Phase 5

Interlude 4

Princess Ling’s glowing icy gaze weighed on him like a mountain, but the black knight held his composure. He served her since childhood and knew the princess’s ridiculous power more than anyone. One could say he was born from it, molded from it. Loved it. Perhaps his own reason, sanity, had long since faded and the young man became like her.

Well, none of that would matter since he failed to find the hero’s party within a strict twenty-four hour deadline. She tortured him for eight hours to no avail. The black knight, a hardened and fierce soldier didn’t so much as flinch.

The real pain came when she unceremoniously ordered the death of three of his family members. If that were all, the black knight would’ve secretly intercepted the messenger and slayed him, then warned his family to flee, perhaps go east where there’s no civilization. But she decided to do it herself.

And so one by one, the three were brought in and fed to demonic beasts in front of him. Trapped in a bubble of immense spiritual pressure, all the black knight could do was remove his emotions, sell them to the abyss, and let his fate guide him. He closed his eyes, tuning out the screaming and begging, the demonic roaring and laughter, and the crunching of bone and flesh, followed by the demonic beast licking its fingers. It was at that moment, the black knight stopped believing in Wanda and also stopped believing in the Lord Ruler. He was no just king. A just king wouldn’t allow a monster disguised as a girl to roam free.

He considered calling for Ares the Peace Spawner, perhaps in hope that the darkness would devour the city. But no matter what kind of torture the foul youngest daughter of the Lord Ruler put him through, the black knight could not bring himself to fall that low. He wouldn’t allow this wretched creature to force his hand, to force him to beg for help like a damsel.

He’d have his revenge. For now, he had to blame this on the hero who illegally left the capital without telling anyone after promising the Lord Ruler he’d stay for at least a year.

“Three of my brothers died for this coward,” the black knight said coldly. The others would normally have the sense to flee, but the knight was sure they were under surveillance by Ling’s assassins. She planned to take out all of her anger on him.

After all, the black knight was the second to reject her advances, though his reasons were righteous, for duty. The Lord Ruler made it clear as he grew up to ditch any fantasies or funny ideas, for fraternization meant death. But as he got to know Ling, he clung strongly to the Lord Ruler’s words, using them as a shield to keep as much distance between he and the princess as possible. He was supposed to be her sword only. And it worked for years until the hero ruined everything.

“Let this be a lesson,” Ling said. “Failure is not tolerated, especially of my highest subordinates. I will break you one way or another. Now, gather a legion, find my lover, and don’t return until you do. You can bring him dead or alive, but if you want to be entertained, bring him alive. Do you understand, Andros?”

Andros could only salute, his body seeming to move by itself due to the will of a soldier. “I will hunt him down to the ends of this world and bring him back to you, alive.”

“Good. Perhaps I will reward you afterward,” Ling said. “I do know of a necromancer that will allow you to say proper goodbyes to your brothers.” She grinned nastily. “Take nothing personal, for this is how my father punishes failures. It was his orders anyway. I just voiced them.”

She turned and left, and all Andros could do was curse the entire royal family. He also didn’t believe this lying bitch. Attempting to turn people against her father in order to usurp the throne, this kind of ambition from the youngest of the Lord ruler’s seven children was almost unheard of.

Andros summoned a guard from a far with a wave. “Tell the Black Cross to get ready. We leave tonight.”

**

Chapter 26

You know what’s great about boss battles? Loot. The hero dropped an impressive-looking ring on the forest floor, and it just happened to be shining brightly enough for me to notice.

“It’s an empty storage ring,” Iris said. “Please take it as a token of our sincere apologies.”

“A storage ring, don’t mind if I do,” I said, picking up the ring. “These things are ridiculously expensive. Are you sure about this?”

“Absolutely,” Iris said. “Here, take this mana stone too, Master Nate.”

“Just Nate,” I said. “Remember, keep everything a secret. We’ll keep our mouths shut too.”

“But…I mean, sure,” Iris said. She handed me a glowing blue gemstone the size of a marble.

“Ah,” I said, analyzing the item. My skill identifier was an abusive ability, but really, I spent more time scanning people as well as the potions I made. But I also didn’t mind sparking conversations about the mystical treasures with a native like my fiancée or even the blue-haired brat.

One thing that bothered me about this system was its seemingly random uses of terms that meant the same thing. Like, what the hell was the difference between a Grade and a Rank. Then add quality into that and honestly, I just think the system wants to be as judgmental as it can get away with. It mostly grades my potions, so I could assume…perhaps crafted items? Ranks occurred from loot and so far, where they originally came from has not been revealed. I wouldn’t be surprised if they were created by some convenient ancient race that didn’t exist anymore.

[Moderate Storage Ring. Item rank: B. Item quality: average. Stores a standard amount of items in a dimensional space. Currently empty.]

“Neat,” I said as I marveled at the ring. The price tag made its item rank deceptive. “I never thought I’d get my hands on one of these. Thank you.”

I tested first with a health potion. A grid appeared in its own prompt and there, I could see the item with a small number one next to its icon. I finally had an inventory. Fuck yes! And then came the catch. This particular storage ring only had twenty available slots. If it wasn’t for the ridiculous price of thousands of gold, I’d mentally accuse the elf of being cheap. But I couldn’t be an ungrateful bastard with something as useful as this.

