Custom Introductions

The whole village was walled in the shape of a kite with a lesser circular wall in the center around the ‘town square’, so to speak. It was as huge as any large town but strangely it was referred to as a village. Around four hundred people lived in the village and of the four hundred, twenty six were adventurers. The highest level adventurer in the village was ‘Elite Class’ equivalent to C Rank monsters. The guild lady explained in great detail when we asked about the village and the guild.

“Thank you for that. It’s pretty impressive how patient you are.”

“Well, thank you. We don’t get many visitors coming into town, much less adventurers to be.”

“So, about registering as an adventurer, are there any prerequisites to consider?”

“Well there are a few, but as long as you reach the required level there should be no problems.”

Required level? I’m pretty sure we do not qualify yet.

“And what is the required level?”

“And what is this required level?”

Why do they always ignore me? Do I have a problem? Naa, it must be them.

“Level ten is a must to become an adventurer.”

“Oh we do not qualify at all.”

“How do we go up a few levels quickly?”

“Well, as the guild for this village I shouldn’t be telling you this but…”

She drew me over the counter to whisper in my ear.

“You can level up quickly by killing strong monsters. For example, slaying any dragon guarantees you five levels at the very least.”

“Does everyone who participated get experience for killing a monster?”

“If they’re in your party, sure.”

“Thank you for the private info.”

“You can have my private information any day.”

“Hehe, well…”

“What are you guys whispering about?”

“Sigh…we’ll be back.”

“Of course.”

“Ignoring me again? You know what, I don’t care anymo--”

I grabbed her by the hand and dragged her out of the guild in a hurry to find the others. The new plan was to level up by going monster hunting as a party, to have better chances.

“Where the hell are they?”

After some time, we took a break near the village square.

“Let’s just go back to the inn, I’m tired.”

“I’m getting bored myself, and I didn’t know you could lie!”

“Why not, can’t you?”

“Well I can lie, but that’s because my dad was a Demon Progenitor. You know, Pride.”

“Yeah, so? My mother was also a Demon Progenitor, Lust.”

“Really...? That explains why you didn’t seem confused when I mentioned Pride yesterday.”

“Well, I get that your dad was as badass as my mom so you’ll want to look for him but he won’t know you at all. Weren’t you taken with your mom from this world immediately after you were born?”

“Huh? I was taken, yes, but my dad was sent with me not my mom.”

“Why was your dad taken with you instead? No! More importantly, why are you looking for someone who should be dead?”

By then we had reached the inn and were right outside our room door. I opened it quickly and entered.

“My dad isn’t dead. He was, but he said something about being reborn because he’s a progenitor.”

“Hold the conversation, how are we going to share this room? In case you didn’t know, I’m a girl and you’re a boy.”

“I don’t care what you do really, I’ll sleep on the bed and you…you can sleep anywhere.”

“Oh hell no! Where are your manners? The girl sleeps on the bed, the boy is supposed to be a gentleman and offer to sleep on the floor.”

“Think what you want, I’m sleeping on the bed.”

I took off my shirt as I replied and jumped on the bed.

“We’ll continue where we left off tomorrow, good night.”

“Son of a…”

Asleep. I fell asleep.

*

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Interlude

Elsewhere in the cleansed sanctuary of the Holy Kingdom Derunbel, the leaders of the thirteen sects of the holy army gathered around a large round table at the very end of the sanctuary. All around them were healing herbs and plants that stored loads of mana. On the left and right sides of the entrance and the gate were large bird fountains. The Sect leaders sat in order of their gods power, from the right, the most powerful, to the left. In silence they waited for the queen to arrive with the two god kin. The last two god kin with power in the kingdom were the queen’s own children.

“Presenting Her Majesty, Holy Queen Esther Aowatani! All rise!”

Came the sanctuary guard. The other leaders stood up and bowed. They held their positions till the queen took her seat at the head of the table, facing the entrance of the sanctuary.

“Introductions please.”

Though she already knew everyone in the sanctuary, with the exception of the guard who waited outside, it was a custom for the queen to ask for introductions since the first queen always did so.

“I am the Paladin of the Dark Sect, sworn to our goddess Zaire with my life, Jirbal Fen De Blindr.”

As he finished the queen gave her nod of approval for him to sit, which he complied with.

“I am the Paladin of the Earth Sect, sworn to our god Zerant with my life, Krishnar Bal Indruth.”

“I am the Paladin of the Storm Sect, sworn to our goddess Kirin with my life, Renkyuu Jao De Blindr.”

“I am the Paladin of the Light Sect, sworn to our god FangFist with my life, Birc Nil Far Jaoniq.”

“I am the Paladin of the Mana Sect, sworn to our god GameBreak with my life, Form Wan Liye.”

“I am the Paladin of the Will Sect, sworn to our god OverPowered with my life, Bless Incuro Septeph.”

“I am the Paladin of the Wind Sect, sworn to our god FangStar with my life, Kean Siome-Sem.”

“I am the Paladin of the Lesser Light Sect, sworn to our god Carmeichel with my life, Cristoph Aren Shinroden.”

“I am the Paladin of the Aura Sect, sworn to our god BlueBlood with my life, Hue Van Tink.”

“I am the Paladin of the Blood Sect, sworn to our god RedRaid with my life, Intra Sess Kalanker.”

“I am the Paladin of the Blade Sect, sworn to our god Mal-T-X with my life, Finato Jakero Costinro.”

“I am the Paladin of the Shadow Sect, sworn to our god GameBash with my life, Mjanomin Erseth Mimoa.”

