Chapter 40: Chapter 40
His Short Warp scroll allowed him to move anywhere within 25 kilometers. Darius pondered a bit and looked at his ruined attire that Portia gave him. It was dirtied and spoiled beyond measure after his scuffle.
As such, he unhesitatingly activated the House Portal scroll and felt a golden light envelop him. The moment it covered his form, he was whisked away from the glade and right in the room Portia had allocated him.
To Darius, it was as if he was in the forest one second and then in his room in the other. To onlookers, it was like a golden flash of light had disappeared from the clearing and appeared in one of the farmhouse's rooms.
Darius sighed and scratched his head. 'I should probably clean myself up again.'
As such, he called for Portia, who rushed to his room with a look of shock on her face.
"Master Darius, you're… you're back again? B-But I just saw you leave the homestead a few hours ago…"
Darius smiled gently. "I have a way to teleport between two locations. I was interrupted during my experiment by a Blue Troll, but I was able to fell it expeditiously. Tell your brother that I apologize for ruining his clothes. I'll naturally compensate for the damages, but for now, I'd like to get a change of clothes and freshen up before heading out again."
Portia was astounded and secretly moved when she heard Darius could teleport. According to her book, only an Adept Mage could even perform a Short Blink, much less a long distance teleport.
Darius was so young but so powerful… and he had even killed a Blue Troll! That was a monster even her papa did not engage without assistance from some of the other combat capable men of the homestead.
"I'll have a bath and a new set of clothes prepared right away!" Portia promised excitedly, for reasons she herself did not understand.
Darius watched the young lady practically skip away with a benevolent smile on his face… which he quickly wiped off with a smack. He smiled bitterly when he realized that around this young lass, his elderly characteristic tended to show easily.
Darius truthfully saw her more as a cute niece or a sweet granddaughter, rather than what she hoped he would see which was quite sad actually.
However, he didn't want to create unnecessary resentment between any parties in the homestead, so he'd have to remain silent about his disinterest, lest it brew such feelings.
As of now, he had only 0.1 Conversion Points remaining for the day. He had spent 4 of them on his Spearmanship skillbook and 5.9 on another empty spell manual. He was pondering whether to turn the empty manual into a blink spell or a healing spell the next day.
Both of them had their uses. Blink would make him harder to hit in combat. For example in the previous battle, he could have easily dealt with the Troll's skills by blinking away and lancing it with Sparks.
A healing spell would be great if he took on a tank-like person under his System Brand. While they took the damage and Darius cast his Sparks from the backline, he could also heal them whenever their HP went low.
So basically, it came down to what his choice was for phase 2.5 which was the interlude before the truly difficult task. Should he go ahead and find a member of this community that fit his requirements and brand them?
The problem with this was that whoever he chose would have to drop everything and follow him out of here for the rest of their lives. This posed many problems for Darius specifically.
The first was attachments. If he took someone from here, they would have other attachments and loyalties except himself, since they had family, friends, and an origin here. While on their journey, they would eventually reach the point when they would like to come back and visit, or might be hindered by their feelings for their family if they were threatened.
The second was morality. These people had grown up in a nice area full of love, warmth, and honesty. To ask any of them to kill their fellow man, even with a justifiable reason, would waste Darius' precious time and energy. What he needed were servants who obeyed his will, not children who whined about good and bad.
The third was wisdom. While these people might be natives of this world, they were farmers and villagers. They were not exactly adept at assassination, subterfuge, deception, or reading deeper social cues.
Darius could list many more reasons against this choice. That was why despite Derek and Portia appearing like viable candidates for his System Brand, he had hesitated so far and continued to do so.
Right now, Darius was more inclined to head to the nearest town, purchase a slave or two, and brand them. That would be the easiest method to achieve his goals while avoiding many of the problems he had mentally listed and find out if there were any limitations he was unaware of.
However, he certainly couldn't head to the town before phase 3 as his lack of an identity would bite him in the ass.
Darius' thoughts were interrupted by Portia informing him that his bath was ready. He then spent an hour or two cleaning himself and his weapons up, before he donned a newer and fresher attire that was more comfortable for battle and trekking.
It was less noble and more countryside. It was very practical and Darius liked it more for the purposes he had in mind.
"Portia, I recall you mentioned that you were a Scholar? I should have guessed as much earlier, since I can see the intelligence and astuteness in your eyes and your actions." Darius suddenly mentioned, making the young maiden blush about such a compliment.
Despite her reddened cheeks, she did not break eye contact as she smiled and nodded. "I am. Papa has quite a huge library filled with books from all over the Kingdom. As his only daughter, I am to be the manager of this estate, so it's imperative that I am educated and good with numbers."
Darius' eyes brightened. "Can you take me there? I would love to browse through the wealth of knowledge your esteemed father has compiled."
