Chapter 77: Your Biggest Fan

News From Around The World

Plans Announced To Open World's First Xothican Zoo In England

Worldwide Human Death Toll Reached 2.2 Billion

Japanese Whaling Vessel Falls Prey To A Charybdis

Estimated Total Xothican Population Placed At Over Two Billion

VVVVVV

Tom group briefly swung by the village to report the elimination of the goblin horde before they returned to Skysign. The village was thankful for their efforts and attempted to gift the group some food. Tom's group politely declined the offer seeing as they needed it more and the fact that they already will get a reward at the Guild.

The village leader, Burga, did ask Tom questions about humans and their societies. He was especially interested in the section of the packet about humanity welcoming Xothicans into their societies. This was the reaction to the packet that Tom and the UNDF had hoped for. The packet contained a metaphorical carrot on a stick.

The packet was divided into multiple parts. The first part covered what exactly happened concerning the merger between Earth and Xoth. The second part covered a brief summary of the history of humanity, both the good and the bad parts. The honesty is meant to gain trust and to show the xothicans that humanity is transparent. The third part covered Earth's ecosystem. The fourth part was about humanity's different governments, cultures, and the rights many of its citizens held.

This packet mentioned a few times about how xothicans are welcomed into human society and they can integrate and become full-fledged citizens. It was written specifically to entice xothicans to join human society and to further the efforts of Operation Mosaic. While there is a cost to having xothicans join human society, most in the government and analysts agree that the knowledge to gain and good will to spread, more than makes up for it.

After visiting the village, Tom returned the armoured vehicle to his island and then went back to his group. From there, they teleported to Skysign. The group returned to the Guild building to report their success and receive their reward. They parted ways with Yang after providing him with contact information for the human embassy. With all their business done, the group was finally able to go to the embassy.

"There seems to be a lot of people in the center of Skysign," Reia mused. "More so than usual I mean."

"I wonder what's going on," Sylmae muttered.

"I can take a wild guess," Vivian said as she pointed ahead.

Tom's group saw a large crowd of people all lined up in the market square. The line connected to a hot dog vendor that sold hot dogs for two copper each.

"You humans work fast," Amber said.

"Can't blame them for showing off their food," Vivian said. "It's just so fucking delicious."

"Goddamnit, now I'm hungry," Tom muttered. "Once we're done here, I'm making barbeque for dinner."

"Yes!" Reia cheered.

"Okay, human embassy. Here we are."

The group entered the building where they saw the waiting room was even busier than the last time they were there. The receptionist's expression lit up upon seeing them enter the room.

"Specialist Everett," she greeted. "Zyer, Terrabane, Mau, Everett, and Lyvan. I hope you all had a good day."

"We did, thank you," Sylmae said. "Can you get the Major for us?"

"Right away." The receptionist picked up here phone and pressed a few keys. "Major, they're here. Mmhmm. Yes, ma'am." She hung up and said, "she'll just be a moment."

Major Wayne opened and walked through the door behind the receptionist.

"You're all here. Good. Please follow me."

Tom's team followed Major Wayne through the door and into a hallway.

"Tuilene Morbus has been extremely cooperative with us," Wayne said. "The Intel she has turned over to us has been invaluable and will take us weeks for us to completely go through."

"How is she?" Tom asked.

"She's tired but in fairly high spirits." They arrived at a door near the end of the hall and she said, "here. I can let you have your privacy, just let me know if you're taking her out of here."

"Will do, Major."

Major Wayne nodded at the group before she turned and walked away. Tom immediately grabbed the door handle and opened the door. There was Tuilene who sat at the table opposite to them. Her head was down as she was writing something on some pieces of paper.

Tom's group walked in and Tom said, "hello."

Tuilene looked up and her eyes widened. She jumped to her feet.

"H-Hello," she said back.

"I'm T-" Tom tried to get out before he was interrupted by Tuilene.

"Thomas Everett," she said with a smile. "I know all about you."

"Oh, you do?" Vivian coyly asked.

"I mean... from my family," she corrected. "Every time you did something against Mordiggian's plans, my family were one of the first people to know about it."

"Well, just in case you didn't know," Tom continued. "This is Sylmae Lyvan, Vivian Terrabane, Reia Zyer, Amber Everett, and Tala Mau."

