บท 34: A new house and a fortress.

After that day in the library with Yui, 1 year has passed. It was this time that it was necessary for the construction of my castle to be completed. Honestly, I didn't expect it to be built so quickly. But if you remember the good old phrase "This is magic, Harry", then everything falls into place.

---

But first, let's go back to the past.

After I informed my Father that I had already "agreed" with my Mother, and she agreed, my Father let me go and assured me that the castle would be built quickly and efficiently, and he did not forget to tell me about the territory either. Approximately somewhere in the 30 km area, it was allocated. The territory itself has no owner, and there are no people who live on it. Well, if you don't take animals into account.

My father also reminded me that soon I will have to choose a personal knight. And I just forgot about it!

By tradition, in many Kingdoms, when a prince or princess reaches the age for marriage, they have the right to choose a personal knight for themselves to protect their honor. A personal knight can act as a representative, and therefore it will not affect the honor of the prince or princess in any way. In addition, the one who was chosen as a personal knight, there is an opportunity to refuse, but if you agreed, then there is no way to refuse, only death. And a personal knight can be chosen only once, if your personal knight betrayed you and ran away, then it is impossible to fix it and choose a new one. The betrayal of your knight also affects your reputation and honor, so the matter is very serious.

The personal knight becomes the representative of the prince and princess, and can use his title to give orders on their behalf. So being a personal knight is a very lucrative job. Although there are enough disadvantages, because they will try to kill the heirs, and if a personal knight cannot protect them, then, depending on the circumstances, he will either be executed or imprisoned for life.

I still haven't decided who will be my personal knight? There are quite a lot of candidates, but each of them is somewhere too impulsive, somewhere too weak, and somewhere even suspected of a crime, in general, the list is quite large and complex. But all this aside.

During this time, I conducted research on the blood of demons, and the creation of homunculi. But most of all I was busy with the commandments. The more I studied them, through my instruments, the more amazed I was at the results. I can say that if the Demon King really created these commandments himself, I can only express my respect for such a complex curse.

After all, there were many different elements in the commandments, but most of all there was an element of darkness and chaos in it. There were a lot of problems with the latter, because in fact the element of chaos, here and there, is dangerous in every sense.

Chaos is the very concept of this word, which means it will never have a permanent form, and can become anything. But somehow the Demon King was able to stabilize the Chaos at a sufficient level and take power from it, but not everything is perfect. You could say he just made the commandments draw energy from chaos. Thus, the element of Chaos, the source of the power of the commandments. But precisely because of the Chaos, the curse of the commandments can also affect their owner.

I also learned that the commandments change when at least two of them are united in one vessel. One commandment is already a complex construction, with different principles and formulas. But if you combine the two commandments, their effect of curses will decrease, it's hard to say exactly how. The owner of more than one commandment will gradually gain access to the element of Chaos. But even here there is a big problem, Chaos will gradually penetrate into your mind, body, and soul until you become one with Chaos. In simple words, you will want to create Chaos.

Well, even here the element of Chaos is considered a terrible thing. Magicians with the power of Chaos have been recorded in history, but they only had a predisposition to this element, but even at the initial stages, the power of chaos is huge, and not predictable.

There was one magician who had a predisposition to Chaos. And out of curiosity, he decided to create spells for chaos. This magician was able to use the power of Chaos quite well after a couple of years. But over time, he went crazy, and decided to use his power to "create Chaos in the world," according to him. And he also said that when destroying one city, he used the weakest spell that "gave him Chaos."

In general, after this incident, Chaos mages are considered a sufficient threat for immediate destruction. But all this happened in the Kingdom of Humans, but some Kingdoms have also adopted such a policy that Chaos magicians are too dangerous to live or be free.

Of all my acquaintances, only Albedo had a high predisposition to the element of Chaos. If everything is put together properly, then perhaps she did not just become the future Queen of succubi. It seems that the current Queen found out that Albedo has an element of Chaos, and began to show her such kindness in advance. After all, as I remember, this Queen has a lot of daughters, but not one of them has not received the right to inheritance. Therefore, it is better to leave this question for now, since there are too many cunning conspiracies in this case.

