CHAPTER 57.

She met Ax’thra?

Amber at first, was doubtful, doubtful that Liz was actually speaking about her first friend in this world, but it seemed that her doubts were nothing but wrong. Amber was wrong, but now she couldn’t understand what or how⁠— she couldn’t understand anything.

Why did Val’leri say Ax’thra was in Ill’hine? Had he met Liz before he went off? There was so much she couldn’t understand because it didn’t make sense. Why didn’t he seek her out⁠— why didn’t she hear about this from Val’leri?

It just didn’t make sense to her, and her sudden confusion and shakiness seemed to make Liz worry.

“What’s wrong, Amber?”

“I thought… he wasn’t in Vir anymore,” Amber said simply. “So how did you meet them?”

“Well… it’s a long story…” Liz scratched her cheek. “Are you sure you want to hear it?”

Amber immediately nodded. “I do.”

At that, the blonde mage took a breath and a moment later, she began to regale her tale.

* * *

It was about two months after Amber had left that Liz decided to venture to the tower in the Arthra forest.

Velda had gone off to a low leveled dungeon to train her skills, so she hadn’t been worried. That was why Liz took the multiple day journey towards the tower. And not only was the monster population a mess, the forest was broken apart and destroyed as if a natural disaster had passed through.

Lacerations filled the trees, carcasses of dead monsters littered the surroundings, and the monsters were in a constant alert as if death had just passed through⁠— which actually made the journey to the tower all that much easier for Liz.

Reaching it had been uneventful, and so had been the climb. All she did was explore multiple rooms and check out things, even finding Amber’s sleeping room⁠— or what she believed it to be anyway ⁠— until finally she reached the top, but contrary to her expectations it wasn’t empty. No, there was a figure sitting on the throne.

A figure she recognized⁠— how couldn’t she?

After hearing so many tales, so many bed time stories, reading so many books; it was clear what she was looking at was a Primordial Spirit.

She had met a Primordial Spirit.

Liz’s heart immediately stopped as the god fixed his gaze on her but contrary to expectations, he smiled at her and beckoned her.

“Welcome, you are not who I expected but…” There was a small silence as he tapped into the air and smiled. “You are Amber’s friend, and there is a message I want you to pass along.”

“A message?” she blinked.

The god nodded but instead of continuing that, he spoke.

“I’ll tell you about it later, your name is Liz, right? What brings you here?”

The god had an enchanting purple light, and almost seemed handsome to her⁠— it was all confusing. Liz was nervous but chose to engage in conversation, and learned a lot about the spirit. She learned about his fascination for weapons, the fact that he was in love with another Primordial Spirit, she even learned that he was just reminiscing in this tower.

But finally, the conversation that went on for a while came to an end. She hadn’t gotten to ask many questions, and let alone meaningful ones, having been relegated to someone that listened instead. But she did gather stuff like:

Yes, he had been attacked by the Arcane Council, yes he owned the tower they were sitting in, and yes he was indeed friends with Amber. But eventually, the conversation drew to an end as he nodded.

“I can see that Amber means a lot to you, so you should tell her you met me.”

Liz blinked, she was already planning to do that. But before she could say as much, the spirit continued, meeting her gaze.

“You are trustworthy enough to know my name so: tell her that, I, Ax’thra send my regards.” He smiled. “I’m sure that will make her whole week.”

With those words he stood up and nodded.

“It was nice meeting you Liz. As for the message I want you to pass along?” He glanced back at her, smiling. “Tell her to find me in the Great Desert so that we can have a nice reunion.”

And with that the spirit⁠— left. Disappeared with a flash of light as she was left there to stare, unable to ask questions she wanted to ask.

* * *

“And so, that’s how I met your friend,” Liz finished.

It had been a lengthy explanation with a lot of details, but Amber couldn’t help but blink. Every single detail about the Primordial Spirit was off, from his likes and dislikes to the preferences to… his light color.

But, at the same time they used Ax’thra’s name⁠— maybe it was Ax’thra? Maybe he just fabricated a fake personality?

He is eccentric enough to do that⁠—

And Amber paused, having a realization.

No, it couldn’t be, right?

