"Find her! She can't be that far!"

Five men were searching around, looking for someone.

That someone was hiding not that far away, behind bushes near a wall, her eyes not leaving the men.

"She isn't here, Sir."

"God damn it! We need to find her or..."

The leader was interrupted by some noises coming from a nearby street.

"That way! Quick!" ordered the man, taking his sword out as he ran in the said direction, quickly followed by the others.

The girl sighed and hissed right after, putting a hand on her injured side.

"Hey..." called a voice from behind her.

The girl turned around and raised her hand, ready to attack. In front of her was a dogkin boy who quickly raised his hand, showing he meant no harm.

"Don't worry! Don't worry! I'm not an enemy. I saw you hiding from those men and I made them go away...You're hurt!" exclaimed the dogkin as he saw the blood on her side.

The girl was still looking at him but seemed to have trouble doing so. She had lost blood, maybe too much already, and almost lost consciousness, the dogkin quickly caught her, helping her moving forward.

"Come with me, I know a place where you can hide."

Seeing the girl not really trusting him, but unable to resist, he tried to talk a bit with her.

"My name is Picho. What's yours?"

"...Guelan Filanfest." simply answered the girl.

"Guelan, that's a pretty name." said the boy, smiling at the girl.

The two hurried to an abandoned building looking a lot like an old church with windows and doors closed by planks nailed on it.

"What is this place?" weakly asked the girl.

"My house. It's an old orphanage: The house of Saint Cremeans. It is a nice place, but since the old man died, it has been abandoned."

The girl didn't answer. Picho helped her get inside by a hidden door behind the orphanage.

Inside, the daylight had trouble coming inside, but the bit allowed in by the small holes was just enough to see where they were going. They barely had time to take some steps further when something appeared behind them.

Looking over her shoulder, the girl barely had the time to see two shiny yellow eyes looking at her before losing consciousness.

...................................................................................................................................................

"Maximilian?! HEY, EVERYONE! MAXIMILIAN IS HERE!!!" shouted Arold.

While things were taken care of in the capital, Maximilian thought about something and decided to leave for a day, asking his companions to help others in town.

"Will you be gone for long?" questioned Lin-Lin.

"Not that much, a day at most. I'm going to see our friends at Arold's house." explained Maximilian.

"Arold? Why?"

"There is something I want to take care of..." said Maximilian as he patted the girl's shoulder, right where her slave mark used to be.

"Oh...alright, we will help here, come back soon, okay?" said the pandagirl, understanding quickly what he wanted to do.

"In a day, at most, I promise...Octavia?"

The arachne was showing her back to him, arms crossed, pouting.

"You are leaving already...you said we would be together again...you lied."

"We are together right now, isn't that true?"

"Don't play with words, you know what I mean." said the spidergirl, still pouting.

"Octavia..." tried Maximilian, but she didn't turn to look at him.

Without a word, he came behind her and hug her a bit, the white skin of the spidergirl turning red in a heartbeat.

"Forgive me, okay?"

"...Come back soon...and stay, this time." ordered the red lady.

"At your orders." jokingly answered Maximilian before teleporting away.

He had arrived at the village, quickly walking on the way. As he arrived at Arold's house, he could see the man working on the field, helped by Gang and Titus, but also two other beastmen Maximilian didn't know.

At Arold's call, the front door opened to let everyone out. Molly, Gara and Tilina plus the children. Tilina had her baby in her arms, slightly rocking him. With them were two other beastkins women, probably the same age as Giliane, as well as four beastkins children, two of each species.

When she saw him, the silvery-coloured wolfwoman ran in his direction, jumping into his open arms.

"I'm so happy to see you ag..."

She stopped mid sentence and put her nose near his skin, sniffing him along his neck.

"Is there a problem?" asked Maximilian, her focused face worrying him a tiny bit.

"I smell you had another one against your skin..." stated the wolfkin.

"Giliane, I..."

"Hush, not now. Later, you will tell me everything...and you better not forget any details..." said the woman with a predatory smile.

"Okay." quickly answered Maximilian as he felt her hand between his legs for a second, not willing to question the orders of a woman threatening his descendants.

The predatory smile disappeared to leave space for a happier one as she took her hand off him.

"Come, I want to introduce you."

She took his hand and led him to meet the others. He was warmly welcomed by his friends, even by Titus who, after some time of quiet farm life and good meals with his wife and son, was far more willing to smile than before.

Giliane introduced the new ones, two families who had managed to escape their Master and whom Arold and Gang had found as they were coming back from the village nearby. The least you could say was that they were quite surprised about the place, be it for the welcoming humans, protections, or simply the house itself.

One family was lizardkin and the other mousekin, easily recognisable with the scales for the first and the wide ears and pointy noses for the second.

As they learned who he was, the adults quickly got on their knees, prostrating before Maximilian.

"Bow down! Quick!" ordered the parents to their children, respectively in lizard and mouse language.

Mousekin language skill obtained.

*Oh? That's a new one...well, mastered.* thought Maximilian as he spent his skill points.

The two oldest children followed their parents' example, a lizard girl and a mouse boy old enough to understand what was happening while the two younger ones, a lizard boy and a mouse girl, were looking at them without understanding.

"They acted like that with us too, it took time for me to make them face us." explained Molly in a sorry tone.

"Some Masters don't allow slaves to look directly at them, considering they are too great to be looked at by mere slaves." explained Gang, painful memories coming back to him.

"I get the idea..." answered Maximilian in a sigh.

Not bothering with the adults at first, he went for the children, stopping a metre away from them to not scare them.

"Hello there..." greeted the man with a smile.

The mousekin smiled back but the lizardkin only looked at him with a look of incomprehension.

"We're k'sorry, kind Lord! The younger children don't k'speak the k'superior language yet, pleak'se forgive them!" hastily begged the lizardman on the ground, fearing for the young ones.

"Is that so?..." said Maximilian, looking at the prostrated man before looking back at the young beastkins.

"I'm happy to see you and your family made it safe here. Here, a present..."

Taking out some honey candy from the Havenbag, Maximilian gave them to the wide-eyed lizard boy.

"You...you speak the scale language, kind Lord?" astonishingly asked the lizard man who had raised his head like his wife and daughter when they had heard him.

"Indeed I do, like a lot of other languages. For example..."

He turned his attention to the young mouse girl who was looking at him, eyes having a mixed feeling of curiosity and slight worry in them.

"Are you all doing well here? Do you have enough to eat?" asked Maximilian to a very surprised mousekin, understanding perfectly what he was asking her.

She answered him with a silent nod, shy. Maximilian patted her head as he gave her some honey candy too.

"You don't need to face the ground in front of me, I am not your Master, nor no one should be..."

He then faced the rabitkins and wolfkins.

"That is also why I'm here."

"What do you mean?" questioned Giliane

"Let me show you..."

...................................................................................................................................................

WARNING: ADULT CONTENT: SEXUAL.

...................................................................................................................................................

The night with the two elves.

"Magic..."

"Power..."

It was almost worrying Maximilian to see how savage the two girls could be, undressing him from both sides at the same time, threatening to tear off his clothes if he wasn't fast enough.

Once he was almost naked, Maximilian 'helped' them too, the light dresses the two were wearing not really resisting the coupled efforts.

While one was busy kissing him, undulating against him, the other was taking her clothes off, not really giving him too much space to act.

*They are far stronger than they look...* thought Maximilian as one of the two managed to push him down, licking his skin as she did so.

"Tasty..."

"Magic in the sweat..."

"Must heat up..."

They were still finishing each other sentences, at least when their mouth wasn't occupied doing something else.

"Lift." ordered one as she pulled his underwear down, Maximilian lifting his hips up with one of the elves on him, making her lose balance a bit as she felt the thrust of the clothes against her flesh.

Now completely naked, Maximilian heard the one out of his sight gasping a bit.

"Good?" asked the one on him.

"Very good." answered her twin sister.

Of course, it was primal, of course, it was dumb, but Maximilian could not help but feel a tiny bit proud as he heard them.

This proud feeling was quickly replaced by pleasure as he felt the elf's mouth closing on him, right when her sister kissed him fully on the lips, her tongue savagely moving in his mouth. Strategically speaking, each one of the sisters was taking care of a head...

Not willing to stay passive, Maximilian fought back the invading tongue with his while his hands started to touch the girl's body all around, studying each centimetre of skin she had to offer.

They were hot, and not only in the sexual way of speaking, they were literally heating the place up as they went on. Maximilian didn't know if it was supposed to be like that, and frankly, he didn't care, he was loving it.

It went on for several minutes, one sister taking good care of his privates while her sister was barely giving him time to breathe. Finally giving up, he let go in the elf's mouth, the lady not wasting any of it.

In a second and without a word, the elf on him rose and let her sister kissed her deeply, their tongue going from one mouth to the others, passing around what she had gotten out of him.

The scene made him stand hard once again in a second.

*Blessed be my high endurance stat.* thought Maximilian as the two were swallowing what was in their mouths. He rose a bit, sitting. He caught the two, hugged them and turned around as he pulled them down under him.

"Now it's my turn..." stated Maximilian as he let a predatory smile pass on his face.

"What are..."

"...you going to..."

"DO!!!" gasped out the two as one.

Seeing how much his magic was exciting them, he had an idea. He gathered a tiny bit of magic at the tip of his fingers before starting to caress them around, starting from their chests and quickly getting lower and lower.

The effect was instantaneous, the two arched their back as if they had received an electrical shock. Maximilian feared for a second that he was hurting them, right before he saw the ecstatic face they were making.

"How is this?" asked Maximilian, willing to torture them just a tiny bit.

"Good." answered the two as one.

"Only good? Maybe should I stop?" wondered Maximilian out loud as he threatened to take his hands off them.

"NO!!!" ordered the two as they caught his hands, using them to caress their privates, a shock of pleasure running through their bodies as they did so.

"If you want it like that, let me help a bit..." said Maximilian, starting to move his fingers around the very hot flowers of the flowers.

They screamed their pleasure out loud after a mere minute, their wetness covering the man's hands. Finally letting go of him, Maximilian chuckled a bit as he took the time to lick their juice away.

"What do you think of that?" taunted the man right before he was sent down once again by the two jumping on him, still wanting more.

He couldn't tell which one was pulling him inside of her and which one was sitting on his face, making him and them come before they exchanged places.

Hours and climaxes later, the two elves were sleeping on Maximilian who was holding them against him, enjoying a peaceful sleep before the battle.

...................................................................................................................................................

"And...that's all?" panted Giliane.

"Yes..." answered Maximilian as he continued to thrust inside of her like he had been doing since he had begun to tell her everything. The wolfwoman had been clear, all that the elves had received from him, she wanted it too, and Maximilian was more than happy to comply.

"In that case, all is good. Come with me, my male." asked Giliane as she held him against her.

"With pleasure." answered Maximilian as he let himself go inside his first lover in this new world.

..................................................................................................................................................

WARNING: END OF ADULT CONTENT.

...................................................................................................................................................

After Maximilian had taken the time to free all the slaves at Arold's house while he was telling them the news of the Queen's victory against the Cardinal, they were so happy they threw a party. Maximilian had to give up on several alcohol bottles from the Havenbag, but the situation was more than worth it.

He learned that Gang and Titus were quite good at percussion, playing music on handmade drums while some of the women were dancing with the children.

They had a good time and, after the party settled down a bit, Maximilian took a bit of private time with Giliane, explaining her all she wanted to know about his night with the elves while he was doing the same thing to her.

Laying next to her, he held her against him, the wolfkin nudging against her lover.

"Giliane...do you resent me?" questioned Maximilian.

"I would say you were good enough for me to not be mad at you..." joked the woman.

"I meant about me sleeping with others..." precise the man.

"I got it, silly...I am a wolfkin, Maximilian. In our tribes, it is not a bad thing for a strong male to have several females. Like that, they can make a lot of strong children. I am happy you took the time to tell me all you did."

"You were very convincing with your hand on my..."

He was hushed by the woman's finger on his mouth.

"Not a word..."

...................................................................................................................................................

After he spent the night with Giliane, Maximilian took the time to create a teleportation point right outside of the magic protection before teleporting back to the capital.

Things had been happening fast since the day before, soldiers and commoners working all around to fix what the fights had broken while others were pursuing the last members of the Humaster guild so they could be judged.

Mages were helping around, using their powers to destroy the debris too big to be moved around while all the priests were out of their churches to help the wounded ones, be it soldiers from the fights or commoners hurt while running away.

It was near the teleportation crystal that Maximilian found Lin-Lin, currently breaking the remnants of a house down with her earth magic, helped by civilians who were moving the small parts around.

"How are things going on here?" questioned Maximilian as he arrived next to her.

"Maximilian, you're back! Oh!" exclaimed Lin-Lin, almost dropping the big stone she was working on.

"Lord Nilmerus..." greeted some soldiers around him as they respectfully bowed to him, quickly imitated by the commoners next to them.

"What the hell?" said Maximilian as he looked around him, surprised a bit by the people's attitude.

"Words about you have run around. It is said you helped to save the royal family and that Holy Maria herself as blessed you for that, allowing you to kill a demon. Some soldiers are telling how you helped them, be it the ones serving under the Chancellor or the ones who were locked away in the inquisition Headquarters." Explained Lin-Lin as she finished breaking apart the big rock before her.

"This explains that I suppose...Well, there's no use trying to avoid the bowing now, do you know where Octavia and Binvo are?"

Lin-Lin thought for a bit and pointed at a nearby church, the biggest one of the capital.

"Octavia is helping the priests and sisters, she weaves bandages for the injured ones. Binvo is there too, he helps by running around and distributing what is needed." explained Lin-Lin.

"Good, I see you kept your natural look. What about Octavia and Binvo?"

"Binvo put the new ring you made for him on, the people were uneasy with a Minotaur freely running around the place. Octavia should be in her normal form to be able to weave freely, but I think Lady Maria said she should be in another room than the people, just to be sure she wouldn't be bothered."

"That's...unfortunately a good point Maria had...Anyway, go on with the good job, I'll see what I can do around here. And, Lin-Lin?"

"Yes?"

"Congratulations for your new level." congratulated Maximilian as he patted her head before going away.

Lin-Lin and Octavia had won a level after they defeated Pilgrim. Binvo, lower levelled, had won one after he was able to kill one of the dark being created by the Cardinal.

