.

    ¡°Then what-¡±

    ¡°Magic stones. Most magicians use Magic stones and use mana externally to boost their spell, without changing their own flow.¡±

    ¡°Those are too expensive Sir,¡± I said.

    ¡°Pass my course as the top of the class and I¡¯ll gift you a wand.¡±

    First rate wands sold for at least a few hundred gold. Even your run of the mill wands cost at least 20-30 gold a pop. I¡¯d already looked into them but they were far too expensive for me. So I tried not to think about them¡­.

    ¡°You have my attention,¡± I lowered my center of gravity and brought my full focus on him, resting my chin on my hands.

    He smiled. ¡°Excellent.¡±

    ***

    I hadn¡¯t been in my room in about five days now. Kind of made me feel a little nostalgic. So, I went over to check my stuff. Everything was as I left them.

    I had a letter on my desk though. A letter with a red insignia on the back. An insignia of an octopus? It was addressed to me: Soler A. Barrack.

    Smelled good too!

    I opened it and the paper was white! I hadn¡¯t seen actual white paper in a while! No, you haven¡¯t seen white paper at all. Finally, some luxury paper! And the hand writing was so damn beautiful!

    I was so excited, I forgot to read the actual letter, so I read it.

    Basically, it was an invitation. A formal invitation to the Tea party of Duke Nimber Al Alzania, Nisa¡¯s father. The party was going to be held in about ten days and the journey to reach there would take about a week. Meaning I had to leave by three days.

    And just when I was about to start classes for real.

    Sigh.

    I had no idea how noble invitations worked, but if Barack senior was to be believed, I could take Shia with me, no problem. So, I went out to get Shia but she wasn¡¯t at school. Figured. I went to see Miss Chamille instead. Definitely not because I wanted to ogle at her or anything¡­

    She wasn¡¯t there either. Apparently, she was on holiday. Sirgh!

    So, with nothing else to do, I went home. Or would have, if I hadn¡¯t run into Jake and Mike outside.

    ¡°Take that back,¡± Jake hissed.

    ¡°Learn to accept the truth,¡± Mike said calmly.

    Maybe it¡¯s not the best time for me to enter this conversation. I slowly, slowly backed off.

    ¡°Oh, Sol!¡± Mike saw me. ¡°Come here. We¡¯re discussing chest sizes. Arin has the best pair in our class!¡±

    The what?

    ¡°I¡¯m telling you, Lady Nisa¡¯s pretty big too,¡± Jake insisted. ¡°But this moron keeps saying she¡¯s small and stuff!¡±

    And here I thought these two idiots were discussing something important and arguing over it. Aren¡¯t you morons a little too young to be discussing boob sizes though?

    I slapped my forehead. ¡°Does it matter what size they are? We all know Miss Chamille has the best pair.¡±

    They looked at me as though they were staring at an exotic creature. ¡°That would explain why you stare at her so longingly,¡± Mike said.

    ¡°Agreed,¡± Jake said.

    You and your big mouth.

 Chapter 73: Wild Card

    Mrs. Alayla saw us off at the city gates.

    It was really early in the morning and Shia was still sleeping, so I bade goodbyes in her stead.

    Yesterday, the Barrack Family decided I had to leave two days early. Things happen on roads, so it was probably a good idea to start early for a party you ¡®had to¡¯ attend. I could have left with Nisa or Mike but that would have hurt my family¡¯s pride so they sent us off on an expensive looking carriage. It looked expensive but the inside was pretty shit. Didn¡¯t even come with cushions! So, I brought pillows instead.

    We weren¡¯t going alone. We had eight guards, all belonging to the Barrack family. They were the Employees. We also had a knight with us. Apparently, he was an escort from the Duke¡¯s family. Which was both good and bad. Good because he could take care of most of the problems at the border and bad because God damn would he lose all the respect for this family soon.

    Strangely, our family¡¯s eight guards were dressed for the occasion and actually moved like they were also trained knights. Rather weird.

    ¡°She¡¯s pretty clumsy, so do take care of her.¡±

    Shouldn¡¯t she be taking care of me? ¡°I will,¡± I said.

    The carriage drew its doors shut and the journey began. I watched the sky slowly light up. We were going to take a familiar path for a few hours. I came through this place, the first time I came here with Den. Brought back memories. It¡¯s already been more than two months. I wondered what they were doing at this point? Crossing countries maybe? Maybe I should write to them? I planned to write after six months. Sending letters cost like two gold if you were sending across continents. So, I couldn¡¯t do that willy-nilly. But maybe, maybe I could manage a bit and send a letter at the end of this month?

    The postal system of this world was pretty good. As long as you paid a handsome amount of cash, you could be certain your letter would reach in about a week. Even if the receiver had left for another country, the letter would still reach him. If he left for another continent, the letter would Still reach him. However, in that case the receiver would have to be pay extra money to get the letter. How the postal system actually worked, I couldn¡¯t figure out. Apparently, it was a trade secret. If they somehow lost your letter, you were also eligible for a refund! Why didn¡¯t we have this system?

    ¡°We already left?¡± Shia woke up.

    ¡°Yeah. Your mom came to-¡±

    ¡°Our mom,¡± she said, eyes slightly narrowing.

    ¡°Sorry.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t apologize. Just because your half, doesn¡¯t make you any less of her child.¡±

    Apparently, only Barack senior knew I wasn¡¯t his kid. Everyone else in the family were told I was a bastard child that the Borges family raised in his stead. Barack senior fooled around quite often, so that wasn¡¯t a surprise. What was a surprise however was the fact that Mrs. Alayla didn¡¯t ask any questions and just accepted me into the family. Perhaps she understood her husband was lying.Stolen story; please report.

    I felt bad about deceiving Shia and her mother but at the same time, it wasn¡¯t my place to worry about that. I had a lot on my plate and I didn¡¯t plan on misusing their trust and influence. Eventually, I planned on paying them back and coming clean.

    ¡°I thought you hated Nisa,¡± I said. ¡°Didn¡¯t think you¡¯d come along.¡±

    ¡°He made me¡­¡± she said. ¡°And I kind of do hate her. That pompous tramp thinks she owns the world.¡±

    I snickered. ¡°Maybe she does; she¡¯s the daughter of a duke you know. But she¡¯s not that bad. She let me keep the fish, remember?¡±

    ¡°Wait till she asks for favors.¡±

    Well, if you help someone, of course you¡¯d want help in return. I¡¯d like to think she helped me out the goodness of her heart, but that probably wasn¡¯t the case. Nobles were shrewd and Nisa in particular was quite cunning. She probably wanted to use my friendship and show off in front of her siblings or something like that. At least that was my guess.

    Sharmon Barrack probably didn¡¯t trust me enough to leave me alone in a foreign country with foreign nobles. That was why he¡¯d sent Shia with me, to keep an eye on me, so I didn¡¯t do anything to bring down his name. At this point I didn¡¯t think his family was fake anymore. He had enough influence to rival even the counts of neighboring lands. He didn¡¯t have money though, which was also pretty necessary for a noble.

    I yawned. ¡°This is going to be a long ass ride, so let¡¯s walk around every now and then,¡± I said. ¡°I want to try shooting some birds.¡±

    ¡°With what?¡± Shia said.

    ¡°My bow?¡±

    ¡°You can use a bow?¡±

    ¡°Yeah?¡±

    She shut up. More like frowned. ¡°And you didn¡¯t tell me?¡± And why was that necessary? As if she¡¯d read my mind, she continued. ¡°Mom never let me touch bows.¡±

    Oh. ¡°I could let you touch mine.¡± I tried to sound as neutral as possible.

    ¡°Hmm,¡± She leaned closer and grinned in a rather mischievous, almost cheeky way. ¡°So that¡¯s how you seduced those ladies?¡±

    ¡°What are you even talking about?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t play dumb. I know you seduced Selia, Samille, and Arin. They often compete to have the right to talk to you at the library. Father says, you remind him of his younger self. But he only started dating after 10, so he plans on having a serious discussion with you soon. Don¡¯t tell him I told you though.¡±

    Who the fuck was spreading these rumors? I didn¡¯t even know those girls! And how did Barrack senior of all people know that? I sighed, more like groaned. ¡°Does mother know?¡±

    ¡°Not yet,¡± she grinned.

    ¡°I hope it stays that way.¡±

    ¡°And I hope I get to practice with your bow.¡±

    Biting my teeth hard, I pulled out my bow from my bag, which I thought I wouldn¡¯t have to carry around this soon. ¡°Uh-huh.¡±

    Chirping, she took it. ¡°We¡¯re stopping for lunch!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not even morning yet, my lady!¡± They did not stop, that was for sure.

    It was plenty morning for me. I usually always woke up around this time, so I wasn¡¯t bothered. But apparently waking up early had caused some brain damage in our dear sister¡¯s case.

    ***

    We stopped for lunch just before midday. We stopped by some trees in an open area. I remembered this place. Den and I camped here for the night once.

    And I practiced with bow here myself.

    ¡°Yeah, pull it like that, aim and shoot.¡±

    ¡°Yeah!¡± She shot. Apparently, she was worse with it than when I started; not that I was that better now but I was still leagues ahead of her. No wonder your mother doesn¡¯t approve of this.

    The Barracks were a noble family. If their first daughter was bad at something, it was only natural they¡¯d keep her away from it. If it were up to me, I¡¯d have told them to let her practice and get better but it wasn¡¯t up to me. And I knew where they were coming from. My mother never let me play football no matter how much I wanted to. That probably had to do more with how much it would have impacted my studies and less with how much I sucked at it.

    Anyway, Shia wasn¡¯t deterred in the least. She just ran around and shot and stuff. I was losing my stamina just from being in the sun but this lady was running around and looked fine. ¡°We¡¯re taking a break in five minutes,¡± I said.

    ¡°Okay!¡± She said but she wasn¡¯t even looking at me anymore. She was shooting, running around, picking up the arrow and shooting something else. Didn¡¯t matter if it was a bird, squirrel or snake, she just shot like crazy, never hitting a single thing.

    Yeah, maybe this lady was a bit more of a wild card than I¡¯d initially assumed.

 Chapter 74: Argh!

    There wasn¡¯t much to do. I asked the librarian if I could borrow some books to read on the road but she flat out rejected me. Heck, she didn¡¯t even let me carry my own damn book.

    So, bored, I tried fiddling with magic. No, I didn¡¯t use any bones. Just my own meager ass supply of mana.

    I¡¯d already tried some basic things like test out what kind of magic I could use. For starters, I could successfully create water, fire, and ice. But I couldn¡¯t do anything regarding thunder, and earth. I could barely handle light and dark but it wasn¡¯t really useable for me. None of these were even remotely mana friendly, so I needed a good amount of fishbones to make them work. And Void and time? Oh yeah, those¡­ not only did those particular elements require a disgustingly large amount of mana, they also required hidden knowledge, neither of which I possessed. I¡¯d read about Einstein¡¯s theories in high school but I doubt that was going to help me. It might though?

    However, there was one particular element that didn¡¯t require a lot of mana. Just my mana alone allowed me to control parts of it. Why? Because I didn¡¯t have to create something that was already abundant around me.

    Namely, air.

    ¡°What are you even doing?¡± Shia said.

    The carriage went on. We¡¯d be reaching a village by night, take a break there and keep going for three days till we reached the border and then another three days to Nisa¡¯s estate.

    ¡°Manipulating wind.¡±

    A spinning vortex of wind danced in my palm. It wasn¡¯t very violent but definitely visible. Can I make this bigger? If I could, maybe I could even make wind blades and stuff? But how would wind form a blade? I could probably flip a few skirts, but actually cut flesh? Didn¡¯t seem likely.

    ¡°Teach me!¡±

    The onion and potato fields were somewhat empty. Recently harvested I suppose. It was still a little cold but lately I found myself sweating every now and then. So, winter¡¯s almost over, huh?

    ¡°I¡¯d love to, but you won¡¯t be able to.¡±

    So, I actually tried dragging Mike with me the other day and teaching him stuff. Didn¡¯t work. Apparently, just knowing how fire or water or even wind worked, didn¡¯t really make that big of a difference even if you had mana. Mike could barely form a droplet or so of water but he couldn¡¯t do sparks like me and Shia. Meanwhile, Shia couldn¡¯t produce anything other than a spark.

    ¡°It¡¯s not like you¡¯re busy!¡±

    She was loud. And annoying¡­ sigh. ¡°What do we breathe?¡±

    ¡°Air.¡±

    ¡°Try moving the air.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s it?¡±Stolen novel; please report.

    ¡°That¡¯s it.¡±

    She tried, didn¡¯t work, she kept trying, still didn¡¯t work¡­ she stayed silent for about ten minutes and then started complaining that I wasn¡¯t a good teacher.

    I¡¯ve to deal with this for a whole week?

    Argh¡­.

    ***

    On the second day we crossed a river. Or would have but the knight accompanying us asked us to wait for the ships to pass. Our resident bald thug, Mr. Sibrian agreed.

    I think I might have seen these ships from a distance with Den before. He said something about these things being ghost ships and stuff?

    ¡°How old are these?¡± I asked.

    The actual river was about half a kilometer wide with virtually no current. There wasn¡¯t any wind either. Yet, the ships moved along just fine. These ships had sails but those looked pretty dead. Could they be moving with magical devices? And weren¡¯t said devices super expensive?

    ¡°About 500 years, I believe,¡± Sibrian said. ¡°I¡¯ve heard a demigod used them but since he was betrayed, he cursed them to roam the Snile River forever. Scary stuff.¡±

    Uh-huh.

    We had a perfectly decent bridge connecting the two sides. But we still had to wait for these large ass decaying black ships to pass. The ships were pretty empty by the looks of things. Yet, I felt something from within them watching. Well, this world has flamethrowing lizards. So, it wouldn¡¯t have been that surprising if zombies lurked around in dead ships or even ghosts going about for that matter.

    As usual, Shia seemed excited over nothing. Meanwhile, I just felt bored. ¡°I kind of want to plunder those things,¡± I said. Not because I wanted to plunder but because I was trying to figure what kind of face she would make.

    ¡°Count me in!¡± She agreed right away.

    I sighed, and just stared at the ships. There was about twelve of them and the very last one was passing by.

    No wonder your mother was concerned.

    ¡°He¡¯s just joking young miss, calm down,¡± one of our guards said.

    Shia pouted but didn¡¯t say anything. She was acting a bit too spoiled on this journey. I suppose that was because she didn¡¯t need to act like a lady away from family. I bet she was going to drop this and take up another fake noble lady vibe once we crossed borders. At least I hoped, she would.

    I didn¡¯t really care all that much about this though. ¡°Let¡¯s go I guess?¡±

    ¡°No,¡± the knight said. ¡°It¡¯s best we leave only after they¡¯ve vanished into the horizon.¡±

    ¡°Any special reason?¡±

    ¡°Their curse is really potent. I once suffered a massive diarrhea for three days straight. Not pleasant on long journeys.¡±

    That wasn¡¯t pleasant no matter what situation though. So basically, you just had food poisoning.

    These people probably had a good reason to be careful about curses and all that. I mean, magic was a thing and me, the guy who came from another world with no talent at all, had somehow managed to manipulate nature which I thought was impossible till now. Yeah, I¡¯d seen magic but I still regarded it to be impossible for me. But it happened. And sure, I was excited as hell. But¡­ but when I actually thought about it, I wasn¡¯t excited because I could use magic. I was excited because for the first time, I saw a way out of this hellhole and a way for me to someday properly return to my family, to Lin.

    Sigh¡­ but that wasn¡¯t happening any time soon, I guess.

    ¡°Something wrong?¡± Shia asked.

    ¡°Nothing.¡±

    Last of the ships were gone. So, we resumed our journey. We¡¯d be on the road for a while longer and although I thought I was used to pissing outdoors¡­ yeah, these days my shame meter was kind of going out of control. Part of it was because Shia was peeking at me every now and then. I didn¡¯t have the guts to peek at her though. I mean¡­ I didn¡¯t want to accidentally get beaten up or anything. Also, I was an adult. I couldn¡¯t just go about watching kids piss or something. It did piss me off when she saw me though.

    ¡°Next time, I¡¯ll take a dump and sling it right at you like a monkey if you come close,¡± I whispered. I literally cringed after saying it. Don¡¯t be embarrassed after saying it yourself, dumb ass!

    ¡°Ew¡­¡± She for once was disgusted. Good. ¡°I¡¯m still going to peek though,¡± she winked. Even a pervert wasn¡¯t this horny for peeking¡­ probably.

    Sigh¡­ Seriously, how am I going to deal with her for the rest of the week?

 Chapter 75: Slept!

    Mr. Sibrian actually took responsibility for Shia and let me pee in peace. I wished he¡¯d done the same for when we showered but he didn¡¯t. Apparently, it was fine since we were young and she was my sister. Well, it wasn¡¯t fine with me and so I took very, very short baths. And yes, baths. When we stopped by villages, we almost always got luxury inn rooms and they came with private baths. My baths weren¡¯t private though¡­ sigh.

    Still, it wasn¡¯t that bad. Shia was wild and a brat and annoying too but she wasn¡¯t doing it on purpose, at least I hope she wasn¡¯t. She couldn¡¯t be like this back at her place. So, when she finally found the reins a little loose, she didn¡¯t hold back.

    The reason she was infamous at the academy wasn¡¯t because she was violent, but rather because she was mischievous. She¡¯d prank you, no matter who you were. I think she didn¡¯t harm me because of two things. One, I was family. And two, she was wary of me. What if I found out and told her mother? What if I actively worked against her in her very own home?

    However, now that I¡¯d earned more of her trust, she really didn¡¯t bother hiding her true self. Which I appreciated but at the same time¡­ didn¡¯t.

    ¡°You¡¯ve lost some weight,¡± she said, splashing water without intent. We had a small wooden tub. Roundish. She barely had a towel wrapped.

    Mine was pretty tight.

    ¡°Kind of. Been running around a lot,¡± I said. I took a look at my body. Lately, I hadn¡¯t been paying attention. I didn¡¯t have as much as fat as I used to. I couldn¡¯t really call this healthy though. I was clearly lacking protein in my meals. Just milk wasn¡¯t good enough. Maybe I¡¯ll focus more on meat? ¡°Oh on the other hand,¡± I paused. No, she hadn¡¯t gained weight. She¡¯d just gotten bigger¡­. She smiled. Oh yeah, she knew where my gaze was. ¡°I¡¯m getting out.¡±

    She snickered. ¡°I didn¡¯t say anything you know,¡± she shrugged. ¡°You can look if you want to.¡± Sometimes I wondered whether she was intentionally leaving shame outside the door.

    ¡°No, thanks. I¡¯m only interested in bigger-¡± I shut up. What the fuck are you saying!

    She burst into laughter as I stormed out of there.

    Most of the women I knew would get upset way too easily. They¡¯d hold grudges, they¡¯d pout and wouldn¡¯t tell you where you went wrong. And most of these women were from the other world. in this world¡­ I¡¯d met three women who didn¡¯t fit that narrative. Shia was one of them.

    There¡¯s definitely something wrong with her though.

    ***

    We reached the border earlier than expected. Our escort knight explained things and the guards just let us through.

    The border itself wasn¡¯t that interesting. Just random wooden planks and some group of people patrolling the place. As we passed them by though, I saw more. They had dogs. Big dogs. Like wolves big but those things looked like if Siberian Huskies and German Shepherds had kids. So Siberian Shepherds? Did Siberian Shepherds have weird blue streaks on their bodies though?

    I expected a gradual change in our surroundings. But instead, it was pretty sudden. The temperature rose in haphazard fury and before long I was shivering. ¡°How the hell is this possible?¡± I managed

    Wait a second, was that snow? In spring!?

    Before long the ground turned white¡­ and the carriage shook more than usual.

    ¡°Nothing new. Weather changes fast here. Wouldn¡¯t be surprised if it¡¯s summer in their capital right now.¡± Shia wasn¡¯t bothered. She took out a thick blanket from her bag and spread it over us, while she snuggled up next to me. Our shoulders were touching and although it would have bothered me in other circumstances, right now, I happily accepted her warmth.

    Why?

    It was freezing damn it!

    ¡°Ow¡­¡± Shia mumbled.

    ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°Oh, nothing. It¡¯s rather bumpy today, huh?¡± She said¡­ sweating?

    ¡°Do you have a fever?¡± I reached for her forehead. She batted my hand away.This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

    ¡°Nope.¡± But she was making somewhat odd noises every now and then and¡­ huh? My hand felt warm¡­ and wet¡­.

    She was clutching to the blanket a little too tightly but- Did she¡­ pee on me! I pretended to look away but then immediately lifted up the blanket. Yes, there was small amounts of liquid just beneath where she was sitting. No, it wasn¡¯t pale yellow¡­ it was red. I quickly clutched the blanket back where it was supposed to be and we started sweating together¡­.

    Well¡­ fuck.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry¡­I¡¯m really sorry you had to that disgusting¡­¡± Shia said. ¡°I¡­ forgot¡­¡± she spoke meekly.

    ¡°It¡¯s alright,¡± I said. ¡°Mom said, this happens to girls¡­¡± Obviously no one said that to me. But God bless you Sex Ed Class! No, not you Askavan! ¡°I¡¯ll go out. Clean and get changed and stuff¡­¡± I tried to sound as nonchalant as possible but boy was she upset. She could almost break into tears any moment now. ¡°Hey, I need to go, can you stop!¡± I yelled giving the door a knock.

    ¡°Yeah, sure thing Sol,¡± the driver said, stopping.

    I got out, but our guards didn¡¯t get off their horses and just watched me march into the distant bush. Sometime later I got back. ¡°Hey Mr. Sib, I-¡± I went closer. ¡°Might have peeled of a little skin there, can you drive slowly?¡± I whispered. He flashed me some teeth. ¡°You got it man! I totally understand!¡±

    Did he though? Does he seriously think I just jacked off or something? Actually, I¡¯d never done it in this body, huh? Plus, I didn¡¯t get any wet dreams yet either. I¡¯m still too young anyway. Moving on, I knocked on the door. She coughed once and let me in.

    ¡°I¡¯m sure you¡¯re disgusted but¡­¡± Shia was fidgeting. She¡¯d got changed and even wiped the blood clean with something.

    ¡°As I said, Mom already told me, so relax.¡±

    ¡°Okay¡­¡±

    The journey for the rest of day¡­ was awkward to say the least. She didn¡¯t share the bath and she didn¡¯t try anything funny for the next two days.

    ***

    Meanwhile, though Shia had become meek, our journey didn¡¯t become any less exciting. For example, the houses in this place were all weird. Weird as in, I had no idea things could even bend like that. ¡°That looks like a dick,¡± Shia said.

    Young miss, you shouldn¡¯t be saying shit like that¡­ ¡°It kinda does,¡± I snickered. But yeah, she was right. One of the buildings looked like a bent dick. And then another one looked like balls. And then another one like a clit? And a vag? Almost all the buildings in the area were weird and the statues were weirder. Naked statues doing¡­ not safe for work things.

    ¡°Umm¡­¡± I said. ¡°What is this town?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s the city of desires,¡± our accompanying knight answered.

    ¡°How come I don¡¯t see people?¡±

    ¡°They¡¯re¡­ living their desires¡­¡±

    It was midday. I suppose most people didn¡¯t like being out in this hot weather. And yes, hot. The cold just went away like it was on introvert or something. But it wasn¡¯t just most people it was all the people. So, they¡¯re like screwing each other right now?

    Wow¡­ and here I thought people were sane in this world. Well, sex was fun so I understood where they were coming from. Wait, you¡¯re still a virgin!

    It was a small town and we didn¡¯t really need to stop here. Not that I was eager to¡­.

    We had two more days to go on this journey and since nothing major happened so far, we could reach the Duke¡¯s city by tomorrow midnight, assuming nothing happened from here on out too.

    It was a little strange how we didn¡¯t get targeted by Fiends or even bandits on the way. Maybe they got scared by our resident knight and thugs?

    Probably not. There was something more. There had to be.

    ¡°Umm¡­ Sir Sol,¡± the knight said.

    ¡°Yes?¡±

    ¡°Is your sister alright? She¡¯s been awfully calm since yesterday.¡±

    ¡°She¡¯s a bit under the weather. Should be fine with some proper rest tonight.¡±

    ¡°I See¡­¡±

    I took our escort knight to be a serious man. And for the most part he was. However, he was also quite vigilant and picked up on things quickly. I liked that trait in people. Yet, I didn¡¯t like this guy for some reason. Blue hair, a fake smile and that odd look in his eyes. He was great at his job but, I still didn¡¯t like him.

    So, again with nothing major to do, I focused on manipulating wind as Shia just sat on the other corner minding her own business.

    Can¡¯t I like suffocate people with this? I knew what air was. Bout 78 parts nitrogen and 21 parts oxygen. As long as I decreased Oxygen and increased something like carbon dioxide or just decrease oxygen in general, I could probably knock people out with it.

    So, for starters I tried to control the oxygen around me. Good thing I¡¯d drilled its chemical structure in my mind. I can¡¯t see the structure with my eyes though? So, useless?

    At first nothing happened. It wasn¡¯t like I could see oxygen in the air. But strangely, with some patience and persistence, I was able to identify and control oxygen. It was like I was seeing blue particles or something. Blue for oxygen, red for CO2 (and other stuff like argon), and green for nitrogen. Obviously, the colors were imaginary and my brain was probably just making shit up to help me focus but¡­ when I tried moving the oxygen (which took half of my mana)¡­ I felt faint and it was harder to breathe.

    I stopped. I didn¡¯t need to actually suffocate myself. I just needed to know if it worked. So, I tried with Shia to test my range. Surely my range wasn¡¯t that big, I mean I had terrible mana capacity and-

    She was out of breath and looked at me weirdly. ¡°It¡¯s harder to breathe in here.¡±

    ¡°Sorry,¡± I said. ¡°I was just trying out something new. Didn¡¯t think it¡¯d reach you.¡± My eyes felt droopy. Used too much mana?

    No just suffocation, this would work in all sorts of ways!

    ¡°What?¡± She was more curious than furious.

    ¡°I was taking out the air you breathe in.¡±

    ¡°But I was breathing it in just fine¡­¡± She eyed me suspiciously.

    Well, she wouldn¡¯t understand oxygen. And if I haphazardly went around sharing my knowledge about elements, the church could brand me as a heathen and execute me, so¡­. ¡°I decreased the quality of the air you breathed in. You thought it was the same but I just made it worse and that¡¯s why it was harder to breathe.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s¡­ actually kind of scary.¡±

    ¡°Yeah.¡±

    I was totally out of mana though. And I felt sleepy¡­ so I fluffed my pillow¡­ and just slept.

 Chapter 76: Entrance

    Our destination, the eastern Dukedom of Siran was a beautiful port city. It was big, and even from a distance I could see both the tall walls and the large ships leading over to the sea. Also, white houses!

    Most claimed, this was the biggest city in Siran, even bigger than the capital itself. They were the biggest sea food suppliers of the entire region. The incoming salty breeze reminded me of the time I traveled with Den.

    Very mixed feelings.

    ¡°Look big ships!¡± Shia almost knocked me out the window. She was back to her jolly self.

    ¡°Why are all ships just parked on the port though?¡± I wondered aloud.

    ¡°It¡¯s the sea king¡¯s hunting season. Most ships don¡¯t traverse the oceans around this time of the year,¡± said the knight. ¡°It¡¯s mostly over though.¡±

    I¡¯d heard about this sea king thing before. Apparently, it traveled all over the globe. It was similar to the Sea monster the demigods had murdered centuries ago but not quite. This thing was apparently immortal. Most claimed this big sea king thing was a god from the past. I didn¡¯t buy it and frankly didn¡¯t care. Not my problem.

    There was a massive line near the city¡¯s entrance; lots of carriage, lots of people. Unlike most of the cities from before, this city had a concrete like wall. Looked somewhat like roman concrete. Sturdy stuff, must have taken years to complete.

    ¡°You still have the letter of invitation, right?¡± Shia asked.

    ¡°Yup.¡±

    ¡°Sibrian, just take us past the carriages,¡± Shia yelled.

    ¡°Roger that! HAH!¡±

    Woah, I almost hurt my back with how much acceleration he created. The horses we were using were quite something. Not only could they go on for hours and sometimes days, they were also super strong and kind of big. Like at least twice as big than earth¡¯s. Then again, most people of this world were just darn tall and big.

    Except me of course. I was tiny.

    ¡°Make way!¡± Sibrian roared and we passed by large ass fancy carriages. Judging by the d¨¦cor and guards, they were probably high nobles.

    But aren¡¯t we just mid rank nobles? ¡°Are you sure about this? I mean¡­ we¡¯re not that influential you know.¡±

    ¡°Oh please,¡± Shia shrugged. ¡°We¡¯re not waiting behind these wimps.¡±

    I smelled trouble. Literally¡­

    At the very end we were stopped by the guards. Shia took charge and went out, proudly flashing the invitation.

    ¡°What is the meaning of this!¡± One of the nobles came out of his super fancy carriage. Red hair, rather big dude.

    Oh boy.

    I felt an odd sense of familiarity. Looks like Mike. Speaking of Mike, the dude actually waved¡­ wait, what? Mike was in the fancy carriage.

    Oh.

    Shia smirked. Still flashing the invitation.

    ¡°We all have one, child,¡± he said, flashing his own letter.

    Yet, Shia didn¡¯t back off. ¡°Do you have one personally signed by Duke Alzania?¡±

    The duke didn¡¯t necessarily say anything, he just stood there as an attendant of sort whispered something to his ears and he eyed me for one second. I guess he doesn¡¯t.

    I sighed, came out and offered a noble bow. ¡°Soler A. Barack. Pleasure to make your acquaintance Duke Arale Chewbosky.¡± I didn¡¯t smile, I didn¡¯t frown. I maintained my best neutral face. ¡°I apologize for my sister¡¯s rude demeanor. We¡¯re personal friends to lady Nisa Alzania and would like to see her as soon as possible. So, if you¡¯d excuse our poor display, we would humbly appreciate it.¡± I kept it short and blunt.

    I got a snort. Not a good sign but hey better than literally pissing him off and him branding us as enemies or something. ¡°Very well.¡±The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

    Wow he actually backed off.

    Weird.

    I caught Mike smiling disgustingly and waved at him. He waved back. Seriously, your smile is creepy dude. I didn¡¯t have it in me to tell it to his face though.

    Moving on, we were allowed in.

    ¡°Hmph, wimp,¡± Shia didn¡¯t even face me.

    ¡°You do realize he¡¯s three ranks above us, right?¡±

    Duke families were technically kings here in Siran. There were nine sovereigns and eight of them were Duke families. But the ninth one, the Archduke family of Dolins ruled over these dukes as something like an emperor. I only understood the basic concept but despite being on the very top, the Archduke was powerless. The Dukes ruled over each of their respective eight states however they liked. Kind of like senators but with much more power. Meanwhile the archduke was the president just with way less power but he still had at least some sway over the internal politics of this place. At least to my understanding.

    ¡°Who cares about rank, we¡¯re not even-¡± she paused. ¡°Never mind.¡±

    Oh?

    I didn¡¯t know why but I did have a bit of a bad feeling about the way she said it. Please tell me, we¡¯re actually a noble family¡­.

    Anyway, my attention was brought back to reality as we passed the gates and saw more of the city. Just like any port city, we were greeted with a myriad of inns and restaurants and the sizzling smell of freshly fried food. Ah, I smelled salmon, and TUNA? I debated whether to order one for about a minute. But in my mind, I was going nuts. One more second and I¡¯d never see them again! It was now or never! Do it, do it NOW!!~! ¡°Can you like buy one of those for me?¡± I asked the knight, giving him a silver coin. One of those meant a whole package of sea food containing fried tuna, salmon and shrimp rice.

    He nodded and went over to one of the restaurants. Fortunately, most this continent¡¯s currency was interoperable thanks to the holy church. You could hate their guts all day but you had to admit, those filthy religious dolts were doing something right.

    He brought a sizzling piece of thick tuna cut with some thinly sliced salmon fries and shrimp rice back with him on a plate and even brought some cutlery. He even gave me back change! Only two copper but I¡¯ll take it!

    ¡°Hmm¡­.¡± Shia mumbled, basically leaning on my shoulder, guess someone wasn¡¯t mad anymore. Yup, she wanted some. I could tell the guards wanted some too. Sigh¡­ ¡°Fine you guys can have some too. We still have time. Let¡¯s park and eat some¡­.¡±

    ¡°ROGER THAT!¡± Oh yeah, they were definitely happy to hear that.

    So, we settled down by the side of the road, went over to one of the bigger restaurants and ate seafood. Softy, juicy and delicious. But most importantly, these things were highly nutritious and I felt like a super hero!

    I¡¯m overflowing with mana~!

    ***

    After our hearty noon delight, we made way for the center of the city. It was a big city, so we still had about two or maybe three hours of travel time left. So, it was good we had lunch.

    ¡°That was good,¡± Shia said. ¡°A little heavy but good.¡±

    The people of this place were mostly human. But I did see some Southerners every now and then. Also some rather rare people¡­ the ones with fish face. I kept a solid eye out for mermaids. Sigh¡­ so far nothing.

    ¡°Agreed,¡± I said.

    ¡°You sure about that though? You spent a lot of money.¡±

    ¡°Well, father did mention I should show some lavishness.¡±

    ¡°Wait what?  He gave you pocket money?¡±

    ¡°Yeah?¡± About four gold to be specific.

    ¡°Hey didn¡¯t give me anything!¡±

    That¡¯s because you¡¯d spend everything miss. ¡°My lord, there¡¯s some uproar up ahead, should we take a detour?¡± Sibrian said.

    I took a look. A group of people had one carriage surrounded. I¡¯d seen it before, it was three carriages behind the Duke¡¯s one. Looked somewhat fancy?

    ¡°Who¡¯s that?¡± I asked.

    ¡°Count Margius.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve heard that name before,¡± I said. I couldn¡¯t recall though.

    ¡°He monopolizes all the onions of Siran.¡±

    ¡°And the people aren¡¯t happy with that, I¡¯d assume?¡±

    ¡°They are not.¡±

    Who would be?

    ¡°Go right through,¡± Shia said.

    ¡°Huh? Why?¡± He said.

    ¡°We¡¯re making a display of power I guess,¡± I said.

    I somewhat understood what she was trying to do, but I kind of didn¡¯t. As we came closer, the crowd just immediately moved to the sides. Some even bowed. We weren¡¯t even from this country, and yet they knew.

    ¡°Everyone really is afraid of our family, huh?¡± I mumbled.

    Was this why bandits didn¡¯t target us on the road? But do we have any mark on us stating we¡¯re Baracks? I tried looking at our door and the carriage through the window and¡­ the insignias you dolt. Every noble family had a different one.

    How the fuck did I forget about that?

    Arghh!!

    ¡°Yup,¡± Shia said. ¡°That¡¯s why you shouldn¡¯t just randomly bow down to these clowns.¡±

    Seriously, this young lady didn¡¯t understand that even if our family¡¯s influence was that of a count¡¯s, we were still nowhere near the level of a duke. Besides, if we were that tough, we wouldn¡¯t go bankrupt and end up broke in the first place.

    But that aside, we passed the Count¡¯s carriages and caught a glimpse of him. Black hair, age lines on his face and although he was only forty, he looked sixty. The girl next to him though. Woah¡­ hot. No seriously, she looked like a model.

    Anyway, once we passed, that carriage was again blocked but it was only a matter of time before the people were going to just randomly leave.

    With nothing better to do, I watched the scenery outside. The houses were very similar to the stuff I¡¯d seen in Schalion but they were oddly white. The first few layers of the city were for the common folk, then the rich folks, then nobles and finally the duke¡¯s mansion. Most houses in the rich and noble areas were beautifully crafted, way better than the stuff I¡¯d seen back in Schalion.

    I didn¡¯t see a single tree for some reason. Trees in general weren¡¯t abundant in this part of the continent but I hardly saw any here at all. No wonder I didn¡¯t see any produce either.

    Well, they have loads of fish at least.

 Chapter 77: She Knew?

    White porcelain outer shell; two storied Mansion. Crystal-clear water running around the mansion parameters through a well-crafted stone canal. Believe it or not this water was drinkable, not salty. And it even had transparent fish in it. Yes, transparent as in I could see the insides of the fish.

    ¡°Weren¡¯t these things like super expensive?¡± I mumbled.

    ¡°Yes,¡± Sibrian said. ¡°My lord, you should do the talking,¡± he said, eyeing the front gates and the people there. We both knew what he meant by that.

    ¡°Leave it to me,¡± I said. If we let Shia do the talking, she was probably going to screw up way more than she¡¯d already done.

    I thought her attitude would change when we got to the city, I thought she would turn all noble lady like and be proper. I thought wrong.

    ¡°Greeting sire, I am the head butler of the great house of Alzania, Siberto. I welcome you, the first born of the Barack family, lord Soler Barack, in my master¡¯s stead. Please forgive him for he must entertain other guests.¡±

    Well, that¡¯s a considerate way of you saying I¡¯m not important enough.

    I noticed it a little late but most of the high nobility, didn¡¯t mention the A in my name. I suppose it was their way of being considerate since the A suggested I was merely a bastard child and would be replaced by the official heir the moment one would pop up. Unfortunately, the Barack family didn¡¯t have one yet. They had a hot feisty young lady though.

    ¡°Thank you, Mr. Siberto. And yes, I do forgive him,¡± I said, leaning forward, and smirking.

    Shia almost broke into a snicker as Sibrian sighed and slapped his forehead but also seemed to be in a good mood. The butler? He didn¡¯t have a change of facial expression. He just¡­ smiled as usual. I did feel he was irritated though. Heh.

    Maybe letting me do the talking wasn¡¯t that better of an idea either.

    We went in through the big fat double door at the front. ¡°Good one,¡± Shia whispered.

    Blindingly bright colors. Mostly golden. They had at least a hundred or so Magical lamps just scattered across the whole area. I suppose this was the reception hall? Pretty big with stairs at the very end and people of all kinds just sprayed out. I didn¡¯t really recognize much of anyone. No, wait there were two familiar faces. Mike and his father. They were pretty far and I had no real reason to even remotely approach them.

    ¡°That¡¯s probably Duke Alzania,¡± Shia said.

    I traced her gaze to a well-rounded man in the other corner. He wasn¡¯t as tall as the people in here, but he was quite handsome even though he was probably fifty-something. ¡°How¡¯d you know?¡±If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

    ¡°I saw a painting of him once.¡±

    Maybe I should have too.

    Shia and I trudged through the reception hall, ignoring everyone, straight to the Duke. We waited for him to finish pleasantries with his guest and turn to us.

    It was customary to wait for the host to welcome us.

    ¡°Welcome. The Baracks I¡¯d assume?¡±

    ¡°This is correct my lord. Soler A. Barack,¡± I said. ¡°This my elder sister.¡±

    ¡°Shia Barack.¡±

    ¡°Nimber Al Alzania.¡± He offered me a noble bow and eyed me, almost curiously. Before smiling faintly. ¡°My daughter spoke fondly of you. Please make yourselves at home.¡± He was a busy man and he got even busier just after we finished talking.

    The moment people heard we were Baracks, a lot of people came to introduce themselves. At first, I thought they were probably just interested in Shia but nope, they were interested in me, the next possible head of the Barack family. They were buttering me up and saying stuff like it had been a while since there was a genius like me. I couldn¡¯t help but notice how all of their impression of me was a bit too exaggerated. Who¡¯s spreading so many damn rumors?

    They were also introducing their daughters and stuff¡­. Now granted noble ladies always had some sort of allure to them and they were beautiful by nature since their parents were beautiful but these women were odd. They were white as milk. Like they¡¯d spray painted their faces or something. What is up with the beauty standards of this place?

    I was actually glad my family weren¡¯t makeup fanatics. Shia did seem a little out of place since she was the only one with light makeup so far. But again, we weren¡¯t necessarily dressed for the occasion. The actual party was still three days away and we were merely wearing travel gear so things were fine¡­ for now.

    After an exhausting round, we somehow snuck away from the reception hall into the back gardens. Our gang was here, the guards and the escort knight. Apparently, since we weren¡¯t the only ones who came early, there weren¡¯t enough rooms for everyone. Naturally, this meant we¡¯d be booking rooms in the city but since we were privately invited by the duke himself, even our guards were provided with rooms, albeit not good rooms. Then again even ¡®not good¡¯ rooms in a duke¡¯s mansion were still better than my dorm room so this was fine.

    ¡°Shouldn¡¯t Nisa have arrived already?¡± I said.

    ¡°Lady Nisa usually rests in the second-floor balcony,¡± the knight said. His job wasn¡¯t just done yet I guess.

    The mansion was only two floors but it was pretty big. The reception alone took the space of about fifty or so of my dorm rooms. The rest of the mansion had like a hundred rooms. This mansion came with a basement, and rooms there too.

    They had separate towers just in the corners, next to the canals for servants where our guards would be staying over.

    ¡°Seems a bit elaborate for a tea party,¡± Shia whispered.

    ¡°My thoughts exactly.¡±

    Perhaps Barack senior anticipated this and hence sent guards and even Shia with me. This was definitely not an ordinary tea party. Then again, these people were just filthy rich people, so there was always a chance things were simpler than I was thinking.

    We passed by the maids, the gardeners and took the back stairs to the second floor. There were a bunch of nobles here too and they probably arrived even earlier than us. Some of them recognized Shia and started buttering her up while ignoring me altogether. I didn¡¯t care though and just passed them by.

    ¡°Who¡¯s the runt?¡± A big man said. Bald, a big scar on his eye.

    ¡°He¡¯s Soler, my little brother.¡±

    ¡°Another half? Why bring him here? Thought Sharmon only valued legitimate heirs.¡±

    ¡°Technically he¡¯s also from the Borges family,¡± Shia said.

    The man¡¯s face paled. He was big but he was quite¡­ sensitive? Huh, I again felt a sense of familiarity. He gulped. ¡°My apologies my lord,¡± he said.

    The hell was he apologizing? Also¡­ the fuck? Shia knew?

    Now I¡¯m even more confused¡­.

 Chapter 78: Filthy Rich?

    Shia and I had separate rooms but I dragged her into mine and forced her to explain. I didn¡¯t really need to use much force at all though. Just asking nicely twice was enough.

    The short version: me being part of the Borges family made me official.

    The long version: apparently, as a noble if you had kids with anyone other than your wife, they were bastard children and often couldn¡¯t lay claim to the family fortune or title. However, if said bastard child was from another noble family¡­ then things were different. You were forced to acknowledge the existence of said child and that¡¯s how I ended up becoming the first son of the Barack family. Granted, I didn¡¯t really understand much of the politics myself but honestly it didn¡¯t matter since I had no real intention to actually inherit anything. Besides, I wasn¡¯t part of the Borges family anyway¡­ yet.

    My original goal was pretty simple. Start a cult, influence the church from multiple angles and live peacefully. If that failed, then find a noble girl, preferably from an upper mid-tier family and settle down for good.

    I didn¡¯t have the time or patience to actually inherit the Barack family and take over things. No thank you.

    ¡°Our rooms are different,¡± Shia said.

    ¡°We¡¯re literally next to each other,¡± I said.

    We both sat on the bed. Rather comfy this bed was.

    ¡°Yeah, but my room only has one window and half the size of this one. Actually, most of the other rooms are like mine too.¡±

    This one had three windows, was bigger than my dorm room by four maybe five times?

    ¡°Maybe I got lucky? There weren¡¯t two vacant rooms next to each other so they had to-¡±

    ¡°No, this is a special guest room.¡±

    Special? I mean, there were a bunch of stuff here. Fancy large mirror, big cupboards, walk in closet, a literal bath suite and lots of snacks just waiting for me to peck on. Okay maybe the room was a little special.

    ¡°They¡¯re treating me with care,¡± I said. ¡°And the duke personally invited me.¡±

    ¡°Makes me suspicious,¡± Shia said, picking up a biscuit. ¡°Ew, too sweet¡­¡± She mumbled.

    ¡°Probably works with bitter tea,¡± I said, pouring her a hot cup. I didn¡¯t put any sugar in.

    She took a sip, then a bite and then another sip. ¡°Kind of. Not a fan.¡±

    ¡°Me neither.¡±

    Biscuit and tea aside, Shia was right. Even if I was from an influential family, the duke didn¡¯t have any reason to treat me with such care. He was definitely plotting something.

    ¡°Well, he shouldn¡¯t be able to harass you without any repercussions, so it should be fine.¡±

    She sounded chill and like any young teenager. However, there something ominous about that. What repercussions miss?

    The biscuits were damn sweet but before long they were gone; I didn¡¯t drink much tea, since I didn¡¯t want to lose sleep. It was close to evening. Our room slowly lit up with a magical chandelier. Rather fancy stuff. I wouldn¡¯t have noticed it if it hadn¡¯t lit up like that. crystalline, pretty big but gave me the innate fear of ¡®what if it falls on me¡¯.

    ¡°We should be free tomorrow and the next day,¡± I said. ¡°Got any plans?¡±

    ¡°None. I enjoyed the journey but¡­ spending time here in this mansion might be a chore.¡±

    ¡°We could have fun at the beach,¡± I said. ¡°Did you bring any swimsuits?¡±

    I hadn¡¯t.

    ¡°What¡¯s a swim suit?¡±

    ¡°Some light clothing that you wouldn¡¯t mind getting wet.¡±

    Was there no swimsuit in this world? Come to think of it, I hadn¡¯t seen anything of that sort in Axel or Xanir port. So maybe women of this world weren¡¯t too keen on showing skin?

    ¡°Well I have my underwear-¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t have to show me!¡± I yelled.

    She snickered.

    Technically, I¡¯ve already seen them on multiple occasions though. I¡¯d also seen her in her birthday suit but I¡¯d erased that sight from my mind.

    ¡°Well, I guess we can try to look for sea stones,¡± Shia said. ¡°They¡¯re rare and might carry mana inside them if we¡¯re lucky.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, let¡¯s do that.¡±

    I¡¯d read about sea stones before too but they were rare and finding mana in them was even rarer. So, I wasn¡¯t betting on that.You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

    I felt uneasy without taking my evening walk, so I went out. Shia followed me out. Sibrian was outside while some of other guards were taking a break. The knight was nowhere to be found.

    ¡°Taking a walk my lord?¡± Sibrian said.

    ¡°Yeah. It should be safe here, so you don¡¯t have to follow us,¡± I said.

    ¡°Can¡¯t do,¡± he said. ¡°Boss¡¯s orders.¡±

    ¡°Okay.¡±

    So, Shia followed me and Sibrian followed her. Both of them were weirdly in a good mood for some reason though.

    ¡°Something happen?¡± I asked.

    ¡°Huh? Why?¡±

    ¡°You guys seem to be in really good moods.¡±

    ¡°Permission to speak freely sir.¡± Sibrian was trying to be knightly and all that but he never seemed consistent.

    ¡°You don¡¯t need permission. Feel free.¡±

    ¡°I thought my lord was inadequate. But my fears were unfounded. Not only did you not budge meeting such high figures but you also stood your ground and that makes me proud. I am terribly sorry to have doubted you.¡±

    So basically, you guys will be happy if I acted all rude and stuff¡­. Anyway, ignoring the clowns, I kept on walking around. I couldn¡¯t go outside of the duke¡¯s mansion because obviously I didn¡¯t know what dangers might be lurking so I just circled the canal. One rev was like half a kilometer so I figured walking ten times was good enough for today.

    Somewhere down the line I caught some attention of the nobles who were enjoying their time in the garden. Most were just watching us curiously.

    One particular individual came to greet us though. ¡°Ah, the son of the Baracks,¡± he said. Black hair, old fellow¡­. No, he just looked old. Count Margius.

    ¡°Count Margius,¡± I offered a bow. ¡°Soler A. Barack, sir.¡±

    He nodded and smiled, taking a look to his right. ¡°My daughter Emma.¡±

    Oh yeah, the hot lady! She was close to twenty and although not very endowed she was gorgeous; I hadn¡¯t seen a woman that tall in ages! In my past life I¡¯d probably have a raging boner. Actually, I might have had one in this life too had I not met other beautiful women in my life first. For example, Lin was the most beautiful woman I¡¯d met so far and Miss Chamille comes in at a close second. Or maybe I just like elves?

    Shrugging, I nodded at her and looked to my right. ¡°This is my sister, Shia.¡±

    Strangely, neither of the two women spoke. I guess it was customary for men to do most of the talking on first encounters?

    ¡°I¡¯ve been wondering but what are you doing? You¡¯ve been walking in circles for¡­ hours now.¡±

    ¡°You see,¡± I couldn¡¯t just say I was just exercising, so- ¡°The fish here are quite extraordinary.¡±

    ¡°Ah yes, Duke Alzania really does treasure them.¡±

    ¡°But, when you look closer, some of the fish aren¡¯t exactly in good shape,¡± I said. ¡°You can tell they are diseased and soon many of these fish would die off.¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡± The count was taken aback. Some of the gardeners and maids who heard me rushed to me, and dragged me away from there.

    They brought me quite far.

    ¡°Is that true?¡± The maid asked. While the gardeners were freaking out.

    ¡°I mean, it¡¯s only my hunch.¡±

    I¡¯d been staring at the fish for like a whole hour now. Most were going about like they were fine. Some were struggling, and seemed off colored. They were either pregnant, which was very unlikely since mating season was still a few weeks away, or sick. So, I took a bet and just said they were sick. Wouldn¡¯t I be in trouble if they aren¡¯t? I felt sorry for the fish but- Please be sick fish, please be sick!

    ¡°Call the head butler right now!¡± The maid hissed.

    Some people ran inside while I resumed my walk. Sometime later some butlers, and other people came to examine the canal and fish. They did catch a lot of attention but I saw them dumping some sort of potion into the canal.

    It was dark and although I¡¯d only completed 8 revs, I went back inside only to be led into the duke¡¯s chambers. Shia came with me of course.

    Should I apologize preemptively?

    ¡°Sit down,¡± the duke said. I took a seat.

    It was his office room of sorts. Large room with a table, some sofas and his big chair. He had some papers and paintings here and there.

    They were spraying potions and stuff, so I¡¯m definitely not wrong. ¡°I apologize for bringing up the issue so suddenly without thinking about how it might have impacted your image.¡±

    His eye brows raised a bit. ¡°Son, how old are you?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m five, sir.¡±

    ¡°Hmmm¡­ almost¡­. How did you know the fish were sick?¡±

    ¡°A hunch sir. I just observed them and it felt wrong.¡±

    ¡°I see¡­ well, hunch or no, you were right.¡±

    ¡°Will they live?¡±

    ¡°Hard to say. We don¡¯t have any strong potions you see. With recent excursions our regional potion reserves are low. Besides, the water itself is corrupted, even if we drowsed all our potions, it wouldn¡¯t mean much. But fear not they¡¯re not that expensive.¡± He snickered.

    So, the water was bad? Hmmm¡­. ¡°Would you like,¡± I paused. Wouldn¡¯t he suspect me if I just randomly offered a solution?

    ¡°Would I like what?¡±

    ¡°Umm¡­ nothing.¡±

    ¡°Speak up son.¡±

    Sigh. Well¡­ anyway- ¡°I actually have something that might help. Emphasis on the might.¡±

    He raised an eyebrow. Obviously, he¡¯d suspect me. I not only spent most my time near the canal but now I was offering a possible solution. ¡°Go on.¡±

    ¡°I have something called an elixir of li-¡± Before I could finish, Shia had wrapped her hand over my mouth.

    Wham!

    Dude jumped up, landed firmly in front of the table and dashed my way, immediately lifting me up. was he going to slam me down on the floor!?

    ¡°An elixir of life? You have one?¡± He whispered, very vigorously.

    ¡°Y-yeah¡­¡± I nodded.

    I knew the stuff was rare but why the hell was he reacting like that?

    ¡°This,¡± I said. I always kept one vial in my pocket in case something went wrong. I had quite a few in my bag.

    ¡°It¡¯s transparent¡­¡± he mumbled. Was he disappointed? Maybe I said the name wrong? Well, I might have screwed- ¡°I¡¯ve never seen one this pure. Might just work!¡±

    Work on what?

    Dude didn¡¯t say anything, he didn¡¯t even thank me and just ran away. Well, that was anticlimactic. He was that hellbent on saving his damn fish?

    Shrugging I proceeded to leave, only to be stopped by a gaping Shia. She stared at me, slack jawed. ¡°Yo-yop-you were carrying that in your pocket?¡±

    ¡°Yeah?¡±

    ¡°Do you have any idea how precious pure elixirs are?¡± She grumbled¡­ very calmly. I didn¡¯t know why but that tone was kind of scaring me.

    ¡°1 maybe 2 gold a pop?¡±

    ¡°NO! 1 Steller a pop you idiot!¡±

    ¡°But-but even that isn¡¯t really that exp-¡± I mean it was just a hundred- oh¡­

    That¡¯s like a 100k!

    ¡°You moron~!¡± Shia clutched my shoulder like a tigress and shook me back and forth. ¡°That¡¯s because the church said so. They want it to be sold for 1 gold but what if there¡¯s no stock and you need one super bad? The actual stuff sells for much higher and you still can¡¯t find it because some pathetic scared ass royal always buys up all stock!¡±

    Um¡­ what?

    Doesn¡¯t that make me¡­. filthy rich!? ¡°Wow, I¡¯m rich.¡±

    ¡°No¡­ you¡¯re dead,¡± she mumbled. ¡°Anyone who hears you¡­ will kill you to get more¡­.¡± She mumbled. We both stared at the door. And we knew¡­ there were people on the other side.

    An exhausted sigh escaped. Why didn¡¯t you imbeciles tell me¡­ Mom, Den.

 Chapter 79: The Food Was Good

    I¡¯d fucked up.

    I¡¯d royally fucked up.

    I¡¯d absolutely, positively fucked up for good.

    Apparently, I forgot to take capitalism into account. Sure, this world was different. Sure, people were different. But were they really? Was anything different other than just their technological progress and sophisticated middle age world? No matter what world, greed was the same.

    The church set the price of Elixirs to be sold for about 1 gold. That was true. Zena told me I could probably sell it for higher. Den meanwhile hadn¡¯t seen the actual elixir. Mom told me to keep it a secret. I think they were definitely trying to protect me and not get my head clouded with money and stuff. And under normal circumstances, that would have worked. But I guess Mom hadn¡¯t seen the whole murder thing coming and that messed up our lives.

    Regardless, I still should have accounted for this possibility. Not only would I be targeted by everyone around me. I would also-

    Sigh.

    ¡°It¡¯ll be alright,¡± Shia said, as we walked down the corridor. We caught a lot of attention. Mostly me. I wouldn¡¯t call it bad attention but, yeah, I saw greed in those eyes. But word shouldn¡¯t have spread that fast. It shouldn¡¯t have spread at all since the only people outside were the duke¡¯s guards and Sibrian¡­ but.

    ¡°How? You literally just said¡­¡±

    ¡°Well, you¡¯re still his son.¡± She leaned closer. ¡°I¡¯m sure he won¡¯t be able to do anything to you publicly if the Duke favors you,¡± she whispered.

    The main problem wasn¡¯t the families around me. It was my own family. As in the Barack family. They were a lot docile nowadays but according to Shia, the family was way brutal back in the day and the moment Sharmon finds out about the potential of me having a lot of money, he would use the money for himself and amass and army and get back at his enemies.

    Is that why he sent Shia and the guards with me. So, we can get favors from the duke together¡­.

    He was shrewder than I thought. I had to give him credit there. However, despite everything he hadn¡¯t gotten me just yet. Sure, I made a lot of mistakes. I fucked up big time. But at the same time, I wasn¡¯t out of options. Let¡¯s say he hated my gusts after this for not giving him money and threw me out of his family, the Borges family would take me in. I was on good terms with Anya and it would have sucked to be not protected by the Barack family but at the same time, as long as I could make to the Duke promise to protect me, it was going to work out. Hopefully.

    Speaking of the Duke, no one saw him. He ran away with my elixir and disappeared. Judging by how frantic he was, it was safe to say he wasn¡¯t doing this for the fish at least.

    He said he doesn¡¯t have enough potions. So maybe he had some injured commander or something? Seemed possible.

    Anyway, that said, with nothing better to do, we headed for the dinner hall. It was packed. No, not overcrowded. Just packed. Eighteen tables. All round tables for eighteen nobles. Ours was empty with three seats? ¡°Someone¡¯s dining with us?¡± I wondered.

    ¡°I have a bad feeling about this one,¡± Shia said.You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

    Well, that was rare. She usually wasn¡¯t the one to look that displeased. We took our seats. A maid came with some glasses, plates, handkerchiefs and stuff. ¡°Would you like a drink?¡± she said. ¡°Fresh wine from the winery.¡± Apparently, they were serving red wine. Looked delicious but I didn¡¯t have any reason to get intoxicated tonight. One wrong move and I was going to end up dead.

    ¡°No thanks,¡± I said.

    This place was beautiful. Warm lighting, soft piano music and a dancer dancing with the melody.

    However, I got a lot of stares. It was a little jarring, especially considering I preferred not being the center of attention.

    ¡°I¡¯ll take half a glass.¡± Looks like someone didn¡¯t care about her health. This world doesn¡¯t have a drinking age, huh?

    Come to think of it, I hadn¡¯t had a drink in this body either; I hadn¡¯t seen any raging drunks either for that matter. I was tempted to find out whether alcohol tasted the same in this world too but, Let¡¯s wait till fifteen at least.

    I opted for water and cheered. Shia drank, eyes locked with mine. Was she trying to be foxy or something? I made a face, sticking my tongue out, and she snorted, spraying a bit of wine everywhere. Luckily, none on her dress.

    Heh- I couldn¡¯t control a giggle, and she didn¡¯t seem to care either. Not very noble like but we were kids.

    ¡°Enjoying ourselves,¡± manly voice. The duke.

    ¡°Yes sir,¡± I said, standing up, offering a bow.

    ¡°No need, no need.¡± He smiled amiably and sat down.

    Oh.

    ¡°You seemed to be in quite a hurry. Everything sorted out, sir?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡± He said. ¡°Do you have more?¡± He seemed very calm. And blunt too.

    ¡°We do not discuss business over meals,¡± Shia said. ¡°In fact, we don¡¯t even talk during meals.¡±

    Young miss, you¡¯re talking a duke. He¡¯s three ranks above us. And we¡¯re ¡®his¡¯ guests!

    Strangely the duke laughed. And he laughed loud. ¡°True. Business should be discussed in private.¡± He struck a thoughtful pose. ¡°But since our food hasn¡¯t arrived yet, let us discuss something else. Say, Soler, how do you find my daughter?¡±

    This felt like a trick question. No matter how I was going to answer- ¡°She¡¯s a respectable noble lady and commands great respect in the academy through nobility and diligence. With her cheery yet sublime attitude, she is well approachable and noble-like, I think.¡± What the fuck does that mean though? I had no idea what I just said.

    ¡°How would you like my daughter¡¯s hand in marriage?¡±

    Silence.

    Was he joking? He had to be. I mean, this was sudden. Not just sudden but absurdly surprising. First, he asked me about his daughter and then just randomly offered her hand to me? No, didn¡¯t seem random. Seemed very preemptive if nothing else.

    I took a good look at his face. Oh, he¡¯s serious. I could have sworn my nose felt wet.

    ¡°Shouldn¡¯t you ask your daughter first? I understand noble customs but there¡¯s a good chance I won¡¯t inherit my father. There¡¯s also a good chance I might decide to live as an adventurer. I¡¯m sure she wouldn¡¯t want to be with someone like that.¡±

    In noble families, if your parents told you to marry someone, you were obligated to do so. Especially for the women. They rarely got to choose their partners. Even so, I tried to sound sincere. I couldn¡¯t just reject him outright without looking like a fool, so I was taking a roundabout way.

    ¡°Hmm¡­ my daughter values freedom over being stuck in our customs. I¡¯ve always seen her be melancholic whenever she¡¯s at home. She rarely smiles. She rarely speaks. She rarely eats. It¡¯s almost as though she¡¯s given up on life. Bored of it. Yet, she requested I hold this tea party.¡± He stared, he stared at me. ¡°You can guess why I entertained the idea.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sure it wasn¡¯t because I told her I liked castles¡­¡±

    He grinned. ¡°Think about it. You don¡¯t have to answer right now. Fill your stomach first.¡±

    The food arrived. A roasted chicken, grilled meat. Steak. Fresh fruit salad. The finest Honey Crisp I¡¯d seen in a while and even pies and cakes and tea and¡­ it was a feast of sorts.

    However- ¡°If you¡¯ll excuse me, I¡¯d like to speak with my sister in private after the meal. I¡¯ll give you my answer later.¡±

    I heard a snicker. The dining hall was silent, so even a mere snicker sounded loud. I sighed. ¡°Whoever just laughed,¡± I took a breath. ¡°FUCK YOU!¡± I smiled. ¡°Let us eat.¡±

    One of the nobles in the back fumed, turned red, but quickly just ducked while the rest laughed, but at him not us.

    ¡°Indeed,¡± the duke said, pretending nothing happened.

    Okay maybe, the outburst wasn¡¯t nice but I was at my wits end. What the fuck!

    I took a bite of the Honeycrisp and ate it without thinking about anything else. The food was good; my mood, not so much.

 Chapter 80: Will Do

    Sufficed to say, I really couldn¡¯t sleep. On one hand I had to worry about the whole elixir thing. On another, I had to worry about the duke¡¯s marriage proposal. And then there was the whole thing of me being a literal child.

    I was five for fucks sake. I wasn¡¯t at the age to be thinking about women let alone marriage. Technically I¡¯m twenty-two though¡­. And wait, weren¡¯t children supposed to have good long sleep cycles? Fu¡­.

    Just like there was no drinking age in this world, there was also no legal marrying age. Of course, that didn¡¯t mean they let kids procreate at their own discretion. It was customary for women to live with their parents till the age of fifteen. For higher nobles like the duke, it was close to eighteen. The girl could choose to live with her husband if she preferred but there was an unspoken rule about not becoming pregnant for the first few years of their teenage life. Mostly out of consideration for the girl, since she¡¯d be caged for the rest of her life.

    But she said her family was already hosting a tea party. The actual party was again, still two days away. She invited me because I wanted to see a castle. This mansion was big but it wasn¡¯t a castle. She would have invited me regardless. Nisa obviously had ulterior motives and considering she hadn¡¯t shown herself yet, it sufficed to say, she was going to ask the whole Manafish favor back in this way. You¡¯ve played me, you¡¯ve played me hard, Nisa Alzania.

    But why?

    I was young. I was barely a noble. And I had no real authority myself. No matter how much she was desperate for freedom, I wasn¡¯t even a remotely suitable candidate. There were way better ones out there anyway.

    Or maybe she was using me for now and then thinking of finding someone better. Considering she was the third daughter, it wouldn¡¯t have been a surprise if her father just married her off to some distant noble family to form political or economic ties. She was using me as a shield toward to prevent that for now. And when she got her ideal situation, she would just abandon me. But why did the duke allow that? How come he wasn¡¯t against this? Because of the influence of the Barack family? Doesn¡¯t seem likely. He clearly has more influence. Or does he intend to use us to wage war?

    Sharmon probably anticipated this and planned on using me too. Dude just wanted a lot of money and go on having fun with women and wars. Honestly, I didn¡¯t like him. But I¡¯d definitely misjudged and underestimated his intentions. And even now, I was probably underestimating him and almost everyone around me. I was thinking he¡¯d be fine because Den trusted him. But Den was also human (not literally) and he was about the same age as me. I could trust him but that didn¡¯t mean his judgement was absolute.This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

    But what if I used this opportunity to form a club with her? That¡¯d be my condition. She definitely had the upper hand considering I couldn¡¯t just reject her father outright. However, I wasn¡¯t going to just sit around and do what I was told.

    I wasn¡¯t just going to accept reality as it was, without trying to change it. Fate? Fuck that.

    The moon was bright, the night still somewhat young. Let¡¯s sleep, I guess.

    ***

    The next morning, I woke up early, earlier than usual and started jogging around. I got some sleep but not enough.

    My mind was already made up.

    It was so early my guards weren¡¯t even awake yet. Which was good cause I didn¡¯t want to deal with Sibrian right now.

    By the time I was done jogging, some of the gardeners were plucking dead leaves while the maids were cleaning up the place; the eastern horizon did have some colors but it wasn¡¯t morning just yet. I didn¡¯t get in the way of their work, and they didn¡¯t get in the way of my exercise regimen.

    ¡°I need to speak with Nisa,¡± I said, locating a familiar maid. ¡°I understand it¡¯s too much to see her so early in the morning. But considering I might be her future husband, there are a few things I need to make sure, so we don¡¯t regret this.¡± Last night, Duke Alzania intentionally broke the topic marriage in front of his guests. It wasn¡¯t a secret.

    A little surprised but the maid quickly took me to the back stairs and led me straight to the second floor. But it wasn¡¯t the corridor I was familiar with. Rather it was in the very opposite corner. The rooms here weren¡¯t as abundant and spaced far away. And the doors looked somewhat fancier.

    ¡°I¡¯ll take my leave now,¡± she said, leaving.

    The hell am I supposed to do?

    Stand like a moron in front of her room? I mean, I could do that. knock~! Knock!

    Nothing, so I knocked again.

    Annoyed moan. ¡°Who?¡± the question came. It was Nisa¡¯s voice but she was probably sleeping.

    ¡°Sol.¡±

    ¡°1 minute.¡±

    She didn¡¯t take one minute. She took ten. It felt like an eternity though. Who knew waiting behind the door of a girl was going to be this nerve wracking? I considered knocking again since she might have just fallen asleep again. But the door slowly opened with a creaking sound.

    I was greeted by a sleepy, barely standing Nisa who had a pajama on which was somehow hanging there, threatening to come loose any second now. ¡°Yes?¡± Hair like a bird¡¯s nest, going places. She had some marks on her cheeks. So, we have a drooler.

    Someone needed a shower, quite badly. And it wasn¡¯t me.

    ¡°Can I come in?¡±

    ¡°You want to come into the room of an unmarried young girl so early in the morning? Are you planning to do something to me?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m five,¡± I said.

    ¡°But you¡¯re still a man, correct?¡±

    ¡°Not yet, I¡¯m not.¡± I shrugged. I hadn¡¯t even remotely come close to puberty yet. ¡°Your father proposed yesterday and I¡¯d like to talk about that.¡±

    ¡°He¡­ what?¡± She was shocked. No, not shocked. Flabbergasted! ¡°The fuck do you mean,¡± she mumbled. Most of the sleepiness left her in an instant.

    So, he brought up the subject independently?

    ¡°Exactly as I said.¡±

    ¡°He wasn¡¯t supposed to. I mean, I was going to impress you with our mansion first and¡­¡±

    ¡°And?¡±

    Nisa sighed then yawned. ¡°Well, what¡¯s done is done. Come in. Mind the underwear on the floor.¡±

    Oh, white?

    ¡°Will do.¡±

    Also, it wasn¡¯t that she smelled (she did) but rather it was mostly her room which smelled atrocious. When was the last time someone cleaned this place?

 Chapter 81: Feelings

    Girls room.

    What is a girl¡¯s room? Pink, posters of hot guys on the walls, neat and tidy and clean. At least that would have been my guess if I didn¡¯t have sisters in my previous life. Obviously, I never got along with my siblings and for the most part they were hardly even around but I did have one or maybe two memorable conversations with my sister before she left home for her dreams. I have no idea whether that worked for her, but the last time we spoke, she sounded pretty happy. No, that wasn¡¯t it. She was¡­ content.

    Anyway, Nisa¡¯s room looked like a drunk college student¡¯s room. I knew because I was almost a drunk college student myself: Particularly why I wasn¡¯t keen on trying alcohol just yet. Once you got used to the taste, your body yearned for it and I didn¡¯t want that to happen to me again.

    ¡°Sorry you had to see this,¡± Nisa said. ¡°But deal with it. I arrived rather late, and didn¡¯t feel the need to clean up.¡±

    Clothes here, underwear there, smell everywhere. I couldn¡¯t even find the floor to take a step or two.

    ¡°Don¡¯t maids usually keep rooms clean?¡±

    She smiled then opened the blinds. Ooh, the sun was up!

    ¡°So, father broke the topic of our marriage.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right.¡±

    ¡°And you came here to discuss that? I assume you haven¡¯t given him your answer yet.¡±

    ¡°He said you requested the tea party. So, letting me see ¡®your¡¯ castle was a lie.¡±

    ¡°Not really. Just a convenient choice of words. I wanted you to come see this place.¡±

    ¡°Why?¡±

    ¡°What do you think about this place?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s nice.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s choking,¡± she said.

    ¡°This is a port city. You see so many things. So many people.¡±

    ¡°Nothing reminds you more of your broken dreams than to see other people live it.¡± She snorted.

    Every single smile she¡¯d shown me today, were fake. Yet, for some reason whenever the girl looked out the window, at the sea, at the ships¡­ she smiled. And that smile didn¡¯t seem fake.

    ¡°So, why me? Surely you can choose someone better.¡±This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

    ¡°I want to say I like you but-¡±

    ¡°But obviously you don¡¯t.¡±

    ¡°Yes. I¡¯m sorry to have dragged you into this. But I do have my reasons.¡±

    ¡°Are you?¡±

    ¡°No, not really,¡± she snickered and took a seat on her bed, which wasn¡¯t as unholy as the rest of the place. ¡°Come,¡± she said, patting the space next to her.

    I somehow made it to her and sat down. ¡°So¡­ why?¡±

    ¡°That day,¡± she said. ¡°I saw you play with Micheal. I¡¯d never seen someone laugh like that. That was genuine. That was¡­ fun.¡±

    ¡°Surely not becau-¡±

    I paused. She was about eleven. Had a good face and looked mature enough. However, she was a child. A mere child who never got to play outside. A child who wanted freedom but was born in the wrong place. In the wrong house. In the wrong family.

    I felt an eerie sense of familiarity. An eerie sense of¡­.

    ¡°Well, that wasn¡¯t all. It¡¯s just that, when I heard rumors about you liking me, I tried testing the waters but you clearly don¡¯t. I wanted to make you fall for me and then use you¡­ well, not use you like use you. You know what I mean.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t actually.¡±

    ¡°I just¡­ I¡¯m sorry. You can decline if you¡¯re against all this.¡±

    ¡°You mentioned something about disliking the church,¡± I whispered.

    ¡°Yes?¡± She stared at my eyes, obviously surprised.

    Blue irises with a bit of hazel huh?

    ¡°How deep is that dislike. How far are you willing to go?¡±

    There could be someone listening on our conversation. No, there probably was plenty who would love to listen. Precisely why I spoke so softly.

    ¡°What are you¡­ you wish to¡­ change the church?¡± She spoke so softly I could barely make out the words.

    I smiled, leaned closer, millimeters away from her ear. ¡°Let¡¯s change the world. So, you can be free.¡±

    She snickered, uncontrollably¡­. ¡°You have a way with words.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll take that as a yes.¡± I stood up. ¡°We¡¯ll talk privately when¡­ we¡¯re really private.¡±

    She gave me a knowing smile and grabbed my hand. ¡°We will.¡± She dragged me close, tilted me a little and planted her lips on mine. Miss, miss! Young miss! We¡¯re kids! We can-cnan¡¯t!

    Snickering she backed off. ¡°I saw mom do that to dad every night, they seemed so happy,¡± she said. ¡°And look at you, all red.¡±

    Somehow, I avoided all the cotton on the floor and made it to door. I wanted to say a lot of things. I wanted to rebuke her approach and even state it was wrong and all that shit. Yet- ¡°¡­¡± I couldn¡¯t get a single fucking word out.

    It was like my heart was beating in my mouth!

    The fuck. She had me. She got me good. I was not expecting a preemptive strike like that.

    ¡°See you at lunch,¡± She yawned and lied down, face planted on the pillow out of exhaustion. ¡°Be a good fianc¨¦ and close the door.¡± She waved.

    Gulping I left.

    My steps were a little funny. Heart racing, face flushed, it was like I was walking on a cloud. You¡¯re five dude, calm down. Wasn¡¯t working. It wasn¡¯t like I never kissed a girl. It wasn¡¯t like I never loved anyone and¡­ No, this is the first time, a ¡®girl¡¯ kissed you.

    During middle school, back when I was the genius of the class, some girls tried to get close to me. I wasn¡¯t looking for a relationship- that was the official excuse. In reality, I was just scared of it. I was scared of even talking to them. What if they found out what I really was? Granted, having an older sister did help mitigate some of the fears but, I was still pretty shit. It changed when I still ended up with a girl. We dated for two weeks before mom found out. I don¡¯t think we liked each other. She was using me as a status symbol to brag, and I was probably doing the same. Pretending to be normal.

    But now, this was different. Yet, it wasn¡¯t. It was the same. We¡¯d be using each other. We¡¯d be¡­ pretending.

    Yet, why do I feel like this?

    Why did I¡­ not regret this?

 Chapter 82: Nisa Alzania

    When did it start?

    When she first saw him play on the field?

    When she first saw that genuine laughter?

    She couldn¡¯t say these feelings were love. No, mere attraction. First of all, she didn¡¯t know what love was. Second, she was too young to understand it even if she knew. And third, the love she read about in the novels and books weren¡¯t like this. The love she saw between her parents¡­they were more¡­ fantastical and romantic and¡­ Yet¡­ yet for some reason her heart beat so fast when she kissed him. Her chest tightened, her lips moistened, her breath raced and although she teased him about his blush, she herself desperately hid her blush by jumping onto her bed, burying her face in the pillow.

    Don¡¯t I smell though? Not just her, the room smelled awful too. She was used to it. But what about Sol? He came from a viscount family, sure. But it was definitely cleaner than this place and¡­ would he think badly of me? it also dawned on her that maybe her mouth smelled too. So, she blew on her hand, and gave it a sniff. Fuck.

    Nisa took a shower, put on a good dress and sprayed some perfume; she applied some makeup too just in case. She did it all alone. Maids weren¡¯t permitted to enter her room. She thought about cleaning up the room before leaving but decided against it. She could always just do it later. That later never came but that wasn¡¯t important.

    She was merely using Soler Barack. It didn¡¯t matter if her heart raced a bit. She was older and she could handle these feelings. And she could easily manipulate him this way and make him do her bidding. Of course, that was going to be a bit underhanded but she didn¡¯t plan anything too extreme. Besides, he wasn¡¯t going to be in this relationship against his will. He was also using her. It was a give and take. And they were going to be just engaged for now. If Sol ever fell in love with someone, she could always just use that as an excuse to leave the relationship.

    Yet for some reason it felt good. When was the last time she felt this way? When was the last time she smiled like this?

    Guess I must really love the idea of finally being free. She was going to get close to him, maybe help him ascend his father¡¯s position, and even if he didn¡¯t want that, she was going to convince him to take her on a world tour. Together, they¡¯d travel the world and maybe even- What am I even thinking!? Her cheeks quickly turned red as she walked down the corridors. All the maids and butlers who saw her almost instantly broke into smiles. Some were genuinely surprised but above all, they were glad. Their princess was finally in a good mood for once.If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.

    At the very end of the corridor however, Nisa¡¯s smile disappeared

    ¡°Oh, if it isn¡¯t Miss failure,¡± he said.

    Nivrim Al Alzania.

    Nisa¡¯s elder brother and the official first son. He was slated to be the next duke.

    ¡°Good morning, brother,¡± she said.

    ¡°That¡¯s Lord Brother, to you,¡± he bent closer. The man was at least thrice her height, tallest in the household. ¡°Got it?¡± His voice went quiet; eyes, large and unwavering.

    ¡°Yes¡­ lord brother.¡±

    ¡°Good,¡± he moved back. ¡°I hear you¡¯re finally being dumped onto some foreign noble. Good riddens,¡± he laughed out loud. The maids and servants in the area cleared away.

    Nisa stared at the ground. Not quite sulking, not quite smiling. Her brother¡¯s words hurt. But they weren¡¯t as painful as they were once. She finally found someone who wouldn¡¯t call her a failure. Someone who wouldn¡¯t look at her with those cold eyes. But what if he does too¡­

    Just thinking about the possibility, thinking what if it went wrong, what if this dew of hope evaporated, just thinking was enough to wet her eyes.

    ¡°What are you imbeciles even doing this early in the morning?¡± A young lady said, slamming her door open.

    Judging by the lack of proper makeup and that annoyed expression, she must have been asleep.

    ¡°Ah, pardon beautiful maiden,¡± Nivrim bowed in a noble manner. ¡°I¡¯m Niv-¡±

    Nivrim was a noble man. He was taught etiquette from the age of five. He knew women were prone to throwing tantrums, especially noble women. And it was a Man¡¯s job to control and dissolve their rage. Precisely why, he himself wasn¡¯t offended. After all, he was one of the hosts and she was a guest. And it was his sister¡¯s fault this whole rude occurrence happened anyway. As long as he could explain it in an easy way, surely this beautiful young lady would understand and-

    ¡°I don¡¯t give a fuck who you are, get out,¡± she glared. ¡°Unless you want to suffocate and kiss the ground of course.¡± She smirked, mockingly.

    ¡°You-you¡¯d threaten me, the first son of the-¡± He spoke to himself, almost surprised. Not offended, surprised.

    ¡°Get out,¡± she shrugged. Apparently, she was so sleep deprived that she hadn¡¯t considered that the man wasn¡¯t inside her room in the first place.

    This lady was young and she probably didn¡¯t know he was the next heir. Surely her attitude would change the other way, the moment she found out but even so¡­ such feisty nature. Such, unfiltered beauty¡­. He couldn¡¯t help but bow before her. ¡°I¡¯m truly sorry, maiden. I will leave immediately if you¡¯d kindly offer your name at least¡­.¡±

    Nivrim was used to noble ladies. He was used to seeing lots of makeup and lots of fluttery words. However, like someone experiencing chicken skewers for the first time after having just chicken curry his whole life¡­ he was beyond marveled.

    ¡°Shia Barrack,¡± she said, slamming the door on his face.

    ¡°Shia Barrack,¡± the man repeated. ¡°I will marry her!¡±

    Nisa sighed, face palming herself. Idiots¡­. She felt all the exhaustion come back to haunt her. Too sleep deprived perhaps. She needed a cup of tea, and she needed it right now.

 Chapter 83: Ingenious

    I spent the majority of the morning in my room, not necessarily doing anything.

    Since I hadn¡¯t gone to the dining hall, a maid brought my food straight to my room. I ate and just spent the morning in here. Sometime later Shia came in, wearing a rather fancy looking dress. It wasn¡¯t the one we bought that day. She was probably going to wear that tomorrow. ¡°Let¡¯s go. You still have to give the duke your answer.¡±

    She was right. I took a shower, put on some decent clothes and made way for his office. He was already there.

    ¡°Oh, and Sol,¡± Shia paused.

    ¡°Yeah?¡±

    ¡°Let me take care of this.¡±

    After a few knocks I went in. We took our seats and unlike last time, he ordered the doors to be locked and turned on a peculiar device. It was as big as a cereal bowl and had a gem on it. It glowed red.

    ¡°What¡¯s that?¡±

    ¡°Contingency so no one hears us,¡± the duke said. ¡°Now, I believe you already have your answer ready?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°Well?¡±

    ¡°Umm¡­ yes, I would like to marry your daughter and take care of her.¡±

    He laughed. ¡°Good. But I also have something else I¡¯d like to ask you.¡±

    ¡°The elixir,¡± I said.

    Shia merely watched. She said she wanted to take care of this but I had a feeling it was going to be a major drag if I let her. However, denying her of the chance might also come back to bite me. Between her family, I trusted her the most. Probably an oversight on my end but for now, I really wanted her to be on my side.

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°Why do you want it?¡± I said.

    ¡°I¡¯m sure my daughter has already told you but Zenec has been ill for a while now. We used all sorts of elixirs but even the most potent ones barely eased her pain. Yours however, the purest kind, worked and she is mostly stable now. But its temporary for her condition has no cure.¡±

    ¡°I see,¡± I said. Who the fuck was Zenec?

    Didn¡¯t Gerar say Nisa was Zenec¡¯s daughter? And the duke clearly didn¡¯t have the name Zenec? But Zenec was the sovereign and¡­ huh?

    ¡°She¡¯s her mother you idiot,¡± Shia grumbled.

    Ahem¡­ made sense. Maybe? ¡°And you would like my elixirs.¡±

    ¡°So you do have more.¡± He looked relieved. ¡°Of course, I won¡¯t ask you to hand them over for free just because you¡¯re about to wed my daughter. But I would appreciate if you didn¡¯t charge me extensively.¡±Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.

    ¡°I¡¯m sure they won¡¯t be that expensive for you.¡±

    He laughed out loud. Boy, he had a booming voice for a short man. No calling him short is rude. By earth¡¯s standard he was fairly average at almost six feet. But considering all other people here were tall as fuck, I guess he was somewhat short.

    ¡°So, how many do you have?¡±

    ¡°Depends.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m offering you five Stellars a bottle,¡± he said. He was utterly serious.

    So, about half a million for one bottle? I had like forty more¡­ so- uh- oh, wow!

    Shia stomped my feet. ¡°We have conditions. One, you¡¯d protect him till he reaches adulthood. Two, you will hold onto the money for now and only provide him however much he needs to live alone with your daughter for now with a contract of course, and three, in case of an emergency, you will take his side and declare him as your heir.¡± She spoke in a very practiced manner.

    The first two logical propositions aside, what the fuck! Duke Alzania already had a proper heir and a backup one too. He didn¡¯t need another one! No, he couldn¡¯t get another one! I didn¡¯t have any noble blood in me to begin with!

    He looked troubled. ¡°That won¡¯t sit right with my first born,¡± he sighed. ¡°Although I would have preferred that.¡±

    Huh?

    Was he even hearing himself? Why the fuck would he prefer having an outsider succeed him rather than his own children?

    Shia crossed her legs, more or less giving the duke a dull glare. ¡°In that case, just declare him as an independent noble under your faction. Of course, you can¡¯t do that right away but use some stupid excuse like solving a murder case or stopping an assassin or something like that. Doesn¡¯t have to be fancy. Maybe just a Viscount or a Baron or even a knight would do for now.¡±

    ¡°Why?¡± The duke said. ¡°He¡¯s already slated to be the next head of the Barack family. And Soler himself said he would rather not live as a noble.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s what he thinks. And although it shames me to admit it, right now our family¡¯s financial background is rather strained.¡± I was surprised she was capable of using those words. I was even more surprised, just how shrewd this young lady was. She was foul mouthed, absurdly cunning and a force to be reckoned with. She just won my respect anew. ¡°So, it would be better if you babied him instead.¡± She spoke some weird shit every now and then though. ¡°Being the first son of a noble family is good but being a noble yourself is better.¡±

    ¡°Well, such a young lad does need some love.¡± He cleared his throat. ¡°Very well. I shall aid you however I can and in time would declare you as an independent noble under my faction. In return can I expect a steady supply of elixirs for a period of at least a year? I¡¯m not sure how many you have, and I¡¯m not sure where you even got it from but, but I would really appreciate it if you didn¡¯t sell them to someone else just because they promised you more money.¡± He spoke sincerely and without missing a second of eye contact.

    ¡°You have my word, I won¡¯t sell it to anyone else but you unless I absolutely have to.¡±

    He snorted. ¡°Nisa was right, you do have a way with words. Normally, a child your age would just say ¡®of course!¡¯ or maybe try to fool me and then just sell it to the highest bidder later after I gave you my word and protection.¡±

    Seriously, their expectations of what a child is in this world is utterly weird!

    I chuckled. ¡°Sorry to disappoint but I¡¯m not like that.¡± I cleared my throat. ¡°I have five more bottles with me.¡± I gave him five. ¡°And although I do have more. I need some for myself. I could periodically give you some more. But I don¡¯t think they will last a year.¡±

    ¡°I need one every ten days if it¡¯s the same purity,¡± he eyed the five bottles. Satisfied, he nodded. ¡°I¡¯ll need less than 30.¡±

    ¡°I think I can provide that many.¡±

    Shia¡¯s eyes were fluttering. THE duke was fairly surprised as well. I bet they were wondering, how in the world did a kid land on so much damn money! Strangely, neither asked me though.

    ¡°That would help!¡± He laughed. ¡°Come, let us go meet your mother-in-law!¡±

    ¡°Future¡­¡± I corrected him but he didn¡¯t seem to be bothered.

    Meanwhile, Shia leaned in. ¡°Genius, aren¡¯t I?¡± She winked sheepishly.

    I snickered. ¡°That you are sis, that you are.¡±

 Chapter 84: Bad luck?

    I thought, like Nisa¡¯s room, her mother¡¯s room would also be on the second floor. It wasn¡¯t. It was in the basement.

    Our steps reverberated as the duke led us down. We had some guards with us but it was mostly for show. Once at the very bottom, my nose let out a cry.

    It smelled horrendous here, worse than Nisa¡¯s room. The floor seemed clean enough. So, what?

    ¡°Wear these,¡± a maid handed me gloves and a mask.

    ¡°Her disease isn¡¯t contagious, at least so far, but it never hurts to be careful,¡± the duke said.

    For a basement, it was surprisingly bright in here. There were some guards and some maids on standby. The ceiling was about Den¡¯s height. I thought we¡¯d have cells in here, but nope, just typical rooms, albeit small ones. Our room was at the very end of the large ballroom like basement. Did something die in here?

    With a knock the duke went in. He then proceeded to invite us in as well. Inside we had a lady who, for better or worse looked like a skeleton. Probably for the worse. Her feet were rotting and that¡¯s where the damn smell was coming from. She was staring at us, yet she wasn¡¯t at the same time. Glassy eyes, disheveled hair lacking luster. Nisa got her looks from this woman but¡­ I couldn¡¯t really call her beautiful right now. She¡¯s barely alive.

    It was almost as though she was but a husk. The maid brought some cookies and tea. ¡°Her favorite,¡± the duke said. ¡°Now she barely eats anything.¡± He sighed, taking an elixir and helping her take it. She seemed to respond to the duke¡¯s touch.

    They love each other, huh?

    It wasn¡¯t uncommon for nobles to have multiple wives and mistresses. This guy, Duke Alzania didn¡¯t. He only had one wife and no mistress. I wasn¡¯t sure if that was because his wife was the sovereign or because they really loved each other. That of course didn¡¯t matter.

    She drank the potion and although her wounds didn¡¯t close, they at least didn¡¯t appear as shit as they were a minute ago. But it was probably going to be terrible sooner or later anyway.

    ¡°She¡¯d been writhing in pain for a while now. I couldn¡¯t bear her groans, so I keep her here. But I suppose we can finally move her back up. We can finally¡­.¡±

    She seemed fairly stable now though. I guess that was because of the elixir. And this guy knew the elixir would help. So that¡¯s why he was so damn excited yesterday. This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

    ¡°How did this happen?¡±

    ¡°It started with her feeling tired. Then she started losing weight fast. I think she was having stomach issues. We had her examined and the physician gave her medications and even an elixir but they only mitigated some of her symptoms. She never really got better.¡±

    Well, this world excelled in wound healing and other stuff but not diseases. Most people didn¡¯t get sick and if they did, they could just let it run its course. But this one probably didn¡¯t have one. The only way out was death.

    ¡°Come,¡± The duke said. ¡°Let us not dwell in here-¡±

    Still what kind of illness rots your fee- My eyes landed on the cookies. Those damn sweet as fuck biscuits. ¡°Say,¡± I spoke. ¡°How many did she use to eat those in a day?¡±

    ¡°About two trays?¡± The duke paused. ¡°No maybe four. She used to have a lot of tea.¡±

    ¡°You mentioned bathroom breaks. Did she use to¡­ I mean, urinate a lot?¡±

    He let out a sigh of disapproval but- ¡°Probably. One day I saw her go about twenty times.¡±

    ¡°What about exercise?¡±

    ¡°Why would she need that?¡± He snorted.

    ¡°Would you believe me if I said there might be a cure?¡±

    ¡°Truly!¡± He grabbed my shoulder and glared down.

    ¡°Emphasis on the might though,¡± I said. ¡°I¡¯m not sure if it¡¯s really that.¡±

    ¡°If it¡¯s worth a shot, let¡¯s-¡±

    ¡°Make her walk around.¡±

    ¡°Huh? Are you crazy! With those wounds, she¡¯ll bleed and~!¡±

    ¡°Wrap bandages and herbs over them. Make sure the wounds don¡¯t get more infected than they already are. Use all my damn elixirs to soothe her pain and help her. As long as we can make her walk and move little by little, her condition will improve. But that¡¯s not all, we need to manage her diet and-¡±

    ¡°The state doctor couldn¡¯t cure her. What makes you think you can,¡± the duke said, calmly. ¡°I know you¡¯re a genius for your age, however what if it kills her?¡±

    I glared at him. I glared with confidence. ¡°What¡¯s better? Rotting here with no hope for a future or taking a gamble at her life and trying one last time, while watching the world with her eyes? Do you Want her to suffer like this without getting better?¡±

    He ground his teeth, veins bulging. Yeah, I¡¯d pissed him off.

    ¡°Mmh¡­¡± A bit of noise came. It came from the woman. She was staring at us, at the duke with her hands reaching out.

    The duke went to her. He wrapped his hands around her and picked her up. She really was all bones. I bet she wouldn¡¯t weigh more than thirty kilograms.

    ¡°I will be taking your bet,¡± he said. ¡°But know this, I will not forgive you if-¡±

    ¡°How ungrateful,¡± Shia said. She¡¯d been staying quiet. ¡°He offered you a solution. When you didn¡¯t have any hope or way out at all. He offered you a solution. Instead of thanking him, you¡¯re actively,¡± She grumbled exaggeratedly.

    The duke clicked his tongue but without a word just left.

    Meanwhile Shia and I stood there, kind of dazed, kind of without anything to do.

    ¡°How sure are you that it might work?¡± Shia said.

    ¡°It was just a hunch. But the symptoms all match up with something I¡¯d seen before. And the cure for that disease was only exercise. The cause for it was a lack of exercise and eating lots of sugary food like this. And maybe luck too.¡±

    How I knew it? I had it of course. I had fucking diabetes and became fucking thin because of it. Fuck Diabetes. Fuck that shit!

    ¡°Bad luck, huh¡­¡± She shrugged. ¡°Alright, let¡¯s go to the beach.¡±

 Chapter 85: Fancy Bread

    ¡°Alright, let¡¯s go to the beach.¡±

    And that¡¯s how the beach episode of my life began! Or would have begun if the beach wasn¡¯t infested with poisonous slugs this time of the year. Abundant, the size of a small duck and utterly poisonous. No, not the kind that would kill you. But the kind that would make your body itchy and red as hell. But apparently it was also used as some sort of aphrodisiac? How the fuck did that work¡­ I have no clue whatsoever.

    I figured that was the real reason why people didn¡¯t go out to the sea at this time of the year, not because of some fictional big sea snake.

    So, with really nothing to do, I watched how the Duke was taking time to help his wife. He¡¯d taken all of us to his private villa in the southern west part of the city. By all of us, it was just Me, Shia and Nisa (and some guards). Shia wasn¡¯t really bothered but Nisa seemed a bit weird. She seemed¡­ somewhat melancholic? Well, who wouldn¡¯t be sad if their mother was like this.

    The lady in question couldn¡¯t move. She couldn¡¯t even move her hands but, but I saw her reach out to the duke earlier. And I knew she could. She just needed help for now but in time she¡¯d be able to move, she¡¯d be able to get a life back. Well, hopefully.

    This world didn¡¯t have antibiotics and there was a good chance she¡¯d die from some sort of infection. But that didn¡¯t mean she should just sit down and die. What¡¯s the point of giving up and dying? Who benefited from that?

    Shia yawned. ¡°Since we¡¯re here and all, let¡¯s go see the stalls at least? I heard they have a wide selection of fish.¡± She put a hand on my shoulder. ¡°Maybe we¡¯ll find some cheap scales and bones for you.¡±

    Why do you look like an older kid offering a drink to their younger sibling? Sigh. ¡°They¡¯re not fishing, so most of the fish will probably be dried. I don¡¯t like dry fish.¡± Most of the dry fish smelled like kitty ass to me. No, not cat¡¯s ass. Kitten¡¯s ass. Very different stuff.

    ¡°Soler,¡± The duke called out.

    ¡°Yes?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I didn¡¯t mean to act so improper.¡± Rather humble.

    I was about to say something but I didn¡¯t. His rage, his mistrust, his commitment, they were all understandable. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it. I¡¯m sorry as well.¡±

    That said, I walked out of there. Just outside the villa, Sibrian and the escort knight were here. Some of the duke¡¯s guards were also on standby. One female knight was escorting Nisa.

    ¡°Me and Shia would be heading to the stalls,¡± I said.

    ¡°The fish stalls my lord?¡± Sibrian said.

    ¡°Nope. Anywhere but there,¡± I said.

    ¡°Hey!¡± Shia shrugged. ¡°Why not?¡±

    ¡°Smells terrible.¡±

    She grumbled. ¡°I can deal with a bit of smell.¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t,¡± And I didn¡¯t want to. ¡°I¡¯m sure there¡¯s way more to see than dead fish.¡±

    ¡°In that case, why don¡¯t you visit the bakery on Deam¡¯s street. Their pastries are quite good,¡± Nisa said. Apparently, she followed us out?

    I honestly didn¡¯t know how to approach her. Every time I saw her face, it reminded me of our kiss. But- ¡°Oh, thanks. I was thinking more like-¡± But I pretended like nothing was wrong. I knew she was using me and the whole kiss thing was part of her plans. Yet, it still made my heart race when I thought about her. I guess I was finally going into puberty. Still too early. Particularly why I pretended it was nothing.The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

    I tried declining her offer, but Nisa insisted and took us to the bakery on Deam¡¯s street. That place was surprisingly¡­ not clean. Nisa¡¯s room wasn¡¯t clean either. Coincidence? Yeah, probably.

    ¡°I come here sometimes,¡± Nisa said. ¡°The people here are kind and welcoming.¡±

    I saw a lot of people here. The houses were really close to each other, almost reminding me of medieval England; narrow streets, dirty sidewalks. No one was shouting loo and throwing shit all over the back alleys though. And the people? They did indeed seem friendlier than the rest of the city.

    And Nisa was kind of popular.

    ¡°That¡¯s our store.¡± One story building, barely standing. Crappy wood.

    ¡°That looks worse than the church I work at¡­¡± I mumbled.

    ¡°You could just say Mom¡¯s church, you know,¡± Shia said.

    Yeah, no.

    We had some guards with us. We always did. And for good measure. Even if this city was safe, even if this place was welcoming, there was always a chance of running into some shady guy who¡¯d kidnap and sell us back to our families or worse¡­.

    The bakery looked like the church I worked at. And just like that church, the inside was pretty decent. They were holding down the place with a magical device maybe? Why not just rebuild the damn thing?

    I¡¯d actually asked Alayla but she dodged the topic entirely. Speaking of the church, I hadn¡¯t worked there in weeks. I hadn¡¯t worked in the library either. No salary, argh¡­

    ¡°You alright?¡± Shia whispered.

    ¡°I¡¯m fine.¡±

    Eight open tables. Some people were already having fun with the food. It smelled like bread in here, like the good kind.

    Their menu (which was hung on the literal wall) seemed decent enough. They also had a display so it was fine even if you couldn¡¯t read.

    Typical cakes, bread, biscuits, standard stuff. There was more though. Baguette, Creme Brul¨¦, Pudding and even fancy bread like stuff I¡¯d never seen before; he also had familiar French stuff. This guy has powdered sugar.

    ¡°How expensive, is this place?¡± I asked.

    ¡°My treat, don¡¯t worry about the price,¡± Nisa said.

    That sounded nice and she was probably being nice too. But I couldn¡¯t be in debt to her forever.

    ¡°Much appreciated,¡± Shia said. ¡°It is the host¡¯s job to entertain her guests.¡± Apparently, she was open to the suggestion for some reason?

    But didn¡¯t you like¡­ hate her?

    ¡°Splendid. Now, what would you like Sol?¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s see, that bread, that bread, and that bread.¡± I was basically just pointing.

    Nisa snickered. ¡°Tell him we¡¯re ready to order,¡± she spoke to her knight.

