บท 11: End of Exile (Special Chapter)
Words in [ ] imply someone talking in Faydens mind.
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Fayden's POV:
"This is getting too easy." I muttered as I cleaved through the nightmare fox that lunged over me.
"Even their numbers have dwindled." I grumbled, ducking under the claws of a gale baboon, placing my palm over its chest as a blade of pure blackness formed from it impaling the monkey.
The number of mutated beasts have increased, however.
Even after twelve years, I haven't caught them. They're good at hiding their tracks, I'll give them that.
"Dammit!" I kicked the ground in frustration.
When I catch you, trust me, I'm going to fucking devour your soul.
In this last decade, I have grown, not just physically. I was well into White core now, and nearing its prime wondering if there is a stage beyond that…
Physically I had changed much more, my hair had grown longer, growing down to my chin. Two bangs framed my face, which had grown more rugged, and I was also sporting a beard.
"Hisssss…" a basilisk tried to sneak up on me.
*Swish* Only to get sliced in half.
Looking around I noticed it's already well past midnight, nearing sunrise from the looks of it.
"I guess I should return to the camp." I muttered.
My camp was located at the edge of the Beast Glades near the coast.
While it would be an issue for anyone else to cross the entirety of the Glades just to get there, for me it was child's play.
Now I know I said camp, but it was anything but a simple tent.
It was a house built of logs of wood, albeit a bit crude.
I haven't been living in the wilderness for over a decade, I'm not a barbarian!
The inside of the house was simple: a kitchen, a hammock to sleep in and a bathroom.
All in all, it was rather small.
But it has served me well for the past 12 years.
Even though I don't really sleep in here much, due to my tendency to keep fighting without sleep until my body decides to shut down.
With a thump, I dropped the golden-horned elk I had brought with me for dinner.
"Alright let's get started." I exclaimed after washing my hands using a bit of water magic.
Cutting the meat into small pieces, outside the house of course, I entered the kitchen for some ingredients to add taste.
Consuming roasted meat without any spices tasted bland so I had to go to a nearby city once in a while for cooking supplies.
Grabbing the ingredients and placing them in my shadow storage, I went back outside, and dumped all my collected foliage to create a fire.
Well then, let's get cooking.
After having dinner I decided to embark into the forests of Elshire.
At least they would provide a better challenge.
As I departed from my home, I wished I could fit it into my shadow storage.
I'll have to return back here every day otherwise…
Sigh, it's gonna take a few trips.
And so I began my assault on the beasts in the Elven forests.
It was way more exhilarating fighting them than the weaklings back in the Glades.
It took them weeks before the elves began looking for me.
But even then, I managed to avoid their search parties every single time.
Until they brought a goddamn white core mage with them.
I mean I'm flattered and all, but it was seriously a hindrance.
It became harder and harder to remain undetected, especially considering the white core just loved using illusions to confuse me.
Although knowing their routine helped me prepare in advance.
Until they decided to become sneaky and sent the white core on a solo hunt for me.
"There you are." Her sudden appearance startled me enough to lose track of my most recent prey.
"The hell?!" I jumped up from my hiding spot, alerting the hyena like a mana beast who bounded away.
"And there goes my prey." I sighed.
I had been following it for hours.
"Anyways, didn't you guys just try to look for me yesterday?" I spoke out, turning towards the source of the voice.
Only to find nothing?
Another illusion of hers eh.
Instinctively I formed a bubble of nacht around me, just in time to stop a volley of what looked like mana needles.
I raised an eyebrow at them, "And what's that supposed to do?"
With a wave of my hand, the needle-like constructs began darkening before turning as black as the shield they were embedded in.
Suddenly a very high-pitched noise reached my ears, amplifying my already annoying headache.
"Grr…" A growl built up on my throat as I gritted my teeth.
Alright, fuck it! I thought as I channeled lightning and ice mana through my entire body.
[Black Lightning]
And bluish-white thunder exploded from my body as bolts of it tore through the plants around me before freezing them solid.
It was enough to interrupt her spell as she materialized from thin air looking around her wide-eyed.
I had just frozen half of the Forest of Elshire.
"H-How…" She muttered, still shocked at my display of power.
"Ice and lightning magic." I explained as I conjured my signature swords.
