《Strawberry Devil in a Fantasy World》 Chapter 1 – A Plant Oh god, why? Strawberry plant? He forced me to incarnate as a strawberry plant. All I asked was to be incarnated as a god, but why strawberry plant? Now, I''d become a genderless not that plants normally had genders anyway. It was like a prank gone wrong. I meant, I rather be a goblin than making strawberries. The only saving grace was that I wasn''t a normal strawberry plant, I think. My senses had all changed. I had basically lost my five senses. Did I have a sixth sense? Probably not. Vegetative state? No! I refuse to be a vegetable. Just kidding. The least I could do was feel my way toward sunlight so I could grow up healthy. I had nothing else to do anyway. Days passed or so I believed. I broke through the surface! That feeling of liberation from eternal darkness was truly blissful. Being a plant sure changed my perspectives. Seriously, I used to hate sunlight. It was my archenemy! Pitter-padder. Oh? Could this be? Pitter-padder. I could feel it, the vibrations. This must be the rain. I could faintly feel moisture from my immediate surroundings. Pitter-padder. Being soaked all the way down felt super refreshing. Pitter-padder. Days passed, or so I felt. I was bored. I tried to sleep but I couldn''t. I tried to wake up, but how could a plant wake up? It wasn''t like I felt tired or anything. As long as I was nourished, life was good! Sometimes I tried to feel with my roots and my greens to get an idea where I was. Rip. Who did that!? Munch. Munch. Stop! Munch. No! Stomp. I barely had the chance to grow and I was already bald. Ermm, I meant, barren. I demand retribution! I shouted at the heavens, not that anyone could hear me. A plant was a plant. I didn''t even know what took so much out of. Despite my losses, I actually didn''t feel any pain. Next time, next time! The victory shall be mine! I''ll strangle whoever tries to munch on me. I dug my roots deeper and had them spread wider. One of these days, I''ll accomplish great things! God, you just watch. [Level up available.] Have I gone crazy from boredom? I thought to myself. Am I in a fantasy world? Is it really one of those clich¨¦ events? I pondered. I pondered very much to the point that my newly grown leaves wilted. Who cares? I''m already screwed up, level me up! [Level 2.] How about my status? Do I get any of that? Nothing new showed up. There were so much I wanted to know, like how the experience system works or what level up did. Right now, I felt nothing new. Another few quiet days passed. I''m so thirsty, where''s my rain? My call was answered. Flooosh. Something unexpected came instead. You can''t be serious. I''d be a laughingstock if any of my old friends saw me like this! Warm liquid flooded my domain. Yuck. Curse you! Go drown yourself or something. The next day, actual rain came and removed the stench off me. It wasn''t like I could smell anything but the idea of something stinking me gave me the shivers. [Level up available.] Again? Whatever, I''ll level up. [Level 3 Plant.] I was right. I received more information now that I leveled up again. I didn''t feel anything different. My roots were the same, and my greens were the same. Nothing changed at all, literally nothing at all. I didn''t even feel smarter or anything. More time passed. My first flower! Finally, after so many setbacks, my first flower blossomed. I waited and waited. A bee, or so I believed, came to pollinate my first flower. Thank you whatever you are! You have my eternal gratitude! Crunch. Sorry, what? I felt something gooey stuck in my flower. [Level up available.] I was so happy that I received a bee that my body all tensed up. Who knew? My flower could crunch things? Given how I received that message, that whatever must have died and I received some type of experience. Mr. Bee, you didn''t die in vain. I''m leveling up! [Level 4 Plant; Species: N/A.] It really wasn''t helpful at all. For one, I now knew that I wasn''t a normal strawberry plant. Second, I was never good at biology but my flower wasn''t normal. Third, I now understood how to level up! It was time to grow lots of flowers. Blood sacrifices are needed for my growth. Thus I shall spare no one! I grew as many flowers as I could and waited patiently. Crunch. Hm? Where''s my level up message? Did I need more experience or something? Crunch. Crunch. [Level up available.] My patience paid off. Level up! [Level 5 Plant; Species: Strawberry Plant (mutated); Traits: N/A.] Neat, but what is this mutated thing? If I remember correctly, mutation usually means a good thing? Hurray! Hmm... I wonder if I look nice and pretty. I was sure if I looked nice and pretty, more bees would come to me. Honestly, I couldn''t change my appearances even if I tried. It was all in the genetics. Crunch. Crunch. More time had passed. I felt as if my level up speed had slowed down to a crawl. [Level 8 Plant; Species: Strawberry Plant (mutated); Traits: Bewitching, Devious; Abilities: N/A.] Hey, who are you calling devious? I''m a nice plant! I even spared some of them so I could grow a strawberry. Recently, nothing ever tried to eat me or anything. Strawberry time? The day after I thought that, something came for me. It wasn''t even funny. I bet that god sent it to harass the penniless me. Munch. Munch. Munch. Curse you! You pig! Go die from diarrhea! Munch. Then the munching stopped. However, half of my leaves and most of my flowers were all gone by now. Whatever it was, it was merciless, even my unripe strawberry was eaten. Splat. Splurg. Whatever it was hurried away after probably leaving a mess next to me. For now, I had to grow back all my lost flowers and greens. Life was harsh but I shall persevere. [Level up available.] I hadn''t killed anything recently. The last thing I interacted with was whatever munched away so much of me. The way I leveled up was like the first two times I received the message. Either I could level up with the passage of time or it had to do with my cursing? I decided to test it out later. Level up! [Level 10 Plant; Species: Strawberry Plant (mutated); Traits: Bewitching, Devious; Abilities: Absorption.] Two levels at once? Neat! What''s this new ability? It sounds useful but I wonder how I''m supposed to use it? Hmm... Let me try absorbing the gooey mess. Since much of their fluids had seeped underground, I reached out with my roots into those pockets of nutrients. However, to my disappointment, I was only absorbing those nutrients normally. I didn''t feel any boosts. They were just regular nutrients. I guess nothing is that easy, eh? After absorbing as much nutrients as I could before the rainwater diluted them, my growth increased exponentially. My body doubled my previous size, and so did my flowers and leaves. Mr. Bee, it''s your favourite, twice the size! Let me show you some love! Sniff. Nibble. Nibble. Huh? I didn''t ask for that, did I? Who do you think you are? Although I couldn''t see, it was definitely a furry thing. It had wiggled its way around and I could feel it with my leaves and stems. Enough is enough! I tugged at the flower being nibbled away. Ah, how I wished I could see. It would make things so much easier. Hmm? It stopped? I could feel that it was still there except it was no longer moving. [Evolution Paths Unlocked.] Seriously? What is this madness? Of course I''m evolving! blanksphere Chapter 2 – My First Evolution There were two options for me: [Strawberry Bush (mutated)] and [Notorious Strawberry Plant (mutated)]. Neither of them sounded that great. The thing that bothered me was the word in bracket. What''s up with this mutation thing? Me? Please, I''m perfectly normal. I thought really hard about which one was better. The first option likely meant I would grow bigger. The second option likely meant something to do with poison since I had already been killing random things with poison and curses. Well, I don''t need to grow bigger, but seriously I hate being stomped. Regardless I would grow bigger as time went by. Let''s pick the second choice! [Level 11 Plant; Species: Notorious Strawberry Plant (mutated); Traits: Alluring, Devious; Abilities: Absorption; Description: N/A.] Oh hey, new field is added. I wonder what my description is. I couldn''t tell what the evolution did until a visitor came to greet me. Calling it a greeting would be far-fetched. It came to rob me! It tried to snatch away my first ever strawberry. It was my precious! Mr. Robber, you rob me and I rob you. Call it a fair exchange, you know? It''s nothing personal. Snap. Chi. It got itself stuck in my thorns. Crunch. Crunch. Then, as it tried to free itself, it was caught in one of my flowers. Rip. Whatever it was, it sure left quite a bit of mess behind even though my first ever strawberry was now gone. What a depressing day. I quickly spread my roots to absorb the leftover. Nutrient is nutrient! Nothing goes to waste. Nom nom nom. Some time had passed. I felt some tiny things crawling on me. It gave me the tingling sensations all over my body. Stop! You insects! Where''s my insect repellents when I need them? They even made a near my crown. You just wait. I''ll get you one day. I actually tried cursing them but nothing worked. That made me wonder if my targets had to harm me first before a curse could actually affect them. It wasn''t like these things tried to harm me but having creepy crawlies all over me wasn''t a happy feeling. I couldn''t even get goosebumps even if I wanted to. Stressing out wasn''t going to help. After a while, I actually got used to it. Could anyone actually believe that? Anyhow, I tried growing more flowers for now. Crunch. Crunch. Ohohoho... Some birdies tried to pick a fight with the creepy crawlies hidden here. And, my flowers had somehow caught them. However, before I could absorb the good stuff, those creepy crawlies sprang into action to steal my loot. That was not acceptable to me. It was I who killed those birdies. Stealing loot is a crime punishable by smites! [Level Up Available.] Not yet. Since my previous level, I could slightly move my body, but too slow to be called movements. With my tremendous effort, I moved my flowers and leaves to cover my loots. Please make it otherwise I''m smiting you all for real. It just wasn''t realistic for me to make it in time. Fine, I''ll let you go this time since you did the luring. You insects, go lure some more so I can level up faster! The least I got was the left over juice. Nothing new showed up for this new level up. Grr... How disappointing! Well, this wasn''t the first time nothing new showed up when I gained a level. [Level 12 Plant; Species: Notorious Strawberry Plant (mutated); Traits: Alluring, Devious; Abilities: Absorption; Description: N/A.] It didn''t take long before more these little crawlies left their nest to search for more food. They should at least offer me something in return for sheltering them from predators. You ungrateful brats, I demand sacrifice. Again, since they hadn''t directly harmed me, I couldn''t curse them. In any case, I still wasn''t sure if curses did anything or if it was all due to my inherent traits that killed. I really wished I had eyes to see. Life would be so much better if I could see. Hopefully next evolution would grant me eyesight. I could always hope even though there was no way plants could see. That would be like expecting worms to transform into humans. I placed my bet on this fantasy world. Unfortunately, for the next while, no predators came after those crawlies. A few pollinators came but I left them alive, otherwise others wouldn''t come to me. Days passed and my second strawberry was born! Pollinators, you have made yourselves useful to me! Now I can attract more preys, ehehehe... For every three pollinators that came, I spared one. That was how generous I was. The only issue now was that those crawlies decided that my strawberry was their next meal. I dare you! I left my strawberry out in the open so they had to compete with whatever predators was out there. Crush. Splurg. Nooooooo! A third of my body was stomped, literally stomped by someone''s foot. All of my efforts to grow a strawberry was flushed down the drain like that. I was too depressed to even curse the perpetrator. The only ones that were eager were those crawlies that quickly went for the leftovers. Ah whatever, I''ll just keep trying. One of these days, you just watch. I had to reclaim the lost nutrients that I had spent on that strawberry. This time I focused on growing flowers and leaves without spending any energy on strawberries. This way I could level up quicker. The more pollinators I kill, the more nutrients I obtained. As a bonus, I got to level up. [Level 15 Plant; Species: Notorious Strawberry Plant (mutated); Traits: Alluring, Devious; Abilities: Absorption; Description: A highly toxic species of strawberry plant that lures preys to their demise using their flowers and berries.] Huh? If my strawberry is supposed to lure preys, why did it get stomped? Stupid description if I say so myself. The editor needs to get fired. Luckily, before all the strawberry mess was cleaned up, two birdies I believe were lured over, and I was able to capitalize on them. None escaped the jaws of my flowers when their curiosity got the better of them. Nom nom nom. Chapter 3 – Addicted to Strawberries? I didn''t know what happened but the creepy crawlies had gone into a frenzy after their strawberry leftovers were all eaten up. I wonder if my berries have addictive properties. There''s only one way to find out! I had saved up quite a bit of energy and nutrients recently thanks to all those kind sacrifices. Three strawberries coming right up. And what did I sense? Those crawlies were all huddling near where the strawberries were growing. They were literally guarding them with their lives on the line and in plain sight of any passing predators. Oh? Maybe I should spare a few predators so I could get more food. Words of mouth really was the best way to advertise products. I felt like I was a owner of some illegal drug making company. Whatever the case, there was nothing wrong with me. I was just trying to survive in this harsh world. Maybe being a plant isn''t that bad!? No, no, no... I need to think bigger! Dream bigger! Live bigger! The strawberries really worked wonders. My visitor counter had increased exponentially. This also had to do with the number of flowers I had which had since increased to fifteen. They weren''t regularly flowers, sure, and most of them couldn''t turn into strawberries, sure, but they were the reason why I could grow so well. Food was important! I literally had stored away more nutrients than I knew what to do with. Bah, I''ll grow more strawberries! The business is sure booming these days. Ehehehe... Whatever was happily feasting on my strawberries were my customers, forever and ever until the day they became fertilizers. My experiment was truly outrageously successful! There was just one odd thing I couldn''t understand. Some of the crawlies were willingly sacrificing themselves into my flowers. Their behaviour defied what I believed were possible for mere insects. Did they possibly know that I needed lots of nutrients and energies to grow strawberries? I had tried to keep a constant supply of strawberries but they just kept demanding more, or so I assumed based on their behaviors. Some of them even tried to pollinate the flowers only to fail miserably. The pollinators that only went to the flowers were unaffected but I didn''t know why they kept coming back. Was it the nectars? Whatever the case, keep coming! Why complain about free food? Over time the population of that creepy crawlies nest dwindled. It wasn''t because of the predators but rather they kept sacrificing themselves until I couldn''t produce enough strawberries. Right, their entire nest became addicts. Was it part of my plan? Well, I didn''t plan anything. Plants couldn''t do that therefore I claimed innocence. Things had been pretty crazy recently. Furry critters had been visiting and making contacts with me. I didn''t dislike them but some of them were quite forceful with me, tearing my leaves off with the strawberries. For those, I cursed them and hoped they died from food poisoning or something. Whether they actually died, I didn''t know but what I did know was that my levels were shooting up. [Level 20 Plant; Species: Notorious Strawberry Plant (mutated); Traits: Bewitching, Devious, Rapid Growth; Abilities: Absorption; Description: A highly toxic species of strawberry plant that lures preys to their demise using their flowers and berries.] Yay! Won''t you look at that, a new trait! Hmm... I wonder if it just allows me to grow faster? I honestly don''t fully understand what these traits did. My guess was that they altered my body in ways as described. For example, "alluring" allowed me to produce addictive substances to help me attract more preys. As for "devious", maybe it allowed me to be poisonous? Anyway, the other day, I was able to figure out what absorption did, or at least partially. Some worms had crawled into my domain underground and made contact with my roots. Just by contact, I felt an excessive flow of life energy into me, more than the usual I received from the earth. Other than that, the ability was useless unless I could get my roots to touch more living things. The carcasses were mostly cleaned up by those creepy crawlies. Aside from strawberries, they ate anything. In a sense, I kind of needed them to stay alive but I had no way to curb their addictions. Addiction was a path of destruction. I wonder how big I am now? I grew large enough that the creepy crawlies'' nest was smaller than even a single leaf of mine. I thought to myself how one day I would be able to feast on bigger preys. The issue was the lack of reference. Finally, after who knew how long had passed, my next evolution option came! Again, I was given two options: [Notorious Strawberry Bush (mutated)] or [Strawberry Imp (lesser)]. The first option seemed too plain to me. The second option was very intriguing to say the least. I wasn''t sure what it meant to be an imp but that at least wasn''t a plant of some type. I made up my mind. Imp it is. You got to be bold to move forward! [Level 1 Fey Plant; Species: Strawberry Imp (lesser); Traits: Bewitching, Devious, Rapid Growth, Cloning; Abilities: Absorption, Charm; Description: A dangerous fey plant that lures in their prey before leeching all of their life forces.] blanksphere Chapter 4 – My Eyes! The changes in my status was huge. My level dropped? What, why? I''m starting fresh again? Only then I noticed that there was an extra word tagging along. A fey? Is that like a fairy? I''m fairy now? A lesser one is still a fairy. My traits and abilities were upgraded. That was quite nice. As for my description, it was as I expected, I was a dangerous hooligan. Thankfully there were no death counters showing up in my status. If that was showing, it would be in the hundreds. I didn''t know what |cloning| really meant here. Did that mean I could duplicate my bodies? I tried to feel my body for any changes. Hmm... Nothing? Nothing!? Are you for real!? Seriously? And I''m level 1 now. This feeling of disappointment struck me like lightning. I wasn''t even in the mood to feel depressed. God, you must be trolling me. I didn''t even go that far. Some time had passed since my evolution into a fey plant. Is it me or am I moving faster? Well, there''s only me so it''s just me. Maybe the effects of evolution has set in? I should try something. I tried tugging, squeezing and all sorts of movements I could think of. Pop. Eh? Eh!? EHHH!? I''m out? I was actually seeing my physical body. It looked nothing like strawberry plant that I remembered. The leaves and fruits bear some resemblance but the flower was a different story. I wasn''t sure if it had to do with two evolutions and mutation but there was no way I could call something like that a flower. I was quite aware that my biology knowledge was beyond terrible. Still, was there a flower that looked something like this? Ugly wasn''t the right word either. It was downright creepy. The only resemblance it had with a normal strawberry flower was that the centre was yellow and there were petals. Nectars and pollens were in the centre which was all good. As for the petals, there were six per flower. Those were like huge jaws with the tip of each petal having short sticky tendrils like a fly trap. Yes, a mutated fly trap was the closest I could describe it. Anything careless that touched the sticky tendrils would be caught in my traps. That made a whole lot of sense as to why some kept getting stuck to my flowers. The leaves weren''t much friendlier looking. Needles, lots of dangerous looking barbed needles were growing out of those thick green leaves. If I was a human, I wouldn''t want to touch it for the life of me. I might as well be called a strawberry cactus. The only parts that appeared the most normal were the stems. They were just slightly furry with soft needles. I was kidding, the strawberries looked most normal. There weren''t any spikes or needles on the reddish strawberries. The glossy look and the sweet scent must have been enduring for any passerby. Looking closely between the stems and leaves, those tiny creepy crawlies I had been referring to looked like some type of beetle. Originally I thought they were ants but this was a fantasy world after all. Finally, my immediate surroundings, I was within a sparsely populated forest. There were some trees but none of them were close to me. Shrubs and grasses covered majority of the forest floor. This body is quite nice. I can see super well. Perhaps it was better to call it a fey body? I had a green humanoid body with arms and legs. On my back were two pairs of red and white fairy wings. My hair was blonde. All of the colors on me were from the colors of the strawberry plant itself. Overall, my body was somewhat translucent since this wasn''t a physical body. I doubted others could actually see me. I looked downward at my fey body. Nothing? Nada. I know I''m a plant but seriously? Any gender is fine. This feeling of lack thereof is unsettling. Maybe I''ll develop one later, maybe? With evolution thing, you never know. I tried flying around to see if there were any limits on this body. As I did, I saw some flies dashing my way. They were relentless as if trying to smash into me. Woah there, woah there! You can actually see me? What in the world is going on? Buzz off! I hurried back to my plant body before anything dangerous could target me. I seriously didn''t want this fey body to be injured. Who knew what would end up happening to me if my fey body was eaten? If I understood my situation correctly, then this fey body was where my consciousness was. Once I had left the plant body, it was still alive but it was now only reacting subconsciously. I could feel both bodies. Either way, I didn''t want either one to be injured. Therefore I decided if I needed to rest or sleep, I would do so inside the plant body. It took me some time to get used to entering and exiting the plant body. All that time spent was super worth it! Reason? I could now see what I was killing, not that they looked tasty or anything. Let me clarify, those pollinators weren''t bees as I originally believed. It would be odd if bees were universal, it really would be. Seriously, what were those flying things? They looked like flying maggots with their winged squirmy body. My appetite. All gone. There were some other familiar looking flying critters that looked like bats and birds or maybe both. Honestly, none of them looked tasty. To me, this was an ugly world. The only thing here that looked tasty were my strawberries, but I couldn''t eat myself right? What would I even call myself? A cannibal? No, no, no, that was taboo. A lot of time I just sat under my leaves and thinking about nothing. I had nothing to worry about, nothing at all. I was too tiny to be noticed so there was no issue with me sitting around. Actually, when was the last time this place rained? I totally forgot about it since I was being offered liquids for my sustenance for nearly as long as I could remember. Looking around, I might as well be living in the desert. All the shrubs and grasses were all dried up. The only ones that remained green were the trees and my leaves. Isn''t this really bad? Before I could ponder much more, one of the creepy crawlies I had been sheltering crawled up next to me. blanksphere Chapter 5 – Smoke? "Little fella, what more do you want from me?" To make a comparison, it was twice the size of my fey body. It could probably even act as my ride. They treated me like a god or something, providing live offers and chunks of my strawberries. How they were able to figure I was part of the plant was beyond me. "Nothing? Figures." I thought about it again. "I want to ride you!" There was no way I could have rode a beetle in my past life. This was only possible with my current size. In any case, whether it understood my intentions or not, I exclaimed, "Ready or not" before I hopped on its back. Clunk. "Don''t tell me I''m heavy or else. Now, get a move on." Slowly, it carried me back to its nest where others were resting. These beetles were super lazy, doing nothing every day except claiming the spoils of my labor. Crash. That was fun, kind of. New experience! It wasn''t so fun for the beetle. Whatever had happened, it seemed to have died from that short ride. You''re kidding me. Did I just overwork it to death? Are you for real? No. Way. "You all need to do some work outs. This is unacceptable!" I gave them a thorough lecture on the important of stretching and exercising. As a plant though, I was exempt. I didn''t need to do as I preached. In the end, that beetle I was riding on didn''t actually die. It just went into a self preservation mode. It wasn''t like they could understand me or anything. They just huddled around me as if praying to a holy figure. An imp wasn''t supposed to be holy. If I remembered correctly, it was supposed to be a devious creature that played tricks. I didn''t mind playing the evil role not that I was evil. It was called survival with a twist! Now that I had a fey body, I felt that time was passing slower. Every day I watched the sunrises, the sunsets, and the starry nights devoid of any clouds. There wasn''t a single moon to be seen. Rain, where are you? Even I can''t go on without water. Without enough water, I couldn''t continue creating more nectars to attract visitors. That was just how bad it was. No one was going to munch on my leaves and I had yet to see any large animals that could be used as sacrifices to replenish my lost fluids. Just when I thought things couldn''t get any worse, a haze drifted in. Cough. Cough. Bad, bad, this is really bad! What to do...! In the worst case scenario, a forest fire had started somewhere and it was burning its way here. In the best case scenario, I would live through the forest fire or this was just my imagination. Regardless, I wouldn''t die because my roots were deep. However, to keep myself safe, I need to keep the fire from reaching me if possible. "You insects, get working! I want a trench dug around me ASAP." Did they understand? Whether they understood or not, they started digging not around my plant body but rather beneath my plant body. They''re digging underground for safety? What about me? I don''t want to start from scratch again. You traitors! It did take some time before the crackling ambers made their way here. There was no way I could fight the fire. Heck, I''m following you all underground. Leave no man behind! Or, would that be leave no fey behind? I grabbed a strawberry seed from the leftovers and carried it with me. The tunnels these beetles dug were wide enough that I could easily stroll in. They were actually quite smart to be steering clear of my roots. I guess they aren''t in a situation to be sacrificing their own members right now. Sometimes, touching my roots were unavoidable. However, seeing how they were doing their best to survive right now, I too did my best holding back my passive ability otherwise their casualties could mount pretty quickly. "Dig faster! I don''t want to burn. Cooked strawberries aren''t tasty!" From the time I first saw the fire until I started receiving burns was a bit too quick. Hot. Hot! Ow, ow, owwiee! I didn''t think plants could feel heat but apparently my plant body felt heat just fine. It wasn''t a sensation I enjoyed either. God, give me some rain. This isn''t funny! So, here I was, sitting in an underground sauna while praying to the same guy who turned me into a strawberry plant. What could I say? I was afraid if I had bad thoughts, that rain wouldn''t come. Boom! Roar! Did my prayer work? I was still feeling the intense heat. Nothing changed. The loud booms continued repeatedly every few seconds. Meanwhile, my plant body was already burnt to a crisp, leaving only the roots underground still unharmed or so I believed. I''m still alive? It was already a miracle that I was alive. "Good job, I''ll reward you for your hard work!" I said to the beetles resting with me. It was just deep enough to prevent the dangerous heat from cooking us alive. When I peeked out of our tunnel, I could see a thick covering over the sky as if a thunderstorm was passing. Not a single droplet of rain landed as if god was teasing me. Flash. Boom! A lightning strike shattered a tree near me. Holy smokes, that was scary. I better stay underground until rain comes. I quickly returned to the hideout and waited for the disaster to pass. I wasn''t going to mess with mother nature. While I waited, I tried something as everyone in fantasy settings would surely have tried. Status. [Level 3 Insect; Species: Po-Nealo; Traits: Sloth, Servant; Abilities: N/A; Descriptions: A type of insect that likes to live in groups.] The beetles actually had such stats. There was one thing I was curious about. That was the |servant|. I wondered if it had anything to do with their behaviors. It didn''t matter to me anyway. The next I tried to seeing status on my fey body. [Level 7 Fey (homeless); Species: Strawberry Imp (lesser); Traits: Bewitching, Devious, Rapid Growth, Cloning; Abilities: Absorption, Charm; Description: A dangerous plant fey that lures their preys before leeching all of their life force.] You''re kidding, right? Who are you calling homeless? My plant body is clearly still there. Then I checked my plant body, or rather, the remaining roots. [Level 1 Fey Plant (clone).] This doesn''t make sense. What''s a clone supposed to mean? Does it mean I can spread them and they''re all me? [Level 1 Fey Plant (seed).] The seed on the other hand made sense. It was after all just a regular seed. The levels had all returned to one though. I wasn''t happy with that but it was reasonable. Chapter 6 – Rain and Clones My patience had paid off. Torrential downpour flooded my temporary living quarter. We had to evacuate immediately or risk drowning. Because my plant body was technically no longer there other than just some clones or scattered, I couldn''t return my fey body into my plant body. Basically I was stuck outside with nowhere to hide. It sucked but what could I do about it? What was terrible was that if I stayed at the surface, the stupidly massive rain droplets came crashing down like a meteorite shower, the water version. They hurt like hell and I couldn''t dodge them at all. I might as well be dodging thousands of bullets coming at me. What were those beetles doing? They were digging some more like some drones each carrying an air bubble under their head like oxygen tanks. It can''t be? Are they smarter than me? I know I''m a plant but this is a disgrace. I''m lower than insects now? I couldn''t replicate what they were doing. I just felt that was too suicidal for me. My body wasn''t built for that. Instead, I decided to run to the nearest shelter, under that burnt fallen tree from earlier. Ready. Set. Dash! I flew at top speed. Believing I was some fighter jet, I zoomed toward that tree. Did I make it? No. I got smacked down in less than two seconds after I took off. Basically, it was face plant. God, why!? We could have gotten along so well. We really could have. As much as I wanted to cry, plants couldn''t cry and nor could a green little imp like me cry. That feature, it wasn''t added to this body. Cough. Cough. You know what, I''ve had enough. Do what you please! Poke. What''s this? I was completely soaked and my body hurt everywhere from constant water bombs. Without a giving me a cue, something made the muddy earth bulge, pushing me up. Are you trying to send me to heavens? Is it that time already? On a serious note, I knew what it was. One of my root pieces or clones was growing and sprouting. It was as if I was some kind of root vegetable, or worse, those undying weeds found in lawns. Regardless, this growth was way too quick. Perhaps that trait "rapid growth" had kicked in? I didn''t know. There was no one to answer any of my questions. [Level 1 Fey Plant (clone); Species: Strawberry Imp (lesser); Traits: Bewitching, Devious, Rapid Growth, Cloning; Abilities: Absorption, Charm; Description: A dangerous plant fey that lures their preys before leeching all of their life force.] It was too painful to be in my fey body. Even if I was to become level one again, I was okay with it. It didn''t too long for me to level up, and leveling up really didn''t do anything for me as far as I was aware other than opening up evolution paths. Argh! I''m merging. It actually allowed me to merge easily into this sprout. My pain was gone too. It was truly just the miracle I needed other than removing this stupidly heavy rainfall. It showed no signs of letting up. I''m feeling better already, phew. I did not buy into the "no pain no gain" shenanigans. No pain, all the gain! I checked my status again to see if there were any changes to the clone body. [Level 7 Fey Plant (main); Species: Strawberry Imp (lesser); Traits: Bewitching, Devious, Rapid Growth, Cloning; Abilities: Absorption, Charm; Description: A dangerous plant fey that lures their preys before leeching all of their life force.] Neat, I can convert clones to main bodies? I wonder if there''s more to it. For now, I waited for the rain to pass. What''s this faint pulling sensation? It wasn''t just from one direction but multiple directions. I could feel this gentle tugging sensation from the ground around my burnt plant body. I didn''t have to wait long to see the cause. That was because the rain actually passed not too long after, thankfully. Seven sprouts had broke through the surface. More clones. I''m officially a ninja now. Hmm... Maybe I should start spreading my bodies as an insurance? I don''t want to be burnt up again. Thinking along that line, I came up with a list of body parts that might make this work. Roots were tested and okayed. All that was left was everything else. I really wasn''t sure seeds worked since they might end up becoming new individuals. What I wanted were clones which had nothing to do with babysitting. While I was pondering about life like a melancholic philosopher, the beetles had all resurfaced like miners that had just resurfaced. I was flabbergasted with their survivability. "How did you all survive? Is your cousin the cockroach? I don''t know what I would do with you all if you gain a ''survivor'' trait of some sort." I wasn''t exasperated or anything but rather intrigued. They would make the perfect slave workers if I could command them. No, no, no, I''m not like that. I corrected my thoughts before I could deviate too much. I still wanted to keep my humanity even though I was in this state. From an outsider perspective, I was probably just a lunatic talking to itself. Plants, why no gender! Why! God, is it because you received too many gender inequality complaints? I promise I won''t complain. Anyway, time passed quite quickly when I was merged with the plant body. Every day, I watched the beetles frenzying around, sometimes fighting one another, or downright unmoving. They really went cold turkeys without my strawberries. So this is what happens when I take drugs away from drug addicts... How interesting! That was just a side observation from me but it didn''t take long for my clones and main body to grow up nice and healthy. Food sources were scarce but the beetles were generous enough to sacrifice themselves to me. They really loved those strawberries. The only issue was that they didn''t know how to pollinate the flowers so I had to do it. This feels so weird, you know? I''m pollinating myself? I felt like I just lost something important. No. Way. Mind boggled. It wasn''t like I was lazing around either. With no predators around at the moment, I tested cloning myself with every single part of my plant body. And, what did I find out? It didn''t make sense, but as long as the pieces were large enough, they were considered clones. Of course, I didn''t plant my clones next to me. I personally carried them as far as I could before dropping them. How I wished that these beetles could make themselves useful as couriers! I wasn''t sure if there was a rainy season here or not, but rain had came almost once every two days. These were the light rain that weren''t overbearing for the tiny me. There were no complaints from me. Not only that, I appreciated it since rain really helped my new clones sprout and grow. It was the start of my new empire, my strawberry empire! "Mwuaahahaha...!" Oops. No one heard that. I''m a good plant. blanksphere Chapter 7 – A Seedling Sprouted Ah crap I forgot. That seed I had saved during the fire sprouted next to me. Unfortunately the beetles didn''t crack it and eat it like they normally did. No, this wasn''t like those unexpected pregnancies. What to do, what to do? I could just kill. At the same time, I was curious as to what it would end up as. Mommy or Daddy? I bet it would just call me Nanny. I wouldn''t want that. Status! [Level 1 Fey Plant; Species: Strawberry Imp (lesser); Traits: Bewitching, Devious, Rapid Growth, Cloning; Abilities: Absorption, Charm; Description: A dangerous plant fey that lures their preys before leeching all of their life force.] God, you can''t be serious. Everything is the same? Don''t you have any creativity? I faced a crisis. Going by my previous world''s knowledge, either I could go for an abortion or I kept it. Who knew plants had to go through this as well? Three days and three nights of pondering only led me to one decision: keep. I figured it could be useful to me later. If it proved troublesome, I would nip it by killing it using my absorption ability. I was the older one therefore I should be able to overpower it. Alright, my mind is made up. I let you live but I''m not taking care of you. My expectations fell through. After many days, that little sprout didn''t level up nor showed any signs of being a fey. Am I taking too many preys? Oh well, you''re on your own. I''m on a trip now! Bahahaha... Adios. Exactly, I was on a trip. My clones were spreading far and wide. Every a hundred meters or so, I would bury a piece of my plant body. Once the clones matured a bit, I would merge with them to bring up their levels to my fey body''s level. This happened over and over again until I had hundreds of clones spread out across the vast wilderness. There was only one part that couldn''t be used as a clone. That was my fey body. I tried to cut myself one time, and it hurt like crazy! I wasn''t suicidal, I swear! Anyway, I didn''t bleed or anything but I found out that my fey body could regenerate if I merged then came out of a plant body. And, if I didn''t merge, that pain wouldn''t stop and the wound wouldn''t heal no matter how long I waited. Could it be that I can''t leave without my plant bodies? What a stupid restriction! The number of clones I had seemed to positively affect my level increase. It made me wonder if they were all eating plenty. "Eheheh... the world shall be mine!" Earlier, I was able to evolve and throw away that "lesser" label. I didn''t like it, I really didn''t. I want to be "amazing"! Unfortunately, I was only given one evolution path. Currently, these were my stats, plant body included: [Level 17 Fey Plant; Species: Strawberry Imp; Physical: N/A; Spiritual: N/A; Traits: Bewitching, Devious, Rapid Growth, Cloning; Abilities: Absorption, Charm, Supply Chain; Description: A dangerous plant fey that lures in their preys before leeching all of their life forces.] Two new indicators had appeared when I had reached level 15. On top of that, my fey body became denser and was not longer as translucent as before. It was as if my fey body was becoming more material the higher my level was. Finally, there was a new ability called "supply chain". It was actually useful. I could control what would be produced in each of my clone bodies remotely. For now, I had most of them producing flowers and leaves reducing strawberries to a minimum. To create my beautiful strawberry empire, a solid foundation was needed, indeed! Over time, I lost track of the days passed. The further I ventured from my original spot, the more sightings of strange creatures occurred. Very few appeared familiar to me. "Oh, a dog! A hot dog?" [Level 24 Fey; Species: Neo-Panoa; Physical: N/A; Spiritual: N/A; Traits: Enhanced Smell; Abilities: Elemental Breath; Description: A type of fey that thrives in battles.] In front of me was a fight scene between a fire-breathing long snot dog and three giant wasp like creatures. Surprisingly, they were all fey kinds. I was almost sure the wasps were insects just like those beetles I had nearly forgotten. [Level 14 Fey; Species: Ko-Rurh; Physical: N/A; Spiritual: N/A; Traits: Enhanced Eyesight; Abilities: Coordinate, Paralysis; Description: A type of fey that thrives in group battles.] Basically, there were four battle junkies. Despite the numerical disadvantages, the dog was keeping the three hovering wasps at bay with its wide range fire breaths. The wasps just couldn''t outmaneuver the dog, a single dog. Personally, I cheered on the wasps. I had good reason, really good reasons! Any being that could burn me was my archenemy, no doubt about it. Once the battled ended, I could lure them to my flowers. Ehehehe... you''re as good as mine. Cowardice? No such thing. No such thing at all. My combat abilities were next to non-existent. Tactics. Only the best tacticians were considered cowards! I observed behind a rock, very far away, as I waited for an outcome. The four of them had quite the stamina to last for what felt like an hour until sun had nearly set. Honestly, that might as well had been a battle between three fairies and a flightless dragon. Hurry up, I don''t have all day. In the end, only disappointments awaited me. They actually dispersed once they ran out of steam to continue. Not a single one of them was injured in the least. Tch, how unsatisfying. Guess I''m back to work. Oh wait, I have a good idea. Carrying a small clone with me, I secretly tailed the three wasps. I only had one goal, that was to expand my strawberry empire! Thankfully, they didn''t fly too fast. After about a few minutes, I reached their hideout located behind a hillside. The inside was completely dark because it was facing away from the sun. I wonder if they''ll let me in if I ask. No, that''s insane. I hate bee stings. I carefully placed a clone just outside their cave entrance. Then, using my supply chain ability, I placed this clone on the shortest route to growing strawberries. Because I wasn''t sure how intelligent these kinds of fey were. If they were intelligent, they might actually try to hunt me down so I decided to play it safe this time. "You''ll be my workers soon enough, mwahahaha...!" While I imagined riding on one of them like I did with the beetle. "Wait, isn''t that actually a good idea? Would that make me a wasp rider?" blanksphere Chapter 8 – Bird of Prey Lalala... Which direction? Recently I found a path that was likely used by a primitive civilization. I had camped around here for days but unfortunately I hadn''t seen a single person passing by. Screeeeech! What, what, what where? Was I too careless? I was sure I hid more than well camouflaged. I wasn''t green skinned for nothing. Still I couldn''t fool myself when I just got snatched up by a pair of razor sharp talons. My wings were torn. It was a sad scene. It must have been the wings. Stupid wings, why can''t you be green too? Screech! "Ow, ow, ow! I get it, I get it, okay? Don''t need to brag about it." I wasn''t bleeding or anything but the talons had dug into my abdomen. [Level 17 Winged Beast; Species: Fa-Lonta; Physical: N/A; Spiritual: N/A; Traits: Sharp Eyes; Abilities: N/A; Description: A type of winged beast that preys on weak critters.] It was basically a falcon. The only thing that seriously damaged me was the description. It wasn''t critical damage or anything but it was a serious blow. Weak critter? Me? You''re bullying the weak? No, I can''t allow that. You know there''s a saying, "what goes around comes around"? "You better watch your back. This is your last warning, you know?" I screamed from beneath while I was being carried farther and farther away from my clones. Goodbye seedling that I abandoned, grow up well and avenge me! I could already see the bird nest up ahead. This is it for me, isn''t it. God, are you expecting? Please, I''m kidding. Bang! Owieee! Or not? I was somehow released from the clutches of the eagle''s talons, crashing toward its nest. As for the eagle, it was actually falling with me, a hole in the head. A head shot? Whoever did that must have been a sharpshooter of the highest caliber. "Serves you right!" I stuck my tongue out at the unresponsive bird of prey that had lost all its will. That was silly of me. I tried my hardest to flap my torn wings before I could crash land. They weren''t completely useless just yet. I had somehow just barely landed next to the nest. It was miracle! As for that eagle, it had fallen all the way below the tree. Thump. It was nice knowing you, jerk. Amen. Chirp. Chirp. Chirp. "Oh hello there cuties," I waved at the two baby birds gazing at me with anticipation, not the good kind, "would you like to be my food? Yes? no?" Chirp? Chirp. Chirp. "I don''t speak bird but I''ll give you a third option. Join my empire! You''ll be proud citizens. I''ll even give you executive positions, how about it?" Chirp! "Why am I talking to birds?" Have I gone nuts? Nawh, I only grow strawberries here. [Evolution Paths Available.] Eh? What timing is this? Don''t tell me you plan to turn me into a bird? It''s too late, much too late, I''ve already chosen to be a tactical plant. It''s my destiny! But, I''m a generous plant, let''s see what you have to offer. [Strawberry Imp (greater)] or [Strawberry Trickster] or [Strawberry Smoothie]. God, where did you come up with these ideas? I get the first one. Indeed, the second one is acceptable. But how do you explain the third choice to me? Are you making fun of me? I''m not becoming anyone''s smoothie! Idea rejected. In the end, I decided to evolve into a Strawberry Trickster, whatever that was. Being an imp wasn''t fun anymore. I didn''t want the possibility of becoming bigger either because of all the dangerous predators around. [Level 21 Fey (Plant); Species: Strawberry Trickster Physical: 3/5; Spiritual: 60/65; Traits: Bewitching, Devious, Rapid Growth, Cloning; Abilities: Absorption, Charm, Supply Chain, Strawberry Substitution; Description: A tricky plant fey that likes to toy with their foes.] Ohoho? The new stats now had numerical figures. These numbers were useless by themselves. I needed someone to compare with. Shuffle. Crunch. Crunch. Crunch. That wasn''t me. The sounds of crunching leaves were noises made by the shooter as he walked over to retrieve the falcon remains. It was a guy in camouflaged gear from head to toes. He had sunglasses and a cigar hanging from his mouth like a badass. Just those two features were enough for me to place him in the mafia group in my mind. As if that wasn''t enough, he had a uncanny smile with a black mustache that screamed "I''m the boss man". Why are you even smiling? Is the cigar that good? "Shhh..." I hushed the two baby falcons. Chirp. What a rebel, that''ll be a black mark on your resume. I shook my head at the two of them. Apparently that chirp was enough to earn a glance from that man below. [Level 9 Mortal; Species: Human; Physical: 44/44; Spiritual: 7/7; Traits: Ruthless, Canny; Abilities: Harbinger, Hunter; Description: A common mortal.] Oh crap, those traits and that ability. Is he setting my death flag? God, this isn''t funny. I can''t even get back to my plant body. When I peeked to see what he was doing, I accidentally met his eyes, his real eyes without those sunglasses. I might as well peeked into an abyss. That seriously startled me to no ends. Oh crap, oh crap! "You green fey, get down here or I''m coming up. I know you speak." What to do? What to do!? I didn''t want to get shredded from limb to limb. I didn''t know what "ruthless" did but I knew what it meant. The strawberry empire plan would have to be put on hold for now. Since I didn''t want to anger that man I answered, "what would you do with me?" "I said, get down here. Or I''ll smoke your brain out," he spoke with a nasty and demanding tone. Then he cranked his rifle with a clunk. Looks like there''s no escape. "My wings are broken. I''m not suicidal enough to jump down." "Tsk, shitty fey. You''re messing with the wrong guy here." Before my eyes, he literally leaped up onto the tree. Squish. Nooo...! My fellow citizen! One of his foot crushed a baby bird, the one that I deemed a rebel. The other baby froze due to shock and proceeded to faint. "You killed a baby bird! How could you!" "I only needed one," he stared me down with his rifle pointing me at point blank range, "what says you?" He was the type I could never get along with. If he didn''t get what he wanted, he would resort to violence even if I didn''t even do anything wrong. This was the worst. "I''m a plant! I don''t know what you want!" I cried out in retaliation. Bang! blanksphere Chapter 9 – A Captive lanksphere My eyes were squeezed shut. God, did you miss me? Your little strawberry is coming for you! The next moment, I felt a giant hand grabbing onto me. Or not? Am I going to be eaten? I don''t taste good! When my eyes opened again, I noticed that the man''s face was next to me. Dude, ever heard of personal space? Ever looked at a mirror? You look super creepy. Of course, I was too scared to actually voice my opinions. Apparently he didn''t actually shoot me. Rip. Rip. My two pairs of pretty wings were ripped off just like that. "Owwiee... what did you do that for?" "Do you want to keep your legs?" "Yes, yes!" I quickly nodded. "Now, shut it. You''re coming with me." Before long, he hopped off the tree holding the motionless baby bird in one hand, and me in the other hand. His rifle was slung over his shoulders. How should I get back to my plant body? Think, think! Oh right, what does this new ability do? I never had the chance to examine it properly. It was called [strawberry substitution]. While I was still being held, I closed my eyes to get a feel of current body. Technically I was no longer a Strawberry Imp but a Strawberry Trickster. Just going by the name of the species, I should have some tricks up my sleeves. "Don''t try anything funny if you know what''s good for you," he threatened me with a low tone while squeezing me tightly. What the hell? I''m only trying to escape. What''s your problem? Did you forget your medications? Forget it, I''ll have something better for you! Mwahahahaha! I grasped what that new ability did or I thought I did. Thank goodness I had strawberries somewhere otherwise I was done for. When this ability combined with [supply chain], they became the ultimate duo. I knew exactly the location and the detailed status of each of my plant bodies. However, [strawberry substitution] had a serious flaw. I had to be in contact with the ground or a plant grown in nature for the ability to work. I seriously wished I had knew about this before I got captured. Plop. "Huh?" We were already back at his campsite. A giant lizard, likely his ride, stood on four legs next to a triangular tent. In front of the tent was lined up with various types of containers of which the baby bird was placed in a straw basket. As for me, I was dropped in a glass container. You serious? I can''t even escape like this. "Haaiii yeaahh!" I landed a super punch at the glass barrier. Thump. A knife landed next to me outside of the glass jar. "Don''t make me do this," he warned with a bored expression. Gulp. He really wasn''t faking it. His |ruthless| trait wasn''t just for show. I hope the devil gobbles you up. "Explain! What did I do wrong? Why are you doing this to me?" "Money. Never seen one like you before. You''ll fetch good cash if I sell you to the lab," he chuckled. Oh crap, that doesn''t sound good at all. I don''t want to get dissected. Think, think, think! Then, an idea popped into my head. Money? Drugs? My strawberry empire came to mind. I was sure he was into this type of business. "I can help you make even more money than you''ll know what to do with! Please hear me out." He was quiet for moment as of pondering. Then, he puffed out some smoke before smudging his burnt out cigar on the ground. "Make it short." "I''m a part of fey plant called Strawberry Plant. The berry that I fruit is super addictive. I can give you strawberries and you sell them to make profits? You''ll get repeating customers. How about it?" Again he went quiet. I didn''t think he was the type to take his time thinking. No matter how long he took, I obviously didn''t want to disturb his thought process unless I risked losing my limbs. Just losing my wings was painful enough! "Show me it." "It?" "Don''t f---ing mess around!" He bellowed. Whatever his occupation was, he sure had a short fuse. All I wanted was a clarification and he just had to shout. If I could avoid doing business with him, I would at all cost. This wasn''t a business relationship I wanted. Anyway, he probably meant the strawberry but I doubted he would let me out of the jar. I was super hesitant to ask him to release me onto the ground. He''d probably cut my legs off so I wouldn''t escape. But, I had no other choice! "I need to go to my plant body." "Tsk, forget it." "Wait! Wait! I''ll grow one if you let me onto the ground." "Huh." He grabbed his knife in one hand, and his hand reached for me. No. Way. I guessed right? Goodbye legs, it was nice knowing you. Sayonara. It wasn''t like this body had blood or anything but I still felt pain nonetheless. "Make it quick," I squeezed my eyes shut while I was being held, that knife just hovering above my legs. I kind of wished I was clothed. Being held buck naked was new sensation for me, not a good one either. Sliiiceee. Gurrrrrhhhh! He did it slowly on purpose! Sliiiceeeeee. Screw you! What did I do to deserve this? He didn''t stop there either. Just like my legs, my arms were slowly cut off. All the while I was suffering from excruciating pain, he was chuckling like a madman. I was basically a stump now. I''ll curse you even after your death! You just watch, shithead! Boom, boom, boom. Following the sounds of three explosions, a thunderous howl echoed in the distance. It was too late for the him, my main body had already touched the ground. Alas, victory was mine! I was limbless but miraculously still alive. If it was any other creatures, they would have already died. That baby falcon was still as silent as ever, probably pretending to be dead or living in the dreams. Whatever will happen to these two was no longer my concern. Hope you get shredded. Eheheh... Edit: Aug 08, 2021, based on feedback in later chapters, switched "abilities/traits" to [abilities] and |traits|. blanksphere Side Story 1 – Johnny Cash lanksphere "Yo, boss, going for your solo vacation again?" A young boy called out to Johnny Cash, a notorious bounty hunter. "Piss off," he snarled while polishing his magi rifle. Just a while ago, he received a notice from the Bounty Hunter Association suspending him from any bounty hunting for three weeks. The last time, he was suspended for crippling a suspected tax evader. This time, he shot a guard who got in his way during a chase. Luckily, that guard only received a minor injury which was later treated by a local healer. Although Johnny was quite infamous at the moment, he used to be a renowned bounty hunter who had not failed a single task for twenty years straight. That was, until he lost his wife. It was a tragedy. A certain group of thugs, in retaliation to the losses he inflicted on them, had broke into his house. By the time he returned, they had already tortured his wife just to finish her off the moment he opened the door. From that night on, he was a changed man. He was drunk on grief, but no grief could last forever as it soon transformed into madness. Given that this wasn''t his first suspension, he wasn''t going to loiter around and do nothing. Money. That was the only thing that kept him going. What better way to spend this time than to go on a hunt and make some money? Hunting. It was one of his hobbies. Why else would he choose to be a bounty hunter if this type of activity didn''t tickle his fancy? During one of the mornings on his vacation, he had set up a sniping location. He didn''t have any particular goals or targets. Bang! As he approached the fallen falonta, he heard a tiny voice speaking the common language. It was called the common language because all mortal races spoke the same language in this world. In the case of the fey, the world system converted the original language to the common language of this world. However, it was known by the mortals that only the most powerful and intelligent fey beings could converse with the mortal races. So far, there had been no exceptions. Because of this, for the first time in years, Johnny was wary of the possible dire consequences of meeting such a being. However, what greeted him wasn''t as he expected. A small, barely fist sized, green little winged fey, peeked at him from behind tree branches. It had vibrant wings like no other fey he had seen before. His lips curled into a wicked smile while thinking, a rare species will sure fetch me loads. Before his thoughts ran wild, just to be sure, he checked the status of the winged fey. [Level 21 Fey (Plant); Species: Strawberry Trickster Physical: 3/5; Spiritual: 60/65; Traits: Bewitching, Devious, Rapid Growth, Cloning; Abilities: Absorption, Charm; Description: A tricky plant fey that likes to toy with their foes.] The species name was completely foreign to him. He couldn''t see the unique abilities nor any stats that only higher level individuals had the privilege to observe. However, just this status was enough to give him second thoughts. Shit, I almost fell for its trap. I better play it safe. Just the traits and abilities were enough for most mortals to be tricked but he was different. He had both [hunter] and [harbinger]. The ability [hunter] allowed him to track his target remotely as long as he had visuals within two days and that he focused on a single target. The moment he lost focus, the ability would reset. It was a topnotch ability for a bounty hunter. The ability "harbinger" was acquired the day he lost his wife. It allowed him to see a potential future of the next few seconds. This was an extremely versatile ability when used properly. He shouted, "You green fey, get down here or I''m coming up. I know you speak." To that, he heard the little fey whisper, "What would you do with me?" Johnny thought, you little shit is trying to lure me in? You''ve got guts, I''ll give you that. Don''t blame me if I show no mercy! "I said, get down here. Or I''ll smoke your brain out," He howled. "My wings are broken. I''m not suicidal enough to jump down." "Tsk, shitty fey. You''re messing with the wrong guy here." He wasn''t going to take any more of this non-sense so he jumped up the tree where the fey was hiding. To him, jumping up a tree wasn''t difficult with his hidden agility stats but it did use up quite a bit of his stamina. Squish. "You killed a baby bird! How could you!" The little fey cried out. Actually, Johnny didn''t even notice until the fey had mentioned it. He really couldn''t care less about a single dead bird. "I only needed one," he pointed his rifle at the fey, "what says you?" "I''m a plant! I don''t know what you want!" Bang! It was a scare tactic to stop the fey from using the [charm] ability. To him this ability was one of the most dangerous ability he knew. Once charmed, removing the charm effect was extremely difficult and took a very long time to wear off naturally. Depending on the level of this ability, the being under such effect would even do the most unimaginable acts when commanded. He quickly captured the little fey and continued to apply fear to the unfortunate fey. This was actually the most effective way to prevent spiritual type fey beings from utilizing their abilities. The only problem was that the little fey kept trying to talk to him. It just won''t shut its trap! His mind raged. However, when the little fey had tried to sell him on a money making method, he was taken in by surprise. From what he understood, fey beings didn''t live in societies built by mortal races. They shouldn''t have a clue how money worked. Not only that, for a fey to propose a model to continuously generate revenue was beyond his wildest dreams. Because of this, he gave some serious thoughts. "Show me it." "It?" His veins almost bulged from anger. In fact, he was guarding too cautiously against being charmed by any means necessary. "Don''t f---ing mess around!" He knew full well that negotiating with a fey was seriously ill-advised, especially with such a fey that had |devious| and |bewitching| as its traits. It was equivalent to speaking with a devil, one of the legendary beings in this world. Johnny was a greedy man. That nearly brought his downfall. After he had cut off the little fey being''s limbs, he received a terrible but an unclear premonition. That was when he sped up the process by placing the fey on the ground. Boom, boom, boom. Shit! He cursed in his mind. What greeted him was one of the worst fey beings that he could encounter out here. He didn''t even know how they could have came here without any warnings whatsoever from the local authorities. [Level 34 Fey; Species: Groltolic; Physical: 325/325; Spiritual: 192/192; Traits: Rapid Regeneration, Mammoth; Abilities: Undying Breath, Enhanced Physical, Thunderclap; Description: A type of fey that pummels its foes while refusing to fall.] Collectively, these fey beings were known as trolls. Groltolic was the third evolution of the original species. Just three of them could completely level a town. Magi canons had to be deployed to even have a chance of killing one of them because of their ability to regenerate without end. When he had looked down again at where the decapitated little fey should have been, only a red fruit remained. I knew it! I should have just killed it. However, he still grabbed the red fruit and quickly made his escape while fully utilizing his [harbinger] ability. In the end, he did manage to escape, but just barely. One of his arm was completely pulverized by a troll. His Lo-Fruushka, the ride he had with him, was abandoned and sacrificed for his escape. After this incident, he vowed to one day hunt all fey beings to extinction. Furthermore, his primary target was the little fey that had managed to give him the slip. As for the red fruit he had with him, he sold it for an exorbitant amount of cash to be used for research purposes. Using that money, he replaced his destroyed arm with a magitech arm. This new arm was a combination of advanced mechanics and complex magic that augmented his combat capabilities to a new level. His spirit burnt with renewed rigor having found this new ambition, a purpose in life. "Strawberry Devil, let''s see who''ll have the last laugh," He snickered by himself. Interestingly enough, Johnny was the first person to coin the term "Strawberry Devil" as he considered all fey beings as devils. Chapter 10 – Headhunting The funny thing was, I fulfilled my promise to that guy. Strawberry delivery, one completed! Once I returned to one of my plant bodies, I rejuvenated myself and restored my fey body back to completion through merging. That was the only way I knew how to heal myself. After I had re-emerged from my plant body, I examined myself thoroughly. Currently, my status was: [Level 21 Fey (Plant); Species: Strawberry Trickster Physical: 5/5; Spiritual: 65/65; Traits: Bewitching, Devious, Rapid Growth, Cloning; Abilities: Absorption, Charm, Supply Chain, Strawberry Substitution; Description: A tricky plant fey that likes to toy with their foes.] Somehow, I felt like the description was taunting me. I was clearly being toyed with earlier. Since I didn''t know how to properly use [charm] nor did I know how to charm some creepy guy, I ended up like that. There were some changes to my fey body but not much. In terms of size, I had grown twice my previous size. In terms of gender, I still had none, nothing. In terms of other features, my skin tone had lightened significantly, and my wings were more vibrant. That was both good and bad, but mostly just plainly bad. The reason was that I was now an easier target for dangerous predators. I need to hire a bodyguard. I''m a very important person after all. Anyhow, with this I was able to confirm that after each evolution, for the effects to take place on my fey body, I had to merge with one of plant bodies. As for my plant bodies, they should start altering or changing in the next few days. I expected them to just grow bigger like they always did after evolutions and level ups. Where to hire a bodyguard? He''ll be my first, my very first citizen. I''m going to bribe him with strawberries so he can never betray me! Mwuahahaha... Whatever the case with hiring a bodyguard, I needed faster travel methods. Strawberries didn''t last forever which meant "strawberry substitution" was only a last ditch attempt for my escape. Growing strawberries wasn''t cheap on my resources. The other method was the tried and mostly successful so far, that was by flight. With bigger wings, hopefully that meant I could fly faster. Headhunting. I dealt with them in my previous life when I was seeking employment. To be frank, I was not thrilled with my experiences with them. This time was different. I was the headhunter! In my travels, I had tried to avoid being detected as much as I could. However, I couldn''t do that anymore. I had to appeal to those willing to become my guards whether they liked it or not. For that to happen, I needed a form of payment. What better form of payment was there than my super addictive strawberries? Running a drug cartel? I''m in! I''ll make myself the definition of a drug cartel in this world. Ehehehe... With my planning stage done, I began organizing all of my plant bodies to produce at least one strawberry first. Right now most of the strawberries were being produced at the wasp nest and my first plant body to keep the beetles happy. Strange. How come I haven''t leveled up? I was sure I cursed that evil man. Did it not work on him? Hmm... Ah, whatever. It wasn''t like I knew for a fact that curses really worked. For the next while, I scavenged days and nights for anyone that looked strong and intelligent. There were actually countless of other fey beings all around me. I just never took notice because of how tiny they were. I really thought they were just fruit flies until I finally decided to check the status of the thingy that drowned in my flower nectar. Seriously? I didn''t even know a fey could drown. Were you drunk? [Level 1 Fey (dead); Species: Grasling; Physical: 1/1; Spiritual: 0/2; Traits: N/A; Abilities: N/A; Description: A type of fey that dwells within grasses.] The stats were next to non-existent. What intrigued me was the physical stat showing full health or so it appeared. This made me think twice what these stats truly meant. Did "physical" mean damage to the physical body? Also, what did "spiritual" really mean? I checked the status of as many objects as I could to get a better understanding of the stats and the values. After hundreds of close examinations, I finally understood what "physical" represented, at least for plants. It was actually just physical damages. For example, a tree that lost a few branches would have less than full "physical" stat. Over time, that missing stat would recover just like my plant body. Wait, couldn''t I have done this experiment on myself? Silly me. As for "spiritual", as far as I could tell "0" always meant death. The same didn''t seem to hold true for "physical" because a body could be perfectly preserved under special circumstances. As for anything that weren''t plants or fey beings, I still needed some more data. I wonder if my [absorption] ability worked on the spiritual stat only? Lastly, I took note of the levels. They really couldn''t be compared across species. It was a bummer! I couldn''t use it to determine how strong things were due to evolution. The only thing I could say was that the higher the levels, the further I kept myself away. Anyhow, I did manage to find some great candidates. They weren''t easy to find! I only noted their general locations down and had a clone grown nearby. It was only a matter of time they picked one of my strawberries, only a matter of time. Pride. No way I would beg anyone to guard me. No. Way. Not a chance. I''ll make you all beg me to serve me! The first one was a minotaur I found near a riverbank. The species name wasn''t a minotaur but I already named it a minotaur because it looked like one. [Level 11 Beast; Species: Kallion; Physical: 143/143; Spiritual: 15/15; Traits: Iron skin; Abilities: Berserker; Description: A type of headstrong beast that cannot be tamed.] That description though, it was if god was watching me and knew I was trying to find some good hires. I''ll dangle a strawberry in front of it if that''ll force it to go where I wanted it to go! He was as good as mine. The next ones were the kobolds. In terms of appearance, they were ugly humanoids the size of small children. They lived in groups in the mountains, forming small villages. They were ideal for to work as my farmers! Their levels varied but they were actually very peaceful looking bunch. It even said so in their description. I had to add though, they were too peaceful, enough for me to want to stir things up around here. [Level 5 Fey; Species: Kobold; Physical: 34/34; Spiritual: 25/25; Traits: N/A; Abilities: N/A; Description: A type of fey that enjoy living in peace.] There was another one that seemed quite fun to have, as a pet. [Level 31 Lizard; Species: Lo-Rednal; Physical: 97/97; Spiritual: 32/32; Traits: Nocturnal; Abilities: Toxic Gaze; Description: A type of nocturnal lizard that kills with their eyes.] It was actually a very large black salamander that lived near a swamp. I managed to get a glimpse of it one night. Calling it a glimpse wasn''t appropriate. In fact, I had a firsthand experience of its ability [toxic gaze]. That night, we had a passionate staring contest! How could I lose when its ability had no effect on me? Or, at least it didn''t seem to work on me for some reason. Maybe it had some restrictions. Anyway, that little staring contest sure was fun until it started chasing after me. "Ah, a heated night at the swamp side, it''s a love that cannot be! Truly! Please, chase me no more, for we are ever star-crossed. Farewell!" That night was the last we met. I couldn''t possibly go back to remind that poor fellow of its broken heart. Love was cruel, no doubt about it. I, too, suffered a similar fate in my previous life. Chapter 11 – Not a Rabbit Finding a good hire was tough. I hadn''t even gotten to the interview part, and yet I was already losing so much sleep. Despite being a fey and originally part of a plant, I still required some rest in between my borderline workaholic tendencies. At some point, out of frustration at my slow progress, I shouted aloud at the sky, "Give me a proper servant, damn it!" "Yes?" "Huh?" I quickly looked around me. There stood a black rabbit about my size dressed in fine black suit. His eyes were glowing red and his long canines were protruding from his thin smile. Despite him just standing there, I could feel a dense energy emanating from him into the surroundings. [Level 70 Demon; Species: Vahare; Physical: 499/499; Spiritual: 879/879; Traits: Devious, Cunning, Gourmet, Enhanced Physical, Enhanced Spiritual, Enhanced Senses, Enhanced Resistances, Immortality, Limit Breaker; Abilities: Devourer, Evil Eyes, Transformation; Description: A legendary being.] "Yo, Mister Rabbit, aren''t you hot dressed in black?" That was my initial greeting, not a smart one if I knew what was good for me. But, I just had to point it out when we were under the blazing sun. That status though, I didn''t even know where to start. Oh wait, that''s not a rabbit. Thank god. I''d be doomed if rabbits existed here. But still, [devourer] can''t be a good thing. "My good client, I appreciate your concern," he gave a courteous smile. Client? Is he talking to me? When did we enter a business relationship? And, why am I feeling cold all of a sudden? "Client? Me?" My elementary school teacher had taught me to never speak to strangers. This was one of those situations. Well, a teacher was no different than a stranger to me so there was that. Given Mister Rabbit had called me a "client", we weren''t strangers! We must have been acquaintances or associates, right? "Why, yes. You may refer to me as De Planck. I am here to negotiate some business matters with you," he bowed politely. He was too professional for the likes of me. Business? For real? He realized the potentials of my strawberries? Could this be, the start of my Strawberry Empire? Oh goodies! I had to act business like and profession too, ad-libbing if necessary. "Ahem. Yes, yes, business. That''s right. What are your proposals?" "As I am aware, you are in need of servants. I would like to offer you one of my underlings as a servant, and in return I will have your strawberries. Is this acceptable?" Although I knew very little about demon kinds, I remembered hearing that they were very particular about contracts. Every minor detail had to be ironed out with no room for vagueness. Just based on the offer he provided, if I answered too quickly, that could have ended me! First of all, I didn''t know what kind of underling he had nor the services this underling would perform. Second of all, he didn''t specify the quantity and quality of strawberries. Plus, I didn''t know what he would do with the strawberries. What if he tried to sprout tons of strawberry plants in a coup d''¨¦tat to take over my empire? That would be terrible! That reminded me one thing, the sprout I abandoned. It was never too late to adopt! "Let us discuss the details first." There was not a sign of surprise on him but rather a bemused smile. His razor sharp teeth were displayed. A smiling rabbit was never a good omen, not to mention those horrifying teeth. What had the world come to? At least he didn''t look like a vegetarian. "Very well." Even though he could have used brute force with me, he was still civilized enough to negotiated with me first. That much, I appreciated. Speaking with him wasn''t that difficult at all given his courteous manner, even if it was all just a facade. We first ironed out the details of my side of the bargain. Although it was supposed to be detailed, this was just an initial agreement. I proposed to have the formal contract signed after a short trial period. In this agreement, I would offer five strawberries per day. Any seeds harvested had to be destroyed, and cloning using strawberry wasn''t permitted unless I gave explicit permission. As for harvesting the strawberries, his servants would collect them. I didn''t have to spend time collecting them. After that, we moved to under a tree because the sun glare in my eyes. As for his side of the bargain, he allowed me to pick a servant from his list. Each time I named one, he teleported that servant here for me to check their status. None of them looked weak at all which meant my strawberries were just that valuable! Seriously, I wished I could teleport. [Level 49 Fey; Species: Reo-Ibanos; Physical: 140/140; Spiritual: 326/326; Traits: Bewitching, Enhanced Senses; Abilities: Charm, Dream Eater, Transformation, Master Illusionist; Descriptions: A type of fey that can transform their appearances.] "Good afternoon, my name is Kanobi. Pleased to meet you." The first servant shown to me was a pretty fox lady dressed in a flowery night gown. She had silvery long hair that matched her swaying seven fluffy tails. What was most odd to me was that she appeared just as tall as me. I have no name. What to do... I don''t want to use my past life''s name either. "Yes, hi, I''m the strawberry fey. How come you''re the same size as me? Does it have to do with your abilities?" I asked. "Strawberry fey?" She had a perplexed expression on her before she quickly erased it, "Well yes, I have adjusted my appearance to match that of your size." "What kind of contract do you currently have with De Planck?" I figured it was better for me ask sooner than later since I didn''t want to be duped by strange relationships. "Allow me to explain," De Planck intruded, "although I have stated they are my servants, they are not bound by soul contracts with a few exceptions. Please do not be discouraged as those individuals are not on the list you have witnessed. If these candidates wish so, they may decide to serve you indefinitely." Oh, that''s good. That meant he acted as an intermediary like a headhunter. I noted mentally to investigate this "soul contract" thingy. It would be seriously troublesome if I accidentally sold my soul to a demon. I didn''t even know how souls worked in the first place. "Your abilities are amazing! This would make dealing with mortals so much easier!" "However, you have not made any impression on me. What would I gain from this? Given your status, shouldn''t you be serving me?" She retorted with a haughty tone. Oh crap, did I mess up? De Planck, did you set me up? This is foul! Foul! "Wait, De Planck, this wasn''t part of our agreement!" "I am unsure what you are referring to. We have made no such arrangements between you and your potential servants other than a possible trial period." "Grr..." I should have known. Thankfully there hadn''t been any contracts yet. "Please be assured, I too wish for a long lasting business relationship therefore I will try my best to find a suitable candidate for you. Would you care to check the next candidate on the list?" "Alright." [Level 32 Demon; Species: Lo-Kazdour; Physical: 245/245; Spiritual: 499/499; Traits: Devious, Librarian, Arrogant, Enhanced Physical, Enhanced Spiritual, Enhanced Resistances, Enhanced Senses, Immortality; Abilities: Seeker of Knowledge, Forger; Description: A type of demon that evolved from a mortal race.] Oh what, a mortal can evolve into a demon? Those stats are amazing though, and the traits. I better make a good impression this time! I spoke first, "How do you do?" The demon that was introduced looked like a scaly man. Given his species name that started with "Lo", he was probably from a lizard type race. His outfit really suited his trait |librarian|, with a scholarly looking black coat. He was a fairly tall guy carrying a calm demeanor. Although he didn''t appear physically strong, his stats said otherwise. "Well met, I am called Oortez. I understand you are looking for a servant. For me to serve you, you must supply knowledge not known to me prior. In exchange, I will share my knowledge with you, that is in equal value, in addition to guarding your presence." Figures. What useful knowledge do I have? Nothing. I doubt he cares about what I know from my previous life. But, it''s worth the try, isn''t it? Let''s test the waters first. If possible, I would like to have this kind of servant who''ll be able to answer lots of my questions about this world. "I don''t know what you know or don''t know. Can you at least tell me what kind of stuff you don''t know?" "De Planck, I do not believe this relationship will work. Please return me at once for I have a busy schedule," he spoke with a condescending tone. Just like that, I lost another potential servant. You''re kidding me. I thought I was the employer. Where did I go wrong? Ehhh... Wait a second, what I am even exchanging my strawberries for? This smells super fishy. "Ehh... De Planck, what was I exchanging my strawberries for? I mean, I have to offer that in addition to these potential servants and they don''t even get the strawberries." "Perhaps there was a misunderstanding. The five strawberries we agreed upon was for my service in locating servant candidates for you." "Then once I have found a servant, you''ll continue receiving strawberries from me?" "Correct." Were demons all like this? Have I just been duped? I know plants have no brain cells but for real? Outsmart, me? A plant? Do you have no honor and pride? A demon was a demon after all. I totally overlooked his |cunning| trait. I should have known better to enter a shady deal with some suspicious rabbit with a strange getup. Ah, what to do, what to do. My precious strawberries are in danger! blanksphere Chapter 12 – Deal "Now that I think about it, the agreement doesn''t seem to be fair to me. Why should I continuously provide you with my strawberries when I no longer needed your service?" "Perhaps I wasn''t clear with my initial statement. The exchange was for a business relationship. Or, would you rather have a different relationship with me?" "Uh, can''t you be my servant?" Oh crap, I reflectively said it. "Oh? Are you requesting a soul contract?" "Is this where I''m supposed to offer up my soul?" There, I said it. This certainly wasn''t my brightest moments but there was no take backs. "If that is your wish, I am more than willing to receive." "No, no. Not at all. Ignore that question completely. Anyway, what are the repercussions for terminating our current agreement?" "You will become my food. That much is obvious." It''s not! It''s not! I''m paying him strawberries so he won''t eat me? This is worse than a dog-eat-dog world. Basically, how is this different from dealing with mafia''s protection racket? I''m being extorted and there''s nothing I can do about it. "You''re not a vegetarian?" "I eat anything, including souls," he beamed showing all of his pearly teeth. That makes him a soul eater! This is some serious stuff. I yield! I yield! I had to be cautious what I said to him so I kept everything in my mind. If there was any more misunderstandings, I feared for my life. There really was nothing I could do fight against him, not when it had such overpowering stats and abilities. Bidding for more time was the only way out for me, at least until I could equal him in combat which wasn''t going to happen any time soon. "By the way, are there any plant fey beings on this list?" "No. Allow me to disclose this to you. You are the first plant fey to make contact with me." That was some interesting information. I wasn''t sure what this meant, but my gut feeling told me this was important. Otherwise he wouldn''t point it out specifically. The only thing was that I didn''t know what to do with this information so I putted in the back burner of my mind. "Never mind then, let''s look at the next candidate on the list," I said. "Indeed." [Level 32 Winged Beast; Species: Fa-Noda; Physical: 171/171; Spiritual: 97/97; Traits: Keen, Enhanced Senses; Abilities: Forest Song, Tracker, Enchantment, Rapid Transport; Description: A type of winged beast that loves to sing.] "Good greeting, me Haelley." "I''m a strawberry fey." Haelley looked like a birdlike humanoid with green and blue feathers. In some worlds, she would be considered a harpy. When she stretched her arms, her wingspan was at least twice her height. Honestly, when I first saw her, I had expected her to be part of a mortal race since her facial features were no different from a human with the exception of her diamond shaped eyes. How did I know it was a "she"? I didn''t. I just guessed it based on her voice, name, and her facial features. There was no way I was competent enough to tell the difference between a male winged beast and a female winged beast. Same difference, right? I could always ask later to confirm if no one cared to clarify. "You well speak for green." She kind of spoke funny so I looked to De Planck for explanation. "My apologies. She is currently learning the common language to be able to converse with the mortal races." That wasn''t an issue, not an issue at all. Finally, one that I could offer something in exchange for service. However, I needed to make sure the harpy was willing. In additional, I would need to examine her work ethics to make sure she wasn''t a slacker! But, even if she was, I knew exactly how to fix it. A strawberry a day could change any person, no doubt! It would be best if I didn''t need to though. I''ll make this one count. "Haelley, I can help you learn the common language if you''re willing to serve me," I proposed to the harpy whose height was no different than a regular human. Her stats were acceptable to me and her abilities were very useful, especially [rapid transport] even if I didn''t know what it did. I knew for a fact that the faster I could spread my clones, the faster I would level up and evolve. "Haelley serve green?" "Cooperation. I help you and you help me." "Haelley agree!" This was easier than I thought. "Well then, do you wish to see other candidates on the list?" "I can choose more than one?" "Indeed." I thought about it for a minute then decided against it. I had lost enough brain cells for the day. There was no way I could feed another mouth, even feeding this harpy might be tough. "No, it''s alright. How do I call you again if I need your service?" "Say my name and I will hear you." What are you, an evil god? I''m definitely not going to pray to your name. No. Way. Not when you''re extorting so much from the poor me. One of these days, you just watch, I''ll make you pay back ten folds! "One last thing, what would happen if my plant bodies couldn''t produce enough strawberries? Let''s say, a forest fire or snow storm." "No worries." "I do worry! My soul is on the line!" "My gardeners will ensure that your plant bodies will always produce five ripe strawberries a day." That just sounds wrong, seriously wrong on many levels. Have I stooped so low to become someone else''s food crop? Also, these so called "gardeners" sound super suspicious. "Fine, fine. Just so you know, we only agreed on five strawberries. No one else is permitted to harvest them without my explicit permission, unless they are doing so on your behalf which would also count towards your total. Five, only five, are we clear?" I felt like I had to emphasize because if I didn''t he might try using some loopholes to harvest all my strawberries from every clone he could locate. "You have my word." I''m done thinking today. Once that rabbit disappeared, it was just the bird lady and me. "Green... What strawberry?" Stop. I''m done thinking today. "Green, strawberry?" "Call me Berry," I pointed at myself. It was a name I made up on the spot, or rather, it was just latter half of the berry name. I couldn''t have her keep calling me "green". "Berry, show strawberry." Oh boy, this''ll be a long long day. Patience! I can do this. Plants are patient. Mm. Despite the minor communication barrier, I explained to her everything I felt she needed to know. In terms of food, she had to hunt her own for now. In fact, within minutes after leaving my side, she had already returned with a fresh kill. After her meal, I was able to learn more about Haelley''s abilities. Of the four abilities, only one of them seemed super useful. It was like a cheat ability if I had to say so myself. [Rapid transportation] would allow her to instantly travel to any place within her visual range. It was equivalent to teleportation. The other three abilities were quite good but not that amazing. [Tracker] was an ability similar to [hunter] except it only gave the general direction without the time limitation. Basically, it was as the ability''s name stated. [Forest song] and [enchantment] worked best together. To use these two abilities, she would sing aloud which would "awake forest" and boost all allies'' stats. I wasn''t exactly sure what she meant by "awake forest" and she didn''t have the vocabulary to explain it better. One other thing I learned from her was that there was such a thing called "mana". It seemed to be hidden within the "spiritual" stat. Each time an ability was used, that figure was supposed to decrease. This was especially important to take note for those they were considered fey beings, like me. Once I ran out of mana, I would lose consciousness and possibly die. Well, I knew the death part but that sounded scary. However, my "spiritual" stat had rarely decreased if at all. I wasn''t sure if it was due to how many bodies I had or if that my abilities were just super efficient. As a side note, Haelley really was a female. I confirmed it. "Do you lay eggs?" "No eggs, Haelley young," she blushed. That also meant no free omelets. I miss omelets. The next day, my crusade began! Strawberries shall be known and grown across all nations. None shall be the wiser the rise of the Strawberry Empire! The world begins a new chapter! The world shall belong to me, and only me. Ehehe... Chapter 13 – Learning the Basics One of these days, I''ll be able to claim "The sun never sets on the Strawberry Empire." For that to happen, I had to work extra hard. In any world conquest, a map was required. I needed to know where everything was. And, to obtain a map I had to interact with the mortal races. That was the biggest challenge of all. Currently, the two of us travelled around just using landmarks like mountains and lakes and even remote villages. I wish I could create accurate maps in my mind. "Where go?" Currently I was sitting inside a straw basket over her shoulder while she soared in the open sky. In terms of flying speed, I was a fruit fly compared to a hawk. This made me really glad I picked her to be my travel partner. The servant-master relationship, I just couldn''t see how it could work out so I opted for an equal relationship, at least for now! I had yet to let her taste my wondrous strawberries. "You should say ''Where to go?''" "Where to go? Where to go!" Every once a while, I had to also teach Haelley to speak properly. It wouldn''t do if I didn''t fulfill my side of the bargain. "That village with kobolds," I pointed below us. I didn''t forget those weak looking kobolds since I figured they would make obedient citizens of my empire! Haelley swift landed in the centre of their little village, startling everyone there. Some cowered in fear and hid inside their huts where as the brave ones held stone spears pointed at us. Oops, I should told her to land outside. She''s their predator after all. "What now? Eat?" The word "eat" had caused a few kobolds to step back. Did they understand? "No, I want them to help me grow lots of strawberries." She cocked her head, "Kobolds, stupid." Hehe, she''s a birdbrain herself. Inside the straw basket wasn''t just me, I had some strawberries and leaves inside. I hopped out, carrying the leaves with me. "Make them eat strawberries, just a little," I said. I wasn''t sure if she understood my intentions but she suddenly disappeared. There was a few flashes, somehow all the kobolds'' mouths that I could see were smudged with red and white mess. That meant she had used [rapid transport], the super cheat ability. Not only that, she was too good at using it. I think I messed up. This is probably the worst way to control them. And I seriously hope they don''t revolt. Mm. Next time I''ll plan properly! Next time. Right. Well. "Okay, okay, Haelley, that''s enough." "Okay." Those who were stuffed with strawberries had collapsed one by one with their eyes rolled up. She really overdid it. I was planning to show them where I would plant my clones. "Actually, can you check if there are anyone awake? I need to show them where I plant my clones." "Okay!" Just like that, she disappeared and reappeared next to me within a second. In her hand was a female kobold, about to faint. Before I could say anything, Haelley shook the female kobold up and down to keep her awake. Even I feel bad... "Stop!" "Okay." Why did I take out the leaves again? Was I too concerned she''d feed the leaves to them? No, right? But, I think that was a good call. The leaves are poisonous, I think. Just outside of the village, I planted a row of my strawberry clones. Although the rain season had seemed to pass, rain still came and went at least once every ten days. That was more than enough to grow them. The whole time I did all that, the female kobold stayed awake while I tried to explain with simple words and gestures. How much she understood wasn''t too much of my concern. As long as they occasionally took care of my clones, that would be fine. "We''re done here. Haelley, release her." "Okay." The kobold was hesitant to run at first, but after reaching a few meters away she dashed back into the village without glancing backwards. "There are a few more villages around here. Let''s go." Luckily, a while back I had planted a clone around here which meant I could use it to create more clones. I didn''t have to go to ones that were too far away. The moment I reached that clone at the base of the small mountain, I merged with it to update its status. Due to how many of my clones were out there gaining experiences by killing who knew what, my levels had risen somewhat. I kind of wished "experience" stat would be displayed. Unfortunately, not even Haelley had seen it. [Level 29 Fey (plant); Species: Strawberry Trickster; Physical: 9/9; Spiritual: 89/89; Traits: Bewitching, Devious, Rapid Growth, Cloning; Abilities: Absorption, Charm, Supply Chain, Strawberry Substitution; Description: A tricky plant fey that likes to toy with their foes.] No matter how I looked at it, I was weakling, a super weakling who couldn''t even defeat a single kobold unless I had my plant body with me. Consequently, because I had many plant bodies, if I added them all together, my stats would be super high. Notably, my plant bodies had different status when examined separately from me. [Level 29 Fey Plant (clone); Species: Strawberry Trickster; Physical: 13/13; Spiritual: 21/21; Traits: Bewitching, Rapid Growth, Cloning; Abilities: Absorption, Charm, Supply Chain, Strawberry Substitution; Description: A clone of a Strawberry Trickster.] Somehow, my clones had better physical stats than me. It was a super bummer for me. But, I supposed it made sense given how much larger it was than me. Some of the older ones could even be considered bushes with even higher physical stats. I noticed that the traits were one less but abilities were all there. That was very strange because it probably meant that all the abilities could be used by my clone remotely, which included [charm], a very suspicious ability. It made me wonder how it could charm anything when I didn''t even know how it worked. By the way, De Planck actually came by to finalize our agreement. Every detail was written on a piece of parchment. Just to be safe, I examined the whole document super carefully, front and back, for any fine prints. There were none, thankfully. There probably weren''t any invisible texts. Even if there were, I either signed it or became food. Life was really cruel. Once that rabbit left, Haelley came up to me, "Me hungry." "No, it''s ''I am hungry.''" I corrected her. "I am hungry." "Sure, let me tag with you. I want to see how you hunt." "Okay." Before I could say any more, she zoomed into the sky. Then, she hovered for a few seconds before the hunt was over. I felt bad for that little lizard thing that got crushed under her foot. God, please nerf her abilities. You''re making me super jealous and we all know what happens when I can''t get what I want, right? I''m joking, god, please don''t turn me into a bacteria. My little rant was my own. No one should have been listening in, I hoped. While the bird lady happily sunk her teeth into that lizard, I thought about the abilities I possessed. After seeing how proficient Haelley was at using her abilities, it made me wish I could improve with my ability usage. The first one I examined was obviously the first one listed, absorption. It stayed with my fey body. I wasn''t sure if it was some kind of default setting or whatnot. Originally only my plant body''s roots were able to utilize this ability but if my fey body could do so as well, then this could really be a new discovery! "Haelley, how do I use abilities, exactly? I want to try using my absorption ability." "No touch me. They different for each. Desire important." That wasn''t very helpful. For her abilities, two were sound based, one was sight based, and one was feel based. "Okay, thanks, you should go sleep." "No ability touch!" As she backed off. "I won''t," I assured her. I didn''t think my ability was that great anyway. Loitering around wasn''t going to help me understand my abilities better. First the grasses and shrubs close to me. Desire, maybe she meant to say "intent". Anyway, I gave it a try. It shouldn''t be too difficult when I had used this ability before, albeit, passively. I placed my hands on a patch of grasses and gave the intent. Not long after, I felt a flow like a wind breeze into my hands and arms. Amazing! I''m genius! I''m an absolute genius! The world is as good as mine. Eheheh... It was such a pleasant feeling too, making me feel really nourished. Unfortunately, the patch had completely withered before I realized the flow had stopped. Oops. I better be careful next time. Next, I touched an evergreen tree''s trunk. This time, the flow was different. Instead of a wind breeze, it was more like a small water stream. The quality of the energy I was absorbing was very blissful. It was like all my needs were now met! I could do this all day! Mister Tree, let''s get married. Fill me up all day every day! Except, a notification broke the trance I was in. Thankfully, it did, otherwise the tree wasn''t going to make it. [Evolution Paths Available.] Hmm? Did I miss a level up notification? Chapter 14 – Clothing There