***
Felt was at ease. The pain was no more. The wind blew comfortably towards his body. A bit cold, but when you’re under the blanket, it was heaven…
“Wait, did I die?”
He woke up all of a sudden.
“ERKKKKK!”
- Huh? What’s that scream about?
“D-don’t eat me! I don’t have much meat… unless you like bones… noo! I drink a lot of milk so my bones too hard to munch… maybe. No! I’m certain of it! You will hurt your teeth!”
A sweet, almost child-like voice filled the room. The white blanket dropped from his face. It was still a little dark, but the slight sunlight was enough. The room was quite wide, with a large window by his side, there were so many beds arranged in order from the window to the door. There were several wood cabinets behind the beds and the room had a faint scent of medicine.
- Oh, infirmary… and that voice…
“If… if you’re hungry, I have some cookies…”
A tender, small hand came from below his bed, handing him a cloth bag of cookies. The hand was shivering.
“N,n, not enough? Then my milk… fresh from the goat…”
Another shivering hand handed him a wooden bottle of milk. He took them without much pondering. Then the hands disappeared below. He heard a clap of hands under his bed.
“Please return to your world of the dead, Ooo vengeful spirit. I, I, I promise you I’ll find who-whoever murdered you and let the General punish them!”
“…”
Felt was speechless. It was awkward. He woke up all of a sudden then was mistaken for a vengeful spirit.
“Now, how to break the ice?”
He noticed two notes of rough, brown paper placed under a small stone on the bed beside him.
Since you’re in no danger, we leave you with the physician Paine. We’re in hurry for the meeting. Sorry for leaving you Felt. – Zack, Zoei
And the other note…
Ana,
I waited for you until I saw you coming in from the cafeteria. Please attend to this boy. It’s just a case of exhaustion and a few bruises. Nothing serious, but triple check for me please. I have urgent business and will be back in the afternoon. – Paine.
- They really have a strong sense of duty… even leaving me for a moment still left them with guilt. Hmm, I’m fine already... Must have been the HP Regen and Stamina Regen… Anyway this Ana…
“Ana?”
“Y-yes, vengeful spirit?”
“Because of your kindness, this poor spirit has already found peace.”
“R-really?”
“Really. I thank God for this meeting with you Ana…”
“R-really?”
“Yes, really.”
“Then, you would pass on then? With light shining on you…”
“Perhaps. But that’s for later… much later, I hope.”
“W-why? Why won’t you pass on now?”
“Do you hate my company, Ana?”
“N-no! I just… maybe there’s still something you want to do?”
“Yes, there are some things I still wish to do. So I must live on.”
“I-I see… w-wait, live on?”
“Why yes, when did I die?”
“T-then… you’re not a ghost?”
“No, I’m not.”
“R-really?”
“Really.”
A little eye took a peek, then covered itself back under the bed. Then came out again… two eyes this time.
Felt scanned her out of habit…
Ding!
Name: Anastasia V. Runicalya Alignment: Good
Level: 21
Class: Royal Healer
Title: Young Physician
Fame: ????
Strength: 24
Wisdom: ??
Intelligence: ??
Naiveté: 90
Charm: 72
Speed: 33
More Information would be possible as Scan skill increase.
- Naiveté?!
Before Felt could examine the details, another question came.
“You’re alive?”
“Yes, I believe so.”
“T-then why should I hide myself?”
“I wish to ask the same thing, Ana.”
“W-why did you know my name?”
“Because of this note.”
He showed her the note, and her eyes turned towards him.
“So you didn’t die?”
“That’s what I’m trying to say, I believe.”
“Then, you’re alive?”
“For the last time, yes, I-AM-ALIVE.”
She examined him, from the head to the feet.
“Feet…?”
“Yes, feet. Mine.”
She stared at him. And with blushing face, gasped.
The girl rolled out from under the bed, and ran towards the door.
-Oh, she has golden fishtail hair…
“NOOOOOOOOOOO----------!”
- Oh for the Loving God, my ears!!