"Ice and lightning magic, mana constructs…" She muttered, "You, you are a member of the legendary S class party aren't you?"
"Former member, we disbanded." I corrected.
"What is a former S class adventurer doing inside the forests of Elshire?" she inquired.
I shrugged at her question, "The beast glades were too easy, I wanted a challenge."
"That's it?" She asked a tad bit incredulously.
"That's it." I nodded, "I don't have a hidden agenda of wanting to invade Elenoir or something, I just wanted a good battle."
I sighed, "Look if it's that much of an issue I can go back to the Glades."
She chuckled, "You're an interesting man."
"I know." I retorted as I turned back to leave.
"Wait!" She called, halting me in the process, "By the looks of it you haven't been near civilization for a while have you?"
"No, what's your point?"
"Why don't you try to visit Elenoir?" She asked.
"Visit Elenoir?" I echoed.
I guess I do need a few supplies, "Sure, why not?"
As I turned towards her, something struck my mind, "Uh, which way is Elenoir again?"
She giggled saying, "Follow me."
After two hours of walking and countless sexual innuendos, we were finally inside Elenoir.
The city could only be described as pristine. The jade buildings seemed to be carved out of a single massive stone. The trees intertwined with the buildings giving it a sort of organic ambiance.
Most of the ground was made of soft moss, only the main roads and sidewalks being paved. The dense canopy over the city would have made it a cold and dark place if not for the hundreds of floating motes of light situated in every nook and cranny of the city.
"Seriously, don't you have anything other than flirting or teasing to do?" I groaned.
Talk about being horny all the time.
"Why? Is it turning you on?" She suggested.
"Does it look like I'm turned on?" I deadpanned.
She glanced down below my torso and said, "Not yet."
"The hell do you mean by 'yet'?!" I demanded.
She only giggled and avoided the question.
This woman is gonna drive me insane one of these days I'm telling you.
[She's hitting on you dumbass.]
So you finally decided to speak.
[Can't help it if you don't tell me anything.]
You could have just watched everything through my eyes.
[You don't even sleep. I, for one, like my sleep.]
You literally only wake up to see if I am doing anything interesting.
[You can handle yourself just fine without me, you big baby.]
How do you even sleep this long?
[Hey don't come between me and my sleep.]
Who's the baby now?
[Shaddup.]
"Fayden?" She nudged me.
"Hm? Oh, I'm fine, just talking to myself."
"Okay…" She trailed off.
"Could you take me to the Royal Palace?" I changed the topic.
"Why should I?" She said, a smile on her face, but her eyes narrowed at me.
Geez, she is one suspicious woman, "I just need to sell a few SS-Class beast cores, and you guys don't exactly have an Adventurer's Guild so the Royal Family is the next best place."
She kept her eyes narrowed, looking for any lies in my sentence.
"Can you stop with the suspicion? I'm not going to assassinate your king or something. If I did, I would have done it a long time ago and none of you could have stopped me. Besides, why would I even consider doing that?" I snapped a bit.
She looked away, a bit abashedly, and muttered an awkward sorry.
"Anyways, just take me there." I shook my head.
"But you don't have any cores on you at the moment." She said, confused.
"You'll see." I said cryptically as I turned towards the big palace in the city.
Time to pay the Elven royalty a visit.
The Eraliths were able to recognize me as soon as they saw me, and I was escorted downstairs to a rectangular table.
"To what do we owe this visit, former member of the Legendary Party?" An old man, their previous king, spoke first as we settled down.
Virion, was it?
"I just wanted to sell a few beast cores." I shrugged.
"Why Elenoir then, and not Sapin?" The current king, who had introduced himself as Alduin enquired.
"Elenoir was the closest to my location." I replied simply.
Virion narrowed his eyes at me, "So you are the one who is responsible for the decrease in mana beasts in our forests."
"Yeah, what of it?" I said, dismissively.
"We want to know why you are killing them, they have been peaceful with us for centuries. But your presence is a threat to that peace." Alduin explained.
"I'll tell you what I told her." Here I pointed at Aya, the mage who brought me here, "I just wanted a good fight."
A look of disbelief flashed across the king's face and Virion spoke up, "Then why didn't you go to the Beast Glades?"