“I am the Paladin of the Water Sect, sworn to our god WhipWash with my life, Wallace Wallow Wallows.” The last paladin finished.

“Alright, Mr Jirbal, what do we have the pleasure of converging to the Holy Sanctuary for today?”

“Your Majesty, I believe you felt it too, the burst of energy which erupted yesterday.”

The topic for discussion was the energy Masayuki released the day before when he died.

“Hmm” She answered with a nod.

“We felt it too!”

Bursting through the gates, the two god kin proceeded to their seats with the boy in the lead.

“Aah, the god kin. So what did you two think of the energy?” Asked the Lesser Light Paladin, Cristoph.

“Hmm, well it felt familiar right, Lucias?”

“Yes, as we were saying yesterday, there is no doubt that the energy was exactly like ours but greater.”

“So you’re saying one goddess may have survived the purge?”

The god kin both nodded in unison.

The sect leaders gasped and murmured among themselves. Then the Shadow Sect Paladin, Mjanomin, shot up a hand.

“Are we sure it’s one of our goddesses? I am the head of the information gathering sect so you get where I’m coming from. For all we know it could be DarkLord, the god killer, setting a trap for the god kin.”

“Yes that is likely.” Replied the older god kin, Sarah Aowatani.

“Or it could be the new gods, it has been a thousand years since the last gods arrived.”

“I see you’re well informed Mr Birc Nil Far Jaoniq. Since I am a god kin myself, it is my duty to read up on the history of our gods so it pleases me to learn that others learn it as well. Sadly, the chances of the energy being a new god is very low.”

“And why is that?” Asked her little brother, Lucias Aowatani.

“Lucias, you already know that every god has a unique aura. The one released was that of the goddess Zaire, our god-blood comes from her so we know this more than anyone. A new god would release a new energy if he/she had arrived, but this energy did have a unique feel so there’s also a chance that it is another god kin.”

“The only possibilities are that it’s a new god with similar energy to our goddess Zaire, a newly born god kin, our goddess Zaire herself or a trap set by DarkLord to kill our god kin.”

“Exactly Mr Jirbal.”

“What is our next move then?” Asked the queen.

“Excuse me, your majesty.” Mjanomin shot his hand up, “May I have permission to move the Shadow Sect out? We are the best in intelligence gathering in the world, surely we can verify.”

“Of course her majesty would have thought of this herself and weighed the advantages against the disadvantages.”(Form)

“Right, for instance, maybe the god kin is already trained as a Lanburel troop and is baiting us to take out our godkin.”(Kean)

“Or Lanburel is unaware of the god kin but becomes suspicious when they discover that we snuck into their nation.”

“Paladin Renkyuu, you think my Sect is a group of amateurs? We leave no trace.”

“Not at all, but we have to consider every possibility, don’t you think her majesty has thought of all that?”

“Oh, I mean no disrespect your majesty, please forgive my shortsightedness. I should do better as a Paladin Sect Leader.”

In truth, her majesty Queen Esther wasn’t as wise as they thought. She gave short or vague answers, which were misinterpreted by others, most of the time that helped others and the nation a lot. She never considered herself to think past the same day let alone years. Her natural luck helped her out most of the time. Even her family considered her mind as a treasure.

“Don’t worry about it. Send out your most elite agents to investigate the source, where did this even happen?”

“A small village on the border of Lanburel and the Quebbire Empire, Sodorra Village.”

“Mother? May I leave with them?”

Huh? What the heck is this boy saying, didn’t he hear anything about DarkLord? The God Killer? No way I’ll let his pride lead him to his death.

“No, we’ll need you here.”

“As expected of mother, your planning goes far beyond any mortals.”

Huh!? What planning now? I’ll just roll with it.

The smartest person in the kingdom was believed to be the queen, it was believed that she didn’t develop any power because she developed her mind instead, but she knew that the real smartest person in the Holy Kingdom was her daughter, Sarah. The fact that Sarah always thought she had a future plan always set in motion didn’t unsettle her one bit. She believed that her daughter should have a clear goal to work toward and overcome so she made herself that goal, even though she really wasn’t that smart.

“Yes, I’ll let Sarah explain to you later but we need you so you must stay.”

“Very well mother.”

“So Paladin Mjanomin, get your most proficient agents ready for the mission.”

He quickly got up, bowed and left the sanctuary.

“Other paladin sects should proceed with their current tasks and await future orders, but before that, Sarah and Jirbal, I want you to explain my plan to them.”

“Of course mother.”

“It is an honor your majesty.”

“I’ll start, all right Paladin Jirbal?” After he nodded, she continued “With the addition of the new high vampires to the Kingdom of Eves’ ranks and the decline in the Beast King’s army…”

“...We can capitalize on the situation and hit the Beast King’s Domain with everything we have...”

“…Seizing their army and resources quickly, then we could use the new additions…”

“To destroy the Kingdom of Eves once and for all.”

Their plan is pretty good. The beast king would be taken care of by Lucias, then when we turn our attention to the Kingdom of Eves, the Phoenix will face off against the Spirit of the Void. With help from Sarah and Lucias, the Phoenix should easily defeat the Spirit of the Void.

“—Your majesty?”

“Huh? What? Oh sorry, I was lost in thought.”

“Forgive me for interrupting your planning, we were asking whether to proceed with the plan or not.”

“Of course, I’ll leave the details to you two. I have some planning to do so if you’ll excuse me.”

With that, the meeting came to an end. The queen got up to leave, then the god kin, and finally the Paladin Sect leaders.