were three options given for my next evolution: [Strawberry Twister] or [Strawberry Joker] or [Strawberry Reaper]. My first thought was, God, I ain''t picking "Joker". Who do you think I am? The first option also sounded like a joke to me. That was definitely some sort of food name. That left me with the final option. Actually it sounded really cool except I wasn''t a fan of dying. I was very hopeful that it would grant me some new abilities that would be useful in combat. Well, whatever, Strawberry Reaper it is! I flew to the nearest clone and merged with it before coming out to examine my new status. [Level 31 Fey (plant); Species: Strawberry Reaper; Physical: 23/23; Spiritual: 131/131; Traits: Bewitching, Devious, Rapid Growth, Parallel Bodies, Gourmet, Reaper; Abilities: Absorption, Charm, Supply Chain, Strawberry Substitution, Synthesis; Description: A deadly plant fey that kills anything it touches.] Ohoho... new ability! And, new traits! Just seeing the gains from this evolution got my blood pumping! That was, if I had any blood in my fey body. Speaking of my fey body, I had grown larger again. Now, I was about the size of a ten year old human child. My silky blonde hair had extended down to my upper back reaching the base of my wings. It was kind of tough seeing exactly what my wings looked like but they had lost some of their vibrant colors. Now there was black trim around them but the patterns had remained the same. In any case, I still considered my wings to be fairly pretty. Finally, there was the change in my skin color from light green to a pale white, the human kind. Honestly, I kind of liked the light green color because this new color just looked unhealthy. Maybe some sunshine will do the trick? As if the world was trying to be consistent, I was still genderless. Anyhow, I was used to it by now. I should clothe myself before I start visiting human settlements. There was also the problem with my wings. I seriously doubted any humans wanted to deal with anyone not from mortal races. I wasn''t going to rip my own wings off, no, not a chance. This made me wish I could transform like that fox lady and De Planck. Now, about my clothes, what to do. It was odd but I was already used to flying around buck naked. Right, it was all because I had no private parts! The night was long. So, while I was generating a brainstorm, I was casually walking around using [absorption] on the trees in the proximity. There was a saying, "practice makes perfect." Plus, there wasn''t anything else I could do. And, strangely, or obviously, this ability didn''t consume my "spiritual" stat. I couldn''t ask for a better way to spend this time honing my ability. By the time Haelley had woken up, it was as if she slept through a season. Nearly a hundred trees had partially withered, their leaves yellow and still falling. For some of the unfortunate trees, their life had been sucked out completely. Really, all that was my fault because I just couldn''t stop myself. It definitely wasn''t addiction, it definitely wasn''t! On the positive side, I leveled up quite a bit! That might have been completely due to [absorption] stealing energy, possibly the illusive "experience" stat. To my disappointment, even though I somehow zipped past level 41, there were no evolutions and I wasn''t sure why. "Berry?" Haelley looked at me with profound confusion. "I''m Berry. I evolved while you were sleeping." "Trees? What you do?" "I used my ability to absorb." "Bad Berry. Precious forest, gone, I''m sad," she said while tearing up. Oh crap, I should have known! She was one with the forest and I literally gobbled it all up in a single night. Apologize? Apologize. I still needed her. "I''m sorry, Haelley. I won''t do it again, okay?" I didn''t know how to comfort her at all. Just looking at my actions, I wasn''t too different from a demonic being, killing the forest for some sweet level ups. It was too late to regret it. If there was something I could do, anything, I would have thought of it by now. Abilities, abilities... huh wait, oh right, I was absorbed last night to examine that new ability, [synthesis]. I don''t even know what it does. "Haelley, can you tell me how often does one evolve?" Sniffle. Sniffle. "Depends on species and levels. I evolve at fifty." Fifty? She''s currently at thirty-two which meant she wouldn''t evolve at forty. I guess all hope isn''t lost for me. "Thanks, I have this new ability, it''s called [synthesis]. Do you know what it does?" I knew I was being such a jerk, asking her questions at a time like this. However, it was because I remembered studying a course in university and the professor said something about distractions being a great antidote to everything unpleasant, like some kind of escapism. She thought about it before answering, "I think. It let you create from what you have." Hmm... creating stuff sounds nice. "Great, thanks!" "You try take from ground and create." "Are you sure? I don''t want to do more damages to the forest than I already have." "Yes. Okay here. No problem," she gave the nod of approval. Even though she approved, I was still going to be careful. The only issue was that I didn''t know what to synthesize. I don''t know. Hmm... how about just some leaves and stems? It''s probably plant related. I kind of had a gist of how the ability worked. Intention was the key. I began pulling up nutrients from the ground through my feet, and into my left palm. Bit by bit, a sprout poked out from my left palm, almost like how my clones sprout themselves. "It worked!" "Your stat dropped." When I checked my spiritual stat, it really did drop but only by two points. I wonder if I can produce strawberries like this. Better yet, maybe this will solve my clothing problem. I''ll finally be civilized! There was an issue associated with that. If I only synthesized plant fibre, there was no way I could turn them into fabrics, and needless to say, clothing I could wear. "Uh, Haelley, do you know how to weave and knit?" She cocked her head, "what that?" Now I really wished I had learned some useful life skills in my past life. Coming from a civilization too advanced certainly had its demerits. With a few clicks of buttons, everything I needed came to me. "I want to make clothing." "Why?" "I want to talk to the mortal races." "Mortal races bad! I come with you." Suddenly, she was all worked up. I didn''t get it but perhaps she had some bad experiences with them. For one, I certainly had a bad experience but I wouldn''t say all mortals races were bad. There were bound to be good ones. "Why are they bad? Can you tell me?" "Mortals destroyed forests to build. My home was gone. I get stronger and learn their language. One day I destroy their cities and rebuild my home." "What about your family?" "Killed by bad men. After, I served De Planck and grew strong," again she became teary, but this time with determination showing in her eyes. So that''s why she was with De Planck. Perhaps I underestimated the mortal races from my previous encounter. "How strong are mortals? What are their stats like?" I asked. "Some very strong. Highest I saw, one level 85 mortal with "physical" and "spiritual" stats above 300. I lucky to survive. They have very strong weapons that shoot into sky." That''s crazy! And they have anti-aircraft weaponries? The one I saw was only level 9 and I thought he was strong. Since this is a fantasy world, maybe they have heroes and whatnot. "What about their citizens?" "Level 3? I stayed away. When I approached, their warriors chased me." Could it be? They have detection devices set up or do some of them have detection type abilities? Hmm... I need to see for myself one of these days. Anyhow, I needed to proceed with my initial plan. Talking all day wasn''t going to change anything. I had lots of work to do, the first being that I needed to visit more kobold villages on that mountain. This time, instead of using clones, I practiced creating clones using that new skill [synthesis]. Whenever I was low on "spiritual" stat, I would draw a tiny bit from the surrounding trees. As long as I didn''t overdo it, Haelley was okay with it. blanksphere Chapter 15 – Synthesis Over the next few weeks, everything came to a slow grind as I tried to get used to everything related to my evolution. Also, my loner life as a plant fey had ended. I supposed that was a good thing to me, right? Now I could only do monologues while Haelley slept. Otherwise she was going to question my sanity! I practised using my [synthesis] ability over and over again because it was one of the two most useful abilities for me. Basically, I was able to create anything that made up of my plant body as long as I had the material. I could even modify the properties of the materials if I put in stronger intentions. It was to the point that I was able to create some clothing for myself. A free leafy dress, why not? "Haelley, you should try wearing this dress, isn''t it pretty?" I offered her a green dress decorated with white flowers. "No. Hard to move around," she shook her head. "Don''t you want to be able to speak to mortals? They all wear clothing, right?" "Okay, I wear it." She was such a simple minded person that I didn''t even need to put in any effort to convince her. Once she put it on, I noticed that color match up was actually terrible. She had green and blue features, and added with the green dress, the dress really made too little difference. The only thing that looked nice was the white flower which what a normal strawberry flower looked like. "Never mind, maybe a yellow dress would look better," I answered when I noticed her anticipating gaze. Oops, I should have told her she looked pretty... "Awh," she frowned with disappointment. I''m super sorry! "Actually, I can just make it wither, and that''ll yellow it right?" "No! Bad Berry." The way she worded it, I felt like it was directed at a dog. Despite many weeks if me correcting her way of speaking, her improvements were mediocre. "Alright, you keep it then. I''ll make a new dress later." Although my proficiency and efficiency with this ability had increased, it still wasn''t enough to freely synthesize things without pause. However this led me to constantly use [absorption] replenish myself to the point my efficiency with this ability had increased. That was when I had confirmed that there were indeed some sort of hidden level system for all the abilities. The more I used them, the better I was at using them. Currently, I could replenish myself fully from a single tree without withering it whereas at first I had to absorb from five trees before I was full. The next thing I was practising synthesis with was creating plant based weapons. If I removed the pollens and nectar, my flowers made excellent weapons. They too had changed due to my recent evolution to a scary degree. Really, they were somehow more vicious than alligator jaws with the sticky parts becoming something closer to razor sharp fangs. And on top of that, I could use [absorption] as long as the flowers are connected to my through these sturdy and flexible vines I synthesized. Yep, my weapons, something out of a horror movie, all that was me, the Strawberry Reaper. If I hid myself under a child''s bed at night, I could probably induce a strawberry nightmare! Anyway, I wasn''t the only one who did lots of things over the past few weeks. Haelley had gone ground doing some sort of population control on the wild boars. Their official species name prior to evolution was [Ho-Foku]. For two weeks straight, she only had one type of meat for her meals. "Don''t you get bored of eating the same thing every day?" "Yes, but wasting food is bad." "How about this? I can create nectar, and you can add to your meat? It would taste good, no?" "Berry, good idea! I try." Nectar wasn''t supposed to be addictive so it should be fine. I kind of wished I could remove the addictive properties of my strawberries. To do that, I would have to isolate whatever chemical compound or magical effect that gave my strawberries that trait. "I have a better idea! Can you make a small fire?" "Fire? Fire is bad," she shook her head, "fire kills forests." Even though I didn''t need to eat at all, I still wanted to try my hands on making some sweet barbecued pork chops, or boar chops? "I can make super tasty food with fire. Please? Pretty please?" "What is ''pretty please'' mean?" Kuh, I have to start there? "It means ''please'' but just sounds better?" Honestly, I didn''t even know it myself. "No fire, pretty please!" She''s certainly a fast learner on useless things. "Fine," I resigned. I handed a leafy cup of concentrated nectar to her. It wasn''t like I could eat anyway. Given my current physical conditions, it was already a miracle that I could talk and have four out of the five human senses. Obviously, taste wasn''t there and I had no stomach at all. I was almost like some type of homunculi created just to venture about. "Sweet meat is tasty!" She cried out in joy as she chewed on the boar meat. Lucky... I wish I could eat. "Haelley, how long do you think it''ll take you to reach level 50?" "I think three years. I level up slow not like you. You are strange." "I''m a plant." "You are the first strong plant fey I have seen." "Really?" I thought I was super weak. "Mm... Once I saw something like plant fey, a smiley fun guy, very strong." Fun guy, fungi? But... Smiling mushroom? Were you high? That thought came to my mind and as much I wanted to voice it out, I didn''t want to hurt her feelings. Furthermore, she probably wouldn''t understand either and I would have to explain myself. Seriously, I rather not teach her any strange vocabularies otherwise it was going to come back and bite me in the future. "Can you tell me more about it?" "No, mom took me away. She said fun guys are bad and they eat people." Maybe I misunderstood, there was no way mushrooms could eat people. "Oh, never mind," and the matter was closed. Recently, the kobolds on that mountain had been taking care of the strawberry plants. I personally went to those villages to preach the gospels of the Strawberry Empire while Haelley kept an eye on my safety from afar. Actually, I just shared slices of my strawberries and taught them about cultivation. They weren''t hostile to me at all. Just have tiny slices wasn''t going to make them super addicted or anything. Just to be sure, I even told them to eat very little because drug addicts weren''t going to make my empire grow. The exception was the first tiny village that we visited. A stone altar was setup next to a strawberry plant. Once per week, they would offer some sacrifices to the strawberry plant so more strawberries would grow. Honestly, their behaviors resembled those beetles, with the difference being that the kobolds offered the things they hunted instead of killing themselves. Yep, a strange cult had formed here. Unfortunately, unbeknown to them, I was the one controlling how much resources were to be spent on growing strawberries for each of my strawberry clone. It''s kind of too late to save them now. I''ll be nice, and let that clone grow more flowers and strawberries. Speaking of clones, I had lost count of them. There were probably over a thousand clones out there already. Most of them, I stopped caring how they grew. It wasn''t like they could drain my resources anyway since resources weren''t shared. "Haelley, are you familiar with Kallions? I''m thinking of taming one." Kallion was the official name for what I called minotaur. By now, it should have encountered one of my strawberry plants already. "They are delicacy." This simpleton only cares about food. Her vocabulary shows just that. "Anything else? I saw one not too far away and I was hoping we could make one join us." "Why? Am I no good? Are we not friends?" She hung a sad frown on her face. Argh! I messed up again. "Uhm... The more the merrier?" "Mom said we can''t be friends with food." And I''m not food? "But, you drank my nectar. Are we not friends then?" I threw that question back at her. "Berry! You are different! We are friends! I promise no more nectar..." She tear up near the end. Awh, she must really love the nectar. "Okay, okay. You can still have the sweet stuff and be my friend at the same time." "Okay. Can I eat kallion?" "Uhh... sure, once you can make a small fire for me." Roasted minotaur meat didn''t sound too bad. Even if I couldn''t eat, cooking shouldn''t be prohibited. I should be granted this basic joy of life. The problem was that neither of us knew how to make fire in the wilderness. Because of that, I had to hold off on the minotaur business until we learned how to make fires out here. Minotaur, wash your neck or hurry away. The choice is yours. Chapter 16 – Smoothie With thousands of clones around, it became hard for me to track which was which. The only thing I cared about was that as long as at least ten of them allowed me to use [strawberry substitution], then I was good. Today, I wanted to see what my original plant body clones was now like. It had been quite a while since they first sprouted after the big forest fire. That place really held a lot of my memories of when I first started in this world --- the good, the bad, and the ugly. Even though my wings were larger, my flying speed was still nowhere near that of Haelley. Hence, instead of me asking her to slow down, I grabbed onto her ankles as she zipped across the sky. It was unfortunate that I was no longer small enough to grab onto her shoulders because I would get in the way of her flight movements. It was a short trip from where we were staying just awhile ago. Well, a short trip for the bird lady was still a long journey for me. "Ah, home sweet home...?" I released my firm grasp onto Halley''s ankles. Something wasn''t right. That was my first impression as the two of us hovered high up in the air. I checked again using my ability [supply chain] to ensure I had arrived at the correct location. To triple check, I used the upgraded trait |parallel bodies| derived from |cloning|. This allowed all my plant bodies to synchronize to the highest level on top of the original |cloning| trait. In addition, I was able to have a better grasp of my bodies'' states. I honestly didn''t think things had gotten so out of hand over here. You''re kidding me. Where did I go wrong? The main reason we hadn''t landed was because there weren''t any flat ground to land on. Below us was a huge dense jungle, one dominated with a certain plant I was too familiar with. "Big flowers." Certainly, big enough to swallow me whole. Anyone who dared to venture into this place was just asking to be become fertilizers. I certainly wouldn''t want to be here even though I was probably the main cause of it. "Yes. About that." The issue was that I couldn''t feel many of the strawberry plant growth here and they didn''t synchronize. Ah crap, I remembered. I just remembered! It must be that seedling I abandoned. It''s like a weed of the worst kind. This is ridiculous. Maybe I should just cull it with [absorption]? The two of us lowered ourselves onto the top of a tree just barely peaked above the dense jungle. "I''m thinking of just killing it. That''ll help me level up real quick." "No. Bad Berry. You promised not to do it again!" She scolded me. Ah, did I? Was it a promise? "Sorry. I don''t know how else to deal with it. Do you have a better idea? It''s technically part of me so I think I have the right to clean it up, right?" There was no way I could just dive in without getting caught somewhere, either the flowers or the spiky leaves. "I..." She trailed off with her voice as she appeared to be brainstorming something. "Look Haelley, if that thing keeps growing, it''ll kill the forest. Just look at this poor tree we''re standing on." That little push from me seemed to worked because immediately she answered with, "Ah! Okay. I approve." Kuh, to think I needed approval from someone else, I miss my loner life, but I''m done talking to myself. Beetles are no good either. Speaking of beetles, I hadn''t see any of them. They had probably all died out or they were hiding at the ground level. I touched the stem of a tendril that had crept up the tree branches. [Level 21 Fey Plant; Species: Strawberry Smoothie; Physical: 34/34; Spiritual: 89/89; Traits: Bewitching, Rapid Growth, Bond; Abilities: Charm, Producer, Soothsayer; Description: A plant fey that has high growth potential.] It had some nice stats, really nice stats. That species name though, to think it was a legit evolution, just wow. It even has abilities that I don''t have. What an excellent brat! Bye! And, thanks for the free levels. Just when I thought that, a small hand emerged from that stem I was touching. "Wah!" I gasped as I pulled my hand back. "Berry, you okay?" "I don''t know. A hand just came out of nowhere." "I protect you!" The two of us watched as a small figure half my size slowly separated from the stem and animated itself. It had shoulder length mint green hair, fair white skin. Its fairy wings were translucent and brilliantly colored. Once it had fully emerged, the little creature with strawberry pink eyes set its gaze on me with pure and innocent eyes. This was clearly the seedling I abandoned. There was no other explanation. Isn''t it super pretty? Why do I feel like I''m inferior to it? If I knew, I would have picked the "smoothie" option. "Haelley, what am I supposed to do with this thing?" "Another Berry!" She exclaimed. "No, I am Berry! There''s only one Berry here." "Berry is friend. That means small Berry is also friend." I checked its status again now that it was out of the plant body. [Level 21 Fey (Plant); Species: Strawberry Smoothie; Physical: 5/5; Spiritual: 69/69; Traits: Bewitching, Rapid Growth, Bond; Abilities: Charm, Producer, Soothsayer; Description: A plant fey that has high growth potential.] It had almost the same stats as when I just evolved into Strawberry Trickster. It had less abilities than me. As for the description, god must be laughing at me. I wanted high growth potentials myself! However, it was too late to turn back time. "This little thing probably can''t even talk," I pointed at it who was just sitting on her knees atop a tree branch. "Berry! You should be nice. She is cute." This little doll certainly was cute which basically threw a wrench in my plan. Now I had no will to kill it. "I can speak." "Say what?!" My jaws just dropped after hearing it say something. "I can speak." "How? How in the world? That''s impossible." Astonished? Super astonished. It even repeated itself so it wasn''t a fluke. No one should have taught it to speak. A being didn''t just suddenly knew how to speak. Seriously, even Haelley had to learn common language from me ignoring the fact that I could somehow speak it fluently. However, Haelley didn''t look surprised at all. I figured she probably short circuited or something. That was probably the best explanation I could come up with. Unless, perhaps, she thought all strawberry fey beings could speak fluently. Obviously, there was no way that could be true. There was only one genius, and that was me. Which ability or trait is the cheat? Which one? Well, it''s not that I needed such an ability in the first place. It''s just that this seem super unfair, you know? I want a cheat too! "|Bond|. It allows me to receive knowledge from you through touch," it stated that as if this was a matter of fact. Oh true, there''s this |bond| trait. "Does it work on everything?" I asked. "Only with progenitor, my parent, my mother." Oh, oh, I''m not too young to be a parent! I''m genderless. I''m sorry, but I can''t be your mother. But, what''s with this progenitor business? As if reading my thoughts, I received a verbal reply, "You have the trait |progenitor|. No?" "Did you just read my thought?" I cried out. And, when I checked my status, the trait was now there even though it wasn''t there before. "What else do you know about me?" "Give me a name and I''ll tell you! No?" Oh my goodness, this cheeky kid. I gave it some thought. Naming things wasn''t my forte so I looked through its status. What better way to name someone than with their species name? "Smoothie, that''s your name now. Live with it." "Thank you, mother!" Smoothie clasped its hands in joy. "You should know we have no gender so I can''t be a mother!" "Do you really want to be called a nanny? No?" "Shut up. How did you learn about that?" "Ahno... Sorry to interrupt, I''m hungry," Haelley chimed in. "You go hunt, Haelley. I''m having a family conference with Smoothie." Chapter 17 – A Chat Once Haelley left, the two of us continued where we left off. "I have inherited all of your memories of this world. No?" Despite this revelation, I was not happy. The only thing that made it redeemable was that my previous life''s memories weren''t disclosed. "Say what? What happened to my privacy?" "Privacy?" "Like my personal space." "None. You said we are family! Also, I want to be a daughter, no?" "You want me to refer you as a ''she''? What''s wrong with ''it''? We aren''t from the mortal races." "But you are annoyed with lack of gender, no?" The way this kid ended certain sentences was irking me. It just sounded too annoying. Where did she even pick that up? "Yes! Now, stop ending your sentences with ''no''! It''s flipping annoying me, no!?" I raised my voice in exasperation. Oops, I caught on. It''s contagious. "Then call me your daughter! Or I won''t stop, no?" Seriously, that one way memory share was just plain unfair. If I could, I would separate us super far away so that I could have my privacy back again. The memory share probably had limits. Even the idea of having someone else read my memories was just didn''t sit right with me at all. It was worse than being under surveillance, at least then I would still keep my thoughts private. "Fine. Whatever, you can be my daughter. I''ll pretend to be your mother. You know I''ll just abandon you, right?" "Then I won''t tell you anything!" "You''re not afraid I''ll kill you?" "You won''t kill me," as she approached closer to me. Stay away, you''re too glamorous! I slowly backed off but she was closing in on me fast. Is this the so called "family bonding time"? This isn''t what I had imagined. But if I had to choose between being a loner and being with a cute fairy, I''d pick the cute fairy any day. Hold on, isn''t she my kid? Wait, no, am I being charmed? Me? This can''t be happening. It was all too late. Oof, God, when did you find out my weakness? Squeeze. Huh? She was just too adorable, just too adorable. "You smell like strawberry smoothie," I commented while remaining in a hug with the little fairy. "And you smell like rotten strawberries," she retort while wrinkling her nose. "Why you, talking back to your parent? What a bad kid!" "Nuh uh. I have a rotten parent, that''s why," she smiled brightly, her words not matching her expression. "Did you learn that from a demon?" Suddenly, soft memories gushed into me. I knew from the onset that this was Smoothie''s memories. She was sitting under her strawberry leaves just like how I used to spend my time doing nothing. One day, two pairs of colorful parrot-like birds stopped by. They chattered during the day and bickered during the night with little rests in between. All the while, Smoothie was sitting there listening to them, absorbing all that useless information. After around a five days, the two pairs of chatty birds continued on with their migration. It didn''t take long before she evolved into Strawberry Smoothie, her current species. Her ability to speak well was due to a combination of multiple factors. Her trait, |rapid growth|, apparently also helped her learn things faster. I had that trait too but I never knew it applied to anything but plant body''s growth. Her ability, [producer], was akin to my ability, [synthesis], with the difference being that her ability allowed her to create things that were immaterial from immaterial things. Then there was the strange ability, [soothsayer]. This ability basically made her into a psychic which helped her glimpse into possible futures and understand exactly how to make best of her current situation via traits, abilities and everything at her disposal. In addition, it had some peculiar functions I didn''t quite understand. To sum it up, her abilities and traits were obnoxious in a way that seemed completely superior to mine. I wished I had the [soothsayer] ability. It seemed to be the most useful ability ever. Phew, at least there were no demons involved. God, nerf her. Please. This isn''t fair! I''m the only one who had to suffer so much only to get subpar abilities. Disregarding what my thoughts, I asked, "Was that memory share to me?" "If you allow yourself to receive, you can know my memories too. So, no privacy between the us two. Meaning, we''re besties!" She beamed. "No, we''re not. Don''t make me pluck your wings." "No! You won''t! I won''t talk to you anymore!" She pouted. "Fine, we can be besties. Let me create a dress for you. I feel uncomfortable looking at you like that." Even though I was like that not long ago, I just wasn''t used to seeing others without clothes. Obviously, Haelley was an exception since her body was nearly completely covered in feathers. "You will? That''s the first present ever! I''m so happy." It took me some time to create the dress from scratch but the result was basically a shrunk version of my own. "Thank you so much, Mother." "I still feel strange being called ''Mother.'' Can''t you call me Berry?" "No!" I sighed, "I guess it can''t be helped." One of us had to yield and I rather not wasted my time arguing with a kid. Just in time, Haelley returned and landed next to us on the tree. "Family conference, done?" "Wait, actually, I came to ask about this jungle here. Smoothie, explain yourself." "The growth? Some elves tend to my plant body every day." "Say what? That wasn''t in the memories." "I took it out." "You brat, why did you do that?" "So I can talk to you more! I''m so bored here. They never talk to me and they only cared about my strawberries." Something didn''t feel right. "Wait a moment, how do they come here? This is the middle of nowhere. I''m sure I would have seen an elf village if any was nearby when I was scattering my clones." "They teleported. I believe they are De Planck''s servants." Oh, that saves me time explaining things. Maybe this memory sharing trait isn''t that bad. But still, if only I can be selective about it. That De Planck though, I got to give it to him for being a super schemer. "They weren''t affected by your traits and abilities?" "They seemed to be immune." "What about the strawberries?" "I don''t have any. My flowers don''t fruit no matter what the elves did but they aren''t giving up." "Don''t fruit? How, why?" Brat, it seems you''re a defect. At least I won''t have to worry about weed control. "Mother, stop dissing me. I''m perfectly normal." "Smoothie, let''s be real here. None of us are normal. Haelley there is the most normal out of the three of us." "Berry, compliment or no?" Haelley looked at me for an explanation. Clearly, she couldn''t read the mood here. "Neither. Anyway, Smoothie, stop flowering for now. You saw my memories, right? That demon is evil. You should avoid him at all cost." "I have to be with my plant body to control. Let me give you control of my plant body then you can change it, right?" "I can? Since when?" "Since now? I just gave you permission. Check." I checked the conditions of all the strawberry plants under my management with [supply chain]. A new plant body did show up on my list. Just like that, I stopped the plant from flowering, permanently. It was population control at its finest, no surgeries or dangerous chemicals. "Done! Your chastity is now protected, forever and ever. Amen," as I opened my eyes after completing the process. My duty as a parent was completed. "But they already toyed with my flowers. They have to take responsibilities, no?" "That''s not how it works, sweetie... Be a good girl and go sleep." The sun had set and the stars were already slowly revealing themselves to us. "That''s a great idea, Mother. Since you haven''t slept for so long, please sleep with me! I don''t want to sleep alone." This can''t be happening. Why can''t you be a simpleton like Haelley? "Uhh... Mother is busy. Haelley, we need to be somewhere, right?" "Ah," she pondered for a few seconds, "No. But this is not a good place, should search for better place." Really, I won''t get some peace tonight? Why must you do this to me? Is this what they call "taking responsibility?" I''m too young and I''m not even married. Alas, I figured there was no way I could outsmart this kid. She was too smart for her own good. God wasn''t so kind to bless me with high intelligence. "Haelley, can you destroy the white flowers first?" She shook her head, "Too dark to see." Smoothie then remarked, "You should be able to destroy them through your abilities, [supply chain] and [absorption]." I didn''t even know combining abilities was possible. I seriously didn''t. When I locked on the flowers through both [supply chain], I was given the option "devour" when I intended to use [absorption]. Although it sounded super ominous, I still went through with it anyway. Just as she said, the flowers all wilted and dried up. "Smoothie, try not to share too much. You never know who else is listening," I warned her. That kid knew too much, especially with her use of that strange ability. As a parent, I would have to keep up my vigilance so she wouldn''t get kidnapped or something. "I know. Don''t worry about it!" She responded with a thumbs-up. This kid is really trying to get on my nerves. blanksphere Chapter 18 – Traits (1) I couldn''t get a wink of sleep as expected. Instead, I had a long chat with Smoothie. "Mother, as much as I want some siblings, if you''re worried about the seeds, why not just prevent them from developing in the first place?" "I can do that? How? And, no children. None. I never wanted any." That last bit really sounded harsh but I just felt children were a burden no matter how cute they were. It wasn''t like I particularly hated them or anything! "That''s fine as well! I get to keep you all to myself. Teehee!" "Just tell me how to get rid of those seeds already." For me to rely on Smoothie just didn''t feel right at all. My pride was being squashed all over the place. I really wished I was the more knowledgeable one. That strange ability of hers was seriously a cheat on the highest level. She might as well be a directory or an encyclopedia. "Use [supply chain], and by combining [synthesis] and the traits |gourmet| or |reaper|, you can modify the plant bodies'' features." I would have never figured it out myself. She really is too smart. Maybe I should keep her around, an encyclopedia I can refer to at any time. I followed her advice. Lo and behold, a new path opened within my [supply chain] menu allowing me to modify quite a few features. I could even modify the colors of strawberries. Seedless strawberries, I think I deserve a major science award for this new invention. Once I removed the seed option, I browsed through some other features. Actually, there was something new I discovered. I could add different levels of [charm] into the strawberries themselves, making them even more addictive. However, that had a price tag next to it in the cost of mana which I still couldn''t see on my status yet. Apparently this ability was automatically applied at the lowest level on all the strawberries grown. "Is there a way to remove this addictive property from strawberries?" I asked since I wanted Haelley to try one. Just simply removing [charm] from the strawberries didn''t seem to do the trick. "If you remove it now, who''s going to eat them?" "What do you mean?" "Mother, you''re too dense!" "You brat, how could you! I''m not dense. You''re just too smart for your own good." "Look, since your evolution, your strawberries are now lethal after high quantity consumption. Without the additional addictive properties, those poor fellows will keep eating more to get their doses, right? Eventually, they''ll all die out from overdose." "Oh, that''s what you meant. But wait, can''t I just remove that property?" "You can''t remove a trait. The trait |reaper| is the cause of it." I was stunned. The implication of this was huge, meaning it would stop my Strawberry Empire from growing because my fellow citizens would just all die. That wasn''t what I wanted. "How do I stop them from dying?" "Add the antidote in there," she stated with a smirk. "You should have said that in the first place!" I thought about it, I really did. However, a major issue came up. I didn''t know how to create an antidote. In this case, since the cause was from a trait, I didn''t even know where to start. "About the antidote, how? You just said it was a trait issue." "Mm... I don''t know?" And here I just thought that you were super reliable. "Alright, I''ll keep it at the same level. Do you know how many it will take for someone to die?" "I would say five a day depending on their resistance and stats." Five a day? Where have I heard of that before? Hmm. Hmm! That''s right, that rabbit demon. I wonder! But, even if he did eat them, he had super high stats and extreme resistances. "What stats are you basing it off of?" "Spiritual. Your strawberries steals ''spiritual'' stats." I''ve become a soul stealer? Isn''t that something only demons did? No. Way. That means I''m a demon now? I don''t want to be a demon though. "That can only kill certain fey beings, right? And how come I''m not affecting anything through touch? Can you explain what exactly ''traits'' are?" In this situation, it was as if Smoothie was the parent and I was the kid. All I was doing was bombarding her with questions after questions. It couldn''t be helped since there were too many things I wanted to know. In the first place, I didn''t understand how "traits" worked other than they were akin to passive abilities or built in features. "If I told you everything, you would ditch me here, no?" "I won''t. I promise! You can come with us." She held out her pinky, "Pinky swear?" I was pretty sure those parrots didn''t teach her that and I had no memories of such in this world. "Who taught you that?" "Secret! Now, promise me!" "Fine, I promise," as we hooked pinkies. "Pinky, pinky, whoever tells a lie will have to bite off their own big toes," she sung. "Wait, there''s a punishment? Isn''t that too cruel?" "It''s too late to back off now!" I sighed and resigned myself to this fate. Only after we pink swore did began explain what all these traits were all about, specifically my traits. The "traits" literally just meant traits as the features that defined an individual just like having my senses and my appearance. These traits would sometime lead to abilities and vice versa. Evolution would also sometime grant abilities or traits or both. In special circumstances, leveling up could grant them, according to Smoothie. "I want your [soothsayer] ability." "Maybe you''ll get it if you super wish for it!" Apparently, there were many unknown factors involved in obtaining both abilities and traits. Desires, feelings, species and actions were some of the likely contributing factors. For example, |gourmet| was likely due to my excessive consumption of life. "How come I have |devious| and you don''t?" "Because you''re bad, very bad." "Was it that bad?" "Yes! That trait might also lead to you evolving into a demon." "That''s no good. I''m a nice plant! I want to be an angel at least." "You mean a death angel?" "Ughh, never mind. Let''s go over all of my traits. I need to make sure I understood them all properly." The first one we went over was |bewitching|. It was a trait that both of us shared. It was associated with the ability [charm] as if it just the obvious thing. This was the reason why I couldn''t completely turn off the addictive properties in strawberries. The trait itself skewed our appearances to look very glamorous to the general populace in the vicinity. It did not reflect how we understood beauty but it was all in the eyes of beholder. This meant if the general populace loved "ugly" things, then my appearance would be somewhat ugly. However, it wasn''t the end because the effects were supposed to be mostly subtle and it could be reset through transformation type traits and abilities. In our case, we were plant fey beings, so we could just merge with our plant bodies and re-emerge. The second one, |devious|, was self explanatory. It made me a bit evil, only a tiny bit evil! Just to be clear, I was not evil. Also, it might grant me "evil" abilities and traits in the future. And as mentioned before, there was the possibility for me to evolve into a demon in the future. Hopefully, that day would never come. Becoming a demon lord? No. Way. But, having that demon rabbit eat dust doesn''t sound so bad. The next one was |rapid growth|. Again, it was mostly self explanatory. Smoothie said it affected all my stats, both the hidden and visible ones. Still, I kind of wish it made me smarter. It wasn''t fair that only Smoothie gained her smarts so fast. She probably had some other hidden cheats. |Parallel bodies| was a trait I had explored very little since it had evolved from |cloning|. The cloning function still worked just fine. The difference was that the evolved trait allowed me to create parallel bodies. "Wait, what do parallel bodies really mean? I don''t get it." "I think you can create more fey bodies? I don''t fully understand it either." "Your ability isn''t telling you the details?" I asked. "It is but if it is true, then you can have two or more fey bodies roaming around." "Say what!? How do I control two?" "That part, I don''t understand. I think your consciousness get split?" So, it''s something like splitting my soul I guess. It just sounded like such a high spec trait. Unfortunately, I wasn''t high spec enough to make use of it at the moment. "Never mind, I won''t try it. Anything else to that trait?" "You always have a copy of your fey body living within your plant bodies." "Oh that''s good, I''ll never have to worry about dying!" "Unless they kill all your clones." "True, but that''s a tough feat. I bet only a demon would be able to do something like that." blanksphere Chapter 19 – Traits (2) There were three more traits to go. I kind of wished I could sleep because as much as I wanted to understand them, I lost a sense of joy from discovering what they did. Smoothie really was like a guidebook to a game. God, is this your way of helping me conquer the game? Did you finally know the errors of your ways? Well, it''s too late! I bet some disaster is just waiting to happen. |Gourmet| was a very simple trait. I could use [absorption] and take in nutrients and energies as much as I could without ever feeling bloated. Frankly, it was no different from a storage device. However, Smoothie gave me a stern warning, "If you keep using it excessively, the trait may eventually evolve into something like |glutton|. You''ll have insatiable hunger. Should that ever happen, I fear for the world." "Oh, I''ve never seen such a trait, only [devourer] came to mind. Is it related?" "That''s a soul eating ability, not a trait." "Oops. I''ll try not to overuse [absorption]." The trait I most wanted to know more about was |reaper|. I was all excited and whatnot when she started explanation. However, the explanation was fairly straightforward but vague. Basically, whenever someone consumed any part of me, an exchange would take place the moment that part went into their system. In return, I would collect any debt owing to me via "spiritual" stats. If there weren''t enough "spiritual" stats, physical stats would be exchanged. Too bad I wouldn''t actually gain the stats they lost. They just all become part of the imaginary "experience" stat. Somehow, my strawberries had become a devil''s fruit. "How does it work exactly? Would the debt be cancelled if they paid me in cash before eating?" I knew for a fact I didn''t deal in cash. Those simply didn''t exist in the vast wilderness. "They just have to offer you something in exchange. For example, a contract of service, or maybe fertilizers, or even prayers. They just had to be equal." Ah, that demon rabbit, he must have knew about it somehow! How unfortunate it wouldn''t work on him. "How are values calculated?" "Feelings." "Sorry, I didn''t understand that." "Feelings, meaning it just had to feel right to both parties involved. The kobolds who are doing a service in exchange for your strawberries wouldn''t be harmed unless they took more than their fair share." "By your explanation, what''s there to worry about?" "Not everyone can have an equal exchange meaning the weaker ones could die instantly if they didn''t pay enough. Given that there was no set value, who would risk their life to eat your strawberries, not to mention they are addictive?" "True, I''m not a fan of killing. Wait, then how could there be an antidote?" "Simple! The antidote would either have to be something of equal harm stored in the strawberries or a trait or ability that countered |reaper|." "You''re basically asking me to add poison in there." In the first place, charm effect should be a minus. However if I increased the charm level, the addiction would go through the roof. Hmm... Suddenly, an idea came to me. "I have an idea. What if I increase the natural alcohol content? Alcohol is bad, right?" "Again, who wants to eat that? I believe you should go for a flavorless poison that drains stats." "Did you take me for a chemist? I can''t do that and my ''synthesis'' doesn''t let me go that far." "What''s a chemist?" Oh, could it be? It''s my time to shine! It''s odd that she knew about alcohol but not the term "chemist". "A chemist is someone who plays with chemicals," I explained while puffing out my chest. "I already understood the gist of it. Mother, please don''t ever be a teacher. I''ll take over the job of teaching Haelley the common language," she gazed at me with a bored expression. "Wait, that''s my job! I''m teaching her properly." Last but not least, |progenitor|, this trait not only allowed memory sharing with those who had |bond| while also being a descendent, but it also allowed abilities to be shared in one way direction. The catch was that we had to be in physical contact for it to work and permission had to be granted first. "So that was why you hugged me. To think I was deceived so easily..." "I can read you like a book!" "You brat, touting such non-sense. I have a question. How come it didn''t appear in my status sooner?" "[Soothsayer] doesn''t tell me everything. That being said, |progenitor| is likely a special ability that activated when you first touched my plant body. Before then, I didn''t have |bond|. If my guess is correct, you are the first strawberry plant in this world." "That''s messed up. I''m the first? There are no other strawberry plants?" "I don''t think so." "I''m an invasive species?" "Probably." "Is that why I have the |devious| trait?" "I doubted it. It''s your personality that gave you that trait." "You are ruthless! Smoothie, why do you like to hurt my feelings?" "Because it''s fun?" This brat. I want to smack her so bad. Then she patted my head, "There, there. Feeling better?" "I''m not a kid!" "Who said anything about being a kid? Patting your head feels nice, no?" "You win," as I curled up next to a gigantic tree. I was getting a bit drowsy after that long talk. Despite the fact I didn''t need to sleep nor could I sleep, that feeling of sleepiness would sometime allude itself to me at nights. To me, the inability to sleep was a curse. The feeling of a beautiful rest was something I truly missed from my previous life. It was something I never gave a second thought before. Crying over spilt milk was pointless. "I wish I could sleep." "Mother, would you like me to grant your wish?" "You''re just teasing me. I know that much." She just smiled innocently and laid down next to me. A thought came to me. It had to do with my next goal of communication with the mortal races. I felt like if I kept roaming around without a proper sense of direction, I would forever wander without accomplishing anything noteworthy. "Smoothie, one day I would like to interact with the mortal races." "You want a map?" "Yes. I don''t think I''ll be able to get close to them looking like this. Is there a transformation ability I can acquire to make me look like a human?" I was especially conscious of these huge colorful wings. No way would any mortal race have something like these. Nonetheless I needed to hide or remove these wings if I wished to even approach those cities. Obviously, I wasn''t going to rip them off, not a chance. I was not a masochist. "I explained it earlier, didn''t I? The |bewitching| trait allows for changes in appearance. Since you have [synthesis], you can alter your form as you re-emerge from your plant body if you borrow my [producer] ability." "I see. Are there no faster ways to instantly transform? If you saw all my memories, that fox lady was able to transform at will." "If you practice changing your form for long enough, you may be granted that ability the next time you evolve." "Neat! I''m close to leveling up so let''s get practising!" "Mother, if someone was to inspect you, how will you hide your status? I suggest we travel around the world first to level up and evolve while we gain new traits and abilities. The last thing you wanted is to be captured and experimented on, no?" She''s really level headed. Maybe I should learn something from her. "Hmm. Okay. What about my Strawberry Empire?" "It''s not realistic." My dream was shot down before it even took off. "Then why would I even bother doing all this? I might as well sit somewhere for the rest of my life. I can''t eat. I can''t sleep. I can''t mate. There''s no entertainment here, none at all. Without any ambition, I''m empty! I have nothing!" I cried out in desperation. I had nothing going on for me in this life, nothing at all. I wanted to avoid being a nobody at any cost. "You have me. I''ll try to fulfill your wishes. I''ll try to entertain you. So please, Mother, don''t go that route. The Strawberry Empire will only lead you to countless hardships. Is that really your wish?" blanksphere Side Story 2 – Hero King lanksphere "Your Majesty, the demons and beasts are on the moves. I believe that time is upon us again." "Already? Time sure flies by quickly." Approximately every fifty years, the world would be infested with turmoil that would last for years. In every cycle, major events would occur such as war, famine, and in rare circumstances even the rise of collapse of a nation. According to the remains of recorded history, there had been no exception for hundreds of years. The Hero King was the most powerful human in the world. He might not be the best in terms of leadership, however, those serving under him were a group of elites that governed every aspect of the country known as Appallia. Every ten years, a tournament would be held to determine the strongest but for fifty years straight, no one had been able to defeat the current Hero King, Jaco Spiriard. In ancient times, a Hero King was someone who stood tall in the face of powerful adversaries, be them demons, ancient fey beings, or other nations. He protected the humankind in this world from those who threatened his people. As with many positive intents, time passed and over the many generations of Hero Kings, the original message had been lost. Currently, on the western side of the continent, there were two major nations and a small nation: the human Kingdom of Appallia, the reptilian Federation of Josken, and the elf Sovereignty of Mist. An alliance had recently formed between Josken and Appallia, both having chaotic histories with a powerful nation to the east. Federation of Josken was situated to the north, across the Fulu Sea which is a body of water mostly enclosed by landmass. This nation was the most technologically advanced and most knowledgeable in the field of magitech. Much of their understanding of magitech came from ancient texts left by an earlier civilization that once thrived in their land. At this moment, due to excessive depletion of resources, they required other ways to obtain materials and knowledge to advance their crafts. Pollution was rampant. Diseases and famine were persistent issues. Not only that, natural disasters were annual occurrences in many part of the country wrecking endless havoc on the inhabitants. Their main reason for the alliance was to obtain fertile land and sustainable food sources for the populace. On the other hand, Appallia was situated to the south, blessed with fertile land and filled with resources yet to be tapped. Since the humans had a late start with technologies, they had only recent years understood the advantages of using magitech, especially when applied to military. Even now, the humans were slowly but surely catching up, arming their soldiers with increasingly advanced magitech. The elves lived to the west of Appallia within the Mist Forest. They were a reclusive race that rarely left their great forest. The Mist Forest to date had not been successfully invaded even once. One reason was that it was protected by natural barriers, that being great mountains and turbulent coastal waters filled with terrifying sea monsters. The other reason was the paralyzing mists that surrounded the forests. Only elves who knew of secret passages were permitted safe entrance into the Mist Forest. On the eastern part of the continent, there was only one nation that stood unified. Ruling the Grusia Empire was the Highland Emperor, someone born of a winged beast race. The empire consisted of diversive small kingdoms of beast races from winged predators to those that resembled animals in humanoid forms. One example was Kanobi, a fox lady, who originated from this empire. Despite this nation being called an empire, it was about the same size or even smaller than the other two major nations that had formed an alliance. That being said, the empire was currently doing its best holding off the military forces from the alliance. Already, many fertile lands had been lost to the humans and reptilians due to the ongoing war. "Who will the demons target this time?" One of the Hero King''s aide asked. "We have reports that Trolls were spotted to the southeast along with a suspicious report of a green fey being. I believe we should focus our efforts on the fey beings," another aide commented. "Non-sense! Fey beings are weak compared to the beasts. We should take advantage of our alliance with the reptilians and wipe those savage beasts off the continent. They''re nothing but a nuisance. With magitech, annihilating them is only a matter of time. Your Majesty, please!" A third aide raised his voice, in an effort to gain approval from the Hero King. "No, please reconsider, Your Majesty, we must be more vigilant of those mysterious fey beings." "Silence!" Despite the Hero King''s physical age, he appeared as if he was only in his late twenties. His physique could only be described with one word: strength. An aura of power and authority emanated from his being. In some circumstances, just his presence itself was enough to cause a room''s atmosphere to become oppressive. For nearly fourty years, he had ruled the Kingdom of Appallia with an iron fist. None dared to stand against him, and those who did were swiftly silenced with no recourse. Jaco continued, his eyes examining the expressions of everyone present, "Our history with the beast kinds have been long and bloody. In recent skirmishes, newly trained soldiers equipped with magitech have already proven themselves to outmatch those beasts in air, land, and water. My decision is final. We will cleanse the land of filth. Make preparations, their end draws near. Victory shall be ours!" ""All Hail the Hero King!"" Despite the unified chant, many aides who were nobles and elites of this country were dissatisfied with the king''s decision. However, there was nothing they could really do about it. If they were to step out of the line too much, they would be met with an iron fist, not from the Hero King himself but from his "personal guards." Over the course of his rule, unlike the previous Hero Kings, Jaco Spiriard had acquired masses of loyal followers that bordered fanatics. To name a few, those who specialized in information gathering called themselves "Black Eyes," and those who specialized in combat were the "Black Hands." They had infiltrated into every part of the country from the farmers to the high ranking nobles. In a sense, this Hero King had the entire country within the palm of his hand. Back in the king''s chamber, an individual dressed in black kneeled before the Hero King. "Your Majesty." "Speak." "There are signs of rebellion in the western province." "The usual." "Understood." "I want the magitech ship designs from the Federation of Josken. I don''t care how it''s done. Get it done. This must be accomplished with the utmost secrecy." "It will be done without fail." "Once we have air superiority, this world is as good as ours. Continue tracking the movements of the demons and any new species that show up," he paused for a moment, "For the Holy Kingdom." "For the Holy Kingdom." blanksphere Chapter 20 – Travel When morning came, I affirmed my decision. I, being stubborn wasn''t going to help in any way shape or form. After mulling over my choices all night long, I decided to travel around the world and put the Strawberry Empire on hold for now. It was a temporary truce with the world, only temporary. I had to become stronger, much stronger. I had to be strong enough to eventually force De Planck''s hands and eliminate anyone who would get in my way. Once I was strong enough, conquering the world would be a simple matter. "Let''s head west!" "Actually, Mother, we should go north. That''s where the birds were heading. West is where the majority of the mortals races live." "Oh, right let''s head north then." "Also, I feel the need to clarify something about leveling up." "What is it?" "For plant fey like us, the easiest way to become stronger is actually just growing as a plant. We naturally gain stats as we grow just like how I was able to reach my current state so quickly." Her growth had something to do with the overly amazing fertilizers she received from those elves. I wonder if De Planck''s gardeners could give me some too. Wait, bad thought! I don''t want to ever make a deal with him again, not until he becomes my servant! "Smoothie, why are you telling me this now? I leveled up so much from killing things. Are you saying I was needlessly killing things?" "They did help you grow faster mostly because they became fertilizers." "But, what about the times I immediately leveled up from killing things?" "Most of them were coincidences like when you received that warm liqu-" "Stop! Stop! I get it, I get it. Fertilizers, right?" I halted her before she could spout any more embarrassing stuff out in the open. My pride wouldn''t be able to handle such a crushing blow with Haelley still listening to us. This is no good. Was everything just a misunderstanding? No but, clones grow and they help me level up. If that''s the case, why do I need those flowers if I don''t need most of them to fruit? They were such a waste of resources. The only thing I was sure was that using ''absorption'' to kill trees gave me the quickest level ups. Those couldn''t have been coincidences. "What about the grasses and trees?" I asked. "They were fellow plants. You promised not to kill more, no?" If I understood her correctly, then killing plants might give me more level ups because I was a plant too. However because I made that promise with Haelley, I wasn''t supposed to kill more. I could still use my [absorption] ability but I just had to be super careful not to kill. Recently I had only absorbed the excess reservoirs from the trees and left them completely healthy. "Ahno... How I can level up faster?" Haelley interrupted, our two person question and answer session. Smoothie replied, "Haelley, as a winged beast, you need to fight stronger opponents. This is why we are going north where most of your kinds gather. Mother and I can level up while we travel because our plant bodies will continue to grow." "Thank you, Smoothie." "Wait, brat, if your plant body dies, do you stop growing?" "Duh! Even though I can''t clone myself, even if just a part of me survives, I can live on. If you let me, I can live in your clone bodies to preserve myself." "I didn''t know you were this vulnerable. Well, I don''t mind you living in my clones. I got plenty of those around." I won''t even ask you to do any chores for staying in my houses for free. I''m such a indulging parent. "Mother, you''re just abnormal. I''m actually very strong for a plant fey. In the first place, plants rarely evolve into fey plants, and extremely rare for any fey plants to grow strong enough to reach just half my size." "I see." So you''re just a fluke, the good kind, of course. It really made sense now why De Planck said I was the only plant fey he had contacted with. Most of them probably would have died in their infancy. Honestly, I would have died from that forest fire if I didn''t have the |cloning| trait. In a sense, I supposed luck had a lot to do with survival, something like "survival of the luckiest". In other words, I was lucky, very lucky! God, looks like I haven''t been forsaken. If things go well, maybe I''ll treat you to some strawberry wine, just maybe. Not a bad deal, right? To travel northward, I asked Haelley to carry both of us but I was denied. Apparently, I was the straw that broke the camel''s back, not Smoothie. "Lucky..." I murmured as I tagged behind the two of them. Haelley was carrying Smoothie on her back while I had to use my own wings to fly. Occasionally, Haelley would fly very high above to survey the surrounding areas for potential dangers, obviously without carrying Smoothie up. Our wings, especially Smoothie''s wings, might as well have been screaming "we''re over here!" That was just how conspicuous our wings were with its partial light reflecting property. "Can''t you use [rapid transport]? I''m tired." It had just occurred to me that my stats had dropped a bit after flying for prolonged periods of time. I kind of figured that there was no way I could move around with zero energy costs. Somehow, the law of energy conservation existed in this world in some form. This world sure was complicated. "I only use for short distance. Mana cost is high." "Let''s take a break. Mother, you need to replenish yourself." Once we landed, I hugged a big tree to recharge myself. "Bwaaah! I''m feeling better already." "Berry!" Haelley concerned voice reached my ears. "I''m controlling myself! I really am. Have some faith in me, won''t you?" I retorted. "Okay." That actually got me thinking. I could use [absorption] anywhere with living things to replenish myself. Now that we were away from our plant bodies, how would Smoothie replenish her energy? "Smoothie, how do you replenish yourself?" "I have [producer], remember?" "I know that, but it just let you create immaterial things, right?" "Yes, and that was what I did." "I''m not following...?" I cocked my head in confusion. I felt like something was amiss. That feeling of unease as if it was something I was supposed to know, something super obvious. "I produce stats by being under the sun." I couldn''t even call it a cheat. A plant, producing something by receiving sunlight, wasn''t that photosynthesis? Was this the magical version of photosynthesis? Earlier she told me that ability could somehow assist me in modifying my appearance so that threw me off. Perhaps it was a rather versatile ability. "Oh. I had no idea. I totally misunderstood that ability. Smoothie, how fast can you produce stats?" "It''s slow but enough to sustain me. If I couldn''t keep myself alive, I wouldn''t have came with you." How come I never thought about it? My pride, Be strong! We''ll overcome any adversary coming our way. "Ahh... I see. I see. Let''s get going." "No. Berry is rested. I need rest too," Haelley insisted as she laid down flat on her back. Since we weren''t in any rush, taking prolonged breaks was alright with me. "Smoothie, I didn''t see your memories much, but can [producer] be used to improve base stats?" "Yes, only negligible amounts. It would take many years of continuous boosts to have any noticeable differences. For me, leveling up naturally would be the easier way." I sighed, "I wish I could have that ability." "You can''t have both [synthesis] and [producer] at the same time." "Did [soothsayer] tell you that? I mean, the plant fey beings need some love too. We''re probably the weakest compared to the other races." "That''s not true. If we can survive until the final stages of evolution, we can become the most powerful beings in this world, even the demons wouldn''t match us." Basically, we''re all about the late game but none of us had ever reached late game because of our early game sucked! Actually, I wouldn''t know if any plant fey managed to reach the final stages of evolution. I just assumed it because De Planck would have already met someone like that. "What are the final stages of evolution like?" "That depends on the paths we choose." Huh, spoken like a sage, leaving out all the fine details while being perfectly correct. That [soothsayer] sure is potently smooth with the talks. Honestly, I was still not convinced that Smoothie was coming up with most of the things she said. When she had shared her memories with me, I took a decent look at that strange ability, [soothsayer]. Although I didn''t fully understand the scope of that ability, it felt strangely familiar to me. Yes, it was something that reminded me of my previous life but I wasn''t sure which part. As I tried to recall my past life, it was as if those memories were fine sand slipping through my clumsy fingers. What was I thinking again? Hmm... Oh well, it was probably nothing important. blanksphere Chapter 21 – Swarm We had been travelling for quite a while, slowly but surely getting closer to our destination. We had plenty of breaks in between. Unlikely Smoothie and I, Haelley needed to sleep, eat, and everything else that came with being normal. In the distance, brown haze that stretched across the horizon swept our way from the east dimming sunlight as it approached us. The closer it came, the more ominous I felt. However, the two fellows with me appeared completely unfazed. "What is that thing? Why aren''t we running away?" I asked. "Insects." "Insect swarm. This is the perfect opportunity for you to level up, right? It''s too fast for us to run away." Smoothie remarked as if she knew all along. "Wah? They''re going to eat me alive! I''m a plant!" I thought back to my previous life where I had seen a scene of locust swarms eating all the plants in sight, causing famine everywhere they passed. I doubted I could survive billions of bites non-stop. I wasn''t some unkillable weed or anything like that. "Mother, don''t worry about me, I''ll hide under your flowers! Please make sure to synthesize lots of sticky goo. Once they''re caught, just use [absorption] on all of them. Easy?" "Easy for you to say. You''re just sitting around." "Haelley hide too!" The two of them huddled around me like children playing hide and seek. "Why? You have such high stats. They should be easy for you!" "Too many." Kids these days, what a handful bunch. "Fine, fine, I''ll create a barrier for the three of us." I understood the gist of what I had to do. There was still some time before the swarm reached us. I dropped a clone, then using [synthesis], I grew vines and leaves one after another to completely cover us in a green dome. Once that was done, I anchored newly formed roots deep underground before I merged with the clone itself. This was the easiest way for me to use [absorption] and control the plant body itself. Once they were stuck and weakened, penetrating their bodies with thorns would be enough to finish them off. White flowers quickly blossomed one after another. And, as Smoothie recommended, I synthesized as much sticky goo as I could that normally dotted the tiny tendrils on my white flowers. However, I didn''t just overload my flowers with this goo, I also covered the vines and leaves with the same substance. I guess this is a good experience, my first combat experience. I still wasn''t sure how I was able to defend myself in the future. One of the two ways I had thought of was to permanently modify the regular strawberry plant stems into vines covered with sticky goo. With that, I could use [absorption] to finish my opponents off. The issue with that approach was that they had to be slow moving. Aside from using [absorption], growing thorns and needles on my vines was the best way to wound and kill foes. Anyway, about what felt like half an hour to me passed as I continuously made more preparation. And, after much anticipation, the swarm reached our location. At first, I felt like I was being showered with pebbles. I used [absorption] on them immediately to regenerate my expended spiritual stats and resources. As the swarm continued, the size of these insects increased steadily. It went from feelings of pebbles hitting me to lumps of rocks being dropped on me. Am I doing this right? As the incoming sizes grew, my outermost layer of barrier collapsed under the weight of all the dead insects. Since I wasn''t used to absorbing this much physical material, it couldn''t be helped that they remained stuck to the sticky goo. Boom. What the hell? Did I misunderstand something? My second layer collapsed only a few minutes after the outer layer collapsed. Thankfully, within a plant body, I had no feelings of pain while I could still feel every part of myself. Even though I had churned [absorption] and [synthesis] to maximum, I couldn''t hold off the continuous waves of these flying insects. The only saving grace was that I reached level 50. At least, one more level for the anticipated evolution. Whatever evolution options it gave, it better be worth my efforts. Boom. Boom! There were two more layers to go. Should both of them collapse before the swarm ended, those two would be finished. I wasn''t concerned about my own safety since I had |parallel bodies| trait. Although I had never used it, I could always revive in one of my clones should all else have failed. Boom! Boom! Boom! This time something felt completely different from the previous ones that collapsed from weight. These were direct hits. The impacts were as if meteorites had struck me consecutively. The fourth layer of my barrier was ranked second, next to the fifth layer, in terms of durability. Not only that, I wasn''t able to absorb anything that matched the power of those impacts. It was as if I was being specifically targeted. What''s going on out there? Just what is going on out there? Are these really insects? You can''t be serious, right? There was only one layer remaining. This was the last defense. I figured there was no point defending it once I had strengthened it as much as I did. Furthermore, there wasn''t anything sticking to my barriers so there wasn''t anything useful for me to use [absorption] on. To make the best use of myself, I split myself off from my plant body to examine the situation in person. "What is going on out there?" "Mother, let me enter your clone! I miscalculated." "Miscalculated? What are we really dealing with?" "Basically, the thing you considered flying maggots. One of their fourth evolution is trying to crack our last defense." "Wait, those ugly things? Those weaklings? They evolve too?" I could hardly imagine how much uglier they evolved to be. In the first place, I thought they were pollinators. Did evolution change them so much? "Most things do. Please, let me go into your clone. I don''t want to die yet. Don''t worry about Haelley though, she''ll go fight it." She nodded, "I will fight and level up." "If you''re going into my clone, what about me?" "Mother. Fight on! You help Haelley." Boom. "Wait a second! Why are the big folks attacking us? I didn''t even provoke them." "You killed those from its colony." "But I killed plenty of them back in the days. They never fought back." "This time is different. You killed some of their twice evolved comrades. Anyway, I''m merging, bye!" She waved her hand before disappearing into a clone body of mine. Since it was originally my clone, I still had some control over it. Therefore, I extended the roots as deep as I could. This way, Smoothie should be safe even if everything on the surface was destroyed in the proceeding battle. How did I get into this mess? In the first place, I was told to kill them. Did that brat scheme all of this? "I am ready." Boom. More light seeped into my tiny hideout, illuminating the two of us facing each other. I didn''t know exactly how strong this opponent was but from the expression on her face, she was confident and calm like a valiant warrior. I guess it''s beatable. "Smoothie said you should spread clones and use [absorption]." I nodded, "Got it. I''ll do what I can." blanksphere Chapter 22 – First Battle Bam. Kling. Haelley didn''t wait for us to get crushed and pummelled. Even though she wasn''t powerful like the demons, her advantage came from her ability to fly and to travel rapidly. The movement that creation entered her vision through the cracks, her body disappeared. What a way to enter a battle! I could hear what sounded like firecrackers going off. However powerful it was, Haelley was sure putting up a good fight. I guess I better not lag behind too much. Otherwise, Smoothie isn''t going to let me off for being a coward. Carefully, I shifted the vines and leaves to allow myself a small exit. Corpses of various armored flying maggot-like insects littered my immediate surroundings. The biggest one around, likely the fourth evolution of that insect, towered above me. It was the size of a two storey house. Unlike the ugly low leveled minions, this one looked like a scarlet winged giant termite with large razor sharp mandibles. It moved slowly as it swung its mandibles like elephant tusks. [level 67 Insect; Species: Po-Hatorshi; Physical: 244/252; Spiritual: 132/137; Traits: Collector, Enhanced Physical, Enhanced Resistances; Abilities: Coordinate, Ballistic, Protector; Description: A type of insect that serves as a protector of its colony.] Haelley''s rapid succession of attacks had barely scratch its physical stat. She dished out drop kicks, roundabout kicks, and all types of kicks aiming at any possible weak points she could reach. The only noticeable damages were the broken and scrunched wings. Those were probably what Haelley had aimed at first to ground it permanent so that I could reach it with my vines. While they were fighting, the swarm of insects were flying overhead completely ignoring this area of the forest. Although it was still considered a forest, many trees had fallen due to the current battle making this an open battlefield. Thank goodness they aren''t ganging up on me. Now that I knew I was fairly safe and that Haelley was fully occupying the Po-Hatorshi, I began my first hands on battle. It was actually quite exciting for me despite the lack of that feeling of adrenaline rush. Once I stepped out, I planted my feet firmly into the ground. I placed my hands onto the ground. Already, thousands of pieces of my strawberry plant parts were scattered across the forest floor. Those that were large enough would act as my clones and move as I commanded. Here we go. Let''s raise a jungle! As much as I would love to do that, I didn''t have such power. Instead I opted to catalyze the growth of clones at the base of the Po-Hatorshi''s legs. Dozens of vines shot up, entangling the legs of this monstrous insect. "Haelley, how are you doing?" Because of how quickly she was moving, I couldn''t check on her status at all. "I am okay!" Not all of the vines were able to hold on. Some of them snapped and tear as the Po-Hatorshi struggled to free itself and repel that bird lady. It was like a beast trying to drive off a fly. "Hold on a bit longer, I''ll start draining it as soon as I fully bind it." The reason I didn''t immediately start draining it was because I didn''t wish to alert it. If it suddenly switched its target to me, I doubted I could survive the onslaught. A single swing of its head, those mandibles would cut me down in an instant if I wasn''t careful. Come on, grow faster! Bind it already! More and more vines burst out of the ground beneath. At that moment, my spiritual stat plummeted after everything stored in |gourmet| was used up. However, that monster just wouldn''t stay still. Should this continue, my spiritual stat would bottom out before I could accomplish anything other than being a hindrance. Screw this, no more waiting, I''m draining you dry. The moment I started using [absorption], the Po-Hatorshi released an explosive roar. Oh crap, it could do that!? This is bad, really bad! Was that [coordinate]? We need to finish this before others could converge on this location. "Haelley, keep it down!" I kind of wished Haelley had explosive abilities. Against weak ones, she was superior, but against strong opponents with heavy defenses, she was kind of useless. It was like someone trying to cut a tank with a machete. With each vine that tore, twice as many vines took its place. "Okay!" Since the monster was likely using its defense based abilities, I focused on draining its spiritual stat first. That wasn''t the only reason either. I was much more proficient at draining spiritual stat in the first place. Recently, my control of this ability had increased substantially. Within ten seconds, it was down to two-third of its original spiritual stat. I looked up to the sky. Strangely, the swarms of insects flying overhead were still ignoring us. Places they had crowded were now barren lands. Their feeding frenzy had not stopped as if they had not heard their protector''s cry. Nonetheless, I had a bad feeling, a really bad feeling about this. With only a third of its spiritual stat remaining, the Po-Hatorshi released another explosive roar into the sky. Just die already! I couldn''t care less about saving it for Haelley to kill for her level up. This one kill should be enough for me to level up as well, and unlock my next evolution. Time continued to tick. The moment it had lost all of its spiritual stat, I switched my target to absorb all the components that made up its tough armor, or carapace. If possible, I still wanted to allow Haelley the chance to level up. For her, she couldn''t as easily level up just by growing up normally. Smoothie had stated that Haelley needed to defeat challenging foes to level up rapidly. Crush. Crunch. Crunch. Holes were being drilled into its now brittle carapace. "Finish it off, Haelley!" "Okay!" Now that this monster no longer had the strength, a single drop kick came from the sky and shattered its head down the centre. Sploosh. Haelley, you''ll need to shower later or you''ll stink with bug juice. "Haelley, did you level up?" "Yes. Bad, two more coming." "Two more of these?" "Yes, fourth evolution, same type." The only ones that could threaten us were the fourth evolutions. My guess was that there might also be fourth evolutions that were different just like how I had make my choices. Whatever was the case for their evolutions, I was grateful they were the same type because I wouldn''t want to deal with any unique types if they existed. I sat down, leaning against my plant body that Smoothie was currently in. In the meanwhile, without stop, I was using [absorption] on the corpses to gather as much material resources as I could. These were the building blocks to be used for growing my sticky vines. Nothing was to be wasted. "I need more time to replenish. Haelley, aren''t you tired?" I wished somehow all my clones would share its resources with me. That would grant me such an enormous buff in stats that no mere insects could ever pose a challenge to me. She landed next to me and stated, "I will sing." That really surprised me. I had never once heard her sing, and not to mention she wanted to sing in our current predicament. "Sing? With your abilities?" "Yes!" "Why didn''t you sing earlier? The forest is already gone." "Earlier, I wanted to be strong to fight it. Now I sing for you so you fight." Ah so you were saving your mana? "Rapid transport" did cost lots of mana after all. Tch, I''ll forgive you for dumping so much work on me. "Fine, but I''m unreliable, you know? Are you sure about leaving two of them to me? I''m just an amateaur." She nodded, "I trust. Smoothie trusts." I sighed, "Alright, I guess it can''t be helped. I''ll do my best." She hopped on top of our temporary dwelling, or rather, that dome which acted as the last line of defense just moments ago. This was to be her stage. If she''s the singer, does that make me the dancer? Please go slow on me. I can''t dance. "Try feeding them strawberries," a whisper entered my ears. "Smoothie, get back in there, those things are coming any minute." She teased, "Awh, I''m going to miss the best part, no?" "It''s the worst part! Now, get back in there." "Yes, yes," she waved before she returned inside the plant body. Chapter 23 – Haelley’s Predicament Currently, Haelley had about half of her spiritual stat remaining which in her case was likely just mana. When she opened her mouth again, a soft soothing tone flowed from her being. It was a gentle wordless melody that seeped into the air, the ground, and all living beings. And in my mind, I saw images of ancient forests filled with magical essences. My sense of unease was washed away by tranquility and peacefulness. So beautiful! And I have the front row seat! At the same time, I felt slumbering yet mighty power coursing through my fey body. Was this what she meant by "awake forest"? This is amazing! Since she was likely using two abilities at the same time, I figured I had to act fast before her mana completely dried out. The first thing I did was to raise a dome shaped net made of my vines. As promised, I had to protect Haelley and Smoothie from harm, otherwise there wasn''t any purpose to this fight. To my surprise, my vines were extremely responsive to my command just like extensions of my fey body. Knowing this, the moment those two Po-Hatorshi came close enough, hundreds upon hundreds of vines rose up into the sky and wrapped themselves around the two monsters. They didn''t even have the chance to react. Just like that, a living jungle had formed in the blink of an eye. The cost for me wasn''t cheap either. Crap, my spiritual stat. My head was spinning and my vision nearly blacked out. Without wasting another moment, I began using [absorption]. It was a feast for me. With hundreds of sticky vines completely entangling them, I couldn''t even see them bodies anymore other than just the tips of their mandibles. To secure the bindings on them even further, I did not hesitate to extend the roots of my clones and raise more vines. Good fight. Thank you for the meal. Seconds ticked on with no responses. It really felt anti-climatic for me. I thought they would put up a better fight. Perhaps, Haelley''s singing was just that amazing. "A single vine is weak but combined they are strong," I professed proudly. "You''re not going to feed them strawberries?" "Why are you out again?" "I was hoping you could get us a free ride. We''d be going to the beast country in style, no?" "They''re ugly. If we''re not careful, they might try to eat us. Who''s going to feed that thing?" "Your choice. You still get to level up after killing one of them. As for the other one, if we''re not going with a ride, let Haelley kill it. She would level up again." "Just to be sure, there are no fifth evolution of Po-Hator''s right? We''re out of juice." By now, Haelley''s song without words had already came to a quiet stop with her eyes closed. "The swarm has nearly passed. With three of their guardians down, their queen would leave us be. Just so you know, their queen can''t fight because it follows a different path of evolution." As we spoke, I saw the swarm changing their flight path from westward to northwestward. If they continued that way, they would still enter the human territories. "It''s too confusing for me. They should just have a single species name instead of one for each evolution." Speaking of evolution, I received a notification. That meant one of them had died. "Haelley, you can have the one to the left. It''s still alive." "Thank you, Berry!" She gleamed before she darted off. Sploosh. "Berry, I''m stuck," her expression signaled a severe distress. The two of us just stared at her, one leg crouched on top and one leg sunk inside the head of the Po-Hatorshi. Her wings were glued to the sticky vines that had wrapped the monster tightly. Thankfully there were no needles or thorns grown on those vines. I wouldn''t know what to do if she bled. "Smoothie, what am I supposed to do with her? We can''t just pluck her feathers, right?" "Use [absorption] around her." "If I mess up, she''ll end up buck naked." "Berry, help!" Haelley cried out. I wasn''t sadistic but she looked really funny in that pose. She was like a greedy fruit fly that got nabbed by its food, a lotus wrapped sticky rice. "Coming!" I hollered. I used [absorption] on the nearby vines. This allowed Smoothie and I to land next to Haelley without getting stuck ourselves. I asked, "Just to be sure, do you grow new feathers?" "Very slow. Be nice, pretty please," she begged with teary eyes. "Smoothie, she should be able to use [rapid transport] to get out, right?" "Normally, yes. Right now, she doesn''t have mana, and even if she did, the sticky fluid would still cling onto her feathers." "Let''s wait until her mana recovers. I don''t think she''ll be able to fly for a while either way." "True, and there''s one other way. We can wait for heavy rain to come," Smoothie remarked with a shrug. I nodded, "Good idea, let me evolve first then. I wonder what choices I have this time." "Don''t look at the paths just yet!" Smoothie warned while grabbing onto my arm. I was a bit perplexed by her slightly aggressive behavior. "Why not?" "You said you don''t want to be a demon, no? And you want a transformation type ability, no?" "Is this related? I thought we practiced plenty of transformations already." During our long journey, while Haelley was sleeping, Smoothie had helped me transform countless times into various appearances. Sometimes I was wingless, sometimes my skin was red. There was also this one time I even had a voluptuous bust! It was just that one time because breasts were useless out here and I felt awkward to be the only one to have them. In any case, I always retained humanoid forms when transforming due to the limitations on my abilities. "This is related. Evolution paths you''re allowed to choose from cannot be altered once you have seen them, especially the unique ones. If you don''t want to end up with all "evil" evolutions, you should hold off and help Haelley." "Wah!? It''s like that? Haelley, fear not, I shall save you right this moment! I want to be a strawberry angel, pretty please!" "Mother..." she face palmed, "Your selfish desires are leaking out. I''m afraid there''s no saving you." "Why? I''m doing my best so I don''t end up becoming a demon." "Ahno, help or no?" There was no time to hesitate. I decided to just help Haelley as much as I could right now. Bit by bit, I used [absorption], almost like an eraser to remove as much as I could without breaking down her feathers. Minutes passed, and then hours passed while Smoothie watched me work tirelessly. For parts that required surgical precision, I left those pieces stuck on her until we could find a water source to wash them off. Once she was free, she hopped out. By now, the insect swarms had long passed and the sun was setting just above the horizon. "Thank you!" "You''re welcome. Haelley, please don''t do that again." "I''m sorry," she lowered her head apologetically. "Can you fly?" I was a bit concerned about her food sources. Normally she flew up into the sky and sniped her prey with [rapid transport]. Without her ability to fly, she would have to find other ways to satisfy her immense appetite. "No, wings too wet." "Haelley, you''ll have to make do with Po-Hatorshi as your dinner. You won''t waste food, right?" With three of those things around, she wouldn''t starve for weeks to come as long as their flesh didn''t spoil too quickly. "Eugh." "No worries, I''ll supply you with nectar," I smirked watching the disgusted look on her face. "Mother, you should go around to see if there are any lakes or rivers around. That would be the quickest way to get us moving again." "Why? We''re not in any rush." "I feel like we might have pursuers soon." "I didn''t do anything bad. I was a good plant!" I protested. I was certain we had avoided all the human settlements to the west. "It wasn''t you. I don''t know the details but we just have to keep going north." "Should we head northeast instead?" "No, we want to avoid heading east at the moment." "I agree with Smoothie. When I was young, my mother said there are terrifying monsters in that land," Haelley added. Aren''t we treading a fine line right here? To the west are the humans. To the east are dangerous monsters. East was also where the insect swarm came from. A single encounter was more than enough for me. But, isn''t this a good opportunity for her to level up? "Haelley, don''t you need to level up a bunch? Let''s get you to evolve too!" I suggested. blanksphere Chapter 24 – A River "I have levelled up three times today. No more for a while." "What!? Three times?" I exclaimed. "Yes. I killed two monsters much stronger than me. I''m happy." Damn, kill steal works? This system is broken. God, fix it! When I checked her status, a new trait had shown up. [Level 37 Winged Beast; Species: Fa-Noda; Physical: 201/201; Spiritual: 124/124; Traits: Keen, Enhanced Senses, Slayer; Abilities: Forest Song, Tracker, Enchantment, Rapid Transport; Description: A type of winged beast that loves to sing.] [Slayer], huh. That sounds like a good trait. I wish I could have new combat abilities and traits. "Haelley, eat up," I handed her a cup of nectar only to remember that if she tried to hold it between her wings, the cup would stick. Her frown returned when I reminded her of the food crisis. However, she didn''t complain. Instead, she directed me to a opening in the insect''s abdomen that she had cracked open with her legs. Once I poured the nectar onto the exposed insect flesh, she slurped and gobbled up the monstrous insect''s flesh without hesitation. "Haelley, don''t you wish you have hands like us?" I asked. "Hands are nice. I wish I could be like you. I will try to gain unique evolution too!" "Smoothie, is that possible for her?" "From what [soothsayer] is telling me, it''s possible for her fourth evolution but the option is definitely available on her fifth evolution. For winged beasts, the fifth evolution is a double evolution." "What''s a double evolution? Do you evolve twice?" "Kind of. It''s like when you evolved into Strawberry Imp (lesser), you also evolved from a plant into a fey plant." "Oh, that''s what you mean. I''m interested to see what she''ll evolve into!" "Remember that lizard like demon? He evolved from a reptilian into a demon." "Oh boy, I don''t want to evolve into a demon! Haelley, be a good girl and don''t evolve into a demon." "Why not? Demons are strong!" Haelley replied while still chewing on insect flesh. "Mother, you''re more at risk of evolving into a demon than Haelley," Smoothie chided, "You should be more concerned about yourself right now." If I remember correctly, in my previous double evolution, my "type" automatically changed when I confirmed my evolutionary path. Moreover, my base level was reset to one while all other status fields were unaffected. I wonder, is that how someone was able to gain more stats? "Smoothie, one quick question, is there a maximum to levels and stats?" "Yes and no," she answered quickly. "What do you mean?" "That depends on the type of evolution. It doesn''t concern us at the moment because we won''t reach it any time soon. So, not telling!" "Don''t be stingy!" As I tried to grab onto her. She dodged my attempt at physical contact. "No!" "Pretty please?" "I can give hint. If you want to break the first limit, you need the final evolution. The exception is if you are a fey plant." Oh? There are more than one limits? As for that exception, she probably meant taking the "easy" path of growing stats year after year for possibly hundreds of years. Still, I want to see what this she will evolve into. Her options are definitely going to be different from mine. "Hmm... Smoothie, we should get you to level up faster somehow, I want to see what you''ll evolve into," I expressed my interest. "Mother, I''m a real plant fey unlike you faker." "You brat! What''s that supposed to mean?" "I can''t kill things with [absorption] unlike you. The only way for me to level up is to have nutrients applied to my plant body." "By the way, can I check my evolution options yet?" "Don''t you want to do more good deeds? Patience is a virtue, no?" It was just so tempting! I wanted to evolve as soon as I could. I wanted to get stronger, much stronger. "Fine, I''ll go look for a water source tomorrow," I replied grumpily. That night was one of the longest nights ever. There really much we did other than wait for the sun to rise again. Honestly, I wasn''t comfortable roaming around this dead forest without Haelley around. Even if she couldn''t fly, her pure physical abilities were miles above mine. "Smoothie, is there any way for you to create clones?" If only I could put your plant body in a flower pot... "I knew you care about me!" She grinned while hugging my arm. "Hmmph! It would be inconvenient for me if anything happened to you. That''s all!" I turned away from her absolutely adorable face illuminated by cool moonlight. "Hehehe... I know," as she rubbed her soft cheeks on me. "Well? Is there a way to create clones for you or not?" "Not yet. It might be possible after you gain new abilities or traits." Goddess of Luck, if you exist, I want ultimate abilities and traits please! At the break of dawn, we began our search for a water source, or rather, I began searching for a water source. With transformation, I had altered my wings to pure black. In this getup, I almost looked like a black demon. Anyway, this was a preventive measure from being easily spotted from afar. Water, where are you? I flew up higher and higher into the sky until I nearly reached halfway to the clouds above. From where I could see, a big chunk of the forest around here was completely ravaged by that insect swarm. To the northwest, with a few degrees difference from the direction the swarm headed was a glimmering flat surface. I was very sure that it had to be some sort of lake. I found it quicker than I expected, in a good way. "I found a lake, I think. We''re heading northwest!" "Safe?" "No idea but I''ll check again once we get closer," I shrugged. I didn''t know how far away but if I had to guess, it was at least a hundred kilometers away. I thought about it and ran some calculations. Wait a second, it would take us days to get there. Crap, I better find another one. "Actually, let me go look again." I shot up into the sky before they could respond. This time, instead of only toward the northern directions, I did a 360 degree turn. A few kilometers west was a noticeable slit between the trees running south to north. Aha! This should do. Please be a river, please be a river! I dove back down. "Actually, I think there''s a river nearby to the west. Let''s head west!" "Mother, have you seen a river before?" Her gaze bored into me. "Rude! Of course I have. Who do you think I am?" "Did you actually see the river?" "Uhh... No. But it should be a river," I replied. Once Smoothie confirmed that it was highly likely to be a river after checking my memory, we changed our direction westward. Within three hours, we reached a shallow meandering river hidden between towering evergreens. "See? It''s a river!" I declared. "I didn''t doubt you," she pouted. "Sure you didn''t, sure you didn''t. How about let''s all take a bath here! It''s been so long since I washed myself." Splash. It was no fun only watching Haelley wash herself. So, I dipped myself into the cold and refreshing water. For someone like me who used to be a plant, the feeling of having running water beneath me was revitalizing to say the least. Splash, splash. "Teehee." Smoothie stuck her tongue out at me. "Hey!" I splashed some back at her. "Ahhh!" She giggled. Suddenly, out of nowhere, the sound of gunshot echoed. Three more shots immediately followed. Chapter 25 "Ughh..." I looked down. My chest was torn open by the gunshots. Although no blood was spilt, excruciating sharp pain surged up into my head. "Mother!" "I''ll keep you safe, Smoothie," I gasped as I grabbed around her waist and dashed into back into the forest. Then, I used [synthesis] to recover myself while forming protective shields behind us as we fled. Thankfully, the snipers had not taken another shot at us. I had no time to concern myself for Haelley''s safety. The contract between us was that she protected me while I taught her the common language. Even if I didn''t directly teach her, listening to Smoothie and I chat should be helpful for her learning. Haelley, I''m sorry, come find us. Boom! An explosion shook behind us. As if it was just a warning shot, tens more explosions echoed behind us dampened by the forest. There were also lights periodically flashing in the sky. I flew as quickly as I could, I didn''t dare glance behind me. I just wanted to get to safety as soon as possible. "I''m so sorry Haelley. I should have checked more carefully," I murmured. "Mother, Haelley will be fine. And, you can let me go now. I can fly with you." "Oh oops. But, where should we go?" "We should continue north as fast as we can." We flew north while keeping our heads low. Only after flying six hours straight did we stop for some rest. "We should be safe here." The trees in this region had not yet been ravaged by the passing insect swarms. The thriving lush forest made great covers for us. "Do you think Haelley will catch up soon?" "Yes, she has [tracker]." "I''m very sorry I didn''t check thoroughly. To think there were even had canons set up..." I sighed. If those canons had hit any of us directly, I feared the worst. I honestly didn''t believe all mortals were evil and ruthless. That