The four Dukes visibly shook a little at seeing Farah and Eradin arrive. They didn't like the thought of Eradin rampaging around even if they could easily kill him. Although the most prevalent thought was why Eradin had his eyes covered. But, nothing escaped Farahs eyes. Pointing at Eradin's she addressed their thoughts and quickly put an end to it. "He covers his eyes and uses skills to navigate. His eyes are too eccentric for normal people and he doesn't like the attention, he'd rather people think he was blind. As for my eyes, I don't care what people think."
Duke Elenwith didn't question her, Eradin's eyes were abnormal, it would be weirder if he wasn't self-conscious about them. Deciding to be the spokesperson for them, he was the one that responded. "That is fine, now, have you attained permission? Do we have to make oaths or is contract magic required?"
Farah nodded her head and her eye with the aura around it flared a little at her words. "Yes, I have attained permission. I will speak for Eradin until he feels the need to speak. However you require an oath of not attempting to kill us when you hear this and you can not tell anyone without our permission, as it is considered heresy by the church. We will pledge it is the truth. Don't ask questions until the end."
The Dukes all nodded, then they pledged, "We pledge to the heavens that we shall not attempt to kill either of you after hearing the heretical information and attempt to understand what we hear and give honest replies."
Farah in return with a slight smirk also pledged. "I Farah, pledge to the heavens that anything I say about this information is the truth."
The Farah began. She explained how there weren't the ten creator gods but others as well. She explained how the so-called creator gods were corrupt in their self-important ideals, that the sealed existences were betrayed, they weren't evil and were gods, she also told them of the concept of aspects and balance that she learned from Eradin. She didn't tell them about the void or the concepts of ascension. So it could only be considered a half-truth as she didn't reveal everything but what she did say was true. Finally she concluded that Eradin was a being born from the Sealed Gods last powers and she neglected to mention about being able to inherit a gods existence. He was to eventually ascend and free the world from the corruption of the gods and make it a place where mortals governed themselves and not the gods passing whims. Her job was to be his guide as he was cursed and it was infringing upon his quest. It was all half true, there were just facts Farah purposefully didn't mention, she was using her ability to be cunning to the limit.
The Dukes were in a stunned state, their brains practically stopped functioning. They just learned secrets of how the world worked, and it was all true. The church of the ten creator gods was lead by gods that were corrupt, and there were more than ten gods, four of which they participated in sealing. This demi-god and Farah were to fight the gods by themselves, that would be impossible!
Thankfully they knew it was true. Duke Elenwith was the most controlled as should be expected. He was the first to respond. "So that is what you meant by saying we would prosper if he succeeded. We can escape the churches false teachings and live by governing ourselves. Are you saying that we should drive out the church? They are rooted in every country except for the demon country."
Farah only smiled, she had entrapped them, her father was already thinking of helping. "Nothing is absolute in this world, as you can see from the fact I told you that us mortals had participated in sealing gods. Think logically, what was the deciding factor to cause four gods who were equal to ten others in combat to lose and be sealed?"
The Dukes all went silent, there was only one factor they could think of, in unison they all replied with the exact same words, "Mortals".
"Yes, mortals, so here lies the problem, what is to stop the gods from repeating that same action on a single demi-god instead of four gods. I can assure you, the day that Eradin fights the gods, he could overwhelm them one versus ten, but that is not factoring in the mortals. If you are willing to aid us in freeing the world, we need to prepare the mortals of Algon for another Aspect War, but this time to stop the gods from calling their believers to aid them. We would be against the world. However that isn't implying we can't get aid from all over the world, Eradin and I aren't going to be rooted in this country, we need to travel the continent. We can't sway the population immediately, the church is rooted too deep. Covert actions to subtlely change the public opinion is required. Starting with our four noble houses and the Adventurers Guild. It is possible because I believe it is."
The Dukes listened intently, they weren't stupid or they would have died long ago and their families wouldn't be the ruling powers of Elren City. If Eradin and Farah were to fight divine existences, they would need help from all over. Algon was the smallest country but their people were of better stock than larger countries due to the higher level of magic density and the constant threats of war. If an army was to be built, there was no better place to start than in their own families. That much they agreed upon.
"Well then, how do you plan to get the four families involved? We can't control all of them individually, you know that even a few of your cousins are devout believers in the church Farah."