Tuilene walked around the table and towards them. She held out her hand towards Tom. "Tuilene Morbus."

They shook hands.

"I've been told you have quite the life story. Born into the Royal Morbus family, moonlighted as a slave liberator, and you have the Unknown title."

"All of which are true, I was told you can see the title. You can look now if you wish."

"If you don't mind."

Tuilene smiled and said, "Please."

'Identify.'

Status Name Tuilene "Liberator" Morbus Level 31 Experience 54700/57564 Class Scout Race Demon (Archon) Alignment Good Currency Xoth 3 platinum 200 gold 150 silver 50 copper Title Unknown, Determined, Giant Slayer, Generous Healer, Xothican Anatomy, Survivalist, Evil Slayer Buffs Bestiary of Xoth +10% damage towards the creatures of Xoth Xothican Anatomy +10% damage towards Xothicans, 50% increase to experience gained for Heal and Purify Liberator Positive aura towards anyone (with a moral alignment of neutral or good) you first meet Evil Slayer Increases damage towards people with an Evil alignment by 10% Debuffs Liberator Negative aura towards slavers Health 500 Health Regeneration/min 6.4 Mana 510 Mana Regeneration/min 5.2 Stamina 1070 Stamina Regeneration/min 11.1 Fame 565 Infamy 0 Strength 50 Intelligence 51 Wisdom 52 Perception 107 Endurance 107 Vitality 64 Agility 111 Luck 61 Unallocated Points 0 Resistances Physical 20% Disease/Toxin 100% Fire 20% Plant 20% Ice 20% Earth 20% Lightning 20% Water 20% Wind 20% Spirit 20% Light 20% Darkness 55% Skills Identify Master Level 1 Language Comprehension Master Level 10 Heal Intermediate Level 5 Purify Intermediate Level 3 Ignore Poison Immunity Intermediate Level 7 Poison Cloud Intermediate Level 8 Poison Analysis Master Level 1 Poison Ball Intermediate Level 8 Conceal Poison Intermediate Level 8 Insect Controller Intermediate Level 7 Alchemy Master Level 1 Club Skill Master Level 4 Tinkerer Intermediate Level 6 Needle Skill Intermediate Level 7 Trap Master Intermediate Level 6 Athletics Intermediate Level 1 Enhanced Vision Beginner Level 8 Enhanced Dodge Beginner Level 7 Group Heal Beginner Level 6 Cook Beginner Level 4

"It's true," Tom muttered. "You are an Elemental."

"I knew it," Tuilene cheered. She slightly hopped in place and fist pumped.

"Now I can unlock your abilities but before I do, I have questions for you. You know... To get to know you as our newest team member."

Tuilene leaned back towards the table and sat on the edge. "Sure. No problem."

Tom looked over her shoulder towards the papers. "What are you filling out?"

Tuilene looked back towards the papers. "Oh, those are some immigration forms. The Canadian representative who was here said that since you are all Canadian citizens, that I would want to have the same status."

'Fucking MacNeill,' Tom cursed in his thoughts.

"Makes sense," Tom said.

"Though I plan to change my name for the transition."

"Really?"

"The Morbus family is dead to me. I especially don't want to keep the name they gave me. This is a new life for me. Why not a new name? I can't seem to come up with a first name for myself though." Tuilene looked down and then back up with a look of realization. "How about you give me a new name?"

"Me?"

"Why not?"

"It's just an important task to leave to someone you just met."

"It's alright, I trust you."

"I'm happy with the name he gave me," Amber chimed in.

"There we go," Tuilene said as she gestured towards Amber. "If Amber says you're good with coming up with names, then you're good. So come on."

"Alright, alright," Tom relented. He clasped his hands together behind his head and looked up in thought. "How about... Lucia?"

"Lucia?" Vivian repeated.

"Lucia..." Tuilene said to get a feel on the name.

"Look, it just popped into my head, if you don't like it-" Tom tried to quickly explain,

"No, no," Tuilene stopped him. "I like it. I like it a lot. You can call me Lucia Vena."

"Vena?"

"It was the family name of one of the noble families who stood against the Yellow King when he first arrived. They were subsequently wiped out completely. I wanted their actions to be remembered through me at the very least."

"A noble gesture," Sylmae commented.

