Chapter 08
The End of an Interesting day.
Eyolian P.O.V
On the far side of town, isolated beyond its limits, stood a large two-story house. Its sharp roof resembled the houses within the town, but it also differed in its solid and strong design. Instead of wood and clay, the house was built with sturdy gray stones with a bit of wood for support.
The garden around the house added to its beauty and symmetry, with various beautiful trees and fragrant flowers. Flowers don't usually grow in snowy weather because most plants enter a dormant state or stop growing due to low temperatures. But somehow, the front garden of Mr. Edric's house held this picturesque scene - something Eyolian didn't understand, but she knew her mother, Mrs. Aileen, played a part in it.
Eyolian sat at her desk in her room on the upper floor of her house. She watched the garden through the open window directly in front of her desk. Eyolian felt the icy cold air brush against her pale skin and pass through the gaps in her light short nightgown, which was not suitable for such weather. But despite her physical coldness, Eyolian's body did not shiver at all, maintaining her contemplative, thoughtful expression.
As Eyolian contemplated the violet flower with slender petals, her expression turned to pity. 'How pathetic,' she felt.
Eyolian felt like the little flower below. Amid the cold snow and harsh weather, this flower stood out as a scene of contrasts and a symbol of life.
But is this really a life worth struggling for? Is a life of constant struggle worth it,... just to breathe for another day?
Yet despite her inner thoughts, Eyolian acknowledged a fact she didn't like to ignore. The little flower she looked down upon, judging it disdainfully, was not alone. Around it were hundreds of similar little flowers, struggling with the same determination against their view of the world.
And Eyolian, who looked down from above at the garden of flowers below, ironically, was alone in this world. So the comparison might not be valid - perhaps?
After a long period of unproductive staring, Eyolian finally felt bored and lifted her head towards the silver moon half-covered by black clouds. The action somehow made her head feel lighter and more aware - maybe due to the cold?
Eyolian's eyes traced the different black shapes on the moon's surface. After a while, she got bored of that too, and she shifted her eyes to the movement of the black clouds around the moon.
Slowly, a large cloud big enough to cover half the moon made its way to do just that. As it did, the cloud reflected the moon's silver light in a captivating blue glow. Eyolian smiled at the scene. It somehow reminded her of the blue eyes of the ragged, mysterious young man from this morning.
Noah was... something? Eyolian's opinion of him had changed significantly in less than a day. From someone no different from anyone else to someone who piqued her curiosity - and she had thought she was the only one who could be mysterious.
Regardless of his questionable character, what changed Eyolian's opinion about him was not his mystery, knowledge, or abilities, but rather his objective view of the world. She felt that his outlook resulted from grief.
Eyolian thought about her last conversation with Noah. 'The north you know is not necessarily the limit.' She looked at the map above her desk. The Empire and the Kingdom of Astrolis had river boundaries from north to south. To the south, they were bounded by the sea - the river's estuary, and to the north, they were bounded by snowy mountains that cut across the entire continent. Widthwise.
So it made sense that the north Noah talked about was beyond the mountain range. But he said, 'the people beyond the snowy mountains weren't very kind when I stumbled upon their land.'
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What could he mean by this?
Eyolian traced her finger across the map above her desk. - Beyond the snowy mountains, there's the unnamed snowy land, and beyond the snowy land is just the sea. Or at least that's what the map says.
Despite the exploratory trips the Empire claims to have made to explore the unclaimed lands, there is still a significant lack of information regarding the snowy north in general. So there's a good chance there are unexplored lands... beyond?
But no - even Astrolis, which managed to establish superficial trade with the native inhabitants of the snowy lands, used the same map - the one in front of Eyolian. And Eyolian knew that the Kingdom route to the snowy lands was by sea - despite the difficulties of the sea ice floes.
Eyolian looked at the ring on her finger. In its fully activated state, the gemstone from the tail of the camouflage scorpion turned entirely black, without any sign of its original blue hue. Even the runes that were supposed to cover its surface became invisible, taking the form of ordinary decoration.
No one in the Empire or Astrolis could handle the gemstones due to their strange nature, let alone turn them into effective artifacts. But the native inhabitants of the snowy lands somehow managed to achieve just that - the first transaction between Astrolis and the snowy mountains involved handing over large quantities of gemstones in exchange for a small amount of the same artifact - the Amulet of the Veil of the Unseen.
Eyolian suspected that the only reason the native inhabitants of the snowy lands accepted this deal was because of the gemstone, and the great difficulty the Empire faced in even establishing a single contact was evidence of that.
Eyolian remembered the feeling of discomfort and helplessness when the boy Noah recognized the gemstone on her ring. She hated the feeling, but it brought many questions.
Did Noah's knowledge of the gemstone come from his time in the kingdom as he claimed, or his time in the snowy lands?
Eyolian hadn’t asked this question before because she herself didn't want to reveal too much about herself in their last conversation. But she had a hunch that the answer was the latter. For one, he didn't recognize the ring, but the gemstone. Even if he dealt with the locals of Astrolis, unless they were of high rank and close enough to the royal families, there was no way for him to know the real name of the gemstone.
Eyolian took a deep breath and cleared her mind of thoughts. There would be time for answers - if everything went well between the two. Now, Eyolian decided to go to her comfortable bed and rest. She had had enough of the cold for one night. She also didn't want Mrs. Aileen to burst into her room as she tends to do after that... incident.
Eyolian got up from her seat and closed her room window carefully and meticulously, not wanting to wake anyone in the house in the middle of the night. After that, she performed her usual silent routine and rested her head on her bed pillow.
Before falling asleep, she took a look at her system looking for any change or new skills.
The same faint golden color appeared before her eyes, forming the same screen she had been accustomed to for years now.
Overview
> Name: Eyolian
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> Race: Past-Human
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> Class: Awakened Stage IV (Concealed as Stage III)
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> Level: 243
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> Experience: 9,741,080/10,000,000 XP
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> Status: Stable | Dormant | Veiled
Attributes/Stats
> Health (HP): 2,500 / 2,500
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> Stamina: 1,800 / 1,800
Core Stats
> Strength: 35 — Significantly increased physical power for formidable combat.
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> Dexterity: 45 — High agility and reflexes, granting speed in movement and action.
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> Intelligence: 52 — Advanced cognitive ability, strategic insight, and problem-solving.
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> Constitution: 38 — Resilience and high endurance in physically demanding situations.
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> Wisdom: 49 — Refined perception, allowing quick adaptation and insight into complex scenarios.
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> Charisma: 43 — Strong influence and presence; persuasive even in challenging situations.
Innate Traits
> Gräffi: True lineage. Understanding: 0,97% (unusable).
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> Skill Adapt: Universal Adaptation | possibility of meaning.
Skills
[Advanced Survival], [sand walk], [poison resistance], [hunger resistance], [thirst resistance], [Pain Tolerance], [Survival Instincts], [Stealth Movement], [Situational Awareness], [Survivalist's Intuition], [Subtle Manipulation], [Master of Disguise], [Feign Innocence], [Lying Tongue], [Illusive Presence], [Cunning Strategist], [Battle Focus], [Mana Control], [Defensive Casting], [Quickdraw], [Enhanced Reflexes], [Warrior's Resolve], [Tactical Offense], [Elemental Mastery]... etc
System Message
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Nothing had changed about Eyolian's stats – something to be expected, as she hadn't trained in the past few days and wouldn't in the coming days either due to the festival. There were no new skills either, just the ones she had collected over the years.
Eyolian took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and brought an end to an interesting day.