Authoer's note : Didn't get to write much this week here's a chapter at least, from next chapter Sol enters the forest. Also, after thinking for a while I don't think I'll be asking for anymore input plotwise. Grammar and other criticisms regarding writing in general are always welcomed. Too much stress with the whole wondering what to do, I see alot of people didn't like the fact that Sol made up with the royal family to a degree but honestly I never had planned to have enmity between the two sides as later down they'll become people Sol can rely on so please consider the whole hynoptic stream thing a plot device in a sense.

It was meant to mature Sol up a little bit for the audience to enjoy but I see one guy even recommended destroying Salira's cultivation which made me LOL and think of meng hao.

Chapter 12-

Inside the dining room of the Duke's mansion-

Mitra was currently facing off against the Royal Family.

[Wha?! A Crowned Illuminus Sphinx!!..No wait..a variant? I've never heard of one possessing two horns! They usually only have one crown horn! Yet this one is...could it be? Y-You're a King Crowned Illuminus Sphinx?] -Former King

[This one has already said it was a King you gray-haired smelly old barbarian! What do you know! You can't even recognize a King at first glance! Hmph! Lowly unintelligent human!...Ahh ~ No...master...this one will behave] -Mitra

Sol scratched the little guy's head and had him calm down. All the while Salina had her eyes fixated on Mitra, her eyes sparkled and she would have flew over and grabbed him almost immediately but she knew Mitra was something like a Sentient weapon and it could very well harm her if she tried to touch him. She could only sit and gaze at Mitra with a yearning gaze. This was the most torture for her to endure as far as she was concerned.

[Sol I'm guessing you can't use the bow yet right?] -Former KIng

[Of course he can't you ugly gray mongrel! Otherwise why would I be stuck in this wretched form! Can't you ask a question that actually matters with your disgusting cold clammy hands!] -Mitra

Mitra could see the Former King's hand was cold with sweat and didn't know why. The Former King however knew what an Intelligent Weapon meant, it meant one had a future super power that could save a city. Sol's value had just went up even more and in the future his value would go up even more. The Former King then instantly made a decision in his mind.

Mitra fell asleep shortly afterward and went back into bow form sitting comfortably on Sol's back. Sol realized the little guy slept a lot and knew it was due to his lack of strength, this was yet another reason he had to get stronger as he enjoyed the company of Mitra.

The Former King motioned for Sol to follow him, the King and Queens said nothing as they didn't themselves didn't know why but they decided not to intrude on the Former King and Sol and let them have their privacy. The Former King led Sol to a balcony away from everyone else and then gazed at the stars. Eventually he raised his hands and pointed towards the sky.

[That is where you came from! So you may not understand your position, so I will tell you!] -Former King

[Sol, Now that you've awoken an Intelligent Weapon you must never let others know. The bow should be able to change appearance and hide it's aura like all other Intelligence Weapons, once he wakes up make sure to remind him. In the future I'm afraid to say it but you will become a very huge piece, people will try to recruit you from all over if they learn of your existence, ability and future potential.

We are no different, everything we've done so far was in the name of the survival of Earthernvale. Out here, survival is key to everything and that's why we encourage men to have more than one wives and encourage having lots of children because at any given moment in time a tragedy can occur. It's better to have some survive than have all die, humanity in this world has always been like this and no stronghold is different.

You have learned in the books that you read at Renissa's place, that strength means everything in this world but do you truly understand what that means and what the reason for it is? It isn't because we choose to have it this way but because we MUST have it this way! For the sake of the survival of Earthernvale countless people died and countless more will continue to die, this has always been understood and we have no choice but to live with it.

That was until we met you, Sol. You may think your existence might not affect our decisions but you are terribly wrong.

When we learned of what you're body was like and learned what you could do, we became overzealous and over ambitious. We treated you like an object and tried to cultivate you into what we wanted. The fact that you came with amnesia made it even more convenient for us and at first we really saw nothing wrong with it. I even thought about if you and Liore got married how good it would be!] -Former King

*Cough*

Sol let out a cough and his cheeks slightly reddened as he thought about marrying Liore and was caught by surprise by the Former King's comment. He pictured the blue-haired cold faced gorgeous girl and entertained a slight, but pure fantasy before the Former King interrupted him.