    A second later someone came out of the kitchen. Big man, really big. Like biggest human I¡¯d seen so far. Like he¡¯d give those 800-pound wrestlers a good run for their money kind of big. Big mustache with a beard, lots of hair and well, some of his hair was covered in white though? Flower?

    That dude¡¯s our patissier?

    ¡°We would like two baguettes, two Focaccia, two trays of Dinner Rolls and-¡± And she gave Shia a look. ¡°What about you?¡±

    So, the ¡®we¡¯ meant, me and her. But she was clearly not¡­ So, I¡¯ll have to pay either way. Wait, two trays of dinner rolls?  Are we going to swim in carbs?

    ¡°I¡¯ll have what he will¡­¡± Shia mumbled.

    ¡°Three of all that then. Oh, and please bring three pieces of that new desert you spoke about; pudding, was it?¡±

    The man nodded and left. He did not say a word. He went back to the kitchen area which was behind the counter I suppose?

    The bread and stuff were already made though. So how come he wasn¡¯t offering them to us? Is he literally going to make them now?

    Our wait began in earnest and I felt like it would last an eternity. But it only lasted about five minutes before the man came back with trays and bread and stuff.

    Turned out, he¡¯d already had some of the stuff in the oven and some of the other stuff he just put in. So, they¡¯d be a little late. Apparently, it was customary to serve some bread fresh out of the oven here for first time customers. Weird custom but oh well.

    Three Baguettes and three trays of Dinner Rolls. The Focaccia and pudding would arrive later.

    ¡°What will be your choice of drink?¡± Nisa said.

    ¡°Water is fine.¡± I stuffed my face with dinner rolls and they were the softest, nicest pieces of rolls I¡¯d ever had!

    Nisa snickered. For some reason she¡¯d been in an awfully good mood today. Earlier she¡¯d been really melancholic though. Shia meanwhile was exactly the opposite. Normally she¡¯d devour the meal in front of her but today she was just staring at the table without a word.

    ¡°Anything wrong?¡± I whispered, barely gulping down the bread with the help of some water.

    ¡°I¡­ didn¡¯t know their names¡­¡±

    ¡°Me neither.¡±

    Well, that was kind of a lie. I did know their names but I didn¡¯t know their names in this world. But I guess they had the same damn name here too? So fancy bread also made it past the world barrier, huh?

    Wait, was there a world barrier though? Didn¡¯t matter, bread was bread.

 Chapter 86: The Cult Of Askavan

    The food was good. The service, even better. The price? Not that expensive. I mean the bread were still technically on the expensive side considering they cost 5 coppers a piece, aka, 50 bucks a pop. Considering the quality, not a bad deal. For this world at least. Though I had a feeling, they were up charging us because we were supposedly rich.

    True to her word, Nisa paid up and for all three of us too. I figured this would be a recurring theme but pledged to not let her pay for things in the future.

    On our way back, we somehow went through the back alleys of the fish market; not the actual fish market mind you, just the back alleys. And yet, it was as shit as I remembered. No, it was worse. The fish markets I was used to only had dead fish smell. This place had way worse stuff.

    I tried my best to not think about it and walk as fast as I could without running. At the very end though, I caught a glance of Nisa and Shia. Both were pretending to be fine but their complexions were pale and I had a feeling they could throw up any moment now.

    Precisely why we walked further away from that place and located a lemonade vendor. Cool lemonade on a warm sunny day¡­ ah, delicious!

    Fucking hell, it¡¯s still here! I could still smell that wretched stench on my damn clothes.

    ¡°Whose bright idea was it to take that route,¡± I said.

    ¡°Forgive me my lord, I was under the impression the smell wouldn¡¯t be so intense,¡± Sibrian said. Dude was definitely messing with us.

    Anyway, we caught our breath and although I felt better, the other two were desperately trying to hide their occasional urge to unload everything on the streets. Noble woman had to put up with a lot of shit apparently.

    We booked a carriage and quickly rode back to the mansion and both ladies excused themselves. Meanwhile, Sibrian took the opportunity to corner me in my room.

    ¡°My lord, we have to talk.¡±

    ¡°Be frank, I don¡¯t have much time.¡± I needed to take a shower badly.

    ¡°How much did you sell your potions for.¡±

    I knew he was there the first day. But wasn¡¯t supposed to on the second day. And Shia wasn¡¯t the type to go rattling about it either. Meaning, it was his hunch.

    ¡°What are you talking about?¡±

    ¡°The Duke had vials of po-¡± he snickered. ¡°Elixirs today. I¡¯m sure you were the provider.¡± Oh, he was dropping the act. ¡°How much did you sell them for?¡±If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

    ¡°And why do you think I will tell you?¡±

    ¡°Because my job is to keep you safe, my lord. I need to know how much money you¡¯re carrying and-¡±

    ¡°Nothing. All I requested was his protection.¡±

    ¡°Surely we¡¯re not inadequate for you to ask for-¡±

    ¡°Besides, he gave me his daughter,¡± I said. ¡°And if he does give me money, he will give it to me when I need it. Not when I¡¯m asking for it. So, I¡¯m not carrying much of anything you see.¡±

    I could see his veins bulging but he still maintained a smile. I did too.

    ¡°Then what about your remaining elixirs?¡±

    ¡°What makes you say I have more?¡±

    ¡°I know not to underestimate his bloodline.¡±

    I narrowed my lips, like I was kissing the air or something. ¡°Let¡¯s just say, they are where they belong.¡±

    Seriously, dude was starting to get pissed. ¡°But my lord-¡±

    ¡°As I said, I don¡¯t have much time. Get out.¡±

    ¡°Of course, sir,¡± he went out. But I could have sworn the dude was giving me ¡®I¡¯m going to kill you on the road¡¯ vibes.

    Sigh. I keep getting myself into weird shit again huh?

    And almost all of them were my fault. If only I wasn¡¯t so stupid and paid more attention, half of these things wouldn¡¯t go badly like this.

    ***

    The rest of the day went by smoothly. I didn¡¯t see Shia or Nisa and I didn¡¯t want to either. I hung in the garden, occasionally walked and jogged. The fish were¡­ still alive.

    Few people interacted with me and those few were Counts and Earls and the like. Most lower or middle ranked nobles steered clear of my way. It seemed like the idea of me carrying pure elixirs wasn¡¯t really anything but a rumor among them. Sibrian knew for sure though and I had a feeling some other nobles probably caught onto something as well. Despite that, I didn¡¯t see any attempts to persuade me or even threaten me. I suppose people weren¡¯t that stupid.

    Evening came, I ate with the rest just like the day before. Today the Duke didn¡¯t join us but the Duke¡¯s son did. His name was Niv something and he wanted to congratulate me, or I think he did at first but the moment he noticed Shia, he just¡­ started acting weird.

    Dude was like twenty something and he was hitting on a thirteen-year-old? The fuck is wrong with this picture? Shia absolutely ignored his existence though.

    ¡°This is really good,¡± she said. ¡°Maybe we should start making this too.¡± She was talking about a peculiar style of frying bread in butter. It was basically just toast but¡­ extra buttery.

    ¡°Ah, that is-¡± The Duke¡¯s son went on. But now even I ignored him but he never seemed to understand. Which was fine and all but he was really starting to annoy me.

    Once we were done, I bade him farewell and left with Shia.

    ¡°You could have at least said hello,¡± I said.

    ¡°Not to that asshole, I won¡¯t.¡± She snorted and left for her room.

    I wouldn¡¯t either if I were her. Humoring playboys like that was a sure-fire way of them hitting on you harder. But reverse psychology is also a thing sis.

    Oh well.

    With my head in bed, some thoughts started weighing on me. Tomorrow I¡¯d be officially getting engaged with Nisa. Eventually we might get married, or she might just decide to leave me halfway. Either way, we were going to be together for a while.

    I didn¡¯t understand noble politics but I had a feeling our families would use each other and since we would too, this relationship was nothing but a farce. However, this was my grand chance to start a club and influence the church. The duke was quite influential himself and if his wife recovered, they¡¯d be heavily indebted to me. Heck, even if she didn¡¯t recover, he would still be grateful to me for the elixirs. And I could easily use that to my advantage.

    What am I going to name the club though? The religious Club? Church is bad Club? Askavan sucks Club? Nah¡­ something subtle, something¡­ something like a cult. A place where people would give their lives for their ideals.

    The Cult Of Askavan.

 Chapter 87: Whoosh~!

    You can never do it.

    You¡¯ll come crawling back to us.

    You know what, maybe it was better if I never took so much medication just to have you.

    I woke up with a sour taste in my mouth. I might have eaten too much sweet stuff and forgot to properly rinse my mouth last night. My bad.

    Yawning, I caught a glimpse of the morning sun. Crap, I overslept.

    Sighing, I skipped my morning run and instead just chose to have a leisurely walk and then a shower and then put on my good clothes, the expensive stuff we ordered at the shop. I hadn¡¯t even seen what it was like. I wasn¡¯t allowed to. Complimentary underwear¡­.

    I put on the shirt and pants and then the suit. Looked purple on some lighting, blue on others, and even black sometimes. Nice!

    I checked the tall ass mirror and wow, I looked good. The suit was perfect but what was I going to do with it next year? Wouldn¡¯t it just shrink and lose all its value?

    Sigh.

    But the fabric was really comfortable and when I willed some mana into it, it became cooler or warmer depending on what I wanted. I tried to see if I could use the mana in the threads but I couldn¡¯t. I didn¡¯t know how to and even if I did, if I ended up using all the mana, the suit would lose its luster and I wouldn¡¯t be able to control its temperature of all things.

    Still fancy as hell though.

    Knock, knock, ¡°Sol, you ready?¡±

    ¡°I am,¡± I said, opening the door.

    Shia was there, wearing her violet dress. It actually suiter her well. ¡°You look good Sis,¡± I said.

    ¡°Well look at you, you could look handsome.¡±

    Was she implying I didn¡¯t look handsome as I was? ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡±

    ¡°No need to pout,¡± she made a smug face.

    She was getting annoying, so I walked away.

    The actual party would start sometime past the morning, just before noon. But we figured it was best to arrive early. After all, wasn¡¯t that the reason we came here so damn early to begin with?

    We had a lot of guests going about today. Most were in really good clothes and wore a considerable amount of makeup. Even some of the guys were wearing makeup. Weird.

    Meanwhile, Shia hadn¡¯t bothered. I mean, she did have makeup on but she mostly used it to enhance her beauty, not overshadow it with white powder. ¡°Something on my face?¡± She said.

    ¡°Nothing.¡±

    At the end of the hallway, we saw familiar faces. Namely, Mike and his father. We passed each other by, nodding and heading for the stairs.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

    I hoped he wasn¡¯t too offended by Shia but for now I decided to just roll with the current situation.

    The reception hall was vastly different today. For starters, they had actual proper tables and chairs. And long tables with lots of food. Servants and maids were running around with wine and other sort of drinks.

    Every single noble I saw, had at least some sort of suit on. The girls mostly wore dresses but every now and then you¡¯d see one wearing a suit.

    Duke Alzania and his family were nowhere to be seen. Which was the norm. They would probably take another hour at least.

    ¡°The head butler¡¯s acting weird,¡± Nisa mumbled.

    ¡°Huh?¡± He was just chatting with the guests. Seemed perfectly normal; the guests were¡­ strange, I hadn¡¯t seen them before. They probably arrived later? ¡°If you say so,¡± I shrugged. Even if he was, it wasn¡¯t my problem.

    My attention mostly focused on the prime ribs on the table. Cowpig steaks, skewer and even roast! They have fowl and mutton too.

    I was craving some mutton but just thinking about eating it gave me goosebumps. It¡¯s not like I¡¯m eating Sisna. I still couldn¡¯t bring myself to eat any though.

    Sigh. So, I picked a steak and some skewers and some fowl drumsticks on my plate and started chomping. Their food was laid out in buffet style and people were just helping themselves. Of course, the high nobility were being cared for by the servants. One maid was panicking when she saw me pick my own food and offered help while apologizing. ¡°It¡¯s fine,¡± I said. ¡°I like picking my own food.¡±

    She looked relieved. Well, her salary depended on the satisfaction of the guests, so that was understandable.

    The meat was good, really good but halfway through I was full. Not finishing this would seem bad and¡­

    ¡°Having fun?¡± Mike said. He wasn¡¯t with his father.

    ¡°Kind of. How about you?¡±

    ¡°Pretty fun. You guys actually stood up to my old man. Wasn¡¯t expecting that.¡± He wore a suit similar to mine but it wasn¡¯t changing color like mine. Was it me or did he seem a little¡­ thinner?

    Me neither. ¡°Hope he¡¯s not mad.¡±

    ¡°Oh, he was fuming. Good going.¡± Mike chuckled.

    Good going my ass! Controlling my urge to run away, I put a skewer on my mouth, chewed it qwell and gulped it down. Yeah, I shouldn¡¯t eat. We didn¡¯t want everything to come right back after all. ¡°Are other dukes here too?¡± I asked.

    ¡°Not really. Only my old man since we¡¯re neighbors.¡± He leaned closer. ¡°Most of the sovereigns aren¡¯t on good terms,¡± he whispered.

    ¡°I see,¡± I casually put the plate down and the maid quickly dispatched of it. Phew.

    Hmm¡­ The head butler was gone. But the three people he spoke with had moved to the very corners of the room. Of course, there was nothing wrong with that, but¡­ after Nisa said it, it just felt odd. Kind of like when you buy a new blue phone and all you see is a damn blue phone on everyone¡¯s hand. Maybe I¡¯m just overthinking it.

    ¡°Ladies and gentlemen!¡± Duke Alzania descended from the second floor. With Nisa, and two boys. One of them I¡¯d already met. That Niv something. Fucking Pedo.

    Wait, Nisa was younger and¡­ Does that make a pedo too?

    Ah¡­ fuck.

    My mind spun around. It just kept on spinning like the world was ending. It kind of was. Okay, okay, calm down. She¡¯s young. You¡¯re also young and for the most part you¡¯re just a child. Surely, you¡¯re not a pedophile! You don¡¯t even like little girls!

    Yeah! It wasn¡¯t like I was into her or any- no¡­ I might actually-

    ¡°Sol,¡± Mike whispered.

    ¡°Yeah?¡±

    ¡°You should move to the front.¡±

    ¡°Right.¡±

    The duke was introducing his two sons. Nivrim, the elder one, and Nirvan the second one. What¡¯s up with so many Ni¡¯s?

    Walking through the crowd felt a little strange though. For some reason, some of the nobles were looking at me with odd eyes. No, not the usual odd. There was more. Like they were¡­ up to something.

    By the time I reached the very end, I could get a feel of what was happening.

    It was like things were playing out in slow motion. The duke was trying to shield his kids while three assailants, presumably guests were charging at him.

    The duke did have knights and guards of his own but almost all of them were on the floor. Dead? No, sleeping, probably.

    They¡¯re gonna die. And so will my shot at life and the cult.

    Fuck it! I grabbed a fish bone from someone¡¯s plate and gave it a crunch.

    Whoosh~!

 Chapter 88: Weird

    Wind spiraled fiercely into a mini tornado sucking in everyone close to it. It however quickly dispersed as one of the assailants did something with his wand. ¡°Stay out of this, kid!¡± He yelled, and quickly aimed at the duke- a fire ball formed over the wand.

    I took a deep breath. If the Duke and Nisa went out, so did my plans and even my insurance. Everything would have been for naught.

    Now or never Sol, now or never!

    This place was big, and unlike the carriage, I didn¡¯t have fine control. However, I had way more mana to work with right now; ah, the good tingly feeling. Precisely why-

    I sucked all the blue particles away and within a few seconds all three assailants crumbled to the ground. ¡°What did you-¡± He couldn¡¯t even talk properly.

    Suffocating they were.

    ¡°Well done my lord,¡± the butler mysteriously appeared. He walked closer and closer-

    ¡°Someone get him!¡± I yelled. ¡°He¡¯s one of them!¡±

    ¡°I got this,¡± a big guy, who I¡¯d met before stood in our way and he body slammed the old butler. The man flung across the room, straight into the wall.

    Oh yeah, that was going to hurt.

    Meanwhile, the assailants had passed out. Anymore and they were going to die, so I released the oxygen. ¡°Tie them up,¡± I said.

    Wasn¡¯t that¡­ too easy? No one moved. But I had to stay vigilant.

    ¡°Right,¡± the big man said.

    Meanwhile, the others hadn¡¯t even moved. Some of them were clearly displeased of the situation while others couldn¡¯t care less.

    Your host could have died yet you lot don¡¯t even care. Talk about ingratitude. Phew, I let loose the first few buttons of my suit and breathed. However, that was for show, I hadn¡¯t let my guard down one bit.

    ¡°Now they owe you even more,¡± Shia stood next to me, nonchalant as ever.

    ¡°What the fuck were they even trying to pull?¡± I said.

    They knocked out security, so they could have easily knocked us out too but they didn¡¯t. They were so close, yet they didn¡¯t even try firing the spell.

    ¡°I have no idea,¡± she said. ¡°Maybe they were hired by someone close. All their guards are kissing the floor anyway; an outsider couldn¡¯t have done it.¡± She was speaking louder than usual.This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work.

    The butler groaned and stood up. But by then, he was already tied up like the rest of his people.

    Having regained his composure, the Duke called me to his side and congratulated me. The people clapped and he even announced her official engagement. Our engagement.

    That was fine and all but then he started blabbering. ¡°Such mighty wind magic, and such fine control, surely he is worthy to be the next Paladin of the high Church of Askavan!¡±

    Whispers, raging whispers. Some even agreed. What the fuck! Hey, I wanted to crush that damn thing, not join their fucking ranks!

    ¡°However, having said that, Soler is still young,¡± the duke continued. ¡°And inheriting the title of Paladin requires royal blood. I may not possess such, but my daughter does indeed. In the future, when they unite, Soler would have the right to claim the title of paladin. Therefore, in preparation and in recognition of his grand display of power, I grant him¡­ Soler Barack, the noble title of Baron!

    ¡°With no land,¡± he mumbled under a breath.

    The who with the what? Now, hold on a second? What the fuck did you even say just now? It was like he was speaking Chinese to me. And I understood Mandarin for fuck¡¯s sake!

    My jaw almost hung and my nose got a little wet. But I pretended like nothing was amiss. Nothing at all. Absolutely nothing at all!

    Shia was smirking like crazy while everyone else clapped and congratulated me. With a nod from the Duke, they all drank and the tea party began. It was a tea party, but I hardly saw anyone drink tea. They were too busy with wine and Champagne.

    Barely making my way to the nearest seat, I plumped my bottom on the hard chair and took long breaths. Let¡¯s calm down and digest what just happened. The duke was attacked, you saved him, he named you a Baron and spoke shit about Paladins and stuff. I didn¡¯t know why but it felt awfully choreographed in a way. And it happened so damn fast too.

    ¡°Amazing performance,¡± the man said.

    Red hair, buff man, fancy suit. Mike¡¯s dad.

    ¡°Oh, thank you,¡± I said. ¡°Releasing magic so fast always drains me though.¡±

    Not to mention I was craving fishbones now; the tingly feeling was too tingly to let go. I could really get addicted to this.

    He laughed. ¡°I wasn¡¯t talking about your magic but amazing on that front as well. I haven¡¯t seen someone knock someone else out with air like that in a long while.¡±

    Long while? So, someone else could also isolate oxygen? No, they had to know about oxygen in that case. The food, the pastries, the names¡­ I knew there were plenty of reincarnated kids in this world and all of them were originally from this world. But maybe I wasn¡¯t the only one from my world. I mean, that would the obvious conclusion but I hadn¡¯t met any yet. Then again, they wouldn¡¯t just come out to me and tell me, ¡®Hey I¡¯m from another world, nice to meet you man.¡¯

    ¡°Pretty complicated, so I wouldn¡¯t be surprised.¡±

    ¡°Alzania¡¯s acting could have been a bit better though,¡± he snorted.

    Oh, that¡¯s what you meant. Apparently, he was suggesting the whole thing was a set up from the start. I did suspect that but, in that case, wouldn¡¯t Shia and the butler and¡­ wasn¡¯t it Shia who said the butler was being suspicious?

    Hmm¡­ ah, poor old man¡­.

    ¡°Oh?¡± The duke stared at my face. He snorted again. ¡°I don¡¯t dislike innocent brats like you,¡± he proceeded to gulp down a big mug of beer. ¡°But don¡¯t drag my brat into your shenanigans. Otherwise, who knows, the newly appointed Baron might not be able to go to his honeymoon due to a missing head.¡±

    ¡°No-noted¡­¡±

    Woah, scary dude.

    After threatening me for a few minutes, the duke left and Nisa came to congratulate me. Shia followed her. And Nisa¡¯s two brothers followed Shia.

    Weird.

 Chapter 89: Crap Indeed

    It was only early noon yet people were throwing up left and right. I guess some people could never hold their liquor no matter what.

    And strangely, no one cared about that, no one other than the maids of course since they were the ones who would be cleaning up the mess later.

    Who were throwing up you say? Well, our drunken noble friends of course.

    And here I thought nobles were sensible. I was stupid to have even a semblance of faith in them. Speaking of idiots, Shia was also throwing up in the corner; so much for drinking with responsibility. Nisa and her two brothers were comforting her and helping and stuff but I suppose that only made her feel even more miserable because she was looking at me with puppy dog eyes every now and then.

    I just ignored her though. Not my problem. I wasn¡¯t the one who drank a whole bottle of wine and bragged about it seven times.

    ¡°SO, you¡¯re Soler Barack?¡±

    Elf?

    I actually hadn¡¯t seen many here. ¡°That¡¯s correct. You are?¡±

    He wore a white suit. Blonde hair, long and straight. ¡°No resemblance at all¡­.¡± He mumbled to himself. ¡°Pardon, I am Daniel Borges,¡± he said. ¡°Earl of Winderam. I¡¯m sure you¡¯re acquainted with my sister, Anya.¡±

    Ah, he was Den¡¯s cousin. ¡°Indeed, it¡¯s a pleasure meeting you, Sir,¡± I put my hand forward. He shook it.

    ¡°Congratulations on becoming a Baron. You make us proud,¡± he said.

    ¡°Thank you. I¡¯m trying.¡±

    He was speaking all polite and he was being nice about it. However, I had a feeling he wasn¡¯t just striking up this conversation for no reason at all.

    ¡°Have you any interest in visiting our estate?¡± For a moment I could almost feel his eyes boring down on me. Like he was scanning for even minute change on my face.

    ¡°I¡¯ve been rather busy lately and I see myself being busy in the future as well. So, I don¡¯t think so,¡± I chuckled.

    So, you¡¯re worried about me trying to take your spot.

    Perhaps seeing my strength first hand had given him some ideas about how the future could go wrong. But he couldn¡¯t do anything to me because I was part of a sinister family right now. If he just wanted to say hello, he¡¯d have done it sooner, rather than later. But he didn¡¯t. Or rather hadn¡¯t.

    ¡°I see, I see. It¡¯s a marvelous place but is quite far from the academy. Do consider visiting us during vacation though, we¡¯ll be sure to accommodate you.¡±Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

    ¡°Thank you very much. I will try to make time but I cannot make any promises.¡±

    He laughed and left. Cunning bastard. He was merely putting on a show for the people around me, who were now busy gossiping among themselves.

    Sigh, politics was always a drag.

    The party lasted till evening. It would have lasted all night if it was a typical party. But this wasn¡¯t, it was just a ¡®tea party¡¯. No one had any tea though.

    I took a long ass walk outside to calm my nerves but it wasn¡¯t working.

    When I made it to my room, Shia was already there. She had this frown on her face. Her face was pale rather than flushed, and she was clinging to a glass of water and a bucket in case something went wrong.

    ¡°How¡¯re you feeling?¡±

    ¡°Traitor,¡± she mumbled. ¡°You left me with them.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s what you get for drinking whole a bottle when you could barely hold against a single glass.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s good you know.¡± She pouted.

    ¡°I know.¡±

    ¡°Thought you didn¡¯t drink.¡±

    ¡°Well, took a sip, got sick and pledged not to ever again.¡± Which was a lie of course.

    ¡°Hmph.¡±

    I wanted to lecture her about drinking. I wanted to lecture her about a lot of things but in the end, I didn¡¯t. I sat next to her. And although I had much to say, I stayed silent. I still didn¡¯t know much about this world¡¯s customs and I kind of didn¡¯t want to influence her in any significant ways. She was fine the way she was and when I leave the family, she was still going to be fine.

    I did make a mental note about at least giving her a warning if I saw this again though. You know, the usual, ¡®maybe don¡¯t drink too much this time¡¯ kind of ones. ¡°We¡¯re leaving tomorrow morning. So do make sure to get some rest.¡±

    ¡°Hmm¡­¡±

    ¡°Thanks, by the way.¡±

    ¡°For what?¡±

    ¡°Everything.¡±

    ***

    The next morning our stay came to an end and it was time to go home. We decided to delay the departure till noon though. Most of the guests would leave by then.

    The reason for the delay was simple; the duke wanted me to list down all the foods his wife was supposed to eat and everything she couldn¡¯t. He also wanted me to come here every month and see how she was doing. When I told him that was too much of a drag, he even offered to literally adopt me into his family and all sorts of shit. Most of it was just empty promises so I declined them without exposing his bluff. What we did decide in the end was the simple act of keeping in touch via letters. Another reason was that Shia had a massive hangover. She kept spouting that she would never drink again, ever. But from personal experience I could tell, that wasn¡¯t true.

    Once that was over, I handed over the remaining elixirs (7) I was carrying all but one and the journey began in earnest. Nisa was going to stay the night and leave tomorrow.

    Oh yeah, before leaving, Shia actually made the duke sign a contract about the whole money thing he was promised to pay me when I came of age in case, I didn¡¯t take everything when I needed. Not just the duke, she made even the Niv guy sign and the dude happily signed it since she asked nicely.

    Just how head over heels was he? And for no reason at all! His love for her had no real cause whatsoever!

    It wasn¡¯t just us though, our escort knight was going to escort us back to Schalion. He was actually going to be my guard from now on. I was kind of afraid to ask for his name after all this time though. Oh well.

    As we quietly left the scenic beauty of the ocean and the houses, boredom gradually began to settle in.

    ¡°Is it going to take another week?¡± Shia said.

    ¡°Possibly longer if something happens,¡± I said. ¡°Last time nothing happened and it still took six days.¡±

    She sighed and then groaned and then sighed again. ¡°Crap.¡±

    Crap indeed young miss, crap indeed.

 Chapter 90: Probably

    The first few days, nothing happened. We casually passed by the familiar cities. We passed the city of desires at early morning this time around and there were people outside.

    Our escort knight gave us stern warnings to not peek outside but¡­ well, teenage curiosity, I guess. I¡¯m not a teenager anymore though.

    I got a quick glance and vowed to not even look that way again. Is that even physically possible?

    What I saw this morning, in that frenzy of pink, moans, and fluids¡­ it didn¡¯t happen, it didn¡¯t happen, it didn¡¯t happen¡­. Shia actually didn¡¯t care; apparently, she was above this.

    Exactly three days later we crossed the border and were home free¡­ no, no we weren¡¯t. There were bandits, we had bandits here.

    Sigh¡­ I sighed and casually looked out. About twelve guys in front and like hundreds hiding in the trees. They were quite far away, presumably to not get in the range of my ¡®abilities¡¯. Rumors spread faster than carriages it would seem. Or we had a traitor amongst us. Probably both.

    Technically, it didn¡¯t matter how far they were, or how close they were though. We were out in an open field and I barely had any mana left whatsoever. I couldn¡¯t do jackshit right now.

    ¡°Oh Sibrian,¡± Shia said, barely interested. ¡°Deal with it.¡± Apparently, she was even less concerned than me.

    ¡°As you wish my lady,¡± he grinned like a fool, and took a scimitar? Odd blade. It had a handle and looked somewhat like a scythe at the edge but¡­ double edged and I¡¯d never seen stuff like that in real life before.

    Sibrian dashed ahead, while the archers laid their arrows on him. Yet, the guy actually dodged the arrows like Neo dodged bullets in the Matrix.  Sibrian closed in on the front liners, but he ignored them and went into the forest of archers and hidden imbeciles. He quickly disposed of them in a frenzy of red and entrails. I hardly saw anything. And the people didn¡¯t even get a chance to scream for their lives.

    He was quick, he was an expert, and he was a murderer. That Mercenary was one thing, killing everyone in a single stroke, but this guy was a whole different beast. He killed them all in less than ten seconds. And brutally no less.

    Meanwhile, the front liners were pissing themselves. ¡°It¡¯s Sibrian of the hellfrenzy,¡± they screamed.

    Does everyone have a nickname or something?

    Sibrian just smiled and casually ended their misery. Unlike our Merc friend, he didn¡¯t really let the bandits escape. No, wait, he did let one go. ¡°Be sure to tell all your friends what happens if you mess with our family.¡± A big wide grin.Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

    And I pissed ¡®that¡¯ guy off¡­.

    Gulping hard, I tried to straighten my thoughts. Okay, maybe handing over all remaining elixirs would have been a much wiser choice after all.

    ***

    The next two days went by slowly. Me and Shia played around, tried archery, and other stuff. I hadn¡¯t kept up with my spear practice but I figured a little break couldn¡¯t hurt.

    While my magic didn¡¯t increase, I was getting a hang of manipulating air for little to no mana cost. The main issue was, I had little to no mana to begin with; so I was tiring myself out way too easily. Of course, I could supplement it in two ways. Ingest more mana (the addicting and dangerous way) or use mana outside the body from a stone or other dense material (the expensive and complicated as fuck way).

    Neither option seemed viable right now. But wait, if the duke would give me things when I need them, couldn¡¯t I have asked for a half decent wand?

    Huh¡­ fuck.

    ¡°Sol, Sol!¡± Shia jumped. ¡°I hit it! I hit one!¡± Ecstatic.

    ¡°No sis, it¡¯s a fucking feather,¡± I wanted to say that. But I didn¡¯t. Apparently, when she¡¯d struck a bird, the bird flew away but a feather came lose. I didn¡¯t have the heart to tell her that it probably wasn¡¯t the arrow that did that. She¡¯s still young, she¡¯ll figure it out eventually.

    Nodding myself to satisfaction, we recollected our arrows and kept on having fu- I mean practicing. After a while we started traveling anew and by the end of the fifth day, reached a village.

    Just half a day of travel and we were going to be back in Schalion. I wasn¡¯t feeling great about it actually. There was a good chance, my relationship with Sharmon would worsen significantly and he¡¯d try harming me from here on out. Although my immediate problem of no abilities got somewhat solved, I still had to worry about actually not failing classes. Practical classes would start from next week and I had exams by the end of the month. I¡¯d skipped too many classes, and I¡¯d skipped work for literally three weeks in a row now. I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if they¡¯d already replaced me a while ago.

    I groaned, as the water bubbled. In a bath. They say, baths can melt away all anxiety but every time I got in one, things just got worse for me.

    ¡°You know, you handled this pretty well. I¡¯m impressed,¡± Shia said. ¡°A Baron¡¯s still too low of a title but we can work with this.¡±

    As usual our dear sister was rocking just a towel like shame didn¡¯t even exist in her vocabulary.

    Strangely, I never got an erection. No, I never got an erection in general. Does this thing even work? ¡°Thanks,¡± I said, not necessarily looking her way. ¡°Things can only go south from here though.¡±

    ¡°No, things can only get better. Always think positively.¡± She winked.

    ¡°And how would that help?¡±

    ¡°At least you won¡¯t worry needlessly.¡±

    Funny, my sister used to say that too. But she was diagnosed with hypertension herself, so maybe she didn¡¯t really believe in that.

    Sighing a couple of times, I got out of the bath. ¡°See you tomorrow.¡± We¡¯d already had dinner and we had separate rooms. So, this was goodbye for now.

    ¡°Yeah, good night. Sweet dreams.¡±

    ¡°¡­You too.¡±

    I honestly didn¡¯t know what so say at these times. People never wished me stuff like this. No one told me, ¡®good night¡¯ or ¡®sweet dreams.¡¯ I didn¡¯t have friends or family like that. I didn¡¯t have anyone-

    No, wait¡­ my sister did sometimes¡­ Why the fuck am I missing her?

    Probably just nostalgia. And it¡¯d probably just pass.

    Probably.

 Chapter 91: Numbered

    We reached the city in the afternoon. Students going about, vendors shouting their wares, people just being people; same as always.

    I didn¡¯t have a home anymore but, honestly¡­ this felt like the closest thing to home. I wonder how far Lin was right now. Maybe crossing some damn forest? Maybe settling down in a foreign country? Or who knows, maybe she became a pirate and was now sailing the seas with Den. Yeah, probably not.

    Maybe I¡¯ll write her an early letter.

    ¡°My lord, we¡¯ve arrived.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I noticed,¡± I said.

    Our house was still at least half an hour away so I just watched the scenery slowly change from somewhat fancy to somewhat rundown. It wasn¡¯t gradual. One moment everything was fine, the next moment, it wasn¡¯t. Houses all of a sudden became black and barely standing. The alleyways dirty as fuck, the people, lacking of clothes and of the similar vein.

    I never liked dirty places. Kind of why I couldn¡¯t get to like this place either. I understood it wasn¡¯t these people¡¯s fault they were like this. Okay, maybe some of them were at fault. But at the end of the day, I couldn¡¯t really blame them. No one could really.

    We arrived at our rundown house and the driver excused himself. Meanwhile¡­ I forgot we had someone else with us. Namely- ¡°Hmm¡­ amazing,¡± he said.

    The fuck?

    ¡°You think?¡± I mumbled.

    ¡°Yes. No one would be wiser to think that such a fearsome family would live here,¡± the knight said. ¡°Although I¡¯ve been instructed to be with you all the time, please excuse me for tonight. I¡¯m aware you¡¯d like to spend some time with your family in private. I will escort you to the academy tomorrow and guard you at all times.¡±

    But you¡¯re supposed to be protecting me from ¡®my own¡¯ family you dolt! ¡°Of course, of course.¡±

    But it was better this way. At least this guy wouldn¡¯t come into the house and be hella disillusioned. No, I think he¡¯d just misunderstand the whole thing anyway. A bit thickheaded, huh?

    I thought him to be sharp and attentive but maybe he wasn¡¯t.

    ¡°I¡¯M HOME!!!¡± Shia yelled at the top of her lungs. Kids, rushed out to greet her.

    ¡°Welcome back!¡±

    Some of them approached me too but they were kind of acting all meek.

    ¡°Yo kids, I¡¯m back,¡± I said. I still didn¡¯t remember their names to be frank.

    Some of them were older than me, so maybe calling them kids wasn¡¯t the best idea?

    ¡°Welcome¡­back.¡± They were fidgeting and stuff, like they were afraid or something. That¡¯s how a five-year-old should be!

    Well, that wasn¡¯t good. But, anyway, someone else came out of the house. Namely, Barack senior. ¡°Well, come on in. Chamille will be back soon. But we do have some snacks you can chew on in the meanwhile.¡±

    I was definitely not looking forward to this conversation but we moved inside. Sibrian had a little chat with Barack senior and although his expression didn¡¯t change for a second, he did glance at me a couple of times and I could have sworn I felt like my life had ended just then and there.

    Just as he promised, Barack senior gave us some snacks. Namely, jerky. He was chewing on them too. He didn¡¯t give any to the kids since he didn¡¯t want the kids to have bad habits, or so he said.

    ¡°So, magical elixirs.¡±

    ¡°Yeah.¡±

    ¡°Where did you get them?¡±

    Straight to the point I see. ¡°I fell through the floor of a cave. Not sure if you heard but the pond I fell in, was purely made of the stuff.¡±

    ¡°You could ¡®fall¡¯ again?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t think that¡¯s possible. Den tried on multiple occasions.¡±Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

    ¡°I don¡¯t distrust Denkar¡¯s judgment but it strikes me odd how he forgot to mention you carrying elixirs to me.¡±

    ¡°Odd indeed.¡±

    ¡°So, you promised all the elixirs to the duke?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°Hmm¡­ for how much if I may ask? Oh, and congratulations on becoming a Baron.¡±

    ¡°Well, you¡¯ll have to ask your daughter. She¡¯s the one who handled the negotiations.¡±

    Shia almost jerked when she heard that. Her face went from nonchalant to actually concerned for once. So she could make that face too¡­.

    She gulped a couple of times, downed half a glass of milk and smiled. ¡°I mean, I felt like extorting him a little.¡±

    ¡°How much dear?¡±

    ¡°Five Stellers¡­¡±

    ¡°Hmm¡­ not bad. I could have sold them for fifty, at least,¡± He shrugged. ¡°So, the money isn¡¯t with us I¡¯d assume,¡± the man stared at me, he was utterly disappointed.

    ¡°No,¡± we said in unison.

    ¡°Very well¡­¡± he didn¡¯t say anything else. I wished he had. I wished he¡¯d curse me and throw me out of the family. I wished he¡¯d at least say he was going to kill me.

    That way¡­ I would have known to at least prepare for the worst.

    But he didn¡¯t.

    Instead, there was just silence. And Shia¡¯s jerky chewing sound. God damn it dear sister, read the fucking room.

    Sometime later Mrs Ayala came in. She was in a good mood, humming and all that as she cooked. Meanwhile, we three just sat in fucking silence. The air was so heavy, I could literally suffocate.

    ¡°Shia handled all the negotiations, you said,¡± He eventually said.

    Shia again jerked and quickly gobbled down the jerky with the rest of the milk. She nodded once.

    Barack senior sighed once, patted her daughter and- ¡°Next time you do that, I¡¯ll kill you,¡± he whispered. He was patting his daughter but he was staring at me¡­.

    Wow¡­ he sure was talking to me, but from Shia¡¯s perspective, he was definitely talking to her. Wouldn¡¯t she be sad or-

    The fuck you¡¯re smiling for? Shia was actually happy!

    ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± Alayla said, dropping a big pot on the table. It steamed. Smelled good.

    ¡°Papa said he¡¯s going to kill me the next time,¡± I hadn¡¯t seen Shia smile like that in a long, long while.

    Alayla grumbled. ¡°Dear, she¡¯s getting older, not younger. Could you stop that.¡±

    Sharmon didn¡¯t say a word. He was just sitting there, sometime staring at me, sometime at his daughter. He was disappointed and my days were rui- numbered.

    Well, should have seen this coming, that¡¯s for sure.

    The next morning, I headed to the academy. I was unharmed and so far, the Baracks hadn¡¯t made any real attempt at my life. I wasn¡¯t sure how long that would last though.

    NO, they¡¯ll probably not try to kill me before I grow up. One of the conditions for me to receive money later was for me to grow up to be an adult first. The duke was still going to provide me with enough money to live and stuff but the bulk of it was going to be paid only when I wasn¡¯t a kid.

    The Baracks were helping me a ton and if it wasn¡¯t for them, I¡¯d be on the streets right about now, or maybe even worse. Maybe I ¡®should¡¯ give them some money. No, that would be stupid. The moment he realized he could extort me, he wouldn¡¯t just stop there. But I did promise myself I¡¯d give them some money before leaving the family for good.

    They were definitely going to keep an eye on me from now on, assuming they weren¡¯t already.

    ¡°I have actually never been to the academy,¡± the knight said.

    ¡°Oh yeah, you probably won¡¯t be allowed in, so do get a room outside. I won¡¯t be able to pay for accommodations just so you know.¡±

    ¡°I understand,¡± he said. ¡°What should I call you, my lord?¡±

    ¡°Sol¡¯s fine.¡±

    ¡°Very well then Sol. I will wait for you to finish classes and then escort you around for the rest of the day.¡±

    ¡°I should be fine within the academy so that won¡¯t be necessary. And since most of the city is run by my family anyway, you probably don¡¯t have to worry about much.¡± Yet¡­

    ¡°That¡¯s true but this is my job and the least I can do is try.¡±

    Fair enough.

    We reached the academy, and as usual there were hundreds if not thousands of students just going about their days. For some reason some of the students were looking quite pale though.

    As I passed them by, their faces only grew paler.

    ¡°They¡¯re weary of you,¡± the knight said.

    ¡°No shit,¡± I said.

    When we reached the fork between the academic buildings and the dorms, my escort knight bid me farewell and left. The hell was that about?

    I made way into the dorms, and since it was still early morning, decided to pay a visit to the librarian. She was in her teenage phase.

    The moment she saw me, she flared up. Yup, I was going to be fired!

    ¡°Took you long enough!

    ¡°How long does it take to recover from some damn illness!?

    ¡°Do you have any idea how much shit I had to deal with!~

    Wait. Hadn¡¯t I told her about how I was leaving for a tea party? Huh?

    ¡°You okay now though, right?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m fine¡­¡± I said.

    ¡°Good.¡±

    Nope, nope I hadn¡¯t. If she finds out¡­ I cleared my throat. ¡°I was actually away to attend a tea party,¡± I said. ¡°From Duke Alzania.¡± She was going to find out eventually. Better to come clean now than to ruin a perfectly good relationship later on for no reason at all.

    She smiled. ¡°Sit down.¡±

    I did. She went over to the other side, brought some cookies and milk.

    After an extensive lecture and verbal abuse for roughly half an hour, she sighed and let me off the hook for the today. ¡°Be sure to come back early and help me clean up.¡±

    ¡°So¡­ I¡¯m not fired?¡± The way she calmly dismantled every bit of my ego for the last half an hour, I thought for sure I was fired.

    ¡°I¡¯d love to but turns out, kids these days are absolute imbeciles. Even fifth year students couldn¡¯t put back books in their place. I had three helpers and all three were inadequate; I had to clean up after them. Over the course of the last three weeks, I¡¯ve hired numerous students but even for good money, they were failures.¡±

    ¡°Huh,¡± I wondered. ¡°Shouldn¡¯t you pay me more in that case since I¡¯m such a good helper?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m already paying you more by letting you keep the job.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t think it works like that. How about a 5-gold increase in yearly salary?¡±

    She sighed. ¡°Fine. Just be sure to at least give me a heads-up next time. I was worried you were dead or something.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll be sure to do so.¡±

    Maybe I should have asked for more money.

 Chapter 92: Tis Clearly a Lizard

    I was quite behind on classwork but it wasn¡¯t anything significant. As long as I paid some attention I could always recover. I¡¯d already recovered from a monthlong absence, I could definitely recover from this three week one too.

    However, I had to attend practical classes now. Actual practical classes had started just two days ago so I shouldn¡¯t have been that behind. I was definitely behind on the Magics class though, so I went there first. Classes were over for the day but Mr. Arjan was casually just sipping tea.

    I explained my circumstance to him and he happily gave me some notes. Since he mostly just taught theory, I didn¡¯t really miss out on much. Everything he lectured on was here. If I had any questions, I was free to ask him whenever he was free.

    ¡°By the way. Is there any healing magic?¡± I hadn¡¯t read anything about magic that could heal. There were some divine arts said to be capable of closing wounds and preventing death up to a certain degree but it wasn¡¯t classified as healing magic.

    ¡°Unless you¡¯re a saint, no chance,¡± he said.

    ¡°Well, I¡¯m not one.¡±

    ¡°Exactly.¡±

    I thanked him profusely and made it back to the first floor and started searching for room 105. Apparently, that¡¯s where I was taking my practical classes. I only had two. One, spirit summoning and two, etiquette. I could have just ignored the second one but considering how tightly intertwined my life with the nobility had become, it was probably a good idea to brush up on that too.

    103, 104 and-

    Wait, 104!?

    I found someone familiar actually. I thought it was strange how I hadn¡¯t seen him since enrolment but I figured we were probably just in different classes. And we were, technically.

    However, instead of being in a different class. He was the different class. Alustur the mercenary. He was dressed in his rag like armor and cape. That honking sword was definitely calling out to me. He wasn¡¯t doing anything right now, just watching over kids practice with practice swords. As I kept on staring at him, his eyes fell on mine. He smiled, albeit faintly. I gave him a wave, he waved back.

    And then I casually went into 105.

    ***

    Spirit summoning felt like demon summoning.

    Now granted, I didn¡¯t know much about demon summoning to begin with or if that was even possible in this world but it was fairly similar. Back in my high school days when things were going horribly wrong, I had the brilliant idea of joining the occult club. We didn¡¯t do much other than explore half a dozen abandon houses in the not-so-great part of town. But one thing we did was fairly controversial, even by my standards. And that was summoning a demon.

    We started off with a magic circle that our club leader, Elise carved with her own blood¡­ no, not really. It was cow blood she got from the butcher. At least that¡¯s what she¡¯d told me.

    She carved the circle on the floor with Arabic like symbols and placed some candles around it; whole six weeks worth of research. It was already close to midnight and we really weren¡¯t supposed to be in here, so we had no choice but to just use candles for everything. If we turned on the lights, the guards would have spanked our assess after all.If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.

    There were four of us, three of us were shaking in our boots, myself included. Elise wasn¡¯t the least affected though. If I had to draw a connection, she and Shia were very similar in that regard.

    ¡°On a count of three,¡± Elise had said.

    Each one of us started chanting a special chant. I still remembered some of it. Come guide us to the nether-

    Or something like that. Nothing happened. Nothing other than the candles going out all at once. Every single one of them¡­ poof! Now granted, a gust of wind did come through the window but still!

    Scared shitless, we went home and I don¡¯t know about the others but I was afraid of even going to the bathroom. I didn¡¯t believe in ghosts; I didn¡¯t believe in spirits and I didn¡¯t believe in demons of all things. But God damn was I scared and it was one of the longest nights of my fucking life.

    Of course, nothing happened the next day and life moved on. Some weeks later I heard Elise ran head first into a truck, painting the road red, which dissolved our club; I always had a feeling she was going to go out with a bang. But it was fun while it lasted.

    But anyway, those brilliant days aside, Spirit summoning was very similar. We had to draw a circle on the ground.

    Instead of using blood, we were going to use high quality feed (preferably grains). The symbols were quite unfamiliar, kind of like Kanji but not quite.

    ¡°We¡¯ll only be summoning a beginner spirit,¡± the teacher said.

    Class 105 was big. Bigger than most of the classrooms and had plenty of students. Apparently, even without aptitude you could summon beginner spirits and form contracts if they really liked you; assuming you were diligent enough. As long as you could summon and befriend one, you could pass the beginner stage. Intermediate stage required a lot more effort and raw talent but that wasn¡¯t important right now.

    The magic circle was going to serve as a mana source since they¡¯d used some fishbone powder with the grain. Meaning, I didn¡¯t really need much mana.

    The instructor drew me my first one but the rest of the kids were drawing their own. So this might take a while, huh?

    Here goes. ¡°Come spirit of light. I offer you my hospitality, so that you may offer me your protection.¡±

    The circle glowed. And a few seconds later something emerged. Something with scales¡­ and legs? Beautiful eyes, amazing white scales with some red accents, specially just over the eyes. About half the size of a typical housecat.

    It¡¯s a fucking lizard.

    And now everyone would freak out and I¡¯d be branded as a heretic and sirgh¡­.

    ¡°Oh a baby drake,¡± the instructor said. ¡°I¡¯d expect nothing less from you, Mr. Soler, Sir,¡± he said.

    Apparently, he was a commoner and he was under the impression that I was a short-tempered assassin. Rumors had begun flying left and right after the whole incident at the duke¡¯s place. Who¡¯d have thunk knocking people out was an assassin¡¯s skill?

    I cleared my throat. ¡°Please sir, address me as you would any student. Besides, I¡¯m barely a noble at the bottom tier. I¡¯m hardly worth title in the first place.¡±

    ¡°Please don¡¯t be so humble,¡± he chuckled, a little relieved. ¡°But I shall honor your request.¡± He cleared his own throat. ¡°But truly, this is magnificent. A baby drake is a very rare first summons.¡±

    He clapped, the rest of the kids too.

    But this is clearly a lizard.

    Most of the kids hadn¡¯t summoned anything at all and were going to come back here tomorrow. Some of the other kids who¡¯d summoned slimes (yes there were slimes), goats, kittens, cubs and all that stuff were really eagerly looking at me and my white little lizard. You¡¯re not one of Rexen¡¯s kids, are you?

    The baby lizard winked and I could have sworn the mark on my hand felt warm.

    I should have known¡­. ¡°What now?¡± I said.

    ¡°You¡¯ll live together and try to get along. Once you form a contract, please come see me. if you have any problems, also come see me.¡± He laughed. ¡°Though, I doubt you¡¯ll have any.¡± Pleased, he handed me some books, free of charge mind you. ¡°Baby drakes are really rare and can sometimes become superior spirits once they grow up. Please take good care of her.¡±

    Her? Wait kid, you¡¯re a girl? No wonder the thing was so damn pretty. The face reminded me of a rattle snake so I was close to pissing my pants any moment though.

    Wait, wait, wait, doesn¡¯t this mean I could just pass my insignia off now as a contracted spirit summoner?

    Hmmm¡­. Probably not¡­.

 Chapter 93: Rexy: On Demand

    ¡°What¡¯s your name?¡± I said, lying down on my bed, holding the lizard like a cat.

    She looked and behaved cutely but she was scary as fuck. Especially considering she was Rexen¡¯s kid and could probably breathe fire.

    Poor thing waved her head and purred. When did lizards purr? A second later it sneezed breathing a gust of smoke out. Cute¡­. ¡°Guess I¡¯ll name you Rexy.¡±

    I had no idea if she liked it or hated it but when she tilted her head like that and looked at me with those big round eyes¡­ damn, this one was a looker. She was going to grow up way prettier than Rexen.

    Was Rexen a guy or a girl though? I tried remembering more about the lizard and that smiling face and¡­ definitely a guy.

    ¡°Those things are really rare you know,¡± Gerar said, peering through the window. As usual, he was always indoors.

    ¡°The instructor said the same. Really cute though,¡± I said.

    ¡°Yeah, until it burns your hair or something.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sure she won¡¯t do that.¡± I played with her tail; she was chill about it.

    ¡°She huh? Hmm¡­¡±

    ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°Nothing, I once heard a rumor about someone¡¯s lizard turning into a human and-¡±

    ¡°Wait, for real?¡±

    ¡°Nah, I¡¯m just pulling your leg,¡± Gerar laughed a lot. ¡°Oh, and congratulations on becoming a Baron. Guess now you¡¯re even higher on the hierarchy now.¡±

    I shrugged. ¡°Not really into these things. I just got dragged into politics by actual nobles.¡±

    He snickered. ¡°Funny. You don¡¯t want it, you got it. I want it, but can¡¯t.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯ll get it, eventually.¡±

    ¡°Nope,¡± he sighed. ¡°I¡¯ve got brothers; talented bunch. They¡¯ll take everything. I¡¯ll have nothing¡­¡± He sighed again, kind of melancholic. He got over it though. ¡°You actually had two visitors,¡± he said. ¡°I think her name was Rin? I told her you¡¯d be back this week. The other one was a black cat; the black cat and she mugged your room for food.¡±

    ¡°Too bad I have noth-¡± No wait, I had some biscuits which were gone. But since when could cats open jars and take biscuits out? For some reason I didn¡¯t believe it was a cat that ate the biscuits. ¡°Well, did she say why she wanted to see me?¡±

    ¡°Nope.¡±

    ¡°Okay, thanks.¡±

    ¡°Oh wait, wait, a Baron came visiting too. I think Borges?¡±If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.

    ¡°Anya Borges.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right!¡±

    ¡°Guess, I¡¯ll pay her a visit,¡± I mumbled to myself. ¡°Thanks dude.¡± He chuckled and went back to whatever the hell he was doing.

    Rexy almost always stayed on my shoulder. Sometimes she¡¯d climb up in my hair. Felt weird, really weird and I often jumped when her soft cold skin touched mine. But I calmed myself somewhat. But it was really going to take a lot for me to get used to this.

    A lot of people were freaking out when they saw a white tail swaying like clockwork on my head. They freaked out even more when they realized it was a frigging lizard. The teachers all praised me though. Some upper classmen too.

    Apparently, Evil fiends like Rexen and Drakes (lesser dragons) both had kids that looked like small lizards. That was fine and all but once this bad boy- ahem, girl grew up, wouldn¡¯t I be screwed?

    We¡¯ll cross the bridge when we get there.

    I didn¡¯t have much else to do, so I figured I¡¯d visit Anya. But grabbing lunch first was a good idea so I did that, or would have if there was any space left. Packed!

    Hopefully Anya has something to eat.

    She didn¡¯t¡­

    Absolutely nothing. Apparently, she ran out of all edible material just this morning and had lunch in a restaurant. I¡¯ll have to do the same.

    ¡°So, what did you need me for?¡±

    She eyed the lizard on my head for a couple of minutes. ¡°So, I have good news and bad news.¡±

    ¡°Well, this can¡¯t be good.¡±

    ¡°Good news is, the trees are all alive.¡±

    ¡°Bad news?¡±

    ¡°They literally have not grown at all.¡±

    She took me to the potted plants. They all had eight true leaves and that was about it. Our orange kitty cat Lucas was sleeping peacefully near the pots.

    ¡°As you can see, we did try.¡±

    ¡°True,¡± I said, placing Rexy on one pot. ¡°She¡¯s technically from the woods,¡± I said. ¡°I ended up summoning her.¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t know there were drakes in the woods,¡± she mumbled. ¡°You sure she¡¯s not a fiend?¡±

    Huh¡­everyone just randomly assumed Rexy was a drake, so I never even thought about the responses I¡¯d give in case someone suspected the otherwise. ¡°I¡¯m sure.¡±

    ¡°If you say so,¡± she shrugged and we watched Rexy play with the leaves. She didn¡¯t really do much. She was small enough to just sway the leaves and do nothing; I couldn¡¯t tell if she was having fun. She did it with all the pots and-

    ¡°MRAW!!!¡± Lucas woke up and chose violence, almost clawing the lizard. But the lizard dodged like a boxer.

    ¡°Hiss!¡± Rexy blew smoke out of her face, not backing down even for a second.

    ¡°Enough kids,¡± I said, grabbing them both. I placed Rexy on my shoulders while I bagged the kitty like a baby and patted its head. It purred but it kept an eye on the lizard. Yeah, I¡¯m sure it had already figured out. This guy¡¯s smart as hell.

    ¡°He¡¯s usually not like that,¡± Anya took her cat. ¡°Do be careful,¡± she hinted.

    So, she suspected something too. I nodded. ¡°Right.¡±

    If Rexy or Rexen for that matter really wanted to harm me though, I wouldn¡¯t be alive. A lot of my problems were the result of meeting them but some things couldn¡¯t be helped no matter what, I suppose.

    Anyway, I raced out of that place and located a restaurant. My stomach grumbled like there was no tomorrow. But no, I couldn¡¯t just go in there. It¡¯s a damn fancy restaurant, you dolt!

    Argh, why did all the damn high nobles live in this place!

    I ran a little and when I reached the general rich merchant section, I went into a restaurant. It was still one of those fancy ones but at least they wouldn¡¯t charge me an arm and a leg, hopefully. I had some leftover money so I could indulge a little. But that wasn¡¯t the problem. The real problem was that I didn¡¯t want to spend money in the first place.

    Still-

    ¡°One steak, a bowl or rice and¡­ I¡¯ll have a poached egg too.¡±

    Rexy dropped on the menu and hung over one spot. Soft boiled egg. ¡°Guess a soft-boiled egg for the drake.¡±

    ¡°Oh, a drake,¡± the waiter seemed relieved. ¡°Right away sir.¡±

    The church wanted my head just for being contracted with a lizard. What would they do when they find out I can summon them on demand?

    I did not like that thought one bit. I did like the food though. A little pricy but good! Rexy liked hers too!

 Chapter 93.5: The Cult

    ¡°You want to start a what?¡± Nisa said.

    She was in her room, sitting on her chair. And a boy was sitting just in front of her. Similar to that one time she¡¯d asked Jake to go fetch him. But Jake wasn¡¯t here today. And the boy wasn¡¯t sitting on the floor either. He was sitting on the bed.

    ¡°I told you, it¡¯s just a club.¡± Legs crossed, he sat like he owned the place.

    ¡°Doesn¡¯t sound like just a club. Besides, what club has the name ¡®cult¡¯ in it?¡±

    ¡°But it is. We¡¯re going to invite noble br- kids and train them in the ways of Askavan.¡±

    Nisa sighed. Ever since the boy had walked into the room, he¡¯d been so damn passionate about this project of his. He wanted to open a club, a club for Askavan fanatics and teach them ¡®proper¡¯ religion. Nisa didn¡¯t know the boy very well but she knew he wasn¡¯t the type for that kind of shit. This was clearly a ploy and there was some backstory to this. But she couldn¡¯t just pin deep suspicions on her fianc¨¦ either, that¡¯d be a very unladylike display.

    Instead, ¡°Why nobles? We have plenty of commoners at this school. And nobles don¡¯t really hold that big of a sway here.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s what you think,¡± he mumbled under his breath. ¡°Commoners are dying faster than they¡¯re enrolling. I don¡¯t know who¡¯s doing what but I¡¯d prefer to have nobles.¡±

    ¡°And why do I have to be the club president?¡±

    ¡°Well,¡± he fidgeted. ¡°I mean, you¡¯re far more charismatic and¡­¡± And he went on.

    Nisa sighed again, this time almost groaning. As the daughter of a duke, she¡¯d seen her fair share of flatterers. She could easily bat an eye and not be influenced at all. However, this boy before her was not only flattering her but he was mixing in a lot of sweet truths and deliberately buttering her up in a way she actually liked¡­ which only made her blush and fume. ¡°Enough!¡± She exhaled. ¡°Fine. But what will this accomplish?¡±

    ¡°Nothing much,¡± the boy stood up, leaned closer. ¡°I told you, we¡¯re going to change the world¡­ so you can be free.¡±

    Nisa frowned. ¡°Are you sure you aren¡¯t a reincarnated twisted noble from the dark ages?¡±

    The boy smiled awkwardly. ¡°Yeah, not really.¡±

    ¡°It was supposed to be a joke,¡± she snickered pressing his nose. So young and yet so¡­ mature. She herself was mature for her age. Touted as the most talented among her siblings, she had a firm claim over her father¡¯s estate. Or she would have, if it wasn¡¯t born a girl.

    Still, it didn¡¯t change the fact that Nisa was indeed a genius and a hero candidate. However, even she paled in comparison to this five-year-old boy¡¯s intelligence and sheer naivety. Sometimes she felt like maybe he was just pretending, pretending to be like this. But no, that probably wasn¡¯t the case.The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

    Anyone with a semi decent brain wouldn¡¯t do half the shit Sol had done. They wouldn¡¯t be that stupid. He had to be a child. A child prodigy, sure. But a child nevertheless.

    ***

    Later that day, Nisa sent off some important letters. Eight of them were addressed to the noble children of the academy, and one was addressed to the head master.

    Normally, the headmaster never saw anyone below the viscount rank. And despite being the daughter of a duke, Nisa didn¡¯t hold any titles. So, she couldn¡¯t see the headmaster even as a princess.

    However, that didn¡¯t change the fact that she was well acquainted with him via letters.

    The next day, she got some replies. Four out of the eight agreed to join her club. All four were girls. Not charismatic, he said. She rolled her eyes and opened another letter. This one from the headmaster.

    Yes!

    Delighted, Nisa ordered some fresh biscuits from the cafeteria straight to her room but then promptly cancelled the order.

    She still remembered how her mother got ill in the first place. Let¡¯s eat them only after exercise! And yes, she¡¯d lately started walking more. As a noble lady, she couldn¡¯t run in public. But she could at least walk around a lot. An influence from a special someone perhaps.

    It was too early to say whether this would change anything at all. She still didn¡¯t know if her mother was recovering or getting worse. But she trusted him, she trusted her fianc¨¦. He was na?ve, he was short tempered, and he was cunning. But a liar, he was not.

    And that¡¯s why¡­ that¡¯s why she couldn¡¯t turn down his request. She knew he was using her. But she was using him too. A give and take relationship; her ideal relationship.

    Nisa walked along with Jake under the pretense of going here and there and keeping tabs on the daily affairs. After a tiring bout, she went over to the boy¡¯s side along with Jake and knocked on Sol¡¯s door.

    The door didn¡¯t open. She heard some peculiar things. Things such as- ¡®Ah, so cute!¡¯. ¡®Aren¡¯t you just the cutest?¡¯ ¡®Gosh I could just eat you up.¡¯

    Was he with someone? He¡¯s five¡­ Nisa only found out about some special things when she accidentally read about hand holding and kissing in a book. She knew what kissing was when she used to pretend to be asleep but watched her parents kiss by the door; an activity showing love. Her parents kissed her too but those kisses weren¡¯t the same ones they exchanged between themselves. And even as a child she could tell. But¡­ but she didn¡¯t know hand holding and the¡­ other activities. Those were too lewd for her mind and¡­ and the five-year-old was doing it with someone else?

    And eat her too?

    ¡°Who is in there!¡± She knocked harder.

    ¡°Huh-what?¡± the door opened. ¡°Hey,¡± Sol said. ¡°You¡¯re up early.¡±

    Sol was in there. But Nisa didn¡¯t see a girl. ¡°Where is she?¡± she said, searching under his bed, inside the closet and¡­ she opened the window and caught a wild Gerar changing his underwear. She closed the window without a word. ¡°You¡¯re into guys?¡±

    ¡°What, no¡­¡±

    ¡°So¡­ who were you saying those things¡­¡± She mumbled, fidgeting a bit.

    ¡°Oh, this kid right here,¡± Sol said, producing a snake?

    ¡°SNAKE!!¡± Nisa almost fell over.

    ¡°Rude,¡± Sol said. ¡°Look closer. She¡¯s really cute and-¡±

    ¡°Get it away from me! It¡¯s a snake!¡± She almost dragged herself away to the door, almost bumping into Jake¡¯s legs.

    Sol let out an exaggerated sigh. ¡°Okay, okay.¡±

    Nisa later found out that Sol had recently contracted a drake spirit and¡­ she hadn¡¯t been that embarrassed in a long, long while. So much so that she spent an entire afternoon in a bathtub and spent the next three days being sick.

    But by the end of the week, the club ¡®The Holy Cult Of Askavan¡¯ was formed.  Which in time would come to be referred as ¡®The Cult¡¯ but that was a different story.

 Chapter 94: How? Just How?

    With classes and everything going on full throttle, I¡¯d nearly forgotten some important things. Namely, my engagement. And the fact that it was literally known throughout the whole academy.

    Come to think of it though, Barack senior never mentioned anything about it, and neither had Mrs. Alayla. I guess they didn¡¯t care about it to that degree. Or maybe they¡¯d seen it coming all along.

    I still continued going to the church and did my duties at the library; even after a break, learning languages proved to be a literal drag. I didn¡¯t take Rexy to the church and neither to the library. We didn¡¯t want her to accidentally burn books after all.

    I practiced with Mike every now and then. Sometimes, Alustur joined us without a word. He didn¡¯t practice, he just watched us and then left without a word whatsoever. The hell was he doing?

    My bodyguard was just as useless as I thought. He¡¯d rarely even showed up on time. Where the fuck did that diligent knight go? Sometimes, he went missing for days! Days!

    Nothing changed between me and Nisa. We were still on casual terms as we were before. She didn¡¯t get overly friendly, and I didn¡¯t get overly clingy. Of course, it was still a little awkward to talk to her when every single person in the vicinity were staring at us like were items on display. Our cult had started, or rather would officially start from next month since this was already half over. We didn¡¯t have any club activities right now but I did get to meet our members; all girls. One of them were Arin, who came to visit me while I was gone. I actually remembered her. Apparently, she just wanted book suggestions, which I was happy to provide. The other three were high noble ladies, all wearing a lot of makeup¡­.

    Something did change though¡­ namely, we had nightly visitors. She came literally every weekend and raided my room.

    She came tonight too.

    ¡°I kept some on the usual spot,¡± I said, just turning my head and trying to sleep.

    Rexy wasn¡¯t with me tonight. She was kidnapped by an eager teenager. I honestly thought Shia¡¯d be scared of the lizard like Nisa but I guess I was underestimating her too much.

    ¡°Mraw.¡±

    Apparently, the black cat liked me and would usually climb into my room through Gerar¡¯s window. And of course, she never came alone. She always brought one of her kittens with her. The kittens were bigger than even typical cats and weren¡¯t friendly at all. I once tried to get close, only to be stopped by the mother; and no, she wasn¡¯t stopping me for the kitten¡¯s safety. She was stopping me for my safety. She was way more gentle than I thought; she¡¯d even let me pet her every once in a while. And yes, she could easily open jars!

    I guess the whole greeting event back in the day was for her ot judge whether I was fit or not. Fit to serve her and her kittens that was. Cats will be cats no matter where, huh? Hella majestic though, this mother cat.If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

    ¡°Mew,¡± the kitten mewed before leaving. Well, that was new. The kitten almost never mewed. Was it thanking me?

    I kept hearing screams in the middle of the night sometimes; kids were attacked nearly every week these days. A lot of them were dying. Like a lot. I knew the cats weren¡¯t at fault but I wasn¡¯t feeling too confident about that.

    And like that¡­ a month passed. And the boss finally came: Exams.

    ***

    The mid terms weren¡¯t really that bad. No, no they were terrible.

    The underestimated the ability of teachers to fuck students thoroughly. 90% of the test was purely memory based and the other ten was ability based. Past me would have been overtly exhilarated but current me couldn¡¯t really keep up with the cramming.

    I barely ate anything, I studied like the world was ending, and towards the end, I came out as a skeleton.

    Yes, I now identified myself as a skeleton and my pronouns were bone and boned.

    ¡°ARGHH!!!¡±

    But hey, at least the damn exams were over¡­ But the results¡­ ARGHHH!

    ¡°What is wrong with you,¡± Shia sighed. Apparently, she¡¯d come to check on me since I hadn¡¯t left my room in the last week.

    ¡°Been at it since morning,¡± Gerar said. ¡°Results are out, or should be out today, so-¡± he chuckled but then stopped once Shia gave him a glance. ¡°S-sorry¡­¡± he closed the window and that was the end of that.

    Or so I¡¯d have liked it to be but it wasn¡¯t.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go,¡± Shia picked me up. ¡°You reek.¡±

    ¡°Haven¡¯t showered,¡± I said.

    ¡°Well then, we better.¡± She grabbed my change of clothes and literally dragged me to the bathrooms!

    ¡°We can¡¯t! I mean, you can¡¯t-¡±

    ¡°Exactly. So either go in there, or I will break every rule and give you a bath.¡±

    Sighing, I went in there. Yeah, she was right, I was overreacting. I wasn¡¯t likely to fail any classes. Maybe I¡¯d scored below par but it wasn¡¯t the end of the world. But it kind of was; I was too used to straight A scores and not getting decent scores this time would kind of wreck my and this family¡¯s image. I really should have been more serious!

    I showered without realizing it, I was so damn into my thoughts, I didn¡¯t realize there was a line. So technically, I cut in there and showered when it was someone else¡¯s turn. I¡¯m definitely turning into a bully at this stage.

    Once I came outside, Shia dragged me out, without even letting me hang my wet clothes or dry my hair! She actually just gave the wet clothes to the knight who was waiting for me outside and took me straight to the administrative building.

    ¡°I believe results have come out today,¡± Shia said.

    ¡°Yes, they are posted on each classroom and-¡±

    ¡°I¡¯d like to see his,¡± she said.

    The registrar sighed but produced a piece of paper below his desk. Wow, he was actually prepared for this.

    ¡°This is the marks he got, this is the highest, and his is the class average.¡± The man stared at my face for a few seconds. I fucked up badly, huh? ¡°Congratulations, son.¡±

    Come again?

    ¡°Hey, not bad. Why were you fretting so much anyway?¡± Shia said, giving me the paper. ¡°Guess, we won¡¯t need to threaten him anymore,¡± she shrugged.

    You were going to do what? The registrar heaved a sigh. He wasn¡¯t taking this seriously. And neither was Shia.

    Still, I focused my attention on the paper instead of my dear sister.

    Name: Soler A. Barack

    Class: Year-01; Rank: Beginner-F

    History: 88_ 91_56

    The first one was mine, then the highest, then the class average.

    Literature: 84_87_59

    This was when I knew I was fucking up hard.

    Etiquette: 91_91_77

    Hmm¡­not bad?

    Spirit Taming: 98_98_66

    How?... Just how?

    Class Rank: 01

    Overall Grade Rank: 03

    How in the actual fuck?

 Chapter 95: FUCKKK!

    I didn¡¯t know who pulled what strings but I was first in my class and third in my overall grade.

    How did this even happen? Even Mike was only 10<sup>th</sup> overall!

    But this did make me question, who was ahead of me? I asked around and apparently it was some rich Count¡¯s Son and some Marquis¡¯s daughter. They¡¯d hardly ever performed in class and there was a good chance their positions were bought with money but oh well.

    ¡°See, I told you, you didn¡¯t need to worry,¡± Shia said. ¡°Worrying is only for the bad students.¡± She shrugged as we walked for the dorms.

    Nope. Good students worried way more.

    Bad students only had to worry about whether they would pass or not. Good students had to worry about whether they would be in the top of not. If by some unholy miracle their marks dropped below 90, fucked they were. At least in my case that was true. One time I got 89 in math and my mother literally hadn¡¯t cooked for me that day. She hadn¡¯t done anything at all and stopped talking to me for like three weeks. I got a 100 in the very next math test.

    All her shenanigans did make me study like an idiot though. And make me hate her for it.

    But when I left her, a lot of things became clear. My mother wasn¡¯t trying to raise me as a straight A student just to satisfy her ego or boast to her friends (she didn¡¯t have any to begin with). She was doing it for me, or so she¡¯d convinced herself. All her dreams, everything she ever wanted to be, she couldn¡¯t because of her grades. And because of that, she wanted me to not end up like her. She never even considered what I wanted though. Unlike her, I never wanted to be a Nasa engineer. I never wanted to be a space pilot. Heck, I never even wanted to be near a flying vehicle.

    Actually, what did I want to become? Was there anything that interested me? All I ever did was study, study, and study. I never cared about anything else, and that included life goals.

    Sighing, I was back to my dorm room. Lil Rexy was here to greet me. Petting her was a weird feeling. I was used to petting cats and their fur. But this guy didn¡¯t have any fur at all. And the scales were cold and¡­ kind of cool. She didn¡¯t seem to like my petting. She didn¡¯t dislike it either. Chill, in other words. But, staring at the lizard, did give me a sense of calm. But can I really take care of another life?This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

    The last time I tried, it ended up dead within a week. this was why I wasn¡¯t keen on having pets anymore. The only reason I didn¡¯t feel Sisna was a pet, was because Mom was taking care of her and the goat letting me suck her tits. She was like a second mother to me, honestly. No wait, a third?

    ¡°Mraw,¡± I got a knock on my window. I didn¡¯t have a direct window connecting to the outside, so it came from Gerar¡¯s side. I opened it and was greeted by the big panther. She¡¯d brought two cubs today.

    The panther was a little big for the window but she squeezed herself in without any trouble whatsoever.

    She came in, I gave her some biscuits and her cubs some milk and they all just ate and stuff.

    ¡°You¡¯re not going around clawing kids, right?¡± I asked, giving the mother cat a pet. She didn¡¯t mind. She did look at me and shook her head though. Yup, she could understand speech, up to a certain degree. ¡°This,¡± I mumbled, almost diving into her fur. Soft, dark, and utterly good fur! Even rubbing my face felt great! ¡°Woah!¡± I almost fell over when she moved a bit but she grabbed my shirt with a bite and I hung in the air like one of her kids. She casually sat me down on the bed and was ready to leave.

    ¡°Mraw.¡± But then she noticed the lizard. ¡°Grr¡­¡± A low growl. A warning?

    ¡°It¡¯s okay, she¡¯s one of my friend¡¯s kids,¡± I said.

    ¡°Mraw¡­¡± Mother cat didn¡¯t seem all that convinced but she shrugged and watched her cubs finish up the milk like they were competing. We watched them together. Once they were done, she took both of them in her mouth and bid me goodnight with a swing of that lovely tail.

    Damn, that cat was smart. And elegant too~!

    But they might actually kill her one of these days. And the cat knew that. Even if she didn¡¯t murder students, the actual murderers were probably going to frame her and¡­.

    So far, Gerar seemed to be in the favor of the cat, particularly why he hadn¡¯t said anything about the cat coming to visit me every night. But I had my doubts how long this would last.

    Just last night, it was two victims. Fresh claw marks. Almost all the victims so far were clawed to death and were commoners. But what if a noble died?

    The school would surely get rid of the murdering cat, even if the cat hadn¡¯t murdered, just to look good to the victim¡¯s family.

    Sigh.

    She¡¯s strong. She¡¯s smart. She¡¯s got kids.

    I¡¯m sure she¡¯ll be fine.

    She was not fine.

    We found the cat dead just outside the dorm the next morning. I was one of the first people who found the cat, only second to Mike who¡¯d been waiting for me.

    ¡°Didn¡¯t think she¡¯d go out like this,¡± he said. Claw marks.

    I gritted my teeth. Mother cat was dead, and so were her two cubs. All clawed to death.

    Dead.

    ¡°Let¡¯s¡­¡± I tried to talk but my throat clogged up. It was almost as though someone had punched the air out of my lungs. ¡°Bury her,¡± I managed, as a deep suppressed sob leaked out and my eyes moistened.

    This is why I didn¡¯t like pets. Always fucking dying on me. Damn it! Fuck!

    Mike put a hand on my shoulder. He didn¡¯t say anything.

    FUCK!

    ¡°FUCKKK!!!¡±

 Special Announcement: Going to Uni, Patreon, Future works

    Hi there, Yet here.

    Yes, I know you''re feeling a lot of emotions right now. Understandable. You want to punch me because I killed a fictional cat you say? Well, I wish I could say that to the bastard that killed mine, ha ha... sigh. The next chap should release on time tomorrow so... be patient I guess? Or you can sub to patreon XD. (This was actually a coincidence mind you. I wanted to start patreon this month but didn''t think the timing would be this... weird)

    Anyway, I wanted to discuss the future a bit. Remember that whole drama a couple of weeks ago? Well, time for its finale. I''m going to stay in the capital to attend said university. Classes start maybe late May or June. So, late May and early June will be super stressful for me. Might not be able to update regularly or at all. Kind of why I''ve been stocking chapters. And also why I decided to take fridays off so I could at least save 1 chapter every week. At the very least I mean.

    Updates should be stable despite everything; 5 chapters a week. (I say that but I end up releasing more than 5 anyway)

    From today onwards, Patreon will be updated regularly. There are five chapters (4+ a mini-one. It''ll be 5 from tomorrow) already available there for the base tier ($3); the Gold tier ($10) is just a placeholder for now (You''ll get all three queen books though). Diamond tier was a joke I played on some scammers and kept it as a memory.

    You''ve recently seen Undead Queen launch and even go up to vol 3. Well, that book will end on Vol 4, which should be released on 10th Sept. (Don''t quote me on that though, cause I''ve barely started writing that)This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

    I have some plans to release the following stuff.

    *Draconic Sexy Times (Fun times with a dragon); Erotic Romance, it''ll be serialized on probably Amazon? Not sure.

    * A Typical Highschool Novel; Not sure if this''ll be a romance but it''s pretty good for a first draft. I really like it.

    * The Virgins are Coming! (Apparently in a zombie filled world, a lot of the zombies have super powers and they all want to eat the mc Veena''s Virgin ass. It''s not an erotica sadly)

    *Lise and her Heavenly Sticky Love Juice: Erotic Romance (Yes, I''m rewriting the Elinalise book and making it a real book, muahahahahahahahahahahhahah- cough-)

    I will probably release the first volume of FC after editing it on Amazon for a buck (I don''t think I''ll have the time though)

    Frankly, I don''t know if I can write this and manage Uni but hey... I did say I''ll try my best.

    Don''t buy something you won''t read. If you want to support me, sub to Patreon instead. I make literally half of what you pay to amazon or other sites because they just take the money. Sometimes I make even less than that. For example if you buy Queen Vol 1 for 99 cents, I make 35 cents and those guys take 30% of that 35 cents because I''m not in US and don''t pay taxes in my home country (I don''t make enough to pay taxes KEKW)

    Moving on, I can''t thank you guys enough for all your support and encouragement. Seeing ''thanks for the chap'' or ''keep up the good work'' comments like that always encourages me and honestly, I''m glad I kept this novel free.

    Thank you, I mean that.

    Have a great day.

    my writing sucks. I''ve been trying to improve but I hardly improve and with all the money I''m making, I can''t even afford daily coffee XD (I don''t drink coffee though but you get the picture).

    Still, I couldn''t do what I do, without you guys. So thanks for reading.

    Have a nice day.

 Chapter 96: I Felt

    A lot of bad things happened in my life. I got betrayed, I got stabbed, heck, I even ended up murdered by my own best friend.

    But I never thought I wanted revenge.

    I never thought I needed revenge.

    ¡°I¡¯d like to buy your services,¡± I said, finding myself in a particular classroom. It was too early for classes to start. So, I found him unoccupied.

    ¡°My rate varies depending on my services. Right now, I¡¯m preoccupied so my rates are far higher-¡±

    ¡°I¡¯d like your help capturing what¡¯s killing kids on campus,¡± I said. ¡°And I want it dead.¡±

    The man was sitting and he just stood up, and glared down. I could feel his murderous gaze rain down on me, yet I didn¡¯t look away. I met his gaze head on. ¡°For what?¡±

    ¡°Revenge.¡±

    ¡°You know that¡¯s not why you came here.¡±

    ¡°I know.¡±

    ¡°Murdering services ranges from anywhere between 5 to 10 stellers, and that¡¯s while I¡¯m not busy.¡±

    Fuck. ¡°But escort and protecting jobs only cost 5 silvers, right?¡±

    ¡°Under normal circumstances, yes. However, right now, I¡¯ll at least charge 50 gold.¡±

    Money, I didn¡¯t have. And he knew that. I guess he really didn¡¯t want to help me.

    ¡°I see. Sorry to have bothered you.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t do anything foolish Sol. You know why you came here. You know why they sent you. And you have to go back to them. I-¡±

    I just left.

    I know. I wanted to punch the wall but I didn¡¯t.

    I know.

    ***

    I skipped all classes and duties for the day. Instead, I did some prepping. Even if I went to the library or the church, it wasn¡¯t like I was going to be much help today anyway.

    Whatever was killing the kids, was killing with purpose. And to figure out more about the purpose, I went over to the registrar and asked nicely about whether he¡¯d let me see who had died in the last couple of weeks and what we already knew. He weirdly obliged. I thought he wouldn¡¯t unless I brought Shia here. But didn¡¯t seem to be the case.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

    As I kept on checking the dead students¡¯ records, something became absurdly clear. All the students were commoners and rather plains ones, something which I already knew. But no, that wasn¡¯t the absurd bit. Rather, it was that the school had made absolutely no effort to find out more about this. Almost as though they already knew who the real culprit was.

    Could be one of the part timers.

    ¡°Any chance I can meet the headmaster,¡± I said. The school had hired about ten part time teachers. I only knew one of them. If the killer was as strong as him¡­ I had no shot.

    ¡°He only meets viscounts and up,¡± the registrar said. ¡°Even if you were to barge in there,¡± He paused.

    ¡°I¡¯d just be escorted out.¡±

    ¡°Exactly.¡±

    In the end, my rank meant squat. ¡°Thank you very much sir.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know what you intend to do with this information but¡­ someone very strong is out there¡­ don¡¯t do anything foolish Son.¡±

    ¡°Thank you.¡±

    There was still a lot of time before sundown and my stomach was roaring. You can¡¯t fight a war on empty stomach. So I went to the cafeteria and fought with the students there. Fought as in, fought to get food first. I got some food, I got my seat and I ate in peace.

    Students usually avoided me, but today they were really running like they were afraid of their lives.

    I finished my meal but I thought of ways I could do something about stuff tonight. There was a good chance whoever was killing kids was from the Barack family. However, there was still a chance it was someone else trying to accomplish something else. Every dead student was a commoner and ordinary. Could it be the church?

    If said person was stronger or as strong as Alustur, I had no shot whatsoever and I was merely ¡®courting¡¯ death as any manhua protagonist would say.

    But I wasn¡¯t. It didn¡¯t matter how strong you were if your face was stuck to water and you couldn¡¯t breathe. It didn¡¯t matter how strong you were if you¡¯re lungs caught fire or if you burned your eyes. It didn¡¯t matter how strong you were¡­ if you were dead.

    There was still time, so I went over to the fishmarket, got myself some nice kilo worth of Manafish Scales for the bargain price of one gold and prepared for the worst. These things tasted vile and ordinarily I¡¯d die but today, I was going to expand so much damn mana, I needed every bit of it.

    Now¡­ I knew what I was doing was stupid. Even if I was infuriated, I wasn¡¯t insane. Yet, for some reason, whenever I thought about those kittens¡­ and that cat. That warm cat¡­ I just¡­ I just felt like crying and my heart would wrench. I¡­ had to do this. Unless I did this, I couldn¡¯t go on. I couldn¡¯t move on. I just¡­.

    Maybe I can sleep this off?

    ¡°What are you doing?¡± Shia approached me in the field. I was just sitting alone, by a tree, waiting. ¡°You didn¡¯t go to class. You didn¡¯t go to church. What are you doing?¡±

    ¡°Nothing,¡± I said. ¡°Absolutely nothing.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s a shame the cat died but you can¡¯t-¡± She grumbled. ¡°You just can¡¯t give up on everything.¡±

    ¡°I assure you sister, I haven¡¯t given up on anything.¡±

    ¡°Really? You asked our part time sword teacher quote, ¡®I¡¯d like to buy your services¡¯, you went to market and bought fish scales, you went to the registrar¡¯s office to look into the murder cases and you say you plan on going on a hunt tonight and you claim, ¡®you haven¡¯t given up on anything?¡¯¡±

    ¡°You know all that yet here you are, asking me.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m asking you because I care.¡±

    ¡°Well, I didn¡¯t ask for you to care. I told you I-¡±

    Shia stared at me, as though hurt. ¡°Well, I still care¡­¡± She stomped her way out.

    Tch.

    I felt pathetic.

    I felt shit.

    I felt horrendous.

    And I didn¡¯t know whether murdering the murderer would solve anything at all¡­ yet¡­ I couldn¡¯t stop.

    If I was going to die trying, then so be it. But I didn¡¯t want to be regretting not doing anything about this emptiness forever!

 Chapter 97: Dyingâ€¦ Again?

    Justice doesn¡¯t exist

    It is a mere concept. A made-up thing. Someone killed someone, a person close to you. You go on a quest to kill this murderer. What if the murderer¡¯s loved one was killed by this close person of yours? What if the murderer was seeking justice? Then if you killed the murderer, would your justice not be injustice to the man?

    Therefore, Justice does not exist. It¡¯s merely a concept and always dependent on perspective.

    This was why I never wanted revenge. Not because I was a fucking saint; I tried to understand from the perspective of the other people and why they did things. Obviously, I couldn¡¯t do that for the most important things. But despite all that¡­ despite everything I tried to never seek revenge. It only brought more pain.

    Yet¡­ right now I was out here, out in the moonlight, waiting. All students had gone back to their homes or dorms. I didn¡¯t have a home anymore.

    The teachers, the seniors, the guards, everyone warned me. Under the orders of the headmaster, they couldn¡¯t help me. And honestly, I didn¡¯t want to endanger anyone else either. This was my choice.

    I chose this.

    I guess I was going to lose this place too. No, I was going to lose myself in this revenge. High chance of me dying. High chance of me being critically wounded and maimed for life.

    But¡­

    Why?

    Why couldn¡¯t I stop myself? Why did I still want this? Is this grief or rage?

    My escort knight wasn¡¯t here. I had no idea where he even was. I wanted to give Rexy to Shia for safekeeping but Rexy didn¡¯t leave me. She was here with me. ¡°I really don¡¯t want you to die too kid,¡± I said.

    She slept on my head without a care in the world. Maybe I should just go back¡­.

    Rustle¡­ the trees swayed. A sudden change in the air pressure. Yeah, something or someone was here. And my body instinctively knew it was dangerous.

    There was a good reason I was sitting out in the open. And the reason was simple, oxygen.Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.

    I¡¯d surrounded myself with dense oxygen and kept hydrogen close, and was ready with some fish scales and CO2. I was breathing fairly normal stuff though and in the moment of truth, I was prepared to stop my breathing.

    ¡°This isn¡¯t the place for little kids, child. Go home,¡± it said.

    The voice came from above but there was nothing on the trees. I couldn¡¯t tell if it was a guy or a girl. I couldn¡¯t tell exactly where the voice came from and I couldn¡¯t tell much of anything. The presence was oddly ghost like.

    It knows me.

    ¡°I suppose,¡± I said. ¡°Why did you kill the cat?¡±

    Silence.

    ¡°Why are you going around killing people?¡±

    Silence.

    ¡°And any last words before I melt you to death?¡± I stood up, glaring at one particular branch. It could hide its body but it couldn¡¯t do anything about its weight. ¡°Die.¡±

    A straight line of fire sped forth and just when it reached the branch, hydrogen and oxygen rushed close, igniting the whole tree. I was blown away both by the shockwave and a gust of wind I¡¯d conjured up.

    Crackle! The tree burned in bright flames.

    Already dry? Even after using some fish scales my mana was gone and I was feeling faint. I chomped on one fish scale and almost threw up but, but at least I wasn¡¯t going to pass out now.

    ¡°Impressive, but you¡¯re far too na?ve,¡± the voice came from behind.

    I ignited another fire- but-

    ¡°Argh,¡± a cut, a cut appeared on my arm. Just a minor one; no, three¡­ claws. I barely bleed. Very¡­ very fine cuts.

    Yeah, I guess this was a bad idea after all. ¡°I know,¡± I said, coming back to my original plan. Oxygen and hydrogen swirled around me as did every single darn molecule of CO2 in the vicinity. It wasn¡¯t nearly enough but beggars couldn¡¯t be choosers as I bit into some more scales and desperately fought the urge to throw up.

    ¡°The cat was in the way,¡± it said. ¡°I have contracts to kill. I¡¯m not dying tonight, so I don¡¯t have last words. You have your answers. Leave.¡±

    ¡°Why? Afraid of killing me?¡± I kept a sharp eye around, constantly checking for signs on the grass on the-

    ¡°On second thought, I should just dispose of you,¡± the murderous gaze¡­I¡¯d felt it before. The body came just before my face. Big. Way bigger than I thought. Almost as big as¡­ Alustur.

    Gritting my teeth, I ignited the fire. Oxygen, hydrogen for the bomb like fireworks and a thin layer of CO2 for me¡­. it didn¡¯t work-

    Boom!

    I was sent flying by the sonic boom alone, the heat came a second later and burned my front side.

    I¡¯d kept an elixir just for this¡­ and I drank it. But- but the man still stood. He still stood there, barely singed.

    Fucking monster.

    ¡°Why?¡± I said.

    ¡°I told you, contracts,¡± he said. He wore a claw like thing on his hand¡­ I suppose that¡¯s how he was killing?

    ¡°I trusted you.¡±

    ¡°I know.¡± He produced a sword. It was always there, he just hadn¡¯t used it till now. ¡°And that¡¯s why I gave you a chance to leave.¡± He paused. He just stood there for a couple of seconds, as though considering¡­. ¡°Leave Sol. I do not wish to kill you.¡± He pointed that blade at me.

    ¡°I never wanted to kill you either. But- but I can¡¯t go back-¡± Argh- blood came up to my throat.

    Darkness¡­ everything went black as a sharp pain radiated from my chest upwards. My warm chest slowly went cold and the world slowed. The sounds, muffled.

    I¡¯m¡­ dying?

    Again?

 Chapter 98: Fireworks

    Shia walked the lonely white corridors. She had to climb a lot of floors. It was getting late and soon it¡¯d be that time. She had one particular destination in mind. The headmaster¡¯s office.

    She knocked a couple of times. No answer. Of course, there wasn¡¯t. She was the daughter of a viscount. If it was her father, exceptions could be made. But not for her. ¡°Miss, I¡¯m telling you, you can¡¯t be here,¡± the guard said, who¡¯d come running behind her. He was panting, she was not.

    Now, ordinarily a girl would turn back.

    But Shia wasn¡¯t an ordinary girl. So, she kicked the door. She kicked it hard. Hard enough to send the door flying to the other end and crash into a table. ¡°Good afternoon,¡± she said.

    She completely disregarded the guard behind her who was too afraid to follow her into the room anyway. So, he promptly took his leave, damn sure he wouldn¡¯t be paid this month either.

    A man was seated on the chair behind the table, and apparently the door had hit his wig which had now come loose. He smiled and stared. An old man. But not a trace of facial hair. ¡°Good afternoon miss. I was under the impression I didn¡¯t have any meetings today.¡±

    ¡°Well, I must apologize on that end. Something urgent came up, you see,¡± she said. She didn¡¯t wait for permission or whatever, she just strolled into the room. ¡°Might be sudden but I do require your help.¡±

    ¡°Of what sort?¡±

    ¡°I need you to save Sol.¡±If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

    ¡°He was given a warning. A very strict one mind you, but he went out on his own. It is beyond me now.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sure one of the former heroes hasn¡¯t gone senile just because he put on some years and lost all his hair,¡± she said, smiling. ¡°Now, would you or would you not save him from your hired help?¡±

    ¡°Oh? You already looked into this?¡±

    ¡°Well, we do have an extensive network. My family could be quite scary you know.¡±

    ¡°Well, I¡¯m sure they are. But are you sure, he is your family?¡±

    Shia stared, not quite smiling anymore. ¡°That¡¯s for us to decide. I only came here to get an answer. And depending on it, will change how my family view¡¯s your academy and by extension You, sir.¡±

    The headmaster remained neutral but eventually smiled. ¡°You¡¯ve grown since we last met,¡± he said. ¡°However, it still doesn¡¯t change the fact that it is beyond-¡±

    Woosh!

    A wall of fire. Just outside. The mighty oak tree that stood for centuries, was burning.

    Just seconds later, another explosion!

    ¡°If he dies, I won¡¯t stop till I kill you both,¡± Shia said, kicking the window open. ¡°Well then headmaster, if you¡¯ll-¡±

    ¡°Alright, alright,¡± he sighed.

    ¡°Woah!¡±

    Both of them started floating and they slowly descended straight to the grounds below.

    ¡°Sol!¡± Shia somersaulted, landing next to a passed-out boy. No, he wasn¡¯t just passed out¡­ he was¡­ dead. ¡°SOL!¡±

    A vertical cut on his chest, blood everywhere, no pulse¡­ no warmth¡­ he was dead.

    ¡°This isn¡¯t what we agreed on Alustur. You were merely supposed to scare the boy. What would I do about his-¡±

    While the grown up were talking, Shia cried. It¡¯d been a long while since she last cried. Yet¡­the tears just flowed. So much so that she didn¡¯t see the blurry white thing bite Sol¡¯s neck and his body radiating heat.

    Seconds later his hand started glowing and so did the blurry white thing.

    It grew, it grew, and it grew!

    Soon, there was only the white thing and its white reddish scales¡­ but-

    ¡°Huh?¡± She suddenly felt the warmth. She placed her ears on his chest and¡­ yes, his heart was beating albeit faintly. ¡°Sol!¡± She dragged him to her chest, hugging him lightly.

    She was so focused on Sol that she didn¡¯t even hear the laughter behind her.

    ¡°Ke K Eke¡±

    Or the fireworks that was about to take place soon¡­.

 Mini chap 98.5: Troubled

    Headmaster Rombrandt was troubled.

    Earlier today, he¡¯d seen a peculiar scene from the white tower. A dead mother and her two cubs¡­ and the howl of a young man. The moment he¡¯d seen that, he knew things would go wrong. Those eyes¡­.

    Perhaps it was a mistake to bring him here. Perhaps it was a mistake to do things this way. But there was no other choice.

    There was no other¡­ even so the die was cast. And all he could do now was watch. Would something had changed if he was younger, had more sway, or strength for that matter?

    He couldn¡¯t tell. No, he didn¡¯t wish to tell. Even in his prime he never went against them.

    Still, he tried to make sure things didn¡¯t go wrong. They still did. The boy was preparing to die. And the least he could do was show him what death truly was. The boy was young, far too young to go down this route. This route of hatred and vengeance. He had to be taught a lesson.The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

    For that, he summoned one of the hired part time teachers and instructed him to scare the living shit out of the boy but not kill him. For one, killing the boy would make this academy a target of the boy¡¯s real parents and worse, even the Duke and the Barack family. But that wasn¡¯t the only reason, there was more. Something about that boy put the man at edge. It was almost like the boy was influenced by something, something dangerous¡­ a devil?

    No, the boy was far too innocent to be a devil¡¯s apostle. If anything, he was more of a hero candidate than most of the hero candidates. Sure, he didn¡¯t have much mana but many noble children didn¡¯t have that either. And he was no longer a fake noble, so that didn¡¯t matter. The church wouldn¡¯t be foolish enough to assassinate him like the rest, especially considering his connections.

    Yet, how did it come to this?

    Why was the boy on the ground?

    Why was the he¡­ dead?

    And why was the man who killed him¡­ crying?

    ¡°What have you done?¡± The headmaster said. ¡°You weren¡¯t supposed to-¡±

    ¡°Ke Ke Eke¡­¡±

    Huh? What was that? What was this foul presence? This devasting hatred? This¡­.?

    ¡°A fiend?¡± Alustur prepared to slice but, but the fiend was gone.

    One second it was there, the next, it was gone. Not a trace.

    ¡°Above!¡± Rombrandt shouted, instinctively propping his hands up forming a wind barrier.

    ¡°Wings¡­¡± Alustur mumbled. ¡°It¡¯s a deity¡­¡±

    Ah¡­ the child- Fire¡­ fire rained. Truly was special¡­.

 Chapter 99: FUU!

    White.

    A familiar place.

    A familiar, familiar place. I¡¯d been here.

    And seen that whiteness before.

    That sky¡­ this grass. This blindingly bright world.

    And then I¡¯d seen an angel. I¡¯d seen an elf. I¡¯d seen Mom. No, this time there wasn¡¯t one. Instead, I just fell on the grass. And saw someone leave me behind. Someone, I¡¯d seen before.

    So, he was my father¡­ huh?

    I thought I¡¯d felt a connection to the person. But¡­ didn¡¯t think he was my dad. He just left me here, he just left. He didn¡¯t even look back.

    Guess, I wasn¡¯t worth it?

    I stayed there for a couple of days; no monsters, no food¡­ nothing. And then died. And then Lin found me. But just moments before she found the dead boy, he came alive¡­ I came alive.

    And then I found my Mom.

    And now I¡¯m dead. All because I wanted revenge. All because I wanted to¡­ sigh. In the end, it really wasn¡¯t worth it. Now that I could think calmly. Now that I didn¡¯t feel the constant dread, the constant hate, the constant resentment¡­ I could think. And I knew, I was glad that man had abandoned me, because otherwise the past owner of this body wouldn¡¯t be dead and I wouldn¡¯t be with Lin, even if our time together was brief. Hey, I felt bad for the boy. But¡­ but, I loved Lin. I hated to admit it but I loved Den too. And I was glad I got to grew up with them.

    Wish I could say goodbye.

    Wish I could at least-

    ¡°Ba¡­¡±

    Goat?

    There was a goat before me. When¡¯d she? I patted her head. She liked me, and tried to bite me. Of course, I didn¡¯t let her and¡­ and wait, mother cat was here too!?

    Didn¡¯t that mean¡­ Sisna was dead?

    ¡°You died to save me?¡± I said. My eyes moistened. ¡°I¡¯m sorry I couldn¡¯t make good use of this life. I¡¯m¡­.¡± she licked my face and comforted me.

    Mother cat came over and licked me too. The kids also weirdly came to me and jumped on me and¡­ well, I guess dying might not have been that bad; I wasn¡¯t alone here. I was going to wait here for Lin and Den¡­ hopefully they¡¯ll keep me waiting for a few decades at least.Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

    Yet¡­ yet why did I feel so bad? Why did I feel so¡­ sad?

    Why did I¡­ cry?

    Hugging the kittens tight, I cried. ¡°I¡¯m sorry I couldn¡¯t avenge you. I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯m so powerless. I¡¯m sorry Lin¡­ I can¡¯t go back to you¡­Mom.¡± I sobbed, I cried.

