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Arc 2: The Power of Knowledge

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『』= Info

《》= Attribute

『』= Skill

【】= Sub-Skill

〘〙= Status, Combat Arts & Magical Spells

〚〛= Internal Thoughts

「」= Other

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Chapter 19: The Noble Path

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Part 1

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Bowden was certain that - that graceful woman who had more than her fair share of charm would find a less cruel course of action than Elrick wanted to pursue. In the end it was Elrick himself who instructed that should Nova fail to exterminate all of Calimado it was fine to leave it to Lorelei; “If it’s Lorelei it’ll be fine”.

Bowden once again looked over the Noble peerage ranks.

~ Frop! ~

〚Noblesse Peerage Ranks〛

•

Royal Nobility 〚Blood relatives of the Monarch〛

King 〚For Males〛 and Queen 〚For Females〛

Addressed as Majesty

Archdukes 〚For Males〛 and Archduchesses 〚For Females〛

Addressed as Grace

Dukes 〚For Males〛 and Duchesses 〚For Females〛

Addressed as Grace

Prince 〚For Males〛 and Princess 〚For Females〛

Addressed as Highness

•

High Nobility 〚Land Owners 〛

Marquess 〚For Males〛 and Marchioness 〚For Females〛; must own 「1 City and 5 Major Towns, 10 Towns along with an associated 20 Villages」

Addressed as Lord and Lady

Earl or Count 〚For Males〛 and Countesses 〚For Females〛; must own 「1 City and 2 Major Towns(or 8 Towns) along with an associated 20 Villages」

Addressed as Lord and Lady

Viscounts 〚For Males〛 and Viscountesses 〚For Females〛 ; must own 「1 Major Town and 4 Towns or 15 Villages」

Addressed as Lord and Lady

Barons 〚For Males〛 and Baronesses 〚For Females〛 ; must own 「1 Town and 4 Villages」

Addressed as Lord and Lady

Ealdorman〚For Males〛 and Ealdorwoman〚For Females〛 ; must own 「5 Villages」

Addressed as Lord and Lady

Alderman〚For Males〛 and Alderwoman〚For Females〛 ; must own 「1 Village」

Addressed as Lord and Lady

•

Nobility 〚Based on number of Clansman and Soldiers under Command〛

Clan Chiefs 「20,000 Clansman and 5000 Soldiers」

Addressed as Eminence

Laird 「5,000 Clansman and 1000 Soldiers」

Addressed as Honoured

Knights 「100 Clansman and 100 Soldiers along with A Knight’s Proclamation」

Addressed as Sir 〚For Males〛 and Sir/Madam 〚For Females〛depending on preference

•

Low Nobility 〚Nobility by Proclamation〛

Esquires by Heredity

Esquires by Office

Esquires by Creation

•

Nobility Vassal 〚Nobility by Fealty〛

Yeoman

Servaunt

- - -

Rank does not extend to Spouses

- - -

Lady Lorelei presented Nova Horizon’s offer to the Remaining Chiefs of Calimado and after a long list of follow-up questions the offer was properly understood and the Chiefs of Nova Horizon and NEOS awaited Calimado’s reply.

Lucifer : " So the gist of it is; since taking an Atlantian Noble hostage is impractical you’re going to essentially hold our equipment hostage, but not just ours, you mean to hold all the equipment of Calimado members hostage. We can buy-back the fully repaired equipment at 5% below market value."

Lady Lorelei : " All equipment except the Heavy Weapons."

Lucifer : " Right; with the exception of Heavy Weapons. Starlight Spark would be in a position to start returning the equipment in 5 RET days. By your account fighting this battle is likely to cost 3 to 4 times the earnings from the Rodion contract so you have a goal of recouping the costs. I suspect you’ve been set-up by Rodion; they knew that their competitors will react. In any case the offer to facilitate the expeditious return of our equipment is very generous; we are grateful. To facilitate this process Starlight Spark is willing to give every individual a loan to buy-back equipment at strict terms undersigned by the Adventurer’s Guild; the loan terms will forbid participation in hostile actions against Nova and its affiliates for the duration of the loan. You also want to sign a 3 year RET nonaggression pact between Nova Horizon and Calimado; this is to avoid reprisal attacks. Also; you wish to avoid an instantaneous collapse of Calimado that releases a lot of dispirited unscrupulous characters upon Cobalt City so you want us to be able to rein them in to some extent. Am I getting this right?"