Farah could only laugh inwardly, if she hadn't thought that far, then what was the point of starting basically a revolution. "Well you wanted to know my race right. Well let me put it this way, if you are ranked tenth as a High Elf Noble, I am ranked first. You should feel it from your bloodline. I am an Abyssal Elf now. Gain control of the four families by telling them I evolved into one of the legendary subspecies of the elves. Use an area of effect blood contract to bind them. Get them all to believe from their bones that I was chosen to be the [Eternal Guide] of the Cursed Hero who shall free us from our oppression that we didn't even know of until now. All of this will be done in secret. Then once oaths of loyalty and secrecy are established, begin to sew seeds of doubt and discord into the populace. It doesn't have to be now, it can take years to accomplish. It will be years before we are strong enough to fight gods. I'd recommend getting the Guildmaster involved as well so we can get the Adventurers Guild on our side. Anyone in the families that refuses to be a part of the revolution, execute them for treason in secrecy. Do anything to win, even foul methods, if craftsmen who believe that the gods make their crafts work are around, give them a blueprint so hard to make that even they can't make it, destroy their work secretly, anything at all. There are no rules when it comes to fighting gods. Anything will work, how you get it done, that is up to you. Just once, I will show you my status so you all understand, I am an Abyssal Elf, there are very few other subspecies that are ranked equal to me. I became this race in order to accompany Eradin to places a mortal should never go and I shall be the one to guide him towards his destiny, and that first step, build a faction he has absolute control over."
The Dukes eyes almost exploded from their sockets, what the hell were all these skills and stats, a level twenty eight should not have such specs! This....this was leverage they could use, if they were to fight gods and get a faction full of mortals to aid them, something like this could be twisted with the right speech. A legendary elf from legends, a demi-god who was cursed but still fights in order to end corruption and oppression. That was a story that they could spin into some crap about how they were the chosen ones and needed the help of everyone to save the world. It was a secret they were putting absolute faith in the four families as expected, etcetera. If anyone could spew shit a mile long that sounded wonderful, it was a noble with the reputation of always being honest. And there were four of them right here!
"Well, if it can right the wrongs we did in the Aspect War causing balance to be disrupted, then we can do that, you should know we can make flowery speeches as required of any noble."
Duke Elenwith then sent his gaze to Eradin who only sat silently letting Farah do all the talking. "You demi-god, Eradin, I can forgive you for changing Farahs race, I can apologize for sealing your gods, however, I will not let her travel with you, not without at least knowing how strong you actually are. I know you are far stronger when that hidden skill activates, you lose rationality for the sake of your potential being unleashed. I won't fight you under that effect, I would still win anyway but, I shall test the extents of your power beore I dare let you take my daughter anywhere for an extended period of time. I can't get this dangerous feeling and cautionary feeling I have towards you under control. I will not budge upon this request, if you decline, I will take it as you giving Farah back to me and never seeing her again."
Eradin heard Duke Elenwith, but all of it left his reasoning capabilities. All he focused upon was the Duke will take Farah away if he declined this fight. Eradin's bloodlust once again rose, if it was a fight that the Duke wanted, then he would gladly comply, no matter if he was one or a hundred levels above Eradin. No one should expect to not fight him when they said something about taking his one lifeline he gained that would keep him sane.
"Fine, I shall comply, let's get this over with, Farah is my one and only friend in this world, if you dare to take her away, don't blame me for going on a rampage and insane. She is the seal on my anger, don't unleash it or you will regret it."
Eradin stood up and withdrew the Death Gods Scythe from his body. His goal, get in at least one hit. The Duke was level [???] so he was certainly much higher than forty. There was no chance for Eradin to win, even so, he would gladly accept this fight, not only to improve himself and discover his limits, but to prove to this bastard that Farah wasn't only his. But as Duke Elenwith walked towards him and stopped, the next words just pissed off Eradin.
"I shall suppress my strength to your level. That should be more than enough even if you are part god."