    I just fell on my knees, as all the cats just surrounded me. Meanwhile, the goat just fucking rammed me over the air. What the fuck? ¡°Hey, that hurts!¡± I said¡­ sniffling, rolling on the ground, picking myself back up again. ¡°Hurts?¡± My hands and body started going all blurry, like I was being censored or something. ¡°The hell?¡± Something grabbed me. A white tail. It wrapped around my chest like a snake coiling and then I felt a pull. Almost like I was being pulled into the grass.

    The goat and Kittens stayed put, while Mother Cat put her paw on my chest and everything just went dark, but before all that I could have sworn I heard something.

    My chest hurt, and it felt warm and someone was screaming my name.

    ¡°Mom?¡± I managed, opened my eyes and nope, it was my dear sister instead. ¡°Oh, hi sis,¡± I said.

    ¡°I thought you were dead.¡± She was crying?

    Face full of tears, snot leaking out; ugly. Yet¡­ comforting.

    ¡°Me too¡­¡± I was crying too actually. And I might or might not have pissed myself. ¡°I reek,¡± I said.

    ¡°Yeah,¡± she snickered.

    ¡°FUU!!!¡± Fire. Blindingly bright flames scorched the very ground behind us, or rather in front of me, since Shia was hugging so damn tightly.

    ¡°ARGHH!!!¡± Someone was screaming, he was taking the full brunt of the fire. He was dying. Unlike my fire, this one was far, far stronger, bluer, and Rexen? The fuck was he doing here? Guy has wings.

    And who the fuck was the charred-up geezer? ¡°Don¡¯t kill him. I need some answers,¡± I said. The words came out, but my chest hurt. With each breath the pain dissipated though.

    ¡°Ke k ke?¡± Rexen came over, and as usual that damn smile was creepy as fuck but¡­ I was kind of glad he showed up. He disappeared or more like shrunk. Rexy came crawling back to me and was as cute as ever as she promptly fell asleep on my chest.

    ¡°What is this?¡± Shia said, showing my scaly finger to me and checking my body for scales. I had a lot of scales. Specially my chest where there was a vertical line. I could have sworn I never saw myself get cut but¡­I guess Alustur was just that fast. And he was basically a corpse right now. Sizzling. Smoking. Guy was still alive!

    I guess Rexen was just that much of a badass. But he was gone. ¡°Questions later. Help me cover this up and-¡±

    People started coming from all over the school. And they told me it was a suicide mission and didn¡¯t want anything to do with this at all! Liars.

    I saw some familiar faces leading; Chamille, Mike, Nisa.

    ¡°Quick!¡± I said.

    ¡°Okay, okay,¡± Shia rolled her eyes and tore a bit of her dress and hid my scaly finger and insignia. My shirt was kind of burned but it wasn¡¯t making the scales obvious so that was fine, for now.

    ¡°The hell happened here?¡± Miss Chamille came straight to me. ¡°What in Askavan are you doing?¡± I guess she didn¡¯t know?

    ¡°He caught the mass murderer,¡± Shia said. ¡°The headmaster came to help but was caught in the crossfire. They¡¯re still alive¡­ I think,¡± she said, and quite chirpily too.

    Chamille groaned. ¡°Take them to the infirmary.¡± She slouched down to pick me up.

    ¡°Wait,¡± I said, staring at Shia. ¡°I need you to do something for me.¡±

    She sighed. ¡°What?¡±

    Before leaving I¡¯d heard mother cat say something. Take care of the little one. ¡°There¡¯s another kitten. Find it.¡±

    She stared at me, rolled her eyes hysterically. ¡°Alright.¡±

    The moment Miss Chamille picked me up to take me to the infirmary, I actually passed out. Oh fuck¡­ I wanted to feel them¡­. I could still hear shit though¡­ weird.

 Chapter 100: Take My Respect, Damnit!

    I woke up in the infirmary.

    I had no idea this school even had one, to be honest. Or was it that I¡¯d just forgotten?

    Wasn¡¯t I here just last month?

    It felt like I¡¯d slept for a long while. I was groggy, and tired and¡­ sleepy and¡­ The fuck?

    I wasn¡¯t alone of course. There were two bandaged mess on the other side, both cuffed for some reason. I had a cute lizard sleeping peacefully on my head and a black kitten on the side. I also had a cute lady sleeping next to- no, it was just Shia.

    Judging by the sunlight coming through, probably close to early noon. ¡°How long was I out?¡± I said.

    She didn¡¯t wake up.

    She was soundly asleep. And drooling no less. Why do young girls always drool? My sister was like that, and Nisa too.

    Or maybe this was just random and I got lucky¡­ or rather unlucky? Anyway, I tried talking to her but she was just nodding in her sleep and didn¡¯t bother waking up.

    So, after a while I kind of gave up and kept my eyes at the ceiling. Somehow, I didn¡¯t die. No, I had a feeling I probably did die but came back alive.

    Somehow¡­ Rexen was there. And he¡¯d come to my rescue through Rexy. The last time Rexen had healed my finger. This he¡¯d healed my chest then? I saw scales instead of skin there, in a vertical line. Yup, definitely Rexen¡¯s work. The mark on my hand was pretty much the same if not a bit more elaborate; it also came with a rather complicated array of red spikes. But wait, none of my scales were hidden and¡­ Busted?

    Definitely busted that was for sure.

    The fact that I still wasn¡¯t executed was proof enough that the church didn¡¯t want me dead¡­ yet.

    ¡°Hmm¡­¡± Shia woke up. ¡°Sol?¡± She said.

    ¡°Yeah, what¡¯s up, Sis?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re alright¡­¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m fine. Thanks for coming to rescue me,¡± I said. I had no idea when she¡¯d come or what she¡¯d done but I had a feeling she came after me.

    Even if she wanted to, she couldn¡¯t come out after the curfew hours due to our new dorm rules. But she still did. I was glad¡­ but- ¡°But don¡¯t ever do something so dangerous,¡± I said. ¡°You could have di- AHHH!!¡±

    She punched me, on the literal fucking chest! Sharp pain radiated through my whole body as bits of blood trickled. ¡°Like you¡¯re one to talk!¡± She roared. The drooling cute sleeping sister was gone. Replaced by a monster. ¡°YOU COULD HAVE DIED!¡±

    You¡¯re literally killing me now!Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

    ¡°Sorry,¡± I managed. I didn¡¯t bleed much. The cut healed itself. Apparently, although the wound was healed, the scales didn¡¯t adhere well to my skin. I suppose it was just emergency patchwork by Rexen and I would heal with time? Maybe?

    She sighed and calmed a bit. ¡°Do you have any idea how worried I was?¡± She mumbled, looking away frowning.

    I guess she did worry. She worried a lot¡­ ¡°You know Sis I¡¯m¡­¡± I stopped. I couldn¡¯t. I couldn¡¯t say it.

    ¡°What?¡±

    I stared at her face. She thought she was looking at her little brother who¡¯d almost died. But¡­ ¡°Thanks. Love you Sis.¡±

    She snickered. ¡°Yes, as you should.¡±

    I let out a snicker as well and we talked for a while.

    Apparently, it¡¯d been a week since then. The academy declared I¡¯d caught the culprit and burned him alive. The headmaster tried to stop me, so I gave him some ass whopping and now he was in a coma.

    Didn¡¯t she say crossfire at first?

    ¡°Well, that¡¯s a bunch of lies,¡± I said.

    ¡°No, this guy really burned them both good,¡± Shia said.

    ¡°Well, I¡¯m sure Rexy had nothing to do with it.¡± I tried to close in on Shia but I couldn¡¯t, so she leaned closer.  ¡°It was actually her father,¡± I whispered.

    ¡°Oh. So that big cutie was¡­ where can I meet him?¡± She was super excited for a second there.

    ¡°Don¡¯t even think about it.¡± I rolled my eyes. ¡°Alustur died?¡± Then who were these two bandaged mummies?

    ¡°No, that¡¯s just what we declared. Or more like, I did,¡± she winked. ¡°I didn¡¯t let them touch either of them since you said you wanted to question them.¡±

    You did what?

    Was it me or was this sister just too damn dependable? Take my respect, damnit.

    They¡¯d actually woken up from all the commotion but their whole body was covered and that included their mouths, so they probably couldn¡¯t talk. Which was good cause I didn¡¯t want to deal with them.

    ¡°Where¡¯d you find this guy though,¡± I said.

    A kitten.

    ¡°Abandoned warehouse.¡± She patted the sleeping cat. ¡°I used to hang out there and knew the cat had given birth there. I kind of liked her too¡­

    ¡°Before you¡­ before you curse them,¡± Shia said. ¡°It was mom.¡±

    ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°Mom hired Alustur and some other mercenaries and pressured the headmaster. She wanted to get rid of all the lesser bloods. She¡¯s one of the cardinals and in charge of this city and¡­ she had to.¡±

    ¡°So, she was responsible¡­¡± I mumbled.

    ¡°Please don¡¯t hate her¡­ she¡¯s still our- my mom.¡±

    ¡­

    I sighed. ¡°Sure.¡±

    I was done with this anyway. Hatred, rage, revenge, brought me nothing. It only pained me. The dead wouldn¡¯t come back. And this kitten would never get its mother back.

    And if I died, so many sacrifices would be in vain.

    ¡°Why would she need to kill kids?¡± I said.

    ¡°The church wants all lesser human children with no talent and magic eradicated.¡± So that¡¯s why they always targeted the ordinary ones?

    ¡°She¡¯s going to kill me too in time I suppose?¡±

    ¡°No.¡± Shia said. ¡°Look at these two. They¡¯re one of the strongest in world. Yet, look at them. They messed with you and are in that state. No one can kill you.¡±

    I wanted to laugh at her face. I wanted to say, that she was wrong and I was pretending to be all strong; I was powerless. Fucking powerless. It wasn¡¯t me who beat them. It was Rexen.

    And now having been oust, I was going to be persecuted. ¡°No, the church would still want to kill me,¡± I said. ¡°If not for my abilities, then this cutie,¡± I said.

    ¡°I¡¯m sure no one would want to kill a deity bearer.¡± One of the mummies talked!

    You could talk! Sounded old. So the other one was Alustur? Both were staring hard.

    ¡°A deity bearer?¡±

    ¡°Your drake is the child of a deity. It used that child to manifest in our world and thus scorch us. And seemed to listen to you. Thus, you¡¯re a deity bearer. The church would be wary of you and they would want you among their ranks to pacify you. But they won¡¯t be foolish enough to hurt you and have the deity descend once more.¡±

    Okay, okay, I was confused to say the least.

    Deity? Rexen? That guy? Seriously? And what descending? He was clearly living a good life in that fucking cave!

    If anything he was ascending not- Aw.. aw¡­ aw¡­ my hand stung a bit. Yup, dude was listening. Just remembering about him made me smile. Thanks dude. I gave his daughter a pat and focused on the two mummies in front of me. Time to get serious!

 Chapter 101: Not Yet

    Deities weren¡¯t necessarily gods. Not all deities were gods but all gods were deities- or so the headmaster said.

    Apparently, they ranked higher than high spirits but lower than actually established gods. Which did make me think, were all gods just fiends with exceptional influence over our lives?

    From what I¡¯ve gathered, Askavan probably did exist in the past, and maybe still exists to date. However, the god lost all interest in men and had left our plane of existence, or so my conclusion. But what if¡­ what if he was dead? Spirits could die. That meant gods could die. And that meant¡­ they weren¡¯t really gods.

    We made them gods.

    ¡°I have a lot of questions,¡± I said. ¡°But I¡¯ve found the answer to most of them. Instead, I have requests.¡±

    ¡°Requests?¡± the headmaster said. ¡°Name them.¡±

    ¡°First of all, this is an educational institution. If you can¡¯t stop the church from killing people here, resign please,¡± I glared. ¡°And shame on you!¡± I spat on the floor.

    His face was covered but I could have sworn he had a scowl. I¡¯d heard many things about him but almost everything were merely rumors. He was supposedly some hero of the bygone era. But in truth, he was just an old man who did nothing but wank his dick on the tall white tower all day and do nothing but kiss the pope¡¯s toes. Okay, wanking dick part was made up but still!

    He was worthless!

    Free from the church he said. Free from the nobles, he said. Grr¡­ I seriously wanted to punch Den one of these days. Guess I¡¯ll write that letter.

    Ahem. ¡°Anyway, requests: Make sure the church can¡¯t do squat here. Protect every single student with your utmost ability.¡±

    ¡°Weren¡¯t you starting an Askavan Fan club? And your mother is a priest.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m aware,¡± I said. ¡°But it doesn¡¯t change the fact that things have gone quite astray. In the previous years, the death toll never surpassed 100. And yet, just last month alone 59 students have died. How will you take responsibility for their death?¡±

    ¡°What do you know of responsibility boy? Marching into death just because your pet cat-¡± he paused, apparently, he couldn¡¯t breathe.

    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t finish that sentence if I were you,¡± I said.

    My mana increased?

    ¡°Oh?¡± His bandages stretched as though he was smiling.

    It was hard for me to breathe too. He can also? Not impossible, just hard. But I forced air into my lungs and although I was probably damaging myself, I was fine.

    He clicked his tongue but motioned a surrender. Geezer thought he was funny; he was not. ¡°And? Even if let¡¯s say I try to protect the kids, who¡¯ll protect them from other assassins?¡±

    ¡°Well, why don¡¯t you ask this guy out,¡± I said. ¡°He¡¯s strong.¡±

    ¡°He tried to kill you,¡± Shia said. ¡°No, he killed you. You shouldn¡¯t even be alive.¡±

    True. I probably had died last week. However, that didn¡¯t change the fact that he was¡­ ¡°Will you do it or would you just fight for money?¡± I stared at him.The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

    He stared at me. ¡°You¡¯d trust my word?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t trust you at all. But I do trust you¡¯re not a liar.¡±

    ¡°Why?¡±

    ¡°I have my¡­ reasons. And you¡¯ve never lied to me.¡±

    He shook his head. ¡°I cannot stop before finishing work I already got paid for.¡±

    ¡°Which is?¡±

    ¡°Seven more heads. Including that friend of yours. Gerar was it?¡±

    ¡°You cannot turn down requests after taking them? And Gerar isn¡¯t even ordinary.¡±

    ¡°No.¡± He shook his head. ¡°Your friend is ordinary. He is merely pretending and tarnishing his family game by spending all his time indoors.¡±

    Sigh. Honestly, I didn¡¯t want to kill this guy. Why? Had I gotten attached?

    To this murderer?

    To this¡­

    ¡°But,¡± he continued. ¡°I could always quit.¡±

    ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°I quit being a mercenary.¡±

    ¡°Why?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t wish to continue this life. This life of¡­ hate and blood.¡±

    ¡°And they¡¯ll just let you go?¡±

    ¡°I doubt. But I also doubt they¡¯ll be idiotic enough come after me. After all¡­ I went toe to toe with a deity,¡± he almost chuckled. Almost.

    ¡°And died,¡± I said. ¡°You¡¯re only alive because-¡±

    ¡°Because you spared me, I know. But I won¡¯t thank you for it. And I won¡¯t serve you for it. And I won¡¯t apologize for having killed you. It was my judgment and I stand by it.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t need your servitude.¡±

    ¡°Anyway,¡± Shia cut in, ¡°You should rest. You haven¡¯t eaten anything in a while. Hungry?¡±

    Now that she¡¯d mentioned it, my stomach was kind of¡­ going nuts.

    ***

    I could actually walk around. And food didn¡¯t really leak out of my guts like I feared. So all good!

    No, no it wasn¡¯t. It stung! It really fucking stung!

    ¡°You should really stay in bed,¡± Shia said, helping me walk. I had the kitten in my arms. It was the scratcher one. He¡¯d never liked me and always bit me and stuff. Yet, he was just staying in my arms, and he was staying put. A twinge of loneliness in his eyes¡­ sometimes letting out a mew.

    I was walking, but I was walking in the infirmary.

    I walked over to Alustur. ¡°So,¡± I said. ¡°I didn¡¯t know the kids you killed, so I can¡¯t ask you about them. But you killed this guy¡¯s mother. He¡¯ll never get a mother back. He¡¯ll never get his siblings back. You¡­ better take responsibility... as a father.¡±

    Alustur again just stared. He stared for a while. ¡°I will.¡±

    I spent the next two days in the infirmary. On the second day, the headmaster fully recovered and left. Meanwhile Alustur¡¯s burns were severe and it was going to take a while for him to fully recover but he still left before me stating he had some things to finish before leaving completely. I had a feeling he wasn¡¯t going to kill any more students but I gave the headmaster a heads-up via Shia (that I¡¯d pound the shit out of him) just in case.

    I wish I could have used some elixirs but I was running dry. I¡¯d given a lot to the duke and my own supply was strained. On top of that, I¡¯d burned all the elixirs I was carrying on hand that night. My backup two were in my room hidden¡­. Maybe I¡¯ll try dungeon diving once I¡¯m older.

    Apparently, a lot of things happened while I was out. One of which was that my fan club, as the headmaster put it, had declared me the next Saint of Askavan out of sheer boldness. We were literally just a school club, and it wasn¡¯t even official just last week. What in the actual fuck were these imbeciles even doing?

    Anyway, that wasn¡¯t all. Apparently, Nisa¡¯s mother had gotten somewhat better and she took a leave of absence instead of staying by her Fianc¨¦¡¯s side. A bold move but we weren¡¯t lovers so I could totally understand why she did that.

    Mike meanwhile, had never visited me in the infirmary. No, it wasn¡¯t just him, no one visited me in there. And there was a good reason for that. After all, Alustur¡­ wasn¡¯t really dead like the announcements claimed.

    The most shocking change was simple;

    My bodyguard¡­ who¡¯d been hanging in the outer campus with a sign stuck on his back. It read- ¡®I¡¯m a useless guard who likes to fondle woman and gamble instead of protecting my master. I¡¯m and embarrassment to myself and my lord.¡¯

    Embarrassing and wait, he was having fun times while I was going through shit?

    I should just fire him.

    No wait, I didn¡¯t hire him so I couldn¡¯t. Shit. Better ask Shia to teach him some lessons. Whether I admitted it or not, Shia Barack was pretty shrewd and knew how to handle people. She was an excellent noble lady when it mattered and I could just leave things to her.

    But it¡¯s only a matter of time before- ¡­. What would she do when she found out I wasn¡¯t her brother? Would she abandon me?

    Or would she curse me?

    Maybe even try to kill me for deceiving her?

    She said she cared and was hurt when I told her not to. But honestly¡­ I was afraid. Afraid of getting too close and¡­ hurting both her¡­ and me.

    Should I just- No¡­ not yet.

 Chapter 102: Well Make Him Understand

    Tranquil.

    Peace and quiet.

    Steps¡­ footsteps.

    The robed man exhaled in annoyance and looked back. ¡°I told you not to disturb me when I¡¯m praying.¡± Golden robes with little embroidery. It sparkled with the holy light emanating from the walls.

    Glass dome above, colored in thousands of colors and shapes. A statue of a half dragon, half human in front. And a hallway behind. An empty hallway¡­ no, this place was a room. Just a large room with a lot of empty space.

    ¡°I understand but I believe we¡¯ve found that boy.¡±

    ¡°Which Boy? I believe you were looking for quite a few.¡± He didn¡¯t look back. His eyes were closed, and yet he spoke nonchalantly.

    ¡°True. True.¡± The man agreed. Footsteps¡­ then there was silence, as he casually bowed before the robed man. ¡°The one that killed a priest in that backwater village.¡±

    ¡°Ah. That one from the ¡­ which one again?¡±

    The man chuckled. White hair, two earrings on each ear. A fur coat of sorts yet¡­ yet he was so thin, even with the coat he couldn¡¯t be compared to someone normal. ¡°The boy whom you sent Azura after.¡±

    ¡°Ah, yes, yes.¡±

    He doesn¡¯t remember at all¡­ The man snickered within. ¡°We¡¯ve found him. He was fairly close.¡±

    ¡°Then Azura is coming back?¡± The robed man said with a twinge of expectation in his voice.

    ¡°I¡¯m afraid not, she failed to identify his proper location and is currently in the realm of the demons. Though I have sent word to her and she should be making back to Sun port within a month.¡±

    ¡°Good. Send her straight to me once she gets back,¡± his face contorted to a smile. Ah, how long had it been since he last felt her touch? Since he last felt her embrace. Her smell¡­ her delight-

    Her.

    ¡°Of course, but what of the boy?¡±

    ¡°What of him?¡±

    ¡°He has been recently identified as a deity bearer. He could also be an apostle, though we doubt that¡¯s the case. Duke Alzania of East Siran supports him and plans to make him the next Paladin.¡±Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

    ¡°He needs royal blood for that,¡± the robed man shrugged. ¡°But a deity you say. Which one?¡±

    ¡°Rex.¡±

    ¡°Rex?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    There were 108 known deities. Some of them were gods. Some of them were dead. But none of them were as complicated as Rex, or so the teachings went. No one knew this deity¡¯s real name and in history, no one had been said to have any relationship with them. No, that wasn¡¯t quite true. No one could tolerate a relationship with them as their bodies slowly morphed to that of a lizard and their God Insignia spread like a thorny vine all over their body, crippling them from within. All beings who¡¯d come into contact with Rex, had died.

    The robed man snorted. ¡°Then let the boy be. He¡¯ll die within a few days.¡± He laughed loud.

    ¡°But you see, the boy did die. And the deity brought him back to life.¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡± Finally, he opened his eyes. Large forehead, a plump face. Actually, his body was plump as well.

    Rex was a complicated deity but among the deities they were almost at the rock bottom. They shouldn¡¯t no, couldn¡¯t bring anyone back from the dead. They just weren¡¯t that powerful with the divine arts.

    ¡°And according to my sources, the boy might have already been contracted with Rex for longer than three weeks at this point. Yet, he has survived.¡±

    ¡°That is impossible. Even Saint Julifer only lasted two weeks. Three? Just how much mana does that boy have!?¡±

    ¡°My sources state, he doesn¡¯t possess much of any mana. Yet he can manifest the wind to do this bidding. He has successfully stopped individuals from breathing and knocked them out, a feat even the old hero Rombrandt achieved only with great difficulty. Speaking of Rombrandt, he was done it by Rex and would have died, if the boy hadn¡¯t merely spared him.¡±

    Silence.

    Rombrandt, one of the few true heroes. He was old, he was senile, he was a church toe kisser. But he did possess immense strength in his youth. And this boy, this young boy was being compared to him?

    ¡°We can¡¯t get rid of him,¡± The robed man paced. ¡°You can¡¯t let him be either¡­¡±

    Things were finally going the right way. Almost all pieces were set in place. Yet-

    ¡°Yes, and at this rate he¡¯ll be the next Paladin. Lord Albatros won¡¯t sit by idly if we let that happen. Our heads will roll.¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t have to remind me that!¡± He exhaled. ¡°And I told you, he needs royal blood-¡± He stopped abruptly. ¡°The duke¡­ he¡¯s married to-¡±

    ¡°Yes¡­ and his daughter¡­ bears the blood. And they¡¯re engaged.¡±

    ¡°Kill them.¡±

    ¡°The Ducal Family my lord?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t be so hasty,¡± another voice. Another robed man. This one however wore way plainer clothes and wasn¡¯t as thin. Long white hair, white beard; rather old, yet he didn¡¯t look old at all. ¡°We shouldn¡¯t wage war with three families and a Deity bearer. Besides, that Alustur fellow has now changed sides. And Headmaster Rombrandt has decreed Schalion will remain free of the church¡¯s influence anew.¡±

    ¡°Blasphemy!¡± the other robed man grumbled. ¡°After everything we¡¯ve done for him!¡±

    ¡°Perhaps,¡± the long-haired man said. ¡°But it is still unwise to be hasty. It¡¯s better to invite them over. And slowly¡­¡± his lips curved, albeit slightly.

    Was it a smile?

    ***

    Meanwhile, in a particular corner of the room, where the adults weren¡¯t looking, there were two kids. Slouched.

    Both small and maybe five in age. They were identical in appearance but one of them was a boy. The other, a girl.

    ¡°So, he might be just like us,¡± the boy said.

    ¡°No, maybe he has suffered worse.¡±

    ¡°His parents didn¡¯t sell him to the church, I¡¯m sure he hasn¡¯t suffered worse.¡±

    ¡°What if he doesn¡¯t like his family?¡±

    ¡°Oh right, a lot of kids don¡¯t like their families, I forgot.¡±

    ¡°What if he¡¯s not like us though?¡±

    ¡°Then¡­ we¡¯ll just make him understand.¡±

    ¡°Yes. We¡¯ll make him understand.¡±

 Chapter 103: Oh Well

    I had some skin-colored scales here and there. I thought for sure they¡¯d all be white. But they weren¡¯t. And they didn¡¯t feel any different from typical skin either. No, they did feel a bit cold but that was about it.

    I did however have very obvious white scales on my chest. These were the stuff Rexen used to save me; fortunately, I could cover them up with just a good shirt. And I had a feeling they would fall off¡­ eventually. Probably. Maybe. We¡¯ll see.

    Walking around the campus felt odd. It¡¯d been a week since I woke up. And although I didn¡¯t writhe in pain, I did feel shit. During these past few days, I had some fun conversations with Shia and ultimately had to give her the kitten. I already had my hands or rather shoulder full with Rexy anyway. But no, it didn¡¯t feel odd because of that.

    Instead of just avoiding me, people were nodding or bowing and all that stuff these days. Apparently, I was famous¡­ and in a good way?

    Are they going to kill me or something?

    ¡°They like you more now,¡± a clean-shaven gentleman said.

    Well dressed, tall, handsome. I hadn¡¯t seen a handsome man like that in a long, long while. ¡°Assuming they did before, I guess they do,¡± I said. ¡°I don¡¯t believe we¡¯ve met. I¡¯m Sol. Soler A. Barack.¡±

    He was probably some noble who came after the recent events. There was a good chance the church already found out and sent people here. I hadn¡¯t yet had a chance to speak with Alayla or Sharmon. I was damn sure they wouldn¡¯t want to see me right now but¡­ but I definitely wanted to meet them and give them a taste of my mind.

    He smiled. ¡°Alus¡± He nodded. ¡°Alus Tair Brookes. Nice to meet you Sol.¡±

    The who?

    Alustur? No, no, that man had weird hair. This man had a clean cut. That man wore rags and a cape. This man had nothing but a suit on which was quite nice and probably cost a pretty penny!

    ¡°You¡¯re joking? You¡¯re not his long-lost brother or something?¡±

    ¡°I am not.¡± He shook his head, producing a knife from his suit. And a pair of gloves? ¡°Just having one might seem odd, you should wear them on both hands from now on.¡±

    Speaking of my glove, that kind of burned off too. I was covering my whole arm with bandages for now.

    ¡°I already have knives,¡± I said. I hardly ever used them though. I didn¡¯t really have talent and no matter how I tried I wasn¡¯t making progress. Nothing significant.

    ¡°I know but this one¡¯s not for fighting. It¡¯s¡­ remember how my voice sounded different?¡±

    ¡°Right.¡±

    He pulled the knife out of its sheathe; it glowed in pale blue. ¡°When you will your mana into this¡­ you can easily change how you sound. Though I suppose you can also do that with your own wind magic.¡± He sounded very different. It was somewhat artificial but you could easily cloak your real voice.

    And now that he mentioned it, I tried talking and using wind to change my voice; nothing happened. Nothing significant.

    ¡°Why¡¯re you giving it to me?¡±This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

    ¡°A token of apology and¡­ good faith.¡±

    ¡°Thought you weren¡¯t going to apologize.¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t.¡± He gave me the knife and walked away.

    Huh.

    Weird.

    Weird. Dude.

    But thanks to him, we got rid of the assassins on campus and¡­ and now he was becoming a full-time teacher here and a full-time guard at the same time. But since we¡¯d already declared him dead, he was changing his attire and joining anew.

    Doesn¡¯t having the same name defeat the purpose though? Or he could introduce himself as Mr. Brookes and everyone would just¡­

    Moving on, I had other things to worry about. Namely, in my Fianc¨¦e¡¯s absence, I had to attend the weekly club meetings and there was one today. Why did she make me the vice president¡­ sigh.

    ***

    The club¡¯s existence was simple.

    The members would be taught the real history and they would come to appreciate the true teachings of Askvan, not the church¡­ at least for now. That¡¯s why it was named the Cult of Askavan, not the Cult of the Holy Church.

    Of course, all of that was just the front. I was going to mess with their minds but gradually. How am I going to make believable lies though? Wait¡­ wouldn¡¯t I be doing just what the church has been doing? No, it couldn¡¯t just be lies. All great lies had one thing in common. They weren¡¯t exclusively lies but rather they were mostly the truth with a pinch of lie like salt. All great stories had lies, and they only added to the flavor. But truth¡­.

    Almost all books on Askavan and the church were heavily regulated by the high church and that meant there really wasn¡¯t much history¡­ no, wait, history!

    Why the fuck did I even return that book~! But there was a really good chance history books were also regulated. We were in the Western continent; the actual headquarters of the church was merely two countries over. Anything was possible here.

    ¡°Good morning, Mr. Vice President Sir!¡± The moment I walked into our clubroom (which was generously provided by the headmaster in his white tower¡¯s basement) one of the club members greeted me. Her name was Arin, if memory served me right. Blue, so definitely a noble lady.

    There were some others members too who weren¡¯t in here with us. They were probably not taking this thing seriously. I mean, noble ladies were kind of¡­ lazy. Shia was probably the weird one.

    ¡°Good morning,¡± I said. ¡°Feel free to call me Sol.¡±

    ¡°Right!¡±

    We sat down. It wasn¡¯t much of a room. Small. Five stools, and meager light coming from the swinging magic lamp above. ¡°Okay so, what have you been up to?¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ve so far gone into details about existing knowledge about Askvan and all things surrounding him.¡±

    Sigh¡­ why couldn¡¯t I be here to hear that? ¡°Have you gone into history. The real history, I mean.¡±

    I have to do some real reading.

    ¡°Umm¡­ we don¡¯t really know which is real and which is¡­ made up.¡±

    True enough.

    I didn¡¯t either.

    There were some books in other languages though. I had my doubts about the church having as strict of a control on those books compared to the Southern and Western tongue ones. But I hadn¡¯t yet fully memorized the letters yet, let alone the languages.

    ¡°I¡¯ll try to find some good books-¡±

    ¡°But you just got out of the infirmary. Shouldn¡¯t you rest?¡±

    ¡°I should. And I will. But I can¡¯t sit down and do nothing either. I started this club with Nisa to spread the glory of Askavan, and I¡¯d like to-¡±

    ¡°Oh he¡¯s already here?¡± Our other members¡­ two of them arrived. A blonde and a ginger. One of them, the Blonde one wore a golden uniform; high noble¡­.

    If I recalled correctly, the blonde was the fourth daughter of a Margrave and the Ginger was the second daughter of Count Albide, the official ruler of this city. But of course, that was in name only.

    Both of the ladies wore really heavy makeup.

    ¡°Greetings my ladies,¡± I bowed in a noble manner.

    ¡°Greetings Baron Soler Barack,¡± they bowed like noble ladies and with that I started off the session. I did absolutely nothing of importance. Nothing other than just talk with them, to gauge a bit more about them. Their maturity level was that of a typical ten-twelve years old kid. Yes, all three were about ten. Arin seemed slightly older and was the only one properly paying attention.

    We were of course missing one more but she wasn¡¯t in school today.

    I dismissed the club with the promise that I would bring some truth next week. Honestly, they didn¡¯t seem all that interested in Askavan. They seemed more interested¡­ in me.

    Did their parents put them up to this?

    Still, this made things easier for me. I could manipulate them as much as I want to!  Hopefully, without getting too deep into noble politics, though I had my doubts on whether that¡¯d really be possible at this point or not. Wouldn¡¯t guys have been more influential though?

    Oh well.

 Chapter 104: Thanks Guys

    So, things were going smoothly for the time being.

    It¡¯d been about ten days since I got out of the infirmary and I was healing fairly well. I could even run now! Yeah, not really. I could walk around just fine though.

    Which meant it was time to head back home and confront the Baracks. I wasn¡¯t alone of course. Rexy hung in my hair while Shia had the little kitty.

    We hadn¡¯t really named the cat. ¡°What was his mother¡¯s name anyway?¡± I asked.

    ¡°She didn¡¯t have one,¡± Shia said.

    ¡°Right. He should though,¡± I said.

    ¡°Yeah. But¡­ I don¡¯t want to name him.¡±

    ¡°Why not? You found him.¡±

    ¡°No, that¡¯s not what I meant.¡± She shook her head. ¡°Have you¡­ forgiven mom?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t think so,¡± I said. ¡°I can¡¯t really forgive her for what she¡¯s done. I do understand why she did it and why she has to. But¡­ I can¡¯t,¡± I said. Not because I was some saint who didn¡¯t forgive grave sins like child murder. But rather¡­ I just- I just didn¡¯t know what to actually think about all this. I grew up in a world where murder wasn¡¯t this rampant or commonplace. Sure there were murderers and psychopaths but they weren¡¯t as common. In this world though, this was normal. Was it even okay for me to blame them when what they were doing was totally okay by social standards?

    We were going to the church first. I planned on quitting today. I did need the money but, but I could no longer see myself working there.

    Shia didn¡¯t say much. I suppose she couldn¡¯t. It was her mom after all. Even if Lin had done unspeakable things, I could never blame her. Heck, when she murdered that priest, I didn¡¯t even bat an eye. I just assumed the priest was at fault. I just-

    We¡¯d arrived.

    The shady part of town. Some thugs. And a church. A little dusty on the inside. I guess they weren¡¯t doing a good job cleaning.

    When Mrs. Alayla saw me, she came over and although she didn¡¯t say anything, her head hung with a rather crude self-deprecating smile. I guess she blamed my injuries on herself?

    ¡°Good morning,¡± I said.

    ¡°Good morning, Sol, how are you doing?¡± she said.

    ¡°I¡¯m fine. Thanks for asking. I¡¯d like to stop working.¡±

    ¡°Would you be taking another break? At this rate you might be losing the job, you know.¡±Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.

    ¡°True. I¡¯m actually here today to get your signature Mrs. Barack,¡± I said. ¡°With this signature my employment would be terminated as per the guild¡¯s rules.¡±

    Her lips parted for a second but they didn¡¯t open. She looked at me for a couple more seconds. ¡°I see. Very well then, you are here by relieved of your duties, Soler A. Barack.¡± She smiled. ¡°You don¡¯t have to come here anymore I guess?¡± There was sadness in her voice? The hell was she sad about?

    ¡°Guess so.¡±

    I knew why she was having children assassinated and I knew why the academy did nothing. And I knew this whole protecting the kids would be temporary and things would eventually be back to normal. Ordinary people weren¡¯t meant to exist in this world.

    I knew all that.

    Yet¡­ I couldn¡¯t accept it. What was it the headmaster said? All because of my pet cat, right?

    Huh.

    Maybe. Maybe I really was doing all this for a cat. Dozens of children died every week and I didn¡¯t even care. Yet, just as a cat and her two kittens died, I went on a frenzy and¡­ ¡°I don¡¯t hold it against you,¡± I said, before leaving.

    Shia didn¡¯t follow me out, I guess she was talking to her mother.

    She came out about five minutes later. Then we headed home; her home.

    ***

    Barack senior wasn¡¯t in today. He¡¯d gone somewhere with the men. They were plotting something.

    The kids were here and Shia gave them some snacks we bought along the way. They really liked Shia and Shia liked them.

    Couldn¡¯t say the same about me. I didn¡¯t like kids. Even as a kid, I couldn¡¯t bother to like kids. Particularly why I didn¡¯t know how a normal kid was even supposed to act like. I guess that made me somewhat of a failure.

    You¡¯re a failure¡­ Mom¡¯s words reverberated over and over again¡­. A failure.

    ¡°Here you go, Sol,¡± one of them said, giving me something.

    A crane?

    A paper crane. Rather ugly with weird deformities but. ¡°Thanks.¡±

    She smiled, showing some teeth and ran behind Shia. Some of the other kids also gave me stuff. Mostly just failed origamis. No, to them perhaps these things weren¡¯t failures. Just a learning experience. ¡°Thanks guys.¡±

    ***

    I went back to the academy.

    I really liked the library job and honestly it was good. But considering the amount of breaks I was taking lately, I really didn¡¯t expect the librarian to even remotely consider keeping me around. The other helpers were horrible but at least they were around. Me though, I had my issues.

    I¡¯d skipped a good chunk of library duties in favor of exams. And then I went ahead and got myself killed and spent a week in the Infirmary and now although it¡¯d been a week, I didn¡¯t have the courage to show my face to the Librarian.

    I honestly didn¡¯t have any excuses.

    So when I showed up at the library, it really shocked me that the Liberian actually hugged me, and quite tightly too. ¡°You idiot,¡± she said.

    She was mad. She was disappointed. She was probably going to fire me.

    But boy¡­ boy was she worried about me.

    Surprisingly, I didn¡¯t get fired. There was a minor break before classes for the next term started, so the librarian just increased my working quota instead, so I could make up.

    Apparently, although the students had roughly three weeks of free time at the end of each term, most of them didn¡¯t go back to their homes. They just stuck here in this academy which made the librarian¡¯s life a drag. And there was a good reason for that. During the third and final week of the spring holidays (I¡¯d slept through the last few days of winter) this town held a rather massive lantern festival.

    ¡°Just so you know, if you skip even one day, you¡¯re fired and I¡¯ll ban you from the library too.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, please don¡¯t do that.¡±

    ¡°Better not skip then.¡±

    ¡°Sometimes, I just forget you know.¡±

    ¡°Better not forget then.¡±

    She was in her late teenager rebellious phase, I guess? Wouldn¡¯t she technically be an adult back on earth though?

    Anyway¡­ I somehow managed to keep my job but¡­ wasn¡¯t I supposed to¡­ history books!

    That¡¯s right, history books!

 Chapter 105: Of What

    Things had calmed down considerably.

    Students weren¡¯t being attacked here and there. And school seemed like a genuinely decent place to be at.

    ¡°So,¡± Mike said, throwing a ball at me. ¡°I¡¯ve been thinking.¡±

    I caught it. ¡°Yeah?¡± I threw it back at him. He caught it. And threw again.

    ¡°I might quit school and become an adventurer for real.¡±

    ¡°What?¡± I didn¡¯t catch the ball; it dropped next to me, rolling on the ground. ¡°The hell are you talking about, dude?¡±

    ¡°Well,¡± he came over and we sat down by the burned tree. It actually looked kind of cool. I felt bad about the tree though, and especially the literal crater just in front (apparently now referred to as the headmaster¡¯s bald hole and a popular dating spot for the older students late night). Just a week ago students were being murdered and now kids were having fun times. Sigh.

    Rexen really scorched the earth good. I saw some patches of green here and there: Grass and Algae were having some fun. ¡°I¡¯ve been thinking about it for a while. My brothers are far more suited for the noble life. I couldn¡¯t really care less about it. I just want to have some fun and be on my own and-¡±

    Oh yeah, I was there. Back when I was with my parents and they ruled my whole life, I wanted to be free too. But the idea of leaving them and being on my own hadn¡¯t occurred to me till the end of middle school. ¡°I think you-¡± I stopped. He wasn¡¯t asking for advice. He wasn¡¯t asking for opinions. He was merely telling me because we were friends. ¡°I see. I¡¯ll miss you.¡±

    ¡°Thought you¡¯d try to stop me,¡± he said, a little shocked.

    ¡°I would, and want to. But in the end, it¡¯s your life. I can¡¯t comprehend what you¡¯re going through, and I can¡¯t really do much about it. But I can listen. So, if you have something to complain about, if you have something you want to tell me, tell me. I¡¯m listening.¡±

    He snickered, slapping my back. ¡°Yeah, that works. I really hate my old man.¡±

    ¡°He seemed to care about you though.¡±

    ¡°He does. Can¡¯t deny that.¡±

    The guy was about as old as me. But it felt like I was speaking to an equal. Not a child. It always did, whenever I spoke to him. He had this odd sense of maturity to him. He lived alone in the town, he did everything alone. And he lived like a boss, had hundreds of friends and wasn¡¯t a snobby ass despite being the son of a sovereign. If he wasn¡¯t mature, I wasn¡¯t sure who was.

    ¡°Then I don¡¯t understand why-¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s just that¡­ he gives me everything I want. He never bothered to even try to give me challenges. Like he couldn¡¯t care less how I grew up. I know that¡¯s not entirely true but¡­ it feels like that.¡±

    ¡°I kind of understand how you feel. I had-¡± no, I didn¡¯t. Not in this life. ¡°Sorry, go on.¡±

    ¡°Right. So I¡¯m going against his advice and I¡¯ll do things my way.¡±

    ¡°Did you make a tally of what could go wrong if you left the academy or chose to not to be the ¡®son of a duke¡¯?¡±

    ¡°I did. I¡¯ve thought about this for years.

    Bro you¡¯ve barely been alive for half a decade. He chuckled. ¡°I know it¡¯s a lot to take in,¡± Mike said. ¡°But I actually have some memories from my last life. Just some flashbacks but I don¡¯t think I¡¯m only Six, Sol.¡±

    ¡°Ah¡­¡± Huh. What? Really? I kind of had my doubts but- ¡°Huh. Me too.¡±

    He really laughed, and quite loud too. ¡°Yeah, right.¡± He rolled his eyes; the hell was he looking at me with that creepy smile for? ¡°I only have some vague memories but, in that life, I was an adventurer and it was fun going around slaying monsters, doing quests, helping people and all that. Of course, it wasn¡¯t easy and I ended up dying part way through a quest. I want to go back and finish that quest. That¡¯s the main reason why I want to be an adventurer.¡±This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.

    ¡°Well,¡± I walked a couple of steps, looked back. ¡°I understand and you have my support as a friend. But if you asked me for advice or let¡¯s say opinion, I¡¯d say: At least wait till you¡¯re Ten.¡±

    He didn¡¯t ask for my advice or my opinion. He¡¯d already made up his mind. And me trying to change it was stupid. No, it was against my own principles. I already vowed to try my best to not change this world. Or anyone for that matter. Particularly why I wanted to be not as involved as I was. The church thing couldn¡¯t be helped but the rest, I tried to stay out of.

    ¡°Why?¡±

    ¡°Life would be boring with you.¡±

    ¡°Huh¡­ well, I¡¯ll consider it.¡±

    ¡°See you around Mike. And who knows, when I¡¯m Ten, I might decide to become an adventurer along with you.¡±

    ¡°No you wont,¡± he snorted. ¡°But thanks.¡±

    With a nod I went over to the dorm, straight into my room and dived face first into the bed. ¡°Wish I had that kind of courage.¡±

    But I didn¡¯t.

    ***

    Part of history searching was mostly trying to figure out what the books were saying. I¡¯d tried learning the Sea tongue and although that was proceeding decently well, I couldn¡¯t really understand anything. I couldn¡¯t say even that for the demon tongue though. That was just beyond me; looked like Arabic and even Arabic wasn¡¯t that hard. I needed an actual demon to teach me and although there was supposed to be one or maybe two dozen demons attending school here, I hadn¡¯t seen any.

    ¡°This is the book you¡¯re looking for,¡± the librarian helped me. ¡°Formation of The Holy Church: A Recounting Tale.¡±

    Sea tongue.

    I could probably read it if I tried my best. But I couldn¡¯t understand it even with a literal dictionary, assuming I had one in the first place.

    ¡°How will you read it though?¡± she said.

    ¡°That¡¯s the problem, I can¡¯t.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s why you should have taken studying languages seriously.¡±

    ¡°I am taking it seriously. I¡¯ve just been a little busy with everything else.¡±

    ¡°Then get busy with this too.¡±

    Lately she¡¯d been awfully strict with me. Understandable but it still kind of stung.

    Anyway, despite what she said, she did help me by providing some common vocabularies and told me I could disturb her as long as she wasn¡¯t too busy.

    I probably couldn¡¯t digest half of this book within the next three days but I at least wanted to give it a shot. Meanwhile, I had to figure out shit about the current Askvan lore as well and figure out what was true and what was not.

    Seemed like a way more elaborate and difficult prospect than I had ever imagined. You brought this onto yourself. Sigh.

    Well, nothing great in life came easily after all. So- Better get started.

    ***

    I spent about three hours studying, the rest of the time mostly being lazy. The scales had somewhat adhered to my skin and the wound had mostly healed. Maybe they weren¡¯t meant to come off?

    I didn¡¯t feel much different than usual other than the fact that my mana had increased a bit. Well, it wasn¡¯t that big of a difference though since I had little mana to begin with. Still, anything was better than nothing. And as long as I was moving forward, it was fine.

    Argh¡­ Why couldn¡¯t I just have my cheat memory in this world too?

    Sighing, I closed the book and walked out of the dorm. I had to calm my head with some afternoon running. I hadn¡¯t run in a while though, so I took it rather slow.

    If memory served me right, physical exercise aided in brain function, so I- But brains aren¡¯t fully formed till late teenage years, right? Argh¡­ No wait this means I could get better if I tried!

    ¡°Why are you groaning like that? Wound reopened?¡± Apparently, I had a shadow trailing me. His name started with Alus, ended with Taire.

    ¡°Memory not very good.¡±

    ¡°Mine either,¡± he said. I couldn¡¯t see him but I knew he was around.

    My guy was seriously invisible. Or was he just moving fast? ¡°How do you move like that?¡±

    ¡°I was born this way.¡± He stopped. Training garbs. Toned muscles and that clean face. Seriously, dude was handsome. I could see why the teachers were fawning over him. I just hoped Miss Chamille didn¡¯t fall for him.

    Gotta grow up fast Sol!

    ¡°You were born invincible.¡±

    He smiled. looked weird on that gloomy face. ¡°No. I was just born with talent.¡±

    Was he rubbing it on on me? Funny. This guy had killed me just a week prior and now we were talking like there was nothing between us.

    He was scorched so badly he couldn¡¯t even breathe when I lost consciousness. And two weeks later even though I was barely able to run around, this guy had not only recovered but was looking better than ever. Perhaps he really was born like that.

    ¡°Oh?¡± Alus stared. ¡°You¡¯re keeping the knife with you.¡±

    As a matter of fact, I was. I was also wearing the gloves he¡¯d given me. I didn¡¯t like the guy anymore. But his gifts were practical.

    ¡°I am.¡±

    ¡°The gloves can boost strength depending on the amount of mana you will into them. I forgot to tell you the first time.¡±

    ¡°No, you didn¡¯t tell me because I didn¡¯t have much mana at all.¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    At least try to keep the lie up. Rolling my eyes, I resumed my run. He disappeared.

    ¡°What happened to my knight anyway?¡± I hadn¡¯t seen the dude in a week.

    ¡°Shia Barack has been attending to him.¡±

    ¡°You mean she¡¯s training him like a dog?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    Huh. I¡¯d expect nothing less from that sister of mine.

    ¡°Any particular reason why you¡¯re following me?¡±

    ¡°None. Just curious.¡±

    Of what?

 Chapter 106: Punchable

    Despite trying my literal best, I couldn¡¯t find anything deep on Askavan. All I found was common knowledge.

    Askavan stopped the warring races, forged continents, and ushered a new age. But there was no mention of wars or trickery or even the god who claimed to have slain Askavan. There was no mention of the last brutal war either. Actually, all history books barely even mentioned there was a war let alone three brutal ones or the thirteen heroes or the sea demon Zal something.

    Hmmm¡­ but I could have sworn I read about that somewhere. What was that book¡¯s name? The writer?

    Argh¡­ seriously, my memory sucked.

    ¡°Stop groaning. You¡¯re disturbing others,¡± The librarian said. She was sitting just across the table, helping me decipher the book.

    ¡°Do you know any books with previous wars and reputable history?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not sure what you mean. Everyone knows, the victor writes the history. So history is hardly reliable or reputable for that matter.¡±

    ¡°I know that but¡­¡± I sighed. ¡°Sar-Sarton!¡± I almost jumped up. ¡°His name was Sarton. The writer.¡± My memory actually worked for once!

    ¡°Sarton? JRRS?¡±

    ¡°Yeah!¡±

    ¡°That guy was a scam artist,¡± she shook her head. ¡°All his books were mere fiction.¡±

    ¡°Really?¡±

    ¡°Yes. None of the other books ever agree with the history he¡¯d written. And even his own books often diverge from his promises.¡±

    Huh. ¡°But you have his books, right?¡±

    ¡°I Had his books. I ended up burning them,¡± she shrugged.

    ¡°What kind of librarian burns books you imbecile!~¡± I shouted louder than I intended and caught attention of quite a few students. ¡°Sorry¡­¡±

    She grumbled. ¡°Get back to work.¡±

    ¡°Yes, mam.¡±

    Should I make up my own history then? No¡­ let¡¯s keep looking.

    The next day, when I reached the library, the Librarian wasn¡¯t here. Apparently, it was her off day. She only took five days off every year and today was one. There was a book on the table. I guess she never put it back- no cover or title.

    Sarton.

    Written by JRR S Sarton.

    I read the first page and yup, this was the name book Mom had read to me. Burned them she said.

    No, maybe she was just being careful. That¡¯s right if they found out someone bashed the holy church, didn¡¯t matter how, they were going to screw that person. The church was killing kids just for being ordinary after all.This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.

    I read and refreshed my memory.

    The book was a fairly simple and short read. And just as I remembered it was the most neutral one there was.

    Almost all books on Askavan were either borderline flattery or absurdly critical. But even the critical sides weren¡¯t necessarily about the church or the god, they were about the people. And speaking of the gods, despite trying to find out more, I couldn¡¯t find anything on Askavan other than the fact that he was a Dragon. I couldn¡¯t find much on gods either.

    That was it.

    Rexen¡¯s a dragon too though, right? Probably not. He was clearly a lizard. But he could manifest wings. Maybe I could fly someday too? I stared at Rexy and she twisted her head like a baby snake. Aww you cute little thing. Kinda scary¡­ Never learn to laugh like daddy. I didn¡¯t have the courage to say it out loud though.

    ***

    Apparently, the reason why the librarian took a day off today was simple: the festival would be starting today evening.

    It was going to last the whole week. All the roads and houses had lanterns on display and on the seventh day they would just let the lanterns take flight and pray for good luck to Askavan. It was a central event.

    I hadn¡¯t seen anything like that back home but probably because Mom didn¡¯t give a fuck about the church or the god.

    It wasn¡¯t evening yet, and I could see even from the dorms how the people were setting up the stuff. Apparently, the whole city practiced this ¡®event¡¯. Which was good cause I was missing some entertainment in my life. I didn¡¯t have games, I didn¡¯t have light novels and I didn¡¯t even have Anime. Honestly, I was surprised that I wasn¡¯t missing them extensively.

    Technically I am living the anime life so maybe that¡¯s why?

    ¡°Hey Sol,¡± someone shouted from below.

    Shia.

    ¡°Yeah?¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s head into the city. Some good places open up today.¡± She yelled.

    ¡°Sure.¡± Not like I had anything better anyway. The library was closed and most students were also going out.

    Shia had been carrying little kitty everywhere with her. Almost always on her person. ¡°Here,¡± she gave me the cat and stole my lizard. Rexy didn¡¯t really like Shia all that much but I never saw her misbehave, ever.

    The kitten didn¡¯t misbehave either. It had mellowed down a bit too much. To the point where I was kind of concerned about his health. ¡°You alright? Do you want to drink some milk?¡±

    ¡°Mew.¡±

    I guess that was a yes? I couldn¡¯t tell.

    ¡°I just fed him ten minutes ago.¡±

    Okay, so that was a no?

    ¡°Mew.¡±

    ¡°Guess he wants more.¡± Anyway, with the little cute underlings in toe, we headed for the city. I kept an eye out for milk vendors and yes, they were a thing here considering so many of the city¡¯s residents were kids.

    Like us, many of the students were out here watching the residents set up lanterns. Some students were also setting up lanterns of their own. Mike was one of them. He had nine lanterns set up and he was walking our way now that he¡¯d spotted us.

    ¡°Amazing, right?¡± Mike said.

    ¡°I guess?¡± Even most nobles only had two, at best five lanterns, not nine. Apparently these things were expensive? ¡°You sure you have money to spare?¡±

    ¡°I could always ask for more,¡± he shrugged.

    ¡°The moment you get out, you can¡¯t really ask for money anymore, you know.¡±

    ¡°I could just make more.¡±

    ¡°And die trying to go on jobs with an empty stomach?¡±

    All of a sudden, I felt maybe his courage was just blind obsession with living alone. And he hadn¡¯t thought that well ahead after all. He mentioned he had some fuzzy memories of his last life but he just laughed when I said I had that too. Meaning, he was probably just joking to begin with.

    ¡°Well, it¡¯s my dream. And if you aren¡¯t prepared to die for your dreams-¡± he made a smug face. Punchable.

    I sighed, and quite loudly too. ¡°Look, dying for your dreams isn¡¯t new. People die for their dreams and beliefs all the time. If you¡¯re really a man, live for them. Suffer through, and make them a reality.¡± I was way more triggered than I thought possible; I guess I saw myself in him. He said some really weird shit my past self-had said at one point and tried to kill himself when things went super shit. I didn¡¯t want him to go through that. But I guess coming off as that aggressive wasn¡¯t a good idea either. ¡°Sorry dude. Let¡¯s go Shia.¡±

    ¡°Uh-huh,¡± she rolled her eyes, unconcerned.

    Meanwhile, Mike just stood there, in a mild daze. I guess I hurt him.

 Chapter 107: Understatement

    It was a modest sight. People from all over the city had gathered near the center where the Count was going to give a speech this evening and announce the start of the festival. So people were gathering up. Shia dragged me to the very first row where they had special seats for some special guests. We didn¡¯t have seats but we did get to stand by the headmaster and some of the nobles.

    Someone else was also going to give a speech. Namely, the Cardinal.

    Apparently, each city had several priests and one Cardinal who oversaw everything. I always thought Mrs. Barack was a priest but I was wrong. She was a Cardinal, something in between a priest and a high priest. No wonder the Barack family was so highly regarded here.

    According to my past knowledge, Cardinals could vote on who got to be the next pope and all that stuff. I wasn¡¯t sure if that was the case in this world. They had a pope and all that stuff but the church was surprisingly secretive about their inner affairs.

    ¡°Greetings everyone,¡± the Count came and people stood up. We all greeted him as he took the podium and started his speech. A fairly basic speech about how the city was doing great and how he¡¯d actively helped the city and the academy be safe.

    Fucking liars.

    Next, Mrs. Barack. Shia¡¯s mother. She started off with a prayer to Askavan. I¡¯d seen her recite that very same verse about a hundred times during my time working for the church.

    She actually had a fairly nice voice. Would have made a great opera singer.

    Shame how under that pretty face she was a murderer¡­ no, everyone¡¯s a murderer here Sol. Even you. To live was to kill, literally. ¡°And that¡¯s why, please help us keep this land safe and usher a new age of prosperity not with hate, not with grief; but with cooperation and equality!¡±

    I could almost spit on the ground. But I didn¡¯t.

    Sighing, I wanted to leave. But Shia held my hand and just watched her mother with wonder in her eyes. To her, her mother wasn¡¯t a murderer just like Lin wasn¡¯t one to me. They were heroes.

    ¡°I love her,¡± Shia said. ¡°I trust you and support you Sol. But I¡¯ll never betray my mother¡­ and I¡¯ll never forgive you if you do as well.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll keep that in mind.¡±Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.

    At the end of that day, I wasn¡¯t part of their family. And I didn¡¯t have any right to question much of anything about them.

    Barack senior already hated my guts and I¡¯d probably pissed off Mrs. Barack as well. The moment I¡¯d end up antagonizing Shia would also be the moment my relationship with their family formally ended.

    Still, before that day eventually came, I wanted to make the most of my school life. And perhaps live a decent life all the while.

    If the Headmaster were to be believed, the church wouldn¡¯t take any drastic measures but they would definitely keep an eye on me and would approach me sooner than later because of my contract with Rexen.

    I thought Rexen being a cavern lizard would make me a traitorous soul they just had to punish but that wasn¡¯t the case. If Rexen was a high spirit, or fiend, that would have been the case but since he was a deity, a being close to a god, he wasn¡¯t being treated like a lizard. Yet, I had a feeling it wasn¡¯t that simple. Rexen was a lizard, there was no doubt about it. But at the same time¡­ there was more.

    Those wings and¡­ and honestly, I felt something really sinister and malicious about him. Of course, I never felt that intent directed at me or my family. Hmmm¡­ I remembered an odd thought. A hero would sacrifice you for the world. But a villain would sacrifice the world for you. Perhaps I was better off with Rexen after all.

    Besides, Rexy was hella cute.

    The people started dispersing and the festival started off without a hitch.

    ¡°Mew,¡± the cat reminded me that I hadn¡¯t yet fed her. Greedy little guy.

    We started hitting the food stalls and before long found some milk for the cat. Rexy never really ate much though. I never saw her eat anything. At first, I was worried sick about her health but she was fine. All she needed was one small portion of raw meat and she was good for the rest of the week. She got super giddy just after a meal and really liked jumping around too!

    ¡°So, how¡¯s your little club coming along?¡±

    ¡°Not bad. It¡¯s a little hard to find proper information from a sea of history and fiction though,¡± I gobbled up some hot stir fry and basically burned my tongue. Delicious but damn it!

    The streets were crowded but not over crowded. Kind of noisy though.

    ¡°Hmm¡­ then I guess you¡¯ll be happy soon.¡±

    ¡°What do you mean?¡±

    ¡°I heard mom say, help is on the way.¡±

    Huh?

    Well, I certainly didn¡¯t like the sound of that, that was for sure.

    The next day, my fears came alive and I fully understood what Shia meant.

    Familiar robes, a tall human. He held a book to his chest and looked down at me with big eyes. ¡®Bout twenty, definitely young for a priest. And glasses!

    ¡°Morning Baron Soler Barack. I¡¯m hereby assigned to you by his grace Samari Zamari from today onwards to aid you in your conquest to spread the greatness of lord Askavan. I Shall be waiting for you in the clubroom this afternoon.¡±

    Dude left just as fast as he¡¯d knocked on my door.

    He didn¡¯t even tell me his fucking name.

    To say I was flabbergasted¡­ was a fucking understatement.

    [A/N (copied from Patreon)]

    I wanted to end the volume right here, but since I want to finish the festival too, I figured it''d be best to hold on until then. Maybe I''ll just speedrun five chapters into one. Will take a while though, my left hand is pretty busted. All the fatigue has finally caught up for real.

    Thanks for reading.

    Have a nice day

 Chapter 108: Changing Course

    ¡°You sure this is the way?¡± Lin asked.

    ¡°I only came here once Lin. I have no idea,¡± I said.

    Back when I was young and stupid, I made the glorious decision of leaving school and going on an adventure. I snuck into a caravan at Schalion, somehow made it past the border of Sluven and Slunten, and finally made it to Sun Port. After four relentless weeks of seafaring, I finally set my foot on the red lands.

    I didn¡¯t know much of anything about the world but my teenage mind was hellbent on adventure and thrill. So, I went to the demon continent to fool around.

    By the time I reached the second city, I was already mugged thrice and was left destitute for a few days. The local guild took pity on me and gave me quests and that¡¯s how I became an adventurer. One of my first jobs was to hunt down an elusive beast near the Bagrain river. Looked like a deer, just black and tasted really good, or so I¡¯d heard.

    But that was over a decade ago. I didn¡¯t recognize anything here anymore. Heck, I couldn¡¯t even find the river and I wasn¡¯t sure if we were even in the right place to begin with!

    Everything was red and deserted!

    Lin sighed, ¡°Let¡¯s take a break.¡±

    The sun was up high. And with little to no greens in this red scorched land, sitting in the sun felt worse. Still, we had to catch our breath somehow.

    Luckily the white turbans were a godsend.

    ¡°Water?¡± I said, taking a sip and offering it to her.

    ¡°No thanks. Not as frail as you.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t complain when you pass out from dehydration.¡±

    ¡°Really? Tell me, who passed out eighteen times so far?¡±

    ¡°Me¡­¡±

    ¡°How many times did I pass out?¡±

    ¡°None¡­¡±

    ¡°Exactly.¡±

    Sigh. She had me, that was for sure. This woman was a monster when it came to stamina. Yet, these days she was looking a bit thin. Always worrying about her boy.

    I contemplated proposing above seven times but, in the end, I convinced myself, I would only propose when we were back to gather¡­ as a family.

    ¡°Do you think this¡¯ll be enough? I¡¯ve heard rumors about that Templar already reaching Moon port and leaving,¡± she broke a biscuit.

    Our time here wasn¡¯t short. But it felt like forever. People didn¡¯t actively discriminate against us, but we weren¡¯t really welcome here either. Just like they weren¡¯t welcome back in the mainland.If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.

    ¡°If they just left, that means they¡¯ve found Sol,¡± Lin said.

    ¡°Sol¡¯s in good hands. Even if the church finds him, there¡¯s little to nothing they can do; besides they¡¯re searching for him not for us.¡±

    ¡°Yeah¡­¡±

    ¡°But with the knight gone, I think we should be safe for now. We should move back to-¡±

    ¡°No. There¡¯s a high chance this is a ploy.¡±

    ¡°I honestly don¡¯t think the church would really care that much Lin.¡±

    The church took some matters seriously. Murdering a priest was one of them. However, they didn¡¯t have infinite resources to hunt down every single murderer. And even if they did, it didn¡¯t seem like a good use of might.

    I didn¡¯t want Lin to die. I didn¡¯t want her to be alone. I didn¡¯t want her to suffer this burden alone. That was why I came with her.

    However, Lin had somehow convinced herself, by running away she was protecting Sol. Even though at this point, I had my doubts on whether Sol was even¡­ no it was better to not say it. That boy was a genius and there was a very good chance he¡¯d made the best use of his situation and¡­.

    Sigh.

    But if he really was alive, wouldn¡¯t he¡¯d send at least one letter?

    I could understand him not caring for me. But¡­ I knew he cared for Lin and-

    ¡°Borges? Denkar Borges?¡± a voice.

    Instinctively I drew my bow but lowered it immediately.

    A mail man. He was floating in air.

    ¡°Yes?¡±

    ¡°Letter. I¡¯ll be needing two gold and a signature.¡±

    ¡°Here.¡±

    The man left almost immediately. Sometimes I wondered how they were so damn fast.

    ¡°Who¡¯s it from?¡± Lin sure seemed excited. We both knew who it was from.

    I sat back down and we read it together.

    ¡°

    Dear Mom & Den,

    I know it¡¯s been a while and I¡¯m not sure where to start. Lately life has been really interesting¡­ I made some friends and the Baracks are treating me well. Classes at the academy have been going well and I placed 1st in my class for midterms! Even I¡¯m confused how that happened. Guess I¡¯m a genius, huh? Laugh*

    You guys know I don¡¯t have much mana but lately I¡¯ve tried practicing some sort of magic. Manipulating wind to be specific. So far, I¡¯m only mildly successful but one day I¡¯ll be able to fully utilize this. That contract really came in handy.

    I know you¡¯ll be mad Mom but I got engaged. No, it wasn¡¯t forced, at least not entirely but¡­ I think I made the right decision. My fianc¨¦e is the 3rd daughter of a sovereign; she¡¯s 6 years older than me. I¡¯m not sure if you¡¯d recognize the name Alzania but that¡¯s the one. He also made me a noble, so now I¡¯m a Baron? Even I¡¯m a little confused If I should be honest.

    Rexen turned out be a deity and the headmaster says I will not be persecuted by the church. Speaking of the church, Den, you better puff up your cheeks because I¡¯m definitely punching you the next time.

    Anyway, a lot of things happened and I don¡¯t think I can fit them all on this page. Did you know just one-page costs 2 gold? Like what the hell! Water resistant paper is so damn expensive!

    Anyway, I hope you guys are doing okay and hope to see you again someday.

    Lovingly yours,

    Sol. ¡°

    ¡°Why does he want punch you of all people?¡± Lin said.

    ¡°I have no idea.¡±

    I did have some actually. I was supposed to stay with him for a week. But I didn¡¯t.

    I was supposed to tell him about the Barack family and all their shortcomings beforehand¡­ I didn¡¯t.

    Heck, I didn¡¯t even introduce him to Anya and¡­ shit!

    Of course, he¡¯d be mad.

    Still, it thrilled me to know that kid was doing great. ¡°Didn¡¯t think he¡¯d actually pull it off though,¡± I snickered. ¡°But the daughter of a duke.¡±

    ¡°You told him to look for a bride?¡± Lin said.

    ¡°No, I was joking and told him to find some rich lady to settle down¡­ with¡­¡± My words gradually became silent as I gulped a couple of times.

    Lin was glaring, she was glaring hard. ¡°I guess this settles it. We¡¯re changing course.¡±

    ¡°To where then?¡±

    ¡°Sun port.¡±

    A/N

    This was supposed to be the epilogue but I''ve decided to extend the volume a bit more. Thanks for reading.

 Chapter 109 Naked Westerners, huh?

    Classes continued as usual. I attended them all. I did my work at the library and I studied.

    Yet how the fuck was I able to not stay calm? What the hell was wrong with me? Deep down I knew the church wouldn¡¯t do anything foolish and they¡¯d definitely send someone to keep an eye on me. But why couldn¡¯t I just calm down?

    I kind of wanted to cry. The moment I thought about crying, tears welled up and almost started leaking. The fuck?

    Emotional today, aren¡¯t we? Chuckling, I quickly wiped them off with my handkerchief before anyone could see. Someone still saw though.

    Shia.

    ¡°Rare for you to show your face at the library,¡± I said.

    The library was fairly empty since most of the kids were busy with the festival.

    Food stalls were one thing but they had fun rides and actual entertainment for once, which I planned on visiting.

    ¡°And rare for you to cry in public.¡±

    ¡°Public? I don¡¯t cry in general mam.¡±

    ¡°Really? So, you crying in secret in the bath every now and then was just my imagination? Oh, and that time you were crying in the closet. That time you were crying on your bed. That time you were¡­¡± She went on.

    My face heated up a little.

    Do I like cry when I¡¯m sad or something? I might or might not have realized that. I did cry a few times but I could have sworn-

    No, I couldn¡¯t swear on anything. A lot of things were beyond my control and frankly, I wasn¡¯t aware of a lot of things.

    ¡°Well don¡¯t worry about it, I won¡¯t tell anyone,¡± She winked and left, or was about to leave but stopped. ¡°Do you know where I can find this book.¡± She gave me a piece of paper.

    These things are super expensive, could you not mishandle them?

    ¡®Naked Westerners: A guide to anatomy.¡¯

    I rolled my eyes without meaning to. ¡°Third floor, by the window, left isle.¡±

    ¡°Just so you don¡¯t misunderstand, it¡¯s for research purpose for my fifth-year finals.¡±

    ¡°I totally understand!¡± I gave her a thumpsup and she left with a half-smile.

    Naked Westerners, huh?

    Heh.

    ***

    Time had stopped. Or at least that¡¯s what it felt like. An hour felt like days. My heart would race for no fucking reason and although I tried to stay calm, I sure wasn¡¯t. So much so that, by the afternoon, I was drenched.

    I usually avoided showers past noon since I had a tendency to catch colds in my last life. But I guess it couldn¡¯t be helped today. Still, it¡¯s getting pretty hot¡­ I guess summer wasn¡¯t that far away.

    I made sure I looked prim and proper and then headed straight to the headmaster¡¯s basement. But as I was about to head in, I noticed someone waiting for me by the stairs. Shia.A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

    I was running into her more than usual today. ¡°Something wrong Sis?¡±

    ¡°No, just wondering how you¡¯d deal with this.¡±

    ¡°Are you like¡­ enjoying this?¡±

    ¡°Who knows.¡±

    I was starting to think she might seriously think me of an exotic pet rather than her little step brother.

    I headed in, she headed in right after me.

    ¡°Kind of small don¡¯t you think?¡± Shia said, entering the clubroom before me.

    The usual three girls. They greeted me and weren¡¯t shocked to see Shia here. Someone else also greeted me, namely the priest. He didn¡¯t say anything though.

    ¡°This is my sister, Shia Barrack,¡± I said. Hopefully they¡¯d get the hint and start introducing themselves.

    The girls did.

    Arin.

    The count¡¯s daughter was named Calamin. Sounded like something you¡¯d read in a nutritional label.

    The Margrave¡¯s daughter was named Sylvia. Now that was a pretty name!

    And the priest?

    ¡°Zarbantha Marbantha.¡±

    Who the fuck names you people?

    I tried my best to keep a straight face and maintain a neutral face. Still a priest is a plus point. He can easily help me distinguish between the church¡¯s preferred history and the actual history. But only if he was trustworthy. He spoke some Zamari guy sent him here to guide me. That was fine and all but who was he?

    ¡°So, first I¡¯d like to start with the established history of Askavan. Or I¡¯d like to say, but since lady Nisa has already gone through them, and we have Mr. Zarbantha here, it would be prudent to go over some history which might not be true. There¡¯s little credit to these stories and they may be seriously damaging to the high church¡¯s reputation so do not disclose any information to the public of what I¡¯m about to say next. I¡¯m only introducing this to address some concerns.¡±

    I kept a careful eye on their expressions and although I expected the priest to stop me, he didn¡¯t. He just stood in a corner listening.

    ¡°First of all, Lord Askavan came to our world approximately ten thousand years ago. He saw we were at war and constantly perishing. So, he cleaved the mainland into three parts and separated us.¡±

    The church also supported this bit.

    ¡°However,¡± I continued. ¡°Wars simply do not stop by merely enhancing distance; they are delayed instead. The Demigods or I believe they are also referred to as the ¡®bastard¡¯ children of Askavan and-¡±

    I was pulling a blank.

    ¡°Slovia,¡± the priest said.

    ¡°Right, Slovia. Their children fought monsters, connected the continents and ushered an age of peace. But said peace didn¡¯t last and we went on wars again and again till the high church took control of the world under the divine vestige of lord Askavan and thus we finally had peace.¡±

    I didn¡¯t necessarily deviate much from the church¡¯s story. There were some very good reasons. One of which was the priest.

    ¡°Now,¡± I continued. ¡°There are some bits that confuse me. A new god once claimed to have killed Askavan. A deity named Xorax was the one who stopped the final war. And we haven¡¯t seen Lord Askavan in the past eight thousand years.¡± My eyes gradually fell on the priest and I stopped. ¡°We don¡¯t see any mention of other gods and where they are either.¡±

    He was still neutral. Still the same as ever. ¡°Are you referring to the fact that we cannot be sure whether Lord Askavan is even alive?¡±

    So that¡¯s the one you¡¯re tackling.

    ¡°We cannot be sure of many things Mr. Zarbantha but I do believe lord Askavan is still with us, just in a different plane of existence.¡±

    ¡°Interesting how you put it. Say my lord, has lady Alayla preached anything to you?¡±

    ¡°Not necessarily. I merely worked as a cleaner back at the church,¡± I said, and without any shame. ¡°I did not listen to any sermons and I wasn¡¯t invited to the weekly lectures.¡±

    ¡°I see. Then allow me,¡± he said. ¡°Allow me to teach you the ways of the church and Askavan. I believe you have great potential.¡±

    ¡°To be what?¡±

    I knew this was coming.

    ¡°A priest¡­ no, not just a priest. With your battle strength, you could be a templar knight and eventually¡­¡± his lips curled but he didn¡¯t say anything.

    I knew it was coming but¡­ but I still felt disgusted. I tried my best not let it show on my face.

    ¡°I would have liked to spend more time on this, but since it is a holiday and I¡¯m still recovering we''ll end our session here. No need to gather here next week,¡± I said.

    Felt like I was not making any progress at all. Despite taking this seriously, I hardly learned anything and I wasn¡¯t influencing them like I wanted to.

    Still, taking this slowly didn¡¯t mean I was going to fail miserably. As long as I kept trying, it should work, or so I consoled myself.

    But how the hell should I interact with the priest? So far he¡¯d been awfully neutral but how much of that was just a farce?

    ¡°My lord if I may,¡± the priest said.

    ¡°Go ahead.¡±

    ¡°Shall I request the headmaster to provide us a better room? I believe we also have some new students who would like to join us.¡±

    ¡°Sure.¡±

    Well, technically he ¡®is¡¯ the club advisor. And the man kind of had a lot of influence. Way more than typical nobles. Besides, the headmaster wouldn¡¯t even see me, a Baron.

    Which did make me think though, how the hell did Shia know him and was so damn casual?

    Seriously¡­ this lady was something else.

 Chapter 110: Selfish

    My daily routine changed a bit. I didn¡¯t need to study mindlessly, whether about the church or just prepping for the next term.

    I didn¡¯t really need to help much at the library either. Mostly because kids didn¡¯t bother showing up in the first place, so the librarian just gave me time off. For someone who was so intent on making me work overtime and make up for lost time and all that shit, she was being awfully lenient. I guess old age does help with wisdom and kindness?

    The constant back and forth was starting to annoy me though.

    I had way more time to exercise and train and all that stuff. But my body wasn¡¯t keeping up. It was recovering sure, but it wasn¡¯t keeping up. So, I ended up mostly just resting for days on end, visiting the festival at times and just lazing some more.

    I took time to read some local tales and folklore.

    There were hundreds if not thousands available, so I didn¡¯t have any shortage of entertainment.

    Considering I came from a world of games and novels and movies, I didn¡¯t find most of this world¡¯s entertainment, entertaining. Yet for some reason, I was utterly drawn to the folklore stuff. Folklore in general felt like I was reading a fantasy novel (which I kind of was). General stuff about dragons and lizards and snakes and even possums. Apparently, this world had a possum problem, or at least Slunten had that problem. Their Possums were about as tall as a grown child (whatever the hell that meant) and could devour babies whole.

    Scary stuff but one of my favorite bits was about the Northern Ghost ships. They roamed the Snile River for thousands of years and continue to just flow with the wind even today. Apparently, a demigod named Sylversa cursed them after being betrayed by them. But some sources claimed Sylversa wasn¡¯t betrayed by the captains but rather just by one deserter who actually didn¡¯t get cursed.

    I was kind of interested in ghosts but I wasn¡¯t stupid enough to blitz in there. I did know a young lady who would though. Part of why I never mentioned much about the ships to her.

    Speaking of the young lady, she¡¯d invited me today to witness the finale of the festival. Basically, we were going to see the lanterns float up and disappear in the night sky. Which was fun and all, but wouldn¡¯t it have been better to watch them from the white tower, rather than the city?

    Well¡­ I guess she wants to spend some time with family.

    She hadn¡¯t actually gone back home this whole holiday week. Partly because there were plenty of things to do on campus. But I had a feeling she was just being considerate to me. Which was commendable sure, but wouldn¡¯t she eventually get sick of me and¡­ I didn¡¯t want to think about it.

    Some things were better left unthought. The day would eventually come and I¡¯d deal with everything then. For now, I just wanted to live in peace. I just wanted to enjoy, no, I just wanted to live.

    ***

    ¡°That¡¯s the Workkoa. You¡¯ve never ridden it, right?¡± Shia said.

    Where was she pointing? At a guillotine. Yes, a fucking guillotine where if you pulled your head a second late, you¡¯d die; sharp shiny blade with some bloody smears too. How the fuck is that a ride?

    It was designed in a way that you couldn¡¯t pull your head back before the blade above got released. You had roughly three seconds before it cleaved your fucking head off.

    ¡°I think I¡¯d rather go sit in a corner and just enjoy the show.¡±

    The festival was bustling and there were even some visitors from the nearby villages. The event would end by midnight, so we had a few hours.

    ¡°Don¡¯t be a wimp. I¡¯ll go first.¡± Shia snorted smugly and placed her head and arms in the wooden bracket. They placed the top bracket on and a guy wearing executor¡¯s helmet (a seminude guy with a bag over his head with some holes) pulled a lever.

    The damn blade fell quick, really quick but Shia pulled her head back quickly enough for it to only cut some hair. ¡°See, no big deal. Now you try!¡±

    We got some claps. They even have a crowd¡­.

    ¡°Are you trying to kill me!?¡± I screamed, trying to get away, but she¡¯d grabbed me and we¡¯d attracted an even bigger crowd, both students and residents. They were even cheering us on.

    ¡°You¡¯ll be fine,¡± she rolled her eyes, reassuring me.

    I was not reassured. Not even a little.

    ¡°Sol, Sol, Sol!¡± Shia started.

    The rest followed.

    They really want me dead.

    My head touched the still warm wooden surface. Another wooden bracket forced my neck to stay in place and¡­ I watched the man pull the lever.

    All the while being perfectly in a daze. What in the actual fuck was happening? What-

    The blade¡­ started falling. Time slowed as my heart raced. I could have sworn I¡¯d felt this before. Multiple times mind you!

    Still- this wasn¡¯t the end. I could just pull¡­ I¡¯m stuck¡­ The mechanism was stuck and I couldn¡¯t pull my head back without ripping it off¡­.

    I¡¯m dead¡­

    Shing!

    My head rolled as blood splattered and the world spun¡­ a sharp pain in my neck¡­.

    I was dead.

    ¡°Oh boy,¡± Shia sighed. ¡°Well, that sucks.¡±

    The people were cheering no more; they were laughing instead. And¡­ and¡­ it didn¡¯t hurt?

    Huh? I could have sworn I felt a sharp pain on my neck and- ¡°Oh?¡± Wait, how did I see my head roll?If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

    Huh. A fucking cabbage¡­ and tomato juice.

    The executioner guy removed the wooden plank and sighed. ¡°Sorry kid, didn¡¯t think the damn thing would get stuck.¡± He seemed to be a rather good mood though, desperately trying to suppress that chuckle.

    I had no idea who got me out of there or what was even happening. I couldn¡¯t feel my feet or fingers.

    ¡°You got pranked hard kid,¡± Shia said, pulling me aside. ¡°Didn¡¯t think he¡¯d have the nerve to pull that though, that damn Sib.¡± She was basically carrying me at this point.

    ¡°That was Sibrian?¡± I mumbled. I was still in some sort of trance.

    The words around me felt distant, as did the world. Things were just¡­ weird. My fingers were all tingly and it felt like I¡¯d just devoured some manafish because I was really ready to shit myself.

    I might have accidentally leaked a drop or two too¡­ accidentally mind you.

    ¡°Who else would have the nerve to mess with you?¡± She laughed and pulled me along. ¡°Let¡¯s go try some more!¡±

    Yeah¡­ she¡¯s definitely trying to kill me.

    ***

    We spent about an hour trying different rides and to my surprise, I wasn¡¯t dead. I didn¡¯t have a wet patch on my pants, so that was a plus too.

    Some spun around like those tea cup things, some went up, fell down, some even let us float for about five seconds or so. Almost all of them were either just magical devices or achieved through a lot of mana expenditure. They were using gems for external mana. Maybe mana really was just a form of energy.

    I only knew the basics but apparently, people of this world could feel the mana within gems. I sadly couldn¡¯t. Particularly why I was stuck.

    Anyway, after that, I went to the Barack estate and had dinner with them. Despite everything Mrs. Alayla¡¯s cooking really was good. No one talked. Partly because it was family tradition. Also because things were awkward as fuck.

    The kids had mostly fallen asleep and I didn''t really see them. One kid I did see, ran away first thing, so yeah....

    Despite the awkwardness dinner ended fairly naturally.

    At the end though, they were exchanging gifts?

    So, it¡¯s kind of like Christmas? But instead of just receiving gifts, you were also supposed to bring your own and gift your family.

    Sigh¡­

    Let¡¯s see¡­ All I had on me, was some peanuts; they weren¡¯t even roasted. Well, it¡¯s not like they¡¯re going to gift me something and-

    Shia gave me a new shirt. White.

    Mrs. Barack gave me a blue bracelet with a white gem on it. I didn¡¯t know much about gems but that shit looked expensive.

    And finally, Barack Senior gave me a¡­

    ¡°What even is this?¡± I said.

    A pyramid. Small enough to fit in the palm of my hand but¡­ but weirdly captivating¡­ and black!

    ¡°It¡¯s a Tronce Mid. Reacts to high spirits and houses them. You¡¯ll need one soon,¡± he said, albeit begrudgingly. He had not forgiven me, no.

    They were looking expectantly at me though. Fuck¡­

    ¡°Here,¡± I said, giving them all a peanut. ¡°Your one-time Manafish Token. If you give me the peanut, I¡¯m obliged to give you One Manafish within 48 hours.¡±

    I expected them to just shrug and throw the stuff away and pretend like it never happened. I didn¡¯t know about Shia or Mrs. Alayla but Barack senior was kind of thrilled?

    Well, guy does like Manafish.

    Phew.

    With that, we were heading back to the dorms. No, we weren¡¯t going to spend the night here.

    At least I wasn¡¯t even if they¡¯d told me to.

    ¡°Maybe try harder than food next time? I prefer jewelry or clothes, even undergarments are fine,¡± Shia said, winked and patted my shoulder. ¡°Though I suppose you did win them both over, so it¡¯s fine.¡±

    Who gifts their sister undergarments? Miss you¡¯re barely fourteen, no need to be that insensitive!

    ¡°With a promise of Manafish?¡±

    ¡°Mom loves cooking them, Dad loves eating them. Rumor has it, Dad only married her just because he loved her cooking.¡±

    I snickered without meaning to. ¡°I could see that happening.¡± Controlling myself, I stared around. Most of the shops were closing. They were preparing to set everything lose. ¡°What did you give them?¡±

    ¡°Nothing,¡± she said.

    ¡°I thought-¡±

    ¡°It is expected to receive gifts from your children but, most kids don¡¯t have money, remember? Besides, it¡¯s the first son¡¯s job to do that.¡±

    Huh.

    Fuck.

    Buying a good Manafish was going to be pretty expensive. Maybe I¡¯ll suck up to Nisa and¡­ yeah, maybe not.

    But I did have connections with the Count¡¯s daughter now that she was in my club. I could surely ask them to let me fish in their lake for a cheaper than market rate.

    Might just work.

    ¡°Well,¡± Shia slapped my back. ¡°Kind of irks me that you had something to give them and I didn¡¯t.¡± She laughed. ¡°Roof of the white tower. Don¡¯t be late.¡± She dashed off.

    Weren¡¯t we like¡­ not supposed to even enter that building?

    Sigh¡­. Anyway, I slowly made way for the academy, and on my way I met Mike, who was waiting by the gates.

    After what I¡¯d said I honestly didn¡¯t expect him to see him again tonight. He didn¡¯t say anything as I was passing by. So maybe he was waiting for someone else?

    ¡°I won¡¯t stop,¡± he said. I didn¡¯t look back, but I did stop. ¡°I considered what you said. But it¡¯s my decision to go on. It¡¯s my decision to not be here. I feel suffocated here, and doesn¡¯t matter what anyone says; I will do this. I will be an adventurer.¡±

    ¡°I see¡­¡± Kinda stung. I used to think in similar lines and I thought I was damn right in whatever I was doing. I wasn¡¯t; I was hardly ever right. ¡°I¡¯ll always be your friend, Mike.¡± I walked away. ¡°Good luck.¡±

    ***

    The guards didn¡¯t even bother blocking my way. They just let me in like usual. Instead of going down though, I was going up.

    Stairs!

    I had to climb like ten floors?

    Arghh¡­

    My tiny legs were dying, honestly. Somehow, I still managed to climb and eventually reach the very top floor; wheezing. No, this wasn¡¯t the roof. To access the roof, I had to take a ladder from the next room, and climb up. Which I did.

    White tiles, almost glowing even in this dark night¡­ no, it wasn¡¯t dark. The sky was littered with color. Mostly just orange lanterns but¡­ some colorful ones too. And the tiles were reflecting that light.

    Hundreds of thousands of lanterns.

    ¡°You¡¯re late,¡± Shia said, by the edge, sitting, legs dangling. I saw some other kids here too. But they were mostly staying away from the edges, and in turn, away from her.

    ¡°I¡¯m never late. I arrived precisely when I meant to.¡± I was hella out of breath though, so I couldn¡¯t pull off a proper impression.

    ¡°Sure, sure,¡± she rolled her eyes and patted the seat next to her. ¡°Sit.¡±

    Are you sure, sure, you¡¯re not trying to kill me?

    Courage¡­ it took a lot of courage to sit next to her and not look down. Good thing the view from above was beautiful, huh?

    ¡°Are you going to leave the family?¡± Shia said.

    Where the fuck did that come from?

    I was distant from her family. Her father didn¡¯t like me, her mother had nearly murdered me (okay maybe not) but she was the reason for most of it. From Shia¡¯s perspective, I probably hated her family now and would leave the first chance I got.

    ¡°Not really. Your- Our, family has issues. But as a family, it¡¯s our job to sort things out between ourselves, not just run away the first chance we got.¡± Even if they weren¡¯t my actual family, I didn¡¯t want to run away.

    Not again.

    A faint smile; Her face illuminated by the thousands of lights, looked beautiful. ¡°Thanks.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re welcome.¡± I traced her gaze and found the sky, and the disappearing the lights. But I will eventually leave though.

    Yet, I didn¡¯t want this to end. I wanted to relish these days. These peaceful, sometimes absolutely depressing, days.

    I guess I was just that selfish.

    [A/N] From Patreon (from the past)

    Gentlemen, looks like this is the end for Vol 3. Originally I hadn''t planned for this chapter and was about to end the volume when the priest showed up. Den and Lin''s story was the epilogue but I decided to expand on the volume at the very last moment and yeah, stuff happened. Kind of why the first chapter of the next volume is becoming the epilogue for this volume.

    I''m actually going back to the uni area for house hunting and will be away from home for like 2 days. I was going to take a break anyway, so this works.

    Expect an update on Monday. (This is like two weeks old at this point though, right?)

    Meanwhile, my Yuri (yes I tried Yuri kekw) 30-page short story is available on Amazon. If you have KU, you can read it for free (if you''re paying for KU, technically that''s not free but you know what I mean XD). With this story in particular, I''m starting a new pen name. Nr_Pendragon. Mostly for Romance. This is a very wholesome story imo.

    Overflowing Juices!

    https://www.royalroad.com/amazon/B0CWXR837X</a>

    Thank you for reading. I wish you all a good day.

 Epilogue: What a Waste

    The church had taught Azura many things, one of which was how to fend off Fiend attacks. Particularly high-born fiends. Fiends who were closest to becoming deities and perhaps with enough time, gods. No one of course knew whether fiends could move up in ranks but there were various theories suggesting it was totally possible.

    Still, Azura never really thought she¡¯d be using those special techniques today, here in this muddy bog.

    ¡°Impressive for a human,¡± the boy said in a very, very deep voice.

    It looked to be about seven. The top half of its face was hidden in darkness, the eyes glowed faintly blue and its whole body reeked of a foul stench. The stench of death.

    It swiped its fingers towards Azura; a massive fist of tarry smoke crashed into her. Sparks flew as she deflected the attack with ease, foot swiftly mobile in the muddy water like she was practicing a traditional dance of the West Southern continent; cap flowing freely with the wind, partially hiding that shiny silver breastplate. ¡°Likewise, impressive for a mere lizard.¡±

    ¡°RAGHHH!!!¡± It fumed, throwing more and more misty punches. Yet, Azura just deflected them every time. She glowed a faint green, holy.

    Two days ago, she¡¯d heard about a particular boy being contracted with a lizard here. She was quite far from home and still had some distance to cover before she reached the Fortress Academy of Nirvaine. Of course, her perspective changed when she realized the boy had lost control and the lizard monster had taken over him.

    She knew that was inevitable and she was dispatched to prevent that. But considering it had already happened, her mission failed. So to say she wasn¡¯t in the best of moods, was an understatement.

    On top of that, she just got news about how the next ship leaving moon port would be significantly delayed thanks to bad weather. Yet, she maintained a calm, collected smile on her face.

    She was neither calm, nor collected however.

    ¡°Hmph, mere human,¡± the boy¡¯s teeth shook as smoke sizzled out of there. Seconds later sparks, and then¡­ fire!~ ¡°FUUU!!!¡± Big cloud of yellow fire!

    ¡°You speak too much,¡± she said, swiping her green blade vertically, effectively slicing the fire cloud in half. Her eyes a little narrow, focused on point. ¡°Would you be willing to get out of the boy¡¯s body? He has a future and I¡¯d rather not let you destroy it for him.¡±

    ¡°A future? As a pig of the church? What did the high priest say to you, that he was going to baby this brat and let him screw all the women he can?¡±

    ¡°Vulgar,¡± she said. ¡°You vulgar swine,¡± she lowered her gravity and jumped, slicing at the boy.Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.

    ¡°Heh, losing your temper from such simple provocation.¡±

    Grab!

    The tarry smoke hands grabbed Azura, squeezing her body with great force. Yet she just stared at the boy, not even blinking. ¡°He will have a great future within the church. I can guarantee that. I will personally-¡±

    ¡°You? Aren¡¯t you the plaything of a priest yourself? You think I do not know what your kind does in that sacred place of yours? Massive Orgies, child prostitution, genital mutilation, and those are merely the acts on the surface. Everyone knows none of the templar knights are virgins. Even the male ones get raped. Deep in there, we both know what the high priests does to their servants such as you. Ah, perhaps you enjoy that, that is why¡­ hmm¡­ or is it that you love your prince of pigs; your high pri-¡±

    Shing!

    ¡°Huh?¡± the boy¡¯s mouth mumbled as the body tumbled over, falling.

    Something else fell on the muddy waters with mild splash. Half of its head. Blood poured out, coloring the mud dark.

    ¡°Perhaps, I spoke too leniently,¡± Azura snickered. ¡°On second thought, wretched filth like you would be better suited as fertilizer for the fish.¡±

    ¡°KNOW YOUR PLACE VERMIN!¡±

    SPLASH!

    Something, something big emerged. A white crocodile!

    Not a lizard? Azura wondered, her blade perfectly clean and ready. ¡°Know my place? I know it perfectly well. As one of the seven, I shall personally end you here, fiend. It is you who does not know their place,¡± her voice went cold. ¡°You will pay for your blasphemy.¡±

    ¡°Seven? You¡­¡± the crocodile¡¯s already pale face went a bit paler. But it quickly regained composure and gathered mana in its mouth, forming a ball of light. ¡°That boy was my host, you¡¯ll pay for what you did.¡±

    ¡°Thanks for the monologue, but I couldn¡¯t care less,¡± Azura said, gently tapping her feet on top of the croc¡¯s head. How did she even get there, the croc couldn¡¯t imagine. ¡°The moment you sullied the name of my lord,¡± her smile vanished, eyes glassy looking down, looking down at the croc as though it was an insect. ¡°Your life was forfeit.¡±

    Plunge!~

    The sword went right through the head, between the eyes. The croc groaned, gurgled some blood, unable to open its mouth, it ran fast and crashed into a large tree, knocking itself out with ease.

    She proceeded to cleave the whole head off just in case, with a single slice. Even butter had more resistance.

    Azura sighed, staring at the dead boy. A little chubby, a gifted young man. Such a shame. And just when she found him too¡­.

    ¡°Azura Genesis Pride?¡±

    ¡°Yes?¡± She replied, a sweet voice, smiling as she turned to the man on the tree.

    ¡°Express mail, mam. Sign here. And I would require ten extra gold,¡± he said, jumping down. Yet there was no splash.

    A mailman. He wore all green, Hermes scandals, millennium wings, and tight pants. An express delivery mailman.

    Azura signed and got her mail.

    ¡°Now then,¡± the mailman disappeared.

    ¡°The high priest?¡± She almost squeaked, cheeks a bit flushed. Heart racing, breath all erratic. She couldn¡¯t wait to see what he wrote- ¡°Huh?¡± Apparently, it wasn¡¯t from her high priest. It was just some other dude who wrote about how she was on the wrong continent and the boy had gone to Schalion or some shit. ¡°Tch,¡± she threw the letter on the ground and spat on the boy¡¯s corpse. ¡°What a waste.¡±

    ¡°Die!¡± Fangs of darkness just above her head, crunched down.

    The lights went out.

    The croc, with the last of its strength spent, perished; one with the earth.

    Azura though, just stood there. ¡°Should I apologize that, that level of attack isn¡¯t enough to scratch my skin?¡± She shrugged and opted to head out instead. The bits of blood on her face was getting awfully annoying like her long hair though.

    If the boy was in Schalion, that meant she could just take the ship to Sun port and see the high priest before actually heading off to the boy and-

    ¡°But isn¡¯t the ship delayed?¡± ARGHHH!!!!¡¯ She roared, slicing the whole meadow in two.

 Chapter 111: Sigh

    ¡°EEK!!¡±

    A sudden scream from the front. I was near the back.

    Judging by the scream, probably a girl. Most of the kids were taller than me, so I couldn¡¯t really see much.

    ¡°Stop whining. It¡¯s just a pig,¡± Alustur said. He picked me up on his shoulder to let me get a better view. ¡°What do you think?¡±

    ¡°Definitely a pig.¡±

    A pig about twice the size of a typical boar. It was a bit smaller than a cowpig though.

    Roughly twenty of us, and almost all of them were trying to hit the cornered pig. Behind it was a steep hill, and in front¡­ twenty brats. It could have easily overpowered the brats and maybe even killed a few. Yet, for some reason it was squeaking and oinking and shivering like its life had ended.

    I suppose that was because Alustur was here.

    It¡¯d been about two months since the incident and during this whole time, the dude had, for whatever reason, tried to teach me the basics. In his words, ¡°I¡¯m not teaching you because I want you to be strong. I¡¯m teaching you, so that you don¡¯t accidentally end up dead.¡±

    Had a nice ring to it.

    Yet, he hardly ever let me try anything dangerous. He never took me to the field excursions and he never let me practice with the other kids who were bigger than me. Even today, on my very first excursion, he was carrying me half of the fucking time!

    This guy was babying me more than Mom babied me! And I was a literal baby back then!

    ¡°Eyes on the prize Sol,¡± he said. ¡°Never let your thoughts wander in a battlefield. Every breath, every moment matters.¡±

    ¡°Right.¡±

    We weren¡¯t necessarily on the battlefield. At least from my perspective. But for him, I guess he was right.

    Some of the kids tried to attack the boar with a knife but the boar constantly rushed at them and the kids ran for their lives. This was getting nowhere.

    But soon enough some of the other kids snuck behind the boar and stuck a knife in its guts. ¡°OINK!¡± It shrieked and before they knew it, two kids were on the ground covered in blood. The pig¡¯s blood.

    ¡°Well, duty calls,¡± Alustur said, casually unsheathing his sword and disappearing.

    I slowly dropped on the ground, on my feet.

    We now had lots of meat for dinner.

    Nice!

    ***

    We were out in the wilderness. Out in the far west of the academy. A little far from the nearest settlement.

    This place was full of trees and rocky hills and lots of grass.

    What were we doing here?

    Field trip!

    Ordinarily I wasn¡¯t supposed to be part of this group. Heck, I wasn¡¯t even in this class. But since Alustur had been teaching me a lot lately, and he took a new group to these field trips every two weeks, I¡¯d been pestering him to take me as well.

    I¡¯d gotten way too damn comfortable with my academy life and I needed some reminders that this world was fucking insane and dangerous. Any wrong move and you could be dead meat. No, literally. Dead meat.A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

    ¡°You¡¯ve seen blood before, why are you staring like that?¡± Alustur said.

    But I wasn¡¯t necessarily staring at him. I was staring at the dead pig. Poor thing was just trying to live but we hunted it, and now we were going to skin it and eat it too.

    Life truly was survival of the fittest. And whether you liked it or not, might was always right. It was a bit too true for this world.

    ¡°Just wondering what would have happened if it were stronger than us, or rather you.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯d all be like it instead.¡±

    Alustur taught the kids how to skin the pig and drain its blood. Their work was spotty at best. They had some practice indoors just a week prior but I suppose nothing really scared the shit out of you more than seeing someone brutally murder something before your very eyes and then ask you to gut its dead body for fun times.

    We finished preparing the meat. Or rather Alustur did. He carried the meat as well. About ten kilograms or so. The rest we just left there. Apparently, wild boars around these parts had horrible tasting meat in certain parts of their bodies. Certain other parts were mana dense and could give you mana poisoning like eating a manafish scale whole. Part of why, I requested Alustur to get me a bit of its mana dense part. He cut half of its liver out and just gave it to me.