“Was the Primordial Spirit like muscular?” Amber asked, tensely. “You mentioned his light was purple…”

Liz blinked and thought for a moment. “I guess he was, yeah, why? Shouldn’t you know this already?”

So that’s… how it is. Amber frowned. No wonder he mentioned the Great Desert, and no wonder every personal detail was off…

“The Primordial Spirit that you met isn’t my friend,” she finally said.

And at that, the blonde mage paused. “What?”

“You got told the name of my friend, but he isn’t my friend⁠— in fact he just gave you my friend’s name because… I don’t know…”

Amber shook her head. She didn’t understand why the Primordial Spirit went out of his way to lie, but he did seem to be considerate when giving Ax’thra’s name given the entirety of the dialogue, so she wasn’t that upset. However she was skeptical of why he was already looking for her.

This was six months ago⁠— meaning, Val’leri couldn’t have possibly told him about her existence. So, why?

Liz seemed to be thinking. “But that makes no sense, why was he there, then? Why did he know about you, why was he expecting me⁠— why did he lie?”

“I already said I don’t know,” Amber sighed. “It’s a Primordial Spirit, maybe he thought it was funny? But that’d be stupid.”

“Right…” Liz blinked.

Evidently Liz didn’t understand what Amber was talking about, but speaking from experience⁠— Primordial Spirits were odd, at least if Ax’thra and Val’leri were anything to go by, but this was too odd even for them. Finally, after a moment, Amber continued talking.

“However, I have a feeling that this is something that goes deeper than just being eccentric…” Amber said looking at the table. “But at the same time, this Primordial Spirit is who I’m looking for, so maybe him knowing about me isn’t that bad...”

“Wait, why are you even looking for them, how do you even know about them?” Velda asked, evidently not following.

“I know about them from the Primordial Spirit I just befriended, Val. As for why I’m looking for them?” Amber shook her head. “That is not something I can answer.”

After that, there was some silence as Liz looked down at the table. Amber couldn’t tell if she was embarrassed or something else, but a moment later she raised her head.

“So I met a Primordial Spirit who just so happened to lie to me at every turn…” she sighed. “That… kind of depressing.”

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“Maybe the likes and dislikes he talked about are the truth,” Amber said. “But I’m sorry you met them like that… for what it’s worth, if things go well when I meet them, I’ll give them an earful about how they lied to you and make them apologize.”

Liz blinked at Amber’s words. “You’d do that for me?”

Amber smirked. “Of course.”

“But, wait, what happens if things don’t go well?” Velda asked. She had just been listening most of the time.

Amber turned to her and nodded. “I’ll die.”

“Amber you can’t just look for a Primordial Spirit that will potentially kill you,” Liz said in a somewhat scolding manner.

“I have to.” Amber closed her eyes before nodding to herself. “Plus, now that they’ve made my friend upset I ought to make things right, don’t I?”

Liz paused at that and smiled.

Amber did mean it, perhaps she wouldn’t chase the Primordial Spirit to the ends of the earth, but knowing this happened certainly was an even greater motivator for her to go seek him. After all, not only had they impersonated Ax’thra, they also made Liz feel like a fool⁠— that was certainly enough for her to hold a grudge over.

And there was also the fact that he was looking for me… Amber added in her mind.

“But where will you even find them?” Liz asked. “And are you sure you don’t need more preparations? You are only level 125.”

Velda’s eyes went wide but this time she didn’t say anything, though the shock was obvious in her face.

Amber shook her head. “I don’t even know where to level up other than go to the Grand Dungeon in the Great Desert, and⁠— well this Primordial Spirit just so happens to live in that same desert so…”

“Right… so you’ll find their tower?” Liz asked.

“Yeah, the cube is useful at doing that.” Amber nodded.

“Right.”

After that, there was silence on the table. Amber didn’t know if they were great news, or if they were bad news, but at least she had some kind of new information. First, the Primordial Spirit lied for some reason. Second, he is acquainted with Ax’thra at the very least. And thirdly, he knew of her. So hopefully, meeting him would go a lot smoothly knowing the third thing.

Though now, she was sure she wanted to go to the desert soon, and so, she decided that tomorrow she was going to seek Cecile for that.