[My point is, Sol can you understand the burden of a city? Do you understand what Royalty would do to ensure the success and prominence of their city?] -Former King

When Sol heard these words his heart trembled as he thought of something...Compared to this Royal Family...How bad are the others? So far the biggest incident he had with them was pertaining to the Queen, who made a mistake and gave compensation along with a sincere apology.

(What if it was another Queen or King?...How would they have handled this news?) -Sol

Sol seemed to understand the direction of the conversation and didn't want to keep back the old man who obviously had a lot to share, so he spoke to allow the Former King to continue.

[No....I cannot] -Sol

The Former King smiled sadly and then replied.

[Imagine you inherited a Kingdom that your ancestors created, passed down from generation to generation. Countless years of men's honestly spilled blood and the deaths of countless others. The entire population within this place have all paid dear prices to be able to live here, and that is what Earthernvale is!

Those huge metal walls you see, countless men and women died building it! Every day upon the construction of Earthernvale, the men and women who sacrificed to build this place had no shelter to the conditions of the weather and had to enter the dense mana forest for materials and food and got themselves killed by the heartless beasts. Our men, Our fathers, our husbands, our brothers and sons! Our mothers, wives, sisters and daughters- Our lifeblood!!] -Former King

As the old man spoke one could hear the pain and sadness in his voice, Sol could feel the old man's feelings as though they were his in the old man's tone.

[Everyone sacrifices something in Earthernvale! Hunting everyday is dangerous and everyday we lose men! Over 50% of the population of Earthernvale are commoners without the ability to fight leaving us with a tiny but capable force. Still, we are living under a time bomb and all it takes is one curious S-Rank beast to attack this fortress and all of those people will die before the main force could attack!

Sure we do have counter-measures in place, but Sol it's probably because you haven't seen the terrifying might of these beasts yet that you don't understand that we humans sit at the bottom of the food chain and are sitting on the very precipice of extinction! If humans don't find a way to overpower these beasts soon I'm afraid the future generations of children in every city will be doomed to die.

As humans continue to grow plentiful, beasts continue to grow stronger as if we were a food source! When will the day come when us humans hunt these beasts? Before we've never thought about such things and were more concerned about how to survive another day..... That is until today!] -Former King

The old man then turned to Sol and looked into the depths of his eyes, Sol could feel as though an omnipotent being was peering into his soul. He let out a bastardly grin filled with madness and his eyes flashed with vitality as he looked at Sol and spoke.

[But what if we could increase the base power of man? What if whether they were born with a Dantian or not those 50% commoners were able to become stronger and own abilities similar to yours and possess fighting force of that frightening nature? What if the other 50% of nobles who have Dantians were able to become a race much stronger than the human race by combining your physique and a Dantian?

Then how many casualties would we lose then? How many future generations of children will be saved? How much will Earthernvale's future potential raise? How could we be the same again after something like that? How would we be so easily destroyed? How could we not slaughter those beasts at every angle?! How could our glorious city fall when our children grow with assurance of power deep in their veins!

One day if this all becomes possible then humanity will enter a new era! You know who would be to thank for all this? None other than you! Not for doing some famous accomplishment or succeeding some insane quest but because of simply existing you give humanity it's greatest gift of revolution and salvation!] -Former King

The Former King then calmed down and looked towards Sol once more, one could still see the fire burning deep within his eyes. Sol was surprised by the grand plans of this old man and could understand why, Rights was given to the strong and as the strongest in Earthernvale this was this old man's duty.

[Our family may be a bit eccentric and we may go about things differently but we are not bad people, even the Queen had her personal reasons as to why she probed you. However do not misunderstand, Julius as well as I had no part in that and was not a plan concoted by anyone of any sort, the last thing we wanted to do was create a rift between you and us. The King and I were discussing that when you went to the dining room.

Had I been more vigilant, I would have remembered that personality quirk of hers and none of this would have happened in the first place. Also, she should have told you but the spell she used was a 7th Order Magic and it usually doesn't do any harm at all. If one possesses a Dantian that is, those hallucinations you witnessed were not of the Queen's doing and she had no intention to defile the memories of your parents.