    Woah¡­ this is a lot of blood. Glad I¡¯d bought a bag.

    ¡°Don¡¯t these things have parasites,¡± I said.

    ¡°That¡¯s why we cook them thoroughly.¡± Alustur shrugged. ¡°Besides, it¡¯ll be fine as long as you drowse the meat in some potions. And don¡¯t even think about eating that liver. That¡¯s only used as a catalyst.¡±

    People really took potions for granted despite those things being expensive.

    Apparently, my elixir thing wasn¡¯t remotely as cheap as I thought it was. I learned it the hard way just four months ago.

    But even potions were like that. They were 1 silver a piece each (on paper) but in reality, they cost from anywhere between 5 to 20 gold depending on their efficiency. And I wasn¡¯t even talking about elixirs. These were just typical healing potions that aided recovery. Yes, aided.

    ¡°We¡¯re not setting up a camp here?¡± I asked.

    We were walking farther and farther away from the kill sight. Not towards the settlement in the distance, but just away from the blood and guts.

    ¡°No. it¡¯ll just attract more fiends. Great for a hunting party.¡±

    ¡°But not for us.¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    That being said, we set up camp in a faraway place and Alustur started the cooking process in a big cauldron. Apparently, we were going to have pottage for dinner.

    Better than stale bread.

    ***

    It felt like camping, honestly.

    Just safer, considering we had Alustur here. I was still weary of him and I¡¯m sure he knew that. Yet, for some reason I did feel safe. No, I knew the reason. Dude was one of the strongest men I knew.

    He and Rexy (who was sleeping peacefully in my hair) never got along. No, that wasn¡¯t quite right. Rexy just didn¡¯t like that guy and would openly show hostility which she never showed to anything other than just cats. And yes, she did not like cats.

    ¡°You should eat more meat,¡± Alustur said.

    ¡°I¡¯m trying to.¡±

    ¡°Try harder.¡±

    That¡¯s not helping. I rolled my eyes but did try to eat more skewers. I¡¯d had my fair share of pork pottage with bread. But after a while, I did crave a bit of roasted meat, so I told Alustur and he readily agreed.

    Meanwhile, the vast majority of the kids were sleeping under the stars. No tents necessary. We were just sleeping outside with nothing but mats. I was a little concerned about the bugs, but Alustur assured me, even bugs were going to stay away as long as he was here. That worried me a bit more but oh well.

    ¡°You¡¯re a really strong man, Alustur,¡± I said.

    ¡°I am.¡±

    ¡°But can you protect us from¡­ well, you know, stronger men than you?¡±

    He stared at me. The fire burned next to us, reflected in his eyes. Yet for some reason, his eyes were cold.

    ¡°I cannot.¡± He shook his head. ¡°But I will gladly die to protect you. You have given me a second chance. And I swore-¡±

    ¡°No, that¡¯s not necessary. I don¡¯t think I forgave you; but you probably don¡¯t need my forgiveness anyway. You don¡¯t owe me anything. In fact, you were just doing your job. As much as it irks me, killing powerless kids in this world¡­ is normal¡­¡± Saying it out loud made my chest ache. Murder¡­ was normal.

    I was in a different world. A world with its own set of rules and scummy-ness. As much as I hated the world and all this bullshit, I couldn¡¯t really blame the people for being ¡®normal¡¯.

    ¡°There¡¯s nothing normal about murdering children,¡± he said. ¡°I value your ideals Sol¡­ Don¡¯t discard them just because you think you owe the world something. You don¡¯t owe anything to do this world or its rules; you were born without your consent, it¡¯s the world that owes you. You¡¯re¡­ you¡¯re you. And you get to decide what¡¯s right or wrong. Isn¡¯t that why you fought so hard that day?¡±

    The hell are you even¡­ ¡°Guess so.¡±

    It was a little awkward but watching the fire crackle was kind of soothing.

    And I thought this dude wasn¡¯t talkative. Which was kind of true because he didn¡¯t talk much in general. Yet, he was really trying hard these last couple of weeks. Maybe he¡¯d changed. And maybe he was going to change more.

    Yet¡­ I still couldn¡¯t find it in me, to trust him again.

    Yet¡­ I couldn¡¯t loathe him either.

    Sigh.

 Chapter 112: YES!

    We made our triumphant return early in the morning.

    Everyone was yawning, and I wasn¡¯t an exception. Alustur had woken us up early morning and forced us to walk for like two hours and here we were¡­ back to the city. And apparently a carriage was waiting for us? A pretty big one at that too.

    ¡°Consider it a treat,¡± he said.

    We did not have the energy to celebrate, no.

    I felt like passing out, honestly. Maybe staying up so late wasn¡¯t such a very good idea after all. Especially considering this shit body. Still- I¡¯m gonna be six soon, huh?

    It¡¯d been nine months since I came to this academy. Ordinarily, that¡¯d make me nine months older. But in this world, I was almost a year old. No, the days weren¡¯t longer. They just didn¡¯t have the extra two months.

    Still looks the same as ever.

    Kids going about, people coming out to stack their wares. Shops opening, people going to work¡­.

    The academic year was nearly at an end. With the finals looming ever so close. I¡¯d be in my second-year next month, huh?

    I was expecting a letter right about now, but I figured Den and Mom were too busy and couldn¡¯t risk their locations yet.

    The sound of hoofs mellowed out as I stared at the pleasant horizon. A little cool but soon it¡¯d be pretty warm. Apparently, this was full summer and would pretty much end by the end of this month. Technically it was supposed to be autumn now but you couldn¡¯t really expect seasons to change the same way you could expect them back on earth. And there was a very good reason for that. The ten-month system.

    Slowly the sun rose and painted the world in wonderful colors; we¡¯d almost arrived.

    No, we just arrived.

    Kids were going about with their morning practice and runs.

    Good to be home.

    ¡°See you tomorrow,¡± Yawning, I headed for the library. I did need a quick nap but I could always just take it after cleaning up the place. Today was the weekend and I¡¯d get plenty of chances to rest later.

    I did have a meeting tomorrow but that was a different matter.

    ***

    Knock! Knock!

    ¡°Good afternoon,¡± I went in. ¡°Tell me you have something today, because I¡¯m starving.¡±

    It was still noon. But who cared about the semantics.

    ¡°Luckily I have some biscuits,¡± Anya said. ¡°Though I¡¯m not sure if John or Caty left any for you.¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s hope for their sakes, that they have.¡±

    Anya giggled and let me into the living room. John and Caty were on the couch, happily chomping at the biscuits. They were part of the Herbal Club. They had some other member who was mostly absent for months. Kind of like our fourth member.

    We of course had more members now, but I hardly had time to interact with them during our limited time together. And for some reason it almost felt like some of the members were looking at me with odd eyes; even hostile eyes. Hopefully just my imagination.

    ¡°This is mine,¡± I said, taking the whole bowl. There were only five biscuits left, so they weren¡¯t losing much. Fat, round, and somewhat hard. Somewhat bland at that too.

    I wanted to have lunch before coming here but thanks to the long line of students, that didn¡¯t seem to be possible. Hence my crave for something to staunch my stomach with.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

    ¡°Well, for once I don¡¯t have bad news,¡± Anya served tea.

    These last couple of weeks, all I got from the Herbal club was bad news. ¡®The leaves are falling down. The roots are all drying out. Fungus!¡¯

    Stuff like that. They were sort of heartbreaking but at least two of the plants were still alive. Barely.

    They still hadn¡¯t grown much. Which was the super sad part.

    ¡°That¡¯s good but what do we do from here?¡±

    If I recall, some people in the past were able to actually grow the tree to full height. However, ours just wasn¡¯t growing. What was it lacking?

    ¡°Do you know anything about how they grew it? Under what conditions?¡± I asked.

    ¡°Well, if they were still alive, maybe we could have some information. But the research is lost and the best we can do, is¡­ hope, I guess?¡±

    Why can¡¯t these morons just write shit down?

    I sipped the tea. A little sweet. But the biscuits were a little bland, so it fit well with the tea. ¡°That sucks,¡± I sipped. ¡°What haven¡¯t we tried?¡±

    ¡°Haven¡¯t tried,¡± she paused to think. ¡°I think we haven¡¯t tried letting the tree die.¡±

    ¡°What do you mean?¡±

    ¡°Some trees or beings in general need extreme circumstances to thrive. Kind of like stressing your plants without giving them adequate water. You don¡¯t give them water for a few days and watch the roots and leaves dry out and then drown them for a day. Some plants can¡¯t take it and die. But some other plants thrive and have a good root system, allowing them to grow much larger. Maybe we have to stress these ones too.¡±

    ¡°Hmm¡­ I guess?¡±

    I mean it kind of made sense in a way. You only get to bloom to your full potential when you¡¯re backed into a corner. But that was also a very good way to crack for good.

    How come some of our other plants just died? Those had a good shot at overcoming everything and growing up real nice, right? How come they didn¡¯t? Because they cracked.

    They cracked for good.

    ¡°So, I¡¯m thinking of trying out that. Though I must confess it might not work,¡± Anya said.

    ¡°You could try using Manadust as fertilizer,¡± Caty said.

    ¡°We¡¯ve already tried that,¡± I said.

    ¡°Did you try hyper balls? They provide great lighting,¡± John said.

    ¡°We tried that too,¡± Anya said.

    I hardly saw these two. Apparently, the official duties of the Herbal club were mostly carried out by Anya. These two showed up every now and then but they hardly played any part in almost anything. I did get to see them every now and then but anyway, ¡°Can I see them at least?¡±

    ¡°Of course,¡± Anya said, leading the way.

    I quickly finished the tea.

    The weather was perfect for Honeycrisps. However, even in this weather, the plants weren¡¯t doing that well. Most of the saplings were dead. Only two remained and even these two were barely hanging on by her second-floor window.

    Rexy jumped from my shoulder and started bouncing on the leaves. Meanwhile, Anya¡¯s cat hissed from the corner of the room.

    ¡°They don¡¯t like each other at all,¡± I said.

    ¡°Natural enemies,¡± Anya said. ¡°How did you do it though?¡±

    ¡°Do what?¡±

    ¡°Summon a deity.¡±

    Apparently, although the headmaster tried to keep it a secret, it still spread. I had a feeling a certain eccentric young lady was the one who was spreading all the rumors but I was this next prodigy this school was producing who was definitely going to be a Hero or a Paladin.

    I had no real intention of even thinking about either but anyway.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t,¡± I said. ¡°She did.¡±

    We both stared at the happily bouncing lizard.

    ¡°Linked to the deity¡­ in that case, maybe she can help us.¡±

    ¡°How?¡±

    ¡°She¡¯s from that area, right? Her mana signature would be far more suited than Lucas¡¯. And if she can channel some divine mana, we might be able to prevent the trees from dying and we might even see some new leaves in the course of a week. Why don¡¯t you leave her here for a day to see how things go?¡±

    ¡°With him here?¡± I gave the cat a glance and he started licking his balls.

    ¡°I¡¯m sure it¡¯ll be fine,¡± Anya said.

    ¡°Right,¡± I went closer to Lucas, picked him up and smiled. ¡°Look, I know you two have your differences and it¡¯s fine to fight and maybe even try to claw each other. But, I like you both. And well, I like Rexy more than you since I live with her but the point is¡­ if I notice even a single scratch on her lovely scales¡­ I¡¯ll skewer you alive. Got it?¡±

    The kitty grumbled but nodded, albeit begrudgingly. ¡°I get it, I get it¡­¡±

    ¡°Good.¡± That being said, I picked up Rexy this time. ¡°I want you to stay here for a day and look after the plants. I kind of want to eat the fruits,¡± I said. ¡°I¡¯ll come back for you tomorrow.¡±

    Rexy nodded like a good girl and had no complaints. Gosh this lady was cute¡­ kind of scary but cute.

    Time to find me some lunch. For cheap of course.

    ***

    The next day I went back and witnessed a miracle.

    No, the plants hadn¡¯t grown. They were about the same size with maybe two or three more clusters of leaves and¡­ buds.

    Four on each cluster and one near the base, golden red; exactly 13.

    ¡°So¡­ how?¡± I mumbled.

    Even at best Rexy should have only been able to help the plants be a bit livelier, not influence growth like this!

    ¡°That¡¯s what I¡¯d like to know,¡± Anya said. ¡°Because I have no idea.¡±

    Lil¡¯ Rexy jumped on my shoulder and fell asleep promptly.

    Lucas had also been sleeping but he woke up, stretched and ran away.

    A little late but feelings emerged like bubbles under the pool. ¡°YES!¡±

    Who cared how it worked! It worked and that¡¯s what mattered!

 Chapter 113:Go Run

    I came back to the dorms, got fresh and headed to the lion¡¯s den. Aka, the white tower¡¯s third floor, where our new clubroom was.

    The first clubroom was in the basement. A little small but it got the job done. Our resident priest Mr. Zarbantha wanted a bigger room and asked my permission to speak to the headmaster. I didn¡¯t see any issues with that and agreed. At best he was going to get a new somewhat useable room. At worst, nothing would have happened.

    However¡­.

    ¡°Good evening, my lord!¡±

    Big. No, not a classroom size big. But rather it was an auditorium size big. You could probably have a literal play in here with a thousand spectators.

    Of course, we didn¡¯t have that many club members. Just about two dozen. Mostly girls but there were some boys.

    Bright. White. The ceiling was quite high, almost made me think if this place took a few floors all by itself or something.

    I didn¡¯t have any speeches today, so I sat down near the front desks, next to Nisa, and Shia. Nisa was club president, so of course she¡¯d be here. Shia though, wasn¡¯t even part of the club. She just showed up every now and then when she had too much time on her hands. She contributed absolutely nothing to the club. She was just here for fun times.

    ¡°Now then, with the Baron here,¡± The priest started off. He had a podium of sorts. This whole thing felt like those commencement speech auditoriums. No one was graduating though, at least not anytime soon. ¡°I¡¯d like to continue where we left off.¡±

    These last few weeks, I tried finding more and more information on the church and Askavan and used my somewhat broken Sea tongue to decipher anything I could find. While I did find some new information, I could not verify them. Mr. Zarbantha helped a ton and taught me the ¡®right¡¯ history of the church and how it all came to be but that just felt like indoctrination so I hardly paid attention.

    The gist was: Church good, weakness and disobedience, bad.

    Who¡¯d have thunk!

    Ahem. Since I couldn¡¯t find anything substantial, I let the Priest educate us weekly about the matters of the church and Askavan without forcing anyone to pray or even be religious. If I asked them to pray or force them to do something, how would I be any different from the church? Of course, I did have plans to gradually change their minds and use them eventually, but that was for the future and I never had any intention of directly forcing them to do something had no consent in.

    It was going to take the priest at least two more months to fully go through everything. And then I was going to have to take over and do stuff. But if I didn¡¯t have any proper material, I couldn¡¯t do anything with this group. Some of these people genuinely didn¡¯t want to be here but had to because of their families. And some others although did show some interest, they weren¡¯t really into the whole church shenanigans either.This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.

    Meaning, I have to make it engaging and fun and influential at the same time.

    But how?

    I never taught a class. I never influenced anyone. Heck, I never even motivated a friend! Well, you didn¡¯t have friends to begin with.

    Anyway, not only did I not have any proper methods, I didn¡¯t have any information that I could alter and¡­ wait¡­ alteration. Just because information didn¡¯t exist, didn¡¯t mean I couldn¡¯t create it.

    I knew a fair share about the church and I could use that. I could use the priest and I could use the library and frankly, I could definitely use this.

    There was just one problem though.

    Finals was only two weeks ahead.

    ***

    I didn¡¯t have classes. I applied to take a break from my library duties but the librarian denied that on the basis that I was spending too much damn time in my room.

    Strange. My mother kind of liked when I did that. She loved it when I studied for hours on end and did well in my tests. Yet, people here, people who seemed to care about me, didn¡¯t want me to study all day. Some of them did want me to do well in the tests but, but I guess my test scores weren¡¯t more important than my health. Kind of almost made me tear up.

    Almost.

    I still studied though. Just in the library.

    Sure, I probably had this one in the bag too. But I sure wasn¡¯t going to fall behind on the leaderboard. I¡¯d clawed myself up and I was going to keep clawing forward, not backward. Being complacent wasn¡¯t an option.

    ¡°If only you were this diligent about learning languages,¡± sighed the librarian.

    ¡°I¡¯ve already memorized 100 different words and their meanings, just so you know.¡± I didn¡¯t glance at her.

    My work was done and she was still working. Or she should have been working but I guess she was done too and came here to take a break.

    ¡°I know. But if you kept going at this rate, you could have already mastered the Sea tongue and even learned the Demon tongue.¡±

    ¡°I doubt I could learn the demon tongue that easily. Besides, my memory isn¡¯t that good.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re a child. It¡¯s good enough.¡± She grumbled. ¡°Good luck with your finals. I¡¯ll introduce you to someone one of these days.¡±

    ¡°Sure.¡±

    I guess that someone was going to be a demon who was going to help me learn the demon tongue? I didn¡¯t see anything wrong with that. Learning the demon tongue was going to be a boon. Demons were the oppressed race in this world and just like any oppressed races, they probably had literature dedicated to explaining how they were abused and discriminated against and such. I doubted whether the church would let them publish those kinds of things but if the church couldn¡¯t read the books, how would they know?

    No, if someone ¡®can¡¯ read, then that basically screws over that theory. If there was going to be books in demon tongue about the church or the gods, they were going to be either disguised in fiction or just down right cryptic.

    Enough about the church and the demons!

    Focus!

    Focus!

    Focus on the damn stories and remember the damn history!

    I genuinely thought learning stories, and stuff about the church was going to help me academically. But that was only partially true. I had to study anyway. And thanks to my shitty memory, I had to study a bit harder than usual. I had to make flash cards, I had to try different study methods and I even tried just not studying at all!

    I tried a lot of shit and although I was surely making progress¡­ I wasn¡¯t sure if this was enough. I wasn¡¯t sure if I was enough.

    What if I wasn¡¯t?

    If it¡¯s as easy as midterms, wait¡­ that was the first exam. It was designed to be easy. It was designed for kids to just give them a sense of what was coming.

    No, no, don¡¯t think about it. Just study!

    Worrying wasn¡¯t getting me anywhere. It was only making me stressed. The best way to prepare was to not stress about it. I¡¯d studied all year and I wasn¡¯t going to mess this up just because I doubted my abilities. Studying was making me even more stressed.

    So¡­ enough of this!

    ¡°Think I¡¯ll go run,¡± I said.

 Chapter 114: Princess

    Rumble!

    Something fell over. Crack!

    A glass? It broke, spreading shards all over the floor.

    Dazzling.

    ¡°Are you certain? She¡¯s returned?¡± The robbed man said.

    ¡°Indeed, my lord.¡±

    The man had been praying all this time. To the golden dragon statue before him. He¡¯d been praying, with his divine cup. Now broken, yet the man didn¡¯t even glance at the holy shards. He just stared at the man before him. ¡°Wh-where is she?¡±

    ¡°She¡¯s waiting for you in the audience-¡±

    Mouth curled; his skin stretched as though they weren¡¯t properly adhered to his face. What was that, a smile?

    He walked straight for the door. Some shards bit into his feet but, but they were immediately repelled by his holy aura, turning everything to dust. Even if he¡¯d gotten a cut, he would have recovered instantly, so it wasn¡¯t a concern for him.

    What was a concern however, was the fact that Azura had returned!

    ¡°That means, the ship sinking news was false after all,¡± he mumbled to himself. Face a bit pale, he¡¯d been praying all this time for her safe return.

    ¡°Actually, my lord,¡± the other man said. ¡°Both the ships before and after the one lady Azura came in, have sunken near the lost continent; but lady Azura is perfectly safe. It is a miracle.¡±

    The man in golden robes shrugged. ¡°Not our problem. But yes, it truly is a miracle she¡¯s back!¡± Ah, the sleepless nights were worth it!

    As long as Azura was safe, nothing else mattered.

    Ah, how long had it been seen he last saw her? How long had it been since-

    ¡°My lord, before we go in,¡± just as they stopped by the entrance to the audience chambers, the other man stood in his way. ¡°There¡¯s something you must know.¡±

    ¡°Be quick.¡±

    ¡°Lord Albatros is also present in the audience chambers.¡±

    ¡°You¡­¡± the robbed man glared. ¡°You led me here just to-¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t know. And lady Azura is indeed present.¡±

    ¡°Tch!¡± With a shrug the man went in, followed by the other man, who was promptly kicked out of the room anyway.The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

    Bright white. Massive ten tired chandelier. Glass ceiling; domed. There were no windows in the room. Just two entrances.

    Two sets of sofa and a table in between.

    Terribly clean. Sparkling even. If someone looked at the marble floor, even if they didn¡¯t squint, they could tell how many freckles they had.

    ¡°My lord Albatros,¡± the robbed man greeted the tall, frail man first.

    Just the three of them. A hint of jasmine.

    ¡°High priest,¡± the man nodded, not even attempting to stand up.

    ¡°My lord,¡± an eccentric knight did stand up though. ¡°I have returned.¡± Her dazzling armor was nowhere to be found. Instead, she was rocking a shirt and some half pants along with a half coat.

    ¡°Welcome back, Azura,¡± he smiled, almost warm. ¡°Glad you look wonderful as ever.¡±

    Azura smiled, bashful.

    ¡°Hmm¡­ I didn¡¯t know you were able to fake your emotions to this degree, Julifer,¡± said the tall, frail man, Albatros.

    Julifer smiled, albeit mockingly. ¡°If you say so, my lord.¡±

    Albatros snorted, crossing his legs. ¡°Now, take a seat. We have business to discuss.¡±

    ¡°Of what sort?¡± Julifer took his seat. Azura too. But instead of sitting next to him, she sat on his laps, wrapping her around him, pressing soft things on his chest.

    ¡°Paladins.¡± Long hair, tidied behind his head. A black suit and white tie. He appeared to be Slunten nobility of sort. At least that¡¯s what the draconic insignia on his chest suggested.

    Julifer¡¯s brows knitted together. ¡°I don¡¯t think you¡¯ll have to worry about that. I will personally-¡±

    ¡°Let me be frank, both your and my lives are at risk because of the mere existence of this boy. The moment his marriage officiates, he will have the right.¡±

    ¡°I plan on taking care of the problem before that.¡±

    ¡°How?¡±

    ¡°We will have the duke¡¯s daughter assassinated; no royal blood, no ascension.¡±

    ¡°And the boy will stay quiet? However political the marriage may be, he has to at least put an effort to show that he would hunt down the assassin even if he were to go against the church. Besides, all he has to do, is find another bride with royal blood.¡±

    ¡°No one is stupid enough to actually go against the church, especially young talents like him. I¡¯m sure he knows,¡± Julifer said. ¡°And he wouldn¡¯t carelessly risk, actually, no sane woman would want to die for him either.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ll have to deal with the duke and the Sovereign as well. Speaking of the Sovereign, that woman is almost back to her feet. Didn¡¯t you say the disease was incurable?¡±

    ¡°It was. But¡­ that boy apparently found a cure.¡±

    ¡°He possesses dangerous knowledge as well. We must get rid of him one way or another.¡±

    ¡°We can¡¯t kill him,¡± Julifer admitted, albeit disgruntledly.

    The boy was possibly a deity bearer. A host of sorts. He could even be an apostle which would only make him even more dangerous. Killing him would only make things worse. And he might end up turning into them.

    ¡°I know that!¡± He banged his hand on the table. ¡°That¡¯s why I propose a transfer.¡±

    ¡°Yes. The boy would be away. His bride eliminated and the problems all sorted. By the time he even hears about the situation, it¡¯ll be too late and he won¡¯t be able to do anything because he would be on the other side of the world.

    ¡°We could also accidentally mess with his ship and-¡±

    ¡°Well, I¡¯ll leave the minor details to you,¡± Albatros said. ¡°But remember. One failure means you¡¯ll kiss your knightly times goodbye,¡± he eyed the peacefully sleeping knight on top of the man¡¯s lap. Her head resting on his chest, arms loosely draped over his shoulder, hugging.

    ¡°Of course, my lord.¡±

    ¡°Well then,¡± Albatros left.

    ¡­

    It was just the two of them now. ¡°I know you¡¯re not asleep,¡± Julifer said. ¡°Your heart¡¯s racing too much.¡±

    ¡°Just wondering what you¡¯ll be doing to me tonight,¡± she said, whispering.

    ¡°I was thinking ¡®the usual.¡¯¡±

    ¡°You¡¯ll read me three bedtime stories!¡±

    ¡°Of course.¡±

    ¡°And then milk and cookies!¡±

    He patted her head, smiling. ¡°Of course¡­ anything for you, my¡­ princess.¡±

 Chapter 115: Seriously

    The finals came and left quicker than I thought.

    The exams went alright and although I thought I¡¯d screw up, I didn¡¯t. I felt stupid for worrying so damn much.

    But of course, my worries didn¡¯t die out. I had some new concerns. One of them was, how many of the buds were actually going to last. Of the 13, only 3 bloomed and the rest bit the dust before that. These flowers bloom from anywhere between 7 to 9 days. And even then, you couldn¡¯t tell if they were pollinated for at least two more weeks. And since this was the first ever flowering, I kind of doubted whether the fruits would really set or not.

    No no, that wasn¡¯t my only worry. Another worry was the fact that I was running out of things to do at the meetings. I¡¯d bought some time by asking the priest to educate us a bit but that was probably going to backfire if I didn¡¯t do something soon.

    Kind of why I invited Nisa for a walk. A walk outside the academy, on the noble streets. I mean she was technically a princess, so I couldn¡¯t just take her to the slums.

    We only had one guard. That guy who was supposed to be my guard. Shia taught him well and he actually looked like a proper bodyguard nowadays. Big dark circles beneath his eyes, always vigilant.

    He did look kind of sad though.

    ¡°I heard there are some good places opening up here in this town,¡± Nisa said.

    There were some famous chains of bakeries and restaurants in the Western Continent: Burgel¡¯s house and Timber Sweets. They had stores across the continent and only appointed, renowned chefs and patissiers. I¡¯d heard they were going to open up shop here for months now but nothing happened so far.

    ¡°I¡¯ll believe that once they actually open shop,¡± I said.

    She smirked. ¡°So, what did you call me out here for? I¡¯m guessing it¡¯s not that important, otherwise you¡¯d have taken me to a restaurant.¡±

    I¡¯d have loved to, but my pockets were a little empty. The duke did keep his promise and was helping with tuition, but he wasn¡¯t fully covering it and he didn¡¯t give me an allowance, and now that the Baracks knew I was getting financial help from him, they didn¡¯t give me money either.

    So¡­ yeah, I was kind of fucked.

    ¡°Somewhat,¡± I said. ¡°What do you think about the things, as they are.¡±

    ¡°The cult?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°Hmm¡­¡±

    We were mostly walking side by side. This part of town was for the higher nobility, so many people actually recognized the two of us, but I didn¡¯t care about that. I mean, I was engaged to this lady and it was perfectly fine for us to walk around together. Heck, I could probably even hold hands! That was going to make me hella conscious though, so I had no such intention.You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

    Yet.

    ¡°I do think it¡¯s prudent we start acting,¡± Nisa said. ¡°We have a good audience and as long as we can keep them entertained, they¡¯ll do our bidding.¡±

    ¡°Every play needs an end goal though,¡± I said. ¡°A villain to defeat, a princess to save, or maybe even the world.¡±

    ¡°Didn¡¯t you say, we could just make the goal?¡± She leaned closer, or rather bent down a bit. ¡°Besides, I thought you were going to change the world for me?¡± She whispered.

    ¡°I will, I will.¡±

    ¡°Then start taking things a bit more seriously, please.¡±

    She was right.

    I understood as much. Yet¡­ what the fuck was I even supposed to do? it wasn¡¯t like I ever attended any cults- wait¡­ half of the internet was basically a cult¡­.

    ¡°Ah, my lord, fancy seeing you here,¡± a girl said.

    Rin.

    ¡°Good evening, Miss Arin,¡± Nisa said.

    ¡°Good evening, Miss Nisa.¡±

    They spoke with smiles yet¡­ tension, eh? ¡°So, you moved here?¡± I said, taking a look at the white building in front.

    Just months ago, there was a hardworking redhead living here.

    ¡°Yes. A little expensive but it was a birthday gift, so¡­¡± She cackled.

    ¡°Oh, nice, congrats,¡± I said. ¡°We¡¯re just taking a walk.¡±

    That said, I tried steering away, but¡­ ¡°I was planning on walking around myself,¡± Rin said.

    ¡°Then please enjoy your walk,¡± Nisa said. She locked hands with me¡­.

    ¡°I guess, I will,¡± Rin said, standing on the other side of me.

    I knew the girl had feelings for me, or rather was after me because of her family but¡­ but I had a freaking fianc¨¦e! And she was right here no less.

    Rin didn¡¯t lock hands with me like Nisa though, so that was good. Lock hands?

    Holy shit, it wasn¡¯t locking arms, it was¡­ she was holding my hand! Calm down son, you¡¯re not in elementary school anymore.

    Gulping, I kept my breathing stable, my heart rolling and just walked while counting prime numbers because I had nothing better to distract myself with.

    It was still exciting though.

    ***

    My life had calmed down to a point where I was genuinely concerned whether this was the calm before the storm.

    Yet¡­ nothing happened. I trained, I ate good food, I even explored more regions of the city. Of course, not as much as I¡¯d have liked to.

    And eventually, the day of the results came.

    Unlike the last time, I actually showed up in the classroom. I came early, as did many others. We were going to be given results in person by the homeroom teacher (Miss Chamille). Every minute felt like hours. No, that wasn¡¯t just an overstatement, it really felt like forever.

    But as with everything in life, the time eventually passed and Miss Chamille entered the room with stacked white papers. She handed them one by one to the students and I got one too.

    Name: Soler A. Barack

    Class: Year-01; Rank: Beginner-E

    History: 92_ 92_59

    The first one was mine, then the highest, then the class average. So basically, I was first.

    Literature: 88_89_70

    I did better than before and almost¡­.

    Etiquette: 87_92_79

    Spirit Taming: 99_99_61

    Class Rank: 01

    Overall Grade Rank: 02

    Huh¡­ how the fuck did I do worse in etiquette?

    But overall, second in my grade, huh? Not bad, not bad at all.

    ¡°Congratulations, all of you. It¡¯s been a wonderful year. Getting to know you all, getting to help you do better, study better¡­ be a better person, was truly a wonderful experience. Thank you,¡± said Chamille.

    We clapped. I clapped extra hard but yeah¡­.

    Sometime these 9 months felt like forever. But other times, they went by so damn fast¡­.

    But yeah¡­ I guess I was a 2nd year student starting tomorrow. Just nine more years to go.

    ¡°Oh and Sol.¡±

    ¡°Yes?¡±

    ¡°The headmaster wants you to deliver the newcomer¡¯s speech tomorrow at the auditorium for our freshmen. Be sure to practice.¡±

    We have an auditorium?

    ¡°Wait, what speech~!?¡±

    [A/N]

    How long do you think this peace would last? Smirks*

 Chapter 116: Noâ€¦ NO!

    Banners.

    Banners everywhere. Some had Western writing. Some had Southern writing. Some even had demon writing, not that I could read it.

    The ones I could read were basically just welcoming the new students to various clubs. The whole campus was overflowing with new faces. Most were kids, and some were younger than me. Most seemed to be about my size but¡­ some were actually taller. When the fuck will I go through puberty?

    I wasn¡¯t necessarily eager to grow up. I¡¯d already gone through that and honestly, being a child was fun and I had to deal with way less responsibility. Or at least that would have been the case if it were earth. This world operated on different rules and honestly, being a child meant heavy disadvantages. One of the primary ones was powerlessness.

    ¡°Excuse me,¡± a girl said. ¡°Do you know where the library is?¡±

    I had the library¡¯s badge. And a special badge from the administrative department, as a volunteer. ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s the dorm. The black roofed one. You can find the library in the middle from the bottom floor to all the way up to the fourth floor. You¡¯ll be allowed entry today but from tomorrow onwards you¡¯ll need a membership.¡± I wasn¡¯t helping out of the goodness of my heart of course: my reward was simple- three Honeycrisps!

    ¡°I see, thanks!¡±

    A lot of kids walked up to me every now and then and asked for directions. Wish I had someone to show me around too¡­ I kind of did though. Back then Gerar and Shia helped me a ton.

    These days I didn¡¯t see Gerar. Partly because I was too busy. But also, because the dude was super depressed after finding out his own family wanted him dead. He was at a point where he was considering just ending his life entirely but thanks to the counseling team, he hadn¡¯t¡­ yet.

    Maybe I should do something to cheer him up?

    Do what though?

    I didn¡¯t even know the guy.

    ¡°Hey Sol!¡± Someone called me over. Jake?

    ¡°What¡¯s up?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s starting. You should go to the back stage.¡±

    ¡°Uh-huh.¡±

    Not just kids, we also had a lot of merchants visiting today. It wasn¡¯t just an orientation for the newbies. But it was also a farewell for the older students. Which meant, fresh feed for the employers.

    As for the backstage¡­ well, our academy didn¡¯t have an auditorium. At least it didn¡¯t have one yesterday. But this morning, a random big fat dome had popped up just behind the academy on the training grounds.

    It was fully glass, but didn¡¯t let in the heat from the sun. Who or what made it, I had no clue and the seniors didn¡¯t know either. They were just used to it at this point.

    The inside was almost like an arena of sorts, with stacked seats and a podium at the very middle with a teachers panel, flowers, and all sorts of things. It felt modern, rather than magical.

    I made my way to the backstage and met up with some of the speakers. One of them was the headmaster. I¡¯d asked him earlier ¡®why me¡¯. He didn¡¯t have an answer. Apparently, the top of our grade bought her way in and couldn¡¯t really speak in front of a crowd. I honestly didn¡¯t expect the headmaster to actually say that to my face but he did. ¡°I expect great things from you Sol. And for both your family, and your sake¡­ you should too.¡±

    Something about the way he phrased it¡­ I didn¡¯t like.

    Anyway, that brought me back to the present situation. We¡¯ll have some fun speeches from the teachers, some performances from the seniors and some words from them to the new and existing students. And then, I¡¯ll be doing a presentation. The headmaster would give his speech last, and that would conclude the event.

    Fucking hell¡­

    ¡°How¡¯re you feeling?¡± Miss Chamille was also in here.

    ¡°A little nervous. One night isn¡¯t enough to write a good speech.¡±

    ¡°Write one? Didn¡¯t you get our draft?¡±

    ¡°Draft? What draft?¡±

    She groaned, her palm on her face. ¡°I gave one to your sister but¡­ I should have known.¡±

    For fuck¡¯s sake Shia¡­Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.

    ¡°Well, despite the odds, I did write something. Hopefully, it won¡¯t be too embarrassing.¡±

    ¡°Oh and Sol?¡±

    ¡°Yes? Now what? You want me to perform too?¡±

    Chamille was silent. And for a good minute too. It was like she was considering what she was going to say next. ¡°No, no. I have some important things to discuss with you later. It¡¯s about Denkar.¡±

    ¡°Oh¡­ um¡­ sure.¡± Huh¡­ ¡°Did something happen?¡±

    ¡°Chamille, some boys are shouting in the back,¡± someone shouted.

    ¡°We¡¯ll talk more later.¡±

    She seemed a bit hesitant. Almost like¡­ Something definitely happened.

    She¡¯s not going to ask me to tell Den she likes him, right? Nah, probably not.

    .

    ..

    ¡­

    Opera!

    Yeah, a literal opera. They sung for a good five minutes, some girl played a rather soothing violin bit and then we had some reps from the graduating seniors. Drama club performed an intricate dance which looked awkward because some of their tailenders weren¡¯t in sync. Some guy from the culture club sang like a madlad and coughed at the very end; the whole dome erupted¡­ or would have if it were where I studied. Instead, it was pure silence. Poor guy.

    A senior gave a welcome speech to the newbies and then it was finally time for me. A lot of people were expecting a lot of things from me but¡­ how in the actual hell am I going to pull this off? I mean, I knew what I wrote, and it was nothing like the speeches the others gave. I was far too casual and I even included some awkward jokes here and there and¡­ sigh.

    I walked to the center of the stage without tripping. I made extra sure, I didn¡¯t trip. We didn¡¯t want that middle school shit to happen again¡­ no sir.

    I didn¡¯t speak right away, or tested the mike or did anything in particular. I just stood there, as everyone¡¯s attention slowly made my way, keeping my breath level, and without really looking at the audience¡­ but then I did look at them. To no one in particular.

    ¡°Good morning,¡± I started. ¡°You¡¯ve already sat through half a dozen bouts, so I¡¯ll keep this short.¡± I¡¯d heard this very line again and again during my academic career, and honestly, this basically meant, they had no idea what they were doing and they were going to ramble for a while. However, ¡°I came here last year, and I was a freshman like you. Unfortunately, I enrolled late and didn¡¯t get to experience something like this, so a little overwhelming, I must admit. I graduated grade 1 with excellent marks and I¡¯m the top of my class; no, I¡¯m not boasting. I brought that up, just to iterate, I could do it; me, who was behind my peers by a month, didn¡¯t know anything about the school or the curriculum, and had to start from scratch in a new environment, with new challenges. Having done all that, and excelled at it no less, I can say, I can do it, and so can you. However, that would be really, really, ignorant and reckless of me; a little more than usual. (Wink). I mean, not everyone is blessed with the same circumstance or the same set of talent, so everyone has their own pace.¡± Yeah, I was definitely rambling on at this point and confusing myself no less. But I did have a point I wanted to get across. ¡°I never really considered myself special. Even now, I feel like, I don¡¯t deserve this, I¡¯m not good enough; what am I even doing here. It¡¯s true I always feel that way but I¡¯m trying my best and that¡¯s true as well. So, even if things don¡¯t work out for you, even if you can¡¯t really outshine your peers, if you fail¡­ remember, as long as you try your best, that¡¯s good enough¡­. Try to seek help if you need it. Our teachers and helpers are always waiting for students to help¡­ Goodluck and welcome to Schalion.¡±

    I got a round of applause. Not too loud, not too quiet. I probably did okay but my speech was probably a hit or a miss and I honestly didn¡¯t know if I even said everything right.

    In the backstage, I found Shia. She was snickering silently at my face. Meanwhile, I could hear the announcer introducing the headmaster. Just seeing that geezer¡¯s face, the children erupted way louder than they¡¯d done so when my speech ended. Yeah¡­.

    The headmaster went about the history of Schalion and how the first headmaster was a beast and a true prodigy but valued teamwork and hard work and crap like that. I¡¯d heard these things enough times to realize, the folks just make them up in more cases than not.

    He then went over how life in Schalion is different, how students would be protected, and how freeing it is to be away from friends and family (apparently, it¡¯s a good opportunity to grow?), things like that. Standard stuff. He finished with welcoming them again and announcing the end of the orientation program with some gifts: a small pouch containing some juice and bread.

    ¡°You should have tried harder,¡± Shia said.

    ¡°And you should have just given me the draft,¡± I said.

    ¡°But then I wouldn¡¯t have gotten to see you struggling with anxiety like that, would I?¡± She showed me her teeth and was gone before I could open my mouth again.

    Tch.

    I spotted Miss Chamille in the distance and called out to her. She motioned to her left and we entered a room.

    ¡°You wanted to talk,¡± I said.

    ¡°Yes, you see¡­ should I even tell you,¡± She mumbled.

    ¡°Well, you already made me curious.¡±

    ¡°Denkar sent me a mail the other day,¡± she produced a letter from her sachet. ¡°Just informing me he was coming to Sun port and would eventually come here to see you.¡±

    ¡°Wait, really!?¡±

    ¡°Yeah. But the thing is¡­ he should have been here two weeks ago.¡±

    ¡°Maybe he¡¯s just taking his time? I mean, he loves to laze around every now and then.¡±

    No, that wouldn¡¯t make sense if he was with Lin. Considering how Rexen turned out to be a deity or whatever, maybe she came along with him, to see me and¡­.

    ¡°I just got this mail from the post office; I¡¯d sent it to him. It bounced.¡±

    ¡°You mean, he didn¡¯t pay for it-¡±

    ¡°No, I mean, they couldn¡¯t find him.¡± The words bounced off me, almost like I was going deaf. Like, I knew what she just said but my mind refused to process it. ¡°So, I checked with the harbor and¡­ there were two shipwrecks last month. I believe Denkar was on one of them; we¡¯re not sure which one.¡±

    ¡°No¡­ it can¡¯t-¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry¡­¡±

    No¡­

    No!

    [

    [A/N]

    Okay so, expect regular updates starting today till Friday. Now, I understand that''s not much but given this week was supposed to be my holiday week, well, you should understand.

    Even so, I actually wrote way more than I anticipated and completed 2.5 chapters yesterday and will complete 3 today.

    I even finished that  ''Draconic Sexy times'' short story (it was already written). It''s now titled ''Taming the wild dragon'' Fantasy Romance: I''ll leave an Amazon link in the comments in case you''re interested.

    Anyway, considering I plan on writing myself to death (not literally) this week, expect more releases and maybe even bonus chapters!

    Thank you for reading.

    I wish you all a great day.

 Chapter 117: No thanks

    So, Den was shipwrecked, and possibly dead. Meaning, so was Lin.

    No, no, no, this can¡¯t be happening.

    Besides, the reason the two of them went out on this damn journey was so that they¡¯d stay away from me. Why the fuck¡­

    You sent the fucking letter!

    You!

    Damn it!

    I slammed my door open. How I got here, I had no idea. I fell on my bed, not even bothering to lock the door.

    ¡°Something wrong dude?¡± Gerar said, from the window.

    ¡°Remember that Southerner, I came in with?¡±

    ¡°Yeah?¡±

    ¡°Probably dead.¡±

    ¡°Sucks.¡±

    ¡°Yeah.¡±

    ¡°You okay?¡±

    ¡°Not really,¡± my voice shivered as I struggled to answer. Throat a little dry, I was squeaking, desperately trying to suppress the sob.

    My eyes leaked, drenching my bedsheet, yet I couldn¡¯t¡­ damn it! I punched my bed, but¡­ what good was it doing?

    What good was I doing?

    While I was here, studying, living¡­ they were dying. They were dying for my sake. They were¡­ dying.

    For¡­

    Me.

    Hic! A sob leaked out. Everything else leaked out along with it; blurry with snot and tears. Fuck!

    ¡°It¡¯s okay dude,¡± Gerar patted my back.

    ¡°How? They¡¯re dead¡­ because of me.¡±

    ¡°Why would they be dead because of you? Did you kill them?¡±

    ¡°I might as well have¡­¡±

    ¡°Last I checked, you were a savior. You saved all of us, even me. You didn¡¯t kill anyone Sol. And I¡¯m damn sure that those people you¡¯re talking about, they don¡¯t hold you accountable either.¡±

    ¡°But I- I can¡¯t¡­ I can¡¯t forgive myself.¡±

    And then what? Not forgive myself, and then what!?

    What did I have; what in the actual fuck was I even doing with my life?

    The number one problem of my life was the church. They were going to hunt me because I was contracted with a lizard spirit and didn¡¯t have any talents. But all of a sudden that lizard turned out to be a deity and I could now use magic, and that meant I was no longer a hunting object for the church. Meaning, the whole run away to save your son¡¯s life wasn¡¯t valid.The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

    But so what? I still valued the cult and it didn¡¯t even occur to me that I could now go to Lin without completing this thing and protect her instead!

    I could go back home. Lin, Den, we could live together¡­ and be home again.

    Why the fuck was I so¡­ stupid?

    Why didn¡¯t I just think¡­ why didn¡¯t I just think before sending that letter?

    No, the results probably would have been the same. Even if I¡¯d sent a letter suggesting she come here, the same would have happened. The ship would have sunk.

    I didn¡¯t know anything about the world, so suggesting I go find her, was out of the question. Even so¡­ I kind of just wanted to leave now, and find her and-

    ¡°Look, I get it that you blame yourself. I won¡¯t tell you not to. It¡¯s your life, blame yourself till you die. But what I will tell you, is that¡­ it¡¯s okay. Everyone makes mistakes and if your mistake led someone else to die, instead of whining about it¡­ repent.¡±

    ¡°Repent?¡±

    ¡°Repent. You don¡¯t have to repent religiously. Find a way to repent by doing something good. Maybe you can¡¯t do any good for him. But you can still do good for the society. You can still serve the world. You can make it a better place for everyone; so people don¡¯t have to die like that person¡­.¡±

    I never shared my knowledge with the world. I had my reasons. But the primary one was the fact that I didn¡¯t want to influence this world too much. Part of why I didn¡¯t bother inventing the steam engine or similar stuff like that.

    I could have made their lives better and easier but I chose not to. I chose to never influence them. Besides, it wasn¡¯t like I had extensive knowledge on those subjects anyway.

    And I guess it finally came back to bite me for it. No, that was just me being stupid. Even if I had invented something, let¡¯s say a steamboat, then what? Would people of this world take it? Or would they just stick with their expensive magical devices?

    I wasn¡¯t sold on the idea of repenting but Gerar was right, this wasn¡¯t the time to be sobbing. ¡°I¡¯ll head to the harbor,¡± I said. ¡°How do I get there?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯ll have to take a stagecoach through Siran, to Slunten. Given your current status, I¡¯m sure you won¡¯t have to worry about the border guards. But¡­ I wouldn¡¯t recommend going there.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯m not looking for recommendations right now; but thanks.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I know.¡± Gerar gave me a hug. ¡°These might just be words to you but¡­ goodluck. Goodluck out there.¡±

    ¡°Thanks Gerar. Goodluck with the introverted life. I know it¡¯s nice and all but, when it hurts¡­ you¡¯re not alone. I may not be here but, I¡¯ll always be your friend.¡±

    ¡°Thanks Sol. I know.¡±

    I started packing. I packed haphazardly. And I didn¡¯t bother thinking about the otherwise. I had nothing left here.

    The duke no longer needed me; with his wife basically cured, he was probably looking for excuses to get rid of me. The Barack Family had been distant and lately I wasn¡¯t getting along with Shia all that well either. Mike was gone. Almost all the others who I chatted with, only chatted with me because of my fake status.

    Frankly¡­ I didn¡¯t have much here. Even after a year, I didn¡¯t feel at home. Hard to imagine, I felt different just a months ago. I guess that different feeling led to complacency and made me send that stupid later.

    Huh¡­ shit changes fast.

    With my things mostly packed, I put the bag on my back and rushed out the door. Chamille was just outside.

    ¡°Where are you going?¡±

    ¡°Sun port.¡±

    ¡°How will you go there?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll take a stagecoach.¡±

    ¡°Money?¡±

    ¡°I have some.¡±

    ¡°Map?¡±

    ¡°I have one.¡±

    ¡°A guide?¡±

    ¡°I think I¡¯m old enough to navigate the world just fine.¡±

    Chamille groaned. ¡°Stop acting like that imbecile. You¡¯re not as charming.¡±

    The fuck was she even talking about? ¡°You can¡¯t stop me.¡±

    ¡°I know, but she can,¡± she said. Shia was standing just behind her. I hadn¡¯t even noticed her.

    ¡°She can¡¯t either.¡±

    ¡°Oh please,¡± Shia grabbed my arm. ¡°Look what I brought you?¡±

    Honeycrisps. The good ones too. Must have been expensive.

    ¡°I¡¯m really not in the mood for this Shia. I need to go. I need to find them.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll come with you. Not like I have much to do this term anyway; it¡¯ll be fun, we can even drag along Alus.¡±

    ¡°No thanks.¡±

    I walked past them, or attempted to, but since they were getting in my way, I walked to the opposite side. I¡¯d be going through the girl¡¯s side, but I¡¯m sure it didn¡¯t matter right now. I was going to leave this place anyway.

    I did feel bad¡­ but at the same time, this was something I had to do alone.

    I had enough of dragging everyone in my shit.

 Chapter 118: Without A Word

    ¡°Denkar left the same way,¡± Chamille said.

    Shia stood there a bit dazed. A bit, furious.

    She¡¯d gone out of her way to buy the fruits; she even spent her whole month¡¯s allowance. The academy was providing some for the volunteers, but those were mostly of lesser quality. These¡­ these ones were expensive. But no, she wasn¡¯t furious because of that. She was furious because he didn¡¯t even look back. He didn¡¯t want her to go with him. He didn¡¯t-

    ¡°Must be hard for you,¡± Chamille said. ¡°But it¡¯s harder for him. I really don¡¯t know if you know why but¡­ he really liked that man; and I guess he blames himself for his disappearance.¡±

    ¡°I know. I saw them that day. I know¡­.¡±

    Shia found out about Denkar just last week. She found out from her father who told her about the shipwreck and to inform Sol. However, she chose not to. What good would telling Sol do? What would a child like him do with that knowledge? Go to Sun port and then to the demon¡¯s continent? If there really was a shipwreck, and that man was on board, wouldn¡¯t he already be dead? And even if he wasn¡¯t dead, wouldn¡¯t he have at least sent a letter?

    It was obvious, telling Sol was a bad idea, and hence she chose not to. To keep him from leaving his room, she made sure to not deliver the draft either. He¡¯d be working on the project all day, and wouldn¡¯t hear about the shipwreck or whatever.

    He¡¯d eventually know but by that point, it would be utterly impractical for him to leave. A little cruel- she knew, but for his sake, she was willing to be the bad guy.

    Yet- why- ¡°Why did you tell him!?¡±

    ¡°I had to. It was my responsibility.¡±

    ¡°But now he¡¯ll leave! What if he dies!?¡±

    ¡°Then that¡¯s his fate. His choice.¡± She shook her head. ¡°He¡¯s decided his going to leave. Therefore, wouldn¡¯t it be prudent to see him off with the necessary means for him to survive?¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s not even Six yet!¡±

    That was right. Sol¡¯s birthday was still two weeks away. How Shia knew that, was a different story.

    ¡°His burdens do not distinguish between young and old, and so, he can¡¯t either. And¡­ don¡¯t have you some place you should be?¡±

    ¡°Where?¡±This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

    ¡°See him off; or force him to stay. He¡¯s not stopping.¡±

    ¡°Tch!¡± Shia jumped off from the second-floor balcony. She dashed straight for the roads. He couldn¡¯t have gone far, she knew that. But¡­ I don¡¯t care if I have to break his legs-

    She was not going to just let him march to his death¡­ no.

    ***

    ¡°You want to leave for how long?¡± The Librarian said.

    ¡°Possibly a year,¡± Sol said.

    She gave Sol a disapproving look and then sighed. ¡°Excursion? Student Exchange?¡±

    ¡°No mam. I¡¯m dropping out. If I can, I¡¯ll want to come back here and finish my studies for the grade. But if I can¡¯t, I¡¯ll¡­ I guess I¡¯ll travel the world.¡±

    ¡°I see.¡± She stood up, or attempted to. A little old but not quite senile. She managed to locate a book, and find some coins in there. ¡°Take this,¡± she gave both the book and the coins.

    ¡°But you already paid me yesterday.¡±

    She shrugged, slamming it on the boy¡¯s chest. ¡°Take it runt.¡±

    ¡°Fine. Thank you¡­¡±

    An Illuminati¡¯s Tale: Against The World

    JRRS Sortan.

    Sol left the library, made way to Anya¡¯s house, collected lil Rexy, bid farewell to the Baron and made way for the Barack house. I forgot to tell Nisa.

    He made a mental note of asking the Baracks to deliver that message to both Nisa and Duke Alzania.

    Cautiously, he entered the house. Barack Senior was sitting down as usual: Shia wasn¡¯t around; so far so good.

    ¡°I¡¯m leaving,¡± he said.

    ¡°To?¡±

    ¡°Sun Port.¡±

    ¡°I see. Do you need anything?¡±

    ¡°Nothing¡­ no, wait. I need you to deliver a message to Duke Alzania and Nisa. Tell them I¡¯d be gone for a while and if he wants to cancel the marriage or anything, fine by me.¡±

    Barack senior rolled his eyes and was about to open his mouth.

    But Sol opened his first. ¡°Also, this is an Elixir. I do have a few more but I¡¯m keeping them as reserves. Do what you will. Thanks for everything. Sorry for everything as well.¡±

    He sighed. ¡°Kid, sit down.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t have-¡±

    The other kids forced him to sit down. Normally they¡¯d just run away the first chance but today, they were really, really insistent on Sol sitting.

    ¡°Denkar¡¯s ship has sunk. For better or worse, we gotta assume he¡¯s dead. If he is alive, he¡¯s at a place where even the mailing company can¡¯t find him: And the mailing company finds everybody, even death row escapees. So, he¡¯s beyond us for now. You going out there, will only complicate things. So stop.¡±

    His mouth opened, but Sol couldn¡¯t find the words¡­ he just stood there for a few minutes, contemplating what to say next. ¡°I know. But I don¡¯t want to stay here. I want to go out there-¡±

    ¡°And do what? What if two months later, the guy comes back and finds out you went after him, and died. How would he feel?¡±

    ¡°How would I-¡±

    ¡°He¡¯ll feel exactly what you¡¯re feeling. Responsibility! Remorse! Grief~! And Powerlessness.¡±

    ¡°So what am I going to do? Stay here and-¡± Tears welled up, and streamed down his face.

    ¡°Yes. For now, you wait. You gather your strength; you collect information. And when the time¡¯s right, you snatch your chance and you don¡¯t look back. Now¡¯s not that time. You got to be patient.¡±

    ¡°Ok¡­¡±

    ¡°There you are!¡± Shia yelled, running up to the boy. ¡°You¡¯re not going anywhe-woah!¡±

    Sharmon picked his daughter up like a potato sack and carried her upstairs. ¡°Take those things back and don¡¯t think too much. That rascal isn¡¯t this easy to kill. He survived way worse,¡± he chuckled his way up.

    Meanwhile, the lonely boy sat there, silently crying, while the kids around him patted his shoulder without a word.

 Chapter 119: That Was It

    Instead of being furious, I was relieved.

    I felt shit because of that.

    It was almost like a lot of weight got off my chest, and yet, the more I thought about it, the shittier I felt. Den was missing, possibly dead. Mom along with him, given how they were together.

    And yet, here I was, feeling better about not leaving right now without a plan. All my fucking existence was an excuse at this point.

    I heard Den¡¯s ship sank, and I decided to just head to the port. That was stupid. Yet, a lot of people gave me their blessing. They were ok with me taking charge of my life and dictating my own destiny. They had faith in me.

    However, I, myself didn¡¯t know what to do and thus, was easily influenced. Yet, I did agree with Barack Senior. Me rushing to the demon continent without even knowing their language was stupid. Besides, if Den was lost at sea, what the fuck would going to the demon continent do?

    Instead, I need to find islands near that route.

    If Den was in any known places, the mailing company would have found him. Meaning, he was at some place that didn¡¯t have humans. Possibly an island at sea.

    And I had to find that island, plot a course, gather up enough funds for a rescue mission and¡­ yup, Barack Senior was right.

    Even if it means being a coward. Even if it means being a fucking weasel.

    Let¡¯s do this!

    I picked myself up, wiped my tears, patted some of the kids on their heads and left. I went straight into the dormitory, threw my bag back onto my bed and headed into the library.

    ¡°You¡¯re back?¡± The librarian said, a little displeased.

    ¡°I changed my mind. I¡¯m going to research first about islands, and then leave; oh and please teach me demon tongue.¡± I didn¡¯t give the book back, but I did give the money back.

    She rolled her eyes. ¡°Just don¡¯t forget your duties.¡±

    ¡°Of course!¡±

    .

    ..

    ¡­

    Gerar was doing something at the end of the hallway. Instead of being in his room he was staring out into the city.

    ¡°Back so soon?¡± He said.

    Alone. He seemed distant- more than usual.

    ¡°Yeah. Figured me rushing there without a plan was only going to make things worse.¡±

    ¡°Good.¡±Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.

    We didn¡¯t have much to talk about. We never really talked much anyway. All we did was smalltalk and right now that didn¡¯t feel like the right thing. I was distracting myself, and I¡¯m sure he was too.

    Yet¡­

    It was kind of calming.

    He didn¡¯t have caring parents. Or maybe he used to. But now his family wanted him dead. Meanwhile, my parents were missing and there was a chance they were dead. Vastly different situations yet¡­ it almost felt like we could feel each other¡¯s pain. Or maybe I was just thinking too much.

    ¡°You should head over to the nurse¡¯s office.¡±

    ¡°Why?¡±

    ¡°Miss Chamille collapsed earlier. She¡¯d probably feel better if you went there.¡±

    ¡°Huh¡­ okay.¡±

    I dropped off some of my other things and just like Gerar asked, went over to the nurse¡¯s office. The nurse was tending Miss Chamille, or more like they were just talking to each other about something.

    ¡°Forgot something?¡± Miss Chamille said. She was lying down on the bed, resting against the wall with a pillow acting as support.

    ¡°Plan. I forgot a plan.¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡± She struck a thoughtful pose. ¡°I suppose you inherited some intelligence from your mother¡¯s side.¡±

    ¡°What are you even talking about?¡±

    ¡°Well, Denkar wouldn¡¯t really stop to think and just act based on his emotions first thing. You act just like him sometimes. But¡­ I suppose you do have some sense, which he didn¡¯t.¡±

    Well, I¡¯m technically almost as old as him. And technically older than him back when he used to make rash decisions. Then again, that dude is still kind of rash. Not that I could complain.

    ¡°So, who convinced you to stay?¡± Chamille said.

    ¡°Barack Senior.¡±

    ¡°Barack senior? You mean your father.¡±

    Oops. I might have spoken my mind a bit too frankly. ¡°Yes, yes, I meant father.¡±

    ¡°Well, he is your father of course,¡± she winked.

    I couldn¡¯t help but just stare¡­ the nurse too.

    Anyway, with that over I went back to the library for the umpteenth time today and settled down over at the geography section. While I did have maps, they weren¡¯t very detailed. And I didn¡¯t really know much about the demon continent. Or the routes, or the islands either.

    But I need to learn demon tongue. Almost all good maps on the demon continent and stuff near that place happened to be in demon tongue.

    The ship wreck happened somewhat close to the demon continent or so Miss Chamille said. Of course, I wasn¡¯t satisfied with that information so I immediately sent a mail to the shipyard and asked for a thorough clarification. I didn¡¯t forget to flaunt my rank and connections but I had little hope it would lead to anything.

    Anyway, for now I paid close attention to the maps. I also asked the librarian to introduce me to a demon who could teach me more about the geography of the demon continent. Right now, even if I ended up going there, I was just going to end up screwed thanks to the language barrier and the fact that I knew absolutely nothing about them. Sure, most demons knew Western or Southern tongue. But I would have absolutely no idea if they just screwed with me and cheated the hell out of me. Besides, I was a child and an easy prey.

    ***

    Three days later, the Librarian introduced me to Lady Hilda, an aristocratic well-dressed lady who knew demon tongue.

    She seemed human at first glance, but upon closer inspection, I saw small horns perking up from underneath her blonde hair. Is this what you call a halfbreed?

    She seemed to have picked up on my confusion and proceeded to explain that her noble father impregnated a lowly demon from the stables and that birthed her.

    I had a distinct feeling she viewed herself different from fellow demons and didn¡¯t like her mother much. But of course, I was just getting ahead of myself.

    ¡°Well then, I will give you a set of symbols; be sure to memorize them and the tones by tomorrow.¡±

    Eh?

    Huh?

    Well, this is going to be difficult. I didn¡¯t learn many languages in my past life. Just five-ish. But I knew how to learn languages effectively, part of why I learned Sea tongue so efficiently, despite having average memory. However, I couldn¡¯t apply them to the demon tongue because of how barbaric the written language looked in contrast to something like the Southern tongue which basically looked like fancy curvy Arabic.

    Well, I guess I had to memorize this thing eventually. ¡°I¡¯ll give it my best shot.¡±

    ¡°Good.¡±

    That was it.

    A/N

    Caught a cold at the worst possible moment. Might be the last chapter of the week.

 Chapter 120: All You Can Eat

    Memorizing the alphabet was hard; actually learning the tones though, impossible. I just couldn¡¯t produce the same sounds. It was almost like you needed to be a demon to be able to speak demonically.

    Whenever I attempted, I sounded like a toddler making squeaking noises. Technically, I was a toddler but that wasn¡¯t the problem.

    However, things were moving along smoother than I expected, particularly because I was hellbent on learning the language and more about the world.

    Apparently, there were some distinct islands near the demon continent. Some islands were just typical islands, while others were cursed or something along those lines.

    But one thing bothered me a bit. Apparently, there were patches of shallow waters, stretching for kilometers. These waters were haunted by sirens, often had deep pocket, and no one knew if there was actual land or civilization there. Ships couldn¡¯t get into the shallow water, and sailors who swam in- never came back. Sounded like a typical horror plot but that didn¡¯t scare me. What scared me was the fact that¡­ there was a chance, nay, there was a good chance for Den and Lin to be there. Author Sarton had termed that patch of the ocean as ¡®the Forbidden Continent¡¯ suggesting it might be bigger than most sailors would have you believe. But let¡¯s search there last.

    Actually, before starting, I needed a good few things. One, a rescue crew; two, even more knowledge; and three, not being a little child. And one of them was actually impossible.

    I couldn¡¯t let that stop me, however.

    The reason I didn¡¯t rush to Sun port was simple; I needed a plan. And now I had a plan. I just had to find a way to execute it. And I needed money for that of course.

    I already had a good idea about how to make money. But that much wouldn¡¯t be enough for long journeys and- No, I should just sell an elixir.

    Yeah, that was probably for the best. I had seven remaining, and I could easily sell them for profit.

    But sell them to who? Did I even know people who were super rich and were in need of something so damn precious?

    Well, the duke won¡¯t do.

    He already had enough elixirs, and his wife was practically good as new- ahem¡­ they never thanked me officially though. Maybe I could ask for his assistance? He didn¡¯t really have any obligation to help me. At least not anymore. I was already asking a lot of Nisa during the meeting sessions, so I couldn¡¯t really ask more of her either. I had to consider that she was a different person and had her own goals, separate from mine.Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

    Guess I¡¯ll do some Adventuring.

    ***

    Technically, I was one of the lower ranked adventurers. However, upon completing the church¡¯s job (or quitting) I got two promotions. I had no idea if it was because Alayla praised me, or because the guild just assumed I did a good job.

    Either way, I wasn¡¯t the lowest ranked adventurer anymore and that meant I could take on some of the more challenging jobs like helping farmers, rescuing dogs, cleaning abandoned houses; none of them paid well. Of course, they paid more than lowest ranked jobs (cleaning bath tubs and toilets) but still! D ranked adventure jobs are also pretty shit, huh?

    Argh¡­ at this rate-

    Instead of thinking too much, I went to Anya¡¯s place. The fruits were coming along nicely and some of them had taken a rather pink hue.

    We actually had some improvements. Namely, the plant grew three more branches and five sub branches and all sub branches grew new buds; the tree itself was a foot taller. Technically, Honeycrisp only ever budded once a year, so this was a miracle. Well, sort of. This was only possible thanks to Rexy, who had to spend a lot of her time here.

    And she was doing it for me without complaint.

    ¡°Once this fruit ripens, I should stop leaving Rexy here. I need to be a bit more considerate to her.¡±

    ¡°Who the fuck are you even talking to?¡± Anya said; apparently, she was behind me.

    ¡°Oh, uh¡­¡± Yeah, I might or might not have been speaking aloud for no reason at all.

    ¡°I don¡¯t think she needs to stay here much. I¡¯ve been trying to figure what whether this tree would work elsewhere, under different conditions.¡±

    Right now, the tree was by the window, showering in the basking evening sun.

    ¡°You haven¡¯t been secretly moving it around the house, right?¡±

    ¡°Not really. But I have been breaking off branches and shoving them in dirt. Turns out, this guy¡¯s really procreative.¡±

    ¡°Huh? You¡¯re breaking off its branches!¡±

    ¡°Calm down,¡± she shrugged. ¡°We have eighteen new saplings now. And all of them are doing well and would fruit next year; look, this one even has a bud.¡± She pointed outside the window and I took a look. She was right, we had actual saplings and one with buds!

    ¡°Huh? How? I mean, Rexy¡¯s here, or are you making her work too hard?¡±

    ¡°You really are on edge today, huh?¡± She sighed. ¡°Well, I have no idea what she did to this plant but it¡¯s already a spirit in itself and all its offsprings are also half spirits and have been adapting a bit too well. If not controlled, this plant will spread all over the continent; meanwhile, the main tree will become a giant tree like the one see in the Southern Capital, but better and bigger.¡±

    ¡°You mean, I¡¯ll get to eat those big Honeycrisps again?¡±

    ¡°Of course that¡¯s your takeaway.¡± Anya rolled her eyes.

    ¡°Doesn¡¯t this mean, we could make a lot of profit?¡±

    ¡°We sure can. I tried talking hypotheticals to an herbalist and he ballparked the saplings to roughly 5 gold apiece.¡±

    ¡°Do the saplings also have the same procreative abilities?¡±

    ¡°They don¡¯t. But I¡¯m sure if Rexy spends time here with them, they¡¯ll become just like the main tree.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, let¡¯s not do that. We don¡¯t want ruin everything else here.¡±

    ¡°Pretty sure, it¡¯ll be somewhat ruined either way. But good for you. Now you can eat all you can eat Honeycrips.¡±

    ¡°Yeah.¡±

    Too bad, I won¡¯t be here anymore though.

 Chapter 121: Alright: Good.

    The Honeycrisp tree had become self-sufficient and started growing faster. So, we planted it on a field with the Count¡¯s permission. I gave him a brief explanation that this was our personal project and might eventually take over the whole world, making this place super famous. Basically, we were paying him in exposure, so we didn¡¯t have to pay anything for the land. But I doubt that¡¯s why he let me do as I please. It had more to do with the fact that he was trying to score brownie points with me.

    Anyway, we were selling the potted saplings at a premium to local nobles. Normally, you couldn¡¯t get fresh Honeycrisps in the Western continent. This place was a bit different. It was close to the port, and often got plenty of imports. However, even so, fruits weren¡¯t as fresh as you¡¯d find them on the southern continent. What¡¯s more, a good fruit was going to cost you from anywhere between five to ten times its original price. Sometimes, even more.

    So, pricing the trees at 5 gold was utterly reasonable and people were buying up our whole stock. The mother tree was fast but it couldn¡¯t regenerate instantly, so we tried jacking up the price to 10 gold; no luck. We were stock out again. Apparently, with both my and Anya¡¯s name on the line, people found us far too credible and bought up on the idea that they could make a lot of profit from this particular type of honeycrisp that grew on the western continent. I bet they were thinking they could easily propagate the trees, and grow their own, selling them and stuff-

    But some of them were just buying from us and selling at much higher prices to neighboring lands. We of course stopped selling to high-risk customers like that.

    At one point we had to raise our prices to 50 gold and even had to assigns guards to the main tree. Fun stuff this was; money making.

    The money problem was solved for now. But I had to deal with two other things. One, gather a crew capable of pulling this off. And two, find someone who would guard me on this voyage and help me not die.

    I could figure out the latter later but for now, I had to do something about a crew. However, I had absolutely no knowledge regarding that so I went over to Alustur. He was on break and soon would be teaching kids again.

    ¡°I don¡¯t think we can rescue them,¡± he said, flat out rejecting my proposal. He¡¯d rejected me the last time too.

    ¡°You¡¯re not working for-¡±

    ¡°No,¡± he shook his head. ¡°If the mailing company couldn¡¯t find them, they¡¯re beyond our reach. Taking a ship there wouldn¡¯t do much.¡±

    ¡°Look, I got that. But they¡¯re plenty of places they could be. Heck, they could be in the bottom of the ocean, swimming with mermaids.¡±Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

    Alustur snorted once, a bit rare. ¡°I suppose.¡± He cleared his throat. ¡°Let¡¯s say we go there, and we find a wreckage. No sign of any survivors. What then?¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ll come back.¡±

    ¡°You sure? You sure you¡¯ll come back?¡±

    I figured if I told him, I wanted to head over to the uncharted sea after that, he was probably going to flat out reject me again. ¡°Yeah, sure.¡±

    ¡°Alright.¡±

    ¡°What do you mean, alright?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll gather a crew.¡±

    ¡°Thanks. How much money would you need?¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t have to worry about that.¡±

    ¡°Well, I¡¯m making a fair bit and can afford-¡±

    ¡°Sol,¡± he stood up, put a hand on my head. ¡°You don¡¯t have to worry about anything. I¡¯ll take care of it. Just prepare for the journey.¡±

    I didn¡¯t really know why but when he said it like that¡­ I couldn¡¯t help but feel- everything was going to be alright.

    ***

    Two days later, I got whipped by the half demon lady.

    ¡°Why can¡¯t you remember something so simple!¡± She was furious.

    Nay, that was an understatement. She probably didn¡¯t intend to hit me, but she hit me anyway.

    ¡°No violence, please,¡± the librarian warned. Luckily it was near midnight and students had already left.

    ¡°But he¡¯s such a good student! It¡¯s like he¡¯s not even taking this seriously!¡±

    ¡°Not everyone has the same level of talent as you,¡± the librarian said. ¡°He¡¯s trying plenty hard himself. Give him time.¡±

    ¡°But he¡¯s so much better than me,¡± the lady grumbled.

    Apparently, I excelled in certain things the lady did not. Particularly magic and spirit taming. So, she¡¯d developed this odd opinion about me that I was just superior to her and hence she couldn¡¯t beat me, a literal child.

    However¡­ she probably understood she was just making up excuses and hence she was only getting more and more furious.

    Still, I did not appreciate physical abuse. ¡°Please refrain from touching me,¡± I said. ¡°Next time, you might not have your hand intact.¡±

    She grumbled. ¡°Sorry,¡± but ended up apologizing. As stuck up as she was, she was fairly courteous when it came to respecting others.

    Her temper was a real problem though.

    ¡°So, how fares your preparations,¡± the librarian said.

    ¡°Pretty good,¡± I moved over to her. ¡°Alus says he found a captain. All we have to do is now buy a ship and hire some sailors-¡±

    Which was going to cost a lot of money. Alustur was probably trying to be a good guy by helping me. Perhaps it was his way of making up for the fact that he tried to kill me. Honestly, I wasn¡¯t holding it back against him. I tried to make that clear too, but the guy just wasn¡¯t listening.

    ¡°Not that you imbecile. I¡¯m talking about your hunt for answers. I¡¯m sure Alus would take care of the rescue front. What about the ¡®Search¡¯ front?¡±

    ¡°About that, I¡¯ve been thinking about trying the forbidden continent, if nothing works.¡±

    After going through everything, I was about eighty percent sure they¡¯d be near that place. Maybe on a cursed island or maybe on the actual shallow water front.

    ¡°Where did you learn that name?¡± Her face went pale.

    ¡°Remember that Sarton book you gave me-¡±

    She sighed. ¡°I should have been more careful.¡± She face palmed herself. ¡°I thought you¡¯d be out of their reach and I was in such a hurry¡­¡± she sighed.

    ¡°Why?¡±

    ¡°Never utter that name in front of anyone from the church,¡± she whispered. ¡°They want you to believe that continent does not exist.¡±

    Meanwhile- we both glanced at the lady on the other side who was not paying attention; good.

 Chapter 122: Good Luck

    Apparently, just after the last brutal war, the beast people were all wiped out, at least that¡¯s what the last Sortan book I read, hinted at.

    The new one I¡¯d been reading however had some new information.

    ¡®With almost all of their kin dead, the last remaining Beast Humans sought solace in the forbidden continent. The forbidden continent, famous for harboring the Dead Sirens of yonder, took them in. No one knows for sure, whether any beast humans survived, but one thing is for certain, whoever goes there¡­ never comes out.¡¯

    So apparently, after the patchy ocean, there was some sort of continent on the other end. And there was a good chance there were people there. Of course, there was a chance nothing was there other than just shallow water and sirens, but honestly, I wanted to take this risk and-

    And do what?

    Even if Den and Mom were there, they couldn¡¯t come out for whatever reason. If I went there, I probably couldn¡¯t-

    Does that matter? At least I¡¯d be with them.

    But then what about my life here?

    What about it? Now that I thought about it, I came here solely to stay away from the church. To stay here for ten years and go back to home.

    So¡­ why was I having second thoughts?

    Did this place¡­ change me? I¡¯d only spent a year here. And I was already attached?

    Huh¡­ I was perhaps realizing a bit late but, but I really did like this place. I really did. To the point where I was considering finding my family and coming back here. Almost like that was the most natural thing to do. Even though it wasn¡¯t.

    I sighed.

    Despite everything, the preparations were well underway. And sometime next month, I¡¯d be setting off on a voyage: At the ripe age of six. Apparently, yesterday was my birthday but I more or less forgot.

    And since no one else knew my birthday, I didn¡¯t get any wishes. Sharmon asked me to show up for the family dinner today though. Apparently, he wanted to talk about me leaving and preparations and all that stuff. Despite hating my guts, the guy did help me more than I could have ever hoped for.

    So, with nothing in particular to do, I headed out. The sun was in the west horizon, setting. Guess I¡¯ll spend the night there.If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.

    ***

    Shia opened the doors. She had a smile but I had a feeling she wasn¡¯t smiling at me. She was probably still furious. Actually, she hadn¡¯t talked to me at all these last few weeks. I couldn¡¯t blame her, honestly. I¡¯d be mad at me too.

    ¡°Get fresh, we¡¯re having dinner,¡± Mrs. Alayla said.

    Apparently, she came early today and already finished cooking?

    Well, that¡¯s new.

    I gave the air a sniff and got manafish smell. No, that wasn¡¯t right. I got the smell of her curry. That mustard seed curry. My mouth watered without me having to think about it. Yup, we were going to have a feast tonight.

    So, I got fresh, merrily showed up at the dinner table and was a bit surprised to find all our little members sitting idly at the corner, with plates full of food. Usually, they eat first, and leave. We eat as a family afterwards.

    ¡°Happy birthday Sol,¡± Sharmon said.

    That was it. How¡¯d they know it was my birthday- I had no idea. All sorts of food on the table, and even some desert in the form of cream puffs.

    We started eating.

    Kind of quiet. Just the sound of the utensils and the occasional mumble from one of the kids. The food was good so I ended up eating faster than I thought. Once I was done though, I stuck around. Mostly for the cream puffs but also because the others were done and they were staring quite intently.

    ¡°So you¡¯ve decided to leave?¡± Sharmon said.

    ¡°Once the preparations are complete, yes.¡±

    ¡°What will you do if Denkar is dead?¡±

    ¡°I will come back here.¡±

    ¡°Hmm¡­ what if you can¡¯t find the wreckage and in turn, him?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll keep looking.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s impossible to keep looking forever. You don¡¯t have any plans to search the cursed islands, right?¡±

    ¡°Nope, not at all.¡± I lied through my teeth.

    I had a feeling both Barack Senior and his wife had figured that bit out but even if they had, it was too late.

    He sighed. ¡°Well, do be careful.¡±

    ¡°I-¡± I paused. I wanted to thank them. I wanted to thank them for everything they¡¯d done for me. I knew I could thank Sharmon by giving him money. I didn¡¯t know how I could thank Alayla or Shia but I figured they weren¡¯t necessarily seeking anything from me in the first place. ¡°I¡¯ll be careful and¡­ try to come back in one piece.¡±

    I got a snort from Alayla and some of the kids laughed. Oh well.

    ¡°Under normal circumstances, I¡¯d be coming with you,¡± Alayla said. ¡°But if Alustur is going with you, then I don¡¯t need to.¡±

    ¡°Would having a priest on board be helpful?¡± I wondered aloud.

    ¡°Alayla was a templar knight trainee. She could have been a templar knight and maybe even one of those special ones. She declined the offer and became a cardinal instead¡­ for me,¡± Sharmon said, damn proudly too.

    I could have sworn I saw miss Alayla blush but I pretended not to. ¡°I see, so she really does call all the shots in this house.¡±

    Now, Sharmon blushed, albeit not in the flirty kind of way. Oh boy, he was pissed.

    I got a rather wild giggle from Alayla who, came up to me and took me into her arms. ¡°I¡¯ll miss you. Be sure to write every once in a while.¡±

    ¡°I will. It¡¯s not like I¡¯m leaving right away,¡± I protested.

    ¡°A month will just pass by,¡± she whispered. ¡°Good luck.¡± With a pat on my head, she left the room.

    The kids one by one gathered up the plates and bowls and took them back to the kitchen.

    Meanwhile, Barack senior stared at me. ¡°Don¡¯t expect a hug kid, I don¡¯t do those.¡± He grumbled. Still in a bad mood apparently. He left or appeared to. ¡°Good luck.¡±

    Leaving, just me and Shia.

 Chapter 123: I see, I see

    It¡¯d been a year since I came here.

    And ever since the first time we spoke, Shia had been a mystery to me. Every time I thought I¡¯d had her figured, she proceeded to blow my mind and expectations. Even now, I had no idea just how capable she was and what she was thinking, or why for that matter.

    But I suppose that was somewhat true for all individuals. People were dynamic things, and they change. I didn¡¯t know if Shia had changed much since I came here, but I definitely understood one thing: I didn¡¯t understand her.

    ¡°It¡¯s still early, think I¡¯ll head back,¡± I said.

    Probably close to ten, most people were going back to their homes about now. It¡¯d be a bit risky to head back but, but I didn¡¯t know what else to say. If I stayed here, I¡¯d be sharing a room with Shia and I didn¡¯t know whether she wanted that. In the past that wasn¡¯t an issue. We were hardly using the room at once. And since there were two beds, that wasn¡¯t an issue either. This time however, I doubted she wanted me near her. Especially after how I just shoved her out of my life. No, perhaps that wasn¡¯t an apt description. I deliberately wanted her out of my life. Maybe to protect her, maybe to make the excuse of protecting her and just running away from the responsibility, from our friendship, from our brotherhood.

    This was similar to many relationships I¡¯d ended in the past. Whenever I got close to someone, I always nitpicked on the little things and made-up excuses to not be near them. I guess I was too afraid to disappoint them and have them leave first.

    No wonder I didn¡¯t have friends.

    I always blamed Mom and my lack of time but¡­ they were just excuses.

    ¡°It¡¯s pretty late. You should stay over like they asked you to,¡± Shia said. Somewhat melancholic but she wasn¡¯t hissing. No, she never hisses at you.

    ¡°Sorry I behaved that way, that day. I know you care. I understand why you¡¯d want to stop me. But-¡±

    ¡°You have to go, I know. Don¡¯t worry about it.¡±

    ¡°Thanks.¡±

    She wasn¡¯t even looking at me. Kind of hurt.

    ***

    I spent the night staring at the ceiling. Shia didn¡¯t sleep in this room. I had no idea where she even was.

    I thought about a lot of things. And frankly, most of them made sense in my head.

    Leave through Sun port, search every island that¡¯s near the route, and reach Moon port, do some digging, and then leave again and search all the distant islands, and the supposed ship wreckage, and after that¡­ the cursed islands.

    If Den was still missing¡­ then¡­.

    But no one would want to come with me. Who would want to risk their lives for some cash, searching cursed islands?The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

    I didn¡¯t have enough confidence in my own abilities to survive but even so¡­ I wanted to do this.

    I probably couldn¡¯t get much better at surviving in these last few weeks but¡­ but I was going to keep practicing. I was going to keep trying.

    And I was going to keep struggling till the very last second.

    Sometime later, Shia came back and slept on her bed.

    The next day, I went back to the academy, cleaned the library, attended classes, did my drills, studied¡­ like nothing was wrong at all. And from and outside perspective that was probably true. It wasn¡¯t though.

    I had a whole bunch of shit on my mind and I needed to do something about it.

    ¡°Sol?¡±

    ¡°Yeah?¡±

    Apparently, while I was super distracted, I ended up walking to the Girl¡¯s side of the dorm. Luckily Nisa found me before I could walk into someone¡¯s room.

    She guided me over to her place and offered me some cookies.

    ¡°Considering your mother had issues with these, I¡¯d go a bit easy,¡± I said.

    Haven¡¯t I said that before?

    ¡°I barely eat them these days. Just two apiece.¡±

    ¡°Good, I guess.¡±

    ¡°So, what¡¯s with the absent-mindedness? You¡¯re looking paler and paler by the day.¡±

    ¡°Worries,¡± I said. ¡°Are you not worried?¡±

    ¡°Oh, you mean my ¡®ah, my husband might not come back to me after this!¡¯ kind of worry?¡± She giggled. Halfway through she started acting like a princess in distress but oh well.

    ¡°Fianc¨¦, not husband. But yeah.¡±

    ¡°Do you think you¡¯ll die trying to find this man?¡±

    ¡°I sure hope not.¡±

    ¡°Then it¡¯s fine. Besides, I¡¯m sure father will send some troops anyway.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve told him though,¡± now that I thought about it.

    ¡°Well, I did. You don¡¯t expect me to just send my fianc¨¦ to a journey to the other side of the world without any help, right?¡±

    ¡°Technically, I do have help. But yeah¡­ thanks.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re welcome.¡± She sat down next to me. Kind of close. ¡°Do come back in one piece though.¡±

    ¡°Will do.¡±

    ***

    Despite thinking I had a while, the days just kept on running out.

    One day, I had three weeks, the next¡­ just one.

    It was like I was speedrunning life or something. No, life was just peaceful and I perhaps didn¡¯t want to leave it. Perhaps I didn¡¯t want the peace to end. Perhaps that¡¯s why it was ending so fast.

    And then one day, I got called to the headmaster¡¯s office. I hadn¡¯t done anything wrong and I hadn¡¯t been skipping classes either¡­ at least not the important ones.

    Was he going to stop me? I didn¡¯t think so. Maybe he was going to try to reason with me?

    Probably not. He¡¯d have already done it by now. So why?

    Climbing these damn stairs was really draining everything I had. Why couldn¡¯t I have flight powers, or gravity altering magic or something like that?

    Sigh.

    Anyway, I eventually made it to the top floor and fought the intense urge to lie down. Instead, I caught my breath and knocked on the door. Luckily it wasn¡¯t summer anymore and I didn¡¯t sweat like a fat toddler who¡¯d just discovered the special placed called ¡®sauna¡¯.

    ¡°Come in.¡±

    I went in, and apparently the headmaster wasn¡¯t alone. There was another man in here. The priest.

    We exchanged some pleasantries and sat down.

    ¡°Yes, you may leave now,¡± the headmaster said.

    No, he wasn¡¯t talking to me. He was talking to the priest who promptly left.

    Meanwhile, the headmaster flashed a piece of paper before me and slammed it on the table. ¡°You see, the church wants me to send you away.¡±

    Study abroad plan.

    ¡°Huh?¡±

    ¡°Study abroad or something like that.¡±

    ¡°Why?¡±

    ¡°Rid you of your chances to become a paladin; isn¡¯t that obvious?¡±

    ¡°But I don¡¯t want to become one to begin with,¡± I shrugged.

    ¡°Well, they don¡¯t buy that.¡±

    ¡°So they want to send me away, and then use that to get rid of me?¡±

    ¡°Think bigger kid. What do you need to be a paladin?¡±

    ¡°Lots of bullshit?¡±

    ¡°Yes and- huh?¡± He chuckled for a minute. ¡°No, I¡¯m talking about royal blood. They can just get rid of the ducal family and your chances are finished.¡±

    ¡°What if I just find another one?¡±

    ¡°Well¡­ yeah, I¡¯m sure the church is being hasty with this one aren¡¯t really all that serious.¡±

    ¡°Besides, it¡¯s not like the dukedom of Alzania is any slouch. I¡¯m sure they¡¯ll be fine.¡±

    ¡°I agree with that. I still took the liberty of writing a letter to Duke Alzania, however. Oh, and I do propose you go study abroad or at least go on the guise of studying abroad.¡±

    ¡°Oh, I see, I see.¡±

 Chapter 124: Setting Sails

    The day came sooner than I thought.

    I woke up early in the morning. Most of my things were already packed and I just had to get fresh, and go. Yet, for some reason, I couldn¡¯t find the strength to get up from my bed.

    Well, I suppose it was no longer my bed. There was a good chance I wouldn¡¯t be coming back this year. And an even greater chance that I wouldn¡¯t be coming back at all.

    I don¡¯t want to go, huh?

    ¡°Yawn,¡± I heard some sounds from the window. ¡°Leaving?¡±

    ¡°Pretty much,¡± I said, sitting up. ¡°Feels weird.¡±

    ¡°Kinda does, yeah. You¡¯ll get used to it though. Just like you got used to here,¡± Gerar said.

    He was right. When I first came here, I quickly got used to it. Part of it was because I¡¯d already gone through similar things but much worse things in the past. And part of it was because I was mature now and had better control of my emotions.

    However¡­ this time things were a bit different. I wasn¡¯t going away to study. I was going to get my parents back.

    Doesn¡¯t matter if you want to or not, you¡¯re going.

    ¡°Yeah, I¡¯ll be fine.¡± I jumped off the bed, and grabbed my bag. ¡°See you around?¡±

    ¡°Yeah.¡± He shoved his hand through the window.

    I grabbed and shook his hand.

    We had a somewhat mediumship. About twenty meters in height, roughly two stories high, and three meters wide. Kind of narrow in my opinion but not that bad.

    We were going to use the river nearby (the one with the cursed ships) and travel to Sun port. After stocking up at Sun Port, we would set sails for reals. I thought we were going to travel to sun port by foot or maybe by a carriage but I guess using the river was a better route.

    What about the cursed ships though?

    ¡°This is Albatros,¡± Alustur said. ¡°He¡¯ll be our captain.¡±

    ¡°Nice to meet you,¡± We shook hands.

    ¡°You know, you really don¡¯t have to come with me,¡± I said.

    No, having him onboard this journey was going to really put my mind at ease. However, he really didn¡¯t have any reason to help me and I wanted to make that clear to him.

    ¡°No, I have to come with you. You know nothing of the world.¡±

    ¡°Well, you have me there; but I did travel with Den you know.¡±

    ¡°I know.¡±

    Oh yeah, Alustur was with us back then.

    ¡°And these are the crew, from the right; Jackson, Braile, Jalik, Morty, And Barbus- he¡¯s a demon.¡±This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

    The first three were human. Morty, an elf, and Barbus was a demon. They all greeted me by taking off their hats.

    ¡°Soler A. Barack,¡± I said.

    ¡°Baron at such a young age,¡± the captain wondered. ¡°Welcome aboard the Kissing Duchess my lord,¡± he said, finally taking off his large pirate-like black hat. Soft white hair, almost like a fluffy cloud; a medium beard and a rather large tummy.

    Kissing duchess? I took another look at the very front of the ship and well¡­ it had two mermaids kissing. And no, one of the mermaids wasn¡¯t even humanoid.

    Anyway, that said, I casually boarded the ship. Or would have if the damn thing didn¡¯t have a rope ladder as the only entrance. Lately, I¡¯d been stress eating a lot and that might or might not have made me a bit fat¡­

    Luckily, Alustur picked me up and hoisted me into the air. One of the sailors caught me like a sack and brought me down on my feet.

    I felt like an object but moving on.

    Anchors lifted, the sails flowing hard, the ship started moving.

    I waved at the shore and the few people who came to see me. They were already distant. I actually didn¡¯t get to talk to them this morning. Mostly out of anxiety and the fear that I¡¯d want to stay here if I spoke to them. But only now I understood, that was utterly disrespectful. But I had faith they would understand.

    So, I just silently waved and got some waves back.

    ¡°Come back home after this!¡± And a scream.

    Nisa. She had kitty in her arms. When had they gotten so close?

    ¡°I WILL!¡±

    Huh, guess she didn¡¯t come.

    ***

    ¡°What about the cursed ships?¡± I said.

    Although there wasn¡¯t enough space on the deck, they had some hammocks and even chairs. All bolted on.

    The crew members were carrying the luggage and our limited supplies across the ship and into the storehouse. Or maybe into the rooms?

    ¡°They¡¯re further down the stream.¡±

    Meanwhile, we were heading upstream. Soon we¡¯d see our first city but we wouldn¡¯t be disembarking. It¡¯d take Just two days to cross this river bit and then our journey to Moon Port would take roughly two months. Sometimes it took even four months.

    ¡°Would it be bad if we came face to face with them?¡±

    ¡°Unless you¡¯re foolish enough to board them, no.¡±

    ¡°I see.¡±

    ¡°Let me show your quarters,¡± Alustur said, leading me down the ship¡¯s narrow stairway.

    Although narrow, this place was clean at the very least and smelled like Maple.

    Very new.

    ¡°Does this ship also use a magical device?¡±

    ¡°It does,¡± he said.

    ¡°Then it¡¯d be best to watch out for mermaids, accidentally stealing it.¡±

    ¡°Everything¡¯s accounted for.¡±

    There were four rooms on the second floor. The third floor was the engine room- or rather the magical device room and off limits for obvious reasons. I was going to share the room with Alustur.

    Didn¡¯t look that much different from my dorm room¡­ but we¡¯re going to share this small room? They had some barrels of food and other stuff in the corner.

    Oh well, at least the small round window was clean. It wasn¡¯t half submerged either, just barely touching water.

    For some reason, Rexy fell flat on my bed and started sleeping. Guess she was tired.

    ¡°Now,¡± Alustur said. ¡°What shall we do about the stowaway?¡±

    ¡°The what?¡± I said.

    I could have sworn I heard one of the barrels thud ever so lightly.

    A bit late but my brain picked up on what was going on. No wonder she didn¡¯t show up but her parents did.

    Sigh.

    ¡°Throw her in the river, or something?¡±

    ¡°Hey!¡± A head popped out of one of the barrels. ¡°That¡¯s not how you should-¡± she paused; her frown broke into a half smile as she awkwardly stared.

    ¡°We could always just head back,¡± Alustur said. ¡°Besides, the viscount would be worried.¡±

    ¡°I left a letter. I¡¯m sure they¡¯ll be fine,¡± Shia said. ¡°And even if you throw me in the river, I¡¯ll hold onto the ship¡¯s wood till I either die or my fingers fall off!¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t have to be that graphic,¡± I said. ¡°What do you think we should do?¡± I said.

    ¡°Not my call,¡± Alustur said.

    I guess he was right. It wasn¡¯t. It was mine, or rather¡­ Shia¡¯s?

    ¡°Let me come with you,¡± Shia said. ¡°I always wanted to explore the world. This is my only shot before they marry me off.¡±

    Yeah, I doubted that. Barack Senior loved his daughter. He wasn¡¯t going to just marry her off.

    Still, she is the first daughter of a viscount family. And the first son of a Duke had taken quite the interest in her. I didn¡¯t think Sharmon was going to sell his daughter but considering the financial distress he was going through there was a slight chance¡­.

    ¡°Alright. But be sure to not get in the way.¡±

    But that wasn¡¯t why I agreed.

    She smirked. ¡°Damn right.¡±

    I had a feeling¡­ she didn¡¯t have any plans to be obedient in this journey.

    Sigh¡­ oh well.

 Chapter 125: Concept

    Shia had brought quite a few things with her. Mostly snacks. I¡¯d hardly known her as the voracious type but¡­ but she literally finished every single piece of snack right before my eyes as we watched the waves and shores through the window.

    It didn¡¯t take a genius to figure out she was stressed.

    ¡°Meng City isn¡¯t that far from the academy,¡± I said. We could see the city borders from the ship. ¡°We can just hire a carriage and-¡±

    ¡°No.¡±

    ¡°Then calm down? It¡¯s not that bad if you think about it. You¡¯ll see them again¡­ hopefully.¡±

    ¡°No, not that. It¡¯s just, all my life, this is the place I¡¯ve known as home. And now, I¡¯m going away. I always wanted to go away, to some faraway place, leave everything behind and¡­ but when I¡¯m actually doing it. Why does my heart ache so much?¡±

    I didn¡¯t have an answer. No, I didn¡¯t have one in the past. Back when I first left home. I did miss my room and my things and even my family to some extent. However, the fear that I¡¯d be on the streets overruled everything and forced me to get my shit together.

    This time however, when I left mom and Den¡­ this time I felt true longing for my home. But for someone who was leaving home for the first time after spending about 13 years there¡­ I honestly couldn¡¯t say anything to her that could make her feel better.

    I didn¡¯t have any advices for times like this, despite having gone through them. Something that had helped me in the past didn¡¯t necessarily mean it would help her. It didn¡¯t mean it would soothe her.

    I had adventure, I made quick friends, and I had people I could rely on in the academy. That was primarily why I didn¡¯t miss home too much.

    But what about Shia? How were any of them relevant to her? It wasn¡¯t like she could just be friends with the captain or the crew or roam around the ship like she owned the place. Maybe she could, but even then, would that really make her feel better?

    ¡°You¡¯ve already made your choice,¡± I said. ¡°But if it¡¯s too hard, we can turn back. I won¡¯t say this again. After all, you have made-¡±

    ¡°Stop it. I said I won¡¯t go! If I can¡¯t do this, how will I-¡± She bit her gums hard and glared but didn¡¯t say anything. With a thud she left the room.

    Yeah, perhaps saying shit like that wasn¡¯t the best way to deal with the situation.

    Sigh¡­ sometimes, I really was an inconsiderate asshole.

    ***

    We passed by some villages and houses and honestly, although I always thought this world was filled with monsters or something, in more cases than not, monsters were just ordinary animals doing their own shit. Of course, as with anything with life, as long as they see weakness in you, they would try to take advantage of you. These guys weren¡¯t necessarily all that different.

    What about me though¡­ how the hell should I deal with this?This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

    I felt a rather odd sense of homesickness. On one hand, my home was missing. On another, I was leaving the place closest to home right now in search of the missing one. If something went wrong, I¡¯d be losing both of them.

    It really felt weird and I had no idea if this was the right decision or a very wrong one. I didn¡¯t know if anything good could come out of this. And I didn¡¯t know if I could even do this.

    Yet¡­ I had to.

    That thought alone was giving me shivers, shivers that didn¡¯t stop. Tremors going through my whole body, making my hands shake like I had Parkinson¡¯s.

    I sighed, I sighed aloud, staring at the moving cities, at the people- people who were just going about their days, doing whatever they were doing. Sometimes I envied those people¡­I wish my life wasn¡¯t so¡­ difficult.

    ***

    That evening, we dropped anchors in the middle of the river. We had enough space on either side for ships to pass. Alustur warned that there would be thieves, so we had to remain vigilant. But he assured us, he would take care of anything of that sort.

    Since Shia was here, Alustur no longer wanted to be in that room. So instead, I shared it with Shia.

    Bunk beds, a small cupboard and barely enough space for three people to stand shoulder to shoulder.

    ¡°Sorry about earlier,¡± I said.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it,¡± she said. We had beds on top of each other. She took the top bunk and with a thud quieted down. ¡°Good night.¡±

    ¡°Good night.¡±

    The waves were rather calm tonight, so there wasn¡¯t much noise. But that kind of had the opposite effect of calming. I couldn¡¯t really focus with all the dwindling thoughts about what would happen, how things would go wrong, and how everything would fail; how I would fail.

    I couldn¡¯t get those negative thoughts out. Sure, thinking positive had its benefits and I had to think about the future and everything and¡­ but-

    In the end, I couldn¡¯t really change who I was. I couldn¡¯t get out of my emotional immaturity. I couldn¡¯t just- I couldn¡¯t just grow up.

    Granted I did look like a toddler but on the inside, I was old. Like two and a half decades old. Well, almost.

    It¡¯s really time to get your shit together, Sol.

    ***

    Life on a boat was quite interesting. For one, it was almost always swaying. So, if you had motion sickness, you were fucked. Like seriously, if you had even a bit of motion sickness you would throw up almost every waking hour. It was not fun. And it wasn¡¯t something you could just grow out of either. At least not for the first couple of days.

    Luckily, didn¡¯t seem like Miss Shia had any issues. Neither did the crew.

    I felt a twinge of nausea but nothing I couldn¡¯t deal with. Let¡¯s get some fresh air-

    Of course, it¡¯d be hell of a different story once we reached the sea, but for now, I didn¡¯t see this as a problem. My body would acclimate with the swaying and by the time I¡¯d reach the sea, I¡¯d be unstoppable!