just simply couldn''t be true. Honestly, I had never been more glad I was a plant fey being. I could survive almost any type of injury with little consequences. "Mother, it''s not anyone''s fault. If anything, you should blame those insects!" "Yeah! Those worms. They should learn to bow down to me!" I joked. The two of us had a good chuckle before we returned to a more serious topic. "Mother, you should evolve now. I believe you should have earned at least one ability and trait. Once you have checked, let me know which options you have and I''ll advise you of the optimal one." "Sure." This time, I was again given three options. I wasn''t sure if this was standard but I had nothing to complain about. More choices was always better. The three choices were: [Strawberry Menace], [Strawberry Phantasm], and [Strawberry Faker]. Faker? Was god listening in our conversation? That can''t be, right? Stop eavesdropping! Personally, they all seemed like unique species to me, not the good ones either. If I had to choose by myself, I might actually choose Strawberry Faker. It was probably the furthest away from the demon path. Anyway, I disclosed my three choices to her. I wanted her advice. Unfortunately, she dropped the bomb, "They are all equally close to a demon path. You haven''t made any progress." "That can''t be! You know, I helped you escape from bad people. I helped Haelley with her level ups and I helped her find a river! I should get bonus marks!" I pouted, much dissatisfied with her remark. "It can''t be helped that you''re selfish. But, I still love you!" She hopped onto my laps for a hug. I''m very selfless, thank you. "Tell me which one is best suited for me." "Alright. The first option, Strawberry Menace, likely would not grant you any transformation type traits or abilities. Hence, I don''t suggest you picking that. That leaves you with two other options. Strawberry Phantasm should help you with transformation and evasion. Similarly, Strawberry Faker should help you with deception and counterattack. Both of them should have transformation related abilities involved." "I see. So, I only have two viable choices." Calling myself a "faker" even if it''s part of the species name just gives me a bad taste. In the first place, I''m not good at deception. Phantasm sounds cool though. Yep, I''ve made up my mind! I''m going with the one that I can make the best use of. My lips curled into a grin. Evolutions were the most important moments of my life. How could I not be excited? "Have you decided?" "Yes!" I had dropped a clone next to me earlier which had matured thanks to [synthesis]. Once I merged and then emerged, my evolution was complete. [Level 51 Fey (plant); Species: Strawberry Phantasm; Physical: 67/67; Spiritual: 314/314; Traits: Bewitching, Devious, Rapid Growth, Parallel Bodies, Gourmet, Reaper, Progenitor, Integrator, Escapist, Enhanced Spiritual; Abilities: Absorption, Charm, Conglomerate, Strawberry Substitution, Synthesis, Transformation; Description: An elusive plant fey shrouded in mystery.] I can''t say I''m happy to be called an escapist. But, the other upgrades make up for it, certainly. The new traits were |integrator|, |escapist|, and |enhanced spiritual|. One of my abilities [supply chain] had evolved with me into [conglomerate]. And finally, after all my transformation practices, I gained the ability [transformation]. This was truly a joyous occasion. "I''m a Strawberry Phantasm now. What do you think?" "Splendid! Mother, you always amaze me no matter how rotten you are." She patted my head with an adorable smile. Whatever she just said didn''t match her actions. Despite that, I wasn''t irritated, not at all! "Smoothie..." I can''t tell if you''re evil or not. "Mm. You want the explanations, no?" "Yes. Yes I do." The first one to be explained was the ability, [transformation]. With this, I wouldn''t need to merge with my plant body every time I needed to change my appearance. This didn''t mean I could change into anything I wanted either. The parameters were vaguely defined but aside from what I already could transform into, now I could adjust my body size fairly freely with only a limitation on minimum size. There was no limitation on expanding my body size but the drawback was that controlling my body would be more difficult. Lastly, although I had this ability, transformation itself still took time, but it was now much quicker. Only a few seconds was needed for a full transformation. "Can I transform into you?" "No! There can only be one Smoothie." She pouted with her arms crossed. "Is there any ability that can hide my status? I''m thinking if I transformed into a bird, would it still say that I''m a fey?" "Those abilities are rare. If you had picked Strawberry Faker, you might have gained an ability that altered the examination results of your status." "Oh what. You didn''t tell me!" The next one was [conglomerate]. It was an ability I seriously desired. With this upgraded ability, my resources could now be shared across all of my bodies regardless of distance and size. Well, physical stats couldn''t be shared but spiritual stats and energies, and things I absorbed could be. This should come super handy in combat situations when I needed excessive amounts of mana to use my abilities, especially [synthesis]. Furthermore, I could now track every part of my bodies, and examine their conditions and locations. This ability was basically an ultimate ability for someone like me. On a side note, I could now examine my physical stat and spiritual stat to find new stats. One of them was and the other one was . The numerical figures were identical to the main stats with no differences whatsoever. "What''s the big idea? Why have new indicators when they are the same as the regular stats?" "There will be more stats to be seen likely the next time you evolve, which is past level 70. Those stats have no denominators and most do not affect your principle stats." "Ooh, what kind of stats are they? Wait, if they don''t affect them, why even bother having them in the first place?" "They are considered hidden stats. They aren''t useful to know until you have high enough level. For us, we might never get to see hidden physical stats until much later after the double evolution." "If I remember correctly, Haelley can already see one of the hidden physical stats even though she''s lower levelled than me." "She is physical combat focused and a winged beast. Those stats are important for her to know before she engage her foes." "Oh, so it''s like that." I guess that''s what I get for being a plant. Plants don''t need to see stats, do they? blanksphere Chapter 26 "We should leave immediately. We have pursuers," Smoothie stated. "I thought we shook them off." The two of us hurriedly took flight. This time, we changed our heading to northeast, deeper into uncharted territory. "Can you tell me how powerful the enemies are?" "It''s their weapons. We don''t stand a chance." "Then, can you tell me how they''re tracking us? Is it an ability or a trait?" "I don''t know. I only saw a vision of three humans covered in black coming our way. If I had to guess, they are using abilities." "Then we just need to keep evading them until they run out of mana, right?" "Mm." With fey bodies like ours, we had constant stamina. In a sense it could also be considered as unlimited because as long as we had mana supplies to keep us going, we could continue our activities non-stop. However, it also came with a minor drawback in combat situations. That was that we couldn''t suddenly draw out our potentials, something akin to a burst of energy to overwhelm opponents. "Smoothie, grab onto me, I want to try using [conglomerate] on you." "Did you synthesize a brain?" She inquired with an innocent smile. "How mean!?" My chest tightened a bit. "I was going to mention it but you said it first. You''re a cheater!" "Hmmph! I won''t hold your hand anymore." "I''m sorry," she gave me the sad puppy eyes, "Please be nice to me." You''re a devil. "Fine, but you should be nice to me first." "I was just teasing! Aren''t you supposed to be an adult? Are adults this weak?" "No! I''m hardly a year old." Actually, I didn''t know how long I had been living in this world. A couple of months should have gone by going just by my previous world''s standard. "You''re a baby?" "Stop that! Tell me how to shake them off." Not only did we have to shake the three pursuers off, but we also had to pay attention where we were going. Dangerous monsters inhabited the wilderness that could easily destroy our bodies instantly. No matter how high my spiritual stat was, I was next to defenceless and completely unarmed. "Okay, I''ll show the way. Just let me hold your hand, Mother." With her leading the way, we zigzagged through the dense forest without encountering any dangerous monsters at all. However, that didn''t mean were able to escape from our illusive pursuers. In fact, they seemed to be closing in on us. "Tell me, what does |escapist| do? Will that help us?" "It prevents you from being targeted and tracked. But, you know, we are together. So, just keep flying, Haelley will catch up to us soon." "I hope so." It''s not an extraordinary trait but it''s useless in this situation. There was no way I could just abandon Smoothie here. Who knows what they would do to her? Pah. Pah. Now that our pursuers were much closer, they had been taking shots at us once every few minutes as if to keep us vigilant. I remembered learning about something similar before. This was a technique often used in hunting more powerful targets. The hunters would keep harassing their targets from a long distance. This was to prevent their targets from resting and retaliating. And, at the moment their targets lost their vigilance from exhaustion was when the hunters went for the kill or capture. "You know, my resources can''t last us forever. How about we turn east? They can''t follow us too deep into the wilderness, right?" "My ability [soothsayer] isn''t omniscient. I can''t see what dangers are like in that direction. In the worst case scenario, we would be stuck between a them and a legendary monster." "What a dilemma. If I call the rabbit demon, do you think he''ll protect us?" "Would you exchange my life for his onetime protection?" "Of course not." "Then, keep flying!" The hunt dragged on for another three hours before the pursuers increased their firepower. Each time they fired a shot, a blue light flashed behind us. With Smoothie flying slightly ahead of me, I tried to block the shots aimed at her. Every time I was hit, I had to use [synthesis] to recover. Am I not a good Samaritan yet? I kind of wished I had some sort of long ranged method of attacking. "How in the world are they keeping up? Don''t they get tired?" I complained aloud. "Haelley should be here any moment now. Patience!" She raised her voice, sounding irritated. That''s a first. Something must have gone wrong. "Are you sure? She should have caught up long ago with her speed. Smoothie, you''re not lying, are you?" "Of course not. Trust me." Or, trust [soothsayer]. Something definitely went differently than she expected. Rwaarrrr! A booming howl shook the forest from the east. "We''re changing directions, north." I followed her instruction without hesitation. It looked like this time we were really caught in between a rock and hard place. Whatever it was to the east, it certainly sounded like an humongous ancient beast. Either way, not my cup of tea. "What was it?" "How would I know? Also, you shouldn''t poke your head above either." "I know better than to poke my head out. Do you think I should leave some of my clones here?" "That''s a good idea. Allow it to produce strawberries." "Alrightie!" I scattered a few clones as we fled northward on our wings. Rwaaarrrr. Boom! "I hope they are fighting each other," I murmured. Just then, we were forced to stop in front of a vast canyon that stretched as far as my eyes could see. The reddish brown rocky landscape was exposed to the elements, sparsely dotted by crawling vegetation. The vertical slopes reached the depth of at least hundreds of meters below. If we tried to cross it, we would become easy targets. And, if we didn''t cross it, we would have to backtrack and change directions following the edge of the canyon. Tch, we''re trapped. Not, good, not good! The enemy is right behind us. "Smoothie, what the hell? I thought you knew where you were going?" "As if! I don''t have a map. I''m just going by whichever seemed to be the safest route for us." "What now?" "Let''s go into the canyon," as she signalled for a dive. "Are you sure? Isn''t it better to stay under the cover of the forest?" "No, we''ll go to the bottom of the canyon and follow it northeast. This way you can at least see who we are dealing and come up with a countermeasure." "I don''t like it," I sighed. Since we didn''t have time to spare on chit-chat, I decided to just go with the flow. Once we dived into the canyon, we adhered to the cliff the side we came as we continued onward. "Can they fly?" I asked. "Yes. They have some type of suit that allows them to fly." Mobile suits? I thought this was a fantasy world. What in the world is going on? Why are they chasing us so deep into unknown terrain? It can''t be because we''re rare species! It just can''t be. "I''m guessing those suits give them power ups. Just seeing their status wouldn''t help me gauge their combat abilities, right?" "Yes. It''s best not to fight unknown enemies." "Smoothie, do you know if their tracking abilities require sight?" "How am I supposed to know?" "Right now, there''s too much we don''t know about them. We can''t rely on Haelley who is nowhere to be seen. Smoothie, I''m going to make a stand and delay them. I can''t die, you know? Be a good girl and go hide. I''ll catch up in no time." "Mother!" "I have an idea that might work. Please, just go." "Okay... Give me a strawberry then." "For my teleport? Here you go. Now, try to lure them to me. And please be safe. I''ll come and find you as soon as possible," I assured her. blanksphere Chapter 27 – Ambush Once she took off and disappeared from my sight, I made my preparations to ambush the three pursuers. To continue their chase and snipe us from afar, they would have to show their faces. [Conglomerate] fully activated, [synthesis] at maximum. Whoever you are, you''ve gone far enough. I''ll stop you! No matter what kind of suits they had, if they were living, they needed to breath. That didn''t fully apply to my fey body but I still breathed even though I didn''t need to. To be frank, I planned to trap them and suffocate them. It was totally a plant thing to do. I had nothing to fear. As long as I kept a check on my mana, I might as well be a plant version of a zombie. Now, how do I shoot things? Hah. I wish I had this thought out first. There was still some time before those three would show up. Using this grace period, I brainstormed all the possible ways I could make my body shoot things. If I could overcome this obstacle, fighting enemies at a distance wouldn''t be as troublesome. Think! Think! Think! Magic? No, I don''t have magic, I think. I can only rely on abilities and traits. Chemical? I''m still bad at chemistry. Mechanical? I don''t want to just throw things. Elastic? No rubber bands here. Oh wait, what about compressed air? I went over what all the abilities and traits did then tried to combine them to see if I could get anything to work with compressed air. Aha! [Transformation] should do, I hope. I can pull air into this body so it should be doable. I just need to transform my body a bit. Let''s give it a try! With my new ability, altering my body was quite easy and painless. With the aid of [conglomerate], even the minute details could be taken care of. In this case, I recreated my skin with tiny pores, and along with them came countless tiny channels connected to my newly created expansive lungs. Originally, my skin, given its nature had no pores whatsoever. I didn''t need to sweat or breathe or anything that were essential to other living beings or even other fey beings that weren''t derived from plants. It was like this fey body was only a physical projection of my plant bodies. In any case, with this, I could store super compressed air in those pores by distributing the air I breathed in. Blocking the pores were tiny needles coated in sticky goo. They weren''t just tiny and light, but tiny and heavy. If they were too light, wind would just blow them off course. Those weren''t the only body parts I altered. As much as I disliked it, I opened up space in my arms to store compressed air as well. This was actually going to be my secret weapon. I breathed, and breathed. It kind of felt strange that I was only inhaling and not exhaling. Once I was ready, I hid under the cliff and waited with miniature strawberries clutched in my hands. Seconds passed. They should be here any moment now. Minutes passed. Where are they? Don''t tell me they found out about our plan? Just then, three black silhouettes appeared above me. Phew. Now''s my chance. As I made a mad dash at them, I released waves of sticky needles. Immediately after, assisted by compressed air, I blasted those extra durable strawberries aimed at the sky, at them, and everywhere around them. Each strawberry acted both as clones and a place I could teleport to. "Take cover!" One of them shouted. Even with their human sized mobile suits, which were closer to skeletal armored suits, their bodies weren''t fully protected. From what I understood, if these needles managed to entered their skin, removing them would be extremely difficult. In addition, with the presence sticky goo, irritation and inflammation was sure to follow. They had no choice but to protect themselves. My first gamble paid off. Countless needles were stuck on them. Next, using [strawberry substitution], I swapped my position with one of the first strawberry that passed the black clothed people. I was really grateful that [conglomerate] allowed me to use [strawberry substitution] without that severe restriction. Pow! Eat that! My fist connected with one of them. My goal was to get them as close together as possible so I could wrapped them all up in one go. However, that plan was quickly tossed into the trash bin. The reason? My punch had no impact. I might as well had tapped the guy. Contingency plan! Since I was close enough to one of them, I used [synthesis] at maximum. The strawberries that had scattered around suddenly burst forth with lush green growth. As for my fey body, I tackled the one closest to me, my vines binding and cocooning until he couldn''t be seen anymore. Thorns and needles continued to grow within. Only death awaited him as I separated myself from the green cocoon as gravity pulled it down the bottom of the canyon. The other strawberries that had burst from [synthesis] weren''t as successful. One of the armed human managed to evade my sticky vine nets. The remaining one wasn''t as lucky. Escaping from the vine nets was one thing but there were large enough pieces stuck on his armor. Too late for you. [Synthesis]. To have any of my clone stuck on them was a game over. Within seconds, that man was wrapped in thick layers of thorny and sticky vines. To ensure they wouldn''t survive in their mobile suits, I had vines especially tucked crawling through any openings. Helmets weren''t going to save them. "You monster! How dare you!" The remaining person screamed in rage as she hovered above the canyon. Hmm? A woman? Two bulges on the chest and a feminine voice. Yep. I hadn''t noticed earlier because I was too busy. "No, you," I replied while facing her. She aimed her long rifle at me. You didn''t think I prepared all these special clones for nothing, right? The moment she was about to shoot, only a falling strawberry remained where I was. From above, I could see her panicking and scanning below to locate me. However, the situation had changed. I was now the hunter, and she a prey. If she had took notice, the strawberries I shot up had yet to fall. Making use of [synthesis] and [conglomerate], the strawberries that had not yet burst had their leaves enlarged and altered to become parachutes the second they reached their peak height. Their inability to track me was one of the biggest advantages I had. Thank you, |escapist|. I dove at her with my top speed just before she glanced up. It''s too late for you. The shadow from my large black wings probably alerted her. However, it was too late. In a state of panic, she managed to land two shots on me. As for me, although I could dodge the hits via [strawberry substitution], I didn''t want her to escape. Losing my left shoulder and my right forearm because, I didn''t hesitate a single moment despite the pain I was feeling. Then, with a huge grin on my face, I smashed into her as she screamed. My [synthesis] ability was on a rampage, completely engulfing her as we tumbled down. Thorns, needles, sticky goo, and plenty of vines were synthesized continuously. To ease my pain, I merged with this giant green ball and began using [absorption] on all three of them. There''s no way you can survive. But, plants are survivalists, you know? No matter how amazing your suit is, if you''re only subpar, it''s wasted on you. Who screams like that on the battlefield? The battle came and ended swiftly. Now that I had a better look, those mobile suits looked really nice and professional. It was no wonder Smoothie thought they were super strong. Sure, if I was to fight them head on, I would definitely get obliterated by their rifles. However, to think they didn''t know how to deal with an ambush was quite the lucky day for me. I wondered if they were just too used to being hunters and suddenly ended up on the receiving end of things. I examined the three corpses while transforming my body back to what it used to be before the battle. Having hollow arms and prickly skin just felt too strange for me. "Hmm... I can''t just leave them here. I guess I''ll use [absorption] to break them down and store them away." Then, I thought about it again, "Actually, I should keep their rifles and a set of their suits. Maybe Smoothie will be able to tell me more about them." blanksphere Chapter 28 – Integrator "Mother, you''re safe?" "Of course, just who do you think I am?" I puffed out my chest proudly, "Now come with me, I want to show you something." "I''m so glad you''re safe." "They stood no chance against me. Come with me. I want you to look at some things." Given how fast I ended the battle, the two of us returned in a jiffy. "How did you defeat them?" She asked. "Guess!" "Mm... Magic?" "I can''t use magic?" "What do you mean?" She looked at me with a confused expression. "What do you mean, ''what do you mean''?" I too was confused. "We fey beings can use magic at will." "Huh? We can? Do you mean abilities?" "No." "You saw my memories. Obviously I''ve never used magic before. I''ve never seen you use magic either. Do you need incantations and stuff?" "I don''t know about that. [Soothsayer] doesn''t explain it if I have never directly interacted with that system or knowledge base before." "Then, why do you say we can use magic? Show me magic." "I''m only aware of the basics which involves moving my body. A fey body like ours derived from plants is basically a type of magic. I don''t have my plant body with me. But, Mother, you should be able to move any part of your body with only your will." "What? How come I didn''t know about this?" "I thought you knew because you were controlling your vines just fine." I think there was a grave misunderstanding. "Can I make my leaves fly?" I asked. "I don''t know why you would want to do that but it should be possible." A small leaf appeared via [synthesis] in my hand. Then, I added my intentions into it. Alright. Fly, leaf, fly! As if a turbulent breeze was passing by, that leaf shot up into the sky. "Seriously? Why! Why! Such blasphemy. I did all those modifications with [transformation] when I could have used magic?" I cried out to the sky. I couldn''t help myself but to pinch her cheeks out of frustration. That battle could have been so much easier! "Brat, tell me the important stuff early." "Ow, ow, ow. Motheer, leet go oof mi cheekss! It hurrts. Sowwiee." "Explain the details." She rubbed her cheeks with her hands while pouting. "You never asked before... Don''t be unfair to me." "Okay, okay, we have plenty of time to chat in the future. For now, explain to me anything you know about their suits and their weapons and why they''re after us." She touched the items in question with her hands. "They are magitech equipments. Magitech is basically technology that requires mana to operate." "Oh, so we''re still in a fantasy world. Good, good," I nodded to myself, "Continue." "The details are complicated, not something we can replicate. As for the reason they chased us this far, it might have to do with us being the first of our kinds. [Soothsayer] doesn''t disclose private information so I think that''s about it." "What should I do with them? I''m thinking of equipping you with one of their rifles. You''ll be able to defend yourself, right?" "The mana requirement is high. I don''t think I can use them without also carrying a mana core. " "What''s a mana core?" "Highly concentrated mana used to power advanced magitech equipments," she pointed at the heavy duty metallic backpacks behind these soldiers, "It''s in there." "If you know that much, I can just power it, right?" "Mother, are you going to carry that for me?" "Uh... No..." "Even if you do carry it, once it runs out, you can''t charge it unless you can condense your mana first. It''s not something you can learn in a few days. Forget about the rifles. I suggest you absorb everything here using [absorption] and make use of your trait, |integrator|, to strengthen your defenses." "Hold that thought! What exactly does |integrator| do?" "Instead of only relying on synthesis to create things based on your own biology, you can now integrate things into yourself that would normally be impossible." "Oohh, so I can be a cyborg?" "Not to that extent. You can integrate highly concentrate metals into your body. You can also combine this trait with [synthesis]." "Woah, woah, woah there. I think this power up is a bit too quick. You mean I could have fought them with metallic needles instead of flimsy thorns?" "No, it''s not a complete overhaul. You''re still a plant based fey being. Everything you synthesize will still be biologically based. The difference is you''ll be able to incorporate new properties through [absorption] such as hardening your skin, or gain ability to use toxins, things of that nature." "Oh, I get it. That''s kind of a disappointment. Going by your explanation, I can absorb metals to integrate into my body but not to the point I could do anything useful with them." If I could coat myself with metal armor, that would be super cool. How unfortunate that this trait failed to meet my expectations, or was I just too ambitious? "Did you forget? You asked me what we should do with these bodies. There''s refined metals here filled with mana. Just store them away." "I see, I see! This will take a while." Destroying the evidences, that was what I was doing. I planned to leave nothing behind, not even these clones would remain. While utilizing [absorption] on the remains, I decided to ask a few more questions. "What exactly is a fey body for us? It''s too convenient. It has nothing to do with biology." "It''s an avatar. We are an extension or physical manifestation of the plant we came from. From your memory, you used to be translucent, no?" "Yes, I do remember." "That was your spiritual body, created purely from mana that allows you to interact with the physical world in a humanoid body. We are the mind. As you leveled up and evolved, your spiritual body resembled more of a physical body." "Do other fey beings follow the same process?" "No, only those born from fey plants. The reason we are superior is because at some point in our evolution, our fey bodies become basically indestructible." I was already somewhat indestructible at this point. "But you said those capable of soul eating can harm us. And, what about our plant bodies?" "[Absorption] is similar to [devourer] in that both can eat away mana, and mana is a proxy for the soul. I''m not at your level but eventually I''ll be able to create my plant body via my fey body, meaning at that point my plant body will no longer became my weakness." "Oh, so at that point, we''ll be super powerful and next to invincible? Awesome!" "I wouldn''t say that, but, unless the world turns against us, we''ll be fine. Mother, I answered your questions. Now, answer mine! How did you defeat them without magic?" "Fine, okay come, memory share." I opened my arms for a well deserved embrace. Instead, she just grabbed my hand for a sideward handshake. "Eh?!" "No hugs for bad parent!" "Awwh." She had her eyes closed for a few seconds before she exclaimed, "Mother, I didn''t know you were this creative." "Rude, I''m a genius, you know?" She turned away with a shrug, "Hmph! I''m sure it was a fluke!" "It was not! Ugh." Anyhow, I was onto the good part of [absorption]. A surplus of mana was flowing into me from the mana cores. Since I had funnelled a lot of mana from my clones, I redistributed it back to them. Once they were all full, I stored all excess resources in |gourmet|. They''re like battery packs. I like this. Thinking about it, carrying a mana core around in that heavy container wasn''t worth my effort. If I wanted to carry it, I would have to wear the suit. And since we were in the middle of nowhere, the mana core would eventually get used up as we travelled and I would have to dump them somewhere later on. Destroying them was probably the better option. "I''m almost done here. Are we going to cross the canyon?" "Yes. I think we''ll be safe from pursuers. We just have to avoid entering any monster territories." "I''ll leave that to you." Thankfully, that previous encounter was just a brief encounter. I didn''t even see what kind of monster it was nor how the battle went between it and those three. They probably fired a few rounds to scare it off or something. After a short rest, the two of us ascended from the bottom of the canyon. blanksphere Chapter 29 – Condensing Mana While crossing the canyon, I was testing to see how far my trait |integrator| could get me. The first thing I wanted to do was to grow a spine, like a warrior! Without any bone structures, my physical attacks were just too flimsy. A punch had to be a punch, not a light tap. "Mother, do that later." "I''m too excited!" "Don''t try to make your body too heavy. You won''t be able to fly." "I know but I can just make my wings bigger, right?" "I suggest fighting with abilities and magic instead of physically. You have more than enough mana for that, no?" I definitely don''t want to be a jack-of-all-trades fighter. "I guess you''re right. By the way, teach me how to compress mana!" She nodded. Instead of giving up on |integrator|, I decided to put it off for now. I could try synthesizing chitin, the protective material worn by insects. Those things were tough. If I could find spiders or silk worms, I''d steal their creation too. Intellectual properties? Non-sense! It wasn''t like there were copyrights or patents or anything in this world. After the sky became too dark for travel, we took shelter underneath a palm tree north of that grand canyon. Trees on this side was sparsely populated with little to no covering for us. However, we couldn''t be picky here. There was a good chance we might not get to rest under a tree for the next few days as we crossed the arid desert. "Do we really have to go this way? The whole point of going north was to help Haelley. Now that she''s no longer with us, shouldn''t we head to somewhere safe?" "We''ll definitely meet her soon." "How can you be so sure?" "[Soothsayer] said so." Strange, I thought it couldn''t give private information. I hope she has a good reason to hide stuff from me. "Fine, I won''t ask any more. Teach me mana compression." "No." She flatly stated. "Why not?" "You can''t feel it, no?" "Uhm... No." "Exactly, so I have to teach you how to feel it first." "Oh, you should have said so instead of scaring me like that." "Teehee!" She stuck her tongue out mischievously. Cheeky brat! "So, how do you feel mana?" "You just feel it." "Seriously!" "I am serious. If you can''t feel it then imagine it. A fey body is mostly made of mana so you''re technically a lump of mana with tons of impurities." "I just have to feel my body?" "That should work. You have |enhanced spiritual| trait. That should help you with condensing mana later." "What does it do exactly?" "It''s quite versatile with many functions which includes boosting your spiritual related stats. Anyway, when you have super condensed mana, the mana figure will still only read the quantity of your mana instead of quality and quality. This is super useful when you reach the maximum 499/499 spiritual stat. This is also why I said once you reach a certain stage, reading just mana and health stats will no longer be useful." This trait, too amazing in theory, too hard to realize, but who cares? A win is a win. "Oh snaps, so by having this trait early, I can hide my potentials from enemies even now?" "Yes! Except many of them will be able to see that trait as well. However, they won''t know how much is hidden until you display your abilities." If I remember correctly, De Planck had |limit breaker| along with all those insane stats. Taking this into consideration, I''m again super far from ever making him submit. Ugh! "Oh! I better master this technique soon. Please, teacher, I''m here to learn!" I bowed down to my new teacher. "What a respectful student! I shall impart my knowledge to you. Learn well!" She too bowed. "Pfft," the two of us burst into laughter. After we settled down, I shared some of my memories to help her teach me to feel mana quicker. "Hmm... When Haelley sang, did you feel anything?" "Yes! I was like, ''power, so much power!''" I chucked. "Right, that was mana." Oh, so I felt mana before, you lied! She continued, "Her abilities restructure mana to flow much more freely in addition to boosting your stats. Actually, I have an idea, hold my hands." She held her both hands in parallel while facing me. "Awh, how cute of you." "Mother, I''m serious! Do you want to learn or not?" "I''m sorry, teacher," I reached my hands out to connect with hers. "That''s more like it! Now, I''m going to try circulating mana from my left arm into your right arm, then come back to my right arm. I will increase the flow steadily so let me know when you feel it." "Okay!" I closed my eyes. I wasn''t feeling anything other than a bit of warmth, then came a gentle breeze flowing through my arms. Oh, isn''t this the same when I was absorbing stuff from trees? I waited a bit longer as the speed of breeze circulating increased, generating heat within my arms. "I think I got it! You can stop now." "Oh good. I was just wondering if you were too stale to feel it." "Rude!" "So?" "I think I understand it now. It was a breezy feeling." "Mmhm. That''s as far as I can condense my mana. Any more would be challenging." "I see. How dense should I make my mana?" "Ideally, it should feel something like a super dense fluid." "Got it." With that in mind, I began my mana training. When I was using [absorption] on trees a while back, their mana was much denser than hers. Despite being able to drain condensed mana from others, I couldn''t even condense my mana to that degree. That was super frustrating for me. Patience, young trainee! "I believe imagery and mental strength are the key to success," Smoothie stated. "I can do this, no worries!" "I''m not. Just don''t overdo it and explode." "Wah? Explode?" "Yeah, bam!" She suddenly expanded her arms with a serious expression. "Don''t scare me!" "It''s a possibility if you compress mana more than you can hold. Please be cautious." I definitely wouldn''t want to pop like a balloon. "I will." "In the future, I want to participate training with you!" "Sure? What''s the benefit?" "I like the warm and fuzzy feeling when you pour your mana into me." "Buh. Denied!" "Pretty please!" She displayed the adorable puppy eyes look. No. Way. You can''t be seriously using this trick again! I just couldn''t. She was too cute! I fell for it again. "Ugh. That''s playing unfair! Fine, fine, you win." "Thank you!" She gave me a big hug. Seriously, compressing mana was tough. The more I tried to compress mana, the more that mana pushed back like trying to shrink an air balloon without accidentally popping it. Together, we practised compressing mana for the next few hours. The training itself consumed a small amount of mana but it was nothing compared to my mana pool managed with [conglomerate]. Again, thinking back how I was able to absorb dense mana from trees, I asked, "Can I store condensed mana in my clones?" "Yes." Sweet! If I can store condensed mana in thousands of clones, I''ll be super powerful! It''ll be like unlimited mana pool. "Ehehehe..." "Mother, you''re being a creep." "Huh? I was just thinking of something good." "Whatever it was, we should get going now. I want to start our desert trip before the sun rises." "Ah yes. How about you fly under my shadow? I can change the colors of my wings to be reflective to keep us cool." I''m such a role model parent. I heard a soft mumble, "As expected." "Hmm?" "Nothing. I love you!" Once I had modified my wings from dark to pure white, we continued our journey north, across the arid desert littered with rocks and dried shrubs. blanksphere Chapter 30 The first day was brutal. The sun was bearing down on us with such intense heat that even I was feeling a bit light headed. "How does fey body biology work again?" "It imitates a real physical bodies." "Can I get rid of the unpleasant reactions with your [producer]?" "Hmm... I''ve never thought about it. I think it might be possible when combined with [conglomerate]." "Will I be able to gain |enhanced resistances| trait with that?" "But you''re not resisting anything. With a fey body, we''re fairly resistant to most things. We don''t really need that trait." "Awwh, it would be great to have it though. Would it make me immune to things?" "There''s no such thing as immunity unless you become nothing." "What, it''s a fair system?" "What are you talking about?" She cocked her head, eyebrows slightly scrunched. It was such a rare sight to see her confused. I wondered if it had to with the way I phrased it. "Nothing!" During daytime, the ground was too hot and distracting for me to stand on. Moreover, I wasn''t the type who could multi-task well. Thus, I had to wait until after sunset to test this new idea. "Let''s test it out. I''m super ready!" I exclaimed excitedly. The long wait was finally over. I hoped it was worth getting hyped over. "Sure," she held out her hand. With our traits |progenitor| and |bond| linked, she permitted me to use her ability [producer] in conjunction with [conglomerate]. Carefully, I combed the ability for any new functions that I had missed before. What to do? I want something to raise my heat resistance. Where is it? Why does this fantasy world suck so bad? As it turned out, I couldn''t find anything that could raise my resistances to anything. I had my hopes up for nothing. "Nothing. Smoothie, are there any other ways to gain resistance?" "Mm... Yes. Endurance with a strong will." "Look, there''s no way I would dip myself in lava for that." "Who said anything about dipping in lava? Are you okay? Did the heat get you?" Her free hand reached for my forehead. I swapped away her hand, "I''m perfectly fine!" "Mother, like I said, there''s no need to worry about it. You''ll naturally gain resistance over time, probably as you level up more." "Is that so?" "Yes. Let''s continue our journey. Once we cross the desert, we should reach the beast country within a day. We have plenty of time to discuss what we should do afterward." "Fine." Tonight was another cloudless night. My passive gaze met the starry sky filled with countless stars shimmering against the dark background. A brilliant large moon was quietly sliding behind a tiny moon while an unassuming white comet drifted across. I wonder which world I came from? Probably none of the above. "It''s beautiful, isn''t it?" "Yes," I replied. "Did you know? That comet comes around once every six hundred years?" "I had no idea. Did [soothsayer] tell you that?" "Yes. Interestingly, those birds said comets are omens of change." "That''s absurd, probably just superstition. Comets are only good for decorating the night sky," I retorted. "Mother, can you decorate the night sky with more comets?" "It''s no good to tease your elders! That''s asking too much. Who do you think I am, a god? Give me a break!" "Ehehe, if you become a demon, maybe you can do that too." "What''s the benefit of becoming a demon?" "You level up and become strong faster." "And if I don''t?" "You can try to become a spirit. It''s the slowest path to greater power." "Why would anyone pick that? Without power, you''re just a sitting target." "Secret!" "Whatever." I wasn''t going to play with her little games. To strengthen myself, I scavenged around for things I could absorb and integrate. I was pretty sure in the desert, there were bound to be poisonous critters just waiting to offer themselves to me. After searching for a bit, I found a few lizards and odd insects crawling within shallow burrows. They were quite weak with levels below ten. Thanks for the meal. Smoothie looked at me with distaste as I used [absorption] on the trapped preys. I''m such a clean eater, not a corpse to be found. "Do they evolve too?" I asked. "Yes. You don''t have to worry. They don''t live in colonies." Oops, I should have asked before I took their lives. "I''ll be careful next time." Unfortunately, I didn''t gain anything new from them. It seemed that poison wasn''t common around here. In my previous world, I remembered being told that certain deserts were filled of mind boggling dangers. Because of that, I had never set foot in a single desert before. "Alright, I''m done here. Let''s go!" Every once a while, we would stop so that I could look for new things I could add to my repertoire through |integrator| trait. Although I did like this trait, it wasn''t as great as I expected. I wished it allowed me to integrate new abilities from the things I absorbed. But, I knew well enough that such a trait or even ability was just too insanely powerful. The system would never give them to me. On the third day of our journey crossing the desert, we had to take a detour. I didn''t get to see it up close but it was a fifth evolution of a centipede like monster that was twice as large as Po-Katorshi that Haelley and I had taken down. With a humongous head, and armored body, it was like a wingless dragon lying in the desert partially buried under rocky debris. [Level 92 Arthro; Species: Jak-Faroosh; Physical: 499/499; ; Spiritual: 306/306; ; Traits: Conqueror, Rapid Regeneration, Enhanced Physical, Enhanced Resistances; Abilities: Paralysis, Ground Breaker, Toxic Breath, Parallel Sacrifice; Description: A dominating arthro.] Arthro, many of their species name started with "jak". It was just a pattern I saw for certain arthropods. I was surprised I even remembered what they were called. Now, not only did we have to take a detour but both of us increased our altitude from near ground level to hundreds of meters above ground. The reason was that other high level creatures had burrowed here as well. And, if we weren''t careful, one of them might suddenly leap out and gobble us whole. At least, that was what Smoothie told me. Personally, I figured it was better not to see them because I only had so much curiosity. I wasn''t interested in being eaten. Nope. "I''m thinking of giving myself a stomach so I could eat things." I mumbled while flying. "Mother, don''t tell me you feel hunger." "Uh... No. I just feel like I''m missing something in life without food. You know, other living beings all eat, like, nom nom nom. I want to eat tasty things too." "Don''t scare me like that! I thought your |gourmet| trait had reached its limit." "I don''t think so? What was the limit anyway? I''ve been storing quite a bit in there, mostly just things my bodies couldn''t normally store." "Then, that''s fine." "So, I can create a stomach for myself?" "It''s best not to do that until |gourmet| is gone," she suggested, "there''s nothing good to eat here. Plus, Mother, it''s not fair only you get to eat!" "Oh, so that''s what this is all about. Jealous!? Super jealous? Did you know, strawberry smoothies are super tasty? If you don''t watch your back, maybe I''ll gobble you up first!" "Ahaha, I dare you!" She laughed and quickly dashed ahead of me. "You said it!" I chased after Smoothie, her wings fluttering dazzlingly under the sun. "Ahh...! No biting!" The two of us frolicked above the vast desert for about an hour before we resumed our journey north. Playing around with a cute fairy? This definitely beat solo adventure any day. On a side note, I managed to find a scorpion, an actual barb tailed scorpion with venom. Honestly, I didn''t even think these critters existed in this world but goddess of luck was on my side! It was a just tiny thingy hiding under a rock minding its own business until it met me. Yes, in this world, strawberries preyed on scorpions. I wish I could fry it. I''m sure it''d be super crunchy and tasty. Oh, oh! If I dip it in nectar, sweet and crunchy! Hah... Too bad I have no appetite. It''s struggle only lasted a second before its life was forfeit. Ehehe, task complete! One toxin acquired. It turned out to be a type of neurotoxin after I checked [conglomerate], such a reliable ability. This venom was sure to be useful later on. If I could find a region with ample poisonous mushrooms and plants, my arsenal would grow exponentially. blanksphere Chapter 31 Three days and three nights had passed since we started travelling through the desert. According to what I could see from high up in the sky, we were only about a day''s travel until we could reach the tree line. "Smoothie, do humans evolve?" I had that question in my mind for a while but I kept forgetting to ask. Now that I did, I felt much better, another burden off my chest! "Did you not check the three you killed?" "Ack! You said it was pointless so I kind of forgot. They weren''t a threat if not for their fancy equipments, right?" "From what I understand, they generally don''t evolve. The elves don''t evolve either, at least not that I have seen." "That reptilian demon when I had examined his status said he came from a mortal race. I''m guessing mortal races could go through double evolutions in some circumstances?" "Probably. There''s no point speculating. We''ll know soon enough once we enter a city. There''s bound to be a library somewhere with all that information." By early morning next day, we had made a touch down at the nearest tree line. It was like a marathon. Because of my various abilities and traits, plus both of us having fey bodies capable of flight, neither of us needed any long breaks. Day and night, we flew almost continuously. It was one hell of a trip. I definitely wouldn''t have cared to cross it alone. "We made it! High five!" "What''s a high five?" She asked, looking at my strange hand position. Awkward. Instead, that same hand met my forehead. "Where''s [soothsayer] when you need it?" "Okay. [Soothsayer] doesn''t know." "Never mind! Never mind! Now, what should we do now?" "Okay. We should continue north and meet up with Haelley at some point." "Hmm? I know she can track you to some degree but I don''t think I can track her. And, how would she come this far?" "She should have tried to escape via [rapid transport]. The easiest way to do that would be to look at the clouds in the sky, then towards the horizon." "Ah, I see. So you believe she teleported this way?" "She knows we''re travelling north to her home country. Since she hasn''t came for us, she was likely critically wounded and is currently recovering." Losing Haelley wasn''t too much of a big deal while we crossed the desert. However, we really needed her presence as a fighter around. Someone like me could only fight like a coward, hiding and ambushing with absurd tactics. I sighed, "I hope she''s alright. We''ve been travelling for quite a while together. If she was still wearing the dress I made for her, I would have been able to track her whereabouts." "Don''t worry, I''m tracking her with [soothsayer]. Right now, she still exists in the future somewhere." I swear, that ability is broken. How did she even obtain it? It''s like some kind of quantum computer. Since I didn''t want to venture into the beast country just yet, I decided to loiter around for a bit, spread some clones and practice compressing my mana. The nearest town was only about a day or two away. "Smoothie, you should practice compressing mana." "It''s not really beneficial to me. You know, I''m only level 22." "Suit yourself. I''m going to train until I have all my clones filled with dense mana. Ehehehe..." "No! Mother, that''ll take ages. Don''t you want to see what kind of people live in the beast country?" "Not really. Plus, you haven''t told me how we should enter the towns. Are fey beings like us welcomed? If not, it''s better to wait for Haelley to come and get us, right?" "And if she never comes?" "But... But... What about that future?" "It changes." "Then, tell me how we could get in a town. The last thing I want is to get pummeled by some furry brutes when I try to enter." "The beast country has many races so I believe they should be more accepting." "Fine, two days. Give me two days to prepare, okay?" "Okay." During those two days, we roamed inside the dry tropical forest to the north. Although I had been leaving clones around, without enough water, many of them actually withered and died. This place is no good. I can''t grow anything here. "Don''t waste resources on those clones. Instead, feed me! I''ll grow up big and healthy," before she jumped on me from behind. Her [producer] ability was having trouble keeping up with the drain from the harsh environment. Mana and whatnot had to be supplied by me using [conglomerate] with her. Because of that, I was getting so many doses of her. "Get a room, won''t you? It''s as if it''s not hot enough here already." Also, I liked the small fairy appearance of hers. She was cute and adorable but with too sharp a tongue. If she could cut back on the verbal abuses, she''d be perfect! "No! Feed me! You have so much mana. Don''t be stingy." She playfully bit my right shoulder. Whenever she was short on mana or needed a recharge, she would grab me or touch my skin somewhere to activate |progenitor| and [conglomerate] with her. This time wasn''t any different. "I''m not stingy! It''s called resource management," I retorted. Kids these days. Calling me "stingy" isn''t going to get you anywhere. Why do you need so much mana anyway? She whispered, "Pretty please! With a strawberry on top!" "You can''t bribe me with strawberries. You don''t even grow them. Recently, you''re always needing mana. What are you even spending your mana on? [Producer] can''t be that inefficient. I''ve used it before." "It''s not that. It''s a different ability." "Don''t tell me [soothsayer] uses a lot of mana." "Ding, ding, ding! Yes! When I''m actively seeking the best way for us to proceed, it uses a lot of mana." "Fine." "Yay!" I was bored of training anyway. However, I wasn''t going to give up my mana freely! Something had to be exchanged. Thus, I pulled her to the front, and squeezed her tightly from behind. Ahhh... She smells so good! "You pervert!" "Whaat! It''s called a fair exchange! Nothing is free here, I tell you, nothing!" "You just said it''s hot. You go get a room! You stingy pervert." Ow. A heart attack. On the morning of the third day since crossing the desert, we arrived outside the entrance of a primitive rural town situated on two sides of a winding river. To avoid being spotted, I forgo the area survey from above. Instead we circled the town from the outside to assess for any potential dangers such as hidden traps or invisible barriers. The buildings were all constructed of stones and mud bricks. There were no walls or fences around the town itself other than piles of neatly stacked flat rocks at set intervals around the town''s parameter. "I guess we''re safe to give our morning greetings?" I asked. "You''re not going to check their status first?" "That''s a good idea. By the way, can they understand the common language? I don''t want my ''good morning'' to sound like ''death to you'' in their native language, you know?" Actually, I hadn''t seen anyone walking around yet. It kind of made me wonder if this place was abandoned. But, I trusted Smoothie not to make a fool out of me so there must be people here. "I believe they speak them. Otherwise, those birds, if you recall, would have spoken a different language. It''s called the common language for a reason." "If that was the case, Haelley wouldn''t need to learn it from me, right? Even though she parted with her parents early, she should have learned enough to speak fluently." "Maybe there are dialects? We''ll find out. I say you go first. I''ll watch! A parent should be a good role model, no?" She giggled under her breath. "You brat! Ugh. Fine, I''ll go once I see their status. Just to be on the safe side, maybe I should offer you as a sacrifice." "No! I''m not tasty." She pouted. "They''ll dress you up and cook you with aromatic herbs so you''ll be tasty." "You bully, big bad bully," as she tapped my right arm with her soft fists. I couldn''t help myself but to tease her a bit as we waited for a beast person to appear. To be honest, it was strange for not a sentry or guard to be on the lookout. There must be a good reason why I hadn''t seen any person around. They can''t be this confident with their security, or lack thereof, right? Am I dealing with super strong folks? This isn''t funny. The suspense was killing me as I waited for a timely opportunity. blanksphere Chapter 32 I waited, and waited, and waited. Don''t tell me it''s a ghost town. "Smoothie, should we skip this town?" I whispered. "No, there are definitely residents here. I''m sure of it." "You mean [soothsayer] is sure of it." "What do you have against [soothsayer]? It made one small miscalculation, and you''re still not over it!" She crossed her arms, seemingly agitated with displeasure on her pretty face. I was just pointing it out. Sheesh, are you on your period or something? I couldn''t really voice that, obviously. I doubted she even knew what that meant. Throwing confusion into the mix was sure to be a recipe for disaster. "Are we breaking up?" I poked her cheek. "No. I''m staying with you! Pretty please! I was wrong!" She begged, holding onto my arm. Seriously, that mood swing. Does she not have control over her own emotions? I guess a kid is a kid even with the best support ability out there. "Alright." I waited until the sun was directly above us. Still, not a single resident to be seen. "Okay, I''m done waiting. Stay here, I''m going in!" Before I entered, I double checked my appearance to ensure I didn''t look like a devil. The last thing I wanted to was to get chased again. Since I had no mirror to allow me to see my face, that part had to be skipped for now. If I tried to view myself by creating an eye ball tendril, even I would be freaked out. Alright, all good. Into the enemy territory, and behind enemy lines! Sneak in? No. Someone as proud as me could never stoop so low as to sneak around. I walked in through the non-existent front entrance. "Hello, anyone here?" The wind replied with some ruffling sounds. The doors to all the residential looking buildings were all closed. Since I wasn''t sure if there were actually people in there, I didn''t dare to try opening any doors. After strolling around for a bit, I arrived in front of a three story building that was relatively fortified. Maybe, this is their town hall or something? "Hello? If anyone''s there, give me a honk!" I shouted while knocking on the front door. Again, no one answered. "Enough is enough, I''m coming in." I pushed open the door with my two arms. Surprisingly, they weren''t locked. Immediately visible to me were stone tables and chairs. To the sides, hanging on racks and walls were assortments of weapons and cookware. Many of these cookware seemed to have been used recently, perhaps less than a day ago. At the very end of this enormous room was a wide stair hall leading downward into some kind of underground facility. I could hear rowdy voices coming from below. I missed out on a party? No way! For real? No wonder it''s so quiet up here. "Coming!" I cheerfully hopped down the stairs, quietly of course. Past a certain point, the hall was sporadically lit with pieces of green and blue crystals hanging on the walls. I took a few turns, but was otherwise a very straightforward passage, no traps or anything. The further I descended, the louder the noises became. Now I could even hear hollers and laughter fairly clearly. I''m not a party pooper, right? I''m just strolling in to say my good mornings. The closer I got, the more I tried to listen to the words spoken. Oh? Something about a catch? I was much relieved when I understood at least some of the words spoken. That meant communication was possible. Anyway, a star should always be the last to arrive on scene! I carefully snuck a peek at the party venue situated at the centre an expansive network of tunnels. What I saw was a huge gathering of at least a hundred people. Well, they weren''t people I would consider humans. If I had to describe them, they looked like ferrets in humanoid forms. They were slim and tall, and the fur on their face had those horizontal dark markings. Aside from minor differences in the patterns on their fur, I couldn''t differentiate any of them apart by sight. In terms of their height, they were a head shorter than regular humans. So many pelts... Let''s see their status. [Level 21 Beast; Species: Jud-Stefta; Physical: 60/60; Spiritual: 23/23; Traits: Burrower, Enhanced Senses; Abilities: Brawler, Hunter; Description: A type of beast folk that lives underground.] Quite a few of the adults had similar status, with a similar range of abilities and traits. The strongest individual I saw was level 41 and the lowest was a level 5 which was just a child based on its physical stature. From what I could tell, they were likely hunters. Other than a few powerful individuals, I was under no threat. Strangely enough, they all shared the same species name, with a few exceptions. These people were generally shorter and fatter. Their hands were much larger. In terms of abilities and traits, they really weren''t that much different than those without the [hunter] ability. Their species were Jud-Kalifa, mostly in the level 10''s. Phew. "Good morning!" I waved. At first, no one noticed me. However, as soon as one person noticed me, more and more followed. The turning of heads was contagious. In under a minute, all was quiet. No one was moving, not even a breath could be heard. Quite a few had their jaws dropping. "Yo. Am I interrupting?" You bet I am. I wonder if they''re checking my status. I guess my status would be scary for the likes of them. Seriously, that |devious| trait needs to get removed. "Peace?" I pulled out my two fingers in a V pattern. Some adults swiftly shielded the children''s eyes. Did I do something lewd? Then, three buffed individuals approached me, walking with a bit of stiffness. One of them was the level 41 I had noted earlier. In terms of physical stats, I was outmatched, however now that I knew about magic, things wouldn''t go as badly if a fight broke out here. "Miss, are you an envoy of the Highland Emperor?" One of them asked. Envoy? And who is this Highland Emperor? "No, I am a traveller," I replied. Together they let out a sigh. "Is something wrong?" I asked, bit curious of the circumstances here. In fact, I was glad they weren''t hostile to me. "I suggest you leave this area immediately." "Are fey beings not welcomed here?" "Far from it. This place isn''t safe. Only those who can fight and unwilling to leave are here. Everyone else had already evacuated and headed northeast. You should do the same." They can''t be serious, right? If I was an enemy, you would have all just perished. I thought, however, I played along as not to ruin their joyous atmosphere any further. "Fight? Is there a war?" They looked at each other, a bit baffled, before explaining, "An army was spotted just days ago to the west. We don''t know when they''ll strike this place." "Who is striking?" "Who else? The humans!" A murmur among the crowd erupted upon the word "humans". It looked to me this wasn''t the first time this had happened. "Do you all speak the common language? I''ve been living out there in the wilderness so I am completely clueless." "Here only the three of us are fluent in the common language. If you go into the cities, more should speak it." "Oh, alright. I guess I''ll take my leave. Thank you for the information!" There really wasn''t anything I could thank them with. If I gave them a basket of strawberries, the consequences would be disastrous. Hence, I just turned around and left. As much as I didn''t want to actually crash the party, it seemed that the party could no longer resume. The mood was all but ruined. Honestly, it was odd that they were even having a party in their current predicament. I would have expected them to be training for their upcoming battle. Whatever floats their boat... I left the town the way I came. It wasn''t a waste of time as I previously anticipated. The first thing I learned was that there were more than one language in this world. The second was that a war was on the horizon between humans and these people. For what reason? I didn''t know. And lastly, beast folks weren''t hostile to fey beings. I wonder why they covered those children''s eyes? Were they afraid that my unworldly beauty would taint those innocent eyes? They didn''t think of me as some hairless ugly thing, right? Right? Ugh! I should have asked. Chapter 33 lanksphere "Let me go! Mother, help me!" Oh? Oh? What''s this? A baffling scene greeted me when I returned from the town. It was like something straight out of a movie somewhere. "Stop struggling, no one''s coming for you." How did you get captured in the first place? Wings and [soothsayer] are wasted on you. In fact, I was watching from behind as this Jud-Stefta, or as I referred them to as ferretfolk, had Smoothie pinned down on the ground. The guy didn''t notice me since I had quietly snuck behind them. Moreover, because I noticed that there was another ferretfolk patrolling nearby, I was wary of possible military reinforcements in this area. Beating up that baddie would only escalate the situation. Honestly, it was strange how they weren''t around earlier, at least I didn''t see any scouts around. Or, perhaps they were hiding in small burrows. What to do? If they have reinforcement around, I''d be screwed if I mess up. I thought about it for quite some time until I noticed her dress was being ripped into pieces. Though, I couldn''t see her face, she was probably crying by now. The thing was, I didn''t believe fey beings could cry. That would make the imitation body too realistic. "I haven''t had a pretty girl for so long." A girl? Did I hear that right? They''re not even same species or class... Awkward! This dude must be a deviant to have such beauty standards... "No, please! I''m saving my first time for Mother!" She wailed desperately. Why do I get a feeling something isn''t right? A girl, first time? Is that even possible? Are you not fey? Saving your first time for me? That doesn''t even make sense. "Stay still! It''ll be over quickly. I promise, you''ll love every moment of it!" I couldn''t see his face but I was sure he was smirking with delight. Tch. There are people like this in every world. You asked for it. I don''t care if your libido is out of control or you''re just letting out your stress. You don''t get to touch her without my permission! With all those pieces of her dress scattered on the ground, they became the proxies or clones I needed to fight with. When I infused them with my mana and essences, thick vines burst forth, binding the ferretfolk in place. As I approached, I had my vines stuff themselves in his mouth to prevent him from alerting his friend nearby. He was in such a strange position like that. "Careful not to bite them, or you''ll end up dead," I whispered next to his ears. Consuming my vines was even more deadly than eating my strawberries. At least my strawberries'' addictive property counteracted |reaper| a bit. "Vmmmm...!" His eyes bulged with fear. "You tried to harm my child. What excuse do you have? Hmm?" I stared into his eyes with my deathly gaze. "Mother." She whimpered. "Smoothie, are you hurt anywhere?" "Why didn''t you come sooner?" She asked as I pulled her out from beneath the ferretfolk. "A better question, how in the world did you get pinned down? These folks can''t even fly, so you should have been able to avoid them easily." Although this place wasn''t a dense jungle, there were still quite many trees around she could hide behind. With her being only half my size, hiding from foes in this terrain should have been a piece of cake. She lowered her gaze, "I was... I was... I was playing with the crawlies... because I was bored. I''m sorry." Playing with tiny bugs, here? How childish! I couldn''t be more disappointed with her but I didn''t want to waste my time scolding her. A child was a child. Thinking back, I used to play with beetles too. "Don''t let there be a next time. Let''s get you a new dress." "Mm. I''m sorry." As I scanned her body for any bruises or injuries, I noticed one thing in particular. There was a vertical slit underneath. Huh... Odd... Was it there before? "Mother, stop staring at me like that," she blushed. "Smoothie... What is going on? What are you?" "I''m a fey being just like you. I don''t know what you''re talking about." "Never mind, we''ll discuss this later." This wasn''t a good time to have a chat so I quickly synthesized a simple green dress for her. "Now, now, about you," I turned my attention to the beast in custody, "since I don''t want to make an enemy out of your country, you''ll be free to go. You did not see us today, understood?" "Vmmm!" After Smoothie and I had distanced ourselves from that ferretfolk, I retracted the vines that had kept him bound. That was the end of the matter as the two of us fled northward. There was no way I could have trusted someone like that. "Smoothie, explain yourself." I stated flatly. "What do you mean? I explained everything." "No, I mean your body." "I''m a fey being." "You''re not trying to dodge the question, are you?" "I''m... I''m... I''m your daughter." She said hesitantly. "I was sure you had no gender. What happened? You said fey bodies are imitations of the physical bodies, right?" "Yes... It seems I''ve always been a girl. I only noticed my body had transformed after I merged with your clone." "All the way back when Haelley and I took on the Po-Hatorshi?" "Seems so." "And, you didn''t bother to tell me about it?" "I''m sorry, I''m sorry, please don''t abandon me," tears welled up in her eyes. I didn''t even notice I had raised my voice at her. There were just too much I didn''t understand, and she was one of the biggest mysteries to me. "I''m sorry for raising my voice," I squeezed her tightly while caressing her. "Please tell me these things sooner. I''m completely clueless about these things, you know?" "Mmm... You''re the most oblivious parent I can ask for," she replied. Tch, that tongue of hers. Maybe I should just remove it altogether. "Now, explain to me what you know about the transformation. I''m still genderless even though I''m pretending to be your mother. You said something about giving your first time to me. What was that all about?" She gasped, "You heard that?" "What happened to your [soothsayer]? It should be able to predict what I would say, right?" "Yes, but aside from mana usage, I learned that it''s no fun to know so I don''t use it on you. Surprises are exciting, no?" "You know what surprise is coming from me if you keep this up, right?" I flicked her forehead. "Ow," she pouted. "Now, talk." I commanded. "I''ll tell you as much as I know. I was born a female to begin with. I''m girl. That was probably why I couldn''t grow strawberries by myself. You killed the flowers before anyone tried cross pollinate yours onto my flowers. I''m okay with that because I get to be with you," as she tried to rub her cheeks on me. "And, the transformation?" "I''m not entirely sure but it was an automatic process. Since you have accepted me as your daughter, my |bewitching| trait might have altered my appearance to match. It''s just appearance, nothing else. I can''t mate because you already sterilized me. I can''t undo it by myself." She made herself sound so pitiful. Sterilized? I only stopped you from flowering so those despicable elves wouldn''t mess around. If they messed around with my flowers or clones too much, their lives would be forfeit. It was simple as that, not that I could monitor all of my clones at once. Using [transformation], I could enlarge my chests, but it didn''t allow me to give myself any gender specific properties. That information just didn''t exist so I had no way to transform myself unless a variation of that information existed somewhere within me. However, now that I knew it was possible, perhaps I had overlooked something vital regarding [transformation]. Either way, now wasn''t the time to look into it. We had to move on before war swept our way. "I was protecting you!" I sighed, "Anyhow, this fey body business is annoying. I can''t ever seem to fully grasp it. I have organs and yet I don''t really. I''m living and yet I''m not fully alive. Tell me, if your heart is pierced, do you die?" "I don''t have one and I can''t create one either. However, if my fey core is destroyed, I will die. The same doesn''t apply to you because you have |parallel bodies| trait, meaning you have multiple fey cores backed up." Now that she put it that way, wasn''t I just super amazing? Supposed my head was blown off, not that I would ever wish for that to happen, if my fey body was still intact, I could literally just synthesize another head. I couldn''t ask for a better body, especially when combined with all my abilities and traits. Anyway, I pressed her for more answers as we travelled. "I have never heard about this core thing. Where is it and do all fey beings have it?" "All fey beings have one or more fey cores depending on their species and evolution. Mine is in my belly because I know other areas are more likely to be targeted by mortal races. I don''t know where you keep yours and you don''t have to tell me. They''re normally not visible and can only be felt inside you. For me, it''s a warm little orb." "Isn''t that another weakness to watch out for?" "Not really, fey cores are normally impossible to destroy, and I doubt even soul eaters could harm them. Also, they can''t be captured either, at least not that I''m aware of so you don''t have to worry about it." "I was all concerned for no reason. I guess keeping out of physical harm is the way to go for you." "Yes." Yep, let''s forget about this core thingy. There''s no point knowing about it. blanksphere Chapter 34 – Entering a City At first we were simply heading north because I felt like it. But, as those three ferretfolks had advised, northeast was our best bet to safety. Thus, we changed our course straight for the nearest city. While travelling, I began spreading clones sporadically. One of my concerns with spreading clones was the possibility of being tracked by potential enemies. To combat that, I limited the size these clones could grow into. The smaller they were, the less likely they would be spotted. After all, these were considered my lifelines should the humans or some other being destroyed my clones in the south where I came from. "Mother, let me help you spread those clones." "It''s fine. I''m concerned about you. If the humans decided to hunt down my clones, your plant body might get destroyed too. If you don''t level up and evolve, you''ll never be freed from your plant body. How about I go feed your plant body with plenty of nutrients. You should level up quickly, right?" "That''s cheating! You''re a cheat, but I don''t dislike it. Mm!" You even asked for it before. Now it''s cheating? Recently, because I had used quite a bit of my resources for combat, I hadn''t levelled up even once after my evolution. That might also have to do with my level already being fairly high. However, that wasn''t the case for Smoothie. She was low levelled and only required nutrients added to her plant body to level up. I wasn''t sure why I didn''t think of this sooner. "When you reach level 31, do you think you''ll be obtain any abilities or traits to free yourself to some extent?" "I''m not sure." "Can you gain the |cloning| trait like me? I don''t even know how I managed to gain it." "That''s hard to say. A lot of times it had to do with luck. Since you''re a progenitor, some abilities and traits naturally gravitate to you. And that doesn''t apply to me." "Smoothie, your new task is to find a way to free yourself from your plant body by next evolution. Understood? If there''s anything I can help, ask. In the meanwhile, I''ll store up as much resources as I could to help you reach level 31 in one go." A simple touch between the two of us would activate our bonding traits which would allow me divert my resources via [conglomerate] to her plant body. I was something like an intermediary link between her two bodies. One time, I tried to use the same principle to see if I could create a clone of her by combining my two abilities together. However, the result was that only my clones could be created. It was apparent that [conglomerate] was quite a special but sometimes finicky ability. "Thank you, Mother. I''ll look for ways with [soothsayer]. Try not to make me level up too fast." "I know. I wouldn''t want those elves to act pre-emptively. Maybe I should check on them later?" "Let me go with you." "No. I don''t want that rabbit demon to see you and hold you hostage. I''ll go alone. Don''t worry, I have plenty of clones around! There''s a city in front of us, let''s check it out first and think about other stuff later." Ahead of us was an enormous city built on top of a mountain encircled by a ring of white stone walls at least forty meters tall. Canons, crossbows, and various military equipment lined up on top of the walls. Buildings constructed here were of pristine and artistic beauty, a complete contrast to what we had seen in that remote town. The position of each building on the mountainous slopes appeared as if following a grand design. At the very top of the mountain stood a white palace enclosed by large white pillars, positioned in a way similar to stone circles. Golden statues of animal like figures lined up the front as if they were guardian deities. At the very top of the palace, on what appeared to be a platform, a monolith that stood at least fifty meters pointed at the heaven. All of that were easily seen from thousands of meters away where Smoothie and I was, making our way to the city. If that much wasn''t display of wealth and power to foreign visitors, I didn''t know what was. I mumbled to myself, "Whoever built this city must be a genius." "The guards here look formidable too," she remarked. "Indeed." In terms of personnel, they were all in the level 40''s and above, armed like proper military personnel. Shiny armor and weapons, there were no exceptions. I couldn''t really make out their facial features but the species names of many were foreign to me. We were currently walking on the road leading up to the entrance. Obviously, I wouldn''t dare flying in. Just being here staring at those cannon holes was quite intimidating. I felt like if I made a bad move, I would get blown apart. Not to mention, there was magic in this world. Who knew what kind of magic traps and barriers were waiting to sprang onto unsuspecting invaders? "Is this really a good idea?" "Yes, we''ll be safe inside. Don''t worry, I don''t think they''re hostile to fey beings in this country. If they were, we would have been attacked already." "Smoothie, you''ve already been attacked." "Let''s not bring that up again..." She pouted while hugging herself. "Be careful not to wreck your new dress, okay?" "Mm..." Earlier I had gathered some colorful tropical flowers. They made the perfect materials for plant based dresses for the both of us. Constantly wearing green was kind of getting boring so I decided to change things up a bit. To match the style of the city we were entering, both of us had switched our green dresses into white gowns embellished with blue flowers. The fabric was very soothing and cool to the skins. Smoothie, you look so adorable with that white gown, just like a little angel! Or Fairy? Or angelic fairy? "Mother, stop staring at me like that. You''re creeping me out!" She cried out. Well, as long as she kept her mouth shut. "Rude, I''m just admiring you. That''s all," I grinned happily as I patted her head. Having a kid around isn''t so bad after all. I wonder what my kid would be like if I had one in my previous life. Did I have a kid? I don''t think I ever married. If I remember correctly... Something... Something? "Mother, we should enter the city before it gets dark." "Oh, sorry, let''s hurry up then." We weren''t the only ones lining up to get in. Those that looked like refugees and merchants were also trying to enter. "Stop. Names?" One of the guards stopped us when it was our turn. It was basically a person who looked like a large humanoid hare. Those slender ears poking out of his head were just huge. "I''m Berry, and this is my child, Smoothie." "Where are you from?" "We came from a town southwest of here." "What business do you have coming here?" I couldn''t read this person''s facial expression at all because I was only familiar with human expressions. I really wished they were like Haelley with humanlike faces. That didn''t mean I was completely stumped when it came to understanding them. Their voices usually gave away quite a bit of information. In fact, I was confident that this was a male guard. "We''re travellers. Please let us in." "Where do you plan to stay? You don''t look like you have money on you." I had been living in the wilderness for too long. I was worse than a country bumpkin, living in absolute poverty. Unfortunately, there was not a penny to my name and I completely forgot I needed money. "Uhh... Money? I don''t have money. Is there anywhere we can make money or stay for free? O handsome sir, please tell me!" I tried to display the most charming smile I could pull off while looking up at him. Not including his huge ears, he was at least two heads taller than me. I should have made myself taller. I secretly prayed to myself that [charm] would work. To be honest, this was my first time trying smiling like this and I seriously doubted something like this could work across species. Moreover, my [charm] ability was quite limited in that I never bothered to learn much about it. It was kind of useless to have in the wilderness. Technically, it should work but luring men to their demise wasn''t my modus operandi, not at all. He scanned my body from top to bottom. "You''re one of those?" "Uhh... What do you mean?" I replied with another question. "A fey, huh, not a pleasant one either. We don''t see many of those around. Go report to the embassy hall. They''ll make arrangements for you two." I was kind of surprised he just noticed that I was a fey being. "Thanks? Where''s the embassy hall?" "Follow the road signs," he pointed at one of the rectangular marked wooden plates. The sign was in two languages. One was the common language, and the other one was a gibberish, probably the local language. As it turned out, I could actually read the common language. That was quite neat. "Oh okay." Just like that, we were able to enter the city without any trouble. To my disappointment, I couldn''t get my [charm] to work on that harefolk. Well, that was what I decided to call them until someone corrected me. It seemed that there weren''t any type of discriminations around here. No one seemed to really care about appearances or races around here. Nevertheless, if a human showed up, that would likely be a different matter. Chapter 35 – Embassy Hall Following the road signs, we strolled through this magnificent city. The superb craftsmanship by the architects, it would be such a waste for them to be damaged or destroyed in the oncoming war. "Mother, you failed so badly," she burst into laughter while covering her mouth. "Wah? What''s so funny? I tried my best, you know!?" I knew I failed terribly at using [charm] on that guard but effort was effort! Where was my pat on the back when I needed it? Head pats were okay too. "That''s the funny part!" "Hmph! Next time I''ll leave it to you since you''re supposed to be the expert, huh?" "Nuh uh!" "Yuh uh!" Sniff. Sniff. Super alluring aroma drifted our way. I murmured, "smells so good," as we were passing through a street lined with fancy diners. It was just too bad I didn''t have any money with me. If I did, I would definitely create a stomach for myself and try them all! "Mother, I want some too." "You focus on evolution first. I''ll reward you once you can free yourself from your plant body." "Promise? Pinky promise? I don''t want your memory version."" Ah, crap, she read my intentions. "You know, memory version is usually better? I keep only the best flavors." "No! No! I want real food." She tugged at my clothe tightly. If she pulled any harder, the delicate fabric would probably rip. That would really be embarrassing if that happened in public with all these eyes around us. You win this time! I sighed with resignation, "Fine, I promise." We hooked pinkies in the middle of the street. When I looked around, a few onlookers showered us with some amusing smiles. It was probably just our wings were too conspicuous. "Let''s get going already," I pulled her hand. We reached the embassy hall after about half an hour walk. Compared to other buildings around here, it didn''t appear to be unique or special in any way. The signboard on the embassy hall was in both common language and local language. "Smoothie, can you read the other language?" "No. I can only read common language." "How come you can read it? My memories didn''t have it so there''s no way you could have learned it from me." "How come you can read common language?" She threw that question right back at me. What a cheeky brat. Just answer my question already. "How am I supposed to know? You''re the expert here." "Apparently it''s part of an integration feature within the system. It guarantees those born as non-physical can communicate effectively using the common language." "Oh. Isn''t that an unfair advantage? That means any fey being could speak?" "Only if they are intelligent enough which can be gained as they level up and evolve. Anyway, we should register first." "Yeah, we can''t live on the streets." One of the receptionist greeted us when we entered. She was a young fox lady who resembled Kanobi, the fey fox I met when I was headhunting. Unlike the others around here, she looked completely human except the pointy ears above her head. Well, she did have a fluffy tail but most of that was hidden behind her desk. "Good afternoon, are you two refugees?" Just to be sure, I checked her status. [Level 34 Fey; Species: Reo-Ibanos; Physical: 110/110; Spiritual: 276/276; Traits: Bewitching, Hearth, Assayer, Enhanced Senses; Abilities: Charm, Spirit Fire, Transformation; Descriptions: A type of fey that can transform their appearances.] Those stats, she''s flipping powerful. She''s from the same species too. Isn''t their species'' base stats too high? She also has [transformation], such hack. "Not really, we''re travellers. The guard told us to report here." "I see, plant fey. We are to treat you as honorable guests at the embassy." She nodded politely with a smile. "Why? We didn''t do anything special. We''re just looking for a place to stay and maybe earn some money." "Every intelligent fey being in the empire is a considered highly valuable asset. You two, being those originating from fey plants, are extremely rare. As I can see with my eyes, both of you have potent abilities and traits that the empire cannot neglect, especially at a time of uncertainty. Thus, you are to be treated as honorable guests at our embassy until we can arrange suitable accommodations at a later date." "I just said we''re travellers, not citizens. We''re just passing by and we don''t plan on being assets for the empire." "I understand we''re unlikely to be able to hold you here with force. Therefore, we''re willing to negotiate and we have much to offer," she insisted with a professional smile. I don''t like the sound of this. "Do you have the authority to do so?" "Yes, my name is Kanoko and I hold the highest authority in this embassy." She certainly didn''t look like it. Also, her name was similar to that other fox lady, Kanobi. Is she not the receptionist? "You''re not the receptionist?" I asked. "Yes, and I''m also the manager of this embassy. If you have any issues, I am the person in charge." I looked around. One of the uniformed staff nodded at me. Oh, she really is in charge. "Okay. By the way, why is it the embassy hall that deals with this matter? I thought the city hall or something deals with it." "This concerns the kingdom and the empire. Since you''re new to this society, allow me to explain briefly. Within the empire, there used to be five kingdoms, however only three remained. Each kingdom has at least one embassy. You''re currently in the Kingdom of Teir. Majority of the population here are Juds, ones you see here." She continued, "Due to the ongoing war with the humans and reptilians, two kingdoms fell to ruin. Our kingdom is now on the frontline but we do not expect any invasion any time soon as we make preparations." I bet one of the fallen ones was where Haelley was from. "Is negotiation not possible with the other two nations?" I asked. "No. Our ambassadors were denied and forced to return. For the past few decades, the humans'' and reptilians'' incomprehensible actions continued to baffle us. And recently, without any provocation, they mounted sudden attacks toppling two kingdoms in quick succession. Even now, we''re still trying to recover." I guess it was a good call I didn''t harm that ferretfolk back there. Otherwise, we would end up forever as an outcast. There''s no way I can fend myself against armies if they ever choose come after me. I''m such a genius! Now I can hide here while they duke it out. There I immediately decided on siding with this country. There wasn''t any other friendly countries for the likes of me so this was probably the best choice at the moment. "You know what? I''ll take your accommodations. Where should we go?" "Do you prefer the garden or a regular room?" Heck, if she had asked any other person with that question, he or she would have thought it was harassment. Thankfully, I was a super understanding person! But, this plant doesn''t belong in the garden. "Smoothie, are you okay with being in a regular room?" "Yes." "Do not worry, you''re allowed to visit the garden at your leisure. I just needed to confirm whether a room should be assigned to your names," Kanoko added. "Oh okay, thanks." "As for foods and drinks, I''m not familiar with your species." "I''m okay with anything really. Is there anywhere we can take a bath?" "Ah yes, there are local bathhouses. Hold on a moment," she quickly draught down a map of the area with important places. "Here is the bathhouse. I''m sure you''ve passed some restaurants on your way here. For tourists, the shopping locations are here, here, and here." "Hold on, we have no money." "Not to worry. I will give you a green pass that allows you to spend moderately within the city. All your basic needs will be provided within the embassy. Please follow me to your living quarter. It''ll be on the second floor." Our room was huge! Or, it should have been if we weren''t so used to living outdoors. This was basically a luxury suite with a king sized bed, fully furnished. There were even glass slider windows. I felt like a VIP. "Please enjoy your stay. Here''s your pass. If you have any issues, please speak with me, and if I''m not available, please speak with one of our staff." She passed to me a green metallic card with words in both languages stating "Teir Embassy". "Oh okay, thanks. Wait, how does the pass work?" "Show it to the vendors and they''ll bill the embassy." I guess now we just have to wait until they rearrange some other stuff for us to do later. Whatever, free stuff is free stuff! It''s party time! "Smoothie, let''s go for a bath! I''m a little thirsty too." "Bath water isn''t for drinking, Mother. You''re disgusting!" "I''m not! I''m not drinking bath water." I lightly chopped her head. "Ow." That stupid ability must have fed her useless knowledge again. Since there wasn''t anything to do here, we headed to the local bathhouse noted on the map. It was important to stay clean now that we had access to free water. Of course, if possible, I would like to store some water in |gourmet| for future uses. Plants didn''t grow without water. blanksphere Chapter 36 On our way to the bathhouse, we had a few odd gazes and whatnot from people here but we didn''t mind it. Their facial expressions were unreadable to me. [Soothsayer] could probably tell but that had nothing to do with me! Hopefully those weren''t lewd stares because that would have been awkward. Now that the skies had darkened, the streets were now lit with colorful crystals of some sort. If I had to guess, they were probably using magic. Whatever the case, the city scene had completely changed from just two hours ago, now into a night wonderland. Beautiful lights blanketed the entire mountain. Everything here was new to me, as if I had just stepped into another world once again. "Is this place beautiful?" I whispered to Smoothie. She nodded, "Yes." Once we showed the bathhouse staff my green pass, we were allowed in without any fee. Interestingly enough, the bathhouse was split by gender. I didn''t see the point of that since they were all furry to me. Frankly, I couldn''t even tell the different between a male ferret from a female ferret for the life of me. Well, if they let me carefully inspect their private parts, I might be able to differentiate. Anyway, I kind of wished these people had at least humanoid faces. I stumbled when we reached the bathes, "Which one? I''m confused." "Mother, just come with me," she tugged my arm. "Good idea. It''s too early to advocate for mixed bathes." Inside were lockers, washing stations, and large bath tubs. Surprisingly, the place was quite clean. Originally I was expecting them to shed lots of hairs and whatnot but there were actually very little of it. "Smoothie, need help?" "Yes please!" "Yeah right, you know how to wash even if I don''t teach you. Do it yourself." "Aww... Pretty please?" "Not going to work this time!" Meanwhile, I was absorbing the water coming through the water pump. This was the easiest way to get my fill of water to keep all my clones happy. Recently, the weather hadn''t been friendly to those plant bodies living at my originating place. As I was absorbing all that fresh and clean water, my thought branched off. Ah crap, if a forest fire comes now, most of my clones will get wiped. Smoothie too. I better do something soon. Those stupid elves, I doubt they''ll keep the fires away wherever they''re harvesting my strawberries. After washing myself, I dipped myself in the warm bath where several others were already soaking themselves. There were plenty of spaces around for me to sit. So much fur. That was my take on it. They probably thought I was some pitiful furless creature. On the bright side, there were no bust size competitions here, not that I would lose anyway. [Transformation] was a cheat, a hack, even if it wasn''t omnipotent. I wonder. If I merge with my clones and let |bewitching| trait do a makeover, would I become furry too? Hmm... A furry strawberry is a moldy strawberry. Nope. Not a good idea. "A fey!" One of them exclaimed. A few others turned their heads and stared at me. O hey, isn''t it rude to stare in the bath? Are you all craving strawberries? I kind of wondered how much of my status they could see. When I started in this world, I could hardly see anything on my status. If I had to guess, they probably couldn''t see all my abilities until level 30 and above. "Hi," I replied. At the same time, I looked around to see if anyone had less fur. Oh there, a monkey? Monkeys are cool. Ook! "Mother, you shouldn''t stare, no?" Smoothie reproved as she made her way to me. "Sorry." Why am I apologizing? Is this called "being civilized"? Have I conformed due to societal pressure? No. Way. Me? How I have stooped so low! I''m sorry, monkey. I won''t look at you anymore. That beauty of yours is beyond my comprehension. Somehow, her words affected more than just me. Those who were staring at me had all looked away. "Smoothie, you shouldn''t talk in bath." "Okay." Then I whispered to her, "Is it fine to soak your wings in warm water?" "Why not? This isn''t the first time," she whispered back. "You know, I can''t grow large clones freely around here. If your wings get damaged, you''ll have trouble flying again." "It''s fine. If that happens, you''ll help me smooth them out, right?" She beamed a cheerful grin. This brat! Well, our wings were too light to submerge underwater anyway. Sometimes, having wings was kind of a nuisance. I removed my lower wings via [transformation] but Smoothie was stuck with them unless they get trimmed. "Want me to rip them off?" "No!" "Shhh... You''re too loud." I placed my index finger over my mouth. "I''ll yell ''child abuse''." She replied with a pouty sad face. Those wings were hers were actually getting in her way. Currently she was crouching in the bath with her wings pointing upward which looked really uncomfortable. "You should try gaining a transformation ability on your next evolution," I suggested. "I don''t have such luxury to practice it but I can try with your plant bodies." "Maybe you can learn some magic?" "Who will teach me?" "Let''s ask Kanoko when we get back. We can go visit a library to learn about this world. How about it?" "Okay." "I''m done here. I''ll go get changed and wait for you at the entrance. Take your time and get comfortable," I chuckled. "I will." Making plans was my forte, or so I believed. After we returned to our room back at the embassy hall, I noticed that those light crystals didn''t automatically dim themselves. This was the perfect excuse! "Smoothie, stay here, I''m going to ask Kanoko how these lights work and where the library is." "Okay." Once I was sure I was out of her sight, I teleported near her plant body where I had prepared a strawberry. A small jungle was still a jungle but none of the plants here were hostile to me. As I moved around, I shifted my plant bodies to create a passage for myself. Differentiating her body from mine was quite simple. Her plant body didn''t respond to my command directly. "Oh hey, you little critters are still around." The little beetles were still crawling around, but mostly on the outer edges of this small jungle. They were just barely visible, illuminated by starlight. Compared to the last time I saw them, they hadn''t grown much. I was kind of surprised they had survived for this long. Right now, some of them had reached level 9 while majority were level 1''s or basically newborns. "Well, I have things to attend to. Try not to eat too much strawberries, okay?" I made my way to Smoothie''s humongous plant body. If this is supposed to be a level 22 fey plant, just how big will level 50 be? To ensure my hands didn''t get dirty or injured, I synthesized chitin gloves to cover my hands. I actually thought quite highly of this creation! Perhaps even the military could use them as light armors. Using my fancy new gloves, I ripped a few leaves and stems off and shoved them into my mouth. That would definitely be suicidal for anyone else but me, not to mention the pain involved. Using [transformation] and [synthesis], I created storage spaces in my body to store these parts. Although it wasn''t possible to create clones for her, I could still preserve her plant body within my fey body. There was no rule against it. As long as I didn''t merge with my plant bodies, they shouldn''t be absorbed. Maybe it''s time to grow breasts? Extra storage is always welcomed. I thought hard about it! Would that be too suspicious? I''ll blame it on Kanoko! She had a bust for some reason. I''m definitely not envious, definitely not! In the end, I decided against it. The alibi wouldn''t match if I did it now. In any case, I stuffed more than enough of Smoothie''s plant body within my fey body. Should a forest fire be large enough to destroy even the deepest roots, she should be safe as long as my fey body was safe given that I kept providing necessary resources to sustain those remains. Why I went so far for a brat was beyond me. Just to be sure, I didn''t hesitate to dig out a tiny piece of her plant body''s root and swallowed it whole. Dirt didn''t taste good but it was worth it. Plan perfect. I''m good to go. I readjusted all my plant bodies here to erase any trace that I ever walked through this jungle. Those gloves disappeared through [absorption]. It was but a simple task. I was never here, capish. Once I did all I needed to do, including destroying evidences within maybe 15 minutes or so, I returned to the embassy hall. Although the embassy hall was now closed, there were still some staff who lived here on the second floor. The door to the staff room was open. Knock. Knock. "Excuse me." "Yes? How can I help you?" A ferretfolk answered. "Can you teach me how to operate the light crystals? I don''t know how to shut them off." "You can''t shut them completely. To dim them, just tap them twice like this with your intent." "Oh okay. Is that it?" "Yes. It''s the same for brightening them." "Thank you. Another thing, is there a library in the city?" "Yes, in fact, there are