Lady Lorelei : " Yes"

Mithriliar : " It’s better than you bastards deserve!"

Lucifer : " That is True. Nonetheless I’ll accept this very generous offer if the Question of Honour is included"

Nakamura raises an eyebrow.

Nakamura : " Honour?”

Lucifer : " For a faction chief who riled against a blameless foe and rallied his clans into a war that resulted in a near total annihilation of our faction to accept the offer to resurrect the faction on behalf of the faction would be too shameful. In order to face my clansman without the weight of my shame I must as a Noble of this Realm and one who bears the name of my clansman show my mettle without fear and hesitation by challenging the strongest to single combat."

Mithriliar : " A duel?"

Lady Lorelei : " And who is this strongest?"

Nakamura : " Isn’t it obvious?”

Lady Lorelei : " Is that what you believe?"

Lucifer : " The one who through his own strength achieved Beta Rank 1 is widely regarded as the strongest Atlantian, and should that be insufficient he holds the highest Rank for an Atlantian at the Gias City Academy Faculty of Knighthood."

Mithriliar : " Really? I’m ranked 4577 at the Cobalt City Academy Faculty of Knighthood."

Lady Lorelei : " I’m ranked 4752 at the Cobalt City Academy Faculty of Knighthood. Does that rank even mean anything?"

Nakamura : " I’m ranked 4438 at the Gias City Academy Faculty of Knighthood”

Lucifer : " You see; I’m ranked 4571 at the Cobalt City Academy Faculty of Knighthood. I’d say Mithriliar and I are about even, but since the Faculty of Knighthood at Gias is 2% larger the shogun is regarded to be on a different level."

Lorelei seemed unsatisfied by that assessment and that created an opportunity for Lenora.

Lenora : " If it pleases your Ladyship I can provide an opportunity for you to show your strength"

Lady Lorelei : " Are you sure you want to do this? This isn’t like at the Academy; I won’t be able to hold back."

Lenora : " Is your ladyship sayin’ that you hold back during combat class?"

Lady Lorelei : " Isn’t it Natural?"

Lenora : " Haa!"

Everyone is taken aback by her statement except her clansman who have some idea of her true ability.

Arturia : " Milady; that’s not natural at all"

Lady Lorelei : " It’s not?"

Chief Artemis has a somewhat fed-up expression.

Artemis : " Rank has privilege after all!"

Lady Lorelei : " But such privilege would be meaningless to me."

Nakamura : " True; both Milady and I receive the treatment of Heirs of a Noble Chieftaincy. Though not an official peerage we are for all intensive purposes treated as the Heir apparent of a Noble Chief; even addressed as Eminence. Therefore any Academy Rank advancement is essentially meaningless at this point in time; if we were 20 times the power we currently posses it would be a different matter entirely.”

Lenora : " Then this will be an opportunity to measure my meagre strength against her ladyship’s"

The sarcasm didn’t escape Lorelei’s notice but like a real pro she took it in stride. Artemis and Arturia on the other hand couldn’t hide their annoyance with Lenora.

Artemis : " Tsk!"

Lady Lorelei : " It’s alright; I’m not afflicted with so fragile an ego. Though I must say that while I have been conservative with expedition of my physical abilities it’s my magical ability that might prove trying for you Lenora; I will consider it your victory if you last more than 10 seconds."

Lenora is clearly annoyed by Lorelei’s condescending attitude.

Lenora : " I’ll do my best to endure it"

Lenora could only answer with sarcasm but she hoped to let her twin swords do the talking soon enough.

Nakamura : " Then it’s decided; Lucifer and I will go first. How about that clearing over there?”

Lucifer : " It should be fine"

Nakamura : " Your equipment seems to have taken a beating; will you be fine?”

Lucifer : " Ah! This isn’t my best gear; I’ll equip my best for the duel."

Nakamura : " Good; then I won’t hold back either”

As Lucifer and Nakamura talked casually Mithriliar approached Otto.

Mithriliar : " So? You’re not gonna try Otto?"

Otto : " I’m ashamed to say that I wouldn’t be much of an opponent."

Mithriliar : " really?"

Otto : " I haven’t focused my energies in Mêlée; it would be a disgrace to have you fight me while I’m still at this state. However once I’m in a worthy state I’ll grant you an opportunity to express your complaints."