As for the element of darkness in the commandments, I am 100% sure that it is dark matter. There is so much darkness that when receiving the commandment, the owner automatically gets access to dark matter and will draw it from the commandment, so getting a black mark on the body will not be a surprise. Also, the commandments increase all characteristics by about 5 times, depending on the owner.

As a result, I came to the conclusion that the commandments can be changed in some sense, but I can't do it now. The more I try to understand how they work, the more my head starts to hurt, probably the curse is to blame, so I decided to slow down the study of the commandments until I remove the curse from myself.

I also started visiting Yui's library more often, and began to meet Shizune there often when she was trying to learn new spells on ice and water magic. She was always happy when I came, but I noticed that she was becoming the same Shizuna that I saw in the anime, namely, she became more and more straightforward. She keeps saying that she loves me and is ready for anything to be with me.

Yui, of course, looked at our relationship with Shizune with a slightly pouty face. But as soon as I whispered in Yui's ear that I would soon fulfill my promise, and she would receive a sea of my love, she immediately stopped sulking. Although Yui still sometimes threw looks of jealousy in my direction. I had to spend more time with Yui so that she wouldn't be too jealous of others.

About the Nekomat sisters. I tried to talk to Kuroko about their past, but she tried to avoid this topic every time. Since this is her personal business. I also decided to ban her from the library. And so that Kuroko would not be offended by me much, he said that now she would be trained by Yui in magic. But I made a condition that Kuroko would study only the minimum of time, since she has many duties of my personal servant, as well as Yui as a "Master of books".

Only Yui didn't appreciate my news about another magic student. If it were possible to kill with a look, I would have died a couple hundred times while Yui was looking at me with a condemning look. Honestly, I was ashamed that I put so much on Yui's shoulders, she already has her own problems and responsibilities, and I bring her a little student, after a coma, and since the second one, but only already looks older. As a result, Yui again took a condition from me, which she will say later. I'm afraid to even imagine what Yui will ask me now. Although... it's better not to think about it.

As for Shirone, she suddenly asked me to teach her how to become strong. That's when I was not a little surprised, I even asked why she did it? Shirone replied that she did not want to lag behind her sister, and wanted to become as strong as me in order to protect her sister in the future, and not just tremble with fear and helplessness. Seeing so much determination in her beautiful golden eyes, I couldn't refuse. But I can only teach her hand-to-hand combat myself. I also recently remembered that Kuroko and Shirone are not simple Nekomats, but a rare species called "Nekoshu". That's just in this world, are they them? I can't say for sure, since Niva is currently undergoing updates, and she can't tell me.

And yes, Niva has updates going on, she said she won't be able to communicate with me for 1 year until the system update is completed. Although I still can't see which species the race belongs to, even with "score[ur8]", it looks like I need to access this category to see them.

So, if everything is correct, then Shirone can become much stronger if he can use the powers of his kind to the fullest. And without the strength of her race, she will be able to become a level 5 hand-to-hand combat master at most. But this is only with my training, and if martial artists take up her training, then she can become much stronger.

When I suggested that she study magic with her sister, Shirone refused. Of course, I was a little surprised, but she replied that she did not want to interfere with her sister studying magic and understood that "sister Yui" would not be able to teach everyone at once. That's when I was surprised again, because Shirone acted very adult. Although more often she behaves like a child, it seems that she began to think so, because of the situation in which they found themselves, together with her sister.

And that's how I started teaching Shirona a couple of hand-to-hand combat techniques. Since she has the racial ability "High Physical Strength", Shirone was able to repeat a couple of my techniques for combat. That's just my techniques, only superficial, and against real martial artists are useless. And I do not know anyone from my family who could know martial arts for close combat. Therefore, I decided, so far, only occasionally teach Shirone how to fight in battle.

It is also worth mentioning Merascilla, during this time she has moved a little away from "what" I "did" with her. I used to use a "stick" on it, so it's time to "carrot". Or more precisely, I praise her when she has done my tasks and orders well, or I stroke her head. I don't know why she likes it, but sometimes she looks cute when she smiles with happiness. Does the reward in the form of "Absolute loyalty and submission" imply that she considers herself my servant? Or not? It's hard to understand the thoughts of women, especially when this woman is a real Cobra.