Several soldiers had certainly won a level after the fights, but Maximilian wasn't really interested in them, to begin with.

He went to the church, currently guarded by two golden paladins who let him pass directly, opening the door for him. The inside of the church was like a hive, everyone able to heal someone working on it.

Before he went away the day before, Maximilian had made sure the most seriously injured had been taken care of, so the injuries here could be bad, but certainly not fatal.

Maximilian went to see how Binvo, the Minotaur was clearly enjoying what he was doing. He was tired of having to run around non-stop, but he was happy to learn some tips about first-aid. At the back of the church, behind a heavy door guarded by another set of two golden paladins, Maximilian found Octavia and Lady Maria, the sainted woman currently studying a bandage made of the spider lady's silk.

"It truly is a marvellous product, Miss Octavia. I didn't know it could be so strong and yet so pure." commented the saint.

"I am strong, so my silk is strong...I don't know about the purity you're talking about." simply answered the arachne as she continued to weave, her long legs and human arms moving around endlessly.

"That means she thinks you are a good person, simple as that." stated Maximilian as he entered the room.

"Maximilian!" exclaimed Octavia as she immediately dropped the silk she was working on, jumping above the saint to land right before him and hugged him.

"I promised you I wouldn't be long, right?" said Maximilian as he hugged her back.

She answered him with a nod, her face buried in his clothes, before pulling away.

"I see you appreciate Octavia's work, Lady Maria." stated Maximilian as he saw the bandages in the lady's hands.

She answered with a gracious nod.

"It would be futile to deny it, your friend's work is marvellous. I already proposed her to buy some of her silk for the church to use, but she hasn't answered yet."

"I don't know the value of what I do, it wouldn't be smart to sell before asking for help." said Octavia as she looked at Maximilian, clearly the one she was waiting for.

"That indeed is a good way of doing things. Let me analyse this for a second."

Quickly scanning Octavia's work, Maximilian discovered it could be sold for a silver coin per metre.

*Not bad...and if we add to the price the fact she can weave as much as she wants, this could be a good source of income for her.*

"How much do you propose?" questioned Maximilian.

"I...don't really know, actually. I am not good when it comes to money talks, all I wanted was to know if Lady Octavia would have been okay with it."

Maximilian looked at the arachne, questioning her silently. She thought for a bit, then answered.

"If the price is good, I don't mind selling some of my silk to you...but I require Maximilian to be there when we will discuss the price." said Octavia.

Once again, Maria answered with a nod.

"Of course. Give me some time, I will speak about it to some contacts of mine. I will see you later at the castle."

"The castle?" questioned Maximilian.

"Oh! That's right, you haven't been informed yet...here, this is for you." declared Maria as she gave him a letter before going out of the room.

Maximilian unfolded it and silently read.

Sir Maximilian Baltazard Van Nilmerus,

Orders have been given to my messenger to deliver this letter to you or someone of trust that will then deliver it to you.

Your presence is required at the castle as soon as possible. You and your companions will there receive the official thanks of the Royal family.

I hope this letter finds you soon, the King has much to discuss with you.

With all respects,

Chancellor Gastonar

"What does it say?" asked Octavia as Maximilian was finishing his reading.

"It says you, Lin-Lin, Binvo and I are asked for at the castle."

"Why?"

"They want to thank us."

"Do you think it's a trap?" asked Octavia after a few seconds of silent.

"A trap? No, I don't think so. What makes you say that?"

The arachne shrugged.

"Question of habits. We encountered more enemies than friends since we began our journey." explained the girl.

"That's...not untrue...but I trust the Queen and her children."

"And I trust you. If you're going, I'll go too." declared Octavia.

"Very well, let's finish what you were doing here first then we'll go."

...................................................................................................................................................

"It's loooooooooong..."

Leaning against the purple salon wall, Octavia was bored. To be able to move around without trouble, she had put back on her masquerade ring, just like Binvo had done. The Minotaur was enjoying some biscuits a maid had brought earlier to ease their wait.

"Try to be patient, Octavia. The maid explained to us some kind of ceremony was prepared. It's not surprising that this takes a bit of time. Your turn, Lin-Lin."

The pandagirl had shown interest in the chess game and Maximilian, bored a bit too, was more than happy to teach her.

"Maximilian is right, why don't you do like Binvo? He is patient...your turn." happily said Lin-Lin, happy to be able to take a piece from Maximilian.

"Binvo isn't patient, he simply is too occupied stuffing his face to realise this takes forever." retorted Octavia as she poked the Minotaur's shoulder with her finger.

Looking up from the coloured plate, Binvo misunderstood the girl gesture and presented it to her.

"Octavia wants some?"

She sighed before stepping away from her companion.

"Octavia, catch this!" suddenly said Maximilian.

Turning to face him, Octavia almost dropped the ball of air Maximilian had sent in her direction. She looked at it for a second, the ball quickly starting to expand between her hands.

"Use your magic, prevent it from blowing up." Ordered Maximilian.

She was gonna argue that she wasn't willing to do it, but something inside her found it amusing. Using wind magic, she managed to reduce the ball size, only for it to start to grow again.

"Why is it growing again?"

"Try to find the answer yourself, it shouldn't take too much of your time..." nonchalantly answered Maximilian before moving one of his towers.

...................................................................................................................................................

A good hour later, Mandarine herself came to get them.

"Ladies, Gentlemen, the ceremony is g...what is this?"

The catkin had stopped to look at Octavia, still playing with the ball of air.

"Something to make a certain girl find some patience." answered Maximilian as he snapped his fingers, making the ball disappear.

"If...if you say so." said the maid, retrieving her formal way of speaking. "If you please, follow me."

Walking with the maid, they were quiet for a minute or two, the hall was quiet too, empty of soldiers and domestics.

"It's not that crowded today..." remarked Maximilian.

"That's because the throne room is full. The King has already rewarded the soldiers and guardians for their loyalty."

"So, Arca and Alariel are okay now?"

"Of course! They were innocent, to begin with. They were personally thanked by the King because they stayed at the Queen's service even after everything that has happened."

"All is good then."

"Yes. And now it's your turn." stated Mandarine as she stopped before the closed door of the throne room. She knocked two times before stepping on the side.

As the two massive doors opened, cheers and sounds of applause surrounded Maximilian's group. Nobles and commoners, servants and soldiers, all kinds of people were there, showing their enthusiasm.

"Are you sure it's not a trap?" worriedly asked Octavia as she looked around.

"Be at ease, Octavia. Those people are the ones happy that we won. I know you are able to feel murderous attempt, do you feel it now?"

"...I don't..."

"See? Try to enjoy the moment. Happy times are also part of our lives."

"Alright." said the Human-looking arachne as she followed Maximilian.

The four of them walked on the red carpet leading to the throne, where the King, the Queen and their children were waiting for them. Now that the fight was over, the royal family was back at their rightful place, wearing their usual royal clothes. The Queen and the King were wearing their crown, looking at the assembly from their thrones where they were sitting.

As they passed before the guardians, Maximilian noticed Arca and Alariel had retrieved their equipment, the armour he had given the semi-orc giving her a noble look. The two slightly bowed to him as he looked at them, a little smile on their faces.

*Those two know something...* thought Maximilian.

When the four companions arrived before the stairs leading to the throne, Maximilian slightly bowed while his three companions bowed a bit lower, showing their respect to the royal family.

With a simple hand gesture, the King made the throne room go quiet once again.

"People of Griffinia. We are here today to honour those brave warriors who have played a major role in our victory. Maximilian Baltazard Van Nilmerus..."

Hearing his name, Maximilian straightened himself.

"...More than once, you have risked your life for us. My wife the Queen and my children, as well as my trustworthiest subject, have told me what you have done those last days. You helped my youngest daughter in her quest to retrieve the coat of arms of my family, you saved some of my trustworthiest soldiers and helped them in this fight, you gave us allies when we needed them the most, you fought alongside us and finally...you helped Saint Maria lift the curse that was oppressing me and vanquished the creature responsible for everything. For all that, I have decided to reward you."

The King gestured Maximilian to come closer as he stood from his throne.

"Knee on the ground, Sir Nilmerus." ordered the King.

Guessing what was coming next, Maximilian did as told, everyone in the room silent.

The King took his sword and lifted it high, showing it to the crowd.

"For your valorous acts, your bravery and fidelity to the crown, I, Aremik of The Griffin, King of Grifinia, am knighting you..."

The king's blade slightly hit the man's shoulders.

"...Now rise, Knight Maximilian, saviour of Griffinia!" declared the King as he presented Maximilian to the crowd.

Standing up, Maximilian's new title was greeted by cheers and clapping hands from the peoples in the throne room, the commoners as well as the soldiers. Only some of the nobles were doing their best to hide their displeased faces.

"With the title of Knighthood comes land. I would like you to join my family and me to discuss that matter this evening." asked the King.

*Land? That's...a lot. Hell, why not?*

"It would be a pleasure, your majesty. If you allow me a question, should I dress specifically?"

"Do not worry, it's only a private dinner, not a banquet." answered the King, amused by the man question.

............................................................................................................................................................

*So a 'private dinner' means the King and his family, the guardians, the chancellor and who I suppose is his wife, Maria, some paladins and ministers I don't know....yep, a good thirty people at least if I don't count the maids...*

Back at the castle once the sun was setting down, Maximilian was alone. Binvo, Lin-Lin and Octavia weren't thrilled with the idea of a dinner with the royal family, Lin-Lin because she still had some remnants of slave memory unsettling her about nobles, Octavia because she preferred to be in her normal form and liked the food at the inn, and Binvo because he wanted to sleep early after a day running around helping at the church.

The dining room, although not the biggest room in the castle, was nonetheless large enough to welcome all the people here, at least the same numbers of servants, the furniture needed to satisfy them and still far enough space to move around.

For the evening, Maximilian had chosen to leave his blade in the Havenbag, Dragnïr's egg was at the inn, watched upon by a very eager Lin-Lin, more than happy to be trusted with this mission.

"Lord Maximilian Baltazard Van Nilmerus!" announced one of the guards at the door as Maximilian entered the room, making the heads turn in his direction.

"Lord Nilmerus, come, come! Sit with us, a chair has been prepared for you!" joyfully declared the King as he showed Maximilian's seat, next to the Prince, at the same level as the Chancellor, at the opposite side of the table. The only ones closer than him were the King's wife, his children and Maria, sitting directly next to the Queen.

*Damn...to seat that close to the King...if this has the same meaning as in my old world, they truly are honouring me.* thought Maximilian as he politely greeted the assembly before going to his seat.

A maid took his mantle and another one his coat, leaving him lightly dressed to be able to enjoy the meal peacefully.

"Do you want me to take care of your purse, my Lord?" politely asked the maid as she carefully put his coat around her arm, nodding in the Havenbag direction.

"No, thank you, I prefer to have it at my side." politely refused Maximilian as he sat.

Judging by the, now, non-vacant chairs around the table, Maximilian supposed he was the last one to arrive. An idea quickly confirmed by the King standing up, instantly getting everyone's attention.

"Everyone! Nobles and soldiers, Paladins and Knights, we are here today to enjoy the peace finally back in this castle. Tonight, I want to thank all of you, you who have taken risks to make sure Griffinia would still be standing. This modest meal will, I hope, show you all our appreciation."

The King clapped his hands twice. Within seconds, it was a literal army of maids and servants who came from different doors around the room, bringing numerous silvery and golden plates, wine carafes and glasses and, of course, a large variety of things to eat and drink.

*That's the modesty of a King, I suppose....* thought Maximilian, unable to silence a tiny voice in his head repeating the King's words: 'modest meal'*

Different smells quickly came to his nose, getting his attention as well as watering his mouth a tiny bit. Seeing everyone digging in, he picked up what looked like a roasted chicken leg, only the animal it came from had six legs and they were massive.

"Lord Nilmerus, may I have the pleasure to introduce you to my wife." said the chancellor as he presented a beautiful, if a tiny bit chubby, middle-aged woman who politely nodded at him with a gentle smile. On her head was a discreet but beautiful hat.

"I heard you were the one who managed to bring my husband back from the slave level, you have my thanks." said the lady.

"No need to thank me, Madam. As I see you, I immediately understand he had a very good reason to come back." answered Maximilian.

"What a charmer you make." laughed the lady as she put her hand on her husband's, the man quickly bringing it to his mouth to put a slight kiss on it.

"An honest one I would say." said the loving man to his wife.

The meal went on for a bit, Maximilian using this chance to taste different kinds of vegetables, fruits and meats he didn't know about. He also had the chance to be introduced to some kind of wine made from a fruit other than grapes, yellow, tasty and far weaker than the normal wine.

"Tasty, isn't it? It comes from the south tribes, the wine they make there is light, but it goes well with meals like this one."

The Prince, seeing Maximilian's appreciative face, explained to him what it exactly was.

"Tasty it is, I should buy some when I have the chance." answered Maximilian.

"I'm glad to see you enjoy the meal. My dear Arima told me she promised it to you, it would have been a shame to make a liar out of her." joked the King.

"Enjoying I do, King Aremik. It is a chance for me to discover new things to eat and drink. This six legs creature, for example, is something new to me." said Maximilian as he pointed at the chicken look-alike.

This seemed to surprise the people around him a tiny bit.

"The sixen, you mean? I didn't know they were that rare out of the castle. Gastonar, did you know about that?" questioned the King, looking at the chancellor for a second.

"Not that I'm aware of, Your Majesty. I heard they are quite common, even if the ones served tonight come from a special breed made for the castle." said the Chancellor, thinking a bit.

"Then how...well, it's not important. But still, I am curious, my daughter and her guardians tried to make me believe you feed them shroomlizard?" questioned the King, interested.

The King's question made others around the table looked at him, then at Maximilian.

"Shroomlizard? How can that be? Isn't that flesh from a monster?" questioned a noble woman, a bit of disgust mixed with her curiosity.

"I must admit I am curious too, I thought their flesh, more than being hard to obtain, was so quick to burn it was impossible to cook it." added another man, a decorated soldier.

"Both of you are not wrong." said Maximilian, making the two quickly straighten with pride.

"They indeed are monsters with a flesh that is quick to burn. The secret is that you have to boil it." explained Maximilian, some whispers of understanding running among the guests.

"Boiling it? You mean like in a stew? How intriguing!" declared the noble woman from before.