We decided to be nice and give the elf and the unconscious idiot a ride back to the village. One of the party members named Kelvin wanted to know what happened. Iris gave him a vague answer about an accident, but he needed rest. The health potion we gave her, after she paid the silver of course, did the trick. She seemed ravenous in the way she wanted to order more, but the shop was close, and I didn’t want to waste more time with them. I mentally apologized to Mandi for complaining about her annoying troupe. These guys were going to be a bigger pain in the ass and not just for me, but for Milia too.

Kelvin and some other girl wanted more details, but I had the perfect excuse to just leave.

“We’ll be going,” I said. “No need for us to eavesdrop on your private matters.”

They ignored me, which suited things just fine. Milia and I ended up having our blueberry date. With ingredients purchased from town, I baked her that blueberry pie. It became her favorite food instantly. Thus the pain of assembly felt worth it.

At least the prices were down a bit. But this wasn’t enough. When Mandi returned with the farm animals, the game would be on.

That night, I analyzed the mana stone Iris gave me, mostly as a distraction to not stare at my fiancée who fell asleep first this time around.

[Pulsing Spirit Stone. Item rank: A. Item quality: Very Good.]

I recalled the quality levels again to make sure I wasn’t getting the invisible revenge nutsack kick.

[Item grades range from F and max out at S. Item quality types are: garbage, awful, poor, okay, average, good, very good, excellent, amazing, incredible, superior, extraordinary, and Exotic.]

Wolverine was at the edge of the bed, still snuggled in a towel after the bath earlier. Cheetara curled at the end of my pillow and soon the kitten dozed off. A quick analyze later and I realized that…Holy shit, an S-ranked kitten! When and how? I turned to my wolf.

“Alright, early tomorrow, we’re going to do some training,” I said quietly to Wolverine. “You can’t be the only trainer around here.”

Wolverine’s tail seemed to wag at supersonic speeds as he hurried over, licking my cheek, and snuggling into me. He let out a barely audible bark.

“I’m excited for this too buddy,” I said, laughing, though still keeping my voice down. “Hey, maybe you can teach me how to hunt—I mean find fruit.”

Wolverine, catching my words, barked once, then returned to his position at the edge of the bed. The spirit beasts had their own sleeping areas, but tonight was family night. If Beakwing wasn’t so massive, he’d be in here too.

Unfortunately with the current rain, thunderstorm actually, we couldn’t join him even if we wanted to.

Just what could I do with this spirit stone? I grinned. People would probably be pissed at my sinister thoughts right now, but I wondered if I ground it to a powder, how would it fare as a potion. I’m sure I could suck it up with some mana cultivation nonsense or perhaps use it as a power source. But for a potion of some sort, how many potion makers would take the risk?

I laid back, smiling, numerous ideas in my head to further my profession of this potion making class, my business, but of course my brain felt like messing with me, so it shoved Milia’s visiting family for our marriage to the forefront of my thoughts.

Suddenly I felt my fiancée snuggle against me, her already peaceful sleeping seeming even more peaceful. Like I said, family night. So damn adorable it seriously deserved a photo. Even Cheetara snuggled into me.

It’s no wonder why I woke up full of energy the next morning. I made the first batch very early and then Wolverine and I did some training, even went for a run into the forest and back. Milia, Beakwing, and Cheetara watched. Eventually the teenagers arrived, refreshed for the duties.

Right on time to also join the training and exercises. I didn’t feel like flying all the way to the dungeon today, though Beakwing did seem to inquire about it after I fed him and filled his massive water container. He could of course go to the forest for all of his needs, we didn’t keep him on any leash, but everyone enjoyed feeding the griffin, soaking in the majestic creature’s cheerfulness.

He was an important part of the family and we made sure he knew. He also loved his belly rubs.

In fact, Beakwing himself joined the training after fifteen minutes. I directed him in practicing his magic. Okay, fine, Milia took over that bit after a while.

“Here, Wingy,” she said. The teenagers required my attention and more instruction. The big griffin didn’t mind either way.

After making sure everyone was worn out, dripping with sweat, and in some cases, laughing, I dismissed the workout party.

“Go get cleaned up and be ready for work in an hour,” I said. “You two did well today.”

They actually looked proud, though I didn’t feel like I truly deserved that. Not until they were whipped into proper magicians. Or at least a ghost of myself. When did the superstrength come in?

As usual, being the gentleman, I let Milia bathe first, before I ran my water. She always magically cleaned the tub before calling me.

After cleaning up, I examined my inventory and winced. Only a few doses of shadow potion left and no way to make more unless I wanted to hunt hallows. Fuck that shit to hell, I don’t believe in getting lucky twice.

“Hey, uhm, Master Nate,” Lucas called as he entered the shop, though probably just to annoy me. He received the flat stare he likely searched for.

“Just Boss will do,” I said, leaving the lab. “Or Nate. Nate-sensei. Okay, not sensei, but you know what I mean. Anyway, what is it?”

