It was an early morning for Rin, who was up and out the door before even Adrest so she could be back as early as possible. She skipped running on the ground, opting for above the tree line like Adrest and Alissa, and in just hours, though a little cold, she still arrived just outside town.
Once inside with no issues, now a regular, Rin found herself inside the Guildhouse and at the top floor. As she pushed in the ridiculously heavy doors, a frowning older man’s face greeted her, framed by stacks of papers.
“Good morning Sir.” Rin’s back was pushed as straight as she could manage.
Gerard just sighed at the girl and pushed over a small pile of nearly two dozen letters.
“They’ve been arriving nearly everyday Rin, I don’t know what you’re doing out there, but you can’t keep it up much longer.”
Rin dejectedly nodded as she scooped up the many letters, “I’ll read these over and let you know my decision sir.”
Gerard nodded and Rin scampered away like a mouse. Once she was downstairs, she found a private corner table and started going through the letters one by one, starting with the oldest.
Most were inquiries to what she was doing here still, some were scolding her for not taking her duties seriously. Once she got to the last few in the pile, they changed. One saying that she didn’t have to return to the Academy right away, now she had to head to the northwest and participate in a joint tournament.
The letter detailed it was a “friendly” a sparring tournament for the younger generation of Itola and Radagon, but Rin had a feeling it was a show of power on both sides. There would be geniuse from both powers coming out and warned Rin to take it seriously. The other letters were maps and information about some of the participants. Rin was feeling lost as she made her way home.
It was mid-afternoon when Rin got back, greeted by the sight of Adrest being sent flying from Alissa’s kick. As he smacked into a tree and sat remembering how to breathe, Alissa came in for a hug from Rin.
“How’d it go? Are they still trying to make you go back?”
“Well, not exactly? Do you want to finish training and we can talk about it over dinner? I bought a cake in town for dessert tonight too.”
Alissa smiled brightly, “You could pass for my sister Rin! You heard her Ady, we can get a few more hours in!”
Adrest gave an apathetic “Yayyy.” As he brushed himself off and spit up a little blood. That was all the time he got before the beautiful dragon pounced at him once more, sending him in full retreat to ready his defenses.
“Never let your guard down in a fight! If I catch you unprepared again, I’m adding an hour to training.”
As Adrest fought for his life for hours on end, Rin and Belle made dinner, Rin buying everything they’d need for it in town. The church where she grew up also ran a small plot of farmland, complete with animals. One of the very few things she knew how to cook was a dish the nuns called an egg pie. With a coop full of healthy hens, they’d always had a surplus of eggs so this was a staple of her childhood. She took out the flour, water, oil, and all the other ingredients they’d need for the crust, along with the eggs, herbs, and cheese for the filling.
Just as Adrest was about to die from exhaustion, Rin came out. “Dinner’s ready if you are.”
Not giving Alissa a chance to refuse, he ran to the safety of their house, running up the stairs to wipe down before eating. When he returned, looking good as new, Adrest saw everyone was patiently waiting for him, a huge slice already waiting steaming on a plate.
Adrest took an extra second as his surroundings dawned on him. He was surrounded by people who loved him for the first time in almost a decade. He had his now precious Ali, their adorable little sister Belle, and the goofy and cheery Rin. His heart felt full and had to sit down before he started crying at the table.
Clearing his throat, Adrest said “It looks amazing Rin, thank you for cooking.”
“It’s no problem at all, I just wanted to show you a bit of how I grew up since I got to learn so much about Alissa yesterday.”
They quickly dug in, not wanting Rin’s efforts to get cold. The four passed the meal in blissful silence, near bursting after Rin brought out the two layer cake decorated with a medley of fruits.
After the meal as everyone was relaxed, Alissa once again brought up the topic. “So Rin, what did you find out today?”
Rin shifted uncomfortably in her seat, “Well, they changed their minds suddenly and now I have to head to a city at the border of Radagon and Itola for a tournament.”
Alissa raised her eyebrows at the sudden request, “Is this something that happens regularly?”
“No, but Itola’s been on the rise since the newest Holy Saint took over, this was probably started by him, to show off their holy children.”
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
Alissa scrunched her nose in thought, “When does it start?”
“there’s still a bit of time, it’s the main attraction of a festival they’re hosting and it starts on the summer solstice. It would only take me six weeks of casual running or so to get there, so I still have a little over a month before I should leave.”
Adrest was sad to hear she was going, even though almost five months together sounded like plenty, he felt the house would soon be too quiet soon.
Alissa slapped the table, getting a jump out of everyone present. “It’s decided. For the next month I’ll do everything in my power to make you the strongest one in the tournament.”
Adrest feared for Rin’s life hearing this, and was about to try calming the dragon, but Rin grabbed Alissa’s hands in her own, “Thank you so much Alissa, I’d love to learn more from you.”
Like a proud peacock Alissa nodded along, “Then do you completely trust me Rin? Do you completely trust Adrest?”
Without hesitation Rin nodded her head vigorously, “Completely and utterly.”
As Adrest was touched, Alissa pointed to him, getting 3 pairs of eyes aimed his way.
“First things first, Let’s see if we can tie a hero to the Lodestone!”
“Huh?” “Huh?”