"The beasts there are too easy to kill nowadays, the ones in the forest were harder." I reasoned.
This is getting us nowhere, "In the end, I will be leaving your forests alone so no worries there. Now, do you want those cores or not?"
"From the looks of it, you don't have them currently-" Alduin halted in surprise when he saw me bring out the cores from my shadow storage.
"You were saying?" I mocked as I began placing the cores on the table.
"That's a Hydra's core," I placed a sickly green colored core, "Sky Wyvern." A bluish-white one was next, "That's a Kraken." A dark blue core fell onto the table, "And that's," the final core, a black and orange one, "a Cerberus."
Their eyes almost popped out of their sockets.
"I would expect nothing less from one of the first S-Class adventurers." Virion chuckled.
"This… it will take us a while to gather all the gold required for this." Alduin muttered.
[Good thing you didn't bring out the others then, you would have bankrupted their kingdom.]
Yeah, you're right.
I sighed, "How long?"
"A few days at the very least." He answered.
"Very well, I guess I can stay for a while," even though it's annoying.
Virion nodded before whispering something to Aya, to which she shook her head.
Virion sighed in defeat before announcing, "You will be provided the best room in the castle."
Aya moved towards me, beckoning me to follow her.
"No need, I can stay in one of the inns." I tried to escape.
Key word being tried as Aya's smile grew in size, but sent an ominous chill down my spine.
I sweatdropped, why are the women always so scary?
I woke up early the next day, surprised I could even sleep for more than an hour.
Normally I slept for around three hours after passing out, but now I had actually managed to rest for six hours straight.
Getting out of my bed, I proceeded to wash my teeth and take a bath before heading out to tour the place.
[You do realize that she's following you right?]
Yeah, let's just act unaware for now.
[You do you man.]
Out of the castle I waded into the bustling streets of Elenoir, taking in the view.
[Damn, this is a beautiful city.]
That it is.
I chuckled under my breath, drawing a few curious gazes.
I was in the middle of admiring the view when a middle-aged guy walked up to me and threw his glove.
I raised an eyebrow at the display.
So he wants to duel me huh?
"Alright, I accept." I got into my stance, crouched low with my feet spread apart, and my hands in such a position as if I was holding my swords.
I let him get the first spell as is customary in a duel.
He equipped the halberd on his back and channeled lightning mana through it, shrouding it in a thick cloak of thunder.
I allowed him to get closer and closer until he was right above me.
He brought his halberd down in a downward slash, only to have it be blocked by my mana-coated finger.
"Is that all you have?" I mocked, examining the change in his demeanor.
It worked as he put all his mana into the halberd, making the lightning thrash out of it in arcs, placing the audience in danger.
I could sense Aya manipulating mana for a spell.
It won't be necessary.
Before any electricity could reach them, a shield of pure electric mana surrounded us, eating the thunder whenever it made contact.
"You know, you should really consider the safety of your own people when you try something like that." I commented, it bothered me how he didn't show any of his rage when he went berserk on his spell.
He only nodded in response.
[Could this all be a farce?]
It's a possibility considering who I am, the royal family is curious about my strength, especially when even their strongest mage, a white core, couldn't sense it.
I sighed, "You can come out Aya, I know you are tailing me."
She materializes near me, "When did you sense me?"
"Ever since you began tailing me." I countered.
Blood rose to her cheeks as she blushed in the embarrassment of being found.
"Don't be disheartened, there are only 3 people who are on my level." I tried to reassure her.
She nodded, regaining her composure.
"Since I am going to keep touring the city, you might as well tag along with me." I suggested.
[Damn, you're smooth.]
"My, are you asking me out on a date, Fayden?" She teased.
I shrugged at her, "If you want to consider it as such."
Immediately my hand was hooked by hers as she placed it right between her ample bosom.
"What… are you doing?" I won't lie, I have slightly flustered myself.
"You said I could consider this a date right?" She shot back.
…
"Fell right into that one didn't I?"
She only chuckled.
What did I get myself into?
[You see Fayden when two people like each other they try to test the waters by doing this thing called dating.]
Shut up, please shut up.
His snickering echoed in my mind.
Let me say this, no matter the woman, they all love shopping.
We have been at more than a dozen shops, and it's already past mid-day.
