With the dragon mutilation out of the way, I decided to head back to the Capital. Lily deserved to know the situation at hand, and I needed to talk with Endyrion about the Fae. There were too many things I didn’t know, and I wanted answers.
I let Sandy out of the Item Pack to run for a bit. I would have to be careful about how I manage her time in the item pack. Inside the storage the passage of time is distorted; this means that if she is tired when I put her in she’ll still be tired when I take her out. Thankfully, Sandy rested up last night when I enjoyed my meal with the Fort Leaders.
The wind whipped by as we galloped over a wide plain. It was like riding a roller coaster. I practiced enhancing my sight with mana as we moved, and I blew my eyeballs out two times in a row. My careful nature kept Sandy clean from the blood and eyeball gunk, as I always leaned to the side before trying. That didn’t stop the pain, though. It was a terrible burning pain that shook me from my toes to the tip of my head. I can’t articulate just how awful it feels to have your eyeballs explode. It is a torture I wouldn’t wish on even my worst enemies… But it was necessary.
Finally, after three blood soaked attempts, I managed to succeed in infusing my sight with mana.
[-New Skill Acquired-
Journeyman Class Skill: Dynamic Vision]
Clarity. Everything was so crisp and vivid. Even at Sandy’s top speed I could analyze the beating of a butterfly’s wings. I could count the hairs on its forelegs.
On a whim, I poured more mana into the skill. Time itself seemed to slow down around me. Sandy seemed to be standing still. I stood up and stepped off her back. The world was frozen, like a painting.
[-New Skill Acquired-
Master Class Skill: Time Dilation]
The skill name echoed in my mind. Did I really manage to freeze time?
[Solution: The user has increased their visual perceptive level enough that it can keep up with their top speed. Time isn’t actually frozen, the user is just moving and observing the world at such a speed that it appears to be.]
So, even when I thought I was moving at my max before, I was unconsciously holding myself back?
[Solution: Yes. The user has never once used their maximum speed due to their inability to control their body at such levels. Now, with the user’s newest skill, it is possible.]
This is only a master class skill. Is it possible for me to pour more mana in and potentially create a Deity Class Skill from this?
[Solution: Deity Class Skills can only be gifted or learned from ancient texts or bestowed by a Transcendent Level Being. Master Class is the highest the user can create on their own.]
What’s a Transcendent Level Being?
[Solution: The Fae are described as Transcendent Level Beings. Other beings above the level of 1000, or rank 9 in the case of magical beasts, are also classified as Transcendent Level Beings.]
Beings above level 1000? Wait… All this time I’ve been assuming that, because SHO had one, there was a level cap in this world…
RED, is there a level cap?
[Solution: No. No level cap exists in this world. The required experience to level up beyond level 1000 doubles with every level, though, so 1000 is generally considered a soft cap.]
I hadn’t even considered it… I could keep leveling up myself forever, then… A smile split my face. All the reasons I couldn’t go powerleveling were beginning to fade.
I decided to cancel my skill and let time flow normally around me. Sandy rolled to a stop in confusion. I hugged the adorable goofball of a four ton pooch. Her aloof playful nature helped me ease my thoughts. She looked down at me and gave me a huge slobbery kiss.
RED, can I help Sandy Rank up?
[Solution: Yes. By being around the user’s ambient mana, Sandy is naturally primed for evolution. When she gains enough experience she can level up with ease. Fighting the World Dragon has provided most of the EXP necessary.]
“Sandy,” I said, catching the dog’s eyes, “We’re going to make you into the strongest puppy in the world.”
I don’t know if she understood my intentions, but Sandy’s tail began thumping the ground.
We continued our journey back to the Capital, but I started to get a bit impatient. I wanted to go leveling so bad it hurt. I stored Sandy and decided to continue the trip on foot. While I moved I practiced using -Time Dilation-. The mana draw from it wasn’t actually that bad, considering the overall size of my pool. I could keep it active for long times, but I decided against doing so. The way it interacted with my own perception of the passage of time was too disorienting. This skill would best be used only in short spurts.
It didn’t take long to arrive at the Capital. It almost felt like ‘fast travel’ from video games. It only took a few minutes at most. My top speeds really were inhuman. If I remembered, right, with the Garb equipped my speed stat was 999, the highest it could go.
[Solution: The user’s speed stat, after leveling up to 942, is currently 1007.]
… It seems the level cap wasn’t the only cap destroyed by reality. Stats too could now go beyond the old maximum of 999.
Still, if there was no cap to stats didn’t that mean that players could reach levels that defy the laws of physics? Couldn’t someone eventually move faster than lightspeed?
[Solution: This world is in a separate dimension than the user’s original. The ‘laws of physics’ were defined by the Fae here, not nature.]
I made my way to the palace and walked in, making sure not to startle any poor guards. As I approached the throne room I was stopped, though, by the new Knight Captain. I didn’t recognize her, but I did recognize the uniform. I had killed the last one, after all.
“Miss Calliope? I was told you were visiting Fort Clyfton,” said the Knight.
“I was, but I decided to make a quick trip back to talk about something important with Lily,” I replied.