After that, Amber sighed.

It was a lot to take in, but the more she thought about it, the more it bothered her that the Primordial Spirit had impersonated one of her friends and deceived another one of her friends. And at the same time she was curious about why he knew of her.

“You know, maybe you can visit the Grand Library,” Liz suggested.

Amber raised her head. “The Grand Library? What’s that?”

“You… don’t know what the Grand Library is…?” Velda asked in shock.

And that’s how Amber got to learn more information about the Grand City of Torl. She learned that it collected knowledge from all the surrounding nations and kingdoms, including Cytel. It was the biggest library of the continent.

By the end of the explanation, she had decided that that was the very first place she would go to upon arriving to Torl— and she once more blamed Thieney for being so damn brief.

After the explanation, Liz warned everyone of the waiter approaching, and just like that⁠: they got their food. Though the atmosphere remained a bit awkward all things considered given the topic of the spirit.

“You know, we still have to hear about why Amber is called the hero of Cytel and why she is a noble,” Velda pointed out. “I mean, considering she is leaving again soon, I do want to hear all about it.”

Liz slowly nodded at that and jumped onto the chance to change the conversation. “That is right, what the hell did you do Amber?”

“Well…”

Amber grabbed her fork, thinking for a moment. She didn’t feel like keeping the Primordial Spirit topic going was a particularly good idea, and at the same time everything that needed to be said was said, so⁠— she decided to also move the fuck on and not let some liar god ruin dinner.

“That’s a bit complicated,” Amber continued. “It all started with wanting to get you two’s family arrested.”

Liz nearly spat her food.

Velda dropped it from her fork. “Wait what?”

“I spoke about what the Starkells did to Velda and what the Risnar’s did, and the king concluded that the two families had to be arrested,” Amber stated. “And that’s how it all started.”

“You… wanted revenge for Velda?”

“Sort of?” Amber scratched the back of her head. “I wasn’t planning on intervening past that, but the king offered me something that I couldn’t exactly refuse.”

“And that is?” Velda prodded, though she seemed a bit uncomfortable.

Amber smirked. “A divine weapon.”

At that, the two sisters paused, evidently blown away by what she had just said. But Amber didn’t exactly want to summon a nearly two-meter long sword for them to look at, so instead, she continued.

“Anyway, so I went off with a bunch of knights to track the family and we stumbled upon Oracle’s ritual to destroy the capital.”

“Stumbled?” Liz raised her brow.

“That is right, and as you can imagine, Oracle was fucking pissed.” Amber nodded. “So, after that⁠— we stopped the ritual and in a last ditch effort, they summoned a demon to delay us from pursuing.”

Both of them nodded as Amber looked down at the table, she hadn’t started eating yet.

“But the demon summoned was somehow the exact same demon I killed here in Laria?” Amber thought for a moment. “Like, he even remembered me, and I feel like he isn’t dead even after I killed him again.”

“That is… odd, but not much is known about demons other than… folklore,” Liz said hesitantly.

“Well, after that I was declared the hero of Cytel and stuff,” Amber dismissed.

“And this occurred, in the span of like a day?” Velda asked desbelievingly.

“That is correct.” She nodded. “I even got the noble title of Duke and a bunch of gold coins as reward, even though Oracle escaped.”

“Ha…” That was all Liz’s sister could say.

Meanwhile Liz just sighed before she started chuckling.

“Should I say as expected of you?” She laughed. “That is more events than what I went through in the past eight months.”

Amber blinked but then remembered something. “And the king had news for you two.”

Liz wiped a tear from her eye. “What are they?”

“You two are now the official heads of the Starkell house and have the right to claim everything that once belonged to the Risnars.”

And after that, there was silence. Both of the sisters had stopped in their tracks, and Liz was the first one to gather herself.

“So you are telling me we have the right to become a prestigious noble family just like that?” she asked, blinking.

“I guess so, yeah.” Amber agreed. “The king did say you have one month to do so, about four days ago.”

“Huh, right…”

Liz thought for a moment and smiled widely.

“Then I guess we’ll have to take care of that as soon as Amber leaves to the desert.”

Amber snorted. “Suddenly you are on board with the idea?”