    One great perk of this world was the fact that I didn¡¯t need to go out into the freaking mountains to get a good look at the sky and the stars. (Even this new wood creaked though)

    I didn¡¯t know any constellations and I had no idea what the sky back on earth looked like, so I didn¡¯t know if the sky was any different here. But I had a hunch it probably was. This world didn¡¯t feel as big as Earth. Compared to earth, it was somewhat tiny. At first, I thought that was because I hadn¡¯t traveled as much. However, no. The world itself was about ten times smaller than earth if not even smaller. The maps, the notes, the geography and kingdoms and honestly, after looking through everything I couldn¡¯t help but feel all of the world combined would be smaller than Asia.

    Shrugging, I stopped staring at the sky and stared at the lone mercenary on guard near the helm of the ship.

    ¡°You¡¯re gonna stay up all night?¡±

    ¡°Not all night but mostly, yes.¡±

    Everyone else was sleeping. No, wait, there was someone atop the sail, looking out.

    ¡°Well, do try to get at least some rest.¡±

    ¡°I will keep that in mind.¡±

    It was somewhat midnight. Shia was pretty much asleep¡­ probably.

    ¡°Can¡¯t sleep?¡± Alustur said.

    ¡°Not really. First nights are always like this.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯ll get used to them.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t want to. I don¡¯t want to just keep changing my home.¡±

    ¡°Home is a concept. Home is where you¡¯re most precious memories and people are. It can be anywhere you want; ever-changing.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

 Chapter 126: FiancÃ©?

    [Content warning: eating ill-advised]

    Lia turned seven today.

    She was on a journey.

    A journey to the continent over. It was her birthday present. ¡°Blerughh!¡± But who¡¯d have thought she¡¯d get motion sickness on the very first day?

    Face pale, maybe a little blue, she barely kept things within. It wasn¡¯t supposed to be like this, she thought.

    In her imagination, she was going to soar through the seas, enjoy the breeze, maybe make a tease (at the mermaids)¡­ but reality was hardly so.

    Lia started her journey from the woods. Last year she heard things from Mack about this ¡®templar knight¡¯ searching for Sol. She quickly told her mother and her mother spread the news in their group. Most of Lin¡¯s friends stayed away from the woods till the knight left. Afterwards, they sent a letter to Den informing them of the knight.

    Den spread false information about Sol and made it so that the knight would be easily led astray, and it worked.

    Lia had to wait patiently for any updates and after eight or so months, she finally got the news that Sol had somehow become a Baron and was okay now! So, she demanded as a birthday present, she would go see Sol.

    Surprisingly her mother agreed. So, with her mother and Xena, they headed straight for Xant port. Someone else was also traveling with them, just in the shadows. But Lia had a hunch it was Serec.

    The first few hours started off well enough. She felt a bit sick but everything was fine. However¡­ as the waves started growing larger, gradually her stomach churned more and more.

    ¡­

    ¡°Agh!¡± She started crying.

    ¡°Relax, it¡¯s not that hard,¡± said the cool guy next to her, who was also standing by the rails.

    Tall southerner with white hair, and rather thin¡­ no, he might have gained a bit of weight.

    ¡°Like you¡¯re one to talk,¡± Lia managed. It was hard to breathe, even with all this breeze. The sea was relatively calm and things were fine. But then came a big wave and the ship tilted ever so tightly¡­

    Ble-

    They proceeded to throw up again¡­.

    Apparently, it wasn¡¯t Serec who¡¯d been following them. It was Aluc who¡¯d just gotten back from his pilgrimage. The man had been away from the village for so long, Lia had really forgotten about him altogether.

    ¡°Have you gained some weight?¡± Lyra said. She and Xena were just behind them, enjoying the afternoon sun in their hammocks.Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.

    Lyra¡¯d come with her daughter. Her newborn had turned One a few weeks ago. Normally she¡¯d be with the baby but she didn¡¯t want to bring the little thing and just left it with his brothers. Xena had done the same and left her youngest in the care of her husband and other kids.

    ¡°Yeah, he does look fatter,¡± Xena said.

    ¡°Not funny guys,¡± Aluc managed. ¡°Wof-¡± and threw up some more.

    At this point, there wasn¡¯t anything left in his stomach, so only bile was coming up. The disgustingly bitter taste forced him to throw up even more.

    ¡°Have some water gentlemen,¡± one of the sailors offered.

    ¡°It¡¯s salty,¡± Lia said.

    ¡°Well, blame the oceans,¡± he chuckled.

    Drinking water was a precious commodity on a ship. Just because someone was throwing up, didn¡¯t mean they would give that person such precious stuff. Instead, why not ocean water which was super abundant?

    Lia would have preferred regular water but given the circumstances, she couldn¡¯t really complain.

    And although it was hard, really hard, she bore with it and as the days passed, her sea sickness got much better.

    The same couldn¡¯t be said about Aluc, however. He never got better and during these few days, he lost more weight than he gained for the whole of the last two years.

    ***

    Lia reached Xant port just in time to witness the sizzling meat season.

    Every spring, hundreds if not thousands of wild buffalos migrated to the green fields near the port. These mildly hostile creatures were excellent sources of high-quality protein and perfect for hunting. So, hunters from all over the continent gathered and hunted away.

    Meat became abundant and almost everyone across the city enjoyed the sizzling delights with a slab of butter and parsley.

    ¡°Smells wonderful,¡± Lia said. ¡°But it¡¯s so cold,¡± she shivered.

    Lyra draped a shawl over Lia. ¡°Feel free to browse around,¡± she said. ¡°It¡¯s really cheap this time around, so we can afford it.¡±

    Sigh¡­ Aluc sighed aloud. He wasn¡¯t even looking at the meat.

    ¡°You still haven¡¯t given up, have you?¡± Xena asked.

    ¡°No,¡± Aluc shook his head. ¡°I will never eat a living organism.¡±

    ¡°They¡¯re dead though.¡±

    ¡°They died for us.¡±

    Xena rolled her eyes and ordered some steaks from a street vendor. ¡°Sure, just don¡¯t get jealous when your stomach aches.¡±

    ¡°Hmph!¡± Aluc grumbled but didn¡¯t quite say anything. Not worth it. However, he did order some skewers from a different vendor. Skewers without any meat¡­.

    After a hearty meal, they took a carriage and were on their way to Scalion Academy.

    Took them a few hours and they reached the academy by midnight. Ordinarily it would take a bit longer but Sizzling meat season meant better transportation across the continent.

    ¡°We¡¯ll stay in a hotel tonight,¡± Lyra said, reminding her eccentric daughter that they were not going to march straight to the academy.

    ¡°Okay,¡± Lia said, dejectedly.

    She was so close¡­. Finally, she could see her first friend again.

    ***

    Lia¡¯s excitement came a sudden halt as the guard informed her and the rest- Sol had left just last week.

    ¡°When is he coming back?¡±

    Students all around, the day had just begun. Among the robed uniform-wearing students, the four of them looked utterly out of place. Almost like cosplayers visiting a school¡­.

    ¡°We¡¯re not sure. Maybe a month, maybe a year. Possibly two.¡±

    ¡°He never even told me¡­¡± Lia mumbled.

    When Sol left the woods, Lia thought he was just busy and so he didn¡¯t send her letters. But was he busy every day, every week, every month? Was he always busy?

    ¡°Maybe something happened,¡± Lyra said,¡± Where is Sol headed?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not allowed to-¡±

    ¡°Who are you?¡± A girl said.

    Blonde, almost white hair, beautiful dress; possibly a noble.

    ¡°Lyra Bright. We¡¯re friends of Sol¡¯s,¡± Lyra said.

    ¡°Friends? Southerners¡­¡± The girl mumbled, somewhat suspicious.

    ¡°Come with me,¡± she said, motioning them to follow her inside.

    ¡°How about you, who are you?¡±

    ¡°Nisa Alzania,¡± she said. ¡°3rd daughter of Duke Alzania. Sol¡¯s Fianc¨¦.¡±

    ¡°Fianc¨¦?¡± Lia mumbled. ¡°He didn¡¯t have time to send letters but-¡± she mumbled as her eyes teared up.

    She sniffled and took a step back, attempting to run back out.

    But Lyra caught her and dragged her into the building. ¡°Let¡¯s hear her our first.¡±

 Chapter 127: The Journey Awaited

    --------------------------------

    We reached Sun port earlier than expected.

    The port city was far greener than I thought. Actually, the whole of Slunten was different than what I¡¯d imagined. Slunten was the working capital of the church, and frankly, this country was far too powerful politically. However, almost all houses I saw were just typical houses. They didn¡¯t seem very¡­ rich. In fact, they seemed poorer than even villagers back home.

    Or maybe I only saw poor people since they tended live in the wilderness next to rivers and such.

    Regardless I didn¡¯t have time to worry about all that.

    A cool calm breeze flew by, igniting my senses with that salty familiar smell. Lots of birds and white clouds in the sky- reminiscent of better days.

    Jackson, the tall handsome Blonde and Morty, the tall not so handsome Elf would go out and buy our supplies. Captain Albatros also left the ship and told me I was free to wander till noon. However, he warned about kidnappers and that it was best to just stay put on the ship. And I planned to do just that.

    Sun port wasn¡¯t as busy as I thought it¡¯d be. Apparently, this port was about ten times bigger than Xant port, and even that port was bigger than anything I¡¯d seen back on earth. Well, technically I never really saw any sea ports but oh well.

    There were some big ships docked here and there and that was about it. Not crowded, and definitely not busy.

    They had mostly wooden flooring but concrete walls from where the city started. I could see houses and people walking around even from here.

    ¡°They have really good wine, I heard,¡± Shia said, jumping off the ship.

    ¡°You¡¯re too young to drink, sis,¡± I mumbled, knowing fairly well, that lady would not listen, no sir.

    ¡°Hurry up~!¡± Shia yelled.

    I paid no heed to her and just stayed put on board.

    Five minutes later though, Alustur was giving me the looks. ¡°Just go. Can¡¯t leave her alone.¡±This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

    Grumbling, I took the ladder and got down.

    ¡°Took you long enough,¡± Shia grabbed my arm and we dashed off. No, she dashed off, I was basically just hanging on for dear life.

    Choir of the people. No, they weren¡¯t singing. It was just that frigging loud. I thought this port wasn¡¯t busy but I was clearly wrong. Why?

    Because this wasn¡¯t the only frigging port.

    Sun port, or rather Sun city had three distinct ports and on three sides. The city was massive, with a radius of over twenty kilometers and I couldn¡¯t see an end. Large white houses with lots and lots of people. Like seriously, there were so many damn people and all kinds at that too. I even saw a guy with bunny like ears! Oh wait, he was just wearing a hat¡­.

    This city also had a lot of cats here for some reason. Mostly white, striped cats.

    ¡°Here, kitty kitty,¡± Shia said, trying to get close to one. We moved to an open field like area; loads of cats here.

    The cat just ran away though.

    ¡°Try being a bit calmer. Cats like calm people.¡± I tried approaching one and without really being overbearing. I offered a small chunk of bread and when the cat got close, just lightly patted her back. She seemed to like it and even purred. She retreated the moment she finished her food though.

    Shia tried herself and¡­ well¡­ no cat came near her. Poor Shia.

    She grumbled but didn¡¯t give up. After like ten minutes of grumbling and wasting a lot of food¡­ she finally got one brave kitten who let her pet him for a good three minutes as the poor thing devoured all the bread.

    Hopefully he¡¯s not going to throw it all up¡­.

    Speaking of throwing up, a lot of people were¡­ well¡­ throwing up. Apparently, sea sickness, especially after rough voyages was super common in this world.

    I prayed to our lord and savior Rexen that I didn¡¯t fucking end up like that. Where the fuck is Rexy though? I hadn¡¯t even seen her for the last three days. She seemed okay with water and the ship, so she was probably fine. I¡¯d be murdered if she wasn¡¯t though. Let¡¯s pray that doesn¡¯t happen.

    I might or might not have been praying a bit too much though¡­.

    ***

    There wasn¡¯t much to see, since we didn¡¯t have time. And I was feeling a little anxious, so after an hour of just wandering around, we headed back. Jackson and Morty weren¡¯t back. Albatros, however, was back with a barrel of beer. I would have preferred if he¡¯d just brought back water or something but oh well.

    ¡°Oh lass, this is expensive,¡± Albatros said, taking a look at Shia¡¯s bottle.

    Yes, she bought a bottle¡­.

    ¡°I know. It¡¯s for a special occasion,¡± she winked.

    ¡°I see, I see,¡± Albatros chuckled. Some of the other sailors also laughed.

    The fuck are you people even talking about?

    Didn¡¯t seem to involve me, so I didn¡¯t bother.

    After about two hours, those two showed up with four barrels. Two barrels of drinking water and two barrels of food.

    No, one barrel of just smoked meat and half a barrel of some hard biscuit like stuff. The other half a barrel? Pure lemons. Just fucking lemons.

    Scurvy is a thing.

    Was it a thing in this world though, I had no idea.

    Originally, we were supposed to reach Sun port near the evening and stay in an inn. However, since we were really early in the day, we decided, it was best to just set sails today and hope for the best.

    ¡°Alright,¡± the captain stared ahead. The blazing sun above us, a clear sky, a rather calm sea. ¡°Set sails!¡±

    The journey awaited.

 Chapter 128: Huh? Come Again?

    Life at sea was boring for the most part. The last time, I had Den¡¯s company and I also had a lot of people I could talk to if I got bored. Besides, it was my first time on a medieval boat!

    This time however, it was just Alustur who barely ever talked and Shia, who¡­ for better or worse was bored out of her mind herself. It wouldn¡¯t just be a one or two-week journey. Even in the best-case scenario, it would take a month and a half to reach Moon port. I didn¡¯t even want to think about the worst-case¡­.

    Without anything to do, I whipped out some fishing gear and sat by the railing, not really trying to fish. I mean, the ship was moving pretty fast and rather smoothly, so what was the point in even trying?

    There was no way in hell any fish would actually-

    ¡°Oh?¡± I stared at the line, and how frigging straight it was.

    ¡°What?¡± Shia said.

    It was somewhat midday but she¡¯d been staring at sky for a while now. This same girl used to run around the frigging academy about a hundred times every day. She hardly ever spent time in her own room. But she was just lying down today, doing nothing.

    ¡°I think I caught something.¡±

    In a split second, some color came back to her face as a grin replaced that ever so boring glare. ¡°Nice!¡± She sprung up and grabbed the line, together we started pulling.

    Whatever the hell it was, it was definitely heavy. And it was running around wildly in the water- frantically pulling on the wire.

    ¡°Whatcha kids up to?¡± A wild demon showed up. Nah, he was just one of the crew. Barbus, the red dude with barb like horns.

    ¡°We caught something!¡± Shia yelled, excited for sure.

    ¡®I¡¯ caught something, dear sister. But oh well.

    Barbus lent us a hand and in no time, we pulled off the mermaid.

    Wait, ¡°Mermaid!¡± I screamed at the top of my lungs. ¡°Oh wait, it¡¯s just a dude with flaps,¡± I shrugged.

    Apparently, we¡¯d hooked into the bottom portion of a Mer-definitely not maid- thing. It didn¡¯t have anything on and I wasn¡¯t sure if the water on his face was just water or tears.

    ¡°Wah!¡±

    ¡°Definitely tears,¡± I said. ¡°Unhook him and throw him back in the water?¡± I said.

    ¡°What? NO!¡± Shia and Barbus yelled in unison.

    ¡°We either cook him or kill him,¡± Barbus said. ¡°Otherwise, the whole ocean¡¯s about to come for us.¡± He quickly unhooked the thing and we took it inside.If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

    ¡°Huh? Why? Because we accidentally caught him?¡±

    ¡°Yes. They wouldn¡¯t take our word at face value.¡±

    ¡°But we don¡¯t¡¯ have to kill him,¡± I said. ¡°As long as the kid explains, it¡¯s fine, right?¡±

    The kid in question was about nine or ten. A bit older than me. A little on the thicker side. Yeah, like you¡¯re one to talk.

    ¡°And you¡¯re going to trust the lives of everyone here on that assumption?¡± Shia said.

    ¡°Well, you have me there.¡±

    ¡°Besides, mermaid flesh is one of the best kinds of meat. And it¡¯s said to have healing properties. Eat enough and you may even become immortal!!¡± Barbus sure seemed excited. ¡°And plump flesh like that¡­¡± He almost drooled. No, he did drool.

    Soon enough we garnered the attention of everyone else and I was surrounded by them. The mer-thing hid behind me and was definitely frightened to its core.

    I suppose his instincts were good cause he recognized I was the only one on his side.

    ¡°Won¡¯t it be fine if we reached Moon port and then let him go?¡± I tried.

    ¡°But he¡¯ll garner hatred for the rest of his life and-¡± and Shia went on but as she stared at my face she sighed. ¡°Fine, but if our lives are in danger, we¡¯ll eat him.¡±

    ¡°Okay,¡± I said. ¡°Alustur, can I trust you with keeping him and us safe?¡±

    ¡°Very well.¡±

    Almost everyone else sighed in disappointment and left. Just how bad did they want to eat the poor thing.

    I had a feeling my bored fishing bit screwed us over but honestly, there wasn¡¯t much I could do. What was done was done, but I didn¡¯t just want to murder a child knowing they had very similar intelligence compared to us.

    Speaking of the child- ¡°So, basically, you are our prisoner for now.¡± I spoke one word at a time in sea tongue.

    The boy paid a lot of attention at my face and stopped crying.

    He did not speak a word though.

    He wasn¡¯t a girl, so obviously he didn¡¯t have boobs. But I didn¡¯t even see nipples, which was hella weird. Felt like I was looking at a homunculus or something.

    ¡°We want to let you go but, we fear your family might want to eat us,¡± I said. Obviously, that wasn¡¯t my fear, but I had a feeling mermaids wouldn¡¯t be too pleased about us abducting their kid either. Actually, how come we were going to get away with murder or something like that but not minor damage to the kid¡¯s tail? ¡°Oh and, does human medicine work on you?¡±

    I tried to speak faster and was sure I knew what I was talking about but¡­ my pronunciation wasn¡¯t the best.

    He nodded.

    So he understands me at least.

    I got some ointment and rubbed it on the spot. He flinched but was otherwise cooperative.

    We arranged a large bathtub and filled it up with sea water. I asked whether he¡¯d like to eat anything but he didn¡¯t say anything so I didn¡¯t bother.

    We left him in a room on the bottom floor. Afterwards I went over to Alustur. Incidentally Shia was also here.

    ¡°How come we¡¯re okay kidnapping the kid, but not releasing him?¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s a covenant between the Merfolk and port cities. If we¡¯re caught capturing one of them, we¡¯ll be killed without any trial. However, even if he¡¯s captured on board, as long as no one saw us doing the capturing, we¡¯re exempt from the execution. Of course, we might still be hunted by the merfolk regardless.¡±

    ¡°But in that case, if we just let him go-¡±

    ¡°He could claim he was captured, show the wound and have us executed. They can do that.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s why we will have his wound heal, and release him after reaching moon port, right?¡± I asked, just to clarify.

    But honestly, the situation seemed a bit more complex and unreliable than I¡¯d imagined.

    ¡°If that¡¯s what you want to do, yes.¡±

    I mean, fair enough. ¡°What does he eat?¡±

    ¡°She eats algae and anything green. Though I have heard some mermaids eat meat, most don¡¯t, since they don¡¯t like eating fish.¡±

    ¡°Did you just say she?¡±

    ¡°Yes, she¡¯s a mermaid.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s clearly a guy,¡± I said.

    ¡°There are no male mermaid, Sol,¡± Alustur said. ¡°She¡¯s a late bloomer, but I assure you, that¡¯s a woman.¡±

    ¡°Huh? Come again?¡±

    ¡°Tch,¡± Shia stumped the wood. ¡°It¡¯s a girl, you moron.¡±

    Huh¡­ then where the fuck are the boobs?

 Chapter 129: Words

    Mermaids did not have boobs.

    Mermaids did not have an ass.

    Mermaids did not give birth to babies.

    One of them was a lie. And no, it wasn¡¯t the first two.

    So apparently, although mermaids did have an ass and boobs, those bits were hidden by a second layer of skin and our friend here in this bathtub was a late bloomer.

    ¡°They have an extra layer of skin, sure, but why not just wear clothes regardless?¡± I asked.

    Just us in the room. Me, Shia, and the mermaid who was more or less lying on the bathtub somewhat submerged, playing with bubbles she made with her breath.

    ¡°Harder to swim and replacing soggy, decaying dresses is a chore,¡± Shia said.

    Apparently, she knew a good few things about Mermaids. That sulky attitude was alarming though.

    ¡°I still don¡¯t how he¡¯s a girl,¡± I said.

    First of all, the guy, or rather girl, was about the size of Nisa, maybe a tad taller since half of her body was that of a fish¡¯s. Her hair was somewhat maroon, her tail glistened like pearl. Although it wasn¡¯t apparent before, she did have scales, really small, all over her body. They were skin colored and on a normal glance, you couldn¡¯t tell. But perhaps they helped underwater?

    She didn¡¯t have gills either¡­ at least that¡¯s what I thought but nope, she had gills on her neck which just weren¡¯t visible while she was breathing air.

    Her skin was somewhat thick and hardly smooth. She didn¡¯t have any bumps whatever on her chest and frankly, her face didn¡¯t look feminine even a little.

    ¡°Stop touching her, you idiot!¡± Shia jerked my hand away. ¡°She¡¯s a girl. Have some manners!¡± She glared at the girl this time. ¡°And you, have some shame!¡±

    The girl in question just stared at our faces without really understanding anything. I guess she didn¡¯t understand Western. She did seem to understand the Sea tongue though, at least somewhat.Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.

    But I never heard her speak a single word. ¡°Maybe she¡¯s mute,¡± I mumbled.

    ¡°Then she¡¯d have signed or something,¡± Shia said. ¡°Anyway, mermaids eat green stuff, so let¡¯s go fishing.¡±

    There were a lot of wild seaweed floating around. Shia was suggesting we go fish them out with our fishing gear.

    ¡°Yeah, I think I¡¯ll just scoop up stuff. No hooks.¡±

    Shia used me as a fishing rod¡­ no, I was not fucking around; she was!

    With a rope tied to my waist, she kicked me off the rails and threw me in the fucking water with a basket with holes.

    ¡°Are you trying to kill me!¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re the one who wanted to keep a pet mermaid,¡± she glared at me as though she was looking at a bug. ¡°So make yourself useful.¡±

    ¡°What if there¡¯s some big fish or something here?¡±

    ¡°Then too bad.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t just stare at your fingers like it¡¯s not your problem!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯d hurry up, if I were you,¡± she didn¡¯t even glance at me and just stared at her nails.

    The fuck was wrong with this woman?

    Anyway¡­ large seaweed~!

    You¡¯re not in the sea. This is a river. A river!

    Yeah, there definitely wasn¡¯t anything scary around here. Definitely not!

    The sea weeds were big, and that meant I didn¡¯t need to get more than two. Just two alone was enough to tax out my max strength. This stuff weighs a freaking ton~! ¡°You can pull me up now.¡±

    The hell she go?

    I didn¡¯t see her. The rope was still on the ship so she was probably holding it but-

    ¡°Don¡¯t feel like it.¡± The voice came.

    Did that woman¡­ did she literally just lie down, staring at the fucking sky again?

    ¡°Don¡¯t make me come up there!¡±

    ¡°Oh I¡¯d love to see you try.¡±

    Argh!

    Bubbles? Fuck¡­

    Screaming, I grabbed the rope firm with one hand, tied the seaweed filled basket to my waist with a bit of leftover rope and climbed the fucking rope like my life depended on it! Probably did too!

    Panting, somewhat wheezing, I made it to the top. Shia was just lying there, staring at the sky. Kind of bored?

    ¡°The hell is wrong with you?¡±

    Hey, I even lost half of the fucking seaweed!

    ¡°Right back at you,¡± she yelled.

    ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°How can you be so carefree? We caught a mermaid. It¡¯s one of the greatest taboos. Ordinarily, someone would try their best to just hide the evidence and enjoy a good meal and be done with it. But you want to keep that thing. Are you really that great of a guy, or do you like pretending to be good? Or maybe you just want us all dead!¡±

    ¡°Huh¡­¡± Where was that coming from. Granted, I did have a moral compass. But¡­ pretending to be good? Wanting them dead? Me? Was it this shitty body or was it something else, I didn¡¯t know but my eyes watered a bit. The saltwater might have gotten in my eyes or something. ¡°I didn¡¯t know you felt that way.¡± I unhooked the rope, grabbed the seaweed (whatever the hell was left of it) and slowly made way to the third floor, where the mermaid was.

    ¡°Sorry, didn¡¯t mean to-¡±

    I¡¯d already climbed down the stairs before she could even finish.

    Was I¡­ hurt? I didn¡¯t know I could even be hurt with words anymore. Guess, I wasn¡¯t as strong as I thought I was.

    Yeah, you were right Cid. Words do hurt a lot sometimes.

 Chapter 130: The who?

    Lia

    So, apparently Sol had gone off to find Den and aunt Lin. And Nisa Alzania was his fianc¨¦ now but that was more or less political. Sol had been really busy lately and I guess that¡¯s why he didn¡¯t send any mails.

    I was glad Mama had stopped me and brought me here, to this girl¡¯s room. This girl, Nisa, had been really nice so far, however¡­ I had a feeling she was suspecting us for something and I didn¡¯t really like her.

    ¡°Still if Den and Lin both are missing,¡± Mama mumbled. ¡°If I recall, Den had a younger sister here.¡±

    I really wanted to meet Sol. It¡¯d been a year so far, and I had so many stories to tell him. I wanted him to tell me so much and¡­.

    ¡°Yeah,¡± aunt Xena said. ¡°Anya Borges.¡±

    ¡°Borges¡­¡± Nisa paused. ¡°Oh I see, so you¡¯re related to Sol¡¯s other side of the family.¡±

    ¡°What oth-¡± I attempted to speak but Mama shut me up.

    ¡°Alright then, thank you for everything, my lady,¡± Mama said. ¡°We¡¯ll be leaving now.¡±

    ¡°Of course,¡± Nisa saw us off to the very exit of the dorms.

    Once we were outside though, Mama stared at me very disapprovingly. ¡°It¡¯s best if you don¡¯t talk for now. I¡¯ll explain things to you later.¡±

    ¡°Okay.¡±

    We walked around for a while. I got hungry, so we got some food. More meat. Aluc was starting to look a little blue.

    ¡°Is he alright?¡± I asked.

    ¡°He¡¯s fine. He likes meat but refuses to acknowledge that,¡± Xena said.

    That was odd. I loved meat too and ate plenty. Mama always told me meat was good for me. ¡°How come he doesn¡¯t want to?¡± I said.

    ¡°Because ¡®he¡¯ chooses not to cause suffering to others,¡± Aluc said, patting my head. ¡°It¡¯s just a personal belief. I understand not everyone would like that idea and I know I can¡¯t change the world myself. But I still choose to at least try to live by my rules.¡±This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

    ¡°But meat is so tasty,¡± I said.

    ¡°Yeah,¡± Aluc agreed. ¡°Enjoy it.¡±

    After a delicious meal, which just seemed never-ending, we went to Den¡¯s sister¡¯s place.  She lived in a rather big house. No, all houses were big here. So many windows! So many sturdy walls!

    ¡°How come they don¡¯t use wood?¡± I wondered aloud.

    ¡°They don¡¯t have as much as we do,¡± Mama said.

    ¡°Anyone home?¡± Xena knocked, and when an answer came, we went in. Well, at least their floor was wood.

    It was really beautiful inside. Clean, off white. Yet for some reason it felt a little¡­ soulless.

    ¡°Mew!¡± An orange cat came out to greet us.

    ¡°Kitty!¡± I got down on ground and patted the kitty.

    ¡°Good morning, I wasn¡¯t expecting guests today,¡± said a young lady.

    Pointy ears¡­ kind of like that man¡­ Den¡¯s sister!

    ¡°Good morning,¡± Xena said. ¡°I¡¯m Xena, we met when you were younger at Den¡¯s Birthday party.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I remember. You got drunk and poured hot soup all over Den¡¯s arm. He was so mad.¡± She giggled.

    Xena laughed a bit but¡­ she seemed more embarrassed than amused.

    ¡°This is Lyra, and Lyra¡¯s daughter, Lia. We were here to see Sol but he¡¯d already left.¡±

    ¡°Yes, sadly my cousin¡¯s missing and he wants to find him.¡±

    ¡°But why him? He¡¯s young and-¡± Mama started.

    ¡°Who else but him?¡± Lady Anya said.

    ¡°Us!¡± Mama shouted. It was rare for her to shout these days. Yet¡­ ¡°We would do anything-¡±

    ¡°I suppose that¡¯s why he didn¡¯t ask you,¡± lady Anya shook her head. ¡°He didn¡¯t want to involve you guys. You have lives, families of your own. How could he?¡±

    ¡°But¡­.¡± Mama sighed. ¡°But if Den¡¯s missing, how does he plan on finding him? Does he have a crew? A guard, someone-¡±

    ¡°He has Alustur, an A rank mercenary as his guard and six crew members.¡±

    ¡°Alustur?¡± Mama wondered. ¡°The Severer? I thought his service charge was outrageous!¡±

    ¡°They usually are. But I suppose he feels indebt to Sol, and thus¡­ besides, haven¡¯t you heard? Sol had defeated Alustur and can fend off assassins at ease.¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡± Aluc paused. ¡°He defeated the Severer? That kid?¡±

    ¡°Yes,¡± Anya said, nonchalantly. ¡°He also defeated headmaster Rombrandt.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re not pulling our legs, right?¡±

    ¡°Not at all.¡±

    They were speaking so fast, it was hard to follow their conversations. I didn¡¯t even catch half of what they said. Even the snippets I did catch, weren¡¯t making sense.

    Defeated? Was Sol fighting? Why?

    What was going on?

    Mama and the rest were clearly out of it and they started staring at each other without any words. Eventually, Anya went over to the kitchen and brought some fruit slices. On closer inspection: Honeycrisp slices.

    ¡°We grew these here,¡± Anya said. ¡°Me and Sol.¡±

    ¡°What? Honeycrips in the west?¡± Mama sighed. ¡°I suppose I shouldn¡¯t be so surprised. Den always did say, that boy was a genius.¡±

    Yeah¡­ she was right, Sol really was a genius. It pained my heart a little; despite being older than him, I wasn¡¯t even remotely near his league. And not to mention he was nobility now.

    In the end¡­ no, you can¡¯t just let it bother you. You¡¯re you, just like he said!

    ¡°Since you¡¯re here,¡± Anya said. ¡°Why don¡¯t you meet Sol¡¯s family. The Barracks, I mean.¡±

    ¡°The who?¡± The words popped out of my mouth.

    ¡°The Barracks. You know, Sol¡¯s parents,¡± Anya said again. ¡°Wait, you didn¡¯t know?¡±

 Chapter 131: Lunch

    Most of my life I had to listen to my mother¡¯s thoughts regarding my performance in school and various other things. She¡¯d often compare my siblings with me, or me with other high-achieving students.

    I didn¡¯t have to take in the full brunt of her mind, but I suffered a fair bit myself. So, I prided myself in being able to tolerate a moderate bashing. I¡¯d developed this false sense of security that I could just stomach no matter what someone said to me.

    Which was of course absurdly wrong. And one girl pointed it out to me in high school by beating the literal shit out of my mind with her verbal onslaught. In the end she just asked- ¡°Hurts now?¡± -with a smug face.

    I¡¯d actually cried that day. Not because her words hurt. But rather, because everything she said were true in one form or another.

    But in my mind, I argued, she didn¡¯t hurt me. I was just emotional or something. I avoided that girl like the plague after that and didn¡¯t bother to think much of what she said. I was murdered months later.

    Now that I think back, it hadn¡¯t started with her hating me or me hating her. It started when I bragged about being able to take in my family¡¯s insults and stuff. I was probably just putting on a brave face to hide my anxiety.

    But anyway¡­ I sat before the Mermaid who¡¯d been watching my face for the last half an hour with open curiosity.

    I hadn¡¯t been staring at her, rather, I¡¯d been staring at the water. It was surprisingly clean. Cleaner than the seawater outside, which was odd because this water was the very same stuff from the sea.

    Do they filter the water like snails?

    ¡°How¡¯re you feeling?¡± I asked in sea tongue.

    She said nothing.

    ¡°Do you need to use the bathroom? Oh wait, you live in water so you¡¯re probably-¡±

    But would anyone want to swim in their own-

    Yeah, I did not want to recall them pool days. Ahem¡­ ¡°Can you tell me your name at least?¡±Stolen story; please report.

    ¡°Ro¡­¡± Oh! It spoke! Ro?

    ¡°Ro? Fine name¡­¡± I had nothing else to say, honestly.

    ¡°Roksha¡­.¡± She managed.

    Her voice, utterly faint. Kind of high, like a child¡¯s.

    Technically, she is a child. ¡°I¡¯m Sol.¡±

    She bobbed her head once. Kind of cute, like a cat.

    I really like cats, huh?

    ¡°There you are¡­¡± I sighed, grabbing something from the girl¡¯s hair. My somewhat soaked lizard. ¡°Do you have any idea how worried I was?¡±

    Rexy didn¡¯t even seem to care and just casually sat on my shoulder, wetting my shirt a bit in the process.

    Anyway, ¡°Guess I¡¯ll leave you here,¡± I said, getting up.

    Splash!

    Roksha didn¡¯t say anything and just dived fully into the water. If I lied down, I¡¯d probably be underwater myself but it really wasn¡¯t that deep. And technically she could climb over the bath and just get out. But I doubted she was going to do that.

    Why?

    Well, the door was almost always locked apart from the times I visited and apparently young mermaids didn¡¯t possess much strength. I could probably beat her in terms of strength despite being younger.

    ***

    I thought we¡¯d see some ships every day. Not because I thought ships would be taking the same route or because there were too many ships or something. But rather¡­ I was thinking about pirates.

    But Alustur assured me, there were no pirates in this route and for good measure. He didn¡¯t tell me what that was.

    So basically, there¡¯s something worse here than pirates.

    The sea was calm. It¡¯d stay calm for the next few months. At least in the first half of the journey. The other half was dealing with tropical climate, so I guess that bit of the journey would be super fun¡­ for who that was the question.

    ¡°Eaten yet?¡± Shia said.

    ¡°Not yet.¡±

    We¡¯d been talking. She was acting the same as usual. So in her example, I tried acting the same. Still, it hurt to think she thought of me that way.

    Maybe it was just a slip of tongue. Maybe she really thought that, or maybe the timing just wasn¡¯t right.

    Anyway, I tried not to think about it and just focus on the fact that we were out at sea and no matter what, we only had each other to rely on when something went super shit.

    ¡°How about you?¡±

    ¡°Not yet.¡±

    Even so, our conversations were super short and barely had any substance. Reminded me of the days back home, back on Earth. I¡¯d spend most of the day indoors, studying, sometimes sneakily playing games or reading manga. I¡¯d have short conversations with my parents or siblings but nothing of substance.

    I hoped with all my heart¡­ this life didn¡¯t become like that one.

    Still, this view was something else. The Sun was setting, the waves reflecting a cool orange. It¡¯d turn red soon.

    ¡°Are you crying?¡± Shia said.

    ¡°No. A bit emotional I guess?¡±

    Yeah, I was really leaving home. Despite everything, I did consider that Academy home. It took a while for me to settle down, but yeah¡­ in the end, it was home.

    Will I ever see them again?

    I wiped my tears. ¡°Bit late but let¡¯s go grab some lunch.¡±

    ¡°Yeah.¡±

    I wasn¡¯t looking forward to lunch though. It was just smoked jerky and hard biscuits.

    Sigh.

 Chapter 132: I know, I know

    ¡°What are you doing?¡± Shia asked.

    Back in the academy, my daily life consisted of me practicing magic to increase my mana (however little I could), drills to improve my knife use, and mostly just self-defense-related training¡­ and lots of running.

    Suffice to say that didn¡¯t change much. What did change was the fact that my magic use differed by a mile now.

    ¡°Seriously, what are you doing?¡±

    We were on the back end of the ship, just staring at the ocean. Still morning, but the sun rays were starting to sting a little.

    ¡°Trying to see if I can move the ocean.¡±

    ¡°Move the ocean? The hell is wrong with you?¡± She snorted. ¡°You didn¡¯t steal a sip from my wine, right?¡±

    ¡°No?¡±

    ¡°Huh¡­ could have sworn it was you,¡± she mumbled to herself. ¡°Well, do keep an eye out in that case. Someone¡¯s stealing my wine.¡±

    ¡°Sure.¡±

    ¡°But seriously though, what are you doing? Have you finally gone mad?¡± She came close, starting inspecting my temperature with her hand as though that would tell her whether I¡¯d gone mad or not.

    ¡°As I said, controlling the ocean. Or rather some of the waves to be specific. See that medium sized wave, I¡¯m about to neutralize it.¡±

    As I was speaking, the wave crumbled and disappeared.

    ¡°Woah!¡± Shia jumped once. ¡°How?¡± Her eyes lit up.

    ¡°You see, I imagined another wave just below the wave with a peak and trough just like-¡± I was losing her apparently. ¡°I imagined a similar wave beneath it and they fought each other, resulting in no victor.¡±

    ¡°Huh.¡±

    ¡°I can do the opposite too.¡±

    This time I made another wave, but with troughs and peaks in different position, so they¡¯d unite and form an even bigger wave- typical wave theory.

    ¡°Kind of cool¡­ kind of lame,¡± Shia gawked. ¡°Can I do that?¡±

    ¡°Probably better than me,¡± I said. I was managing that despite my little mana.

    Mostly because I wasn¡¯t forming water, I was just reshaping the water around me and using that (kind of like what I could do with the air). Shia didn¡¯t have much mana but she still had more than me. So if I taught her well enough, she could probably do better than me.This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

    So I tried.

    Long story short¡­ she couldn¡¯t manage it. Apparently, peaks and troughs were too much. Even after showing her diagrams of the stuff, she still didn¡¯t get it. She managed to move actual droplets of water and make them float though, which I couldn¡¯t.

    Why am I not surprised?

    Anyway, ¡°Try combining the droplets.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m trying, I¡¯m trying.¡±

    Took her a minute, and a whole bucket of concentration but she managed it just fine. Our very own water ball.

    ¡°I did it!!¡± She jumped and the water ball flew over at my face.

    Splash!

    ¡°Uh-huh¡­¡± sigh.

    ¡°Oops¡­¡± She cackled. And kept at it for about ten minutes before she ended up fainting without a word.

    ¡°Sometimes I really do wonder if you lose your mind when you¡¯re having fun.¡± Rolling my eyes, I dragged her back to shade.

    I gave my face a wipe, made sure the lady was breathing, and more or less just stayed put for the time being. Mana depletion wasn¡¯t really all that deadly, unless you were on a battlefield where you¡¯d die if you blinked for an extra second.

    She was asleep and would be asleep for the next few hours.

    Don¡¯t you get a headache before you run out though? Meaning, she ignored that altogether. Well, that¡¯s her problem.

    I wonder if I can control the light? I tried. Nothing happened. Same for darkness. Because I didn¡¯t understand them? No, I did understand light, and I understood what constituted darkness (the absence of light) so how come?

    Maybe I need something else?

    Well, all that aside, I did have a special thing with me that was helping me with magic. Namely a bracelet I got from Mrs. Barack. It had a mana stone in it and as long as I was careful, I could probably use it for years. Or for a super powerful magic to knockout something strong. Hopefully, the former.

    ***

    A week passed by. Nothing really happened.

    Our water supply was strong, we caught a lot of fish and rationed up our remaining food and for the time being, we had a surplus. If things stayed like this, we¡¯d reach the shores of Moon port with a lot of our rations remaining.

    I was missing some food though. Mostly in the forms of fresh fruits. All we had onboard was lemons. The sour kind. Good for spraying on a fillet, but not great for eating raw.

    ¡°Sol,¡± Alustur called out to me.

    These days, I spent most of the time talking to the mermaid. She hardly ever spoke back but I was practicing my sea tongue rather than having a conversation, so it was all good.

    ¡°Yeah?¡± I yelled back, picking myself up.

    Once outside, we locked the door and headed up. Most of the crew members were here along with the captain. Even Shia was here.

    ¡°Gentlemen, we¡¯ve entered Hermon territory,¡± the captain said. ¡°Some of us may not be familiar with it, so I¡¯ll be brief: they are mermen hunters who would not hesitate to destroy us if we even attempted to steal their resources and that includes anything you see in the sea.¡± He paused for a minute. ¡°Be sure to not stare into the water for the next three days.¡±

    ¡°Why?¡± I asked.

    ¡°They might take it as an act of aggression and attack us,¡± he said. ¡°We wanted to avoid this territory and took precautions but the ocean often plays tricks¡­ and let¡¯s just say, we¡¯re out of options. If we decide to head back, we¡¯d lose weeks, and we¡¯ll run out of water.¡±

    I actually asked why we hadn¡¯t brought more water and apparently it was a matter of ¡®weight¡¯ rather than availability.

    ¡°I see,¡± I said. ¡°I¡¯ll keep that in mind.¡±

    ¡°Good,¡± Alustur said. ¡°That means you too, miss,¡± he said, eyeing Shia.

    ¡°I know, I know.¡±

 Chapter 133: Boredom

    So, our number one pastime was off limits.

    ¡°This is so boring!¡± Shia exclaimed.

    Staring at the sky from the shade, yes, a little boring. There wasn¡¯t even a spec of cloud, so even more boring. The blue sky did awaken a familiar feeling in me though. Namely, nostalgia.

    During ninth grade, I sat in our garden one day, reading a book. Halfway through I heard a girl next door exclaiming to her mother, just how beautiful the sky was. I looked up, saw the blue sky and regarded it nothing more than normal. Yet it did awaken a question in my mind. ¡®Would I ever be able to feel the same level of excitement staring at a boring sky like that girl?¡¯

    If so, how?

    When I left this place?

    When I went somewhere else and became free?

    I didn¡¯t really know but I betted on that possibility and studied a bit harder so that I had good grades when I left high school and could go to College in some other place. Anywhere but here. Surely that would change how I viewed the sky, the world? It didn¡¯t. I lived alone and hardly ever looked at the sky. Of course, I had hope that things would change when I moved to the UK and-

    I died before moving¡­.

    ¡­

    The sky¡­ was beautiful.

    It was so blue, not as blue as the ocean, and maybe not as wavy but¡­ Yeah, I guess I¡¯m free. I had a lot of problems. I had a lot of worries. I had a lot of things to do. Yet¡­ I was free. I didn¡¯t come out here because I had to. I came out here because I wanted to.

    ¡°THIS IS SO BORING!¡± My sister next to me didn¡¯t feel the same though.

    ¡°Screaming it¡¯s boring, won¡¯t make it any less boring,¡± I said.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go poke the mermaid or something,¡± she whined.

    ¡°It¡¯s not like she¡¯s a toy. Besides, you told me to respect her since she¡¯s a girl.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m a girl too, so it¡¯s fine when I poke her.¡±

    ¡°Oh please,¡± I rolled my eyes. ¡°We know it doesn¡¯t work like that.¡±

    ¡°Fuck¡­¡± She exhaled. ¡°Let¡¯s go drink some beer or something.¡±Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.

    Surprisingly the young lady hadn¡¯t drunk any alcohol since we boarded the ship. Normally she never drank either, apart from parties. However, she was bored to the point where she was seeking external gratification from beer, something which she apparently didn¡¯t like (she loved wine which she was saving for something).

    ¡°Let¡¯s not,¡± I said.

    ¡°Then what am I supposed to do?¡± She sat down, legs spread, somewhat in a state of disdain. ¡°Guess I¡¯ll just go to bed.¡± She was sighing a lot so I saw her off to our room and that was the end of that.

    I came back to the deck and saw a rather odd sight.

    The demon and the elf were quarreling with the humans. They were just dissing insults and not really talking about anything, so I tried to not get in the way.

    ¡°This isn¡¯t my fault okay!¡±

    ¡°If you hadn¡¯t looked, we wouldn¡¯t even be having this conversation!¡±

    ¡°Who said I looked? I slipped and whacked my head on the fucking railing! Look!¡± He had a bruise on his head.

    ¡°Close your fucking eyes then. What if they-¡±

    They paused. All their yells and screams and insults just came to a sudden halt as water dripped next to them.

    Something was standing there. Something with humanoid shape, the face of an octopus with two hanging tusks and four bulging red eyes¡­ why does it look like a predator?

    ¡°WUAAHHHH!!!!¡± It shrieked and for the lack of a better word¡­ I pissed my pants.

    Yeah, no joke, I actually leaked a drop or two. Yeah, should have just gone for a leak just like my body had been telling me for the last two hours.

    ¡°Finally, some action!¡± A wildly enthusiastic Shia slammed the deck doors open and waved around a rather sturdy looking stick.

    Are you like gonna bash them or something?

    ¡°And I warned you idiots too¡­¡± Alustur sighed. I had no idea where the fuck he even came from.

    The captain also arrived anyway, shaking his head.

    Yet, none of those three were panicking or even remotely stressed.

    Was it me or did they¡­

    ¡°But you said,¡± I paused.

    There were more. Like half a dozen more who climbed the boat and about a few hundred below us who I could see even from above the ship. Meaning, there were way more than just that¡­.

    ¡°Huh!¡± Shia jumped, slammed her stick firmly on the intruder¡¯s head, and landed victoriously on the deck.

    ¡°At least let them talk!?¡± I whined.

    ¡°No talk. All action. No mercy for the intruders!¡± Shia declared, somewhat cackling with excitement.

    Alustur unsheathed his sword. ¡°You heard the lady!¡±

    The crew sighed, whined but pulled out weapons anyway.

    Apparently¡­ I was the only one who more or less didn¡¯t get the situation or even remotely worried. So they just shooed me to the lower levels.

    Guess I¡¯ll go poke the mermaid after all¡­.

    Joking aside, I went to my room, changed my underwear and actually went to the mermaid¡¯s room to get rid of the stress.

    There was already one of those predator things here though, just standing by the door¡­ weird scars on its forehead. It just stared at me¡­ not moving a muscle.

    Well, fuck¡­  ¡°Um¡­ hello,¡± I spoke in sea tongue.

    ¡°Hmm¡­¡± He said, came close, grabbed my shoulder, hoisted me up in the air and took me over to the engine room where¡­ apparently there was a hole in the ground. I mean, it kinda makes sense.

    Our ship had metal bars protecting the magical device but what if you could cut the metal bars. The object had to be touching the water for it to work. So there definitely was a hole, yet I never even thought these people would show up here.

    How many you may ask? At least a dozen. And no, they weren¡¯t necessarily hurting me. They just grabbed me and wait, the mermaid was here too?

    Huh¡­oh. Oh¡­.

    They all proceeded to jump back into the water. Yes, all of them¡­ including me.

    I won¡¯t have to worry about any stains, I guess¡­.

 Chapter 134: Flyin- er, Floating!

    So, when you think about diving into the sea, you think a few things. One of them was the worry of breathing. Another, how you would get up or when rather. And then there was the fear of something dragging you down.

    But what if, what if all those things were turned upside down all of a sudden by a group of very scary looking fishpeople?

    Not only did they not supply me with anything to breathe, they just dived into the fucking ocean with me still attached.

    Hard to breathe- no, impossible to breathe. Chest tightening, like there was a car on top of me!

    ¡°ARGHHH!!!¡± I screamed as my voice formed gargles and I even drank some salty water. Great stuff for my lungs and kidneys. The world went a bit colder and the sounds muffled, as the vision of the hull moved further and further.

    Very blue, very dark, constantly getting even darker.

    Yup, you¡¯re dying.

    Chest burning, fingers utterly cold¡­ my mind was slowing down.

    I always thought I would die from poison or maybe be murdered by a monster¡­ heck, even a train sounded better. But not from fucking drowning!

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry,¡± a voice. Somewhat reassuring. I¡¯d heard it before? ¡°I won¡¯t let them kill you.¡±

    Oh¡­ it was the mermaid.

    It went dark as my lungs finally gave up.

    ***

    Classical music. Bach?

    Sounded like Bach¡¯s fourth concerto.

    Played by dancing seagrass, polka dotted sea horse and mini sharks? Still dreaming?

    My eyes fluttered as I stared at the ceiling. Or rather the ocean floor above me. Fish floating, people swimming, things just moving and waving and¡­I was underwater? Pinching my cheek resulted in quite the pain, so I probably wasn¡¯t dreaming. Probably.

    How the hell am I breathing?

    Not only was I breathing, I was breathing fine at that too!

    I checked my body and I seemed human enough but I had some gill like things on my neck. No, they weren¡¯t mine. They were just attached to my neck, chest, and wait, scales? They weren¡¯t gills. They were just specialized scales acting as gills. Quite white at that too.

    Rexen¡¯s handy work, I see.

    But where the hell was Rexy?

    Actually, where the hell was I?

    I was in the literal middle of what looked to be a fish city. People were talking, walking, doing stuff. But their voices just felt like distant chatter. I could hear them, at least somewhat, but I couldn¡¯t make out what they were saying. Almost as though they were speaking a different language, which they were. It wasn¡¯t necessarily that different from Sea tongue though, perhaps just another variant?Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.

    Regardless, I tried to understand and I tried to just look around.

    Building like things stood on the ocean floor. Crude, stone-coral like, somewhat attached to the floor. And the floor was also mostly made of coral. Very dangerous to walk on top of. And no, no one else was walking. I tried to see if I could float or swim and although I could¡­ I couldn¡¯t really do much on the ¡®moving¡¯ department.

    I met eyes with some of the people in the distance. They stared at me, pretended I didn¡¯t exist and just swum away. No disgusted glares, not even any sign of acknowledgement. I suppose it was their way of showing their hatred for my kind?

    So fishpeople hate humans.

    These particular fishpeople weren¡¯t as big as the Hermons that attacked the ship, and they weren¡¯t necessarily scary looking either. I mean they still kind of looked like Predators and well¡­

    ¡°Seems alive enough,¡± a voice came. From above?

    I found about a dozen or so fishpeople¡­ those scary predator lookalikes. They were just staring down at me, kind of curious, kind of¡­

    They were always there, huh? I might or might not have been ignoring them as just random passersby but yeah, I was kind of screwed.

    ¡°Yau wast right.¡± One of them sighed. ¡°Suo munch far ur feaset.¡±

    The hell is he even saying? ¡°Go-good evening,¡± I said. I had no idea if it was even evening though.

    And there was a good reason. That being, the coral was actually glowing. Green, violet, brown, pink. Various colors.

    And the fishpeople? Well, they were pointing their good old spears at me and smiling. I was smiling too.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go kid,¡± one of them said. Probably the biggest one, and with random scars on his forehead. He was also the one who caught me and dived in.

    Why the hell would any sane fishman drag a human child into the ocean? To eat him¡­.

    ¡°What happened to the mermaid?¡±

    ¡°She dead,¡± some other one said.

    Sounded like a lie. But still¡­ I stared at the big fish- ¡°I know you didn¡¯t kill her. She was like a friend to me, what happened?¡±

    I got a sigh. ¡°You should worry about yourself first, kid.¡±

    And with that, we started flyin- er, Floating!

    Since everyone could float, there wasn¡¯t much need for traffic control. At least that¡¯s what I thought. But nope, there definitely was. Every three minutes, we¡¯d run into what I could only describe as a traffic police lady (hot sea horse lady) who stopped us and let the fish flow. The whole area was like a giant intersection between oceanic highways, driven by torrents of water.

    Apparently, there were far too many fish in the ocean.

    ¡°Don¡¯t you eat other fish?¡± I asked.

    The fishmen, stared, as though they were beyond disgusted.

    The big man answered. ¡°No. We only eat humans.¡±

    Uh-huh.

    Gulping hard, I proceeded to keep my mouth shut.

    We weren¡¯t necessarily wandering around aimlessly. We were steadily moving closer to the center of the whole damn city like coral. The big somewhat round thing in the middle. Probably a castle?

    The closer we got, the denser the buildings got, and the quality of the coral improved.

    The castle-like thing was just sitting in the middle: It looked like green coral and although I had no real expectations of surviving¡­ I kept hoping some big bad fish lady would show up and show me mercy or something. But I knew damn well that wasn¡¯t happening. I mean¡­ If you could never eat the meat around you and suddenly you found a round little sack of meat (that you could eat), why wouldn¡¯t you eat it?

    Slowly but surely, we descended, I passed through the dark yet lit corridors and arrived at what seemed like a big fat double door. I expected the building to be crude but it wasn¡¯t. it looked to be made out of black marble, finely carved at that too.

    Yeah, we were about to meet some badass hotshot mermaid lady or something.

    The fishpeople knocked on the door, spoke to someone on the other side and the door opened. Oddly similar to the stuff I¡¯d read in light novels. I mean, technically the woman just might be a fish queen or something. Actually, why was I keep thinking the ruler of this place would be a woman?

    Because they certainly weren¡¯t.

    And yes, they.

    Two fucking heads were stuck in a body the size of an elephant¡¯s. The color was somewhat maroon and the texture was that of a Rhino¡¯s. The moment they saw me, they instinctively licked their lips. And yes, it was that moment when I knew¡­.

    Yeah, guess I¡¯m going to be eaten alive today, huh?

    And probably for real this time.

 Chapter 135: Contraptions

    ¡°First we dine,¡± said one of the heads.

    I was fully prepared for them to just rip my head off and serve it to the fatso. However, I was instead seated on a table that slowly descended from the dark ceiling. Not just the table, but table cloth, lots of stuff which looked like plates and chalices and even pots?

    But aren¡¯t we underwater? I didn¡¯t feel any pressure at all though, now that I thought about it. And it felt like I was on the surface, rather than floating.

    When everything dropped, they started serving wine in a glass. Their methods were rather odd. Instead of pouring the wine into the glass, they were pouring the glass into the wine- as odd as that sounded.

    How the wine and water did not mix, or water make any of the food go super soggy, was beyond me.

    No, really, their food was utterly fine. The soup, good. The bread, definitely not soggy and had a hint of some weird herb. And their flatbread was pretty damn nice and chewy. Not to mention their meat- no, it was just tofu-like or maybe some sort of mushroom? Tasted bloody amazing.

    ¡°So, how do you like it here, little boy?¡± one of the heads said. Both heads looked similar and I couldn¡¯t tell them apart by voice. And the voice in question was so¡­ fake. Like he was attempting an English accent but was sounding German instead.

    The meal was so good, I¡¯d nearly forgotten I was next. ¡°It¡¯s amazing here¡­¡±

    ¡°I am glad. Enjoy the rest of your stay as well,¡± they smiled, big sharp spiky teeth. If I wasn¡¯t scared before, I was certainly scared now.

    Gulping, ¡°I will.¡±

    That said, the man finished up his meal and went back to his throne.

    I finished mine too and the table just disappeared back into the ceiling. Amazing.

    Despite how unassuming this room looked, I could have sworn there was more to it. Were people hiding in the coral, or was it just my imagination? Not just people, there was something else here¡­ something.

    ¡°What happened to the mermaid?¡± I mumbled.

    ¡°Dismissed,¡± they said.

    The scarred Fishman grabbed me and escorted me out first thing. Once out, ¡°Unless you have a death wish, it is wise not to speak to the lord.¡±Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

    ¡°Bold coming from someone who clearly wanted to kill me by dragging me into the damn water.¡±

    ¡°What are you saying? Why would water kill you?¡±

    ¡°Because I¡¯m human?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re clearly a half-breed,¡± The man shrugged. ¡°Just because you¡¯re embarrassed, you¡¯re not fully one of us, doesn¡¯t mean you have to lie,¡± the man shrugged, snorted, and then carried me like a potato sack down the west corridor, into what looked like a storeroom and threw me in. All this time, I didn¡¯t or rather couldn¡¯t say a single fucking word. What half-breed? ¡°Consider this a final warning. Behave, and you¡¯ll live a decent life.¡±

    That said, the man locked me in and left.

    My scales are from a lizard, you idiots!

    The coral around me started glowing and fully illuminated my room. A two-bed room with some coral furniture, and a window leading outside. But the window was blocked with coral rails.

    One of the beds was empty, the other, not so much. ¡°So there you were,¡± I said.

    The mermaid, Roksha was here. She¡¯d been sleeping but woke up. ¡°Mhhmm¡­¡±

    ¡°Do you know what¡¯s going on? Because I have no idea.¡±

    ¡°They at war,¡± she said, albeit very slowly. ¡°They won¡¯t let us go.¡±

    ¡°At war with who?¡±

    Alustur and the gang? Like seriously?

    ¡°Dkionbra, my country.¡±

    Huh.

    Wait, so these people were at war against the mermaids? Or something like that?

    Kind of explained why they were out of their usual territory and patrolling around. But that didn¡¯t explain why they had to capture us.

    Maybe this Roksha girl is more important than I gave her credit for? I mean, they were letting her live despite being a member of the enemy nation. Or maybe I was reading too much into the damn thing.

    Regardless, despite what the man had said, the first thing I needed to do right now was make an escape.

    I was here on a mission.

    Not to play war captive and laze around.

    ¡°By the way, how does one relive oneself in the ocean? Should I just go?¡± I said.

    Her face turned from totally normal to vibrant pink. She actually looked pretty good underwater. I suppose she needed the water pressure to look girly?

    Not that I could feel said pressure.

    ¡°There-¡± she said, pointing. She was pointing me to a closet?

    So fishpeople just went into a closet, peed, and forgot about the water they were living in? Considering they were living in the very same water, I guess that only made sense?

    It was way bigger than I thought though.

    The closet was really, truly, a water closet. Not only was it filled with water, it was also filled with all sort of contraptions that looked like stuff straight out of a bondage video. They had straps, they had things that could suck on your bits and they also had stuff I had no idea what the hell they even were. Or used for¡­.

    Carefully, very carefully, I tried the one that would strap onto me. Apparently, you peed into it and forgot about it¡­ or so I assumed. I could have been wrong. I mean, it wasn¡¯t like I¡¯d done this before.

    Let¡¯s see¡­

    Yup, the stuff worked. Judging by the pipes, they had a robust plumbing system too. I suppose I shouldn¡¯t have assumed they lived in their own stuff. Why¡¯s that pipe so big?

    Still¡­ how come the mermaid never complained about this thing back when she was still with us on the ship?

    Yeah, let¡¯s not ask her.

 Chapter 136: Waited anyway

    So, apparently, the mermaids were at war against the Hermons. Both were technically fishpeople. They had their own intricate history, a bit different from the stuff above. Sadly, I had no way of knowing what went down in the past, and frankly, I wasn¡¯t interested right now. I had to worry about getting out of here first.

    But how? How could I get out of this coral?

    And even if I could, I couldn¡¯t outrun fish in water. Moreover, there was a good chance they would really fry us this time.

    So, despite the urgency of the situation I couldn¡¯t help but take a seat on the bed and just lie down.

    A lot of this place wasn¡¯t making sense to me. If Fish could float, why were beds necessary? If most fish people ate seaweed, how come they offered soups and bread to me?

    And how come, despite everything, I didn¡¯t feel wet?

    ¡°Is this some sort of illusion?¡± I spoke aloud.

    The mermaid stared, kind of surprised. ¡°You can tell?¡±

    Nope. Absolutely not. I just felt¡­ like there was a huge probability.

    ¡°How do I- we, get out of this illusion? I¡¯m not sure if you¡¯d believe me but I want to return you to your family, and find my own.¡±

    ¡°We cannot. We cannot leave,¡± she said. ¡°They will kill us.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s best to have risky freedom, than to be a slave in peace.¡±

    She didn¡¯t say anything, she just stayed put. And I genuinely thought she was offended. ¡°My father used to say that.¡± She sighed once. ¡°We cannot do anything about the illusion. It is part of the ocean. We can, however, leave.¡±

    ¡°How? They have bars and-¡±

    I traced her vision.

    The water closet.

    ¡°Fuck.¡±

    ***

    ¡°Are you sure?¡± I said, staring at the big pipe before me. We¡¯d detached it from a joint and now it had a hole we could dive into.

    It looked clean (for what it was).

    Why do they have such big pipes? I mean, I could easily fit in, despite being a bit¡­ chubby.  So, maybe this pipe wasn¡¯t used for what I thought it was it used for?

    ¡°Yes. Close your eyes, and dive in. Do not look back or even attempt to open your eyes; after a minute, we¡¯ll reach an intersection and you¡¯ll feel like falling but still don¡¯t open your eyes.¡±

    ¡°Any special reason?¡±

    ¡°Trust me.¡±

    Yes, trust the girl who I thought was a man and had kept as a prisoner on board. But I didn¡¯t have any other choice.Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

    Is it me or is her speech waaay better now?

    ¡°Okay,¡± I said.

    It looked utterly dark, so it didn¡¯t matter if I opened my eyes. She was probably just being cautious about my eyes in general. The salty water wasn¡¯t burning it though and I didn¡¯t feel any discomfort, so I was probably fine.

    Anyway, with that said, she jumped in. I took a second to rethink my life choices but in the end came up with the same answer; ¡®Fuck it.¡¯ I jumped in myself.

    For the first few seconds, it felt like a general water slide. But as the seconds passed, warm water gushed in from all around me and propelled me forward. There wasn¡¯t anything solid about the water, that was a good thing, but I could have sworn it had a distinct smell to it and it kind of wrapped around like a rope? Where was it coming from?

    This pipe was one of the master pipes, so other pipes were connected to it and the water was probably coming in from those ones.

    Huh?

    Wait¡­ I was falling.

    Falling fast.

    How the hell do you fall underwater!

    Despite my best efforts, my eyes opened and¡­ oh.

    ¡°I told you not to look!¡± She yelled, face flushed.

    Something white stretched from just beneath her waist, something like a spider¡¯s web, just thicker, creamier. And yes, that was the warm thing, or at least one of the warm things. The water was warm for very different reasons¡­ And that was the thing that was propelling, or rather dragging me forward. The smell wasn¡¯t coming from her though.

    Nothing solid about the stuff near me; somewhat grimey but definitely not solid¡­.

    Just a big area of coral and emptiness, and mermaids.

    They were just there, at the very bottom. Some lying around like their lives were over, others staring at us with those dead eyes.

    ¡°What are they doing?¡± I managed.

    We¡¯d stopped falling and somehow hung in the air. This place was really throwing me off.

    ¡°Cleaning,¡± she said. ¡°Close your eyes.¡±

    I did. We probably went into another pipe or someplace narrow.

    Roughly five minutes and the smell disappeared and I could have sworn I could sense light.

    ¡°We good?¡± I asked.

    ¡°Yeah,¡± she said.

    I opened to find myself behind an alleyway in the north. Didn¡¯t look to be the same neighborhood. Fishpeople were all around us but they were either too far away or too disinterested.

    I could vaguely make out a sun in the sky. It was near the boundary, so not necessarily in the middle. Either morning, or evening. Considering I didn¡¯t see anything when I first opened my eyes, probably morning.

    ¡°Cleaning, cleaning what? Why?¡±

    ¡°They were cleaning everyone¡¯s wastes. We possess the ability to keep the ocean clean for everyone.¡±

    ¡°But they looked so miserable.¡±

    I mean, I¡¯d met plumbers who were miserable before. But a solid bunch of them were really hard workers and loved to chat and often had plans for a better future. But the mermaids¡­ they really looked like they were ready to die.

    ¡°It¡¯s because they can¡¯t leave,¡± she said. ¡°They¡¯re trapped here forever.¡±

    ¡°But we got out.¡±

    And the mermaids weren¡¯t chained or anything.

    ¡°Their families are captive. They can certainly run¡­ but,¡± she paused. ¡°We will wait here till midday, and when they¡¯re sleepy, we¡¯ll slip out of town.¡±

    ¡°Right.¡±

    Was it me or was she super reliable now?

    Fast, smart, capable. And kind of pretty too (still no curves though). She¡¯s too young, you idiot!

    But this was odd, she wasn¡¯t like this even just a few hours ago. What changed?

    ¡°Did you see what happened to Shia and the others?¡±

    ¡°Hermons left just after they captured us, so I¡¯m sure they¡¯re fine.¡±

    ¡°How can I go back? Go back to the ship?¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re in a different part of the ocean now. Monsoon currents will soon disrupt the way. Even if we had a navigator, it would take months. It¡¯s wise to wait for everything to calm down first; besides, it¡¯s not like they would just stay in the same position for months.¡±

    ¡°I see.

    ¡°How about the forbidden continent? How close are we to it?¡±

    She stared at me for a good few minutes before gulping once. ¡°It¡¯s only three days journey from Dkionbra.¡±

    Without Alustur¡¯s protection, it was going to be impossible for me to make the journey or attempt a rescue. But I didn¡¯t just come here all this way to sit back and wait.

    I sat back and waited for the morning to pass anyway though¡­.

    [A/N]

    I understand there are some things that don''t make sense in this chapter. They will be explained later on.

 Chapter 137: Safe Zone

    The ocean floor never lost its light. The moment the sun would go down, the corals would light up. If the floor didn¡¯t have adequate light from the sun, the corals would still light up. However, when the sun was in the middle of the sky, or rather the ocean ceiling (which was pretty high) the corals would sleep, and so would most of the oceanic flora, at least around here.

    Still, I saw plenty of fish swimming around. I didn¡¯t see many Fishpeople though, waiting for which we stayed here for so long anyway.

    ¡°Follow me,¡± she said, grabbing my hand and pulling me.

    I could barely move, so I didn¡¯t see why she would need to tell me that. Regardless, we kept a low profile and swum in the lower regions of the city. For some reason, the few soldiers who were out on patrol, mostly kept their visions plastered above or at the horizon. I suppose they were looking out for invasions or something.

    ¡°Zo this ozer day I waz going ot and-¡±

    Two fishmen¡­ they were walking on the coral. Just seeing us, one of them had a wild grin. I suppose I could see where this was going.

    ¡°Let sem be,¡± the other one said. Voice a little high. A woman?

    They all look the same, huh?

    ¡°Alzight. But-¡± they proceeded to kiss each other.

    I did not understand whether I should have been disgusted seeing two predators kiss awkwardly trying not to impale each other with their tusks or enjoy the once-in-a-lifetime view because I¡¯d probably never see it again.

    Well, the mermaid made the decision for me by pulling me away and we quickly made it out of the city maze, swum past the mid-city and their mid-life problems, and finally reached the somewhat suburban area where I didn¡¯t see anyone with an ounce of hope in their eyes. We got out of that place so fast, I was still somewhat dazed.

    This was also the time I felt someone was watching me. I kept looking back but saw absolutely no one.

    There were dead-eyed Fishpeople here though. Some were even walking around despite it technically being something like midnight for them. This was the slums, I suppose.

    ¡°How likely would they come for us?¡± I said.

    ¡°Very,¡± she said. ¡°They want me captured. You¡¯re just reassurance.¡±

    ¡°Huh. Reassurance for what?¡±

    ¡°I lied to them about you. I¡¯ll explain later.¡±

    Because we didn¡¯t have time to stop.

    Despite traveling so far, I didn¡¯t feel any fatigue. Well, I suppose that was because I wasn¡¯t really doing the swimming part, she was.

    ¡°How come there are no stores or any shops, or even-¡±A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

    ¡°You talk too much,¡± she panted, stopping.

    The moment we stopped I noticed a sudden shift in the atmosphere. The people who were so dead of hope even moments ago, were now looking at us with renewed lust. No, not lust for sex. It was of the other kind. Hunger.

    They drew closer, and closer; mouths foaming, eyes crazy.

    They were just over us!

    ¡°If you can¡¯t have the fish around you, but you could only have one type of meat¡­¡± I mumbled, grabbed the mermaid, and willed almost all my mana into a literal vortex of water, forming a torrent of my own and launching us into the south horizon- our destination.

    ¡°Idiot!¡± She cursed under her breath. ¡°Now they¡¯ll see us!¡± She whined. ¡°All those morons would have done is lick us for dead skin.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I¡¯d rather not have¡­ that,¡± I could feel my system shutting down. Feeling faint, almost fainting. But not yet. ¡°I think I can fire that one more time but I¡¯ll be out for some time.¡±

    ¡°Then on my count,¡± she said.

    I could have sworn I saw a lot of guards swimming for us. Even if I launched another one, we wouldn¡¯t outrun them.

    Yet- just in front, I could see a reflection? Was the water changing at the city border?

    ¡°Now!¡± She yelled.

    And I released the spell. Water gushed into us, forcing us forward.

    Splash!

    We crashed into the reflection, went past it; the water pressed on me hard, and for the lack of a better word, I felt like was under water¡­ seriously, what the fuck was going on?

    Darkness.

    ***

    I kept having the same ass dream. Being chased by fish, eaten alive, being fishpoo, or rather fish pee, since I never saw any solid stuff and all that.

    I woke up.

    Exhausted.

    The world was moving¡­ being carried.

    Something pressed down on me, or rather was pressing me. Constantly. Water pressure. It wasn¡¯t unbearable but it was definitely noticeable. The ocean looked much darker, much scarier. I didn¡¯t see many fish, and I didn¡¯t see any glowing coral either. Just lonely cold waters and darkness.

    ¡°Where,¡± I paused. It was really hard to talk. And the moment I opened my mouth, I almost drank a lot of water. Okay, must be conscious not to breathe through my nose or mouth¡­.

    She didn¡¯t talk and just pointed. We were supposed to head to the pointed direction.

    Which we did.

    The ¡®we¡¯ involved another person. Namely, one of the Fishpeople who apparently made it past that reflective barrier with us. How come we weren¡¯t running from him or he not impaling us, was a bit confusing but oh well.

    For now, we, or rather they, swum fast with me in toe and tried to go somewhere. On one side, the mermaid was pulling, on another, the fishman. Ordinarily we might have even looked like family! Yeah, not really.

    Breathing was awkward. I almost breathed through my nose on several occasions, and coughed up water. The water around me was heavy, stung my eyes, and frankly was really making me miserable with just how cold it was. If I wasn¡¯t dying before, I was certainly dying now that was for sure. But sea water was supposed to be like this. So what the hell was that city about?

    Yet, the two fish never stopped. They swum, and they swum and slam! Slammed into something.

    The pressure lifted.

    ¡°Woah!¡± I breathed¡­ yeah, I could actually breathe properly. All water I was consuming, would just pass out from my gill and it wasn¡¯t as cold; also, not as heavy. We were still at the bottom of the ocean yet the pressure eased up. ¡°What is this?¡±

    ¡°Safe zone,¡± the fishman said. And wait, wasn¡¯t he also the one who caught me?

    Lots of scars on the forehead, kind of big with thin lips and a rather jawed face; yup, definitely the one who caught me.

    ¡°Here to bring us back?¡± I said, ready to fight him if necessary.

    ¡°No,¡± he said. ¡°I¡¯m merely using you to infiltrate Dkionbra.¡±

    ¡°Why?¡±

    ¡°I want an audience with the empress.¡±

    ¡°Rather, honest, aren¡¯t you?¡± I spoke, mostly as a joke.

    ¡°Indeed. I pride myself in my honor.¡±

    They both kinda mean the same thing though. ¡°You think we¡¯d let you?¡±

    ¡°It is the trade I met with the girl in exchange for the lives of you two; we, Hermon do not go back on our word.¡±

    ¡°You sure?¡± I asked the mermaid.

    She shook her head. ¡°Our chances of reaching Dkionbra increase with him,¡± she said. ¡°Besides, he is no threat to the empress.¡±

    ¡°If you say so.¡± I sighed. ¡°So, that giant city was also a safe zone or something?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

 Chapter 138: Seriously!~

    Safe zones.

    The name ignited some memories, particularly from my JRPG addicted era. You¡¯d play as a character in the game with some backstory and just before a boss or a really challenging situation, you¡¯d get the option to rest and save your game: a safe spot. Was this the same for the ocean?

    Is this a game?

    Were we about to fight a boss?

    Well, probably not. The people around me didn¡¯t seem like NPCs and frankly, I didn¡¯t really want to imagine this world to be a game.

    ¡°How do safe zones work?¡±

    ¡°I do not know myself,¡± Roksha said. ¡°But my granny used to say, they were a blessing.¡±

    ¡°They certainly are,¡± I said.

    ¡°We need to leave,¡± the other guy said. ¡°Soon we will be overrun.¡±

    ¡°By your pals?¡±

    ¡°They are not my pals.¡±

    ¡°Sure.¡±

    That said, the big guy grabbed me and together we blitzed straight into the water. Again, my conscious effort to not breathe ensued and frankly¡­ can I even do this?

    Because the journey to Dkionbra was actually quite long and the next safe zone was at least a day away.

    No food, no chance to rest, and certainly¡­ sigh.

    ***

    I noticed a few major things during my high-speed travel.

    Number one, mermaids were super-fast. Like roughly a hundred miles an hour kind of fast.

    Number two, the ocean didn¡¯t have any one current flowing. It had a bunch which overlapped to some degree and unless you were an expert in reading the tides, you were somewhat fucked. I mean, you could see how the tide would flow above the water but down here, you couldn¡¯t see anything. So how these two were navigating with tick sounds, was kind of interesting.

    Does it work like sonar? But since when could sonar distinguish between currents?

    And three¡­ fucking hell the ocean was big. Like on all sides, just water and water. I did see fish, and I did see some activity, but they were utterly scarce compared to what I saw in the fish city. It was also so fucking cold! Like I was freezing!If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

    If I was a normal human, I¡¯d have probably been squashed by the water pressure alone. The sea water would have shredded my kidneys and I would have died the moment we¡¯d initially dived in. But I wasn¡¯t one. I had the blessing of Rexen.

    I really owed that lizard way more than I gave him credit for.

    Some other fun things I¡¯d noticed was that although we were only like half a kilometer below sea level, I could hardly see anything around me and the pressure was a bit too intense. The other two were fine but they were struggling at times too, particularly Roksha who looked kind of down. She looked roughly like the time we¡¯d found her.

    The nearest safe zone was still quite far, so we couldn¡¯t just stop. I couldn¡¯t really ask them or talk in general either. Since the water pressure was strong, swallowing water was too damn easy a mistake.

    It took some time but we did eventually manage to make it to the safe zone.

    ¡°Can¡¯t we just swim near the surface? That way, the pressure would be much less,¡± I said.

    We were basically swimming near the very bottom of the ocean.

    ¡°We¡¯ll be easy to spot. And the currents are unpredictable near the surface,¡± he said.

    Well, it is a magical ocean¡­.

    ¡°We rest for half an hour, and then we start again,¡± the fishman said.

    ¡°Without food?¡± I said. ¡°Besides, you two have been swimming all day. I¡¯m not sure about you, but she¡¯s exhausted.¡±

    The mermaid hadn¡¯t said a word. She was spent.

    ¡°And she will be dead instead, if she stops here.¡±

    I didn¡¯t have a counter argument. I wasn¡¯t sure if he was right but I had a feeling he wasn¡¯t lying.

    ¡°It¡¯s¡­ alright, grabbed -sea weed,¡± Roksha said, showing me a bit of green sea weed and chomping on it with a smile.

    I gave the fishman a glance and he shrugged. No food for him or me, I suppose.

    I didn¡¯t feel hungry but I did start to feel dizzy. All these low-pressure-high-pressure quick ventures were taking its toll on my poor body. Also, a bit of nose juice was leaking out: bright red.

    ¡°As long as we can make it past the next area, we should be home free,¡± the fishman said. ¡°Just hang on.¡±

    ¡°Why are you talking like it would be a great feat if we managed to?¡±

    ¡°Because¡­ it would be,¡± Roksha said; her speech had slowed a lot. ¡°We will cross. The great Shrimp¡¯s territory.¡±

    ¡°Can we not and just take the normal path?¡±

    ¡°There is no normal path for us. As you¡¯ve said, we can¡¯t go on like this forever, so unless we take this path, we¡¯ll get captured and you two will die. I¡¯ll lose my shot,¡± said the fishman.

    I sighed, and pretty loudly too. It always had to get complicated and we always had to take the most dangerous of paths.

    Is someone out there really set out to screw my life up or something?

    We left sooner rather than later.

    The few fish we saw till now, were no longer visible.

    The quiet ocean became quieter. As though everything was hiding, everything staying away.

    Didn¡¯t look like a good sign but we had to deal with this. On a positive note, the water temperature rose slightly.

    This giant Shrimp thing was supposedly sleeping for the last three years, and usually slept for at least a decade so we were going to be royally fucked if we woke it up. Our plan was simple, the creature was pretty deadly and soldiers weren¡¯t stupid enough to risk their lives.

    I could see it from like at least a mile away. We slowed down considerably and came to a crawl when passing it by, like trains crossing a bridge that was falling over.

    It was red. Big, striped and¡­ well, sleeping.

    Phew.

    Pitter~!

    Huh?

    Something flew buy. A harpoon. It wasn¡¯t aimed for us. It was aimed at the red thing below. Who aimed it you say?

    Who fucking cares?

    Because the real problem was just waking up.

    Seriously, does someone really want me dead that bad?

 Chapter 139: Sure, but-

    Red. Everything before me was read; polka dotted striped red, but definitely red. I stared at the marvel without being able to utter a single word. After all, there was nothing to say. It was big, was an understatement; roughly half as long as a blue whale. When it fully awoke and stood on its hind legs with something stretching from just behind it, like a tail, pointing sharply at us- it didn¡¯t look like a shrimp, no. It looked like a scorpion.

    A deep-sea scorpion.

    Under water, under pressure, barely equipped to run let alone fight¡­ we were doomed for.

    At least that¡¯s what I thought but more and more spears crashed into the damn thing, and from all sides no less. Hundreds, no, thousands of spears.

    At first, I thought fishmen were attacking it. But no, they weren¡¯t fishmen. Something much, much more primitive in nature. Something purple.

    Something¡­ goblin.

    Sea goblins. And roughly a few thousands too. About the size of a typical teenager, with fins and tails like mermaids. They didn¡¯t wear anything, I suppose there was no need. But they did carry a whole bunch of spears and their target was the damn shrimp.

    But since they were fighting the shrimp, we could just run away¡­ right?

    Yes but no.

    Shing!

    Most of the spears just bounced off the Shrimp¡¯s armor. Some did get into crevices between its scales but I doubt anything could come off that.

    But just when I was thinking the goblins couldn¡¯t harm the damn thing, three heavily dressed goblins passed me by and went straight for one of the impaled spears. They slammed into the spear, making the shrimp shudder.

    It shook violently, almost impaling the three goblins, but I used some currents to move them to their sides. Given the situation, we weren¡¯t safe and we couldn¡¯t get out. So, the only way forward was to help them stay alive long enough to kill the shrimp or wait till they tired each other out and escape.

    More and more goblins swarmed the shrimp and crashed into the spears. Making it shudder even more. However¡­ it was no longer moving violently. It was merely¡­ observing?

    This was bad. A wounded beast was a deadly one. I wasn¡¯t sure how intelligent the damn thing was, but it was definitely being patient and waiting¡­

    The goblins had already regrouped, launched new spears and were about to rush in again. Its tail rose ever so slightly and changed the color of the water near it¡­. It¡¯s a trap¡­

    The goblins still rushed in, but I swept away the odd colored water with a heavy current myself. Took a considerable amount of mana, mana which I¡¯d borrowed from my bracelet.

    Yet, I still felt faint.

    Thud!

    More and more goblins crashed into the thing, eventually knocking all its feet out. The thing still had its tail attached but the goblins were quick enough to deal with it.

    I felt like fainting.

    ¡°Chance,¡± Roksha murmured.

    The fishman nodded and we quickly made a run for it. Or would have¡­ if we weren¡¯t captured by the goblins a minute later.

    Sigh¡­ I proceeded to faint.

    ***

    When I woke up, the pressure was gone and I could have sworn I felt weightless, like I was in space or something. Not that I¡¯d ever been in space¡­.

    The water around me was light and felt really airy, as in, I could breathe it in. A hut? Of bamboo. The bed was made with bamboo and leaves. Same for the furniture. Everything was made from bamboo.

    Seemed pretty bright for a room without any light source. Actually, this felt very similar to how I felt above.

    I came out, and well¡­ even brighter out here.

    Tall bamboos; everywhere. I couldn¡¯t really see their tips. Mostly because of the blinding sun. It was too damn bright.

    ¡°Stare for too long, and you¡¯ll go blind,¡± someone said in Western.

    I brought my vision back to the ground. Hundreds if not thousands of huts. Intricate small roads, and lots and lots of goblins.

    The one speaking to me was also one of the purple things; a goblin. A female one at that too. She was wearing something akin to a tank top and shorts.

    I thought goblins didn¡¯t wear clothes; but I guess I was wrong. These ones did. The few that didn¡¯t were the front line warriors who had to be agile, I guess?This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

    Then again, mermaids and fishmen go commando too.

    Maybe not wearing anything was the norm here, underwater? My soggy ass clothes were already starting to fall off¡­.

    ¡°Uh-huh¡­ where am I?¡±

    ¡°Timble.¡±

    ¡°Where are the other two?¡±

    ¡°Talking to the elder,¡± she said. She towered over me. I¡¯d say by two feet. I was like what, almost four feet now? So yeah, tall as fuck goblin.

    She¡¯s packing!

    Glowing golden hair, somewhat blue eyes and perky lips. Honestly, if she was human, she¡¯d probably have been one of those girls from rich families. No, that¡¯s just your assumption.

    ¡°I see. And where is the elder?¡±

    She pointed. She pointed at the distance, to a hut that was somewhat bigger than the rest.  ¡°There.¡±

    ***

    Apparently, these goblins were not the violent bunch. I could tell just by looking at their homes and how they treated each other.

    They actually felt more like ancient humans, than goblin. Not only were they wearing clothes, they were also living here like humans. Treating their children, like actual children and not cannon fodder or a snack for a rainy day. At least that¡¯s the sense I got when I saw a father walking down with his child on top of his head, and the mother not too far off, laughing.

    They were farming, they were hunting and frankly¡­ this place looked way more peaceful than a typical human village¡­.

    In my limited experience, I only saw three goblins. All three times, I was with Alustur. He was teaching me some basic self-defense.

    Goblins would almost always attack with whatever they found near them. Could be a rock, a branch, or even a knife. And it had the intelligence to know that a knife worked better than a rock, so it kept the knife. It also kept shiny things like coins and silver and even gold to some extent in its lower groin cover which stretched upto it¡¯s belly button (so they weren¡¯t necessarily showing off their big stuff), so if you could kill one, you were guaranteed a haul, unless the goblin was a loser.

    Their groin pouches stank though¡­ Don¡¯t ask me how I knew that¡­.

    These things were strong and vastly more agile compared to humans. However, they didn¡¯t have much stamina. One blunt hit and they were done for. I never fought a goblin. I merely watched Alustur cleave them in multiple pieces. And he¡¯d done it so elegantly too: Quick Slash, he¡¯d called it.

    Forget the quick part, I couldn¡¯t even manage the slash. Swords were just too heavy for me. Kind of why I was rocking a knife on my waist and a machete. Both were gifts. Gifts I¡¯d hardly used. Gifts¡­ slowing me down because they were so frigging heavy!

    Still, even after all that fainting and awakening cycles, I was kind of surprised they were still here.

    ¡°You even farm?¡± I asked.

    There were sea horses here, kept in an open field like area with fences. Kind of like cattle. But sea horses could swim, and they could have just floated over the fences so¡­ Seriously this underwater world was really, really throwing me off.

    Come to think of it¡­ I couldn¡¯t really float much here. And most people weren¡¯t floating, they were just walking around. Well, not necessarily walking, since they didn¡¯t have legs. But they weren¡¯t floating around Fishmen. They were merely havering a foot off the ground.

    ¡°Yes. We treasure fresh food and beverages.¡±

    They kept fish and other things here too. I also saw fruit trees and berries. ¡°Do you mind if I have one?¡±

    ¡°Hey, Ballstruck, do you mind if he has one?¡± She yelled in sea tongue.

    ¡°Not at all!¡± Came the answer from the distance.

    Well, that was¡­ a name.

    Gulping, I picked a black round berry. Sweet, with a hint of sour and maybe some spice. I could have sworn I¡¯d had something similar before but¡­ big seed!

    ¡°This is pretty nice,¡± I said. ¡°A little astringent, but pretty nice.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not fully ripe yet. Give it a few more days and¡­ well, we don¡¯t really eat it. We just make wine.¡±

    Fair enough.

    They did have a few different types of fruits here. But the most vibrant, beautiful of them all was¡­ Honeycrisps. Yes, even this place had Honeycrisps!

    ¡°Feel free to try one,¡± she said, albeit reluctantly.

    The tree was as big as me, but was cut like a peach tree and had no main branch. Each sub branch had at least twenty fruits! I picked the best one, the reddest, plumpest¡­ the best~!

    Juicy¡­ sweet¡­ a bit tart and¡­ my eyes balled. ¡°This is amazing. The flavor¡¯s even better than-¡± Words refused to escape my mouth.

    I hadn¡¯t even swallowed yet. Yet, I was already overwhelmed. This was a new find. A miracle!

    ¡°Stop overreacting,¡± the goblin lady rolled her eyes. ¡°There¡¯s like hundreds of these in Bolster, save your fawning for that.¡± Shrugging. ¡°Weren¡¯t you worried about your companions?¡±

    Oh yeah¡­ that too.

    Didn¡¯t mean I couldn¡¯t finish my fruit first¡­ which I took my sweet time with while walking; I kept the seed.

    So delicious~!

    ***

    I was wrong.

    The elder¡¯s house wasn¡¯t just a little big. It was way bigger. The huts were mostly single room huts, with some two- or three-room huts mixed in here and there. The elder¡¯s hut was about ten times bigger. From the outside it looked about three hut big, but from inside¡­ yeah, magical.

    ¡°How do you do this?¡± I asked, not being able to suppress my curiosity.

    Goblins in decent clothes were going about talking and hurling paperwork and all that stuff. I never thought this to be possible but here we were.

    ¡°What do you mean?¡±

    ¡°Have such a big place within such a small space¡­.¡±

    ¡°Spatial rationing. How else do you think we sustain our population in such a small safe zone?¡±

    Small? I could have sworn their village had at least a kilometer radius. But then again, I saw a few thousand goblins attacking the shrimp. Besides, those goblins had families, farms, and bamboos¡­.

    What even happened to that thing? Dead probably.

    ¡°What¡¯s Spatial Rationing?¡±

    Everything here was of course made of bamboo but the quality was much higher than the hut I woke up in. Things were just¡­ top quality!

    ¡°Shrinking space elsewhere so we can have more space here,¡± she said in a matter-of-fact manner and stopped. ¡°We¡¯re here.¡±

    A hut within a hut?

    It was in the middle of the whole thing with pathways leading past it as well.

    The goblin knocked and when an answer came motioned for me to get in. But how? The door was closed?

    And there was no handle. So how- my hand went right through. Not just the hand, I went through it though like it didn¡¯t even exist!

    It¡¯s a fucking fine cloth, you idiot!

    ¡°Woah!¡± I almost fell over but somehow grabbed myself at the last moment. There were people inside, inside this moderately large room, all sitting on sofas: About five goblins and two people I was already familiar with.

    ¡°Welcome,¡± one of the goblins said. ¡°Please join us.¡±

    Cautiously, I sat next to the mermaid.

    ¡°Now, as we said, we can¡¯t let you go,¡± the goblin continued. ¡°WE still need to figure out what happened back there and without a proper explanation we just can¡¯t let you go.¡±

    ¡°What are they talking about?¡± I whispered.

    ¡°You talking will only complicate things,¡± Roksha said. ¡°Let me handle this.¡±

    Sure but¡­ what the hell was even going on?

 Chapter 140: â€˜One of our ownâ€™

    ¡°We were just bystanders. We needed to pass by the great beast to reach Dkionbra.¡±

    ¡°You already told us that,¡± the goblin nodded. ¡°And we¡¯re not suggesting you to be a liar. However,¡± he paused, staring at me. ¡°Our witnesses suggest that boy¡¯s bracelet to have been glowing.¡± He produced a bracelet on the counter.

    ¡°That¡¯s mine,¡± I said. Mine was missing from my arm. How the fuck did I not realize that?

    ¡°Exactly. Were you casting a spell?¡±

    The mermaid sighed under her breath. I guess she really didn¡¯t want me to talk.

    ¡°I was trying to save the three goblins who struck first.¡±

    ¡°But how?¡± Another goblin said. ¡°We didn¡¯t see you manifest any spells. How did you¡­ counter its venom?¡±

    ¡°I just swept it away,¡± I deadpanned. ¡°The same with the first time, I swept away the three.¡±

    Their eyes opened wide. ¡°You can control your magic to that level of precision?¡±

    ¡°Not always. I¡¯d say this time was a fluke.¡±

    ¡°Even if a fluke¡­¡± They started thinking.

    ¡°As I said, we cannot let him go.¡±

    ¡°Yes, we might never get another brilliant magician.¡±

    ¡°And he¡¯s so young. He may conquer the ocean one day!¡±

    ¡°Just think how many hunters wouldn¡¯t have to die miserably!¡±

    Meanwhile, the mermaid was giving me some death glares.

    Yeah, I¡¯d probably fucked up.

    One of the goblins, who looked like the leader of the bunch, kind of old- cleared his throat. ¡°Would you be willing to help us? Right now, we¡¯re in great need of a magician within our ranks.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m afraid I cannot. I¡¯m on a journey to find my parents,¡± I said. ¡°Everything else is a second priority for me.¡±

    ¡°I see¡­ very well, we shall honor you as our hero and escort you to Dkionbra.¡±

    ¡°Elder!¡± The other goblins all rose, definitely not satisfied.

    ¡°It is not our custom to force those who do not wish stay with us. Or would you like to return to the dark ages?¡±

    Some of them bit their gums, almost crunching¡­. But they all nodded and just left the room.

    ¡°Now,¡± the goblin elder said. ¡°As our guests, please enjoy yourselves. Our Great Shrimp Festival starts today and lasts all week. Afterward, feel free to leave at your leisure.¡±

    We were escorted out of the hut by the same female goblin.

    ¡°Sorry,¡± I said.

    ¡°¡­¡± the mermaid stared, sighed once. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, it¡¯s not that bad.¡±

    The fishman meanwhile hadn¡¯t said a word¡­ it didn¡¯t take a genius to figure out, my man slept through the whole thing and was a sleepwalker¡­.

    ***

    We were given one hut. One hut to rule them- ahem¡­ just one hut for all three of us.

    It came with a single bed. Me and the mermaid claimed it, since our fishfriend was still sleeping. So basically, he got the floor.

    ¡°We should run tomorrow evening when they least expect it,¡± she said.

    ¡°How come? They did say we were free to leave by the end of the week-¡±

    ¡°You think they will really let you go? Besides, what if the Hermons show up?¡±

    ¡°Good point.¡±

    I wasn¡¯t stressed for time since I had no idea where Den or Mom was. I had a hunch they could be in the Forgotten Continent but that was only a hunch and that place was really dangerous.

    What if they were stuck on a random cursed island or something?

    ¡°So yeah, we¡¯ll do what we did the last time.¡±

    ¡°Please no more sewers,¡± I said.

    ¡°I agree. Goblin sewers are the worst,¡± our sleeping fishfriend said. Who apparently wasn¡¯t sleeping anymore.

    ¡°We don¡¯t have any other way,¡± the mermaid said. ¡°Besides,¡± she paused but didn¡¯t finish.

    ¡°I won¡¯t fit,¡± the fishman said.

    ¡°You don¡¯t have to. They don¡¯t care about you. You can probably walk out right now if you wanted to,¡± Roksha said.

    ¡°I suppose.¡±

    The conversation died. We didn¡¯t have anything to talk about and we didn¡¯t have any solutions. All we could do now was wait and see what fate brought us.

    I did check the bathroom and the pipes though.

    No contraptions or suction stuff this time. Just plain Indian style squat commode. Fuck¡­

    It was a good thing I hadn¡¯t eaten anything and didn¡¯t feel like going. Because, I seriously never wanted to use these things ever again!

    ***

    We got served freshly fried Sea food and sea curry. The lobster kind. The food actually arrived just as the sun rays disappeared. The goblin who brought in the food didn¡¯t really say a word and didn¡¯t stay around.

    ¡°How¡¯re they frying things underwater?¡± I said.

    As much as I wanted to taste the food¡­ the idea of going- wait, I¡¯d been here for over like five days at this point. Maybe more.

    How come-Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

    How come I never felt like going number one? Number two, sure. But number one¡­ Did my anatomy change or something?

    ¡°Anything¡¯s possible in the safe zone,¡± Roksha said.

    So, this is a safe zone thing or something? Felt wrong to ask during our meal time, so I didn¡¯t.

    ¡°I¡¯ve been meaning to ask. How come you become so lively in the safe zone but you were so¡­ meek above?¡±

    ¡°I have¡­ issues,¡± she confessed. ¡°I¡¯ll tell you later,¡± she eyed the fishmen who ate cross legged on the ground.

    ¡°Do you know what Spatial Rationing is?¡±

    ¡°Unique trait of the goblin tribe,¡± she said. ¡°They somehow sacrifice space in some place and use it in some other place. I think my uncle once showed me in practice.¡±

    ¡°So other people can learn it too?¡±

    ¡°I think so. But you need to have a knack for it. I don¡¯t.¡±

    ¡°Maybe they¡¯ll teach me if I asked nicely.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t think you can learn it this fast. Remember we¡¯ll-¡±

    ¡°I know, I know.¡± I certainly didn¡¯t want to think about crawling down there though.

    Once our food was finished, goblins came to get the bowls back.

    ¡°Can you get me that pretty blonde lady from earlier?¡± I asked. I repeated in sea tongue and one of the goblins nodded.

    She came roughly half an hour later. And she came with some fresh Honeycrisps! ¡°Thought you might enjoy them.¡±

    ¡°THANK YOU SO MUCH! I LOVE YOU!¡±

    She rolled her eyes. ¡°Sure, sure.¡±

    I proceeded to devour one right away, offering one to the other two with great pain. They declined the offer so more for me, yay!

    ¡°You wanted to see me?¡± The goblin said.

    ¡°Yes. I never got to know your name; I¡¯m Sol by the way.¡±

    ¡°Daine.¡±

    ¡°I wanted to know more about Spatial Rationing.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not sure if I¡¯m the right person. I only know it in theory.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s good enough for me.¡±

    ¡°I suppose there¡¯s no harm in teaching you.¡±

    There¡¯s no harm in teaching an outsider¡­ Roksha was right. They weren¡¯t going to let me leave.

    ¡°First,¡± she said. ¡°You constrict space.¡± She held her hands, almost like she was in a prayer. ¡°Then you stretch space elsewhere, where you want to have more space.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, you told me that before. But how, or rather, what space do you sacrifice?¡±

    ¡°Hmm¡­ usually space in the deep sea, where there¡¯s nothing.¡±

    ¡°How?¡±

    ¡°We use catalysts,¡± she said, showing me a small scale. It looked vaguely familiar.

    But after giving it a small lick, I could confirm, definitely manafish. And quite high quality one too. Stuff you couldn¡¯t find back home.

    So, the act requires a lot of mana.

    ¡°Sadly, the original art has been lost and I cannot show you the actual spell. Even our elder can only manage to form a bubble worth of space.¡± She smiled. ¡°But maybe with time, you¡¯ll be able to.¡±

    Yeah, they definitely didn¡¯t have any plans to let me go.

    ***

    Although a festival, the goblins didn¡¯t make any festive changes to their village. They didn¡¯t dress for the occasion.

    I felt stupid for borrowing their clothes (khaki pants and white braided shirt that didn¡¯t seem to get wet). No wait, maybe it wasn¡¯t a stupid decision. I mean, my own clothes were falling apart anyway. I actually thought my skin would be all wrinkly and shit but that wasn¡¯t the case. I mean, my fingers were still a bit weird but apart from that, the rest of my body was fine thanks to the scales.

    I sure hope Rexy was alright though.

    Anyway, the goblins knew one thing rather well- party!~

    They¡¯d cleared up a field and made it open to all. Almost everything was shrimp based. Boiled, fried, battered, crushed, powdered and so on. The curries were pretty good and they had a wide selection of spices, spices I never had. The taste was kind of odd and it was hard to get used to it at first but I had a feeling I¡¯d enjoy the fuck out of it eventually. So, I asked Daine to give me some later, to which she agreed readily.