"But, Lord Nilmerus, how did you find out? How did you manage to get enough shroomlizard flesh to test your idea?" questioned another man at the table, one of the paladins who was there with Maria.

Amused, Maximilian shrugged.

"In the dungeon where I was, finding shroomlizard wasn't the hardest of the quest. To be frank, it was me eating them or the opposite."

"Weren't you scared? What if it was poisoned?" asked a visibly interested noble lady, dressed far too much innocently compared to her adventurous attitude. The two older nobles at her side, her parents if the similarity in the face was a good indicator, didn't seem to share her high spirit.

"Daughter, too much curiosity isn't a proper way for a lady to act." slightly scolded the woman.

"Please excuse my daughter, Lord Nilmerus, she can be a bit too eager when facing... a good storyteller." apologised The father, although his voice betrayed a tiny taunt.

"Storyteller? Indeed I can surely handle myself quite well in the matter, although I must admit this table and guests haven't had the chance to hear one of them yet." answered Maximilian.

The man chuckled a bit.

"Really? A man alone in a dungeon hunting monsters to eat them? I see a good story right there."

"Father, please..." begged the young lady, only to be hushed by her mother.

"You wouldn't call me a liar, Sir?" politely asked Maximilian, a heavy silence falling on the table.

"More than lying, I would say exaggerating the reality a tiny bit."

"What is there to exaggerate? I only explained that I killed an animal so I would have something to eat." stated Maximilian.

"An animal? A sixen is an animal, a bocow is an animal, a shroomlizard is a flesh-eating monster dangerous enough to have a quest set on it. It is not something you can hunt like that, more so alone in a dungeon." declared the man, some of the nobles near him nodding their approbation.

Maximilian thought for a second, looks of the guests on him, awaiting his answer.

Without a word, he searched in the Havenbag, taking something out of it.

"Catch!" said Maximilian as he threw something that the man caught.

"What is the meaning of this!" asked the obfuscated man.

"A proof." simply said Maximilian.

Looking at what was in his hand, the man let out a light scream of surprise, dropping on the table what happened to be a reptilian eye.

"One of the numerous things I took from one of the stories you accuse me of telling..." explained Maximilian with a sly smile before taking a sip from his cup.

Between the straddled man and woman, the young lady hid a laugh behind her hand, amused.

From the other side of the table, Maximilian heard Arca laughing at the man's reaction, Alariel hiding her own laugh politely.

"Th...this is intolerable! How dare you throw this disgusting thing at me like that! I demand retribution!" exclaimed the man as he hit the table, standing.

Some voices started to rise before all were interrupted by the King laughing loudly.

"Friends, friends, let's not argue on this special occasion. Lord Adamont..."

The King was addressing the standing man.

"...You have been a loyal subject of the crown for decades."

"Like my father and his own father have before, your Highness."

"In that case, couldn't you place more faith in my daughter's words?"

"My King?"

"Arima herself claimed to have eaten the meat of a monster prepared by Lord Nilmerus. Saying you don't trust this is accusing my own daughter of lying..." joyfully declared the King, although the meaning of his words was easy to understand.

The man realised what it meant in a second.

"You are perfectly right, My King! Please excuse my rudeness, it was the wine speaking!" apologised the man with a bow.

With a hand gesture, the King eased the tension.

"I don't resent you, Lord Adamont. I too have sometimes let the wine speak for me. What do you say, Lord Nilmerus? Can't we leave this little incident behind?" asked the King.

Maximilian nodded slightly.

"I don't have anything against this man nor his family. Quite the opposite, to be honest. It takes a vivid spirit and guts to speak his mind at the King's table."

Maximilian politely bowed to the very surprised Lord Adamont who clearly didn't expect the man to take his defence.

"If you agree, let's start this conversation once again on better grounds. Maximilian Baltazard Van Nilmerus, pleased to meet you."

Taking the opportunity, Maximilian turned to the other guests at the table.

"Pleased to meet you all."

A silence fell on the table for a second.

"Adamont The Third, Great Regent of the apothecary guild. I accept your greetings and return them to you."

Several people imitated Lord Adamont. Maximilian was greeted by one of the leaders of the merchant guild in Griffinia, a noble or two and an old general.

"I think this is yours..." said Adamont as he picked up the eye from the table.

"Keep it, I have more of them." answered Maximilian.

"That's...an interesting gift to give, what could I use it for?"

"Potion, of course. And a poison or two, but I don't want to speak about those while we're eating, they have...nasty effects."

"I thank you for that." said the Queen, visibly glad he spared them the details.

"A potion ingredient? It's the first time I hear about shroomlizard usefulness in the matter." admitted the man, looking more interested about the eye in his hand.

"It's powerful enough. Correctly use, you can make a fine antidote against blindness affliction."

"Blindness? Are you sure?" asked the man, visibly intrigued.

"Indeed. Although it won't heal ones born blind, those who have suffered a poisonous attack or even a spell injuring their vision will find this very helpful." explained Maximilian.

"I didn't know you knew about alchemy, Lord Nilmerus." said the Queen.

"Like a lot of things about me, I tend to forget to tell people about it, your Majesty." answered Maximilian with a smile.

...................................................................................................................................................

Once the dinner was over, some of the peoples excused themselves and left the party. In the end, only the nobles, their spouses and/or children present staid behind.

The King led the guests to another room, circular, occupied by a gigantic map of Griffinia. The land was separated by numerous lines, forming small territories. On some of them was pictured the coat of arms of the royal family, and on others were other coats of arms, showing who was the family owning the land. Some had little territory, others more, but the royal family, naturally, had the most of it. Maximilian quickly looked at the map, memorising the land he planned to travel on.

As the people present started to gather around the map, the King explained what this was about.

"This map represents my Kingdom and the lands I bestowed to the trustworthiest noble families serving me. Lord Nilmerus, I want you to choose one of those lands under my coat of arms." explained the King as the said lands Maximilian was allowed to choose shined a tiny bit.

Still observing the map, Maximilian's attention was caught by a dark land, situated at the far east of it. The territory it covered was vast, bested only by the capital itself.

"What about this one? Is this land good to take too?" asked Maximilian as he pointed at the said land.

As he did so, numerous gasps echoed in the room.

"I'm afraid this land cannot be considered mine anymore. Dark forces have taken control of it, my army has been ordered to reinforce the borders around it to prevent more territory to be taken but...that land is off-limit today."

"Dark forces? Could you be more precise?" questioned Maximilian, interested.

"Undead and dark beasts, lead by a powerful Dark Lord: a vampire feasting on the blood of the innocents fool enough to try and enter her land." explained the King, his face showing all the hatred he had for the one occupying the land.

Maximilian thought for a second or two.

"A vampire Lord, you say?"

This time it was the old general who answered.

"She is called Lady Noire. A face as good-looking as her heart is dark. It's been more than fifty years, she and her minions came to the land, killed the Lord and his family, enslaved the peoples and ravaged the land. The old King, King Aremik's father, sent his army to retake the land, but it was too late, we weren't able to."

"You seem to know a lot about this, general." noticed Maximilian.

"It's not that surprising, I was the one leading the army that time. My worst defeat." admitted the old man as he looked down, ashamed of himself.

"Don't look down, old friend. My father asked you the impossible that day, you and your men fought bravely and it's thanks to you that we, still today, have an army to protect the country. Anyway, as you may have guessed, Lord Nilmerus, this land, although technically part of my Kingdom, isn't one I could give you, even with all my good will."

A long silence fell on the room, everyone looking at Maximilian, awaiting his decision.

*This...is actually interesting, taking a land back from dark forces and giving it back her former glory...okay then...*

"Alright, I'll take it."

"You will...take it?" asked the King, unsure.

"That land that was taken from you, give it to me. I will go and free it from the dark forces occupying it."

The King stayed silent for a minute, looking at his wife as if he needed to confirm he had heard right. Once the Queen confirmed with a single nod and a knowing smile, he looked at Maximilian once again.

"Very well!" accepted the King, making the crowd gasped once again.

"As the King of this kingdom, I, Aremik of The Griffin, make you, Maximilian Baltazard Van Nilmerus, the rightful Lord of that Land. May your bravery and courage bring the light back to it!" declared the King as he hit the map with the palm of his hand.

The royal family's coat of arms disappeared, leaving the place for a new one to be put on.

"Now all we need is a coat of arms to be made for you. As a Knight, you are a Lord, and as a Lord, your family has ascended to the Noble grounds. Your first duty as a Noble will be to find a weapon smith good enough to make it for you. Be sure to choose carefully because this coat of arms will represent your family.

To show what he was meaning, the King took the coat of arms brought by Arima, showing it to the people present.

"My family's coat of arms represents the Griffin, symbol of our land and its protector, he is pictured on a shield so everyone will always know the royal family protect the Kingdom."

Imitating their King, some of the nobles took out their own coat of arms.

"The house Adamont's coat of Arms represents a steaming phial on an open book, so no one would forget we always seek knowledge in the matter."

Like that, the nobles with their coat of arms introduced their family. Some were fighters, others were merchants, all wanted to always be remembered.

Looking quickly around, Maximilian saw some of the nobles had stayed behind, discreet. Looking on the map, he saw several lands weren't represented around the table.

*Now that I think about it...I know those coats of arms! Not all of them, but some are...Yes! They are the ones I found in the dungeon with the Royal family's.*

Thinking quickly, Maximilian pointed at a large land he was sure he possessed the coat of arms from.

"What about this land? And others too, aren't they represented here tonight?"

His question seemed to slightly bothered some. A young noble stepped further, bowing to him.

"Kilian of the House Gan, Lord Nilmerus. My father isn't feeling well and had to keep the bed, I represent him tonight. As of the coat of arms..."

The young noble's eyes looked left and right as if looking for someone's help. It was the old general who spoke.

"It was lost decades ago, like a lot of others around this table."

"Can it not be remade?" innocently asked Maximilian.

The King shook his head.

"I'm afraid it cannot. A coat of arms is the symbol of the noble families, the one in their possession can legally make his voice be heard in the name of the said family. Making another one is risking seeing someone claiming his rights about a family against another, resulting in internal war, we cannot allow that."

"A lot around this table have spent a lot of wealth to retrieve their own coat of arms, but without result until now." added the old General.

"Anyway, now it is your turn to make your family's coat of arms, Lord Nilmerus." concluded the King.

Maximilian crossed his arms for a minute, thinking about it.

"It can be what I want?"

"What you want people to think about your family...the message history will tell about you." explained the King.

Maximilian Nodded.

"In that case, allow me..." said Maximilian as he made a gesture in the map direction.

On the dark land appeared a new coat of arms, shaped like a dragon’s head, with eight opened hands coming from all around it to join at the centre. There was a human hand, as well as more graceful ones like elves or fairies, thicker ones like dwarfs, larger one like orcs, clawed ones like beastkins, and even three fingered one like Minotaurs. All of them were pictured in different variations of colours, uniting to form a diamond at the centre.

"What does it mean?" asked one of the nobles around the table.

"His Majesty told me I should make a coat of arms representing the message I will tell the world, how history would remember me. I present to you my coat of arms, races assembling to be as strong as a diamond, all made possible thanks to a Dragon."

Once again, a heavy silence fell on the room.

"I like it!"

Surprising everyone, this time it was Arca who broke the silence.

" I find this message quite beautiful too, to be honest." added Alariel, nodding her appreciation.

"Why am I not surprised by this? If you managed to make those two follow your idea, it wouldn't be good to oppose it." said the King with a chuckle.

One the noble coughed slightly, getting everyone's attention.

"Even if the message in itself is honourable, doesn't it risk to give the wrong idea? Some could easily forget we still are a human Kingdom, what if non-humans were to demand special treatment?"

"If you allow me, I think those are questions that could very well be asked when the land will be secure, don't you think?" politely answered Maximilian, receiving understanding nods from the nobles and the King himself.

"Then it is decided! Coat of Arms of the Nilmerus family will be added to the great book of noble families first thing tomorrow. Lords, ladies and gentlemen, I wish you all a good night." concluded the King, achieving the ceremony with a few words.

...................................................................................................................................................

"Lord Nilmerus, a few words?"

As he was going back to the inn after receiving warm congratulations from some of the noble families clearly looking to acquire a new ally, Maximilian was accosted by the Chancellor and his wife, the two escorted by four private guards.

"Chancellor? What can I do for you?" asked Maximilian, willing to listen to the man from whom he appreciated the honesty.

Stepping a bit on the side to be sure the three of them would be able to discuss a bit, the Chancellor extended a hand.

"I want to thank you. Coat of Arms isn't something lightly made, and the message you will give to the world is one I should have the courage to scream out loud myself. I'm glad you acted as you did. We both are..."

Shaking hands with the man, Maximilian smiled at the couple.

"No need to thank me, Chancellor. What I did, I did because I believe in it, I will create a place where people of all races will be able to leave together, human or not. I think a lot of good things can be obtained if we mixed different races knowledge...and other things. I understand how you may have the same opinion as me, after all, you married a fine example of beautifully mixed races."

Hearing that, the Chancellor's wife hurriedly adjusted her hat, fearing one of her ears were showing.

"Don't worry, they're not visible. Although to be honest, I would prefer if they were, Madam."

"How...how do you know about my ears?" asked the Lady.

"The same way I know about a lot of things, with a scan spell. I thought you were acting a bit strange at the dinner and I got worried, so I did like I'm used to. What I discovered was non-human ears on your head and..."

With a quick gesture, Maximilian made a crystal rattle appear in his hand.

"...someone who could really enjoy this. Here..."

Giving the present to the woman, Maximilian politely bowed to them before going away.

"I wish you three a good night."

The Chancellor looked at the present in his wife's hand before smiling at the man.

"You've found allies tonight, Lord Nilmerus!"

Waving at them without turning around, Maximilian snapped his fingers, making the rattle in the lady's hand emitting a very pleasant tinkling noise.

...................................................................................................................................................

"Do you have everything you need?"

The following day, Maximilian and Binvo went to the upper level, where the royal Smith had his shop. Even if Maximilian had already decided on what his coat of arms would look like, he still had to make it made by a certified professional.

The man was serious, honest in his price and, judging by the pieces in his shop, more than good at what he was doing.

The price for a coat of Arms was greatly influenced by the material you wanted it to be made of. Some noble family without that much wealth could ask for a simple one made of metal simply enchanted to last. When Maximilian had told the man what exactly he wanted, you could have sworn the smith's eyes were turning into golden coins.

