Bab 25: Chapter 24
From afar, Elizabeth gazes at one of the small border towns of Camelot with the Frozen Peaks.
"This won't work..." she glanced at her own clothes. "How am I supposed to go there dressed like this...?"
Half of her clothes were torn, maybe more. There's absolutely no way she could be seen like this by anyone else, it's impossible.
She continued to observe the town, searching for a way to enter it without being seen.
"It's a small town, and despite bordering the Frozen Peaks, they don't seem too concerned about it."
Her eyes swept over the fragile wall surrounding the town, mainly analyzing how the guards behaved and looking for a place where she could find another change of clothes.
"The guards don't even bother pretending to fulfill their duties. Some sleep, while others just wander off now and then and only come back much later... How is this town still standing?"
When the last awake guard left his post, Elizabeth ran towards the small border town. Her steps were quick, taking only a few moments for her to reach her goal, and even if she hadn't waited for the guards to neglect their duty, she still wouldn't have been seen by anyone in that place.
"Although, according to what I've read, creatures usually don't come out of the Frozen Peaks, that must be why they're so careless."
Scaling the wall was easy, just a small leap to reach the top, and another to distance herself, jumping towards one of the local properties.
"It was somewhere around here..."
Carefully, Elizabeth moved through the town, passing by large estates, avoiding being seen by people, and searching for some clothes she could wear.
"It seems living in a border town has its positives, despite the constant danger. Why are these people's lands so vast? Are there only nobles in this place?"
After some time, Elizabeth finally managed to find some clothes drying outdoors. Having to do this didn't please her at all, but she didn't have a better option in mind.
As she undressed, the animals around her constantly stirred, creating various irritating noises that seemed to make her head throb.
"These animals have always been annoying, but this is unbearable!" she thought, using a bucket of water to wash the blood off her body. "The sounds seem excessively louder now. Did my senses evolve? Was it that significant?"
Just as those who surpass level 100 have ridiculously higher chances of ascending in their knowledge of mana compared to someone of lower levels.
Not only having more ease in manipulation, manifestation, creation of magic, and absorption of energy, those who achieve such a feat are the ones closest to becoming one with mana, the universal energy, becoming a "transcendental" being.
Those who reach levels above 200 inevitably experience something different, an expansion of all their physical senses. Be it sight, smell, touch, or taste, it doesn't matter, all, with each level increased, have their horizons expanded greatly.
That's why the water drawn from the well of that farm that Elizabeth uses to cleanse her body feels so cold, despite being at room temperature.
The noise of the animals becomes even more irritating because each one of those creatures now seems to be shouting together inside her mind.
The smell of the animals' feces, although they are distant, is as repulsive and disgusting as if they were standing right in front of her.
And the footsteps approaching that place, although relatively silent and slow, seemed to be right beside her, as if a large hammer were striking the ground with each step taken; "Shut up!" the child yelled at the animals.
After the bucket of water fell to the ground, the boy turned, looking at an Elizabeth, totally paralyzed, naked, and speechless in front of that embarrassing situation.
"Daddy!" the boy exclaimed. "There's an angel bathing in our backyard!"
Whether covered in blood or not, it doesn't matter. Her beauty is evident in any situation, even during the strangest and most embarrassing ones. After all, what to expect from someone who abundantly possesses what not only creates but also shapes everything that exists, its beauties and imperfections?
With each level increased, her body slowly molds, getting closer and closer to the ideal body she envisions in her mind, both in beauty and strength. Although, perhaps by choice, some details are normally not changed, for example, the eyes.
Elizabeth hid among the clothes and, after using flames to dry herself, she dressed and stepped out from behind the house.
"Pedrinho, what are you talking about?" questioned the man coming out through the simple wooden door. "An angel? Stop kidding around and go do what I..."
Those long, shiny golden hair stole his attention instantly, and obviously, his eyes quickly slid over that sculpted body that attracted him even under such worn and loose clothes.
"You... who are you...?"
That beauty seemed to invade his mind, depriving him of completing his simplest thoughts and making it difficult to form his sentences. However, when his vision focused again on her face, on her eyes, quickly that man bowed and his knee went to the ground.
"I salute you, Your Highness!"
Blonde hair alone is not something of great significance. However, when that golden color comes along with the blue in her eyes, the story changes completely.
The mark of royalty, it's impossible for anyone born in that Kingdom not to know this fact. Few are born with such combined physical characteristics, and when that happens, it's always someone with a high status, indeed, someone from the royal family.
"Father, what are you doing?" questioned the boy, approaching the bowed man. "Although she looks like an angel, this lady is a thief. She just stole our clothes."