"Anything else? I'm willing to bare myself to you to get your trust."

"Will you now?" Vivian said with a smile.

"Figuratively speaking," Lucia clarified after realizing the innuendo.

"Actually there was something else I wanted to ask," Tom said. "Why?"

"Why?" Lucia tilted her head in confusion.

"Why did you turn your back on your family and become a slave liberator?" Tom said. "Sorry to be blunt."

Lucia sighed she tilted back and sat on the edge of the table. "It's alright. It's a good question. When I was eight, I had a friend named Juli. She was my only friend. She was also a slave owned by my family. Juli was technically my personal slave to take care of cleaning of my room and delivering my food. She's was just about two years older than me. I had her with me for a few years and we grew close as friends. That all came to an end when I was twelve. Due to some deal my family made with another noble family, Juli was sold off to them. I begged my parents not to, but they ignored my pleas. It was an entire year before my family visited that family's estate."

Lucia's eyes watered as the memories came to her.

"I looked all over for her. When I found her... She was broken. Scars under her clothes and I overheard the things that fat swine did to her. She was a empty shell. Juli wasn't there anymore. I felt so much anger for how she was treated. I tried to tell my parents what he did and you know what they said?"

"What?" Tala asked.

"'So?' That's what I got. They reasoned that since she was his property, anything he did to her was fine. That was the day my entire world changed. I couldn't look at my society or even my own damn family the same way again. I was so full of rage at everything. I wanted to hurt, no kill, that fat piece of shit for what he did to my friend. So that night, I broke into his alchemist's workshop and searched. I took several books of hers and used them to quickly create a poison. At that age, I had no chance in hell to take him on directly, so subterfuge was my only option. Interesting thing: All cooks who work under any noble has a slave mark on them to prevent anyone from poisoning their food. I found what was going to be served to the nobleman who destroyed my friend and I poisoned it. The result was immediate. After the first few bites, the nobleman clutched at his chest as his heart ceased to beat. I'll admit I took joy in seeing him die. The party erupted into a panic and the whole estate was searched for assassins. They questioned the kitchen staff, but since they didn't see me, they didn't know who poisoned the food. Since they were slaves, they were believed. A murder that remains unsolved to this day. With the death of the nobleman, all of his slaves were automatically freed. Some ran, some were captured. Only one of them came to me."

"Juli?" Amber sadly asked.

Lucia nodded. "During the chaos, she approached me. I don't know how she knew I was responsible, but she did. Juli approached me with a smile on her face. The same smile she used to have back when we were together. And when she walked up to me, she said, 'thank you.' Juli then pulled out a knife and cut her throat. It broke my heart but I know why she did it. She suffered untold horrors at the hands of that monster and couldn't live with the memories or the pain. When her life left her body, I swore to her that the nobles, the slavers, and their supporters would pay. From then on, I dedicated my life to training and studying. I secretly watched the training of our assassins so I learned to fight. I hid myself in our libraries to learn alchemy and other things to make myself a better warrior for slave liberation. And I was really successful for years."

"What changed?" Tala asked.

"Well, you guys."

"Us?" Sylmae muttered.

"With your accomplishments, my kingdom became more desperate to suss out any threats within its borders before turning their attention to your people. Other than the Eikoryu Empire or the Scarlet Night, I was the next biggest threat. My family openly discussed their strategies to killing me around me so I knew that my solo days were nearing an end. Originally, I planned to just leave without a word. Allow my family to live. There was still that familial link. But that changed the night I left. My family had me set up with a man to marry: General Deicayn. The man was urged by my own fucking parents to force himself on me."

Everyone in the room stance stiffened.

"I stabbed him in the neck before he could do anything. The poison I used on him was especially cruel. Organs shut down one by one until he died from suffocation. Knowing my family sanctioned his horrific actions just gave me the proof that I wasn't considered a daughter. Just a bargaining chip. With the last connection between us severed, I went to get my revenge for Juli. It was by a fluke that my brother managed to avoid eating the poisoned food. Now he's the ruler of the Zokot Kingdom."

"What's he like?"

"Dellik? He's... not an idiot, I guess. It more or less doesn't matter. The ruler of the Zokot Kingdom are just puppets to Hastur. Specifically, his twin sons, Zhar and Lloigor."