    The people treated me like a hero. They offered the best cuts and the best wine. I knew a certain someone would freak the fuck out and drain every drop of a bottle so instead of drinking, I asked them to just give me a bottle that I could take home. They of course agreed to that too, and I got the finest crimson wine in all of Timble.

    With the morning feast behind us, the goblins started singing and dancing. They sucked. Like seriously, none of them had any artistic sense. But I laughed anyway.

    Apparently, every time they went hunting, only half came back and sometimes they couldn¡¯t really hunt because of that. They still had to; otherwise, everyone would starve to death. This was one of those times and that¡¯s why they had to go after the Great Shrimp (4th gen) and thanks to me, they managed to beat it with less than double figure casualties.

    Bubbly, warm, and sincere. These people didn¡¯t have worries about war, they didn¡¯t have worries about food (at least for a few months) and they didn¡¯t have technology that was going to keep them locked up in their rooms. They were in the moment kind of people and they were certainly in the moment right now.

    ¡°Come dance with us!¡± One of the goblins urged me.

    Sadly, I had feet, and they didn¡¯t. It was one of the reasons why they looked so awkward.

    ¡°I¡¯ll dance!¡± The fishman declared, linking his hands with mine and dancing¡­ He was way taller than me, so his feet were on the ground, mine- not so much.

    ¡­

    Anyway, I erased that bit from my mind and danced (more like spun around) with the Mermaid for about two minutes before I felt like puking and called it a day.

    Laughter and cheers. Just a merry environment.

    And apparently it was going to last all week. They were going to have more things later on like shops and stalls which would sell equipment made from the giant shrimp. I kind of wanted to see that.

    But yeah¡­.

    ¡°It¡¯s really a great honor to receive armor straight from the prey,¡± Daine said leading us back.

    Roksha was fine but she seemed kind of sleepy. The fishman though, had drank like two bottles all by himself and was pretty cheerful for once and with flushed lips too. Good for him.

    ¡°Does the shrimp have any mana-dense parts?¡±

    Daine stared at me, smiled. ¡°Yes,¡± she said, came closer, almost touching my face. ¡°But to get that, you¡¯ll have to stay here.¡±

    Making it seem like it was my choice, nice, nice.

    ¡°I like it here. The people are nice and it¡¯s a fun place. But¡­ I need to find my parents.¡±

    ¡°I see¡­¡± Daine of course didn¡¯t stop smiling; I never really thought goblins could actually look gorgeous but here we were. ¡°I¡¯ll talk to the elder and see if he would allow you to have a shard.¡±

    ¡°Thank you.¡±

    ¡°Too early to thank me.¡±

    ¡°Still,¡± I smiled. ¡°Thank you.¡±

    ***

    That evening, I was led back into the elder¡¯s place. Roksha was with me but not the fishman because he was still hungover.

    ¡°These are the most valuable parts of the Great Shrimp,¡± the elder said.

    He had three pieces on the table.

    The first, a hexagonal shaped plate. It looked strong. The shrimp, I remember, had a lot of scales but those were red, not black tinted like this. Not to mention this thing had insignias on top of it. Not carvings, no.

    Next, a solid spear like rod with a very sharp edge. I suppose this came from the tail.

    And finally, a manastone. RED and as big as my head. Probably the most valuable thing I¡¯d ever seen in my life. A bit crude in shape.

    ¡°Valuable indeed,¡± I said.

    ¡°Yes, and we¡¯re willing to offer them all to you.¡±

    ¡°Not for free, I suppose.¡±

    ¡°We want you to stay here.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, you¡¯ve made it clear.¡±

    ¡°No, you misunderstand. We want you to live here.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I got that.¡±

    ¡°We want you to stay here with your parents.¡±

    ¡°Huh? You mean-¡±

    ¡°Yes, we will allow one of our warriors to accompany you and find your parents and then you¡¯ll spend your days here, for the village.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m afraid I have far too many commitments to the upper world. Even if I gave you my word, I might not come back. Besides, I could very well perish-¡±

    ¡°A brilliant magician of your caliber would not perish easily,¡± he said. ¡°Besides, those scales¡­ those scales are the mark of an apostle,¡± he said, eyeing straight at my chest.

    ¡°Deity bearer,¡± I corrected him. ¡°One year. I will spend one year here. But only once I¡¯ve found my parents. If you¡¯re okay with that, fine. Otherwise, I will leave right now and you can keep your treasure.¡±

    He started thinking. I suppose he was thinking of ways he could stop me here.

    I¡¯d learned negotiations from the very best¡­ or so I thought. But maybe I came out a bit too strong.

    ¡°Very well. But in that case, you may only take one treasure,¡± he said. ¡°Among these two,¡± he said. One of his attendants just took the red stone and well¡­ I suppose that was true.

    ¡°The scale,¡± I said.

    Although faint, the tip still had poison. I didn¡¯t want to accidentally go around killing people. Maybe that was because of my indoctrination from the past world or maybe that was just my principle or na?ve thinking but I was quite conscious about killing things.

    I was also super conscious about not dying myself, so choosing the scales seemed like the best bet. ¡°However, I would appreciate if you could make it into something more¡­¡±

    ¡°Fashionable?¡±

    ¡°In a sense.¡±

    ¡°Very well. We will have it delivered to you next week.¡±

    ¡°I-¡±

    ¡°You plan to leave tonight, yes?¡±

    The mermaid and I stared at each other and smiled. Yup, our conversations had leaked. I suppose that was only natural given where we were.

    ¡°If possible.¡±

    ¡°I understand we came out too strong but we do not go back on our word. Stay for the week. Enjoy our festivities and our hospitality. Leave with pride as one of our own!¡±

    ¡°Okay.¡±

    [A/N]

    One of the biggest chapters of the month.

    Enjoy

    Ps. No chapters tomorrow

 Chapter 141: Always has been

    I couldn¡¯t say no.

    They were too fucking sincere.

    I probably should have just pressed on. I probably should have said I was going to take their treasure when I came back or something like that but¡­ but I just couldn¡¯t say no to their sincerity.

    Anyway, the sun was gone and night was setting in.

    ¡°How do we know if Hermons come?¡± I said.

    ¡°You won¡¯t,¡± the fishman said. ¡°Hermons do not enter goblin village, unless it¡¯s absolutely necessary.¡±

    ¡°Why?¡±

    ¡°Too dirty. They have solid feces¡­.¡± His face paled at the thought but he somehow resisted his gag reflex.

    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t normally be here either,¡± Roksha said. ¡°But they¡¯re a far cleaner kind of people than I¡¯d assumed.¡±

    ¡°They seem fine to me,¡± I said. ¡°Besides, everyone above ground also has¡­um- solid feces.¡±

    ¡°Yes, filthy!¡± the fishman declared.

    ¡°Pissing poop, and swimming in it is also pretty filthy.¡±

    ¡°Huh? We don¡¯t swim in it,¡± the fishman smirked. ¡°We have filters!¡±

    ¡°Of course forcing another individual to filter out your shit isn¡¯t filthy at all, isn¡¯t that right Mr. Fishman.¡±

    His tusks shook. Mad, I guess.

    ¡°Stop arguing,¡± The mermaid grumbled.

    I rolled my eyes. ¡°Discriminating against the solidarity of poop, never thought I¡¯d see the day, honestly. But I suppose I should have expected no less from us. We¡¯re the most stupid fucks that ever walked the earth.¡±

    ¡°Agreed,¡± the fishman said. ¡°You lot are stupid.¡±

    ¡°That definition includes you, and the mermaid too. I¡¯m calling everyone stupid.¡±

    His tusks again shook. This time not out of anger? Blushed lips. Oh, our fish friend was embarrassed. Heh!

    ¡°Can you put an end to your stupid discussion? I really just want to sleep!¡± Roksha declared.

    ¡°Sure, sure.¡±

    ***

    The next morning wasn¡¯t that different. The same eating and drinking routine. I barely drank anything though; just a sip to gauge the taste.

    A salty, fermented grape juice- that¡¯s what it tasted like to me. But a bit richer maybe? And a bit bitter too. I kind of liked the taste but I could smell the alcohol in it, so I decided to just try the fresh juice instead.The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

    Or I wanted to try it¡­ after seeing how they were making it¡­ I decided it was best for me to erase that bit from my mind too.

    I explored the village with Daine.

    The village had rocky areas and hills. Everything was covered with bamboo.

    ¡°Don¡¯t you eat the bamboo shoots?¡± I said.

    They had way, way too much bamboo.

    ¡°Why an earth would we eat our house?¡±

    ¡°No, no, the shoots. You have too much bamboo. So eating a few, while keeping the rest, isn¡¯t a bad idea.¡±

    ¡°How do you even eat bamboo?¡±

    ¡°Well, see this shoot, you first wrap the thing with something black and constrict its growth. It¡¯ll swell, and after a while you can just cut the thing and eat it like a vegetable.¡±

    ¡°Is it delicious?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve only had once when I was in China. It was pretty alright.¡±

    ¡°China? Is that a city above?¡±

    ¡°Something like that¡­¡± Fuck.

    Lately, I¡¯d gotten a bit too lax about the shit I said.

    Night was a bit different this time. We didn¡¯t fight and the goblins provided us with some fresh fruit salads. No, not just Honeycrisps but all sorts of topical berries and fruits. They looked familiar but different shaped. Most berries tasted like grape- with added flavorings. Then again, most berries tasted like grapes to me back on earth too, so oh well.

    After our little feast, we turned in for the night.

    Day three to five was pretty much the same. I tried the whole constricting and expanding space thing but I lacked the talent or so Daine said and that went nowhere. I refused to give up and exhausted all my mana though, not that I had much to begin with.

    Although this village didn¡¯t have a library, they did share their views on gods and particularly on Slovia, who, they claim was a harlot goddess going around having children left and right. Sadly they didn¡¯t have much information on Askavan or the church.

    I noticed, I really didn¡¯t need to pass my bowel, at least for the first three days but then¡­ then I had to. ARGHH!!!

    It was day six when the fun really began.

    I¡¯d leave tomorrow morning, so they were going all out. Not only had they decorated the whole village with lit pyres (I actually stopped questioning all that shit a while ago), they also had hundreds of stalls. Stalls full of weapons, armor, and different kinds of accessories.

    Goblin society didn¡¯t have any currency. They mostly just lived for the clan, and died for it too. They valued the clan over individual success. Of course, there were selfish goblins, but for the most part, this was a united village.

    The things on display were for sale. Mostly via bartering but also by promises. Promise to help each other, promise to share provisions when things got rough or something along those lines. I suppose those were pseudo currencies?

    ¡°These weapons are pretty interesting,¡± Roksha said.

    Strings. At least they looked like strings to me; a bundle of them. But apparently, they were very, very thin and sharp strings that you could set up like wire traps. I suppose, they were wire traps.

    ¡°Those look more interesting to me,¡± The fishman said.

    Axes, giant clubs and huge swords. Like really big and heavy stuff. I¡¯d have to be reborn twice to be able to even think about wielding stuff like that. Even Alustur was probably going to have trouble properly swinging those things around. No, Alustur would be fine. Dude was a literal monster.

    ¡°What about you, Sol?¡± Roksha said. ¡°What interests you the most?¡±

    ¡°The armor,¡± I said.

    Red and black, red and white striped, and even just red stuff. They made armor, shoulder guard, vests, shin guards, and even pants out of the shrimp¡¯s stuff. Okay, maybe the pants were just made with typical goblin cloth but yeah, things here were really nice.

    ¡°You can just take any you like,¡± a stall vendor said. ¡°My son wouldn¡¯t be back if it weren¡¯t for you.¡±

    A lot of people had said that to me. Made me a feel good about myself, special even.

    But at the same time¡­ sad. If I didn¡¯t stay here, many would die the next hunt. But even if I stayed here, at least some would die.

    People would always die no matter what. If you wanted to live, you had to find food. If you wanted food, you had to hunt. If you were hunting, there was a chance you could die. And even if you didn¡¯t die, the thing you hunt, is definitely dying.

    In the end, it was a matter of survival of the fittest.  Always had been.

    And that¡¯s why- ¡°I¡¯m not a good judge of armor. Please help me pick something that¡¯d help me stay alive the longest.¡±

 Chapter 142: Theyâ€™re not deadâ€¦ theyâ€™re not.

    Red helmet. White striped red breastplate. Red shin and arm guards. I looked amazing!

    Yeah, looked amazing. Felt absolutely shit. Not only could I not move in these, I couldn¡¯t even stand up straight. They were¡­ heavy.

    ¡°Guess we¡¯ll have to go lighter¡­¡± The vendor scratched his head. ¡°I don¡¯t have anything lighter though. Yo Hallbuck, do you have anything lighter?¡±

    ¡°Not really. How about you, Silverduck?¡±

    ¡°Nah. Nothing.¡±

    Apparently, these were the lightest stuff they made. And they were still heavy for me underwater. Technically this place closely resembled the surface, so it probably wasn¡¯t going to get any heavier or lighter above either.

    ¡°I¡¯ll take the crotch guard,¡± I said. Just a thin plate that went over your underwear. It wasn¡¯t that heavy, and it wasn¡¯t that popular, since most fish didn¡¯t have their things hanging on the outside. They made these things for export. Hermons had legs but even they didn¡¯t have hanging bits, so who were the goblins actually exporting to?

    Hmm¡­

    The vendor nodded. ¡°Excellent choice.¡±

    The mermaid and the fishmen snickered by the sides. Fuck them.

    Since armor and weapons were a bust, I figured it was time to check out the accessories. If I couldn¡¯t even lift a simple accessory, I had to consider jumping off a cliff. I¡¯d probably just float though.

    Accessories came in various sizes and shapes. Bracelets, cubes, earrings, pendants, ceremonial knives, random branches, rings, necklaces and so on.

    The vendor explained what these were and what you could use them for.

    Most of these accessories were magical devices.

    Some created waves, some expelled fire, some covered the ground with slime and so on. Their accuracy was pretty terrible, so not practical. The fire-expelling one almost burned my hand, and I didn¡¯t even fire it; I was just holding it. The rest were pretty shit too.

    ¡°What about this?¡± I said, pointing at a pendant. It had a vibrant green gem in the middle and I really liked the silver.

    ¡°That one¡¯s a dud. Can¡¯t produce anything. Can be used as a catalyst though.¡±

    ¡°Why¡¯s it a dud?¡±

    ¡°I was hoping it would expel a protective layer and can be used as a makeshift shield but even with that gemstone, it doesn¡¯t work. I suppose I was being too ambitious.¡±

    I took the pendant and poured a bit of mana into it. Of course, you didn¡¯t need mana to use a magical device but a little bit allowed you to control the intensity of its functions to some degree.Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

    I felt nothing. Just as the vendor said, this was a dud. But I could feel a great deal of mana emanating from the gem. It was a pure gem. Crafted from crude stuff, to look pretty. ¡°I¡¯ll take it.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s yours then. Do you want anything else? This windy dagger is definitely one of my best works and-¡±

    And as this point, he was really just trying to win me over.

    ¡°No, no, I¡¯m good. I can create a bit of wind myself,¡± I said, laughing. Though now that I thought about it, maybe getting that slime spewing ring was going to come in handy one of these days¡­

    Oh well. This body¡¯s too young for that shit anyway.

    Sighing, I went to various other stalls. Their wares were very similar but I did notice something nice toward the end.

    Red and black with a glowing white string.

    A magical bow!

    Made from the elastic tail and the shrimp¡¯s whiskers, it was an amazing weapon! You didn¡¯t even need arrows. You just pulled it and it created arrows based on your imagination!

    The only reason it was still here, was because goblins didn¡¯t care about bows.

    I didn¡¯t care if I looked greedy or some shit, but I immediately snatched up the bow without hesitation.

    It even shrank, and the string disappeared when I grabbed it; barely the size of a typical dagger, you could probably use it as a makeshift dagger. I willed it to open, and it opened!

    ¡°THIS IS AMAZING!¡±

    ¡°Stop yelling,¡± Roksha pinched my cheek. ¡°And that¡¯s enough shopping. Let¡¯s go.¡±

    ¡°Okay¡­¡±

    ***

    The real party began in the evening when the whole village started singing and dancing. As I thought, they sucked. I sucked too, but when everyone danced around you, you sort of felt the beat in your bones too¡­ at least I did.

    The mermaid, the fishman, I even saw the frigging elder coming to dance with us.

    I was really worried these last few days. Hermons weren¡¯t going to come here, but what if they did? What if they came here and captured us again? Escaping a second time was probably going to be impossible. Luckily, they never showed up. But we were still going to spend another day here. And assuming they were in the area, they could just ambush us the moment we left this village.

    So yeah, couldn¡¯t rest easy.

    ¡°Dance, dance!¡± Daine said, swinging me around.

    She wasn¡¯t spinning me, so that was good.

    Pretty lights, pretty sight; rather pretty evening.

    But as with everything in life, the evening passed and I was back in my bed with the mermaid.

    The fishman slept soundly on the floor. Too soundly, occasionally snoring.

    ¡°I really thought my life was over when you caught me,¡± Roksha said.

    ¡°It probably was. How the hell did you end up getting caught like that anyway?¡±

    ¡°I got separated from my mother. A Hermon scout saw me. I was trying to get away from him when I got caught in your trap.¡±

    ¡°So, technically, The Hermon came because of you, and that¡¯s how we ended up getting captured.¡±

    In the end, it was all my fault. Well, you do dig your graves some times.

    ¡°Yes. Thank you,¡± she said.

    ¡°Why?¡±

    ¡°If it weren¡¯t for you, I¡¯d be just a trapped fish.¡±

    Well, technically, she was still sort of a trapped fish.

    ¡°You¡¯re welcome.¡±

    ¡°What are you going to do? You said you were going to return me home. And then search for your parents. But¡­ but the forbidden continent, is forbidden for a reason.¡±

    ¡°And that is?¡±

    ¡°It was destroyed by the Sea lord long ago. Now most of it is underwater. There is hardly any place for land dwellers to survive. But since they¡¯re your parents, maybe they possess the same ability to breathe underwater?¡±

    ¡°They don¡¯t. Or shouldn¡¯t.¡±

    ¡°I see¡­ my condolences.¡±

    ¡°They¡¯re not dead. WE don¡¯t know if they¡¯re dead or alive. I¡¯m betting that they¡¯re alive.¡±

    When the first mailman failed to reach Den, it was already decided they were dead. That was the norm in this world. However, there was always a chance they were alive. I was betting on that chance without thinking about the otherwise. The obvious.

    And even now, even now I didn¡¯t want to think about the obvious. I didn¡¯t want to¡­

    ¡°Good night,¡± she said, turning away.

    ¡°Night.¡±

    They¡¯re not dead¡­ they¡¯re not.

 Chapter 143: Nonstop?

    The next morning, we woke up early. We were going to leave just before sunrise. I¡¯d woken up this early fairly often in my life but even so, it was always a pain to leave behind your beauty sleep after a fun night.

    Daine waited for us outside. Originally, she was supposed to be my escort and help me find my parents. I wasn¡¯t going to spend my life here, so they weren¡¯t going to send one of their warriors with me, since she needed to be here for the next hunt.

    ¡°The elder is still sleeping so I¡¯ll hand you over these things in his stead,¡± she said, giving me a dress?

    An overcoat of sorts. ¡°I mean, I did kind of want something warm for the cold sea,¡± I said.

    ¡°We¡¯ve sown four Great Carapaces inside this. So when you button up, even if you¡¯re stabbed from the back or front, you should be alive at least.¡±

    So this thing would block stabbing attacks to some extent. It was awfully light and¡­ rather comfortable. Warm too. ¡°Thank you. But you said, things?¡±

    The coat was a bit big for me but oh well.

    ¡°Yes. And this. Your bracelet.¡±

    Yeah, I¡¯d almost forgotten about Mrs. Barrack¡¯s bracelet.

    ¡°It¡¯s not the same?¡± I said.

    The bracelet had been remodeled into a bigger bracelet with multiple gems. They looked like crude cuttings from the big gemstone I¡¯d seen earlier in the week.

    ¡°We took the liberty to remodel it for you. It should work much efficiently now.¡±

    ¡°Thank you.¡± I wore it right now. It covered roughly half of my arm. ¡°A bit big for me¡­¡±

    ¡°It should shrink on its own. Give it some mana.¡±

    I did. It shrunk!

    So technically, a magical device.

    It didn¡¯t have fancy functions but it reduced my mana usage tremendously. Heck, I could probably form a fire ball for real now without passing out!

    ¡°Amazing,¡± I said.

    ¡°It is,¡± Daine agreed. ¡°Come, I¡¯ll see you to the off skirts of the village. There shouldn¡¯t be any Hermon patrol, but do be careful.¡±

    When I came here, I barely had my clothes on. But now I was leaving with loads of supplies, nice equipment, and even wine for the road (or rather for a feisty young lady)!Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.

    ¡°We will,¡± the fishman said.

    Usually by this time, most of the hunter goblins were up and ready for work. The farmers also woke up early. Usually, at least. Today they were still sleeping. I suppose they had some after parties after we left.

    Goblins hunted weekly and ate fish. They also hunted a major prey every few months when fish became scarce; big things like giant squids or sharks and stuff. And yes, there were sharks in the ocean¡­.

    They hardly ever fought something as dangerous as the Giant Shrimp but this time they were really desperate. Food around these parts were getting scarcer by the day, and hence they wanted me to stay here. Help them survive.

    ¡°What¡¯ll happen if you can¡¯t find enough food the next time, will you fight another big creature like that?¡±

    ¡°We always do. We have to, if we want to survive.¡± She paused. ¡°Some of us will die, but the rest will live on. That¡¯s how we¡¯ve always done things.¡±

    ¡°Why don¡¯t you expand your farmlands?¡±

    ¡°The safe zone is far too small,¡± she said. ¡°We¡¯ve tried to expand it but to no success. Our ancestors were great Space Rationers, but compared to them, we¡¯re not good enough.¡±

    We reached the end of the village rather soon. I usually walked this amount just for warmup every day, so I didn¡¯t feel much.

    ¡°This is as far as I can go. Please¡­ be safe, and come back. Although your time with us was short, we do consider you our hero and would treat you really well here.¡±

    ¡°I will eventually come back. I gave you my word. So as long as I don¡¯t die, I¡¯ll come back,¡± I said. ¡°But next time, I¡¯ll probably bring my parents. I know at least one of them will love the idea of seeing the ocean.¡± And mermaids¡­.

    Whether they¡¯d be able to breathe or not was a whole different matter though.

    ¡°We¡¯ll be waiting,¡± Daine said.

    And with that, we pressed our faces against the edge of the safezone and popped out into the fucking ocean with all its fucking water pressure.

    I felt like my eyes were being crushed and I was literally leaking blood through my nose. Fuck!

    Both the mermaid and the fishman grabbed my hand and together, pulled me toward the great darkness.

    The nearest safe zone was roughly half a day¡¯s travel. As long as we didn¡¯t run into anything significantly shit, we were good to go.

    We didn¡¯t run into anything significantly shit but I was still dying. My head was light, and I could probably faint any moment. The other two weren¡¯t in that better shape. Sure, they were doing better than me, but they were kind of fucked.

    Apparently, the goblins lived in super comfortable safe zone settings, and lived near the very bottom of the ocean (with very ¡®not¡¯ comfortable settings). So, when we got out, we got hit by a rather pressurized ocean that fucked our bodies hard. It was kind of like living in super comfortable 30-degree hot weather and then suddenly entering a different area with less than freezing temps. In this case, the temperature difference wasn¡¯t much or maybe I just didn¡¯t feel it thanks to my overcoat but boy did I feel absolutely shit because of the pressure. Also, not being able to breathe through my nose sucked!

    ¡°Dkionbra should be just two stops away. But it¡¯ll take at least two days of nonstop swimming,¡± Roksha said.

    Nonstop?

    Fuck¡­

    ¡°We can take the Gilt pass. It¡¯ll be hard to ride but that wave takes us straight to the southern gate of Dkionbra,¡± she said.

    ¡°And how do you propose we get out of the pass?¡± The fishman asked.

    Roksha stared at me. And then the fishman did the same.

    ¡°If you can use that wave thing to get us out of the current,¡± Roksha said. ¡°We might be able to enter Dkionbra tomorrow.¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t guarantee it¡¯ll work,¡± I said.

    ¡°As long as you can manage a similar wave¡­ it should be fine,¡± the fishman said.

    I wasn¡¯t confident and I¡¯m sure they knew that.

    Yet¡­ we didn¡¯t have much of a choice.

    So it was decided, we were going to ride a rather violent sea current and hope it¡¯d work out.

 Chapter 144: Absolutely

    Underwater currents looked or at least appeared to me about the same as the rest of the ocean. In other words, I couldn¡¯t see them. Their presence, however, bored down on me as did their slosh.

    Sound worked in mysterious ways in this ocean! Yeah, not really. Sound was faster in water, so I heard things faster and sometimes, from a distance. I instinctively assumed things were closer than they were; hadn¡¯t quite gotten accustomed.

    So, imagine my surprise, when I witnessed a literal snake-stream roar through the seas, and vibrating from its roar miles away.

    That thing was fucking huge! The only reason I wasn¡¯t frigging screaming my ass off was because I knew it wasn¡¯t a real snake. How? Snakes couldn¡¯t possibly be that fucking huge and so white, right? RIGHT!?

    I gulped a bit of seawater and somehow managed to keep my gills from going overboard. Could have sworn the other two were going through similar shit. But oh well¡­.

    The closer we got, the weirder the ocean became. The sound, similar to that of a waterfall, or a raging river during flood season. No fish or lifeforms nearby; just water and darkness.

    We were meters away from the current. I couldn¡¯t see what was inside the current: It was so frighteningly furious and white. But I got a feel of what would happen. Aka¡­ we¡¯d be torn to shreds. Fucking shreds!

    The water cruised at what, like a few hundred miles per hour? We would definitely be shredded if not crushed.

    Despite all that, me, the mermaid, and the fishman exchanged glances and before I knew it, they¡¯d dragged me straight into the fucking tornado of a sea twister!

    Slosh! Huh-

    Cuts. Cuts erupted all over my body and they hurt! Fast waves. Barely any chance to breathe. My lungs screamed, my gills flared, my ears threatened to rupture.

    Death awaited.

    Eyes closed: didn¡¯t want to lose them. They¡¯d let go of me¡­ so I was more or less alone. Or so I thought for a second but something warm held on to me- no, not quite. Not held, perse. I suppose the mermaid caught me in her web. I never asked her about it. Didn¡¯t seem appropriate considering where it came out from¡­.

    But yeah, despite the cuts, despite the pressure, despite the sound¡­ I was relieved. To the point where I shielded my eyes with my arm and opened them.

    Vibrant white. Bubbly, piercing.

    The slosh and splash, rubbed against my eardrums, forcing me to wince.

    High speed, really fast. Probably faster than an F1.

    Yet¡­ so fucking beautiful.

    Lungs on fire!

    A constant thrust but this was still way, way too fast. The fishman and Roksha were both here and they were trying to shield me. Protect me from what? Debris. There was a whole bunch here; left over fish, bones, random shit.A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

    The pressure was too much though; blood pooled on my face and leaked out through my nose and ears, and even from my eyes. Couldn¡¯t breathe, like not at all. Consciousness melted. Sooner or later, I¡¯d go out cold. But¡­ but I couldn¡¯t. I was their shot out of the current. I had to stay sane, I had to stay awake.

    I had to!

    Yet¡­ it went dark. No, no, no!

    A minute longer, just a minute longer. We¡¯re almost there-

    I couldn¡¯t go out now, if I went out now, we were all going to die.

    NO!

    A tug-

    Huh? My vision had gone blank but I could still move my hands a bit. My head went numb, I couldn¡¯t breathe but¡­ Even if it¡¯s early-

    But¡­

    I inched closer to the other two and splash! How? Didn¡¯t matter.

    The pressure lessoned¡­ I fainted.

    ***

    By the time I opened my eyes, we¡¯d neared a city. A rather big one at that too; roughly ten-twenty kilometers in radius. More than a hundred or so in area. Probably.

    Carried like a newlywed bride. By the fishman¡­ anyway, ¡°Did we make out okay?¡± I said, and gulped down a heaping pile of water in the process. The water flowed out of my gills but it was still a pain talking outside safe zone. No, it was a pain talking in general. Nose clogged, throat sore; body more than just cut.

    The mermaid nodded with a smile.

    Saw a city, but it was still in the distance. Hundreds of mermaids hunting or, patrolling? Some mermaids escorted us. And just as Alustur had said, they really were all women. None of them wore tops. They had open breasts (which technically were covered by a layer of scales). Sadly, no nipples or shell bras.

    So, harpoon and spears¡­ I was disappointed and I didn¡¯t even know why.

    Sigh.

    The big mermaids led us to an entrance of sorts that connected the outside of the safe zone to the inside. This particular safe zone¡¯s outside barrier was a bit different than the ones I¡¯d seen before. Glowed a pale blue: Sturdy maybe.

    ¡°Welcome back my lady,¡± the leading mermaid said as we entered.

    The pressure lifted immediately and finally, I could breathe!

    Cough! Cough!

    I coughed up some blood. Yeah, maybe high-pressure low-pressure circumstances really wasn¡¯t the best way to live life.

    I¡¯d already figured our mermaid friend was a hotshot. Hopefully, these people would forget I kidnaped their kid and be grateful that I saved her life and brought her back.

    And hopefully they¡¯d be grateful enough to help me too.

    ¡°Before we proceed,¡± the big breasted mermaid faced me and the fishman. ¡°Are they your guests?¡±

    Three mermaids were just behind us too. They weren¡¯t as well-endowed as the one in front. Come to think of it, she had a rather nice face too.

    Mermaids are generally beautiful, noted.

    ¡°Yes. And this boy is my savoir: Sol. He¡¯s saved my life,¡± Roksha said.

    ¡°I see,¡± the mermaid took me in her arms and carried me like a baby. I had an impulse to pat her exposed, or seemingly exposed jugs but opted not to. You¡¯re a frigging child, act like one!

    But didn¡¯t children love boobs too!

    Ahem¡­

    ¡°Thank you,¡± the mermaid whispered under her breath.

    Huh?

    Before I could ask questions, we were already floating toward the center of the city.

    Mermaid houses were made of coral and they had roads. I thought there were only mermaids here but I was wrong. They had other types of fishman. Like fishmen with actual fishy face, not like our Hermon friend who just looked like a predator.

    Octopus girl¡­  I gulped and stared at the tentacled walking lady, and her four hanging jugs with their exposed bits. I suppose octopi girls didn¡¯t have a protective layer over their bits? Cause I could have sworn I saw the bottom hole too¡­ very exposed. A faint blush on her face; leaking bits of ink.

    ¡°Nothing beats the sight of a freshly-bred Octomaid,¡± the fishman said, with a smug face no less.

    With great pain I steered my vision away. ¡°Why do fishman even need breasts,¡± I managed to mumble out.

    ¡°We descended from ancient humans,¡± the lead mermaid said. ¡°And humans worship breasts.¡±

    I nodded. Absolutely!

    [A/n]

    Did you notice anything different about this chapter?

    Oh and I know Sol''s a bit horny in this chapter but that''s because I was really into a let''s just say, not safe game that day and that might or might not have leaked into the chapter a bit. Shouldn''t be a thing in the future chapters.

 Chapter 145: Is it me or do you have spikes on your face?

    Silver.

    Bricks. Unlike everything else, this particular mansion before me was made of bricks.  Shining. Like moonlight, a dull yet pleasant light.

    So far, I¡¯d seen plenty of things. Big fields of nothing but grass, elves, huge forests, Apples that tasted like peach, big fantasy cities and different types of people and animals and superpowers, and heck- even underwater cities and a huge shrimp that I ate for days.

    But I hadn¡¯t seen anything like this. I hadn¡¯t seen a glowing mansion surrounded by a lake. Not to mention the place was underwater itself. How¡¯s this even happening?

    Swans floated around lake. It even had waves and red lilies. And there was a boat?

    Huh¡­. ¡°It looks like a fucking fairytale,¡± I said.

    ¡°I suppose,¡± Roksha said. ¡°I used to live here. Well, I kind of still do, I suppose. Make yourselves at home.¡± She spoke colder than usual.

    Well, her life¡¯s no longer in danger.

    She was home and away from danger. She no longer had any use of me. And if she wanted, she could just turn me in and make me suffer through the consequences of my actions. Though I had a feeling she wasn¡¯t going to do that. Maybe it was na?ve optimism on my part, but I didn¡¯t think Roksha was the kind of girl who¡¯d fuck me over like that.

    ¡°Why¡¯re we taking a boat underwater. First of all, why¡¯s there a lake here?¡±

    There were some other buildings nearby. None of them were even remotely as beautiful as this one. Heck, even the crystal palace at the center of this city couldn¡¯t hold a candle to this place. And yes, there was a palace at the center. And yes¡­ it was made of white frigging crystals. I guess now I had a story for Nisa when I got back home.

    ¡°You ask too many questions, human,¡± the fishman said. ¡°Just accept reality for what it is.¡±

    ¡°But this doesn¡¯t feel real at all!¡±

    Because. 1. We were already under water. And 2. My brain was hella confused.If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

    ¡°Just get on the fucking boat.¡± The fishman wasn¡¯t having my meltdown, that was for sure.

    Small white boat. Typical shit you¡¯d see lovers in a lake pretending to have fun in. How the fuck would you have fun just pedaling on a fucking lake though? And yeah, for some reason all small boats I¡¯d ever seen were paddle boats, rather than boats with Oars or Engines.

    Cramped. I got sandwiched between the two mermaids; the fishman was on the opposite side of Roksha.

    Drizzle. Huh? I looked up. Up at the glistening sea surface. It was¡­ raining.

    Wow. I saw fish floating. I saw fish swimming below. And then there was rain.

    What in the actual fuck was happening?

    Well, fuck it.

    I smiled, stared around and let out an exhale. ¡°What a time to be alive.¡±

    What a time to be alive, indeed.

    ***

    If my breath wasn¡¯t taken before, it was certainly taken now. Each and every brick of the mansion was glowing. A very dim glow, yet so pleasant. While I still thought it was similar to moonlight, I think that was a bit of a disrespectful comparison. Not to the moon, but to the mansion. Cause god damn this thing was amazing. The glowing coral from before didn¡¯t even begin to- Wait a minute¡­. Yeah, I proceeded to ignore my little discovery.

    Anyway-

    Now this is fantasy. This is another world!

    Everything else I¡¯d seen so far were basically just Middle Ages with a bit of monster and magic. This though, fantastical as fuck.

    Yeah, now I knew what I was feeling wasn¡¯t confusion. It was excitement. With maybe just a tiny bit delirium like when you had a spiked drink your friend meant for the girl next to you by accident. Ha ha.

    Mermaid guards were at the entrance to the huge double door. They wielded tridents. And wore breastplates? Not everyone¡¯s going commando.

    They opened the door without a word and we went in.

    Marble striped floor. Multiple snake-like stairs erupted from the ground and spiraled everywhere up to the fourth floor. Looking at the stairs was straining my neck, so I again smiled, took a step back and exhaled.

    ¡°So, ugly face¡¯s back?¡± someone said.

    I turned and found a fishman. Blowfish head, wearing a suit. Clown.

    ¡°Who¡¯s the blowhead?¡± I asked.

    Could have sworn I caught the mermaid wincing. ¡°That¡¯s my brother.¡±

    ¡°Half,¡± the fish said. ¡°Hmm¡­ guests,¡± he seemed a bit irritated but didn¡¯t seem bothered by my remark. ¡°Show them to the guest chambers. And take the ugly face to her chambers and feed her some food; she appears uglier than usual.¡±

    He proceeded to disappear from whence he came or something like that.

    ¡°The fuck?¡±

    ¡°Please refrain from speaking that way,¡± the fishman said. ¡°You¡¯ll only embarrass us further.¡± His face was a little red.

    ¡°Yeah, sorry. Slipped out of my mouth, without me meaning to.¡±

    Lately, I was becoming more and more impulsive. I suppose my budding hormones were to blame but at the same time, I was probably just taking things a bit too naively. Get your act together you idiot! What if he¡¯d been super offended and thrown you into the jail!?

    [A/N]

    Sol actually called him an ugly bastard the first time

    Then a ugly blowhead

    And now this kekw

 Chapter 146: Bona Fide Human

    I got a room on the fourth floor. It was spacious, it was quite nice and it came with an attached bathroom.

    I didn¡¯t know what I was expecting but I certainly wasn¡¯t expecting those suction contraptions again.

    The bed was super comfortable and I could finally, after all this time, relax. Yet, I didn¡¯t want to. I had some rather good reasons.

    One, I still didn¡¯t know how this whole thing would go or whether I¡¯d be able to leave this place alive.

    Two, I had no idea what Shia and the others were doing. Were they even okay?

    And three, I really didn¡¯t know where Mom and Den were. Were they in the forbidden- or forgotten or whatever the heck it was called- continent?

    And then there was the whole Askavan thing I had to get back to after all this¡­.

    To be fair, I didn¡¯t know a whole bunch of things. And the more I thought about them, the less sleepy I felt. Sure, I was still super tired but¡­ but the worries were far too real.

    Not like worrying gonna make anything better. And not like I could stop worrying just because I knew I was worrying too much.

    Sigh.

    ¡°Sol, you in?¡±

    ¡°I am.¡±

    The fishman came in.

    Even now, even after all this time, I couldn¡¯t help but freak out a little every time I saw his face. The scar didn¡¯t seem to make the feeling any less devastating.

    ¡°We¡¯ve been granted an audience,¡± he said. ¡°Tomorrow afternoon.¡±

    ¡°Good for you. You came all this way.¡±

    ¡°No, no, you don¡¯t understand. I¡¯ve been granted an audience because of you.¡±The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

    ¡°What do you mean?¡±

    ¡°The queen of mermaids, wants to meet you.¡±

    ¡°Oh, I see.¡±

    She wanted to meet the savior/captor of the mermaid. So, either I¡¯d be eaten alive (which didn¡¯t seem to be likely) or celebrated as a hero (which didn¡¯t seem likely either) tomorrow.

    ¡°So, uh,¡± he fiddled his fingers, swiveling his tusks. I didn¡¯t know he could even do that! ¡°I probably won¡¯t be allowed to talk. But¡­ but could you-¡± His face turned slightly red. Was he angry at this situation? I mean I could understand. He¡¯d come all this way into enemy territory. Risked so much, betrayed his own kind. And yet, the mermaids wouldn¡¯t let him talk. ¡°Could you ask her for a portrait?¡±

    ¡°A what?¡±

    ¡°A portrait. You know, paintings of one. My youngest has wanted one for years but sadly her portraits are far too expensive. And for the price, they¡¯re far too inferior of quality. So, I figured, since I can¡¯t buy them, I¡¯ll just ask the lady herself and well.¡±

    Huh.

    ¡°Yeah, sure, why not?¡±

    And wait, this dude was married and had kids? Wow. Didn¡¯t expect that. I thought him to be a loner but maybe he had more rizz than I thought.

    Anyway, ¡°Anything else?¡±

    ¡°Not really. Can¡¯t relax in their fancy beds,¡± he spoke in a matter-of-fact manner and stared at the lake outside. The lake was fairly beautiful and the running waves felt really nice under the gentle light. The swans only made it seem like a fairytale even more.

    ¡°Your beds were pretty fancy too, you know.¡±

    ¡°Only the guest chambers. That particular chamber was designed specifically to keep mermaid nobles.¡±

    ¡°So normal bathrooms don¡¯t have those suction things?¡±

    ¡°Suction things? You mean the Succi? Don¡¯t all bathrooms in Grade III and IV Safe Zone have them?¡±

    I blinked a couple of times. ¡°The goblins didn¡¯t have it-¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s because they were Grade II¡±

    ¡°Huh. Su-sure¡­.¡±

    I wanted to talk about things but I didn¡¯t feel like asking anything. One, I was getting sleepier and two, talking with this fishman was kind of awkward even after all this time. Maybe I was becoming more introverted, because I didn¡¯t want to trouble him with my queries.

    Yet- ¡°What¡¯ll happen to you once you go back?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll be tried but considering they won¡¯t have any proof against me, I¡¯ll be set free.¡±

    ¡°Why were you guys after the mermaid anyway?¡±

    ¡°We could have used her as a political toy. Same for you.¡±

    ¡°Me?¡±

    ¡°Yes, aren¡¯t you her half bastard brother?¡±

    ¡°Not really,¡± I deadpanned.

    ¡°Lying wench,¡± the fishman cursed. ¡°Though I suppose that¡¯s only logical.¡±

    ¡°Lying?¡±

    ¡°You being her brother.¡±

    ¡°Suppose so.¡±

    Well, I guess he wasn¡¯t as airheaded as I thought he was. He still seemed somewhat headstrong for my liking but, but I could live with this. ¡°I¡¯m not a halfbreed either, just so you know. I¡¯m a bona fide human.¡± Sounded awfully weird when I said it though.

    He sighed. ¡°Very well. I shall change my impression of you from barely tolerable, to ¡®must be avoided at all costs¡¯.¡±

    ¡°Hey!¡±

    A snicker. Damn fish was joking¡­ I think.

    ¡°Alright then, Bona Fide Human, rest well,¡± he said leaving.

    ¡°You too Fishman. You too.¡±

    ¡°Zorkan.¡±

    ¡°Soler.¡±

 Chapter 147: Nowhere

    Mermaid food was very similar to the stuff I¡¯d eaten in the Hermon Palace. I suppose those guys were really trying to make us feel at home there. Best way to keep prisoners was to keep them happy so they didn¡¯t want to leave. I could have probably lived a good life there, free of any labor. At least under normal circumstances. My life wasn¡¯t very normal though.

    After a light breakfast, I went out and just walked around the mansion unguided. No mermaid guards inside the mansion. Just a servant or two here and there. They didn¡¯t seem to mind me.

    After a while of just roaming around the fourth floor, I went down a floor and found the fishman arguing loudly with the chef.

    ¡°This has to be burnt!¡±

    ¡°If that¡¯s burnt, then this is ash!¡± The chef yelled back.

    ¡°What happened?¡±

    ¡°Look Soler, he burned my steak and keeps insisting it¡¯s well done!¡±

    What steak? Weren¡¯t they all vegetarian?

    Apparently, they were talking about a mushroom steak. Actually, looked like steak.

    ¡°This buffoon doesn¡¯t understand that a steak needs to be well-done!¡± The chef said.

    ¡°Well, you do need to cook mushrooms thoroughly,¡± I said. ¡°This is well-done like he said. A bit on the charred side though,¡± I remarked. ¡°So you¡¯re both at fault.¡±

    They turned to me and started directing their yells at me so I promptly just left. Not my problem. Maybe I should have said they were both ¡®right¡¯ instead?

    Anyway, I had to find the mermaid. I couldn¡¯t keep running around awkwardly in someone else¡¯s house without-

    ¡°You there,¡± I got called. ¡°My lord would like a word,¡± said the tunafaced butler.

    This is you get for calling people names, you fucking idiot... no, wait, no, no, no more name callings, even if it¡¯s you!

    Feeling kind of unnerved, I followed the butler to the second floor where he led me down to the hall. We stood before a golden door. No particular pattern. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

    ¡°Enter,¡± came the voice. No one had knocked. He just knew we were here. Psychic?

    The door opened and I went in. Rather well furnished. From top to bottom. Decorated with luxuries, I''d never seen before. Or at least I think they were luxuries because I really had no idea what the hell they even were.

    ¡°Sit,¡± the man said. Or rather, the man with the head of a blowfish said.

    I sat down and he stared at me with crude eyes.

    ¡°Did you need something, sir?¡±

    ¡°Do I need to need something from my guests to see them?¡±

    Man had a point, that was for sure. ¡°Not really. I was just curious if you called because you had a need of me.¡±

    He seemed to be considering something. But motioned for the butler who quickly brought a tray full of sweets and tea?

    Green tea, looked like matcha. Tasted like sweet seaweed, a little salty.

    ¡°Who are you?¡± he said.

    ¡°Soler A. Barack. First son of the Barack family. I¡¯m on a journey to find my foster parents,¡± I said.

    ¡°Who are-¡±

    ¡°Lindel Arnius and Denkar Borges. They were last seen boarding a passenger ship from Moon port to Sun port which crashed near the cursed islands and the forbidden continent.¡±

    So far, I hadn¡¯t lied. How he was going to interpret all that, was entirely up to him, however.

    ¡°Then they are dead.¡±

    ¡°Most likely,¡± I said. ¡°But there¡¯s a slim possibility they are still alive.¡±

    ¡°A fool¡¯s errand. However,¡± he paused. ¡°I don¡¯t have any right to ridicule you for it.¡±

    ¡°Appreciated.¡±

    ¡°What is your relationship with my ugly sister?¡±

    He''s not calling her an ugly face, at least.

    ¡°We¡¯re friends, I think.¡±

    ¡°And you¡¯ve saved her life?¡±

    ¡°In theory. But I was mostly focused on saving my own skin first.¡±

    Which again was the truth. I was more worried about myself and how to get out of Hermon territory, than I was worried about Roksha¡¯s life.

    "Understandable. However, we are grateful.¡±

    ¡°And I¡¯m glad you feel that way.¡±

    We silently ate the biscuits and finished the tea before long. ¡°By the way,¡± he said. ¡°During the audience, when she asks you for a reward, decline.¡±

    Audience? With the mermaid queen? Oh yeah, the Fishman, had said something about meeting the mermaid queen today. How the hell do you keep forgetting important shit?

    But wait, what reward?

    ¡°I don¡¯t really have any need for a reward in the first place. As long as you can show me to the cursed islands or-¡±

    ¡°Trust me,¡± he said. ¡°I would not wrong my ugly sister¡¯s savior. When she asks, just decline and don¡¯t say anything else.¡±

    I had no idea what he was talking about but I honestly I didn¡¯t want to think about politics right now. ¡°Okay.¡± I cleared my throat. "But why do you keep calling her ugly?''''

    "Because it''s the truth?''''

    "Well, I know it''s the truth but that doesn''t mean you have to actually call her ugly!"

    "Perhaps, but it is what it is. And it is a family matter."

    ''''I see.'''' Again, my man had a point. ¡°I¡¯ll stay out of it then.¡±

    ¡°Thank you for understanding. You¡¯re quite mature for your age.¡±

    ¡°I get that a lot,¡± I said.

    And with that, our conversation was over. I felt like we''d gotten nowhere but oh well.

 Chapter 148: Fabrication

    I found the wandering mermaid sooner than later; rather, she found me. Apparently, she was looking for me too.

    ¡°You were with my brother,¡± she said.

    Her room was further down the hall. Cozy, well-furnished, and rather pristine. Wasn¡¯t as grand as her brother¡¯s, but not bad. She also had a nice view of the lake, or would have if a certain tree wasn''t blocking most of the view. Then again, watching a tree from so close and seeing fish settle down on it wasn¡¯t bad either. A little jarring, and hella confusing, but not bad.

    ¡°Yeah. He had interesting things to say.¡±

    ¡°Probably just told you to not want a reward, right?¡±

    ¡°Yeah?¡±

    ¡°Typical.¡±

    ¡°I have a feeling you know what¡¯s going on, mind explaining?¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s going to use your sincerity as a bargaining chip.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I had a feeling,¡± I said. ¡°Eaten?¡±

    ¡°Not yet. I always tend to get nervous and throw up. So, I decided best not eat.¡±

    Roksha wasn¡¯t as young as she appeared to be. She was 11, a little older than I thought.

    ¡°I see,¡± I said, sitting down on her bed. Rather firm. ¡°When¡¯s the audience?¡±

    ¡°Later this evening,¡± she said.

    ¡°You¡¯re going to starve the whole day?¡±

    ¡°Better than throwing up before the queen.¡± She didn¡¯t sit. She just floated a tiny bit above the ground.

    ¡°I suppose,¡± I said. She did have a point. But was this mermaid queen lady so frigging scary that Roksha had to starve not to throw up before her? Or maybe she¡¯s just not used to court settings.

    This was technically going to be my first time as well. I¡¯d met the Duke and although technically he was sort of a king, this was the real deal. It¡¯d be a lie to say I wasn''t somewhat nervous myself but I wasn''t nervous to the point where I''d evacuate the contents of my stomach. If anything, I was excited to meet a real queen. Though, I suppose everyone had different stress tolerance and maybe she had issues in the past and was just not going to take chances this time because of trauma or something. This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

    ¡°Then how about you show me around?¡± I said. ¡°There¡¯s gotta be something here that-¡±

    ¡°There is, but,¡± she sighed. ¡°It¡¯s best for you to not go out with me. They might treat you... badly if you¡¯re out with me?¡±

    ¡°But they didn¡¯t when we were out yesterday. We swam through the whole city. The mermaids genuinely seemed worried about you.¡±

    ¡°They are, or, some are. The rest are pretending. They... don¡¯t like me. I¡¯m ugly.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re not ugly,¡± I said.

    ¡°Didn¡¯t you mistake me for a boy? I¡¯m ugly, Sol.¡±

    ¡°Beauty is subjective.¡±

    ¡°Well, then they all subjectively think I¡¯m ugly.¡±

    I didn¡¯t have a comeback. I didn''t have anything I could say to her. I didn¡¯t really know what to say either. What the fuck could I say? Even if I said she wasn¡¯t ugly, that wasn¡¯t true, just like her brother had said. I kind of believed that. And that only made me feel like a worthless piece of shit. But just then I remembered something.

    Something someone had once told me.

    ¡°Outward beauty isn¡¯t everything. There are plenty of people in the world who are ugly, really. But does that mean you¡¯re going to mope for the rest of your life and blame yourself or your parents or your circumstances? What will blaming or feeling helpless get you? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. So... I¡¯m not going to mince words: I really thought you were a boy when we first met you. But that¡¯s because you haven¡¯t hit puberty yet and your hair¡¯s so short. Grow your hair out, grow up a bit more. While I don¡¯t find you attractive or girly, I do treasure you as a friend. I¡¯m not sure if you think of me as a friend, but I do. And that¡¯s why as a friend, let me tell you, you¡¯re beautiful Roksha. Maybe not by the standards of this world, but by the standards of mine. You¡¯re useful, kindhearted, and a good friend. That¡¯s more than enough qualities to be beautiful.¡±

    Holy fucking hell, I didn¡¯t know I could even say stuff that! Didn¡¯t that sound like a-

    Roksha smiled. Her eyes shimmering slightly. ¡°Thanks, Sol,¡± voice betraying her usual calmness, she blew her nose once. Nothing came out, or rather, I''d already turned and just walked away. Hey, I could be a gentleman too sometimes!

    Sometime later, Roksha and I went out. Zarkan came with us. Apparently, the local food was too boring and he wanted something else. Roksha wanted Sea weed which was apparently a junk food here. Meanwhile, I just wanted to see more of this place and stuff.

    We had to cross the misty river. I mostly just swam, while the others... did their fish things. It felt absolutely wild to swim in water, underwater. My mind was so confused, I nearly drowned a couple of times. But well, mermaid friends come in handy during clutch times like these.

    The moment I got out of the water, it was almost like the water vaporized. Sure I still felt kind of wet, but, but this feeling was vastly different than just being out in the open sea. Seriously, these safe zones were messing with my mind.

    [A/N]

    Sorry for the short chaps

 Chapter 149: Chacha

    Long story short, there wasn''t much to do. Apparently, Roksha lived in the noble zone (to no one''s surprise) and there weren''t many shops around these parts. Mermaid City, whatever it was called, had a coin-based currency and they had actual shops. Even some super stores, which I wanted to visit but there weren''t any around here.

    "Wouldn''t there be at least luxury stores here?" I said.

    We walked back, or at least me and the Fishman did, while Roksha just floated around.

    "There used to be, but the queen ordered all shops in this district to close. Now, nobles usually go out to the commerce district to buy their things."

    Unlike the city we saw yesterday, this part of the town had buildings spaced far in between. They had big lawns and backyards and frankly, they really did look like luxury properties. I felt jealous for once.

    "Sounds like a hassle."

    "Not when you have abundant slaves," Zarkan said. "Or workers," he corrected after getting a glare from the mermaid.

    Fair enough.

    "How come you have lampposts here? The coral I get, but do you have electricity? No, that wouldn''t make sense underwater," I said. "Are they magical devices?"

    "Yes," Roksha said. "What''s electricity?"

    "Current or charge or, you know what," I tried fiddling with the electrons near my finger and¡­ and there was an arc followed by a massive spark and a shockwave. "That¡­"

    "Don''t do that again," Roksha huffed.

    "Uh-huh." I''m definitely doing that again.

    I wanted to head out of this noble zone and maybe have some fun in other zones but the guards near the zone entrance just denied us. In their words, "Please make sure you''re well prepared for the audience first." They all knew I had an audience today. Just how fast did information spread here, or just how much?

    So, we went back and prepared. Or they did. I mostly just sat around in Roksha''s brother''s reading room. He didn''t seem to be using this place, so more freedom for me!

    I thought I''d find lots of ancient or maybe even banned books here but it was a bit disappointing when I realized, most of the books in this place were just standard issues of shit you''d find on the surface, just translated in sea tongue. I found one or maybe two books in standard sea tongue, which I hadn''t seen before but they weren''t anything special. The only book remotely close to piquing my attention was a brief history of the sea world by our lovely friend JRRS Sortan. Man really showed up everywhere.

    I began to read-

    So the god of the fishmen was Zakia. The name sounded feminine and I think it was mostly a mistranslation on my end but oh well. This particular god ruled the seas while Askavan ruled the surface or so the story went. Zakia was kind and helped the oceans flourish with riches and life. Actually, the fishmen were leagues ahead of humans and other races above. Mostly because those races were always fighting and discriminating and all that but that wasn''t important.

    Things changed a couple of thousand years ago when Askavan wanted to rule the seas as well. But Zakia wasn''t just going to hand all power over to him. He or she actually liked the seas and even visited the lower realms quite often. The two went on a war, which led to the surface wars, which led to the shifts of the continents and various other things. Sounded a bit too convenient honestly. I''d been warned that Sortan''s work often leveraged folklore to better represent his ideas and support his theories and this really felt like folklore; he bent his stories in a way so history would make sense. Because frankly, there were no known records that Askavan personally came down to the world or that he fought with a god named Zakia. The only places that claimed Askavan had come down from the heavens, was in Sortan''s books. The scriptures and even the church claimed Askavan had sent his messengers and apostles to guide the mortals, rather than coming down himself.If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

    But the church was known to lie too, so I had to take all of this with a grain of salt. Or salt water.

    Gargle, gargle.

    Anyway, after the war, Zakia never came down to the seas again, and Askavan didn''t take control of the seas either. Instead, something else roamed the seas. The primordial god of chaos: Trerortra. Apparently, this snake-god-thing had long slept in the depths of the forbidden sea, but the chaotic battle of the gods woke him up and he ravaged both gods and everything in his path. Or so the story went. That was kind of interesting, honestly. Did this particular ancient god kill all other gods?

    All progress halted, fishmen society regressed over time.

    The book didn''t really go into any cultural or other kinds of history. It just covered weird god shit. Seriously, what was this guy even trying to accomplish and how the fuck had his books not been burned to the ground yet? However, it did give me some new information I could exploit. As in, Askavan wasn''t as kind as the church made him out to be. But this wasn''t nearly enough. I needed more. It was a shame there wasn''t any more Sortan books here. Terribly sorry, I cursed your books... terribly sorry, books!

    I had some more time to kill, so I figured I''d play- I mean practice with electricity.

    But I didn''t want to burn down this place, so I asked a maid nicely and she showed me to a big training room that was well guarded on all sides and had rather thick walls.

    First I tried to see if I could limit the current and just make a big arc. I could. And actually, it wasn''t as hard. I just had to control the current, and lower the volt to a reasonable manner. I never paid much attention to my circuits and electricity classes but god damn, were they coming in handy.

    Can''t I make a beam out of this?

    Everything around me was conductive. There were ions just floating around and frankly, if I controlled both the water and-

    I quickly stopped my thoughts out of the fear of running out of mana and fainting. However, I had a gemstone bracelet and¡­ frankly, this was the best time to learn this. I had to protect myself in case something happened later on today.

    Let''s do this!

    ***

    Later in the day, I got dressed. Or rather, the mermaids dressed me up. They were awfully playful while doing so. One mermaid even grabbed my thing and blushed when she realized what it was. Heh, I watched the whole thing with a stoic yet smirky expression. I was probably never going to get this chance again, so might as well enjoy it.

    Once dressed in black and white I stared at the mirror, only to sigh (they had pants for other types of fishmen but since fishmen were large, they had to cut mine in half and even then the pants were baggy) I looked weird.

    Regardless, me, the fishman, Roksha and her brother and some other mermaid lady who didn''t bother introducing herself all got on a floating carriage.

    Yes, a fucking carriage.

    It was pulled by four large-as-fuck sea horses and had roughly eight seats. I was sandwiched between the mermaid and the fishman while her brother and the other mermaid lady sat on the other side, directly facing me. I met her gaze head on, without really flinching.

    "I don''t believe, we''ve met," I said. "Soler A. Barack. First son of Viscount Sharmon Barack."

    "You were a noble..." Roksha mumbled. "I thought only the lady was," she whispered.

    I paid no heed.

    "Tirba Chacha Lala," she said. Was she speaking a summoning chant? "Head of the Chacha household." Fair skin, a faint blush on her rosy cheeks, and rather magnificent hair. Lady was beautiful and packing.

    But for some reason, I didn''t find her hot. Probably the glare.

    "My mother," Roksha whispered.

    "Half," Tirba corrected. "Thank you for saving my daughter."

    She seemed to be annoyed if nothing else.

    "Our destination isn''t far," Roksha''s brother said. "However, it is customary we circle the palace thrice. When getting off, do be mindful of your manners."

    At first, I thought Mr. Blowhead was talking to me, but no, he was talking to his sister and the fishman.

    "By the way," the lady spoke. "Does this mean you''ll be a viscount when you take over your father''s estate?"

    "Probably not," I said. "I plan on going independent after finishing my studies at Scallion Academy."

    "Such a shame," she said, disinterested.

    "Does that mean you already hold a title?" Roksha''s brother asked.

    "Yeah. I''m a Baron under Duke Alzania."

    They, all of them, were somewhat surprised. Particularly Roksha''s mother. "I see," for once, she didn''t see all that annoyed. Yeah, I smelled trouble.

    Sometime later, we arrived at the gates of the palace. It was open, and there were plenty of guards going here and there.

    "The court''s on the third floor," Roksha''s brother said. "Behave," he eyed the fishman.

    Meanwhile, Roksha''s mother took charge and kept walking.

    Roksha though, was lagging behind, so I took her hand and together, we made way for the court.

 Chapter 150: Well Fuck, Innit?

    Coral, the glowing kind. Small pearl like decorations; basically crystals. Every few steps, they had bright coral lights, illuminating the pathway in various colors. The floor, despite most of them never using it, was made of black marble, reflecting my shadow back like a mirror.

    But above everything, was the scale. I felt like a mouse in here. Looking up at the ceiling, at the floors above, at the intricate highways inside the palace was straining my neck. ¡°Sol?¡± Roksha pulled my hand. ¡°We¡¯ll have time to wander. But for now, let¡¯s hurry to the court. We shouldn¡¯t keep her waiting,¡± she said.

    ¡°Right.¡±

    Her mother and the rest were already ahead. We were left unsupervised. We didn¡¯t have any guards or maids leading us. We were on our own, or so I thought but Roksha¡¯s mother, Tirba, really knew her way around and she made us take one set of stairs that led straight to the third floor.

    I thought it was odd at first, odd how I could properly breathe here. But no, everyone else had been breathing too. ¡°What grade would this safe zone be?¡± I whispered.

    ¡°Grade 1,¡± Roksha said. ¡°Only one of three.¡±

    And it wasn¡¯t just my breath either, the closer we got to the golden double doors, the more normal I felt. At one point, I couldn¡¯t even tell I was in water.

    Twenty or so guards patrolled the area, and one came straight for Tirba. They exchanged words and the mermaid spoke something at the far end of the door, near a small round orb.

    Inscriptions. Various inscriptions. A mermaid with a trident was impaling a giant fish. In another corner, she was impaling a squid. In another corner, she was fighting a dragon. And in the last corner, a massive snake slept. In the middle though, the same mermaid had her hands on her chest, as though praying, and emanating a gentle light.

    Huh¡­ maybe Sortan wasn¡¯t fucking around.

    Squeak. The door opened.

    My heart pounded all of a sudden. I felt weak, my legs trembling. Calm the fuck down, my body! I kept telling myself, I was excited, but nope, I was nervous.

    Gulping hard, I tried to keep my thoughts straight. If I started shivering, what would Roksha do?

    Trying to control my breathing, I focused on the room, instead of the far end. There were some fishman and mermaids in here. And the room was pretty big. Calling it a ROOM was disrespectful because you could probably fit the whole of the white house in here.

    Let¡¯s be the country bumpkin later.

    My heart had settled down somewhat, so I finally, finally stared ahead. At the single women on the throne. Her glittery tail rested at the helms, while she rested her round, symmetrical face on her hand, her elbow on the handle. Red hair, flowing, greenish blue eyes, and a neutral appearance. Yet, for some reason those eyes¡­ calculating.

    She was fairly beautiful. I¡¯d rate Lin more beautiful but I was probably just biased.If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

    And would you look at that, Mermaids did wear clothes! At least she did; she wore a sparkling cream robe.

    ¡°Your majesty,¡± Tirba said, taking both her hands and placing them near her head: saluting!

    Woah! I was taken aback. She¡¯d told me we¡¯d be saluting but hadn¡¯t expected a salute like that!

    The rest of them did the same, so I just imitated.

    Anyway, afterwards, Tirba exchanged some pleasantries while her son and daughter didn¡¯t speak. The fishman, he kept his gaze on the floor the entire time. Apparently, he wasn¡¯t allowed to look, let alone speak to the woman.

    Tirba was done. And I thought her son was next.

    However, ¡°Right then,¡± the queen said, ¡°Sol, was it?¡±

    ¡°Yes, my lady,¡± I said, offering a noble bow. Our customs were different but I was still a noble, sort off. ¡°Soler A. Barack. Son of Viscount Sharmon Barack. Baron under the rule of Duke Alzania.¡±

    ¡°Surface manners,¡± she said. ¡°Is your father¡­ really Sharmon Barack?¡± She questioned.

    No, it didn¡¯t seem like she knew the man. And it didn¡¯t seem like curiosity either. Can she like¡­ detect lies?

    ¡°So, you saved,¡± she paused, seemed to rack her head for a while. ¡°Rokshana?¡±

    ¡°Roksha,¡± I said. ¡°Yes, I saved her.¡±

    ¡°My full name is Rokshana Sol,¡± she whispered. Good thing the mermaid was near me cause I really felt like crying. The queen got her name right, and me, her friend, didn¡¯t. Fuck!

    Couldn¡¯t she have corrected me?

    ¡°Anyway,¡± the queen said. ¡°So, you saved her?¡±

    ¡°If you mean I fished her out of the ocean, yes.¡±

    Gasps.

    Some were visibly fuming.

    ¡°My lady,¡± Rokshana sighed. ¡°He means he fished me out of the water to save me from the Hermon patrol.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m speaking to Sol,¡± The queen said.

    Rokshana shut up.

    Meanwhile, ¡°At the time me and my sister were just bored. So, we decided to fish. We didn¡¯t know there would be any mermaid in the area. We were told not to fish in two regions. We were far from those regions.¡±

    I wanted to lie and move on, but my gut told me that wasn¡¯t a very wise thing to do when the person you¡¯re talking to knew if you were lying. If I was going down, I was going down with the truth.

    ¡°How could he!¡± Shouts.

    Lots of shouts.

    Maybe I really should have just lied.

    ¡°Even so,¡± a shark-face man near the queen spoke up. Probably a minister of sorts. ¡°According to our treaty, we either have to trial you and kill you, or take you in as a prisoner for such a crime. Even if it wasn¡¯t intentional on your part.¡±

    ¡°Despite knowing that, I spoke the truth,¡± I said. ¡°Look, I don¡¯t really care about what politics you have with the upper world. I fished her out of the ocean, I forced the others to not eat her, and because of that, ended up getting kidnapped myself. I came on this journey to search for my parents. And if I have to go the cursed islands or even the forbidden continent, I¡¯m willing to go there. If I have to fight the whole mermaid empire to leave, I will do that,¡± I said, lifting up my shirt, showing them my emblem. Or rather, Rexen¡¯s Insignia. ¡°For anyone who doesn¡¯t know what this is, try me.¡±

    ¡°You speak rather interestingly, surface dweller,¡± the queen said. ¡°But you inserted a threat you cannot back up here. In the surface, sure. But out here, your deity won¡¯t be able to do much at all. Especially a deity in-tune with fire.¡±

    ¡°Well, I¡¯m not really talking about my deity,¡± I said. ¡°You see,¡± electricity arched at my fingertips. And in a split second it arched straight past the queen¡¯s head, not quite touching her, but I was sure she felt it. Holy fucking hell, what the fuck! ¡°I meant to do that,¡± I mumbled, and cleared my throat. ¡°You seriously think I didn¡¯t come here prepared? If I wanted to leave, I could have. I didn¡¯t. I came here with Rokshana, to get her back to her home. I came to honor my word to her. And now that I have, I will leave. If you want to stand in my way, then please, by all means.¡±

    She seemed more amused than annoyed. Good, good, it paid off. But seriously, how the fuck did it form an electric line like that? I could have blown her head off! Yeah, perhaps I really shouldn¡¯t have used something like electricity so soon after discovering it without proper field testing. But I could have sworn it was only meant to be a small bolt.

    ¡°Kill him,¡± the queen said.

    Well, fuck.

    [A/N]

    This is the official 150th chapter.

    I''m both glad and sad. Glad because we got here so soon. Sad because... well, I wish I had more readers lol

 Chapter 151: Done Fucked Up Again

    I¡¯d declared hostility. Open hostility at that.

    This was on me¡­.

    Guards swarmed all around me. I quickly took a defensive stance. I could probably use fire in this safe zone but I doubted it¡¯d do much. If I relied on electricity, I could fry not just them, but also myself along with it. Then that left me with air and water manipulation. There wasn¡¯t much air here, so just water manipulation. And that¡¯s what I relied on. Whenever a mermaid got even remotely close, I just swept her away. They were awfully confused as to what was happening.

    ¡°He can warp us around?¡± One even said.

    ¡°Master magician!¡±

    ¡°God that boy¡¯s so cute!¡±

    Some of those things didn¡¯t sound very aggressive but I think they were just trying to confuse me.

    ¡°Sol,¡± the fishman said. ¡°Leave. I will-¡±

    The queen sighed. ¡°Enough,¡± she stood. And swam before me. I was careful not to sweep her away. But I remained cautious. If I had to, I was going to blast her and then just leave. But I knew that was pretty much impossible, or rather, downright stupid. Stupider than almost attacking her. ¡°There is a way for you to survive. Become one of us.¡±

    ¡°Unfortunately, I¡¯m a human.¡±

    ¡°But fortunately, humans can procreate,¡± she said. ¡°Why don¡¯t you take responsibility of Rokshana? Or if she¡¯s not to your liking, someone else?¡±

    ¡°Unfortunately, I¡¯m already betrothed,¡± I said. ¡°I cannot take another¡¯s hand without my fianc¨¦e¡¯s approval. No, I don¡¯t want to.¡± Even though she said I was fine taking mistresses, I wasn¡¯t that shallow of a human being. Heck, I believed in monogamy for a reason. ¡°Besides, I already promised the goblins I¡¯d live there for a year after everything.¡±

    ¡°Goblins? Goblins mean more than you than the queen of Mermaids,¡± one of the ministers shouted.

    ¡°Given how they didn¡¯t threaten me and asked nicely, yes. Besides, they helped me by giving these gifts and weapons,¡± I said.

    Then again, I didn¡¯t blast them with lightning either.

    ¡°Technically, you would have gotten them anyway,¡± Rokshana said. ¡°They only got out unscathed because you knocked the Great Beast away.¡±

    Nice transition!Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.

    ¡°So, the rumors of the goblins slaying the beast were true,¡± the queen backed off. ¡°Change of plans. We won¡¯t kill you. But you will be trialed and imprisoned.¡±

    Honestly, I thought kings and queens, or high nobles in general were wise. Maybe that¡¯s why they got their positions and weren¡¯t assassinated yet. However, this lady struck me as an absolute buffoon. A buffoon with a good face but a buffoon regardless. Where the hell did that calculating lady from five minutes ago go?

    Or are her schemes on another level that I can¡¯t even comprehend?

    ¡°In case you didn¡¯t hear the lady,¡± I said. ¡°I could just knock you all off and fry you too. But I chose not to.¡± I turned to Rokshana. ¡°You said the forbidden continent¡¯s close by right?¡±

    ¡°That wave we rode,¡± She didn¡¯t finish.

    ¡°Right.¡± I dashed for the door. ¡°Sorry Zarkan,¡± I yelled.

    ¡°Don¡¯t just let him leave, capture him!¡±

    The guards hesitated though. I suppose my threats were kind of effective? Besides, if they came close to me, I just swept them away anyway.

    ¡°Cya Roksha, I mean Rokshana!¡± I was still in the frigging huge room. Shit this place was huge!

    Anyway, I reached the door, blasted it open with water pressure and used a water stream to propel me up. Up, up, and away! Or I would have if there wasn¡¯t a freaking ceiling above.

    Hundreds of intricate stairways. They didn¡¯t need them, but they still built this place so even humans could use it. Not that any human could survive out here. Hundres of mermaid official were just working. Meanwhile I was playing tag with the guards and speeding for the ceiling.

    Luckily, they also had windows near the top. I had a lot of guards behind me but they mostly stayed a fair distance.

    Bright light. The palace was bright, but the outside was brighter.

    Mermaids generally floated close to the structures below, so I had the sky mostly to myself.

    ¡°Maybe it¡¯s better you don¡¯t piss her off further?¡± One of the guards said. ¡°She¡¯s really nice, you know.¡±

    ¡°Kinda dumb though,¡± I yelled.

    ¡°Well, you know, lots of inbreeding.¡±

    ¡°Fair,¡± I yelled. ¡°But I really have to find my parents.¡±

    ¡°WE can help you with that. Even if she imprisons you to keep her face, she will definitely release you and-¡±

    ¡°Sorry, not taking chances today.¡±

    The safe zone¡¯s barrier was coming up fast. I was going to do exactly what I did in the Hermon City. Blast right through it!

    ¡°You¡¯re gonna break something if you keep that speed.¡±

    ¡°Oh please.¡± I shrugged. Increasing my speed. It was going to be painful and hard to move about outside. But I sure as hell didn¡¯t want to spend any longer here.

    I was close, just a few seconds.

    Three.

    Two.

    One.

    CRASH!

    I whammed into the barrier and it didn¡¯t even budge! ¡°ARGHHH!!¡±

    I didn¡¯t go through!

    FUCK!

    And I was falling now.

    No energy-

    Someone caught my falling body. The same mermaid. ¡°Told you you¡¯re gonna break something,¡± she sighed. ¡°Alright girls, we got him.¡±

    Some cheers.

    No wonder they were so fucking relaxed. And break what?

    It took me a second. It took me a second to realize my arm was really warm and my elbow was unnaturally swollen. ¡°Crap,¡± I mumbled, before the pain slowly, mind you, slowly radiated and kept on increasing in intensity. Heart pumped hard and I knew I was sane so far only because of my adrenaline. But it would run out in a few minutes. Then what? ¡°You don¡¯t happen to know super healing magic or something, right?¡±

    The mermaid shook her head.

    And that¡¯s when I knew.

    I¡¯d done fucked up again.

    I panted and probably even sweated as the pain just¡­.

    ¡°Ah- ahhh-AHHHH!!!!¡±

    [A/N]

    Do you think Sol could have avoided this whole situation?

 Chapter 152: Cold, lonely, hell

    I woke up.

    Dirty ceiling. Moldy room. Some bars at the entrance.

    Prison.

    While I kept screaming, one of the mermaids had done something to me and I¡¯d passed out.

    I looked down and didn¡¯t see my legs. Gone! I had a tail?

    ¡°WOAH!¡± I nearly screamed but then realized, I had both of my feet. The fishtail was fake. I was fine. Or at least most of my body was. My left hand wasn¡¯t though. It was covered in a cast of sorts and was lathered with herbs? At least smelled like herbs. Didn¡¯t sting but there was a dull pain. Too dull for a fracture. So maybe I hadn¡¯t broken my arm? No, I definitely saw it being bent in a 40ish degree angle. It was definitely broken and probably overtly so. Better not move around.

    Anyway, I¡¯d caught someone¡¯s attention.

    A mermaid guard. ¡°Try not to break something else.¡±

    ¡°So,¡± I spoke. ¡°What¡¯ll happen to me?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯ll be set on trial and then executed if you should resist. More likely, you¡¯ll just be jailed for a while just like she said.¡±

    ¡°Hmm¡­.¡± I sighed, sitting up and against the wall. This cell didn¡¯t come with a bed. Just a mat and a bucket in the corner which I thought was for showering but no, it was for the other work. ¡°It went so much better in my head.¡±

    There was a mesh at the corner of the room. Like a shower drain. The hell am I supposed to do with that underwater?

    ¡°Well, reality is often disappointing.¡±

    ¡°On a scale of 1 to 10, how would you rate your queen¡¯s intelligence?¡±

    ¡°10.¡±

    ¡°And yourself?¡±

    ¡°5.¡±

    ¡°Me?¡±

    ¡°4?¡±

    Hmm¡­ ¡°I didn¡¯t find her that intelligent, if I¡¯m being honest.¡±

    ¡°Likewise,¡± the voice came along with footsteps. She was coming from above. The queen? ¡°You could have handled the situation so much better. For starters, you could have omitted the fact that you ¡®fished¡¯ her out of the sea.¡±Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

    ¡°You could tell lies, so I figured it was best I didn¡¯t.¡±

    ¡°You could have just phrased it in a way that didn¡¯t make it a lie.¡±

    I could have. I probably should have.

    A major blunder on my end.

    ¡°Besides, you attacked me, the queen, in front of all my ministers. You¡¯re lucky they weren¡¯t petitioning to murder you in your sleep.¡± She held her head, sighing. ¡°Anyway,¡± she paused. ¡°You¡¯ll have to spend some days here while I arrange a fake trial and then send you home.¡±

    ¡°Home?¡±

    ¡°Yes, we¡¯ll send you to the academy.¡±

    ¡°Wait-¡±

    ¡°Unfortunately, you will not go being to the forbidden continent.¡±

    ¡°There are plenty of other places I could look, and-¡±

    ¡°Your parents are dead,¡± she said, not flinching for a second. ¡°I have seen your destiny.¡± Her eyes glowed in blue. ¡°They¡¯re dead. Go home.¡±

    ¡°NO!¡±

    ¡°Then you will remain here, in this prison.¡±

    She left.

    But her words still reverberated.

    Seen my destiny? The fuck was she even talking about?

    Wait, wait, she means my real parents. A wave of relief washed over me. But a second later I again fell silent. Then doesn¡¯t that mean¡­ they were dead.

    Was it Mom and Den, or was it¡­ them? Someone close to me.

    FUCK! I banged my hand on the wall. I got a cut and bled a bit. The pain was sharp but dulled a bit. Didn¡¯t go away. It made the other arm flare up too.

    ¡°Fuck¡­¡± tears welled up and fell. Rather odd, how tears worked in this hell. Instead of falling, they floated down.

    In this cold, lonely¡­ hell.

    ***

    Sometimes later, Rokshana came to visit. She¡¯d come with her brother.

    ¡°That was rather immature,¡± he said. ¡°Though I suppose it¡¯s only natural given your age. Actually, how old are you?¡±

    ¡°Six.¡± I was nearing seven these days. But I didn¡¯t care about age anymore. It was irrelevant. ¡°Why¡¯re you here?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m told, she told you that you¡¯ll be sent home. If you resist, you¡¯ll have to stay here, trapped in this¡­ you know.¡±

    ¡°Well, I don¡¯t know. What gives you people the right to dictate how I live my life?¡±

    ¡°Nothing. Yet, that¡¯s the way it is. If you don¡¯t like it, you could always leave, or live long enough to change the world.¡±

    I snorted. ¡°Yeah right

    ¡°Me killing myself changes nothing.

    ¡°Me staying alive and trying to change world¡­ changes nothing.

    ¡°Frankly, it doesn¡¯t matter if I even exist.

    ¡°Makes you think, maybe that¡¯s why I¡¯m here. Because I don¡¯t matter.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s not true,¡± Rokshana said. ¡°You matter. You told me, remember? I¡¯m not ugly. Now I¡¯m telling you, you matter, you matter to me, Sol.¡±

    I was about to lash out at her. Tell her, I still thought she ¡®looked¡¯ ugly. But that wasn¡¯t what I wanted to say. And I didn¡¯t mean that. I didn¡¯t want to hurt her that way. ¡°If that woman was to be believed, it means someone is definitely dead. What¡¯s the point of me trying then?¡±

    ¡°Didn¡¯t you already know they could have been dead?

    ¡°Yet, you still came here.

    ¡°You still risked everything.

    ¡°And that¡¯s why, that¡¯s why I think it matters. You matter. Besides, divinity is often wrong.

    I couldn¡¯t help but smile halfheartedly. ¡°I wonder.¡± Because the queen sure didn¡¯t sound hesitant.

    They hung around for a while longer. Said a lot of things. But I¡¯d zoned out and honestly didn¡¯t care anymore.

    Eventually, they left.

    The mermaid guard left too. Given the light outside, it was probably midday. Time for them to rest.

    And although I didn¡¯t expect anyone else to show up, someone did.

    ¡°Okay so, here¡¯s the plan,¡± said the fishman. ¡°We¡¯re going to use the sewers and.¡±

    I sighed. I sighed, aloud. ¡°Again?¡±

    Sirgh¡­ But yeah, I needed a distraction. And this was a fine distraction.

 Chapter 153: FUCKKKK

    The fishman unlocked the door. And helped me get out of the tail-like contraption. He then proceeded to lock the door again.

    ¡°I¡¯m not getting out?¡± I asked.

    ¡°I¡¯ll explain.¡±

    ¡°What about my stuff?¡± I said.

    ¡°Someone else will be bringing them,¡± he said. ¡°I can¡¯t go to the spot because I¡¯ll be under surveillance. But I hope you find your parents. Even if¡­ even if they¡¯re gone.¡±

    ¡°Thanks, dude,¡± I said. ¡°Sorry I couldn¡¯t ask her for a portrait.¡±

    He snorted. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it. I¡¯ll just buy one here. It¡¯s rather cheap here in comparison.¡±

    ¡°They don¡¯t have any sewers here though. That¡¯s why they gave me that bucket.¡±

    He paused for a good few minutes. ¡°Well¡­ the thing is, that bucket¡¯s for other stuff.¡±

    ¡°What other stuff?¡±

    ¡°You see, when fishman get too excited and are unable to release, they might suffer backpain and other problems; sometimes their balls burst inside, and that¡¯s really messy. So, they let you relieve yourself in a bucket and use that as¡­ let¡¯s just say, they use it for recreational means.¡±

    Anyway¡­.

    ¡°So, how was I supposed to use the bathroom?¡±

    ¡°See that pipe?¡± He said.

    What pipe?

    Took me a while to understand what he was talking about.

    So apparently, what I thought was just a drainage hole, wasn¡¯t. I forgot mermaids didn¡¯t have solid stuff. So they didn¡¯t need a proper bathroom. Only the elites had decent suction stuff.

    ¡°Why do they make pipes so big, knowing we might be able to swim through it?¡± Obviously, adult mermaids couldn¡¯t but kids sure could.

    ¡°Normally they would be half the size, but we¡¯re in a palace. And normally, no one in their right mind would use the sewers to escape, even if they were desperate; who¡¯d risk getting stuck in those things? Besides, if it¡¯s not modestly wide, even liquid waste might coagulate and gelatinize in, clogging the whole system.¡±

    ¡°This place really is weird,¡± I said. ¡°Well, I guess, this is it then?¡±

    ¡°Yes. Good luck Sol. Don¡¯t get stuck.¡±

    ¡°Right back you, Zorkan. Good luck. And Godspeed.¡±

    ¡°Godspeed.¡±

    So yeah, I unhooked the probably-already-most definitely- not used drainage hole¡¯s metal-ish cover and gave it a measure. ¡°I probably won¡¯t fit, I mumbled to myself but no, I was definitely fitting.

    You see¡­ I¡¯d shrunk. No, I didn¡¯t get short in height. I¡¯d lost weight. Fucking hell, I¡¯m not even half of what I used to be!

    I guess these last few weeks of barely eating anything, combined with the environmental stress, fucked me up hard.

    I jumped in.

    Swossh!

    I could not see. Waves of water and other warm stuff pushed down on me. And this time, it wasn¡¯t the mermaid pulling. It was just¡­ the stuff pushing down.

    I tried not to think as best as I could and just¡­ just tried my best to not think about it. Not think about anything. Not mom or Den. Not the stuff around me. Not where I was going to bang my head against the pipes.

    ¡°OW, GOD! FUCK!¡±

    It was one thing hitting your head or body against pipes. It was a wholly different thing when one of your arms were broken and every scream made you drink the¡­ bluerh!

    ¡°FUCKKKK!!!¡±

    Swosh!

    BLueryh@!

    Weightlessness. I stared around and was definitely falling, falling, and then floating at the last second thanks to a bit of my stream.The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

    Phew!

    I of course didn¡¯t see any solid stuff. But I did see some gelatinized stuff at the bottom. And unlike the last time I saw something like this, this time I didn¡¯t see any captive mermaids and I didn¡¯t see any way to escape. They were keeping all their things deep underground without any hatches or escape routes.

    How was I ¡®seeing¡¯? Well, a bit of sparks never hurt anyone¡­ except almost getting me killed for almost killing the mermaid queen.

    I honestly didn¡¯t want to climb back up the fucking pipes. So¡­ so I searched around in this smell-less gelatinized dump.

    I searched for what felt like hours. I knew it hadn¡¯t even been ten minutes but god I felt like throwing up again¡­. And I hadn¡¯t even eaten anything!

    Eventually, at one corner, I found a door leading out. It was locked from the outside. But luckily, I could fry it with my electricity and I did. I opened it and welded the door tight on the other side. I was running dangerously low on mana without my bracelet. I felt like fainting but for now, I just walked.

    A narrow cavernous path led out. I felt a whole lot better but¡­ but I couldn¡¯t shake the awkward occasional want to empty my already emptied stomach.

    At the very end of the cavern, I found a sole mermaid waiting for me.

    Rokshana.

    She had some of my things.

    ¡°You reek,¡± she said.

    ¡°I can¡¯t tell.¡± Actually, my sense of smell was probably dead from the moment I entered the water. But my other senses were so overbearing, I never paid attention.

    ¡°You have all my things?¡±

    ¡°Yeah,¡± she said.

    So, I wore my robe. I wore my bracelet. I hooked on my bow and dagger and machete. And the last few vials of my elixir. ¡°Yeah, I should probably drink one.¡±

    ¡°Not now. You¡¯ll only spill all its contents.¡±

    ¡°Oh yeah. Fuckk¡­.¡±

    ¡°And stop using that vulgar language.¡±

    ¡°Okay mommy,¡± I deadpanned.

    She giggled. ¡°But you sure you want to do this? That serpent current will lead you straight to the forbidden continent. However, it goes through some of the deadliest parts of the ocean. And There¡¯s a good chance, without protection you¡¯ll die on the way. Especially with your arm like that.¡±

    ¡°Well, I suppose then that¡¯ll be that. Then that¡¯ll be what I was good for.¡±

    She didn¡¯t say anything. She didn¡¯t agree. She didn¡¯t disagree either. Instead, she took my elixir in hand, sucked its contents in a split second so fast I didn¡¯t even see her open it, and then pushed her mouth on mine.

    The sweet contents of the elixir flowed down my throat. I gulped, and a warmth spread.

    ¡°Good luck.¡± She backed off a step, face aflush.

    Holy Rexen, my heart pounded, my face burned!

    ¡°But how will I get out of the safezone?¡± I managed, barely able to keep my thoughts distracted.

    Did she just, did she just- calm the fuck down son, you have a fianc¨¦e!

    ¡°Through the exit, just force your way out of the exit and you¡¯ll be fine.¡±

    ¡°I-see.¡±

    The dull pain in my arm faded, along with the heaviness. I removed the cast and I was pretty much healed.

    ¡°Well, I guess this is goodbye?¡±

    ¡°This is goodbye,¡± she said, smiling.

    ¡°Sorry I acted that way. I truly do mean, you¡¯re beautiful.¡±

    ¡°I understand, Sol. And just as I said, you matter. Your life matters to me.¡±

    ¡°Alright then Rokshana, See you.¡±

    ¡°See you, Soler. Let¡¯s meet under better circumstances next time.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, hopefully I won¡¯t have to fish you out of the ocean again.¡±

    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t mind it though.¡±

    We laughed.

    And with that, I took off with a jet of water propelling me forward. I blazed through the noble zone, through the commerce district, through the stores I desperately wanted to see more off. There were mermaid patrols and even guards here and there but most probably didn¡¯t even know I¡¯d just escaped prison. Their noses certainly picked things up though and I got some followers¡­.

    I wonder if I was ever going to come back here but for now¡­ the exit was coming closer. The phantom pain in my arm was a stark reminder of what was going to happen if I screwed up this time.

    ¡°Wait- wait,¡±

    ¡°NO, no!¡±

    The guards were panicking.

    So¡­ I blasted more water and forced my way straight out of the exit. The guards weren¡¯t stupid enough to stand in my way.

    I slammed into the safe zone but unlike the last time, went through almost without effort. The water pressure pressed on me hard, and nearly choked my lungs. But¡­ But I had to do this. I didn¡¯t faint and aimed at the distant violent white stream.

    ¡°Lord Soler, cease this at once!¡± A mermaid. The one from that day, the one who was so glad to see Rokshana return. She stayed on my tail despite me blasting water at full force. ¡°Please!¡± She yelled. ¡°Stop!¡±

    The white stream was ahead. And I knew I¡¯d be cut and I¡¯d probably break something¡­ but I had to this. ¡°Sorry!¡± I yelled and let myself get sucked into it. ¡°Later.¡±

    The water pressure increased to the point I felt faint. Nicks and cuts everywhere. It was way worse than before. I couldn¡¯t keep my eyes open and I didn¡¯t. I didn¡¯t want to lose my eyes anyway.

    But¡­ but even so, I stole a glance at the mermaid city below. Lights, colors, mermaids! God damn, the city was beautiful.

    They were at war or something but¡­ but this place was so damn beautiful. I really wanted to return someday.

    Gritting my teeth hard, I shielded my head and just stayed put. I couldn¡¯t breathe and I¡¯d probably faint any moment now. Or I would have if this cutting pain wasn¡¯t so fucking stinging!

    But¡­ the pain actually proved to be a double-edged sword; I was losing a lot of blood, and fast. Dizzy. Cold. Dark.

    Crap.

    I¡¯m dying¡­.

    A faint light. Blue¡­ reassuring voice called out to me¡­¡°You can¡¯t die. Not yet. Not while it still lingers.¡±

    [[A/N]]

    Okay so, this is the end of the volume. A little cliffy but oh well. I wanted to release an epilogue but felt it wouldn''t really make sense to add it to this now (Definitely not because I haven''t written it or anything)

    I initially planned on making this volume a bit longer and incorporating the next volume into it as well, but it wasn''t supposed to be this huge (I feel like I say this a lot). So I decided to cut the volume in my head in half and end this one here.

    The next volume, Vol 5 would start next week. I need some time to fix my schedule and rethink what I''m going to do with this story. Also, my uni starts next week, so that''ll impact releases and stuff. I''m sorry I couldn''t maintain a more streamlined release and honestly, I can''t promise regular updates.

    Still, I''m glad you''re reading this, and thank you from the bottom of my heart. Thank you.

    See you next Sunday.

 Epilogue: Iâ€™m Coming!

    Fire.

    Balls of fire descended from the heavens.

    One moment there was only clouds, and in the very next, a scorched red.

    Those things descended and crashed into the crowd below. Arten watched it all from the veranda with a curious gaze. He was two years old. To him this was nothing more than just a fun time.

    His mother was yet to return from the pub, a little late considering she came back almost on time every day. Though lately, she¡¯d been coming back looking more and more disheveled and near the evening rather than the afternoon. Arten couldn¡¯t tell what happened to her, but he could tell, his mother was going through a tough time. Even as a toddler he could understand that.

    The balls of fire slammed into a distant big building. It was the biggest building in the city.

    He saw a spectacle, the light, the huge cloud of fire and then¡­ all the buildings around him went flying. The sound nearly tore his eardrum as it slammed him against the wall behind.

    Knocked out of his breath, Arten barely managed to hold his head when the next fireballs descended. This time, they were headed straight for this sector of the city.

    Perhaps this wasn¡¯t as fun as he thought.

    ***

    ¡°Done yet Zarba?¡± The large woman yawned. Leaning against a tree, legs spread out, she lay in a suggested pose. Tight short pants, a suggested mini bulge-

    However, none dared to look at her, not a single one of the unit.

    ¡°I guess I am,¡± the smaller woman by the cliff, Zarba said. Big hat, a staff pointed. ¡°Should do it,¡± she yawned herself. ¡°I guess we can go now?¡±

    Smoke and screams coming from below; muted. Rather far away.

    ¡°Not yet,¡± the big woman got right back up, a big grin on her face. Her muscular arms and thighs were on full display as she picked up the big sword from the ground and swung.

    Something or someone intercepted her and as he pushed down, the big woman¡¯s feet dug into the ground as though it was mud. ¡°Interesting,¡± the man said.

    Meanwhile, ¡°You¡¯re the one who attacked the city?¡± A woman, no, a young girl said, before slamming her feet into Zarba¡¯s abdomen. She crashed into the men behind her, spitting blood.

    The big woman grunted, barely able to hold her ground. Her boundless confidence from a minute ago vanished. ¡°Who are you!¡± She managed.

    ¡°Death,¡± the man in black said, forcing his weight down and jumping up. He spun and then slashed at the woman, cleanly splitting her huge sword in two. She jumped back at the last second and avoided ¡®death¡¯.

    The men were too confused but they quickly formed a formation and were ready to charge at the intruders.

    Were they from the city? They had to be the enemy, right?Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

    ¡°I¡¯m tired of this,¡± the girl said. ¡°Just kill them all already,¡± she said.

    ¡°No, we need information,¡± the man in black said. ¡°We need-¡±

    ¡°Damn you!¡± The large woman shimmied her fist into the man¡¯s face. But the fist never connected.

    ¡°Too emotional,¡± he said, moving behind her and whacking her with the flat of his sword. The woman smacked her head on the ground, passing out. ¡°Now,¡± he said, eyeing the smaller woman on the ground, who was a bleeding mess. ¡°We can either talk, or I can kill you all.¡±

    ¡°T-talk, we¡¯ll talk.¡± Blood leaked out of her nose and mouth.

    The unit quickly surrounded the young woman Zarba, and struck defensive poses. But they already knew, they couldn¡¯t beat the monsters before them.

    ¡°Alright then,¡± the man said. ¡°We¡¯ve just landed on this island nation. It wasn¡¯t on the map. What is this place called?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s impossible. We never get outsiders-¡±

    ¡°Shipwrecked,¡± the man said. ¡°Well?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re in Jelbouth. We¡¯re from Halfat.¡±

    ¡°They seem human,¡± The girl said. ¡°So maybe we crashed into somewhere in the Western continent?¡±

    ¡°No, we were too far into the sea. I¡¯d say, we¡¯re near the forbidden continent or maybe the Southern Continent. This doesn¡¯t look like the Southern continent,¡± the man said. ¡°There¡¯s a chance we might be in the forbidden continent.¡±

    ¡°If you say so,¡± the girl said.

    ¡°If you¡¯re outsiders, stay out of this,¡± Zarba said. ¡°You don¡¯t know what you¡¯re getting yourselves into.¡±

    ¡°Why did you attack the city?¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re at war-¡±

    ¡°Fair enough. Did you have to murder everyone, the whole city?¡±

    ¡°Everything¡¯s fair in war. They destroyed our cities; we¡¯re only returning the favor!¡± Zarba spoke with blind hatred in her eyes.

    ¡°Patriotism,¡± the man spoke.

    ¡°WE call that indoctrination,¡± the young girl said. ¡°People use borders to divide each other and kill each other in the name of petty differences,¡± she snickered. ¡°So, I suppose it¡¯s only fair? Kill them.¡±

    ¡°First of all, I don¡¯t take orders from you, or the Barack family anymore,¡± the man said. ¡°Secondly-¡±

    ¡°Yap yap,¡± She made a mouth with her hand, mocking the man. ¡°Quit your whining and just fucking kill them. I¡¯ve had enough of this crap. Sol¡¯s missing and you¡¯re acting like an idiot. We need to find him and we can¡¯t waste time here with these idiots. You¡¯re the one who wanted to ask questions, since we¡¯re done. Fix your shit and let¡¯s go!¡±

    The man, sighed. A rare sigh, but lately it hadn¡¯t been so rare. Ever since Sol had fallen off to the sea, the young miss was becoming more and more unhinged.

    ¡°We are terribly sorry,¡± he said.

    ¡°No, that¡¯s fine,¡± the woman managed. ¡°Let¡¯s pretend we didn¡¯t see each other¡­¡± she tried to say but she knew¡­ even though the man wasn¡¯t saying he would kill her or the rest¡­ she knew, she knew those eyes. Those murderous eyes.

    And just as her gut had predicted, reality warped, spun around as she heard a thud and everything went black.

    ***

    ¡°You know,¡± Shia said. ¡°Maybe you aren¡¯t so useless after all.¡±

    Alustur sighed again. ¡°I really wish it was you who fell into the sea, not him.¡±

    ¡°Me too,¡± she said. ¡°At least I¡¯d get to fondle some mermaids before drowning,¡± she spat sarcastically.

    Alustur rolled his eyes and used some oil to light the bodies on fire.

    ¡°Why¡¯re we burning them? Let them rot here!¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s already too much meat here,¡± he said. ¡°Would imbalance the fauna even more. This place is crawling with fiends who¡¯re looking for opportunities.¡±

    ¡°Fine¡­¡± she mumbled. ¡°Since this is the forbidden continent and all, does this mean we can¡¯t go back?¡±

    ¡°In theory,¡± he said. ¡°We knew there was no civilization in the forbidden continent. But here we are. Although it¡¯s entirely possible, we¡¯re just at the opposite side of the world and no one has ever explored these parts. Either way, we¡¯re lucky.¡±

    ¡°I guess? Wait, Sol said he wanted to search the forbidden continent, maybe we can explore this place before he arrives.¡± Shia sighed. ¡°I¡¯m gonna slap him silly when I find him.¡±

    ¡°Assuming he¡¯s alive.¡±

    ¡°He¡¯ll be fine,¡± Shia shrugged. ¡°Did you forget how he came back to life?¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t. But we shouldn¡¯t count on it. The Deity Rexen is infamous for corrupting its bearer and turning them into lizards. You saw those scales, yes?¡± He looked up. Evening. Red sky. ¡°I wonder if he¡¯s even alive¡­¡±

    Shia didn¡¯t say anything. Instead, she yawned and started walking. ¡°You coming.¡±

    For the third time¡­ Alustur sighed. ¡°I¡¯m coming!¡±

    [A/N]

    He''s indeed coming!

    Okay so, this is the end (the literal end) of Vol 4.

    Vol 5 starts Sunday.

    Thanks for reading.

    Give me ALL YOUR MONEY!

    MUAHAHAHAHAHAH

    (You know what, I think I''ll keep that kekw)

 Chapter 154: Climaxing

    Waves.

    Crashing.

    Sand?

    My head throbbed, but I sat down just fine. The fuck happened?

