Phase 3

Interlude 2

Ramon Thunderblade, the world’s hero, the love and also a little hate of the people, the treasure nobles fought over and the “pet” the Lord Ruler believed he owned, found himself staring down at the city from atop of the castle tower. He left a note for the maid in his bed for he planned to leave in the dead of this night.

Ramon gazed at the beautiful full moon and then at the second red moon floating adjacent to it. This moon appeared on any night it felt like it, a celestial object potentially made up of mana, and served as a beacon of numerous tales and plays. Crimson Blood Moon.

However, Ramon wasn’t awake to observe a moon that meant nothing to him, aside from its legends tied to the world’s greatest threat, Ares the Peace Spawner. But the dream Ramon had…it had nothing to do with the Peace Spawner. In a kingdom of fire, perhaps the world, mad laughter poured from his own throat. He had no control of his will, for the magical binding worked from the inside out. As if he ingested something… Perhaps a spelled drink. Plenty of people tried that on him in the past, before they realized he could detect magic long before it entered his invisible protective shield. There was a reason why assassins failed. One couldn’t kill the hero without magic after all.

But the dream. Ramon seemed to endlessly laugh as the people and the kingdom burned, unaware of the familiar presence next to him, until the voice of a strange man casually said to him, “wake the hell up and be careful of what you drink, idiot.”

Could it have been…a messenger of Wanda? Ramon wasn’t going to pretend like he attended every sermon held by the church. He had direct access to its pope, someone he naturally didn’t trust, but that was it.

With his bag in hand, storage ring full of his items, the young man came to a decision. He released the silent signal to his party, then headed for the meeting place, leaping rooftop to rooftop.

His loyal party, three women and two men, had the lightning horses ready. They looked eager to get away from the capital city. Sure, the Lord Ruler summoned the party, urging them to stay for at least a year in order to get to know the people. But not a single person in Ramon’s party believed that nonsense. Hell, that ridiculous timeframe was likely a compromise with the princess. Ramon left a letter for the so-called king stating that he could sense the movements of Ares the Peacemaker and hurried after him. He asked the Lord Ruler to keep his departure a secret, though he doubted the bastard would stay quiet. No one commanded him after all.

Too bad Ramon planned to be long gone and he wouldn’t return, even if some dunderhead found a way to resurrect the Midnight Dragon.

Perhaps that was a cruel thought, but Ramon’s weariness of the nobility, their constant scrabbles, and the backstabbing political atmosphere finally broke him. It produced the dream after all. Perhaps he allowed himself to undergo the spellbinding. Perhaps he allowed himself to do the unthinkable and attack the people that fawned over their hero.

“Where shall we go?” asked a woman with a soothing, borderline seductive voice. Of course during the formation of the party, Ramon created an important rule designed to help minimize betrayal. No fraternization. They were brothers and sisters at war against the kingdom’s enemies. They could only marry outside the party. In fact, both of the men did. They had no trouble whatsoever finding beautiful wives. Neither of the women did. One, he knew was somewhat of a holy nun of Wanda, their healer. She would not give up her purity until Ares the Peacemaker was finally defeated. Which would probably be never.

Ramon never admitted it aloud, none of the party did, but Ares could probably wipe the floor with them. They had two options. Climb to the highest of the magician realms and become master magicians or utilize the Seal of Wanda.

They were going with the seal of course, which required them all to work together, synchronize their spirits. But then they’d have to guard the seal and make sure none of Ares’s allies or worshippers freed him. Talk about a heavy, HEAVY, burden. A new kingdom would have to be erected around the spot they sealed him.

The woman with the seductive voice wasn’t the healer of course, but their heavenly bow user. One of the most powerful members of their party.

He once had feelings for her a long time ago but tossed them to the side to respect his own fraternization rule. Without the party fighting over who bedded who, they never failed to accomplish their missions.

“For now, we set off to the east,” Ramon told her. “Maybe we’ll find answers there. At the very least, we’ll be as far away from the Lord Ruler and his dangerous daughter as possible.”

After all, the Lord Ruler’s daughter was in love with both Ramon Thunderblade and Ares the Peace Spawner. She had an awful attraction to strong uncontrollable men. Perhaps it was a result of being extremely powerful herself.

Chapter 15

We ended up robbing the king of just about everything, including some samples of his bone dust stuffed into bottles. The dust pulsed with ancient mana, and I couldn’t wait to experiment with it. His crown was made of gold and jewels. His cape, capable of being made into other things, carried formidable defensive properties. We even took a few of the giant raisin-like fruit, after Milia verified that they were safe. And safe they were, beyond it, as they contained earth and air mana. The rusty broadsword was practically garbage, containing no magical properties. No one wanted to carry it.

“Now all that’s left is the chest,” I said.

“An S-ranked chest may contain the very thing you seek or a bunch of valuable goods, though potentially less exciting,” Milia explained.

I slowly pulled the lid up. In it was a golden book shining with aura, a dagger with a bone hilt and an impressive dark blue mana blade, a sealed scroll, some kind of silver pocket watch, a pale gray baton thing, and a rose gold leaf-shaped locket attached to a golden necklace.