Mithriliar : " Then I’ll be waiting"

Otto : " Until then"

Lucifer and Nakamura who are walking away from the group towards the duelling site seem completely calm; unlike enemies who are about to go at-it.

Nakamura : " You should consider yourself fortunate that Elrick isn’t around”

Lucifer : " That guy is ….?"

Nakamura : " Not very forgiving; not the sort who lets bygones be bygones”

Lucifer : " Not the kinda guy I want as an enemy?"

Nakamura : " You should be grateful to Lorelei; thanks to her it will end here. Elrick won’t come after you if it means upsetting Lorelei. She is one of 4 people who can actively control Elrick; otherwise his vengeance can get extreme.”

Lucifer : " He’s that dangerous?"

Nakamura : " It’s not his physical abilities you have to worry about; it’s what he controls. You’ve seen that cavalry right?”

Lucifer : " We couldn’t get an accurate read on their Fighting Power; so we ended up underestimating them."

Nakamura : " I knew their initial circumstances but I still managed to underestimate them. Even now; don’t assume that you can properly calculate their strength. They undoubtedly conceal their true strength deliberately.”

Lucifer : " I see; so that’s what that Elrick is like."

Nakamura : " If Elrick was around then things would have gotten really bad for you. I suspect all of Calimado would have been slaughtered; probably the result of infiltration amongst your ranks. Elrick is the sort that wouldn’t have allowed you to get this big in the first place; he would have seen you as a threat and manoeuvred his assets to crush before you became a problem. HeHeHeHe! You guys might have ended up on Chaos Island.”

Lucifer : " eh? So he’s like a Demon Lord?"

Nakamura : " If you find yourself at odds with Elrick then make sure you have skilled tacticians behind you; otherwise you’ll find yourself out-manoeuvred at every turn.”

Lucifer : " Aren’t you a little concerned about telling me about this? They’re allies after all right?"

Nakamura : " It’s not like you can do anything about it. That Brain-Trust in Falcros is beyond you. ”

Lucifer : " Really?"

Nakamura : " A guy like you who relies on his own strength is nothing more than an insect to them.”

Lucifer : " So we’re small-fries after all"

Nakamura’s words hit Lucifer hard, but Nakamura’s goal was to make sure that Lucifer is properly dissuaded from thinking that he could somehow make a come-back and go against Nova Horizon again.

- - -

Part 2

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The Lucifer standing across from Nakamura looked like a different man; wearing a full set of Level 2 Equipment along with 15 Attribute enhancing Items. Nakamura theorized that they were Attribute + 4 Mithril Core Items and though he couldn’t be absolutely certain he theorized that they are 《Agility》 + 4 EXP Mithril Core Magic Items, and that would be because in melee the power of speed is absolute.

For his part Nakamura borrowed 12 《Agility》 + 10 EXP Uru Core Magic Items from his accompanying clansman. The expensive Attribute + 10 EXP Uru Core Magic Items are part of 50 such Items belonging to the Nakamura clan; ordinarily 2 are equipped by each of the 25 Nakamura Clan executives. With just these 12 Items Nakamura could add 120 EXP to his《Agility》 Attribute.

Nakamura knew that his opponent this time was an Atlantian warrior elite; one of the big five from beta. Nakamura was sure that he was probably the only one in his faction that could go toe to toe with the likes of Lucifer Morningstar. The pure white physique of Lucifer’s Night-Elf body belies the monstrous power hidden beneath that beautiful visage.

In realm eternal power isn’t always reflected in the physique; and the higher the magical ability of the species the less apparent the power. The Phoenix website had already indicated that as the Attributes increase the physic would change depending on the racial characteristics. In this regard Elves were in the group that increased muscle density much more than physical bulk.

For the Elves stat increases resulted in 99% density to 1% physical size change, for Alvs 95% to 5%, for Dwarves 85% to 15%, for Midgard 78% to 22%, for Half-Elves 82% to 18%, for Halflings 75% to 25%, for Humans 64% to 36%, for Beastials or Beast-Humans 57% to 43% and for Demons it’s generally higher than 80% density to lower than 20% physical size change depending on the particular type of demon. This is to say that if a demon looks buff then in all likelihood it’s monstrously strong.