Salira usually uses this spell on every new arrival guest of Earthernvale that she can use it on, she's like a barrier that keeps human threats out of our city. Do you know what other people in other cities call her? The Mind-Warped Queen. She lives with that shameful title all so that our city can have piece of mind. I know That still doesn't justify her actions but she is not someone who can be looked down upon.

But I'm not hear to speak to you on her behalf, you two can sort that out by yourselves so I'll leave it at that . I'm hear to tell you what position you're in, and what position we are in and what I would like to offer you.

Sol, what you offer, what your body offers, what your existence offers Earthervale is salvation! We may have been over excited of the thought and acted like a bunch of fools but everything was done in the name of our city that has been standing on the blood of our bones! Can you honestly say that since you've arrived here you've been mistreated?] -Former King

It was exactly as Sol had expected, he didn't miss the underlying meaning of the Former King's words. Even though the Former King said "We" he knew that the old man had nothing to do with the Queen's actions but as the ancestor he treated the Queen's actions as his own and Sol found that honorable. Sol then begun thinking...

(If I arrived at another city, how would they have treated me? If I was a King...I would sacrifice the life of one outsider to save my city without a second thought. Especially if that city was one my ancestors or parents built with their own hands and held a population of this magnitude) -Sol

Sol couldn't refute the words of this wise old King and didn't know what to say. He hadn't thought about it before and thinking about it now, certainly the Queen offended him but she could have done a million more worse things. He had been subconsciously thinking of himself to be at the same level at the King and Queen because they had been speaking to him casually and that was a misconception.

Sol's future potential was indeed something great, but that was future potential and currently he was nothing. Sol understood if it were another King and Queen, he probably would have been beaten and jailed for crimes such as speaking out against the Queen. Still, she took the proper route to apologize and ask for forgiveness which most Queens would never do for a commoner. He couldn't say he believed she was a good woman, but he had to admit she was a strict Queen even to herself.

[I'll tell you right now Sol, there probably isn't a city stronghold out here that wouldn't be willing to tie you down in a room and make you a breeding horse forcefully. As you know we have no idea how your body is going to react to mana and we are observing out of curiosity.

We never had any intentions of forcing you to do anything, the way us, the Royal Family saw it we left you to do whatever you wanted; it was natural thinking that you would become a citizen of Earthernvale then eventually you would marry and have children so we were never in a rush to do anything like forcing you or anything to that degree, we are not that sort of people to begin with.

However other Kings wouldn't wait for something so troublesome. No they would take a few commoner girls from the city, lock you inside a room somewhere and have you reproduce with them and see the effects afterward] -Former King

[The reason I tell you this is because it's time you understood your position, I guess you may have already figured out a few things on your own and I need not talk about this further. The princess Sophia said she was willing to write you a letter of Identification as well as pay for a trip for you to go to whatever city you want to go to. You have the option to leave this place whenever you please and we will see to it that you have safe travels] -Former King

The Former King then turned around to face Sol once more and did a deep and powerful bow, the Queen's bow was something well practiced and gave off the feeling of royalty but the bow before Sol was much different. This was as if an ancient power had lowered it's head to him and it made Sol feel terrible in his heart as if he wasn't worthy of it. The strength and overbearing aura that came with that bow made Sol unable to breathe. This old man was willing to discard his pride for the future of his country.

[Even though I say that, I hope you reconsider and hope to make Earthernvale your home. I swear on my name as Julian Hephaetian Ironspine, that your enemies will become my enemies and I will protect your freedom as long as you are in Earthernvale even if the ones who impede it are my son and daughter-in-law. I judge your existence to be necessary to Earthernvale, and as ancestor these are my rights] -Former King

The Former King them took a ring out and gave it to Sol. The ring looked familiar to the one Sol got from Renissa and the one the 3rd Queen wore but was much different. The runic symbol was obviously different.

[This is your ring of nobility in Earthernvale with your own crest, It's the runic symbol for meteor and you can change the symbol to your liking if need be. With this ring you are now a noble of Earthernvale, you can leave and enter Earthernvale as you please and you will have a mansion built for you. This isn't something that's being given to you freely as you've already earned it.

The Artifact you came here in, was more than enough of a contribution to earn you a title of nobility. Inside the ring there are weapons, clothing, money, medical drugs and herbs as well as survival necessities. I know Eathernvale isn't your true home, but neither is anywhere else on this world.