"Great, more sons to kill," Reia growled.

"I've never seen those two. Only the kings of the Zokot have ever met them. Most interaction between those two and the royal family is made through Alala, their servant."

"Is she a demon?" Sylmae asked.

"I-I don't think so," Lucia hesitated with her answer. "Not any demon I've ever seen before. She's more like a sound in living form."

"Sound?"

"It's hard to describe without seeing it for yourself. She doesn't seem to have a true physical form as she constantly vibrates and phases in and out. I've only seen her a few times before and I have tried to observe her to try and see if she has any weaknesses."

"Well, if she's made of sound, I think I can think of two weaknesses," Tom said.

Lucia pushed herself off of the table and nearly crashed into Tom. She looked up at him and said, "you've only just heard of a description of her and you already thought of two ways to defeat her? You're incredible!"

"Major fan girl," Vivian whispered to Reia who giggled at the comment.

"Well, if she's made of sound, there are two ways I can think of to cancel her out," Tom explained. "The first method would be a method called active noise control. If we could figure out Alala's amplitude, we could use speakers to create an inverted phase that would theoretically cancel her out. That's complicated and I would likely just use the second method."

"Second method?" Lucia said.

"Just grab her and teleport her to space. Sound needs molecules to travel and space is a vacuum. That would probably just instantly kill her."

"I have no idea what anything you just said is."

"It would take a while to explain what space is, but to summarize, if I see Alala, I'll be able to teleport her to her death."

"Oh..." Lucia leaned against the table again. "Sorry, just hard for me to believe that Alala could be instantly killed that easily. I thought you were going to suggest a strategy to fight her."

"We've been trying to skip the taurshit when it comes to fights," Vivian admitted.

Tom looked over to his companions and raised a brow to non-verbally ask if they're fine with her on their team. They all gave their smiles and nodded in approval. "Well, Lucia, let me welcome you to our team." Tom raised his hand to shake hers.

"Thank you," she said as she grabbed and shook his hand. "I won't let you down."

"I don't think you will," Tom reassured her. "Now I think it's time for you to get your power boost."

"Just tell me what I need to do."

"Just turn around and I'll put a hand on your back."

Lucia turned around for him.

"Now bend her over the table," Vivian whispered under her breath.

Sylmae jabbed her thumb into Vi's side.

"Inappropriate! Keep your fetishes in check," Sylmae hissed at her in a whisper.

"I call upon your true power. Come forth Elemental!"

A force of energy erupted from Lucia's form which made everyone stumble in place. Lucia gasped at the sudden influx of power.

"Did it work?" Amber asked.

Lucia's turned around and everyone saw her eyes move back and forth as she read the new windows.

Notice A Nephilim has unlocked your true potential and has revealed your true identity. You are a Toxic Elemental. Notice Your Unknown title has been transformed into Toxic Elemental. Your Toxic/Disease Resistance is now permanently set at 200%. All Toxic and Disease attacks now heal you. All stats have increased by ten points each. You now earn an extra skill point for every level up. This increase retroactively applies to previous levels. Your Fame has increased by 10000. New spells have unlocked. Notice You have learned Toxic Sprite Summon. Toxic Sprite Summon Type Activate Mana Required 100 Time Limit 10 minutes Rank SS Level Beginner 1 (0%) You are able to summon a creature that is made from the Toxic element. It is capable of debuffing your enemies' defense and Endurance. The sprite is capable, on occasion, of poisoning the enemy. Notice You have learned Epidemic. Epidemic Type Activate Mana Required 200 Rank SS Level Beginner 1 (0%) You unleash a plague upon all enemies in your vicinity. The effects of the disease will be random but will always be negative towards the enemy. Special Note: This disease will not spread outside of battle and quickly dies inside its host after their death. Notice You have learned Raise Undead Hero. Raise Undead Hero Type Activate Mana Required 300 Rank SSS Level Beginner 1 (0%) You are able to turn a corpse into an Undead Hero. Much more powerful than a standard or warrior undead summon. It's original corpse will determine the Undead Hero's abilities. Can only summon one at a time. Can only be dispelled by summoner or die to remove it. Notice You have learned Raise Undead Warrior. Raise Undead Warrior Type Activate Mana Required 50 Rank A Level Beginner 1 (0%) You are able to summon an undead warrior by using a corpse. More powerful than a standard undead summon. Up to ten can be summoned at once. Notice You have learned Venomous Serpent. Venomous Serpent Type Activate Mana Required 500 Rank SSS Level Beginner 1 (0%) You can summon a large serpent that has a poisonous bite and is capable of spitting its venom.