"You... Boy, don't you have eyes?!"
The man quickly grabbed the child's arm and pulled him to the ground; "Ouch!"
There was no choice. In this Kingdom, especially with commoners, people of the upper class are not usually very patient... let alone those who belong directly to royalty...
"Forgive me!" exclaimed the man, lowering his other knee and bringing his head closer to the ground. "Please, I beg you to forgive my son! He's still young, so, I beg you, if you're going to punish someone, please let it be me."
"No, this isn't..."
Elizabeth tried to explain, but was interrupted by the frightened woman who came out through the door calling for her husband; "Darling?" she said. "What's going on?"
Like a magnet, her eyes naturally turned to Elizabeth, unable to contain themselves, running over that mesmerizing body in an instant.
However, her fate was the same as her husband's, upon seeing the color in her eyes and looking at the gold in her hair, her knees quickly hit the ground;
"I salute you, Your Highness!"
"No, wait...! Let me explain..."
Elizabeth sighed.
Even after her explanation, those poor peasants still remained wary and hesitant about her presence.
There was nothing to be done about the clothes; she had to take them. Their thanks, mainly for allowing her to keep the clothes and even providing the information she needed, didn't stop even as she left. But she felt she should leave soon, before she made those people even more uncomfortable.
"So the name of this place is 'Frostwatch'? It's very different from Dus..."
Elizabeth froze.
The name Duskwood came to her mind, followed by the scene that caused her recently "overcome" blood problem. That was the name of the border town Ethan crushed with his hands.
"..."
She continued to walk silently through the town, and as she passed through the gates of Frostwatch, her journey toward Avaloria, the central city of the Kingdom of Camelot, had begun.
"How great..." muttered the poor farmer, feeding his animals clearly discontented. "First demons, now the kingdom's heroine. First they took one of my cows, now my clothes? What will it be next? My house?!"
***************
The dishes on the wooden counter may look strange, but they are definitely delicious. The eagerness with which Ethan was eating them made that quite evident.
"Have you seen Riley recently?" asked Clovis, sitting two chairs away from Ethan.
"No, I think it's been about 3 days." replied Aiden, sitting in the last chair to the left, next to Clovis and three chairs after Ethan.
"Neither have I, he hasn't even been to the library lately. I think it's also been about three days since I last saw him."
"You went to the library?" asked Aiden, surprised. "To do what? I thought you learned everything after seeing it once. Were you studying the history of the Kingdom?"
"Why do you seem so surprised by a visit to the library?" questioned Clovis. "It's like you've never seen a book in your life."
Everyone in the room laughed, while Aiden, embarrassed, said; "So, Ethan, why did you go to the library? There are only history books there and... Don't tell me you..."
"I went to study some magic. It seemed interesting, so I wanted to try."
Everyone in the room looked at Ethan surprised, after all, magic is not something you learn just because you find it interesting; just like using aura, you need to have talent.
"And did you manage to learn anything?" asked Clovis, before putting his fork in his mouth.
"Yes, unfortunately..."
"Unfortunately?" said the cook, sitting on the other side of the counter. "Why do you say that?"
"Well, I thought it would be a bit more complicated and challenging, like the others at the library made it seem. But it didn't even take three full days..."
"You learned the magic of an element in just three days?!" exclaimed the cook, standing up abruptly.
Normally people would take between five to six months to learn the magic of a single element; geniuses are those who can learn in less time, around three months, two and a half at most.
However, one must also take into account each person's natural limitations; in Ethan's case, he has no limitations that someone from that world might have.
Naturals summoned naturally take a much shorter time to learn magic, around a month or two, after all, they don't have the limitation regarding the "tests" necessary for understanding due to their great abundance of mana. And there are those like Elizabeth, geniuses who also learn in a few weeks. But...
"No... it was all of them. Lightning was the most complicated, I think."
Ethan is not just a simple genius.
"What?!" exclaimed everyone present in the room, including Clovis, who let his fork fall in the process.
"Ah, sorry..." said the cook, briefly bowing as a way to apologize for hitting the table earlier. "I apologize, Your Highness."
Although also incredulous, the princess quickly composed herself; "It's alright. Don't worry." she said, sitting again in the chair to Ethan's right and returning to eating in the most graceful manner she could manage.
"And... is the food to your liking, princess? If you prefer, I can..."
"No, it's fine!" exclaimed the princess, standing up and tapping her fork on the table.
She looked at Ethan, who observed her with those cold, beautiful, purple eyes, and quickly sat back down; "The food is great, don't worry." said the princess, quickly putting the food in her mouth.
"If the lady says so..."
Status Power Mingguan
-- Peringkat
Power 
-- Power
stone