Viewing from this part of the forest, one would feel endless night. Gazing just directly into the sea, one would feel that when they stood at this part of the Forest of Snakes...
Even if it is day, it is clearly night...
!!!
The top predators of the forest was alarmed and they scurried away into their holes. Even if this forest was named after snakes because the animals mostly inhabiting it were... snakes. Not all animals in here were one of those slithery guys.
Even so, the best predator here would always be those who could hunt them all. Snake or not. And this predator himself was a... snake. They were Cannibal Snakes, which would prey upon anything that has flesh, even if it was a... snake itself.
The normal and weak beasts all tried to hide. It felt like a powerful beast would awaken.
Shu!
With a heavy sound, two glaring eyes opened in the depths of the darkness. They were hideous and extremely terrifying. It felt like one gaze would petrify you, killing you in an instant. These eyes were definitely not normal considering...
They had the size of a boulder almost three times as big as a human head.
It had the color of green... with violet sharp iris. They were truly feral and demonic. Although this was the darkness, one could clearly see this two eyes. They could not be hidden by any darkness.
Sss!
A forked tongue flicked out and a hissing sound reverberated throughout the forest. The mighty beast and creatures of this forest all whimpered in fear when they heard her hiss.
The two eyes looked up and then a violet light was present between them. The violet light was dim but it was shaped in the form of a magic circle. It was exactly the same as the one that Ranz had activated back in Fiera.
Although the light of the magic circle was dim, It still illuminated a part of the snake’s face.
Violet skin. Green underbelly. With a hood as sharp as a dragon’s claw, and scales that is even harder than the hardest metal. It looked divine yet it still had the visage of a monster.
The dim light only revealed a part of it’s face but it did not really illuminate all of it’s body. Who knew how long and how thick this monster was.
It opened it’s mouth as if to yawn and it revealed it’s two fangs. It was colored abnormally as fangs were not supposed to be colored... red. Dripping from the fangs were violet fluid which was known as the best venom in exaltia.
This was... Sieg.
Atop the violet magic circle appeared a green colored mark. It was unusual but it was not more unusual than Hilroy winning a gamble that has a 99% win percentage.
“So, Ranz finally called me, huh? Oh, well...”
* * * * *
Kneeling in front of the magic circle, Ranz had enough of laughing maniacally. He had activated the magic circle for only at least 5 seconds but he already feels that the elemental particles around this place is diminishing.
The unique violet elemental particles of the room was fading away and Ranz deducted that he will only be able to activate this spell for 5 more seconds.
‘Tch! I can only activate it for once? Grr... Fair enough...’
After this activation, this magic circle could not be activated again because of the deficit in the violet elemental particle.
Ranz’s breathing became ragged and his body faltered. Using the hand which was not activating the magic circle, Ranz supported his face while elbowing the ground. Sweat slowly dripped out of Ranz’s face, which traveled to the bridge of his nose and dropping into the solid ground.
Plik!
Ranz heard the sound of a water droplet and then...
!!!
Ranz found out that he couldn't feel his face anymore. It was not because it was gone, it was because the nerves on his hand was disabled. He knew of this because he could still see his hand covering his face but could not feel it touching his face.
He slowly lost the feeling to his feet and then up to his stomach. His diaphragm was disabled next, making Ranz unable to breath. He suffered in this vegetable-like state. He felt like he could not move had no limbs and could not breath, like a vegetable.
Soon even his mouth refused to move anymore as the muscle controlling his jaw suddenly became disabled. Ranz knew what was gonna happen next... It was either something that would make him powerful or something would cost him his life.
Ranz tried to hold out until the light of the magic circle dimmed. He was staring at the magic circle intensely as this was the only thing he could do now.
‘Do not f*cking underestimate me!!... Eh? Wh-Where is... it?’
Ranz could not find the magic circle anymore but he could not looked for it as his neck was disabled. He thought that he had lasted till the magic circle dimmed out but... It was his eyes. They were disabled.
With no shred of though supporting his body, Ranz’s hands that supported him from the ground gave away and his body fell towards the magic circle.
Splash!
When his body smashed onto the magic circle, it rippled like a disturbed lake. Ranz’s whole body fell inside the magic circle which now looked like a violet colored lake. After fully submerging, the ‘water’ slowly turned peaceful once again.
Ranz felt his body entering water and a smirk formed in his mouth. It was because he could finally sense his body again, the proof of it was the smirk. He had succeeded. Opening his eyes, he was deep in a black water-ish region.
He could not feel a sense of direction and he could not identify where the ground was. This was because, there was no gravity in here. After twisting around a minute or so, something finally entered Ranz’s eyes.