Felt shut his ears.
===
He sighed. The girl was nowhere to be seen.
- She must be embarrassed with what happened. Not like I’m going to tell anyone…
“Basic stats…”
Stats
Health 755/825 Mana 1135/1135
Strength 48 +20 Agility 45 + 20
Vitality 41 +20 Wisdom 30 + 175
Intelligence 60 +30 Stamina 41 + 20
Fighting Spirit 34 +180 Honour 12 + 90
Charisma 17 + 200 Leadership 2 + 70
Perseverance 14 + 40 Physical Resist 6 + 20
Endurance 19 + 30 Sustenance 10 + 20
Mentality 28 + 70 Charm 20 + 40
Art 30 + 220 Luck 6 +20
Focus 17 + 20
“Oh! Quite a lot added. I’ve recovered too. Anyway…”
- I must be here not too long ago. It’s still a little dark. Then again, what amazing recovery.
“Your friends left you around 20 minutes ago. So it’s about 7.00 a.m. And your recovery is an effect of the pact. You will not die of such bruises or exhaustion.”
“Oh, Master. I forgot I can still speak with you. Wait, I was having a monologue inside my head just now. So how..?”
-You can speak with me inside your consciousness. Me as well.
Felt felt as if her voice ringed inside his head, in a pleasant way. It was echoing, which sounded mysteriously.
- As long as that monologue of yours was strong enough, I could hear you. But I still can’t read what you’re thinking unless you’re thinking it out loud in clear sentence.
- So we can converse even when there are people around?
- Of course. Regardless, it’s better not to do so in front of others. Some people are sharper than ordinary; your senior Zack is a really good example. So be careful.
- Yes, I understand. It’s really a pleasure, to have your sweet voice inside my head, Master.
- H-huh? Hmph, of course! The voice of Grand Duchess Shia’rine Ciellune Saran is a gift of God! Be grateful and work h-harder!
Hearing his Master stuttered like that, Felt could not help but giggled.
“W-what?”
- Nothing. Master really is cute.
- W-what… er… err… erhh why you boy… teasing your Master eh… meh I’ll teach you not to mess with your elder!
“Take this!!”
A jolt of lightning came out from his gauntlet, stunning him… Bright sparks came out.
BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ---------
“W-wait! Master, sorry, I won’t do that agaaaaainzzzzzzz!!”
The jolt was there for a minute which felt like an hour. It was stinging him inside out. Felt’s hair stood up. He felt them… spiky.
- Master… my hair…
- Hmph! It’s your fault anyway…
“Ah! The cookies…”
He saw the bag of cookies he held just now was fine, as well as the bottle. He took them and sighed.
- I’ll have to either return this… or should I just leave them here? Well, I need to fix my hair first.
He found near the entrance a large jug of cool water. He cleaned his face and tried to fix his hair to no avail.
-Still the same… Oh my hair … I’ll need olive oil for immediate effect! No, perhaps I should just wait the regen to fix the damage done?
After a few minutes, his hair returned to its vigour… a long taper cut.
“Yeah! No more spiky hair…!”
- Hmm… now I wonder what I should do… it seemed I regained my stamina and health just by being unconscious for 30 minutes or so. Unnatural, yes… Much welcomed, yeah. Master?
- What?!
- Are you still pouting, Master?
- Hmph!
- I’m sorry for my impudence, Master… Please forgive your foolish apprentice… just who am I without you?
- Meh…
- Not enough? Hmm… Then how about this? I’ll do you one favour… Ask anything you want as long as it’s not impossible, Master…
- Hm? Anything?
- Yes, anything not impossible… how about it? Oh come on Master Shia… your apprentice already reflected. Can you let bygones be bygones and forgive your cute apprentice?
Felt made the cutest face possible in front of his gauntlet.
- Hmmm… cute… hahaha! Alright. Then consider yourself lucky, apprentice! My forgiveness doesn’t come cheap! Hm Hmnn… I’ll ask you that favour when you’ve grown up a little more.
