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Ch178-New Face Old Friends

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Lola went upstairs to have breakfast with Spring, and the rest of the Sezari household, to give Ria and Sylver some privacy. Sylver sat back into his seat, and the liquid metal woman oozed onto the table directly in front of him and formed herself into a talking face.

“I want to make the world a better place,” Ria said.

Sylver just looked at her and waited before formulating a response.

“But I don’t know how to do that,” Ria added.

There was a couple of seconds of silence, during which the two just stared at each other.

“And I also realize I don’t have a good understanding of what it would mean to ‘make the world a better place.’ I want to go with you, so that I may experience this world, and eventually find a way to make it better,” Ria continued.

The reasoning behind her decision felt… childish.

Not childish, rather it felt simple.

Ria wanted something but didn’t know where it was, so she decided the best course of action to find it was to wait for it to find her.

“And I want Chrys to be taken care of. She stays safe, she doesn’t get hurt, and if she decides not to help you, you don’t force her,” Ria said, while Sylver silently looked down at her, and waited to see if there was anything else.

Sylver clasped his hands together over his stomach and leaned further backward in his seat.

“I have a few conditions. And the first is a deal-breaker if you can’t accept it… If it ever comes to a point where we are given the choice between helping a very large group of people or helping me and mine, we will discuss it, but the choice is ultimately mine to make,” Sylver said.

“Could you elaborate?” Ria asked.

“Let’s say we discover a magical relic that could be used to heal 50,000 people. Or it could be used to make me stronger. In this hypothetical, even if you don’t agree with me, even if you’re certain you’re right, and I’m being selfish, you will respect my choice, and won’t go against me,” Sylver said.

He could see Ria struggle with the hypothetical, but it was only for a brief moment.

“I have no issue with that,” Ria answered.

Her soul was a very strange thing right at this moment, she was calm, but it was a forced calmness, almost like the kind a fighter might impose on himself because panicking in the face of danger would lead to their death.

“Even if my decision will make the world worse off?” Sylver asked.

Ria thought it over before she answered.

“If you are to be believed, I am immortal. Whatever damages are incurred in the short term are irrelevant in the long term. Broken eggs and omelets and all that… While we’re on the subject, when I figure out how I can make the world a better place, if I decide to leave, I want your word that you will allow me to leave unharmed,” Ria said.

Sylver had hoped he hadn’t reacted with his face, but going by the fact that Ria all but bit her lip, she knew he wasn’t happy hearing that.

“I have already told you, Ria, you are a part of my family. I want what’s best for you. As long as you don’t try to hurt me, or any other member of my family, you’re free to do whatever you want,” Sylver said.

He sat up in his seat and was embarrassed by how hurt he felt by Ria’s words.

“I know,” Ria said without so much of a hint of malice.

Sylver had to wonder just how little she thought of him if she actually needed him to say it.

“If at any point you decide to leave, you have my word you won’t be harmed,” Sylver swore.

There was another pause, during which only the fact that Sylver’s gut was telling him to forgive her for this, saved this partnership from being ended there and then.

She was young, Sylver couldn’t apply his way of thinking to her.

Not to mention she wasn’t from the same realm as him and was a creature unlike any other.

“Do you have any other conditions?” Ria asked.

“Don’t lie to me. And don’t lie for me. I will never put you in a position where you’ll be asked a direct question and have to lie, but if you somehow are, always be honest. I know what I’m doing, and if I know you’ll always answer honestly when asked, I can plan around it,” Sylver explained and did his best to put the insult Ria didn’t seem to even be aware of behind them.

“Alright,” Ria said quietly.

Sylver clapped his hands together and Ria’s face lost shape for a split second.

“In that case, I’m very glad to have you on board! Let’s go have pancakes,” Sylver offered, as he stood up from his seat, and lowered his hand towards Ria.

She stared at his black fingernails and moved her face to look up at Sylver again.

“That’s it? What about-”

“Ria, I trust you. I’m very very rarely wrong about these kinds of things. Pay attention, be careful, and when in doubt, ask Spring. He knows me almost as well as I know myself. Your heart is in the right place, and for now, that’s enough for me,” Sylver said and kept his hand within Ria’s reach.

She jumped up onto his hand, and slithered up his arm, to perch on his shoulder.

Ria would later tell him that she didn’t know why she accepted his hand so easily, other than that it felt like the right thing to do.

***

One of the effects of [Horde Of The Half Lich] was [Greater Undead Armament], which essentially functioned the way [Tools Of The Shade] did but wasn’t limited to just tools.

The weapons and armors the perk produced were restricted solely by Sylver’s imagination and mana. It even worked on him, he now could create a sword, dagger, bow, war hammer, ax, shield, helmet, chest plate, gauntlet, spear, scythe, scissors, even something as small as a 1-inch dart.

The only downside was that the durability of the created item was dependent on how much mana Sylver poured into it.

If not for [Greater Undead Channeling] Sylver would have had to manually focus on each individual shade, and individually provide them with the necessary mana to keep their sword, shield, or armor piece in shape. Instead, Spring more or less took what was necessary, and handled the logistics for him.

There was, however, a problem with equipping every single shade with its personal set of armor.

Mana.

Sylver didn’t have enough.

At his supposedly impressive 5,841 MP per minute regeneration, he could grant 8 shades a full set of durable armor, along with a single one-handed short sword, but that was it.

But if he did that, Sylver would be left with almost no mana to cast any other kind of spell. Even giving himself a set of armor and a sword required 10 times the amount of mana a set of [Necrotic Mutilation] armor needed, with arguably less defense to show for it.