Therefore Nakamura had buffed up quite a bit from his initial body thanks in particular to his Spiritual Fortifications; the stronger you are the stronger you can become. Nakamura would not be fooled by the physical appearance of the enigmatic Lucifer Morningstar, and he properly understood that the only reason for the failure of Calimado is the power of their opponent in this battle; it would be a dangerous mistake to presume that Calimado is weak.

Nakamura was relieved that unlike the pairing between Lenora and Lorelei there was no mismatch; both he and Lucifer were Vanguards. Realm Eternal didn’t have convenient taunting skills for those operating the Tanking or Party Shield role because the primary enemy was the Demon Race. Monsters were also unlikely to attack a wall and would naturally target the weakest in a party. The Tank has to have sufficient attack power to be ominous; they have to be so dangerous that the enemy can’t ignore them.

Consequently the person performing the Tanking or Party Shield role has to be agile enough to close-down the movements of the enemy and strong enough to take on the party rank enemy. Therefore the Tank in the party tended to gain EXP faster than everyone; making them the most powerful in the party. Lenora is a vanguard and Lorelei is a tank.

- - -

When Lucifer Morningstar finally revealed his weapon for the duel Nakamura knew that he would have to reveal his Trump-Card.

Lucifer was doing practice swings with his sword; an Ice Elemental Katana.

Every-time Lucifer swung that sword ice flakes would fly off; the sword in hand was freezing the air around it.

“““Eh?”””

Plastered on Lenora’s face was smirk to mark her clear delight at the surprise over Lucifer’s sword.

Nakamura : " I guess I have no Choice”

Nakamura operates his menu to access his inventories and pulls out a sword in a carefully decorated scabbard.

Lucifer : " A sabre?"

Nakamura : " Not quite”

He pulls the sword from its scabbard.

The Bluish Double-Edged Curved-Blade in Nakamura’s hands is his Trump-Card. The sabre-like 2 handed sword is thicker along the centreline like a LongSword but has a shape similar to a single edge curved sword. Such a weapon would be impossible to forge using traditional smithing, but with the aid of magical crafting it can be crafted in a method similar to 3D-Printing.

The onlookers seem to think that the Bluish colour indicates that it’s a water Elemental sword but some are not fooled.

Carol : " Isn’t that … ?"

Anton : " Well well well"

Jen : " Of course"

Edwin : " It’s just like Hiro"

Jason : " To pull a rabbit out of the hat at the last moment"

Lady Lorelei : " Don’t blink"

Lenora : " Eh? What?"

There is a puzzled look on Lucifer’s face.

Lucifer : " What’s that?"

Nakamura : " That’s for me to know and you to find out.”

Lucifer : " Fine!"

Nakamura : " Shall we begin?”

Both Nakamura and Lucifer take-up their fighting stance. A deafening silence encompasses the entire area.

Mithriliar : " On-Guard!"

Nakamura : " I am the Soul of my Sword!”

With that Nakamura took a sword stance.

Lucifer : " Hae!"

With movements too fast for normal eyes to see Lucifer attacked.

Lucifer closed the distance in an instant with 〘God-Speed〙 and activated the Combat Art 〘Slash〙 through the attacking form of the 〘Heavens-Blade〙. Lucifer was sure that Nakamura would activate the Combat Art 〘Parry〙; their weapons would make contact and the initial encounter would be short. As swordsman Lucifer thought that they would first test each others strength and speed in order to finalize tactics; this was the standard format for those who are close in ability.

However in the last instant Nakamura dropped his guard and activated his own upward 〘Slash〙; clearly intending to let his shoulder guard take the hit.

Lucifer’s mouth curved upwards.

Nakamura : " Kieee!”

Nakamura activates his 〘Slash〙 as Lucifer’s sward is about to make contact.

Lucifer had intended to punish Nakamura for thinking that a Level 2 Armour would be enough to take on the Ice Elemental sword but to avoid taking damage he activated his 〘Ice Aura〙 to prevent the impact of Nakamura’s sword. However immediately after making contact with Nakamura’s shoulder Lucifer felt the bluish blade slice through his ice covered left arm and cut into his chest.

Cling-cling bang!

Lucifer : " Ahh!"

Nakamura : " Aahh!”

The impact of Nakamura’s sword had sent Lucifer flying and landing 10m away. Nakamura’s left shoulder, upper- arm, neck and parts of his chest were covered in ice.