“May I fasten the necklace on you, Milia,” I said.

Blushing, she nodded, and I did, though I will admit it was a little stimulating even for a grown man. Come on, don’t pretend like you’re unfamiliar with the feeling of being in a brand-new serious relationship. The irritated look Harmony tried to cover up didn’t make things better, though I couldn’t be angry with the teenager. I’d be pissed too if my teammates made me feel like the third wheel of a date.

The locket itself contained nothing inside, but the mana it exerted complimented with the dryad quite well. The chest clearly spawned it for her. By the feeling of Milia’s presence, she advanced in power, though it still felt rude to analyze my fiancée at this point.

“So this dagger—”

Wolverine barked three times. Surprised at his reaction, I passed the wolf the dagger. He actually did a few test swings, then zipped around the place, excited. I watched him for a bit before turning back to the chest.

“So, what exactly is this?” I asked as I picked up the baton.

“It’s a wand,” Milia answered.

“Oh, that’s right, I forgot wands, staves, sticks and all are tools to help channel mana,” I said.

“And strengthen casted spells,” Milia said.

“In that case, Harmony, here you go,” I said cheerfully.

The blue-haired girl flinched, blushing. “Are…are you sure? This is an ancient wand from the skeleton king’s era. I didn’t participate in the fight. I couldn’t possibly—”

I wagged my finger. “You’re my disciple, student, employee, right? You’ve done a good job at the shop so far, so I’m giving you an early bonus. Just practice safely, alright?”

Tears suddenly streamed from the girl’s eyes. I sighed.

She quickly wiped them. “Sorry. Just knowing that one day I’d be able to protect our town or even myself without a fear of a magician taking away everything I knew and loved…” Her voice trailed off.

“This is only the beginning,” I told her. “The wand’s a tool, but remember to advance in realms, practice, and if possible, pick up some new techniques.”

I had to sound as if I knew what the hell I was talking about for her sake. No, I’m not totally the worst at communicating with emotional individuals. However, I couldn’t even begin to comprehend what it was like to deal with tormentors on a yearly basis and be powerless to stop them.

I turned back to the chest, pulling out the remaining three items. The golden book, a scroll, and the silver pocket watch.

[The Book of Legendary Spell Upgrade. Item rank: S. A special one-use book capable of upgrading a spell. If you have the required mana, it will activate upon touching.]

“No wait,” I said, but it was too late. Annoyed, I watched the book burst into golden sparkles, which absorbed into my skin. My muscles tensed just a bit as the foreign mana danced through my body. In fact, I could see my veins glowing.

[The mana has entered your meridians. You are becoming even more powerful! Congratulations on your new spell.]

[Your Supreme Magic Bolt has upgraded to Dragon Magic Burst.]

I unwrapped the scroll, although feeling a little weary that this one would burst into sparkles too, granting me more unwanted hero powers. To my surprise, it contained a recipe from a potion. Like the damn RNG actually treated me like a potion maker for once. Maybe I should’ve gave Harmony the book, but even I didn’t know it’d jizz into sparkles in my hand. I was hoping for maybe a diary of the skeleton king’s former life. So I could sell it for thousands of gold. What? You thought I’d read it? Perhaps I’d take a peek to make sure it wasn’t a fake, but nothing more than that.

“Wait, there are two recipes here. Potion of masking and potion of eagle sight. Masking hides your presence. Eagle sight enables you to see very far. I can add these to my arsenal, perhap—”

“Sneak a peak of Milia while she’s in the bath,” Harmony said, pointing at me accusatorily, blush deep red. The dryad burst into laughter, her amusement that of a woman making fun of her daughter, or big sister over her little sister, despite having no experience herself.

“I was thinking of using it during a visit to the city,” I said. “To hide myself from any magicians, but your idea’s way better.”

While Milia knew I was obviously joking, her laughter brightening the room, Harmony only grew redder.

“Men really are the biggest perverts in the land,” Harmony said.

“Says the girl who’s thinking it,” I quipped, though she probably wasn’t wrong. “Let’s get moving. I don’t want to be in here through the night.”

Wolverine barked in agreement. Don’t ask me how I knew, I just felt it. The baby spirit beast held a level of intelligence that outpaced any animal from the old world.

“Should we finish the dungeon?” Harmony asked.

I turned around and gave her an exasperated look. “We just beat the skeleton king. I’m tired and earned myself a bacon sandwich.”

“Bacon? Also, magicians tire?” Harmony said.

“What’s bacon?” Milia asked, curious.

I couldn’t be more glad that I watched a ton of Youtube videos on making bacon, did it plenty of times, and was more than confident on reproducing the same thing in this world.

“Bacon is what we call cured pork in my homeland,” I explained, which gained a flat stare from my vegetarian fiancée.

“Oh,” Harmony said. “You probably won’t be surprised by my next words.”

