Glenn rubbed the corner of his eyes, squinting. He blinked and opened his mouth, trying to say something, only to raise his hands in confusion. He was so surprised he was unable to even muster a word.
"He...That was you he was singing about, right?" Sahro stuttered, an awed smile on his face.
The two young men remained frozen for a few minutes until the heavy slam of two pints of ale woke them up from their stupor.
"Did you see a ghost or something?" Milena sneered, making herself comfortable on her chair. Glenn shook his head, coming to his senses.
"Milena, any idea who that bard was?" he asked while trying to find a said musician in the crowd. Milena shook her head, crossing her arms dejectedly.
"...No one knows. He always arrives when we less expect him to come and from seemingly nowhere. Each time I or one of this inn's patrons tried to ask him a question, he would avoid it or disappear. He's a mysterious stranger singing the praises of untold heroes..." Milena's gaze lost itself in the distance, her cheeks slightly red. Glenn snorted, recovering her attention.
"Haha, I never thought the proud Milena would ever have a crush on a low-born–" Glenn couldn't continue his sentence as Milena angrily pounced at him, her face flushed with shame. Sahro laughed as he watched them fight, enjoying his beer at the same time. After Milena was forced back on her chair with tactical use of Gravity Manipulation, Glenn could finally sip on his ale as well, the corners of his lips curved upward. The lady sighed, hiding her face behind her hands.
"So, why don't you tell us about you, Milena?" Glenn asked, raising his mug toward her. The woman threw her hair back, her lips pinched.
"...What do you know about me?" She carefully demanded, throwing glances all around the inn. Glenn sighed at the scene and opened his left hand, using the Silence Curse to mute the area around their table.
"There, no one will hear you. Oh, and I'm just asking because I'm curious, so feel free to not answer," He waved his hand dismissively, before tapping his chin, pondering.
"...What I know about you... I'm certain that you're from a noble family from the Court or King's Rise First Circle. The only thing that should stand above your standing would be the Royal family, correct?" He theorized, blowing the moss over his beer away. Milena nodded slowly, her fists tightly clenched.
"Wait, are you even allowed to be with us? Aren't you supposed to work?" Sahro asked curiously. Milena shot daggers from her eyes, before raising her chin proudly.
"I'm the boss here, I do whatever I want!" She smiled like a kid waiting to be congratulated, only to be rewarded with two thumbs up from the two young men.
"Good for you. So, uh, where were we...?" Glenn rubbed his temples, ignoring her fluttered expression. He flicked his fingers, grinning.
"Ah, yes. So, you're a Court noble, as probably was Prince...You have some kind of special body enhancement that makes you much stronger than normal people at your rank and master probably some special magic reserved for your Family. Magic that has something to do with world perception, illusion, or bending stuff, from what I remember of our short little fight," Glenn drank a mouthful of ale, ignoring the shocked expression on the woman's face. His face illuminated suddenly and he sank his hand in his dimensional pouch, squinting as he tried to find something.
"Oh, and I almost forgot..." He smiled as he pulled a paper sheet out of the pouch, handing it to Milena, "...You have to pass some kind of Test, which, I presume, Prince also needed to pass. I just couldn't find his Test sheet, but yeah, that's probably something similar...right?" He smiled contentedly, massaging the back of his neck with an uncaring expression. In truth, he couldn't help but feel immensely satisfied seeing the awe and shock on Milena's face, which, by the way, lost a few shades of color since the beginning of the conversation.
"So, how close was I to the bull's eye?" He asked with a sarcastic grin, raising his beer at her. Milena stowed the Test sheet away with trembling hands, before clasping them together.
"...Way too close. Could you please keep that to yourself?" Milena asked politely, bowing her slightly. She was shivering, her face hidden behind her raven-black hair, every pore of her being weeping with fear. Glenn raised an eyebrow and shrugged.
"Sure, I mean, what would that earn him to reveal your secrets?" He nodded, before sending a gust of Mana to blow her hair away, "...Oh, and what are you so scared of?"
He couldn't help but ask since she seemed terrified to have her secrets revealed or be known by everyone. The lady bit down on her lips, playing with a strand of her hair.