"You...you do realise I'll need an account, right? This kind of material is expensive and..."

Taking out several golden coins from his Havenbag, Maximilian nodded at the man.

"Do your best, Sir. As well made and fast as possible."

Hurriedly taking the coins, the old Smith bowed to him.

"Of course, Lord Nilmerus, I'll send a messenger after you as soon as it will be done."

"May I ask how long it will take?"

"For me to find the necessary material...I'll say three weeks. The hardest thing to find would be the diamond pure enough to be enchanted correctly." explained the man in a professional way.

"Here." said Maximilian as he took out one of the numerous precious stones he had found in Dragnïr's treasure, making the old smith opening his eyes wide.

"Can I?" asked the man before taking the diamond in his hand, observing it.

"I'll have to confirm with a friend of mine, but it should be perfectly fine for what you asked me. With this, you can expect your coat of arms to be ready in less than a week. The value of this beautiful piece will, of course, not be counted in the final price. I'm not going to make you pay for your own diamond." Declared the old man with a chuckle.

"It's a pleasure doing business with you. I'll wait for the good news, then."

The two man went out of the shop, enjoying the sunny but a bit cold day.

"What do you say we try to find our friends, Binvo?"

The human-looking Minotaur had his face up, facing the sun with his eyes closed for a second.

"Binvo follows, sun is good, the wind is fresh, the day is fine."

Maximilian had started to help Binvo with his slight diction problem. The Minotaur proved to be a very eager student, even if progress could still be made.

...................................................................................................................................................

Lin-Lin and Octavia wanted to explore the city a bit, more precisely the market and shops. To be exact, Lin-Lin was the one wanting it the most, but she had managed to convince Octavia to go with her.

"Look at this, Octavia! It's so cute!"

Since she had been freed, Lin-Lin had slowly started to discover a new feeling: the pleasure of a peaceful mind. She could freely go where she wanted without being scared of a punishment, she was strong enough to defend herself, and she even had money to buy what she wanted. As a former slave, those were aspects of life she could have only dreamed about only a few weeks ago.

Passing before a mirror, she took the time to admire herself, trying on a green scarf she had noticed.

"What do you think, Octavia?...Octavia?"

Looking behind her, she realised her friend was gone.

...................................................................................................................................................

Octavia had followed her friend for a good part of the day, enjoying the different smells of the food and the pretty things exposed.

She had a good time but was certainly not enjoying this as much as Lin-Lin.

Absentmindedly looking around, her attention was suddenly caught by a sound, a pleasant music coming from nearby.

Beautiful it was, but more than that, Octavia found it familiar. She came closer to the little crowd of people from where the music was coming.

Passing between the bystanders, Octavia saw the music was played by a beautiful white-skinned woman dressed in a black robe, her long black hair, as well as her gauntlets, seemed to be made of black silk. She was playing on a harp, each note making the black strings of her instrument vibrate in a hypnotising way.

As Octavia came closer, the lady ended her music, the people around clapping a bit before going away. The tall woman looked around a bit and stopped her green eyes on Octavia.

Standing up from her seat, the lady approached Octavia, each of her step more gracious than the last one. Once she was less than a metre away from her, she warmly smiled at her.

"Hello, sister."

...................................................................................................................................................

Lin-Lin had been looking for Octavia for nearly a quarter of an hour. She had been asking around, looking everywhere, slowly beginning to get worried.

*Where is she? I hope nothing hap...*

Just as she was turning after a shop, she got ran into by a child who quickly apologised before running away. Lin-Lin didn't care though, she had finally found Octavia who was coming in her direction, slightly adjusting her upper armour parts .

" There you are! What were you doing?" enquired Lin-Lin.

"Nothing much...did you buy something?" answered Octavia, quickly eluding her question.

"What? No, not really. I saw something nice but I've been looking for you so..."

"If you didn't buy anything, where is your purse?" questioned Octavia as she pointed at the empty belt of the pandagirl.

"What do you mean where's my p...my purse!!!" exclaimed Lin-Lin as she looked around. Quickly catching on, she turned around to look at the child nearly at the other side of the market, her purse in hand.

"I've been robbed!"

"You didn't feel him?" asked Octavia.

"I was worried about you! Quick!" answered Lin-Lin as she dashed in the boy's direction.

The two girls were faster than the boy, but the crowd moving around made the pursue quite difficult.

"Octavia, on the roof!" ordered Lin-Lin to the arachne who had a dark look for a second before quickly climbing on the nearby house.

Indicating the way the boy was going, the two ran after him.

...................................................................................................................................................

"What is this place? Some kind of church?" asked Octavia.

"There's something written above the door: The house of Saint Cremeans...it could be a church, but I don't know any God going by the name of Cremeans." said Lin-Lin, thinking out loud.

"It's not important, the thief went inside, let's follow him." simply said Octavia as she went after the boy, tearing off several planks blocking the entrance.

Inside, the light of the day was clearly missing, giving the two girls trouble to see before them.

"Where are you?!" called Lin-Lin, her voice echoing in what had to be a vast room.

The only response was a whistling sound. By reflexes, Lin-Lin parried with her spear, stopping what happened to be a stone.

"Hey! Stop th.."

Lin-Lin couldn't finish her sentence. Octavia made a wind arrow appear on her bow, readying an attack.

"Octavia! Stop!" exclaimed Lin-Lin, jostling Octavia just before she let go of her arrow.

The magic projectile went through the wall, opening a large gap in it. Small cries of terror could be heard for a second before disappearing in the dark.

"Are you mad?! What if you had hit him?!" said Lin-Lin.

"I wanted to scare him..." answered Octavia, visibly not sorry about her action.

"Scare him?! WHAT IF HE WAS HIT BY THAT?!" shouted Lin-Lin, pointing at that new hole in the wall.

"DON'T SHOUT AT ME LIN-LIN!!" shouted back Octavia as she pushed Lin-Lin away, surprising the pandagirl.

Lin-Lin was going to reciprocate when she noticed something moving behind Octavia. Using earth magic, she threw a rock right next to Octavia who evaded what she thought was an attack aimed at her.

"You attacked me?!" exclaimed the human-looking arachne.

"Behind you!" simply warned Lin-Lin as she got in fighting stance.

Listening to her friend, Octavia got in position too, facing the form in the dark.

Looking at the two girls, a set of yellow eyes narrowed a bit, a barely inaudible growl menacing them.

"Who are you?" asked Lin-Lin.

"What are you?" asked Octavia, preparing another wind arrow.

Seeing the magic projectile, the two eyes disappeared in the dark, the shadow moving quickly in the darkness of the church. Sounds of footsteps and knocking metal started to be heard all around them, the sound and darkness around making it difficult for them to focus.

"Do you see him?" questioned Lin-Lin.

"Not yet..." answered Octavia before letting go of her bow string. The arrow flew, missing the shadow, and went through the wall.

"Did you hit him?" enquired Lin-Lin.

"I wasn't aiming at it." simply stated Octavia as she shot another arrow in the wall, then another one, and another one.

Here and there, she created openings, letting light in and greatly improving their vision.

"STOP BREAKING MY HOUSE!!!" shouted a high-pitched voice from above them.

Looking up, the two jumped by reflex to evade the falling silhouette who broke the ground where they were standing on the second before.

"That's not the child." simply said Lin-Lin.

"Obviously..." answered Octavia as she, too, observed the one standing between them.

Not more than one metre high, light but firmly built, the yellow-eyed creature looked at the two girls one after the other, pointing at them with the rusty long sword and dagger in its hands. Around its arms, torso and legs, it had rusty parts of old armour visibly too big for it.

Its skin was greyish-green-coloured, it had no hair and its long ears were crooked as much as was its long nose. It had long fingers ending with tiny claws and short pointy teeth currently showing as the creature growled at the two.

"A goblin." stated Octavia.

"In a human town? How can that be? I thought humans considered goblins as monsters and were hunting them." said Lin-Lin.

"This one must hide here..."

"GET OUT!" shouted the goblin, ending the girls' conversation with a dash, aiming for Lin-Lin.

"Earth wall!" exclaimed Lin-Lin, blocking the goblin's attack.

Not stopping for a second, the little green creature ran around and attacked, Lin-Lin stepping back a bit to evade his attack.

"He is fast!" said the pandagirl, defending against the rusty weapons.

"..."

Without a word, Octavia prepared a ball of web. Throwing it, she immobilised the goblin, forbidding any movement.

"GET THAT OFF ME!" ordered the goblin as he tried to cut off the web, but couldn't hope to make it with his rusty blades.

Octavia came before the goblin and prepared a new arrow.

"I got him..." simply said the arachne as she pulled her fingers, aiming at the goblin's head, now warily looking at the arrow before him.

"NO!" screamed a young voice coming from the back of the room.

Running between the two girls, a young dogkin placed himself in front of the arrow, protecting the goblin with his body.

"Don't hurt Roshu, please!" begged the dogkin, bravely facing death between the arrow and her target.

"Picho, move!" ordered the goblin, looking more worried for the child than himself.

"Picho? Oh!" exclaimed Lin-Lin as she recognised the young boy.

"Lady Lin-Lin!" said the boy as he just then recognised the pandagirl, the obscurity of the place not helping.

Bowing to her, Picho didn't move from before the goblin though.

"A friend?" asked Octavia, still waiting with her arrow prepared to be shot.

"Maximilian and I helped him on the upper ground the other day." explained Lin-Lin.

"And he thanks you by stealing and attacking?" asked Octavia, clearly tempted to let go of the arrow.

"Octavia! It wasn't him! And everything is fine now." said Lin-Lin, but Octavia didn't seem to be that thrilled with the idea of letting the recent events slide.

"Please, kind Lady, don't hurt us." pleaded Picho, looking at Octavia who answered his pleading look with a cold one, apparently lost in her thoughts.

"Octavia, that's enough." said a voice coming from where the two had entered the place.

Looking at who was talking, Octavia almost dropped her weapon as she saw how Maximilian was looking at her.

Coming inside the room with ball of lights lighting up the room, Maximilian wasn't looking pleased with the arachne.

"Aiming at a defenceless child, Octavia, really?" asked Maximilian, sounding surprised while he was scolding her.

"I...but he, they...they attacked us!" exclaimed Octavia, trying to defend herself.

"And you would kill a child because a friend of his attacked you? I thought I taught you better than that." said Maximilian, visibly disappointed.

"Maximilian, I assure you she speaks the truth. It's my fault, I let my purse be stolen and we had to pursue the thief. We followed him here and then a goblin attacked us. I'm sure Octavia was just a bit shaken because of the surprise attack, that's all." said Lin-Lin, taking her friend's defence.

"Is that so? She didn't seem that shaken to me, more...considering if she should shoot or not...what if I hadn't come, Octavia? Would you have let your arrow go?"

Octavia tried to look at Maximilian, but her eyes seemed to be glued to the ground.

"I, I...I don't know..."

"In that case, you should go back to the inn for now. I think a bit of time thinking about it will clear your mind." stated Maximilian.

At his words, Octavia opened her eyes wide, then ran outside without a sound.

"Maximilian..." tentatively said Lin-Lin, but she was stopped by Maximilian with a hand gesture.

"Later, Lin-Lin. She must reflect about what she was going to do."

"But...she was crying..."

Maximilian closed his eyes for a second and sighed before coming in front of Picho.

"Please excuse my friend. She can be a bit frank in her actions, but she isn't a bad person, I promise."

Clearly relieved to not be threatened by Octavia anymore, Picho nodded with a smile.

"Thank you, Lord Nilmerus. Once again, I owe you my life."

"Picho, stand back, he is dangerous." warned the goblin from behind the dogkin, pulling the boy away from Maximilian.

*A goblin? Funny, he looked a bit like an imp, but bigger, taller...and greener.* thought Maximilian.

"I heard Picho calling you Roshu, is that your name?"

"What if it is? You like to know who you kill?" spat the goblin as he took a defensive position, at least as well as he could while being bothered by the web.

"In fact, I do like to know someone before I kill him, but in that case, I don't plan on killing anyone here. Binvo, tear the web off please."

The tall man came near the goblin and used his powerful arms to tear off the sticky material, freeing the goblin who stood between the young dogkin and the trio, threatening them with his sword.

"I still don't trust you! The other one was going to kill us!" stated the goblin.

"She was thinking about it, I'm afraid so, but if I wanted you dead, believe me, you would already be."

Roshu gulped silently, knowing perfectly well the man wasn't lying. He could feel he was a totally different level than the ones following him. It was obvious by seeing how the other girl had directly submitted to him in an instant.

"What...what do you want, then?"

"I came here because I sensed my friend's attacks. Now that I'm here, it would be a waste to simply leave."

"It still doesn't tell me what you want..." said the goblin, wary.

As if he was just remembering something, Picho opened his eyes wide.

"I know! The purse! Lord Nilmerus must want Lady Lin-Lin's purse back!"

Running away, Picho disappeared in the shadow for a second, reappearing a few seconds later with another child, younger than him, walking slowly before Picho. Maximilian noticed several sets of eyes looking at the scene from the shadow. Other children, humans and non-humans, boys and girls, none more than 14, were observing what was going to happen, worried.

"Go on, and don't forget to apologise." hurried Picho as he slightly pushed the youngster before him.

The young boy came before Lin-Lin and presented her the purse, looking down.

"I'm sorry..." awkwardly said the young human, clearly ashamed.

Taking back the purse, Lin-Lin attached it back at her belt.

"It's alright, no harm done." answered the pandagirl as the young boy ran back behind Picho.

"You've got your money, leave now!" ordered Roshu.

"Before we leave, could you tell us why do you live in this place? Isn't there anyone who could look after you, children?" asked Lin-Lin.

"This is our home, Lady Lin-Lin. We weren't wanted by our parents, but old man Cremeans took care of us all."

"I saw his name in front of the orphanage. He was a saint?" asked Maximilian, curious.

Picho shook his head from left to right.

"Nope, he was a swearing man, he liked to drink a bit and when he saw a pretty lady in the street, he clearly stated he would have liked to know her more intimately."

The souvenir seemed to make several children smile.

"But he was as kind as a saint. He took care of us all without asking for anything in return. He welcomed everyone here and it is thanks to him we are still living today. When he died, no one wanted to look after us and no one would take care of the orphanage, so this place started to turn like this. Me and some of the older children, we tried to repair it a bit, but we aren't good at this kind of work." explained Picho.

