“So, where are we going exactly?”
Stepping through yet another portal as Lucadon continues to move us towards our destination, Alice asks Lucadon again. The demon seems to be enjoying our fear as it continues to give vague answers.
“My, my, my. Both of you are always in such a rush. Don’t worry your little heads, it is just on the other side of that nation you spent all of one day visiting.”
“You mean the other side of the divide?”
That mountain range is supposed to be practically impassable unless you are Class 4. It is the main reason that an all out war between the humans and the races on the other side has not happened.
But, if we are heading there. That means we are leaving human lands. That worries me a bit. If humans are so hateful towards the other races, then I can’t imagine the residents on the other side of those mountains will be happy to help one out.
“yes, and no. Our destination is on the other side but is still within the mountains themselves. There is a sec there that is run by an old friend who knows quite a bit about Qi and cultivation.”
I had mentioned Qi training but cultivation is supposed to be something only elves can do. Humans normally gather Qi in their bodies through some form of battle will.
Despite not looking at me Lucadon must be able to see my face and can guess at the question in my mind.
“I believe that not only will you be able to gather Qi but the shape of your body and soul are far more malleable than a normal humans. Meaning you can cultivate if the conditions are right.”
“So that friend of yours must be an elf right?”
Alice really wants verification on what we are doing. And finally Lucadon is getting more talkative about our field trip as we get closer.
“Yes, the old geezer owes me a favor so I think I can get him to help out.”
“I thought you said he was a friend…”
“Friend, debtor, same thing right?”
Lucadon seems to be enjoying itself which only gives me a bad feeling.
“I don’t see this ending well.” I mutter to myself as we step from our latest portal into a grassy field who knows where.
“Same. But if you cultivate then you really are going to end up an eternal 15 year old arent you?”
Alice is taking any opportunity to tease me these days. I really need to get back at her. And I know just the way to do it.
“Disappointed I won’t grow up into a real bombshell for you? My chest may be small but you do seem to really enjoy sleeping on it.” I look over my shoulder to grin at the fairy girl. Getting called out on her favorite spot seems to get her stuttering.
“W-Well, it is just a really comfortable place…”
“And you would prefer something bigger?”
Now the fairy is panicking. She starts rattling off about how much she likes my body as is and how she wouldn’t change a thing.
Starting to feel a bit bad for her after pushing her into digging a rather large grave for herself here, I move to calm her down. But I can’t quite stop her fast enough.
“... If it got too big I wouldn’t be able to hear your heartbeat anymore. It’s soothing.”
Gah, she is just too adorable!
Picking up the small girl off my shoulder I hold her to my chest as she struggles in embarrassment.
“Wait…” Stopping my wild hug for a moment I realize she just said something I didn’t know about. “I still have a heartbeat?”
My blood vessels and things are all gone after I reached Class 2, when my body weirdly blended together. If I still have a functioning heart, then what is it doing without any blood?
Asking Alice, her embarrassment calms down and she looks rather stumped as well.
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“That’s… a good question. Lucadon?”
…
“sigh. Professor Lucadon?”
Perking up the demon decides to answer the question after getting the “correct” term of address.
“Your heart is no longer pumping blood, but cycling the mana throughout your body to keep whatever material you are now made or properly energized.”
The comment about not knowing what I am made of is rather concerning in and of itself, but my heart is pumping mana?
Lucadon does not wait for us to ask more questions however.
“Now, if you two are done flirting, we are almost at our destination.”
Alice and I blush and turn our heads away after getting so blatantly called out before jumping through the final portal before us.
The world around us shifts again and the sky seems to shift from its normal blue to a pale-ish green color. Just on the other end of the portal we find ourselves at the foot of a mountain that would put Everest to shame. I can see tall stone and wooden gates carved with countless runes leading the way up the mountain.
“Please tell me we don’t have to take those stairs.”
Lucadon just starts walking.
“Fuck.”
----------------------------------------
There is a knock on the door as the Guildmaster of the Carrion City Adventurers Guild places his paperwork on the desk. “Come in.”
Opening the door, Crystal the Vice-Guildmaster walks in with several folders and places them on the Guildmaster’s desk. Covering his existing paperwork.
The man raises his glitching black eyebrow at his employees actions but says nothing.
She has never treated me like I am her boss before, not expecting it now.
“How goes the investigation into the Knight girl’s situation?”
Moving on to the topic at hand, the Guildmaster opens the folders and begins reading through the reports while Crystal explains the current state of the investigation.
“Well. Her family reported the girl died during a training exercise in the sea of trees before she entered the system. However this was easily disproven once we had their records looked over. A priest even came forward after we started looking into things and claimed he saw the girl's parents stab her in the gut.”
There are many things that are confusing about the timeline of events. The Baron had tried to fake records of a trip to The Sea of Trees but the falsified records were only surface deep. He only needed to fool their new king, a man who is reported to be rather lacking if you are being kind about it. An idiot if you are not.
“I am surprised the Baron didn’t attempt to silence the priest.”
Scratching his thin beard the Guildmaster wonders why a new noble known for his wit and strength would miss taking care of a Class 3 priest of all things.
“That is where things get interesting. It seems the priest was a mental magic user.”
Mental magic users in the church are usually confessional priests, a man like that is not so easy to get rid of. But the Guildmaster stands corrected as he reads more of the report.
“He used his mental magic to trick a Class 4 of all things into forgetting he was there?”
That seems like a stretch by any means. The gap between Class 3 and 4 is rather vast. A fighter like the Baron should have at least one resistance skill related to mental magic. It is a requirement for nobility after all.
“So the priest claims. He also claims that he was too scared to come forward until now at fear of the Baron coming after him.”
Crystal leans back with a small grin forming on her face.
“But here is the kicker. There is a rumor floating around that the Baron is a member of the Duskallen. The priest too.”
The Duskallen is a secretive religious group that even the guild’s best agents can’t sneak into easily. They believe that light magic is evil and that the hero tales of old got things backwards. That the demons were an important part of the world and forcing them back had crippled humanity.
The Guildmaster always saw the group as nothing more than a radical cult. But the problem was their popularity was growing recently. After the universal announcement about the Demon Lord, people flocked to their religion seeking comfort in the religions' tall tales. Preferring to believe that the announcement was no threat.
Even worse was that the longer the Demon Lord goes without attacking like the human alliance had claimed, the more people doubt the truth of the matter and seek out the Duskallen.
“So, you think he lied about his mental magic working on the Baron. Why betray a member of their order now though?”
“That I don’t know. We are still investigating, but it may be signs of conflict within the Duskallen. The priest coming forward now could be the order cutting ties with a compromised member.”
“You want to use this opportunity to get information on the inner ring of the religion from an abandoned member, don’t you? That religion has been getting rather powerful lately. Are you sure you want to do all this for one child?”
The Vice-Guildmaster stands up straight with a very serious look on her face. Not knowing how the Guildmaster will react to her suggestion. But she has a strong feeling about the girl and her noble heart.
“That girl is strong. Stronger than any other at her level that I have ever seen, and in more ways than one. She may be just what we need in this coming conflict.”
Leaning forwards the Vice-Guildmaster speaks with a spark of hope in her voice.
“A Hero.”