Lucifer : " Cough-Cough"

After a few coughs of blood Lucifer died.

Nakamura : " Arg! That sword really is dangerous; 〘Fire Ball〙”

Still fighting off the pain Nakamura worked fast.

Nakamura had let his own sword fall to the ground and was now using a 〘Fire Ball〙 from his right hand to melt the ice covering his left shoulder. Once the ice was cleared he used 〘Healing Water〙 to heal his body from the effects of the cold ice that had been affixed to his shoulder. As expected the effect of the ice had simply ignored the Armour’s barrier and did damage directly. Nonetheless the duel had been decided by a single hit.

Almost everyone was in shock.

Lady Lorelei : " As expected of a Divine Weapon"

Arturia : " Wait? That’s a Holy Sword?"

Mithriliar : " Where did Hiro get a Holy Sword?"

Artemis : " Aren’t those things heavy and difficult to use?"

Ronan : " What’s a Divine Weapon?"

Jen : " A weapon made with God-Steel"

Carol : " God-Steel is steel that includes a Dense-Matter Catalyst."

Edwin : " Judging by It’s hue I’d say Hiro’s Holy Sword is made from the lowest grade of God-Steel."

Carol : " Even so; given its shape and size it should weigh at least 1400kg"

Lady Lorelei : " To wield that thing in any kind of useful way your 《Strength》 Attribute would have to be at least 1000 EXP. So Hiro is a practitioner of the 〘God Sword〙 technique; I should have known."

Arturia : " Right; only those who own a Holy Sword are allowed to join the schools that train in the 〘God Sword〙 technique. I’m so jealous"

Nicolas : " He took the hit so that he could end it with one strike"

Ronan : " Risky"

Mithriliar : " Holding back at that point would have been dangerous; Lucifer isn’t the kind to be taken lightly. Let’s see what sort of Ace Lady Lorelei has up her sleeve."

As the shock wore off attention now turned to Lorelei. Mithriliar walked over to Nakamura in order to congratulate him.

Mithriliar : " Congratulations Hiro!"

Nakamura : " Thanks”

Mithriliar : " Impressive as always; though I never would have expected you to take on that Ice Elemental Katana."

Nakamura : " Though the Ice Elemental Katana is a level 2 weapon it’s at upper end of Level 2; close to a Level 3”

Mithriliar : " Lucifer must have spent at least 200 Gold on that thing, but your Sword is ….?"

Nakamura : " Its name is Oakrin Vras; named after the Noble Baron House Oakrin who holds title on the town Oakrin near Gias. Oakrin Vras is a true Level 3 weapon.”

Mithriliar : " I’m surprised they parted with an heirloom?"

Nakamura : " Apparently generations ago a young and foolishly arrogant noble youngster took the Sword and challenged a dungeon with it; for whatever reason the dungeon collapsed killing him and his party of young nobles. We found the sword while dungeon crawling.”

Mithriliar : " It must be worth a small fortune?"

Nakamura : " The Noble House Oakrin is offering 2500 Gold for it”

Mithriliar : " Eeeeh?"

Nakamura : " I promised to sell it back to them when I no longer have need of it; after-all only those who own a Holy Sword are allowed to join the schools that train in the 〘God Sword〙 technique, and a new Holy Sword would cost as much as 3500 Gold since they are made to order.”

Mithriliar understood Nakamura’s reasoning and they both looked over at Lorelei who seemed to be preoccupied with her menu.

- - -

Lorelei operated her menu in contemplation but her mind instinctively went to a conversation she had with Elrick an RET month ago at the Atlantis University; the Fortunate 5 has gathered there to expand their fields of expertise.

『Flashback』

Elrick : " Why are you so fixated on my mental state?"

Lady Lorelei : " Fine; I’ll give up for now. But I reserve the right to bring it up again if I see further signs of self-destructive narcissism"

Elrick : " Okay then; in return for this brief reprieve I’ll tell you a secret that should prove useful to the current you."

Lady Lorelei : " What secret?"

Elrick : " This is a discovery I’m yet to share with anyone, and I’m willing to share with you and you alone because amongst the people I trust you are perhaps the only one capable of protecting this secret."

Lady Lorelei : " Now I’m intrigued; do tell"

Elrick : " It’s something I picked-up when digging with my bare hands"

Lady Lorelei : " Oh?"