several. But they''re not open to public. You have to be a registered scholar or official to enter." "Never mind." I think I did everything I needed to do. Alibi, perfect! After that, I returned to our room where Smoothie was waiting. blanksphere Chapter 37 Act normal, act normal! "Heya, I''m back! I learned how to dim the light crystals." "Mother, you could have asked me." "I didn''t want you to use [soothsayer] on useless things, you know? That would be a waste of mana. Oh yeah, I asked about library. Apparently we don''t qualify to enter." I walked to one of the light crystals and showed her how it was done. Perfectly normal. Such outstanding performance, sometimes I amaze myself. Why wasn''t I in the showbiz? I could have made so much money. "If there''s no library, then there isn''t much we can do here." "That''s not true. I can go eat good stuff here! I''ll share my tasty memories with you. I promise?" I teased her with a grin. She cried out, "You''re so despicable!" "Sorry, sorry. By the way, any news on Haelley?" "Yes. We will see her soon." "Oh, does she know where we are?" "I don''t know but she should know we''re around here." "Alright, I guess staying in this city is a good call." There really wasn''t much to do around here. Without being able to sleep, life was quite boring in this world. If there were good books or movies or games, I''d compete for the position of number one NEET on the continent. Ah, how I wished I could obtain any type of entertainment around here! I couldn''t even go to the library to study despite how much I disliked studying. However, it wasn''t like there was nothing I could do. "Smoothie, I''m going to train on mana compression. Don''t disturb me." "Okay." Born from plants, and living alone for the most part, we were quite tolerant to boredom. I remembered there was a time I sat around doing nothing for entire nights. Tonight was no different other than a bit of training included. By the time I had realized, morning had came. "Smoothie, let''s go sightseeing!" "Okay." The purpose of sightseeing was not only to gather intelligence but also to search for a job. Money was important in a society. If I wished to stick around, I figured I should earn some pocket changes quickly. There was no guarantee that I wouldn''t have to repay for the expenses accrued from using this green pass. One of the most important places I felt that I needed to see up close was the temple atop the mountain. Smoothie agreed with me in that regards. It was likely a special site for rituals, possibly even related to the city defenses. No matter how I looked at it, no one would building something only for the looks without some kind of purpose, especially that exceedingly tall obelisk which would penetrate into the clouds on some days. The two of us wandered around the city, checking all the sightseeing spots as we made our way up the mountain. At some point, we were halted from climbing up further. Several beastfolk sentries were stationed far from the entrance. We couldn''t even get close to the temple. I sighed, "I guess that''s as far up as we can go," before we turned around and headed back down. Since we weren''t in any rush, we stuck around to watch the sunset together up on the mountain. If I had to give an estimate, we were at least two kilometers above ground level. Yes, it was that high up. To be honest, this entire region was all mountains. The only parts that was somewhat a flat was the regions southwest of this city. To the west and west sides of the city were small hills, and all other directions especially further north were mountainous with steep slopes. In the event of an invasions from foreign powers, the defenders held the absolute advantage unless the power gap was substantial. To add to the invaders'' disadvantages, from what I observed, winged beasts units constantly patrolled the mountains from above leaving no room for unpleasant surprises. "Smoothie, how soon do you think this city will be invaded?" This was a genuine question. I didn''t know what kind of military technologies either side had nor did I know the types of warfare these folks engaged in. Hopefully, I would have left this city by then. "Soon and you should participate." She stated flatly. That came as a surprise. There were no benefits to me any way, shape or form. Not only that, I hated following commands of others. Being free from responsibilities and duties was something I very much enjoyed in this life. It was really the only thing that was good in this life as far as I was concerned. Not to mention, as a side entertainment, one day I wanted to build my own empire. "Why? Why should I fight for this country? I''m not a citizen and I have no duty to help anyone." "Haelley wouldn''t leave. She''d stay to help out, no?" "That has nothing to do with me. If it comes down to it, I''ll contract someone else to be my bodyguard. I mean, she''s already failed her side of the bargain. I''m not obligated to keep her around if she becomes useless even if we meet again." "Do you wish to level up quickly?" "Yes. That would be nice..." Ah, so that''s where we''re going. "Then, participate. Mother, you don''t need to worry about me. I''ll do what I can to stay safe and prepare for my next evolution." "Fine. If you say so. It''s going to be a lot of work." "I haven''t seen which direction they''ll come from, but I believe they may have large scale aerial combat forces." "Do you mean like those who chased us?" "I''m not sure. It''s best to be prepared. And, you should plant lots of clones outside of the city." "I''ll ask Kanoko first. I don''t want my actions to be deemed dangerous and hostile. Getting kicked out would not be funny." I knew exactly what Smoothie expected of me. However, that kind of preparation would require strenuous amounts of time and mana. Given the current dry season, should the invaders notice my clones and set a forest fire just prior to their assault on the city, my clones would be all lost and all my preparations would be in vain. It was a plan with many risks. In any case, no plan survived the battlefield. If I wished to achieve my goal sooner, risks had to be taken. Anyway, once the sun had set, we returned to the city''s main streets. "Can I watch you work?" Speaking of work, earlier while we were sightseeing around the city, I asked around to see if anyone needed a hire. But, the sad thing was, my little fairy received more offers than I did. I didn''t even know what I did wrong to lose. Was I lacking in the charisma department? No, right? I was the definition of beauty and charisma. Currently, my appearance was that of around 13 year old teenager, in human terms. Sure, the chest department was lacking but I was proper! There I was, thinking to myself, child labor is not acceptable! Obviously, I denied her the opportunity to work. She was mine to begin with! Age didn''t matter, because I was technically underage too. No matters, in the end, I was able to land a job at a tavern as a server without much trouble. "If you stay behind the counter, I think it''s fine?" In fact, the owner, an eccentric female harefolk, was overjoyed when I asked about it. "A mascot? That''s perfect!" There was definitely some misunderstanding. But, as long as I could keep Smoothie under my watch, I was fine with the arrangement. I wouldn''t want some thugs snatching her away while I wasn''t looking. Recently I somehow felt like I was becoming too attached to her. Having a close companion around sure made my life more interesting. Never again would I sit under a strawberry plant all by myself wasting my life away. Those days were of the past. While I worked, I had to either remove or reduce the size of my wings. I chose the former. They were just inconvenient when moving around with so many customers around. "Do I look okay in this uniform?" I asked, seeking Smoothie''s opinion. "You look like a peasant," she answered, covering her mouth as if trying to stop her laughter. "Rude! I''m serious." "You look okay." It wasn''t some fancy maid uniform or anything. These were black uniform with a white apron to prevent spills from stinking up the server''s clothing, or fur for the furry ones. For me, I didn''t have any of that concern. I could use [absorption] to destroy any clothing and recreate them with [synthesis] as long as they were biologically based. But alas, a bit of conformity wouldn''t hurt, right? "Girly, what''s taking so long? One pint of Black Teir Ale!" A customer shouted. "Coming!" It''s okay. Bear with it! I just want some personal allowances for myself. One of these days, your money will be as good as mine. Customers came and went throughout the night. What I didn''t understand was why Smoothie was popular, or even why I was popular with the customers. Clearly, I looked nothing like them. I had yet to see any customers with humanoid faces. Though, I wasn''t sure if monkey faces counted. In spite of our differences, they still recognized us as being extremely beautiful? Was there something I was not understanding? During my break, I looked to Smoothie for an explanation. "Being popular is great, no?" She tilted her head. Perhaps it was just a foreign experience to me. To be honest, I had never been popular in my life before, never ever. "Do you know if it has to do with |bewitching| trait?" "A little bit. [Soothsayer] says it''s because of our nature. Did you forget how valued fey beings like us are in this country? Also, smiles are charming. Mother, you should smile more. No more frowning from you!" "I wasn''t!" "You were! See, even now!" "Gah." blanksphere Chapter 38 [Charm] was something I still needed to learn properly. Where I was from, there was hardly anyone or anything that made me want to use such a silly ability. Perhaps, this was a great opportunity to finally learn it and test it out. Right after my shift ended, I asked Smoothie to give me some tips and pointers to effectively draw out the [charm] ability. Just having the intent wasn''t enough to make much difference. Smiling was essential. I could definitely do that. Easy peasy, right? The next was gesture and posture. I was never popular in the past, but this life, all was going to change! I wanted to learn how to be cute from Smoothie, I really did. Yet, she refused me outright. I would have to figure it out myself. Instead I tried to observe her every movement, every detail. "Mother! Stop that! It''s embarrassing." Did I make it too obvious? "It''s just the two of us here. What''s so embarrassing? I''m just having a good look at you. Isn''t that what you were trying to tell me? I have been neglecting you, haven''t I? I''ll look at you all day today to make up for it." "Mother! Gugh." In the end, she couldn''t resistant my loving gazes so she spilled the beans and taught me the moves, the killer moves! Actually, it was [soothsayer] that knew the techniques. That was what I called making good use of abilities. Who knew it had such a treasure trove of cultured knowledge? I certainly made the right decision to let her tag along with me on this trip. Finally, there were speech, voice, and tone; those were the most tricky to apply. Apparently I just had to sound sweet. That was the main part. Everything else was just practice. What better place to practice than at the tavern I worked? I''m sorry, Bnuppa! Bnuppa was the name of the tavern owner. Usually she helped out at the front, serving customers. Sometimes, when needed, she would help out at the kitchen where her husband worked. His name was Rukket, another harefolk. Here in this country, people didn''t discriminate against each other. Although I personally referred to them by their appearances, the folks here didn''t. Most of them all went by the common description or race name, Jud, which in fact included a variety of species. Ferretfolk, molefolk and harefolk were the most common ones I had seen that belonged to the Juds. Honestly though, I didn''t know how they were categorized but it might have to do with their physical features. In any case, I decided to try using [charm] on one of the customers. Smile, smile naturally. You can do it! "Dear customer, I''m Berry, is anything I can help you with today?" I unveiled my most natural smile along with my most courteous gestures I could come up. "B-Berry is it?" His eyes darted left and right. "Yes, dear?" He turned around, his eyes pinned on me before blurting out, "S-sit on my lap!" Time for the combo attack! "Oh my, I''m not so sure. Do you have what it takes?" My hand slowly reached out for his shoulder. The moment we made physical contact, I could feel a quick shiver from him. At the same time, his fur was completely upright. That must''ve been quite a shock there. I guess it''s working? Am I talented or what!? "Ahaha," I chuckled quietly, "Since you''re in a good mood today, why not try a fancier drink today?" I couldn''t keep playing around with a single customer when others were waiting. "Y-yes, heh, I''ll have one Toot Rapple and two daily specials." Toot Rapple was one of the second most expensive drink that could be ordered in this tavern. I would have to work three hours to buy just one small cup of it. One after another, I varied my technique from customer to customer to see which one was the best combination. Sometimes, I had little success, sometimes, I had great success. It certainly made the owner extremely happy. Yet, I wasn''t given a raise. I wanted a bonus. "Sales are going off the rooftop! Good work, Ferry. I knew I could count on you." She didn''t even notice how different I was today? What''s up with that? On top of it off, she had my name wrong. "It''s Berry. It''s Berry!" I corrected her. She waved me off, "Yeah! I''ll be counting on you again tomorrow." As long as she was paying me, I had no qualm about it. Money was money, even I had to start somewhere. If I couldn''t grasp the basic skills of surviving in a society like this, building an empire was but a pipe dream. My ambition had to have a solid foundation for it to be realized. With [charm] now tucked comfortably in my belt, it was only a matter of time before I could sneak my way up the hierarchy around here. There were bound to be aristocrats I could charm into providing me with suitable accommodations. Well, I would have to see how things went in the near future. During my free time, I was practising mana compression. It wasn''t going too well, as if my imageries weren''t adequate enough. Compressing mana using brute force with my utmost concentration had little to no results. Not only that, mana compressed using brute force was unstable and dangerous. Seeing how much I was struggling, Smoothie shared an observation with me. "What''s the difference between a liquid and a gas?" This lead me to brainstorm other ways to condense mana using my knowledge of natural phenomenon. In hindsight, I wished I had thought of trying varied methods earlier if I knew other methods were allowed. The next method I tried was to imagine mana as a gas. To turn a gas into a liquid, and keep them stable, I had to cool them by sucking out the heat. I didn''t think mana had a temperature to begin with so I never thought to try this. "Why did the room suddenly rise in temperature?" "That was my question! What did you do?" Smoothie glared at me. She never glared at me before. That was a first. Regardless, a glare from her was quite cute. Berry approved! Anyway, I hadn''t yet condensed any mana into that liquid feeling. It made me wonder how that affected the room at all. It didn''t make sense. "Uhh... I was trying to condense mana by lowering their temperature. It shouldn''t have anything to do with the room''s temperature, right?" At least, that was my assumption. "Did you check your mana? It''s dropped. I think you accidentally used heat magic?" "Oh what?" She was right, I somehow lost a quarter of my mana while I was trying out the new technique. But the thing was, by altering the quality of my mana, that should be quite normal. Thus, I explained my understanding of it. "Wait, isn''t that normal? I''m condensing mana so it should have dropped." "True, maybe you had some odd imageries. Tell me the method." After I explained how I was condensing my mana, she face palmed herself. Apparently, I was actually using some sort of magic, albeit inefficient one, to boost the quality of mana. Instead, she offered me an idea. "Instead of converting all that into magic, why not just isolate them in yourself in some sturdy container. Wouldn''t that be easier for you? That way you wouldn''t be wasting mana." "Ohhh, as expected of my child, so ingenious!" Where did she inherit her intelligence from? Am I actually super smart? She certainly didn''t have a father because I certainly didn''t sleep with anyone. I''m a virgin! I swear to god. Although learning basic magic wasn''t intended, apparently now I knew how to manipulate heat using mana. That was really a bonus to all this. Who would have thought it was this easy? Perhaps it had to do with my fey nature. After all, one couldn''t expect everyone to use magic the same way, mortal races or not. "Alright, alright. I''ll give this new method a try." Instead of sucking heat and forgetting about it, I redirected them into a mega container. At least, that was the imagery in my mind. Once it was full, I planned to forcefully shrink it using like a hydraulic press before storing that container away safely. I wouldn''t want those unidentified mana to explode in my body somewhere, physically or non-physically. Meanwhile, I also had a container to keep the condensed mana. My earlier experience made that an obvious solution to prevent mana from accidentally escaping my fey body. Seriously, as it turned out, managing mana was complicated, more so than I originally anticipated. All the while, I had to keep a constant flow of mana from my clone bodies into my fey body. Even though I was super low on mana, numerically speaking, I had plenty of mana to spare. However, having low numerical value of mana made me a bit light headed. This had to be fixed soon. I need more mana. Hmm... blanksphere Chapter 39 "Between sunlight and nutrients from the ground, which one would help me gain more mana the fastest?" "I would say both are needed. The fastest way for you would be the ground since you have [absorption]. The problem is that it''s not sustainable. In the long term, sunlight is your best way to gain mana." I really needed more mana, a ton of it. If I kept draining mana from my clone bodies, it would affect their growth; that was my main concern. Hence, during my breaks in between work shifts, by using [conglomerate] I increased the focus on root growth and applied a tiny bit of aggressive [absorption] to allow my clones to gather more resources for me. Passively recovering mana like all living creatures wasn''t enough to keep up with the speed I condense my mana. Currently, the conversion rate was around ten to one. It could probably be refined to even higher quality but time and mana was required. Majority of my clones were already only producing leaves, roots, and stems. Some places that had lots of prey, I allowed the clones to flower. As for strawberries, I kept the bare minimum so De Planck wouldn''t eat me up in place of the strawberries. Just to be safe, I kept ten ripe seedless strawberries dangling on three of my clones every day, the ones I noticed that had been harvested consistently. Due to my consideration for mana gathering, I modified the clones to remove any unnecessary growth such as thorns and needles. It wasn''t like anything would eat parts of my bodies when I had the [reaper] trait. Leaves were enlarged to twice to three times the original size. Stems were strengthened. And finally, roots were entrenched deeper and were spreading out like a network. The purpose was to absorb more nutrients and to avoid forest fires. Maybe I can spread clones with clones? Will that work? I can''t just leave this city without causing suspicions. Who knows if I''m under surveillance or not? I ran my ideas with Smoothie just to be sure. But surprisingly, she quickly approved. To speed up the process, I decided to create runners and special leaves to spread the clones automatically. Runners, just like regular strawberry plants if I remembered correctly, were basically stems that spread out to form new plants. In this world, such a function didn''t exist for strawberry plants or any other plants I had seen. After all, I couldn''t really call it a strawberry plant no matter how I examined it, aside from producing strawberries. I might as well had been a reborn as a watermelon tree. Those modifications was just too much of a stretch. Some special leaves were made like parachutes. They would detach once a breeze blew, carrying them to distant lands. It was a similar concept to dandelions. Ahahaha... Having an ambition sure felt good. It made ideas flow easier. I was a genius after all! Now, my clones are finally spreading! Mana, more mana! Whatever trouble these clones caused was none of my business. "Mother, you''re being a creep. Stop cackling by yourself." "Sorry, I couldn''t help it." But she shouldn''t have to call me a creep. I was definitely not a creep! Before my next work shift in a couple of hours, I decided to take a break from training and roam the outfitters. It was important to understand the fashions of this country. If there were any clothes that looked very nice, I could try replicating them. "Ah... Anything?" "Nn... No. Mother, yours is the best!" "Shh... Don''t say that in front of the shop owner." The two of us were busy picking out any clothes that were suitable for us. After all, it was pointless to have money if we didn''t spend them. Food was off the table. Baths were cheap. Entertainment was nowhere to be found, at least none that I was interested in. So, with that, my avenues of expenditure was next to none. Clothing and accessories were the only thing I could think of that required money. There was one other avenue to spend money, but I didn''t want to set a bad example for Smoothie. Plus, I had no desire to cuddle with furry things. "Let''s go to another shop." With most of the stores here curtailing their designs to Juds, none of their designs were suitable for us. Not only that, there were nothing in my eyes that I could deem as fashionable, unlike their artistic architectures. It wasn''t like I was negligent in my observations but there really wasn''t any outfits I liked. In the first place, many of these common Juds didn''t wear much, or none at all in rare circumstances. That was probably the main reason. As much as I tried, I didn''t manage to spend a single coin. That shopping trip was a failure, a complete failure. After that, it was back to work for me. Technically, I could work more shifts but I still wanted some spare times. In fact, I found work to be a sort of entertainment. Folks around here were very friendly to interact with and there were no discrimination whatsoever. Other than the occasional odd gazes, and furriness aside, I felt like I was one of them. As for Smoothie, she just tagged along wherever I went. She didn''t do any training or work whatsoever but she seemed to be happy just to be with me. It seemed that those born from plants were super resilient to boredom. Though, sometimes she was quite demanding when it came to her time for a recharge which was a great change of pace even for me. Magic, something I really liked the idea of. I really wished I had spare mana to test out some magic. Howbeit, I felt that condensing my mana was a priority. Everything else could wait once I was loaded with mana. In a sense, my life was a balance between work, which was kind of like entertainment, and training which was bordering work. "I apologize for the long delay. You have an appointment with the King of Teir." "I''m sorry. But I didn''t book any appointments with anyone?" How rude... Or is this the custom here? Kanoko barged into our room without knocking the door first. I felt a sense of urgency from her, and yet I replied half-heartedly like a reflex without giving her statement a second thought. "Your current accommodation is only temporary. Please come with me as soon as possible otherwise you may face eviction." She warned me. I kind of already figured what she wanted us for. It was probably some sort of assessment for us. Aw, I kind of liked this place. "Ok, coming!" Smoothie, as if completely natural, accompanied me on our way to see the king of this country. From what I understood, there was someone above the king in terms of political power. That was likely the Highland Emperor. Whatever the case, meeting a king was a big deal. There were bound to be high profile and powerful beings protecting a king. With my currently abilities, I couldn''t assure Smoothie''s safety. Playing safe was my best bet for now. "Kanoko, I have a question." "Yes?" "How come you''re the only one I''ve seen in this city with a humanoid face?" "My species are like that but I can transform my appearance to that of my originating species if I wish. Why do you have humanoid faces?" "Oh, well, we were born like this." In my mind, I kind of wished those Juds would have humanoid faces. They would look prettier that way, at least in my mind. Aside from that, I was still slowly learning how to read facial expressions of animal faces. The cultural gap was huge. And, they probably couldn''t read my expressions either. "What does the king want with us? Is there something we have to show?" "You should be aware already. The kingdom is mustering all its resources it to fend off the invaders. In the worst case scenario, this kingdom would fall just like the other two kingdoms." "Oh I see. How come there are no reinforcements from the other kingdoms? Shouldn''t they help out?" "I don''t know the details since I''m not privy to military intelligence. At this moment, there''s also a war with the reptilians." "I see, I see. Two fronts." "Please be polite when you have your audience with the king." "Okay. Ehh... By the way, why do I feel like we just entered the mountain itself?" While we were walking and chatting, we entered a random building or some kind of huge tunnel entrance. At first I thought it was just a shortcut to some other building because there were many other citizens walking this path. However, we didn''t climb any staircases but rather continued to go straight. "Yes, this is the inner city. Have you not visited in the past few days?" The white and ashen interior was illuminated with magic crystals. The further we delved, the more expansive the hall became until finally a glistening cityscape revealed itself before my eyes. Well, it was the underground type of cityscape with tunnels like a modern version of mega construct crafted by hardcore dwarves. "Wow...!" Mind blown. "I had no idea something like this existed under the mountain." I could not help but exclaim, not expecting a magical city of this scale hidden beneath a mountain in this world. How I missed checking this place earlier was beyond me. Honestly, if this was my previous world, it wasn''t uncommon for cities to be built underground or even under the ocean. Given my impression of that first town, I had visited, I honestly didn''t believe they were this capable. This world sure gave me something a lot more to look forward to. Chapter 40 Within this inner city, we were lead into a grand opulent palace illuminated within a forest of magical light. Bioluminescent plants and flowers blanketed the inner garden. The ceilings, low and high, were no exceptions as they were covered with glowing mosses making the scenery something out of a magical world. "Is it okay if I take one?" I asked and pointed at a blossoming glowing blue flower. If I could gain that property, I would be able to glow as well! That was my idea. "Please wait until after the audience. There will be plenty of chance to interact with the plant life here in the future." "Oh. Okay." Fully armed guards were not only stationed at the main entrance but also outside of each room. To me, it almost seemed like a waste of talented resources. After a short walk, Kanoko guided us into a luxurious guest room. We were seated in cushioned chairs as we waited for our turn for the audient. This whole thing seemed super serious that even I was nervous. Whoever the king was, I hoped he was a nice person, someone I could get along with. "Kanoko, can you tell me anything about the king?" "Of course. We refer to him as King Dolan. As a proud king of the Juds, he too is a Jud and has ruled over this kingdom for the last twenty years. If you''re curious of his status, I''m afraid to tell you that he is equipped with magic gear that interferes with the ability to see his status." "There''s such convenient tools? I wish I could have one." "Indeed, only the royal family members are permitted to possess them." I guess that makes sense. It would be bad if criminals had them. "Is that all there is to the king?" "There isn''t more I could disclose freely. As for your assessments, I don''t know what it will contain. Everyone gets something different. When I say everyone, I only meant those of fey. Those who aren''t fey beings would receive regular assessments from another hall. The king doesn''t have time to evaluate every individual''s abilities and traits. Depending on your aptitudes, you may be assigned to different halls and positions suitable to you. As for your child, she will likely remain with you." "Oh. That''s good to know." Hopefully I get a military position. I really want to level up and evolve. Moments later, a guard came to escort us to the audience hall. Just like the exterior, the interiors were equally astounding in artistic ornaments. On top of an elevated platform was the throne. There, a fat and white furry creature donned in golden jewelry and clothes sat with his eyes gazing my direction. I don''t know about this fur ball but I guess it looks a tiny bit majestic? Clothes make the man, right? Kanoko whispered to me, "Berry, please lower your heads in his presence." Oh, I was expecting something more. I guess it''s a cultural difference. She really should have explained this stuff to me. I''m a newbie! Contrary to my expectations, the king spoke with a deep voice. "You may raise your heads. Kanoko, are these two additions to our kingdom?" "Yes, Your Majesty. They are here for the assessments." I thought I told her we were travellers... Now I''m in a pickle. "Very well. You may wait in the guest room until assessments are complete." "Understood," she bowed before stepping back and leaving the audience hall. During that brief moment, I tried to read the status of the king and the several guards around us. Unfortunately, I wasn''t able to gain any information on the king. As for the royal guards, all but one were Juds with a minimum level of 40. The guard standing closest to the king also had his status hidden. I couldn''t even see their race or level. Is that guard a prince or what? There was moment of silence before the king spoke again. "I have examined your statuses with my own eyes. It seems you aren''t ordinary fey beings." His boring gaze met mine. "Tell me why you''re here." "Pardon me, is this part of the assessment?" "Indeed." "What happen if we fail?" "You shall be executed." Oh wow, bringing on the threats already? Fine, be that way! "We are travelling to find a friend of ours who got separated from us during a skirmish with the humans. That''s about it." He nodded and enquired further, "A friend you say? Tell me about your friend." "Her name is Haelley, and she''s a winged beast." "Hmm... Haelley, winged beast," his eyelids slightly raised, "You''re sure the name is Haelley?" "Yes. Is there something wrong?" "Describe her in detail," he demanded in a calm voice. And so, I gave a detailed description of her appearance. However, before I could finish, he stopped me and asked me to describe her abilities and traits which I unwillingly provided. "She seems to be an heiress from the Kingdom of Faf. How can you be sure she came this way?" Heiress? Wouldn''t that make her a princess? This is some serious stuff! "We aren''t sure but north is safer than south. Her home country was somewhere north," and as much as I was super reluctant to say it, I felt like it was necessary to pass this assessment, "also we are following the guidance of my child''s ability, [soothsayer]. If your kingdom is aware the whereabouts of Haelley, could you be so kind to advise us of such?" "And what will you do with such knowledge?" "She''s a good friend, and we wish to see her once more." Once I said that, I could see a faint smile on the king''s face. If I hadn''t worked along with other beastfolks, I probably would have missed such. It turned out I gained more experiences from working at that tavern than I bargained for. For whatever the reason he smiled, I was sure it was a good sign. King Dolan beckoned left towards a guard stationed at one of the side entrances, "Let her in." Moments later, a lady with her arm-wings wrapped in bandages slowly walked in with an anxious expression. Feathers were missing around her waist area and she looked remarkably thinner. Aside from those, she didn''t seem to be in critical danger. "Haelley!?" I gasped. I honestly didn''t think we could meet each other again so soon. This was a complete surprise to me. Smoothie, on the other hand, was just smiling by herself. That brat, should have told me! But I guess I''m not against pleasant surprises. "Berry, Smoothie!" Her mood visibly improved. King Dolan cleared his throat, "Ahem, leave for that later. I heard from Haelley her side of the story already. Berry, tell me, how many pursued you? And how did you escape?" "Uhh... How did you know that?" "Haelley had informed me that they were capable of tracking and flight. She wasn''t able to eliminate all the enemies before she received near critical injuries and had to escape." I gave a brief rundown of the events that took place from the time we were at the river until the time we crossed the canyon. At the same time, I was careful not to disclose any details of my abilities and traits. No matter how powerful King Dolan''s traits and abilities were, it was extremely improbable that he would know the inner workings of my abilities and traits. At best, he would see moderate descriptions, something like a downgraded version of [soothsayer] would tell. However, he asked for the details of the battle and the extents of my abilities. To that, I answered honestly because I knew the implications, leaving certain details out to leave myself with some escape options. Desertion was surely punishable by death even if I didn''t ask. "Berry, I have a proposal for you," King Dolan announced, "due to your unique status, why don''t you assist my country in times of peace and war? In exchange, I will grant you and your child all your needs." All our needs? Do we even need anything? I''m a flipping plant, you know? "Smoothie, do you have any needs?" I whispered to her. "Mother, you should ask for access to libraries, and materials to absorb and integrate," she replied. "Oh, good point! I should have thought of it." Then I raised my voice, "King Dolan, I would also like to request access to libraries and various materials I could absorb to grow stronger." "Very well. The Kingdom of Teir welcomes you." "Thank you." That welcome was a bit late, wasn''t it? blanksphere Chapter 41 After the audience with the king, I was permitted to visit Haelley''s chamber within the palace. Her room was equally large as my room at the embassy hall. However, the main difference was that here there was no sunlight here. Everything was illuminated with magic crystals and with bioluminescent plants. "Haelley, you didn''t tell me you were a princess!" "The kingdom is gone. I am here and I have to fight." She spoke with determination and vigor without a trace of sadness. Seriously? Are you from a warrior race or what? Well, she''s certainly strong in this aspect if nothing else. Still, I feel like she lacks the oomph in terms of raw power. "Hi Haelley," Smoothie greeted with a wave of hand. "Hi Smoothie." "Haelley, you''re still healing. I''m sorry we had to leave you to fend for yourself back there." "I am bodyguard; it is my duty. I am happy you two are safe," she nodded while gazing at the two of us cheerfully. "Will you able to fly again soon?" "No worry! Healer comes check on my every day. Some feathers will take long time to grow back but I will fly again soon and help!" "Oh that''s good. By the way, I heard the human kingdom will attack soon. Do you know anything about it? I want to make some preparation." "No. I stayed in my room for many days resting. Very boring." "Well, anyway, I''m glad to see that you''re fine. I''ll try to come visit later. For now, I''ll be at the embassy hall until further arrangements are made. Come visit me when you''re better, okay?" "Okay." "Bye." Earlier, the king and I didn''t discuss any details. Before we parted, he needed to review a few reports before any further arrangements could be made regarding my situation. For now, I would stay at the embassy hall and wait for further instructions. If I wished to access the library and any specific materials, I had speak with Kanoko first. Now that I was done chatting with Haelley, Smoothie and I were escorted back to the guest room while we continued to wait for Kanoko to finish up her business or reports with the king. "Smoothie, how long until the invasion?" "I think within two days. You need to ask Kanoko before we leave to make preparations." "Two days is a bit short. I will need to absorb the waters around here and check the library. Hopefully I can learn a water spell to make rain or keep my clones happy." "That would be ideal but what if they attack from the sky?" "Actually, I have an idea but do you know what''s the effective range of magic?" "You''re not thinking of attacking their entire force with a single area of effect magic, are you?" "Exactly! I was thinking I can create poisonous needles and shower their entire army. Victory is as good as mine!" "We hardly know anything about magic. What if they deploy barriers and interferences? What will you do then?" "I don''t know. I''m screwed? At least tell me the effective range?" "Don''t ask me. How would I know? It should be fairly large but not enough to cover an entire army. Mm... We can test it out, and on the day of, Haelley can use her abilities to boost your range and effectiveness. I''m sure Haelley would be happy to help." It didn''t take too long before Kanoko joined us. I asked, "Do we have to live somewhere else now?" "No. I''ll explain on our way back. There are also some important tasks requested of you." Tasks... Oh crap. I don''t want to end up as someone''s errand runner. Kanoko quickly added, "It''s nothing too dangerous." Figures, nothing "too" dangerous. While on our way out, I was permitted to absorb one of the glowing plants in the garden. With this, I could make myself glow in the dark as well! It would be really cool if there were music concerts in this world. And, of course, I''d end up as the inventor of glowing sticks and make a fortune! Anyhow, as we continued back to the embassy hall, Kanoko explained some stuff to us. First of all, the green card was upgraded with new functions to allow us access to the public libraries within the city. We had permission to study magic scrolls and books. Second, we could choose to remain at the embassy hall or move to another section of the city where Kanoko resided. Apparently all the houses there were luxury suites, food included, along with monthly salary. "That''s too good to be true..." I mumbled with skepticism. There was no way anyone would give free things without some sort of exchange. "So, what''s the catch?" "Since you can use [transformation] and some funky abilities, you will perform the duties of a scout and prepare for the incoming invasion. King Dolan expects your contribution to be significant. And, if you perform well, he will confer you with a befitting rank within this kingdom," she whispered to me as not to attract attentions to us. "Even I was not granted such when I first came here and had to work my way up. You''re very lucky to have those abilities." This is actually a good deal. I could then easily leave the city without any causes for suspicion. "A scout, huh. Do I get special access at the city gate? I don''t mind the work but I want a travel pass or something to skip the wait time." Her eyes widened, "Oh? You don''t mind? Ah, you don''t have to worry about a travel pass. All scouts carry three colored cards: yellow, orange, red." And she went on to explain what these cards meant and the authorities given to each card. Yellow was the least urgent while red meant imminent disaster which could result in the destruction of a city. In the event of a large battle, orange cards were frequently used followed by red cards. However, prior to any battles, yellow cards would be the commonly used cards. "But, just having your current green card should give you priority over others. It denotes you as an honored guest within the empire." VIP treatment! I like it. I''ve never had such treatments before but I kind of wished I could take advantage of the free foods. Simple absorbing them was no fun unless... I knew it was kind of a sporadic on my part but I decided to ask anyway, "I would like to be served poisonous foods. Plants, berries, insects, fruits, anything really! As long as they''re poisonous." Her jaws dropped, but quickly returned to her professional demeanor, "That is a tall order but I''ll see if that can be arranged." I nodded happily. "Oh that''s good." "Moving on, when you are able, please synthesize armors for those around you. If not, that''s okay. It''s just that we don''t have enough smiths and crafters to equip new recruits with armors." "You can''t be serious... the battle is in two days and the basic preparations aren''t even done? Why not just leave them as is? I see you have plenty of armed soldiers up there." I pointed to the wall and then towards the winged beasts patrolling the skies in the distance. "Where did you get that information? Two days? That''s not possible! It should take them another three weeks to arrive..." Her face paled after my minor revelation, and I was somehow equally shocked. Their lack of preparation and this currently relaxed atmosphere in the city was just mind-boggling. I thought they were just super confident or something but it looked to be not the case. Our conversation was on hold until we returned to the embassy hall. There in her private office we continued the discussion where we left off. "Your name is Smoothie, right? Were you the one who told her ''two days''?" "Yes. I foresee an invasion in two days." She answered flatly. "This is bad, really bad. Are you sure?" "I''m fairly certain but that could change." She sighed exasperatedly, "I will have to ask for an audience with the king again. Berry, you''ll be reporting directly under me while you''re on scout duty. Your child will be under your care." "Wait, why do I report to you? Shouldn''t I report to a guard or some military personnel?" "Normally that would be the case. As you can probably tell, intelligent fey beings are extremely rare and diverse in their traits and abilities. It''s easier this way. Including the two of you, there are five of us." "Only five? That''s all?" I''m guessing this is only in the city of Vera. Still, the figure seems too low given how long fey beings can live. Oh right, intelligence. Maybe there are just too many stupid or bad ones. "Yes. Vorte is the probably the strongest. Since you have a child, the king decided to have you report to me. If you were to report under Vorte, you''ll probably be forced to participate in the main battles and follow orders whereas if you report to me, you can move freely around. Not to mention, Vorte has a bad temper and is quite dangerous to be around. Mm... Also, I heard you have a friend, so if you wish to help her during the battle, you are free to do so." "I see. Thank you. I prefer more freedom." "You''re welcome. The other fey is quite mysterious, even I have never seen this individual. Of course, then there''s me," she pointed at herself, smiling. "Although you''re reporting under me, I''m technically just an advisor until you''re used to living here. But, please report important matters to me. You know where to find me." "Yep. So for now, I live here?" She sighed, "Yes please. I apologize for the lack of proper accommodations but please bear with it until this crisis has passed." blanksphere Chapter 42 "Bnuppa, I''m sorry, something came up and I need to be away for a few days." "That''s unfortunate, come back soon! Can I keep Smoothie?" "No! Absolutely not!" "But we need our mascot. How about this, I''ll pay you, consider it rental fee." "She''s not for rent. She''s my child, stop treating her like a commodity." That tavern owner was relentless, pulling out ridiculous negotiation tactics out of nowhere. However, Smoothie thought otherwise, interjected, "Mother, it''s alright. I''ll be safe here." Betrayed! You''re mine though... "Are you sure?" "Yes. You do your thing. The folks here are friendly so you don''t have to worry." "If anyone try to hurt you, come tell me or Kanoko. We''ll put them back in their place, alright?" "Mm!" That was basically how it went before I left the city to do my scout duties. Besides just the scout duties, I was creating and spreading clones. They were designed to only have one leaf, but with deep roots and they were spaced at fairly large distances as to not alarm any enemy troops when they marched. My goal was to bind and decapitate as many soldiers as possible and drain them using [absorption]. To combat the current dry weather, I was using my water reservoir stored in |gourmet| to keep my clones alive and healthy. I wonder if I can create poisonous mist? If they can be made large enough, that would be even better. I better look for plants that could spray things. While I travelled southward, I tried to look for any signs of an army travelling. It would be strange for an army to arrive within two days without being noticed by the beastfolks. After all, I doubted there was any way an entire army could be teleported in. Before I left Vera, I had confirmed with Kanoko that teleportation magic was restricted to individuals and required tremendous amount of mana. As for my other concern, there were no way for anyone to override the status display for extended periods of time. Such magic or equipment didn''t exist in the kingdom. Therefore, the likelihood of spies from foreign countries was next to none. Occasionally I flew up until I was just below the clouds to check for any signs of moving masses. I kind of wished I had |enhanced senses| or |enhanced eyesight| traits to help me see better. Even without those traits, it shouldn''t be difficult to see a huge mass of people. However, I didn''t see anything noteworthy. Thick clouds rolling in from the southwest section of the sky were hindering my ability to see long distance. I could see two small towns, but that was it. To the west was a dense forest, thick enough that even if an army hid there I wouldn''t be able to tell. The thing was, to reach the city of Vera from that part of the forest, it would take at least two weeks of marching. I guess I should drop some clones in there. Using my own fey magic, spreading clones was fairly easy. Instead of placing fragments with my own hands, I could place them with just magic. And if I wanted them to travel much further, I shaped them into paper airplanes then let them glide to their destinations. It was quite fun throwing airplanes around. Of course, I wasn''t in no way playing around! This was for me to test the effective range of my fey magic. Around a kilometer radius? Not bad. In addition to the testing my fey magic, I started to closely monitor the total number of clones and their status through [conglomerate]. So far, the numbers had increased steadily with little to no losses. It would be strange if the numbers didn''t increase. Grey clouds that likely marked the first rain in weeks had covered the entire sky. Of course, I couldn''t be happier about that. My plant bodies could all grow big and healthy with lots of water. I had no worries about too much water either. Extras could be stored in |gourmet|. After two days of wandering around aimlessly in the wilderness, something unnatural caught my attention. At first I thought I was imagining things or perhaps a mind trick but I was afraid that Smoothie''s prediction was accurate. Lumps of irregular shadows could be seen within the clouds, moving steadily in the general direction of east. It can''t be, right? I hope I''m just imagining things. I zipped up towards the dense clouds as quickly as I possibly could. Drilling a hole through the clouds and absorbing the moistures as I ascended. The turbulence within the clouds were a huge hassle but that merely slowed me down a bit. Above the clouds was a heavenly scene. White fluffy clouds glowed under the radiant sun. Gliding eastward above the clouds were at least a fifty or more white magitech ships, or I believed they were magitech ships. Of the ones I saw, three appeared to be flagships, at least hundreds of meters long, lined with cannons. There were also openings on the sides that looked like launch pads for the smaller manned ships. What was more impressive, or scarier, was that I could faintly make out two more large fleets in the distance. Oh crap. Am I dreaming? Who knew a sci-fi world was on the other side? Never mind that, this is definitely a red card. I need a pay raise. As much as I wanted to make use of my clones to fight, they were next to useless in air. And, as much as I would like to join the human civilization, they didn''t welcome me, as a citizen. How unfortunate! If the beastfolk country was completely destroyed, I would have no safe place to go to. There was no way I would have known the discrepancies in technology was this much from the interactions I had with those four humans. It kind of made me wonder if these magitech ships were their secret weapons. Because otherwise they probably would have invaded much earlier. I hastily dived through the clouds and darted in the direction of Vera just hours away by flight. Thankfully the wind accelerating me in the process. Please make it in time! After a few minutes of flight, a realization hit me. Wait, I could just teleport back! There''s no way I can fly faster than those ships. Gah, I can''t believe I forgot about it. I quickly synthesized a strawberry on the clothes Smoothie was wearing. Then, I immediately swapped positions, landing myself in an unfamiliar setting. Bang. "Oww..." Somehow my head ended up smashing into a shelf and I was sprawled on the ground in an awkward posture. In addition, I was soaking wet from diving in the rain clouds earlier. It seemed that my mastery of [absorption] ability was still insufficient. "Mother, what are you doing?" That brat! "Smoothie, did you throw the strawberry?" I adjusted myself while rubbing my head. That throbbing pain wasn''t to be taken lightly. "Yes, otherwise you were going to sit on me. You''re just too heavy." "Rude! I''m very light." "Shhh... We''re in the library." "Huh?" I looked around to find that we were surrounded by bookshelves. Well, they weren''t just books but also scrolls and various tablets. I asked, "Did she give you a green pass?" "Mm. I borrowed it so I can study magic in your place. Then I''ll be useful, no?" "Oh, is that it? You can just be you. Hold on, hold on! I need to report to Kanoko. Come with me. Red card, red card!" I pulled out the scout''s red card from one of my gown''s pockets. "Red card? Are they here already?" "Not yet. They could be here any moment." "What are you waiting for? Let''s go." The library was within the inner city so we had to leave the inner city first. Ignoring the courtesies around here, I flew as quickly as I could toward the embassy hall pulling Smoothie with me. At the same time, I was holding a red card to keep anyone from getting in our way. It was kind of thrilling zipping through the city by flight. "Mother, memory share. There''s not much useful magic we could use but any is better, no?" "Thanks." The instant data transfer was more than I could ask for. Though, as she mentioned, the magic she learned from the library wasn''t useful in our current situation. They just weren''t powerful enough without careful advance preparations. blanksphere Chapter 43 The moment I entered the embassy hall, I shouted, "Kanoko! Red card!" She rushed over to me. "What is it? What happened?" "Magitech ships, lots of them above the clouds." Then I went on to describe exactly what I saw and where the magitech ships were. "Are you sure they''re coming this way?" "Yes!" "Were you able to see any pilots?" "No." "Then, we have to assume it''s a joint operation. I''ll send a flare to alert everyone in the city." "Wait, what do you mean joint operation?" "On one hand, the reptilians are and have always been the most proficient at manufacturing magitech. Their reproductive abilities are poor. On the other hand, humans are resourceful and they proliferate quickly. This kept the reptilians in check until they joined forces. If it''s just one nation we have to watch out for, we don''t have anything to worry about. However, if it''s a join operation, that''s a completely different matter. Originally, the empire''s main forces should have kept them in check but perhaps they were able to outmaneuver. She stepped outside and shot an orange flare into the sky by pulling a tube. "Does orange flare mean the same thing as an orange card? Why not a red flare?" "Yes, they''re equivalent. The thing is I don''t have the authority to send a red flare but an orange flare should be enough for now. This isn''t the first time they sent magitech airships our way. If it''s just the reptilian air force, we can hold them off. In the past, they''ve never succeeded." Impressive, super impressive? "Is there anything I can do? Oh, right, have you prepared poisonous foods for me?" "Yes, we gathered small samples. Go to your room to find them. We need you to participate in any way you can." She looked towards Smoothie who was just standing next to me, holding my arm, "Smoothie should have stayed in the library. It is one of the safest places, even in the inner city." "Oh, oops. Sorry, Smoothie, you can go back now." I patted her head. "No. Mother, you should come with me. Please." "I don''t think that''s a good idea...?" "Berry, it''s alright." Kanoko nodded at me. "Alright, fine, I''ll stay with you. Aren''t you a needy child? Huh?" I teased her while poking at her soft cheeks. Having Smoothie tag along, I went upstairs to check out the samples of poisonous foods. Instead I found not just poisonous foods but also extracted poisons stored in tiny glass vials. They were lying on the tables clearly labeled with the type of poison, where they came from, and what they were used for, etcetera. A new table was added to my room because there were just too many samples. "Nice!" "Mm... Not all of them are lethal in small doses." "I can see that. This one puts people to sleep. If that''s the case, I want an aphrodisiac drug too!" "Mother, am I not enough for you?" "Uhh, right, you''re already too much for me to handle. I just thought of it. If I could synthesize poisons, I should be able to synthesize antidotes and cures too, right?" "Yeah, but is there enough time? They are all busy with preparations, no?" I sighed with resignation, "I should have asked. It''s too late now, too late. This will do for now." Once I absorbed all the poisons, I reviewed [conglomerate] together with [synthesis] to see if it succeeded. Most of them were successful with a few failed ones. I wasn''t sure why but perhaps a few unnatural poisons were mixed in. Since many of the poisons were sort of redundant in their effects, I was happy with what I had. In fact, most of these samples originated from various kingdoms across the empire so I was very grateful of them sharing these with me. I didn''t have to waste my time searching blindly for poisons. "I''m good to go." Outside, the streets had become empty with only guards patrolling the streets. If everyone had somehow already evacuated the time it took me to go through the poison samples, then the city management team deserves some cookies. "Did they all evacuate into the inner city?" I asked. Smoothie nodded, "Yes, they have underground hideouts. Every building has hidden passages leading to the inner city in case something like this happens. I believe many had evacuated during the two days you were gone." The heck? Aren''t they acting like mini bunkers? Are we in the atomic era or something? They''re too prepared. "You two! Why are you still here? Didn''t you see the red flares?" Kanoko shouted at us from inside the embassy hall. Oops, did I take too long here? "No, not at all. Smoothie, did you see any?" "None." She shook her head. "The flares came from outside the city walls. There''s little time, hurry! We''ll be activating magic barriers, unless you wish to participate, please evacuate immediately." Kanoko said. "Kanoko, are you coming?" I asked. "Yes, I''m just checking on a few things first." "Okay, we''ll head to the inner city as well then. See you later." Despite many people entering the inner city, it wasn''t crowded. While many were gathering in temporary shelters, some were donning armors gearing up for the battle. Many others were descending further down a vast underground tunnel. I was kind of curious how big the inner city was so I asked, "Is there a lot of space down there? Just how big is this place?" "The tunnels beneath are connected to other cities. Apparently most cities within the Kingdom of Teir are subterranean." "Wow. That''s seriously amazing. Cracking this kingdom won''t be easy." Once we were inside the library, she began reading books on magic theories. I figured that with her ability, learning magic would be faster. Meanwhile, I was reviewing everything adjustable within [conglomerate] ability. Just because I could synthesize poisons didn''t mean I knew how to properly apply them. Thinking back, Kanoko had asked me to create some armors. Having some weapons wouldn''t hurt either. A poisoned dagger? And some light armor? Yep, it''s decided. Using [transformation], I removed my wings completed and began synthesizing light chitin armor for myself. Since I couldn''t really fly freely around here anyway, there was no point having wings. They would only get in the way unless I went out. "Mother, will you be fighting?" "Yeah! I''ll keep you safe!" I answered, though I only expected myself to be a last line of defense or until I could grasp the overall situation. In reality, the armor was translucent which didn''t seem all that durable. But I knew better, those insect exoskeletons were quite hard and tough that even Haelley had trouble scratching. Even if they weren''t as tough as armors worn by the military folks, this was better than none at all. "Mother, can you control that material with magic?" "Not sure, but they can''t act as my clones. So, probably not." "And why are you covering yourself? Isn''t it more convenient to just use [synthesis] to heal your wounds?" "Ehhh... I have my own reasons. Anyway, stay here and read, I''ll check things out outside. Also, here, a dagger for your self-defense." I handed her a poison chitin dagger. Since I wasn''t sure how durable it was, I figured the smaller the blade the better. "Thank you. Please be safe. I don''t believe what you saw was the main force." "No way! They have more of those?" "I don''t know, but please be safe. I believe the things happening in the sky is only a distraction. Anyway, I''ll try to find some useful magic as quickly as I can." I hope you''re wrong but the chance is quite slim. Hahh... Let''s not mind the details! I left the library feeling quite proud of my works. I had platebody, plateskirt, and a simple rounded helm to cover my important parts. My arms only had some coverings to allow my arms to move freely in combat. My entire getup probably looked bizarre but this was the best I could come up with right now. As I was making my rounds trying to grasp the ins and outs of the inner city, several small tremors shook the tunnels. Is it starting already? Fun, fun. Eheheh... A series of tremors followed immediately. A few of them were audibly nearby as if multiple tunnels had collapsed. Shouts and screams were in the air as people rushed towards higher elevations. Soldiers equipped with shields and short spears were descending into the tunnels as more explosive echoes followed. What''s going on? Did something happen down there? The library Smoothie was staying at was a few floors above so I was confident of her safety. If anything, she really was at the safest place. After all, using [soothsayer] to find herself the safest place in this mess was the basics. Chapter 44 – Tunnel Battle As I descended further the various tunnels quietly following some of the military folks, I could hear echoes of clashes between soldiers. A battle had ensued somewhere below the inner city. Injured folks were being carried on stretchers to higher floors through the tunnels. Somehow, the enemies were able to cut off the escape routes of everyone here. A battle underground? How did that happen? Didn''t we have the underground covered? I was baffled at how humans managed to sneak past the defenses that quickly. It had to be humans. Unless, the invasion plan had been made years in advance. Even with my meager knowledge of this world''s technologies, this shouldn''t have been an easy feat, especially knowing that two kingdoms fell just recently. Troops would have to be reorganized and plans be made carefully before another large scale invasion such as this took place. According to my understanding, the Kingdom of Teir was the largest kingdom within the empire. It also held the second most powerful military that only came after the joint military forces controlled by the Highland Emperor. Although I could only speculate, the Kingdom of Faf where Haelley originated from was likely one that specialized in aerial combat. With that kingdom out of the way, it could be said that the enemies now likely held significant advantages in the sky. As for the navy, that was out of the equation when battles were fought inland. Unfortunately, there likely wouldn''t be any assistant from the joint military forces this time, or at least they wouldn''t make it in time because they were apparently holding the line elsewhere. This country needs new commanders. With how well the tunnels were constructed and illuminated, it wasn''t hard to see a large scale battle head of me. This was just one of three main tunnels leading to other cities. Where the tunnels walls had collapsed or blown apart, hundreds of enemy troops were flooding in. And, unlike the humans I had fought so far, they were mostly using normal weapons of this world. They consisted of melee combat equipments such as shields, armors, and swords. Very few of them had that magitech rifle like the man I had encountered in my early days. If I had to guess, rifles were somewhat new technology and hadn''t yet been distributed into the army. On our side, we had no rifle users but a few crossbow users. It was kind of sad to see the disparaging gap in technology. I should target those snipers then. But, I don''t see the big box? I wonder if the big box was only for long distant travelling? Huh. Whatever, you''re mine! I synthesized a dozen leaf airplanes and threw them in the direction of the enemy snipers. In addition, my new creation, strawberry grenades were synthesized! They just resembled strawberries and they weren''t red for obvious reasons. These were black, and loaded with toxins and poisons. Where the seeds would normally be, thin barbed needles slightly protruded. And, poof! Needles coated and installed with tiny poison sacs would pierce clothing and skin easily. Though, armor piercing was beyond my capability. Since people would die in this war regardless of what I did, I figured I should participate in style! While observing the snipers from afar on high ground, I took note of their firepower, reload speed, and accuracy. The hand held rifles used by these snipers were nowhere near as potent as the ones powered by those mana cores that also powered the mobile suits. However, their accuracy was decent. As long as they were able to hit vitals, it was a guaranteed kill as long as the armors weren''t too thick. In terms of reload speed, it seemed on average they only fired one shot per minute which was quite slow in my opinion. Even as my leaf airplanes carrying strawberry grenades closed in on them, no one paid any attention. Since they were dangerous enemies that threatened the country that treated me well, I couldn''t go easy on them. I''m sorry, not! Rest well in the after world and thanks for the meal. Immediately after the strawberries were dropped, the leafy airplanes along with those strawberry grenades burst like popcorns. Green prickly vines supplemented with paralyzing neurotoxins bound the oblivious invaders. Screams and shouts intensified as poisonous needles discharged themselves from the vines I had synthesized. Success! Within minutes, rows upon rows of enemy combatants had fallen. Of course, that wasn''t the end of it. I had used quite a bit of my mana and resources for that attack, so using this opportunity, I absorbed everything I could utilize from those bodies, be them mana or nutrients. Nothing was spared. Cruelty? Non-sense! It was legit self-defense. If those people got through, Smoothie''s life might be forfeit. I still needed Smoothie to help me with stuff. All that stuff I just did was causing quite a bit of commotion. However, no one from the beastfolk side had any spare moments to look my way. There were a few cheers but that was it. Now, the enemies were being more cautious than before as they tried to hold their positions while investigating the incident I had caused. As expected, there were some of the enemy combatants scouring the area with their gazes which eventually reached me. Being a fey and whatnot, I kind of stuck out like a sore thumb. Ahaha... I better hope they don''t bring any big guns. I''m holding precious stuff in my body. Thinking that, I didn''t give them any chances to snipe me with a cannon or something. That being said, I didn''t see any cannons, but there might be powerful mages capable of the same. Rifles wouldn''t kill me, but I rather not receive any hits. Poisonous darts and needles sprayed at whichever human gazing at me or my clones. One by one, they all went down. Once the clones had absorbed everything they could, they would absorb themselves before quietly disappearing. Here in the tunnels, they wouldn''t grow any way. The stone ceilings, walls, and floors were simply too thick for plants to root themselves. Despite killing many soldiers, probably less than a hundred, I had yet to level. It was just that these humans soldiers had rather subpar levels. Most of their combat prowess came from their skills and equipments. Though, I should be fairly close to levelling up. Since I wasn''t sure how many tunnels had been breached, I was careful not to be blinded by the battle in front of me. After all, if we get routed around or something, I would have to fight my way out of encirclement. I definitely didn''t want that. However, that idea was shattered when I saw tanks being rolled in. They resembled those doubled turreted light armored tanks I had seen in my previous world. However, I could tell their movements weren''t fully mechanical but required human labor to some degree. Each shot fired were more powerful than the larger rifles used by those black mobile suit people. Fortunately, they didn''t seem to contain explosive shells. But still, beastfolks were dying left and right from single shots. Seriously, how did they manage to move so much troops from below? And to think no one noticed earlier? Did they have noise cancellation barriers or something? You can''t just take out tanks out of nowhere. That''s not how it works! Obviously, taking out tanks was not an easy feat especially now that more were coming through while the enemy soldiers acted as their escorts. No one could even get closed to those tanks. Speaking of powerful foes, as of now, I hadn''t seen any powerful individuals capable of dominating the battlefield. If such time came, I would love to watch and learn some combat tricks. Though, I did see a few soldiers on the beastfolk side use some simple elemental magic but they weren''t super effective or anything. I had to give them my stamp of approval for putting up a simple barrier to prevent an one sided slaughter, and to give themselves more time to reorganize. No matter how I looked at it, they just didn''t seem like professional soldiers. Nehh...Here goes nothing! I threw some more mini leaf airplanes, and this time aimed at the tanks. My goal was to immobilize their turrets, eliminate the operators, and absorb the compressed mana from the mana cores. Unfortunately for me, things didn''t go as smoothly as I expected. A few tanks had their sights on me. Looking down the barrels pointing at me was quite intimidating. Ah crap! Before I could get filled with holes, I ducked to the side and forcefully made my body fly with fey magic to avoid the incoming projectiles. My flimsy armor could protect me against a few sword slashes at best so there was no way I would stay there and take the hits. And despite there not being any explosives, a layer of stone wall behind where I just stood crumbled with plumes of dust. Woah there, you almost got me. Bad doodles deserve punishments! blanksphere Chapter 45 Knowing that the tanks didn''t have quick reload speeds either, I made a mad dash into another tunnel at the intersection out of their sight before I could get blown into pieces. Commencing backup plan! Since there was no way the tanks were capable enough to target and destroy all my small airplane shaped clones, I decided to send more and more of them. And, for each, they would drop strawberries or split into more clones midair using [conglomerate]. It truly was a convenient ability. By the way, these were regular seedless strawberries, not the deadly strawberry grenades. Aha! Strawberries away! Then, I dropped a few strawberries at the corner of a tunnel where I currently hid as my safe spot. And, knowing that my light armor likely wouldn''t work in conjunction with [strawberry substitution], I dropped a few other clones here to mark my space. Here goes nothing! Behind enemy lines once again! Operation Swapberry. Of course, I peeked first before swapping my positions with any of the strawberries. I wouldn''t want to end up in someone''s mouth. Yuck. Though the tunnel where the battle taking place was wide, the amount of plants I could synthesize was more than enough to suffocate everything here. I hadn''t been saving up my resources for nothing. In the worst case scenario, I just wouldn''t have enough for Smoothie''s level ups. But that shouldn''t come to pass because I could easily recover a good chunk of my mana and majority of the resources spent from the plants I synthesized. Before I swapped position, all my regular clones excluding the strawberries burst forth with explosive greeneries to act as my cover. A small jungle, unless the tanks had enough power, they would have trouble mobilizing. Floosh. My mana decreased rapidly as a green wall rose and smothered the battlefield. After I teleported in, I confronted a tank right in front of me. Because of the vines everywhere, the tank was entangled and bound, unable to move. Shouts were coming from within the tanks where soldiers were struggling. No matter how hard they tried, they couldn''t move the tanks because I clogged the gears. Well, not all the tanks were caught since some were still entering the scene. I wish I had a tank license. Oh hey, why don''t I just capture all these tanks? Sometimes I wonder if I''m secretly a genius. Now isn''t the time for that, is it? The first was to find how those people entered the tanks. Well, normally there was a lid at the top so that was where I checked first. And after checking that no barrels were aiming at me, I jumped on top. I didn''t forget to initiate [absorption] on everything within the tunnel within the vicinity. Since the tanks were quite far back relative to the line where the infantries were clashing, I didn''t have to worry about hurting the beastfolks. Those human soldiers on the other hand were fighting with every ounce of strength they had but ultimately those caught in my garden quickly perished. Ahh... Let''s hope the lid is easy to open. However, before I even tried to open the lid in front of me, it was flung open. An angry soldier''s head popped out. "Heyo!" I greeted him with an overly eager grin. "Goddess..." Excluding my slightly pointing ears, my human face should be ravishing, probably. I didn''t know the beauty standards of humans since they all looked the same to me right now. Soldiers were soldiers. His death was swift; my hand reached out, poisonous darts splattered on his face before I jumped in and quickly neutralized the other two soldiers. Even after using [absorption] on all three corpses, the interior of the tank still was quite cramped. Capture complete. I guess I''ll come back later to play this new toy. Toys... I finally have a toy! The first toy of my life! I''m so proud of myself. It wasn''t like I had time to continue my random thoughts. I quickly jumped out and continued to capture more tanks trapped in my big garden. Thankfully, these tanks weren''t airtight or anything like certain ones from my previous world. Even if they didn''t open those lids, my thin vines would eventually creep into tiny gaps and eliminate the soldiers inside. It was just a matter of time. Meanwhile, humans outside my field were slowly cutting into my garden using their swords. I couldn''t really see them directly, hence I didn''t waste my resources trying to attack them. After all, resources were precious, and human bodies couldn''t fully replenish my spent resources. Their composition was different from plants; it couldn''t be helped. I had to take into consideration the resource ratios. Right now, the enemies troops were in a mess since my surprise attack on their backline. Their frontline was collapsing, forcing the troops further back to readjust their positions. All in all, they were retreating. The moment I grasped the locations of the attackers, I unleashed waves of poisonous needles and darts in their direction. Using these captured tanks as barricades, I was able to hold my position, and allow the beastfolk troops to push forward and slowly reclaim this section of the tunnel. I definitely deserve a promotion. How about a special agent? Even though I was capturing tanks one after another, I didn''t feel any excitement, or any challenge so far. As I captured more tanks, and eliminated more enemies, my "garden" shifted with me towards that tunnel breach just before the mass of debris blocking the tunnel. No matter what I did, I likely wouldn''t be able to seal that huge hole. Plants were just plants after all. Further down the main tunnel, part of it had already collapsed so there wasn''t more I could really do around here unless I too entered that hole where who knew how many enemies were around. Not to mention, it was definitely possible that other tunnels in the inner city had already been breached as well. In this sense, I felt it was better if I didn''t push forward and leave this section to the professional soldiers. As much as I would like to play with the tanks right now, I didn''t think it was a good idea in case the enemies in the future recaptured this position. So, I decided to instead drain all the condensed mana. I loved free stuff. Any overflow would be stored in |gourmet|. No issues! On a side note, since absorbing clothes and equipments took a lot more effort, I mostly just left them there. This meant that the ground and tanks were littered with clothes, combat gears, and perhaps chunks of bones that were missed. The scene kind of looked super creepy around here. Yet, I was unfazed, completely unfazed. There was no blood around here; that was probably why. By the time I had drained all the compressed mana from the mana cores in the tanks, the beastfolk soldiers, with my assistance, had occupied the positions around the tunnel breach. Ugh, I guess this is as far as I go. I really want to steal all of their mana cores. Mana cores! Well, whatever, I''ll check some other places and see how Smoothie is doing. Hopefully she learned something useful. Since I figured not all the beastfolks were fluent in the common language, I didn''t bother saying anything to them. They already knew I was on their side and I was a fey being, not normally under their jurisdiction. By the time I made the turn to go back up, I saw some beastfolk troops pushing those tanks toward the tunnel breach to use them as barricades. Oops... Well... It''s not like anyone here would know how to drive one... Right? blanksphere Chapter 46 The main inner city had remained fairly peaceful and orderly while the sieges were going on underground. As for what was happening outside, I had no clue. I didn''t want to teleport outside either. Like, what if the moment I stepped out, the first bomb was dropped on me? That would make me the unluckiest individual ever. "Smoothie, anything good yet? Learn some teleport magic already." The library was as quiet and lonely as ever. No one else was here except a librarian stuck in his office, hiding his monkey face behind a book. He didn''t even bother glancing at me. "They don''t have it." She stated flatly without looking up. "What? You checked all the books already?" "No, I did a preliminary review of all the resources here with [soothsayer]. Now, I''m low on mana. Give me a massage, and I want a recharge!" She demanded with a grumpy face. Woah there... What''s gotten into her? Where''s my cute and loving daughter? Where did she go? Well, it came no surprise that if she checked all the resources in the library, it would consume quite a bit of mana. I was really an understanding parent. I really was. So, I decided to give her some mana and a massage in exchange for her knowledge. "Eh... On it!" I placed my hands on her small shoulders, and kneaded them with some pressure. Then, I poured some mana into her to ease her stress. Stress? Children with stress? What has the world come to? However, the act of massaging her made me feel like I was a parent serving a super privileged child who was spoiled rotten. What kind of parent massages their children? This is unheard of, I thought. Thankfully, no one was around here to see this unusual spectacle. "Nn... I like it. It feels really good. You should do this more often!" "Smoothie, I''m not your servant, okay? Plus, I''m pretty sure this fey body doesn''t ache. Why do you even need a massage anyway?" "It''s fun!" "Tch. Give me the memory transfer. I want everything you learned." "If you massage my chest, then it''s a deal!" She giggled. "What have you been reading?!" I snatched the book in her hands. In the carefully bound book, strange diagrams and symbols filled the pages. There were a few geometric patterns I recognized, but otherwise, I didn''t understand the language at all. It was the language of the beastfolks. "What the..." "I was able to decipher the beastfolks'' written language after comparing the letters used between common language and their language." "That wasn''t what I asked you to study. I want magic. Magic!" I raised my voice with exasperation. Learning another language while we were in a state of war was completely useless. As far as I was concerned, only combat magic was useful. What are you, a scholar? Deciphering some useless ancient language? "But there''s no way to learn new magic without learning their language. I mean, I already learned basic magic from the common language books. Everything else is just derivatives. The records here only show basic magic and if there are any advanced magic, they''re likely all hidden away." She explained calmly. "Gah, fine. I''ll take the simply magic, please. And, any you were able to derive." The memory transfer was quite smooth and clear. Whether I could retain those memories was a slight concern since my memory wasn''t that great. Though, I welcomed any new knowledge. If possible, I would like to try these magic spells later. Hmm... They don''t seem quite inefficient compared to abilities. I wonder why. "You''re wondering about the efficiency, right?" "Yeah." "Abilities and traits are part of you, internally, or you can consider that part of your soul that is fully integrated within the system. Obviously they''re more efficient than auxiliary functions that aren''t fully integrated." "Oh. You could have transferred that part to me." "It wasn''t there. [Soothsayer] just brought it up." "Oh..." I sat across her and took some time to review the memories that she transferred to me. I would like a comprehensive of how magic really worked. From my earlier experiments during my mana compression training, I learned that intent was a big part of using magic or at least influencing the world. Based on the memories, it seemed that certain phrases and geometric patterns could interfere with the system more efficiently. There were quite a bit of theories and speculations on that but nothing in details. There was one speculation that seemed to apply to me. It stated that abilities and traits had a linear relationship to the effects of magic used. Meaning, the more abilities and traits one had, the more effective their magic was. It wasn''t really that much of a stretch considering that more traits and abilities generally equated to higher levels. The book that she read cautioned its readers that magic should not be attempted unless their mana was above a certain threshold. The backlash for overusing mana was linked to possible soul damage not visible to the naked eyes. In many cases, preparations were required in advanced, especially the more powerful magic. Of all the magic Smoothie had looked at, there were regular nature magic, physical magic, and miscellaneous magic. Nature magic was the equivalent of elemental magic. It was the easiest and most commonly used. Users could alter natural forces such as creating fire, freezing water, moving rocks and flowing air, and emitting light. Physical magic had to do with forces such as barriers, physical enhancements, transportation, and such. Often times, nature magic was used in conjunction with physical magic to obtain desired effects. Although either could be used with just pure intent, the effects were generally lesser when compared to those who chanted or used mediums to amplify effects. As for miscellaneous magic, this included summoning, healing, possession and basically everything else that wasn''t part of nature magic and physical magic. There really wasn''t anything useful for me in this category since Smoothie hadn''t looked into the details of these ones yet. The magic that I could use aside from fey magic was quite expansive. It was only a matter of effectiveness. Doesn''t that make me overpowered? Like, super overpowered? Indeed, indeed, a powerful fey should be powerful after all! Bwuahahaha...! A bit of my laughter spilled out. "Mother. I''m trying to read. Can you not?" "Sorry, sorry. Keep reading and find as much useful information as you can. I''ll go test out something." "You''re not going to save those for me? Even when I''m doing so much for you!" "Those? What do you mean?" "I want your mana." "Eh? Oh yeah! Want me to give you enough to level 30 just before you level up and evolve?" Growth and kills weren''t the only factor that was evaluated for the level up requirements. Mana was one of the other one, probably, which was why I leveled up so quickly draining those trees. She did say that mana acted as a proxy for the soul. Furthermore, when I was draining tons of mana from those trees back then, I leveled up a bunch. I was sure of it. Mana was important for fey beings to level up. "Can you trickle it to me through [conglomerate]? I can''t absorb too much at once because I don''t have |gourmet| trait to store the extras. Also, if I only take from you, I wouldn''t get good abilities and traits when I level up." "Oh I see, good point. I''ll set it to trickling." Given her low level and transfer efficiency, she should level up quite quickly even with a bit of my mana. She also had the [producer] ability. Perhaps by now, she was proficient enough to use it to adjust her levels. "Oh right, are there any magic I should avoid? I mean, I guess I should avoid fires because we''re plants and all that. Water and earth should be the safest, right?" "Something like that, yes, when you''re weak. Fey beings are special in this world compared to others, so there''s truly nothing we have to avoid past a certain stage. I would assume everyone have their own niches. Mother, are you aiming for a jack-of-all-trades, and master of none or become a master at on your own field?" I didn''t know she was this philosophical. Truly, a thinker of her times. Mm. "You''re thinking something rude again!" She raised her voice. "What!? Non-sense. Wait, again?" My jaws dropped. I thought this was the first time. It must be that ability again! One of these days, I''ll give it a piece of my mind. She sighed with resignation, "Never mind. Mother, you go play. I''ll stay here and study." "Hey..." I was going to complain, but I stopped myself. Why would I want to complain about playing around? Not that I was playing around in the first place. It was work! Heavy duty work. Definitely. Before I left, I gave her two strawberries to hold onto. I told her if there was an emergency, crush one and I would teleport immediately next to her. Chapter 47 Going off on my own, I investigated many tunnels to ensure none were missed by the military. It really wasn''t my duty or anything but I wanted to play things safe. The tunnel where I was fighting inside earlier was actually one of the three main tunnels leading to other settlements within the mountains. There were probably hidden tunnels and passages to leave this place as well but I wouldn''t know where to look for them. At the forefront, there were supposed to be rings of tunnels beneath the city of Vera and outside of the city. These were the defense formations. That being said, the enemies were able to bypass them undetected until just hours ago, or rather, until the red flares came from outside the city. As for the main entrance where I came in from, that had since been sealed with multilayered walls and magic barriers. As for other entrances, soldiers not fighting beneath the city were streaming through them to manage the situation outside. Unfortunately, I had no idea what was going outside other than it was probably getting ugly. What to do... What to do...! I was super bored loitering around after checking that the situation had stabilized somewhat. Sure, the city was beautiful, but there wasn''t anything entertaining. I had no idea where the other three fey beings were. Kanoko had disappeared somewhere after she lead me into the inner city. The two others were probably doing something important, maybe. The so called strongest fey, Vorte, was probably fighting somewhere. Screw this, I''m going to play and level up. No hard feelings! Once again, I delved into the tunnels. This time I wanted to push them back all the way instead of holding an equilibrium at the points of breach. After descending multiple floors in the tunnel network, I reached another one that was breached earlier. It was one of the four breaches that I found. Healers were treating the wounded soldiers as I made my way closer to the opening made by the invaders. Unlike the other breach, this one was fairly narrow not allowing any tanks to pass through. They probably messed up with their explosives or something. Currently, neither side was making any moves. It was as if both sides were waiting for an opportunity. Did they run out of explosives? That can''t be right? Well, well, I''ll be the one to take the initiative then. I didn''t bother asking the commander nearby nor did I wait for any signals. Time waited for no one. I was a deviant and I was proud of it! My miniature leafy fighter jets equipped with poisonous missiles had already taken off in that direction. These missiles all met the minimum size requirement to be clones. This way, I could immediately use [absorption] on my targets. Well, they weren''t really missiles but rather darts that were reshapes. Calling them "missiles" just sounded much cooler though, right? Right, I had gained valuable experiences from the previous battle. I therefore made use of that experience and came up with something more efficient by modifying my aerial clones from the shape of paper airplanes into fighter jets with proper wings and fuselage. It was an evolution in of itself. Not to mention, those mini fighter jets looked super cool when flying in formation. Unlike normal fighter jets, these ones required my mana and fey magic to fly, which meant I could also make them hover like helicopters. Fwahahaha...! I have just invented a new type of warfare! Targets locked. "Fire at will!" I couldn''t help but to blurt it out. Well, in truth, they couldn''t fire at will. They had no will. And, I just wanted to say that for fun. Since I was super merciful and benevolent, this time I decided to only drain majority of their stats leaving only enough for them to live. If I was to use my clones to create gardens and jungles, I wouldn''t have enough resources left without absorbing all of their bodies. I kind of wished I thought of this earlier. I certainly wouldn''t want to end up with pure evil evolutions the next time around. Dozens of missiles, or rather poisonous darts, and hundreds of bullets which was poisonous needles sprayed at the enemy soldiers guarding the breached area. Under my watch, I was able to guide some of the darts from being blocked by shields and thick armors. It would be too wasteful if none of them were able to hit the targets. Needles were too small so I left them alone but darts were clone sized. There was no reason not to control them even if they missed. Since there were gaps in between defenses, and they were all in my control range, I redirected the darts to pierce the scrambling soldiers. The poison I used this time was a fast acting paralysis type. Again, I rather not take too many lives and get a bad evolution next time. Thump. Thump... Their screams and shouters lasted mere seconds before collapsing in waves. Aside from the dull thumping sounds, there were also metallic sounds from fully armored individuals. So cool! I wonder if I make a good assassin? Strawberry Assassin?! No, no, no. That''s a bad thing. Maybe I should learn some healing magic. Mm... I didn''t waste any time absorbing the mana from these fallen soldiers. In fact, they hardly had any which was why I started using this new tactic. It was about economics. Operating in the red was no good, especially in a war situation. My goal was to level up some more so I needed to profit! Darts were reused to help me absorb mana while needles were discarded. They weren''t worth my effort reintegrating back into myself. Those hardly visible poisonous needles were cheap to make anyway. Meanwhile on my side, the beastfolk soldiers were cheering, their morale had increased from this small victory. They were looking at me with admiration. However, I didn''t understand what they were saying at all. I was sure they were all praising me. Yes, praise me! Pray to me! Wahahaha! Poh! One of my fighter jet was popped. A sniper hidden past the breach must have sniped it. Gugh! I guess this isn''t the time to relax yet. I turned to the commander officer, "Good sir, I don''t know if you understand, but they are still alive. I leave them to you. Careful not to touch the needles." "Your Grace, understood!" He saluted with his right arm to his chest. Woah! Such respect? What''s up with that? I was a bit surprised but that was it. The invaders didn''t wait for anyone. In that short while, I lost another three fighter jets. Very unfortunate. One was only damaged which could easily be repaired with [synthesis]. Before my toys received further damages, I scrambled the jets. Concurrently, I took positions closer to the enemy tunnel so I could launch an attack. Soldiers from the city carefully pushed forward to safeguard the new line. Some of them began dragging the unconscious ones back and stripping them of their equipments. Others were carrying construction materials in preparation for sealing the gap. I can''t just poke my head in there. I don''t want to get sniped. What to do... What to do... Flash grenade? Hmm... Oh. Oh! Oh! I got it. Flash grenades were out of my reach but I already had something similar. It was time to again put my strawberry grenades into action! Ohohoho... Following the strawberry grenade, I could also try making toxic smoke grenade. The issue was creating something like a mist. I would have to use nature magic to prepare in advance and I didn''t have time right now. Technically there was an alternative but I wasn''t confident with my abilities. Anyhow, I had to take action immediately before those invaders could mount a counterattack. Maybe I should rename the strawberry grenades into poisonous needle grenades? Hmm... Maybe later. I shot five strawberry grenades into the gap with my fey magic. Pah. One of them was sniped the moment it entered the gap. Before the other ones got popped, I detonated them simultaneously with fey magic. Following four pops, hundreds of poisonous needles were sprayed. Go! Go! Go! I rushed in while being escorted by my mini fighter jets. Chapter 48 The moment I entered the passage following my mini plant fighter jets, my chest was penetrated where my heart would have been. Well, my heart wasn''t there because I didn''t have one. But still, it was painful and part of the backup for Smoothie was damaged. The passage was sloped downward with fifteen piles of neat sandbags acting as barriers for the soldiers. Not only were there snipers but also archers. Their defense formation was formidable, so much so that I doubted my grenade earlier actually reached anyone. Following the snipe, five arrows struck to my chest, legs, and one on my neck. They weren''t deep thanks to my chitin armor but I hated pain. "Guufu..." To think they had archers too... Before I had time to think of the next step, someone shouted, "Fire bolt!" From behind one of their sandbag blocks, an orange jet of fire was hurled my way. Now, if I was a superhero, I would punch it and make it dissipate but I was an amateur. A strawberry was synthesized on one of my bombers, or rather S-16''s. While their attention was on me, the S-16''s had breached their defenses from above. I quickly swapped my position with that of the strawberry to evade the fire bolt. What remained at where I just a moment ago was only a crispy strawberry. Somehow the arrows came with me. Rawrrr! Now it''s my turn! Missiles away! Even though I couldn''t see well in the dark, it didn''t matter with carpet bombing. I was still able see some of them. And to help me see better, I added a bit of bioluminescence properties to my little darts. This way, when anyone moved, I could easily tell. At the same time, I remained in the dark just under the ceiling to absorb the arrows. Of all the darts, only two soldiers fell. As for the rest of these enemy soldiers, I had redirect my darts to hit the vulnerable areas after I had gained sight of them. Synthesizing and injecting lethal poison was only a simple matter. Within merely a minute, the area was dead silent. All of the soldiers here, about fifty of them, had completely lost their consciousness. As a bonus, by using absorption on all of them, I had finally leveled up to level 52. In addition, aside from regular stats improvement, I gained a new trait |enhanced resistances|. This might be related to poison resistance now that I became an avid poison user. If I remember correctly, poisons could be used to counter other poisons in some circumstances. In the first place, I doubted this fey body could be poisoned. Since that new trait also included resistances to other things, it might not be related to poison resistance. I waited a bit but it seemed that no reinforcements was coming through this passage. Alright, my job is done here! I don''t want to go any deeper. Yeah, let''s leave things to the professionals. I''m just a nobody here. I returned to speak with that commander, "The coast is clear. All yours." He understood the gist of it after a few seconds before giving command to seal the passage. These fun little airplanes stayed with me the entire time. The cost for maintaining their flight wasn''t expensive so I figured it was easier than to recreate them later. There was nothing wrong keeping toys around. I considered myself underage by my standard! When I returned to the upper inner city, the mountain suddenly began to shake and rumble. Dusts and debris rained down each time there was a rumble. Unlike the explosions that took place earlier, I could tell this one was on a much bigger scale and it came from the outside. Due to the earlier disruptions in the tunnel system, many were not able to evacuate from the city of Vera. I wasn''t sure what the enemy strategies were, but if they really wanted us dead, they could have done much more like collapsing the entire mountain. They probably couldn''t pull it off which was why they did this half-assed invasion to seal our escape routes. They kind of failed, kind of. Currently, we had pushed them back but there was no telling what they had planned next. I didn''t know. I had no information. Fighting in the fog of war was the worst. If I was the human commanders, I''d probably try to collapse all the tunnels. That might be easier than invading and killing everyone here. A long siege would ultimately be a detriment to those stuck inside the inner city with nowhere to escape. The humans would try to maintain status quo. If they could keep it that way, then it would be game over for us. I headed toward the palace where I had audience with the king. I needed information. If I could teleport in and out of the barrier at will, then I could probably sneak behind enemy positions and neutralize them. Well, that was assuming they were much weaker than me and I could locate tunnel entrances from the outside. Anyway, I must be sure that I could return inside at any time. On my