The Duke readied his stance after mentally forcing his body to decrease its strength and seal itself to that of a level twenty eight. Only extremely high level people with complete control of every muscle in their bodies could do this. His weapons and sword were a much stronger version of Farah's previous [Wind Fairy Set]. Speed was all the Duke cared about, infinite speed to crush his opponents. He was confident that his speed suppressed to that of a level twenty eight would still be triple what a normal twenty eight was capable of. Then his expectation was shattered. Eradin didn't even wait for anyone to say start, he used [Rage of the Dragon God] that was now a 110% bonus and rushed at the Duke. All the Duke had time to comprehend was a large black dragon appearing and releasing a cry that caused a mini-earthquake and the ground underneath Eradin began cracking. With his strength suppressed, all that pressure was now baring down on him and he couldn't move. Just barely, he dodged a strike with the intent to kill. Unconsciously, he raised the strength threshold to level thirty five and he felt he was back to normal movement. The Duke could now see Eradin. He once again entered his stance and dashed towards him. They clashed weapons, Eradin, would attack from angles that only a scythe could provide and the Duke constantly thrusted or slashed from many angles only a sword could. The two constantly clashed, a flurry of motion that was distorted, one mistiming of a counter and the other would most certainly incur a severe wound. Bloodlust from both of them was rising, Eradin pushing out his power to the limits, the Duke unsealing more and more levels of his power. Then unexpectedly, a smile was beginning to appear on both of their faces, and yet not even thirty seconds had passed from that exchange.
The [Cursed Star] appeared and gave Eradin the power of [Physical Stats Reduction:2] and [Reduce Physical Damage: 2] Now that the [Cursed Star] was at 30% mastery, he could use two curses at once. The Duke unsealed his strength up to level forty three and wind started to gust around him. The two of them collided again, this time incurring wounds from both parties. Eradin was stabbed in the leg, while multiple cuts appeared on Duke Elenwith's arms. Eradin's movement was hampered, but the Duke was now cursed. Even so, they still fought in ever increasing battle momentum. Eradin's [Asura Aura] was fully stacked, so even after [Rage of the Dragon God] subsided, he was still attacking close to two times in one second. The two of them kept incurring wounds, multiple deep cuts appeared on both of them. The other Dukes and Farah could only watch in awe, they knew that these two were speaking in their own way to each other but it wouldn't last for long. The Duke now unleashed once again another level of power. Now a level forty fours strength. Then Eradin began to lose horribly, constant cuts appeared on his body, even though he reduced the damage and physical stats of the Duke. Eradin began to stay on the defensive, focused only on countering until [Rage of the Dragon God] came off of its three minute cool down. But the fight didn't last that long. There was no way it would last that long, the Duke kept unleashing higher levels of strength until Eradin finally fell to the ground, with a long sword at his throat.
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"You rely on that skill which increases all of your physical abilities far too much. Once it ends and is on cool down, you don't have a trump card. Save it for the moment you are about to take serious wounds and catch the opponent off guard. Inflict a counter with your full strength at that time. It could end the battle in that one moment. Had you done so, I might have lost immediately. If you can't kill the enemy when you do so, rely on it to its limits to run away if they are out of your league. Don't just use it every time it is off cool down. Bad habits can lead to death and I intend to break you of such habits now. Had you have had years to train properly instead of learning to fight on your own, you might have already had double the strength you have now. But you pass, as you level up and get better at fighting, I am sure you will reach a realm I can only dream of. But you have earned my approval, I support Farah going along with you on your journey."
Eradin was currently vomiting up blood, but he and the Duke were able to get their feelings across from that fight with no rules. Eradin could say that he truly understood a second person's feelings in this world. The Duke had infinite love for his daughter, and he showed that in this fight. Eradin showed that he would use all of his power to fight to the death and never give up, the Duke could respect that, not many people would be willing to die fighting and would instead not care about anyone else's lives while attempting to save theirs. Such occurences happened all too often in life or death situations and he would not risk it with his daughter.
"Well then glad to be broken of it. Thanks."
"No problem, I am sure you will be an Emperor of Slaughter on the battlefield and attain a title similar to ours called the Four Calamities. There is no way that you are not going to attain such a title. I dare say that in a level range of roughly ten levels, you can be considered invincible. I used strength at the level of a forty four, but it was much stronger than average as my strength originally surpasses forty four by far. To fight sixteen levels above your range is quite impressive. But no, you aren't broken of such habits yet in only a few minutes, so when we return to the city, I offer an invitation for you to stay at my mansion. I shall beat those bad habits of yours out of the body and show you how to really fight, it is not all about brute strength in a fight. Skill, timing, countering, deception, intelligence, techniques, Health and Mana management, managing your cool downs, all of the unknown variables, whether you are alone against multiple enemies, one on one, fighting as a team, there are many more aspects than simply using brute strength. Even if your level doesn't increase during your stay, I dare say your ability to fight will increase quite a bit."