"But...I thought you were a slave, isn't your Master taking care of you?" asked Lin-Lin.

"I was a slave. When my old Master died, no one wanted to take me in, no one except old Cremeans. I'm not the only one like that, some of the other older children here are in the same condition, not useful enough to be taken by a Master, so we are left alone to die in the street."

"And what about you, Roshu?" asked Maximilian.

"What about me?" asked the goblin in return.

"A goblin in a human town, especially in an orphanage, excuse my question but it's a bit special don't you think?" asked Maximilian.

"What is there to tell? I'm a monster to humans, if they see me, they kill me. I was injured, weak, hunted by one of your adventurers. I hid here, under the orphanage floor, ready to die at any moment. When old Cremeans found me, I thought I was a goner, but he didn't kill me. Quite the opposite, he took care of me, taught me how to speak, he shared his food with me, he taught the children not to be scared of me. To thank him for his kindness, I promised I would always look after the children."

"That's why you attacked us?" asked Lin-Lin.

"Of course! The mad girl with you started to shoot holes in our house, what was I supposed to do?" angrily retorted Roshu.

"But you threw a stone at me!" defended Lin-Lin.

"Did not!"

"You did!"

"That was me..." shyly said the little child behind Picho, barely showing himself.

Seeing the eyes on him, he quickly added.

"I'm sorry! I was scared and I didn't think this through."

Seeing the small child apologising like that, Lin-Lin smiled and crouched near him patting his head.

"It's alright, I'm not angry at you."

The little one nodded, shyly looking away.

"So? What do we do now?" asked Roshu, visibly waiting for what was going to happen next.

"Now? Seeing how my companions made this place a mess, I suppose it's only fair I fix it up. Lin-Lin, Binvo."

Binvo, who had arrived with Maximilian earlier, came next to Lin-Lin, listening to him.

"I want you two to go to the marketplace and buy food."

"Anything special?" asked Lin-Lin.

"Bread, meat, vegetables, fruit, sugar and salt, everything you can find. Use all the money you have on you. Binvo, take a bag and help Lin-Lin bring everything back here, okay?"

"No problems." simply answered the human-looking Minotaur before the two started to go away.

"And...Lin-Lin?"

"Yes?"

"Don't let them rip you off."

Lin-Lin nodded and went out with Binvo.

Once alone with Roshu and the children, Maximilian looked a bit around.

"Now, let's set things right. Is everyone here?"

"Everyone?"

"Yes. I have to know if there is someone else in the orphanage, in another room. I'm going to use magic and if there is someone else I'm not aware of, this could be bad." explained Maximilian.

Picho quickly took a look at Roshu who slightly shook his head from left to right.

"I, well...why would it be dangerous, Lord Nilmerus?"

"Because I'm going to use powerful spells, if I cannot see who is where, I risk to make a mistake."

Seeing how they seemed to hesitate, Maximilian sighed.

"Picho, who are you hiding?"

Straightening himself, Picho looked everywhere but at Maximilian.

"I, hum, I don't see what you mean..."

"Picho...I helped you before, why do you think I wouldn't do it again?" asked Maximilian, keeping a calm voice to be sure to not scare the boy.

Picho kept silent for a second, then sighed.

"Follow me."

"Picho!" growled Roshu.

"It's alright, Roshu. Lord Nilmerus helped me before, that's true. If he wanted to hurt us, why would he have stopped the Lady with the bow?"

The goblin growled a bit more but didn't stop them.

...................................................................................................................................................

Followed by the goblin and the group of children, Maximilian let Picho lead him in the orphanage. Upstairs, after a long corridor with a dozen doors on each way, Picho stopped before the last one at the end of the room.

"It's the old chamber of Cremeans, we use it when we have sick ones."

"Why this room?"

"It's the only one with a fireplace, we can at least warm it a bit." explained the dogkin as he opened the door.

*Holy shit...* thought Maximilian as he entered the room.

All around, lying on self-made straw mattresses, a dozen children were looked after by another dozen.

"What is wrong with them?" enquired Maximilian, making the children inside the room jumping in surprise at the adult voice.

"They are ill, Lord Nilmerus. We have no money to buy medicine, no material to heal them, and not enough food for everyone to eat." explained the dogkin.

"Alright. Let's not waste time." stated Maximilian as he went further into the room.

Making a wide gesture, he launched a healing wind in the room, making all the children already feeling better. Two of them even stood, jumping on their feet with an astonished face.

"What did you do?!" asked Picho, mesmerised.

"A healing spell. Those who simply had a physical injury are healed now. Let me take a look at the others."

"But...those two had broken feet, how can this be so quick?!" asked Roshu, slightly palpating the children’s feet to make sure they were okay.

"I'm good at what I do, that's all. Now then..."

Kneeling next to the first kid, Maximilian took a quick look at the girl next to him, a worried look on her face.

"A friend of yours?"

"My brother."

Scanning the kid, Maximilian saw the problem was due to food poisoning.

"He simply ate something bad. Nothing to worry about, give me a second."

Scanning the other children, Maximilian realised almost all of them had the same problem.

"I don't know what it is, but something they ate caused this."

Picho gasped.

"That's my fault! I found fruits that had been thrown away, they still looked good enough so I brought them back...but I don't understand, I ate one too, why am I not ill?"

"You're a beastkin, your race tends to have a better resistance against food poisoning like that."

"Are...are they gonna be okay?" worriedly asked the dogkin.

"Don't worry, it's nothing serious. Give me a second, there!" exclaimed Maximilian as he took a potion out of the Havenbag. He then took another one of a different kind and came back to the child.

"Open up." calmly ordered Maximilian to the lying child who obeyed, thanks to Maximilian's authority or because he simply wanted to not be in pain anymore.

Carefully, Maximilian gave two drops of the first potion into the child's mouth, then two drops of the second one.

"Here you are, give it a bit of time and you will be back on your feet."

"What did you give him?" asked Picho, interested.

"The first one is an antidote against food poisoning, the second one his a health potion, I gave a bit of the two to help him out. The two mixed together will be more efficient. He will be okay, help him down, would you? I will take care of the others."

One by one, Maximilian healed the poisoned children. Once done with the poisoned one, he took care of the last one who hadn't moved, a high fever keeping him down.

"What about him?"

"He jumped into the water to try to get us some fish...it didn't work out well." explained Picho.

Maximilian scanned him.

*A slight cold that turned for the worst because of the precarious way he is forced to live. Nothing impossible to treat, but still something that could have easily been evaded.*

Focusing his healing magic, Maximilian treated the boy infection, then gave him a drop or two of the health potion, giving him back some forces.

"Is that everyone?" asked the man once he was done.

"No, there's someone else." admitted Picho.

"Picho!" growled Roshu.

"Please, Roshu. You saw it like me, Lord Nilmerus healed everyone, he could heal her too."

"Is there someone else needing my attention?" enquired Maximilian.

"Follow me." asked Picho.

He led Maximilian to the back of the room.

"She was pursued by some men and I help her, but she is injured. We helped her as much as we could, but we don't have anything good enough to heal her."

Opening the door at the back, Picho let Maximilian in.

The room was even darker than the other one, colder too.

"Why is she isolated like that?"

"She asked to be, she said she didn't want anyone near her for now."

"Is that so? I wonder what she h...oh..."

Lighting up the room, Maximilian saw who was inside.

It was a girl, or at least that was what her chest indicated, a teenager or so it seemed, probably not more than 16. She had long sapphire-blue hair going down her back, a tanned skin, eyes the same colour as her hair, with an oval iris. If her eyes were looking a lot like ones of a snake, the lower part of her body, consisting of a long sapphire-blue snake tail, didn't leave Maximilian with any doubt.

*A lamia.*

As she saw him, the girl bared her fangs and teeth, showing how pointy and dangerous they were.

"Stay away!" ordered the lamia, the 's' sound a tiny bit accentuated.

"Picho, you should get out." suggested Maximilian, although the tone of his voice didn't leave a choice to the young dogkin. He looked at the lamia, at Maximilian, then nodded and closed the door behind him.

To be sure to see something, Maximilian created some shining ball, making them float near the ceiling.

Sitting down, he silently looked at the girl for a few seconds, the snake eyes looking at him without blinking.

While he waited for the girl to say something, he scanned her. She was level 10, but that wasn't what Maximilian was interested in, he studied her injury more.

After a minute or two without a sound, Maximilian decided to break the ice.

"Picho told me you are injured."

"..." The lamia was still looking at him without saying anything.

"You do realise your wound is getting more infected as time passes, right?"

The look she let appear on her face for a second confirmed she was well aware of that.

"You are aware of it, good. Now, how about you let me look at this injury of yours?"

"Stay away..." hissed the lamia, a slightly forked tongue showing between her lips for a second.

"Alright. I'll just wait here until you lose consciousness. Seeing your state, it shouldn't be long." calmly said Maximilian.

"Leave me alone!"

"Why? Do you want to die painfully?"

"...I don't...but I don't trust you!"

"That is to be expected, you don't know me and you're hurt. I am Maximilian Baltazard Van Nilmerus." said Maximilian as he politely bowed to her.

"...Guelan Filanfest." answered the lamia.

"Good, we are making progress. Now you know my name and I know yours."

"I simply answered your introduction. Us Lamia know how to act politely, don't take this for something other than what it is." said Guelan, her eyes still not leaving Maximilian's.

"Being polite is fine, at least we will be able to have a civilised conversation, I cruelly need some these days."

A silence lasted a bit between the two.

"...Why?" asked the Lamia.

"'Why'?"

"You said you cruelly needed a civilised conversation these days, why?"

Maximilian chuckled at her question.

"Let's say that between the fights, the conspirators and official dinner, I still have trouble deciding which was the most tiring."

Taking his waterskin, Maximilian drank a bit.

"That feels good. Do you want some? It's only water, but it's pure." offered Maximilian when he saw Guelan's eyes looking at the waterskin for a second.

"I want nothing from you!" spat the girl.

"Why? Because I'm a stranger?"

"You're a human, it's your kind who did this to me." stated the lamia as she placed a hand on her injury, dirtying the bandage hastily put on it with blood.

"And? It wasn't me, was it?"

"What's the difference?" retorted the girl.

Maximilian thought for a bit.

"And you? Are you not sorry about it?" said the man.

That surprised the girl.

"Sorry? About what?"

"I was attacked by a snake once. Aren't you going to apologise?"

"I'm not a snake!"

"What's the difference?" retorted Maximilian with a sly smile.

The lamia hissed a bit with anger at his words.

"It's not as if you could understand. You are all the same, thinking you can control everything and ever..."

"Stop."

Maximilian interrupted the lamia with a hand gesture.

"Let's make it simple because I already have heard that kind of speech more than once. I'm here to help you, heal you. You don't trust me, fine, I'm not here to make you believe humankind, in general, is perfect, I know perfectly well that's not the case. If you don't trust my words, at least trust Picho, he is the one who asked me to help. If I understood right, it's thanks to him that you're here, right?"

"It's true..." admitted the lamia.

"See? Let me see your injury before it causes you even more pain."

"...Don't try anything or I slice your throat."

"Yeah, yeah, I hear that a lot too." said Maximilian as he approached the lamia.

She took her hand off the bandage and Maximilian quickly took it off.

"Strange injury. It looks like you were burned and cut at the same time...what happened exactly?" questioned Maximilian as he observed the injury, quickly thinking.

"The slave guild. They captured me and were going to mark me, I escaped but was hurt while doing so..." explained Guelan as she showed her wrists covered by metallic handcuffs.

"Oh...good job." said Maximilian as he put a hand above the injury, healing it.

The pleasant feeling surprised the lamia who opened her eyes wide for a second.

"You are a priest?!"

"Nope."

"But you use healing magic?"

"Yep."

"And your sceptre, your staff, where is it?"

"Don't need it." answered Maximilian, still focusing on the injury to be sure no infection was left.

The lamia kept silent for a second or two before she continued to talk.

"You are good at magic, am I right?"

"Indeed."

"Then...why didn't you use it to force me to obey?"

"It's not my style. At worse, I make a demonstration of power to avoid an unnecessary fight."

"...You are a strange human."

"Seeing what kind of humans you've came across recently, I'll take that as a compliment... Okay, the injury in itself is healed, but I'll need to use some more healing magic for the curse."

"A curse? I'm cursed?"

"Not completely. You managed to escape before they completely put the slave curse on you, but it is partially there nonetheless. I should take care of it so it won’t bother you."

"You can do that?"

"I can do that, be quiet for a second."

Like he had done for Lin-Lin, Maximilian took care of the slave curse. It was a bit different because the mark was on the girl's side and not on her shoulder, but the idea was the same.

Once done, Maximilian heard a slight sigh of relief from the lamia.

"Feeling better?"

"Yes, thank you."

"Watch out, you're being thankful to a human." taunted Maximilian with a chuckle.

"I told you! We lamia know how to be polite, that's all!" exclaimed Guelan, her cheeks turning red for a second.

...................................................................................................................................................

Once healed, Guelan was more open to discussion. After a bit, she accepted to go out of the room, following Maximilian downstairs.

As he was walking next to her, Maximilian couldn't help but notice how she was moving, undulating like a snake with her hips waving in a naturally sexy way.

*Well, with her body being like that, it's not that surprising...not that I have other lamia to compare with.*

Arriving at the central room where they were before, Maximilian checked with Picho that everyone was there.

"Yes, we helped the one too weak so they could go down. I still don't understand why, though."

"Give me a moment, you're going to see."

Stepping a bit away from the group, Maximilian stomped loudly on the ground, scanning the place all around him, from the roof to the foundation.

*Alright, I see what I can do and how to do it. Let's do some magic!*

To begin with, he secured the room they were in, just in case something would happen. He fixed the wood walls and reinforced them with stones appearing from the ground. Once done, he took care of the room where the children were sleeping. He made a kitchen and a pantry. Using stone and earth he was digging out to have more space, he quickly did to the old orphanage what he had done to Arold's house. Like with the farmer's house, he created a water system he directly linked to the city river, enchanting the system so the children would always have pure water when they want.

Thinking about how the room was cold, he added the same heating system, planning to show them everything later. The pantry access was situated right next to the kitchen so the ones who had to cook wouldn't have to go far. He placed the same runes to be sure nothing would rot. He created a fireplace in every important room, one small in the kitchen to heat the stone oven, one far larger in the central room where the children had the most space to be together. He also added a smaller room where they would be able to place and help the sick ones when needed.