way to the palace, several messengers or scouts were rushing past me. Oh right, maybe I should hold a card and rush too. I want a priority fast lane! Thinking that, I chased after a scout holding a yellow card while holding my orange card. After all, I could still report something like how I participated in the battle. That was super important, of course! "Eh? Ehhhh?" "Yo, what are you staring at?" I rebuked a ferretfolk who was my chase target. It was for fun but when he saw my orange card, both his jaws and his speed dropped. As I outran him, I taunted, "You snooze you lose!" Eheheh... My daily dose of fun! On a side note, no matter how cheap the mana cost was to keep S-16''s around, prolonged usage was bound to waste my mana pointlessly. Therefore, I parked them on the roof of a local residence on my way here. No one had ever said anything about them so I didn''t see an issue with that. They couldn''t possibly give me a parking ticket or something. Once I arrived at the palace, as I casually strolled in, I noticed there were significantly less guards. No one asked me anything. Then, while I was wondering where I should report to, a hand laid on my shoulder. "Wuah!" I leaked out an embarrassing cry. "Wah? What are you doing here? Do you have something to report?" She turned to look at the card held in my hand. "Kanoko, don''t scare me like that! I have a weak heart you know?" "Orange card, what is it? I see you have this crystal armor on you." "Oh, a bit. I helped secure two tunnels: one small and one big. I want to ask, what was that rumbling about earlier?" "There''s no point hiding it from you so let me be blunt. They took down our main defense barrier around the city." "Say what? How did they do that? Did they break the obelisk?" "How did you know that?" She asked as she dragged me into a nearby room arranged as an office space. The office had one large desk stacked with paperwork and crystals. Bookshelves and cabinets lined the walls. Behind the desk was a window displaying the back garden of the palace. To the side, there was another door which was likely a private room. "Eh, my guess?" As she sat me across from her with the desk in between us. Ah... It''s her temporary office? I wonder what rank she is? "Since it''s not a big secret or anything, I guess it doesn''t hurt to tell you. It''s a composite magic barrier that didn''t require user to input any mana. The obelisk has many functions. In this case, one of them was to gather and condense mana and the other was to act as an anchor to stabilize the barrier. It was basically the centre piece of the magic barrier." "Neat. It got destroyed then?" "No, they wouldn''t and couldn''t destroy it. The issue is that the foundation of the barrier was destroyed, that being the magic inscriptions and formations within the rings of tunnels beneath. While some parts are built to deceive and confuse enemy invaders, it wouldn''t matter if they tampered or destroyed enough of them. Just for your reference, our scouts first shot flares the moment they entered to destroy outer tunnel formations. It was the red ones from outside the city. However, just moments ago, enough damages were caused that our grand magic collapsed." "Ohhh... So after they failed, they tried to collapse some tunnels and buy time to destroy for the real one? I wonder why they didn''t collapse our inner city tunnels first." "We can only speculate their real intent. They likely want to wipe all of us without anyone escaping while diverting our military strength to fight both inside and outside of the city. Those folks who made it to the other side of the tunnel were likely pursued and killed. We wouldn''t know until the debris are cleared. Things could be even worse on the other side but that responsibility doesn''t lie with me." They certainly didn''t need a lot of troops to kill civilians. Even here, regular unarmed folks here were only around level 10. Though, I didn''t understand why humans wanted to kill these furry ones. Was there some kind of old grudge? I had no clue. It made me wonder if there was no concept of slavery here. "That''s unfortunate... But that makes sense! I thought the ones I fought under there was quite weak for their main force." "Humans are too cunning. The underground routes to other cities are either completely blocked or unsafe to use. It''ll take some time for them to be restored and secured. If only our elite troops aren''t all being preoccupied with the reptilians..." She said with a defeated look. Elite troops, huh. So if this was chess, it''d be equivalent to a pin. Basically, the super powerful barrier around the city was no more. Our troops was fighting enemies below the inner city, in the main city, likely both on the ground, and below the ground where their main force likely was at some point. It really wasn''t looking pretty. This was why I hate fog of war. The lack of information is the worst! Chapter 49 "I have an idea!" It was just super convenient that the barrier was down. Now if I could sneak out knowing where the magic formations were, taking out a large swath of enemy soldiers should be a piece of cake. Of course, that was assuming they didn''t have some boss levelled individuals waiting to meet me half way. "What is it?" Kanoko asked. "I want to see the map of the magic formations. You know I can teleport, right? So I''m thinking of teleporting out and causing some damage to their main force." "Come with me, let''s get you the permission you need." "Alright, I come. I come. Is my friend still in the palace?" "She was insistent on fighting so she was allowed to fight outside. That''s where her abilities shine anyway." "I hope she doesn''t get injured again." And fight to heart''s content, I suppose. Kanoko lead me to a room adjacent to the audience hall. Inside, five individuals were standing around a round table. A crystal ball was sitting on one side while several maps were lying on the other side. Within that crystal ball were disjointed images shifting about. "Prince Dolus," Kanoko saluted. A slimmer version of King Dolan turned around, "Kanoko, you''ve brought her? I''m guessing you have came up with a plan." "Yes, Your Highness." "Come," he beckoned towards us who were standing at the doorway, "I''ll grant permission. Let''s hear it." This prince is really smart and straight to the point. I like it! I shared with him my idea of teleporting outside the city walls and infiltrating the enemy backline through the secret tunnels. Since my clones were planted across the area outside, I could easily escape and avoid trouble. Furthermore, with my |escapist| trait, no one should be able track me. There really weren''t many such as fearsome skill sets as me, someone who was perfect for the job. Besides the prince were advisors who nodded at my brilliant proposal. It was quite dangerous for me but none of them spoke up. Impressed yet? "That''s a good idea. Our secondary barrier will not last much longer if they keep making a mess down there. Any relief is welcomed." "Secondary barrier? Does that block teleport?" I asked. "No, it only blocks direct attacks. It shouldn''t interfere with your abilities. Right now, their main force underground should have just engaged with our main force holding the fort within the city." "What about the battle in the air?" "We can hold them off. That''s not a concern," He brushed me off. "For now, familiarize yourself with the positions, and leave as soon as possible. Time is not on our side." "Yes, Your Highness." I took this opportunity to study every single map in detail. Tunnels, hidden tunnels, escape routes, various important infrastructures were all indicated on the maps in front of me. It was a treasure trove of valuable information. After memorizing as much as I could, I asked, "One question, how strong are their strongest and their commanders?" "We have no reliable information on that. They shouldn''t pose too much problem for you." For real? Seriously? What have you all been doing? Seeing my surprised expression, one of the other individual added, "Act with caution. Spread fear into the enemy lines." Stop trying to sound cool! I know the basics. "Eh, yes. Thank you for your advice, good sir." Basically, I was on my own now. I visited Smoothie one more time before I headed out. The two of us exchanged some memories through transfer. I received a bit of new knowledge on magic while she received some combat data and images of the maps. "Mother, please come back safely," she smiled before adding, "Go all out. It''s kill or be killed. I''ll still be with you even if you become a demon." "That''s... Reassuring, not! That last part was unnecessary!" "Oh was it? You don''t want me anymore?" She covered her mouth with her hand, faking an astonished expression. "Hey, you brat! You''re saying as if I''ll end up being a demon for sure." "Eheheh, I love you!" She tried to hug me, and as I tried to evade, she managed to grab hold of me. "Tch. That ability of yours. You should share it with me sometimes." "No way! It''s a maiden''s secret!" "Kff, fine, fine. I''m off now." To kill or not to kill, that''s the question. Heh, since I''ve already killed, maybe I should continue? I mean, I''m neither a pacifist nor a vegetarian. Those humans need some setbacks, definitely. I''m defending the country! Yep, it''s my job. Yeah! Let''s do this! Operation... Mm... Reaperberry? Sure. Before I left for the secret tunnels, at a remote location, I altered my entire appearance. For concealment purposes, I altered my whole body''s color to pure black. The light chitin armor I had was a bit stiff at the joints so I removed parts of it. I had to ensure my movements were quiet and smooth. My white dress was changed to that of a skin tight black outfit. Getting my dress caught on sharp protruding rocks wouldn''t be funny. My body was now shrunk to a quarter of what it was. Basically, I was now half the size of Smoothie. Due to my compressed mana, shrinking any more was going to be difficult at the moment. I honestly didn''t think it would affect my ability to transform. Anyhow, since I was small again, I grew a pair of black wings so I could fly freely. Ooh, a dark fairy! Ohohoho... This will be fun. Maybe I should even add some luminescent patterns on my wings to scare those unsuspecting soldiers. A white smiley face? A devilish grin? Hmm! Nawh. On top of eliminating enemies, I wanted to destroy their morale. A little bit of PTSD wouldn''t hurt, right? It''s just a prank, a kid''s prank! It''s all good. Looking through the list of poisons I could produce with [synthesis] and [conglomerate], I tried to look for one that mixed well in air but was also cheap to make. Resources and mana didn''t come free. The one I used earlier was quite expensive and only paralyzed victims for a short periods of time. I didn''t bother checking why it expensive because this was the only non-lethal one. After thoroughly checking the list displayed, I found quite a few lethal ones that were cheap to make. Hydrogen cyanide was probably the cheapest. However it wasn''t that lethal in my opinion. The most lethal one seemed to be a poison extract from a sea creature but it was quite expensive. In any case, the plant derived poisons were always cheaper to make than animal derived. Such a dilemma, which one should I use? The struggle... You know what, I''ll go with the cheap and mass produced poison. Cyanide, you''re now my partner in crime! I''m not sure if temperature and pressure is suitable but it''s a different world. Yeah, let''s not mind the details. In case this one wouldn''t take gas form, I had another one ready albeit a bit more expensive. Obviously, if neither worked as intended, I would resort to injecting the poisons via darts and needles as usual. Once I was out in the fields, my operation began. blanksphere Chapter 50 An aerial battle was taking place high above the city. There were flashes lights above the mountain and gun fires coming from magitech ships. Each time the great obelisk glowed, a beam of light shot out from one of the stone statues surrounding the temple. Oftentimes magitech ships would block the light beams with barriers, but occasionally, one would come crashing down after an explosion. I couldn''t tell who was winning from afar but debris were falling through the clouds and cannon blasts were landing on the barrier covering the mountain. Still, the barrier stood unwavering. This was the secondary barrier, of course. Winged beasts were also giving those smaller magitech airships quite the hard time. They simply couldn''t outmaneuver the winged beasts zipping around. In any case, those winged beasts probably had outstanding abilities and traits to perform such feats. They were too far to see clearly so I couldn''t check their status or anything. If I had to guess, they were at least level 40 and above, and since I was told they were elites, perhaps level 50 and above. To think they are actually capable at fighting unlike those moles... At the same time, a grand battle was also taking place outside of the city. Three rows of heavy tanks laid siege on the city of Vera. Actually, the tanks I had destroyed underground were more like armored vehicles compared to these ones. These heavy tanks had single long barrels and the main body was twice the size. From just a visual estimate, there were only about thirty of these metallic beasts on the battlefield. Given how slowly they moved, they were likely transported via underground tunnels and only driven onto the surface not long ago. Aren''t they overdoing this a bit? Are there any beastfolks or fey beings capable of destroying even one of them? This is a bit harsh, isn''t it? Supporting these heavy tanks were mostly regular soldiers. They were equipped with rifles, bows, or crossbows and took cover behind the heavy tanks as they inched closer to the city wall. Barrages from cannons and ballista barely dented the tanks. Soldiers who weren''t able to hide behind tanks laid low in ditches resulted from collapsed shallow tunnels. In addition to heavy tanks, there were also at least a hundred regular tanks, the same ones I saw in the underground tunnels earlier. These ones weren''t as imperishable as those heavy tanks. Two cannon shots when aimed at their vulnerable points would destroy them. The strange part was that there was no air support for either side. Two dimensional battles were simpler anyway. It seemed everyone capable of aerial battle were pre-occupied. Or perhaps, the magitech airships were from the reptilians and they had no plan to directly assist the humans. Either way, the situation was looking very bad. I have to do something about these tanks before the city defense completely fails. The beastfolk soldiers probably have their hands full fighting in the tunnels under the city as well. Should I try using poisonous gas right now? Ehh... The tanks often had to go around these depressions or sink holes caused by collapsed tunnels. If they fell into one of them, they would be rendered inoperable. And as I made that observation, one tank fell through. Apparently, someone had collapsed a tunnel beneath it. Either that or the tank was too heavy to be supporting structures. One down. Right now, I was laying low within an area with tall grasses. Trees were few and sparse in between which was why the tanks were able to pass without much issues. Most of this region had my clones spread out. Even when they were crushed, they wouldn''t die easily. Alright, let''s give it a try. Let''s hope rain doesn''t come too soon. I would hate that if they got washed. Since I knew where my clones were, I instructed the ones near the enemy forces to produce huge amounts of poisonous gases. Should the gases be too heavy, they would seep into the tunnels through collapsed tunnels before spreading further. And, since I had |enhanced resistances| trait, there was no complications for me. Unleash the poison! Mwuahahahaha! I shouted gleefully in my mind. Ideally I wanted to use [absorption] on all the pitiful victims but that was too risky. If lucky, that |reaper| trait might claim some spiritual stats. I never asked how efficient this trait was but it shouldn''t be more efficient than [absorption], right? In the first place, poison should have negated most if not all of |reaper| trait. Wait a second, wait a second! A brilliant idea just came to me. What if I release beneficial gases, like aromatic scents? Which I don''t think I have. Then, |reaper| would work overtime to gather those delicious spiritual stats for me. Hmmm... Then again, I don''t know the efficiency of it. Never mind, it''s too complicated. Back to the poison! Instead of worrying about useless things, I headed towards the nearest hidden entrance into an underground location noted on the maps. They couldn''t possibly have broken into all them used for the magic formations. Not all of these locations were connected, at least not directly. My job was only to clear out the enemies as much as I could. I was small and some good distance away from the main battleground. No one paid attention to the nimble me. After pressing two hidden pressure plates, an entrance opened. Upon entering, I carefully closed it so others wouldn''t discover this place. The stairway was long and narrow, descending at least twenty meters below ground. The interior of this place was dimly illuminated with magic crystals. These were the standard crystals that continuously shone as long as even a tiny bit of mana was present. Quite the useful tool I must say. It was as if I was exploring an ancient ruin made of stones. At the bottom of the stairs, I touched a pressure plate on the wall and inserted a bit of my mana to open a sliding stone door. My goodness, I don''t have time for this kind of stuff. As I continued down various passages, and passing through a few hidden doors, I prepared my poison darts for the incoming solo battle. There was no doubt in my mind that I was considered and treated as an elite soldier! Voices could be heard and ground trembled from moving mechanical gears below where I was. Normally, I remained hovering or flying but sometimes it was hard to tell where the enemies were so I had to feel the vibrations with my body. This maze looks annoying on map. It''s more annoying to be in it in person. Ugh! Those beastfolks had too much spare time to be able to prepare something sophisticated like this. Really though, even with a map, some people would get lost in it. For example, there were unsuspecting soldiers in the next room on the other side of this hidden door that I was about to pass through. Whether they were friend or foe, I didn''t know but I was prepared. Poisonous needles and darts were on the ready. I pushed a pressure plate next to the wall. Kuhhh. As it was sliding open, I quickly snuck through. Humans. In a flash, I silenced them with lethal doses of poison before they could ready themselves for a counterattack. There weren''t that many of them and it looked like they were just exploring this place. Only two of them had magitech rifles equipped while others had swords. "Huh, this rifle doesn''t need a mana core, does it? A different model? It kind of look like one used by that hunter." I looked around but couldn''t find a mana core anywhere. However, there was a crystal installed in the rifles that worked similar like the magic crystals used for lighting. It absorbed mana from the surrounding and converted into small bursts of energy. I tested it a bit after temporarily returning to my original size. The result noted was that the penetrative power was weak. Useless. I guess I''ll loot these crystals. After using [absorption] on their remains and the magic crystals, I followed the path where the soldiers came from. Luckily, they didn''t bother closing any doors as they explored. This made things a bit easier for me to trace their paths back to their starting point. It took me some time, but eventually I managed to reach a vast circular tunnel. At the centre was a railroad track and to my right came a familiar humming noise. From what I could tell, this tunnel was definitely wide enough for those heavy tanks to be transported. Anyway, I kept to the side and headed toward where the noise was coming from. Soldiers came either on foot or on small carts that ran on the railroad powered by mana cores. Whenever I saw one, I followed the usual protocol. Free mana cores! Why not? Along the tunnel, there were also doorways connected to parallel tunnels. I don''t know how long I''ve been down here but I seriously need to reach the enemy camp... At the end of this tunnel was a huge tunnel boring machine. No surprise there. Back in my previous world, I had seen these types being used everywhere. Well, not personally up close. They simply weren''t operated by people unlike the ones in this world. Here, the debris from the tunnel digging were used to pave a flat bottom to allow railroad to be set. Remaining debris were being carried by those carts to some distant location and possibly adjacent tunnels. The whole tunnel digging procedure was actually fairly quiet since they likely used magic to prevent the likelihood of being detected by the beastfolks. Time to cause some damages. I don''t know how far this one is going, but if more of these penetrate or get too close to the inner city, we''re done. Thankfully, these machines here seemed were fairly simple in design. Simple sabotage work should be easy for me. Chapter 51 I snuck into the boring machine in front of me. One by one, I eliminated the operators within. The mana cores were fairly easy to locate because I could somehow faintly sense dense mana. It was one of the perks after knowing what mana felt like. After draining the lovely mana cores, I used [absorption] on a few core parts. This way, the machine would break down the moment another person tried to operate it without a thorough inspection first. Eheheh... Making troubles like this is my specialty. I was being ruthless but no one here cared. Troublemaking wasn''t what I came here to do. However, I hadn''t found their main army yet which was probably in some other tunnels above me. It was in this time I wished |parallel bodies| trait actually allowed me to split my consciousness. Searching one by one was just too inefficient and slow. By the time I was done with this place, Vera would probably be down for the count. From the looks of it, the poisonous gas hadn''t seeped this deep down yet. A few clones were somehow lost but otherwise everything seemed to be fine on the surface. I even levelled up again. Thinking about the stuff going on above wasn''t going to help anything. I dropped many clones in the tunnels and configured them to produce cheap poisonous gas en mass because a small amount just wasn''t lethal enough. Hmm... I wonder if [synthesis] will evolve into anything. I''ve been using it a lot. With my small size and speed, I was zipping around within the tunnel system. People were collapsing left and right. Of course, I would never forget to grab those magic crystals used in rifles whenever I found one. Not a single mana core was left untouched under my watch and there was no such thing as having too many mana cores. In fact, many of my clones'' mana was decreasing quickly with the continuous usage of [synthesis]. Hence, mana had to be constantly redistributed. Hoping around and placing down more clones while I explored the tunnels created by the humans. Those who had noticed the strange situation and the cessation of noises began taking caution. Nonetheless, with how well my clones were hidden and the invisible poisonous gas spreading everywhere, none survived the return trip. By the time they figured things out, their lives were already forfeit. Though, a few of them probably managed to escape like the ones travelling on carts toward the machines. It''s working! I win. Yay! I hope I''m deterring them from invading again. It actually took me quite a while of searching before I breached into a completely different set of tunnels. Along the way, I found a few openings leading to the surface where tanks were likely driven. These tunnels were surely extensive. It made me wonder how long they had planned this, probably years in the making. I didn''t want to spend my time on the shallow tunnels right now. Sure there were many, but I was able to locate their deepest set of tunnels, or so I would like to believe. Their main operation was located in the deepest set of tunnels, around I would say at least 100 meters deep. That was also what I believed where their main army was. The ones closer to the surface seemed to be a side project compared to the ones deeper down. Alright, I found you all. I don''t like mass graves but I can''t go easy on you. You''re all bad doodles in my eyes! I said that but I felt like only a quarter of their main army was here, or maybe even less. The majority was probably on other levels above where the tunnels would eventually reach the ones beneath Vera. Since the tunnel sizes were limited, that meant there was also a limit on the size of this army. Destroying their local headquarter was my main job after all. [Synthesis], maximum output! Hiding behind walls on a platform above their main camp, I created my mini fighter jets loaded with poisonous needles. Poisonous darts were equally important. Once a dart penetrated a person''s skin, it would immediately inject lethal poison while siphoning mana and valuable nutrients needed for plants. Also, there was no need to worry that someone could pull these darts out because as long as I was nearby, I would use my fey magic without reserve to have them fully inserted into their body. In a war, only the victor decided who was good and who was evil. Therefore, as long as I was the winner, I was good and Smoothie would love me! Anyway, I only created ten S-16''s because I couldn''t control them well individually all at once. Scramble the jets! Woo! Supply corps is no match for the mighty me! Tents, tanks, weapons, cargos, and unsuspecting humans were a feast before my eyes. I didn''t assault immediately. Instead, I had two mini fighter jets or S-16''s head in the direction where the enemy troops were receiving additional supplies. Although I was by no means an expert in warfare, I understood the basics. I planned to block their main retreat route and their supply route. Without supplies, a starving army would collapse within days. As for me, I camouflaged myself against the dark ceiling as I headed in the direction of battles while dropping simple clones here and there. I figured if I immediately took out their retreat route, the enemies might fight desperately like a cornered animal. Up ahead, the main tunnel was splitting into five branches. If my guesses were correct, at least one of them should lead to the breaches into Vera city. That was one of the tunnels I had to seal with poisonous gasses. Soldiers were flowing constantly in and out from these five tunnels. "It''s nothing personal," I murmured to myself before fully commencing a massacre. Tens of soldiers fell a minutes. They probably didn''t die if only a single tiny poisonous needle penetrated, but multiple was definitely enough to kill. A few darts landed on some of the corpses and began sprouting. Following that, poisonous gas spread swiftly and quietly in the background as soldiers became alarmed at the sight of their fallen comrades. By now, my mini fighter jets had reached as far as my fey magic could bring them. There they landed out of my sight and began sprouting using [synthesis] while producing poisonous gas en mass. You know, if this was the surface, it probably wouldn''t have worked as well. But here, you kept the place warm and cozy. Suddenly, there was a notice. I ran out of resources to create cyanide. What!? How? I thought I had plenty? Oh, not enough nitrogen. Easy fix. [Absorption], go take them from air. Done! I didn''t care whether [absorption] was on overdrive or not. Since [conglomerate] had integrated [absorption] into itself, I didn''t have to bother with personally using it if it was just general tasks. Though, specific tasks still required my attention. Shouts and orders echoed through the tunnels. One of them yelled, "It''s the devil!" Oh I''ve been found! Took them long enough, or maybe my black outfit was just that amazing. Again my ingenuity exceeds my expectations! I can''t be too stingy with my resources now, can I? Tremble before my greatness! Bahahaha...! While dodging gunshots under the ceiling, I gave a command: Rise, my legion! The clones I had placed earlier within their camp grew at monstrous speed, quickly engulfing the entire camp in eerie greeneries. As desperate soldiers tried to eliminate my clone bodies with swords and machetes, only more clones were created in the process. Needless to say, they too grew at astonishing speed. A few soldiers tried to equip their mobile suits only to get entangled and wrapped up in poisonous vines. Darts and needles infused with fast acting paralyzing poison were being blasted out from modified stems and leaves. Screams and cries of agony were muffled by the dense undergrowth that sprang forth. Begin [absorption]! I can''t take a loss here. My reservoir is being spent here. The issue wasn''t with my mana reservoir but everything else that made up the plant bodies. All parts of humans were useful to some degree after some conversion. Their clothing were mostly useful except the metallic parts. Their mana was lacking but still very nice to have. Mana was super delicious. While that was happening, not everyone was caught in my surprise attack aside from those who were returning from the five branch tunnels. It appeared that some humans had abilities or traits that resisted my paralyzing and lethal poisons. They were also quite strong, capable of keeping my vines from closing in on them. I could only see them indirectly because I could tell there were pockets in the growth and my plant bodies were being disintegrated. Kuhhh... How do I deal with them? Poisonous gases? They''re probably immune. I''m no good with hands-on combat either. Ahhh... What to do? blanksphere Ahh... sorry, I had chapter scheduled but apparently I didn''t submit it. Chapter 52 Looking at the mess I made, I decided to do a quick cleanup. It was really a toxic place. Well, I''ll reabsorb everything. Ehh... Those strong folks, I''ll leave them to someone else to deal with. I didn''t see them! Nope. I could faintly make out the shapes of the tanks from the way my clone bodies grew. This made locating mana cores quite easy. I quickly merged with my plant bodies and took the mana used to operate those tanks. Though, it would be really cool to drive a tank, it was just too slow. If I wanted to, I could probably operate a tank remotely with clones inside but it just wasn''t worth my effort. In addition, I would have to be near it because my clones had no ability to see. The entire process of reabsorbing most of my clone bodies was done within a few short minutes. It was fast because the clones were basically absorbing themselves which normally didn''t make sense. It was like deconstruction and storing the parts away in an invisible space. A few remaining clones scattered around. They were left to continuously produce poisonous gases to fill up this entire place. The result of this clean up raised me to level 57. Half of the gains was probably due to my use of synthesis to grow and the other half related to kills and or spiritual stats absorbed. Absorbing mana from non-living things probably didn''t count towards levelling up. Anyway, I didn''t bother looking at the dreary scenery as I rushed up one of the five tunnel branches. I picked the one to the left because that was where most soldiers were fighting back the fiercest. They also had reinforcements arriving from this tunnel but they had all since retreated without much resistance. There''s no escape! The hunter becomes the hunted! Ahahaha... I''m coming for all of you! As my level had increased, so did all my stats. Although some stats weren''t visible to me, my flying speed had certainly increased a bit. I smiled with delight. There was no mercy for invaders. I charged at full speed along with a huge swarm of poisonous needles and darts. I was filled with so much excitement that I could hardly contain. Perhaps I was just having too much fun. Hah, I''ve been tainted with bloodlust. Oh wells. It''s kill or be killed. If I think of this as a game, it isn''t so bad. How about considering this an after breakfast workout? I miss breakfast... Was I evil or on the side of justice? I didn''t know. I killed so many without a hint of remorse. Even though I used to be a human, I felt no compassion towards them. None of the poisons I possessed were strong enough to keep anyone asleep for prolonged periods of time. Hence, I''d been using lethal poisons since I began this solo task. A war without casualty was just a pipe dream. Reality was different. Unless a god descended and intervened, people died. Thinking about it differently, I was just sending them to heaven or hell earlier. A painless death should be considered a blessing! God, I''m not your lackey, but I''m letting it slide this time! Soldiers left and right fell one after another. Those who were equipped with mobile suits or hidden inside tanks took a bit more effort on my part. Wherever I passed, death ensued with only minor exceptions, the exceptions being either powerful warriors with outlandish abilities or traits and those capable of using defense or utility magic. Magicians are annoying to deal with. Ghuhhh... "Devil! You shall proceed no further," a hulking man declared while blocking my path. I somehow ended up being surrounded after leaving too many exceptions alive. Since I had basically accomplished my mission by disrupting the enemy''s invading force, no one would blame me if I went offline for a bit, right? I needed a break. "I''m no devil! I have a name which doesn''t concern you punks. I''m a godsend reaper, you know?! Yield or face the wrath of the strawberry fey!" I stated proudly, puffing my non-existent chest. There were four in front and behind me along this narrow tunnel. They had casted barriers around themselves to prevent themselves from getting poisoned. And, around me, they had casted a barrier and somehow trapped me inside. I couldn''t teleport even if I wanted to. All of my spatial abilities were restricted, preventing me from using abilities to communicate with the outside. Teleport block? Fantasy world at its finest I suppose. As if ignoring what I just said, one of the men said, "Your evil deeds shall not go unpunished." "Hatto, don''t waste your words on this devil. Just look at its disgusting form, pure evil. As expected, fey is born to cause terror in this world." A man in black mobile suit spat. He was probably one of the leaders or some powerful person. Regular soldiers didn''t have these rare mobile suits. "Heyy... Wait, I''m not disgusting. I''m pretty, okay?" I retaliated against his awful remarks. "Typical devil, trying to charm us with words. It''s not going to work on us, you creep. Your sin is your existence. Once we slay you, we''ll go after all your other bodies. We''ll destroy the root of evil that you are." "Wait, wait! I''m vetoing that! You invaded our land and killed innocent people. I fought to protect my country, so you''re the evil ones! You''re the monsters!" "This devil, trying to twist everything. The edicts of the Hero King is justice. We are cleansing the land of those animal filth." He replied indignantly. Somehow they still haven''t attacked me yet. Perhaps this barrier also prevented them from attacking me. I tried to think of ways to get me out of this mess. I wonder if I can use [absorption] on the barrier? The moment my finger touched the barrier, I got zapped. My finger wasn''t burnt or anything but the pain was there. "Owie..." The barrier on the other hand flickered before returning to its original state. It works? Maybe? Let me try again. I wasn''t the only one who noticed it. The people surrounding me were horrified when they saw that I was able to affect their magic barrier, probably super advanced magic barrier. "Blasphemy!" "It''s trying to escape!" "Shut up, you''re too loud!" I shouted angrily, startling them. I''ll shatter your stupid barrier. How dare you trap me!? I cocooned myself within thin threads of vines, and quickly expanded them just before touching the barrier. Then, I immediately activated [absorption] the moment my cocoon touched the barrier. I might not be able to destroy the barrier, but I could remove the source upholding the magic barrier and that was mana. "Don''t let it escape! Seal!" Right after one barrier was shattered, more magic barriers were erected around me. They had some super fast casting speeds, not sure if mobile suits had anything to do with that. Anyhow, my eyes only managed to catch a few magic configurations, something like magic circles. First it was a fiery cage, perfect counter to plant life which vaporized my cocoon in a flash. Since my spatial abilities were still limited, I knew that another barrier was around us blocking my ability to teleport. It really was annoying. It was probably the outer barrier that surrounded everyone here. Fire cage, electric cage, what else... I wonder if my |enhanced resistances| trait can nullify some of it. Psst. Psst. Psst. Three gunshots penetrated my body. Because how small body was, I took extensive damages in my arms and leg. A surge of excruciating pain reminded me of the time that hunter tried to dismember me. If I died here, I wasn''t sure if I could revive with |parallel bodies| when space was possibly severed. Moreover, I had never died once before so I had no grasp of that ability. I didn''t want to gamble. Right now, I was holding onto too much resources within gourmet from earlier. I slowly increased my size via [transformation] to lessen the effects of incoming damages. Smoothie''s plant body parts were within me and they had been damaged. I didn''t know what effect my [transformation] had on them and I had forgotten about it when I shrunk my body. In the worst case scenario, they too had been absorbed leaving only a minute amount stored in this fey body. To think they would go on a hunting trip to kill the rest of my plant bodies after this was unacceptable. Never again. I had to break out of this encirclement and escape as soon as possible. If I died, everything stored in |gourmet| might be lost. Let''s do this. Let''s use it all up. I have more mana than all of you combined. Let''s see who lasts longer in a battle of attrition. [Conglomerate], unleash everything into [synthesis]. While I resolved myself, I continuously covered myself with plant matter as these humans attacked relentlessly. Ice magic, fire magic, earth magic, none of them could penetrate my defenses because each time my defenses took damage, another layer of plant matter would blanket over it. Since I was enclosed in multiple layers of thick barriers, those humans could not attack my fey body physically. They probably didn''t want to get too close to me either. That kind of worked in my favor in this current predicament of mine. blanksphere Chapter 53 My turn. Unleash unlimited growth! Gooooo!! I was a little too excited for some reason. Treating life like a game wouldn''t be such a bad idea. To maintain their magic barriers, they had to input mana. And the more stress I added to those barriers, the more mana they had to infuse to maintain those barriers. That was the deal, and also the deal breaker. My mana outclassed theirs because I was a fey being. Naturally I had more mana. Ya''ll messed with the wrong gal. I''m the boss around here! Bahaha... The first barrier, the one that was a fire cage, held onto its form while burning and vaporizing my clone bodies. I didn''t care about the form anymore, I just synthesized an ominous growing green mass with the shape of a sphere. And, it just continuously grew and grew. I couldn''t hear any of their shouts or cries. I didn''t like noises and outrages. I was inside this massive green ball monitoring the situation using [conglomerate]. No matter how badly my plant bodies were burnt or scorched, I remained unfazed. I was kind of hopeful |enhanced resistances| would increase its effectiveness and include heat resistance or something. Whether my hope was met or not, I couldn''t tell at the moment. Anyway, to increase the danger level, I added poisons into the massive green plant matter. The more they burned, the worse the air quality became. No matter how much they filtered the air with magic, it wouldn''t matter once if all their breathable air in the vicinity was pushed away by toxic fumes. Although their fire barrier originated from a magical phenomenon, the subsequent burning of my plant body was a chemical reaction that used up oxygen in the air. There was no way they could continuously enclose me in airtight barrier. Their mana simple wouldn''t last even with their artificial mana cores. The sound of a single explosion reached me. That was the first breakthrough. I was sure of it. The second barrier was lightning magic that vaporizes anything that touches it. Vaporization came with myriads of explosions. Within a minute, I broke the second barrier. If they had managed to use lightning magic on me directly, I might have taken some damage. However, there was no way I could die that quickly at my current level, not from a bunch of level 40 humans. The only way to rid of me was to obliterate me instantly and they already missed their chance. I doubted they could do that even if they tried. In any case, I was now back to my regular body size. My black outfit had grown with me so I didn''t go naked, not that there was anything to see... Needless to say, I had [synthesis] to restore my body to health. Their barriers were no match for my prowess, obviously. I didn''t just wipe out a good chunk of their military force for nothing. Once I had pushed out my cocoon of green mass to a certain point, I felt that I had caught eight of them. There were eight bubbles, faint ones. I applied [absorption] on the outer edges of the barriers. Unlike when I was on the defensive, being on the offensive was easy when I didn''t have to worry about my safety. It''s not hard to figure it out, you know? I learn too, you know? [Absorption] was really a cheat ability. It had probably evolved somewhere without changing its ability name. There really wasn''t much I couldn''t absorb at this point. Fey core and souls, perhaps not, but mana and all things material could be absorbed with enough time given. Before I killed them to prevent troubles in the future, I drained their mana and their mana cores while they fiercely struggled in confinements. I kind of wanted to have a chat to know why they had such prejudice against the beastfolks. Beastfolks were nice people! Sure, I didn''t like King Dolan because I just didn''t like him, but majority were good people that I could get along with. I had the eight of them bound in vines and brought before me after I removed the green mass via [absorption]. These humans were all limp and unable to move. It almost looked like I''ve been bullying them. The fight was like a great demon lord versus eight heroes, super unfair. I won though. Since I won, I deemed myself the hero and they the demon underlings! Yes, they were underlings because they weren''t that strong. Mm. Fey magic is amazing as always! Super reliable. Would have lost without it. "Devil, you''ll never get anything out of us!" "Do your worst!" "Our Hero King shall deliver judgement unto you! Your days are numbered!" One after another, as if they had rehearsed prior, they spout out those cringe worthy lines. After listening to their boring taunts and grievances, I murmured with a charming smile, "Such fine gentlemen..." "Your petty tricks won''t work on us." I asked, "Tell me, why do you hate the beastfolks? They are living peacefully, not disturbing you humans." "We won''t be brainwashed by your cunning spells. Just end us already." Sigh. I hate brainwashing. I''m not wasting time undoing it, not worth my effort and time. Whoever capable of such large scale brainwashing must be super powerful. Such a hassle! "Oh, is that so? I was going to spare one of you as a messenger to spread fear, but I guess there''s no need? Hmm... Thanks for the meal." One at a time, I made these human soldiers wither and disappear. I took some time to check each of their status before they completely became a part of my resources. On a side note, I kind of wondered if humans had ''human cores'' like us with fey cores. All of them had quite a few abilities and traits. From what I could tell, humans had varied growth per level. For example, two of the humans here had higher spiritual stats than physical stats. It might have to do with their traits: |enhanced spiritual| and |magician|. One guy also had |elemental manipulator|. He was probably the guy who was able to use those elemental barriers. The last one remaining shouted, "Curse you!!" before disappearing. "Bye." Another one bites the dust. Ehh... No, correction, unfortunately, I was too cheap to give you dust. I was kind of melancholic that I wasn''t able to steal their fancy traits and abilities. All in all, there was a net loss of resources. To compensate that, my earlier realization came to the rescue. Hey, let''s just use [absorption] on air. There should be mana in air, right? Yay! I''m genius. All clones, initiate [absorption]! That was just a command to those outside of the tunnels and the city. I wouldn''t want to damage the city of Vera''s magic formations accidentally or something. My current status was: [Level 58 Fey (plant); Species: Strawberry Phantasm; Physical: 110/110; Spiritual: 352/352; Traits: Bewitching, Devious, Rapid Growth, Parallel Bodies, Hoarder, Reaper, Progenitor, Integrator, Escapist, Tactician, Enhanced Spiritual, Enhanced Resistances; Abilities: Absorption, Charm, Conglomerate, Strawberry Substitution, Subspace, Synthesis, Transformation; Description: An elusive plant fey shrouded in mystery.] I didn''t bother checking the detailed physical stats and spiritual stats. Instead, I was kind of happy that my |gourmet| trait had finally disappeared! Or rather, it evolved or changed into |hoarder|, not that I was happy about the naming of it. On the bright side, I gained a new ability, [subspace]. They probably both had to do with storage. If that was the case, I hoped that everything I had stored away in |gourmet| was smoothly transferred over. That new ability name has that "oomph" to it. It''s giving me heartburns. I''m kidding. Having already acquired so many abilities and traits compared to others, when it came to battles, I was certainly at a huge advantage. Even if I was up against those with similar levels but without abilities and traits, I should come out with only a few scratches in the worst case scenario. Oops, I got to keep moving or I''ll be surrounded again. I hurried up, rushing through the tunnels knocking down scattered soldiers left and right. I didn''t really care whether they were healers, doing first aids on injured ones, or simply resting. My presence alone seemed to generate terror wherever I went. Perhaps it had to do with my appearance, shrouded in pure blackness. It had to be! On top of that, I was super merciful! I was a merciful lord. If they had no will to fight, I left them be. The tunnel I was currently in was an ascending passage built with a different style, smaller in size, and often branched in many directions. Some were dead ends while others were collapsed seemingly on purpose. Occasionally, I found dead beastfolks here and there slumped by the wall or lying on the ground. There were plenty of dead humans soldiers as well, some crushed under debris caused by partial collapses of tunnels. I''m not too late right? I checked [conglomerate] one again to confirm Smoothie''s status. Safe. Alright, alright. At the end of a tunnel, there was a trapdoor overhead. It was already opened so I quickly exited and examined my surroundings. I was finally back in the city of Vera, the surface or outer city. Chapter 54 I was in the storage room of a bar or something. Since no one was around, I stretched my body real good. My wings were extended, and my arms loosened up a bit. I really needed that. Should I remain a black figure or something else? Black is cool though! Mmm... How about red and black? Sure, let''s go with that. Is that gothic style!? I don''t know. Ruby red eyes, raven black hair and pale white skin became my new appearance. Or, should it be strawberry red eyes? As for my outfit, it was a black dress with red patterns and luminescent trims. My wings had to be removed because they were too conspicuous and prone to injuries on the battlefield. As for my pointy ears, I kept them as is, because, style points. I was quite happy with my new look! My girl friends in my previous life would be super jealous of me if they found out I could create new outfits this easily and quickly. Normally, making a new dress would take a while but recently I was getting super proficient with [synthesis]. I felt like it would soon evolve into something even more amazing. I''m tired of looking androgynous. Since Smoothie calls me Mother, and not Father, let me give myself two soft but barely noticeable bumps. This way, it''ll appear as if I''m growing! I''m still growing, yes, perfect explanation if Smoothie ever asks. Mm! Hehe... I''m sure she''ll be super jealous! The main reason Smoothie always called me Mother probably had to do with naming conventions in this world. That was just a guess. After all, fathers normally didn''t create children by themselves. I was just a special case in this world, or perhaps my lack thereof had to do with being a semi-spiritual existence? Now that I thought about it, wasn''t I both then? Is it unique to progenitors? Maybe there''s more to [transformation]? Ughhh... I have so many questions now. I hate thinking. Deep or not, rabbit holes are no good. Let''s return to reality. I probably missed the main army somewhere. There are still four other branch tunnels but I don''t want to go back. I can''t be bothered. Guuuhhhh... I want a pay raise! Anyway, did they already march towards the other cities after collapsing portions of the city''s main tunnels? That''s very possible. If they did, that would be bad. I already cut their supply route for now but they could still loot supplies. Meh, nothing I can do about it. I did my best. Time to go home, take a shower, and sleep. On the streets, there were small scale battles as light tanks made their way towards one of the main entrances to the inner city. The heavy tanks seemed to be inoperative, and just parked on the street. There were no traces of damages on them as far as I could see. I snuck next to one and found that even the mana core was still in there so I gladly stole those mana. One could never have too much mana. As expected, all the extra mana were stored in either [subspace] or |hoarder|. I didn''t know which one. While sneaking around the city while avoiding detection, I continued to neutralize enemy soldiers here and there. Just for fun, I even picked up a rifle. It''s an upgrade! It''s a weapon upgrade! I think. I had never held a weapon in my previous life before, not once. I was both excited and nervous to try this new gadget. That didn''t mean I had no knowledge of how it was used. There were plenty of instructional videos on the internet that taught the basics. It couldn''t be that difficult to use, right? Aim, and shoot!? There was a little hum sound before a light bullet left the barrel. Aww... I missed. Darn it! I was aiming for a headshot but it penetrated his neck instead. Still, a kill was a kill. Indeed, so it''s something like a pulse of weak particle beam... As expected! I always wanted to say that like a bigwig scientist. If I was an intellectual in my previous life, I could have gotten a good job. But, I had no regrets! After that shot, I was noticed. My conspicuousness was making itself known. There was no other being dressed as strangely as I was in a warzone. I made sure to smile. To the humans, they surely saw a devilish grin. If playing the role of a devil means making the enemy of the humans, then I shall play a devil''s role. I''ll make all of you tremble in fear before this great me. Mwuahahaha...! I accidentally got into the mood. Well, to be honest, I just wanted the war to stop so I could relax and play around. And if there were nothing to entertain me, the next option would be to create entertainments, no matter how long it took. Up in the sky, it was no longer apparent which side was winning. The cloud cover was simply too thick. However, there were hints of the battle everywhere around us. On one hand, wreckages of a magitech flagship burned at the foot of an adjacent mountain. Various other wreckages were clearly visible as well, some within the city and on the mountains. On the other hand, there were a few dead winged beasts lying around. Well, that was likely because they weren''t as visible to me. Psst. "Oww... Who shot me?" I turned around to find a soldier charging at me with a long sword in hand. "Yaaahhhh!!! Die you fiend!" What? A fiend now? I thought I''m supposed to look like an elf right now? It didn''t work? Is it because I''m attractive that you''re coming at me at full speed? I''m so smart and you''re so dead. "Buzz off!" I rebuffed before shooting him in the chest. But for some reason, one shot wasn''t enough to stop him. He was super reluctant to fall and die. How persistent! I thought with exasperation while throwing away my useless rifle. "Are you so desperate for a hug? Well, too bad, you''re bleeding and I don''t want to get my new dress soiled. So, bye." I flicked my left hand, and a poisonous dart anchored itself into his chest. Within seconds, he was no more. Psst. "Ow! Again?" I was super irritated. I managed to keep my dress clean but now it had a hole in it. The first one was burnt my left cheek which I had already healed up. That was fine, but I hated pain. Grrr... I hate hidden snipers. Did they get smart? Or do they usually play dirty? From the old documentaries, I remembered seeing that snipers in war used to hide behind things. They were the definition of cowardice, no offense. They had no chivalry but that was just how wars were fought back then. I never lived through any of that. Nonetheless, if wars in this world was moving in such a direction, I wanted to stop it. I wasn''t a fan of ugly things. Everyone should just get along and eat my strawberries, especially now that I had flavorless and non-lethal poisons at my disposal. It was no longer a dream! I hate this. I can''t even freely use poison here. The easiest way to eliminate everyone was to use poisonous gases on the entire city. But, that would also kill off the beastfolks. There was no easy method. Gah, I''ll just rid of the tanks and go back. I''ve helped out enough already. Ignoring the hidden sniper, I swiftly zipped around the city using narrow paths between buildings. A sniper was just a sniper. They normally shouldn''t pursue their targets. It was quite an exhilarating experience to move so quickly in a warzone. I had plenty of mana so with or without wings made little difference right now. One by one, I laid waste to light tanks and heavy tanks within the city. Draining their mana was quite easy now that I was quite good at it. I didn''t even need to be inside the tanks'' operating space. With my currently ability, I just had to be near it and touch the metal parts surrounding it which could be done outside. As for the operators, I left them there. I wasn''t about to crack open the lids to get to the meat. It was just a waste of my time. I doubted anyone other than me could accomplish this feat aside from that rabbit demon. [Devourer] was probably something that could also drain mana aside from simply eating souls. Those magitech stuff was just poorly compatible with someone like me. They were just unlucky that I happened to be here! Anyway, collecting mana was fine and dandy but I didn''t see anyone with black mobile suits while cleaning up. I had seen a few underground in the big tunnels and never in the smaller tunnels. If anything, I expected them to show up to give me a good fight out in the open. While I was stopping in between each tank, I took another few hits from that annoying sniper; or perhaps these were different snipers. Every single time, as if they were trying to agitate me, I had to repair my damaged dress. Gurrr... I''m merciful! The devil is merciful and benevolent! That is, your life is being spared as long as I don''t see you. Because I was super merciful, I left their surface army mostly intact. As much as I didn''t want to become a devil, I wanted to be a devil. My head was such a mess. Chapter 55 After stealing precious condensed mana from those tanks in the city, I made my way to the inner city entrance, the one I was familiar with. Unbeknownst to me, an ashen stone gate, one that I didn''t know existed, stood in the way. I only saw a gate from the inside so I had no idea there were other gates outside. Hordes of humans gathered around the entrance after having defeating majority the city defense troops stationed on the surface. Such a nice looking gate. A circular spell was cast upon the gate by a nobly dressed mage. From what I could tell, there weren''t many human mages. This meant that this mage wasn''t a nobody from a remote village and likely a major talent. That magic, if I remember correctly, it weakens earth and rocks. Boom! A man with a glowing prosthetic arm punched the gate. Then, a thin, barely noticeable crack appeared on the gate. [Level 47 Mortal; Species: Human; Physical: 325/325; Spiritual: 124/142; Traits: Ruthless, Canny, Iron Will, Enhanced Physical; Abilities: Harbinger, Hunter, Destroyer; Description: A common mortal.] You can''t be serious! Humans can be that powerful? Not even level 50? Those abilities and traits. Damn. To be honest, they all look like traits to me. Humans can be such cheats. There were five of them standing out from the crowd. They were dressed differently from the regular soldiers in that they had black uniforms instead of dark grey uniforms. Most of the people there were looking towards the mountain with their backs to me. Out of five special soldiers, two were looking at my direction, ready for combat. One of them had an extravagant recurve bow. The other had a black staff topped with a black sphere in his hand. From what I could feel, there was likely a mini mana core inside or some type of mana or magic crystal. An archer and a mage? Why not use rifles? Even that punch man has one. You think you''re some kind of fantasy heroes or something? You''re not! If you''re heroes, that would make me a demon lord? Right? Not happening. A boom echoed. A man with prosthetic legs landed a fly kick before the gate completely shattered. He too had similar status along with a powerful modifier trait |enhanced physical|, and a powerful ability, [destroyer]. If I had to guess, his |enhanced physical| probably enhanced his leg strength. That ability was probably acquired through special training. The fifth person was in a full body mobile suit. Unlike the ones I had seen before, this mobile suit was completely mechanical, covering every part of his fleshy body. The suit had two pairs of mechanical wings, super futuristic looking. On his shoulders were mounted rifles. In addition, a great sword was attached behind his back. Because of the mobile suit, the fifth person was a few heads taller than the rest. Oh my gosh, which era are you from? Such coolness doesn''t fit you. Screw those useless tanks, I want that outfit! I''m stealing it. Finder keepers. Regardless, once I captured them, they were as good as dead. My abilities were basically super cheats in a nutshell. Unless they were overwhelmingly more powerful than me or had made extensive preparations, I couldn''t be taken out. First, I need to clear out those soldiers in the way. It''s nothing personal, really. There was one thing I wanted to try but the cost of resources wasn''t going to be cheap. That wasn''t really the main concern. I was concerned that my efforts would get wasted if that mage could cast barriers to deflect my attack. So far the two hadn''t taken any actions yet but that could change depending on my actions. How should I approach them? Guh... I wish I had transformed myself entirely into a human looking girl. It''s too late. It would be strange for a beautiful elf girl to be playing around here. Can I charm them? I don''t know. I''m sure they''re all super lustful to be coming after my furry friends. Not! That just sounds wrong. Actually, I knew. If I really wanted to blend in from the get go, I would have had to transform myself into a human soldier, and a man at that. That was a no go. My trait would automatically make me look beautiful, and that would make me a pretty boy? I wasn''t interested. I didn''t wish to adjust my appearances. Changing colors was fairly easy. Removing and re-growing wings was not difficult. Adjusting my physical size was slightly uncomfortable but doable. As for my facial features, I had never seen it. Given how cute Smoothie was, I must be absolutely gorgeous like a goddess! Changing it was equivalent to giving myself a plastic surgery. I didn''t have a mirror here so if I messed up, I could get super ugly! Well, not really. The cookie wasn''t worth the risk, except there was no cookie to gain in this case. I guess I''ll just use conventional method, guerilla warfare? Maybe? To avoid the direct gazes of the archer and mage, I slid into a back alleyway. Although I had |escapist|, I couldn''t be sure if it was absolute. Earlier, the way I was caught in a pincer move by those eight might have been a coincidence but I couldn''t be too neglectful. Therefore, I figured it was wiser to take greater precaution since I was still quite uninformed on abilities and traits. For example, perhaps there was a |strategist| trait that allowed commanders to see everyone under their commands. By understanding and knowing the movements of these troops, one could potentially pinpoint the location of the enemy. That was just hypothetical. Actually, just earlier, I noticed I gained a trait called |tactician| after going through transformation. Perhaps I missed it earlier because of how many how many traits there were. Anyway, it didn''t seem to do anything, at least not yet. I probably wasn''t using the trait properly. Anyhow, I had to get move on. Door to door fighting had mostly ceased by this point. The underground tunnels now was also likely unusable. Many of them were already collapsed by the beastfolks to prevent further invasions. I''m starting to hate this. I don''t like thinking these stuff. As I was about to get depressed, a magitech ship crashed into a residential building just ahead of me. They''re still not done up there? Suddenly, an idea came to me. Oh right! Let''s test that new trait. Eheheheh... I hid inside a storage facility nearby and began manufacturing a hundred of mini fighter jets. Each was half meter in length. All of them were fully armed just like before. Although they didn''t need wings because of my fey magic, wings made them look really cool. Aesthetics was important! First, I sent out five of them in separate directions. Please, |tactician| trait, be useful! As if the trait had heard my prayer, I began receiving visual signals in my mind. It was something like a mesh wire world where I could see things even outside of this room. As long as they were physical objects within a certain proximity to me or my clones, they were visible to me. However, clarity was lacking for objects that were below a certain size or that the details were too great. Moreover, distance also played a major factor. For example, if there was a mouse, it would only show up as a spheroid instead of its full bodily features. If it was sitting next to me or my clones, I would probably see majority of its details. Quite useful. Super useful! Mm. Strawberry Spy! That sounds super cool. Eheh. Psst. Agent Berry reporting in. No abnormalities, targets sighted at 12 o''clock. Psst. Psst. Let them taste fire and fury! Psst. Psst. Aye, Agent Berry out. Psst. Yep, that was me playing radio with myself in my mind. I just couldn''t help it. That was probably not how real spies operated. I was never part of such organizations but a little fun wouldn''t hurt. Onto the serious stuff, with more fighter jets launched, I could see so much better. It almost seemed like a super cheat trait since I could now even see underground structures. Everywhere where I had clones planted, I was receiving visual information. Now, I could actually see Smoothie studying in the library. She wasn''t slacking off or snatching snacks for herself. How diligent! Furthermore, I was now having a much easier time managing the movements of each clone. It was like I was giving them commands just like a war strategy game. A few S-16''s were lost shortly after they took off. Huh... Who is it? I checked my visuals. Ah, found you now. You can run but you can''t hide. Mwuahahaha...! Immediately after I found the perpetrator, his life was forfeit per the usual method. Thank you for the meal. As I started picking off sneaky snipers hidden within the city, a squad of around five hundred soldiers came rushing toward my location posthaste. You''re offering me free small fries? How generous of you... It only took about a minute before all of them were gunned down. A regular army was literally ineffective at taking me down right now. I''m in a different league now. You guys need to get on my level. Meanwhile, another gate at the entrance had been blown apart. If I kept playing around, there wouldn''t be any gates remaining to keep that army of human soldiers out of the inner city. blanksphere Chapter 56 Using my remote controlled military grade toys, S-16''s, I closed in on my targets. At the same time, I was eliminating foes within the city. As long as they were within approximately one kilometer of my fey body''s location, they were within my reach. With how easily clones could be synthesized, no enemy was spared, not even the ones hidden in the tunnels beneath. Those who I had spared earlier who still hadn''t ran away had suffered the same fate unfortunately. Actually, there were some rare exceptions but that was due to the difficulty of navigating the tunnels. I couldn''t be bothered to move my clones to those secluded pockets of space. It really was a misfortune. I was caught in the moment and forgot about it. It was a complete one sided slaughter... Ah, I''m a monster now, a true monster, a devil. I spared no one. It''s all too late now. I might as well... No, they''re invaders. Let''s just think of it this way. Yeah, I''m a defender of justice! Nnn. With the death of so many, I had finally caught the attention of those five individuals, forcing them to stop their siege on the inner city gates. All the soldiers around them were mercilessly mowed down by me. It wasn''t that I had taken out all the strong individuals but rather there weren''t many strong ones in this area. Even when there were strong individuals, unless they were absurdly powerful, they were no match for me. My poisonous needles were hardly visible. After landing one, the next one would be much easier to land. Following this principle, unless my initial poisonous needles were guarded against, only death waited them. Let''s see if I can snipe the mage first. I can play the sniper game too, you know? While scattering my S-16''s and keeping them within my effective range, I dashed from building to building while keeping within my effective range. Every half a minute, I shot poisonous needles toward the archer or one of the two vanguard fighters. This was to test their responses. Each time, my attacks either bounced or were completely neutralized by a magic barrier. As expected. Automatic defenses? No, it had to be the mage casting a super thin barrier. Meanwhile, I didn''t neglect to clean out the enemy soldiers still holed up in the city. Even after losing so many of their fellow comrades, their commanders hidden somewhere didn''t order a retreat. Many were climbing the mountain and on their way toward the temple above. Don''t tell me their commanding officers had all died? No. Way. Right? I continued to snipe the five individuals except for the armored guy. For a while, this tactic seemed to have disorientated them as they were neither pushing forward nor retreating. The mage was constantly maintaining a barrier. If you don''t hurry up, all the regular soldiers not under your mage''s protection will die... During the time they were brainstorming a countermeasure, I created more S-16''s until I was too tired and decided to just synthesize saucers. Advancing too quickly? Non-sense! Saucers were just so much easier to create than S-16''s. I just had to create a disk and leave a few holes for projectiles to exit. If I could combine elemental magic with it, that would be super cool like shooting light beams! As if they suddenly came to a resolution, the guy with full mobile suit opened fire. At the same time, the archer aimed towards the sky, and released a barrage of flaming arrows. Only in that brief moment they opened fire I knew the barrier had to be lowered. However, that wasn''t enough time for me because I couldn''t launch my poisonous needles that fast. By the time my needles were launched, the barrier was raised once again. Seven of my flying clones were instantly blown up by gunfire. Immediately following, as if those arrows were seekers, five more of my flying clones were lost. I knew they were seekers because those arrows couldn''t be evaded easily. It took my quite a bit of effort to maneuver my clones which was why I didn''t lose more. Huh? Does that mean |escapist| trait doesn''t apply to clones? What is this bad joke? I peeked at the archer with my eyes, and examined her abilities. [Level 56 Mortal; Species: Human; Physical: 314/315; Spiritual: 142/170; Traits: Keen, Precision, Quick Draw, Field Vision; Abilities: Hunter, Bombardment, Absolute Penetration; Description: A common mortal.] These traits and abilities look quite annoying to deal with. Was it |precision| that gives seeking arrows? Or was it a combination with [bombardment]? None of them had full mana except the guy in full mobile suit. If I kept harassing them, they would eventually run out of mana to keep up the barriers. That was my great plan. There was no way their mana would outlast mine. Actually, I had a secret plan as well. While they were distracted by my periodic harassaments and preoccupied with eliminating my obvious flying clones, I created leaves and branches to match them to that of trees growing in the city. They were scattered around in plain sight. And for fun, I shaped a clone into a cricket. They slowly crept their way toward the mage and archer following a gentle breeze I generated with wind magic. As the armored guy and archer continued with their onslaught of my clones, I didn''t hesitate to create more saucer clones. A battle of attrition wasn''t something I enjoyed playing but I was only buying time. It was nice knowing you two. The moment a rolling branch and a gliding leaf touched the mage''s barrier that protected his allies, it was game over. I activated [absorption] on the barrier itself while launching a full assault with all my clones available in the area. Poisonous needles and darts, mini saucers and any remaining S-16''s, all ammunitions were unloaded without reserve. It was too late for the mage to notice, much too late. I was quite sure that high output magic couldn''t be easily used. Hence, it was my victory! Get wrecked and good fight! The archer and mage fought desperately until the end but ultimately succumbed to death by poison. In exchange, I lost three quarters of my clones in the area. A good chunk was destroyed by the mage who released a huge burst of fire magic in the last second. I didn''t think he had it in him but apparently he did. Many of my darts and needles were also burnt up in that attack. The archer was not that different, suddenly releasing a quick succession of twenty split shots in total. That really surprised me. Each fire arrow was split into twelve, which meant that actually over two hundred arrows were fired. Thankfully, my flying clones remained operational despite receiving damages, otherwise I would have ran out of clones first. Anyway, losing this many clones in this area didn''t mean anything to me. I could easily just create many more. That archer actually had levels close to mine so after defeating both the archer and mage, I gained a level. Now, there were just three big boys remaining. One of them looked a bit familiar. If I could turn his frown upside down, his face would remind me of that evil hunter who tormented me for no reason. Then, if I could add that cigar to his mouth and redo his hair, it would be a perfect match. Speaking of similarities, he actually has similar abilities and traits... Wait, four of them are the same, aren''t they? It can''t be a coincidence, right? I mean, there shouldn''t be any way for humans to level up so fast. What kind of cheat did he use? Hold your thoughts! We can''t be sure yet. Let''s save him for last and question him. Without the mage, the fake legs man was as good as dead. As if he knew his life was forfeit, he gave his all to destroy the next entrance gate leading into Vera''s inner city. Not happening! A flicker, and that man collapsed before he was able to exert another powerful kick on the subsequent gate. blanksphere Age. Having higher levels tend to extend a being''s lifespan in this world. This applies to physical beings which can be seen in the case of the Hero King although his level wasn''t disclosed. Those categorized as fey, demon and etc. don''t count as physical beings. Chapter 57 The man with the fake arm took out his rifle and began shooting down my remaining clones while hiding behind the armored guy. I couldn''t see the status of the armored guy but both of them were superb with their sharpshooting skill. To compensate for my lost clones, I continued to manufacture more and more of the disk version of my flying clones and began hiding them, carefully not to let them see me. Even if I couldn''t be tracked, my remote controlled clones could be, or so it seemed. I rather not they track my position indirectly and launch a surprise attack. I like surprises, but not from muscle men. Tch, now I''m in a pickle. I really wanted to save that man for last but if he''s this stubborn... Do I have any paralysis poison doesn''t kill with minor overdose? Do I? I don''t, right? There''s no way to tell how strong a poison is just from the menu. Then it''ll be down to luck. Let''s see how lucky you are! The wheel of fortune grinds slowly. Since I couldn''t really neutralize the armored guy without also killing both of them, I decided to use poisonous needles coated with the usual paralysis poison. Knowing that the guy had |iron will| trait, the chance of overdosing was quite high because he was bound to fight to the last breath without giving in to the poison. One at a time, I shot poisonous needles at his exposed skin. As expected, even after multiple direct hits, he still stood strong. He didn''t even bother pulling any of the needles out of his skin. Meanwhile, I lost another five clones from gunfire. He''s got guts. Normally, seven should be more than enough. It wasn''t like he wasn''t affected. His movements had slowed down considerably after the seventh shot. Wait a second, I just remembered. That mage isn''t around anymore. I can just overwhelm him with darts. After making a short preparation, I unleashed two hundred darts in his direction. The only direction I couldn''t cover was his back because that was where the inner city''s main entrance was. Just as my darts were about to reach him, a light flashed at the centre of the armored man''s chest. Immediately following that, an explosion blew away majority of my poisonous darts. What now? He had more tricks up his sleeves? Without wasting a second, the two of them charged into the entrance, heading straight for the next gate. They probably planned to bust open the gate and cause as much ruckus as possible before their final breath. Oh no you don''t! Not on my watch. I quickly recovered the remaining darts and sent them after those two fellows. To ensure they couldn''t escape, I unleashed [synthesis] at a much higher output on my clones that had closed in on them. Immediately, a huge wave of greeneries burst forth like a tidal wave. The two were quickly swallowed whole. Boom! A shockwave in the shape of a wall pushed back my clones. Following that was another explosive echo. Oh shoot, they broke through. One hit? Such power. Why didn''t they use it earlier? Unfortunately for them, there was another stone gate ahead. Though, that was the final gate. Of course, I didn''t give them any breathers. My clones in the shape of vines and tendrils chased after them like a horde of zombies that simple refused to die. Meanwhile, my fey body had to move to keep my advancing clones within my effective control range. It''s game over now! Within seconds, before they could reach the final gate, I captured both of them and began using absorption to steal their mana. Or, that was how it was supposed to go. I was able to capture the fake arm man. His mana was quickly drained to prevent him from using abilities that cost mana. As for the armored guy, or the man in full mobile suit, he finally pulled out his giant sword behind his back. He was swinging it like a boss, cutting down my vines with flashy moves. Well, well, how long can you keep that up? I wanted that mobile suit. There was no reason not to capture such a priceless technology. Darts and tendrils swarmed him endlessly. One second, two seconds, three seconds... Eleven seconds. I counted to eleven before he was completely overwhelmed and lost all his mana. Good fight. It wasn''t even a fight. Thanks for the free toy! Now... How do I open my present? I sat near the entrance examining the two captives remotely via my |tactician| trait. Since I didn''t want to damage the thing, I spent quite a bit of time poking around before I gave up. After a bit, I had the fake arm man carried out and placed before me. He was still somewhat awake, so I greeted him, "Hello there. Have we met before?" His eyes squinted, "You monster..." "That''s right, I''m a monster. If I''m a monster, then you''re a beast, no? Answer me, have you tried to capture a strawberry fey before?" "Ugh... I''ll kill you, you bastard! It''s you, isn''t it! I knew I should have killed you." Confirmed. Maybe I should cut him up so he could feel the pain I went through? Hmm... "Too bad. I don''t know how you levelled up so fast. Since I''m very cute and friendly, want to play a game?" I smirked. There was no one who could rescue him. All the tanks within the city had been neutralized by me. There wasn''t any more reinforcements coming because I already destroyed their local headquarter underneath. Any remaining soldiers still in the city would not be able to hinder me. Most of them were out of my reach as well so I left them alone. The cleanup could be saved for later anyway. "You''ll never get anything out of me! Curse you, you strawberry devil!" Strawberry devil? You mean strawberry cutie? Bad man has bad taste. Calling myself a devil was one thing but being called a devil by someone else just didn''t sit right with me. At least he got the first part right. "I don''t need anything." Four thick vines wrapped around his four limbs. I chuckled, "Let''s have a bit of fun, shall we?" "Ugh. Never!" Slowly but surely, the vines tugged and pulled. Soon, he was stretched with all his limbs out like a starfish. There were a couple refreshing popping sounds. "Fun, fun. Are you having fun?" I asked. "Ughhh." He groaned. No screams yet? Let''s pull a little harder. The end goal was to kill him anyway. A minute later, the fake arm torn off and a bit of blood spilled out. "What a nice looking arm. I wonder if this gave you the boost in levels." I could clearly tell this thing could store some mana. However, examining him didn''t give me any conclusive evidence of it. Sure, he lost some physical stats, but that was all. His face was flushed and yet he still didn''t let out a scream. He was mumbling something as if he was delirious. Since it didn''t sound like a spell, I didn''t bother gagging him. The next limb to come off was his other arm. This time, a lot more blood was flowing out. Nothing, not a single whimper came from him. I''m bored. With a snap of my finger, a leg came off before I used [absorption] to erase him completely. In the end, he only let out a single grunt. His trait |iron will| was apparently not just for show. "Good for you. You have my approval, now rest in hell." With this business finished, I went around the city to clean up all the corpses and paralyzed soldiers. By cleanup, I meant using [absorption] on them. All the broken clones were also absorbed back into me. I''m doing good for the city. Now they don''t have to worry about diseases and digging burial sites. I''m so convenient! I had to leave the mobile suit person tangled up and bound because I didn''t know how to open it. It was air tight like a space suit. There was probably a lock on the inside but I couldn''t see interiors of bodies even with |tactician| trait. No matter what, without a mana core, it shouldn''t be able to move. After my cleanup was complete, the city was super clean, not a single soldier to be found. Their clothes and equipment were left around but that had nothing to do with me! I did my part, and the remaining part was for someone else. Actually, I didn''t clean up the tunnels or any of the beastfolk corpses. It was in consideration of the surviving beastfolks who might wish to see their relatives'' remains. I was super considerate! On the higher grounds, clouds were now indistinguishable from heavy fog, obscuring my vision of any hidden battlegrounds. Looking up, the aerial battle seemed to have concluded. There were no more explosions or flashes coming from above and I hadn''t seen any magitech ship crashing through the clouds for a while. As if announcing the end of a great battle, heavy rain descended upon the land, calming the land while washing away filth and debris. Ah shoot, I just remembered. I forgot to turn off the poisonous gas synthesis. Even now, poisonous gas was continuously being synthesized which I had completely forgot about. I quickly turned it off and found a nice place to sit on the ascending path to the mountain temple. Chapter 58 Enemy soldiers who had ascended the mountainous path to conquer the temple above, none of them survived. I didn''t know what but something powerful obliterated them. At some point, the clouds were no different than dense fog, obscuring my vision. Burnt corpses revealed themselves as the dense fog slowly retreated above. I didn''t bother cleaning them up since I was busy marveling at my new status after levelling up to level 61. I kind of cheated. Since I had plenty of mana and too much resources, I used [synthesis] and [absorption] simultaneously and cyclically for continuous quick growth without making a mess. It was a cheat but no one cared! So, here was my new status. [Level 61 Fey (plant); Species: Strawberry Phantasm; Physical: 157/157; Spiritual: 375/375; Traits: Bewitching, Devious, Parallel Bodies, Escapist, Tactician, Creator, Enhanced Spiritual, Enhanced Resistances, Enhanced Physical; Abilities: Charm, Subspace, Creation, Strawberry Substitution; Description: An elusive plant fey shrouded in mystery.] There was a quantitative and qualitative change to both my traits and abilities. It seemed that several traits had been combined into this new trait, |creator|. In lieu with that came with the [creation] ability which also seemed to have absorbed several abilities that I commonly used. In the future, I expected not to being able gain many new traits and abilities since the ones I gained this time seemed quite encompassing. Honestly, I expected this trait and ability combo to be obscenely powerful. There was also this new trait I gained, |enhanced physical|, something that I didn''t expect to gain. Perhaps, it was a bonus. I would probably have to ask Smoothie''s [Soothsayer] to find out. Wahaha, let''s play with our new menu. Finally, a worthy upgrade for a mighty king like me! I browsed through my menu. Just from the appearance, a few new options were added plus a visual upgrade, or perhaps a software upgrade. As usual, I could still interface with the menu with intention alone. I didn''t have to use my fingers or anything. Although I described it as a menu, it wasn''t just a two-dimensional screen, at least not anymore, it was now a three-dimensional or holographic projection. This was something only I could see, of course. In addition to having this menu in front of me, I could project it to everything visible to me. And, if I was to combine it with |tactician| trait, my range of control was quite expansive. That being the case, it was literally not that different from how it used to be. I could still use [absorption] and [synthesis] even though they weren''t explicitly showing in my status. However, the difference was that I was no longer limited to physical or touch. I could create and destroy things within a certain range as long as they were visible to me. That being said, this part of the ability would only be unlocked once I evolved and met certain undisclosed criteria. This meant that for now, things weren''t that different from before. Furthermore, there were several other screens that had the same issue where it was telling me that my access was restricted. What a bummer, getting my hopes up for nothing! That god is such a tease. He should have waited until I met the all the criteria first. On the plus side, I could create things more efficiently. Whereas before, my mass produced clones all varied slightly in appearances, now they could be replicated perfectly. If I liked a model or a chemical that I created, I could even save it and recreate it at a later date. No extra thought process was involved. If I wanted twenty of something made, I just had to intend it and they would be made perfectly. I tested it out with creating miniature mobile plant suits, and they came out just fine. They were basically toys, made out of plant matter. Speaking of plant matter, it didn''t constitute leaves, branches, and such. Anything that originated from plants could be used as long as I had absorbed and integrated them. This was probably the best part of the [creation] ability so far. I no longer had to follow the traditional growth structure of plants like creating vines and modified leaves and whatnot. I was liberated! Super compressed wooden glass and plates tougher than steel? Strawberry flavored ice cream? Many things were no longer out of reach. I could now create my first bulletproof vest. Well, whether it worked against those energy based rifles wasn''t my concern. My point was, I could start applying more of the technologies used in my previous world to make my life easier. Ice cream... Vegan ice cream is still ice cream. I wish I could eat. But, I think I can make a good profit selling ice cream! I''ll be filthy rich! Uhh... I mean deliciously rich! Strawberries used to be a problem with their addiction and deadly effects. Yes, it used to have that problem. Today was a happy day. I could now toggle those effects off and share strawberries with the world. However, I decided to keep the addictives and minimize the original |reaper| trait for ones harvested by De Planck just to spite him. I wouldn''t want him to catch wind of my upgrades that quickly. As of today, strawberries were only very mild addictive and could only reap one mana point for every ten strawberries eaten. In addition, the seedless strawberries had retired. The new strawberries were now with empty seeds to give them the authentic and original strawberry texture. I''m such a genius. Yum. I could actually remove the status off of the strawberries. It was an onetime thing at the moment of creation which couldn''t be changed afterwards. By doing this, the strawberry, or anything else that I created at that moment, would no longer be part of my body. Once that happened, I would no longer be able to control them directly with fey magic. This also prevented others from examining any status of many things I create in the future. All in all, I now had multiple versions of strawberries. There was one for De Planck the rabbit demon, one for the public, and various ones for other things like that strawberry grenade thing. Now, this [subspace] probably means that, right? I should be able to use it to open it. It should have been just included into [creation]. That would have been easier. Looking at my mana stock, they were mostly all stored away automatically into my storage ability. With my intent, I tried to access a subspace by opening a hole in front of me. "Open sesame?" There was a shimmer in the air and then the [creation] menu popped up. [Opening the subspace will release uncontained non-solid materials into the main space. Yes or no?] It''s like that? Ahh... Thanks for the warning. I guess that means if I stored gas and liquids in there, they had to be in containers. Leaving the excess mana in there is fine, I guess? Wait, wouldn''t that mean I wouldn''t be able to withdraw anything? They don''t mix in there, do they? Probably not? Things soaked in dense mana, I don''t even know what would happen to them. For now, I selected [no]. I wish I can organize my subspace with [creation]. It would be even better if I can build a house and live in there. A personal subspace would make the perfect place to hide from this world. If I remembered correctly, in my previous world, we were super close to commercialize the use of subspaces for storage and travel purposes. Since I had plenty of mana, using this ability shouldn''t be too expensive for me. I sighed, "I guess I''ll start from scratch and compress all my mana further until I use up all the excess mana in my subspace." As I meditated within the rain to super compress my mana, I also gathered lots of water and stored them in containers manufactured through [creation]. This helped me use up my mana and excess resources. My plan was to eventually empty my subspace so that I could turn it into a proper storage facility. Whether it had a limit or not, I didn''t know. I wasn''t a scientist and I didn''t study subspaces. At the end of the day, I only had little knowledge with me. It was too late to regret how little I studied in my previous life. Chapter 59 The rain stopped at the end of dusk. With the clearing of the rain clouds, glittering stars slowly began to illuminate the night sky. There had been no fighting since I left the battlefield. Beastfolk soldiers were now patrolling the streets and searching buildings for any remaining enemies and stragglers. There were also some regular folks who were part of the cleanup team. None of that stuff had anything to do with me. Once I was satisfied with the amount of mana I had condensed, I returned to the inner city to report my findings to Kanoko. I probably should have done so earlier but I didn''t feel like it. Even though I had not condensed as much mana as I would have liked, delaying my report any further might be a bad idea. "Ah right, almost forgot about that mobile suit at the entrance... I can''t just leave it there." I hurried over and removed all my vines and whatnot which left only that hulking lump of metal there. Even though it looked cool and all, I was no longer in the mood to keep it. I wasn''t sure why but I had lost interest. It was too heavy for me to carry and the thought of paperwork required to keep this thing just wasn''t worth it. The beastfolks could keep it for research purposes if they liked. Eventually I would hear about it and maybe they''d let me play with it. "It''s safe. You can keep that thing if you like," I told one of the commanders in charge of cleanup in this area. Since the entrance gate was now open, I walked into the inner city to meet up with Kanoko. "Kanoko! I''m back!" I waved at her who was doing paperwork in her temporary office. She glanced up with a faint smile, "Berry, I''m glad you''re safe. How was it? Were there a lot of them? Were you able to repel them? Tell me everything, every single detail. Nothing is to be missed." What!? She wasn''t in the least bit surprised to see my new dress and my new looks? What''s up with that? I put in so much effort... "There really wasn''t much..." "There must have been. Tell me everything!" Her determined eyes met mine. And so, I recounted an epic tale of my heroic deeds, vanquishing monstrous humans and neutralizing their weapons of mass destruction. A little bit was embellished here and there but everything was the truth! Of course, I excluded anything related to my abilities and traits. In the future, perhaps there would be songs and tales about my... "Mhmm... What can I say? As expected," she nodded in contemplation while sizing me up, "I see you levelled up. Did you lose some abilities and traits?" "Ah, something like that." "I see you gained a |tactician| trait and |enhanced physical| trait and nothing else. What''s going on? Did you obtain something to hide your other abilities and traits?" I did? She should be able to see [creation], [subspace], and |creator| as well? What''s going on? Maybe I should just keep it to myself for now. I wonder if Smoothie can see them? "Eh, I don''t know about that. Maybe you don''t have enough level to see?" "If you have seen my status, you should know that I have |assayer|. This trait allows me to see status without level restriction. It''s the inferior version of what King Dolan has which allows him to examine abilities and traits. If he is still here in the city, I would ask you to come with me." I learned something new. That king, I should avoid him at all cost. My new abilities and traits must be quite troubling. If I got mixed up in the wrong way, I could become a fugitive! My easy life would disappear along with that light at the end of the tunnel. "Uh, no, it''s fine. The abilities are still the same. It''s probably just an error in the system." I mumbled just barely audible on the last part. Somehow, she heard me, "What system?" "Eh, it''s nothing! It''s really nothing. I just meant the whole status thing. Anyway, how are things here? By the way, you should tell the soldiers not to venture into the tunnels because of the poisons." I quickly tried to change the topic. If I was smart about it, I should have figured that the status system was completely natural to them as the air they breathed. To inhabitants of this world, they probably didn''t consider the status to be something foreign. But to me, this interface was completely artificial just like a videogame. "Thank you for reminding me, I''ll be right back. Make yourself comfortable around here, and don''t cause any troubles." "Take your time!" I wasn''t going to stick around in her office. There was nothing to do and I didn''t want to explain any more than I had to. I decided to visit the library where Smoothie was. Even now, I could still see her figure with |tactician| active. Given that her dress was made by me, I could actually see every curve on her body. There weren''t that many curves. Ehehe... My chest isn''t flat. I win! Time to show off! Now, should I teleport or walk? I don''t want her throwing strawberries around again. In the end, I decided to just stroll over to the library. There were a few glances coming my way, but they were the good kind. I''ve become an idol. Mm! I''m so proud of myself. "You look pretty enough to be edible, no?" "Thanks! I''m popular now. Hey, do you want a fancy dress like mine? If you look nice enough, I''ll eat you!" I replied happily to Smoothie''s comment. "I want it! Super want it!" "Sure, give me everything and I''ll make you something nice. It''s a delicious exchange, no?" I said with a grin. "Eh? I have to give you my soul? No thanks!" She crossed her arms with displeasure. "I only meant the knowledge..." "Ahaha, I know. I was just messing with you, Mother." This brat! "Rude! I have a weak heart, you know? You can''t do that to me." "Sure... I know you''re heartless." I sighed, "Haah... Smoothie, check my status and tell me what abilities and traits are visible." "Okay." She listed all the abilities and traits I could see except for [subspace], [creation] and |creator|. This was the same case with Kanoko. "Did you lose some or did you gain the ability to hide them?" She asked. Hide? I wonder if this these abilities and traits have hidden tier system. If that''s the case, things would make sense. Let''s keep the lid on it a bit longer. "Yes, something like that to confuse the enemies." "Amazing, what''s the name of it?" Damn it, I can''t lie or else her ability might detect it. Yes, avoid the topic! "It''s a secret! Super secret!" I gave her my killer wink. "Gross..." "Wahh... I thought that was supposed to be cute." "Now give me a pretty dress." "Alright, alright. Hmm... What would look nice on you?" What do children like to wear? I have no idea. Whatever, anything should look nice on them, right? I mean, they''re children. "Close your eyes and no abilities, it''s going to be a surprise!" "Okay." Remodelling clothing was easy with [creation]. To be precise, it was only easy after some practices. Knowing the procedures was important too. A software was only as good as the user. Anyhow, I remembered there were shows that young girls loved to watch back in my previous world. It was something like magic girls or whatnot that was supposed to be cute. Since she had mint colored hair, the outfit would have to be green to compliment. So, that would make her something like "magical girl green"? Then, there were other options. Children loved watching those stuffed animal shows or something like that. Going by that train of thought, perhaps dressing her in a panda outfit would be pretty neat. Maybe a bird costume would look nice as well. However, those were usually worn as pajamas, right? Wearing it casually might be a bit rude to those beastfolks, or perhaps they would find my taste quite gruesomely unpleasant. If animal costumes were considered rude, then I could also create plant costumes. Celery sticks and carrot sticks were nice substitutes. I had so many ideas flowing through my head. "Are you done yet?" She asked while standing next to me. "Ahh... Almost! Be patient!" Fairy of the