Eradin paled a bit at the thought of realizing how he fought all this time. There was still much to learn. But there was one thing the Dukes didn't realize, he couldn't ride a mount for extended periods of time. They would end up being affected by the pressure of the world, they would need far more energy to fly than normal. That was just a death sentence.
"Well I am sure we can fight every day and night on our way back to the city, I can't ride anything that is alive. They would be affected by one of my curses. The pressure of the world would increase upon them and force more energy for even the simplest tasks to be used. Unless you have another method, I do not see how we can travel back to the city in one day."
The Duke only smiled. After learning from Farah during the time she was explaining everything, he already understood for the most part that Eradin couldn't be as strong as he was without some demerits. That much he understood when Farah explained he was cursed. The most forthwright of them. He was affected by the worlds pressure. If not, how could he have learned to emit such pressure on others. Spatial magic warped these laws and he as the Duke had come across wielders of such magic in the Aspect War.
"We are not riding gryphons back, the Dukes and I already sent a long distance transmission the moment we realized we were staying the night or even heard of your situation. So you can only ride something non-living for it to be unaffected right? Well wait for about ten more minutes. And you will see the benefits of befriending anyone with a profession or class in crafting."
True to his words, Eradin heard what sounded like shockwaves through the Algaron Forest. In that next instant, something Earth had never been able to accomplish appeared. A massive airship that was sending sonic shockwaves as it travelled was heading towards their direction. Countless crew were maintaining it. Cannons were adorned on the sides. Many runic symbols covered it and a massive light shooting from a crystal was shining directly on their location in the shade of the island, illuminating all of their positions. But there was one problem. The Dukes and Farah were farther away from Duke Elenwith and Eradin. So the scene that the crew saw was much different.
They saw a bloody area, one of their Dukes riddled with wounds and his long sword out next to an equally blood covered Eradin, although his wounds were for the most part healed aside from a few scrapes and the hole in his leg. Orders were immediately relayed and a medical team descended with a combat team. Before anyone could tell them to stop, a magic formation was launched. Seperating everyone, only Eradin and the combat team were within the formation. The Dukes all started screaming but combat already began. Eradin didn't understand what was going on. There were four elves all in armor similar to the [Wind Fairy Set], there was also a mage who started to chant. All combatants were ranged from thirty-six to forty-two. Enough of a force to challenge Eradin a bit.
Eradin applied what he learned from the Duke. He waited for the four elves to descend upon him, attacking in the same manner the Duke had attacked, this made them predicatable. Eradin waited until they fully committed to their attacks. One to the front, two to the sides and one jumped into the air and slashed down. While multiple blades of wind were shot towards any area he could escape to.
Just as they thought their target would be easily dispatched. The moment the attacks were about to connect. A black dragon phantasmal image appeared around Eradin. In unison, a dragon cry was released. The ground shattered, Eradin turned the Death Gods Scythe so the duller side of the blade was pointing towards them. Then he countered with all the strength he had. The elf who jumped and was fully committed in a downwards slash was sent flying by the shockwave and slammed against the barrier of the magical formation. The one directly in front of Eradin recieved the back of his scythe shaft to the head and fell to the ground unconscious. The two remaining elves dodged successfully while regrouping in front of their mage who was chanting once again. This time fire was beginning to surround the area. The temperature increased, and multiple balls of fire came falling from above Eradin. But what was the Death Gods Scythe? It was categorized as indestructible! He slashed and cut all of the meteors into many small pieces. Looking at the remaining elves he began to run towards them.
The barrier lit up, Eradin felt as if all his strength was being sapped. His inner vision blurred slightly and saw the two elves charge at him. I will not die, I will not die, I will not DIE! Eradin's thoughts was only one, survive by any means. He forced himself to keep running, his vision cleared, and for the first time he tried to forcefully emit more pressure than the [Rage of the Dragon God] naturally emitted.