But the Merascill Poison, I really liked it (Not in that sense), there are so many deadly toxins in it that the Supreme Demon will receive serious damage, and will be weak enough. Of course, I asked Merascilla why, with such Poison, she avoided other Higher Demons? She replied that although the poison was strong, not all the Higher Demons would just let her come to them, and if they did, they would kill her faster than she could release the Poison. Well, there's no arguing, the poison, although dangerous, is not light enough to quickly fill the territory with Poison, for its advantage. Thus, I studied the Venom of Merascilla, and was able to create on the basis of her Venom, my own, and even a couple of antidotes for them.

My training sessions were also going well. Recently, Teacher Dayron taught me how to resist the magic of illusion. And for this he sent me to the "forest of illusions". In this forest I met so many of my acquaintances that I even remembered those whom I had even forgotten. Honestly, when an illusion comes up to you and says in a gloomy voice, "It's your fault that I died!", and I answer, "Who are you anyway?", that's when the moment happened when the illusions froze for a couple of minutes, but then they continued to repeat the same thing. In general, everything turned out very informative for me, I remembered so many of my acquaintances. I'm a little ashamed that I forgot about my old classmate, Nor... what's his name there? Who was I thinking about? Okay, probably not too important, since I forgot.

And now for all this time my status is like this:

______________

{Status.}

[First and Last Name - Meliodas Diablo]

[Level - 50 > 77]

[Warrior Class]

[Age - 14 > 18 ]

[Gender - male]

[Race - Supreme Demon 110%]

[Racial Abilities - Dark Matter, Hellfire, Hell Ice, High Physical Strength, High Regeneration, Demonic Transformation, Demonic Aura of Domination, Destruction Mode, Soul Extraction/Absorption, Soul Domain, Senzutsu, Fear.]

[Abilities - Assessment[lvl7>8], dark mark[lvl8>9], echolocation[lvl5>7], heat absorption[lvl4], metamorphosis[lvl2], mana explosion[ur6].]

[Skills - fencing[lvl7>9], hand-to-hand combat[ur8], spear possession[lvl6], mana control[lvl7>8], perfect dark matter control[ur2], perfect hellfire control[lvl1], hell ice control[lvl6], metamorphosis control[lvl2], paws of darkness[lvl9>10], blade of darkness[lvl9>10], wings of darkness[lvl9>10], thorns of darkness[lvl7>8], hell hedgehog of darkness[ur6>8], tentacles of darkness[lvl5>6], hands of darkness[lvl6>9], clot of darkness[lvl5>10], sphere of darkness[lvl6>8], cocoon of darkness[lvl8>10], shield of darkness[lvl7>10], pillar of darkness[lvl7>10], dark snow[lvl6>9], death sentence[lvl2>8], chains of darkness[lvl5>7], whip of darkness[lvl6], prison of darkness[lvl4], aura of darkness[lvl2], sword of darkness[lvl2], arrow of darkness[lvl2], armor of darkness[lvl2], Kagune: Ukaku[lvl1], Kagune: Rinkaku[lvl1], Kagune: Bikaku[lvl1] roar of hellfire[lvl3>8], explosion of hellfire[lvl5>7], land of hellfire[lvl1>5], wall hellfire[lvl5], Kang-ji sword style[ur5>6], five senses[lvl4>7], alchemy[lvl6>8], creation of hell ice[lvl4], ice hell[lvl5], ice aura[lvl3], stealth[lvl5].]

{Characteristics}

[Strength - [461]>[611]

[Dexterity -[332] >[512]

[Endurance - [24780/24780]> [65812/65812]

[Protection - [299]>[541]

[Mana - [17930/17930]> [34788/34788]

____________________

After some time, my skill "control of dark matter[ur10]" evolved into "Perfect control of dark matter [ur1]", the darkness became even closer to me. After all, I could now feel this very darkness flowing through my body. Over time, I was even able to separate the darkness from my body, and it did not disappear immediately, but only with time, or how much mana I would put into it. Also now, I can shoot darkness like an arrow, and create a separating weapon from the darkness, and hold it with an ordinary hand. Of course there are minuses, but there are too few of them to contradict the pluses.