Good thing I have my shadow storage, or else I wouldn't have been able to carry all that.
Thankfully we ran out of shops to go to, otherwise I didn't know if I could have survived any further.
"So it's finally over." I breathed out a sigh of relief that she didn't hear, "So what now?"
"We can go to one of the cafes for breakfast," she suggested.
I shrugged, "Sure."
And so we headed to one of their cafes.
It was beautiful.
A huge tree was in the middle of it, its branches stooping low with azure lanterns hanging from them. Hugging the tree, a marble and jade counter existed, with the elven bartenders standing behind it. Dozens of tables were spread out in a four-meter radius around it. A circular garden formed the last layer of the cafe, enhancing its already divine natural ambiance.
We settled down on one of the tables and waited for the bartender to come.
This is becoming more of a date as time passes…
[Shoot your shot man, you might not get a chance later.]
I'm not exactly looking for a relationship right now you know?
[Why not?]
I didn't find a reason to, besides I'll outlive her anyways.
[...That's true]
One of the bartenders came to take our order.
I ordered a cappuccino while she ordered a latte, and the waiter left after noting it down.
Thank you, Jaron for introducing coffee to this world.
Now that we had time to talk I brought up something that had been bothering me for a while, "So, did the royal family put you and the kid I dueled up to test how strong I am."
She began fidgeting at the mention of it, before relenting, "Yes."
I sighed, "They could have just asked."
"Would you have told the truth then?" She shot back.
"Well, no I wouldn't tell them all of my capabilities, but it is better than setting up some random kid to fight me." I admitted.
"I see…" she muttered with nothing else to say.
"Apart from that, why are you sticking to me?" I changed the topic.
She winked at me, "You could say I am interested in you."
I raised an eyebrow, "What's so interesting about me apart from the whole S-Class adventurer thing?"
"You're seriously asking that?" she doubted.
I shrugged, "I know I have good looks and am powerful, but that's about it."
"That's it."
"That's it what?" I was genuinely confused.
"You don't brag like those pesky nobles." She had a look of distaste as she said this.
"I can think of three more people who fall in that category. So why me?" I said, referring to my former teammates.
"You are the first one I met, So that's why~" she added coyly.
"I...see."
An awkward silence ensued.
Before I decided to change the topic once again, "So, how many white core mages are there now?"
Last I saw there were only four, us.
"You haven't heard of the six lances?" she tilted her head in confusion.
I shook my head, "No, I haven't exactly kept note of things happening this past 12 years."
"Why?"
[Cause he has been living under a rock, lady!]
Shush you.
"Let's just say I wasn't exactly… stable when we disbanded." I said cryptically.
Yeah, no way am I telling her of my 'assimilation'.
"Okay?" she looked a bit concerned.
"Back to what we were talking about, what did you mean by lances?"
"The six lances are individuals chosen by the royal family to serve as the protectors of Dicathen." She recited, "There are two elven, two dwarven, and two human lances. All of whom are white core mages."
"Huh, that so…" I trailed off.
There are ten white core mages now…
Heh, the continent has grown strong in the last decade.
"Anything else I should know about?" I asked.
She nodded, "Yes, a new continent has been discovered, one who has been spying on us for a while."
Now that got my attention, "Say what now?"
"They have been using mana beasts equipped with artifacts to look into Dicathen." She confirmed.
[It's possible that those horned bastards came from there.]
Yeah, it would make sense then.
"What else do you know of the other continent?" Do they know already?
"That's about it, we don't know anything else."
That's it.
"Alright, I need to pay a visit to the Eraliths." I announced as I stood up.
"Huh?" She was startled.
"They need to know something about the other continent." I clarified as I dropped off a few silver coins at the table and began walking away, Aya following me wordlessly.
I barged into the palace, looking for a member of the royal family, Aya by my side.
I had memorized their mana signatures during their meeting, and now I was looking for a signature similar to them.
It took me a while but I finally found one near me.
It was the old king.
"Hey old man!" I shouted as I neared his location, behind Aya did a double-take.
His eyebrow twitched at the way I addressed him, "What is it brat!"
"You need to know something about the other continent, all three royal families do." I breathed out.
He raised an eyebrow, "Haven't you been living in the Glades for the past few years?"