Once done with one room, he quickly went to the next one where he continued to use his magic, the children following him from a safe distance and looking, astonished, at their orphanage changing around them.

Lastly, he created the same bathroom and underground system as for Arold's house, installing a vegetable garden where some would be able to cultivate fresh things to eat.

If the children were astonished by his magic, they were even more surprised when they started to see sunlight coming from the stone at the ceiling.

If Arold's house took him a night to be completed, the orphanage transformation took him less than two hours, firstly because he already had the orphanage base to work with, but mostly because he already knew how to work on it.

Once done he led the children into the different rooms, explaining them how the different installations were working to the elder children who would then take the time to explain it to the younger ones day after day.

"You did a lot..." said Roshu as he was looking around, touching the stone walls to be sure they were not an illusion.

"There is a last room I made, I think you should like it." said Maximilian as he led the goblin and Picho underground, a third room between the pantry and the garden room.

It was a circular room, half the size of the central room, the ground was made of semi-rigid earth, strong enough to have a stable foot on it but soft enough to not be hurt when one would fall on it. A human-sized wood puppet was there, motionless. The design was simple, logs for arms and legs, a bigger one for the body and a smaller one as the head. The only decoration was a magic circle on the puppet 'stomach'.

"This room is for you, Roshu. You and whoever would want to use it."

"Do I look like someone who would want to play with dolls to you?" asked the goblin with a blase look.

"Go see it before complaining." said the man with a chuckle.

Dubious, the goblin approached the puppet. Stopping a metre away from it, Roshu stood there for a second or two.

"And? What am I supposed to do?"

"Greet him and tell him you want to spar." simply explained Maximilian.

"I'm not gonna greet a puppet, human." grumbled the goblin.

"Try it, his name is written on his chest, at heart level."

The goblin sighed in exasperation before doing as told.

"Moku...jin?"

A small wave of energy ran through the puppet who straightened herself.

"That's it, now take out your weapon and ask him to spar with you." explained Maximilian.

Surprised to see the puppet animating itself, Roshu took out his sword and dagger.

"Mokujin, spar with me."

The puppet looked down at the goblin, examining him for a second. The wooden hand of the puppet went for his stomach, going inside it like the wood in the circle of magic was nothing more than water. Mokujin pulled out a sword and a dagger, imitating the goblin's way of fighting.

"What is happening?!" exclaimed the goblin right before the puppet dashed at him, ready to attack.

"Defend yourself!" ordered Maximilian.

Roshu evaded the attack by reflex and hit back, attacking the puppet with force.

"Now ask him to stop." said Maximilian.

"Mokujin, stop!" ordered the goblin.

The puppet stopped in a second, putting the weapons back in his stomach. He joined his wooden hands and bowed to the goblin before becoming motionless once again.

"What the hell is this thing!" exclaimed the goblin as he pointed at the puppet with his sword.

"'This' is Mokujin, a magic puppet I made for you to spar with. I enchanted it to always have the same level as his opponent, so you will be able to progress."

Searching through his Havenbag, Maximilian pulled two weapons out of it: a sword and a dagger. Compared to what Roshu was using, they were real treasures, a strong pommel for the sword that could be handled with one or two hands, finely made and clearly able to cut through a lot. The dagger was of the same quality, the two weapons had a slightly curved blade and the similarities in their fabrication tend to prove they were from the same set.

After the weapon, Maximilian took out pieces of armour. The goblin's size was a bit tricky, finer than a dwarf and smaller than a human. Maximilian finally found good quality armour to give Roshu, the goblin looking at the equipment before him without understanding.

"What is all this?"

"Something useful for the protector of those children."

Putting a knee on the ground to be at the goblin's level, Maximilian politely bowed to him for a second.

"I respect what you do here, Roshu. Protecting the children like you do is the proof of a noble heart. Take those present I give you and please, continue to look after them."

Roshu looked at the equipment for several seconds before taking it.

"As if I needed your permission to do so...thank you." said the goblin, doing something vaguely looking like a smile.

While the goblin was changing, Picho approached the puppet, poking it.

"How do you like it?" questioned Maximilian.

"It's cool, but why Mokujin?"

"It's an homage to an old tale from where I came from."

"A tale? About what?"

"Simply put? Men with improbable hairdressing and lightly dressed pretty ladies fighting against each other."

"But what does it have to do with the puppet?"

"One of the heroes of that tale was a puppet imitating the fighter's style, his name was Mokujin."

"Done! How do I look?" interrupted the goblin.

Even if Maximilian didn't have a complete armour set to give him, Roshu was looking a lot better with his new equipment on.

"Wow Roshu, you look like a knight!" exclaimed Picho as he turned around the goblin, examining him.

"You...you really think so?" asked the goblin, scratching his long nose a bit, looking shy for a second.

They were interrupted by screams coming from upstairs. Not wasting a second, the trio went back to the central room of the orphanage.

...................................................................................................................................

The screams came from children in the central room, where a dozen men had entered.

Facing the men was Guelan, claws out and bearing her pointed teeth. The lamia was standing between the children and the men, the look on her face betraying the mixed feeling of fear and anger in her.

The men, on the other side, had a mixed feeling of contentment to have finally found out who they were looking for and surprise as they looked around.

"I thought this place was abandoned, who the hell fixed it up like this?" asked the one leading the men out loud.

"That would be me." said Maximilian as he came next to Guelan while Roshu disappeared somewhere.

"And who might you be?" asked the man.

"You are the ones who just arrived, it would be normal for you to introduce yourself first, I think." retorted Maximilian.

"My name has no value to you I'm afraid. All you have to know is that I'm part of the Slaver guild, here to retrieve an escaped good. That escaped good, to be precise." said the man as he pointed at Guelan.

Looking at the lamia for a second, Maximilian nodded.

"Now I understand the state she was in...okay, you can take her." simply said Maximilian, hearing several gasps from behind and next to him, he could have sworn he heard an 'I knew it' comment from the lamia.

"I'm glad to see you're reasonable. Don't worry, you will be generously rewarded for your help with..."

The man was speaking as he was coming near. He stopped talking when his feet started to get stuck on the ground.

"What the...WHAT THE HELL!?"

At first, the man thought he simply had stepped in a hole, blocking his feet, but as he looked down, he saw something a lot different.

Coming from the floor itself, two hands made of stones had gripped his feet, stopping him. The fear of the man doubled in power as he saw another one coming out of the ground, the stone arm growing to reach his head.

"Oh, I'm sorry if you understood me wrong..." apologised Maximilian. " What I meant to say was that you can take her...if you can."

The stone hand closed into a fist and hit the man just as the other two stone hands let go of him, freeing him so he could literally fly back to his men, some of his teeth falling down.

"WHAT IS THIS SHIT!" shouted the leader as his men took out their weapons.

"This, Slaver, was a warning. The children of this place, and their friends, are under my protection. I placed upon this sanctuary magical protections that will defend them against anyone who would try to come in here with bad attentions against them." threatened Maximilian as more and more stones arms started to come out of the ground, protecting the children like small stone soldiers.

"And if this is not enough...there will always be Roshu."

"Roshu? What's a Roshu?" asked the man, helped up by one of his underlings.

"The goblin knight protector of orphans." simply stated Maximilian as the said goblin fell on the leader, his blade cutting off the man's left ear.

At that moment, as the leader put a hand on his bloody head side with a scream of pain, Lin-Lin and Binvo came back, each one with a massive bag on their shoulder.

"And if he isn't enough, you will have us to deal with."

Hearing Maximilian's words, his two companions let go of the bags to take out their weapon.

"Who the hell are you?" asked the man, his voice filled with anger.

"Lord Maximilian Baltazard Van Nilmerus, friend of the crown and saviour of Griffinia. And you...are trespassing in my friend’s home." imperiously stated Maximilian.

To punctuate his sentence, Binvo let out a loud roar, far more impressive than the one he had let out in the maze when he had met Maximilian's group the first time. The human-looking Minotaur's voice was loud enough to shake all the slaver group, while Lin-Lin let a predatory smile pass on her face.

In a second, the men ran away, leaving the leader behind.

"COME BACK! Come..."

The man tried to call back his men, but his voice quickly lost all power as Roshu's blade pushed against his throat. Opening his hands in submission, the man waited.

"Are...are you going to kill me?"

"I should...but I won't. Do you know why?" answered Maximilian.

"Be...because you are a kind Lord, merciful?"

"Wrong. I will let you live so you can tell everywhere what I told you here. Let every thief, every slaver, every bastard lurking around you that this place and its residents are off-limits to you all."

Nodding as well as he could with a blade against his throat, the man showed he had understood. Roshu pulled his weapon back and the man bowed to pick up his fallen ear.

"Leave it here. This will be the price of your trespassing. Be glad I don't ask for more." said Maximilian in a tone that clearly made the man understand how worse it could have ended for him. Without another word, the man ran out, his hand on his injury.

Once alone, Lin-Lin sighed.

"Why do I feel like you attract troubles?"

Maximilian shrugged at that.

"Not my fault, I swear."

...................................................................................................................

Everyone helped to stock the food in the pantry. Once done, Maximilian, helped with some of the oldest children, prepared enough stew for everyone to eat. It was warming the man's heart to see all the children happily devouring what was in their plates.

"You didn't have to do what you did earlier."

While he was seating, calmly watching the children enjoying their meal, Guelan came over to him.

"What? Help you? It was nothing."

"You're wrong, it means a lot. Seeing a human defending a non-human isn't something I'm used to seeing. Can I ask you why?"

"Why? No particular reason. I saw you were in trouble, I don't like slavers, I needed a good way to test and made known the orphanage and the ones living inside were protected. Any reason is fine to me when it comes to help a child in distress."

Maximilian's last words seemed to bother the lamia.

"I'm not a child! I'll let you know I'm seventeen, Sir!"

Looking at Guelan from head to tail, Maximilian chuckled.

"I would have said sixteen...I wasn't that far off."

Seeing how the lamia was pouting a bit, he added.

"Don't be bothered by it. I have some troubles guessing non-human's age. Lin-Lin looks older than she is, Binvo...well now that I think about it I don't know how old he is."

"Can't you ask him?"

"He can't count well, this will have to wait. For a Minotaur, counting isn't the most important thing to learn at first."

"A... minautor...you say this man other there is a minotaur?" dubiously asked Guelan as she pointed at the tall man playing with the children, the little ones climbing on him like he was some kind of mountain.

"Yep...Hey, Binvo! Take your ring off for a moment, would you?" asked Maximilian.

Nodding, the tall man put down the children and did as told, quickly retrieving his normal appearance. At first, of course, the children were surprised. Roshu even took out his weapons before realising it was still the kind Binvo under the horns and thick fur. Looking at the children around, the minotaur lifted his two massive arms up and let out a playful growl, the children around him running around, fleeing from the scary monster of their new game.

"That's incredible! How is this possible?" asked Guelan.

Maximilian took the time to explain to her what was a ring of masquerade. The lamia seemed more than interested, clearly intrigued by all that have to do with magic.

"Are you a mage yourself?" finally asked Maximilian.

She seemed ashamed for a second.

"I would like to. I left my home to become one, but I didn't think I would be treated like I have been by humans. My...my mother is a priestess, she is a great magic user, but her duty doesn't allow her to teach me what she knows."

"That's quite rough. And no one would teach you among the lamia?"

"I...am not a good student. With my mother being a priestess, everyone expected me to be as good as her. When they realised I wasn't, they started to see me as a failure...mother started to see me as a failure. I left because I didn't want her to be bothered by my problems."

Straightening herself, she closed her fist, confident.

"But one day! One day I'll go back and show them. I'll show them all I can be a great mage too!"

Maximilian slightly applauded the lamia's small speech.

"That's a good way of thinking. Become stronger and show them they were wrong."

Guelan smiled at him, although her smile betrayed a bit of sadness.

"With that being said, I don't know how to do that. My idea was to integrate the magic academy of Griffinia, but I don't know how I will be able to go in there."

"Easy, follow me." simply said Maximilian.

"Following you? Where?"

"To the academy, of course. I have to go there and teach some of the students there anyway, so...yeah, you can tag along if you want."

"You...you would let me go with you?" asked the lamia, hope in her voice.

"I don't see why not. Anyone willing to learn should be able to do so."

Bowing several times, excited, Guelan didn't hide her joy.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you! It means so much to me!"

"That's what I see. I'm glad if this helps you."

"When do we go? Do I have to do something? I don't have money to pay my fee! Maybe should I find something to offer them?"

Speaking to herself at the same time as she was talking to him, Guelan started to ask questions one after the other. Leaving her alone for a bit, Maximilian went for the exit, quickly rejoined by Binvo and Lin-Lin.

"What do we do now, Maximilian?"

"I have some noble families to see before we go to the Magic academy, do you want to come?" asked Maximilian.

Binvo was going to answer when a little catkin girl climbed on him from behind, her big eyes looking straight at the minotaur's with her face upside-down.

"Binvo will stay for a bit, okay?" asked the minotaur.

"Me too. Those children are great, I think we will wait for you here." Added Lin-Lin.

"I don't see any problem with that, see you later then.

..................................................................................................................................

"Who may I announce, Sir?"

Maximilian had just come inside the Gan's family house. Not the biggest of the noble level, but still impressive.

Maximilian had learned that, apart from their principal house on their land, the noble families also had a second house inside the capital wall, some kind of noble embassy for those wishing to discuss...well, about most anything actually. It could be a marriage proposition between two families, a business talk, a duel provocation, anything.

Maximilian had been greeted by a tall and thin man with grey hair, the family butler or so it seemed.

"Lord Nilmerus." said Maximilian, answering to the butler's polite bow with the same gesture.

"Of course, Sir. If it pleases you, the salon is this way. I will inform my Lord you are here." politely said the old butler before walking away at such speed you could have sworn he was running.

Calmly walking into the salon, Maximilian took a few seconds to admire the painting on the walls. They all had something in common: food. From what Maximilian had understood, the house Gan had bought their noble title in a starvation period, helped in their actions by the food coming from their land, reputed to be the tastiest of the kingdom. Their coat of arms was representative enough: a fork and a knife crossing each other before a plate, the plate taking the place of a shield. The family's creed was the same idea: From starvation and bad taste, we will be the protectors.