    So bright. So¡­ dramatically bright. Something bit me¡­ ¡°Just a crab?¡±

    Sighing in relief, I threw the little sucker away and watched the grand sea behind me. Sea as far as the eyes could see. Blue as fuck. The sky too, blue. Yeah, I was finally out of the damn sea!

    I checked my belongings and luckily, they were all here. Phew!

    I no longer had those gill-like scales on my neck but I felt like I could just regrow them if I needed to; also, no cuts or wounds? Strange.

    But that wasn¡¯t a problem right now. The real problem was the bright and colorful as fuck jungle ahead of me. For two meters was only sand, a centimeter ahead¡­ jungle.

    Vibrant green leaves. Multiple colored flowers which varied in sizes; some were as big as my head and others, way bigger.

    I hadn¡¯t seen so much color in all of my fucking life, let alone in one setting. Were the trees having a party or something? A tingling sense roared in my mind. I didn¡¯t know why but I had a bad feeling about this place. Are these things poisonous or something?

    Wait, where even was I?

    Is this the forbidden continent? No, everyone who knew about the place told me the place was underwater and infested with Sirens. So, the only other logical conclusion would be this place was a cursed island.

    Didn¡¯t feel like an island though. Felt a bit too big to an island.

    Why?

    I couldn¡¯t see its fucking end.

    ¡°Better find out then,¡± I mumbled taking the first steps. My feet were wobbly and a bit textured. I¡¯d spent far too much time in the ocean. Ah-ach-achhoo!

    Alright Sol, time to find everyone. After I started a fire and dried my ass off first of course!A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

    Took about an hour.

    ***

    I¡¯d walked for about ten minutes.

    And then I had to stop. No, I didn¡¯t have to stop because I was tired. Rather¡­ there was something in front of me.

    It looked humanoid; about a meter tall. Had a humanoid structure. But it didn¡¯t have eyes. It had flowers on its face instead. Milky white with black stripes.

    A rather exaggerated smile. It moving its lower end: Almost as though climaxing every second. Actually, it was leaking something from down there too.

    Seemed like a man, but had no man bits. Had nothing there other than just one slit which was leaking something white.

    I had a thought gnawing at the back of my mind for a while now. Blast the fucking thing to pieces. But I waited in case it was sentient and that was the norm in this place.

    This was a new world. And There were plenty of things I didn¡¯t know about. So maybe- so maybe I wasn¡¯t going absolutely bonkers¡­.

    ¡°Are you okay?¡± I ended up saying.

    It smiled. Even wider, and pissed the white gunk everywhere, almost aiming at me while writhing in ecstasy.

    I jumped back, and threw a water ball at it. It was now soaked. ¡°Electrify!¡± I shouted for no particular reason and blasted it with electricity frying it in seconds. Damn things shriveled up like a mushroom.

    My magic had gotten better¡­?

    Why the fuck does it smell good? No, I was probably just hungry. I sure wasn¡¯t going to eat this smoked mushroom though. Actually, I didn¡¯t want to eat anything here. Not the fruits, not the flowers, and certainly not the colorful bugs.

    Bugs?

    The fuck?

    The whole place swarmed in seconds and the things started devouring the fried mushroom man. Flies, beetles, other things¡­ all were bigger than anything I was accustomed to. Some of the birds I saw earlier were actually fucking mosquitoes¡­. And was it me or was there a lady-bit-bug?

    Fuck¡­.

    Aren¡¯t I next? Once they were done¡­

    I quickly ran for a clearing. But there was no clearing. The trees merely grew denser the further I ran.

    The foliage thickened more and more!

    ¡°FUCK!¡± I unhooked the machete from my waist and chopped all the fucking foliage that came near me. And yes, these fucking things were sentient. The trees were sent-fucking-ient!

    ¡°Screw you, screw you all!¡± I swung around in haphazard fury, slicing all the vines, all the glowing butterflies and for a second- dread set in.

    I¡¯m being drugged.

    The glittering shit they were spewing in the air¡­ the white gunk from earlier¡­ drugs.

    I was sweating buckets, and burning out. Yet¡­ yet my body went cold and I knew why I was so agitated.

    Damn!

    I already felt a burning in my loins. And yeah¡­ this is how they get you.

    And they¡¯d already got me!

    ¡°Friendo, friendo,¡± something whispered.

    I looked down almost instantaneously.

    An eye on the ground.

    ¡°Holy fuck!¡± I nearly jumped.

    ¡°Shh! Come in, come in. Come in if you wanna live!¡±

    A bit of space opened up on the ground. Something purple looked at me from within.

    Think Sol, become a thing like that, or take a chance?

    ¡°Fuck¡­¡± I found myself whispering before my body slowly but surely dived in.

    [A/N]

    Guess which game I''ve been playing again... sigh

 Chapter 155: No

    He quickly sealed the entrance and I lit a flame on my finger.

    An underground passage. Rather crudely made, barely holding on.

    And the thing?

    Purple.

    One eyed.

    Goblin.

    I sighed in relief. ¡°I thought you were one of them.¡±

    He almost drooled at my sight. ¡°Friendo, can I have an arm, for helping?¡± Heavy accent.

    ¡°Sure, but I¡¯ll take your head as a replacement,¡± I said.

    He smiled awkwardly. ¡°This way Friendo, they will find us.¡±

    I didn¡¯t see anyone else here though. He motioned me to lit a pyre on the wall, and I did. He took the pyre.

    ¡°Just so you know, I¡¯m grateful but if I notice you or your other friends trying to eat me, I will blast this whole place to smithereens.¡±

    He chuckled rather loudly. ¡°I¡¯m the only one left Friendo.¡±

    We walked for about half an hour.

    Rather carefully. I heard plenty of sounds from above. Mostly just buzz. This passage was linked to various other paths but all of them had some sort of wooden door like structures. I couldn¡¯t call them doors, because they weren¡¯t doors. What sort of doors had eyes? Luckily, they didn¡¯t move.

    ¡°They won¡¯t come at us, right?¡±

    I still randomly saw colors and my loins were kind of odd¡­ but it was starting to fade. Phew.

    ¡°No worries Friendo, we good.¡±

    At the very end of the passage, we reached a room.

    No, it was bigger than a room. A culmination of three rooms. Kind of similar to the stuff I¡¯d seen in the Sea Goblin village.

    Furniture here, bones there¡­ bones.

    ¡°What is this place?¡±

    ¡°My home.¡±

    ¡°No, I mean, the stuff above. What are those?¡±

    ¡°The master. The master of this nation.¡±

    ¡°Nation? This is a nation?¡±

    ¡°Yes Friendo. You came here without knowing?¡±Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.

    ¡°Yeah,¡± I said. ¡°I need to get somewhere. But¡­ is this the forbidden continent?¡±

    ¡°Well, it¡¯s certainly forbidden. Where do you need to go Friendo?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡±

    He laughed rather loud. ¡°Me neither!¡± he laughed some more.

    ¡°I wanted to find my parents. But they¡¯re probably dead.¡±

    ¡°Friendo¡­¡± he came closer and put a hand on my back. We were about the same height. No, he might have been a bit larger. I could feel his breath on my neck.

    ¡°Bite me once and I¡¯ll cleave your head off.¡±

    ¡°I won¡¯t, I won¡¯t.¡±

    Yeah, I wasn¡¯t buying it. He hadn¡¯t stopped salivating even once. He offered me some of his premade soup but I was reluctant to try that and opted to make myself some floating drinking water. I sipped it all in like astronauts in space!

    ¡°Oh Friendo! You know magic!¡±

    ¡°Yeah,¡± I said. ¡°Somewhat.¡±

    My skill with mana manipulation had increased a fair bit. I also had a larger mana pool. It was still worse than the average human though, so the progress wasn¡¯t ground shattering. The only reason I could still use magic to this extend and not pass out was because of the bracelet¡­ and the thought alone made me want to protect this thing at all costs. My life depended on it.

    ¡°Amazing!¡±

    ¡°How do I get out of here?¡±

    ¡°You can¡¯t Friendo. The jungle is treacherous. The sea¡­ deadly.¡±

    ¡°Does the Sea trace the jungle on all sides? Maybe I could dive into the sea and travel underwater?¡±

    ¡°Are you crazy Friendo? The Sirens would chew you up!¡±

    ¡°Sirens¡­ so, this is the forbidden continent.¡± Interesting. Then I was in the right place after all. But, but if Den and Mom really ended up here. Could they surv- ahem¡­ ¡°You said this place was forbidden. Then that means there are places that aren¡¯t forbidden? How do I get to there?¡±

    He went and got a stick. And then carefully drew on the ground.

    A map.

    A bit crude, and the lines were all over the place but I could make out five provinces. No names.

    The first one was where we were at. It was sealed off with the rest of the world by sea and riffs. Basically, the forbidden zone of the forbidden continent. The rest of the four provinces were country sized islands interconnected via the sea.

    ¡°There is no way to escape Friendo. Sooner or later, you must cross the sea. The sea, bad.¡±

    ¡°Are Sirens Mermaids?¡±

    ¡°Oh? No, no! Not mermaids. Mermaids good! Taste very good! Siren bad! Taste awful! Very Awful!¡±

    Uh-huh.

    So apparently, he was judging them based on taste?

    I shook my head. ¡°Tell me more about the island above. I think they were trying to drug me and then eat me or something?¡±

    ¡°Yes Friendo. They lather Aphrodisiac on you, make you go crazy¡­ they made my friend Gobbo lose all control and continuously climax from just standing. Poor Gobbo pumped his hips in the air again and again and became one of them; he made out with anything that moved, even things that didn¡¯t move; he did it so much, his thing just fell of, Friendo¡­ and he died today.¡±

    More like I killed him. But I didn¡¯t need to tell him that. ¡°I¡¯m Sol. Soler.¡±

    ¡°Goribo,¡± The goblin said. ¡°Nice to meet you Friendo. But if I were you, I¡¯d give up on leaving. You can¡¯t¡­ you can¡¯t survive up there without losing it.¡±

    I sighed. ¡°I will stop for now, and try to figure out what I can do. But no, I won¡¯t stop Goribo. I won¡¯t. I have somewhere to go. I have someone to find.¡±

    Goribo stared at me. He stared at me for quite a few seconds. ¡°I see Friendo¡­ can I eat your corpse in case you-¡±

    ¡°No.¡±

    [A/N]

    FC''s new proposed title: Reincarnated With No Shortcuts

    New Syn:

    Allen¡¯s life came to an abrupt end thanks to train-kun hugging him too tightly.

    But death was only the beginning. Reborn into a world of magic and adventure, Allen expected to live out his second chance as some kind of hero. Unfortunately, his reality is far less glamorous: no overpowered abilities, no destined quests, and no clue what he''s supposed to do next. Yet, he was content. He never had a decent family, so when an elf took him in... it was like magic.

    Allen or rather Sol decides to give this life a decent shot; finding friends, training a bit, and relaxing. But when a twist of fate sends him tumbling into the path of something far bigger than himself, Allen begins to realize that even the slowest of starts can lead to something unexpected.

    I''''m genuinely not sure what do with this XD (Ps. You can see a crude map of this on my discord server if you want to)

 Chapter 156: Worksâ€¦ somewhat

    The goblin spoke fairly decent Western. But he spoke with a heavy accent, which was sometimes hard to understand. But for the most part, that wasn¡¯t an issue.

    The issue was that he kept drooling at me. So, I didn¡¯t feel even remotely safe in here. Sure, it was better than the shitstorm above but I didn¡¯t want to deal with it long-term. I could go without sleep for a day. But what about the next day?

    ¡°How far does the tunnel go?¡± I asked.

    ¡°Not far enough,¡± he said.

    He was sharpening a branch. I hope he wasn¡¯t going to attack me with it. It was going to be really sad if we started killing each other.

    ¡°What about the sea? Does it lead to the sea?¡±

    ¡°Friendo, the sea is suicide. I don¡¯t know what lies you know, but Sirens are bad.¡±

    ¡°They taste bad, I get it. But maybe I could-¡±

    ¡°You can¡¯t Friendo. I¡¯ve seen them. I¡¯ve seen how they tear through flesh and then eat¡­¡± he sighed. He didn¡¯t drool for once. ¡°I have lost countless of my brethren.¡±

    ¡°You said you were the only one left. If it¡¯s not too much, can you tell me what happened? Why are you here?¡±

    ¡°We ran from society. Society wanted us dead. ¡®No more goblins¡¯ they said. Meteors fell on us, floods, earthquakes¡­ they killed everyone. Some of us escaped here- where no one would come kill us. We thought forest, good. But we were wrong¡­ this forest¡­worse¡­.¡± he sighed.

    ¡°I know you don¡¯t recommend me trying to escape. But I have to. And toward that end, I need your help. I¡¯m not asking you to come with me or help me in those ways. I just need information. You¡¯ve been here for a while, right? So tell me, what would be the least dangerous path, at least far enough. I¡¯ll start using my magic as a shield. I could make a barrier of water around me; it should be enough to block most of the floating drugs. But I don¡¯t know what the rest of the forest has in store for me. It would really help if you could help.¡±

    He let go of the sharpened stick and started thinking. As he thought the veins on his temple wiggled, almost like there was something within them¡­ ¡°Alright Friendo. But first we need food,¡± he said.The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

    He grabbed the stick and for a moment I thought he was going to impale me with it. But instead, he just handed it to me.

    ¡°I already have weapons,¡± I said, motioning at my knives.

    ¡°Spear better.¡±

    Fair enough. I took it. He pulled out a different spear from the corner, a bit longer and a bit more worn.

    And then- we walked out.

    After a brief walk, he punched one of the eyes on a round door-like structure. It squeaked and then opened, leading to another passage. This one looked a bit older.

    ¡°We¡­¡± he paused for a while. ¡°We will try first. If it works, we will keep going and then come back and restock,¡± he said. ¡°Alright Friendo?¡±

    ¡°If it doesn¡¯t work?¡±

    ¡°Then we die.¡±

    ¡°Wait¡­ die? Then wh-why would you risk that¡­. For me.¡±

    ¡°No Friendo¡­ for my comrades. I¡¯m the last one. I swore to live. I¡¯m going to live my way.¡±

    I didn¡¯t know why but I kept getting goosebumps.

    We walked for what felt like hours. My heart pumped hard and I was kind of famished but¡­ but I didn¡¯t complain. Now was not the time to complain. I had to keep walking and keep walking, I did.

    ¡°Where are we going?¡±

    ¡°We should be able to cross half of the forest,¡± he said. ¡°We carved this tunnel the most in the hopes of leaving.¡±

    Made sense.

    If they couldn¡¯t travel above, they could always just keep going digging the tunnel and eventually get out.

    ¡°So, it was abandoned when-¡± I shut up.

    I knew the answer yet I spoke something so fucking stupid.

    ¡°Yes. When they all died.¡±

    After a while we reached the very end. ¡°Alright Friendo. If it don¡¯t work, quickly run here and we run as fast as we can!¡±

    ¡°Okay!¡±

    So apparently, he said all that shit but he wasn¡¯t going to come out himself. Just me. Didn¡¯t bother me though. This was what I wanted.

    According to this goblin, the things in this forest affected warm blooded creatures like an aphrodisiac. And if you spent a considerable amount of time in there, you were bound to slowly morph into one of those things.

    Since it was my very time, the effects didn¡¯t hit me as hard. Goribo said it only hits you hard the second time. As though the forest was assuring you that you could handle the increased heat in your loins the first time.

    In a split second I jumped up and noticed a stark difference in my field of view.

    The forest went from murky colors to very colorful in a matter of seconds as my nose flared and my breath fastened. So, it¡¯s not just an aphrodisiac. I was clearly getting high and seeing colors.

    I produced water and used wind simultaneously to make it like a sort of umbrella and test. Much of the dust just got wiped by the water. And the wind kept the rest at bay. My condition didn¡¯t change. But I had a feeling it was eventually going to get worse.

    This is fine but what will I do if I encounter a monster or the giant bugs? I could see but it was like looking through a very wet window in the middle of a rainstorm.

    I waited a couple of minutes to test if I could go on like this and tried walking around the spot. I could walk just fine. And I didn¡¯t get worse. For some reason, the bugs or the moving vines didn¡¯t try to get me either.

    A couple of minutes turned to an hour and then I came down to the tunnel. ¡°Works, somewhat.¡±

    ¡°Nice Friendo!¡± He seemed excited, I guess.

 Chapter 157: Letâ€™s Do This!

    We repeated it a couple of times in different locations to test whether it really worked or not. Goribo came out the last time and experienced it himself.

    ¡°Works,¡± he said. ¡°But no way to defend.¡±

    That was true. ¡°I have a bow,¡± I said, pouring mana into my bow and it grew big. An arrow formed of light. I aimed at a butterfly and swoosh! I missed. Should have worked more on my bow skills.

    Sigh.

    Strangely the butterfly didn¡¯t come at us.

    Almost as though¡­ it can¡¯t see me. Then again butterflies never attacked us in the first place. They just hovered above us and sprayed those fancy drugs.

    ¡°Friendo¡­¡± the goblin murmured. ¡°This is sea goblin made,¡± he said.

    ¡°Yeah. I was with them for a week.¡±

    ¡°Amazing Friendo¡­.¡± He seemed to have more to say, but didn¡¯t. ¡°Let¡¯s get those fruits.¡±

    ¡°Fruits? But-¡±

    ¡°These fruits good,¡± he said, moving closer to the edge. There was a vine of sorts.

    That¡¯s kind of when I noticed that not every fruit was weirdly shaped or obscenely colorful. Even in this semi high state, I didn¡¯t see some fruit as colorful. And we mostly picked those fruits. ¡°Pick the green ones,¡± he said.

    I did. Basically, like pawpaw but bigger. Like watermelon big.

    We went down and back to his place.

    The whole time, I kept shivering and felt good for no reason. Fuck¡­ I could definitely get hooked to this¡­. I need to get out of here¡­.

    ¡°Okay Friendo, this place is big. But we can cross it in ten days.¡± He said at the very end.

    ¡°I don¡¯t think I can keep doing that for ten days straight.¡±

    And my body probably wouldn¡¯t last¡­.This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

    ¡°Then we walk for a day, dig the ground, and settle for some rest.¡±

    ¡°I guess we don¡¯t have any other choice,¡± I said. ¡°I¡¯m not sure if I can hold out for a day either. I already feel high. The mana from these stones don¡¯t recharge. I don¡¯t have any ex-tra-¡± I couldn¡¯t finish. No, my mouth just hung.

    Before I even spoke half, the goblin had shot up, went over to his drawer and produced a whole bag of gems.

    I hadn¡¯t seen so much gems in all of my life. And no, even the big gem from the Shrimp thing couldn¡¯t compare.

    He literally had half a potato sack worth of gems, and they came in all flavor-er- colors. ¡°Friendo, we¡¯re getting out of here,¡± he said. ¡°I¡¯m betting it all on you.¡±

    A sudden pressure fell on my shoulder. This goblin had been living here for who knew how long. He lost everyone. And now he had a shot at leaving. And he was betting everything on me.

    Yeah¡­

    I can¡¯t screw this up.

    He cut into the giant pawpaw. It was golden inside. Tasted almost like Mango with a bit of pineapple and maybe jackfruit. Not bad.

    Ah¡­

    I felt better. The shivering high slowly dissipated. ¡°This thing¡¯s an antidote?¡±

    ¡°Yes. Friendo, this place is hell. But it¡¯s livable,¡± he said. ¡°The world outside, very bad. Ridden with wars and¡­ prejudice. But we will get out.¡±

    ¡°Damn right we will.¡±

    We ate.

    The goblin made his bed in the corner while he offered me his own bed. He assured me he wasn¡¯t going to sneak up on me and eat me during the night.

    Needless to say¡­ I wasn¡¯t very assured.

    How the fuck was I supposed to take him seriously when he kept drooling at me? Like what the fuck! Yet as the mountains of fatigue slowly settled in, my toddler of a body slowly, slowly but surely, succumbed to the pleasures of the world of dreams.

    I woke up sometime later. Moans~! The goblin was moaning! In his dreams? He was of course still in his bed, but he kept moaning¡­ no, not of pleasure. He was crying¡­.

    Meanwhile, I had a small wet patch on my crotch. First wet dream eh? Considering the shit I went through today, I wasn''t surprised. But I suppose this was proof that I was becoming a man....

    I pretended to not be awake and tried sleeping. Yet¡­ I felt bad. The poor thing kept crying and I again eventually slept.

    The next day I awoke to something wet. Namely the goblin¡¯s drool. He was literally over my face, staring at me with those big eyes and that drool.

    ¡°Get away from me!¡± I shoved him away.

    He laughed. ¡°Friendo, get ready, we leave now.¡±

    I was breathless- was an understatement. ¡°Fucking hell, man.¡±

    I didn¡¯t have much to take, so I just rechecked my things and I was done. The goblin though, took a lot of things. Weapons, fruits, tools, and other stuff. He even took some of the bones.

    And once he was done, he checked all the doors outside, locked the door of his home, prayed and smiled. ¡°Let¡¯s go Friendo.¡±

    ¡°Who do you pray to?¡±

    ¡°The Devine Tree, our creator.¡±

    Huh.

    ¡°Never heard of it. Thought Askavan was the creator?¡±

    ¡°Lies. Askavan, the sly dragon. Lying wench.¡±

    Huh. Interesting. I wanted to ask him more but didn¡¯t seem like an appropriate time. Assuming we stayed alive, we¡¯d be together for a while. I could always figure out more later. For now¡­ I had to focus on the surviving part.

    Let¡¯s do this!

 Chapter 158: We kept walking

    I was fine.

    I was fine till we reached the very end of the tunnel and I had to do this ¡®for real¡¯.

    Throat dried up and my stomach rumbled. Maybe I should have gone again before leaving. But no, this was it. I had to do this. There were plenty of times in my life where I doubted myself. I doubted my abilities. And I doubted my resolve. However, this wasn¡¯t one of those times. I came here to do something: to find my parents, and I was going to find them no matter what.

    With a gulp of heavily drugged air, I jumped up and fired off a burst of water, making a moderately sized umbrella, and just stared.

    The goblin climbed up soon after me, closed our tunnel exit, and clung close to me. ¡°We will head for those cliffs Friendo,¡± he pointed at rather deeper grooves of trees. I did not see a cliff, no.

    But I didn¡¯t doubt him. Well, maybe I did doubt him. But I didn¡¯t have a choice right now. I couldn¡¯t do this alone and frankly I didn¡¯t want to do this alone.

    No matter how many times I saw this place, I was still more or less mesmerized. It wasn¡¯t as bright and colorful as the first time. But the forest was still damn vibrant.

    We kept some of the pawpaw stuff with us in case we got too high. ¡°Shouldn¡¯t we eat this on regular intervals to avoid being high?¡±

    ¡°No,¡± he said. ¡°This is poisonous Friendo. Only eat as much as necessary.¡±

    Yeah, but you didn¡¯t tell me that yesterday when I gulped down a whole damn fruit. No wonder my stomach kept rumbling.

    Rolling my eyes, we walked.

    So, this forest was vibrant, and very much alive. When I first came here the other day, I saw plenty of things and I was more or less high as fuck. But now that I wasn¡¯t, I could tell some things were definitely wrong. For example, some tree trunks were veiny and some vines were throbbing. Some of the flowers were shaped like vaginas while some were shaped like penises. This place was heavily themed after sex. ¡°Why does this place prey on us like this? Why not drug us to oblivion and then just eat us instead of making us lose our minds with sex?¡±

    ¡°They do both,¡± Goribo said. ¡°Just one is not very effective. So, they do both: Very effective.¡±

    Come to think of it, I did feel two different highs. On one hand my stuff down there felt weird and mellow and ready to¡­ do stuff. But on the other hand, my whole body felt sensitive and good and I kind of just wanted to roll around on the ground and- Fuck I¡¯m getting high again.The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

    Shaking my head, I drowsed a bit of cold water on myself and we kept walking.

    The forest got denser but no more colorful. Actually, color started draining a bit. I heard a certain buzz and¡­.

    ¡°Did they spot us?¡± I whispered.

    There were moving things around us. Various moving things. Even just a few minutes ago, the trees didn¡¯t move. But now the vines wiggled about, rather sensually at that too.

    ¡°No Friendo,¡± he whispered. ¡°But they¡¯re searching. They can sense us nearby. Quickly Friendo¡­ let¡¯s go.¡±

    Gulping and nodding, I tried to steer away from them as much as I could. I couldn¡¯t see very well thanks to my water umbrella, so my speed was abysmal but¡­ but I did see some of those things.

    We kept walking.

    They looked like tree trunks, Treants, but the things had suggestive holes of various kinds and looked cushioned. It had tentacles wiggling and I even saw a big veiny rod like structure: horsecock. So apparently this place wasn¡¯t just for males¡­. What disturbed me the most though¡­ were the sounds. The damn thing was moaning. It was moaning so much my pants were starting to get soaked!

    Ah, no, it was just the rain from above. Phew.

    No, I¡¯m definitely high.  Took a small bite of the fruit and regained a bit of my senses.

    We kept walking¡­

    ***

    I thought there weren¡¯t any animals in this place. Of course, I was wrong. I saw some rather peculiar six-legged mammal like things. They had six human like breasts and a dripping hole at the back. They seemed to have no mouths and no eyes. It was an odd sight. I hadn¡¯t seen any male variants yet. Or maybe they were all males and just lost their things because they did too much stuff like Goribo said.

    But not just those, I saw various other things; multiple holed creatures, creatures with multiple dicks and¡­. I wasn¡¯t aroused in the least; I was scared instead. This place creeped the fuck out of me. Goribo seemed more or less cautious, so I didn¡¯t have to worry about him, at least not yet.

    ¡°This was as far as I came here the last time,¡± Goribo said.

    It was already afternoon. We¡¯d been walking slow as fuck so we probably covered about a kilometer even though we¡¯d been walking basically the whole day. I was tired, I was kind of high and my dress was soaked thanks to the cold water. Strangely I didn¡¯t feel cold.

    Can we do this for ten days? Especially when the only source of food was poisonous.

    ¡°Should we stop here?¡±

    ¡°Not here Friendo. Let¡¯s find a cave.¡±

    ¡°There are caves here?¡±

    ¡°This used to be a rocky reef, there should be,¡± he said.

    ¡°It wasn¡¯t always like this?¡±

    ¡°Like this? No, no, Friendo. This is novel.¡±

    It didn¡¯t take us much searching. We found a cave. The cave opening looked like lady bits and it even had a clit just above, orange. The cave was made of green¡­ it was a forest made cave. Could have sworn I could smell something musty in there¡­.

    ¡°I¡¯m not getting in there,¡± I said.

    ¡°Then you will sleep out in the open. I wouldn¡¯t recommend that Friendo,¡± he chuckled and went out of the umbrella, straight into the cave. I didn¡¯t notice anything going after him or the vines trying to impede him.

    Why do I feel like we¡¯re walking into a fucking trap? Probably because we were.

    I kept walking. Sadly, towards the cave.

 Chapter 159 Not Like This!

    We started a fire in the green cave, courtesy of yours truly.

    I thought the moment I¡¯d start a fire, the vines would throb and fuck us full of drugs, and then eat us. Suffice to say, that didn¡¯t happen.

    Yet.

    ¡°Friendo, I don¡¯t know the places after this. We will have to take it even slower and explore.¡±

    ¡°What about threats?¡±

    ¡°Plenty threats. We should be careful of the Maneaters.¡±

    ¡°Man eater?¡±

    ¡°Yes. The only thing in the forest unaffected by her own pheromones. They have eyes everywhere and can sense you for miles. They are the reasons why we settled underground rather than in the caves,¡± he said.

    ¡°Okay¡­¡±

    Maybe you should have told me that sooner?

    I didn¡¯t know why but I had this nagging feeling, the goblin knew a whole bunch more that he wasn¡¯t telling me. ¡°Anything else I should be worried about?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know Friendo. I never got out much. My friends¡­ my comrades¡­ they all explored, they all worked so hard¡­ but I didn¡¯t.¡±

    Huh¡­ ¡°I see.¡±

    He hummed something as we watched our pawpaw cook in the fire. I preferred eating it raw but considering the state of my stomach, I was hoping whatever toxin was in this thing would just deactivate in the fire.

    Once it finished boiling, I took a hot spoonful of stuff, blew on it a couple of times, and downed the stuff. Ah¡­ it tasted so shit.

    Shit?

    A feeling¡­.

    ¡°Fuck¡­¡± I said in bliss¡­ ¡°What a damn cruel world.¡±

    ¡°A-are you okay Friendo?¡±

    I was absolutely not okay¡­ why?

    I might or might not have¡­ shat my pants a little.

    ***

    An embarrassing night later, we finished up with some morning poison- I mean Pawpaw and went out again with the same tactic. I¡¯m so glad I have backup pants¡­.

    There wasn¡¯t much to do besides just avoid the bugs and vines and keep walking.This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

    So, we kept walking.

    And kept getting high. At least I did. It felt so good yet¡­ yet I knew these fake good feelings were just distractions. If I liked this high and got lost in it, all my hopes and dreams would perish. Sure, I¡¯d feel good but¡­ but was my life worth just this?

    Gritting my teeth hard, I tried my best to not stop. I couldn¡¯t!

    Meanwhile, the goblin had been humming all day, and was starting to sing a bit.

    To you I feel the stars

    Dancing in the limelight afar.

    Throbbing vines bulge in my nether-

    For you my lovely star.

    Stringy as a feather.

    Is that the blindin dar?

    Such a booby star.

    Such a panty bar.

    Might I suck thee from the jar?

    First of all, he wasn¡¯t making sense. And second, he fucking sucked. I hadn¡¯t seen a guy as tone deaf as he. Even my sister wasn¡¯t this bad! And she was bad-bad!

    Anyway¡­ trying my best not to cringe or laugh, we kept on walking.

    Sometimes later, Goribo stopped and told me to duck by some bushes. There was something ahead.

    Something¡­ fat? A big glob of flesh; rather smooth. If I had to say, I¡¯d say it was like a bit butt without the crack.

    And as if to prove me right¡­ it was. I saw the hole when it moved around.

    Yup¡­

    Fuck.

    ¡°How¡¯s that even remotely attractive?¡± I said.

    The goblin though, had been drooling again. I rolled my eyes and flicked a bit of the pawpaw in his face.

    He came to his senses and gulped. ¡°Friendo, never get too close to those. You will get enchanted. What you saw was nothing.¡±

    ¡°I believe you.¡±

    Yeah, it certainly doesn¡¯t have to do with your tastes or anything, I totally believe you¡­.

    Although we kept walking all day, I didn¡¯t really tire much. My gem stone didn¡¯t run out of mana either. In fact, I felt it was still about nearly full. I guess I didn¡¯t need much mana to condense the water and use the wind, huh? I knew my mana capacity was low but fucking hell, it was like nothing compared to this!

    Anyway, we kept walking.

    But the road never ended. And our pace was that of a snail¡¯s. Heck, even slugs probably walked faster than us at this point.

    Every few steps we¡¯d spot one of those freaky things. Sometimes it¡¯d be a butt. Sometimes it¡¯d be the other one. Sometimes just boobs, to which I might or might not have gotten a bit weak a few times¡­.

    Near the afternoon we started searching for caves and found one just before the evening. Goribo had warned me before leaving the cave that no matter what we weren¡¯t supposed to wander around in the night. So, I was glad we found at least something beforehand.

    However¡­ the cave wasn¡¯t empty.

    There was stuff inside.

    Namely¡­ one of the boob monsters.

    It looked like a giant tit with a giant nipple. I had this distinct urge to give its lusciously soft exterior a slap and suckle. But before I could even attempt to voice any of my thoughts the goblin had took up a spear and impaled the damn thing. I had no idea what it was made off but it whooshed some air and fell flat like a balloon.

    ¡°This is just rubber,¡± I said. There wasn¡¯t even a speck of flesh or fat.

    Sigh.

    ¡°We could eat this,¡± The goblin said.

    ¡°Eat? This?¡±

    He grinned¡­ and I nearly puked at the thought. And here I was ready to suckle even just like five minutes ago.

    I suppose my mind worked in mysterious ways.

    ***

    The next day, something strange happened. I now had an erection that just didn¡¯t calm down. In a moment of weakness, I might have jerked off once (my literal first time in this world; nothing came out) but nope, it did nothing.

    Should have figured. Even with the pawpaw it didn¡¯t calm down. I could only think to why.

    So, everything in this fucking forest is bad for me¡­. I shouldn¡¯t have listened to the goblin and ate some of the rubbery soup last night.

    And why are you so fucking sensitive? You¡¯re not even supposed to work for like two more fucking years!

    Though at this point, I was starting to think this place was advancing my puberty every single moment.

    Yeah, I wanted to grow up.

    But not like this!

 Chapter 160: Not in a Good Way

    Walking around with an erection was hard.

    Walking around with an erection that didn¡¯t go down was harder. Especially in a forest where everything had a hole you could put your thing in and fuck your minds out. Not that I wanted to do that or anything.

    It was a good thing my balls couldn¡¯t produce enough hormones or stuff yet. Otherwise, I¡¯d really be fucked.

    What surprised me though, was the fact that the goblin was withstanding this fairly well. The only time he showed any signs of weakness was when we encountered those butt things. Everyone had preferences, I suppose.

    Regardless, our journey became a bit harder¡­ but also a bit easier since the vines were starting to thin out. We could walk at a decent pace for once. Of course, we still had to be careful but¡­ but we were crossing days¡¯ worth of distances in mere hours.

    So much so that I might or might not have gotten a little cocky and ran a bit and¡­ ended up near a thing.

    A thing I hadn¡¯t yet seen. Of course, not much surprised me these days. I¡¯d seen almost everything this place had to offer and even if something new appeared, I knew it was going to be sex-themed.

    However.

    This wasn¡¯t.

    It was fully covered in black fur. And had large eyes all over its body. No holes, no mouths, just eyes.

    ¡°Maneater?¡± I mumbled.

    ¡°Yup,¡± Goribo mumbled back. ¡°I suppose we were going to encounter one sooner than later. Friendo, can you blast it with magic?¡±

    ¡°Worth a shot,¡± I said, pointing my fingers at it and a string of electricity pierced it. It pierced it through but, but the fleshy bit filled its insides and the fur grew back. In the place of the hole a new eye popped out. I gulped. ¡°On second thought, maybe we should run.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s faster Friendo. And we¡¯re far away.¡±

    ¡°Yeah¡­¡±

    The thing hadn¡¯t yet attacked us. It was observing. Very intelligent.

    Should I just burn it with fire? Or maybe drown it first and then-A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

    Whoosh!

    It was before me. Just centimeters away. How the fuck had it-

    Slam!~

    I was slung in the air, and I crashed into a tree; I coughed up my breath and some blood. Pain shot through. Damn thing had broken my chest one with shot!

    ¡°FRIENDO!¡± The goblin screamed, using the chance and shoving his spear in it, but the damn thing saw it coming and jumped up, dodging.

    I gathered water in the air and since it was midair, it got drowsed.

    I again fired of another electric string, this time, I arched it in several directions so it couldn¡¯t dodge. And just when a bolt touched him I amped the juice and fried it good. It sizzled and waved, but it didn¡¯t shrivel up like the mushroom thing from before. At this rate, it was going to recover again.

    So, I set it on fire.

    I did not wait for it at all. Fuck, even just breathing was stinging so fucking much.

    Fuck!

    I kept burning it again and again.

    ¡°Friendo, Friendo, we¡¯re good!¡±

    Eventually, the goblin had to stop me otherwise I risked setting the whole place on fire. Actually, I kind of wanted to. I was sick of this place.

    But Goribo told me that was a bad idea since we¡¯d be dying first. I could survive the fire using water, but what about oxygen?

    Sigh¡­ anyway, I picked myself up and the goblin helped. But I couldn¡¯t even move let alone walk. ¡°Wish I knew healing magic for times like this.¡± And wish I¡¯d at least studied the basics of it, so I could brute force my way out with these gems.

    My healing was already expediated thanks to Rexen and I¡¯d probably heal faster than typical humans. But this was a broken bone. And no matter how expediated, it was still going to take a while. And it hurt.

    The spot was warm and swollen and although it didn¡¯t hurt as badly as when it broke, I think it was mostly due to my adrenaline. ¡°Sigh¡­ where are mermaid medicine when you need some¡­¡±

    ¡°Friendo, let¡¯s find a cave.¡±

    Ah yes, caves.

    We probably passed a few on our quick march to this place. So, I guess we were going to back track. And just when I thought things were looking good though.

    ¡°Seriously, fuck you,¡± I managed and set the damn thing on fire once more. It was basically just ash at this point.

    The goblin sighed, picked me up in a bridal carry and carried me back for the rest of the way. We both got aroused by the intense stuff in the air, and now that I could barely keep my conscience, I couldn¡¯t maintain a water umbrella or a layer of air.

    On a positive note, I no longer had an erection, so that was good¡­ probably.

    ***

    The next morning I woke up with a hangover of sorts. I was hungry, I was dehydrated and my chest felt like shit. Bruised, and somewhat purple.

    I made myself some water and drank it but Holy shit this sucked. Even just gulping water made me wince!

    ¡°We should rest for a few days Friendo,¡± he said.

    ¡°We won¡¯t live for a few days if we don¡¯t leave now.¡± I had to speak super quietly.

    ¡°But Friendo, your bone-¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it. I can handle the pain.¡± Barely.

    No, that wasn¡¯t true. I couldn¡¯t handle the pain. It was too much, I wanted to scream, and I wanted to cry.

    But I wanted to get out of this hell first.

    The goblin lent me his shoulder and together we marched through the forest. Today we walked slowly but instead of using a water umbrella I just fried whatever got near me. I fried everything good. I screwed them up real good!

    Hah ha- aha ahah hah hah!

    Goribo shoved something in my mouth and my pyromaniacal tendencies eased up. I was high today too, just not in a good way.

 Chapter 161: Lies

    When it came down to healing, our bodies worked masterfully. From DNA repair to killing its own cells just to growing new ones; our bodies really knew how to keep us alive. And I knew most of that. But the thing is, I didn¡¯t study the actual way it worked. I studied to pass tests and get good scores but never to properly understand how it worked. And that shit came back to bite me.

    Because right now, I had access to large quantities of mana but no real way to do anything with it.

    Well, not entirely true. I definitely could skewer anything that came near me. At first, I was just burning things but that came with its own restrictions, so I switched over to freezing everything instead.

    The process was fairly simple. Just like I could burn oxygen and produce heat, I could just¡­ yeah, freezing wasn¡¯t as simple. There weren¡¯t any mysterious element that I could freeze and create ice spears; and freezing water was more of a chore than an actual boon¡­.. So instead, I just formed water, warmed it- almost boiling- and then just sprayed it around on anything that moved and came near us. These things were sex-themed and moaned but when faced with boiling water, their screams were even more pleasurable. Muha ha hah ah-

    ¡°You¡¯re getting high again Friendo,¡± Goribo said, giving me another spoonful of the fruit.

    It had become his job basically to lend me his shoulder and help me keep my sanity. Because frankly, I was going crazy. Also, my stomach kept on rumbling and I needed to release again. This forest was killing me from multiple angles at the same time.

    Lately, I¡¯d lost a fair bit of my weight and I could actually sort of see my ribs now. I suppose I was going to die before we got out of the forest at this rate.

    Or at least that¡¯s what I thought but apparently, we were almost at the end of the whole area. Yesterday we¡¯d crossed a good seven days worth of journey. So, in theory, if we were lucky, and could cross a decent chunk of the area today, there was a really good chance we could leave the area before nightfall.

    Oddly, we didn¡¯t come across any of those man eater things. The bugs stayed away, and the forest too, as though it was afraid or something. Occasionally I did spot a random thing coming at us, which I mostly just boiled out of existence. And if it still somehow survived, then I gave it the old electric fun.

    Something was bugging me though. ¡°What is this forest? And why is it here? I mean, if it¡¯s the predator of all mammals, then how come there aren¡¯t any mammals in this forest?¡±The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

    And no, those boob things didn¡¯t count.

    ¡°This place used to be paradise. Fruits, animals, life¡­ paradise.¡±

    ¡°And?¡±

    ¡°Then, it came. A single vagina that attached to a tree. Monkeys populated this land at the time. And they did things. Then things happened- at least that¡¯s what my friend told me before fully becoming one of them. They¡¯re all connected Friendo.¡±

    Interesting.

    ¡°Does this happen to do anything with the world tree?¡± Most of the stuff here were sort of plan like. No, they¡¯re plant-animal hybrids.

    ¡°No. The world tree is sacred.¡±

    ¡°Then what about Askavan?¡±

    ¡°That lying-¡±

    ¡°Yeah, you already told me he lies. But how? How did he lie?¡±

    I kept spraying boiling water to the vines ahead and those things more or less sizzled and parted. Even the trees moved out of our way, saving us a really decent chunk of time.

    ¡°She. Askavan was a woman. She corrupted us, stole our pride and then forced us to go to war,¡± the goblin said.

    Woman, huh? The scriptures referred to the god as a dragon, not a male one or female one. I just assumed he was a guy. Or had I read somewhere he was one? I couldn¡¯t recall.

    But wait. Nothing mentioned Askavan ever actually instigating any wars. In fact, the god or rather goddess was famous for ending wars. What¡¯s more, she¡­ or maybe that history¡¯s been wiped.

    ¡°I was under the impression Askavan isolated demons to stop the war,¡± I said.

    ¡°Lies Friendo. That wench¡­ that wench created us, cursed us¡­ violated us.¡±

    Bastard children¡­ ah¡­ ahem. ¡°I¡¯m sorry to pain you, Friendo-¡± I said and realized, I¡¯d picked up a weird word. Ahem! ¡°But can you tell me more about Askavan and the gods? I want to learn more.¡±

    I¡¯d been meaning to ask him but the situation never seemed quite right. This time though, we were almost out of this place and I kept getting impatient so this was a good solution, or so I thought.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry Friendo, I don¡¯t know myself. All I know is what my friend told me.¡±

    ***

    We reached the end of the forest sooner than later: the actual heart of the forest was somewhere in the opposite side. Goribo or his friends had heard about it but none of them had seen it. This heart- or rather the original vagina was still there and everything in the forest was connected to it. At first, I thought I¡¯d go up to it and blast it out of existence, but maneater things along with all the other drug-spraying things were concentrated around there. I was already dying with chest pain, and just a single monster did this to me. I couldn¡¯t imagine what a whole bunch of them would do. Hence, it was suicide trying to go there. Besides, we were trying to escape from this place, not be heroes.

    There was still some light in the sky and we could see a lot of sea from up here¡­ yes, we were at a cliff and there was a sea below. The fucking SEA!

    ¡°We must wait for the ebb, Friendo,¡± he said.

    However, we were about ten stories high, and I didn¡¯t see any paths leading down without making another visit to the forest.

    Frankly¡­ I was sick of all this at this point. But there wasn¡¯t much I could do. ¡°Guess we¡¯ll set up camp.¡±

    ¡°No Friendo,¡± he said. ¡°We must leave tonight. Otherwise¡­ Sirens will get us.¡±

    But weren¡¯t Sirens the most active during the night? At least according to my gamer knowledge. I suppose things worked differently in this world.

 Chapter 162: Apparently Everyone Wanted to Eat Me

    The sea was beautiful.

    Blue, dazzling, beautiful.

    There was a beach below us, and another island about two kilometers away. Lots and lots of water in between with no signs of receding.

    We came here just before the afternoon. And now it was evening.

    ¡°Should we start getting down?¡± I asked.

    Traversing the forest at night was going to be dangerous but we didn¡¯t have a choice. ¡°Yes Friendo.¡±

    Goribo helped me stand, again. He kept helping me even though I didn¡¯t need much help anymore. No, that wasn¡¯t quite true. I could definitely move about on my own but having a shoulder to rely on, in this god-awful forest, was a boon. And so, I was grateful.

    Yet¡­ ¡°Go Friendo-¡± Goribo gave a slap on my back and shoved me forward. He didn¡¯t take a step.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± I asked, almost falling over.

    ¡°This is it for me Friendo. This is as far as I go.¡± He gave me a big smile.

    ¡°But we said we would get out of here together. You wanted to respect your friends¡¯ sacrifices and-¡± The words slowed, the words got stuck, the words mellowed as the realization slowly sunk in.

    ¡°But I¡¯m one of them now Friendo,¡± he said, and stripped.

    Ah¡­ he doesn¡¯t have one.

    He started foaming, and his skin changed a bit of color. ¡°I thought I would make it till morning, deliver you out of this place but¡­ but the transformation is almost complete Friendo¡­ Please, go. Find your parents. Live¡­¡± He pulled his pants back up and laughed.

    ¡°But Goribo.¡±

    ¡°Live for both- no, all of us,¡± he said. And I could have sworn I heard others, nonexistent voices.

    Ah, I was high again.

    ¡°I¡¯ll never forget you.¡±

    ¡°Good bye Friendo.¡±Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

    I ran.

    I didn¡¯t care about the pain, I didn¡¯t care about the breathlessness, and I didn¡¯t care about the things coming straight for me¡­ I just ran.

    I just.

    Ran.

    ***

    The forest ended in one fell swoop. Just like it started immediately, it ended abruptly by the shore. Tide had already gone down a fair bit and exposed the beach. If I started walking, I could probably reach the island on the other side. But I¡¯d be getting at least half of my body wet.

    It was night, the moon wasn¡¯t out. There was a good chance Sirens- no, there was a guarantee Sirens would stand in my way. I suppose the only reason Goribo was so hellbent on making me take the night journey was because he wanted to personally see me off the island. Sadly, I couldn¡¯t do that.

    Given how risky it was to travel at night, I was almost tempted to spend the night here.

    However¡­ having seen Goribo¡¯s determination, I didn¡¯t want to stay here, even if it meant going through a sea of blood thirsty Sirens.

    Fuck Sirens.

    My chest pounded as my feet touched the water. I was barefoot. I didn¡¯t know when or where I¡¯d lost my sandals but that didn¡¯t matter. Right now, all that mattered was how I was going to get across this place.

    Burning chest, it hurt¡­.

    So far, I didn¡¯t see any bubbles or any movement in the sea. But I could tell, there was definitely something in there.

    And like it or not, that something was going to be a pain in the ass. So, I made the resolve of blasting everything with electricity if it came near me, even if that meant frying myself in the process.

    Heh, I wasn¡¯t going down without a fight.

    Slosh!~

    Water dripped and slathered all over me. Waves upon wave crashed into the shore. The once deadly forest was slowly moving so far away. And here I thought it was going to be impossible to get off. Yet, now that I was off, I missed some things. I missed raging, I missed Goribo laughing or trying to eat me. Yeah, it was really hard to part with people you only knew briefly. But it was, what it was.

    Roughly a hundred meters into the sea, the sand vanished and corals started scratching at my feet. At this rate I wouldn¡¯t have been surprised if I cut myself and started bleeding. I didn¡¯t know about sharks but the Sirens were definitely aware of my presence. The tide wasn¡¯t going down any more than this, so I had no choice but to keep going. Luckily the water wasn¡¯t that deep, and it never reached higher than my thighs. But I had to walk carefully.

    How come there aren¡¯t any snails or shellfish of other kind?

    Actually, I didn¡¯t see any fish either. Was it because it was nighttime or-

    Sirens are historically known as charmers. And the island itself was a charming station of sorts. Maybe the island was Sirens, and everyone just ¡®assumed¡¯ it was-

    A sweet scent. Different from what I felt at the island. Unlike the island scent that excited me, this one made me shiver and my heart quiver. It¡¯s inducing fear.

    ¡°Hmmm¡­. Child of men?¡± Echoing voice.

    Mist surrounded me, and clouded my vision.

    ¡°Such a rare sight.¡± Another voice.

    ¡°Truly, and so young.¡±

    ¡°So tender.¡± Something poked at my thigh, vanishing immediately. I didn¡¯t even see the finger.

    ¡°Wait, a little boney?¡±

    All the voices were female in nature and I think I had an idea what they were getting ate. Yup, they wanna eat me. Not that I was surprised.

    Apparently, everyone wanted to eat me.

 Chapter 163: Finally Here

    Before I knew what was happening, I was already surrounded by women.

    None of them had any scales or fish tails. Actually, they had wings and arms. I saw about nine but there could have been more in the mist. Smooth skin, glowing almost and very symmetrical round faces with large eyes and shapely noses: The woman in particular were rather beautiful and probably the most beautiful I¡¯d ever seen or so I thought at first. Whenever I stared at one of them, they appeared to be the most beautiful woman in the world, but as I stared at the people around them, I kind of felt that for every single one of them at the very same time. No, I wasn¡¯t going insane. It was the smell. The scent. The scent was making my senses weird. But I was still sane. I suppose the extra high I got from the forest had given me some resistance?

    And none of them wore any tops. Their round mounds and the bits of pink titflesh perked up and drew my attention. I did not dare look down¡­.

    ¡°We can fatten him up,¡± one of them said. Sea tongue.

    ¡°But that¡¯ll take time. I want to eat him now.¡±

    ¡°But look at the bones. He¡¯s so shriveled up.¡±

    ¡°Boy,¡± one of them was just before me. She spoke human tongue. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, we¡¯ll take care of you. Come with us, we¡¯ll help you find your way back home. You¡¯re lost, aren¡¯t you?¡± She spoke. And she spoke very sweetly too.

    However.

    Electricity streaked in my hand and they all jumped away instantaneously. ¡°I appreciate the sentiment,¡± I spoke in sea tongue. ¡°But I have a place to be at and I¡¯m certainly not lost.¡±

    Probably.

    I got lots of hisses and the scent dulled. I could see them a bit better.

    Instead of the glowing sublime skin, they now appeared to have scaly skin similar to that of a mermaid but they weren¡¯t as pretty as mermaids. And they didn¡¯t have tails.

    They definitely had actual mating organs though. Don¡¯t look, damnit!

    ¡°Look, I¡¯m really not looking for trouble. I¡¯m not in the best mood,¡± I said. ¡°I can easily fry each and every one of you.¡±

    ¡°Lies! You would have already-¡±

    ¡°Fishmen took good care of me. Mermaids, Fish goblins, and a bunch of other people. I¡¯d rather not fry up that good will along with you.¡±

    Sirens weren¡¯t technically part of the Mermaid extended kingdom but they did have some ties with them or so I¡¯d been told.

    They maintained their distance while I casually walked ahead. A small spark continued to arc in my fingertips. This was harder than it looked. I tried to maintain a natural expression but it was starting to crack. Not only was this damn thing draining the fuck out of both my mana and the gemstone, but it was also screwing my senses. As in I couldn¡¯t keep the fucking hand open anymore!This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

    Ah~! I stopped and switched over to fire instead. Phew. Much more natural.

    But in that moment, I realized, I¡¯d made a grave mistake. Because I felt flesh behind me. Flesh pressed on my head. Soft flesh. Breasts. I was dragged into boobs and violated~!

    Yeah, not really, she bit me, she bit my fucking head.

    Sharp pain spread along with a hot steaming liquid.

    ¡°ARGHH!¡± I punched the air, and set whatever the hell was behind me on fire. I blasted a literal flamethrower¡¯s worth of fire on it and kept blasting it and-

    The fuck, it¡¯s a monster. Damn thing had followed me to shore. It looked a bit different from the stuff I¡¯d seen back there. White skin, and very mushroom-like. I suppose there were more for me to see in that fuckhole.

    Anyway, the actual people were still far away though.

    But woah- my head was warm and wet and upon touch, my fingers turned red with color.

    Well, I¡¯m dead.

    Darkness.

    I heard a splash, some murmurs and then nothing.

    ***

    Heavy eyes. Odd ceiling.

    And¡­ wait, why was there a sun in the sky and why was it waving?

    ¡°I¡¯m underwater again,¡± I mumbled.

    ¡°Yes, we were surprised when you submerged in the water and kept breathing,¡± someone said. ¡°I suppose we should have taken your visit to the mermaid kingdom, more seriously.¡±

    A woman?

    A siren.

    She had a tray in hand and looked decent enough. As in, at least she was wearing a bra this time. Still nothing below though.

    I didn¡¯t know why but I kept having a deja vu. My broken arm was no longer broken and my head didn¡¯t throb. I could breathe just fine too. Like no problems.

    ¡°Am I like, dead?¡± I said.

    Because frankly, this felt too good to be true. ¡°Why would you think that?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t feel any pain. Did you use any healing magic on me?¡±

    ¡°Not really. We¡¯re just drugging you to the point where you don¡¯t feel any pain. You would have kept screaming otherwise.¡±

    Huh.

    No wonder. I rechecked my head and they did wrap it up at least. And my hand was still broken, just not hurting. Won¡¯t this grow weirdly if I don¡¯t fix it soon?

    ¡°Wait, what sort of drugs?¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t have to worry about them. They¡¯re slightly addictive but you won¡¯t stay here long enough to get addicted,¡± she said, leaving the tray next to me. ¡°Eat, and once you¡¯re done, leave.¡±

    Huh.

    I gulped, and picked up the tray. ¡°Thanks.¡±

    And she didn¡¯t wait and left.

    I didn¡¯t have walls around me. And I was merely just lying on a rock of sorts with various other rocks around us. The tray was made of a large shell and contained some sweet-smelling stuff. If they wanted to drug and eat me, they would have done that already. Or maybe they¡¯re just trying to fatten me up so they could eat me later? Either way, I was hungry and I had to eat.

    Sweet!

    This stuff was sweet!

    Like cheese mixed with lots and lots of sugar and made into luxurious sweets!

    There were six apple-sized pieces and by the time I finished 4, I was full and sort of sick of it. I mean I could always just eat some later.

    Meanwhile, I watched the ocean and the Sirens in the distance. There was a whole colony here and they had homes down there, in between the cracks of the rocks. The whole area was patchy and often shallow.

    We were probably a kilometer or so away from the forest (I could still see some green) and yet, the ocean was still more or less just patchy. I looked around and yup, it went on for miles. I suppose this whole place was just swallow waters. Wait, isn¡¯t that exactly what they¡¯d told me?

    So yeah, I really was in the forbidden continent.

    A bit drugged but, at least I was finally here.

 Chapter 164: Too Tired

    Now that I wasn¡¯t being constantly pressed down on by millions of cusecs of water, I was actually doing rather fine. The water was pleasant and not fucking freezing. Also, for some reason, the sun was actually pleasant rather than blinding. Probably because I was focusing more on the stuff that was happening below me rather than above.

    Why?

    There was so much going on here.

    Still, I wondered whether it was better to swim or walk. I could definitely walk but I honestly didn¡¯t want to walk on coral. And while I could swim, I was slow as fuck compared everyone here. There was another problem. I knew where the island was and I knew which was the next island. But that was about as much I knew about this place. I wanted to ask around, ask for directions and other tidbits, but they just flat out ignored me. It was one thing when they wanted to eat me but a whole different one when they were just literally rejecting the fuck out of me.

    Sort of offended but who cared about that crap. Let¡¯s at least start from the island next door. According to Goribo, they came through that island and that the time the tide was much lower than now and they¡¯d walked. I didn¡¯t feel confident in walking on the corals, so I chose to swim.

    Water swayed over me, lathering on me, yet didn¡¯t wet me like I thought. Yet honestly felt like a big as fuck safe zone. Or was it because I was too close to the surface?

    It was going to take a long while but at least I wouldn¡¯t have cuts on my feet that could get infected and fuck me over for days. I already knew I could get sick in this world. My body had rather strong immunity considering I rarely got sick but I wasn¡¯t going to take chances, that was for sure.

    It''s still strange how I only got sick twice. It was even stranger that people my age didn¡¯t get sick like kids back home. I used to hear my classmate got sick and took the day off all the time. Or maybe they were just using excuses to skip school. People had cure for injuries but not for diseases, so yeah, odd.

    Anyway, swimming it was.

    I was fine with the arduous journey. But the giggles¡­ the occasional giggles coming from around me was really, really embarrassing. These sirens didn¡¯t want to help me but they sure loved making fun me of. And whatever the hell they¡¯d given me was starting to wear off. My neck felt stiff and I couldn¡¯t move my arm as much as I liked. And I was only halfway there! At least this rate I was going to have to walk.

    Argh!Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

    Sighing¡­ I walked.

    Hhmm¡­ I walked carefully and despite how I thought I¡¯d have cuts and bruises all over¡­ nothing happened.

    So, I kept walking.

    And walking.

    And walked.

    ***

    About an hour later I reached some sand before the actual beach. Even now I had water up to my thigh. The air didn¡¯t feel much different from the sea. I felt about the same in either place. I sure as hell wasn¡¯t going to go back in the water though.

    I could sort of see the ridges and deep pockets of water just next to the sandy bits. Sometimes I got the feeling I was standing on giant lilies and the world down there was all ocean.

    I carefully, very carefully tiptoed forward and checked whether the trees moved or not. I didn¡¯t see any blindingly vibrant flower or bug or even withering vines. Just¡­ just trees. Phew.

    And finally, some actual decent fruits. Coconuts!

    I pulled out my machete which was still hanging along with most of my stuff. I lost some things but I had more than enough.

    I still couldn¡¯t probably use the machete without using both hands but this was fine. I picked a brownish green coconut that looked uniform in shape and size (which I found just lying around) and placed it on a rock, and then smashed the machete on it. The machete dug into the nut but didn¡¯t cut it. How the fuck do you even cut this?

    I never actually saw how people cut it. Whenever I fancied some coconut, I went to the market and got myself a precut version and just ate it. Argh, why didn¡¯t I binge on coconut cutting videos!

    I somehow freed the machete with a stone and whammed it on the nut again. But the same. I took the stone and slowly tried thumping the machete down but to no avail. It was too hardy.

    ¡°Screw you~!¡± I took the coconut above my head and slammed it on the rock and that splattered a small hole in the thing. I suppose the cuts had done something. Fuck¡­  I just lost most of the water and the rest were dripping out. I quickly drank as much as I could as most of the water just sprayed beneath me.

    Kinda sweet, slightly salty. But refreshing.

    And this situation wasn¡¯t that bad; I aimed my machete at the cracked spot and slammed it down. Once I had a good grip, I used a rock to continuously beat the machete¡¯s backside and force it in, effectively cutting the damn thing in two. The coconut wasn¡¯t ripe but it wasn¡¯t underripe either. It had some white flesh, a bit soft but not overly so. Took effort but I slowly cut the flesh out of the nut with my knife and ate it.

    Finally!

    Some damn good food!~

    I should catch some fish. And I would have¡­ if there were fish in here.

    ***

    After enjoying a good feast of a single splattered coconut, I rested for a while, watching the afternoon sun. I wanted to go into the island and explore. But I didn¡¯t feel like doing any of that, mostly because of my shit health condition. I couldn¡¯t even move my arm anymore, so I tied some dry branches to it with vines and hoped it¡¯d heal at least semi-decently. My head though was a whole different issue. I kept having a massive headache that kept going on and on, on repeat. I could have easily fixed all this if I still had my elixirs but¡­ yeah, fuck you ocean.

    I built a makeshift shelter with some vines, branches, and coconut leaves; somehow. I even made a bit of a roof, so if it rained, I¡¯d have at least some cover. Let¡¯s hope I don¡¯t die from this.

    Eyes drooped. While I tried to keep my senses sharp¡­ they didn¡¯t stay sharp. They just dulled and I slowly fell asleep even though I didn¡¯t want to.

    Too tired.

 Chapter 165

    The island was big and there were many different kinds of trees further in. But so far, coconuts were the most abundant ones.

    I wanted to venture within and find out more and search, but my body wasn¡¯t agreeing with me. I most nearly had a fever but for some reason it kept edging me and that only made me feel worse.

    I¡¯d concluded the beach was somewhat safe. There weren¡¯t any monsters or monstrous fish here trying to eat me. Some Sirens often spied on me while I was reliving myself but they almost always got caught because of their giggles. And when I complained, they showed me their own way of relieving themselves, claiming it was an equal trade.

    I got so self-conscious of the whole thing, I ended up digging a bit, forging some leafy walls and making a toilet of sorts despite my shit condition. Sufficed to say, it fucked up my arm even more.

    I could tell my arm was healing and the same for my head but it wasn¡¯t fast enough. My stomach was also faring far better than before thanks to the coconut water.

    But would a day or two of rest be enough?

    If mom and Den were alive and here, I¡¯m sure they could wait a day longer. Then again, they weren¡¯t technically waiting for me. And even if I mysteriously found them, what then? It wasn¡¯t like I knew a way off this place. Heck, I didn¡¯t even know how I got here. The only thing I remember after getting in that spiral current was lots of cuts and a voice¡­.

    ¡°What voice?¡± I muttered to myself.

    Crash! The waves crashed and the tide rose a bit. All the small sandy spots in the distant sea disappeared and were fully submerged now.

    I oddly remember hearing something before completely going out cold, but what that something was, I couldn¡¯t remember. Maybe I was just dreaming? Definitely possible.

    Bubbles.

    Bubbles erupted and soon something emerged from the sea, water dripping all over her bare body.Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

    No wait, she was wearing a bra. And no panties¡­ I couldn¡¯t see anything since she had mermaid style skin covering. ¡°I thought you were going to leave as soon as possible?¡± she said.

    ¡°I was going to but my body¡¯s not working properly.¡±

    It was the same siren. The one who gave me food.

    ¡°I see,¡± she said, and sat down next to me. She smelled good. Not the ¡®I¡¯m drugging you¡¯ kind of good but, ¡®I just got out of the shower¡¯ kind. ¡°I can give you some of the drug to aid you, but you¡¯ll end up addicted.¡±

    ¡°That sucks,¡± I said. ¡°Though I think I might have gained some immunity, thanks to the days I spent on that island so maybe it could work.¡±

    ¡°No, it actually ruined your drug resistance,¡± she said. ¡°I haven¡¯t seen someone as gullible as you,¡± she said. ¡°To the drug.¡±

    Huh?

    Hmm¡­

    The fuck?

    ¡°But I clearly saw through your disguises the last time and-¡±

    She leaned closer. ¡°But we weren¡¯t technically using any on you. It was just some residue,¡± she whispered, giggled and then started laughing loudly. ¡°You thought we were going to drug a kid like you and tempt you with our bodies? God, you¡¯re so fucking na?ve.¡±

    I didn¡¯t know why but my ears burned and I felt like jumping into the water but considering there were other giggling fish in there¡­ I didn¡¯t bother.

    Fuck.

    ***

    An hour later a group of Sirens came ashore and stitched my head. They fed me some super bitter green liquid that numbed my tongue and throat but drowned the mild fever instantly. They also applied some weird grassy herb on my arm, and plastered it with some sort of cement. When I asked what they were doing- they replied with a unanimous- ¡°Shut up.¡±

    Fun people, I tell you.

    Once they left, the Siren from before left some food and advised me to leave tomorrow since one of their squad leaders was going to come back the day after tomorrow and if she saw me here, she was going to eat me alive and no, this Siren wasn¡¯t kidding or so she insisted.

    Fine by me. As long as my condition improved, I wasn¡¯t going to stay here in the first place.

    ¡°They still want to fatten me up, huh?¡± Because all the food I got were full of carb and super sweet. I didn¡¯t know about being fat, but I was definitely going to get diabetes if I stayed here.

    I diversified my dinner with some coconut meat (protein and fat) and the coconut water. It was a pain to open the damn thing with one hand but I managed after fumbling for half an hour and giving the live audience in the sea a hell of a time. Did these people have nothing else to do?

    Sighing, I sat down by a crude fire I¡¯d conjured up and watched the waves. A little surreal.

    Some years ago, or rather, in my previous life this kind of view was a dream. But now that I was here¡­ it still felt like a dream. Like I could wake up any moment now and be back at my pathetic life doing pathetic things.

    Though¡­ if I did end up waking up someday. Let¡¯s at least try a bit harder.

 Chapter 166: I donâ€™t even know what that is

    I woke up groggy. But I woke up without being in pain. My arm still worked and it didn¡¯t feel all that broken. It was definitely broken though.

    If this is as good as I can be¡­ Then I suppose it was time to head deeper into the forest and find where the fuck I was.

    None of the people from the sea rose or spoke. They just watched as I packed and was about to leave.

    They did help me¡­ Without a word, I waved and left.

    The least I could do was bade them farewell.

    While almost all the trees around the beach were coconut trees, there were all kind of other trees just a few meters inland. Palm trees were abundant, along with oil palm and some weird buttlike palm. It took great effort not to burn the place down but I was definitely going to if one of those things came fell me. Won¡¯t I be dead if it fell on my head though? I had my fair share of sex monster trees, so I wasn¡¯t taking any chances. In other words, I quickly moved away from the palm groves and marched deeper into the forest.

    Unlike a typical jungle, this placed wasn¡¯t as dense. And foliage didn¡¯t invade every nook and cranny of the place. I didn¡¯t see any animals or birds so far but that probably was-

    Wait¡­ I never heard any birds. And I never really saw anything in particular here. That was odd. It never even occurred to me that something was wrong with this forest till I actually entered the forest. Actually, had I seen any birds in these parts of the ocean?

    Which way did I come from again? Uh¡­ palm grove! But I couldn¡¯t find the palm grove. I just couldn¡¯t-

    Why do all forests have to mess with me? Argh¡­ well, at least this place wasn¡¯t trying to fuck me or trying to get fucked.

    I tried to stay calm and listen. Are there people here. Things moving¡­ anything-

    I didn¡¯t know where to go, and I didn¡¯t know where I was. So, there wasn¡¯t much I could do. However, there was still a few things I could try. One of them was electrocuting a tree.

    Buzz!

    It nearly caught on fire and smoked.This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

    Humm¡­ a very low-grade hum spread through the forest. As I thought.

    ¡°Before I set everything on fire, I¡¯d suggest you showed yourself or at the very least, had the common courtesy to get out of my way.¡± I spoke loudly.

    If there wasn¡¯t anyone here and it was all in my head, things would be fine. I¡¯d be a bit embarrassed but oh well. Since, well, there wasn¡¯t anyone here no one would know of my shame.

    However, if there was¡­.

    Rustle!

    Up!

    Trees!

    Leaves?

    Branches!

    But I couldn¡¯t follow- whatever it was- with my eyes. It was fast and it was almost invisible.

    Still-

    Heavy air. Behind me, isn¡¯t it? I didn¡¯t make any sudden moves. And I didn¡¯t even try to turn. ¡°What kind of courtesy is standing behind someone without introducing yourself?¡±

    Please don¡¯t be a monster, please don¡¯t be a monster, please don¡¯t be a mon-

    Sigh¡­ a rather large sigh. ¡°Why do all you Halfatians have to be so¡­ disastrous?¡±

    ¡°The who with the what?¡± I turned, saw a lovely brunette with huge tits, and got whacked on the face by some odd cat toy-like thing. ¡°Those are some huge breasts.¡± I didn¡¯t even know why I said it or felt drowsy or the fact that I spoke a bit too sincerely because she was blushing now and oh- I felt nauseated and was it me or was the world spinning, such pretty colors- lovely ¡°BLUREARGHH!¡±

    ***

    Moving trees.

    Not again¡­  I groaned but realized I was actually on some sort of a stretcher. With my hands and legs tied. Drugged again, huh?

    The trees weren¡¯t moving. I was. ¡°What are you doing?¡±

    ¡°Precautions,¡± she said. She was dragging on me on some skin, attached to a rope of sorts.

    ¡°Aw¡­ it hurts you know.¡±

    ¡°Deal with it.¡±

    ¡°I can walk.¡±

    She stared back, pulled the skin stretcher from underneath me with one strong pull and made me roll on the ground. ¡°Then walk.¡±

    ¡°At least untie my legs?¡±

    ¡°Just hop.¡±

    The fuck is wrong with you?

    The forest felt the very same. I didn¡¯t see any rogue palm trees around so we were probably deeper than before. This woman¡­ tall woman with a rather voluptuous chest¡­ had taken me as a prisoner.

    ¡°Hey if it¡¯s about the breast thing, I¡¯m sorry. I just became super drowsy all of a sudden and spoke things I didn¡¯t mean.¡±

    She instinctively put a hand on her chest, covering. ¡°What do you mean drowsy?¡±

    ¡°I got drowsy and nauseous all of a sudden.¡±

    ¡°And then you threw up?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    I didn¡¯t remember anything else from that. Just that.

    She paused. Tall woman, black pants and an odd embroidered gray long shirt. I couldn¡¯t call her lean, but she wasn¡¯t necessarily fat either. Looked somewhat human minus the ears which were triangular and kind of pointy. And rather long?

    Wait, elf.

    Like not a southerner style one but¡­ but an actual fucking elf!

    ¡°But I didn¡¯t use that much-¡± she mumbled to herself. ¡°Have you ever been overdosed with Brim?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know what that is but I have been under the influence of the Sirens and the things in the island west of here.¡±

    Her eyes opened wide and she almost took a step back. ¡°You survived them?¡±

    ¡°Yes?¡±

    Huh¡­.

    Wasn¡¯t that supposed to be obvious considering which way I was coming from?

    ¡°Wait, that means you¡¯re not a Halfatian.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t even know what that is.¡±

 Chapter 167: Centaurs

    The girl took me to her village. At least I assumed it was her village. But the people there didn¡¯t look like her or me.

    They had two extra limbs. No, not two extra arms that hung below their actual arms. Rather, these people had the very same build as humans for the top half. Their bottom halves were different though. A bit similar to the mermaids who had fishy bits instead of legs.

    But no, these people didn¡¯t have fishy bits. They instead had horsy bits. In other words, centaurs.

    But unlike centaurs, they didn¡¯t have actual bodies of horses. Rather it was like their bodies had curved and just formed two extra legs on their crotch, and the hip portion stretched like a horse¡¯s stomach and produced hind legs. Clothed, they looked very much like horses. And they had hooves. But the skin, the build¡­ everything was so very human.

    ¡°I have so many questions right now,¡± I said.

    Roughly twenty small huts. All huddled together; a large cloth covered the whole area and made it seem like a big house.

    There was about twelve or so centaurs just chilling, most of them being women. They even had two children, both of whom had no clothes on. Which seemed to answer two of my question.

    So, they have stuff both at the front and the back¡­ But if males didn¡¯t have it on the front, how in the world-

    ¡°Of course, you do,¡± the lady by me said. ¡°But for now, come, you need rest. You are injured¡­ and I apologize for¡­ you know.¡±

    ¡°Me too. I didn¡¯t mean to- you know.¡±

    ¡°Yeah¡­¡±

    ***

    This place was rather peaceful.

    But I had a lot of questions. And of course, I didn¡¯t have any logical or delicate way of handling the situation. Actually, fuck all that.

    ¡°How do I get out of here?¡± Because if Goribo was right, then this was also just a big island and the actual mainland was still further ahead.

    One of the older looking centaurs walked and sat down in front of me. They looked rather awkward when they were sitting like that. ¡°You¡¯ve never seen our kind, huh?¡± she wondered aloud as I kept staring.

    The other centaurs were also mostly sitting. Four guys were patrolling the area.

    ¡°Yes maam.¡±

    ¡°Feel free to ask any questions that may arise in your innocent mind,¡± she said, and very kindly too.

    ¡°Um¡­ before that¡­ how do I get to the mainland?¡±

    ¡°You wish to venture to the land of chaos?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not from this land. I came from the outside¡­ through the sea and washed ashore on the island over there.¡± I pointed. ¡°I don¡¯t know what this place or the land of chaos is. But I came here to find my parents. I would really appreciate it if you¡¯d explain what this place is and how do I-¡±

    ¡°This is the outer edges separated from the land of chaos. To enter the land of chaos, you will have to cross a sea of salt, due north, go through molten rocks and further north, you¡¯ll find the great beast of Vice. Only after escaping that beast can you enter the land of chaos.¡±

    ¡°And the alternative route?¡±

    ¡°Through the sea. You¡¯ll have to swim through Sirens-¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll take my chances with the sirens.¡±

    ¡°And great sea beasts. Listen first, child.¡±Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

    ¡°Okay¡­¡±

    She went on.

    Apparently, there were multiple routes to the land of chaos. But all of them were about equally terrible as the first one.

    Some involved Hulahooping through lava, while others required me to actually sleep with certain things that came out at night¡­.

    ¡°Why is it called the land of chaos?¡±

    ¡°Perpetual war,¡± the black-haired lady said. She was nearby. And she also sat down next to me. she sat somewhere between kneeling and downright squatting. Weird.

    ¡°What¡¯s the chance of them washing over to the other side and-¡±

    ¡°Wait you don¡¯t know for sure if they¡¯re here?¡± The black-haired lady asked. ¡°Did you come all the way to this place, without knowing?¡±

    Ah¡­well¡­ ¡°You see¡­¡± Yeah, I didn¡¯t have an excuse.

    I wanted to have an excuse.

    But I didn¡¯t.

    I came here based on a hunch. And I didn¡¯t know how I could find them. Heck, I didn¡¯t know if I could ever find them. Yet, I came here on a fucking whim thinking I could find them when the rest of the world couldn¡¯t.

    What am I even smoking, man¡­

    ¡°Child,¡± the centaur lady spoke. ¡°Show me your hands.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m afraid¡­¡± She shook her hands. ¡°Only sad news awaits you. However, you shall have a reunion if you head south.¡±

    ¡°But that¡¯s where Halfat is,¡± the black-haired lady said.

    ¡°Yes,¡± the centaur said. ¡°Head to Halfat. You shall have the reunion you crave.¡±

    ¡°What do you mean¡­ by sad news? Are they dead?¡± The words came out a bit too casually. Yet when they actually left¡­ I didn¡¯t want to hear the answer anymore.

    ¡°I cannot tell. My blessing can only sense¡­ and I sense sadness in your future along with great relief and reunion. And¡­ you¡¯re destined for greatness, child. Whether you choose to admit it or not, or no matter how much you try to run from it; destiny will find you.¡±

    ¡°Too much information,¡± I sighed. Still¡­ ¡°How does this work? I think the mermaid queen did this too.¡±

    ¡°Truly¡­¡± a bit surprised but¡­ ¡°You really are destined for greatness¡­¡± she mumbled, cleared her throat. ¡°It¡¯s prudent you head out immediately and reach Halfat within a week. Otherwise, you risk missing them.¡±

    Not answering me, I see.

    ¡°But he¡¯s injured. He¡¯s just a child. He doesn¡¯t even know the way!¡± The black-haired lady yelled. ¡°And he¡¯s so weak to the mind-altering substances. He¡¯ll be devoured alive.¡±

    ¡°Then take him there yourself,¡± The centaur said.

    Meanwhile¡­ I was confused. But I got at least some hope. Hey, if this random horse lady from the woods- who I¡¯d never met in my life- thought I could find my parents if I went south instead of north, why not? I didn¡¯t have any reason to doubt her. (I didn¡¯t have any reason to have faith in my own judgement either, especially after royally fucking up several times.)

    The black-haired lady stared at me and back at the centaur. ¡°You know I cannot return.¡±

    ¡°Then he will get lost and lose his way and end up as a Siren¡¯s plaything by nightfall. He will die without you. It¡¯s your ego, or his life. Choose Methilda.¡±

    She didn¡¯t say a word. The black-haired lady just left.

    ¡°I¡¯m gonna die if she doesn¡¯t come with me?¡± I wondered aloud.

    ¡°Not soon,¡± the centaur said.

    ¡°You mean, you lied.¡±

    She winked, rose and started walking. I walked by her side. ¡°Now, you had some questions regarding us?¡±

    ¡°Um you see¡­ I find it rather odd how you people differ from my image of centaur. I always pictured a horse body stuck to a human body. But you look-¡±

    ¡°Different?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    She smiled. ¡°Yet you¡¯re not afraid or lusting for us.¡±

    Lust? Why? ¡°I¡¯m not sure what you mean, maam.¡±

    ¡°Just call me Aida. I¡¯m not old enough to-¡± she cleared her throat. ¡°You¡¯re different from Halfatians, who only know of war.¡±

    ¡°Are Halfatians humans?¡±

    ¡°Yes. And they are¡­ terrible.¡±

    ¡°I can imagine.¡±

    ¡°Is war still ongoing outside?¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s been plenty of wars but right now, the world is at relative peace.¡±

    The church was controlling everything and how people got to live but yeah¡­ peace.

    ¡°I am glad to hear that.¡± She stopped, turned around. ¡°Get on top of me.¡± She lowered her body.

    I got on. Very similar to that of a horse¡­. Yeah no, absolutely not!

    She didn¡¯t have a mane. No fur. She didn¡¯t have anywhere I could hold on to.

    And the moment she started walking, the only way I could hold on, was by hugging her tightly. But the lady didn¡¯t seem the least bothered. Instead, she occasionally chuckled and muttered- ¡®If only people were as innocent as you.¡¯

    Lady, I was nowhere near innocent, but this was fucking embarrassing.

    After getting over the awkwardness, I finally understood why she took me on top of her. The terrain wasn¡¯t that suited for me to travel on foot. Foliage was too dense and there were a lot of large bugs, and the actual ground was unstable. ¡°We didn¡¯t live in this place originally. We were driven out. Pure breed centaurs had horse bodies, just like you spoke. But they were sought after as¡­ playthings. And bred like cattle. We are the fourth generation Centaurs, mixed breed. I ran with four others two decades ago to this place and have been living here since. Many of our kind suffer in Halfat. Yet we live in peace here¡­¡±

    I didn¡¯t know why she was telling me all that. I suppose she just wanted to ease her own pain.

    ¡°Perhaps,¡± she continued. ¡°Perhaps you going to Halfat would benefit the world¡­ after all, you are destined for greatness. I just hope¡­ that greatness¡­ that greatness is for the betterment of this world and for¡­ us.¡±

    Hmm¡­ yeah, but I have to find my parents. I¡¯m sorry but I can¡¯t get tangled up in your shit. She probably understood as much and didn¡¯t say another word on the matter. Instead, she gave me sex ed on how centaurs¡­.

 Chapter 168: I Wish I knew

    I set out about an hour later.

    The centaurs saw me off and while I did want a guide, I understood that was far too much to ask for. Besides, they actually gave me a map. I actually couldn¡¯t look them in the eye after what the lady had said to me for the last half an hour. I can¡¯t believe they-

    If I kept walking for two hours without getting lost, I could get out of the forest. I¡¯d have to cross the sea of salt but since I wasn¡¯t heading north, I wouldn¡¯t have deal with the lava or the great beast or whatever. During my stay in this world, I often heard the phrase Great Beast. And while some of the great beasts were absurdly dangerous, a vast majority of them were just local beasts that were a bit difficult to deal with. The twin head tiger that nearly murdered the fuck out of me, a typical B ranked monster, was also called the great beast of the woods. But compared to the giant shrimp the Sea goblins demolished, that tiger was nothing.

    Still, not getting lost in here is a major ask.

    No matter where I looked, the surrounding looked the very same. The trees, the grass, the bugs, the weird palms¡­ everything looked the same.

    ¡°Stop dillydallying and let¡¯s go,¡± the voice came from above and a second later someone had picked me up and was swinging around from tree to tree like a monkey with just one fucking hand.

    ¡°Why not just jump from branch to branch?¡± I asked, innocently. I tried hugging her for more support, but I couldn¡¯t really reach the other end, so I barely hung on.

    ¡°Too time consuming.¡±

    But she kept swinging with just one arm anyway, and while holding me no less. This lady was something else that was for sure. She might be stronger than Mom¡­.

    ¡°Are these¡­ are these trees sentient?¡±

    ¡°Not in the same sense as us,¡± she said.

    ¡°Then how?¡±

    ¡°You wouldn¡¯t understand.¡±

    Typical adult bullshit. Just because they couldn¡¯t explain it properly, they always hid behind the phrase ¡®you wouldn¡¯t understand¡¯ or ¡®you¡¯ll understand when you¡¯re older.¡¯

    I sighed.

    And she picked up on that. ¡°They¡¯re related to the things you saw on the other island. But unlike those trees, these ones don¡¯t prey on animals or corrupt us. But they¡¯re very much sentient and use us for mutual benefit.¡±

    See, wasn¡¯t that easier to say? Yeah, probably not. I guess I was just being a spoiled brat.The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

    ¡°I see¡­¡± I didn¡¯t see shit.

    My eyes were constantly being harassed by leaves and vines, so I had to keep them all closed up. At one point I¡¯d nearly dug my face just below her underarm but didn¡¯t because she let out a welp.

    Hella soft though, and the lady didn¡¯t smell bad so no complaints. Ow¡­ okay maybe the cuts on my body were something to complain about but oh well.

    While I thought this would last forever, it didn¡¯t.

    It ended sooner than expected and we were out.

    Bright sunlight. Somewhat greenish sky and clouds.

    The ground was flaky and hard, with some grass and lots and lots of puddles. Puddles of boiling green mud.

    ¡°Well get off,¡± the lady said.

    ¡°Right¡­ I¡¯m Sol by the way.¡±

    ¡°Hilda.¡± She flicked her hair, looked down and while she didn¡¯t smile, she did pat me on my head. ¡°No need to be so agitated. I came with you to protect you, not to toss you in the mud. So, relax.¡±

    ¡°Right¡­¡±

    I walked ahead, and I followed her lead.

    ¡°Don¡¯t even get near the boiling mud. It¡¯s both boiling and toxic.¡±

    ¡°Noted.¡±

    ***

    Plenty of things surprised me. Big bugs, the sweet-smelling grass, the actually sweet green water (that happened to be poisonous), and even the fact that the lady with me actually cared about me; a kid she met earlier in the day who sexually harassed her under the influence. Why had she come with me- that question alone kept me cautious. But as she herself asked me to relax, I tried to. But my subconscious argued that could be a ploy and I was even more cautious now. She probably understood but that didn¡¯t mention anything. Courteous if nothing else. Or perhaps scheming.

    ¡°How long have you been traveling anyway?¡± The lady asked.

    We¡¯d crossed the boiling mud. Right now, it was just vibrant sweet grass. It wasn¡¯t endless though. I could see another forest of sorts in the distance. Probably not as dense as the one we¡¯d come out of.

    Clear sky, somewhat pleasant sun considering it was late noon. Not yet afternoon.

    ¡°I¡¯d say about a half a year. Or probably more, I stopped counting. The journey was supposed to be worth 6 months. Five months of traveling, and one month to find them. But I caught a mermaid and ended up dragged into the ocean. I found out I could breathe underwater but that came with its own problems and safe zones, wars and sigh¡­.¡± Anyway¡­ I tried not to think about all that. ¡°I honestly don¡¯t know how much time has passed. But at the very least it¡¯s been over six months.¡±

    ¡°That was quite a detour you had to take¡­ I hope you find them.¡±

    ¡°Me too. That hope alone has enabled me to-¡± I stopped.

    No, that wasn¡¯t true. I wasn¡¯t doing this to find them or to get them back to safety. I was doing this to satisfy my own ego. I was doing this to¡­ to feel good or at the very least not feel bad about-

    I felt pathetic every time I thought about it. But it was true, some part of me deep down knew that I couldn¡¯t find them with this approach alone. Heck, it¡¯d be a miracle if I could find them at all. But I wanted to find them. I wanted to find Mom. I wanted to find Den. They were in this mess because of me. And I wanted to get them out of this¡­. Was it solely because of my ego or was it out of love?

    I didn¡¯t know.

    I wish I did.

    But I didn¡¯t.

    ¡°We can take a break,¡± she said. ¡°But I¡¯d assume you don¡¯t want to.¡±

    ¡°No. I know I¡¯ll get tired if we kept this up but¡­ I want to reach as fast as possible.¡±

    This reunion was going to make me both sad and bring me relief? I suppose my journey was coming to an end. I just hoped¡­ it was going to be a happy end. I really hoped the sad part was just the whole detour of a journey and not¡­.

    She sighed. ¡°Alright.¡± She picked me up, and put me on her shoulder.

    My legs dangled on her neck, going down. ¡°Why?¡±

    ¡°Faster and efficient.¡±

    Huh. ¡°I don¡¯t know if you understand or not but¡­ I¡¯m really glad you came. Thank you.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re welcome.¡±

 Chapter 169: Sniffles!

    The desert of salt wasn¡¯t a very apt description.

    Why?

    Because it also came with water.

    I was really, really glad it wasn¡¯t summer right now. It wasn¡¯t winter but at least it was chilly enough so I didn¡¯t feel like killing myself from the intense heat.

    There was water here, and the water was salty. The salt below my feet were somewhat coarse and often just sucked my feet in like snow but that was about it; water only came slightly above my ankle. Normally this would be just annoying and we¡¯d cross this place in a few hours and just leave.

    But sadly¡­ it wasn¡¯t like that at all. The water evaporated and increased humidity to the point where even this 25ish degree temperature felt like over forty. I was sweating, I was panting, I was dying.

    And the lady wasn¡¯t doing that much better either. So no, I wasn¡¯t just being a dramatic pampered little brat. We really were dying.

    Maybe I should have listened to her and spent the noon in shade.

    Last night we walked till midnight and slept till early morning. And then we kept walking for an hour before we reached this place. But at first there were some trees and she proposed we rest till late noon since it was already kind of hot even back then. But my dumb ass just wanted to hurry and hurry and sigh.

    ARGHH!!!

    I couldn¡¯t even take a dive on the water because it was so shallow. And I couldn¡¯t drink it either since it was so fucking salty. If ordinary sea water was enough to kill me from drinking a glass. This was enough to kill me by just taking a gulp.

    But can¡¯t I just make water. It¡¯s super humid here and the salt can¡¯t just evaporate, so. So, I tried that and formed water over our head and slowly let it drip.

    ¡°What in the,¡± the lady mumbled. ¡°Why haven¡¯t you done this sooner?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry my brain wasn¡¯t working that well,¡± I said. I hadn¡¯t even thought about magic to be honest. I was busy thinking about other things and being an idiot.

    The condensed water wasn¡¯t necessarily cold, but it was colder than the perceived heat of the area, so felt refreshing. And what¡¯s more, we could collect and just drink it. My nose and lungs were screaming because of just how salty the air was. My throat was dry as fuck too. So, drinking the water was so sweet. Seriously, this water was sweet!Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators!

    I sighed in relief. ¡°If only life could always be relaxing.¡±

    ¡°You wouldn¡¯t call this relaxing if you hadn¡¯t experienced hell since morning. Think about it, if you¡¯d done this just after we started, you wouldn¡¯t have felt the heat and you wouldn¡¯t know just how much you liked this.¡±

    ¡°True, but sometimes you really don¡¯t need extra grief just to feel happiness.¡±

    ¡°Of course.¡±

    The conversation died. I expected her to argue and I was probably going to argue my own case but she didn¡¯t. She just accepted that either case was valid and that was that.

    Oh well.

    Fuck, I want to argue though.

    ***

    Two hours later we got out of the salty hell. We were soaked and needed to dry off before the cold night settled in.

    Luckily, the moment we crossed the salty desert (more like a lake) we saw lots of palm trees. Particularly in the form of coconuts.

    ¡°I can produce embers and even small fires,¡± I said.

    ¡°You¡¯re really talented for your age,¡± she said.

    ¡°Not really. Even after all this, I¡¯m near the bottom tier of talent back home.¡± Because frankly my mana source was my bracelet, not me.

    ¡°Really? Must be tough in that world; everyone¡¯s strong and talented.¡±

    ¡°Yeah. Kids like me are usually discarded and only the strong are allowed to live.¡±

    ¡°The fuck is that supposed to mean. They murder children?¡± All of a sudden, her face darkened and she nearly blew a hole in me with that gaze.

    ¡°Yes. They murder children. I was slated to be murdered myself. To save me, my parents pulled some things and set out on a journey. And then got shipwrecked and I felt obliged to come find them.¡±

    ¡°I see¡­¡± Hilda sighed and finished gathering dry things. While the ground was mostly dry, it was still a bit damp. And the ground here was more or less just salt and some sand. I couldn¡¯t imagine anything living here. But I was of course wrong. I saw some crabs and lots and lots of coconuts.

    Just like there was absurdly shit places in this world, life too found absurd ways to adapt. Or maybe I was just being too dramatic about this.

    I set the small portion of the dry leaves on fire; the rest burned. She collected and chopped some big dried leaves and bark and other woody stuff and it all burned strong. I sometimes had to blow and use some mana to keep the fire going but it was going fine.

    ¡°We should get changed,¡± she said.

    I didn¡¯t have extra clothes so I mostly just dried by the fire in my half pants while my clothes were stuck to poles over the fire.

    Meanwhile the lady stripped to her innerwear and dried those first. She didn¡¯t seem conscious of me staring from time to time. I suppose she didn¡¯t care since I was a child. I should really act my age. At this point though, sigh¡­.

    Sometimes later she broke open a coconut and made coconut soup with some bread and dried vegetables and small chunks of meat. Sufficed to say, it was my first real meal in forever. And one that actually didn¡¯t suck or make me feel weird shit.

    So much so that I cried.

    Sniffles!

 Chapter 170: Warm

    The journey became considerably easier. The lady knew where what was and we could use her knowledge for efficient traveling. Her cooking wasn¡¯t going to win prizes but it tasted delicious considering what we had, and honestly, that was enough.

    However, the question still loomed: why was she helping me? Just out of pity or was there more?

    Anyway, after crossing several shallow lakes, we finally reached some actual solid ground. This was where the real land of chaos began.

    All the sources I¡¯d ever read spoke of the Forbidden continent as a continent below water level. There was land here but it was all under the ocean. The water was too shallow for boats to cross. Sirens inhabited the outer premises and no one knew what was happening in the inner sections.

    So far, all of that checked out. I couldn¡¯t expect ordinary people to survive the sirens or the island. And the few that somehow made it this far would probably never even dream about going through the same shit to escape.

    ¡°By nightfall tomorrow, we should reach the city of Thamers,¡± Hilda said. ¡°If her prediction was true, that is where you should reunite with your loved ones. Once I¡¯ve confirmed your reunion, I will head back.¡±

    ¡°I really don¡¯t know how I could ever thank you for this-¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t have to. I¡¯m only doing this to satisfy my own feelings. You don¡¯t have to do anything.¡±

    ¡°Okay.¡±

    It was midnight. The sky was littered with stars, not a speck of cloud. Very reminiscent of the bygone days.

    Very reminiscent of both my lives.

    These days I remembered my home more than before. I wasn¡¯t necessarily missing my life on earth but¡­ but I remembered it more than I liked. I suppose life wasn¡¯t as bad as I¡¯d made it to be. I just had to change and adapt and speak up my mind a bit more.

    Not like I can ever go back to that time.

    I was already dead.

    I died.

    No, murdered. And now I was reborn. In another world. I had a new family. And I was going to find them. I was going to¡­ be happy.

    ***

    The next day we set out, crossed some shallow green marshes and caught trout. They were delicious.

    Afterwards we kept walking through the fields, through the forests, through the band of crickets following us like rats following that guy from hamlet. By evening, I was really starting to doubt whether we¡¯d actually reach the said place. We¡¯d been walking nearly all day and yet I didn¡¯t see a speck of civilization or another person.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

    Usually, the closer you got to a city, the more villages or rogue houses you¡¯d see. Heck, at least you¡¯ll see a guy or two chopping wood. But nope, nothing. Just fields of grass. And I didn¡¯t see any neck breaking monster either. I thought this continent was full of stuff that would kill me but so far, I saw nothing. Why the fuck was this place so peaceful? Like what the fuck!?

    At one point, I considered the possibility of being drugged. Maybe the lady was evil and she was drugging me slowly, robbing me of my senses so she could eat me-

    ¡°Is that a light?¡± I asked.

    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s the temple¡¯s light. It¡¯s the brightest but we¡¯ll see more as we get closer.¡±

    And so, we kept getting closer and closer and after crossing about a kilometer worth of fields, I finally saw it. A city. It was carved within a mountain and was littered with lights everywhere. But we or rather I couldn¡¯t see any houses on this side. Just a tall wall.

    Finally!

    ¡°I don¡¯t see an entrance to the city though,¡± I said.

    ¡°There isn¡¯t one. We¡¯ll have to camp out here for tonight and they¡¯ll come get us in the morning.¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡±

    ¡°We can¡¯t enter the city unless it¡¯s day time.¡±

    ¡°But it¡¯s evening! The sun hasn¡¯t fully set yet!¡±

    I mean, it did but I could still see some remnant red in the sky.

    So, what the fuck was going on?

    ¡°Relax,¡± she said. ¡°We¡¯re still two days too early. It¡¯ll be fine.¡±

    But we were so close¡­ I didn¡¯t want to just relax. So close¡­ yet so far away.

    She was right. We were early. And we could always just start tomorrow. Heck, if the people of this land didn¡¯t come get us in the morning, we could just scale up the mountain. Of course, that was going to be hard considering it was so steep, but yeah, I didn¡¯t want a damn mountain to stop me from my goals.

    We set camp, ate our meals, and turned it for the night. There was a problem though, I couldn¡¯t sleep. My eyes were droopy, I was tried, but all the heavy thoughts were making a solid comeback and I couldn¡¯t sleep at all.

    So, after a few hours of restless tossing, I went out and sat by the fire. Hilda was looking out. ¡°Aren¡¯t we safe here?¡± I asked.

    ¡°Relatively,¡± she said. ¡°But it¡¯s always prudent to keep your guard. Who knows, what¡¯ll be after your life the moment you close your eyes.¡±

    ¡°Right¡­¡±

    We didn¡¯t have much to talk about. I wanted to know more of the world or just talk, but Hilda was rather guarded. She did talk, we made small talk all the time but it was nothing significant. She didn¡¯t talk about herself or the centaurs or even the people of Halfat, whom I got the impression she hated.

    Regardless, our journey was nearly at an end. Kind of why I couldn¡¯t help but ask- ¡°Why are you helping me? You said to satisfy your feelings, but what does that mean?¡±

    ¡°You shouldn¡¯t ask questions you¡¯re better off not knowing,¡± she said, paused. ¡°I had a brother once. We ran away together. He wasn¡¯t happy with the forest life. He set out for this place on his own. He died.¡±

    ¡°Do I remind you of him?¡±

    ¡°No. He was taller than you and more mischievous. Unlike you he had a¡­ childish¡­¡± she sighed. ¡°Which does make me wonder, how come you¡¯re so mature for your age. I understand your life was in threat and you had to figure out ways to live but¡­ why does it feel like I¡¯m talking to an adult?¡±

    I used to have a response ready. ¡°Survival of the fittest.¡± But these days I wasn¡¯t so sure anymore.

    Was I fit? Was I fit in the very least? Or was I pretending to be? Often times I got the impression that I was only alive thanks to the sacrifice Den and Mom did and it had nothing to do with my hard work. Kind of made me think, why the hell was I trying so hard then? What was the point?

    Aren¡¯t I just a fucking child who never grew up?

    ¡°I see. Rest well.¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t. You can go ahead and sleep. I¡¯ll keep watch.¡±

    ¡°In that case, I will help myself.¡±

    It was so quiet.

    Even though we were so close to a city, I didn¡¯t hear the laughter. I didn¡¯t hear the chatter. Just silence.

    As though we were in another dimension, separated from all the people. Yet the thought of maybe I could meet her again, maybe I could meet Mom and Den again¡­ kept me warm.

 Chapter 171: Calm!

    Light peered through.

    Sunrise. I didn¡¯t get enough sleep. A little groggy but also sort of giddy. The lady was already up and she was making something.

    ¡°Morning,¡± I managed.

    ¡°Morning. Drink up. We¡¯ll soon have company.¡±

    Drink what? Oh, she was making soup.

    My head kind of spun but when she mentioned company, I immediately remembered where we were. I looked up, straining my neck a bit. It hurt and crackled. Cold salty air filled my nostrils. Another morning.

    We had plenty of time before they came down. Hilda said, usually the soldiers patrol this area twice every day and they should spot us during their morning rounds and come to pick us up.

    ¡°Won¡¯t they ask questions or take us as prisoners?¡±

    ¡°Should be fine as long as you¡¯re truthful about your intentions. As for me, I¡¯m a traveler who just found you stranded and decided to help.¡±

    ¡°Okay.¡±

    While it was true we had time, I still felt nervous. A bit too nervous. So much so that I couldn¡¯t eat. I felt like throwing up a bit and honestly¡­ I just wanted this to be over with. And yet, yet I had to do this. I just had to.

    And the wait began.

    Ten minutes turned to an hour.

    I kept thinking this wouldn¡¯t work. I kept thinking somehow the patrol would miss us. Maybe there was no patrol today. Maybe the guy on patrol had bad eyesight and was hiding it. Maybe he had a fight with his wife and wasn¡¯t in the mood to help strangers.