Shia’rine’s Trust towards you increased to significant.
Fame +300 more.
Wind Affinity added another +5%.
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
- She seemed quite pleased. Alright.
- Hm? Did you say something?
- No, nothing! Master, is there any way to detect people from afar? I somehow suspect that either Zack or Zoei could sense me… Now I might need to use it.
- Of course there is. However, such thing could become a nuisance, since you could sense pretty much many people around… You might go crazy… Then again, you might need it later. Oh! How about making it an active skill instead of passive like mine… That’s better. If assassins from Amria or Brayen came, at least you would be prepared.
- A-ass… Assassins?!
- Yes, assassins. Did you not read? The Brayen and Amria have strong connection with the demon world. That place is a dimensional world parallel to ours, so nearby demons that sensed our pact might just sell that piece of intelligence. It’s a place where a lot of information exchange happened, especially one that can sell… for a certain price. Oh, the strongest portal would be in Illya, but it can only be opened in certain condition.
- ...I see… interesting. Sell? For what?
- For so many things… Ugh, I don’t have the stomach to tell you right now… Ah, I don’t have my body, well whatever.
-Oh alright… why would they want to kill me?
-Well, for one, you are the successor to the Kaiser, the very man who created an Empire that withstood their combined onslaught for ten... twelve years. Two, you succeed his will in creating a just society… A lot of people would rally under such banner. I’m not speaking about a hundred thousand… millions would come.
- Wow, hard to imagine…
- It’s better to be prepared. We don’t know how long that news will reach them… or when they will come for your head. Those demonic masters…
- ...Hiii… then… meh I’ll think about it later. Then first, could you teach me the detection skill Master?
- Well, it’s quite easy since your affinity to wind is quite high, plus you have the talent of the previous Kaiser... Hmm sit in your meditation style... a full lotus. Close your eyes, I’ll help you with the skill.
Felt sit in a full lotus position and closed his eyes.
- Sense your surroundings, try to sense whatever that is around you.
Use all your sense aside from eyes…
Use my breathing method…
Use wind to go forth…
Your consciousness will go along…
Shia’rine patiently guided him for an hour. At last, the long awaited sound came.
Ding!
You learned a new passive and active skill!
Intelligence of Wind Level 1 – 0%
Through the use of wind manipulation, you could better sense what surrounds you or anything your wind go through. You will be aware of your surroundings and possible existence of the hidden.
Your hearing ability will be heightened considerably.
Warning: People with sharp intuition might detect this skill in its active form.
-Air Circulation (Passive): 5 meters. Increase hearing ability and perceiving of any movement.
-Wind Intel (Active): 50 meters to any place you could guide the wind to go.
– 50 Mana/activation.
- Master, the notification said it was both an active and passive skill…
- …
- Master? Hello?
- Just where… did… I… do… wrong?! It was supposed to be just active?!
- Why? Wouldn’t it be better this way?
- Sorry my apprentice… I didn’t do this on purpose…
- W-why are you saying this? Wouldn’t it be better to have both passive and active skill than just one?
- Meh, you’ll know soon enough.
- MASTER!!!
===
-- BRAYEN EMPIRE --
A man with a black cloak made his entrance into a Grand Palace of multiple towers, followed by his three followers. The guard gave them their salute, and they passed them without passing them a glance. Their steps were definite and fast. They were not in a hurry, yet not relaxing either. They knew exactly where to walk, as if they had been through the palace grounds many times. They made their way towards a giant door, when many guards were present. The head guards nodded, and the giant door was opened.
It was the throne room. The Emperor stood as he saw the man leading the cloaked guests. Those currently in front of him quickly stood aside.
He greeted the man with wide smile.
“Ah, GrandMaster, welcome to my humble abode.”
“No time for pleasantries Sire, I brought grave news.”
“Oh? What would that be, my dear Freed?”
“One which may threaten our very Empire…”
He whispered, discreetly looking around the people in the throne room. The Emperor understood the hint, looked at his vassals and waved his hand twice to the front.