They had continued to get richer each passing year by trading with almost every single inn in the country, at least those wealthy enough to buy their high-quality product.

In the salon, Maximilian was informed by the butler that his Lord would be there soon, bringing on a plate some bread, cheese and wine to ease the wait.

If Maximilian had been more occupied at cooking than eating earlier, the ravishing smell of the, yet simple, food and drink on the plate made his stomach rumble.

*Well, magic can take several forms in this world. How can a simple loaf of bread and cheese with wine smell so great?*

Tasting the offered meal, Maximilian closed his eyes for a second, savouring what could have been the tastiest cheese he had ever eaten.

"I see the cheese of my father's land has found a new lover."

Surprised by the voice behind him, Maximilian turned around, greeted by the young Kilian.

"I have to say, Sir Kilian, this must be the tastiest cheese I've ever eaten. May I ask how it can be so good?"

"I'm afraid that is a secret, Lord Nilmerus." politely answered Kilian with an amused smile.

"You're right. With a treasure like this, it is better to keep some secret around it."

"Excuse my forwardness, Sir Nilmerus, but my butler said you had something you wished to discuss?"

"Indeed, indeed." said Maximilian as he sat, invited to do so by the young noble who sat too.

"Before I tell you why I'm here, do you mind if I ask you something?"

"As long as it isn't about the secret of our cheese making..." answered the young man with an amused smile.

"Don't worry, it's not that. Sir Kilian, how well-placed are you placed in the family succession?"

The question surprised the young noble.

"That...that's a strange thing to ask. I'm afraid my position isn't that brilliant, Lord Nilmerus. From the three sons my father has, I am the youngest and so would be the last choice."

"I thought age didn't count in Griffinia?"

"It doesn't...that much. But my brothers already had the chance to show my father how good they would be as the head of the family. I came here to show my father I could help, to show him I could also work for the family best interests, but..."

"Nothing to brag about that much yet, am I right?"

Nodding, the young noble sighed.

"Anyway, why did you want to know that?"

Maximilian cleared his throat with a sip of wine, discovering the beverage was as good as the cheese.

"What if I offered you a way to become first in line?"

A worried look passed in the young noble's eyes.

"I wouldn't want to see my brothers hurt, Sir Maximilian!"

Kilian's words surprised Maximilian, then made him smile.

"I'm sorry if my words scared you. I didn't mean it that way, but I sure am glad to see you wouldn't sacrifice your family for power. To be frank, it convinces me to do as I planned to even more."

"Please, Sir Maximilian, your words have little meaning to me right now. What are you proposing me?" inquired the noble.

"I want to make a deal with you. A long-term partnership, when I have conquered the lost land and reclaimed it, I want our two lands to immediately start commercial exchanges. What is a good land without good meals for its people? While this land is still oppressed under dark power, I want you to make sure the orphans on the lower level are well-fed."

Kilian waited after Maximilian was done, clearly expecting him to say something else.

"That...is intriguing, Sir Maximilian, but I don't see where my family's interest is in the matter. Even if we start to make some profits when the land will be taken back, or should I say if the land is taken back, you still ask me to freely give away what makes the power of my family, food. It's not that I don't feel sorry for the orphans, but you have to understand it isn't the idea of a good deal you expose me right now. I have to remember you I'm only the third son, going to my father with this idea will surely make him laugh before disowning me." explained Kilian, as worry about the idea of being disowned as sorry he seemed to be forced to explain what he just did.

"And if you presented this like that to your father? The commercial accords will be just that, commercial accords that will be profitable almost immediately. And for the orphan's food, I want your family to see this as a payment."

"A payment? A payment for wh...!"

Kilian couldn't stop his sentence. Maximilian had taken out the coat of arms of the Havenbag and was presenting it to the young noble who, of course, recognised it immediately.

"Is this...?" asked the young man, not believing his eyes.

"It is. Test it if you want." proposed Maximilian as he turned the thing around.

"Don't mind if I do." simply said the young man as he took the dagger at his belt to slightly cut his finger, making some blood fall on the coat of arms. For a second, the seal of proof shined white, proving it was the real thing.

"I...I can't believe it, it's wonderful!" exclaimed the noble as he took the coat of arms offered by Maximilian.

"So? Do you think this could convince your father?"

"Are you kidding?! Lord Nilmerus, my family has spent so much money trying to retrieve this. With the coat of arms back to our family, we will see a significant thrift of expense. My father and his father were devastated by its loss, seeing it might get him back on feet!"

"I'm glad to see you happy about it, Kilian." simply said Maximilian.

"Happy? I'm overjoyed! Lord Nilmerus, please allow me to take you with me to my father's land, let me introduce you to my family so they can know whom we should thank."

"I'm afraid that's impossible, Sir Kilian. I have never been to your father's land yet, and there is no one here who could have enough mana to teleport me anywhere. But be sure I'll be happy to stop by one day." explained Maximilian.

"Is that so? Well then...I know!" exclaimed the young noble as he ran out of the room, the coat of arms in hand.

For a second, Maximilian thought he had simply escaped with it, but the noble quickly came back with the butler. Kilian was transporting a wooden keg while the butler was rolling a cheese wheel.

"Here you are! Thirty litres of my family's special cuvée and a wheel of our best cheese. This may not be even close enough to thank you for what you did, but please accept those gifts." declared Kilian, precociously putting the keg down.

"That's a gift I'll enjoy, I can assure you." said Maximilian as he put the wine and cheese in the Havenbag surprising the two when they saw him lifting the heavy wheel of the ground, but more so when it disappeared in the Havenbag.

"As of your request for the children, consider it accepted. With this, my father won't be able to refuse. Don't forget to inform me when the land will be safe again for trades, I'll be sure to send the trade carts immediately."

"Then, Sir Kilian, let's agree and swear that it will be done." said Maximilian as he extended his hand to the young noble.

"I promise you it will be done, Lord Nilmerus." sworn Kilian, making some runes shine on their arms for a second.

...........................................................................................................................

"You want me to do what?"

Once done with the Gan family, Maximilian went to see another noble. The Rilecoub family, specialised in mercenary's contract trading, was a very influent one in the city. What Maximilian expected of them was simple.

"You understood me right. I want you to make sure no one will try something against the orphans outside of the orphanage."

The Rilecoub patriarch, an old man sitting in a highchair too big for him, was sided by his son and daughter, the two looking at each other, curious.

"And why would I do that? Orphans aren't known to be a source of income. The Rilecoub family is solicited by noble families, by the crown itself to protect important visitors. Why should I waste time and men on children who will most certainly be dead before spring comes?" asked the old man, his little eyes trying to see through Maximilian.

"Because of that." said Maximilian as he pulled out the representation of a round shield covered by a dagger and a mace, Rilecoub's coat of arms.

The old man died of a heart attack.

......................................................................................................................................

*That was...disturbing...but at least I got what I came to get* thought Maximilian.

The two children barely acknowledge their father's death before the daughter took his place. It appeared that she was next in line to be the family's head and she was more than happy to accept Maximilian's deal. As soon as she could take care of their father's funeral, she would send mercenaries to discreetly look after the children when they would be outside of the orphanage.

The last thing he did was to visit the nearest temple and to convince the priest to allow the orphans to come to them if they should need healing attention. Some of them seemed a bit against it at first, but once they knew Maximilian was a friend of Saint Maria, they all were more than happy to accept.

*That was easy. Now that this is done, I can go to the magic academy.*

Passing near the inn he was staying at, he decided to see how Octavia was doing. He went inside and climbed the stairs, the owner assuring him she had passed by.

Knocking at the door, Maximilian found it locked.

"Octavia?"

Maximilian felt an arachne presence inside, she was there but wasn't answering him.

"Octavia...we are going to the magic academy, do you want to come with us?"

Still no answer, but she was awake, her energy was too vivid for her to be asleep.

"Very well, if you don't want to talk for now, I'll be back tomorrow in the evening with the others." finally said Maximilian with a sigh before leaving.

.................................................................................................................................................

"Thank you."

Picho was hugging Maximilian. When he came back, the man had explained what he had been doing since he was gone, and while he did so he could see the eyes of the dogkin tearing up. He barely had time to finish when the young boy had jumped to put his arms around him, crying in his clothes.

Maximilian chuckled a bit as he patted the boy's head.

"This is to help you, now you will have to look after the ones weaker than you, make sure to grow tall and strong, make sure everyone here does, alright?"

Pulling away from him, the dogkin nodded as he brushed away his tears, standing proud.

"I'll do it, Sir!"

Going away with his two companions and Guelan, Maximilian passed next to Roshu, proudly wearing his new equipment. The human nodded at the goblin who nodded in return, his hands on his blade pommel in a sign of respect.

"Stay strong, goblin knight."

"As long as the children need me." answered Roshu.

...................................................................................................................................................

Once he was done with the orphan, Maximilian gave Guelan a ring of masquerade, hollowing her to follow them in the city without any problem. Her appearance didn't change that much, she had legs, human-looking hand and nails, no scale, of course, but her hair had kept their colour.

*I suppose it could be taken for a colouration...* thought Maximilian.

They all said goodbye to the orphans and went to the academy.

"Isn't Octavia coming with us?" inquired Lin-Lin.

"I tried to talk to her but she is still in her room, and she didn't want to talk. It's a shame, we won't see her for a bit."

"What do you mean? We are leaving without her?" asked Lin-Lin, worried.

"We won't leave the capital, but we won't be 'here' for...well, for a day." simply said Maximilian.

"Oh...well it's not that bad then, I'll go see her once we are back at the inn." simply said Lin-Lin with a smile, relieved to hear what Maximilian had told her.

...................................................................................................................................................

"Greetings, Lord Nilmerus. I was expecting you!" joyfully declared Alistair as Maximilian's group entered the academy. The director had two mages at his sides, a man and a woman. The two were examining Maximilian from head to toes, dubious.

"That's him, Director?" asked the man.

Smiling, the old man nodded.

"In that case..."

Without any warning, the two attacked. The staff in their hands shined with a magic circle who had clearly been prepared beforehand. From the man came a giant wind hand that closed around Maximilian, blocking him. The woman, on the other hand, created a giant ice sword right above Maximilian, ready to let it fall.

"Maximilian!" exclaimed Lin-Lin as she took out her spear.

"It's alright, I'm not in danger." calmly said Maximilian, clearly angering the two mages.

"Not in danger?! EAT THIS!" shouted the woman as she let the sword fall down.

The ice sword hit something hard, but shattered before it touched Maximilian. At the same time, the wind hand disappeared, torn apart by Maximilian's magic wave.

"Done? My turn then." calmly said Maximilian as he snapped his fingers.

The ground under the two mages shook a bit before moving up, covering their bodies in a few seconds.

The two could have been mistaken for stone statues, if not for the terrorised eyes looking around and the muffled screams coming from them.

The director quickly looked at the two, clearly worried.

"Could you please free them?"

With another snap of the fingers, the stone shattered, revealing two really surprised mages.

"If you're done trying to see who is the most powerful between you and me, I suggest we get to work." said Maximilian.

Nodding to him, the director gestured them to follow him, the two mages not daring to move before everyone had passed.

"So, Lord Nilmerus, how do you plan to share your knowledge? If I may suggest someone, you should pay attention to..."

The director was stopped by Maximilian's hand gesture.

"Let's be honest with each other, director. I'm here to teach those I will deem worthy, I and no one else. If you want to help me, reunite every student in the central room." said Maximilian in a tone clearly meaning 'help me or get out of my way'.

The man's tone clearly bothered the old director, but he only nodded.

"This should take less than an hour." said the old man as he ordered the two mages with him to do as Maximilian had asked. The two didn't argue and went in different directions, going around the different classes.

"While they gather everyone, is there anything you need?" asked the director.

"Yes, an empty space that everyone would be able to see once gathered." answered Maximilian.

"Follow me."

....................................................................................................................................

The banquet hall was the largest room of the academy. Numerous round tables were installed, enough to welcome all the students from each of the five years they had to pass to be seen as true mages. A set of five stairs was leading to another table, this one, semi-circular, for the teachers.

Nearly one hour after they had arrived, Maximilian's group was standing next to the director, currently silencing the room full of teenagers clearly wondering what was going on. Behind the groups was a three-metre high and two metres wide form covered with a black veil.

"Students!" said the old man in an authoritarian tone, instantly having the students and teachers' attention.

"Today, we welcome Lord Nilmerus. I don't want to hear a sound while you will listen to him." simply said the man before moving to the side, exactly like Maximilian had asked him to.

Taking a few steps in the student's direction, Maximilian stood at the top of the stairs, dominating everyone by his simple presence. He took a look at the crowd, noticing the young William among the other students. A furtive smile from the man made the boy look down, he clearly hadn't expected Maximilian to notice him.

His voice slightly echoing in the room, Maximilian started to speak.

"I am Maximilian Baltazard Van Nilmerus. My name won't ring any bells in your mind, excepted if you have been informed very specifically about the last events in the capital. I am here for one thing, and one thing only: teaching those worthy to be."

His last words, Maximilian immediately saw they were misunderstood, the non-humans in the room already looking down. Among all the students, less than ten percent were non-humans or of mixed races.

"Some of you might have misunderstood my words so I will take a second or two to make something clear: I don't care about your race. Some non-humans are my trustiest friends, and I want everyone to know that they will have the same chances. Beastkin, elf, dwarfs, humans, everyone. What I care about is your will, not your look."

Hearing that, the few non-humans in the crowd looked up once again, as surprised as happy.

"With that being said, here is what learning with me will be: a nightmare."

His last words brought back a total silent in the room.

"What did you expect? Sugar-covered lies to please you? I'm not here to entertain you, I'm here to take those willing to become better and to make them better. To do that, you will have to face your worst nightmares' worst nightmares, I will make you face death, and you will become better...if you survive, that is. Coming with me means you will have to leave behind all you thought was yours. Make no mistake, I offer power and knowledge, but only to those strong enough to obtain it."

Taking a second to see if anyone had something to say, Maximilian continued after hearing literally no sound from the crowd.

"Anyone among you all who think they are worthy, you can come to me."

"Why would we?"

From the crowd came a voice. The one who had spoken was a pretentious looking young man, his rich clothes indicating his wealth. Around him was other students, not speaking, but clearly sharing his feeling.

"Why would we follow you? You're just a newly made Lord, my family his far more powerful than you will ever be, what makes you say you can be of any usefulness to us? I have..."