[Skill Gained: Dragon Gods Aura 2/10]
[You have learned to manipulate the aura of the Dragon God, all opponents that are within it's area of effect are weakened physically. All physical stats reduce by 10%]
The Elves movements slowed down, then they stopped, although they should be able to move because the aura only weakened them, they were terrified. They sensed the aura of a true dragon from this boy, and it was pure, so pure they felt it was stronger than any aura a true dragon could emit. Eradin only approached them and with the shaft of his scythe, knocked them all unconscious. But he was barely in control, he wanted to leave, he wanted to see Farah, he hated the feeling of his strength being forcefully absorbed. All he wanted was to relax and ponder his fighting style the rest of the day because of learning from the Duke about his flaws. And yet there was another group of elves descending into the barrier. This time there was twenty of them. These ones were all over level 50. Looking up at the ship, there were even elves that were [???] level for Eradin. As they all began to slowly approach in a combat formation. The barrier lit up even more. Eradins inner vision went black. He couldn't sense any of the elves. His danger levels were increasing. Eradin tried to back up, but he felt that it was too late, all the elves had surrounded him. He was directly in the center of the circle and there was blade to the back of his neck when a single female voice whispered into Eradin's ears.
"Die for your sins."
Just as the general of this escort squad was about to personally behead Eradin, a shockwave resounded. The barrier shattered. Eradin who could be considered blind right now didn't know what was happening. If he was able to take off his headband and be able to see right now, all of the escort squad would be trembling within his vision but he didn't dare to move as for whatever reason, he was still alive. Four people had shattered the barrier. They were all instantaneously standing around Eradin and the general, who currently had her hand with the blade to Eradin's neck was trembling. She had a longsword, a bow, a warhammer, and a trap runic spell beneath her feet, all on her as their target for elimination. She immediately began to quiver, dropping her blade, she began to stutter in fear.
"My lords...what...what...is..thi...."
"Don't speak Emerila, you completely misread the situation, to dare assault the young master that our houses all respect. To dare assault someone who is a lower level and already wounded with twenty trained combat personnel over level fifty from my house without my orders and deploying the magic formation. Furthermore, he is only level 28 and not properly trained in the ways of fighting. Just tell me, why shouldn't I personally behead you for this transgression against my authority. You didn't even ask if I needed help. Do you really think I who is well over level 100 need help against someone who is level twenty eight?"
Emerila quickly shook her head, only now did she realize her mistake. This youth was far stronger than anticipated. With her Duke covered in blood all she cared about was his safety and the elimination of all threats. But never did she think that the Four Calamities of legend were all aiming at her life if she even cut the surface of this boys skin. She simply dropped to the ground and prayed for forgiveness.
Eradin still didn't move, he was trying to release his [Dragon Gods Aura] in a panicing state, doing anything that would enable him to sense his surrounding, but he couldn't. Duke Elenwith could guess what he was doing based on his actions. "Farah come over and escort Eradin as you are supposed to. Your are his [Eternal Guide] are you not? And Eradin, everything is fine, no one shall attempt to kill you, Farah will lead you onto the air ship. You probably won't be able to use your sensory skills or even see with your eyes for a few hours, that magical formation is nasty business that should only be used in war. Not against one person, all of its effects that are usually spread across multiple enemies was concentrated on you alone. She will guide you to a room. I shall come in later to express my apologies, but right now, with the aid of the three Dukes, we need to instill proper loyalty again into these useless bags of trash."
Farah came over, she simply grabbed Eradin's hand as gently as possible but he still flinched. He had never been able to truly not see. His inner vision sufficed. To think if he even opened his eyes, that he'd be blind. He was truly vulnerable for the first time in his second life. But even so, Farah still tried to help him towards the ships as he stumbled and flinched at every little rock he kicked. Farah didn't care, she went as slow as needed for Eradin while holding his hand, despite her energy rapidly being drained. She even began to sing [Song of the Abyss Mother] to calm Eradin. Finally after nearly ten minutes, she got Eradin to a room and sat next to him. He was slowly falling unconscious to her singing and finally he slept on the bed. While outside, every single crew member was being beaten savagely as they were all forced to fight together against the Four Calamities. They were experiencing a hell far worse than any before. The personal wrath of these four people who were pillars of Algon was not to be aroused. Constant screams of pain rang out through the day until finally at sunset, they were realeased from the "Special Training". The return to Elren had been delayed by a day.