library. How about a broom? No? I''m done thinking. Let''s just go with a bear costume that covers all but her face and hands. Yep. There was an option to modify things within the [creation] menu. This allowed me to skip the step where I normally would use [absorption] to break down existing material. It was quite convenient. Within seconds, visualization was complete, and within a minute, the dress she wore transformed into a cute bear outfit. Mm. My personal teddy bear. Maybe I can finally get a good night''s sleep. blanksphere Chapter 60 "Ta-da! What do you think? Cute, right?" I mused the state of her new look. Yep, it''s a masterpiece. You make me proud. "Jud-Kalifa?" I didn''t think it looked like a Jud-Kalifa which was what I called a molefolk. I was aiming for the bear. Is my artistic sense that off? It''s not a bear? "Is that how you see it? Sure, let''s go with that." I gave her my thumb of approval. Bears didn''t exist in this world anyway. If they did, I should have seen one already. It would be too much of a hassle to explain to her what a bear was. "Is this a joke?" She scoffed. "No, I''m serious. You look very cute." The wings sticking out was the only thing out of place but she could call herself a bear fairy! I had no qualm with whatever she wanted to call herself. "Why can''t I have a fancy one like yours? I don''t like furry outfits." She pouted while staring at my black dress. Replicating fur was actually the toughest part when creating that outfit. To think she was this unappreciative of my effort, that was very unfortunate. "Stop complaining. You should be happy you even have clothes to wear. I mean, just look at some of those beastfolks, they don''t even have clothes." "Mother... It''s not like that. Wait, did you add breasts to yourself? That''s unfair!" "Tch, kids these days. I''m a kid too, you know? I''m still growing. It can''t be helped. I can''t have Kanoko outdo me! It''s called the pride of a strawberry fairy. You''re too young to understand. Uh, okay, I gave you a cute outfit, now give me the stuff you learned here." "You''re such a slut." She threw a jaw dropping remark at me. "Woah there... Where did you learn that word from?" "Not telling!" "I bet you learned it at the bar." That was the only place where people might have used that word. Somehow, she picked it up and used it against me. There was no slut here! I reprimanded her, "Smoothie, you shouldn''t use that word to describe your parent, okay? Otherwise, the devil''s going to haunt you at night." "Aren''t you the devil?" She retorted. "Yes, no... I''m not. Guh..." I sighed with exasperation, "Let''s talk elsewhere." Since no one else was in the library, the librarian hadn''t kicked us out for chatting excessively. After all, this was supposed to be a quiet reading place for everyone. Really though, that guy was unaffected by the war, and still as a mountain. Books aren''t edible. Don''t forget your snacks. I thought to myself as we passed by his office. The only other place I was familiar with in the inner city was the palace. However, I didn''t want my conversation with Smoothie to be overheard by some strangers there. We therefore went to a more secure location outside on the mountain. That place where I was compressing my mana was nice and quiet. On our way here, there were some odd expressions coming from the beastfolks looking at our direction. I believed most of those gazes following us were positive. It wasn''t like I skinned the beastfolks and had her wear them. One should clearly see that they were different. There was even a red checkered bowtie on the teddy bear. "I''m receiving public execution..." She frowned. "Cheer up. I''m sure they''re thinking a new fey has been discovered. Isn''t it just like Kanoko?" "Is it though? She''s pretty. This isn''t!" "It is! You''re the cutest thing ever! Pfft...!" A winged teddy bear...! "You''re evil!" "We''re almost out of the city, just bear with it a bit longer." Once we were out of the inner city, we quickly headed to the destination I had in mind. It was about midway up the mountain with a vast view where I was earlier. "Alright, what kind of outfit would you like then?" I asked her in earnest. I already had enough fun from her for today, anymore would probably be bad karma. "I want one just like yours!" "No!" I denied her outright. My reason was simple. I wouldn''t look unique anymore. "Muu..." She hummed apprehensively. "Then I want your work outfit." "Are you sure? It hardly looks nice." "Yes, I''m sure." My work uniform was like a simplified maid outfit with a white apron. I thought it was something for servants and peasants to wear, not something for children to wear. "Alright then." It was a simple fix. As a bonus, I added underwear beneath her new outfit. "Done." "You have new abilities, right? That was too quick and efficient." Oh crap, I forgot to tell her to close her eyes. Why do I have to be vigilant around her again? Why can''t |tactician| make me more aware of this stuff? "Eh... I improved during the course of the war. I really did. Do you doubt me?" "Okay. I won''t ask anymore," and she gave up pursuing just like that. After that, she transferred the memories related to knowledge of magic. A good chunk of the knowledge had to do with magic that required huge amount of resources. There still wasn''t anything to do with teleports. I could use magic without formations and chants because that was one of the perks of a fey being. However, low intelligence fey beings wouldn''t care to use any of these developed magic. With all my clones gathering mana from the air non-stop, I had more mana than I could ever use up. Of course, if I was to use super magic like raising a mountain or something, I might not have enough. More like, I was far from having enough. Speaking of magic, there was actually no affinity or anything like that in this world. In my case, as long as I could imagine it and I had enough mana, things would happen. Obviously that was the simplified explanation. Although I didn''t need to chant and whatnot, there were still steps I had to follow. Using magic to move anything that didn''t originate from me, I had to infuse that object with my mana. The more of my mana that object had, the more I could manipulate it. Wind current would be the easiest, followed by liquids, then solids. Given this order, earth magic would be the toughest to use. This was probably why not many would care to use it and instead rely on tools, abilities, or special traits. It was theorized that everyone had different mana signatures which meant that one person couldn''t freely move things that was under the control of another. Though, there was a competing theory that control depended on the will of the user. The one with the stronger will would dominate. This meant that if I had stronger will than a random person, I could control that person however I liked. It wasn''t a bad idea. However, it was said that much more mana would be expended this way depending on the amount of resistances met. I was okay with either way since I had plenty of mana. Moving on, to create fire, light, electric currents and things of that nature was somewhat different from moving things with magic. There was no information applicable to me. Normally, magicians used tools imbued with magic formations and special materials to create things. One example would be the lighting crystals. I disliked that stuff so I decided to try to use imagery just like the way I moved things with magic. Given how science was taught in public education back in my previous world, creating basic phenomenon should be fairly simple. Magic was just that, right? Immediately after my hypothesis, I tried to create lightning in my hands. Not surprisingly, there was a sound of crackle and a flash. Heheh... I''m as good as a dark lord. Following that, I was able to create fire and light. Fire and heat, they weren''t too different. It was the same with light, just some energy. Then again, based on my current understanding, mana was just another form of energy kind of like a currency. To put it bluntly, for someone like me in this world, the boundary between psychokinesis and magic was blurred. Greater will equated to more awesomeness. The only issue was that I wasn''t motivated and therefore had little will. Hopefully I would never meet a powerful individual with a strong will. I only wanted some fun. The world should at least grant me that much. blanksphere Also, looking at the cover art again, I feel like I should redo it... but drawing pretty things is hard and takes practice. Chapter 61 When the morning came, I announced, "Smoothie, out of the goodness of my heart, I will help the citizens of Vera with their needs! Heheh, I''m so generous." There were some new products I wanted to introduce to the world. The first one was sweet water, or nectar. Unlike the one produced in my flowers, this one I planned to introduce would come in strawberry flavor. Basically, it was a kind of strawberry drink. The next up were things synthesized via [creation]. These were special super strong plant-based polymer capable of stopping bullets. Compared to the armors the beastfolks were using, mine should be much lighter and more durable. This wasn''t like the chitin armor I had before. This polymer was created around a hundred years ago in my previous world that was commonly used in households. Still, they weren''t easy to create even with my new ability. The third one up was the strawberries! They were my specialties after all. They came in different intensities of sweetness. Or rather, I should have just went for selling various forms of sugar. And finally, the strawberry fey figurine featuring me! Who wouldn''t want to see a figure of me before and after their beauty sleep? Perhaps people would start worshipping me soon! All that was left was to apply for a permit to set up a shop. My ingenuity never ceased to amaze me to this day. "Kanoko, I want a permit to setup a shop." In her temporary office, she looked busy as usual, stacked with paperwork. What a waste of youth! Life should be enjoyed, not doing paperwork all day. "You just don''t want to give me a break, do you?" "Eh, you''re in charge of city''s operation, too? I thought you''re just head of the embassy plus a bit of extra duties." "Yes, somewhat. So, what kind of business is it?" "I want to sell foods and drinks created by my ability." She gave me a suspicious look so I added, "of course, there''s no poison involved. I can even create medicines if you can provide samples. That''s just how amazing I am!" She sighed, "Fine, create some samples for me to examine first." "Right now?" "Yes, right now." "Okay." I whipped out some strawberries, a bottle of sweet juice, and a figurine. The bullet-proof vest was excluded for now. I could always make them after I earned the trust of her palate. I heard that winning a person''s stomach was the key to winning a person''s heart. It must be true to some degree, right? Even though I was proven trustworthy in military stuff... Well, this was going to be the nail in the coffin. "Here you go!" "That was quick. You even made this bottle and the plate?" "Yes, ma''am!" She pressed her fingers firmly on the transparent bottle. Even with her strength, the bottle maintained its shape. Theoretically, it should be more durable than steel. The only downside was that it was flammable and biodegradable. "Why don''t you start making containers like these for us instead?" That''s what you''re impressed with? "What about the sweet water and strawberries?" I asked. "Sweets won''t sell well." Shockers. She must have seen it on my face thus she continued, "It''s very simple. Many people here can''t taste sweetness or have dull sense of it. For most people here, sweet foods are rare and more of a peculiarity rather than something to be enjoyed. Sometimes it''s just used as a preservative." Is she a dream wrecker? She popped a strawberry in her mouth. "I can taste it just fine because I''m a fey being just like you. You know, if we still traded with humans, this would be very popular with them." "Have we traded with the humans before?" "Yes, it was back when I first entered this country." After that, she chugged down that bottle of sweet juice like no tomorrow. Really, you seem to love it. Are you sure you''re not trying to keep this all for yourself? "Eh... How long have you been in this country?" "About a hundred years or so? I lost track. Back then, our relationship wasn''t great but it was manageable. Right before their previous ruler died, things deteriorated fast. It only took one year for our trade to come to a complete halt. Nothing I did had helped ever since." "Ahem, ahem, by the way, do you like that sweet water? I still want to sell stuff." "Oh right, what''s this small figure?" She asked, looking at the figurine I made. My question was completely ignored! "It''s a figurine of me! It''s perfect, isn''t it?" Her gaze shifted between it and my face. "Have you seen a mirror?" "No..." My voice trailed off. "Go take a look. There''s one next door." She gestured to the door next to her office desk. My confidence. Please. The |tactician| trait didn''t allow me to see myself so there was that. That trait was broken in its own way. My transformation ability didn''t really allow myself to see myself either. Transformation was based on my vague imagination and instructions. I whimpered, "Do I look... bad?" "What are you talking about? You can''t make a model of yourself if you''ve never seen your reflection, right?" Oh! There''s still hope! "Ah I see." "Also, if you want it to sell well, get rid of that dress." "Ehhhh?!" "Do you see anyone wearing that getup here? It''s just so out of place. Make it simple." "Oh, so that''s what you meant." "On that note, if you can manufacture textiles for us, that would be greatly appreciated as well." "What about food and drinks?" "I wouldn''t recommend it." "But you drank all that sweet water just now!" I protested. "Fine, I understand. If you can ferment it into an alcoholic beverage, it might become popular. Do that and I''ll approve it." Fermented drinks required living bacteria. I doubted I could create them with my ability. All it took was one success and I should be able to isolate the desired molecules. Nonetheless, the chances of failure was much higher. Fermentation was not that different from spoilage and I had no experience fermenting anything before. Theory was theory in the end. It was useless unless put into practice. In the end, I agreed with her demand. In exchange, she would order food samples and medicines for me. This way I could try combining different things together and make new products. "By the way, I''ve never eaten anything. Do you create a stomach for yourself?" I asked Kanoko who was still busy but now with extra work coming from me. "Ah, well, every fey being is different. My body functions same as the folks here. Have you not tried eating your self-grown food?" "Ehh... No." Wouldn''t that be equivalent to eating myself? "What?! How do you plan to sell something you have not tried yourself? Thank heavens I didn''t approve your request." "But was it tasty?" "I get your point," she paused, "You''ve never eaten before?" "No. I use ability to absorb things because I have no stomach." "I see. You should still be able to taste and absorb food while they are in your mouth. You don''t really need a stomach to store or digest anything." "Oh! You''re a genius. That means I can eat as much as I want! What have I been doing all this time?!" I exclaimed with this shocking realization. "Your child has that weird ability that can explain things to you. She should have told you." "Curses. I''ve been duped." "It''s understandable if she can only watch you eat after disclosing the fact. Don''t go too hard on her, okay?" "Got it. I''ll eat in secret. She''ll never find out!" I nodded with a smirk. Then, I''ll tell her after the fact! She''ll drown in envious despair. "Off you go, I have work to do." She gestured me to the exit. "One moment, I still need to check the mirror." "Okay. Please keep it down." I was a bit confused with the last phrase but entered the adjacent room regardless. Chapter 62 The room connected to the office space looked just like a fancy hotel suite. Bathroom and kitchen was missing but those were probably in separate rooms within the palace. "Ah, who''s this sublime youth standing in front of me? Why, it''s me of course! Ehh... This is me, right?" Seriously, is this me? Otherworldly, surreal beauty, yes, but, seemingly completely unnatural and unapproachable. It''s no wonder humans called me fiend or devil. I can almost justify their poor name-calling. If only I can point out exactly what''s wrong. Compared to Smoothie, my facial features were more defined and sharp. She still had a baby face so a comparison wouldn''t be fair. Smoothie was cute, but not in an abnormal way. Then, there was Kanoko and that other fox lady who also had the |bewitching| trait. They looked very beautiful in a mystical way but still somewhat on the natural side. I tried to smile while being mesmerized by my appearance. "Oh my goodness, those lips... Charm me any day. I wish I could get aroused, how unfortunate." I mumbled to myself. Those soft looking lips were in the color of pinkish red as if lipsticks were applied. Obviously, I had no makeup because no one here cared about that unless war paint counted as makeup. There wasn''t anyone who I wanted attention from. I wasn''t born from a culture that valued makeup either. Looking at my face as a whole, I honestly felt my appearance was super out of place, like my |bewitching| trait overdid it. The symmetry and proportions couldn''t have been calculated better on this face of mine. I was never outstanding with my artistic abilities but whoever designed this face should get a best artist award. The eyes, the nose, the cheekbones, the mouth, the skin tone, no details were neglected, even the eyebrows were perfectly trimmed. I almost wished that there was a flaw for me to focus on. I can''t say I like it. God, it wasn''t you, was it? Are you doing this to spite me? You gave me a face that would keep any man or woman away. You know, people are more likely to start a cult worshipping me before some would dare ask me out on a date. Furthermore, I have no defined gender. Sure, maybe I can work around it later but I don''t think my heart can take it. Is this a blessing or a curse? I''m so confused right now. I let out a defeated sigh in front of the mirror gazing at this foreign looking entity. What the most striking feature were my eyes. These large crimson and also radiating eyes extruded a mystical aura. In addition, irises infused with two sets of geometrical patterns surrounded those dark pupils. The geometrical patterns were two overlapping and interlinked squares that could form the basis of certain magic formations if I wasn''t mistaken. And what''s with these eyes? They''re nothing like normal. I have a bad feeling about them. You know what? I''ll make them normal again! As much as I tried, my eyes couldn''t be altered with [creation]. Everything else could be altered at least to some degree, including my face, but these mystical eyes refused to budge. After trying to fudge it a bit more, I received a notice from [creation] menu stating I had insufficient access. "Are you serious? What''s up with that? This is my body. At least, let me alter it however I want." I cried out in dismay. That request was obviously ignored. No response came and I was stuck with those strange eyes. In the first place, I was the one who designed my eyes to be red. I was sure I had access back then unless it had always been red. Although I didn''t indicate any specifications, [creation] shouldn''t be able to add things without my consent. Really though, were my eyes always like this? It couldn''t have been, right? There was no point crying over spilt milk so I gave up. Pondering by myself wasn''t going to get me anywhere. Now, this face though, I think I know what I can alter. Right now it''s too alien to me. It is beautiful but it just doesn''t sit right with me. Overall, beauty aside, this face when examined by itself was androgynous edging towards feminine side. If my hair was cut short, I could definitely see some people mistaking me for either male or female. "Berry, how long are you going to stare at yourself? Are you in love?" Kanoko teased while staring at me with amusement. "I''m not a narcissist. I''m just surprised and unsatisfied with my appearance." "Unsatisfied? How so? Even I''m a bit envious." Her expression changed into a slight frown. "It''s not like that! I want to look a bit more normal. I mean, you can transform too so I don''t understand why you out of anyone would be envious." "I wish it was that simple. Now, just to be clear, I''m not envious of your appearance but rather your mastery of [transformation]. Although I have also have such ability, I would have to put in much more effort to make more delicate adjustments." "Oh. I''ve always just left it to the |bewitching| trait." "I do too. However, that trait also takes into account your own perception. Because of that, it would never display a form that which you do not admire. Since you received that appearance naturally via your trait, I believe you should keep it as is. There''s no reason to change it. And as you level up, and your own perception changes, so too will your appearance." "Ah, I had no idea it also based it off my own perception of beauty. How did you learn about those things?" "There are those who have special traits or abilities that can gain insight into them. They recorded in details each trait and ability they examined. I was fortunate to be allowed to view these archives to understand my own traits and abilities better." "Neat! Can I access these archives? I have a bunch I want to look up." "When the king returns, I can accompany you to request for his permission." "When will he be back?" "I don''t know. Currently the prince is in charge of daily operations." "Aww..." "Anyway, you should be able to create your figurines now. Be on your way now." "Hold on, do I go back to my quarters at the embassy?" "Ah, I was so busy that I forgot. I''m so sorry!" She clasped her hands together and lowered her head. "It''s fine. I don''t need to sleep anyway but I need a place for things to be delivered to." "There''s a room to spare in one of the residential buildings a short walk from the palace. You might have seen these buildings on your way here." Apparently there were three of these buildings surrounding the inner city palace. These buildings were spaced equally apart, forming an equilateral triangle. Based on the magic theory I had learned, I suspected these three buildings possibly also served as magic formations as one of the last line of defense. They looked quite well furnished and decorated. She explained that normally only special individuals lived here such as nobles and royal guards. Given my contributions, I was also allowed to move in. In the case of Haelley, she was a princesses so it was perfectly normal for her to live in the palace. While Kanoko took out some of her time to show me around my new residential place, I asked, "How is Haelley? Is she alright?" I thought it would be rude to forget her. Even if she became useless to me, she was still once a companion. "I heard she performed well in the most recent war. One of Vorte''s trainees said he will personally train the young princess." "Oh good for her. Eh, where does Vorte live? Does he also live here?" Of course, I was a bit curious where Vorte lived. He was the rumored strongest fey being around here. "That Vorte always meditates in the temple above the mountain, you know, under the obelisk. That place is his home." "How come? Why is he the special one? Normal people can''t even visit that temple, right?" "He''s kind of the guardian deity of this city." "Guardian deity? What kind of fey being is he?" "He''s a serpent spirit. That is his original form but he usually takes a humanoid form like us." "Ah okay, just like my original form is a plant." "Yes. Last I checked, he was level 70." "Then, he''s about to evolve?" "Yes, so don''t go bother him while he''s trying to make that breakthrough." Is the next evolution challenging? A breakthrough? Ahh... I''m probably just over thinking things. I replied, "I won''t! I don''t want to fight something beyond me. I''m curious though, what will he envolve into?" "I believe he''s trying to evolve into a pure spirit. Evolution is extremely rare and difficult. This might be his seventh attempt since I''ve been here." "Seventh? Are there many criteria?" "I don''t know. There is very little record of fey beings like us evolving past level 70. It''s not something I would be concerned about." "I see." But it is certainly something I''m concerned about. I want to evolve properly! I think I should speak to Vorte to get some more information later. But first, I should speak with Smoothie. She should know something about it. blanksphere Chapter 63 After the tour of my new residential area, I went to fetch Smoothie from the library. She seemed to have levelled up a bit. A new trait had appeared called |librarian|. If I recalled correctly, the lizard demon had something similar. "Smoothie, time to come home." "New home?" "Yes! Another fancy place for us to play around." "Do I get to sleep with you?" She asked cheerfully. "No. I don''t sleep with naughty children." "But I''ve been studying like you asked, no?" "I''ll think about it!" I grabbed her hand and towed her back to our new residential place. Right to the point I asked, "Smoothie, I heard it can be challenging to evolve at level 70. Do you know anything about it?" "How would I know?" She shrugged without a care. I urged, "Can you ask [soothsayer]?" "It doesn''t just know things. It can predict things and help me learn things faster." "Then, how did it know what my abilities and traits did?" She made a hammer with one hand and tapped her other hand, "Ah that! It can draw information from status." I wonder if I was too slow to notice or that she never bothered to tell me about it. There''s definitely something fishy about that ability. Maybe she told me and I just forgot? While I thought, I kept a poker face to prevent [soothsayer] from picking up my thoughts. If that ability could be gained, I would love to have it. Alas, I couldn''t hold back my curiosity so I asked. "Is there a way to obtain [soothsayer]?" "Not telling! You''ll throw me away the second you get that ability!" She pouted and hopped into bed, wrapping herself in thick blanket, completely covering her head. I thought that was kind of cute but the fact that she wouldn''t tell me about it was slightly concerning. There was definitely something more to that ability than meets the eyes. Maybe I should try germinating another seed? But then again, I don''t want to deal with more than one Smoothie. Children are certainly headache inducing. If only I could steal abilities, that would be nice and convenient. Eh, let''s clear that thought, I don''t want to mess with [soothsayer], at least not yet. "Another question, Smoothie, I recently looked at a mirror and noticed strange patterns in my eyes. Were they always there?" She unwrapped herself and stared at my face. "No? Did you not use [transformation]?" I nodded, "Ah, then it must be |bewitching| that caused the change." "They do look peculiar but that''s all. You don''t have to worry about it." "Thanks." Obviously that wasn''t my true thoughts. It seemed even [soothsayer] had no such access to these kind of information. "Anyway, I''m going to craft some items to sell in Vera. It''s money-making time!" "Does it including making those miniature versions of yourself?" "Yes! I''ll be popular!" I grinned happily. Popular like an idol! Or even worshiped as a local god! "Are you thinking of replacing the guardian deity of Vera?" "Not at all. I''m young and fresh, nothing like that old geezer." Even though I had never met this fey serpent, I had a feeling he might look like an old man. That was just the image I had in my mind when temple was combined with meditation. Speaking of meditation, during the previous night where everyone was resting, I worked on compressing my mana. It could also be considered meditation in a way. I didn''t know how much mana I had in surplus but so far I had compressed my mana multiple times already. Still, not all could fit inside this fey body. My densest mana was now crystallizing. It was in a state like a liquid crystal which might be able to be stored in a container. In a way, this was fairly convenient meaning they could be stored in my subspace without immediately spilling out. Crystallized mana was much denser than the composition of my original fey body. When I first started, I hardly had any substance. Right now, I was no different than being a physical being in terms of interactions within this world. This liquid crystal state was as dense as I could compress mana. It might be possible to continue condensing mana into other states but I had no method in mind so far that was feasible without endangering me. That method would have to be tested in the subspace. In the case I messed up, I didn''t want to destroy a good chunk of this world. Ah, what to do with these isolated extremely volatile mana? They''re completely unusable to me. If I release them, I wonder if it could melt a mountain? Anyway, let''s keep it as a backup plan in against demons. I have a feeling De Planck would have noticed the anomaly already. In that case, anything that can be used against him would be nice. I had lots of things going on in my mind. Normally, I hated thinking too much but if my survival was on the line, that was a different story. I need to level up and evolve as soon as possible. I do not wish to end up dead or being his servant. De Planck! We shall soon be playing on an even battlefield. I may be inexperienced and weak in hands-on combat. Though, my abilities are nothing to scoff at. You just sit tight and wait a bit. I''m coming for you in due time. I began crafting items agreed upon with Kanoko. Although not much, they still provided me "experience" to level up. It was now getting much more difficult and slower to level up. Again, I had no way to confirm whether "experience" existed in the system but I had to assume so. "Smoothie, help me pack these goods into the boxes." "Okay!" Smoothie happily helped me pack things since she had nothing better to do. After she packed them, I carried the boxes into the hallways because my room was slowly filling up. From figurines to bottles to boxes, I was producing all of them via [creation]. The figurines took the longest to manufacture because I had them all take on different poses. Of course, I also had them in different sets of outfits. Limited edition items always sold like hotcakes if I remembered correctly. After selling all these good stuff, I''ll be rich! Then, I can eat as much good stuff as I like! Hehehe... Here comes my easy life! My goal was quite simple. In any world, having funds was essential for everything. "Smoothie, do you know if all the countries use the same currency?" "I haven''t looked at any financial documents." "Any rumors?" "No. There hasn''t been any trades with other countries." "Ah, I see. I''ll have to ask Kanoko about it." Please be only one currency. I hate dealing with multiple currencies. A single currency would make everything so much easier and convenient. I wouldn''t have to deal with the possibility of currency manipulation and war. Currently, it didn''t really matter but the more I thought about it, the more unpleasant my original idea of building a strawberry empire was. There was too much to consider. It might just be easier to take over an existing country than to create one out of scratch. That way, all the infrastructure and personnel were already there. In the morning, I reported back to Kanoko. "Where would you like to have all the containers dropped off? I can''t just leave them at my living room. Some of those boxes are now even blocking the hallway." "You just love to give me extra work, don''t you?" She sighed with exhaustion, "I''ll have someone move them. Once they''re inspected and approved for use, payment will be processed." "Great! Hope I get paid a lot." "You''ll be paid accordingly. In the future, please create them in a designated area. We have plenty of storage areas around. All you had to do was ask. Never mind, I should have told you in the first place. Here." She passed to me a map of the inner city and labelled the areas where I could manufacture stuff. "Alright." "Moving onto the next subject. We have a task for you. Since you have proven yourself versatile and capable in combat situations, you seem to be the perfect person to investigate the tunnels to the northeast." "You want me to clean out the remnants of their army?" "Yes. The debris are being cleared as we speak. As soon as one of them is cleared, we ask you to investigate and head to the nearest settlement. Are there any questions?" "Wait, I don''t get a break?" "We have a shortage of personnel and you''re being paid for the work. Do you really need a break?" "Oh! I get paid! Okay, it''s a deal." "Here''s a seal of emissary. You''ll need it to prove your identity as a government official." She handed me a small golden plate that felt warm to the touch. On it, a picture of a serpent was carved into it with the words "Emissary of Vera" beneath. "Ooh. I''m a government official now..." I mused. Following that, she listed a bunch of tasks for me to complete. It wasn''t just a simple investigation after all. I totally forgot to ask her about currencies. Since it wasn''t that important and I didn''t really want to bother Kanoko in her sorry state, I decided not to bring it up for the time being. Chapter 64 Before I went to the designated location to manufacture things, I took a small detour to the local eateries. Because of my contributions in the war, I was handsomely paid. I also negotiated an advance payment for the products I was planning to sell to the city of Vera or the kingdom. "Ehehe, let''s see what''s good to eat." With my [creation] ability, I planned to replicate as much food as possible. That way I could save on my food bills. Though, it probably wouldn''t let me replicate everything. To combat that, I also planned to visit the local grocery shops to buy up lots of fresh produce. Those ones I was sure I was able to reproduce with my ability. Hmm... If I recreate the same dish I just used absorption on, wouldn''t that mean I''m literally re-eating food? Is that okay? Isn''t it a bit strange? No. Way. Those devious stray thoughts shall not sway my appetite! It''s been so long! Either way, I should eat first and think later. I hadn''t enjoyed a good meal for so long. Within hours, I bought as much unique foods as I could. Fruits, vegetables, meats, sauces, spices, grains, I didn''t neglect buying a sample of each. Although fresh produce was a bit scarce, dried and preserved snacks weren''t uncommon either. I ate them on the spot without hesitation. I couldn''t possibly let Smoothie find out my betrayal! Now let''s see, which ones can I reproduce? Apparently I was able to reproduce everything but the forms weren''t guaranteed. For example, if I wanted a sandwich, I had to create the different layers separately. Moreover, texture and appearance couldn''t be replicated at all. Meat simply didn''t taste like meat, least in terms of their texture. Vegetable didn''t look like vegetables unless I put in quite a bit of effort. Only their flavors were replicated. Well, this is a failure. This stuff can hardly be considered emergency ration. Before, when I was replicating things, they were fairly simple things. Poisons were uniform molecules as far as my abilities were concerned. The figurines were personally designed by me from scratch so there was no problem either. Simple containers and whatnot were all designed by me, and uniformity was acceptable. Complex things originating from living creatures were different. It seemed that I was simply not at a level where I could recreate those things. Right now, the only living thing I could replicate was anything associated with my originating species, that being a strawberry plant. Ah, my hopes and dreams... Somewhat depressed, I headed to a storage area to create some products needed by the city. Work should take my mind off of today''s tragedy! Mm. Someone had arrived before me. It was a casually dressed harefolk, or Jud-Farrana, who was looking threw some paperwork at a desk set up at the entrance of a vault. I greeted with, "Hi." "Hmm?" He raised his head and nodded, "Your Honorable. My name is Fuu. I will be the one inspecting the products." "Ah okay, are the stuff at my residence going to be shipped here as well?" "Indeed. They will arrive shortly. Please proceed with your tasks at your leisure." "Ah... Okay then." What''s with this "Your Honorable" business? Being treated like a bigshot is entertaining once a while but he better lay it off or I''m going to get annoyed. The storage area was supposed to be inside the vault but my work area was outside of it since he was the one to inspect my finished products. Basically, he was there for quality assurance. For hours upon hours, I produced things non-stop. A fey being was just that insane when unlimited mana was provided. I wasn''t too far off when it came to cheap things like these. It was only until that harefolk could no longer lift another finger did I take a break. He worked quietly by himself with such diligence that I just couldn''t help admire his work ethics. Another harefolk had also swung by to drop off the stuff from my residence but he left as quickly as he came. I didn''t get to know that person. "Good work!" I praised Fuu with a smile. "It was my pleasure, Your Honorable." He returned a weak smile. You should take it easy for a while. After my work was done, it was already night time outside. I didn''t know when I started but I felt like I just worked for a whole day continuously. Unfortunately, I didn''t manage to level up. At this rate, my raw materials should dry up fairly soon if nothing more was being collected by my clones. I kind of wished my menu would tell me how much extra resources I had. That way I could plan things out properly without doing all this guesswork. With Fuu''s permission, At a corner of the storage area, I began filling containers with mineral water. Containers I created were carbon based that used very little amount of minerals and no water. I had to find a way to use them up, yet nothing else came to mind. There was also the issue with minerals. I had too much of those and not many places to apply them. I needed a breather and some ideas on what to create next. Given the extent of my ability to replicate things, ice cream might be doable. It was basically fat and sugar, and maybe add some proteins. The issue was no one here consumed dairy products in any shape or form. There weren''t even substitutes. If I only froze a mixture of fat and sugar, it was sure to be a failure. The closest I could replicate was strawberry sorbet which was basically sugar and ice. A journey to find dairy product was necessary! At least, I had to pay more attention to things around me to stir up some ideas. A genius shouldn''t ever settle in one place. Anyway, whether ice cream would be popular or not was none of my concern. It was for a personal reason, that being which I wanted to eat ice cream! Nothing could beat a cup of frozen dessert after work. Hmm... It''s not too far. I might as well pay a visit. Since the primary city barrier still wasn''t fixed, I was free to teleport around. Well, even if it was fixed, they wouldn''t erect it at the moment when no enemy was near. In a blink, I was looking at Smoothie''s original body, Strawberry Smoothie. It had grown only a bit since I last came. Unlike the last time I visited, this time I decided to trim it down. Smoothie would understand. There was no point having such a large body when I could just transfer to her the resources she needed. In addition, it was only a matter of time before an army marched in this direction and burnt everything down including my clones in this area. To be honest, these clones were still undisturbed. Personally, I had limited the growth of all my clones to the size of large bushes and some as small as one leaf. Ones that had grown too large were trimmed remotely by me. The reason was mainly for sustainability. Earlier I had all my clones absorb mana from the air. If there was a whole forest of my clones continuously siphoning mana like that, nothing would survive near it. Overtime, nutrients wouldn''t flow to my clones, and my resources would then dwindle. Alright, I''m keeping your trimmings. It''s like a haircut! Ehh... I''m sure she wouldn''t mind? A stroll was a stroll. In my case, I didn''t like walking. I teleported around using [strawberry substitution] to my clones planted near habitats I had visited before. These kobolds, I didn''t forget about you! Never mind, I totally forgot about your existence until just a moment ago. Heh, I accidentally took away all of your strawberries, how generous of me. To my surprise, they didn''t die out. Though, the village with the cult seemed to have died out. Since I wasn''t gone for too long, very little had changed. They were still cultivating strawberries in small fields. Haaa... I''ll let them grow strawberries again. Why? Because I am a benevolent lord! They probably thought strawberry plants were hibernating or something, who knows? I am here to raise them out of slumber! The strawberries this time wasn''t like a narcotic. They were only minutely addictive and extracts a tiny bit of their mana if they overate. That likely wasn''t going to happen if strawberries grew at a normal rate so there was that. My definition of normal was abnormal to start with. Right, these strawberry plants would fruit without flowers. I was feeling magnanimous today so I let the strawberry plants here each fruit one strawberry once every double full moon. As a side note, so far I had only seen two moons orbiting around this planet. Their orbiting periods if I remembered correctly were quite long for some reason. On top of that, those two moons weren''t synchronized in their orbital period. In layman terms, the fruiting period was about once every forty five days or one strawberry per plant per forty five days. Why am I so benevolent today? Wait, I''m always benevolent! Stray thoughts, go away. Chapter 65 – Exploring Subspace I wonder if that minotaur is still hanging around? There used to be a minotaur living in this region. It was back when I was still wandering around searching for someone strong to tame. I still remembered when Haelley was craving for minotaur steak. Thinking back, I used to be super weak. A single punch would have knocked me out. Even now, if I confronted someone strong, the result wouldn''t be too different. That was because my physical stat was below 200. Unless I went through evolution, I doubted I would ever reach the stat cap even if I matched the level cap. I kind of wished I had a way to rapidly increase physical stats. Anyhow, while I wandered around in the wilderness, I accidentally ended up reminiscing of the past. Am I getting senile? Nope. I wonder if those critters are doing well? There used to be a fire breathing dog and some strange wasps in this region as well. They were somehow fey beings just like me. However, they didn''t have any notable intelligence so they were off my recruitment list. They weren''t different from other forms of wildlife. Let''s put my |tactician| to the test. Area scan! I scattered around a hundred clones around me within my control range. The radius of one kilometer wasn''t too impressive but it seemed that |tactician| was made to operate in nighttimes. Roasted-beef-to-be, where are you?! As I moved, so too did my clones, hovering at equal interval just above the forest. It has to be in this region right? Did I mix it up with another one? I searched for several hours and found no minotaur. At some point, I nearly decided to burn down the entire forest just to drive something interesting out. However, I realized if I did that, I would have to replant all my clones in this region; that would be too much of a hassle. It wasn''t like I was completely fruitless. While I was scouring a region of approximately four hundred square kilometers, I picked some medicinal looking plants to absorb and integrate. In addition, I captured some super tiny fey beings in a transparent jar. They were probably the weakest fey beings in this world. Originally I thought they were fireflies or insects, but upon closer inspection, they were Graslings. Since I didn''t know which plant was their original body, I didn''t bother matching them to take their plant body as well. Fun, fun. I wonder if Smoothie will like them? Children like insects in jars, right? Ahh... Wait, they like to catch bugs too... I hope she won''t get angry that I left her out on this trip. Uhh, I''m an adult! I can do whatever I want. Yep, my defense is solid. I actually ended up releasing the Graslings I caught because I thought they would end up dead before my trip was done. After I gave up on the search for minotaur, I hid myself in a remote valley. It was already morning but sunlight had yet to reach where I was. Here I tried to use up as much resources as I could stored in [subspace] first by synthesizing and destroying plant matter continuously. That mostly just used up mana since my absorption efficiency had was nearly a hundred percent. It was mostly just the ability itself using mana. With the excess mana I had stored up in my subspace I rushed my level up to sixty-nine, one away from level seventy. Levelling that quickly was such a thrilling experience. The only down side to this was that I didn''t gain any new abilities or traits. Basically, it was just a numerical gain. Still, a gain was a gain. [Yes]. I opened my subspace gate after using as much resources in my storage as I could. A large container encompassing a large area of the valley was set up since I didn''t know how much resources were stored away. This way I wouldn''t pollute this place too much. The amount of resources inside wasn''t that great. Mineral dusts made up majority of the content with carbon based molecules following after, of course, that was if I didn''t consider air as part of it. After all of the stuff were dumped into the container, I anxiously stepped into the subspace. "Alright, so there''s air in here. Great!" The only problem was that it was completely dark. "Hmm... There should be mana here." I scanned my [creation] menu to see if I could illuminate this place with the mana available. "Ah, there it is!" It seemed that I had unlocked a new panel just for my subspace. There were functions that weren''t available outside of my subspace. I could now adjust different parameters such as time, various forces, and etcetera. There was also a function to coalesce materials to replicate rocks, metals, and things of that nature. Basically it was a world creation tool without the part where I could generate materials. Yes, the function that allowed me to generate things from nothing was locked, unfortunately. Honestly, there were actually some parameters I didn''t understand at all so I left them untouched. I didn''t want my subspace to suddenly collapse and kill me because I accidentally removed the fabric of space or something. Many parameters were actually locked which was a relief for me. Of which, one of them was "dimension" and it was currently set to three plus one with three being spatial and one being temporal. It kind of made me wonder how high those numbers could go. Currently there was no light nor gravity inside. I was just floating in complete darkness. The flow of time inside was currently at the same rate as the outside. I guess I should copy the outside world. Yeah, let''s do that. After I added some lighting, I gathered the resources I had dumped outside to create solid ground in my subspace. It wouldn''t make sense to add gravity without having a place to stand on. Given how there was nothing, this made it difficult for me to decide on a layout. "Perhaps Mr. Gravity will have to wait. This is more difficult than I anticipated. Hmm..." I brooded over my options. I contemplated for what felt like hours before I came to a conclusion. It was because I was aware that a proper foundation for any creation was vital, especially for a project this enormous. A bad foundation would be disastrous later on. "I''m taking too much time! Maybe I should adjust the flow of time in here. Eh, how about one minute outside equals to one day inside? Yep, that''s fine. I can take as much time as I like! If I eat food and play around in here, no one will ever find out! I''m a genius!" I grinned smugly while carefully making those adjustments. Though, it wouldn''t be funny if I mixed it up and thousands of years passed in the outside world. Thankfully, there was a limit to the adjustment of time. For now, I decided to map out the current boundaries of my subspace using mineral dusts. Those mineral dusts were then formed into hardened rocks in jigsaw patterns. While I was mapping it, I ran out of minerals so I began extracting resources using my clones from outside. But of course, with the time flow difference, they could never keep up with the speed which I was using those minerals. Oh crap, now I''m short on minerals. Who knew my subspace was this large? Currently, the walls of my subspace formed a curvature of a sphere. And based on my visual estimate, the whole space was the size of a small moon. In other words, I was creating the thin crust of a moon, or something like that. I wonder if this process can be set to automatic... Let''s see... Yes, there it is. Phew! To ensure my resources didn''t randomly mix together, I partitioned my subspace. Resources gathered were automatically categorized into these subspaces as they came in. Since I didn''t want to run into another situation where I might be short on other resources, I had one pocket of subspace specifically for gasses collected. They were to be condensed into frozen solids to conserve space but also to prevent them from flowing out the moment I opened my subspace. That trait |hoarder| that was gobbled up by |creator| perfectly described the current me. I collected anything and everything! My playground needed to be nothing short of amazing. "Water, check! Air, check! Automatic creation, check! Light, check! Mana... mana? Wait, where does mana get stored? Where is it?" I flipped through the [creation] menu and its different panels. If mana was used to keep this place lit then its consumption couldn''t be neglected. After searching for a bit, I finally found the counter in a corner. Ah, I''m running red on mana! There was one thing I didn''t understand about mana. How was it created? Outside, the environment would constantly generate a small amount of mana. At least, that was based on my observations. However, if there was a source and if it was finite then eventually mana would dry up over time unless it was being recycled. Should I concern myself with it? Why not just keep them all in my subspace...? Yeah, let''s do that. Who cares about the world? They just won''t be able to use magic anymore without mana. In the end, I couldn''t find exactly where mana was stored within the subspace. I instead figured it was probably somehow integrated with my [creation] ability. That was the most suitable explanation I could come up with. Perhaps in the future, I would unlock the feature to see mana or maybe it was hidden in a separately subspace altogether. No one knew, at least not me. Before I left my subspace, I returned the flow of time to synchronize with the world. Otherwise, my mana wouldn''t be able to keep up with how fast it was being used. By the time I was done with my work here, Mr. Gravity remained unemployed within my subspace. Chapter 66 I feel like I''ve been working too much lately. Unpaid overtime is never a good thing. After I cleaned up the mess in the valley, I quickly returned to Vera. "Home sweet home!" I announced as I returned to my residence. Though, an upset Smoothie was waiting for me with her arms crossed. "You''re late! So, where have you been?" Eh... I''m an adult and you aren''t my parent. "Work." After a pause, I added, "And I went to level up a bit." "Huh... You''re not hiding anything, are you?" I replied with a poker face, "Why are you questioning me? I''m perfectly honest and truthful! Have I ever lied to you?" "Then tell me why you cut me off!" She raised her voice in tears. Hmm? Cut her off? Please, I''m innocent. I know nothing about it! "No, uh, what do you mean?" "You cut off mana flow to me. I thought you abandoned me!" I see... It probably had something to do with me entering my subspace. It had somehow cut off the flow of mana to her. But, she should have known with her ability unless... Hmm... I see how it is. There was a possibility that her ability couldn''t detect futures related to me when I was in subspace because it was technically another world. Thus, she might have deemed that I suddenly died at the moment I closed that entrance. That''s good to know. I''ll keep that place a secret from her for now. The idea of me working on secret projects intrigued me! Secrets were fun, always. I clasped my hands together, "It was just a minor accident. I swear!" "Then, I want it now!" Oh right, I should restore it. I gave her a hug to soothe her. Within seconds, mana began to slowly drip feed into her again through our link. It was really a negligible amount used to slowly help her level and sustain her form. If only I can teleport her fey body with me to her plant body. She would level up super quick that way. And if only I wasn''t keeping my subspace a secret, I could easily transport her to her plant body. How unfortunate! My secret base is a secret base. It wouldn''t be a secret base if others knew about it. There were still many things I wanted to try out with my subspace. Now wasn''t the best time to do so. "Feeling better yet?" "Mm." "Does my mana feel dense to you?" I was a bit uncertain whether dense mana had any negative impacts on her ability to absorb it. However, she had never complained about it before but I asked to be sure. "It feels the same as usual." I suppose the flimsy mana got transferred first. Maybe? "Do you want to go back to your plant body later for your evolution?" I asked after checking her fey body''s level. "Do you not need to go somewhere soon?" Well actually, can''t I just ask Haelley or someone capable of flying fast to carry her? Why didn''t I think of that sooner? Such a perfect plan was right under my nose. "Well, yes. The thing is I need to go investigate somewhere for Kanoko. In the meanwhile, I was hoping I would get someone carry you to your plant body. It''ll take a few days for you to get there. I''ll meet up with you once I''m done with work. How about it? I''ll ask Haelley. I''m sure she''ll agree to help." "We''re not going to travel together anymore? Am I an unneeded baggage to you now?" She whimpered with teary eyes. "No, no, it''s not like that. I just have a feeling things might escalate quickly in the coming days so I want to get as many things done as possible. Please be understanding." "Mm... I''ll believe you." Later, when I visited Haelley''s living quarter, I was told she was training at the temple of Vera above the mountain. The temple was a forbidden ground for the general populace but it should be fine for me. After all, wasn''t I a hero in the Battle of Vera? Wasn''t I the one who vanquished countless foes single-handily? Why wouldn''t I get special priviliges? "Greetings! I''m Berry. Please let me in, I want to see Haelley." The guards looked at each other and shook their heads. "Please show your permit." "Permit? What permit?" "Only winged beasts and the guardian is allowed past this point." "But... I''m a fey...? I''m acquainted with Princess Haelley though." "Visitors are not permitted. Please turn back." "Kuh..." These were just regular guards. They weren''t winged beasts or anything. From what I understood, winged beasts used different entrances directly connected to the top of the mountain from the inner city. Apparently there should some sort of living quarter above the palace. However, that was just hearsay and I had never been there. Currently, the sloped path I was walking on was for land dwellers who couldn''t fly. Although I turned back, I wasn''t about to give up. My plan was to be without fail! I thought about it. There was only one spiral path up the mountain top. Why they even created a path was beyond me when no one was allowed to use it. If they didn''t want anyone to use it, they should have just blew it up with explosives. The slopes heading to the mountain top were quite steep and not fit for climbing. Obviously, I was no mountain climber. Uh, can''t I just fly up? Oh. Ah...! After walking down the spiral path, I took a detour to the north side of the mountain. Then, once I was hidden from sight of guards, I gave a countdown. Three, two, one, blast off! I took off and made a beeline toward the obelisk because it was the only landmark visible to me at the moment. It was a mad dash to the finish line. Ahhh! Almost there! Bzzzztt. Oww... I crashed into an invisible barrier head first. The most impressive thing about this whole thing was my flight speed. With just a bit of my condensed mana used as fuel, I was already at the barrier within a blink. Luckily I didn''t have a physical body or else I would have died with a broken neck even with my high physical stats. If my body was like how it used to be, I might have went out with a splatter. Although I wasn''t seriously injured, I still took some damages, that being my forehead flattened unnaturally. My pretty forehead... To think the barrier didn''t receive a dent. Bummers! I had to restore my forehead with [creation]. Okay, I''m abandoning the stealth mission. Commencing all out attack! Perfect, I''m in need of mana to furnish my subspace. Thanks for the meal! After adjusting to a more preferable position, I gazed upon the temple and the obelisk from above like an heavenly emperor. With complete confidence, I demonstrated the immense prowess of my [creation] ability capable of absorbing anything I came in contact with directly and indirectly. I felt like a whale swallowing huge gulps of water. It was a feeling of fulfillment! Though, that didn''t last long because a flock of winged beasts swarmed out of their hideouts like angry wasps. That was a rude description from me. From a different perspective, perhaps they could also be described like a heavenly army. It was a given they were elites. Their equipment were top-notch and shiny. In my mind, shiny swords equated to good swords. That was all I could say about their gears. Their formation was poor but that was understandable given my sudden intrusion. Here I was, hovering above the barrier and completely unfazed at the sight of a dozen elite fighters. I briefly scanned their levels. They ranged from level 51 to level 62. But I knew at a glance, they were only the top of the cream and there should be lower levels that weren''t mobilized. Ah, even their lowest is level 51? That''s some ridiculous high standards... As expected of elites. No wonder that magitech fleet was repelled. Now, how am I supposed to win against them? Eh... Diploma! Yes, I''m good at that. On a side note, I kind of learned a trick when I was flipping through the [creation] menu. Apparently, I could relax my gaze when intending to see status. This would allow only the basic information to show such as species and level. Everything else would be hidden as to not overwhelm me with useless information. This was why I usually didn''t bother checking statuses of soldiers. After all, level was the primary factor to determine an individual''s strength. Of course, that didn''t seem to apply to non-physical beings or maybe just me because I was an oddball. "Wait! How do you do!?" I blurted out in a hurry before they could rush to my position. Oops, I''m still gobbling up all that delicious mana. I quickly ceased my inappropriate action and casted a force barrier around me. A force barrier was basically a magical barrier that could block various attacks, both physical and magical. It was one of the more versatile magic and its transparency made it ideal for aerial combat. As for durability, it depended on the user. The only downside was the high mana output which was expected. In my case, my barrier was superb. These folks could barely scratch my barrier with their sharp weapons. However, it didn''t take them long before they started brandishing their traits and abilities to penetrate my defense. It seemed a general purpose barrier really wasn''t enough. Cracks and dents quickly multiplied. "Hold your horses! Ladies and gentlemen! I just wanted a chat with Vorte! It was all but a simple prank to get his attention!" And to find Haelley. That was all there was to it. Chapter 67 "Halt!" A deep voice resounded. It wasn''t loud per se but it was as if someone was vibrating air directly with magic. Anyhow, what mattered was that these folks stopped ganging up on me and retreated into a line. Behind them, a humanoid flew up to meet me. By serpent, Kanoko probably meant a dragon. Aside from a pair of branch-like horns, he was no different from a boring old man with long flowing hair with facial hair included. He was dressed in light robe likely comfortable for meditation. All in all, I couldn''t sense anything impressive about him. A hairy monk! Yes, a hairy monk. Are you bored of living? Whatever, let''s see what your status says. [Level 70 Fey; Species: Lego-Sferitas; Physical: 341/341; Spiritual: 422/422; Traits: Guardian, Intertwined, Storm Within, Enhanced Spiritual, Enhanced Physical, Enhanced Senses, Enhanced Resistances; Abilities: Destroyer, Storm, Shock, Ebb and Flow, Transfigure; Description: A fearsome storm serpent.] As for his status, there were some abilities and traits I couldn''t decipher just by reading the names. There was this [transfigure] ability which sounded like an ability similar to [transform] ability. Perhaps those two were similar. So, a storm dragon... Well met? I greeted first, "Hi there! You must be Vorte, right?" "Indeed." Huh, are you shy? Is that all you have to say? "I wanted a chat with you about two things. What do you say?" "Fair enough." He replied without moving his mouth. Feeling a bit irritated by his lack of enthusiasm, I tried to lighten up the mood with a cheery smile, "Really? Where''s a good place for us to have a nice chat over tea?" "Come." I think you''re too old for your own good. Dig a grave for yourself to sleep in! Oops, rude remarks should be kept to myself. Yes, yes, all''s good in my head. Like me, he was flying using mana only. We were considered supernatural beings after all. Demons could probably do the same. Whether other beings were capable of the same was up for debate since I had never seen them in my travels yet. Since demons existed in this world, perhaps there were also divine beings hiding somewhere. After our short greetings, the winged elites dispersed back to wherever they came from. Meanwhile, I followed after Vorte for a nice chat in his humble abode. Really though, it was super humble, this stone cave. In his living quarter, or so I believed to be his living quarter, was just a stone platform covered by a flimsy cushion. A few lighting crystals faintly illuminated the room. Are you really okay living like this? Is this really okay? Actually, aside from that stone was a plain wooden table that only reached to my knees. There was no kitchen and no washroom unless a barrel of water counted as either. Really though, this place wasn''t that different from a random cave found in the wilderness. I could live like that as well but what would be the point of living like that? He sat down cross-legged at the table and gazed at me with a lack of expression. Following his example, I too sat down, facing him across the table. Honestly, I was no fan of sitting on hard stone. But given the situation, complaining wasn''t going to get us anywhere. I felt like he was probably a stubborn person who would refuse the progress of civilization. Really though, living standard could easily be improved if only he asked. Heck, since he was considered a guardian around here, people surely had offered him something in the past which he most likely refused. "So ah... Let me introduce myself. I''m Berry. As you can see, I''m level 69 fey." "I see." He nodded while gazing at me. Ooh... He responded... Moving on! "I heard this is the seventh time you''re trying to evolve past 70?" "Indeed." "This is the first matter I wish to discuss with you. Why are you struggling to evolve? Shouldn''t it be fairly simple like any other evolution? Please explain to me in details." "Evolutions have requirements." "What are these requirements?" His eyes opened wide as if he just woke up from a half slumber, "After experiencing many failures, I came to understand that one must possess at least one transcendent trait. Without such, evolution is nigh impossible." "Can you explain what this transcendent trait is?" I asked. "That I cannot explain with clarity for which it is the heaven''s will. You will come to know it once you possess such." The part about this "heaven''s will" probably had to do with his poor communication skill, at least that was what I figured it to be. I wonder... Does my |creator| trait count as transcendent? I mean, it''s nothing like the regular traits and abilities. Following my deductions, I thus asked, "Can regular traits evolve into transcendent traits?" "That may be possible as that was what I have attempted for centuries past. In days time, I shall seek to evolve once more in hopes to achieve my goal at long last." I guess it''s safe to say either one of his current or a hidden trait is a transcendent trait. Although, chances are, he still doesn''t have one. Old fella, I might actually be one step ahead of you! Eheheh... You snooze, you lose! "Fair enough. If you couldn''t evolve, why didn''t try to level up to 99? I''m no expert in this but I''ve seen a being capable of leveling past 90. It should be doable for us too, right?" "Indeed. It is a matter of choice. For one who has lived for eons, I no longer wish to remain in the physical, and therefore wish to discard this material body. At the time of choosing, remaining at my current level was the most optimal. Should I have foregone that choice and raised my level further, the resources required for my next opportunity to evolve would have been immense, hence I had not pursued for a higher level." Why can''t you speak normally? Do old people always speak like this? Scratch that, you''re ancient. I''m glad you speak the common language, otherwise this would have been a waste of my time. Basically, what he was saying was that he didn''t bother raising his levels long ago because it was a pain in the butt to reach the next milestone to evolve. For the likes of him, raising level was probably much harder than for someone like me. If it wasn''t for [synthesis] and [absorption], I might still be in the level twenties or thirties. To get to my current state, my net growth volume would have to be the size of a massive mountain. "Thanks for the information. I hope you can ascend the staircase to heaven." Did I accidentally use an euphemism? No, right...? Or, is it? He seemed to not want to live anymore so there''s no problem with however he choose to understand it! For the first time, his mouth slightly curved into a barely noticeable smile. I wasn''t sure why but seeing a smile was quite refreshing. "Now, moving onto the second matter I wish to discuss with you. Haelley, or Princess Haelley, I want to borrow her for a few days. I heard you''ll be training her." "Indeed. That is her choice. I only provide advices, nothing more." "Great! Where is she? I heard she came this way?" "She should be with her fellow kindred in dwellings below." "Well, it was nice chatting with you." "Young one, before you go, tell me, which path are you pursuing?" He asked. "I will evolve, of course. If I cannot evolve at level 70 then I will do so at the next opportunity." "You misunderstood. Origin, balance, and chaos, these are the paths that I am aware of." Aren''t you quite philosophical? Though, I have to say, three paths? This is like a movie I''ve seen before. Let''s pretend to know nothing! "I''m not aware of these paths. Can you enlighten me please?" I said. "Fair enough. First, I must inquire. How have you managed to reach your current height." Ahhh, so how I''ve been levelling up might be related to this. I''ve been good! I was a defender of justice! I replied as honestly and concisely as I could. "I was a defender of justice. Humans invaded Vera, and I killed them. Ehh... I was originally a fey plant so I have other means to level up as well." blanksphere Chapter 68 – Three Paths Of the three paths, the first one was chaos. In all likelihoods, he suspected that there was such a trait or equivalent which all demons possessed. Although, in my experience, I had not seen it in those two demons'' status. It was possible that I had not the level nor authority to view them just as others would not be able to see certain abilities and trait I possessed currently. Those who treaded the path of chaos were often masters of occult arts and seeker of hidden knowledge. This path was usually reserved for ones who were selfish and evil but it was not exclusive. Chaos was a fundamental principle in this world. As the word itself was actually self-explanatory, those who possessed "chaos" sought just that. Destruction, confusion, disorder were commonly associated with such a trait. However, that was only half the truth. Chaos was also a force of change. Without change, civilizations would not advance. Yet, at the same time, too much change would drive one such to destruction. Things were never so simple. Still, little was known about the holders of this trait. If I had to add something, it was that they were bunch of deviants up to no good and just messing around for their own amusement. What''s that word I''m looking for? Hedonists? That definitely doesn''t describe me! I just want a happy life. Anyway, next path that came into play was balance. Again, he suspected that there was one such trait or a trait of equivalent role since he had never personally seen these transcendent traits. Balance was fairly self explanatory. It was a force that resisted change or in this case, chaos. Those who walked this path enjoyed harmony and idle way of life. Yep, you''re the embodiment of this ideal. I mean, just look at how shabby your cave is. At least have some cushions for me to sit on. Cold, hard stone, ugh! "Have you gained this trait yet?" I asked. "That I am unsure." "How can you be unsure? You can easily check your own status." "Evolved traits could potentially contain undetectable traits. What I sought was the precursor to a transcendent trait that which is related to the second path I mentioned." "Basically, you believe you gained a trait recently so you''re trying to evolve?" "You have surmised well." "You have |guardian| trait. I''m assuming it is a precursor or one of them?" "Indeed. There may be multiple ones required." "If you believe you have the trait, why not just level up immediately? I thought it was automatic." "Indeed it was automatic should one possess all the conditions to do so. Should one fail, resources must be acquired once again from the start of that level." Ouch, you failed that many times. Going from level 70 to 71 must be tough for someone like you. I mean, the resources I needed was already crazy enough. If he had something similar, spending a couple decades to gather so much would have been such a painstaking... Wait a second... "It would have been easier to obtain |chaos| if you just went on a rampage, right?" "I cannot embody such a trait. It is against my nature therefore my attempts were to align with a path that closest resemble my nature." Okay, I guess... Sitting here all day everyday doing nothing is probably your thing. Nothing is going to change. You might as well wither away like that. "What about the third path?" I inquired. "The path of origin, it is one that eludes my comprehension." "And... Any guesses? Speculations? Anything?" "The third governing force of this world, perhaps, is not one I will tread." If I''m understanding this correctly, I need to somehow obtain a trait or traits that is on these paths to evolve again. So far, the closest one is |chaos| trait because creating new food is definitely going to change the world, causing destruction wherever new trends receive spotlights. There were too many things that could elude this old geezer. Simply put, I had no answer to what the third path was. In the first place, most of this stuff was his speculation anyway. Furthermore, who was to say that there were any paths to begin with? All roads lead to death. He was probably too old for his own good. A string of thoughts were brought to my attention. "I have questions about demons and heroes. I''ve met with two demons." Immediately, he warned, "Speak not their names." I already knew. Demon names were not to be spoken because it would sometimes equated to summoning them. "I know. One of them was level 70 and he appeared to me as one resembling a Jud-Farrana. I was unwittingly forced into a contract with him. Are you aware of this demon? I wish to break the contract." "Indeed, a legendary demon of yore who still presides over this world. To break your contract with him is no easy feat. If you wish to avoid losing your soul, then you must first remember the details of your contract. The resolution you seek are within your contract. It would be wise to perish the thought of a direct confrontation. Moreover, I suggest that you review your contract with utmost urgency. It should not to be delayed by trifling matters." Kuh... I wish I have a good memory. I wish there''s a |photographic memory| trait I can obtain. It''s too late, isn''t it? "I understand but what if I don''t remember the details?" "Meditate on the contract and it shall be revealed." I guess that''s good enough for an answer... I could finally move onto the second subject. Certainly the knowledge he had shared with me was quite profound if I could make good use of them. "If I may ask, what is the relationship between fey beings and demons and devils? It seemed that humans tend to call me a devil. Also, they have this hero king or something they worship." "Did you know, in the olden days, it was common for fey beings regardless of intelligence to evolve into demons?" "I had no idea. I was only born recently." "I see. In the olden days, the world was filled with life but also with endless wars. Demons would manipulate naive and careless fey beings to do their biddings. As fey beings grow, they gained intelligence. By the time they are ready to evolve, one or more soul contracts had already been formed. This often forced one to choose the path of chaos." I felt like I just got indirectly admonished. I wasn''t naive and careless! "I see how it is. It''s a vicious cycle. In all scenario, the demons win. They would either get a new demon underling or a soul to eat. Eventually heroes would come to slay these demons, right?" "Indeed. Rather, without demons, heroes would rarely come to existence." "I have never seen a hero before. Are they evolved from humans?" "That is not always so. If my memory serves me correctly, there was once upon a tale of a hero evolved from a fey being. He was the last of his kind, Lego-Amortus, or so the story went." That species name meant he was also some sort of serpent. "Does one evolve into a hero race at level 70? And, what do you know about the hero king of the human race?" "I do not know the exact criteria but heroes are unique and therefore follow their own paths. Yet, oftentimes, they would follow the path of balance." Ah crap, unique my ass. That ticks me off. That''s no different than being the protagonist of a role playing game. How come I can''t be a hero!? "So basically, they are likely level 70." "That may be so. Once they have evolved, their status will remain hidden." Double crap, that''s just plain cheating! You think you''re good? I don''t think so! "Although a hero may be powerful, he too is bound by the laws of this world." Then, he went on to elaborate what it meant to be a hero. To that, I had a face-palm moment in my mind. This old fellow was quite talkative despite my initial impression. Chapter 69 Each hero born into this world would have their own individual traits and abilities. Once a being became a hero, it was a point of no return. Although it was the same deal for the other three paths, the difference was that a hero would be forever bound to the physical world and never to attain a pure spiritual body. That was the first downside to being a hero. Of course, there was much more to that, including many benefits. The first major benefit was that they seemed to have a variable status. Based on Vorte''s experience, heroes would always be at least fifty percent more powerful than the strongest opponents they were fighting as long as heroes were fighting on their home turf. When heroes became invaders, their fighting strength tended to be much weaker. This meant that heroes were defenders and not invaders. The details of how the new stats were calculated was unknown. This was probably also why a hero would rarely lead an invasion into another country. A hero king would likely be no different than a regular soldier in terms of raw stats. There would be no point in being a hero in that case. Though, this restriction didn''t seem to apply to those under a hero''s command so a hero''s army could still be doing the dirty work. Once a land had been fully conquered, a hero just had to sit there and defend it. Anyway, there seemed to be more to it than just sitting around and defend. A hero needed to be recognized and trusted by the populace of the land. Vorte speculated that there might be a threshold in faith a hero needed from that populace, however he had never collected any data so it might as well be a guess. It seemed that this was a way that the system or world prevented heroes from becoming tyrants. It was extremely rare for heroes to lose the support of the populace. Generally speaking, the more support and faith a hero received, the more powerful a hero became. In the event that a hero lost such support, he or she would age rapidly and perish. Obviously, heroes were not immune to the passage of time and would age even with the support of the populace but at a much slower pace. After hearing all this, I figured that the evolution requirements likely wasn''t level 70 but something else. Otherwise, it just wouldn''t be worth becoming a hero if there were better choices. To add to that, it was strange that he didn''t know if there was a level requirement. Someone was bound to have checked the status of potential heroes unless memories were tampered and contracts were signed by heroes. Perhaps it was recorded somewhere and he just didn''t know. Anyway, none of the two paths mentioned by Vorte were by any means bad choices since evolutions in this world always meant becoming more powerful. After hearing this much, if I could choose, I would pick one of the three paths instead of becoming a hero. It was just a niche thing more or less. Vorte once heard a story of two heroes fighting each other due to a clash of ideals. In the end, only one stood victorious even though both should be equally powerful. It was likely a result of many factors that decided the match such as usage of traits, abilities and tactics. Though, it made me wonder if the support of the spectators had any contributions. After all, heroes seemed to rely heavily on faith for strength. Without it, they were as good as a regular folk. Hey, why don''t I just secretly wipe out the whole human population? That hero king would perish in his sleep! Or if I can undo the brainwashing and get everyone to hate him, then he would also wither away on the spot. I''m such a genius! But oh wait, what if more heroes spawn because I''m recognized as a threat? This is tricky. Until I know the exact requirements, I should stay away. Yep! I always had fantastic ideas in my mind, always! Anyway, we conversed for quite long. The cave which was technically a part of the temple was already getting dark but neither of us needed our physical sight to see. Well, strictly speaking, the lighting crystals were too dim and no one bothered to raise their brightness. At this point, he had covered all the topics I was interested in so we concluded our meeting. "Good luck on your evolution! See you later." I said. "Farewell." I guess I''ll meet up with Haelley in the palace. That bird girl never showed up here. Perhaps, she was training somewhere else with other folks. After all, this place wasn''t short of strong individuals. I promptly left the temple. Since I didn''t actually accomplish my goal, I didn''t have anything to say to Smoothie. Instead, I visited that remote valley where I had first entered my subspace. Time to test things out. Can I consider myself a scientist now? There were several things I wished to test and work on. The first was to test whether I could teleport directly into my subspace. To do that, I threw a strawberry into my subspace. Once the subspace portal closed, I attempted to teleport in. There was no reaction. Haah... It doesn''t work. I guess it''s considered a separate space. How about I open it up a tiny bit? Allowing even a tiny bit of connection between this world and my subspace seemed to have done the trick. Instantly I was inside my subspace. Apparently, absorbing things and sending them via my abilities didn''t count as a connection, at least not by the system. It sort of made sense but sort of didn''t. If I absorbed myself using my ability to get into my subspace, it would be like eating and digesting myself, not that different from a death wish. Awesome! I could escape into subspace if I ever get trapped in a barrier! But wait, wouldn''t that mean if they kept up that barrier, I would be sealed forever? That wouldn''t be funny! Well, I''ll think of a way when that time comes. The second thing I wanted to tested was how wide this subspace portal could open. Of course, mana was required to access my subspace physically. So, how large an opening I created directly corresponded to the mana it required to operate. Since I couldn''t be too careless like opening a gate the size of my entire subspace, I decided to start with something simple like the size of a lake. Just like that, a nearby lake that connected to the valley was swallowed up in a single gulp. Woah! This makes [absorption] seem like child-play! Ehh... Hopefully, no one saw that. Knowing this, I could effectively capture things in my subspace if I wished. That was good to know. However, it was simply more efficient to use magic to encase a target first since my mana was limited regardless how much I had absorbed so far. Hmm... There''s probably no actual limit to size. I wonder if my subspace can grow? It wasn''t difficult to get a visual of the size of my subspace. I just had to re-examine the curvature of the shell being formed since I originally set the automatic construction to be the edge of my subspace. To be frank, numerical values on a screen wasn''t too helpful for someone like me. I''m still short of materials for construction. I should probably just hollow the planet. It''s not like anyone is making use of all that good stuff down there, right? First come, first serve! To make things easier for me, I scattered some special clones, which were just lumps of plant matter, to gather rocks and minerals. Their ability to absorb things were set to maximum. Basically, they ate up anything in contact with them, mana, air, dirt, whatever they might be, living or not. Well, it wasn''t like they could instantly eat up anything, time was still required. Eventually there would be a bunch of holes in the ground but that wasn''t my concern at the moment since they were dropped at various remote places with the desert being several of them. No one would care if a chunk of desert disappeared. Yes, no one would care. In total, I scattered about a hundred special clones or so. That should speed up construction within my subspace by quite a bit. I accomplished so much tonight! I''m so proud of myself. Can someone give me a pat? Anyone? No? Okay. Where''s my ice cream? With all that finished, I headed back to the palace and ventured towards Haelley''s chamber. I was sure she was sleeping already this late into the night. When I arrived at the palace, with my new official documents and authority received from Kanoko, getting past the guards was an easy matter. Chapter 70 I quietly slipped into Haelley''s chamber. Even without entering her room, I was able to see her lying in bed with my |tactician| trait''s special sight. Perhaps I should just call it "tactical sight" because that was what it really was in my opinion. Haelley was sleeping soundly with a blanket on her. I still remembered that not too long ago, we used to sleep in the wilderness. Correction, she used to sleep in the wilderness. She didn''t use a blanket because it was warm outside. Well, to be honest, I had some trouble gauging temperature because technically my body temperature was usually the same as my environment. Still, it didn''t mean I was cold-blooded. It was just how my body was. Anyway, I was floating next to her bed, gazing at her sleeping face. I definitely look prettier. It seemed that in the recent battle, she received a battle scar on her cheek. For a girl, that was surely disastrous. Would it affect her chance of getting married, even as a princess? I was appalled by it. I disliked imperfect things. A tiny imperfection is perfectly fine but a large burn mark on a girl''s face was just too sad. I wish I could heal it. Ehh... I''ll ask Smoothie? She should be good at this! No matter how detailed memories of knowledge I received from Smoothie, certain magic just wasn''t easy to execute. I wouldn''t dare mess up on something like this. With Smoothie''s high precision ability, removing a scar with magic should be a piece of cake. Indeed, indeed. I''ll ask Smoothie. I''m sure she''ll be more than happy. Oh perfect, she could do that on their trip together! It''s like I planned this all along? Will I get a new trait, like, |mastermind|? No, right? I don''t think it exists. Speaking of traits, not all traits were related to combat. For civilians or regular folks with professional jobs, I had seen those with utility traits such as |engineer|, |designer|, |chef|, and etcetera. However, in general, just having even one trait was somewhat rare. It was a fact that traits and abilities were more common in combatants. I digressed. The important matter here was about Haelley. "Berry, what are you doing here?" She whispered with her eyes closed. That seriously startled me. If I had a heart, it would already be at my throat. "Kah! You''re awake?" Her eyes opened before slowly getting up. "Yes. You didn''t say, so I waited." "You pretended to sleep?" My jaws dropped. "Yes!" She said cheerfully. To think I was fooled, impossible! Who are you? What did you do with Haelley? "Ah, fine, let me just tell you why I''m here then. I''m here to ask a favor of you. Can you please take Smoothie with you to her original body so she can evolve? I''ll be away underground to help the kingdom with clearing out invaders. This is time sensitive." "Okay." "In exchange for your help, I can ask Smoothie to see if she can heal your injuries with magic and I can give sweet nectar and money. How about it? I even asked Vorte; he said it is up to you." "A scar is nothing. I help..." Then her face showed contemplation as if something else was troubling her. "Great, umm... Is there something wrong?" "I need to ask my kin. They say they protect me." "Ah, escorts, as expected of a princess." "I''m just Haelley." I nodded, "Agreed, Haelley is just Haelley then. Anyway, that''s really all I have to say. I''ll come again tomorrow night. Goodnight, sleep well." "Okay. Goodnight!" I didn''t really accomplish everything I needed to accomplish. I still had to wait for Haelley''s answer after she asked her kin about this escort business. Hopefully by tomorrow night, everything would be resolved. Smoothie was currently wandering around the inner city by herself for some reason. This city was quite safe I assumed but I went to fetch her anyway. "Mother, where have you been?" Gah! Why is everyone so on guard tonight? She noticed me while I was secretly trailing behind her. Certainly, it was no secret anymore. My fun was ruined. "Business as usual! I''m a very busy person, you know? Being busy means being important!" "Haelley didn''t give a reply, did she?" "No, I''ll find out tomorrow night. Well, that''s assuming I haven''t been sent away already." "I know where she lives." "Right, you can sort it out between yourselves! Ah yes, have you learned much about healing magic? Any spells for removing scars?" "Not specifically, no. Mm... I see, she was injured?" "Yes and I''m hoping you can heal her as a return favor for helping you reach your plant body. You need to evolve soon, right?" "I can take my time, no?" Her expression was that of confusion. Under normal circumstances, she could take decades if she liked but because of me, time wasn''t on our side. "No, there''s little time. If we don''t act soon, you might lose your plant body. I want you to evolve enough to live without needed a plant body. Listen, you might already know; I''m close to evolution. I cannot say what action that demon would take the moment I do." She breathed out and seemed to now comprehend what I meant. "I understand. It also seems my ability can''t predict anything related to that demon. Our best action is to take swift preventative measures, but..." She trailed off while gazing at my eyes. "But?" "No, nothing." She shook her head followed by a broad grin. It wasn''t something rude, was it? Haa... Except I can''t put that past her. Then it was definitely something rude! One of these days, I''ll get you for it! "Whatever, go read your books. I''m done here." "But I want to stay with you! You always leave me alone these days." She pouted with a frown while pulling on my arm. I''m bad with children... Kuhhh... Oh. Oh! What a brilliant idea! I''ll fight evil with evil! "Eh, how about I germinate another seed so you can have a sibling to play with? You won''t be lonely anymore, right?" "Then I can''t hog you to myself. Please, Mother, just spend some time with me! And, I want to spend some time by myself. I mean, I just spent so much time with that old fella. I sighed in resignation, "Fine, just for a bit. By the way, did the medicinal ingredients arrive yet?" Earlier I had I asked Kanoko for some things I might be able to replicate. Even though I couldn''t replicate organic matter perfectly, if there was any useful material that could be isolated via my ability, then that would be fine as well. At least, these medicines wouldn''t end up wasted. "Yes, they just arrived." "Good, let''s go back!" When we returned, there were bags of plant materials carefully labelled lying on a table and on the floor. Since I had explained earlier, only small samples were provided. They couldn''t possibly spare too much for me especially after a war where wounded soldiers still required these precious medicines. The process of absorbing these samples were fairly quick. Let''s see, anything new? Anything...? I wonder if I can create vitamins? Those should be easily doable for a plant right? Suddenly, just with that thought alone, a new category was added into one of my many [creation] panels. It was as if the ability itself was learning and adding things to enhance itself. There were a few other items that were isolated but I couldn''t specifically decipher what they were used for. Experiments were needed to examine these compounds and I simply didn''t have the time for that. Regardless, some things were easily isolated and identified by me. Everything else was decomposed automatically by my ability as usual. Ehh... Nice? I can sell vitamin supplements now? I guess it makes sense since I can replicate poisons and specific flavors. That''s good to know. I synthesized a few vitamin pills in my hands. They also seemed quite cheap to produce which was nice. With my ability, I could add various flavors to enhance their taste. This would sure sell well if this was in another world because there was no demand for pills. Folks here would probably ask if these things were edible. Hmm... Speaking of food stuff, that task Kanoko gave me to produce alcohol. Let''s leave it to Smoothie! She can predict which actions will lead to fermentation! I''m genius! "Smoothie, I have a fun job for you. It''s really important!" "It''s just more work, no?" "No, it''s very fun! You get to create a new things with me. Didn''t you say you wanted to spend more time with me? This is your chance!" I clapped my hand while beaming a brilliant smile. "Yes! I help!" What a simpleton! blanksphere The traits forged by the system influences the soul to varying degrees. This feature can be a double edged sword. Side Story 3.1 His name was Guudra from the human country, Kingdom of Appallia. At age 15, he joined the army and began climbing up the ranks from a mere foot soldier to a platoon commander. This was no easy feat as he worked tirelessly day and night fighting against the armed forces of Grusia Empire in the northern theatre. At age 23, he was promoted to the captain of the newly formed armored division. "Finally, I have been recognized by His Majesty! All hail the Hero King!" He exhaled upon receiving his promotion. At this ceremonial event, he wasn''t the only one who was promoted. The country wasn''t short on talents and geniuses. Those who had proven themselves worthy were given ranks, titles, wealth. The country was at its core, meritocracy. The Hero King who towered above others was no exception despite his countless shady dealings. Though, commoners had no way to comprehend the depth of his loyalty to the country. It was loyalty indeed, but a twisted one that was unforgiving. The reason for the mass promotion event was in preparation for the next wave of clash against the Grusia Empire. With their main forces tied up in a stalemate with the Federation of Josken in the north, the Hero King intended to eliminate the empire''s southern kingdom in one clean swoop. At the time of the promotion event, a sizeable battle was raging at the Kingdom of Jod, a western kingdom within the Grusia Empire adjacent to the Kingdom of Teir and the Kingdom Faf of which the latter had just fallen. Although the Kingdom of Faf was called a kingdom, it merely had a winged beast populace in the thousands. Those from the Kingdom of Jod failed to understand the significance of the destruction of one small kingdom and looked down upon the humans. Therefore, they were caught off guard in a direct confrontation. In this battle, only a handful managed to escape from the one sided slaughter. Why did the human populace support a one sided genocide? Well, not all humans supported this. Within the human populace, there were many small factions moving behind the scene, of which, two were similar in ideology. One such faction was a group of resistances secretly plotting to overthrow the current Hero King and replace with a new hero. Working with this faction was another faction that wished to eliminate the Hero King and its role permanently. To say the least, their progress was painstakingly slow due to the opposition they constantly faced with every movement. Just prior to the previous Hero King passing away, Jaco Spiriard had already amassed countless supporters through his deeds. He spearheaded universal free education, revamped the old medical system, strengthened diplomatic and business relationship with their northern neighbour, the reptilians. In addition, after learning about the secrets of heroes from a mysterious source, he began forming a new faith or religion in the country to worship the Hero King. Many of his feats were due to his family''s enormous financial supports. However, as he gained more supporters, his connections and backings only strengthened his movement to new heights with each passing day. Within fifty years, the current Hero King was able to have the entire country fully within his grasp, only with minor exceptions. After all, victor decided how history should be written. To that effect, everything about the Hero King was glorified. Those that did not were erased. Artifacts, ancient literatures were destroy. Free speech was only for those who agreed with the teachings of the Hero King. In the new teaching, humans were descendent of the gods. Those who had mixed blood were considered blasphemy and prosecuted. Eventually, this extended for those of other races including the beast and winged beast races. The reason was simple, they were deemed the results of intermingling between humans and beasts. What was strange was that reptilians were not part of this because they did not believe humans and lizards could mix. The belief was that reptilians were fallen gods because of their extensive knowledge of ancient knowledge. Elves were deemed only as part of nature and therefore left to their own devices. After all, the Mist Forest wasn''t a place humans could enter and live in. Moreover, elves couldn''t evolve into demons therefore they were disregarded and ignored by the upper echelon. Finally, there were the fey beings. They were unpredictable. In ancient times, they often evolved into demons capable of stirring chaos and fear. Their belief was that the devil would insert its essence into wildlife and incite the newly formed fey beings into demonic creatures that would eventually serve as the devil''s hands and feet. As for the part where fey beings could also evolve into heroes and guardians, those were left out. Whether those pertinent information were excluded from the teachings of the Hero King intentionally or not was anyone''s guess. Now, back to the commander named Guudra. He grew up within the education system set up by the Hero King just as his parents did. They were fully indoctrinated by the new religion that worshipped the Hero King. Although they weren''t fanatics, they were without a shadow of doubt loyal and faithful. There