"Failed." simply said Maximilian, his voice easily covering the young man's.

"What?!"

"You've failed. I only take the ones able to become better. Roten children like you aren't destined to be any better than that, rotten children."

Offended, the young man started a tantrum.

"DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM!?"

In a heartbeat, Maximilian was standing right before him, a good head taller than him. The man's sudden appearance among the students created a circle in the crowd, everyone around stepping back.

"Do I look like I care?"

The young man tried to speak, but no sound seemed to be willing to come out of his mouth. Stepping back, his eyes didn't leave Maximilian's.

Not paying more attention to him, Maximilian looked around, addressing the crowd around him as he was going back to his companions.

"Make no mistake, I am not asking anything from you. You aren't doing me any favour, I am doing you a favour. I don't care who is your father, your mother or ancestors. All I care about is you, and you alone. Noble's child? I don't give a damn! Commoner's child? I don't give a damn! Do you want to become better? THAT I GIVE A DAMN ABOUT!" shouted Maximilian, making the ground shake a little.

"So? Who will step further?" finally asked Maximilian in a calm tone.

A long silence lasted for a good minute in the hall...Then...

"I will!"

From the crowd came William, his eyes showing all the resolution he could master. Seeing that, Maximilian smiled at him.

"Good decision! Anyone else?"

Inspired by the young man, others stepped further. Humans and non-humans, younger and older. No one from the young noble came, and that was a blessing for Maximilian.

In the end, thirty young mages-to-be were standing at the base of the stairs, waiting for the next step.

Maximilian waited for a bit and, seeing no one else was willing to take a step, he nodded at the director. The old man signalled the teachers who emptied the hall, leaving behind the small group of volunteers.

"Guelan?" said Maximilian to the human-looking lamia girl who seemed surprised to hear her name.

"What about you? Your choice has to be made too." declared Maximilian.

Without a second of hesitation, the lamia went to stand next to the other students.

"After seeing how you use magic, I don't have to think about it, I'm in." said the lamia with a smile.

"Happy to count you in the group." said Maximilian before turning around to face the large veil-covered thing behind him.

"All of you had the courage to take the first step, now comes the second test!" exclaimed Maximilian as he pulled the veil, revealing a massive black door literally covered in runes, all shining of a different colour.

"What is this?" asked William, speaking out loud everyone's mind.

"This is the door to your training ground. Behind it, you will be alone. No home to return to, no guard to protect you, no teacher to hold your hand. You will have two option: become better or die."

"Excuse me but...isn't it just a door simply standing there? How is it supposed to help us get stronger?" asked a girl, her long brown hair coloured with strands of the same colour as her eyes and freckles, silver. She looked a tiny bit small compared to the others but was standing so straight and proud that the difference in size was almost unnoticeable. Her ears were a tiny bit pointy and just long enough to curve. She was talking politely but with a hint of authority leaving no choice to her interlocutor but to answer.

"What's your name, girl?" asked Maximilian as he looked at her.

Putting her fists on her hips, she puffed out her chest, showing she had just enough there to not be mistaken as a child.

"Ilin. Speaking in your own terms, my family name as no uses for you. I may look small, but it's only thanks to my gnome mother. I'll let you know I'm seventeen, Sir." proudly announced the half-gnome girl.

Maximilian took a quick look at the others in front of him. Some were clearly not in favour of her way of talking, others proud of her, but one particular young man was looking at Ilin a tiny bit differently.

*Well well, seems like I've found who William is longing for...good choice boy, she's something else.* chuckled Maximilian.

Putting his hand near the door, Maximilian smiled at the students.

"The door is only that: a door. It's what's behind it that matters. Here is your new test, pass this door."

Nodding at Lin-Lin, Maximilian let the human-looking pandakin approach. She put her hand on the door, the runes around her hands started to shine and she simply disappeared, making the students gasp.

"Where is she? I though the academy had an anti-teleportation protection!" exclaimed a tall and thin older human teenager with short dark hair wearing round glasses.

"Smart observation, but this is something a bit different than teleportation, you'll understand soon enough." simply said Maximilian.

The young man nodded several times as he started to hastily write something in the big book he had in his hands, the feather in his hand magically providing the ink.

"Binvo, your turn." said Maximilian.

The human-looking minotaur nodded quickly, not as sure of himself as was Lin-Lin. As he touched the door, Maximilian helped him a bit, activating the door from where he was standing. As he did that, he saw, from the corner of his eyes, William reacting to his actions.

*He noticed...good, William, good.*

"So? Who wants to try?" calmly asked Maximilian.

A bit of silence fell on the group for a second, then.

"...I think I know how to do it..."

A bit unsure of himself, William stepped forward.

"Do you? Feel free to help the others if you want to." said Maximilian as he stepped on the side, showing the door with his hand.

Coming in front of the door, William gulped, impressed by the energy coming from it.

"I think...I think you need to activate it with your mana."

"If that's what you think, try it." said Maximilian, not clearly saying if the boy was right or not.

William stayed before the door, hesitating.

"Oh by the ancestors!" exclaimed Ilin as she came before the door.

"I'll do it if you don't have the guts to." said the half-gnome as she put her hand on the door without a second of hesitation.

Closing her eyes for a moment, she focused on activating the runes and, like Lin-Lin and Binvo, disappeared.

"She did it!" exclaimed several students.

Impressed by the girl's action, William nodded to himself and did like her, put his hand on the door and quickly disappeared.

After them, one by one, the students approached the big door and activated it. One or twice, Maximilian discreetly helped those needing it.

In the end, only Guelan was there, standing hesitantly before the door.

"Is something wrong?" asked Maximilian.

"What if...what if I fail?" asked the lamia as she looked at him, worried.

"You will fail." simply said Maximilian, shocking the teenager.

"You will fail numerous times, then you will try again, and again until you make it. That's what learning means, fall and stand up again. But if I had to take a guess..."

Coming right behind the in, Maximilian put her hand against the door.

"...I would say you will do just fine."

Nodding at him with a weak smile, the lamia closed her eyes and disappeared too.

Now that they were alone, the director couldn't help his curiosity to be spoken out loud.

"What exactly are you doing, Lord Nilmerus? Where are the children?"

"Those children, director, are going to begin a special training: a year of training that will forge them, help them grow."

"A year?! What about the families? We have to warn them all!" exclaimed the old man, more than worried.

"No need to, director." said Maximilian as he pointed at the door.

"Behind this door, a year will pass, here, it will only be a day."

The man stood silent for a bit, looking at Maximilian like he was some kind of madman.

"This isn't funny, Lord Nilmerus...."

"It is not meant to be, director. If you don't believe me, see you here tomorrow, you will see the results." said Maximilian before touching the door and disappearing too.

"What? Wayt!" exclaimed the director as he touched the door, but nothing happened, the door stayed closed, and would stay for a day.

.................................................................................................................................

Let's go back in time just a bit.

In the castle of Lady Noire, the mistress was talking to her trustiest servant, Black Widow.

"I want you to bring her back to me, Black Widow. I showed you how she looks, I showed you where she is, now find her and bring her back. Make her hear the music of your web, the melody of your heart. Make her see where her true place is."

"Do you want me to use force?" asked the arachne in a tone clearly indicating she didn't care if she had to.

"No, my dear Black Widow..." said the lady vampire as she came close to the arachne, caressing the white woman's face lovingly.

"No blood. I want cut to come willingly. Can you do that for me? Can you make her leave that treasherous illusionist and come to me?" asked the vampire in a wishper, her lips getting closer to the arachne's.

"I will..." answered Black Widow in a pleasure sigh as she gladly received her mistress' lips.

"I knew I could trust you. Use my power to help her hear your words, like I have teach you." said the vampire, sending the arachne away.

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As a high leveled arachne, Black Widow had since long ago learned to hunt humans and non-humans. She was deadly, she was strong, she was beautiful, but more than everything, she was invisible. She could change her form, take one of a human to blend perfectly in human's town, keeping her ravaging beauty under a human appearance. It was like that that Black Widow, like a light in the dark captivating insects, had played her music, each of the notes sent to caught one's and only one's attention: Octavia.

When she saw the red eyes of the human-looking arachne, she immediately knew she had won.

*So young, so innocent...so easily manipulated.*

"Hello, sister."

With two words enchanted by an old vampire charm, her melodic voice had captivated the young one, looking at her with wide-opened eyes.

"Sister? I am not you sister."

"You are..." said Black Widow as she opened her hand, showing several black threads of web passing between her fingers.

"I am like you, sister. I came here to help you, to free you from the ones using you."

The sugar-covered words said in a charming voice forced Octavia to stay in place, but she still managed to took one step back.

"I'm not used! Maximilian and Lin-Lin are my friends, they..."

"They use you..." said Black Widow once again, each sound coming from her mouth acting like a web closing around Octavia's spirit.

"They see you as a monster, a lesser being they can order around, something they can step on and disposed of when they want. Believe me, that man, Maximilian, will cast you away as soon as you will displease him." said Black Widow, a perfect mask of pity on her face as she was using the informations given to her by her mistress.

"I don't believe you, I don't know you!" said Octavia as if she was trying to fight against an invisible force.

"You know me, sister, you still haven't realised it, that's all. Here..."

Taking some of her black thread, she made a collar of it and gave it to Octavia.

"I'm here to help you, dear sister. When you will need me, let me hear the sound of this thread, I will come to you."

The few seconds Octavia took to look at the black thread in her hand was all it took for Black Widow to disappear.

"I'm not used!" exclaimed the arachne at thin air, passing the black collar around her neck almost unconsciously. She barely had the time to hide it under her armour when she heard Lin-Lin.

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There are some capacity humans will never be able to perfectly comprehend. How does flying with wings feel? How do you make one with tree branches?

In arachne's case, there is a certain point in their evolution where their control on their web become so strong they can still use it even once it is cutted off them.

Black Widow considered herself as blessed. She had received her mistress love, blood and training, thanks to her she had become so much powerful than any arachne before her, now she could see, hear, feel and, more importantly, speak by the web, her web.

She may not have been near Octavia, but she was still around, close enough to whisper at her ear, like the wind, like a little voice in her head slowly making her see what she didn't want to.

"How come she thinks she can talk to me like that?" whispered Black Widow when Lin-Lin had asked Octavia to climb the wall, making her think it was a disdainful order.

"Why should I endure the attack of lesser being?" whispered Black Widow when a simple stone was thrown at her, making Octavia attack.

"She treats me like I'm her slave!" whispered the older arachne, making Octavia pushing her friend away with violence.

"She tried to kill me?!" whispered the black arachne when Lin-Lin had done nothing more than attack something behind her, placing yet another doubt in Octavia's heart.

"Why should I lay down my weapon in front of something that attacked me?" whispered Black Widow once the fight was over, making Octavia wonder if she should or not let go of her arrow.

Even from afar, Black Widow felt how dearly Octavia thought about the man who came next, how scared she was of his displeased look.

From her hiding place, the black arachne smiled, knowing the finishing blow was coming.

"Look at his eyes...he hates you...you aren't worthy...he doesn't see you as useful anymore..." came the words of black widow in the young arachne's mind, so low and feeble only she was able to hear them.

Then, Maximilian suggested she should go back to the inn first, and Black Widow almost sighed in a pleasurable feeling of victory, she had won.

"He hates you!" snapped the voice in her head, shattering her heart as she ran away, tears in her eyes.

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Octavia had come back to the inn, ran upstairs and locked the door. Once alone, she had sat on the bed and cry, her head in her hands.

She stayed like that for a minute or two, feeling even more alone than she had felt for her first conscious day, hidden in the potion bag.

Then, falling from her armour, the long black thread slightly tickled her skin, making her look at it.

Remembering the lady's words, she hesitantly took the thread and, slowly, used it like a harp thread.

"You called?" asked a voice right behind her.

Jumping off the bed, Octavia turned around to see Black Widow standing before the open window.

"I...he, they..." tried to say Octavia, but without being able to muster the strength to do it.

Opening her arms in a welcoming hug, Black Widow didn't say a thing at first, simply waiting.

Hesitant a first, Octavia slowly let herself be hugged by the taller arachne, Black Widow caressing her white hair as she cried in her black robe.

"I know how it feels, dear Sister. I know how it feels..."

"I thought they liked me! I thought we were friends!" cried Octavia, her head buried in the woman's chest.

"They will never be, sister. You and I, we are too different for them to really love us. But..."

Against the tall lady, she felt her change, getting taller even.

Looking at Black Widow, she saw her in her true form, a tender smile on the adult arachne's face.

"...You and I, we are the same. You and I, we can be a family."

Slowly, without looking away from Black Widow, Octavia pulled off her ring of masquerade, quickly retrieving her normal form too.

Caressing the young arachne's face, Black Widow looked at her, observing her for a second.

"So white, so pure...you truly are beautiful, sister."

"Thank you...but what should I do now?"

"Now? I will take you with me. I will take you to a place where you will finally have the life you deserve. I will introduce you to your true family, would you want that?"

"Yes...yes, I would." answered the young arachne, almost in trance.

"Then let us go immediately before this man comes back and tries to charm you with yet another lie of his." said Black Widow as she pulled several hairs off Octavia's head.

"What are you?..."

"A little something to be sure he won't come after us." said Black widow as she passed the white hair between her lips before dropping them on the bed, the hair shining slightly.

"Now come, take my hand, sister." said Black Widow as she extended her hand.

"Yes...sister." answered Octavia as she dropped her bow, taking the opened hand before the two disappeared.

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If Maximilian had been fooled by Black Widow's trick, it was because the arachne was a master in the matter of treachery. What she had done to Octavia's hair was to fill them with mana, making them appear as the young arachne herself, an illusion easily seen through if you stood before it, but perfect from behind a closed door to make anyone believe a certain young arachne was still in her room.

And after all, why wouldn't she be? She could pout a bit, she wouldn't be in danger, she was strong, she had her bow, she could escape if she wanted to, why would Maximilian think of anything else than a simple teenager's small argument with him? He simply would come back to her later, once she would be eager to talk to him.

And after all, he had other things to do right now, behind a door leading to a different space and time, a place created by him, hours ago in the normal world, years ago in this one. From where he was, he simply couldn't feel anything from the outside, he was completely cut off, but that wasn't that big of a deal, the fights were over after all.

.

.

.

Weren't they?