"...We, the Court Children I mean, are forbidden to have our identities revealed. It's also a part of the Test, and if we fail to hide it, we're pretty much failures in our Family's eyes..." She glanced up with cold eyes, her face darkening, "...and failures are meant to be thrown away."
Glenn whistled, smacking his lips.
"Sounds like the dream life. Anyway, it was great meeting you, I guess we'll see you next time we stop at the Twilight Inn, then?"
Milena blinked, confusion replacing any harshness on her face.
"W...Wait, you're not going to say it to everyone? Or at least blackmail me?" The lady fiddled with her fingers, her eyes widening. Glenn snorted, shaking his head with indignation.
"Who do you take me for? And what am I going to blackmail you for, an early death? I don't want to turn another noble family against me!" He grinned and finished his beer, before slapping the table with his palm. Sahro raised his beer at him, finishing it as well.
"I'll cheer to that, heh!"
Glenn stood up, stretching his legs. He nodded at Milena and pushed his chair under the table.
"Well, this is that, but I need to go and take a leak. See you around, Milena. Hopefully, you'll be able to grow your..." He glanced at the tavern with a complicated expression, before shooting her a thumbs-up, "...establishment well."
The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.
Milena was so dumbfounded she could only stare at Glenn's back as he left the inn, her lids trembling with confusion. Sahro shrugged, and leaned forward, waking her from her stupor.
"What?" She asked with an emotionless voice. Sahro rubbed his chin, his eyebrows creased.
"...Do you serve food as well?"
----------------------------------------
"...Did you see her face? Haha, it looked like she got her soul sucked right out!" Diamanes laughed out loud, the plump mouth appearing inside Glenn's left palm. The young man laughed as well, shaking his head with satisfaction.
"Hah, that felt great," He grinned as he walked in the night, the twin moons hidden behind thick dark clouds. It seemed like it was going to rain soon, from what he could see.
"Lux." A ball of light floated above his head, illuminating his way with a warm hue. He could have used Sun's Touch, but Lux remained much more inconspicuous compared to a glowing arm, and less eye-catching. It's still magic that captivates the eyes of casual spectators, but a more common kind of magic, to be sure.
The young man was heading straight for the Twilight Gate and its two huge statues, the mage and the priest.
"Since the Northern Gate had a barbarian and a swordsman, I wonder what the Dawn Gate and the Burning Gate have as statues. There should be an archer in the midst, for sure, but what could there be for the rest? I feel like we explored most of the class options already..." He muttered under his breath, silently walking past the guard's post. There were two somnolent sentinels, who didn't seem to care much for him as long as he didn't try to forcefully open the Gate. Glenn walked up to the mage's statue, drawing a deep breath as he placed his hand on the dark stone.
"Well, thanks for the meal!" Diamanes chuckled wickedly as the power was absorbed through him, passing through Glenn's left arm and nestling comfortably in his chest. The young man couldn't help wondering if there was a way to see these powers in his Mana Heart, or if they were out of sight, able to be used but unable to be sought.
A loud slurping sound and a burp later, Diamanes was finished with taking the power away from the statue. Glenn glanced at the dark mage sculpture, wondering if he had just deactivated the magic protecting it when Diamanes sneered inside his mind.
'Who do you take yourself for? I was barely able to take what's akin to a drop of water in the ocean!' The entity smacked its lips, sighing. Glenn secretly breathed out in relief as he stared at his left, purple palm.
"So, what did we get?" He asked, unable to contain his curiosity. Diamanes' grin appeared in the left palm once again, silent. The young man cursed this unnerving friend and called the power he just absorbed, feeling his Mana shaping into a sharp form. He looked at a rock on the side of the road the size of a man and the thickness of a car and shot the Mana toward it. Consuming as much as a Drilling Bullet would, an invisible line of Mana shot out, touching the rock without doing anything.
Glenn looked back and forth between his palm and the rock, confused.
"Wait, did I do something wrong? I did shoot the magic though..."
Diamanes chuckled.
"Wait a second, it's going to slide in an instant..."
Glenn frowned, unable to understand.
"Slide? What do you mean, slide...?" He trailed off as he watched the upper part of the rock separate from the main body, sliding off and falling to the ground. The young man approached the result of his fooling around, staring in amazement at the neatly cut-off stone. It looked like it had been cut by an industrial machine with unseen precision.