    Maybe-

    Trickle. Someone was coming down.

    Ropes?

    Slowly but someone actually came down. Rugged man, tanned, hairy. He scowled at me and the girl and spat on the ground. ¡°We¡¯re not taking refugees,¡± he said.

    ¡°We¡¯re travelers,¡± Hilda said. ¡°His parents are missing and we¡¯re searching for them,¡± she said, pointing at me.

    The man scrutinized me. ¡°Why are you outside?¡± he said.

    ¡°I came from the outside,¡± I said. ¡°I¡¯m not from here.¡±

    ¡°Then why would you think your parents are inside?¡±The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

    ¡°Because an oracle said so.¡±

    ¡°Oracle? Are you nuts? Or did you go crazy?¡± he clicked his tongue. ¡°So young, yet crazy.¡±

    I didn¡¯t have problems if he found me suspicious or insane, or if he pitied me. I just needed to get in and find them.

    ¡°Please,¡± Hilda said. ¡°Let us in, we¡¯ll leave as soon as he finds them. If they¡¯re not here, we¡¯ll leave right away.¡±

    The man scratched his head, grunted a couple of times before groaning once. He pulled out a large black whistle and blew on it. No sound came out.

    But another rope dropped from above. It was so high I couldn¡¯t see properly.

    ¡°Thank you,¡± Hilda said.

    ¡°Any funny business and you¡¯re both going to spend the rest of your lives in the dungeons,¡± the man said. ¡°That said, I hope you find them,¡± he spoke to me.

    ¡°Me too.¡±

    Hilda grabbed me with one arm and grabbed the rope with the other. It was slowly moving up. I watched the ground moving further away from us, and the grasslands, and¡­ everything. Chest pounded, sweat poured. I was so close, so damn close. I wanted to see them. I wanted to find them. I wanted to tell them so many damn stories. No, no, don¡¯t get too hyped. It¡¯s possible the lady didn¡¯t know what she was talking about.

    Yet, with all my damn heart I hoped she was right. And I hoped the heartbreak she was talking about was all the shit I dealt with during this journey. After all, I was going to have a reunion I craved, right? And there was no other reunion I craved more than this!

    So yeah, I really, really hoped-

    Bright. Sunlight blinded me for a second. As did the severely bright, dazzling city below.

    Houses built on slopes and troughs and just wow. White buildings, black roofs, and sea on the other side. Glistening.

    ¡°The town information center is on the right. See that four-story building with three roofs, that one. Tell them, Brimstock sent you. They¡¯ll help you out.¡±

    ¡°Thank you!¡± I couldn¡¯t stop my voice from roaring. I couldn¡¯t stop the excitement. Not after making it so far.

    I could almost run down, down the slope, to the damn building and scream for help!

    The big man sighed again. ¡°Just so you know, we just took in a lot of refugees but¡­ but the death toll has also been quite terrible.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ll keep that in mind,¡± Hilda said. She didn¡¯t let me go, and slowly started walking. ¡°Thank you.¡±

    The big man nodded and we were on our way.

    ¡°I can walk!¡±

    ¡°Yes. But you¡¯ll only make it harder for both of us. Just stay put. We¡¯re early. Good chance they¡¯re not even here yet.¡±

    I opened my mouth but didn¡¯t say anything; instead, I begrudgingly stayed put. And slowly but surely, we made headway for the four storied building.

    Most people around me was a human. I couldn¡¯t call them westerners. Something about them struck different. I couldn¡¯t tell why. They also had pointy eared people. I couldn¡¯t quite call them southerners. The ones with long ears definitely looked like elves I was familiar with. Very similar to Hilda.

    I didn¡¯t see any market around this place. I didn¡¯t see any shops either. Just residential houses and people going about. A little less crowded than I¡¯d expect but just a normal city.

    No wait, this is supposed to be a port city with access to the sea. But perhaps the sea was dangerous and people didn¡¯t use boats here. Yeah, probably.

    We arrived at the building. There were people here. And when we dropped the soldier¡¯s name, the receptionist actually became cordial.

    ¡°Let¡¯s see¡­ Denker Borges¡­ Lindell Arnius¡­. I¡¯m afraid I cannot find either of them in the deceased list,¡± she said.

    I didn¡¯t know why but a sudden stone had been lifted from my chest. ¡°Is there any record of them in the refugee list?¡±

    ¡°No,¡± she said. ¡°None. We have too many refugees and it¡¯s been tough to tabulate all the records. Perhaps you should go to the refugee camps and see if you can find them, though be warned, disease and brawls run rampant there.¡±

    ¡°Thank you!¡±

    Hilda sighed, and rather audibly. ¡°Calm down.¡±

    ¡°I am calm!¡±

    ¡°No, you¡¯re not.¡±

    She again grabbed me and despite my groans and protests didn¡¯t let me off.

 Chapter 172: There Was Hardly Anything Else To Do

    ¡°Hey, let¡¯s just move on already,¡± the girl said.

    ¡°Not yet.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ve been here for weeks. He¡¯s not here.¡±

    ¡°We know that. But he¡¯ll be here.¡±

    ¡°What makes you so sure?¡±

    ¡°Because she¡¯s here.¡±

    The girl groaned.

    People passed by.

    Hundreds, no, thousands of people surrounded them. Some in tents, some resting in open air, while others rolled around in the grass crying themselves to oblivion having lost everything.

    Everyone avoided the two. And for good reason. These past few weeks, they¡¯d made a name for themselves.

    ¡°I hope he doesn¡¯t come here,¡± the girl said.

    ¡°Weren¡¯t you the one who kept on complaining about how he was taking forever, how he could be in danger, how-¡±

    ¡°Yeah, yeah shut up.¡± She rolled her eyes, sighed and paused for a while. ¡°Let¡¯s go explore a bit.¡±

    ¡°Unnecessary.¡±

    ¡°What do you mean?¡±

    ¡°Sol¡¯s here.¡±

    ¡°There he goes again,¡± the girl rolled her eyes, but followed the man¡¯s gaze anyway.

    And she saw a boy and a woman. ¡°That¡¯s not Sol; Sol¡¯s smaller, rounder.¡±

    ¡°No, that is Sol.¡±

    She squinted her eyes to get a better view. It took her a second but her center of gravity lowered subconsciously and before she knew it, she was running at full speed, avoiding or throwing people out of her way, speeding towards the boy who hadn¡¯t yet noticed her.

    ¡°SOL!¡±

    ¡°Wha?¡± Before the boy could say anything, she tackled him and the two flew off into the bushes, rolling on the grass.

    The boy coughed a couple of times. ¡°Shia?¡±

    ¡°Sol!¡± The girl shook him a couple of times, laughing loudly.

    ¡°Hey, you¡¯re alive,¡± Sol laughed. ¡°Alustur!¡± He waved.

    ¡°Soler,¡± the man walked.

    ¡°You¡¯ve grown,¡± Shia said, tears welled up.

    Sol too found himself with moist eyes. ¡°You too.¡±Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.

    ¡°I expected your mother to be¡­ older,¡± the woman, Methilda said, somewhat horrified of the implications.

    ¡°She¡¯s my sister,¡± Sol said. ¡°This is Shia. This is Alustur, my teacher.¡± Sol¡¯s excitement slowly waned and within a moment his expression almost crumbled. ¡°What are you two even doing here?¡±

    ¡°Well, we tried to find you and then got shipwrecked and would you believe it, we ended up here. Wars, drama, more drama, quite a drag I tell you. But it was fun, we got to see more of the island, we searched for you and your parents and-¡±

    ¡°And did you find them?¡± Sol said, almost pleading.

    ¡°We¡­ uh, we, uh¡­¡± Shia didn¡¯t finish.

    ¡°We found your mother. Denkar had already left the continent by the time we got here and we¡¯re not sure where he¡¯s headed. But there¡¯s a chance he¡¯s headed for Slunten.¡±

    ¡°You found mom!¡± Sol almost chuckled out loud, voice booming.

    ¡°Yes,¡± Alustur said, his expression unchanging. ¡°Come with me, we have much to discuss.¡± He stopped. ¡°But before that, what about you miss, who are you?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, who¡¯re you?¡± Shia asked.

    ¡°I am Methilda. He risked getting lost, so I led him here. But now that you¡¯re reunited, I suppose I¡¯ll take my leave.¡±

    ¡°Hey, I know you don¡¯t want any thanks but. But Mom¡¯s a great cook. At least let me treat you to lunch before you go,¡± Sol said.

    Methilda shrugged. ¡°I suppose I could always use some delicious lunch.¡±

    Meanwhile, the two hadn¡¯t spoken a word. They watched the excited boy with serene gazes and led him out of the camps.

    There were all kinds of people here. Some perfectly fine. Others, not so much; crippled, maimed, distraught. Some were actively cursing; others were trying to beat people up, albeit discreetly. Some of them weren¡¯t even trying to hide their animosity and just attacked trees or random people and got dragged out by the soldiers of the masses.

    Yet, Sol didn¡¯t seem to be the least bothered. He was just in the best of moods.

    ¡°By the way, what happened to the rest of the crew? And did Rexy make it?¡± He asked.

    ¡°They¡¯re fine,¡± Shia said. ¡°They¡¯re waiting at the port. We can¡¯t set sail, but they still prefer to be on the boat.¡±

    ¡°I see,¡± Sol said.

    Before long they were out of the camps, and now they were moving up the slope of the mountain. Away from all the houses, towards the peak.

    ¡°Where are we even going?¡±

    No answer.

    Five minutes.

    Ten minutes.

    Lots of walking and silence later, Sol reached a cliff of sorts. There was a stone there. And a grave.

    ¡°What are you guys¡­¡± the color from his face drained as he read the tomb. ¡°Here lies a loving mother and wife: Lindell Borges.¡± He opened his mouth several times, but not a single word came out.

    Nothing.

    He just sat there, on his knees, staring.

    Sometimes he stared behind him at the people who brought him here, sometimes he stared at the sun in front, sometimes¡­ he just stared at nothing in particular. He just stared, not even blinking.

    ¡°Why¡­ you said Mom was here¡­you said,¡± he mumbled, on repeat. He wasn¡¯t asking. He perhaps already knew the answer.

    Sol didn¡¯t scream. He didn¡¯t even cry. He just stared. For hours. Eventually, he got up, and started walking. He didn¡¯t speak a word to anyone.

    And no one spoke to him either.

    It was a failure.

    The journey- a failure.

    His life itself¡­ a failure.

    He-

    A failure.

    ¡°I want to die,¡± he mumbled and not a second later jumped.

    Alustur grabbed him, and neither spoke a word for minutes. They just stood like that. Hung in the air.

    ¡°Let me die.¡±

    ¡°No. You have much to live for. Your mother wouldn¡¯t want you to kill yourself.¡±

    ¡°I know but,¡± his eyes moistened and then dripped.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I do not have the words to console you. But I assure you, there is much to live for. And if you kill yourself, who will avenge your mother?¡±

    ¡°Avenge?¡±

    ¡°How did you think she died?¡±

    ¡°Huh¡­¡± Sol stared, blankly. He hadn¡¯t even fully digested the situation let alone calmly thought about it. Why was his mother dead? Who could have killed that lady, the strong woman? ¡°How?¡±

    ¡°She was murdered. By one of the seven. They were here. They hunted them down. Murdered her. That¡¯s why Denkar¡­ your father left.¡±

    That¡¯s why the Borges¡­ Sol bit his gums, glared and screamed, flailing his arms and legs and then settled down with a slow constant wail. ¡°Damn it.¡±

    Shia tried getting close but she didn¡¯t say anything. Neither did Methilda.

    Sol screamed and wailed.

    There was hardly anything else to do.

    There was hardly anything else to do.

 Goodbye

    So,

    As I alluded to a few chapters ago, this is the midpoint of the novel. And I''m going to take a long break. I understand if you''re upset, I mean it''s the literal middle of the volume, not the end I promised. And it''s certainly no real closure but yeah, please deal with it.

    I started Fake Cultist (which changed names a whole bunch) with the aim of promoting my writing. It was a fun concept and I had lots of fun writing but I planned on eventually signing it with some company and just making money. But I changed my mind halfway and decided to keep it free. Kind of why I started Patreon but that never worked out. I''ve often been told my writing lacks detail, it probably does. And it probably lacks a whole bunch of other things. Perhaps I''m not talented in the least, and perhaps I should just quit writing. But writing is fun for me, and I suppose I''ll just keep it as a hobby. Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

    Anyway, right now I''m burnt out, and this novel is becoming a burden. I need to make a lot of money and I don''t expect it from this novel. I''ll start something new and try to monetize it (which let''s face it, I''ll fail because my writing isn''t that good). But as with anything in life, I wouldn''t know until I tried. So, I''ll try that.

    Again, I apologize for ending this novel so lacklusterly and I''m not sure when I''ll pick it back up again. But it probably won''t be anytime this year. If you enjoyed this novel, leave a review or a comment. If you hate it, well I don''t blame you. I have plenty of low ratings and I understand this novel isn''t everyone''s cup of tea. Specially the weird forced scenes, and random sexual chapters. I''ll probably cut some of them when I eventually go through this novel again.

    I''ll stop my yapping. I''m sorry, thank you for reading, have a nice day.

    ~Yet

 Chapter 173: Letâ€™s do that then

    ¡°You said you¡¯d haunt me when you died,¡± I said.

    The tears had dried. My heart had calmed down. I was okay now.

    As okay as I could be.

    ¡°Maybe she¡¯s still with us,¡± Shia said. She was still with me for some reason. Alustur and Methilda had left. ¡°Watching over us.¡±

    ¡°Maybe. But there¡¯s a hole in my chest.¡± I said, standing up. ¡°Oh, it¡¯s already evening huh?¡±

    ¡°Yeah.¡±

    I hadn¡¯t realized. No, I didn¡¯t care.

    I tried walking but I felt so light. Like a great weight had been lifted off me. The weight of love.

    I was always afraid. Always afraid she¡¯d stop loving me. She¡¯d realize I wasn¡¯t who I was and she¡¯d stop loving me.

    Yet¡­ why? Why does it feel so¡­ Ah, I thought the tears had dried.

    Fuck.

    Why did you have to die!

    Damn it! I slammed my feet. Rage boiled. But where would I put it? What would I do with it?

    What can I do with it? This rage?

    Nothing.

    There was nothing I could do.

    Mom was dead. It would have been a thousand times better if she¡¯d stayed alive and stopped loving me. After all, she¡¯d still be alive.

    But no, she was dead.

    And she never stopped loving me till the end.

    No, maybe she had. Maybe she regretted the decisions maybe-

    ¡°OF course, she didn¡¯t!¡± I screamed. ¡°OF course, she didn¡¯t! FUCK!¡±

    ¡°Sol¡­¡± Shia hugged me from behind. She didn¡¯t let go. I didn¡¯t try to get away either.

    I just embraced her warmth and cried.

    But no matter how much I cried, I couldn¡¯t stop. I couldn¡¯t control the emotions. I thought there was a hole in my chest. I thought things were light now.A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

    But¡­ were they?

    If so, where was all this grief coming from?

    ***

    ¡°Tell me,¡± I said.

    We¡¯d come down. Alustur and Shia were staying over at an inn. Methilda had left.

    Alustur sat on a chair. I stood directly in front while Shia was confused for some reason.

    ¡°For now, process your emotions,¡± Alustur said. ¡°Once you¡¯re settled, I will explain everything. Then we can come up with a plan to return to the Western Continent and avenge-¡±

    ¡°I know that!¡± My voice roared. I wasn¡¯t angry at Alustur. But I really needed something or someone to lash out at. I suppose he was right. I had to process these feelings first. ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I can¡¯t wait.¡±

    He crossed his legs and started thinking. I sat down on the bed.

    I¡¯d stopped thinking about things. No, I couldn¡¯t stop thinking about my loss, so I was distracting myself with this. Revenge, just a distraction. No matter what I did, mother wasn¡¯t going to be coming back.

    ¡°That¡¯s why we need a plan. As we are, I may be able to stand up to one of them. But what about the other 6, who¡¯s going to handle them? We need a plan.¡±

    ¡°Yeah. But you need to tell me what happened first so I can think about this.¡±

    He sighed. ¡°Then I should probably start from the first.¡±

    ¡°Please.¡±

    Alustur came to this island roughly a month ago.

    He and Shia walked around and found themselves dragged into a war. They were overwhelmingly stronger than the people here and singlehandedly stopped the war. A peace treaty was proposed and soon it would be signed. This particular war had no goals, so nothing really changed.

    Shia and Alustur went to almost all the major countries of this small continent and searched for Mom. Although called countries, these were more like small cities so searching was easier than they assumed. However, searching for a single person in a sea of people was always going to be ¡®not easy.¡¯ And they didn¡¯t have any luck. However, they kept hearing about some elusive duo who were really strong and were being chased by someone stronger. Alustur and Shia didn¡¯t really know what to make of such information but they too were on the trail and eventually ended up here. They didn¡¯t see the strong duo or the chaser but they found a note.

    ¡°Denkar wrote it himself. I know his handwriting. He wrote it to you. And I don¡¯t want to give it to you,¡± Alustur said to my face. ¡°At least, till now. But¡­.¡± He spread it towards me. ¡°I will if you insist. It is your right. However, if you have even an ounce of respect for me, please do not open it till we leave this place. I beg of you.¡±

    Respect?

    Beg?

    I never expected Alustur to say those words.

    And I wasn¡¯t in the mood to honor him either. My heart kept racing and I wanted to know more. I wanted to figure things out. And deal with everything. I wanted to-

    But you¡¯re just avoiding everything. You¡¯re just running away again. Just like this- I took the folded paper and carefully placed it in my breast pocket. ¡°I won¡¯t open it till we leave. And about that, how do we leave?¡±

    ¡°I was hoping you would be able to help us with that. Where even where you?¡±

    ¡°After I fell in, I was with mermaids. It¡¯s a long story but I used a weird current and ended up in an island on this continent. Weird plant monsters, sex themed things, sirens; bad experiences. Aftewards-¡±

    ¡°Wait, wait, wait, what the hell!¡± Shia yelped. ¡°Just what kind of crazy adventure were you having while we were running around searching for your mom?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know. Now it all feels surreal. And as though, heaven is punishing me for having a good time.¡± I chuckled in self-deprecation. ¡°Anyway, afterwards I ended up in a centaur village and met Methilda. She took he here. All the time, I doubted whether I¡¯d get to meet you or mom or Den ever again. Actually, I just assumed Mom and Den were dead. I thought that way, I¡¯d be able to deal with any situation. I was wrong.¡±

    ¡°Sol¡­¡± Shia patted my back.

    ¡°You can talk to the Sirens?¡±

    ¡°Yeah?¡±

    ¡°Excellent. Then we¡¯ll barter our way out,¡± Alustur said.

    ¡°Let¡¯s do that then.¡±

 Were Back

    Well, it''s been a while.

    I''m back to finish this book. Not just the volume but the whole book. This will be my main focus for 2025.

    However, it''s not the only thing I''ll be focusing on. I will also be releasing an edited copy of this book periodically (as volumes) on Amazon with character portraits, light novel-esque scenes, and bonus chapters: might post some of the artwork here next week. Feel free to get those if you''re interested.

    I debated about the title for a while but eventually thought I Liked my original title way better and just went with "Fake Cultist" I think I''ll name the volumes as ''baby'', ''teenage years'' or stuff like that. Mushoku webnovel did the same thing and I kind of take inspiration from there so yeah. I plan on cutting most of the perverted content, though might keep the island arc for shits and giggles (or might not depending on my mood when I eventually reach that part in the editing process.)If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.

    As for the main novel, well, I''m finishing my semester finals right now. But I can promise you a 3-4 chapter a week release schedule from next week.

    Also, a separate announcement, Queen Vol 4 (the final book) will release in March.

    With that said, thank you for reading. I wish you all a great day.

 Chapter 174: Fake Cultist

    I was trying to not cry.

    But every time I tried my best to not cry-

    I cried.

    I always prided myself in not being overly emotional. Not being too swayed by emotions. But I suppose it all went out the drain now that mom was gone.

    If she was gone, then who was I doing shit for? Yeah, I wanted to change the world because I wanted to live a normal peaceful life¡­ but with mom. Not alone! I wanted her to be proud of me, not because I was pressured to but because I genuinely loved her and she loved me.

    But she was gone.

    And I was all alone now.

    ¡°Why are you still here?¡± I said.

    I was crying by the window, looking out at the world.

    Shia was relaxing on the bed, often staring, often doing nothing.

    ¡°I don¡¯t want you to be alone right now.¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t owe me anything. I dragged you all-¡±

    ¡°I came here on my own volition. Don¡¯t think everything is about you. I mean, this is about you but you¡¯re not the center of everyone¡¯s world. Everyone has their reasons to be doing things. Me too. I didn¡¯t come here to help you or your family. I came here because of my own selfishness.¡±Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.

    ¡°Right¡­¡±

    She was right. The world didn¡¯t revolve around me.

    Then let¡¯s make it.

    ***

    This continent was nothing like what I imagined it to be.

    Some of the things I¡¯d heard about it, were true. The shallow waters, man eating sirens, ship not being able to get to shore or leave¡­ true. However, it was still the very same world.

    There were magical things here.

    People here.

    Death there.

    Conflict everywhere.

    The same world.

    Nothing was truly different. Maybe it was a bit isolated but it was still the same damn world.

    So, what the fuck was the point of all that drama and all that worrying and all that journeying? After all, mom was dead. Shouldn¡¯t I have just accepted that crap from the beginning and moved on?

    I probably should have. I should have stayed. I should have done what they expected of me.

    But I didn¡¯t. I came here. I came on this adventure. I came to have fun and feel good about rescuing my parents. Ahh¡­ what stupidity.

    I snorted. Feet dangling by the cliff. The others were strangely faithful in me. They thought of me something I wasn¡¯t. Capable? Intelligent? Mature?

    I was a fake. A pretender.

    I wanted to start a cult in this world. I wanted to change the world. I wanted to make it a better place so I could rest easy.

    For me.

    But I couldn¡¯t do anything at all. I was a fake.

    A pretender.

    And my cult was just as fake as me.

    But what does it matter? People would follow anything as long as it aligned with their world view. As long as something gave them courage or hope, people would believe in it. Heck, sometimes they¡¯d believe in spite of evidence not to.

    Church of Askavan? Askavan the god? Gods?

    Fuck them.

    Fuck them all.

    You know what. ¡°I¡¯ll become one myself,¡± I said.

    ¡°A what?¡± Shia said. She¡¯d been trekking up.

    ¡°A cultist.¡±

    ¡°Aren¡¯t you already one?¡± She said, tilting her head a bit. ¡°You even started that little cult of yours.¡±

    ¡°No, no, you don¡¯t understand. I¡¯m going to start a cult that doesn¡¯t exist. I¡¯m going to rob Askavan of their business. I¡¯m going to be a cultist.¡± I leaned back, letting myself almost fall but not really. Pebbles fell, a pleasant sound. ¡°A fake cultist.¡±

    Shia stared, sighed once, and rolled her eyes with a shrug. ¡°The sheer amount of shit I have to deal with¡­ Alright.¡±

 Chapter 175: Tears flowed

    There were a couple of good reasons why ships couldn¡¯t leave this place.

    Number one, the shallow waters and odd reefs and corals. Number two, the sirens. And number three, the currents. Although the sea wasn¡¯t necessarily violent, it was somewhat impossible to travel against the currents which mostly coursed through just below the surface. I¡¯d gotten terribly lucky to have washed into that island. If it were to be any place else, I¡¯d have been shredded in my sleep way before I made it to the shore.

    We could avoid the reefs as long as one of us was below the water and we used narrow boats. But that would leave us vulnerable to the sirens and even if we did reach the actual sea, how were we going to cross it with narrow boats?

    And how the fuck are we going to deal with the currents?

    The more I thought about it, the less I thought about other things. So, it was a good thing I wasn¡¯t getting any immediate solutions.

    ¡°The city¡¯s changing,¡± Shia said.

    We walked towards the port. Mostly bricked roads. Somewhat nice to walk on.

    The houses were more spaced out here and not as large as what they were near the entrance on the other side of the town. The people looked to be about the same but their clothes were slightly lackluster by comparison. Some of the people from the mountains were moving here. In other words, construction and noise everywhere.

    ¡°Looks the same to me,¡± I said. Not much had changed since the last couple of days. It was about the same when I arrived.

    ¡°We actually came here first,¡± Alustur said. ¡°Then we traveled across the continent and again arrived here. Some days later, you arrived.¡±

    ¡°Thank you for all the hard work,¡± I said.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it. Thank you for relying on me.¡±

    ¡°Does it. Does it ever get any better?¡± I said. I didn¡¯t look at him. I couldn¡¯t.

    Droplets fell on the dry ground. I was trying so hard to suppress the emotions. Suppress the sadness. Suppress the thoughts. Even the mere mention.

    Yet, I was the one who kept bringing it up again.

    ¡°It does,¡± he said. ¡°With time you¡¯ll forget some memories. With time you¡¯ll make a new family. With time, you¡¯ll learn how to live with your loss. However, if you¡¯re asking whether you will be okay without her, I¡¯m not sure. I¡¯m not you. But speaking from experience, nothing can replace your mother.¡±

    ¡°Right¡­¡± the word came out but my voice died.

    Ah¡­ I shouldn¡¯t have come here. I shouldn¡¯t have bothered to go out for a walk. I shouldn¡¯t-

    Alustur picked me up and put me on his shoulder. He didn¡¯t say anything and neither did Shia.

    We kept walking.Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

    ***

    Near the very end of our little trip, we found the sailor boys. The captain was also here. I nearly forgot about them. Scratch that, I¡¯d definitely forgot nearly everything about them. I had a hard time telling who was who so I tried my best to fake a smile and just greet them.

    One of them, a guy in mustache lounged at me and dragged me to his chest, giving me a firm embrace. ¡°I¡¯m so sorry for your loss,¡± he said.

    The others offered their condolences and although I thought I wouldn¡¯t cry, I cried. I didn¡¯t hold back and cried till my eyes dried. Afterwards we went to a small cabin and had a talk with the crew.

    Alustur did most of the talking and the crew just nodded a whole bunch. At some point, one of the sailors cleared his throat and started- ¡°Yes but even if we manage to get out of the reefs, what about the sea beasts?¡±

    ¡°What sea beasts?¡± I said.

    ¡°There are great sea beasts just past the horizon. Giant squids, lobsters, krakens¡­¡±

    ¡°The lobsters are really delicious,¡± I said. Speaking of lobster. I still had some of the stuff I¡¯d gotten. Most of the things were lost at sea but some things-

    What things¡­

    I had my bracelet. I had some of the gifts I¡¯d gotten from the guys back home and I had a shield that somehow hung onto my belt. I¡¯d lost most of the good stuff I¡¯d gotten from the goblin village and remembering all that made me want to sigh.

    ¡°They actually make good lobster here,¡± Shia said. ¡°Let¡¯s get some later.¡±

    ¡°Yeah.¡±

    Promised them I¡¯d get back¡­. That¡¯s why they were so helpful, the sea goblins.

    I let out a snicker. I didn¡¯t intend for it to be a mocking one but¡­ I couldn¡¯t help it.

    ¡°What?¡± Shia said.

    ¡°Nothing. Just remembering things. What do you do about promises you can no longer keep?¡±

    ¡°Be ashamed,¡± Alustur said.

    Right.

    They kept talking and we didn¡¯t quite come to any solid conclusion.

    So, we left for the time being.

    ¡°Let¡¯s just see how our negotiations go,¡± Alustur said, on the way back.

    ¡°I have a suggestion in case nothing works.¡±

    ¡°Go on.¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s an island. A freaky island with unpleasant things. I don¡¯t want to go back there. But, there¡¯s a good chance we can leave from there.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll keep that in mind.¡±

    I hadn¡¯t noticed but it was more or less afternoon. The road we were taking had a lot of stalls with sizzling sounds and a good smell.

    I had a feeling Shia was the one who wanted us to take this path. Probably because I wanted to eat Lobster. I wasn¡¯t necessarily craving it. In fact, I wasn¡¯t craving any food. Couldn¡¯t hurt. I haven¡¯t been eating much and my body was still holding on.

    ¡°That place,¡± Shia said. ¡°They serve great lobsters!¡±

    I followed her gaze and found a guy boiling some lobsters. He boiled them, cut into the boiled stuff with a sharp knife and layered some sauce on it. He proceeded to barbecue the heck out of that and then serve the stuff.

    But no, I wasn¡¯t interested in the stuff he made. I was interested in the man himself.

    After all¡­ he was a goblin. ¡°Didn¡¯t think they were going to be here,¡± I said.

    After all, weren¡¯t goblins persecuted?

    ¡°I was surprised too!¡± Shia said.

    I approached the lobster making man, and spoke in sea tongue. He replied back in sea tongue and asked what I wanted. Fried Lobster or just the boiled ones.

    I asked for a fried one with extra sauce. He served it to me. I tasted it and yup, authentic. Just the stuff I¡¯d had back there in that village.

    ¡°Did you come here on your own or got lost?¡± I asked.

    The man eyed me suspiciously for a minute but then seemed to recognize my bracelet. ¡°Oh, you friend.¡±

    ¡°Yes, friend.¡±

    His face lit up with a smile and he laughed loudly before pulling up some damn big lobsters, weighing at least ten kilos each and firing up the stuff!

    ¡°Woah~!¡± Shia marveled. ¡°I¡¯ve never seen him do that. What did you even tell him!?¡±

    ¡°Oh, I¡¯ve been to his village. I actually promised I¡¯d visit with¡­¡± Ah¡­ right, she was dead. ¡°I promised them, after all this journeying was over, I¡¯d go back to their place and spend some time with them, helping them hunt and stuff.¡±

    ¡°That is a big promise,¡± Alustur said.

    ¡°Yes friend, very big promise. We will always wait,¡± he said. ¡°Always.¡±

    ¡°I know,¡± I said. ¡°I¡¯m somewhat in a bad state right now, but I yes, a promise is a promise and it will be shameful to go against my word,¡± I said, taking a bite out of the lustrous lobster meat.

    Sweet, soft, juicy, and above all¡­ delicious.

    It¡¯s not over yet. There¡¯s more to life¡­ Yet¡­ the tears¡­ flowed.

 Chapter 176: A sweet scent

    The local people knew of the dangers this world had to offer and so hardly ever left the bounds of their respective cities.

    Some people were really powerful but the rest were below par when compared to the people of the western or Southern continent. So, they couldn¡¯t survive outside the city walls. They were still mildly stronger than the average human back home but I suppose it was what it was.

    The people knew of the Sirens and to them, Sirens were death. However, considering I already spoke to a few and knew how to communicate maybe it was worth a shot.

    ¡°I¡¯ve been drugged heavily before,¡± I said, on our way to the shores outside. There was a small bank and shore inside the city but it didn¡¯t lead to anywhere. It was shielded by large reefs that were almost impossible to pass without shredding oneself. So, we had to venture out and travel a little. Even then it wasn¡¯t guaranteed we¡¯d find Sirens out here. Most of them were focused on other parts of the continent where it was easier to find prey. ¡°So, if I start acting weird, you know why.¡±

    ¡°By the sirens?¡± Shia asked.

    ¡°Technically? But mostly by the pheromone monsters. They kind of¡­ remember that cat in heat?¡±

    ¡°Yes?¡±

    ¡°Well, it¡¯s like that but nonstop and everything around you looks like a potential mate; it was really hard to keep my sanity.¡±

    She seemed a bit confused. She was in her early teens. She¡¯d just started figuring these stuff out so maybe I shouldn¡¯t have told her. She¡¯s not that old you know. You can just say stuff like that¡­.

    ¡°Did you? Did you ¡®mate¡¯ with those things?¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t.¡±

    She didn¡¯t question. She didn¡¯t say much either.

    Alustur hadn¡¯t said a word but he did stare at me with odd eyes. I suppose I was an odd boy even now. Maybe I shouldn¡¯t have said that.

    Oh well.

    We walked for quite a while but then reached a big pond. ¡°What are we doing here? Shouldn¡¯t we head over to the sea?¡±

    This pond connected to the sea, so technically it was part of it. Or so I thought at first but the water seemed different. Upon a minor taste, which wasn¡¯t recommended, I found it wasn¡¯t salty.If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.

    ¡°You know you can get sick from that, right?¡± Shia said.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t get sick even after roaming inside the merman Sewers, so I¡¯m curious if I¡¯ll get sick from this.¡±

    She face palmed herself. ¡°What the hell were you even doing¡­¡±

    ¡°What happened to that mermaid?¡± Alustur asked.

    ¡°We were captured by those fishmen and they took us to their kingdom. The king was actually treating us with care. We ran away with the help of a fishman and eventually reached a giant lobster which I distracted and the goblins killed. After spending some time in with the goblins, we reached the mermaid kingdom and I bid my farewell. Come to think of it, the mermaid queen¡­¡± I didn¡¯t finish. She¡¯d said how this journey would be a disastrous one for me and wanted to send me home. I probably should have gone home. That way I would still be under the delusion that there was a meager chance of mom being alive.

    But¡­ would it really have been okay? At least you wouldn¡¯t feel like this. But¡­ was feelings all that mattered? What about the truth? Is the truth helping you now?

    I sighed and didn¡¯t bother thinking about it. Instead, I stared at the water. ¡°What are we doing here again?¡±

    ¡°You can come out now!¡± Alustur yelled.

    Silence.

    Followed by trickling sound. Something rose above and came ashore. A mermaid? No, siren. Orange hair, kind of rare. Something even rare was the fact that the lady was wearing a pretty but not revealing dress. Usually, sirens wore rather revealing stuff.

    ¡°Didn¡¯t you say you¡¯d come earlier?¡± the siren said.

    ¡°I was busy with other matters. This is Sol, he is the reason we are on this journey,¡± Alustur said.

    ¡°Ah, so he deserves my thanks for our fated encounter!¡± She almost smothered me but Shia grabbed my collar dragged me back. The siren snickered.

    ¡°This is Armania; she helped us a lot,¡± Alustur said. ¡°Although she acts that way, she is a respectable lady so do be courteous.¡±

    I suppose? I mean, she was wearing decent clothes so I suppose she was just pretending to be like this?

    Probably.

    But that wasn¡¯t my problem or concern. ¡°Thank you for all the help,¡± I said. ¡°I appreciate you helping them, and in turn me, out.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it sweetie.¡±

    ¡°So, like Sol asked, what are we doing here? I thought we were going to the other place,¡± Shia said.

    ¡°We will but not now,¡± Alustur said. ¡°Armania, we¡¯re here to request one last thing of you before we leave.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re leaving?¡± She frowned.

    ¡°Yes. We want you to lead us to your elder. We want a safe passage out of this place. As we speak, this boy¡¯s father, his last family is about to go to war.¡±

    Oh yeah, Den was probably going to fight the church. ¡°I don¡¯t think he¡¯s that na?ve,¡± I said. ¡°He¡¯ll probably-¡±

    ¡°And that¡¯s why we have to be there,¡± Alustur said. ¡°Do you want to lose him too??¡±

    ¡°Why would dad go to war? I mean he¡¯s unsatisfied with the family but he¡¯s not stupid enough to actually go to war,¡± Shia shrugged.

    Huh? Wha? I stared at Alustur. Hadn¡¯t he told her? Didn¡¯t she already know Lin was my mother and I wasn¡¯t her real brother? She should have known. Then what hell was she going on about?

    Seriously¡­.

    ¡°So,¡± Alustur said. ¡°Will you take us to your elder? You can refuse but, in that case, if we go there and a fight breaks out, I cannot guarantee we won¡¯t end up with blood in our hands.¡±

    ¡°Sweetie, you talk as though you¡¯ll be unharmed in the process.¡±

    A sweet scent lingered. A very familiar sweet scent.

    Alustur drew his sword and the lady¡¯s pretty face warped as fangs and nails protruded.

    Sigh¡­.

 Chapter 177: Not anymore

    Clangh!

    A fight broke out. A primitive one. Without any sort of malice. Neither party seemed to be in a fighting mood and were just going by the motion. I didn¡¯t bother participating and by the looks of it, Shia wasn¡¯t interested either.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t see Rexy,¡± I said.

    The sweet smell was kind of making me want to go and hug the siren but I had enough sanity to know that wasn¡¯t the best of ideas.

    ¡°She was about to jump into the water after you but I held her and later she just disappeared within the ship. I thought she really jumped in but no. We found her on your bed where she fell asleep.¡±

    ¡°Where even is the ship?¡±

    ¡°We got shipwrecked, remember?¡±

    ¡°Yes, I do remember but neither of you have answered where Rexy is right now.¡±

    ¡°Huh!¡± the siren yelled, raising up a wave of water around her, using it to shield herself.

    Alustur merely flicked his sword and cuts surfaced in the water.

    ¡°Can we take a break?¡± I yelled. ¡°We can always play around later.¡±

    I got annoyed looks from both of them. I shrugged and got back to Shia.

    ¡°Well, you see¡­¡± She hesitated. Something had happened, I guess.

    ¡°You can tell me. Right now, I don¡¯t think I¡¯d be that surprised¡­¡±

    ¡°Well, good news is, she¡¯s on this island.¡±

    ¡°And the bad news?¡±

    ¡°We don¡¯t know where¡­.¡±

    I sighed.Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.

    Of course, there had be bad news. ¡°Where¡¯d you lose her?¡±

    ¡°Just when we arrived on the continent, here.¡±

    ¡°REXY!¡± I screamed. Obviously, I wasn¡¯t expecting her to come running back to me.

    Just on instinct.

    Slither.

    And some rustling¡­ and a couple of seconds later a white lizard dropped on my shoulder.

    ¡°Rexy!¡± I marveled.

    ¡°I searched for that thing for three days and it just appears when he shouts once?¡± Shia groaned and the two fighting warriors ceased their fighting to come to me.

    ¡°Oh, so that¡¯s the lizard you were searching back then,¡± the siren said. ¡°Indeed, she does have beautiful eyes.¡±

    ¡°So, what will it be. Will you lead us to your elder?¡± Alustur said.

    ¡°I will, I will.¡± The lady said and stood close to me. ¡°Precious little thing, aren¡¯t you?¡± She patted Rexy with her finger and moved back into the water. ¡°Come back in a couple of days. I have to notify them first.¡±

    ¡°Alright. You have our thanks,¡± Alustur said.

    Afterwards, we made way back to the city.

    Rexy didn¡¯t put up any fuss and just fell asleep on my shoulder. Shia kept staring awkwardly and Alustur led us.

    ¡°There are some things I want to do when I get back,¡± I said. ¡°Firstly, I¡¯d like to back Den. But not through military strength. That will be too stupid. I have the backing of a Duke but compared to the church, that¡¯s nothing. Instead, we need the backing of the church itself.¡±

    ¡°What?¡± Alustur stared at me, half confused, half infuriated. ¡°Why the church and how?¡±

    ¡°Why? Because I want to use their poison against them. How? I¡¯m not sure yet. Maybe I¡¯ll accept their proposal.¡±

    ¡°What proposal?¡± Shia said.

    ¡°Remember that mail I got just before setting out? There was a marriage proposal in it. Sent by the pope.¡±

    ¡°Julius? Are you certain?¡± Alustur said.

    ¡°I¡¯m sure. They already know I¡¯m betrothed to¡­ but they¡¯re still willing to take me under the blanket of the Church. I think they¡¯re playing rather cautiously. They don¡¯t want to risk anything and either use me or dispose of me entirely. So, instead of resisting, why not play along and bite them when they think they¡¯ve won?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re not making sense Sol!¡± Shia said. ¡°That¡¯s too reckless! Besides your mother woul-¡±

    ¡°My mother would not come back to life. But millions won¡¯t have to die every year either. Actually, I¡¯m sure I¡¯ll regret either way. I¡¯m sure there will be issues no matter what choice I make. I¡¯m sure people will suffer either from the church or because of their absence. But I got to do, what I want to do. I will get back at them. And I will destroy them. It¡¯s no longer a matter of if. It¡¯s a matter of when.¡±

    We¡¯d reached the gates and climbed up. Once we were on the other side, we made way for our inn.

    Meanwhile, neither of them said anything and they weren¡¯t trying to stop me. I suppose they didn¡¯t have a way to stop me. My mother had died and I was within my rights to demand revenge and justice. Even if said revenge was going to screw up the world. The world didn¡¯t matter to me.

    Not anymore.

 Chapter 178: I Agree

    Things were starting to become normal again.

    I didn¡¯t cry every now and then. I didn¡¯t constantly think about Mom or how much I missed her.

    I didn¡¯t think about just how fucking unfair the world was or what I was going to do screw it up even more.

    Yeah, it sucked how fucking adaptive we were. I sighed and stared at the ceiling. Rexy was with me and was sleeping on top of my head.

    Why did I even come here, seriously.

    I had no answer. Some part me of wanted to save them, some part of me just wanted to see them in fucking forever, and some part of me wanted to be a hero or something along those lines.

    What was done was done. So, there wasn¡¯t much I could just by thinking. I wanted to process all these damn feelings and just be done with it but that was taking too much time and too much energy so I didn¡¯t bother anymore.

    Every now and then rogue thoughts of the academy and what I still had there came back. About exams and the people there and I kind of wanted to punch myself.

    I was already thinking about the future and I hated myself for it. If I let this happen, if I let my bitch ass go through with this line of thought, I was sure I¡¯d forget about the revenge shit and actually not go through with my plans.

    And yet¡­ Mom wanted me to live.

    Wasn¡¯t it the best to respect her wishes and-

    No, you can respect her wishes and still be victorious.

    But what if I couldn¡¯t?

    Again, I tried not to overthink but the thoughts sometimes just didn¡¯t stop. They flowed. And I let them to some extent. Way better than just letting them boil.

    ¡°Sol, you in?¡± Alustur said.

    ¡°I¡¯m here.¡±

    He came in. ¡°What did you mean by using the church against them? Even if you marry the pope¡¯s granddaughter it¡¯s not going to do you much. There will be a new pope in less than a year. It¡¯ll be meaningless. He¡¯s merely using you to stay relevant.¡±

    ¡°To be honest, I¡¯m not sure myself. Saying I¡¯m going to use the church, and actually using them are two different things. If anything, I¡¯m probably going to fail. No, it¡¯s likely that I will fail. Yet, just like I couldn¡¯t stop myself from trying to save them, or wanting to, I¡­ I want to try this too.¡±If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

    ¡°I see,¡± he said. ¡°I told you not to open the letter but I think you should.¡±

    ¡°Why do you want-¡±

    ¡°You¡¯ll understand.¡±

    Alustur left.

    I wasn¡¯t sure what he was even getting at. No, perhaps I didn¡¯t try to understand that. Lately, I¡¯d become distant from people around me. I¡¯d become distant from my own thoughts.

    ¡°Dear Soler,

    I truly hope this letter finds you and finds you well. A lot has happened and I have married your mother. I am now your father but feel free to call me Den.

    I¡¯m writing this letter in front of your mother¡¯s grave. I will not tell you how she died, and I will not tell you what I¡¯m going to do next. Your mother¡¯s last words were to never tell you anything. She wanted you to live in peace and have a long healthy life. Please respect her. I¡¯m trying my best to keep the tears in but if some fall and smudge the paper, please deal with it. I am sorry.

    I am sorry I couldn¡¯t save your mother. I am sorry I couldn¡¯t be a better father, or a person. I am sorry Sol.

    Please find it in you to forgive me. However, know so that I will dedicate the rest of my life to bring justice for your mother¡¯s death. But please, please, be well and live a good life.

    Yours truly,

    Denkar Borges.¡±

    The letter was sort of a mess. It had a lot of starts but no real end. Den probably wrote in a frenzy and even he wasn¡¯t sure what he meant by it. At least apart from the fact that he didn¡¯t want me to intervene. He didn¡¯t want me to follow in his steps towards revenge.

    That was a kind gesture but I couldn¡¯t agree with that sentiment.

    I couldn¡¯t agree with this.

    Even if Mom wanted me to not worry about revenge or keep going, then what? It wasn¡¯t like-

    I sighed and lied down again.

    Not a dilemma perse but I didn¡¯t know what to do. As I was, I couldn¡¯t do shit to the church. It¡¯d take years to change the public opinion even with all my plans.

    By that time, Den would probably¡­ I didn¡¯t want to think about it. He wouldn¡¯t accept my help and no matter what I told him, he wouldn¡¯t stop. Den was rather stubborn in that regard.

    But why did Alustur not want me to read this at first?

    I stared at the paper for a while before eventually pouring a bit of mana on it. Mostly out of curiosity but something happened.

    The letters vanished and new ones emerged.

    ¡°Sol,

    This should only respond to your and Alustur¡¯s mana, so I would appreciate if you didn¡¯t show it to anyone else.

    I know you won¡¯t listen, so I¡¯ll tell you what I¡¯m going to do. Firstly, I have some powerful friends in Slunten who don¡¯t like church so I¡¯ll get into contact with them. Next, I will formulate a plan to poison all the people in the church. This includes innocent people. Then I will announce myself as a Neogod who descended from heaven to ruin humanity. People will band together to stop me and I want you to be the one who leads them and ultimately lands the killing blow. You will become a hero and they will listen to everything you say. You will be the new king of the world. I know that¡¯s a lot and I know you will be sad and conflicted. But fear not, this is the best way to change the world. And I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll make a great king.

    Again, please forgive me, and entertain this final wish of your master, nay, father.

    Den.¡±

    Huh.

    Again, the fuck was this dude even trying to get at?

    Neogod? Me a hero?

    Huh¡­

    ¡°Done?¡± Alustur said. Apparently, he¡¯d been waiting outside the whole time.

    ¡°Yeah.¡±

    ¡°What do you think now?¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s go to Sun port. This moron needs some whacking.¡±

    ¡°I agree.¡±

 Chapter 179: Blue

    After a couple of days of getting adjusted to my new life of sorts, I finally found some closure. Closure in the sense that I knew what I wanted to do now. There were many things to be done, and many ways I could mess up life. But as with my previous plans, I made a new one. I was definitely going to start a cult and become a cult leader and change the world. But I was also going to incorporate the existing church and Den into the equation and make it work somehow.

    How?

    I had a rough plan. Of course, I didn¡¯t know if it was going to work or not but the chances weren¡¯t zero and it was certainly better than betting on nonexistent cards. I wasn¡¯t going to do anything brazen but I wasn¡¯t going to be completely passive and behind the scenes either. I¡¯d made a reputation for myself, something the Barracks and the headmaster had conjured up on my behalf, and I was going to use it to the best of my ability.

    Again, thinking all that and planning was easy. Actually doing it, wasn¡¯t.

    Which was why for the time being I stopped worrying and went out to get some lobsters with Shia. This had become our new thing these days. Eat lobster and finish with a spiced yogurt drink.

    ¡°I tried making this the other day,¡± Shia said. ¡°Thought I¡¯d save up on cash. The ingredients cost about half of what this costs, so I was going to save a lot of money, or so I thought.¡±

    ¡°But the taste wasn¡¯t the same?¡±

    She snickered and looked away. ¡°Yeah. Kinda sucked.¡±

    ¡°Maybe we can get a recipe,¡± I said.

    ¡°I tried but he wouldn¡¯t open up,¡± she said.

    I still went up to the guy and asked him about the recipe. I didn¡¯t put up any fronts or make small talk. I just asked how he produced this taste. I finished by saying I was going to leave town in a couple of days and really loved his drink.Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

    He took me to the back of his stall and showed me how he did it. The amount, the secret ingredient and the creaming method, everything.

    I thanked him and explained the whole process to Shia before I forgot.

    ¡°Damn, he kind of just said no to my face,¡± Shia said, sighing.

    ¡°I got lucky,¡± I said.

    ¡°No, I suppose you were too sincere. I went there and talked for hours. I think he suspected I had ulterior motives which I suppose I had.¡±

    ¡°Maybe,¡± I said. ¡°Let¡¯s go?¡±

    ¡°Yeah,¡± Shia said, staring at the sunset. ¡°Good to have you back Sol.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ***

    The next day, we had to cover some ground. We were off to the visit the Sirens.

    The main reason we were going to see the sirens, was because they had the power to carry us past the reefs so we didn¡¯t damage the hull of our new ship. And yes, the crew were actually building a new ship or maybe they were repairing our old one, I wasn¡¯t sure.

    ¡°They probably won¡¯t agree right away,¡± I said.

    ¡°It¡¯s more likely they wont,¡± Alustur said. ¡°However, we can always force our way.¡±

    ¡°I would appreciate it if you didn¡¯t,¡± I said. ¡°Their scents are rather potent.¡±

    ¡°They don¡¯t work on me,¡± Alustur said.

    ¡°That¡¯s good but it¡¯s still a big risk. If they just refuse, let¡¯s leave without causing any trouble.¡± He was conflicted but still agreed.

    We met up with Armania. ¡°How will you breathe underwater?¡± She said.

    ¡°I can breathe just fine,¡± I said. ¡°How about you two?¡±

    ¡°I can hold my breath long enough,¡± Alustur said.

    Shia sighed. ¡°I¡¯ll stay behind.¡±

    ¡°Are you sure you can hold your breath long enough? Besides, won¡¯t you want to speak to them? What if something goes wrong?¡± I asked.

    ¡°We have a safe zone below so he should also be able to breathe as long as he can hold his breath long enough,¡± Armania said.

    ¡°Oh, that¡¯s wonderful,¡± I said.

    ¡°You seem to be familiar with our ways. Are you perhaps, half,¡± she spoke with an analyzing gaze. ¡°Never mind.¡±

    That being said, Alustur did some breathing drills while I poked my head into the water to see if I still had it. As I thought, the scales formed and I could breathe underwater, albeit it was kind of suffocating regardless. I suppose things wouldn¡¯t be remotely as good as it was back then.

    I instinctively I wanted to breathe. Though my diving reflex was mostly keeping that in check. So as long as I was mindful, I was going to be fine. At least I hope I was going to be.

    Once Alustur was ready, the Siren took a dive and he too. I was about to when Shia reached out to me but stopped at the last second. ¡°Good luck,¡± she said.

    ¡°I¡¯ll be right back.¡±

    Blue.

 Chapter 180: Great Bluffer

    The cold blue water snuggled up close and nearly drowned my ass.

    God I hated this wet-drenchy-suffocating feeling. I wanted to breathe and I wanted to breathe badly but I knew I¡¯d just be gobbling up water because my scale gills weren¡¯t fully working. I suppose they needed more time before they could open up completely.

    Anyway, to distract myself, I paid attention to shit around me. Dark blue with little to no fish. Surprisingly clear water though.

    I expected there to be an underwater colony of sirens in the pond but that wasn¡¯t the case. Rather, the pond was deep and was apparently connected to the ocean via an extensive tunnel.

    Alustur seemed fine just swimming around like a seal. The siren was helping me swim and together we ventured within the dark tunnel. There wasn¡¯t much light here so I produced a bit of light on my palm and both of them gave me approving nods.

    I thought I¡¯d take ten, maybe fifteen minutes of swimming.

    It took thirty.

    Thirty fucking minutes. And Alustur had held his breath the entire time! At one point I thought the Siren was just messing with us and was going to kill us and stuff but no, we arrived at the end of the tunnel and straight into the open wide ocean. Familiar reefs. I probably hadn¡¯t been here but I had seen structures like these before. The siren motioned for us to go a bit further and I could see small homes in the reefs. Some of the sirens were just sunbathing while others were hunting fish. One siren almost came at us with her spear drawn, ready to skewer us. Although she kind of frowned when she saw Armania and me and then just left. Some were still eying Alustur but wasn¡¯t stupid enough to approach him. Even in this blue as hell state, Alustur was still a monster.

    Couple of minutes later I saw the safe zone. Not as big as the one in the mermaid kingdom or even the goblin village but it was pretty decent in size. Probably a type three?This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

    I went in and nope, definitely type 2.

    I breathed haphazardly. Phew. It was so much better here and-

    And Alustur couldn¡¯t breathe in this place.

    Oh boy.

    ¡°Chew this,¡± the siren offered some sea grass and Alustur reluctantly chewed on some, passing out a second later. ¡°Relax, he¡¯s fine. Look, he¡¯s breathing fine now.¡±

    ¡°Very clever,¡± I said.

    She smirked and we continued onwards. Sirens gave me and Alustur quite the look but most were just looking at me with pity. I got similar reception before but I didn¡¯t quite care.

    Their houses were somewhat similar to Mermaids¡¯ but not as sophisticated and Sirens in general didn¡¯t wear much clothing.

    Apparently, they liked to show off the vigor of their skin and it was a sure-fire way to mesmerize prey easily.

    Being here reminded me of the times I spent back in the mermaid kingdom and particularly in the goblin village. My time there was short but I really enjoyed everything.

    ¡°When is he going to wake up?¡± I said.

    ¡°When we leave this place,¡± she said.

    ¡°So, he won¡¯t be able to participate in the negotiations.¡±

    ¡°Of course. He would have just forced his way,¡± the mermaid said.

    ¡°I¡¯m sure he wouldn¡¯t have. I asked him not to.¡±

    She rolled her eyes and led on.

    ¡°Do you not have any currency here?¡± I asked.

    ¡°We don¡¯t have any need to. Most of us are independent and do not require currency,¡± she said.

    I suppose?

    I didn¡¯t know much about them. Heck, I didn¡¯t know much about any of the ocean dwelling species. I¡¯d never looked them up. No, that wasn¡¯t true. I did want to but there wasn¡¯t much information about them. Partly because the church had set restrictions but also because most people just didn¡¯t know about mermaids and what went down in the ocean. After all, the deep ocean was a scary place. Some texts did exist in sea tongue but they were hard to decipher. I still used to try I think.  At this point, those were just distant memories.

    ¡°We¡¯re here,¡± she said, pointing at one of the bigger houses. ¡°That¡¯s where the elder lives. Word of caution, with your bodyguard out cold, it is best to avoid stirring up trouble.¡±

    ¡°Do you ever wonder how he got these scars?¡± I said, lifting up a bit of Alustur¡¯s shirt to show his leftover burn scars.

    Her eyes opened a bit wide and the smirk sort of vanished as she traced her vision to my hand which didn¡¯t have a glove on. ¡°You¡­¡±

    ¡°Exactly. But don¡¯t worry. As I said, we don¡¯t plan on threatening you.¡±

    Huh¡­ I¡¯d become a great bluffer¡­ heh.

 Chapter 181: Sleepy-Sleepy

    Very similar architecture to the mermaids even on the inside.

    Coral mixed in with stone and marble. The flooring in particular was really beautiful. To me, the whole place was beautiful honestly. The uneven walls, the multicolored glittering corals, the fish just floating about although technically the water here was light. I saw ducks swimming in ponds outside. Yes, ponds in the middle of the ocean. Huh.

    I couldn¡¯t help but chuckle in nostalgia.

    Alustur wasn¡¯t waking up but he was breathing and it was fairly easy to carry him right now. Which was great.

    However, if things really did get dicey I was going to be extra cooked. Rexy! I hadn¡¯t even noticed my lovely lizard who¡¯d hitched a ride in my hair. Okay, maybe I had to cut the damn hair after all, it¡¯d grown far too damn much.

    Mom would have been furi-

    Oh¡­ right, she wasn¡¯t here anymore.

    The elder looking guy sat on a chair while some other sirens sat on the ground. All men. I figured sirens had mostly women and while that was true, they were governed by all men?

    ¡°Do you not have any female representatives?¡± I asked.

    ¡°We leave the home affairs to men,¡± she said.

    Oh¡­ huh. I suppose I had the wrong impression. Come to think of it, almost all the sirens I saw hunting were women.

    Anyway, I didn¡¯t know how to address the male sirens, so I stood just front and offered a noble bow. ¡°Greetings, I am Solar A. Barack. I understand it must have taken great effort for you to spend some time for me today but since you still chose to do so, thank you.¡±The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

    The elder, looking pleased, nodded. ¡°Such manners for a young boy as yourself,¡± he spoke. ¡°I am Al-Suna leader of the Sbarinas.¡±

    Apparently, they didn¡¯t call themselves Sirens.

    The others were also pleased. ¡°Why did you want to speak with us, young boy?¡±

    ¡°I had come to this island to find my parents. Sadly, one of them passed away and the other has already left. I need to leave too but I cannot find a safe passage off this place because of the reefs. While I may be able to swim past the reefs, without a ship and a crew I would not be able to go far into the ocean. So, I was hoping you could help guide us off the shores, and deliver us into the ocean. Of course, it would not be for free. If you will allow us, we would like to repay you in kind.¡±

    ¡°Hmm¡­ what would you repay us with? I¡¯m not sure if you are aware but we do not use money,¡± one the men said.

    They didn¡¯t find me offensive so far, so all good. While they treated me as though I was a child with some good manners, I was fine with it. I could use that sentiment against them after all.

    ¡°This,¡± I said, producing a small chunk of red crystal. I hadn¡¯t shown it to anyone so far. If Alustur had seen it, he¡¯d have surely argued I shouldn¡¯t have done this. This thing was far too precious.

    However, Alustur was sleepy-sleepy right now.

    ¡°This is¡­¡± one of the men took the pea sized chunk and handed it off to the elder.

    ¡°Where did you even get this?¡± he asked.

    Armania also stared quite curiously.

    ¡°We, me and sea goblins had slain a great Lobster and this was my reward and payment to be working for them later in my life.¡±

    Well, a part of said reward. Because this too was only a part of the part I¡¯d been given. But these gentlemen didn¡¯t need to know that.

    ¡°And you¡¯d be giving us such a precious thing just for safe passage?¡±

    ¡°Yes, because I understand just how tedious it must be for you to help us outsiders even though it may harm you in the long term. Besides, while it¡¯s true you do not have currency, you¡¯re currently lacking in food supplies due to mass migration and this chunk should come in handy when you eventually trade food and goods with others.

    ¡°Magnificent,¡± one of the men exclaimed. ¡°Young, talented, and wise. Just what we need!¡±

    Excellent!... wait¡­ what? Need?

    Huh¡­

    Armania sighed but kept quiet.

    ¡°Young man, we will ensure you safe passage. However, you must stay with us. Help us and live with us!¡±

    I sighed.

    Why do I keep getting popular with fishmen¡­ for fuck¡¯s sake.

 Chapter 182: Relax?

    Long story short, they wanted me to become a house husband here and maintain the village.

    They were sort of offering me an elite status within the village and even promised I could be a village elder at some point.

    There were some oppositions but most sirens agreed.

    What about my opinion? With Alustur sleeping, I couldn¡¯t say much other than ¡®I¡¯ll think about it¡¯ and leave.

    The return journey was sort of wild as Alustur woke up confused and almost drowned in the sea, so we had to take a small detour and float in the seas above, near the surface. Alustur took a couple of breaths and came down again.

    There was a reason we couldn¡¯t just go to the very top and stay for long. The currents.

    The waves were so strong they could throw us into the reef and skewer us if we weren¡¯t careful. Even if we were we were still taking a huge risk. One of the many reasons we took the tunnel path rather than walking to the nearest shore and just swimming here.

    Anyway, the return journey felt shorter than the first time. I produced the same light and got thanked about the same way.

    ¡°Woah!¡± I moaned, breathing in. Finally, oxygen!

    Owo, ow! My head hurt. Too fast, you idiot!

    Shia jumped in and hugged me. While a tired as fuck Alustur slowly bobbed his head up and down, kind of drowning, kind of alive.

    Poor guy.

    Once we were all settled down by the edge of the pond, the Siren let out an exaggerated sigh and stared at me. She didn¡¯t say anything but that gaze was very telling.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t threaten them, you know,¡± I said.

    ¡°Yes but I wasn¡¯t expecting you to win them over like that either. We¡¯re not very keen on having outsiders among us. And yet they were sold. How did you even do that? Were you being sincere back then?¡±If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

    ¡°I was,¡± I said. ¡°The gem probably had more to do with their acceptance,¡± I said.

    The siren sighed.

    Meanwhile Alustur stared. ¡°What gem?¡±

    ¡°This. I hadn¡¯t showed you but this,¡± I showed him the original chunk. A small bit of it was missing which now rested at the bottom of the ocean!

    ¡°You gave them that¡­. We could have sold it for-¡± he attempted but never finished.

    Shia grabbed the gem and instantly pocketed it. ¡°You can¡¯t be trusted with this anymore.¡±

    I shrugged and rolled my eyes. ¡°But hey, I got us our ride.¡±

    ¡°With the condition of marrying into our tribe and becoming one of our own,¡± Armania said.

    ¡°You didn¡¯t have to say it like that,¡± I chuckled and tried to laugh it off but Shia kept glaring.

    Alustur shook his head in disapproval and sighed. ¡°Alright, what was that alternate plan you were talking about?¡±

    ¡°We head over the island I¡¯d initially washed up on and set sail from there. The currents are a bit messy but the reefs weren¡¯t as treacherous there as around these parts.¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s do that then,¡± he said. ¡°After retrieving the gemstone.¡±

    ¡°They can just have it,¡± I said. ¡°It was a gift of good faith anyway,¡± I said.

    He was about to open his mouth but he stopped.

    Shia of course kept glaring but she said nothing either. After all, it was my stone and I could give it to anyone I pleased, they understood it as much.

    ¡°What else are you hiding from us?¡± Shia said.

    ¡°A lot of things but I sure won¡¯t show em to you. Don¡¯t want them to get snatched, you see.¡±

    She rolled her eyes and threw my gem back at me, pouting.

    ¡°It was a joke, relax.¡±

    She was not relaxing, no.

    Done fucked up again. Trying my meekest face, I went up to her and offered the gem like I was proposing or something. ¡°Please, o fair lady of the Barracks, take my gem and embrace me anew, as thy young brother, forgiving me so for all my fallacies!¡±

    ¡°The hell is wrong with this kid,¡± she mumbled, but took the gem with a sigh. ¡°Get up. We have a lot of shit to do.¡±

    ¡°Yes, my lady.¡±

    ¡°And drop the act. I like you better when you¡¯re not pretending.¡±

    But the sad part was¡­ I was always pretending.

    ***

    We got back to the city around the afternoon and explained things to the crew. They¡¯d already half-finished the ship and moving now meant all their hard work was going to be wasted.

    ¡°Can¡¯t we just carry the ship?¡± Shia asked.

    ¡°More trouble than it¡¯s worth,¡± I said. ¡°Besides, we have to cross a bit of ocean in between. Those parts are crawling with reefs and sirens.¡± I paused. Even if we did make it to the island, than what? It wasn¡¯t like we could just leave. Most of the crew were men, and I- without much hormones- had a hard time dealing with things here. So, they would have an exceptionally harder time.

    So are the Sirens all we can bet on?

 Chapter 183

    The next morning, a Siren envoy came to get us.

    No, the envoy wasn¡¯t a siren or she wouldn¡¯t have been able to get into the city in the first place.

    Rather she was a friend. Or at least I thought she was.

    Hilda spoke mostly to Alustur and kind of avoided me. Had I done something to her?

    Alustur turned to me. ¡°We will meet them again but this time on land. I will do the talking.¡±

    ¡°Sure,¡± I said.

    So we started getting ready. Or rather they started to. I didn¡¯t have much to sort. My stuff was on me, and I didn¡¯t need new things from the city. I wanted to buy some souvenirs but for whom? Mom was dead and Den was missing and-

    And-

    And you still have friends and new family there. But said friends and family wouldn¡¯t, no, couldn¡¯t ever fill in the void in my heart. Though I suppose it was unfair of me to expect that to happen in the first place.

    Sighing, I turned and almost crashed into the person behind me.

    ¡°What?¡± I said.

    ¡°Hi, Sol,¡± she said. She was close, fairly close. And looking at her now, I could tell she was upset.

    ¡°Hi.¡±

    ¡°How are you doing now?¡±

    ¡°Better.¡±

    ¡°Glad to hear that.¡±

    ¡°You just left. You could have said something before leaving you know. If I somehow upset you, you could have said-¡± I didn¡¯t want to bring it up. Yet it just jumped around in my mind.

    ¡°No, no. I was just¡­ I didn¡¯t know what to say. I got scared and ran.¡±

    She had difficult experiences herself as a child with her family and she saw a lot of similarities and didn¡¯t want to face her feelings. Hence she¡¯d ran away.Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

    I understood yet didn¡¯t at the same time.

    No, perhaps I didn¡¯t want to bother. None of it mattered right now anyway. I was probably not going to see her again and she would eventually forget about me. So it didn¡¯t matter.

    ¡°It¡¯s fine,¡± I said, smiling. ¡°Let bygones be bygones.¡±

    ¡°Okay¡­¡±

    Once finished, the four of us headed for the pond outside the city. Apparently, that was going to be the meeting spot.

    ¡°The gem was yours to give,¡± Alustur said. ¡°I¡¯m fine with it. However, you yourself is not for you to give,¡± he said, eyeing me. ¡°A lot of people have their hopes on you. Even Den and your mom. They all placed their hope and faith in you. Never sell yourself short.¡±

    I didn¡¯t say anything. Not a conversation I wanted to have. So I just nodded and moved along. Shia had also been quiet. Normally she¡¯d keep talking but these days she hardly talked.

    Everyone had their limits I suppose.

    We arrived at the pond sooner than later. No, I was just too preoccupied with thoughts.

    Four sirens awaited us. Armania, and three of the elders. One of them was the actual elder. Or I suppose I should have just called him the leader?

    ¡°Ah, greetings,¡± I offered the same bow as before. Shia didn¡¯t bother. Neither did Alustur. Talk about a lack of manners.

    The elders were happy to see me and before they could ask any questions or say anything-

    Alustur stood right in front of me, and glared them down. Someone was clearly feeling hostile today.

    Although I thought our negotiations were fairly decent the last time minus them wanting me, Alustur begged to differ. He thought I¡¯d been duped and the sirens were out to scam me of my riches. I couldn¡¯t fault him. It was best to always be cautious. But the sirens probably just wanted to use me rather than abuse me. The terms they were offering were also pretty generous.

    ¡°Alus Staire,¡± he said, offering his somewhat fake name. Sometimes I wondered if maybe his real name was Alus but not my problem. He was always going to be Alustur to me.

    ¡°Johan,¡± one of the elders said. ¡°We¡¯ve come for the young boy¡¯s response.¡±

    ¡°We decline,¡± Alustur said. ¡°He needs to be home as fast as possible.¡±

    ¡°Then we cannot help.¡±

    ¡°Your help isn¡¯t mandatory,¡± Alustur said. ¡°We¡¯ll find our way out, on our own.¡±

    ¡°Very well, then we shall leave at once!¡±

    ¡°Calm down,¡± their leader said. ¡°Soler, would you consider joining our village?¡±

    ¡°I have considered it,¡± I said. ¡°However, right now I must focus on things that are important to me. If everything is alright and I¡¯m still alive in a couple of years, I¡¯ll come visit.¡±

    My mother rested in these lands. I was definitely going to be coming back.

    ¡°I see,¡± he said. ¡°We¡¯ve already received payment,¡± he shrugged, producing a small stone from his pocket and flicking it at me. ¡°We shall await you by the Yuhe Terrace.¡±

    The three elders left.

    Meanwhile, Armania nodded with a smile. The hell was she proud about? ¡°Not bad, not bad at all. I expected there to be some bloodshed, but not bad at all.¡±

    Oh yeah, considering Alustur hadn¡¯t cleaved people¡¯s heads off, she was definitely right to have that pride.

    ¡°You¡¯re going to be coming back here?¡± Shia said.

    ¡°Probably. Mom¡¯s here¡­¡± I mumbled.

    ¡°Your mom¡¯s dead Sol.¡±

    ¡°I know,¡± I said. While I meant it to be a normal response. It came with a sob.

    Fuck¡­.

 Chapter 184: Sis

    Couple of days later, our ship was finally finished. It was half the size of the previous one and I didn¡¯t think it¡¯d last in the open seas. Any decent size wave was going to knock it over.

    Considering our situation though, I suppose I couldn¡¯t fault the crew for still being proud. Heck, even I was proud, sort of.

    ¡°So,¡± the captain said. ¡°How do you plan on getting us out?¡± He spoke to Alustur.

    We¡¯d had this conversation before. And every time Alustur said the same thing. Every time except this one. ¡°We¡¯ll take it outside and go underground with it,¡± he said.

    ¡°You, what?¡± The captain said.

    I shared the same sentiment. How the hell was he going to take the boat underground? But then I recalled the tunnel in the pond.

    ¡°You sure?¡± I said. ¡°You can¡¯t breathe there.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sure,¡± he said. ¡°You can. And I would expect you to step up. Can you do that?¡±

    ¡°I can.¡±

    ¡°Alright then, let¡¯s get this boat outside.¡±

    ¡°You want to carry this thing?¡± One of the sailors said. ¡°It weighs at least a ton-¡± His voice of disappeared when he saw Alustur single handedly lifting off one side of the boat.

    ¡°It¡¯s a little heavy,¡± he said, wiping off a bead of sweat.

    ¡°Little?¡± I wondered¡­ sometimes I kept forgetting just how much of a monster Alustur really is.

    It was decided we¡¯d carry the boat in the afternoon and spend the night in the city. Alustur carried one end while the sailors carried the other. It took five of them to match Alustur¡¯s strength and stamina. They had to constantly switch members. All twelve of the sailors got their ass handed to them just from the carrying. By the time they get to the pond, it was already evening and everyone was tired. Even Alustur was a little sweaty. Me and Shia never bothered touching the ship. Shia had offered to help though for some reason.

    Anyway, we just left the ship and went back to the city. Alustur bought dinner for everyone. Meatballs and rice; not bad. We finished it up with the spiced yogurt drink, the highlight of the meal.

    Afterwards, the sailors left and we made way for the inn. I went to my room only to find Shia sitting pretty on my bed. ¡°Need something?¡±

    ¡°Bored. Let¡¯s chat.¡±

    I had a bad feeling about this one.

    Shia was beside me and we didn¡¯t talk. Usually, silence was a good indicator of whether you were comfortable around a person or not. This time it was also a really good indicator. But perhaps not something I needed at the moment. What good would it have done me to know this situation was hella awkward?

    This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

    I could groan all day but I had to do something about this, right? I had to do something about the situation, something about the awkwardness. Something about-

    But what?

    And why?

    Shia never said she wanted to-

    Wait a minute. Stop overthinking. This isn¡¯t about it. It¡¯s about her¡­. ¡°How are you doing?¡± I said.

    ¡°I¡¯m doing fine. What¡¯s with the sudden interest?¡±

    ¡°Sudden? No. I¡¯ve always been interested. It¡¯s just that, lately things have been a bit hard on me so I wasn¡¯t able to ask but¡­ I am interested in how you are, sis.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s been a while since you called me that,¡± she said.

    She hadn¡¯t yet looked at me. Her gaze was on the floor but I could tell she wasn¡¯t looking at the flooring. She was looking to a place perhaps a tad far away.

    ¡°Yes¡­ it¡¯s been a while.¡±

    ¡°I was worried.¡±

    ¡°About me?¡±

    ¡°Yes. I was afraid you¡¯d die.¡±

    ¡°Why though? Why care so much about me. I don¡¯t mean that as- no, I asked from curiosity. I don¡¯t hold myself to a high degree, so I¡¯m curious why would anyone care about me.¡±

    ¡°A lot of people care about you Sol. And I don¡¯t think you need to have any sort of value for getting said care. I don¡¯t think anyone should have to define why they care for you either. They care for you, end of discussion.¡±

    ¡°Okay.¡±

    ¡°Now. I wanted to talk about some things,¡± she said.

    ¡°Right.¡±

    ¡°I want to stay here.¡±

    ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°I want to stay here for some time. I know you¡¯ll be coming back here again so I¡¯ll come back then.¡±

    ¡°You can¡¯t just-¡±

    ¡°I can. I came here on my own and I can stay on my own. I¡¯m confident I¡¯ll be fine. I already spoke with Alustur.¡±

    ¡°So I was just an afterthought.¡±

    ¡°What- no!¡± She grumbled. ¡°Look, I know dad will be upset but you can convince him. I¡¯m sure he¡¯ll listen to you as will everyone else. They respect you. Way more than you think. And you¡¯re so-¡±

    She stopped.

    Before I realized it, my eyes had been leaking again. I suppose I took her existence for granted just like everyone else in my life. So when she spoke about leaving, when she spoke about not being there with me¡­ my heart took a dive.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± She said.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know. You were always there. I couldn¡¯t imagine myself being there, roaming around alone.¡±

    ¡°What, you like me now?¡± She snickered.

    ¡°Why would I not like you sis?¡±

    Shia sighed. ¡°Okay okay¡­¡± she went quiet.

    ¡°Why do you want to stay here?¡±

    ¡°There are a lot of things I can learn here. A lot of recipes, a lot of skills, a lot of the arts. I never liked fighting you know. I¡¯m multitalented as you can tell,¡± she winked. ¡°But I don¡¯t enjoy it. At least not as much as I should be. I enjoy mundane stuff a lot more. I enjoy being free. Even though I know that¡¯s impossible. I¡¯m sure you can¡¯t relate.¡±

    ¡°I can relate,¡± I said.

    ¡°Okay. That¡¯s why I want to stay here. If you can¡¯t convince them, just say I die-¡±

    I held her mouth, I stared in her eyes, and just stayed like that for a couple of seconds. ¡°I¡¯ll try.¡±

    ¡°Okay¡­ I wasn¡¯t expecting you to be this upset.¡±

    ¡°Me neither.¡±

    Shia was like an elder sister to me; no, she was my sister. She was there when I needed her, and mostly messed around and screwed up things for me. However, she was there for me. And now just like mother- no, perhaps not like Mom since she was dead- Shia too will be absent from my life.

    I suppose this was another thing I had to contend with. I was growing up, she was growing up, the world was moving forward. Time wasn¡¯t going to stop.

    Nothing would go back the way it was.

    Thus-

    ¡°You can have this,¡± I said, giving her about half of my red gem. The gem was clumped together in segments so breaking it off wasn¡¯t an issue.

    ¡°What am I going to do with it?¡±

    ¡°Many things. You can supercharge any spell you wish to use. You can sell it if you want to. However, I would prefer if you used it in emergencies and kept it around. So, when I eventually come back here, it can be a motivator for me to find you.¡±

    ¡°Aww¡­ your pretty sister isn¡¯t motivation enough for you to find her?¡±

    ¡°Just take it, damn it!¡±

    I literally shoved it in her hand and she kind of dragged me into her chest, giving me a bear hug. I didn¡¯t or rather couldn¡¯t say a word and just accepted her embrace, tears welling up again.

    ¡°Thank you Sol,¡± she said.

    ¡°You¡¯re welcome sis.¡±

 Chapter 185: Letâ€™s go home

    The next day we left the city early and headed right over to the pond. The boat was already in the water and a couple of Sirens were waiting for us. They were going to make sure we didn¡¯t die underwater, or so I thought.

    Hilda had also showed up for a farewell.

    Everyone got on board.

    ¡°Alright then, I guess this is goodbye,¡± I said.

    ¡°Yes,¡± Hilda said.

    Shia said nothing.

    I gave each of them a hug. I couldn¡¯t reach either of them, so they had to bend down but oh well.

    That said, I got on the boat.

    ¡°Why¡¯s she still down there?¡± One of the sailors said.

    ¡°Are you afraid of getting your hair wait miss?¡± Another one said.

    ¡°I¡¯m not going,¡± Shia said, and to most of our surprise.

    Alustur and me weren¡¯t surprised, obviously. But the crew, the sirens, and even Hilda was surprised. I suppose that was the only logical.

    ¡°She¡¯s not coming with us?¡± The captain said, looking my way.

    ¡°No,¡± I said. ¡°I will explain everything to father. You don¡¯t have to worry about anything.¡±

    ¡°She came out here on her own,¡± Alustur said. ¡°It¡¯s not your responsibility. I¡¯m sure her father would understand.¡±

    Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.

    ¡°If he doesn¡¯t,¡± I said. ¡°I¡¯m willing to take a couple of punches and slaps.¡±

    ¡°Let us hope that¡¯s all you have to take,¡± the captain mumbled.

    I could feel my face cringe up with the mere thought of what could happen. The Barracks loved their kids. Barrack Senior had a rather soft spot for her daughter, so I was really in for a pounding.

    Yet, just like I couldn¡¯t say no to her the last time, I couldn¡¯t say no to her this time either.

    Shia waved as the boat slowly submerged. I waved back. Thought I¡¯d cry.

    I didn¡¯t.

    ***

    An odd bubble of sorts covered the ship. It didn¡¯t stop the water or make it so people could breathe under water but rather it had formed a temporary safe zone; It had a limited number of uses but the Sirens were lending it to us out of courtesy. The sirens fed the crew some of that seaweed stuff and knocked the guys out. I was the only one awake. And it was up to me to see everything went okay.

    The siren duo moved fluidly and dragged the ship through the tunnel into the open sea. Instead of dragging us straight to their village, they expertly escorted us to the deep seas. The corals lessened but I could almost see the different currents merging and clashing. If we somehow got swooped up in one of those, this ship was done for. I was ready to use my reserve mana bracelet if push came to shove but it never did.

    Eventually, we arrived in the deep sea and the sirens took up above. The bubble disappeared.

    The sailors coughed up water and were coming back alive.

    ¡°Well then, we shall be going,¡± one of the sirens said.

    ¡°Yes. Please express our gratitude to Amanda and the elders.¡±

    They nodded and dived back into the sea.

    Meanwhile, Alustur took of his dress and started draining the water. ¡°It is going to be a long journey,¡± he said.

    ¡°Yeah,¡± I said. ¡°But hopefully it won¡¯t be pointless.¡±

    ¡°No journey is ever pointless. You learned many things on this voyage.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m really not in the mood for philosophy right now.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s fine.¡± He cracked a smirk. ¡°Did you say your farewell?¡±

    ¡°Yes,¡± I said. I¡¯d visited her early in the morning. Spoke some things. Made some promises. She¡¯d probably be rolling in her grave if she actually heard what I was going to do next but, that¡¯s on her. She was the one who died.

    I was still alive and I was going to do whatever the hell I wanted. If she wanted to stop me, she¡¯d just have to come back to live. ¡°Let¡¯s go home.¡±

    ¡°YEAH!¡± I got a shout from almost all the sailors. Almost because one was still busy throwing up water.

 Chapter 186: Absolutely

    Sea travel was always awkward if you had a guy who kept hurling whenever a torrent hit the boat.

    If I remembered correctly, these very same people were fine the first time but these days some of them were going crazy with the amount of nausea they were carrying.

    ¡°Is he okay?¡± I said, trying to make sense of the red I was seeing every now and then in the water.

    ¡°He¡¯s fine,¡± one sailor said. ¡°Just having a bad day.¡±

    ¡°Uh-huh.¡±

    Wasn¡¯t just him though, everyone was having bad days. They weren¡¯t throwing up but they were definitely not looking great.

    Even Alustur was looking a tad pale.

    ¡°Was it something we ate?¡± I said.

    ¡°Probably. But more likely it¡¯s the sea,¡± he said. ¡°This region is too mana dense.¡±

    We¡¯d barely crossed into the open seas and past the horrendous currents. There were still underwater currents but those were much deeper now and they couldn¡¯t do anything to us, or so I thought but the ship swayed and that only made things worse. So much damn worse.

    This region had dense mana in the air which poisoned us. Similar to what happens when one chews on manafish bones.

    I was fine though.

    Way more than usual. I hardly ever had sea sickness but given the current situation it wouldn¡¯t have been a stretch to be sick, yet I felt fine. Almost like¡­ almost like something had changed in me. Something that wasn¡¯t there before the journey started. Or maybe the mana density didn¡¯t affect me since I didn¡¯t have much to begin with?

    Could this have something to do with that voice¡­ ¡°Hey Alustur,¡± I said. ¡°I think I might have heard a voice while I was passing out in the vortex.¡±

    ¡°What¡¯d it say?¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t remember but I remember hearing a voice. It couldn¡¯t have been the mermaids since I was already too far.¡±

    ¡°Was there anyone around you?¡±

    ¡°Not that I remember. Just high-pressure waves.¡±

    ¡°Could have been your imagination.¡±

    ¡°I suppose.¡±

    ¡°Or it could have been the spirit of the ocean!¡± One of the sailors, the captain said.

    I doubted it. But I didn¡¯t discount the possibility. Anything was possible. One moment you were having fun with friends the other moment you were swimming mermaid toi¡­ okay even I was starting to feel a little shit. Probably best to not think about weird stuff.

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    Still, this is going to be a long journey, huh?

    ***

    Not much was different from the first time. The sea calmed considerably by the fourth day and we were back on our regular schedule of doing absolutely nothing.

    Or so I thought but Alustur was keen on making me practice swings even on this small ass boat. There was barely enough space to fit five or maybe six of us on the deck at any given time, let alone space to be practicing. Yet here we were.

    ¡°Your physique has improved,¡± he remarked.

    ¡°What do you mean?¡±

    ¡°You look stronger.¡±

    ¡°Look stronger, but probably am not. Don¡¯t I look thinner?¡±

    ¡°You do,¡± he said. ¡°And you are stronger.¡±

    ¡°Sure, sure.¡±

    ¡°Did you,¡± he paused, taking a look at my hand and the scales¡­ ¡°Never mind.¡±

    ¡°Finish your thoughts please. You¡¯ll give me anxiety.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t mean to make you anxious but I think I will hold on to my thoughts for now. You will find out once we get off.¡±

    A groan leaked out. ¡°Seriously¡­ finish your thoughts dude¡­¡± I mumbled.

    I did some practice drills. Mostly swinging and footwork stuff. I also did some thrusts and then read some stuff we found on the forbidden continent. Alustur and Shia had been kind enough to stea- borrow some books for my reading pleasure.

    Mostly just stories but a couple were interesting. One in particular- Chakra and Energy. I¡¯d heard of the word before and it was sort of related to monks, right? But that¡¯s about what I remembered from the games.

    I flicked it open and expected mostly bogus or stuff I couldn¡¯t do anything with or about. Yet some of the things made sense to me. ¡°Put out your hand in a waving motion to disrupt the mana particles in the air, and collect them to strengthen spells¡­¡± sounded great in theory but probably wasn¡¯t going to be effective in practice. I¡¯d already tried it a lot of times but it¡¯d never worked. Then again, you never tried it consciously with just the idea of strengthening a spell. I¡¯d tried to create a spell, I suppose there was a big difference. Besides, isn¡¯t this a mana dense region?

    So, I borrowed some mana from the bracelet and formed a ball of water like usual but instead of taking more mana from the bracelet, I let the air do its thing. I first disrupted the mana, trying to separate it from the air, and then consolidated it, similar to how I¡¯d formed the ball of water. I expected nothing to happen.

    And nothing happened.

    For the first five seconds but then it increased in size. A marginal difference but even a 1.1X boost was a big difference when the scales were massive.

    ¡°What are you doing?¡± Alustur said, taking a seat beside me.

    ¡°Trying to see if I can boost spells,¡± I said. ¡°This book¡¯s amazing.¡± And it was just one of the damn techniques. There were like hundreds more.

    ¡°It better be; the priests were frothing when we took it.¡±

    I laughed awkwardly. ¡°It¡¯s not nice to just take things you know.¡±

    ¡°I know but don¡¯t you appreciate it that we did?¡±

    ¡°Absolutely.¡±

    He half smiled but mostly just sat there without saying much else.

    Yeah, it was definitely wrong to just take things. But did I appreciate this book?

    Absolutely.

    I kept practicing to see if I could improve the boost. But so far about 12% was all I could manage. Some of the other techniques were a bit more convoluted and involved certain steps and preconditions so I couldn¡¯t just try it out right away but I figured I¡¯d be able to figure it out eventually. We still had months. For now, I was going to focus on the spells that could benefit from the high density of mana in the air which was already decreasing by the hour.

    ¡°Isn¡¯t that a ship?¡± One of the sailors yelled.

    I borrowed the ship scope to get a better view. I saw a ship, and I also saw a flag with a skull.

    ¡°Pirates,¡± I said.

    ¡°Good,¡± Alustur said. ¡°We needed a bigger ship anyway.¡±

    ¡°Fair enough.¡±

 Chapter 187: Smirk

    As the ship came closer and closer, the crew began to shake. Some of them attempted to use bows and stuff to fire in haphazard fury but the ship full of laughing people- laugher we could hear from a large distance- was only making them shake harder.

    The ship came close, and stood roughly ten meters away from us. Crude ship of roughly three stories high. The wood looked¡­ dead. Yet it was all held in place and was it me or was something¡­ something in the water. A large shadow. I¡¯d been told there were vicious monsters in these parts of the water and that we¡¯d never make it and all that but whenever something even remotely big came near us, they probably sensed Alustur¡¯s presence and just turned tails. But even among those things¡­ this thing was clearly miles bigger.

    So, this is a high-ranked fiend?

    ¡°Har har har, what have we here!¡± One man laughed a tad louder than the rest and jumped aboard our ship. The whole boat beckoned and swayed but didn¡¯t sink, so all good.

    The man was about half as tall as Alustur, but still taller than me. His teeth were black and his skin was like a relief map, pores and holes. Kinda boney and with an eyepatch. He wasn¡¯t missing any limbs though.

    ¡°Lost at sea, captain,¡± someone said. I hadn¡¯t even noticed them climbing aboard. A goblin, no, a sea-goblin.

    Now that I paid more attention, the whole crew was full of fishpeople. So the stuff down there¡­ hmm¡­

    ¡°You sure you want a bigger ship?¡± I whispered.

    Alustur smirked.

    Well, he was a monster.

    His problem Sol, not yours.

    The crew was of course shaking. They were pretending, as far I knew. Yet, some of their acting was darn right perfect. Or maybe they ¡®are¡¯ afraid? Could be.

    ¡°Hand over ya precious!¡± Anyway, the leader of the pirates spoke in somewhat of a mixture of demon and sea tongue but I could understand him to some extent.

    Alustur casually flicked his sword out, and walked ahead. I loved how he did that.

    Shing!

    The ship swayed and tumbled a fair bit. A lady had flung just over Alustur¡¯s head. Two swords connected, Alustur¡¯s gaze was on her, hers- on him. ¡°Careful Boss,¡± the lady said. ¡°Guy¡¯s a menace.¡±

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    She rocked a tank top and pants but I could tell, she was somewhat buff. Not overly muscular but enough for me to see some bulges.

    Every single one of the crew drew defensive stances. But the leader pirate was of course not bothered. ¡°Surrender or we¡¯ll drown ya,¡± he said. ¡°We can swim and survive underwater, ya cannot.¡±

    ¡°I can,¡± I said. The water around me sizzled and bits of it swirled around as if to imply something. Some streaks manifested and spread about on the surface. The shadow that was just below us kind of dived down a fair amount. ¡°I would not be so sure about your chances of survival.¡±

    The pirate captain¡¯s face hardened as he glared. ¡°Kill the boy first.¡±

    The woman swiveled her body and almost swirled my way. A wall of water came before us, charged water. She flew through it, expecting to slice my head off. However, she might have misjudged what those pesky small currents could do to her muscles. Not only had it slowed her but it also gave Alustur adequate time to catch up and knock the literal fuck out of her head with the back of his sword. Next, he instantly went for the head of the leader pirate but by that point the pirate had jumped back to his ship and was probably thinking of attacking us with his full forces.

    The lady held her head, eyes closed, swayed around like she was about to pass out. And she probably should have but she didn¡¯t. Instead, with literal tears, she glared around. ¡°Sink US!¡± She managed, before shrieking and groaning.

    The pirate leader scowled but the ship traveled backwards.

    Not much wind here, and the currents were kind of a mess since I messed with it. Yet they moved just fine. Which did make me wonder, was the moving shadow in the water making the ship move?

    The lady kept crying and groaning and trying to reach for her sword, to presumably kill me. But sadly her brain probably wasn¡¯t working.

    Bits of blood trickled down her brown hair, coloring her nape somewhat crimson; her nose and ears leaked too. She looked human for the most part. Symmetrical oval face, about as tall as Alustur, and kind of pleasant to stare at, especially because of those muscles but¡­ but her eyes¡­ they were kind of slitted, almost like a cat¡¯s; green.

    ¡°Don¡¯t get too close,¡± Alustur pulled me away. ¡°Also, maybe try to be a bit more cautious. What do you think would have happened if I didn¡¯t make it in time?¡±

    ¡°But you did, right?¡± I smirked.

    He sighed. Yeah, I knew he was right but I didn¡¯t expect my bluff to backfire that badly.

    ¡°Now,¡± Alusutr bent down near the girl, taking the sword from her. ¡°Good sword, good skills, but too impatient.¡±

    The woman was of course still groaning but she didn¡¯t forget to glare and scowl. ¡°Screw you.¡± She couldn¡¯t even keep her eyes open, heh.

    ¡°A lot of people would like to, yes,¡± Alustur shrugged. ¡°Bind her. Be sure to bind her legs and mouth properly. We don¡¯t need her kicking or biting anyone.¡±

    ¡°Yes sir!¡±

    ¡°So much for our big ship,¡± I said.

    ¡°They¡¯ll be back,¡± he said. ¡°She¡¯s too much of a precious commodity.¡±

    ¡°Do you think they might have someone stronger than you?¡±

    ¡°I doubt it. If they were present, they would have shown themselves.¡±

    ¡°No, I mean, maybe they went to get their strongest or something,¡± I said.

    ¡°Definitely possible. I know it¡¯s a tough thing to do but could you¡­ could you try using wind to boost our sail?¡±

    ¡°I can try¡­ but I¡¯ll be wasting a lot of precious metals.¡±

    We were almost out of the manazone. So the mana required was going to be greater too.

 Chapter 188: Precious Commodity

    Movement was slow. The sail was doing its job and some of the crew were rowing. I wanted to use my wind magic and help to some extent but I didn¡¯t want to dry the gems. I had a lot of gems, all courtesy of Goribo and while I probably could have used them and created a vortex powerful enough to deliver us straight to the main route in like half a week- the ship was probably going to get fucked hard and we¡¯d drown. There was another reason I wasn¡¯t using the gems though. I needed a lot of money once I got back home. I also needed a lot of leverage and fire power.

    ¡°You will regret this,¡± a voice came from behind me. I was at the helm, looking out. Meanwhile, the woman was behind, all roped up. She kind of looked hot.

    ¡°You say that even after witnessing Alustur¡¯s might?¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s one man,¡± she said. ¡°We have many.¡±

    There was a bump on her head. She kind of had thin hair so it was apparent. A mild bruise on her cheek and some odd marks on her chest and thighs.

    Noticing my glance, the woman scowled. ¡°I suppose you¡¯re a man too¡­¡± she hissed, spitting on the floor.

    ¡°Did they, touch you?¡±

    She didn¡¯t say anything but that glare stated ¡®yes¡¯.

    ¡°Alustur?¡± I yelled.

    He was on the other side. ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t mean to be a hypocrite but we ought to treat our prisoners better.¡±

    ¡°Hmm¡­¡± He came over and checked the girl¡¯s clothes, under them, and even down there¡­

    The girl closed her eyes in shame and some tears hung about in the corner of her eyes. However, she didn¡¯t cry and she only glared and gritted.

    ¡°We should-¡± I started.

    ¡°Absolutely punish the offender,¡± Alustur said.

    The girl stared, kind of bewildered at that. But then scoffed. ¡°Spare me your pity. I¡¯m used to this.¡±

    ¡°That has little do with us,¡± Alustur said. ¡°This is not pity. It is courtesy.¡±

    The girl glanced at me once but didn¡¯t say much else.

    Meanwhile, some of the sailors were looking a tad pale and were working in awkward ways. I suppose we¡¯d found the culprits.

    ¡°Everyone line up!¡± I yelled. ¡°Every single one, even the lookout, line up!¡±

    ¡°We can switch the lookout,¡± Alustur said.

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    The lookout guy didn¡¯t come down for now.

    Meanwhile, the guys lined up. Some of them were murmuring something. I heard a guy say something in the lines of- ¡®But she¡¯s a pirate, a savage.¡¯

    ¡®What¡¯s wrong with having a bit of fun? It¡¯s a dry journey-¡®¡¯

    ¡®Man, grow up kid.¡¯

    Interesting. Where they actively trying to- or-

    No, they don¡¯t know I can hear them. Did bring me the question though, how the hell was I hearing them? Oh¡­ Rexy. Rexy was on my shoulder and she was¡­ amplifying the sound? I didn¡¯t know you could do that!

    Anyway, the men along with the captain lined up.

    ¡°Just point them out with your eyes,¡± I said.

    ¡°And what will you do to them?¡± The girl said.

    ¡°We¡¯ll throw them overboard,¡± I said. ¡°They can be fishfood for all I care.¡±

    The girl snickered meekly. ¡°What if I say they all did it? Would you go home alone?¡±

    ¡°If that¡¯s what I have to do,¡± I said. ¡°My mother¡­ my mother taught me to respect women. And if these gentlemen cannot do that, then they don¡¯t deserve to be on this ship.¡±

    ¡°Your mother raised you well. But that¡¯s not how the world works,¡± the girl said. ¡°None of them. They merely fondled my breasts, that¡¯s all. Your concern should be evading my captain.¡±

    Some of the sailors let out a sigh of relief. One of them even yelled- ¡°Don¡¯t joke like that Sol. It was just some teasing!¡±

    Right. I made a mental note of that guy.

    The men went back to work.

    ¡°How many of them do we need to actually make it back?¡± I whispered.

    ¡°Sadly, most of them. I don¡¯t know what you¡¯re thinking but we cannot do anything to them. Especially you.¡±

    ¡°I know.¡±

    Alustur sighed. ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll take care of it. But you¡¯re sure about this? They only¡­ no, I do not have any words to defend their actions. They have indeed violated this woman.¡±

    ¡°Well for now, we¡¯ll just have to deal with it, I guess.¡±

    The woman in question, didn¡¯t refute nor agree. She just¡­ sat there.

    The ship kept going.

    In the afternoon, I sat with the girl and watched the sunset.

    ¡°Cheer up kid, it¡¯s not that big of a deal,¡± she was sitting cross legged with her eyes closed, like she was meditating or something.

    ¡°You said you¡¯re used to this, does that mean-¡± I couldn¡¯t find the words.

    ¡°For a kid¡­ are you an adult in a boy¡¯s body by any chance?¡±

    I kept staring at her. ¡°I¡¯ve been called a failed hero candidate before.¡±

    ¡°Makes sense,¡± she said. ¡°I¡¯m a woman at sea. In a ship full of pirates: Mostly men. What do you think could happen?¡±

    ¡°I see¡­¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m telling you, cheer up. I¡¯m not weak enough to be broken from shit like this. Besides, I need to wait till the captain shows up, be free, and slice all your bowels in pieces and watch you rot alive.¡±

    I laughed. ¡°Please don¡¯t do that.¡±

    She laughed too. ¡°I like you kid, I¡¯ll keep you as a pet.¡±

    My eye twitched a fair bit. ¡°Maybe a bit more of a proper relationship¡­ how about it, would you like becoming my sister?¡±

    She gave the most ¡®what expired shit are you smoking look¡¯ I¡¯d ever seen. ¡°Sister¡­ I¡¯m a pirate kid.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, and a beautiful one no less.¡±

    she smiled. ¡°I like you more and more. I¡¯ll definitely make you my pet!¡±

    sigh¡­

    ***

    Later I went down to get some hard tack. And the captain walked past me.

    ¡®Nice going. Some of the mates had actually bought it.¡¯ He said.

    He was half right. Yes, most of my emotional outburst was planned.

    However¡­ I might have been sort of serious about throwing some of the bastards in the sea, even if it was only for a short while. I didn¡¯t have any plans on killing them (cause we darn well needed them) but I really wanted to educate them a fair bit.

    ¡°Ship ahead! SHiP AHEAD!¡±

    My attention jumped and I ran to the starboard. The pirate ship was approaching us from the opposite side. How the hell did they get so far ahead of us?

    ¡°I¡¯ve come back!¡± A shout. The captain. ¡°For me Precious Commodity!¡±

    Thump!

    Landed a person on board.

    Blonde hair. No shirt. Long sword.

    Red eyes.

    Lots of muscles.

    Red. Some heads went flying.

    Death.