was no room to argue. With the resistance groups becoming silent as days went by, the Hero King decided it was time to begin the next phase of operation. The underground tunnels that spanned hundreds of kilometers below ground had recently reached its primary destination, the Kingdom of Teir. Guudra attended the war rally. Here the Hero King addressed the attendees, "My fellow proud citizens and warriors, the time of reckoning has come upon us once again." And he went on to preach. The message was simple: cleanse this world of the filth. After listening to the Hero King''s speech, the crowd cheered in thundering fervor. My Lord, your wish is my command! The world shall be purged of all filth and the land returned to their rightful owners! All hail the Hero King for he is Our Lord and Savior! Guudra prayed in his heart. Little did the populace know that the humans were being manipulated by a force unseen, and too powerful to repel. To this end, even the Hero King wasn''t fully aware of all the facts. Weeks later, the human military in coalition with the reptilian military mounted a coordinated invasion on the the weakly defended city of Vera. It was meant to be a fatal blow like toppling a row of dominos, one city after another. However, the flow of events in a war wasn''t unpredictable, to say the least. There was a complete radio silence with their local headquarter. "What''s going on?" Guudra growled at one of his subordinate, "Give me a situation update!" Guudra''s group was part of the frontline tank battalion that proudly entered the city of Vera. The losses they suffered were minor thanks to the solid defenses provided by the steel plated tanks. A few soldiers did have to bail out early due to enemy traps and defenses but those were expected. Yet, a while after they entered the city, one after another, the tanks mysteriously lost all of their power. "Sir, we suddenly lost all communications with our local headquarter and nearby groups." One of his subordinate sitting in front of him within a heavy armored tank replied. "Impossible. The barrier is down, and they have no way to jam communication signals. Give it." Guudra, frustrated with the current progress of battle, snatched the handheld portion of the communication device from his subordinate. "This is Captain Guudra Vrail to local headquarter, I request immediate backup on the surface operation. I repeat, this is Captain Guudra Vrail to local headquarter, I request immediate backup on the surface operation." No matter how long he waited, there was only silence. Little did he know that nothing had went according to their initial plans. From the air battle to the underground battle, there was only defeat. Their underground headquarter was completely wiped with only dozens of survivors on the retreat. The reptilian air force met unexpected resistance despite receiving intelligence that the city of Vera''s main force was diverted to the northern theatre. Their chance to settle old scores was once again crushed to pieces. He opened the hatch above to re-evaluate the situation, fully aware that enemy archers were still hidden in some buildings. He felt that as a military commander and as a leader, it was his duty to risk his life for his country just as all other soldiers who stood before him. Everyone was equal under the Hero King. What is that sorcery? Don''t tell me it''s a devil! He cried out within the depth of his heart since he was afraid of affecting the morale of those around him. A shadowy silhouette lurked within the city, and dashing nimbly between buildings. Each time it stopped briefly, a tank stopped in its tracks. There was no contact but he was convinced that it had to be a devil. Only a devil was capable of such a devious feat. Not all hope was lost. Still, they held a trump card, or so he believed. blanksphere Side Story 3.2 Guudra commanded his remaining tank battalion to push forward. Although the battle had gone worse than expected, not all hope was lost. A bit of enemy resistance was expected. No other group in the vicinity had retreated yet, not to his knowledge at the least. The communication devices within these tanks had limited signal range. Moreover, these communication devices were heavy and required a lot of mana to operate hence only heavy tanks were equipped with them. Under expected circumstances, there were more than enough tanks to act as relay stations. Yet, somehow the worst case scenario was presented to them. The reason for why everyone was pushing forward was simple. It was their faith in the Hero King, and heroes in general. Within their ranks was a hero''s party consisted of five individuals. They were the top of the cream, and elites in terms of fighting prowess. That being said, should a full fledged demon appear before them, the outcome of the battle couldn''t be definitely predicted. How do they not notice yet? The devil, the devil! They should focus on the devil! He cursed in silence. When fear had taken over a person''s heart, logic became fuzzy at best. The hero''s group at the moment was quickly making its way to the entrance to the inner city of Vera. They were the spearhead of the army, eliminating powerful enemy soldiers by themselves while not receiving even a single scratch. Their strength was uncontested. Of the five individuals, the hero was concealed in a tactical mobile suit especially made for him. It was capable of underwater combat and aerial combat, however in this scenario, most fights were street to street. There was no need to fly when the enemies came from below ground. Why a hero was stuffed in a mobile suit was somewhat strange but no one questioned it. They pushed and pushed until the exterior city was nearly completely under their control despite many losses along the way. Tanks that stopped operating were like blockades, though fortunately, the streets were wide enough for multiple tanks to pass through. At some point, retreat no longer became an option. As more and more soldiers fell before his eyes from mysterious attacks, Guudra anxiety and fear increased. His faith in the hero could no longer suppress his sense of hopelessness. Curses, what are they doing!? Stop fooling around! His heart was racing while cold beads of sweat rolled off his forehead. The heavy tank he was commanding suddenly lost its power without any notable cause. He didn''t catch another glimpse of that mysterious devil either but he was convinced it was the devil''s doing. None of the technicians onboard was able to get the tank to operate once again. "Sir, it appears the mana core was drained. We have no alternative power source, what should we do next?" One of his subordinate said. "If it has no power then it''s useless to us." He stated without showing any signs of his weakness before pondering further. Since they had no explosives that could obliterate the tank, they had to leave the tank here, but that didn''t mean they would leave it in its current condition. Although he didn''t initially believe that they could lose this battle, his heart was wavering. A decision had to be made. In the end, Guudra issued an order, "Grab your weapons and join the infantry. I have something to attend to." "Yes, sir!" The order was distributed to surrounding units under his command. Other battalions likely had similar commands issued when their tanks lost power. This part was practiced in their training regime. It was inevitable for tanks to cease operation when damaged. The tank operators would grab their weapons, whatever that might be, and join the infantry ranks. After the battle, the tanks would be retrieved and repaired, or at least that was how it was supposed to go. Guudra was the last one to leave. There were still some unused ammunition that could potentially cause some damages. Although he lacked the mana and knowledge to use magic, he could still detonate one or two shells with a rifle. At least, he hoped he could. If he could fire these shells at the enemy, he would have done so already. However, these shells were manufactured in such a way that only the tank''s dense mana could ignite them. It was a safety precaution to prevent accidental detonation. There were two main types of shells. One type was explosive that contained condensed mana with magic inscribed within. This was the most dangerous type. The other type was basically just a lump of metal that required condensed mana from the tank to be fired. If no ammunition was used, the tank would fire an energy beam instead. Hence, without condensed mana from a mana core, a tank couldn''t do a thing by itself. Please work, please work! This wasn''t my fault, this wasn''t my fault! Hero King, please have mercy! Grant us your power so we can smite the wretched filth from this land! He prayed and begged. In this foreign land, no hero could answer his call. The hero''s party at the forefront was struggling as the devil wrecked havoc everywhere it treaded. Thousands of men could perish in minutes. They could run but they was nowhere to hide. Although Guudra knew what he had done when he issued that order, it was by coincidence that he was one of the last ones to remain alive. Those who exited their protective vehicles became sacrifices as waves of poisonous needles swarmed the area like a sandstorm. Please work! As if by miracle, his mana temporarily condensed through his will. It was like a flame within his heart suddenly bursting, like a firework in a great snowstorm, a fleeting moment. That mana now condensed flowed into the rifle in his hand. Not a moment to waste, he opened the hatch above him once again, and jumped out. He took aim and an explosive followed. A shrapnel penetrated his right eye, but thankfully it wasn''t deep. Although he was in great pain, it was something he could bear. When he looked around with his left eye, he couldn''t believe what he saw. It was as if many soldiers had undressed and left the battle. There were shreds of clothing and weapons, and traces of shed blood, but nothing more. "Impossible! ... This must be a trick, an illusion!" Little did he know that while he was praying, the battle was in its conclusion. Convincing himself that everything was an illusion, he hurried to the adjacent tanks and began detonating any remaining explosive shells. The entire time, he didn''t dare look in the direction of the mountains. In his heart, fear had taken over, and logic was no longer steering his actions. Although he refused to believe what he had seen, he was afraid to accept reality. Yet, his body knew, thus he continued to retreat while destroying as many tanks as he possible could. After the battle, he certainly didn''t report back to the headquarters. Perhaps he died trying to reach the local headquarter, or perhaps he met his demise in the jaws of wild beasts. There was no search party. No one knew what happened to Guudra Vrail. The country deemed this individual as missing in action and assumed dead. blanksphere Chapter 71 "You''ll be making beverages with me. It''s quite simple." And so, I explained to Smoothie the basics of fermentation and how that applied to what I desired. "You''re just making use of my ability though... No?" She asked. Always the smart cookie, as expected. After a pause, she added cheerfully, "But I''m okay with it! I''m ready whenever you are!" "Oh, that''s good." I produced several bottles of strawberry flavored sweet water. Obviously, there were neither fungi nor bacteria in anything I created. This was where Smoothie came in handy, that was, to search for appropriate microbes and added them in these drinks to ferment the sugar properly. "Now, it''s your turn." My gaze landed on her only for her to return that same gaze. "I need mana." "No massage this time." I answered her flatly. "Aww... I didn''t even ask though!" Since she was cute even with her pouty sad face, I decided on just a regular hug. Who wouldn''t want to hug a cute little fairy? This was a real fairy, not like Vorte that old crumbly man. Fairies should be small with pretty wings. As for me, I graduated...! Though, if I wished, I could adjust my appearance to some degree. However, whether that new appearance could be considered cute or not was not strictly under my control. I squeezed her tightly in my arms. At that moment, my hands were itching to lightly pinch her wings, but I held back. My self-control was exemplary to say the least. After the hug, I examined everything that was transferred to me. Great, memories were transferred, knowledge acquired. Good, good. "By the way, what will you evolve into?" I asked. I wasn''t that curious but the likelihood of her special ability evolving with her was quite high. If that was the case, I wanted to be the first to know. But to be honest, I was kind of afraid she would obtain an ability similar to mine in terms of authority, that being [creation]. "It will be different from yours." "Obviously, your current one is already different from mine. Tell me something I don''t know." "No! I''ll surprise you!" "Fine, fine. It better be an interesting surprise." There really wasn''t anything interesting for us to do here. To combat that, I created an uncheckered board, 8 by 8. Then I created a total of 126 black and white pieces that could be flipped for either color. Basically, I copied a board game in my previous world. It was a game anyone could learn easily and play. "Ta-da! I''m amazing, right?" "A game?" "Yes, a strategy game! Let me teach you how to play." There really wasn''t much to explain at all. One player used white pieces on top and the other used black pieces on top. Two of them took turns to put down pieces, and opponent pieces that were caught directly in the middle of a move were flipped. Winner was the one with majority of pieces in their own color. "You lost again. Heheh..." She beamed victoriously. "Smoothie, stop using that cheat ability! I didn''t give you mana for this! Let me win for once! No [soothsayer] or I won''t play with you anymore!" I cried out. I definitely wasn''t throwing a tantrum because I couldn''t beat her even once. Seriously, that ability was a cheat. "Finee..." She reluctantly agreed. However, in the following game, it was as if she was purposely trying to lose to me. I nearly got a perfect win and yet I was completely unsatisfied. Note to self, never play strategy games with Smoothie... Actually, let me try something more difficult and see how advanced [soothsayer] is with its calculation capabilities. It can''t be that powerful, right? There has to be a limit. "I''m done with this game. Let''s play a different one!" No, I definitely wasn''t being a sore loser, not at all! It was calculated loss, kind of. There was one type of game that would likely throw her off. That would be games of probability. However, if she somehow learned probability manipulation after a few rounds of simple board games then I wouldn''t know what to do with her. There were just two of us here after all. For the new game, I asked her to design it with me after I explained the basic rules. It was a life themed board game where we would roll dices to move our characters or figures. Points could be earned or lost on various tiles. These points would be used to exchange for things like immunities and benefits. Whoever reached the end would win the game. Since we had too much time on our hand at the moment, I decided to have a total of 200 tiles. Empty tiles were created separately that could connect to each other. To split them evenly, we each took 100 tiles to design. [Creation] needs word fonts, seriously. I demand you to give me that function. However, even after I waited for a few minutes, no new function came. Hmm... Does it need me to add fonts first? Gah, whatever, fonts or not isn''t going to change the game. My handwriting wasn''t that pretty even in this world. To be honest, it was already quite a strange feeling to be writing in a language I had never studied. Yet when I was writing these symbols, it also felt quite natural to me. "Smoothie, don''t make them too brutal or too easy." "Okay." I took a peek at some of the tiles she wrote. Someone secretly trimmed your body; lose 5 points. A thunderstorm appeared; gain 3 points and skip a turn. You meet a demon and forged a soul contract; return to starting point after 30 turns. That last one was pretty ominous. Though, the first one I saw sounded familiar to me for some reason. Anyway, I wouldn''t want to land on any of those tiles. "No peeking!" She tried to hide what she wrote. "It''s called quality assurance! Even Kanako had someone like that when I was creating stuff." I rebutted. "Fine! I get to peek at yours too!" She argued back. "Alright." Most of mine weren''t that much better, or rather, they were far worse. In fact, at this rate, the game would be unbeatable. After she checked my tiles, she exclaimed, "You''re such a brute!" "No I''m not... Uhh... I think we should add more player friendly tiles." In the end, there were around 50 negative tiles, 90 neutral tiles, and 60 positive tiles. Most of the negative tiles and positive tiles were designed by me whereas Smoothie designed majority of the neutral tiles. Neutral here just meant that they weren''t dreadful like skipping a turn or returning to starting point. "All done!" It was still too early to celebrate. We had to lay the tiles in their tracks to complete the roadmap. We each took turns to lay down the tiles. Because certain parts of the roads had to branch off, I had to create directional tiles. Basically, we would roll the dice to determine which path to take. Moving backwards was also possible when it came to those directional tiles. It somehow became a brutal board game. Since neither of us had duties or work to attend to, we had plenty of free time. Of course, I knew I still had things I had to do such as following Vorte''s advise and whatnot. I just finished fighting a war; a short breather shouldn''t hurt anyone! It was important to separate work from play. If I overworked myself to death, that would be the end of things. No one wanted that, right? blanksphere Chapter 72 "Smoothie, you go first." "Okay!" She nodded cheerfully. We were only using a single cube dice. This was meant to extend the game time. "Five! One, two, three, four, five..." She counted. It didn''t take long for her expression to turn grim. I looked at the tile and chuckled. She had to move back four tiles, meaning she was now back to the first tile. In addition, she had to skip her turn twice. In this game, only the initial landing tile''s effect was counted otherwise we would get nowhere. "Grr... Pooh!" "My turn!" I rolled a four. It was a happy tile where I gained seven points. I honestly didn''t think my luck was this good. Out of the first six tiles, four of them were bad ones. "Cheater!" She cried. "Nuh uh! My luck is just that good." I grinned cheerfully at my initial head start. Our game continued for quite some time until someone came knocking on my door. "Looks like we''ll have to put this on hold." "But I''m finally winning!" She complained. Somehow, her luck reversed later on in the game after taking countless detours. At this moment, she was ahead of me. And, if that momentum kept up, she would beat me before long, hence this was a great way for me to escape a potential loss. "Maybe it''s better for you to play with friends. I''m busy, you know?" Fingers crossed, she''ll make some friends and let me off the hook! Busy me has no time for a child''s game. "Friends?" "Yes, friends." I shouldn''t keep whoever it is waiting. I walked to the door and opened it. To be surprise, it was that harefolk, Fuu. It made me wonder if he was Kanoko''s assistant or something because there really should only be a few who knew where I lived. "Hi, Fuu, was it? Did you need something?" "Your Honorable, I am here to pass a message to you from Her Excellency, Kanoko." What''s with this way of talking? Can we talk normally? I don''t think I''ve earned that title by any means. "Eh, you can just call me Berry. I''m just a humble... Uh... Right, so what was the message?" "She would like to see you as soon as possible." "Eh, that''s it?" "Yes." Smoothie snuck up next to me, "Mother, you''re a troublemaker, no?" "No! Absolutely not! I''m the most upright citizen in the world... Eh... Fuu, thanks for the message. I''ll be there in a moment." "Understood," and he quickly left. "Smoothie, I don''t think Haelley knows where we live. So, if I don''t come back by nightfall, pay her a visit. She should be able to take you to your original body. I''ll ask Kanoko just to be sure there are no other issues." With that all said, I went to meet up with Kanoko. Smoothie could do whatever she wanted to do. Whether she would actually help me with the alcoholic beverages, that was completely up to her. It didn''t matter either way. When I arrived, Kanoko was still busy as ever doing paperwork. Actually, she was in a meeting with someone as I arrived and I ended up having to wait for a few minutes. "Hey Kanoko," I waved my hand casually, "I have a request. I asked Haelley to look after my kid while I''m away. That''s no problem, right?" "Can you discuss these types of things with me first? You''re giving me a headache." She remarked sharply. "Oops, sorry. So is that an ''okay?''" "Ideally, the winged beasts should have returned to the northern front..." She suddenly sighed like an old lady, "however, in case Vorte evolves and ascends, we need everyone we can get to defend the city. Those cunning humans might be plotting something even now which is why I proposed to send you to investigate the tunnels for remnants and traces of their movements. Any intelligence will do." Hmm? Something isn''t adding up. I mean I understand the concern with the invaders... "Wait, shouldn''t Vorte be much stronger after evolving? Why do you need more defenses?" "It''s not so simple. There is the chance that after evolution, he might leave this physical world completely. I''m telling you because you''re a fellow fey being just like us, otherwise this is kept hidden from the populace." That made sense. If their guardian deity suddenly disappeared without a trace one day, especially in the middle of a great war, morale would be greatly affected. "Ah I see, but Vorte said he would train Haelley, right? Surely he wouldn''t just leave." "We try to err on the side of caution. Speaking of which, one of the main tunnel access will be cleared by tonight. Please begin your investigation as soon as possible." Everyone had their worries and concerns. Though, I still hadn''t received a direct answer. "Alright, simple enough. But I can borrow Haelley for a bit, right? It''s important for her evolution. You know what I mean, right?" My gaze met hers to have some sort of mutual understanding. If she declined then I would also decline on the task she just assigned to me. "Alright, then, are you willing to be the guardian of this city?" Huh? Who would want to be strapped to a single place? Easy life also meant I get to go wherever I want! "No, of course not!" "Wha-" "Don''t get me wrong, this city is great but I like to travel. I want to try different things and see the world. I don''t want to be like Vorte, sitting in a lame cave doing nothing everyday. That''s the worst!" "Young ones, I can understand," she said while nodding. "There you have it. I''m not staying as a guardian. Nope!" "I didn''t expect you to either." "Then why did you ask?" "I was just curious. Given your level, I thought you were ancient. But having seen you level up in a flash, I can see you are still young." By now, her hands had stopped going through paperwork altogether. It seemed that whenever I came to visit, I was actually keeping her from doing her work. I replied proudly, "Yeah, I''m young and fresh from the ground. I want to travel and see the world and try different cuisines. And, I''ll grow even stronger!" "Stronger? You''re already strong in my eyes." She looked at me not with envy but with concern, then she added, "Did Vorte warn you of anything?" "Ehh... He explained quite a bit of stuff to me: the paths, demons, heroes, things like that." "Be careful not to attract the attention of demons." "It''s already too late but I''ll figure something out later when I have time." "Then I won''t pry any further. Please keep in mind, demons are generally despised in every country, including this one. No matter how powerful you are, we can''t officially accept demons, meaning you''ll never be able to peacefully walk down the streets if you choose that path." By officially, she indirectly meant that I could still converse and interact with people behind the scenes. Though, not being able to walk on the streets was quite the detriment. In best case scenario, I would avoid the demon or chaos path. I really need to resolve that contract fast. In fact, I sort of remember the deal on the contract. It wasn''t explicitly stated but it wasn''t a peace treaty either. At that time, if I didn''t accept the contract, I might have been eaten and lost my soul without a chance to grow. However, now that I was fairly strong, there was a slimmer of chance for me to avoid a confrontation. Yet, should I make a bad move even if I was to hide, that rabbit demon could try to destroy all my plant bodies in an attempt to take my soul once I was no longer able to directly provide the tribute of five strawberries daily. The contract was indeed unfavorable to me. Luckily, Smoothie hadn''t been caught up in it just yet. The problem was that there really wasn''t any good places to hide with the exception of the subspace. Moreover, even if I was to hide in the subspace, there was no guarantee that it couldn''t be breached by a legendary demon. "I''ll do my best to resolve it as soon as I can. Vorte did give me some advise. Eh... The problem is there''s nowhere to hide from demons and I''ve never nullified a contract before." "I don''t think I can help you with it. After all, demons are mysterious and I rather not get myself involved with them." Oh right, I should mention it. That other fox lady with similar name and same species as her. I wonder if they''re related. Chapter 73 "Kanoko, do you know anyone by the name of Kanobi?" "Yes, it''s not an uncommon name." She seemed unfazed. "Why do you ask?" "I can''t say that demon name but when I was doing business with a strange demon, someone who looked really similar to you showed up. She was also a fey being just like you, and of the same species. I was just wondering if you knew each other?" Her eyes twitched and she spoke with a slightly harsh tone, "You must be quite stupid to do business with a demon." Then after a short pause she sighed, "Yes, she was related to me, but not anymore." "Did something happen? If you don''t mind me asking..." "It''s nothing a fantasy tale, really. You do know how or why fey beings like you and me are born, right?" "Uhh... Not at all. No one explained a thing to me when I was born?" Certainly I had no memories of any explanations when I was reincarnated as a strawberry plant. The entire decision to reincarnate as a plant was completely arbitrary with no input of my own. "Well, I don''t know the exact details either so I''ll share with you what I know. It''ll probably help you with making choices down the line. Later if you speak to Vorte again, you can ask him for a broader perspective." "Sure I''m listening." Though, I''m certainly a hinder to your unending workload if that''s okay with you... Although much of the things she told me wasn''t really news to me since I had figured them out, some things had to be said to set up the premise. In some of her explanations, I added some of my own understandings from my previous world to make sense of the terminology here. As an example, in the common language, there was no such thing as "vacation." If I asked Kanoko to take a vacation, it would roughly mean asking her to rest or take a break. In this world, rest generally also meant nap or sleep. The concept of vacation or vacation time didn''t exist in this world, at least not yet. Because of the lack of entertainment, I figured, people just worked and stopped when they didn''t feel like they could keep going. Anyway, fey beings originated as spiritual beings or lumps of spiritual energies without physical bodies and could not interact with the physical world. It was something like just a soul without a body and usually it lacked consciousness or ego or both. In this world, mana was not that different from spiritual energy, or rather, they were really the same in terms of their function. In my case, I had a core from the beginning since I had my consciousness and ego all intact. It could be understood that not all fey beings were born equally. Those born without ego nor consciousness was no different than mere beasts. Since it was more likely for mana to imprint on creatures with greater populace which tended to have group consciousnesses instead of ego, most fey beings simply didn''t develop their ego. This meant they were just unintelligent wildlife living by their instincts such as ones I had seen in my travel. Naturally, if one only looked at populations, mortal races were great in number. However, mortal races could control mana, and lumps of mana didn''t just sit around and allowed to imprint, develop and evolve. It was literally not that different from the act of possession for the duration of imprint process. Those with consciousness who wished to imprint on mortal races would also be met with extreme resistance. Hence, spiritual beings with ego such as a deceased human were more likely reincarnate as a human than become a fey being. In addition, only those who were powerful could become intelligent fey beings, or otherwise risk losing everything. All in all, everyone had their own circumstances and each fey being was unique in their birth. The main difference between fey beings and physical beings like those of mortal races was the ability to alter and create their own bodies to some extent. It was just a matter of efficiency. After all, fey beings were semi-spiritual beings. Apparently there was even an instance where some lumps of rocks gained consciousness, albeit it perished within days after discovery. Mana had their own energy signatures. This was confirmed by Kanoko. Mana under my control was mine alone. If someone else wished to use it, that mana had to be converted. The conversion factor varied. This meant lumps of mana couldn''t just imprint on anything or anyone. My case with Smoothie was quite special because our relationship and traits. Aside from those born from plants like me, in the animal world, there would usually be an imprint of the spiritual energy with a particular species. Apparently, in ancient times, Kanoko was originally a human, a fairly powerful one at that. Kanobi was a friend and also a powerful individual at that time. Unfortunately, both of them suffered the same fate when they tried to subjugate a tailed fox fey beast. Due to a special trait of that fey beast, it was able to split into identical selves depending on the number of tails it had. Every additional tail the fey beast had meant an additional soul was collected. They couldn''t be weak souls either. However, what was unknown to the subjugation team was that the number of tails had increased by three since the beast was last spotted. The battle was bitter with each side taking major losses. On the human side, three people were dead or critically injured. On the fey beast side, five tails were lost, and three remained. The number of tails it could have was limited by the fey beast''s level. In addition, powerful souls were not easy to collect even with the appropriate level. Unable to defeat the fey beast, their souls were collected and those who were strong became the fey beast''s tails. That was basically how Kanoko and Kanobi became fey beings. They weren''t related by blood originally but once they became part of the fey beast, they were equivalent to being siblings. Strangely enough, the fey beast gave them new names and cared for them in return. It was a fey beast capable of rapidly gaining wisdom and knowledge as it collected more souls. "You used to be a tail...? And what happened to the fey beast?" "Its soul was reaped by a certain demon for breaking a contract I assume. I was out hunting at that time so I ended up being freed from domination after it died. Kanobi, for some reason, was quite willing to make a contract with that demon. I don''t know what had gotten into her. Anyway, the demon got what it wanted and I was left alone. I don''t know what happened to the other souls and I have since not heard from her." I slowly, very slowly tried to sneak around her desk. Out of pure curiosity, I wanted to see how many tails she had. "I only have one." She stated flatly. "Why only one?" "I have no desire to collect souls to turn into my minions." We were getting super off-topic but I learned quite a bit. "Ah... I see. By the way, I managed to make good use of the medicinal stuff you sent me. Ta-da!" I showed her the vitamin pills. "What are these?" She picked one up with her slender fingers and examined it. Huh, what should I tell her? Think! "Nutrients, important nutrients that will help people recover. I isolated just the essential nutrients and replicated them." "I don''t know about this. Isn''t it better to leave them as is?" That''s a start. At least she trusts me with the stuff I make now. "I understand but these, what I call ''pills'', could be easily stored away and won''t rot. Think of them as condensed and purified substances like the poisons. Instead, these are nutrients that help people." "Oh that makes sense. Interesting. I''ll run them by our laboratory. Once the results are out, His Majesty will make the decision." "You can''t approve it?" "No, if this thing is really amazing as you say, we might apply it to our military. This isn''t something I can approve by myself." "I understand." "Then, does that mean you can''t approve Haelley''s leave either? She said she was okay with it." "One of her kin came earlier to advise me of it so that''s already approved. In the future, please ask me first, and same thing with Vorte. Please ask my permission. If you cause any troubles, I have to clean up after you. I''ll even deduct your pay for the extra work you''ve given me." "Sorry! Please don''t deduct my pay." I clasped my hands together and begged. She sighed with exhaustion, "Again, please ask me first for anything that might need permission. You have to help me help you, okay?" "Nn! Okay." Chapter 74 Kanoko rubbed her temples, "Now, where was I? Ahh... Right. You don''t need to worry about Smoothie, and Princess Haelley. Only the elite escorts will be accompanying them. I''m guessing you''ll be there as well after you do a preliminary investigation." "Okay." "I was going to give you another task but I will let you know once you come back. It''s not urgent. For tonight, a team of military engineers will be coming with you. It''s not a problem if you leave them behind but please don''t cause them any trouble. They''re there to gather some information. In the event you meet any enemies, please capture if possible. We need as much information as possible." "That''s fine. I''ll bind them leave them to the engineers, right? And what if the enemy is stronger than me? Can I run?" "Yes, and yes. You''re more familiar with combat than I am. Your safety is important. I want the engineers to be safe as well if you can manage." "No guarantees but I''ll do what I can. Anything else?" "For your record, this place will remain my office until the city barrier formation is restored. As much as I appreciate being kept in a safe place, I want to take a breather outside." She grumbled. I definitely don''t want to stay in an office all day everyday. There''s not even a bit of sunlight inside. Sure, it''s pretty with all these glowing plants and mushrooms here but there''s a limit to that. "Then, go take a breather? No one is stopping you." I said. "Can''t you see I''m stacked with work?" "A little breather wouldn''t hurt, would it? I mean, we talked for quite long." "That''s exactly why I need to now catch up. Leave. I''ve spent too much time on you already." "Do you enjoy doing paperwork all day?" I asked as she was practically pushing me out of her office. "I don''t dislike it. Just go play with your kid or something. You got what you came here for." As a gift of gratitude, I created two bottles of sweet water after remembering how she chugged them down last time. "Alright, alright, there''s no need to push. I''m leaving! Here, have some drink." "Huh? How kind of you, thanks." She smiled before shutting her office door at me. There was still some time before night but since the permission was received, I decided to send Smoothie to go play with Haelley and wait for departure. After that, I joined the military engineers. Most of the debris in the main tunnels were already cleared and all the breaches had been sealed. A supervisor of the cleanup team reported to me, "Your Honorable, would you like a status update?" "Yes, any signs of enemy movements? Camps or leftover weapons, anything?" "Yes, we have found many dead enemy soldiers, likely to have died from poison. Her Excellency had previous warned us of potential poisonous air in the passages. We therefore took precautions and filtered the air with magic and sealed the breaches as soon as possible." Oops, I guess I did a good job? "Ah, that''s good. Any survivors?" "None in the area, they might have ventured deeper where air is less poisonous." "I see. What a troublesome bunch." I grumbled. Once everyone was ready, we entered the large tunnels. The team of fifteen military engineers was fully equipped with most of their things loaded onto two drake pulled carriages. In addition, each soldier carried a small bag with daily essentials such as food and water. Obviously, they also carried weapons such as knives and swords whichever their preferred weapons were. Though, surprisingly, some carried rifles, the new weapons obtained from fallen enemies. Given how these rifles were in a way similar to crossbows, they shouldn''t have too much trouble using them. If they needed condensed mana, I could technically charge them for a fee. Anyway, in terms of the command structure, I was equal to them or their team leader. It was a cooperative assignment after all which was why I was allowed to leave these slow walkers behind if I wished. We didn''t talk much. Yet, their gazes often followed me. Perhaps it had to do with me walking in the front or maybe they saw me as an super idol? I turned around and waved, "Hi, need something?" "No, no, Your Honorable. We''re just admiring you." "You''re absolutely stunning." "Indeed, indeed!" They answered quickly in succession. I''m truly an idol! Hurray! I smiled happily in reply to the praises before dashing off deeper into the tunnels. Scars of battle were easily visible in the tunnels. Black burn marks, holes, and dead soldiers were here and there. I took the opportunity to rid of the rotting corpses along the way otherwise the tunnel would stink terribly. For the most part of this main tunnel, I didn''t encounter any branches or secret passages. Excluding the occasional ups and downs and turns, it was a straight path to our destination. Using tactical sight ahead of my position, there was nothing that could escape my detection. With the nearest settlement being four days away via walking speed, I flew without reserve. To my surprise though, the tunnel was traveller friendly. Washrooms and clean water were provided approximately in one such facility around every ten kilometers existed. I had to enter one to remove some decaying corpses. Who knew I ended up becoming a janitor? Though, it probably couldn''t be helped. As I continued further, I found a residential area or something like an inn for travellers. This was where things got a bit messy. There was a large group of human soldiers occupying this place and no beastfolk in sight, at least no living ones. Barricades were set up around the building as if they were anticipating skirmishes. Ah, should I do the honor? I really wanted to finish this investigation as soon as possible. Given how deep the enemies had penetrated into the country, and how many tunnels there were, I wouldn''t be let off the hook after this assignment. Alright, I''ll keep them alive for intelligence purposes. Assassination was one of my specialties. In merely a few seconds, all the men in my tactical sight were paralyzed. To ensure they wouldn''t escape, I siphoned most of the life force and bound them tightly with vines. It was an action no different from catching a few armed burglers. "Greetings humans!" I announced proudly. It was a line I really wanted to say. I waited, but there was no response. Apparently the paralysis poison overdid it. They couldn''t even talk to me. Oops, my bad! Next time I''ll be more careful. My job was technically done here. I captured enemy soldiers and the rest was for the military engineers to sort out. And to leave my mark on them, I placed a strawberry on top of the head of a soldier who had the highest level. It was my way of saying, "You lost to a strawberry." When I took a few steps back and examined the scene, it was quite comical. Hopefully those military engineers shared my sense of humor! Within this tunnel, not surprisingly, there were three of these inns. It was presumably calculated to have one per day of travel. On the fourth day, travellers should have reached the end of the tunnel and into a settlement. Anyway, I cleared the remnants of enemy soldiers as I made my way to the nearest settlement. With my speed, plus the time I slowed down to explore, a few hours was all it took. As for the enemy soldiers, they were nicely bundled up like carrots. Their mouths were gagged to prevent them from chanting magic. Also, to prevent them from causing troubles and escaping, I drugged them with poisons. A long nap wouldn''t hurt anyone. How envious, I wish I could sleep soundly like that! Chapter 75 The settlement I arrived at was called Gurok and it was surprisingly well protected. A large stone gate stood at the entrance with two armed guards on each side. At first, the guards were on high alert the moment they saw me flying toward them at high speed, but the moment I slowed down and pulled out my official golden seal, they released their tension. Interesting, no sign of any huge battles... I guess that''s a good sign. If anyone wondered where I normally kept small random things, I kept them inside of me or inside my dress pockets. I couldn''t possibly put away everything inside my subspace. That place was too large; things could easily get lost in there. Not to mention, I didn''t want to leak my secret to the world. Gurok was another city within the Kingdom of Teir. Compared to the city of Vera, I would say Gurok was much wealthier and lively at first glance. Surrounding the city were great mountains, but that much was expected since the tunnels and residential areas were all within the mountains. These mountains acted as natural barriers from foreign invaders. In terms of structure, the city was like a caldera, very artistic and beautiful when done right. This one, I would say it was unique in its own ways. The place I was supposed to report to was likely at the centre of the city, an island surrounded by a glistening azure lake. No bridges were built, but I could see ferries that carried people to and from the island. In fact, there were many watery canals that seemed to be used to facilitate the transport of goods outside the city. By the way, I left Vera during the night. Adding in the travel time, it was already morning by now. Although no direct sunlight was reaching this city, it was only a matter of time on this cloudless day. How interesting! I wonder which other cities this place is connected to. The populace here had a different proportion of Juds compared to Vera. I would say this city was much more diverse. Although I couldn''t pinpoint any fey beings within a few glances, I was able to see other races I had not seen before in this country which many I couldn''t name. Anyway, beastfolks were beastfolks; details should be left to the professionals. Ignoring the ferries, I flew towards the centre of the lake. There''s bound to be new foods I can try. I can hardly wait! Hmm? Priorities? Can I eat it? I zipped into the city centre and landed on the busiest street that had tons of food vendors in it. There were a few murmurs and gasps following me as I toured the street, but that was normal. They were probably enjoying the local specialties and couldn''t hide their inner gourmet. It had nothing to do with me or my stylishness. Before I started buying foods and drinks, I carefully listened to the conversations coming from various vendors. I had to make sure they spoke the same language, otherwise they wouldn''t understand what food I wanted to order. Common language is... Uncommon, unfortunately. Needlessly to say, this city seemed like a merchant city. That meant that even if sellers didn''t normally speak common language didn''t mean they couldn''t speak or understand it. That was my hope, at least. Regardless what the circumstance was, larger businesses were more likely to be bilingual than street vendors. Hence, I entered the first restaurant that piqued my interest. It did look quite fancy from the outside. A harefolk greeted me in common language and brought me to a room that seemed to be reserved for important guests. I could tell because how extravagant the decorations were. The walls, ceiling, and floor were parts of a large painting of a surreal realm. The lighting crystals were carefully incorporated into the painting such that unless I carefully inspected the art, I would have thought the room was naturally bright. He''s got nice eyes! Well, it was kind of hard for anyone to mess up my identity. No one dressed like I did. Moreover, I was the only one who looked like a human or elf. "I''m so amazing! Eheheh..." I chuckled smugly. Still, I didn''t really say anything and yet I was placed in this room. I obviously wouldn''t complain about it but hopefully this service wouldn''t eat up my salary. I was supposed to be the gourmet, not the other way around. I sat down and waited. After a short wait, that waiter came back with a menu and elegantly placed it in front of me as if he was a professional butler. Hah, let''s see what''s good... The menu itself was quite stylish with trims and linings. However, it didn''t have any pictures and I really didn''t understand many of these dish names. Sure I had seen a few similar names before but food artists were sometimes peculiar when it came their creative dishes. Good dishes sometimes had to sound nice before anyone cared to order it. Since I figured I couldn''t afford one of each, I picked a couple from each section that I was sure I hadn''t tried before. It''s good I worked at a bar. That experience certainly came in handy. A few minutes later, one by one, dishes were brought to the table. If some random person walked in, I would seem like some spoiled child of some big mafia boss, seriously. I was one person, in front of so much high quality food. As for the waiter, he was very professional. "Thanks." Time to dig in! My limitless stomach was the best ability ever. One dish after another, I ate non-stop. I savored everything as much as I could. Mm... Soo good! To my surprise though, they had food flavored with sweet sauce. Herbs and spices, I tried to see if I could acquire them with my [creation] ability since I was no slacker when it came to amassing a catalogue of important compounds that had useful values to me. Oh crap, I better check to see if I had gained any new traits... Ehh... Nope! Thankfully, I hadn''t gained anything new. I was afraid I would regain |gourmet| trait or something terrible. It wouldn''t surprise me if I did though, considering how much I was eating. However, it wasn''t like I was constantly eating that much. To eat a meal once in a while shouldn''t trouble anyone! Anyhow, in the end, I did isolate a few flavoring molecules and catalogued their structures into my [creation] ability. That was a good news from this lavishing feast. Since I could never get full, eating would never fully satisfy me anymore like back when I had a normal body. I learned that back in Vera. Really, life was cruel! When the bill came, I checked the amount. Really though, it was huge but not quite enough for me to stumble. The country was paying me handsomely for the work I did so a meal like this was no big deal. Why is it so expensive? Was I eating gem dusts or something? I can''t claim it as a necessary business expense, can I...? It''s technically a business trip, isn''t it? Ehh...Ahh... I''ll let this go because I''m not stingy! Thanks for the meal, time to head off to... Where was it again? Ahh... I''m getting old. Was I even told where exactly I was supposed to go to? No, right? I guess I''ll just check-in with the local embassy hall. Yeah! That must be it. There was supposed to be an embassy hall in every city in this country. Villages and towns didn''t count. Anyway, in this country, embassy halls seemed to function differently from the ones I was used to back in my previous world. Here, they dealt with visitors from outside of their cities, intercity relationships, and sometimes day to day operations within the cities. In my situation, since I came from outside of Gurok, I should report to its embassy hall. Maybe that was why Kanoko never specified who I was supposed to report to. In that case, thank goodness I was smart enough to figure it out by myself. Indeed, I''ve come a long way. I''m a smart cookie now. blanksphere Chapter 76 While I was wandering around in the city centre looking for the embassy hall, I secretly planted some of my clones in the ground. Having backup bodies would never hurt me. These were dormant bodies that wouldn''t grow but rather only to gather traces of mana to sustain themselves and transfer to me. In the case any demons tried to eat my mana through a clone, I could easily cut them off. With the city centre obviously exposed to the sky, I couldn''t tell how this city was able to remain untouched by the reptilians. Is it camouflage with magic? It can''t be because there used to be international trade... My curiosity got the better of me just as I reached the doorstep of the embassy hall. I ascended into the sky, above the peaks of the mountains. Surprisingly, past the mountain peaks visible from within the city was another circular mountain range but much taller that reached even beyond the clouds. The peaks were covered in snow and ice whereas the vertical slopes shone like obsidian. To see beyond, I had to fly even higher. As a fey being, at least in my case, I didn''t normally feel cold. However, my clothe was becoming stiff from the chilling air. I didn''t know what altitude those magitech ships could fly up to but as I flew even higher, a sight stunned me. A wall of clouds extended from one horizon to the next was just outside the encirclement. That itself was breathtaking. When I turned around to see what was behind me, in the direction of northeast, I could faintly make out the images of floating islands. I could not help but exclaim, "No. Way. This... This is what I call a fantasy world!" How much mana does it take to create that wall? And, the islands, to make them float? That''s beyond me. Seriously, that is amazing! I can''t wait till I get a chance to visit that place! Those floating islands were hundreds of kilometers away based on my visual estimate. I would probably have to stop in between at smaller settlements to reach there. Anyhow, I decided that was going to be my next destination after this trip. I just had to ask Kanoko for permission to go on a longer business trip. "I''m done sightseeing. It''s time to get back to work." I sighed before freefalling back into the city before making a soft landing. Work was work. I entered the embassy hall and greeted the nearest clerk with my official seal. "One moment please." The clerk lead me into a private room before she quickly went to fetch her superior. Moments later, a felinefolk entered the room. We exchanged greetings and I provided information regarding the events that occurred in Vera. He wrote down some brief notes and I answered a few questions. To be honest, I didn''t really understand the current situation within Vera hence there really wasn''t much I could tell this official. I was advised of the actions this city might take but that was about it. All in all, the meeting was short and to the point. I wouldn''t be able to sit through long boring meetings anyway. After that, I placed some more clones in the city on the mountain sides. This was so that I could teleport here any time I wanted to in the future. "My work is all done! Time to buy some snacks... Ehehehe..." It was important to reward myself after hard work. Thus, in the afternoon, I enjoyed eating lots of snacks. If there were anything interesting, I bought it. My wallet was keeping pace as long as I didn''t overspend on the expensive goods. Before sunset, I made sure to wash myself in a local bathhouse, to remove any scent that would get me in trouble with Smoothie. She would only be upset and jealous if she smelled food on me even if I provide an adequate excuse. Sniff, sniff. All good. Time to go home! I didn''t need to report to those military engineers because they were acting separately. All the work in the tunnel was cut out for them so there was nothing to worry about. Although there were two other tunnels that still needed some work done, this time my assignment had nothing to do with them. I teleported back to Vera and returned to my residence. In the living room, only the board game pieces remained. Smoothie should have left last night. And, depending on how fast they were travelling, they should arrive at their destination within twenty days or so. The only thing I was concerned about was that our original home was near the border of human territories. There were also dangerous monsters but since Haelley''s people were professionals in both combat and likely hunting, that shouldn''t be a problem. Either way, I planned on joining them later on in case troubles arise. Now that I''ll have plenty of quiet time, I suppose I should meditate and find a way to nullify that contract. So far, that demon hadn''t made a move. If I was him, I would have already made my move and killed the anomaly. Nobody would level up suddenly and stop at one level before a double evolution. Thinking back, it was a stupid idea to level up like that. Sure it was fun and exhilarating, but that was one of the most dangerous things I had ever done. I would never repeat it. I slapped my cheeks with both hands, "Alright, this is no time to get distracted! Let''s see how far we can go with this." To ensure no one could distract me, I entered my subspace from my room. As far as I was concerned, this was the safest place. Although nothing was stopping those with godlike authority from entering it, I doubted many had such authority. In addition, if they wished to enter without my permission, they would either have to sneak in or know my subspace coordinates. Based on my understanding, magic dealing with space and time coordinates was extremely complicated, not to mention the amount of mana required. The construction progress within my subspace was quite slow, or rather, this place was just too large for someone of my caliber. "Hmm... I should shrink it... Wait, I should be meditating!" I quickly built a bubble around myself, adjusted the passage of time within the passage, and entered a meditative state. The floating feeling with no gravity was just perfect for this. Think... Think... Think back... What''s exactly on that contract? The deal with the daily strawberries was definitely on there. We definitely cleared the management issue, claim and distribution rights. I held all the rights to everything I produced. As long as he receives five strawberries, all is fine. There was no issue with the shape and properties with the strawberries. This meant that slightly poisonous and seedless strawberries are acceptable. I hold all the cards, don''t I? I clearly read everything, even the fine prints, not that there were any... Let''s re-examine it from a different perspective. I must have missed something. Soon enough, the contract was clearly visible in my mind''s eye. All the words were there along with my signature. Wait, originally it wasn''t supposed to be a soul contract, right? The signature, how come it has my mana in it? Is that how contracts are supposed to work? Curses, I don''t have any knowledge on that. I should have asked Smoothie to look it up for me before she left. Regardless whether it was a soul contract or not, De Planck would come after me if I broke it. If I was him, how would I break the contract? How... Eh, can he just not have anyone pick the strawberries? Would that count? The wording was that he was "allotted five strawberries per day." I guess not. His side of the bargain was the headhunting service. He had to provide me with candidates whenever I called upon him for that service. Unfortunately, there was no penalty for him if he broke the contract. Even if there was a penalty for him, I couldn''t enforce it. It would be interesting if I could reap his soul in return. The issue was I didn''t even know where he lived and I couldn''t fight him head on without losing my life should he choose to answer my summon. Moreover, nothing was stopping him from ignoring my summon. From what I understood, demon''s names were magical words themselves. That was why we couldn''t normally say them out loud. There was no problem if the speaker meant completely something else. Could it be that because I have the |devious| trait, I''ll automatically evolve into a demon? No, serious, way? I guess that''s plausible and he''s just banking on it. That''s why he hasn''t made a move? As much as I would love to remove that trait, I didn''t know how. There really was too much to sort out by myself. Chapter 77 – A Short Construction Project I thought about the different scenarios that could occur based on the actions I could take. It was like a chess game, really. Here was one of the many scenarios I thought about. If I supposed that the demon didn''t know about the existence of Smoothie, and that I refused to become his underling, one thing he could do was to attempt to eat all my bodies with his soul eating ability. Since he could teleport, and possibly track my bodies with high authority abilities, it would still take some time. Meanwhile, I would have disconnected all my clone bodies from my main body and hid in my subspace. No matter what, my subspace was the safest location. The issue was the contract. The contract linked him and I together in some way. After my bodies outside all died, eventually I wouldn''t be able to fulfill the contract anymore. There was the possibility the contract could lead him directly into my subspace through some backdoor channel. Anyway, the moment I died would mean the collapse of my subspace. I know too little about demons. What is their range of operation? What restricts them from simply destroying the world? Yes, the guardians but I haven''t seen an actual guardian. To keep that demon in check must be someone of equal status. The real question is: why did that demon pop up that time when I didn''t call its name? I have no answer to that. Could it be my intent to hire a servant? Was it because that is De Planck''s niche and my intent automatically triggered a response? Thoughts popped in and out sporadically as I tried to re-organize everything in my mind. It was becoming such a mess. At some point, I had more questions than I had answers. I had more speculations than hard facts. One at a time. Can I rid of myself of this |devious| trait? Possible but unlikely. Next, can I defeat or escape from De Planck? Very unlikely, probably impossible until I know more about his abilities. Next, can the contract be nullified at the moment? Possibly, but the moment I nullify it, De Planck would likely be immediately alerted. It would be a race against time hence I must resolve everything on my side before I nullify the contract. There''s also the possibility that De Planck would try to force another contract on me. If possible, I would like to transfer Smoothie''s original body to somewhere safe. So far, I hadn''t found anywhere that would be safe from demons. If I was given enough time to gain strength, I might be able to hold off that demon even before I evolve. I wonder if I can trap it in my subspace and seal it away? How do you defeat a legendary demon anyway? After hours of contemplation and sorting through as much information as I could, including all the knowledge transferred from Smoothie, I decided to end this meditation. Vorte would be my go-to person for more information. Speculations were fine in my opinion. What I needed was countermeasures and advises on fighting demons. "Ah, I almost forgot to report to Kanoko first." It was a close call but thankfully I remembered right after I exited my subspace. In real time, it had only been a minute since I entered my subspace. I entered Kanoko''s office only to find that it was empty. I wonder where she went? Could it be that she''s taking a break right now? Gasp, gasp! Is the world going to collapse tomorrow? Oops, perish such ominous thoughts. Since Kanoko wasn''t around, I didn''t have anything better to do. Instead I teleported away and began spreading my clones like a wildfire. I was in dire need of resources and mana. I didn''t really know what mana was but in the event I was able to safely evolve, I wanted to have enough mana stocked up to ascend as much as I could into higher levels. That way, even if I couldn''t use any newfound powers, I should be able to fend off dangerous beings like demons for a bit. Seriously, I had a bad feeling about this whole evolution thing. Obstacles one after another just kept popping up. I could definitely imagine someone targeting me right after I evolve. After all, I had no reliable backing. Anyhow, I had things to do. Thousands upon thousands of small gatherer clones were simultaneous produced each minute within the barren desert. Each was merely fist sized and their only purpose was to absorb their surroundings. These clones were lined up in thick stripes along the border of the Grusia Empire. This served two purposes. One was obviously because I needed mana and minerals. The other was to cut off the route by which the humans could invade by land either above or underground. The stripe was about three hundred meters in width. As for the special clones I had deployed before, I destroyed them before I could forget about them. Otherwise, they might cause trouble for me later on. In the past few days, they only ate a couple hundred meters into the ground. Even if I left them, they would never reach the centre of the planet because they would end burning up from the heat underground. From above, I guided the placements of my clones. The clones on the ground were also replicating at the same time. If I was looking from the side, it was like a gargantuan green wyrm was eating up the desert. As time passed, with how numerous clones I deployed, their work speed was astronomical. Within an hour, the trench depth was able to reach a kilometer. My goal was around two kilometers in depth. "Boys and girls, this is how canyons are formed." I announced proudly as I witnessed this impressive sight. Of course, this was just good old me talking to myself. Speaking of canyons, I wasn''t that far from the natural canyons to the south. Anyway, instead of heading east toward the ocean, I dug my trench along the western borderline. The south was uncharted territory with too many powerful monsters to conquer. Though, I did include a few monster domains from the desert. As for the southwest regions of the empire, those were excluded since the two kingdoms were destroyed and gone. I didn''t want to risk venturing into the current human territories. As powerful as my [creation] ability was, in between, I had to replenish my water supply. Apparently I ran out of water to be able to create more clones. After hours of work on this national scale construction project, I lost count how many clones I had created. I would say I was in the millions. Once this was all done, I planned to collect and recycle my clones since I had trouble controlling all of them at the same time. Some were left where they were deployed to continuously absorb things until they reached the two kilometer depth marker. Along the way, I found a few tunnels dug out by the human military near the tree line, and some within the forests as I expected. Although there were more much further north, those didn''t seem to have anything to do with the recent invasion. Anyhow, the deepest tunnels dug by humans were only a couple hundred meters below ground. Since I had plenty of mineral dusts available, I stuffed the tunnels on both sides with solid chunks of rocks created in my subspace. To add to that, I was careful to erase any onlookers and above ground military bases, but they were far and few in between. It was all because I didn''t want any bystanders to report to their bosses of everything I did here. Well, their bosses probably wouldn''t believe any of it either. Really, it was a necessary but a small evil! It should be overlooked. Instead I should be praised for my ground shattering project well done! Again, someone like me didn''t need to sleep, hence I kept going until morning came. It wasn''t because I ran out of mana or anything but rather I thought Kanoko should be awake by now. The other reason was that I didn''t know how far I was from the northern war theatre. I seriously had no intention of involving myself in another war especially given how it was above my pay grade and my capabilities. Although I wasn''t explicitly told about it, the battleground to the north was likely many times more dangerous than the one I just experienced. If I accidentally got caught up in a battle between guardians, devils, and demons, I wouldn''t survive. Just before I went to visit Kanoko, as a courtesy, I filled the tunnels dug out by humans underneath Vera with mineral dusts to the best of my ability. I figured if there were too many tunnels, the ground could become unstable in the future. I was such a sweetheart for doing all this! I wonder if I''ll get paid? Sure no one asked me to do it... But still... I think there''ll be a few slow chapters coming up? Chapter 78 "I''m back!" "That was quick." "Yeah, I call it efficiency, you know? I''m amazing like that!" I said with a proud smile while puffing out my chest. She glanced in my direction before returning to her work and said, "Please give me your report." "Oh, yes, report..." I told her about everything that happened in the tunnel. There really wasn''t much at all. "Well done. As for your next assignment, I''ll arrange something in the upcoming days. We''re a bit short on personnel, but I''ll send a messenger to let you know once we have that sorted out." "Okay. Do I get free time now?" "Our Civil Affairs department want your assistance with manufacturing some carriages and carts for them. Are you up for it?" "Eh, actually, I want to speak with Vorte again." She flipped through some files before answering, "Tomorrow afternoon is fine. After that, he won''t be taking visitors so be sure to ask all your questions." "Okay, got it, tomorrow afternoon." "Here, take this visitor pass. It''s a special pass imbued with Vorte''s mana. Don''t give it to anyone else and don''t lose it. Return it once you''re done with it." "Alright, will do!" She passed to me a silver token with an engraved coiled serpent. A faint trace of mana could be felt emanating from it. "Please, don''t absorb that mana." She glared at me. "I won''t, I won''t! I was just checking it." I replied in panic. "Give me your map, I''ll indicate the location of Civil Affairs. Please go help them." She extended her arm towards me. "Eh, do I have to? I can''t create things from nothing, you know? I don''t have the resources to help them and I have something to do." "Something to do? Like, what? Tell me, because I have a bad feeling about this." Her eyes narrowed. "Ehh..." And so, I explained to her what I did at the border. She pressed her fingers on her forehead and said sighed with exasperation, "Guhh, why didn''t you inform me about this first?" "Like I said, you weren''t in your office... So, you know, I decided that defense was important?" "I can''t believe you! I almost praised you earlier for asking permission to visit Vorte, but this! What am I supposed to do? How am I supposed to explain the situation to His Majesty?" She''s pretty even when she''s angry! But I did it with good intentions... "Are you even listening?" "Yes... Um, what''s the problem? It''s just a deep trench?" "Big problem! How many in the empire is capable of such a feat? Your action is equivalent to saying the empire is surrendering its territories to the humans. Not to mention, our scouts would have trouble returning with critical information." "Wait, wait! I can add bridges! I can also dig up trenches to include the lost territories." "No, leave it for now. I''ll send a messenger to have a meeting set up with the higher ups. In the meanwhile, don''t do anything disruptive." "Say, I won''t get punished, right?" "I can''t say. It could have been worse. Is there anything else you should report to me?" "No, nothing at all." "Good, you''re free to go. Don''t forget to report to Civil Affairs when you have time. It''s not urgent." After that, I decided to hit the books. Even without Smoothie, it wasn''t like I couldn''t read. The difficult part was the language barrier. It because most of the important documents seemed to be written in their native language instead of the common language. Bummers. Where''s the dictionary? What''s their word for map? Map... Map... Where are you? A fantastic idea came to me earlier. I remembered there used to be a time when I wanted to create a strawberry empire. I honestly felt like that was from ages ago. Yet, now that I thought about it, that idea was very much feasible at the moment. At least, I could easily build a city if I wished provided I had the resources and mana. The easiest way to do that was to do so within my subspace and eventually transfer the constructs outside. Basically, I wanted to find a suitable location to set up my new base, preferably on this continent. How many continents are there on this planet? Eventually I did find a world map. I wasn''t sure how accurate it was since I didn''t understand the description that came with it. However, from the looks of it, there was one continent and maybe some islands attached to it. If I really wanted to find an accurate map, I probably needed to visit the reptilian nation. I think I''m having a migraine from studying too much. Yep, I''m done studying. After that, I left the library and returned to my residence. There was a lot of things I could do but I was feeling lazy. However, my inability to sleep hit me like a truck once again. "Damn it, I want to sleep! I demand the ability to sleep!" Unfortunately, the closest thing to sleep was meditation. It wasn''t something I was keen on doing. "You know what? I''m going to try to create some food. Food is important for my mental health." One of the first things on the list I wanted to replicate was ice cream. Interestingly enough, I was able to find a creamy fruit in Gurok. I remembered it was called a "pahoeh"? This fruit wasn''t popular and it was only by chance I came across it. Thinking back, I must have been very lucky. Since I couldn''t find any dairy products, the only other option was to use substitutes. Well, technically there was a way to obtain dairy products but I didn''t want to receive strange gazes. Hence, this fruit would have to do the honor. The creamy texture was homogenous, and I was somehow able to replicate the creamy part of it. Although, it probably had some missing molecules like proteins and minerals because those couldn''t be isolated. To be honest, I still didn''t know exactly how [creation] worked. Sometimes it would isolate things and sometimes not. There might be criteria that I wasn''t aware of. Anyhow, the first step was complete. The next step, I added a mixture of egg whites and egg yolks that I had replicated near perfectly. Originally, these were eggs from a large bird that lived in the mountains in this region. I was no expert but any type of egg that could act as an emulsifier should work. Then, I added some sweet water into it and began mixing everything together with a spatula. Of course, I took note of how much I was adding each into the mixture. I was like a scientist! "Mm... Looking good! Maybe I should add some nectar?" The fruit was completely tasteless, like pure butter. If it wasn''t for its mild refreshing scent, I doubted anyone would eat it. In the first place, I doubted folks here ate it like the way I did. Once I was satisfied with the mixture, I opened a tiny gap into my subspace. This time, it was directly connected to the liquefied air storage. White cold steam spewed out and began freezing the mixture in my extra large bowl. "Oops, better stir fast! Eheheh... I can hardly wait." The mixture was becoming harder and harder to stir and at the same time I could feel a bit of my mana being automatically applied to my arms as if to strengthen them. Normally, machines were used to mix ice cream but to think I was weak enough that I had trouble making ice cream. It meant either I messed up or I was super weak. "No way!? It''s automatic? Huh, wait, wouldn''t this mean I can intentionally increase my strength with mana? Wow, I''m discovering new things left and right. First it was ice cream, then it was that mana can be used to boost strength! Pfft, at this rate, I''ll discover a new continent by tomorrow. Ahahaha..." After a good chuckle, I ate some ice cream off the spatula. Mm... It''s good? It was sweet but the texture didn''t seem to match the ones I had before in my previous world. It just wasn''t as satisfying as I had hoped. I don''t know... It still tastes good but something must be missing from it. Is it the fruit or because I''m substituting too much? Since the first try wasn''t as successful as I wished, I tried mixing the ingredients with varying ratios, and altering some ingredients. My afternoon was indeed well spent! Because, I managed to come up with a satisfying result, with a strawberry on top. It wasn''t perfect but good enough to make me happy. The trick was to add fillers, flavors, and lots of sugar. "I did it! The one and only, strawberry ice cream!" I announced gleefully. The final product somehow ended up in my [creation] menu which meant I could recreate it anytime as long as I had enough resources. Chapter 79 Creating the strawberry ice cream was only a sideshow. Maybe in the future, I could try making strawberry shortcakes. Before I began my closed door training session, I made a quick trip to redistribute all my special gatherer clones to focus only on gathering water and mana in their vicinity. Next, I entered my subspace. My mind racing many miles an hour. If I could somehow learn the ways of infusing mana into my body, I could become a super hero! With super enhanced strength, I could one punch any enemy to death. That would be super awesome. Strength wasn''t the only thing I could try enhancing either. If I could enhance my defense, I could become as tough as a tortoise or a steel tank. "Time for special training, eheheh... After this I''ll be able to say, ''Power! I can feel it! So much power, surging through my veins! Heeeyaaaa!!'' While posing like a badass. I can hardly wait!" I grinned smugly. Actually, I remembered watching an martial arts movie once. It followed a boy through his long years of arduous training strengthening every fibre within his body. Some basic techniques were even taught in that. If I could master that, I would be able to call myself a martial artist. "Wait a second, could that strengthening technique be part of the |enhanced physical| trait perk just like |enhanced spiritual| trait? Either way is cool with me!" Flowing mana around was already second nature to me. My body was made of structured mana so if I still couldn''t master the basics then I was a lost cause. Anyhow, I steadily flowed condensed mana into my fingers first. As a side note, mana always seemed to come from my heart area, likely where my fey core was. Alright, mental imagery, make my fingers strong like steel! I can do it! After playing around with different types of imagery, I grabbed a brick to test my new technique on. Currently, my entire hand was coated with dense mana intended to enhance both strength and defense. "Serious Punch!" I cried while throwing a punch with maximum force. Boom. The blast was so powerful that a shockwave was generated. Fortunately, my hand was perfectly unharmed with no pain whatsoever. "Perfect! I knew I was a genius with immeasurable potentials. I just knew it! Ahahaha!" I laughed out loud without reservation. Generating bricks in my subspace was a simple matter. I began punching bricks one after another for the sheer exhilarating experience. Boom. Boom. Boom! Sometimes the shockwaves were powerful enough to even shatter nearby bricks. "Good. Good! This is so much fun. I wish I knew about this earlier. I wonder if there''s a maximum... Hmm... Is it a good idea though?" The main issue was the mana consumption. It was fun but the cost was proportional to the power exhibited, and frankly it wasn''t cheap. "Hmm... I wonder if this affects my status?" I wondered before checking it for myself while I was still in the powered up state. [Level 69 Fey (plant); Species: Strawberry Phantasm; Physical: 212/212; Spiritual: 443/443; Traits: Bewitching, Devious, Parallel Bodies, Escapist, Tactician, Creator, Enhanced Spiritual, Enhanced Resistances, Enhanced Physical; Abilities: Charm, Subspace, Creation, Strawberry Substitution; Description: An elusive plant fey shrouded in mystery.] Woah, woah there! I hadn''t checked the detailed spiritual and physical stats for a while. Suddenly, there were changes and the displayed information was quite drastic. It seemed I was able to reach the maximum stat available after temporarily enhancing my body. Numerically, 499 was the limitation for me. The stat was functioning the same as physical stat. Under physical stat, there was this new stat. It likely had to do with strength or maximum strength possible given my enhancement. A separate defense stat hadn''t shown up so I wasn''t sure if the stat included it. Finally, there was the stat. I honestly couldn''t tell how it was calculated so I didn''t bother deciphering it. Moving on, two new stats appeared under my spiritual stat. The first one was . I really wasn''t sure exactly what it was but it was somehow augmented. The terminology was a bit strange. The other one was . It made me wonder if it made me lucky. My luck was iffy back when I just came to this world. Whether those strange events were because of this stat was debatable. Again, I had no indicator telling me what these numbers meant so I could only assume the higher the better. "Well, what can I say? I''m on fire!" I murmured with a smirk. I felt invincible! It really was a great feeling. Yet, I knew this amount of power was not enough to tip the scale in my favor. I needed more power to free myself. After powering down, I reviewed my status again. The stat that was previously indicated as augmented had disappeared, no longer visible to me. As for all other stats, they remained the same, including which still stated as being in the augmented state. From the above, it seemed that might actually be related to the density of mana. At least, spiritual things and mass normally didn''t mesh together based on my understanding. "I''ve had enough fun today. If I keep playing around, I feel like something bad might happen. What should I do now?" My eyes wandered around. The construction progress was still super slow. Not even a quarter of the surface area of the artificial moon space was covered. Again, it was a project to map out the boundaries of my subspace, but it seemed kind of pointless. Furthermore, excess resources floating around was simply unrefined in my eyes. Clearly, I needed a different approach. At this rate, I would have to wait for years or even decades before my project would complete itself. "Is there a way to shrink this space? Why, can''t I partition it or something? Any useful tools?" I asked my [creation] ability. Just like that, a new panel appeared. "I like smart abilities. Nice!" It seemed that I could now split my subspace not just within the current subspace but in a different subspace. Previously, I allotted different resource into different areas of my subspace. That was no problem, again, it was about the aesthetics. If I was to invite guests in the future, the whole place had to be presentable. Messy halfway finished construction project was a no-go. Following the second reorganization of my subspace, the materials already used for constructing the sphere were simply recycled. Everything including excess materials was now completely out of my sight. Storage subspace was given ninety percent of the space. Five percent was reserved for personal use such as construction and research. This was still a huge amount of space. Then, the remaining five percent was for other things like trapping demons or maybe trying out new magic. In total, I had now three subspaces. I could choose whichever I wanted to enter through my [creation] menu. Because of this reorganization, things looked much more pleasant around here. Oops, I better adjust the time flow again before I lose track of it. To be honest, creating and building things was quite fun. Like, if I wanted a castle, I just had to imagine and things would build themselves. The mana cost was automatically deducted, and for some reason, it was actually better for me to do things inside my subspace than outside because mana cost here was relatively much cheaper. Because of how huge my earlier project was, I failed to notice this until I started building things on a much more manageable scale. I began planning my new project inside my personal use subspace. The prettiest solution to the exterior was glowing fluffy clouds. It was also one of the cheaper options in terms of mana cost. This layer of fluffy looking clouds marked the boundary between nothingness and my subspace. To make them glow, simple light magic did the trick. After that, I created a solid platform and a simple wooden cabin. Then I added two bedrooms, a kitchen, a huge bathroom, a living room and a dining room. Furnishings were quickly added piece by piece until I was satisfied. It started as a simple cabin but ended up grander than I expected. I wouldn''t call it a mansion though. It was really fun watching things appear and disappear almost like deposition and sublimation. Light particles would appear and gather into solid things when I try to create things, and if I didn''t like the thing I made, it would disappear into light particles. Last but not least, I wanted a personal garden, something a landowner couldn''t neglect to overlook. At first I thought it would be creepy to plant my own clones here but I was tired after all this renovation and construction so I decided to put it off. A few clones did end up in my garden. Ah yes, Mr. Gravity was now employed locally just for my house. Because the force was contained and its vectors limited, mana was required for its upkeep. The cost was cheap for the service provided. I kind of wished one day I could manipulate these fundamental forces outside of my subspace. blanksphere Chapter 80 I wish there''s a clock somewhere in my room. There was a big clock in the city that ran on mana but none for personal use. Ever since I arrived here in this world, time hadn''t meant much to me. However, once I entered a city, I had to more or less be mindful of passage of time otherwise I might be late and miss out on things. My supposed appointment was in the afternoon next day. Yet, when I checked the clock outside, it was already morning the next day. I was simply too absorbed playing in my personal sandbox, also known as my subspace. There was still some time before I head up to see Vorte. "Ah, ice cream already melted..." I was too excited with playing in my subspace that I forgot to eat that batch of experimental ice cream I made earlier. Since it was only melted, it was still perfectly edible! It wasn''t that different from a strawberry milkshake, right? I just had to refreeze it and maybe give it to Kanoko. Wasting food was no good. Hence, I mixed the melted ice cream with some freezing agent and then I was on my way to Kanoko''s office. One frozen strawberry milkshake to go. On my way out, I saw three bottles of sweet juice just sitting there at a corner of the kitchen counter. Hmm... I wonder if Smoothie worked on the alcoholic beverage while I was gone? Probably not, right? Well, whatever. Not surprisingly, when I arrived at Kanoko''s office, she was doing paperwork. "Kanoko, I have a nice treat for you!" "Oh? What is this?" "Ice cream. It''s my new creation. Frozen dessert, perfect for afternoon snack. I''m sure you''ll love it!" "Cold food? I''m not sure I''ve ever heard of frozen dessert, but I''ll give it a try." She seemed a bit unsure about trying it. "Ah right, spoon for you." I created a spoon on the spot and handed it to her. "Thanks." I watched her slowly trying my special ice cream. Just because it had previously melted didn''t mean it would taste any different. Right now, I could claim what she was eating was the best ice cream in the world! She should feel honored. "Hmm... It''s not bad." I exclaimed after receiving a less than satisfactory review, "Not bad!? Only not bad? It''s not amazing? I poured my soul into it!" She raised her eyebrows, "Eh? You poured your soul into it? How was this made again?" I quickly explained the ingredients and creation method without hiding anything. I figured that if she disapproved anything, my strawberry ice cream would never enter the market, ever. Hence, coming clean was the best way for her to approve it. "You had to use magic? Do you know how rare ice magic is?" "It''s rare? It''s taught in the books though." Strictly speaking, I figured it out from tampering with mana when I was compressing mana. For that reason, even after I learned the spells I still used only the fundamental understanding when cooling objects without actually using any spells. "Which one?" "Uhh... I don''t know? I asked Smoothie to teach me it. I just messed around with mana, and magic happened! I swear!" "Fine, I won''t ask more. Either way, it''s too wasteful. You want to sell this right? That''s not a problem but people here prefer warm and comfortable food. I can''t say this will sell well. I say you spend your time doing something else. You haven''t visited Civil Affairs yet, have you?" Shot down, so quickly. Actually, it hasn''t even taken off. Why is this world so cruel to me? I kind of wanted to change the trend around here. People should love sweet food more! From what I had gathered, salty and savory foods were the most liked by the populace. There were also spicy, sour, and even bitter foods just to name a few. "Eh, no. I was busy! I''ll be seeing Vorte shortly." "Yes, he should be available right now. Is there anything you need to report to me? Or was this frozen dessert the only thing you worked on?" "No, that''s all. I''ll be leaving then!" I left that big bowl of ice cream with her and removed myself from her office. It was no good if I kept her from doing her work any longer. As for that bowl of ice cream, I was sure she liked it but just wouldn''t admit it. I ascended the mountains and this time I was able to pass the guards without issue. In fact, they were alert at first when they saw me but as soon as I displayed my pass, they breathed out a sigh of relief. The barrier was temporarily lifted to allow me in just like last time. This time it was Vorte who waited on me. "Hey Vorte, I''m in your care!" "Likewise." "Let''s not waste any time. Can we speak in private? I would like to show you something and ask some questions." "Indeed, come." It was the same cave as last time. The difference this time was that he casted a magic barrier around his dwelling. From what I could tell, it blocked sound and probably some other things from being transmitted. "Speak." "Yes. I''ll ask questions first. I would like to know where demons inhabit? Do they live in a different world? And what about others who have went through double evolution?" "They live as we do. Indeed they may also interact with a world dissimilar from ours but the basis is all the same." "Does that mean they live in this world but they can also live in another world?" "Yes, it is as you say." Interesting, that might refer to my subspace but I can''t be completely sure. In some cultures, there are spiritual worlds that ran parallel to the physical world. I guess I''ll just keep my mind open to either scenario, or maybe both. Then again, he did indirectly mention that some are capable of leaving this world altogether. "About the demon I had contracted with, would it attack me immediately after I nullify the contract? I don''t want to put those around me in danger and I don''t want to be hunted down." "That is possible. But as I am aware, they must follow the Divine Edicts." "What kind of edicts are these?" It kind of made sense, otherwise nothing was stopping any of the super powers from destroying the world single handily. If I knew the laws of this world, I wouldn''t be struggling so much. "Of the utmost importance, highly evolved beings must not interfere directly with mortal beings that have not yet evolved to a certain level. Should they wish to directly involve themselves, they must either reincarnate into physical bodies or possess suitable vessels." His lack of clarity was forcing me to think of more questions but at the same time, I had more pressing concerns. As for the latter answer, the possession part seemed much like how some fey beings came about. It was a serious cause for concern. "Wait, how do you know the edicts? Who''s enforcing them? Does it apply to fey beings? I mean I heard fey beings are sometimes born through possession." "I shall answer your questions one at a time. The words of the Divine Edicts were passed down within my clan orally. To date, I am the last of my clan and of my species." He paused to evaluate my facial expression as if a teacher gauging whether his pupil understood the lesson materials. His patience was simply outstanding. It was no wonder others respected him and asked him for advises. Then he continued, "The enforcement of these edicts is mutual by the evolved ones. That is to say, a power structure exists to maintain such balance. To answer your question regarding fey beings, yes, all must follow the Divine Edicts." "Wait, how do they know if someone violates it? And what is their punishment?" "I do not know. It is likely they have abilities unknown to us capable of monitoring each other." He advised me on all the Divine Edicts he remembered. There weren''t many and most were quite common sense. Things like severely manipulating the weather, destroying the planet, and giving their worldly selves super powers were all off the table. In addition, they couldn''t tamper with those who were about to evolve. This was probably why Vorte wasn''t being pestered by demons. However, once we evolved, it would be a different story. The contract with De Planck was considered indirect interference. One reason was that he didn''t kill or hinder me directly. A contract was only a contract, and it was something of equal exchange, or supposed to be. He sure did threaten me to some degree but it wasn''t enough for any kind of divine intervention. If I died from a contract, that still wouldn''t be considered a direct interference. Using contracts to manipulate people was very devious to say the least! Anyway, I learned my lesson never to sign another contract with a demon. I think this is as much as I can get out of him from this topic. Moving on! "My next question is: what exactly is mana? Also, do they regenerate indefinitely? I''ve seen floating islands so they might use a ton of mana? Won''t it run out?" "Let me ask you. What is a world? Why do worlds exist?" The way he phrased the second question was as if he knew there were many worlds out there. Moreover, those were questions that philosophers would ask, truly fitting his character! What''s a world? How am I supposed to know? "A world exists because someone wanted it to exist? I don''t know what they are." "Simply put, a world is a dream, nothing more and nothing less." "Huh? I''m... Living in a dream?" "Indeed. Please show me what you intend to earlier. I have a feeling perhaps this fog of confusion shall dissipate thereafter." Chapter 81 Following his request, I opened a portal beside us leading into my subspace. It was set to be completely invisible aside from a bit of natural shimmering when interacted with. "It''s one of my hidden ability that you likely cannot see by examining my status. It''s called [subspace]." Even after seeing it, he wasn''t surprised but only amused. "Indeed. I have no such authority. I believe the current king, Dolan, has such an ability with the adequate authority. Does he know about it?" "I don''t think so. He was away when I gained this ability. What kind of authority does he have? I would think he couldn''t see it without having ability with equal or higher authority than mine?" "I believe he has the [appraisal] ability. The method of obtaining such an ability is passed down the royal family. The prince has yet to obtain it." "Wait, how would you know? They can hide their status." "I can redirect their abilities back at them. Mere magical artifacts cannot hinder my sight." He chuckled, "To this date, he''s never directly seen my status." Oh snap, I better not try anything funny with him. I don''t want to accidentally eat myself or something. "How come I can see your status if he couldn''t?" "You possess traits and abilities more than you let on. Am I right?" He gave off an old man''s gentle smile like he saw through me. "Uhh... You can see it?" "Unfortunately not. Shall we enter your subspace?" He said with a hint of excitement in his voice. "Sure, this way." The portal led directly into my beautiful residence. Although it wasn''t yet equipped with lots of refreshments, that wasn''t a problem with today''s guest. Once he''s fully inside, I closed the portal to conserve my mana. "Well, what do you think?" I asked. He nodded, "Impressive indeed." "Eheheh, come inside, we can chat." I ushered him into the living room, "I''ve slowed the time in here so that it''ll seem to outsiders we''ve only disappeared for a short while." "How are you managing everything here?" "It''s through a different ability of mine. I can create furniture and adjust time and everything. It''s very convenient. You''re the first person I am showing it to." "My perspective has broadened once more. You have my sincerest gratitude." "No problem! Come sit. I don''t have any tea but is water okay?" "There is no need. Let us get to the matter at hand." "Ah, okay, yes, about mana, it was some kind of spiritual energy? I can use it for a lot of things. I gather it from surroundings and use it for magic." "That is not incorrect. Have you ever tried to feel mana?" "Mm... Yes. If I couldn''t feel it, I wouldn''t be able to use it." "I see, perhaps it isn''t apparent to you yet. Take this subspace for example, what drives it to exist? What propelled you to create a subspace such as this?" "Eh, my ability...? And I used mana and things I gathered outside to create everything? And... I wanted to create this because it''s fun?" "Very well. You desired fun and therefore you created this. Is it not the same with your ability? In the past, you must have desired this even if subconsciously." Did I? I certainly hoped to have fun. I certainly did have lots of fun recently. Did I gain these abilities to do just that? At one point I might have wanted a home, somewhere safe. Was that it? And mana helped me achieve that? After going through a few speculations, I answered, "Is mana some kind of desire?" "Mana, to move inanimate objects, to heat one''s home, to brighten long nights, to create miracles. Mana is born of desires and wishes of everything inhabiting in this world. When you have the opportunity, examine the mana you have gathered from outside of yourself. You will see that it contains even memories, emotions, feelings." I didn''t think it was this profound. That meant the world would never run out of mana as long as people continued to exist. As for those floating islands, whoever was that capable was surely way above my league. "Oh okay. I get that it is wishes, feelings, and all that. However, memories, does that mean memories can be converted to mana? I have killed many in the past and took their mana. Does that mean I took everything away from them?" "I do not see that you have such ability to devour souls in their entirety. Should that be the case, they will simply reborn without lingering connections to their pasts. To many, this should be a blessing. Even without your intervention, recollection of their past lives is generally not possible. For those who you have only taken mana, the consequences should be negligible." I sighed in relief, "I see. So I haven''t done ill to them. Then it''s possible to remove |devious| trait from myself." "Do you recall when you obtained such a trait?" He asked. "I''ve always had it since I was born." He closed his eyes as if he was pondering on something so I waited without disturbing him. He probably was thinking of a solution. After a few minutes, he opened his eyes, "Do you recall your past life or in between life? Traits and abilities are gained through your interactions with the world, through wishes and desires, and actions taken." "As you know, I was born a fey plant. I didn''t have a choice in it. Someone forced me to reincarnate as a plant after I died. Before then, I had no traits or abilities as far as I was aware. Perhaps I gained a trait back then?" "I see. The trait is much like a curse since your birth, guiding your thoughts and behaviors. It cannot be removed by normal means because it likely didn''t originate from you." He concluded. "Can you please help me remove it somehow? I was told it forced me into demonic evolutions. Because of my constitution, I