I also tried to master metamorphosis and was able to achieve level 2, and the first thing I tried to do was to increase my combat strength. Sometimes I have too few hands and ways to attack the opponent. But the most painful place for me is opponents with a large number of limbs. It really pissed me off! Creating more hands out of darkness is very difficult in the middle of a fight. So I decided to try to create the same limbs or something close to it. And as a result, I created a ghoul weapon from the anime "Tokyo Ghoul", namely "Kagune", but that's just a weak one for me, and rather an attempt to create an exact copy. Yes, and for a long time this "Kagune" is being created for me, and it looks like I need to pump metamorphosis and control to speed up their creation.

Although the feelings are a little strange when you create a tail for yourself and try to move it, but as I understood, I also need to create: bones, muscles, tail vertebrae, etc. But some anime characters sometimes create new limbs for themselves, and almost nothing needs to be thought about, but here you are.

Of course I tried using metamorphosis to change my appearance. To be honest, with such strength, I could easily hide under someone else's disguise. But there's no way to change the race. I can change my appearance and a couple of organ functions as I want, well, almost. You still need to pump metamorphosis to change your appearance even to a dragon. The problem is, as with Kagune, my appearance changes for too long, if I want to change something that is not quite difficult or complicated, then it takes a couple of minutes. And if, for example, I completely change my facial features, then for this I need to do it for about 1-2 hours so that I cannot be recognized. But how much mana this ability eats can only be expressed in obscene words!

---

Now let's go back to the present, the castle was still completed on time.

The castle itself was built on a mountain. In appearance, he almost does not stand out. A pair of towers, the tops of which were painted dark red. A lot of stairs, then there, then there. A large narrow gate, but the entrance height is very high. Well, and pairs of towers with catapults and ballistas.

And the castle is a little empty. Of course there are staff here, but you don't usually meet them. Therefore, the castle is at our personal disposal, or to be more precise: me, Shizune, the Nekomat sisters, and Yui. There are also night patrols that pretend to be weak guards, but I checked their status and I can say for sure, they were sent by their Father and they are strong enough to fight with the Higher Demon Knights. But the biggest relief is that the assassin demons were not sent here. Although it is possible that Teacher Dayron replaces them, because his concealment skills are not inferior to them in any way.

Now we are all except Shizune, who is already asleep. We are just looking at the edge of the wall, at the beautiful view of mountains, grass, and forests. To be honest, it just feels great when you're just sitting on the edge of a stone wall, and a refreshing wind is blowing right behind you. The grass rustled in the distance, the sound of the wind passing through the rocks created a whistle, from which the calm melody of nature came.

- Yui, how do you like the view? I asked, looking at Yui, who was smiling happily. Yui herself is standing behind me, so I just turned my head slightly towards her.

Yui herself was currently wearing her street outfit. Everything is the same, only she is already wearing a white raincoat.

- A beautiful and amazing view, it's even difficult to describe such a beautiful picture of nature. Yui said with a bit of admiration.

- Well, now we will see such a picture very often. And how do you like the view, Kuroko and Shirone? Are you cold? I have already asked the Nekomat sisters.

- I agree with the teacher, Yui, nya. The view is really beautiful, Nya. Especially there is much more natural energy here than in your parents' castle, nya." Said Kuroko in a joyful tone. At the same time, Kuroko, held Shirone in her arms, with her back and on Shirone's head, now Kuroko's big breasts are sitting. And seeing Shirone's face, she doesn't like it.

- Indeed, the view is beautiful and fascinating, brother, Meliodas. Shirone said, looking at the view of nature with admiration.

After a while, no one said anything, so I decided to ask something:

- How are your Kuroko training going? - I decided to find out what Kuroko was doing while I was busy with other things.

- Everything is very good, teacher, Yui, taught me how to use magic correctly and now I am a level 4 space magician, nya! - Kuroko said happily.

- Oh! Really? Yui, you're a great teacher. - Said with a smile and a very joyful tone. After my words, Yui smiled and said:

- Thank you, Meliodas, but she understood the principles of space quite well before that, I was only able to point out how to develop properly as a space magician and that's it. -

- Is that so? But this is also good, because soon we will all gain strength and become stronger. I said, swinging my legs on the edge of the wall.