"Is that sharp magic or something...?" Glenn couldn't help thinking aloud, his eyes wide with wonder.
Diamanes coughed lightly, correcting him.
"Nope, it's a branch of Earth magic."
Glenn blinked and stared at the rock. He pointed at the sharp cut as his eyebrows rose in disbelief.
"What—What in there screams "Earth magic"? Wind magic, sure, but Earth? Are you sure about that?" He questioned, summoning said "Earth magic" at the same time. He tried to look at what the Mana conjured, but it was invisible to the naked eye. He could feel it and knew it was there, but he couldn't determine what it was.
"...What do you think would happen if you formed a blade of dust so fine and sharp that it would be invisible to the naked eye, and hurled it at incredible speed? That's your spell. I swear, why does everyone think that earth magic spells are limited to summoning rocks...?" Diamanes asked, grinning widely. Glenn looked at his left palm, unable to contain the excitation of getting such a new powerful spell. It wasn't as precise as a Magic Bullet, but it would work perfectly as an anti-personal force.
"Carbon Blade would be perfectly fitting as a name, don't you think?" The entity asked earnestly, his host relinquishing the right to fight him for the right to name the spell. Too much effort for too little rewards. And Diamanes had a decent naming sense, so whatever.
"Perfect...Let's get the priest statue now, then..." Glenn clenched his fist tightly, drawing a deep breath to calm himself, and approached the second statue. He placed his hand on it similarly to how he did with the mage, waiting for Diamanes to absorb its powers. The entity breathed out calmly, preparing itself.
"I'll be honest, I'm a little bloated, but it should be fine... Let's dig in, then!"
The previous operation repeated itself, the power transferring through Glenn's left arm and reaching his heart, installing itself comfortably. Diamanes burped loudly, as his habitude, before flashing a peerlessly white smile. Glenn sighed and shook his head, before summoning the power he just absorbed, aiming it toward the split rock. His left hand glowed with a warm light that seemed like it was embracing the rock, before disappearing. The spell had cost ten times what Carbon Blade consumed and without much effect.
Glenn pinched his lips and approached the rock, trying to figure out what the spell did, but without much success. The young man scratched the back of his head, confused.
"...Do I need to wait too?" He tried and asked his left palm, Diamanes smacking his lips with puzzlement.
"Hmm...It seems like it doesn't work on rocks...Too bad, I would have paid quite the amount of money to see a buffed stone..."
Glenn groaned as he understood the effect of the spell thanks to the entity's words.
"So it's a buff. Of course, it certainly wasn't going to work on a rock...?" He trailed off, frowning as he observed a piece of the rock detach itself from its cut-out part, shaped like a perfect ball. It rolled down and reached Glenn's foot. The young man looked at it for a few seconds, before picking it up.
"...A rock. I see..." He muttered, before mindlessly putting it in his pocket. If there was one thing he didn't want to ponder about, it was whether he had just given sentience to a rock or not.
'Yeah, let's ignore that. I'm pretty sure this isn't supposed to work like that...' Diamanes commented with a hushed tone inside Glenn's mind, as confused and lost as his host.
Glenn gave a last glance to the giant stone statues, before walking back to the inn. He threw an excited look at the Thorn's Church across the street, wondering how much he could ruin the thing would he use Carbon Blade or another of his spells on it? The first time he met those bastards, he was powerless, but now, he could fight back with the might of a hundred men.
Wouldn't he be able to tear it to the ground?
The scene of the Thorn's Church in cinder and him cooking marshmallows on top of its fuming ruins crossed his mind, strangely enticing. Of course, if he could get rid of as many cultists as possible, it would be great as well, but he wasn't too sure the fire would be able to take them all...
Glenn blinked as the image he imagined suddenly superimposed to the already burning church. The wood creaked as the ceiling carved inward, dark smoke hindering and blocking the moonlight. Robed figures were getting out of the wooden building in a panic, their bald heads covered in strangely shaped scars revealed under their smoldering hoods.
The young man rubbed his chin, his head tilting to the side.
"...Who the hell just made my dream a reality...?"