Elrick : " The 【Basic Mining】Sub-skill injects Mana into the rock-face allowing you to see the structure and detect mineral pockets and veins. The 『Mining』 Skill has an 【Appraisal Magic】 requirement; in-fact a lot of skills have a magic Sub-skill prerequisite. The essence of 【Appraisal Magic】 is the 3 〘Basic Appraisal Magic〙 Spell Set; 〘Analyze〙, 〘Search〙 and 〘Designate〙. The higher order 【Appraisal Magic】 spells 〘Identify〙 and 〘Appraise〙 make extensive use of the 3 〘Basic Appraisal Magic〙 Spell Set."

Lady Lorelei : " You’re talking about combination magic right?"

Elrick : " Yes; it’s the combination of various types of magic. The spells 〘Analyze〙, 〘Search〙 and 〘Designate〙 can be used in combination with various other spells and skills."

Lady Lorelei : " Somehow it seems too convenient; there must be something dubious about it."

Elrick : " Outside of areas with the Ethernet provided by Cities, Towns and sometimes Villages the Mana Consumption of 【Appraisal Magic】 spells is extreme; horrendously prohibitive."

Lady Lorelei : " So that’s why there are simpler versions of the Basic 3 【Appraisal Magic】 spells."

Elrick : " As in the case of the 【Basic Mining】Sub-skill the spell-formula restricts the search and analysis to specified minerals; discarding everything else. However if you already have 【Appraisal Magic】all 〘Analyze〙, 〘Search〙 and 〘Designate〙 type spells automatically link back to the higher functionality of 【Appraisal Magic】; I confirmed this while using 【Basic Mining】 through the Visual Display Interface."

Lady Lorelei : " Automatically is it?"

Elrick : " Yeah; but that’s when I picked-up a peculiarity that has applications beyond the expected."

With this she focuses her eyes on him; clearly noticing that Elrick is about to get to the point.

Lady Lorelei : " Go on"

Elrick : " The side-effect of using the 〘Analyze〙 spell leaves the target wrapped in your Mana. A person with sufficiently high 《Eyesight》, 《Awareness》 and 《Observation》 Attributes can perceive Mana. In the case of Elf-eyes which naturally have high perception of magic the effect is even better."

Lady Lorelei : " A side-effect with combat applications."

Elrick : " Yes; that’s the secret I can only trust with you. I haven’t had the opportunity to test it in combat but from what I’ve been able to do with it to predict where rocks will fall; such an ability should be considered an OverSkill."

Shaking off the surprise her mind immediately goes to work.

Lady Lorelei : " If you use Voice Activation to activate skills others will eventually figure it out. Thought casting is possible in Realm Eternal; though forming a clear mental image is necessary and it has to be preset in advance. Understood; we’ll develop the necessary Mental Disciplines to take this OverSkill to its limits!"

Elrick : " As I thought; you really are the best person to protect it"

Lady Lorelei : " Such baseless confidence in my abilities is really a heavy burden you know?"

Elrick : " It’s not baseless confidence; it’s Faith."

She is instantly taken aback by Elrick’s declaration and she turns bashful.

Lady Lorelei : " Do you even know what you are saying to me?"

Elrick : " What? Did I say something strange?"

She sighed.

- - -

Lorelei released 17 spherical objects from her inventory; 14 deep-blue spheres and 3 silvery spheres. The spherical objects are Divine Element bearers and each of the 14 deep-blue spheres contain 1.47 litres of 【Water Magic】 Element 「Living Water」and each of the 3 silvery spheres contain pressurized litres of the【Wind Magic】 Element 「Air of Life」.

Everyone watching was in awe because they all understood each of the spheres cost 50 to 65 Gold Coins; 17 Divine Element bearers represented an extraordinary sum of money. However those who understood the use of Divine Elements finally understood why Lorelei possessed the 2 familiars Arvi and Wonar; it was to control Divine Elements. The magical script or programming for using Divine Elements cost 100 Gold coins to install on an Elemental Familiar.

The Red-Elf Lenora finally understood the reason for Lorelei’s confidence, but even so she resolved herself to fight.

Lady Lorelei : " Arvi; Activate Weapon! Wonar; Activate Armour and Shield!"

The 2 familiars Arvi and Wonar moved on Lorelei’s instruction.