- Why is that, Nya? Kuroko asked, not understanding what I was talking about.

- Now is the best time to start getting stronger. Only Teacher Dayron is watching us right now, for my safety. Now we can all train without extra eyes. Moreover, the exact date of the war of the races is unknown, since these are only assumptions of its beginning in 14 years. The war may start in 5 years or 8 years. And we have to become even stronger to protect each other. - I explained to Kuroko the meaning of my words.

- Brother Meliodas, why can't the war start tomorrow? Shirone asked innocently.

- Everything is very good, teacher, Yui, taught me how to use magic correctly and now I am a level 4 space magician, nya! - Kuroko said happily.

- Oh! Really? Yui, you're a great teacher. - Said with a smile and a very joyful tone. After my words, Yui smiled and said:

- Thank you, Meliodas, but she understood the principles of space quite well before that, I was only able to point out how to develop properly as a space magician and that's it. -

- Is that so? But this is also good, because soon we will all gain strength and become stronger. I said, swinging my legs on the edge of the wall.

- Why is that, Nya? Kuroko asked, not understanding what I was talking about.

- Brother Meliodas, why can't the war start tomorrow? Shirone asked innocently.

- Everything is simple, it takes time and preparation to start such a major war. Few people can simply throw an army into enemy territory without giving them supplies and equipment to attack. You also need to stock up on food, as all men will eventually be sent to the army for conscription. And this will only reduce the supply of food. Of course, women will not be forced to participate, only on a voluntary basis. But if things get worse, then women will be forced to participate in the war, and perhaps children. But it all depends on which Kingdom does it all. - I explained one of the reasons for this period.

- But it's tough, sending mothers and children to fight! Shirone objected.

- *Sigh* Shirone, in the war there is no difference who you are, it doesn't matter if you are even an old man, a child, a woman, a cripple. War spares no one. War does not bring anything good. But war is inevitable, and we will have to go to it anyway. I said, looking at the horizon of the sun.

- Brother Meliodas, will you go to war? Shirone asked in a sad tone. I looked at her and saw how tears were gradually appearing on her face.

- I won't lie to you, Shirone, I really will go to this war. - I answered honestly to little Shirona.

- Why?*Whimper*... Why...* Plak * you go * Whimper*... There, brother Meliodas? Shirone asked, almost whimpering. I got up from the edge of the wall and started walking towards Shirona. Kuroko seemed to understand what I was going to do, and let Shirone out of her arms a little.

When I approached Shirona, I put my hands on her head. Then he lowered his head to the level of her face, and with a kind smile on his face said:

- Don't worry, Shirone, your brother won't die in the war, because he is the strongest, and the strongest don't die so easily. - I tried to calm Shirone down, in my own words. This was sometimes done by the original Meliodas to calm the children.

"W-Really?" Shirone asked uncertainly. I just smiled even harder and said:

- Really, because your brother will never leave you and your sister. And if Shirone is so worried about her Brother, she should become strong enough in the future to go along with him. - Then I started stroking Shirone's head.- Uh-huh. Shirone replied, closing her eyes and then began to purr because of my caresses.-*Mrrr*--*Mrrr*--*Mrrr*-I just smiled when Shirone started purring, at least she stopped crying. Then I looked at Kuroko and said:- It's late, it's time for us all to go to bed. Today was a difficult day for everyone, because we recently moved here, so let's rest. - I said trying to relieve the tense atmosphere, as the topic of conversation is very serious and disgusting to some.- Okay, nya. But Meliodas, I also want to talk to you about your idea of going to war, nya. - Kuroko said, taking Shirone by the hand and they left the wall together. I turned to Yui.- So today, then? Yui asked in an almost calm voice, but I definitely heard notes of excitement and anticipation. In response, I just smiled and said:"Of course, my beautiful vampire princess~. Today I will fulfill my long-standing promise~. I said in a playful tone, smiling predatory.- I hope so~. Yui said in the same playful tone as me. And we walk hand in hand, go to my bedroom, because it is tonight that Yui and I will make "love".