“Do you ever wish to fight with a sword, like the hero,” he asked. I could tell Milia strained with everything she had to hold in her laughter. Her amusement struck me hard, but I managed not to let out a laugh myself. It’s not like I started that fight anyway. I just wanted to pick blue berries. Which we did. I even got to toss a few in Wolverine’s mouth. The sunlight wolf appreciated it.

“Absolutely not,” I said truthfully. I raised my fists, playfully swinging at the air. “See these fists. These are what I prefer.”

Fortunately for the hero, I didn’t equip the brass knuckles, he caught me at an odd time. Lucky for him and his face. Perhaps the goddess did bless him after all.

“I do understand why people take up weapons, don’t get me wrong,” I said. “But the only sword master that’s here is Milia. And while Harmony gets a few lessons, for you, we’re not focusing on that. You want to be a proper magician, right?”

“Of course,” Lucas said, his back straightening.

“Then you must cultivate as much mana as possible,” I said. “As you take in your specific element, in your case fire, it will burn away the impurities within. Heh, I can’t believe I remembered that—I mean that’s an important part of the basics. When you’re ready, I’ll teach you the same basic spell I taught Harmony. It will be up to you to shape it and acquire your spell books. Though in your case, I’d recommend becoming the best fireball user in the world.”

“What? But…”

My theory was pushing it, but I believed I had the hang of the system. Using just one spell again and again, while cultivating a specific mana type would speed up magical evolution. I conveyed that theory to the teenager.

“Of course you can learn as many as you want,” I assured, “if you’re able to get ahold of the spell books.”

Determination flashed into his eyes and there, I could see a man who refused to allow bandits to ruin his life again.

When Harmony arrived, we set up the shop and opened. Our very first customer was Iris, but with more customers behind her, the elf knew she couldn’t cause a scene by buying up everything. She did have a friend with a bubbly personality with her.

“Good morning everyone,” I greeted.

“Welcome to our shop,” Milia said. She squeezed my hand, smiling, before moving to take orders.

Lucas, fully trained, handled his work just fine, from passing orders to customers to keeping the work area clean, to greeting the customers.

“I hope you and your lovely wife are having a great morning,” a woman said. Her young son tugged at her leg. I wondered how annoyed the parents will be when we added candy to the menu, which would be the very next day.

Toward the end of the workday, a messenger came in to deliver me news in regard to the parts I ordered for the shower.

“Ah, another few days,” I said to Milia as we wrapped up cleaning. “That still leaves us with the problem of getting an ice crystal.”

“Hello? Sir Nate.”

“Iris,” I said. “Come in. We’re closing down for the day, but for you, we’ll take an advanced order.”

“We were hoping to buy everyone dinner, you know, as apologies for yesterday,” Iris said. Her friend from earlier stared at me, eyes wide.

“Is it rude to scan people?” I almost said but decided that it was not only a normal thing to do, but a security measure for magicians. Still, I needed a way to block scans without raising my aura. If I did so, then it’d become way too obvious that I’m a fucking magician, hence drawing all kinds of attention to me. Unwanted attention.

“We appreciate it,” I said. “But—”

“I’ve overheard you needing an ice crystal,” Iris continued, almost as if she was afraid of getting sent away. I knew it’d only be a matter of time before even Milia would start to get annoyed, but her overhearing my complaining was worth hearing out. “I could send a messenger bird, get one here in perhaps two months. Although it’d be so much easier if we could just complete a B or A ranked dungeon. If your wishes are strong enough, the dungeon may consider producing what you desire. The only dungeon I know about this close is a D ranked I believe.”

My eyes widened as the idea flowed into me like molten electricity. Okay, maybe not the best way to explain that. A lightbulb went off, okay.

“Me, you, your friend, and Milia,” I said. “A party of four. Although a healer would be nice to add to the mix. Milia knows of an A-ranked dungeon. Well, we found something more…dangerous, but we’re not ready for it, so I’m afraid we can’t go that route for everyone’s safety.”

“The odds of an ice crystal spawning decreases some, but with all of us wishing for it in an A-ranked dungeon, I think we should receive at least one as a reward,” Milia said. “Or perhaps a map to one.”

“Yes, but from the boss chest,” Iris’s friend said. “My name’s Ronica by the way. The Phoenix Magician.” She bowed to me deeply, drawing out a sigh. “Pleased to meet you, M…” She paused at Iris’s critical glare. “Sir Nate. When would you like to run the dungeon?”

“First thing tomorrow,” I said. “While we’re there, we’ll tell you about the more dangerous dungeon. And why you should keep it a secret.”

Milia nodded at me. She made it very clear that when it came to S-ranked dungeons, she wasn’t fucking around.

If the guardian of the dungeon’s forest said it was too dangerous, it was too dangerous, no arguments.

We would still do the dungeons in order with the teenagers but traveling with some of the hero’s party meant getting to better ingredients, and a chance at an ice crystal.

“Sir Nate, I mean no insult, but do you have a plan in the case of your existence getting out to the world,” Ronica asked. “You are equally, perhaps more interesting than the Peace Spawner.”