Two glaring eyes. Violet sclera and green iris. Ranz’s eyes constricted as fear once again struck him. The first time he had seen the figure of Sieg, he had been too afraid to even talk. Even if he only saw her eyes, he was still terrified.
Although he could not see it, he could feel that the body of Sieg was moving around this space. This was because of the distortions all around Ranz and he felt that this space was something similar to water.
His foot finally landed to something solid, but this further made Ranz scared. He started to shiver as he had already guessed what he was standing on. This was... the body of Sieg herself.
Due to the movement of the platform beneath Ranz’s feet, He was brought forward and made to stand just beneath the eyes of Sieg. A forked tongue flicked out and the snake issued out a hissing sound.
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Sss!!!
“Ranz... After 3 years you have finally made your decision... What took you so long?”
Ranz opened his mouth in order to answer but he found that he could not. When he tried to speak, bubbles were emitted from his mouth and the sounds that he emitted were drowned out in this black sea.
“You do not need to answer... I already knew. I was just speaking casually. I know what you seek... And you have already proven yourself worthy to hold it.”
The disabling of Ranz’s bodily functions before was not a natural effect of the magic circle. It was a test given out by the green stalagmites and they will judge one if they were worthy or not. Passing meant power and failure meant... death.
“Anyway, I have a power that is just what you seek... In this conversation between us, you only need to nod or shake your head. Yeah, that is how you answer my questions...”
Gulping down his saliva, Ranz was visibly excited. He could finally obtain it. The power that would make his desires come true!..
“I plan to give you... a bloodline! A bloodline that could pierce anything!"
* * * * *
In the middle of a crowded street on Fiera.
The crowds were just minding their own personal business, being a crowd and making the wide road almost unusable.
Suddenly a random passerby saw someone approaching from the east and when he discovered who it was, he felt a sense of awe and then shouted out.
“It’s General Ycarus!”
His shout attracted the attention of other people and so all of the crowds gaze landed on the upcoming group of two. When they saw who the male was, they exclaimed in surprise and then they started to talk.
“That’s General Ycarus!”
“Amazing! He looks as manly as the rumors said!”
“General Ycarus, give me your babies!”
The crowd ignored the female who shouted that and then divided into two to let the general and his companion to pass. Like wood being split open, a crowd dividing into two is quite the sight. When Ycarus saw, and heard, what the crowd did he was actually embarrassed.
“Hey, Hey! Ycarus, you sure are famous! Even someone wants to bear your seeds. This was the fourth one you know?”
“Shut up.”
Following behind Ycarus was a hooded figure, and this was naturally Herebia. Herebia decided that she could not be seen together with Ycarus, as a girl following behind a general is still big news. This could lead her enemies in finding her.
Although everyone knew that the figure behind Ycarus was a female, due to her proportions (Dem boobs), everyone could actually not see or identify this mysterious female. It was shrouded in darkness, which was the chaos particles.
It somehow worked like Aven’s hood that even if you could see the features of his nose down to his chin, you could still not make a full judgement of his face without seeing his eyes or eyebrows.
“So, where is it? The Lexicon Hall?”
“What do you mean Lexicon Hall? Were not going there.”
“What? Then where are we going?”
Ycarus stopped for a second and then proceeded forward. He looked back at Herebia for a little and then a small smirk formed on his face. Herebia was puzzled by this smirk of Ycarus but she knew that this guy was not scheming something.
“Do you really want to learn something that only has 7 stages?”
“... Hee... Ok then, were going home.”
Ycarus shook his head a little and he knew that this woman has already figured out what the underlying meaning between his words was. He walked forth and changed his direction towards his house.
‘Bright woman... I wonder if she is a... Nah... Couldn’t be...’
Shaking off his wandering mind, both of them went forth and did not visit the Lexicon Hall.
* * * * *
“Puh... I’m bored...”
Yassi said this while twirling her hair and had supported her face with her hand. She looked around and then sighed slightly. Without anything to do, she was doing what she had observed Herebia do when she is not doing anything just like this.
And that was to eat.
Chomping on a carrot, Ycarus used her eyes that could see elemental particles to play around. She created little fire soldiers and made them battle each other.
So boring...
With the boredom striking her, Yassi thought of the previous day. It was somehow one of the most intense moments of her life...
Facing a monster like Requa. Traveling with the said monster. And then almost being killed by another monster named Oliver. She had thought that Herebia was somehow strong and could beat Oliver. And this was indeed the truth.
If Herebia had pulled out ‘that’ spell and slapped it into Oliver’s face, the result would lead him into nothing more than ashes. Not even his bones would be left.