“Yes, Sire…”
His vassals went to the other guests, aside from the four cloaked, and escorted them out. The door was then closed tight, with the BAM sound of it being locked outside.
“What’s this all about, my brother Freed. Surely the Rune Empire wouldn’t able to recover their strength… we did really well there…”
“No… not Rune. Could you place a guest? It is something quite worrisome, indeed.”
“ Then would this be about the Mings? Those shut-ins really worry me…”
“No, brother Emperor, it is worse than those…”
“WHAT?! There’s no way Amria fell back to the hands of those peasants? My memory of 200 years ago still…”
“Not Amria… our grips are tight there. None could escape the clutches unless they killed all 300 of our congressmen while fending off our million soldiers...”
“Then rebellion here? Those old crooks, don’t know where their loyalties lie…”
“Wrong guess again, brother emperor… Wait, why are we playing… well, that’s not important… It is… worrying… It is Astaria, brother emperor…”
“Nonsense, brother Freed! Astaria is no more. We killed hundreds of their leaders… basically all of them. Even their reputation we continued to kill over and over… None could revive such Empire, with lands scattered and divided with different minor states, led by greedy bunch of gofers. Our dogs.”
“Our Supreme Master prophesied so.”
“Our Lordship did? Regardless… it’s impossible to revive such Empire without our notice. We have a lot of time to kill whoever responsible.”
“It may seem so… and it’s also true a hundred years ago we did not expect such empire would rise all within some short years… The successor of the Kaiser is here, the one HE deemed worthy.”
“Does he have any army…?”
“No, brother Emperor… he’s yet to have any.”
“Any followers…?”
“...Supreme Master said he had gained consciousness a few days ago, so it’s unlikely…”
“See? No army! No followers! I shall then send our best assassins to do the job. Where would it be?”
“I’m concerned if just assassins would suffice…It is a task of utmost importance.”
“Hmm… What did the Supreme Master says…?”
“He said to leave it in your hands. Kill the successor no matter what.”
“Then it will be done. Now where would the location be?”
“Be warned, my brother… there might be grave consequences if the successor survived the assassins…”
“You worry too much. Then I will also send out rewards offer to the underworld… a bounty of 100 Million Cilars. Crucial information leading to the subject, 10 Million Cilars. That ought to gain much attention.”
“Yes, indeed… That might be enough, if the society decided to partake in the quest…”
“Now, the location!”
“Above the Franz Empire, just across the sea… seek the youth who holds the mark of Astaria on the back of his hand… the exact location could not be pin-pointed. The pact protected the youth to some extent.”
“A youth? You’re worried of a youth, brother GrandMaster… Hah! Above Franz…? Would it be Arkland, the former eastern part of Astaria? That’s basically our courtyard.”
“Perhaps… the message was above Franz… in the map however, several islands exist… but the highest probability would be the peninsula of Radiant…”
“Ah, our former colony… it would be easy enough to gain information, would it not?”
“Much has changed all these years, due to that wretched Prime Minister… but our rope still holds tight of the neck of the country... Supreme Master told us to make sure the target did not escape to other countries.”
“I shall put our men at the border of each neighbouring states and ports… Then, what else did those… Our Lordship say? Is he a noble?”
“Our Lordship said he was born commoner, just like the previous Kaiser…”
“That’s a problem. It would be difficult to trace… if he remains inactive. When he became active then it would be easy enough to sniff him out.”
“Yes, that’s… an accurate assessment brother Emperor…”
“Then, my brother Freed, rest easy and wait for the good news. You must be exhausted…”
“Yes, and worried still.”
“Hah! What need the Lion, King of the jungle to be ever so worry of a tiny mouse? It could at best a pest… Let the cubs handle it beforehand and let us Lions worry not of small matters. Even if one fails another hundred would take its place. The job is done even before it’s even started.”
“Perhaps so… You are right, brother Emperor… Perhaps so.”
The Grandmaster nodded. His eyes shone bright red as he turned and left the place.
===