“I know, it’s expensive,” I said. “Maybe I should consider raising some cattle and pigs.” I shook my head. “Let’s get going. The ingredients of the potions on this scroll will take a bit time to locate. Well, I have a few of them actually.”

In truth, I wasn’t sure if monsters respawned in real life and didn’t want to stick around to find out. When we climbed up the stairs, there wasn’t a single wolf skeleton to be in sight. Also, I didn’t feel any of their presences nor had any sense of unease. Not that that’s saying much for an E-rank baby, but this same noob dungeon had a secret boss that would’ve killed anyone else. Assuming they were worthy enough to be allowed inside the steel doors.

“Are you sure you don’t want to finish up here?” Milia asked.

“Nah, leave the action-adventure shit to—”

“Adventurers,” Harmony interjected.

Of course they’d have adventurers. It couldn’t just be the hero and his party, no that would be asking for too much.

“Are they magicians too?” I asked, though mostly sarcastic.

“Not all of them,” Harmony answered without missing a beat. “I should lend you my book of the greatest adventurer around. She who got into the royal guard by pretending to be a man. With a few magical tools to keep her identity safe, she served her entire term unnoticed and no one have learned it until a decade after she retired from adventuring. When she revealed the truth to old friends.”

I nodded, impressed and continued walking, leading the others to the exit. “She sounds like a real badass.”

Wolverine still carried the dagger in his mouth, and I was about to say something when Milia made an interesting proposition.

“I wonder if he’ll learn the spirit storage spell,” she said. “Carrying that dagger is going to be annoying when something else catches his attention.”

First, let me take the time to remind you, well, mostly myself, that a dagger-wielding wolf is so goddamn badass. If I could teach him how to do the same for a sword when he got bigger, my life would be complete. I’d be able to die a happy man knowing I witnessed such a thing up close.

“I didn’t know such an ability existed,” I told Milia. “How exactly does it work?”

“Exactly as its name,” Milia replied. “You absorb any item into your spirit and will it out whenever you need it. At least that’s the gist. I’ve only ever heard of the skill. Rumors of it actually came from powerful spirit beasts.”

I nodded. Maybe if I decided to tackle the S-ranked death dungeon, the book for the ability would spawn in a treasure chest. Decisions for later.

When we stepped out of the dungeon, Beakwing let out a purr in excitement.

“Hi Wingy,” Milia said as she caressed the griffin’s head. I quickly undid his reigns from the tree, gave him some scratches beneath his chin and moments later, we were boarded and flying. The sun was beginning to set. First, we dropped Harmony off, though not before inviting the cheeky teenager to dinner. She declined.

“My maid is probably worried sick about me,” she said. “I’m sure she stopped by the shop at some point to see if I was around.”

We launched back into the air, flying to our house roughly ten minutes from town by foot.

I sat my things in a room I’d now call the lab. There was a lot of work to be done, and hopefully I’d have new products very soon. Maybe I’d start with something simple, like the lightning.

Milia took the bath first then after refilling the tub with fresh water and heating it with mana, I bathe and relaxed. After drying off and changing into night clothes, shorts and shirt, I cooked dinner. As always, I made two versions of every dish. Not just because I was trying to impress Milia, but I genuinely enjoyed doing so. Something about cooking the exact same thing alternatively presented an incredibly fun challenge. I ate both versions too. Yes, that delicious, not to toot my own horn.

It didn’t take long for Milia and me to end up making out a bit after the dishes were clean. We sat and chat and as adults came very close to tossing away tradition. Eventually we ended up on the topic of my next set of plans. This subject change was needed for obvious reasons. I personally didn’t care for the tradition, but Milia did, somewhat, so I respected that. Also, I shouldn’t be in such a rush to have a kid anyway. Oh, did I mention this world hadn’t invented protection yet, if you know what I mean. I wasn’t confident at the timed game of yoink, turn, and aim elsewhere.

“The plan’s still the same,” I told Milia. “Get this town out of crippling inflation, earn plenty of coin, and well, help as many of the townspeople as we can. Perhaps when we’re traveling, you could show me the world.”

Milia smiled. “There is so much to show, including my favorite, the Plain of Infinite Roses.”

“Plain of Infinite Roses?” I asked. “What’s that like?”

“It’s very far from here, closer to my birth home,” she said. “It’s a beautiful place of roses of all colors, including gold and silver, and with an amazing waterfall that pours into a lake so pure, you’d wonder if it’s part of the sky as you gaze at your reflection.”

Seeing the dryad so excited made me vow to see this place for myself with her at my side.

**

Just less than a day’s travel from the grassland and the town of Kyushu, horses pulled a wagon. In it was a pouting redheaded girl of eighteen. Sitting with her were two paid magicians. TWO. Mistress Mandi Karen Wingston snuck out of the manor, the fires of vengeances gleaming in her eyes. Her supercool brother gave her permission, promising to cover the young woman while she was away.

Her hired help were actually talented cousins, Winn and Lou. She was sure their wives didn’t mind them earning a ton of extra gold just to beat up a few peasants who failed to recognize their pathetic places in the world.