Although she could have done it, she didn’t do it because of two variables. One was that her comrades will not survive the clash and the second one was that her location will be discovered.
Using that spell, which only Herebia and a certain someone could do, would definitely expose a lot of information. Specially since they were fighting inside a city.
Anyway, since Yassi had remembered her big sis Requa, she also subconsciously created the tiniest fireball she could create. Abiding the instructions of Requa, Yassi started to control the elemental particles and then...
Made them collide!
The color of the ball slowly turned into black but it’s stability worsened second after second. Although Yassi could not perfect the spell yet, making this much progress after only half a day of training was actually impressive.
As expected, when Herebia knew that this brat could see elemental particles, she knew that the brat was a perfect candidate to practice the Chaos Tome.
“Yeah!”
Yassi guffawed in pride as she held up the unstable black orb of particles in her hand. When she felt that the ball would blow off her arm sooner or later, she casually threw it at the wall.
Bang!
The explosion made a hole, not smaller than the one that [Fire Blast] had made on the wall. Now within this wall was two equal holes, both blasted by Yassi.
A head popped out from outside the house and through the hole. It was a middle aged man with an expressionless face. He had popped out of the [Fire Blast] hole and then looked at the new hole that Yassi had casually created.
“... More work burden for me...”
This middle aged man was the repair man. He had already been used to the destructive prowess of this family. Making hand seals, he then clapped his hands and then placed them on the floor.
The ground shook a little and then the broken pieces of rocks slowly pierced back together. Yassi had already seen this before and she had already come to conclusion on what it was.
It was the Terra Syllabus.
Although the syllabus’s could be used on things other than fighting, almost all of them chose to be employed in the military contrary to this fact. Those oddballs who don’t want to fight using their Syllabus, will use their powers in order to make money.
Like this repairman which was a 7th stage Terra Practitioner, there are also other Practitioners from other countries seeking jobs. Like an Aqua Practitioner that is working in a clinic in Fiera, and specializes in mixing antidotes and removing poisons.
After fixing the two holes and other small dents on the floor, the repairman had finally finished his job. While he had seen the destruction, he was not that surprised as this could be considered a daily task for him.
“Little miss, where is the general today? It seems he is not present. Who would pay?”
“Oh, dad went out for a date today. While he is away, I would be the one paying.”
Yassi approached the middle-aged man while still halfway through with her carrot. She then brought out her Gold Storage Card and then the repairman also did the same. The repairman brought his card forward and then Yassi placed her card atop the repairman’s.
The Gold Storage Card of Yassi shone with a gold light and then the value of her card dropped by 25. When the repairman saw this happening, he smiled a little and then backed out. He checked all of the rooms once more in order to see if he missed anything before leaving the house.
Once more... Yassi was bored.
After munching on her carrot for a while, she heard something that somehow made her quite happy. She had heard the door swinging open...
Yassi ran to the door and she found two people that she had been waiting for. It was her father and her big sis Requa. Ycarus went forth and ruffled the hair of Yassi but Herebia only glanced at her and then proceeding forward.
When she saw the reaction of her big sis, Yassi was quite disappointed. But then, when Herebia reached the bend on the hallway, with her back facing Yassi, her voice sounded out.
“You should be able to create unstable black chaos orbs right now. If you aren’t then, you would either be a talent less lad or a lazy one.”
“Big sis, don’t call me that! Humph, I could create something as easy as that!”
A smile then formed at the corner of Herebia lips as she shook her head slightly. She proceeded forward and then her figure was finally not visible to Yassi. Then a voice echoed out in the hallway.
“That’s good then. Continue practicing. Ycarus, we should start now!”
“Sigh... where to? Should we head to the garden?”
“Then lead the way!”
After the voice echoed out, Herebia returned to the entrance and was greeted by the gazes of Ycarus and Yassi. The atmosphere turned awkward, and then Yassi coughed a little and decided to break the silence.
“Sis, why did you leave before? Did you do it because... you wanted to look coo-“
“Nope. Let’s go Ycarus.”
Herebia didn’t let Yassi finish and the dragged Ycarus into the house. Ycarus shook his head helplessly and then he face-palmed.
“Requa. That’s the wrong way.”
“... then lead the way.”
Bowing her head in defeat, Herebia followed after Ycarus while Yassi trailed behind, almost unable to endure her laughter.
When they reached the garden, Yassi sat at the corner and then munched on another carrot that she had taken on the way to the garden. Ycarus sat cross-legged while Herebia also did the same. They stared at each other and then Herebia spoke up, impatience was evident on her voice.
“What are we waiting for Ycarus? Just teach me the Ignis Syllabus already!”