“Well that was before I found out I got vindication!” Liz retorted. “Though…”

The mage trailed off for a moment and then met Amber’s gaze.

“Thank you for your actions, I’m sure that your friendship with the Primordial Spirit of the capital had something to do with it, so I really appreciate it.”

“That it did…” Amber agreed and she got a chuckle in return.

After that, they began to enjoy their food, something that made Amber consider buying meals from this restaurant and throwing them into her ring. Though, a minute or two into the meal, Liz raised her head.

“So, what will you do about the Primordial Spirit?” she asked.

“I told you already didn’t I?” Amber smirked. “If it all goes well I’ll give them an earful, and if things don’t go well they’ll probably kill me so⁠— Ax’thra will give them an earful.”

Liz smiled at that and Velda sighed.

“I’m surprised how unconcerned you two are about me learning the name of a Primordial Spirit second-hand.”

“Well, I had already told you the name long ago because I trust you,” Liz dismissed. “So…”

Velda shook her head. “And yet Amber doesn’t care.”

“Because I trust you as well.” Amber pointed her fork at her. “I understand that you’re upset about me leaving, but just know that I’ll always return, even if it takes decades to do so.”

“Why must it take decades?” Velda asked, appalled. “At least do it yearly!”

“Well life is full of mysteries.” Amber smiled. “Can never know where my next journey will take me.”

At that, Velda snorted. It was clear to Amber that it was always going to be something that bothered her, but she’d deal with it later. For now, it was better for them to enjoy dinner, but she did try to cheer her up.

“Just so you know, if it had been you in Liz’s shoes when meeting the spirit I’d be just as upset,” Amber said, smiling.

Velda blinked. “Really?”

“Of course.”

Naturally, it was a half truth, she wasn’t as close to Velda as she was to Liz, but Amber was sure that after spending some more time with her, she’d feel the same way.

Though for now, Amber enjoyed her dinner.

* * *

The food had come in with a price of over a gold coin for all three dishes, which was⁠— absolutely ridiculous, but Liz paid it without saying much. Of course, Amber couldn’t pay Liz back, and when she expressed her desire to pay for the information cost in regards to the Arcane Council⁠— it was also rejected.

On their way back to the inn, Amber thought about ways of paying the blonde mage back. And by the time they arrived, she realized that there was a single thing she could do. And given Velda had left to the bathroom, this was the perfect time.

So, Amber gave Liz her ring⁠— the ring she had gotten from the bandit boss a long time ago. Though contrary to expectations, she was stared at for a few moments before a chuckle left Liz.

“You know you don’t have to give me anything, right?”

“Why not?” Amber raised her brow. “I’m essentially exploiting your kindness.”

“Exploiting?” Liz shook her head. “Let me remind you that you saved my sister.”

Amber crossed her arms. She didn’t have much of an argument against that, but it still felt wrong for her not to do anything in return.

“Besides, you also let me kept the staff from the member of the Arcane Council,” Liz added. “But if you insist, I’ll take it. However…”

“However?” Amber raised her brow.

“I’ll give it to Velda and say its a gift from you,” Liz stated with a sly smile.

Amber blinked, she was fine with that but at the same time⁠; if it was a gift how was she meant to repay the two sisters?

“Why won’t you just take gold,” Amber sighed.

“Because part of me enjoys seeing you this exasperated.” Liz smirked. “But, on a more serious note: I told you already that you saved my sister, the amount of gratitude I feel towards you is so immense that it’s not even close to abusing my kindness.”

Liz tapped her back.

“So, just take my kindness, otherwise I’ll feel like I’m abusing your kindness instead.”

“Right, thank you.”

Amber decided to accept it, at least for now. In the end, she was glad that she had met Liz even if⁠— their relationship had been rather weird at first all things considered. After that, Velda returned, and it was time for them to go rest, but something happened just as they were about to go⁠—

“Halt!”

A gruff voice called and Amber turned only to see a group of knights marching towards her. They all had their weapons at the ready but not raised, however they looked at her with utmost seriousness, and finally, a man stepped forward.

“Are you Amber?”

She blinked, nodding and then she was pulled by the hand as the man spoke.

“You are coming with us.”