The owner of said lodestone had no idea what that was supposed to mean, it couldn’t be literal right? As he shook such stupid thoughts out of his mind Alissa looked at Adrest like he was an idiot.
“Have you forgotten Ady? You can select vassals now. And you can help those lucky few out in all sorts of ways.”
Adrest, the Demon Lord controlling the Lodestone had forgotten a key functionality, one could argue the most important function. With no room to retort, he led the others to the dark grey pillar that towered over them. Over the many months, the cracks and pitting had slowly started to heal, no longer looking ready to crumble in the breeze.
Adrest gave a mental command, and the vassal tab opened on the screen only he could see. Clicking further on one of the four blank spaces, a pop up appeared.
Adrest read it out loud for the group. “It says to cut your palm and willingly place it one the stone.”
Rin was a little scared at the macabre ceremony, and wasn’t starting to doubt if she should go through with it so impulsively, when Alissa stepped in for her.
“When you say it like you have no idea what’s happening, of course she would be nervous! Belle sweetie, do you think you could go first to show Rin there’s nothing to be afraid of?”
Her eyes shined with anticipation, “I get to become a “vassal” too? And what’s a vassal?”
Alissa laughed and explained, “A Demon’s vassal is someone who directly serves and protects him. They are his last line of defense and sturdiest shield. In return, the demon grants them power far beyond what they were originally allowed.”
“So cool?” Belle took out a knife and happily sliced a thin cut across her palm and ran up to the column. As she pressed it against the cool stone, a screen appeared right in front of her eyes, startling her. Upon reading it though, she happily accepted. As she did, a warmth spread from her arm and through the rest of her body, filling her with energy.
As she broke away, Adrest saw a new name taking up a space on his screen. It also gave details such as her age, rank, and blessing, now blessings. Right beside the blessing of the Goddess of Life was a minor blessing of Baal.
“Hey Alissa, people can really have two blessings?”
Her eyes lit up as her guess hadn’t been wrong. “It isn’t unheard of, some of the really strong heroes had three or more back in the day.”
Adrest clicked on the name, and found a list of purchasable upgrades for Belle, from easier magical comprehension, improving the body as it had done for him, at the bottom was a greyed out option that cost nearly one million (lp). Achieve bloodline atavism and activate the Moon rabbit’s inheritance.
Adrest was stunned silent by the sheer amount of strength he could buy, but also by the prices for even small help.
“Is everything okay Adrest?”
Looking to Rin he said, “I’m great! You should see the stuff I can get Belle if I had enough points."
At the words a prompt appeared, “Do you wish to share screen with “Belle”?”
Selecting yes, Belle was startled seeing the screen appear once again but was soon entranced by the many options she saw for herself. Soon finding the bottom most option, she couldn’t help but ask their fountain of knowledge.
“Big sis Ali, what’s a Moon Rabbit?”
Alissa’s brows shot up, “That’s a very old story Belle, back when the world was still young. You see back then, there were 5 moons and 3 suns. As life started emerging, the four primordial beasts, the human ancestors, sacred spirits, so too emerged a race of pure white rabbits. They grew monstrously strong and lived life with ease mostly staying on their pure white moon, blessed and protected by the heavens themselves. Even our ancestor, the Creation dragon didn’t think to harm them because the consequences would be dire. However, as tensions were rising between the newly emerged factions at the peak of their strength, things suddenly changed.”
“An invasion took place, they tore through the barriers separating our systems. Their first target was the White Moon, wanting to grievously damage the heavens. It succeeded too, as the Moon was destroyed they say that every living being on every sun, moon, and planet heard a shrill screeching in their minds, feeling like their own mother had just been slaughtered. It’s what caused the other forces to work together and reinforce the barriers after a long war and chasing off the bastards to the heart of their own worlds.”
“But how would I be related to them then?”
“Well, it’s not impossible that a few were down here at the time and stayed in hiding.” Alissa answered while putting a finger to her cheek.
“So that means I could become as strong as them someday thanks to Big bro Ady?” Belle innocently asked, but Adrest was pretty sure she was trying to spell it out for the hero.
Playing along Alissa nodded, “Yep it’s all because of Adrest that you’ll get to become a primordial species someday Belle, make sure to thank him when that day comes.”
“Fine! I get it, me too, okay?” Rin sliced her palm and put her hand to the stone before she could reconsider, jumping at the warm current running up her arm. She was interested in the page that came into existence in front of her eyes, but quickly accepted, and Adrest was happy to see her name be added as well.
He was happy to let Rin look through the options even though they were ludicrously expensive, the cheapest over a hundred thousand.
Rin was happily looking through her options, finding her own atavism option missing. She pouted saying, “I feel like I was robbed. How come Belle gets a cool ancestor and I don’t?”
Alissa had to comfort the pouting teen, rubbing her arm, “It’s not like it matters that much Rin, you can still get a new God’s blessing, and just think of all the other things you can get for just the price of what atavism would’ve cost.”
Rin took in the consolation as they made their way home. Once again inside, Alissa said to Adrest and Belle, “You two have fun for a few hours, We’ll be right back after we do a little training.”
The two nodded along and waved the girls off, playing checkers by a toasty fire and enjoying the peace after a busy day.