“Oh, well the Regent Princess isn’t in the throne room, she retired to her quarters for a while and demanded that any visitors be turned away at the door…” The Knight Captain looked a bit distressed, “But considering how close you two are and your… Status, I’m certain she won’t mind if you pay her a visit.”
If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
“... To be completely honest, I don’t know where her room is. Could you possibly take me there Ms Knight Captain?” I asked, realizing I’d never seen Lily’s room once.
The Knight Captain gave me a smile. “Sure. Just follow me. Maybe you can be the one to get her out of bed... You can call me Janice, by the way."
“Is she okay?”
“Oh she’s fine, she’s just a bit exhausted and now she’s putting off her responsibilities. The maids have all been in a tizzy trying to get her to come out of her room almost all morning,” replied the Knight.
We walked through several long hallways and up a winding staircase. I had never been this deep in the castle before, but I was impressed by how impeccably clean it was. I hadn’t seen a single maid or janitor, either. Just how did they keep it clean?
[Solution: The carpets and tapestries hanging in the hallways are magic items that are connected to a single control unit. A maid capable of using mana is all it takes to clean the entire castle in a few minutes.]
That really was neat. I needed to learn how to make magic items. They seemed so terribly convenient.
Lily’s door was tall, rounded, and made of a thick finished wood. The Knight Captain Janice walked up to it and kicked the door three times, making a loud knocking sound.
“Lily, I’m coming in. You better be decent, because I’ve got a friend of yours here!” Called Janice, and then, without waiting for a response, she threw the door open.
The inside wasn’t anything like I expected. Training equipment, swords, shields, and a plethora of other weapons were strewn about. The room itself was massive, easily the size of a small dining hall, and it looked like a personal gym than a girl’s bedroom.
In one corner, a big bed was set up and on it, peeking out from under the covers, was my friend. When I met her stare I could see the embarrassment in her eyes.
“C-Calliope, you’re back already?” She asked, stuttering a bit as she pulled the blankets off her. She was currently dressed in a thin nightgown and her hair was in a terrible mess. If I didn’t care about her so much, I would have surely laughed at her. I managed to hold a straight face, though. At the side of her bed was a wheelchair. I call it a wheelchair, but it was more like a dining chair with wheels put on it. It didn’t look very comfortable.
“Yes. I arrived at Fort Clyfton last night right as a Rank 5 World Dragon descended the mountains to attack…”
I was interrupted by the Knight Captain’s gasp.
“A w-world dragon!?” Cried Janice.
“I killed it easily, before it could cause any casualties,” I said, counter interrupting Janice. “After that, I delivered the letter to your brothers. They couldn’t make up their mind so they’ll be settling the right of succession in a tournament. The tournament will happen in two days.”
“Two days… I can hold on for a few more days,” Muttered Lily quietly to herself before she quickly snapped her attention to me, “Thank you, Calliope. I am very grateful for your help with this. I’m getting a bit stressed out, having to deal with taking care of this damned country… Did anything else interesting happen?”
The picture of her brothers asking me out flashed through my head. I could feel my cheeks flush a bit.
“Your brothers decided to, uh, propose to me.” I said, forcing the words out of my mouth. She’d hear about it eventually…
“Ah, yeah. They tend to do that to any strong woman they meet. What do you think about them? Do you like either of them? I wouldn’t mind having you as my sister in law, you know,” said Lily as she rotated herself out of the bed and onto the wheeled chair. I rushed forward to help her.
“I’m sorry but I’m not really attracted to either of them,” I replied as I held Lily’s hand while the Knight Captain lifted her up a bit to reposition her in the chair.
“You don’t have to like them to marry one of them, you know. With how strong you are, you could basically force whichever one you marry to sleep in another room altogether. You could become the queen and my sister. Wouldn’t that be awesome?”
“I’m sorry. Lily, but I don’t intend to marry anyone right now,” I said, trying to make her understand.
“Ah, okay. That’s fine. Once one of my brothers takes the crown, you and I can make a trip through the Fort Clyfton Gap, to the country of Barbory. There’s supposedly a healing magic user there,” said Lily.
“That sounds like a fun little adventure,” I replied.
“You’ll have to be careful, though. Barbory hates demi-humans and demons. In that country they’re treated as slaves. So we need to make sure your tail doesn’t come out, or if it does that we keep it hidden.”
“Why do they hate demi-humans and demons?” I asked.
“It’s their religious lifestyle. Barbory is lead by a pope instead of a king. They’re also the capital for the Human Fae worship.”
The term ‘Human Fae’ confused me. I had been assuming they were like Gods. I immediately asked Lily, “What is the Human Fae?”
“To be honest, I have no clue. Endyrion only mentioned it, he never went in depth on what the Human Fae is. Actually, he never told me much about the Fae at all other than they were basically Gods.”
It was apparent that I needed to speak with Endyrion about this.
“Lily, I need to go meet Endyrion. I’ll let you get dressed, and I’ll come visit you again after,” I said with a smile.
“Alright, but you should also go see James. He’s really upset you didn’t bring him with you. Now that the whole situation with my brothers is taken care of, I don’t see the harm in it,” replied Lily.
“Okay, I will. I’ll see you later, Lily,” I said as I gave her a light hug. I left the room with a single goal in mind: finding Endyrion and forcing him to tell me everything he knows.