Earthernvale can be your true home if you will it, because out of all the places you could have landed, you landed here. I refuse to believe that it is not the will of the Gods and you don't have any feelings for this marvelous and wonderful place, Earthernvale] -The Former King

[I have said everything I needed and I can't remember when last I spoke this much and with so much dreams....I really must be getting too old] -Former King

The Former King then walked off not allowing Sol to speak, Sol stared at him in a daze as if he had been hit with lightning. Sol noticed the King's hands were ice-cold and sweating, it seems the old man laid out his entire feelings both the good and the bad for Sol to judge. Sol was curious as to how powerful this old man really was, that sort of aura he felt was no joke and it made him understand just how important that majestic bow was.

As Sol watched the lonely back of the old man departing, he was left dumb-founded as he stood there thinking about everything the old man had said. There was absolutely nothing he could say, he was living under the blood and tears of countless men and women of Earthernvale. Even though the Queen had clearly made a bad impression on Sol, he couldn't bring himself to despise the rest of the family unjustly, especially since he heard the Former King's words.

No matter what, whether the Queen was right or wrong, in the eyes of the laws of Eathernvale Sol had no leeway to begin with and she was royalty. If the Queen didn't have the authority to use her power to investigate a strange commoner, then what was she a Queen of?

Her actions were done because of her duty towards her children and homeland. This was a case of nobody being wrong and nobody being right. Sol was morally right and the Queen was objectively right as her duty as a Queen.

[M-master] -Mitra

It seems as though the little guy woke up somewhere in between, he shifted into his kitty form and sat on top of Sol's head. Sol rubbed his head and stared off into the distance.

[H-he might be a smelly mongrel master...but what he says is true. All of master's body secrets are known to this one since Mitra became your Intelligent weapon, master you possess rare blood. Rather than these despicable human "Kings" It wouldn't be strange if there are even Beasts who specialize in blood refining came to target master, you contain a rare quality I've never seen before or heard about.

It would be best for master to lay low for a while until master becomes stronger and then leave this place if you want. Master, you should be wary of other human "Kings" from what I've heard from mother is that they are ruthless individuals and spare no effort for power. Rather, Mitra is more surprised this "King's" family has given master this amount of freedom....] -Mitra

Mitra looked at Sol who seemed to be lost in thought

[What is master thinking about?] -Mitra

As the golden-tanned colored kitty spoke he wildly wiggled his tail tickling Sol's neck and his bright golden-red eyes stared at Sol's face ponderingly.

[Nothing...I should stay here for a while right?] -Sol

Mitra nodded, Mitra was aware of the dangers outside the walls and knew the safest place his master would be is right here. Going to another city was extremely dangerous if one did not have sufficient power to protect themselves. No matter what he had no choice but to remain in this city until he had become powerful enough to leave it.

[Master...is...a bit spoiled!....Ahh~ This one gives] -Mitra

Sol pinched Mitra's ears as he spoke and laughed at this golden little fur ball.

[What do you mean I'm spoiled?] -Sol

[Master doesn't understand social etiquette and culture of humans...Master where are you from? -Mitra

Sol was startled by this little creature's intelligence and looked at him, he saw no reason to lie to Mitra and told him where he came from and the events leading up to today when he got the bow.

[M-Master has only been here for a single day and night?] -Mitra

Sol nodded and Mitra seemed to have understood something.

[No wonder master is spoiled....~Ahh...this one only speaks the truth...~Ahh..No] -Mitra

Sol wanted to know what Mitra meant by that and stopped "torturing" his ears.

[Master...Human "Kings" and their families are prideful and arrogant. Mitra knows this all too well, they would never allow master to speak on equal terms with them. Master is oblivious to this because he met a smelly mongrel Royal Family with no bad intentions but Mitra knows for sure others aren't like these smelly fools] -Mitra

Sol heeded Mitra's words and did not discard them as he knew this guy was incredibly Intelligent and seemed to understand human culture.

[How dangerous is it....outside the walls?] -Sol

[Well judging by what master said, master will soon find out when he goes to rescue that smelly mongrel in the Bloodmana Wasp nest...] -Mitra

Sol laughed as he glanced upward at Mitra on his head who was trying to balance on his stomach. He looked at the meteor engraved runic ring....and then he placed it on his finger.