"Yes, and that's exactly how I came across one of them." I shot back.
His eyes widened as his countenance turned serious, "Follow me."
I nodded and walked beside him.
On the way, he ordered one of the guards to inform the King and Queen to come to the meeting room.
A few minutes later, we were all settled down around the rectangular table.
"What did you want to tell about the denizens of the other continent?" Alduin asked.
"They have pale skin, almost grey and a pair of horns, and they are strong, immensely so. Stronger than your lances, hell one of them was able to fight me to a standstill." I blurted out.
"How?" He whispered, "How are they so strong?"
I shrugged, "Hell if I know."
"Where did you see them?" He asked.
"In a dungeon, they're responsible for the mutated mana beasts. You should stop all dungeon dives for the time being, at least for the lower levels. No one can survive a fight against them other than me and my former teammates," I warned.
"Alea is in danger." Aya said, worried for whoever it was.
I narrowed my eyes, "Where is she?"
"In an A-Class dungeon named Hell's Jaw. She went there to investigate these changes with a battalion of troops." Virion answered for Alduin.
"Then...she might already be dead." I said grimly.
"Even then, there is a chance she is still alive… Could all six lances combined take on these horned soldiers?" Alduin asked.
"If they work as a team, yes. But I wouldn't recommend it, there might be more than one."
"Could you by any chance go to check? We will pay you," he offered.
"I was planning on it anyway, so you can keep your money." I waved his offer away.
He nodded, grateful before he whispered something to one of the guards, who ran out of the room.
Before they could get their hopes high, I interrupted, "Do prepare yourselves, I might not come back with good news."
Virion nodded, "We know, but even if she is dead, she will have an artifact on her. We need you to bring it back along with her body."
An artifact…
Are they seriously worried about an artifact over one of their own?
[Calm down Fayden.]
I tried to quell my rage as I spoke, "This artifact, what's so special about it that you value it over your mage's lives."
But in the end, some of that anger managed to slip through.
He sighed, "It was an artifact given to us by… deities." He revealed.
"Deities?" I asked.
How did they know about deities?
And then he goes into an in-depth explanation of how times were in the Beast Era and how a deity descended from the heavens and provided them with the artifacts which allowed their wielder to manipulate mana.
Then he described how these artifacts were used to knight the lances, making them jump from the silver stage to the white stage.
"Hmmm, so who are the lances?" I enquired.
"From the dwarves, Mica Earthborn and Olfred Warren, Mica is a gravity deviant, while Olfred is a magma deviant. From the humans, Varay Aurae, an ice deviant, and Bairon Wykes, a lightning deviant. And from us, you have already met Aya Grephin, sound deviant, and Alea Triscan, a plant deviant." Alduin answered.
Out of the names there, one caught my interest.
[So the kid really did become one of the strongest mages huh?]
Guess he got his wish then.
Now, the guard returned with a suitcase.
Alduin took it from him and presented it to me, "It has your payment for the beast cores."
"Huh?"
I took the case and opened it, only to find a bunch of golden bars, forty of them by the looks of it.
"Each bar has the value of a hundred gold coins, hence forty gold bars for the four cores you gave us," he explained.
"Alright then, I'll be leaving to find the lance," I announced, getting up.
"I'll escort you out." Aya offered.
I was about to decline when I saw the look on her face telling me she has something to talk about.
I relented and nodded at her.
As we were out of earshot of the castle guards I spoke, "So, what do you want to talk about?"
"Just come back safe and I'll have something waiting for you when you return," she added suggestively.
I gulped, picking a destination in my mind as my body disappeared in a flash of black.
It took me three trips to return to my home.
Entering the room, I take one last look around it.
I guess I won't be needing this anymore.
[Yeah, don't start getting sentimental now.]
I won't, don't worry.
The only thing in here that held value to me was the pendant and the letter my mother left me.
I didn't dare take them with me when fighting, lest I risk destroying them.
As I wore the necklace, I stared at the letter.
At first, it was the usual apology for leaving and an 'I love you, my son.'
But after my...awakening, when I tried to open the letter, it was briefly bathed in blue light as its contents changed to something far greater.
"Who would have guessed that I was reborn as a literal god," I chuckled, tucking the letter away as I exited my home.
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