"My abilities and stats just exploded," Lucia muttered. She looked to the others. "Is this what happened to all of you?"

"Yup," Reia said while nodding. "It's one hell of a rush."

"Well, don't keep us waiting," Vivian said. "Tell us what you got."

"I can summon two types of undead, a giant snake, a toxic sprite, and I can unleash a localized epidemic on enemies around me."

"Um, how dangerous is that epidemic ability?" Tom asked.

"The skill specifically said that it only affects enemies within a radius of us during battle. The disease dies off outside of battle or if the person dies. Seeing how much Mana is needed for these abilities, I'm going to put my extra stat points towards Intelligence and Luck. Get my criticals up and improve the effectiveness of my epidemic skill."

"How does your Status look now?"

"Here look," she said. "Show Status."

Status Name Lucia Vena Level 31 Experience 54700/57564 Class Scout Race Demon (Archon) Alignment Good Currency Xoth 3 platinum 200 gold 150 silver 50 copper Title Toxic Elemental, Determined, Giant Slayer, Generous Healer, Xothican Anatomy, Survivalist, Evil Slayer Buffs Bestiary of Xoth +10% damage towards the creatures of Xoth Xothican Anatomy +10% damage towards Xothicans, 50% increase to experience gained for Heal and Purify Liberator Positive aura towards anyone (with a moral alignment of neutral or good) you first meet Evil Slayer Increases damage towards people with an Evil alignment by 10% Debuffs Liberator Negative aura towards slavers Health 600 Health Regeneration/min 7.4 Mana 720 Mana Regeneration/min 6.2 Stamina 1170 Stamina Regeneration/min 12.1 Fame 10565 Infamy 0 Strength 60 Intelligence 72 Wisdom 62 Perception 117 Endurance 117 Vitality 74 Agility 121 Luck 90 Unallocated Points 0 Resistances Physical 20% Disease/Toxin 200% Fire 20% Plant 20% Ice 20% Earth 20% Lightning 20% Water 20% Wind 20% Spirit 20% Light 20% Darkness 55% Skills Identify Master Level 1 Language Comprehension Master Level 10 Heal Intermediate Level 5 Purify Intermediate Level 3 Ignore Poison Immunity Intermediate Level 7 Poison Cloud Intermediate Level 8 Poison Analysis Master Level 1 Poison Ball Intermediate Level 8 Conceal Poison Intermediate Level 8 Insect Controller Intermediate Level 7 Alchemy Master Level 1 Club Skill Master Level 4 Tinkerer Intermediate Level 6 Needle Skill Intermediate Level 7 Trap Master Intermediate Level 6 Athletics Intermediate Level 1 Enhanced Vision Beginner Level 8 Enhanced Dodge Beginner Level 7 Group Heal Beginner Level 6 Cook Beginner Level 4 Toxic Sprite Summon Beginner Level 1 Epidemic Beginner Level 1 Raise Undead Hero Beginner Level 1 Raise Undead Warrior Beginner Level 1 Summon Venomous Serpent Beginner Level 1

Vivian whistled. "Nice."

"Between you and Amber, we have the ability to create a small army," Sylmae said.

"We have the potential, but not the ability," Amber corrected.

Everyone looked at Amber over her comment.

Amber shrugged and said, "What? I can do math. Neither Lucia or I have the ability to spawn a large number of creatures with our current Mana reserve."

"Well, she's right," Tom admitted. "But we'll work on it. I think we're done here. Did you fill out those forms of yours?"

"I did," Lucia answered.

Tom walked over to the wall where there was an intercom. He pressed the button down and said, "Major, we're done here. Tuilene, now known as Lucia, will be coming with us. She has filled out the forms she was presented."

"Thank you, Specialist Everett," Major Wayne replied back. "We'll have her identification documents ready within a few days and you can pick it up here."

"Thank you, Major."

Tom released the button. He turned back to Lucia.

"Welcome to The Unknown Title."