Portia nodded rapidly and pulled Darius by the hand, chattering on about the library and her favorite books while Darius followed along with a benevolent smile.
Chapter 41: Chapter 41
Darius spent the rest of the day in the library instead of heading out again. He changed his mind not because of Portia, but because of the wealth of knowledge Shanks possessed in the form of books.
In truth, Darius had been clumsy. He had assumed that since Shanks was a soldier, he would be a meathead with little education or interest in knowledge, but he was wrong to have stereotyped the man.
He had everything, from geography to history, modern literature, sociology, mathematics, and even some books on magical theory and combat theory!
Darius had surprisingly chosen to pick up the books on history first, rather than magical theory. He then spent the rest of the day parsing through them quickly with Portia watching on with shock.
When Darius explained that he had an eidetic memory and could memorize it on a single glance, she gazed at him with respect and envy. Darius was just the perfect scholar and mage type!
Darius was excited the more he read. So much of the information he slowly acquired filled up the holes in the small Infoblock he received about the Andrato Kingdom and its history.
All he had known was that it had existed for about 300 years and had about 5 rulers, but he finally discovered how and why it was formed, as well as what recognition it received to be called a state.
Now, he discovered that the Andrato Kingdom was a subsidiary state of a larger and more powerful kingdom called Fraterina. It was a kingdom that was matriarchal in nature due to the founding mother being an ex-valkyrie.
It had existed for more than 5,000 years, after a divine war between the various churches and demonic factions. Darius was intrigued by this tidbit, but it was not storied in the history book since it wasn't the direct reason for the formulation of the Andrato Kingdom.
However, it confirmed a few things for Darius. There were deities in this world and they, unlike on Earth, made themselves known. This was something he had suspected to exist after hearing Caesar speak of Dragons and whatnot, so he wasn't too jilted.
It did make Darius wonder though, how did the 'Supreme' stage fit in all this? Was it a level above deities? One step below them? Or an intermediary?
According to Caesar, the highest stage currently achievable was Grandmaster. Since this was between level 80 to 100, could the world have mistaken Grandmasters for deities since they were the highest point of power?
After all, if Darius reached level 80, his stats and skill would be a whole different level from right now. It was likely he would be able to fly, crush mountains with a punch, and call thunderstorms to destroy an entire city.
What else could that be but a God to the weak? Especially to the lesser educated masses of Faust who were still in the heavy religious/superstitious phase which earth had long shed away.
Then again, these were speculations. He would have to endeavor to learn more about the deities and the churches, and thankfully he had Portia for that. However, Darius didn't want to go on a tangent just yet.
By the time it was 9 pm, he had already discovered that the first queen of Andrato Kingdom had been only of the princesses of Fraterina Kingdom sent here to subdue the Plains of Death as punishment.
It was a form of exile for a sin she had committed… which was trying to advocate for more rights for men.
When Darius read this, his eyebrows furrowed deeply. It seemed Fraterina was a spitting example of a sexist state, where the dominant sex - male or female - treated the other as a subordinate sex.
If there was a Fraterina, there would definitely be a Fraterino, where the opposite dynamic existed.
However, ever since the first founder, named Julietta, settled down with her allies to form the Andrato Kingdom, the power balance between both sexes had been neutralized.
Darius saw a note from either Shanks or Portia that stated: "The Royal Court is still split into two; those who want to adopt the traditions of the mother kingdom then return to her fold and those who want to adhere to the wishes of the founder."
Darius rubbed his face with frustration. So before he had even entered the noble circles, he had already been hamfisted into a faction, which was obviously the one that supported the founder.
Supporting the other one would be shooting himself in the foot unless he could find a way to change his gender, which, even if it was possible, he had no interest in doing.
After reading this far, he was a bit tired and decided to go to bed. Portia escorted him to his room, once again hoping for something more, only for Darius to bid her goodnight.
As such, the young lass could only slink away with her head lowered and her expression downcast.
Darius plopped into bed and sorted all the knowledge he had acquired today. The one thing he was most interested in now wasn't even the divine war from the ages past that led to the formation of Fraterina, but the Plains of Death.
Exactly what secrets did that place hold that made it imperative for the Fraterina Kingdom to send one of their princesses here? Was it a figurative or literal goldmine? A growing threat?
Perhaps a mix of both? Darius would have to research more on it either through books or when he got to a larger place of civilization.
Whatever the case, he found his eyes drooping the more he thought. Today, he had battled a Blue Troll and come out on top, climbing a whopping 8 levels in one go.
The power boost it had given him was not a joke, but it had also tired him out and made him feel strange in his empowered body. Darius's last thoughts before he fell asleep were of the Conversion Points he would be receiving tomorrow and how to best allocate them.
After all, tomorrow was the day he would have to choose a new spell to add to his repertoire.
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
200+ Power
Ranking 
6 Power
stone 
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