The Divine Element bearers which are made of a living metal moved towards Lorelei and reorganized themselves; 9 deep-blue spheres overlaid onto her Armour, 5 deep-blue spheres formed a Shield and the silvery spheres formed a Sword similar in shape to Nakamura’s Holy Sword. The Divine Element previously contained within the bearers was now affixed to the surface of the reshaped Divine Element bearers.

When the process completed what stood before everyone was what looked like a 195cm tall Golem with no eyes; made of deep blue-water and carrying a water shield and equipped with a silvery sword that caused the air around it to swirl. Those who had taken the time to read up on Realm Eternal could understand that what they were seeing had performance comparable to Golem Armour; though unlike Golem Armour endurance would depend on the user’s Mana capacity. The Elemental Familiars had temporarily merged with the Devine Elements.

Lenora was shaken but her fighting spirit was not yet broken. Taking out a Fire Elemental Sword and an Earth Elemental Sword she resolved to give it everything she had.

Lenora : " It’s a question of endurance"

Lady Lorelei : " Unlikely"

It was like Lorelei’s voice came from the wind as her face was completely covered.

Mithriliar : " On-Guard!"

Closing the distance in what seemed to Lenora like an instant Lorelei bashed with the shield forcing Lenora to defend with both her swords, but it wasn’t over with 〘Heavens-Blade〙 recoil from the shield bash Lorelei slashed with the sword and again with the 〘Heavens-Blade〙 recoil the second shield bash was even faster followed by an even faster slash which itself was followed by an even faster shield bash. Every-time Lorelei’s sword made contact with Lenora there was an air burst; putting even more pressure on Lenora.

Lenora was trapped in a deadly loop; the only attack she was able to respond to was the first shield bash. Lorelei was rapidly burning through her Mana reserves but in return the Divine Element Armour quadrupled her 《Strength》 and 《Agility》 Attributes. The battle was decided with the first blow and thanks to the OverSkill she could predict all of Lenora’s movements and skill activation; it was already over.

Realm Eternal has no cool-down but there is a cast-time, and that means skills can be chained, but that also means once someone interferes with chained skills you’re in trouble. In high speed close-quarters weapons mêlée the use of your legs for anything other than controlling the stance results in instant death; there’s no sidestepping, turning, feints or taking distance; the only answer to the enemy’s weapon is your own weapon.

The fifth shield bash sent Lenora flying more than 200m into the air and Lorelei used the 〘Heavens-Blade〙 recoil to focus the energy into her legs for a jump. The powered jump sent Lorelei rocketing past Lenora and using the sword’s control of air she rolled just before making contact with the Psionic Scaffolding created through 〘Celestial-Steps〙and with her inverted body pushing against the Psionic Scaffolding she propelled herself towards the seemingly lifeless Lenora.

Lorelei brought her hands together and the shield and sword combined to form a large Axe-Hammer which she brought down upon Lenora.

There is a bluish electrical discharge.

Lady Lorelei : " 〘Lightning-Thunder-Breaker〙"

DODOOM DODOOM DODOOM

The Sky is covered red as blood bursts out of Lenora’s lifeless body upon contact with the Axe-Hammer and there is an energy discharge similar to Lightning and Thunder. The 〘Sky-Breaker〙 technique can be used to discharge stored kinetic energy, and in this instance every-time Lorelei’s sword and shield made contact with Lenora kinetic energy was absorbed and stored.

What remained of Lenora’s body crashed to the ground making a small crater, and Lorelei completed a barrel-roll and landed with a wham! Kicking up dust in the process.

The feeling of fatigue overwhelmed Lorelei; she was almost out of Mana.

Lady Lorelei : " Release Armaments!"

The Divine Element and bearers returned to their spherical forms which Lorelei promptly returned to her inventory while she took out MP potions.

The silence was deafening as Lorelei walked towards her comrades; it was absolute silence; not a word was spoken, and it seemed as though everyone was holding their breath.

The people there had seen 2 things that in their minds should not be possible yet; the first is a Holy Sword that cut through Level 2 Armour like it’s nothing and the second is the overwhelming Divine Element armed Lady Lorelei who seemed to have mastered the techniques 〘Heavens-Blade〙, 〘Sky-Breaker〙, 〘God-Speed〙 and 〘Celestial-Steps〙.

They had seen a different level.

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