The other problem was, and the reason Sylver didn’t just make clothes for Spring using it, was that the created weapons and armors looked near identical to Sylver’s robe when he actively infused it with mana. The creations were so dark they looked like there was a hole in reality, and would most certainly attract unwanted attention.

Which would defeat the whole point of having Spring cover himself in skin.

In the end, Sylver gave the shade a bright green tunic, dark green pants, and a small triangular brown hat, because Spring wanted to wear it.

Sylver didn’t remember ever owning such a hat, but then again, he wasn’t exactly keeping detailed records of what hat he did and didn’t own.

“How do I look? And how did it go with Ria?” Spring asked.

He added the second question as if it was an afterthought, and not something he had been itching to ask since the moment Sylver and Ria returned from the workshop to have breakfast.

Everyone had unanimously accepted a ‘no serious talks at the table’ rule, and the vast majority of the conversation was in regards to what to have for dinner.

Chrys had developed something of an obsession with food, according to Maul and Ging. She was gradually building up a tolerance to new tastes and was steadily progressing towards trying cinnamon pancakes.

“She’s in, for the time being. My understanding is that she still views me as some sort of calamity-inducing monstrosity. She also seems to have grown attached to Chrys, and in her mind, working for me and helping me is how she can help Chrys,” Sylver answered, as Spring pulled his scabbard onto his other side, and tested to see how easy the sword was to withdraw.

“She mentioned that Doctor Abel lost his daughter when she was 10 years old. Given the way Ria’s soul was formed, there’s a good chance she’s projecting the dead daughter onto Chrys,” Spring said.

Sylver had been vaguely aware of the topics Ria and Spring discussed while Sylver wasn’t paying attention, but hearing the shade say it out loud made the vague information clearer. Ria regarded Doctor Abel, the researcher who had supposedly created her, as something of a father figure, which meant Spring’s theory was all the more possible.

“Might be… But it’s a good thing, regardless of the reason. Mentally Ria is around Chrys’ age. She isn’t human, obviously, but her mentality is human… ish… It might be a good idea to keep them together as much as possible, so that when Chrys grows and matures, so will Ria,” Sylver offered.

A white blur briefly blocked his sight of Spring, and Sylver now had a steaming hot teapot sitting in front of him, on a table that hadn’t been there a moment prior.

Now that his senses had sharpened, and evolved, Sylver could feel the field the rabbits used that allowed them to move so quickly. They were actively altering their primal energy field, and extending it, to allow them to move at high speeds without burning up from air resistance.

Sylver had seen similar magic before, but this was his first time seeing it so well executed, not to mention, ingrained into a bloodline.

Sadly, there wasn’t all that much that could be done with their magic.

They were fast, sure, but it was limited to them, and their bloodline.

Not to mention, with the system in place, the restrictions imposed on them meant that their speed was useless in a fight. They were great at escaping, running away, but the second they actively attacked someone, they lost their ability to move fast for an entire minute.

Ging told Sylver that he heard a rumor about a small group of rabbits that would set up hundreds of traps within the time it took their targets to blink. But then explained that it wasn’t just attacking that was the problem, any kind of ‘aggressive’ behavior on their part made them lose their speed.

“Make the world a better place… It has a nice ring to it,” Spring repeated, as he leaned down to tie his shoelaces.

“Oh, it has a wonderful ring. But it is curious that she specified improving the world, as opposed to fixing or saving it. She is either repeating a phrase she heard from someone else, or she took my advice to make her promises specific and achievable, to heart… It doesn’t really matter,” Sylver concluded, as Spring went to tie his other shoe.

“I like it. Making the world a better place,” Spring said wistfully. “Wait, what was that?” Spring asked.

“Hmm?”

“You just felt sorry for her? Why?” Spring doubled down.

Sylver briefly considered giving Spring a proper answer but decided against it.

“I’ll tell you when you’re older,” Sylver promised.

“I was a fully grown man when you killed me! And you’re a fully grown man 1,000 times over, even if I’m only 10% you, I’m a fully grown adult,” Spring exclaimed.

“I meant to say, I’ll tell you when Ria is older. Or when she decides she has learned enough to leave and try to make the world a better place on her own,” Sylver explained, as he took a sip from his cup of tea.

Spring stared at him, and in a very weird way, it warmed Sylver’s heart that he was already so attached and loyal to Ria. Not as much as he was to Sylver, but it was nice to see that the shade had a close companion.

“It’s about the gods, isn’t it? That if she ever tries to make any kind of real change to the world, they’ll form an alliance to stop her. Like they did to Aether,” Spring asked, and could tell by the sudden tightening in Sylver’s jaw, as well as the raw reaction he could feel in the tether that connected them to one another.

“If she is aware of them, they will find her immediately… Actually… They might not, Aether proved their source of information is via clairvoyancy, and no one can see Ria’s future…” Sylver’s voice trailed off as he started to try and figure out a way to test this to know for sure.

“You don’t want to tell her just in case there’s a limit to magic not affecting her. And the you know what on top of that,” Spring theorized.

“If abyss magic doesn’t work on her, nothing will… Anyway, we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it. How do you feel? Comfortable?” Sylver asked, and all but ordered Spring to drop the subject.

“I feel great, thank you. I will admit it feels very strange to taste things. I don’t like pancakes though, at least I don’t think I do. I think I have a craving for rice,” Spring said.

“Tell Maul to make you some. Actually, don’t, we can ask Salgok to make some,” Sylver said, as he walked over to Spring and adjusted his hat, and used a bit of water to smooth back Spring’s unruly hair until it sat flat against his head before he put the hat back on.

As they left the bedroom, Spring’s hair went right back to sticking out from beneath the hat, and after 3 attempts to fix it, Sylver gave up.