have evolved many times as a fey plant until now. I don''t want to be a demon." "There is a slim chance the trait will fade upon your next evolution. I presume you do not wish to take chances?" "No! If that thing is guiding me into doing bad things then I want it gone." "Your mind appears clear at this moment, undisturbed by insidious thought guidance. I wonder perhaps this subspace of yours is able to sever connections to the outside world?" He asked. "Do you mean I was under control before?" "I had an inkling sensation of thought guidance placed onto you since our initial meeting. Now, I do not feel such. Perhaps it has now weakened to a degree that I can no longer detect it." Who is this guy? How is he so strong? Thousands of years of experience? I''m no match for this guy. But seriously, thought manipulation, me? There''s only one person I know who could have done that back then. But then again, why would he do that? He continued, "Knowing the culprit will not remove a trait. As such, a trait cannot be removed without possibly harming your soul, I recommend practicing centering your mind as a way to mitigate external thought guidance. Eventually, you will have to learn to sever unwanted connections on a soul level. I can instruct you if you so wish. It will take time, possibly decades, to master." A decade is just too long. I want to evolve as soon as possible, without delays. There has to something else! Another option! "That long? If that trait remains, wouldn''t it affect my next evolution? I rather have it removed even if it means taking some risks. So what if the other side notices? While I am in my subspace, I am much more powerful. I will fight if I have to." Uncharacteristically, he let out a sigh. "If that is your choice, then my current self cannot assist you in your endeavor." Hmm? Current self? He''s so powerful and yet he''s still reluctant to help? Should I offer him something? Chapter 82 "What can I do so you will help me? If you need mana, I''ll provide them. Please tell me!" I begged desperately. Thought manipulation was a serious business! Not to mention removing it, I couldn''t even detect it. "I do not need anything from you. Although I cannot guarantee, I may be able to assist you after I evolve. As this is your subspace and I as your guest, perhaps the Divine Edicts do not apply if a guardian provides you some assistance." "So, you just need to level up?" "Indeed. Your desire for my humble assistance may have satisfied the final condition for my evolution." He smiled amiably, "Allow me to meditate and evolve. This will take several days time. Meanwhile, you should learn to centre your mind. This technique will greatly benefit you in your many endeavors." Basically, I somehow just helped him with his evolution. Perhaps he received a notification or something but really though, what a coincidence! If he just needed some time, then that''s easy. Time flowed much faster in here than outside. As for the technique, I accepted his instructions. If I could master it, I would be able to recognize foreign thoughts and interferences. However, it seemed super difficult. One of the exercises he tasked me with was to empty my mind and examine all my thoughts and every piece of mana I had collected. Back in my previous world, I heard monks had to train for decades before they could master the clearing of the mind. As for the second step, to examine my thoughts, I felt like that was much easier. Anyway, for the next couple of days within my subspace, Vorte meditated in complete silence. Really though, I had no clock in my subspace no way to track time using my abilities. Whenever I tried to meditate, time seemed to have slowed to a crawl. As much as I would love to leave my subspace for a breather, I didn''t want to accidentally disturb him. In the event I messed up and prevented him from evolving properly, I would have missed the perfect opportunity to kill two birds in one stone. There were two things I wanted eliminate, the first was the contract, and the second was the |devious| trait. If those two were no more, I would be free! Given how my subspace seemed to naturally hinder communication from the outside, this was probably even a better place for me to meditate and rest than in the residence provided by the kingdom. After what felt like eternity, Vorte''s evolution completed. His appearance didn''t change as far as I could tell but in the past few days, he did emit some bright lights from his body which clearly indicated some type of change. Currently, this was his status: [Level 17 Spirit; Species: Lego-Meritas; Physical: 394/394; Spiritual: 475/475; Traits: Stoic Guardian, Intertwined, Transient Fate, Enhanced Spiritual, Enhanced Physical, Enhanced Senses, Enhanced Resistances; Abilities: Tempest Serenity, Transfigure, Mystic Eyes; Description: A type of spirit evolved from a fey serpent.] Level 17 from the start? How is that possible? How does this work? I thought you would start at level 1 like how I did it when I went from mutated plant to fey plant? Some of his traits had disappeared along with a few of his abilities. There was one new ability called [tempest serenity]. No matter how strange the ability name was, I felt like that wasn''t an ability I should mess with. In terms of the stats that I could see, I was slower than him. As for this stat, he had the same as mine. And finally, I was luckier than him, apparently? Or at least my was higher than his. I wonder which hidden trait you have now? His eyes were still closed so I left him alone in my living room. It was like his permanent meditation spot now given how long he had been sitting there. Well, he should be fine since I had cushions prepared in advance, though, those cushions were originally pillows for myself. The one he was sitting on was a pink one, but hey, no one here judged! Some more time passed. Ah, meditation and exercises, I was supposed to but I was bored! Initially I followed through to the best of my abilities. After a while, I figured I was more productive creating board games and other types of games I could enjoy later. Also, because I had the materials, I was able to construct a full body mirror for myself in my beautiful bedroom. "Why are you so beautiful? Ah... What a sin! not! But I don''t dislike it." I nodded while staring at that figure in the mirror. This time there was no Kanoko around to smirk at me. "Should I change my outfit? Black is nice but maybe I should switch to white for a while? Maybe I should try to surprise him when he wakes up? Hmm..." Also, my hair was originally blonde before I changed it to black to match my black dress because back then I thought it was cool. After my previous evolution, my mind was kind of in a strange state but now that my mind was clear, I should be myself now. My desire to become a demon had nearly completely faded. "How about radiant white hair with silky white dress? Would I look like a goddess or a vampires? Hmm...!" Having crimson eyes, light hair and pale skin would definitely be a cause for concern. People might think I had some rare genetic disease or even worse, a vampire! Though, I had not heard of any vampires in this world. No matter how I thought about it, crimson eyes were bad omen. "Should I wear contact lenses? Guhh... But that is such a hassle. What if a lens falls out mid fight? I would totally look like a weirdo with childish delusions." Nothing creative was coming to my mind. Or rather, there were just too many options to choose from. That in itself was stressful. I wished I had less choices. "I see. I think... I think... Yes... Either mirrors are evil or... There was no good reason why I should have to suffer this much just to change my outfit... Do all divine beings suffer all the same? It can''t be, right? I can do this. Think hard, just one new outfit." I had been mumbling to the mirror for who knew how long. Hopefully, no one was listening to my non-sense. It probably had to do with a lack of fresh air. It was all Vorte''s fault that I couldn''t leave my subspace. In the process, I altered myself quite a bit thinking it as role-play! I tried portraying myself as a handsome blonde alpha elf. He had such a dazzling smile that I would immediately ask for contact information had he existed. In another instance, I transformed myself into a vampire princess with jet black hair, snow white skin, and icy cold smirk. The blood colored eyes made her appear so much more blood chilling. How thrilling would it be had she been real? Actually, due to race issues, I couldn''t grow real tails and fluffy ears. Fake ones didn''t count. I would have tried other races if possible but after trying out many different appearances, I decided to return being just a regular fairy. No, that wasn''t quite right. I transformed into Smoothie. I need to say something smartass... Mm... Mm...! Kuh! I can''t think of any. This can''t be right. Didn''t I get smarter? I can do this! Anything. "Mother, you dropped your pocket!" I grinned smugly while making a cute pose. Perfect! Smoothie the original, completely authentic, ready for take-home orders! Save. A copy of my current appearance was kept such that I could transform into her appearance at any time. In case she was ever in danger, I could act as a decoy to fool the enemies. Then, after luring the baddies into me, I would surprise them and gobble them up. It was a flawless game plan, indeed! Of course, if the enemies were to pay close attention, I would be exposed as a fake. I was reluctant to change out of Smoothie''s appearance. She was just too cute with her adorable childish cheeks. I wished I was this cute. But alas, I decided to be a grownup! I need to rebrand myself. A theme, creative and refreshing but not peculiar. Think hard! Show me you haven''t just spent all this time and mana for nothing! Let''s do it! There I was, looking just like Smoothie, staring at a mirror while sinking into the depth of the realm of creators. Designing something original and appealing was seriously difficult. I kind of doubted I was a good fit for this role. blanksphere Chapter 83 The effort needed redefine oneself was huge. Whether it was worthwhile was debatable. All that depended on results. I was originally supposed to be a fairy. I figured once I evolved, if successfully avoided the demon route, I would also become a spirit just like Vorte. In that case, as a progenitor of strawberry plants in this world, that would make me a strawberry fairy queen or fairy princess? Princess sounded better. I didn''t watch that many princess related movies, or read much into their stories. From what I remembered, fairy princesses in stories tended to have silky hair either braided or decorated with jewelry depending on culture. Unfortunately, I didn''t have any pretty hairpin, hair sticks, or anything like that. It was a serious blunder to splurge so much on food and forgetting the beauty products and accessories. The beastfolks here didn''t grow long hair so they wouldn''t have much selection. On the contrary, humans and elves could grow long hair for some reason. I wonder if human or elf country has lots of pretty hair accessories? I didn''t know where exactly the elf country was, but I knew where human country was. Back in the days, I planned to go there however that hunter ruined everything. They lost a valuable customer because of him. However, I hadn''t resigned such a grand ambition. Someone like me had no lifespan and could easily outlive their trade embargo. Anyhow, without any accessories, I simply just braided my blonde hair using magic. My hair was originally yellow colored or blonde that matched the yellow of strawberry flower. It really was an eye catching color. Sure, I enjoyed a bit of attention, but not so much to be an eyesore on the streets, thus I toned it down quite a few shades until it was a silvery blonde that gave off a bit of mystical feeling. Then, as for my clothing, I went with simple white sweatshirt and blue jeans. There was a strawberry logo on the front of my sweatshirt. And finally, for my shoes, I had white sneakers. I posed in front of the mirror, "Yep! I''ve done it again, plain and simple." This style didn''t exist in this world. Right now, I looked like a highschool girl. Although I could take both masculine and feminine forms, I preferred a feminine form because she was prettier. Either way, my appearance didn''t reflect my status. My power remained the same regardless of how I appeared to the world. Let''s go wake up Vorte. He''s been meditating long enough. I''m tired of waiting. "Vorte, please wake up. Aren''t you done evolving already?" I gently nudged his shoulder. "Indeed." He replied without opening his mouth as usual. "What!? How long have you been awake? I''ve been waiting for so long! Why didn''t you say something?" "It is essential to understand one''s new powers." "Oh I see. Well, did you manage to gain that guardian trait? I mean I see that you evolved into a spirit and not a guardian. What kind of race is that?" "Unseen by you, I have the |force| trait. It allows me to alter the fundamental forces within my surrounding." Fundamental forces? That sounds a bit too strong... Let''s just confirm. "Any type of force?" "That, I am still in the process of understanding. It is of the physical that I am capable of manipulating. I believe it is not wise to demonstrate it within your subspace." "Physical...? Can you lift a mountain?" "That may be possible." That''s some serious power up. I doubt I can do that even with all my mana at my disposal. Hmm... Perhaps those floating islands are because of a guardian living in that region? "Amazing! Are you officially a guardian now?" "Yes. The Spirit race is the guardian race of this world." He stated. "Congratulations then!" I patted his back, "How cool!" Without a second to waste, he said, "Now, the important matter is about you. I presume you did not nullify your contract while I was evolving?" "Ehh... No. But I did try my best!" That''s what matters after all. It''s all about effort. "A" for effort! "Tell me, which one is your true fey core?" He asked. "True fey core? Uhh... Yes, about that. How do I know where it is again?" Smoothie briefly mentioned about something like this to me before but that was a super long time ago. She said all fey beings had one except me who had multiple due to my trait. Technically, going by her explanation, I had more fey cores than I could count with my fingers. "I sense you have one in your chest." "Ah, so that was what it was. I was told I have many." "Indeed. That may aid you in nullifying that contract." "For real? Please enlighten me!" The explanation was quite long. In between, I asked many questions to clarify the method. Any mistake here could be fatal therefore I had to be extra cautious. The idea was actually simple in of itself. Currently, I couldn''t exactly tell whether I signed a soul contract or a regular contract. Signing a magical contract with mana was fairly normal according to Vorte so that much wasn''t enough to go on. However, we had to prepare for the worst, which was in the case of a soul contract. A soul contract couldn''t normally be removed, and was bound until it was nullified, fulfilled, or one soul was destroyed which also meant it was nullified. This meant that a normal death itself couldn''t end the contract. And in my case, there was not end date specified on that contract. The only method I could rely on was either nullification or losing my soul. Though, nullification was the most difficult part. We didn''t have lawyers here. A fey core was different from a soul, which also would also have its own core. On one hand, a soul carried all the memories, knowledge, and wisdom. In essence, to lose one''s soul would literally mean to lose everything. A fey core, on the other hand, was something formed around the soul when a fey being was born in this world. It would carry information related to traits and abilities, and even mana in my case. It also acted as a filter based on those traits and abilities and could be tampered with to some degree with sufficient authority. Who would have thought fey cores are actually this important? For a fey being, magical contracts were linked to their fey core only and not to the soul or its core. By destroying a fey core, abilities and traits along with other attached information would be destroyed. Soul contracts would mean a link to the soul core or at least a part of the soul. Most of my clones had a fey core somewhere in their body. The tiny ones I used as weapons obviously didn''t have any. To tell whether a clone had a fey core or not, I just had to know whether it had its own statuses or not. For me, I could easily track that through [creation] which was an upgraded version of [conglomerate] that used to track and modify all my clones. Some of my clones had died before. It made me wonder if those fey cores were destroyed. The answer was no. Apparently the fey cores that lost their physical vessels, or clone bodies, would automatically return to me. "Wait, if I have thousands of fey cores, what does that make me? Was I just casually creating souls out of nowhere?" "Since those clones had no consciousness of their own, it should be safe to assume they have no souls." "Then... They are just empty fey cores?" I asked. "Not quite. If they operated independently with only your command, portions of your soul may be in a superposition state within those external fey cores of yours." "This is getting too complicated. Can we get back to the main topic? How do I rid of the contract?" "Transfer everything but the contract to a prepared clone. Then, sever the link and destroy that fey core." "Oh I see. And what if it''s a soul contract?" "Sever that part of the soul and leave it in the fey core to be destroyed. Fear not, I am here to assist you in the transfer." This! This sounds like serious and very scary business. I don''t care what you say, I''m scared I''ll mess up! It was like preparing to go into a heart surgery. Chapter 84 In preparation for the transfer, I began creating the perfect clone for myself. Vorte was here to guide me, or he would have liked to if he had the knowledge. Right now, this stuff was completely new to him that even I could tell he was excited at the prospect of gaining new experience. There weren''t many fey beings capable of creating clones like the way I did, at least none that I was aware of. This one was unlike any other clones I had created. It was created in the image of me, a masterpiece with no flaws. Reproductive organs? There was no such need! I had the ability to create them if I really wished but I just didn''t feel like it. I nodded with a satisfying smile. "Perfect, isn''t it?" "Indeed." It was lying in my bed with its eyes were closed but I knew for a fact that they had the same magical patterns. There was nothing I could do about it. Unlike other clones I had created in the past, this one was special. I was manually adding pieces of information a bit at a time. One of the most important was a fey core. Without a fey core, it wouldn''t have any abilities or traits. Speaking of which, I wondered if other races had these energy cores. "Vorte, do other races have cores like we do?" "For those born with physical bodies, an external core isn''t needed to interact with this world. Therefore, some do and some do not." Basically, that would mean if I didn''t have a fey core, I wouldn''t be able to have a fey body. Otherwise, if I stayed a normal plant, I didn''t need a fey core. The clone in front of me could be considered a physical body in some sense. However because it wasn''t made from flesh like other living organisms, it was no different from a fey body. This one was made from dust and mana, literally. There wasn''t a single blood vessel to be found. If I had the power to create a human body from scratch, I would have done that. "Now what?" "Add a fey core to it with the abilities and traits you wish to keep." "And how do I do that? Those are usually done without my knowledge..." I asked while checking my [creation] menus. Immediately after I said that, a new function appeared. I quickly added, "Wait, never mind. I know how to make one now." Yet, just as quickly, I ran into problems. For abilities, I could only add [charm] and [strawberry substitution]. Then, for traits, only |bewitching|, |devious|, and |parallel bodies| could be added. The other traits couldn''t be added because they only applied to the main body. If I was to transfer myself into that clone which didn''t have |creator| and [creation], I would become super weak. That wasn''t something to be scoff at. I wanted to be strong! Super strong! Heck, my original wish was to become a god. "Vorte, I can''t transfer my special traits and abilities. Is there another way?" "Indeed. But first, how familiar are you with your [strawberry substitution] ability and |parallel bodies| trait?" "I teleport all the time with [strawberry substitution]. As for the latter, I have never used that trait before. It''s the only one I''m completely unfamiliar with. Apparently it''s supposed to preserve my information in my clone bodies." "And how exactly do you teleport?" "I swap a strawberry that I have previously created..." "I presume these strawberries also act as your clones, with their individual fey cores?" "Uhhh... I think so? I have been creating ones without statuses recently but that''s only recently and only with my hands..." Then, something clicked in my mind, "Wait, does that mean I have been unintentionally allowing that demon to eat my fey cores? That''s... not even remotely funny!" The strawberries grown from plants would always have statuses. Normally, someone eating it wasn''t a cause for concern. The issue was if a demon capable of eating souls ate my strawberries. In that case, they would devour the intangible fey cores, and everything stored in those fey cores would never return to me. "Indeed, if statuses were displayed, then they indeed contained fey cores." That''s just plain creepy. It was eating my fey cores without my knowledge? I knew there was something fishy about that contract! I finally figured it out after all this time. Demons, they''re just too cunning! I''ll have to dissect his belly and take back my stuff! "I lost so many fey cores. Is there a way to get them back? What''s going to happen to me?" "Fear not, in the worst case, you may have only lost a few soul fragments. If you wish to retrieve them, you will have to defeat that demon. I trust that is what you intended." Losing a few soul fragments!? That''s no trifling matter! If I hadn''t figured anything out, my soul was going to be slowly but surely devoured! Still, to this date, I didn''t feel like any part of me was missing. I still had my memories as far as I was concerned. "That fiddle doodle, I''ll beat him blue and black! I''ll teach him a lesson never to mess with the almighty me!" "Let us not be hasty." "Yeah, I know. So what now?" "Your teleportation ability and your |parallel bodies| trait function very similarly. You can think of it as one and the same." "How so?" "You see, both your ability and trait links all of your clones. The former links you to strawberries which allows you to swap at your leisure. The latter links all your clones and keeps a backup of all your information stored in your fey core." "Oh, I see! But I don''t get to choose what gets backed up, or... Do I?" "Very good, you''re seeing the bigger picture. Go on." He prompted. "Basically, I should try to alter the backup to my ideal by removing contract information and the unwanted trait. If that is successful, I would kill myself and allowed to reboot?" "Indeed. However, there might be clones that contain your old information. You must sever those links or destroy them to prevent their information from overwriting your ideal self." Either destroying or severing the links to my clones required the same amount of effort, that being a simple command in my [creation] menu. It was kind of sad that I would have to destroy all those saved teleportation locations. Furthermore, I would have recreate more clones later to gather resources for me. The moment I destroy all my clones, De Planck was bound to take action. This seriously wasn''t a trivial matter. Hmm... Why don''t I just collect the fey cores from the clones? Either way, that stupid demon is going to notice something went wrong. "Vorte, I''ve decided to destroy some of the clones and leave some clones around. I can retrieve the fey cores from here." "Very well, that is your choice." With a single command, I destroyed all the special clones that specialized in collecting resources. Without their fey cores, I wouldn''t be able to control them anymore and they would simple become lumps of biological matter. By destroying them using my ability, most of the resources spent on creating them would return to me, including the fey cores. As for the clones that grew strawberries, I only extracted their fey cores. With the fey cores returning to me, I would no longer be able to control them both remotely. This also meant the original fey plants immediately returned to normal plants. Well, this type of clone was only found in a few locations so the ramifications were quite insignificant. One of them was the kobold villages, or kobold mountain as I called it. The other was where the elves visited daily. Whether extracting fey cores would kill the physical bodies, I didn''t know and I didn''t care. I actually had to destroy the ornamental strawberry plants in my garden as well. They were then replaced with some fake grasses and pebbles. "Phew! All done!" With that said, I closed a tiny portal that connected to the outside world. On a side note, I only removed the fey cores from Smoothie clothes. I didn''t want to hear her complaints the next time she saw me. For now, I couldn''t teleport to her anymore but it was just for a short while. I had a gist of her whereabouts anyway. Chapter 85 "With only one clone remaining, there''s only one more step left. Will you do the honor?" I asked with a courageous smile. There was no way my ability could kill me. There was no other way but to have him help me. I had already located and isolated the |devious| trait and the contract within my current fey core. The new fey core wasn''t fully linked to my current fey core but rather through [creation] and |creator|. This way, unwanted information wasn''t automatically copied to my new fey core. It was all rather complicated but I managed to make it work such that only the desired portions would transfer after the destruction of my current fey core. The parts of my soul that had |devious| trait and contract attached would be destroyed by Vorte. He was now officially a guardian and had the capability to interact with soul energy. It was unfortunate but things had to be this way. The main reason why he didn''t just attack my fey core directly was because things could get ugly. This was his first attempt at destroying a portion of someone''s soul. He was an amateur! A new hire, a surgeon trainee! Frankly, we couldn''t even be sure he could destroy a soul. In the end if he only managed to shatter my fey core, those soul parts that couldn''t be transferred would be quarantined within my subspace elsewhere. He was at least capable of that much as a guardian. "Not so fast." "What? It wasn''t easy to work up the courage to die you know?" "There''s a possibility that your subspace may collapse upon your death." "Is there a way to prevent that or do we have to do it outside?" "That depends on how long it takes for you to revive. I may be able to hold it off from collapsing for a short period of time. You should inject sufficient mana into your subspace to slow down the process." "Sure. Before we do that, I want to make some preparations in case that demon makes a move." The way my subspaces were arranged, at least based on my previous world knowledge, was that they were connected in every direction. There was no space outside my individual subspaces, meaning space didn''t truly exist. And from outsider perspective looking at my three subspaces from the void, they would only see a dot. The separation really only happened within my subspace. That was the strangeness of this whole thing meaning each subspace was a singularity and as a whole. Anyway, to guard against invaders from outside of my subspaces, I rearranged the how the subspaces were partitioned. Just because an outsider could only see a dot didn''t mean there couldn''t be layers within. Of the three subspaces, my current residence was the most inner part, or the core. Here I condensed as much mana as I could and infused them into the air and clouds. I really didn''t have any divine artifacts I could store condensed mana. Anyway, if anything happened to me, this was the last place to collapse. The next or middle layer was all the resources I had gathered. It should prove difficult for anyone trying to penetrate that layer because of all the various phases of matter. To be honest though, it was mostly empty so hopefully it would at least serve to confuse the enemies. The third or final layer was again mostly emptiness. A simple battleground was prepared. Ideally, I would like to stop any enemies there to prevent collateral damage to my subspace. Even though they were described in layers, when inside the subspaces, one wouldn''t be able to notice it. After all, the boundaries at the edges of these subspaces were naturally warped. That was about all I could do with the subspaces for now. "Alright, I think we''re good to go. The structures are there to keep out intruders and mana is now infused into the core!" With everything prepared, all that was left was a temporary death. The transfer should be fairly quick but since this was my first time using |parallel bodies| trait, there was the possibility of unforeseen complications. To make my death much quicker, I transferred nearly all of my mana into the new fey core. This was also to prevent any automatic regeneration due to my oversight. "Let''s begin. I''m ready!" I stated with fierce determination. Please, please don''t make this painful! I hate pain. I prayed with my eyes closed. "Very well, transfer immediately after your fey core is damaged. Once I have confirmed your exit, I shall destroy the remainder." Don''t make me wait any longer. I''m already anxious enough! In an instance, my chest was pierced. Debilitating pain surged through my body while my limbs began to lose feelings. "Kuh..." I knew it was coming but I could never get used to this pain. My chest was penetrated I was too scared to check. "...Is it damaged yet?" "Patience." So no... What else is coming? The answer came quicker than I expected. Pressure began building up as if someone was squeezing my heart with iron claws. Hurry up! How hard is it to crack a flipping fey core? The pain this time couldn''t even be compared to the times I had my limps cut off, not even close. This had to be hundreds of times worse. When it came to excruciating pain like this, the passage of a single second felt eternal. Just before I blacked out, I felt a faint crack followed by the sound of shattering glasses. Well, it at least the pain faded rather quickly after my fey core was shattered. With the pain dissipated, all that was left was exhaustion. Strangely enough, the soul didn''t feel pain. When I had tried to sever it the unwanted portion and isolate it, I only felt a bit of emptiness. Since it was only a tiny portion of my soul, there were no severe repercussions. The reason it had to be destroyed was because the detached soul pieces would naturally try to rejoin the main part and I couldn''t expel it out of the fey core by myself. The last thing I heard was, "It''s done." I''m exhausted. That sudden release of pain and pressure was liberating. Now, I could only hear nothing and feel nothing. My consciousness was adrift in the void. Silence. Perhaps I should rest here for a while. Silence was a blessing. Although it was a bit lonely, silence was my friend. I wonder how I''m supposed to transfer myself into my new fey core? How does it work? I should just recuperate here for a while. I''m sure Vorte is handling everything fine. [Soul corridor has been establish. Do you wish to return to your body? Yes/No.] It was the same voice I heard many times when I was about to level. A line was usually displayed to show what was said in case I didn''t hear everything. Hmm? Return to my body...? Not yet. I have questions. I''ve been wondering. Who are you? [I am unable to answer at this time. Soul corridor has been established. Do you wish to return to your body? Yes/No.] Surprisingly, it could be communicated with. At first, I thought it was from the system, but now that it could answer questions I was inclined to believe that this voice might some type of artificial intelligence. It was a female voice, quite soothing and natural unlike that of a crude artificial intelligence. Unable to answer at this time? When will you be able to answer? And, will I be able to speak with you again? [Yes.] It only answered my last question. One more question regarding you, are you an artificial intelligence? [I cannot answer.] Fair enough, you have your reasons. When you asked me with the question earlier, if I choose to return, that means to return to that world, right? Into that clone, right? [You must choose for yourself. I can only repeat the question.] How strange... Do I have other options? [I cannot answer.] Sigh, why do this to me. What happens if I choose "No."? [I cannot answer.] Why can''t you answer? [Insufficient authority.] Does god have enough authority? He made me into a strawberry plant. Take me to him! I demand answers! [I cannot answer. No coordinates provided.] Tch, useless thing. The voice couldn''t tell me anything useful at all. I wasted all this time for nothing. However, I wasn''t about to give up! Earlier I died. Am I still in that system? [No.] It finally provided me with something useful. From what I understood, the system created the statuses and everything. Without it, there wouldn''t be any traits and abilities. Fey cores, whether they would exist without the system was questionable. Anyway, given that I was no longer in the system, I was likely also no longer on that planet. That much I kind of knew since I died within my subspace instead of on the planet. [Am I in the void?] [No.] Huh? If I''m not on that planet and I''m not in the void, then where in the world am I? I was currently in the dark place that stretched indefinitely in all directions. Or rather, there were no directions here because space didn''t seem to exist. [This is a null space.] How is that different from the void? Hah... I guess that explains it. Void would mean lack of existence. Alright, you got me. Does time exist here? [Yes.] I see. I guess I can''t extract any more information. Since I have unfinished business, I need to get going. Time waits for no one! [Understood. Answer selected: No.] Huh? Huh?! Wait what? Wait! blanksphere Chapter 86 It was too late to change my answer. By the time I regained my consciousness, I was already within a body, the same clone body I had prepared myself with in advance. What it stated was clearly different than my expectation. If entering in this clone body was "No" then what did it mean by that question? Where would I return to? What was that thing anyway? I thought about asking for that voice to speak to me again but something seemed to have happened while I was away. I slowly opened my eyes. I was under the same roof as where I was just earlier. My bed was soft and comfortable, as if tempting me back into slumber. I was sure if I fell asleep again, that would mean I had died. In this world, I couldn''t sleep and I was sure about it. My body felt light. Well, I forgot to clothe this clone but there really wasn''t anything to see on this body of mine. I picked up previous set of clothes I had previously worn, that being a sweatshirt, jeans, and runners that were lying on the ground. I quickly fixed them up and put them on. "Oh well, looks like my old body crumbled into dust without a fey core... I just hope that didn''t happen to the other clones where I pulled the fey core out..." Vorte wasn''t around for some reason but it likely had to do with the rumbles and quakes outside my little house. Likely, an enemy and showed up to cause some ruckus. But in any case, I doubted I could contribute much even if I joined the fight. We were in different leagues altogether. Let''s check my status first. [Level 69 Fey (plant); Species: Strawberry Phantasm; Physical: 212/212; Spiritual: 443/443; Traits: Bewitching, Parallel Bodies, Escapist, Tactician, Creator, Enhanced Spiritual, Enhanced Resistances, Enhanced Physical; Abilities: Charm, Subspace, Creation, Strawberry Substitution; Description: An elusive plant fey shrouded in mystery.] Alright, I managed to remove that demon trait! Hurray! Wooohooo! Hmm... I guess it''s too early for party time. With enemies at my doorstep, I had to level up and evolve. There was no other option. For someone to be able to barge into my subspace, the safest place at my disposal, I had no choice but to fight. Since someone did come, the contract was likely already nullified or that information was quarantined somewhere. However, that currently was not my main concern. Right now, I had to find a way to gain power, and a lot of power. Levelling up was easy since I had plenty of mana stored away. The first place to pull mana was from the air within this subspace. That wasn''t how fey beings normally levelled but I had always been a little special... I meant unique. Next, from my [creation] menu, I could tell that something was going on the second layer of my subspace. This meant that the third layer had been breached. Evolution might require quite a bit of time. I doubt Vorte could hold any enemies for too long. I adjusted the relative flow of time on the second layer and the core. This should buy me enough time to evolve. Now that the synchronization had stopped, the rumbles and space quakes was no longer constantly shaking everything here. After making all the preparation, I entered into a meditative state. It was just like when Vorte evolved. Even after reaching level 70 moments ago, I did not stop trying to reach greater heights, absorbing all the mana from my surroundings into myself. Please, grant me the power to ascend. Without the |devious| trait, I should be able to avoid demonic evolutions. God, I no longer hold any grudges against you. Please, allow me to evolve into a god! [Requirements not met.] Hmm? It''s you again! What requirements do I need? [Seed of Life not detected.] What the hell is this "Seed of Life"? I''ve never heard of this trait or ability. [Divine Will insufficient.] I''ve never heard of any of this before? Insufficient? So that means I have it but just not enough? [Limit Breaker not detected.] I remember that demon had it... |Limit Breaker| was a trait likely associated with those who managed to reach beyond the 499 stats. It wasn''t something I could easily break. In the first place, how one broke through the limit was beyond me. So basically, I don''t meet three of those requirements? This isn''t funny! Okay, how about evolving into a Guardian? [Guardian path not available.] Crap, we don''t have time for this. I need to evolve, now! [Alternative path available: Celestial.] Can you explain what this race is? I''ve never heard of it. [Celestial path is a path to Divine.] Divine and godhood was synonymous to me. Oh, why didn''t you say so in the first place? I thought there was a way to directly obtain godhood. Alright, let''s go with this Celestial race. [Evolution initialized...] [Evolving from Fey (plant) race to Celestial race...] [Evolving from Strawberry Phantasm to Strawberry Pathfinder...] Unlike my previous double evolution, this one was taking quite a bit of time. All the while I was evolving, I didn''t stop gathering mana from my subspace into myself to fuel the evolution. I had to ensure this evolution was a complete success and achieved at the highest level at the end. If I ended up as level one of that new race, I feared that I wouldn''t be able to handle powerful demons. [... Evolution completed.] The moment evolution completed. I felt my mana slightly condensed even further. Yet, my total mana had increased as well. [Level 23 Celestial; Species: Strawberry Pathfinder; Physical: 342/342; Spiritual: 689/689; Traits: Bewitching, Coward Tactician, Creator, Void, Limit Breaker, Enhanced Senses, Enhanced Spiritual, Enhanced Resistances, Enhanced Physical; Abilities: Hypnosis, Subspace, Creation, Celestial Eyes; Blessings: Enchanted Fate, Forced Destiny; Description: A divine being born from a strawberry plant.] Huh, new race, really a new race! Celestial sounds amazing. Finally, road to godhood! The species name didn''t matter to me since it was just a name. Looking at my physical stats, they certainly increased quite a bit. Well, that much was given since I suddenly levelled up quite a bunch. To be honest, how the level system worked beyond the double evolution was quite strange. I somehow ended above Vorte''s level. But, just as before evolution, level didn''t necessarily equate to power especially when many factors were involved. My spiritual stat had somehow broke through the limit of 499. That was probably what I felt earlier. The stat had also broke through the limit. If I had to guess, it likely was related to the density of my mana. There were a few new traits. One of them was the unexpected |coward tactician| that likely was the fusion of |escapist| and |tactician| trait. The |limit breaker| was expected for those who broke past any limit. |Enhanced senses| was one that wasn''t able to obtain before my evolution. I considered it a neutral trait which was why I never really attempted to acquire it like some other ones. The ability as it stated, heightened my senses many times. The biggest issue was that I couldn''t turn it off which meant I could easily get overloaded with sensory information if I wasn''t used to it. Last but not least, there was this |void| trait. I supposed this was probably the ascendant or special trait that Vorte was talking about. It didn''t have any explanation and that voice was undependable when it came to information. In most cases, traits were difficult to use but it should be fairly powerful. Hmm? Who ate my |parallel bodies| trait? And... [Strawberry substitution] is gone too? No. Who ate it? Spit it out! I want my teleport ability! How am I supposed to get anywhere without my teleportation? [Your trait, |Void|, allows for spatial transfer.] Oh, thanks. So, how do I use it? [Coordinates required.] Oh, thanks... Where do I find the coordinates? [Coordinates may be found within [Creation] menu.] Ahh... Great. I''ll check it out after I check my other stats. Continuing on where I left off earlier, [charm] had evolved into [hypnosis]. If it meant I could put people to sleep, this ability would be pretty cool. It would be even better if it could put myself to sleep but I doubted it. Next, I gained something called [celestial eyes]. Just like the other double evolved or ascended races, I gained powerful eyes. Demons had [evil eyes], though not all of them. Spirits had [mystic eyes], though probably not all of them either. I didn''t know what the prerequisites were. Hmm... I wonder if my eyes changed again? Underneath the abilities was an added line called "blessings". I never knew there were blessings in this world, especially for them to show up in my status. I had two of them. It made me wonder who blessed me. No matter how I looked at the second blessing, [forced destiny] seemed more like a curse than a blessing. It was as if my life path was forced on me. That basically wrapped up all the abilities and traits I had. blanksphere Chapter 87 I opened my eyes slowly as if awakening from a slumber. I wriggled my fingers and got up from my bed. "Hmm? I don''t remember wearing this before? And, my hair color, it''s changed back by itself? Eh... I guess evolution does that. I''m technically a divine being now, huh." Without my input, my clothing was changed into a strawberry themed white gown with intricate emerald green embroideries on the sleeves and silver trims at the hems. I felt disappointed with my lack of notable power increase, again. I was hoping I could bust out some awesome catch phrases like, "Power! So much power coursing through my veins! Arghhh! Haaa!" Unfortunately, life was like that. It seemed I had adjusted to my newfound powers already. "I guess I need a mirror. Hmm... I seem to have the resources for it." In merely seconds, light particles condensed into a full body mirror in front of me. In my subspace, it had always been like that but the sight of coalescing light particles just never ceased to fascinate me. "I''ve grown taller. I guess I''m a late teen or youth now? How nice... Not?" The already barely noticeable bumps on my chest had deflated during my evolution. The sight of was heartbreaking. Who didn''t want beautiful curves? Well, if I wished, I could always adjust my sizes with [creation] ability. The body now was the genderless state that could be considered appealing to both males and females or neither. Again, I would say it tended towards the feminine side probably because it was paired with flowing silky hair reaching my waist. "My face is still pretty. No changes. I approve!" I smiled while striking a pose. Behind my back were two pairs of magnificent silvery white wings of pure light. Their shapes were nearly identical to the pairs I had when I was tiny. Though, these two pairs were clearly much more majestic and showy. Since these wings weren''t physical, they didn''t interfere with my daily lives. Moreover, they could dissipate and reappear whenever I wished. "That''s what I get for evolving from a fairy I suppose!" Looking at my eyes, the patterns were now more pronounced than before but otherwise showed nothing new, no strange glows or anything, unfortunately. Maybe after another evolution, it would shoot particle beams or something? The dream was there! "I wonder what [celestial eyes] do? How do I activate it? Smoothie, I need you! Now that I don''t know how to teleport anymore, how am I supposed to reach you?" [Supplementary information download? Yes/No.] Oh how convenient, then yes. I want to know how to use my abilities and traits please! [Initiating...] [Processing...] To help me absorb new information faster, I laid in bed once again with my eyes closed. Loads of data was quickly being transferred to me from the system. Much of this information seemed like common knowledge for beings like guardians and demons. Knowledge like mana origin, map of the world, and their respective trait such as |force|, |chaos|, and in my case, |void|, were all downloaded into my mind. |Void| was quite a simple trait, not. First, it allowed me to use spatial transfers or teleports as long as I knew the coordinates. Second, it allowed me to neutralize barriers or simply bypass them. There were probably special barriers that this trait didn''t apply to but in general, I could pass through anything. Third, it acted as an energy generator, recycler and regulator or transformer. In other words, I didn''t need to keep siphoning mana from outside of myself. I became self sufficient! And lastly, it functioned similarly to |escapist| in which people couldn''t normally track or directly target me. I could also apply this trait to my barriers, abilities and such. All in all, this was an astounding trait that could be surmised as godly. Next up was the [celestial eyes] ability. To activate it, I just had to flow mana into my eyes and intend them to work. Supposedly they would glow faintly or brilliantly like magical eyes depending on how much of its power I used. The ability seemed quite daunting if opponents couldn''t counter it. Seriously though, it worked like a scale, but for energy. Supposed I had half of my energy, and my opponent had full energy, I could completely reverse it, assuming my opponent couldn''t resist this power. The ability could also used in reverse to provide others with energy, again, to scale meaning logic was out of the window. Just like |void|, energy could just pop into existence and pop out into existence like nobody''s business. When |void| combined with [celestial eyes], reality just didn''t make sense any more. On a side note, different individual''s celestial eyes would have different abilities. [Creator] and |creation| hadn''t received as much upgrade as I had hoped. Some of my accesses had be unblocked which meant I could do more neat things! Though, most of those so called neat things could only be done in my subspace. For example, if I wanted to eat crepe, I could create one out of thin air, but its essence could never leave the subspace because it technically didn''t exist. Furthermore, if a guest ate something I created using the special creation function, again, they could eat it but its essence would disappear the moment they left my subspace. Basically, it was as if my subspace was a dream. Stuff from dreams couldn''t be transferred into reality. The only exception was that if the essence originally came from the outside world then it was allowed to leave. Truly, I''m living the dream... [Hypnosis] was a fairly simple ability, seriously. It was an upgrade from [charm] but [charm] was a weak ability to begin with. The upgraded version allowed me to alter people''s subconscious when certain conditions were met. Since my status was visible for everyone to see, I doubted I could ever meet those conditions. Though, regular folks probably rarely checked each others'' status, but for me, who wouldn''t be curious enough to check my status? The blessings, or maybe curses, they seemed like a bad comedy duo. [Enchanted fate] boosted my and provided me unexpected remedy to any unfavorable situation I encountered. As for the other one, [forced destiny], it forcefully adjusted major choices I made, probably for the worse. The two were like in cahoots with one another. One was basically like I was being slapped with one hand and head-patted with the other. It was just wrong in every way. I just wanted a happy and peaceful life with little to no events. I should just rethink life. Anyway, as for how or when I received those two blessings, only god knew. Speaking of which, things certainly had settled down after I adjusted the time flow around here. I wonder who invaded? Hmm... Should I test my new powers? No? Maybe? I don''t know. I don''t want to fail epically. Battles now are on a different scale than before. One screw up could easily end my life for better or worse. "Guhh... I need a tea break." I strolled to the kitchen and prepared a pot of hot tea, brewed with strawberry leaves, no surprise there. If I had time, I would have imported some tea plants into my subspace. While sipping tea, I thought about what I should do aside from entering that battle just on the other side of my private subspace. "I wonder, maybe I should create a kingdom here? I could partition the storage subspace into a habitable area for people to live. They''ll have my protection since this is my subspace. Eventually, as I grow stronger, the subspace will expand. And, I''ll be like the god of this world, right? Right. My dream will finally come true!" There weren''t many candidates I could select to become my citizens. Kidnapping folks wasn''t a godly thing to do either. I couldn''t pick fey beings because I couldn''t control how they were born. The conditions had to be specific. That kind of made me wonder who or what Smoothie was. Sure, she was my kid, biologically, but she likely came from elsewhere. That begged the question, why did she incarnate as a strawberry fey plant? And, if I remembered correctly, that ability of hers was absolutely abnormal. She couldn''t have been just any random incarnate. "Smoothie, who are you? Who really are you?" I sighed at the prospect that Smoothie might be an acquaintance from my past life, "Mm... Regardless, I hope you''re doing okay though. You have some of the best bodyguards with you. Even if I''m not around, you should be safe once you evolve." Now that my clones were all gone, I had no backup bodies. The contract, is it still there? I wonder. Let''s just double check. I closed my eyes to search for any link to it. It should have been destroyed or isolated but one couldn''t be careless. Show yourself... After scanning my entire body and soul, I couldn''t find a trace of it. My memories of it was still there but the link had vanished without a trace. As for the pieces of my soul that were contaminated with |devious|, I was able to locate traces of them on the edge of my personal subspace. The ability to see soul energy came with the territory. It seemed that Vorte wasn''t able to fully erase them or quarantine them. Thus, I used |void| to recycle them and reintegrate into myself. "Good, all the loose threads are tidied up and I have safely evolved. Time to celebrate! Finally! Woohoo!" I laughed cheerfully. Chapter 88 Using my newly unlocked access of my [creation] ability, I recreated some delicious snacks from my previous world. "Mmm... Mango cake! Macaroons... Chocolate!" I was indulging myself quite a bit! In this world, sweets weren''t too popular and they were hard to come by. However, now that I could replicate anything I wished within my subspace, why wouldn''t I treat myself to some nice things? I could live like a wealthy king and no one would complain about it. Furthermore, I couldn''t overeat and get full because of my unique constitution. Health wasn''t a concern either. "Yep, this is the life!" There I was, sitting in my living room, snacking away at all the sweets at my disposal without a care in the world. Creating things wasn''t free, and required energy which was coming from |void|. Frankly, the energy generated wasn''t great but enough to satisfy my cravings. On the sides, I created a pen and paper to doodle around. Several days passed. A rumble rattled the house. "Oh, Vorte is still fighting... But I really don''t want to join the fight. I''m a peace lover, a pacifist! I''m not suited for combat. I''m a plant! Plants are only supposed to be laidback observers... Mm! I''m just a pretty decoration." I doodled around and ate some more snacks. A few hours passed. "Ahhh I''m bored. I ate everything I wanted to eat. What to do now? Should I greet those visitors? Visitors or pests? How did I know there were more than one visitor? Huh... I guess I just know things. What to do! I''m stressed out now." There were no video games or entertainments here in my subspace. Even if I could create them, they wouldn''t be interesting because I would be the only player. A few minutes passed. "Maybe I should just leave them there. I have the mana with me anyway, and nothing''s going to collapse. Yeah, let''s go see how Smoothie is doing!" I happily clasped my hands together. I tried to connect my subspace with the outside world. [Unable to establish a connection.] "Hmm? Come again?" I tried again. [Unable to establish a connection.] "You''re kidding me? I''m trapped in my own world? It''s like I''m sealed... How am I supposed to see my cute Smoothie now? This isn''t how things are supposed to go!" After calming down and contemplating for a while, I let out an exasperated sigh, "I guess procrastination isn''t going to get anywhere. I''ll go meet with my guests, I suppose." A side project was completed just before I left. Underneath my house, on the other side of the flat plane, a new facility was created. Within it housed several new bodies for myself each suspended in liquid filled capsules. In the event I perished, my consciousness would be automatically transferred to one of these backup bodies. "Perfectly perfect! Me, myself, and I. Alright, we''re good to go!" My mind paused for a moment, "Ehh... Actually, I need more energy first. One can never be overly prepared!" Thus, I took another few hours to gather as much energy using |void|. The passive energy generation wasn''t that much for someone like me. Sure, the amount generated would be amazing if it was before I ascended into a celestial being, but now that I was a celestial being, I needed that much more because everyone else was just that much more powerful. To speed up energy generation of |void|, I had to put in some effort into it. Using the principles taught by Vorte, I fueled it with my desires and intent to amplify the amount of energy it was generating. Then, with that excess mana that normally wouldn''t be fit inside my being''s core, they were added into every fibre of this body just like how I strengthened myself using mana. Layers upon layers of thick mana was flowing through this body. "Power! So much power! Yes! Wuahahaha...!" I laughed maniacally. Success! I was just pretending. It was just so unfortunate that no one was here to appreciate my professional acting skill. Anyway, it was time for some after meal exercises, also known as taking out some trash. I sipped my strawberry tea and chuckled, "Ehehe... " Although I couldn''t open a portal to the outside world, that didn''t seem to stop me from opening a portal to my storage subspace. This place was completely dark except three dots zipping around like some kind of air show. Of the three, I immediately recognized one of them. The clashes were intense. With the flow of my time now synchronized with the flow of this subspace, explosions and shockwaves were echoing within. Two enemies? What gives? I don''t remember ticking off that many demons? Both of them were demons, not surprisingly, but De Planck wasn''t there. [Level 32 Demon; Species: Lo-Kazdour; Physical: 210/245; Spiritual: 320/499; Traits: Devious, Librarian, Arrogant, Chaos, Enhanced Physical, Enhanced Spiritual, Enhanced Resistances, Enhanced Senses, Immortality; Abilities: Seeker of Knowledge, Forger; Blessings: N/A; Description: A type of demon that evolved from a mortal race.] Within my subspace, I didn''t have any restrictions with my ability to examine status from far away unlike the outside world. I recognized one demon, Oortez, a low levelled demon or perhaps an underling of De Planck. His general status hadn''t changed from before as far as I was aware. And for some unknown reason, he didn''t have the [evil eyes] ability. Just looking at his stats, they weren''t that high and yet he had higher level than either Vorte and me. The only conclusion I could come up with was that he was weak and unfit for combat! Seriously though, for Vorte to go one versus two said quite a lot about this bunch of demons. Wait, how come I don''t have |immortality|? I should be immortal though? Is it something different? Something''s fishy about that trait. I also checked the other demon''s status. [Level 49 Demon; Species: Jud-Khalifus; Physical: 420/780; Spiritual: 130/320; Traits: Devious, Exterminator, Cursed One, Tormentor, Chaos, Enhanced Physical, Enhanced Spiritual, Enhanced Resistances, Enhanced Senses, Limit Breaker, Immortality; Abilities: Berserker, Evil Eyes, Undying Breath, Mind Shatter; Blessings: Mind One; Description: A type of demon that evolved from a beast race.] I checked his status thoroughly, very thoroughly. This dude is bad news! Really bad news! What''s up with those traits and abilities? He too has this |immortality| trait. My gosh... Does it stop you from dying or something? Fortunately, both of those demons were low on health and mana. On the other hand, Vorte was barely able to meet them halfway in terms of this power struggle. That Vorte, truly a monster. I don''t ever want to get on his bad side. Uhh... I want to help him but... It''s like trying to intervene in a battle between gods. Ehh... I don''t know about this but I have to do something! Courage. Bless me with courage to fight a thousand demons! Unlike my battles with humans and alike, these folks had scary abilities and traits. I felt that if I wasn''t careful, I might get cursed. "The strawberry, ahem, star always arrives late!" I announced aloud while taunting them, "To invade my domain while I was asleep, face me, you worthless bottom feeders! I shall be your opponent!" In a blink, two dots of light rushed in my direction. "Oh crap, they''re actually coming this way..." I said with a sulk. I can do this. I can do this. I can do this! My newfound power wasn''t a joke. To be frank, I was monstrous in my own way. [Level 26 Celestial; Species: Strawberry Pathfinder; Physical: 362/362; Spiritual: 689/689; Traits: Bewitching, Coward Tactician, Creator, Void, Limit Breaker, Enhanced Sense, Enhanced Spiritual, Enhanced Resistances, Enhanced Physical; Abilities: Hypnosis, Subspace, Creation, Celestial Eyes; Blessings: Enchanted Fate, Forced Destiny; Description: A divine being born from a strawberry plant.] During the past few days, I was able to level up after grasping the fundamentals of my powers. Whoever thought I was only loitering around and did nothing must be mistaken! There was no way my mana density could simply shoot up that much if I just sat around and ate snacks. With increased level and a celestial body, my ability to condense mana was increased a couple of notches. If I had to make a comparison, after passing the system''s initial limit of 499, numerical increases no longer represented linear growth. Starting at 500, growth was multiplicative which meant the differences in power between 500 and 600 wasn''t a 20 percent increase but could be up to 100 percent increase. This further demonstrated just how monstrous Vorte was even with disadvantageous numerical stats. Vorte, you''re like a god sent patron... I''d marry Smoothie to you when she''s all grown up! But Smoothie wouldn''t want that... And you''re celibate, aren''t you...? You must be! Sigh! Too bad! She''s a good girl too. blanksphere Chapter 89 Their battle stopped some short distance away from me. Two demons faced me and Vorte took a position next to me nonchalantly. "You!" The furry demon said with a harsh tone, pointing his index finger at me. He seemed quite upset at me for some reason. "Me?" I replied with a casual smirk, trying to provoke him. "You know what I''m talking about." "No idea. You''re all just a bunch of burglars. You even harmed my esteemed guest here! Now, explain yourselves!" "Blasphemy! To dishonor the contract given by His Esteemed, you shall face the consequences." "Oh? A contract? I think you got the wrong person. You better leave before I get angry." I unleashed a high pressure energy blast at them. "You may have evolved and altered your form but you cannot fool me." Unfortunately, my energy blast wasn''t strong enough to intimidate them. "Blah, blah, blah. I heard nothing. Go away, ugly face! You locked me in here for no good reason. Do you want to die here? I mean, that''s fine by me." I covered my ears to lessen any hearing damages from his annoying outburst. Strictly speaking, he wasn''t ugly but he wasn''t pretty either, or at least I couldn''t make heads or tails on his face. As a demon who evolved from the beast races, he naturally evolved with combat as priority. As for any refined beauty, there was none. I couldn''t even tell which animal type he evolved from, but if I had to guess, his face was something like a mix of a horse and a dog or something like that. "Anyway, Vorte, we''re trapped in my subspace. What do we do? Are they killable?" "I see you have evolved without trouble. In that case, this is a good time to get accustomed to your new powers. Go ahead, I''ll assist you should you need it." Unable to believe what I just heard, my jaws dropped. "Huh? One versus two? You aren''t going to help?" "Unnecessary." Vorte replied. "How dare you mock us!!" That furry demon screamed. "Hold on," I held my hand up to stop him, "by the way, it''s a bit late but what''s your name? Also, can you talk quietly? It''s impolite to talk so loudly, you know?" "Grr... Behold, my name is Juus!" "Such a lame name, but whatever." "You! How dare you!" Then I turned to Vorte, "Is there anything I need to watch out for? I don''t want to get cursed." "You cannot be targeted therefore you cannot be cursed. Fight to your heart''s content." He smiled amiably, his face slightly wrinkled. Awwh... I love that old man''s smile! "Alright, will do! This''ll be the warm up session before the boss fight! Eheheh..." Despite what I said, I couldn''t rid myself of my anxiety. Who wouldn''t anxious when it came to fighting demons with those sinister abilities and traits? "Ah, right, your name is Oortez, right?" I turned to the reptilian demon who was gazing at me with utmost focus as if I was some rare specimen. "Yes, and you, whatever you are, grew too fast. We''ll let you live if you''re willing to be my test subject. It was unfortunate I didn''t have the foresight to claim you early on." "First come, first serve. You bum! And guess what!?" "What?" "Wrong! You snooze, you lose! Unlimited Strawberries Grow!" I shouted with glee while unleashing a magical attack through [creation]. A long time ago I watched a movie of a guy creating countless blades out of thin air in his temporary reality. Blades and swords just weren''t my thing so I opted for the strawberries because it was my unique symbol within this world. It was a privilege of a progenitor perhaps. The empty dark subspace just a moment ago burst into vibrant colors. These strawberries didn''t have to be physical or real. Blue, red, white, green, small and large strawberries, all of them were illusions within this world of mine, strictly speaking, half illusions. Vines, leaves, and everything grew wild covering the entire storage space. And, they weren''t just any random illusions, they were filled with dangerous explosives that could either freeze or cook someone alive. Some were tainted with lethal and paralyzing poisons. Whether my new magic worked on demons was unknown to me but that was where these two volunteers came in. "I call this... Strawberry Fantasy World! Hehehe... If I can''t escape this place, then neither can all of you! Eat this!" Just to be sure, I locked down my subspace with my [creation] ability. Although I couldn''t interact directly with the interference that prevented me from leaving, I could at least control everything within. Who would have thought there came a day I needed to lock my own subspace from burglars? Anyway, that option to lock my subspace only became available to me after evolution which was why I didn''t lock it before. Perhaps it had to do with access to |void| trait. Otherwise, the only other method to limit access was through time adjustments. Simple attacks wasn''t going to work on them so instead I made the magic explode around them while I retreated to safety. With every strawberry that exploded, it would set off a chain reaction forcing surrounding strawberries to explode up to a certain radius. I quickly covered Vorte and myself in a sound blocking barrier. It wasn''t just any sound blocking barrier either. It was created with the help of |void| which nullified all magical attacks. Energy that interacted with this barrier would be absorbed and recycled for me to use. "Vorte, what does exactly |chaos| trait do?" The explanation provided by the voice wasn''t that clear on special traits that I didn''t possess. I only had a gist of what they did. "From what I understand, it controls heat and perhaps entropy to some extent." "Seriously? That''s quite obnoxious... Anything else it can do?" "I do not know. They have not shown it to me likely because ascended traits each balance one another in some way." "I see. By the way, now that I''ve evolved, will you still be on my side?" "I am a guardian therefore I seek balance and ward off aggressors. In this situation, I am on your side. However, should you ever become an aggressor yourself, we will stand on opposing sides." "I don''t know. There are still places I want to visit. Being viewed as an aggressor or invader, I can''t make the decision. But, you know, I''ll try not to get on your bad side! No promises though!" I continued, "By the way, what exactly does mean under the spiritual stat? Is it like the density of my mana?" "Approximately, it is one''s spiritual mass." He replied. "It''s physical equivalence would be your physical mass. The more mass you control, the more powerful you are overall." Looks like I''m right! Awesome! That means I just have to keep condensing and gathering more mana. After the dusts settled, two demons emerged unscathed. However, since they weren''t physical life forms, their appearance didn''t match their health. Both of them had suffered notable damages for the explosions. Interestingly enough, within my subspace, energy conservation was my friend. Unless something external absorbed the energy, my mana was never going to run out unless I fully surrendered my soul. That of course would never happen. I removed the barrier surrounding us. "How did you like that? Had enough yet? Or do you want another round? You can''t beat me in my world!" I taunted the two demons. One of them was obviously raged while the scholarly lizard demon seemed only a bit irritated. "I''m taking my leave. This isn''t worth my time." Oortez began backing off. "Did you think you can leave? No one''s leaving here today." I said coolly. "Are you stupid? Don''t let power get to you. I don''t want to get involved in Juus'' rampage. Can''t you see what state he''s in? I''m out of here! For your information, we have your child in custody." He warned before disappearing. "What? How did he just disappear?" The last part he said was quite concerning. That meant they managed to kidnap Smoothie somehow while protected by elite guards. However, since I was dealing with demons, what he said might be completely false. True or not, there was nothing I could do about the situation outside hence I decided to just leave it at the backburner for now. "I believe it was [seeker of knowledge] that allowed him to teleport away quickly. I sense that he''s still within your subspace. Perhaps he''s waiting for you to unlock the exit and sneak out." Vorte answered. "That slimy lizard!" "Pay attention to the opponent before you. His status is abnormal." Jus had been silence the entire time while he appeared clearly enraged. I could tell that energy was quickly converging into him from out of nowhere. His stats were skyrocketing, with approaching what appeared to be the next ceiling which was 999. As if all that wasn''t enough, his eyes were radiating bloody red. Oh crap, his insane abilities and traits... If he can maintain that state while being unkillable, I''m screwed! What a cheater! That must be the hellish berserker state... Ehh... But I hardly provoked him? Even in my current state with mana filled to the brim, I could not match someone with capped physical stats. His stat was enhanced and stopped increasing at 499, likely the same case for his other stats that weren''t visible to me. As for his spiritual stats, had capped. His actually dropped to 1 which was likely a side effect for increasing his other stats. "Vorte, can you help me with this? I have a feeling that my barrier won''t stop him from reaching me." Unlike my |void| trait, I had a feeling his |force| trait would work much better against physical attacks. Demons and guardians were supposed to counter each other anyway. I was just a third wheel. blanksphere Chapter 90 "No, you will be able to handle it." Vorte said. "Aww... I don''t want to die again." "Have faith in yourself." "Guh... Fine." In the blink of an eye, before I fully prepared myself, half of my body disappeared. Strictly speaking, I was blown away and blown apart. "Oof..." That demon with capped speed moved faster than I could react. Seriously? Normally you''re supposed to give me some time to prepare for a duel. You can''t just go pummel someone without a warning! Have some respect for dialogues! The pain wasn''t as debilitating, or rather, I didn''t have much of a chance to feel it before my body fully rematerialized itself, clothing and all. In the next instance, a burst of murder and rage assaulted my mind. Following that was a wave of nausea and pain. "Ugh... Mind attacks... How do I defend against mind atta-" Before I even finished asking the question, I lost the right side of my body. And just as quickly, light particles gathered and reformed the missing portions. "Stop!" I screamed while searching for Juus, the demon. "You bully!" Barrier, barrier, super barrier please! I don''t want to deal with this stupid mindless demon anymore! I added as much protection to my celestial core as possible. An undamaged core meant I wouldn''t suffer soul level damage. After all, demons were capable of interacting with souls and damages were very unwelcomed. Even while I prayed in my mind, he continued to assault my body. However, as long as my core remained undamaged, my body would continuously rematerialize. Pain wouldn''t stop rushing into my head either which when combined with mind attacks, I was at a complete loss. What made things worse for me was that I was crashing through some of those poisonous strawberries I created earlier. Unfortunately, I wasn''t fully immune to the poison so I ended up in a very sorry state. Oh my gosh Vorte, don''t tell me you''re a sadist! I need a breather, like now! After quite some time had passed, and my body including my head blown apart countless times, the onslaught stopped completely. I took a few deep breath while examining my body''s condition. "I''m... I''ve made it through? I''m a survivor!? Phew..." "This isn''t the time to rest yet. Look closely." Vorte pointed to the mangled demon lying flat on a giant red strawberry the size of a gym. It was just a lump of unpleasant thing that didn''t quite look right. Furthermore, I could tell he was bleeding everywhere profusely for some reason. I was kind of upset Vorte didn''t even lift a finger to help me out but I couldn''t really blame him or anything because he was technically a neutral party in all of this. They were after me and he was just in the way. "I see... What did you do to him?" "Nothing. It was all you." "Huh, what do you mean? I was just a punching bag." "Not at all. You absorbed all of his mana with each physical contact and now he cannot resurrect immediately with a lack of mana." I guess it''s because of my special barrier...? Well I guess all''s fine? My special trait is so strong! I could see he had zero mana and one health while his buffed stats were slowly decreasing. Though, I did not remember mangling his body. In fact, I should have been the one to look like that mess. Funny enough, his stat just zeroed out. "I didn''t attack him. I get why he''s losing stats. So, why does he look like he just got thrashed and smashed?" "It was a side effect." Side effect of one of his abilities I guess? He sure got ahead of himself without understanding my ability. This demon sure is hotheaded and stupid. Hmm... What to do with him... It seemed that he couldn''t really control himself while in a berserker state and would mindlessly attack his opponent. In this case, I lucked out because of his incompatibility with my trait. "I won, right?" "Not yet." "If left be, he will resurrect with time." After he said that, I immediately erected my special barrier around the half dead demon. The barrier was set to automatically siphon mana from within to power the barrier. "Alright, so can you crush his soul? I have no idea how it''s exactly done. Since he has the |immortality| trait, I''m assuming he can''t die normally?" Normally, zero mana meant death or similar to death for a non-physical being. The fact it hadn''t died likely meant it was a possessed body and the demonic soul was fused with it. "It is my belief as well. I am unsuited for destroying souls as you probably have noticed." "Ah, right, you left a few traces of it but I thought you did well. I mean, the |devious| trait and the contract were gone for good. So I think you did a great job." "A favor was returned. This is as far as I will assist you. Henceforth, I am merely a humble guest of your abode. Do as you wish." "Don''t be like that! Aren''t we friends by now? I helped you and you helped me. Please!" "If you wish, I can provide advises but nothing more. Consider my earlier engagement with them a mere test of my power." "Fine, be that way! Okay, I''ll take advises! At least tell me how you destroyed that small chunk of my soul?" I had an idea of how I could destroy souls because I just did it earlier. But, I wanted a bit of confirmation before I try that on a dangerous demon. Moreover, in case I succeeded, who could say another demon wouldn''t just pop into my subspace for another all out brawl? I had to be sure that I had a way to permanently destroy immortal demons. "I did not necessarily destroy it. Using my ascended trait, |force|, I negated their bonds, forcing it to dissipate which invalidated the contract and the trait information stored in that portion of your soul." "Eh? That''s it?" "Indeed." "So nothing was actually destroyed?" "Information was destroyed indirectly, and that portion of your soul will take time to regenerate." Luckily for me, I already collected most of that shattered soul back into myself as energy. "Oh. Does that mean you can use that technique directly on me even now?" "Not anymore now that you cannot be directly targeted." Directly targeted... I guess he could still indirectly target me. If that''s the case, I wonder if that mind attack from the demon could only be initiated via physical contact? Probably! Good chance it was! I see, I see! Since Vorte was unable to actually destroy any souls permanently, then it was up to me to figure something out. "Alright, I''ll destroy this demon. You don''t have anything against my decision, do you? I mean, you''re about balance. If I kill this demon, would balance of the world be disrupted?" I asked. "Since he was the aggressor, he may be eliminated. It is only a matter of time before more demons are born into the world." "Great, thanks! I''ll keep the other one alive." There was another demon hiding somewhere in my subspace anyway. I planned to keep that one alive for interrogation and scientific experimentation. But first, I wanted to do some tests on this demon in front of me. Normal attacks couldn''t kill it so this was perfect for practicing soul shattering techniques! Still, I wonder why they even bother coming into my subspace? The moment I manage to control my new power, I became a winner, hands down. I guess they didn''t anticipate Vorte having suddenly became a guardian in my subspace? blanksphere MC will become a bit different (imo: calculative and calm, and feels a bit foreign?) in future chapters. Hopefully readers will like the change? I''m only sharing what I write so if you don''t like it, there are other stories out there. :) Chapter 91 I shrank the barrier around the trapped demon bit by bit. "Hmm... To destroy a soul... Hmm..." How are souls normally destroyed? How? I need something cool and flashy! "Vorte, souls are made of energy, right?" "Yes, in a way." "What about soul cores? I need to destroy the soul core to fully destroy a soul, right?" "Indeed, in a way." "You were able to damage my fey core before, but can you interact with the soul core?" "No but possibly indirectly." "Does that mean a soul core is of a higher order than the soul itself?" "Most likely. I only have knowledge of its existence." "If my soul is eaten, would the soul core be empty and null?" "Not that I am aware of. Over time, it should regenerate soul energy but with the lack of original." That meant, basically, if my soul was completely eaten, in time, a new soul would grow out of it. However, everything would be lost. Experience, knowledge, wisdom, all that would be lost permanently. It wouldn''t exactly be a new soul but it might as well be. "If I destroy a demon''s soul, would its soul core regenerate another demon''s soul?" "I am uncertain, but likely not if it was completely destroyed." "Perfect!" With Vorte''s confirmation, I knew exactly I should do now. It was really a simply matter. I simply had to wipe the demon''s soul squeaky clean so that eventually a pure soul would grow from its soul core. My trait, |void|, could recycle energy, and since souls were made of energy, that basically meant that I could recycle souls or soul energy. By recycling souls, I could gain immense about of energy from doing good work! Seriously though, this felt like a death god''s duty. I''m doing god''s work...? But why? The barrier around the demon kept shrinking while absorbing the demon''s flesh, bone and soul. Once trapped in this barrier, nothing could escape it unless I allowed it. Any attempt at retaliation would only fuel the barrier and quicken its demise. In time, the physical matter that made up of the demon was purified and became merely dust. Of course, I was always short on dusts for my construction projects. Before long, the barrier could no longer shrink anymore once it was the size of my fist. However, the energy it was generating had not reduced but rather increased exponentially. "So much energy! How does that thing store so much energy?" "It''s an ancient demon and likely ate many other souls." "Yuck! Is there a way to free the other souls?" "No. They are merged." From what I could tell, soul energy and mana had drastically different qualities. Even though I couldn''t see or exactly feel soul energy, it was for sure of a higher order energy unit. Mana compared to soul energy was like comparing a sugar cube to a gold tesseract. No matter how much mana was condensed, it could never reach the energy density of souls. Though, it might reach that state at mass <999>. Speaking of which, this demon''s soul was quite something, and even after hours of recycling it, I could still get more "Juus" out of it like a super battery. It was a bad pun. Anyway, it didn''t look like it would run out of energy any time soon. Interestingly enough, I could convert soul energy into mana and vice versa through my special trait but I normally wouldn''t do that because the reverse meant a loss of information stored in soul energy. Unlike the tiny pieces of my soul that I had absorbed earlier, I kind of felt I was lacking, severely lacking in soul mass. And here I was, taking so much energy for myself. Moreover, unlike those who steal energy from others, my special trait would completely neutralize energy signatures making all energy I recycled with |void| to be perfectly useable for anyone. There was no risk of undesired contamination. I''m sorry. You met a bad match. If it was anyone else, you would have gotten away or ate their soul. It''s a dog eat dog world, you know? Unfortunately, you''re the underdog being eaten this time. While thinking to myself, I got bored of waiting. "This is taking a while. Maybe I should just use this to power my subspace? It''s free energy anyway. Vorte, do you want any?" "I do not." I bet you''re drooling inside and just too shy to speak out! I''m kidding. An image of a silly drooling Vorte popped into my head. "Pfft! Ahahaha... I''m sorry." I quickly covered my mouth and turned away from him. I knew it was rude, but I couldn''t help it! "Ehh... I guess I better start scanning my subspace for that Oortez fellow. If he''s a jerk, I could wring some juice out of him as well. Ehehe... The more the merrier!" This is my subspace. You can run but you can''t hide! After I became a celestial being, my control over my subspace had increased substantially. If it wasn''t for that, I wouldn''t have survived. That being said, I still didn''t have perfect control. Certain special access functions were still locked, such as adding more dimensions or actively adjusting the more unique forces. Furthermore, the limit on gravitational force was only up to the point of a small stellar body which was an improvement from before. Mana usage within my subspace for me was negligible or nil for my current self. This meant as long as I had the resources and the knowledge, I could create anything! However, because I lacked knowledge, I had inadvertently limited myself to what I could create. If I wanted to create a television, I needed to know all the details. Otherwise, I would have to rely on pure magic to replicate an illusionary device with the same function. No matter how I thought about it, physical things were superior because they didn''t need mana to sustain their presence. Back to the issue at hand, I had to track down that lizard demon. With my new power, I began isolating parts of my subspaces like jigsaw puzzle pieces, completely locking them down piece by piece. This was to prevent this fellow from moving around while I scanned my subspace. Oortez had a lot to answer. After hours of searching, I found that demon hiding in the outer layer of my subspace. In fact, he was pretty good at hiding and nearly fooled me. His ability to erase his presence was quite outstanding, to be honest. It was something I could learn from. While was I busy with all this, Vorte was enjoying his life inside my home. Or rather, he was just enjoying his usual silent meditation. It was hard to fathom how meditation could be enjoyable but at least he took a neutral stance to my demon hunt. "Oortez, there''s no use hiding anymore. I''ve found you and you have nowhere to go now. You''re completely quarantined in this subspace." "As expected." He revealed himself in a calm demeanor. Of all the demons I had met, he was probably the weakest. He had no |evil eyes| trait or any dangerous abilities that I had to be cautious of. He might have an astronomical arsenal of spells and knowledge but currently they posed no threat to me because he lacked the mana to properly use them. Furthermore, when faceing between trait skills and magic, trait skills would always triumph so he was a lost cause. "You have a lot to answer." "I only answer to those whom I have contracted with." "Oh? Do you also have a contract with him? In this space, you can''t call anyone, not even De Planck." When I became a celestial being, although in terms of raw power I was inferior to De Planck the legendary demon. Now, we were in the same league. We stood on the same field, no longer could he just bully me into submission, at least not in my subspace. My subspace was my world, and my world alone. I had absolute control over my subspace, at least theoretically speaking. "I will not break my contract with him." "Fair enough. Tell me what you''re allowed to tell me then." "What will you exchange for my knowledge?" "Nice try, it''s not going to work on me this time. Once was enough. Oh and my thoughts are no longer being manipulated." "Oh? Your thoughts were being manipulated? Fascinating." He nodded with a satisfying smile. Oh crap... So it really was De Planck!? Wait, no, does De Planck have the ability to control through the |devious| trait? "Tch. You got a new piece of knowledge. Tell me what you know if you know what''s good for you. Cough it out if you have to." I had the perfect threat to use against him if he wasn''t willing to answer to me. Since he loved knowledge so much, I could threaten him with erasing a bit of his soul. blanksphere Chapter 92 "You offered it for free." Oortez said. Huh, a feisty fellow... Or should I say an arrogant fellow? You''re as good as a dung beetle to me, you know? As much I would love to threaten him, negotiation came first. I was afraid he would give me false information if I threatened him for answer. The most important thing right now was how to return to the outside world, or rather, reconnect with that world from the void. The next important thing was to find out where Smoothie was. I had a general idea before my evolution but I only had an inkling of passage of time in the outside world while I was asleep. Now, the only thing I could think of that could block me from exiting this place was another subspace that got in between. It was unfortunate that I had destroyed all my fey cores. Perhaps if I hadn''t destroyed them, I might be able to establish a direct link to that world. "Alright, what would you like in exchange for your knowledge? I need to get back to that world to save my girl." "Exchange of knowledge must be equal therefore a contract must be signed." "No thanks. Go to hell." Well, there''s no hell for you. You''ll be a clean slate. Negotiation broke down just like that. Since he was willing to sign a contract for the exchange then a way to leave was definitely possible. I casted a barrier around him and slowly shrank it. It was the same one I used on that other demon. That was when he began to panic, but I just wanted to see his reaction. I had no intent to just erase him outright without getting a little bit more out of him. The moment the barrier touched him, I could see him squirming and screaming. However, I only allowed light to pass through the barrier. No one wanted to hear a demon scream because that was a sure way for my eardrums to rupture! "Serves you right." I slowed down the shrinking of the barrier even more just so I could torture him mentally. My method might seem demonic but to use evil against evil was justice! After his legs had all dissolved into light particles, I released the barrier. "Well, had enough yet? If not, we can continue until your soul is completely dissolved and all your knowledge lost forever." I emphasized on the last portion. "Also, I could technically dissolve your contract with De Planck. What do you say to working for me instead?" "You''re no different from a demon!" His face was twisted in agony but I kind of doubted that he felt actual pain. His soul wasn''t even in any danger yet. "Heheh... I''ve been called a devil before. In my mind, they''re one and the same. I don''t have all day. Give me your answer." "We demons live by contracts..." "Is that your answer?" How unfortunate... I really wished I could extract his knowledge from his soul but that was beyond the current me. However, a contract was a no go no matter how favorable it was to me. "... If you dissolve my contract, I promise to serve you." He reluctantly blurted out. "Oh? That''s good. But, no contracts, right?" "If... that is your wish. I will comply. Please spare my soul." How did he figure out so quickly that I could damage souls? I wonder, is there another celestial being floating around in the world? Whatever, let''s just play along. "Actually, there''s a soul contract I would like you to enter." "I am listening." "It''s really quite a simple request. But first, I will erase all your other contracts. I hope you will cooperate to make the experience less excruciating. We definitely don''t want precious knowledge to be lost forever, right?" I could probably erase some of his traits as well. If things went haywire, perhaps he would even transform into a new species. This was uncharted territory, and I was the completely sane scientist pushing for new discoveries! "Wait!" He completely lost his calm from just a few seconds ago. "Do you need a moment to prepare yourself mentally?" I asked. "I..." I interrupted him before he could say anymore, "Just use those contracts as your shield. Good luck!" My special barrier was cast around him once again. In my eyes, demons'' greatest weapon was their words. The less they talked, the better. In terms of raw combat, they weren''t as strong as guardians. Though, there was a possibility that Vorte might just be an outlier but the likelihood wasn''t high, at least in my mind. The barrier slowly shrunk just like before, but this time it was to give him an opportunity to organize his soul energy. With the vast knowledge in his possession, that much should be piece of cake. It was something even I could do before my evolution. It was just that back then I didn''t have the power to destroy them. The unhinged demon, Oortez, after a bit of flustering, quickly closed his eyes to make the preparations. Otherwise, his precious knowledge would get shredded into oblivion. Silly demons. An outsider might see me as too conceited but I knew my limits. If I didn''t get a laugh at them now, I wasn''t sure if I would get another chance down the road. I keenly observed every reaction Oortez was displaying within that bubble. If I was to destroy too much of his soul, he was surely going to get pissed off when I released him. And, I rather he became cooperative than having to completely destroy him later on. After about half an hour had passed, I noticed that he was behaving rather erratically so I figured his contracts had all been nullified. A few pieces of lost knowledge wasn''t worthy of my concern anyway. I released him. "How was it? All done?" After catching a few breathes, he replied, "Yes. Please, no more of that." "Huh, was it painful?" "Yes! My heart ached with the lost of so many precious contracts!" He stated indignantly. Oh, so it wasn''t painful, physically. Tch. I was kind of disappointed and it made me wonder if all that fuss from him was only just an act. I was sure it wasn''t all act but demons were demons. "Alright, enough. Heal yourself already. And by the way, what kind of contract did you have with De Planck?" "..." "That contract was nullified, was it not? If not, let''s go at it again." There really wasn''t any way I could check it for myself. It was a matter of trust, or perhaps just confidence with what was to come. He hurriedly added, "Yes, it was nullified." "Good, next up is a soul contract for you." I stated casually. "Excuse me?" "You heard me right. A soul contract. Tell me how it works and how it''s done." He obediently told me everything there was to soul contracts. It was actually not that difficult to create one but the difficult part was nullifying or terminating one. The procedures required an insignificant fraction of each party''s soul energy. In a way, since my strawberries used to contain tiny portions of my soul energy, I unknowingly signed a soul contract when it should have been a magical contract. Also since the strawberries were grown and shared with nature, consent wasn''t particularly necessary. One unique thing about soul contract was the matter of free will agreement. All parties had to have agreed out of free will, not forced or anything. Otherwise, a soul contract would not be finalized. Originally, my contract with that demon was only a magical one. However somewhere he got hold of the soul energy stored in my strawberry and used it to energetically upgrade the magical contract. Obviously, I wouldn''t have noticed a thing back then. The moment I agreed to the terms on the magical contract, it was somehow swapped with a soul contract. Long story short, I was played like a fiddle. Of course, I didn''t tell Oortez any of it whether he knew it or not. I had a good reason for that. Anyway, while Oortez was suffering in my barrier earlier, I secretly hid a strand of his soul energy. "Oortez, can you create a magical contract right now?" "Now?" He asked with discontent. "Yes, don''t make me repeat myself." "I can. May I know the parties involved?" "You and yourself." "Huh?" I glared at him. "On it!" His body had already restored to what it was before. This indicated that he wasn''t using a possessed physical body like the other demon. Otherwise, I would immediately notice the difference in energy. A piece of parchment appeared before him out of thin air. It was just like that time De Planck came to me to sign that contract. This time though, I was the one to generate the content. "Just think of it as an insurance. If I can''t trust you, then you''ll have to be erased." A magical contract didn''t have as much restrictions as a soul contract. A bit of push was acceptable. We negotiated a bit but I had the final say to it. After that, he signed it and the contract dissipated. The content was fairly straightforward. Basically, it was a curse that penalized him whenever he possessed more than one magical or soul contract. For every additional contract, his mana would decreased by ninety-nine percent. Since this didn''t affect his ability to accumulate knowledge, he readily accepted. The other term was that he was forbidden from lying to me. Refusing to speak was acceptable. At the end of all that before the contract was signed, I snuck in his soul energy into the contract and it was upgraded into a soul contract. Unless closely examined, magical contracts and soul contracts felt the same. Of course, he signed it. Sucker. I got you now! There was a chance that he might have known but still agreed to it. No one cared enough to bother with the minor details. blanksphere Chapter 93 Following the soul contract, Oortez divulged information regarding Smoothie. Apparently, another group was responsible for ambushing Smoothie and her party shortly before the two of them infiltrated into my subspace. As for Smoothie''s exact location, he didn''t know. What a useless lizard... I should just skewer you and roast you on a bonfire. But then again, you won''t be tasty. Scaly things... Yuck! Next up was the details regarding the most urgent situation which was who or what was preventing us from leaving my subspace. According to him, De Planck had casted an entropic barrier around my subspace as insurance that I wouldn''t escape. Strictly speaking, it wasn''t in the shape of a barrier but in the concept of a barrier. Unfortunately, Oortez didn''t know all the details, or at least he wasn''t willing to disclose any to me. From what I understood, |chaos| trait allowed one to manipulate entropy and generate chaotic energy. The more powerful a being was, the more he or she could make use of their special trait or ascended trait. In this case, De Planck likely made an exit condition that could only be satisfied with an extremely high entropy value. This would prevent anyone or anything including useful signals from reaching the intended destination. Since I had no way of manipulating entropy within or around my subspace, I was kind of stuck. Moreover, inputting coordinates into my [creation] menu wasn''t going to do a thing if not even a link could be established with the other side because likely the other side wasn''t receiving any coherent signals. That begged the question from me, "How come neither of you used that barrier on me or Vorte during the battle? I don''t believe I could have countered it?" "You don''t understand the difficulty of controlling it. Just the fact you can smoothly manage your |void| trait proves that we have lost." "Elaborate?" "It''s a matter of capability. I can''t control something this size or are you too stupid to understand?" He snickered. "Ehh!? I can''t say I''m the brightest but... That''s a bit harsh!" I kind of understood what he meant though. From the outside, my subspace was non-existence in size. However, from the inside, this place was huge. In terms of setting up and fine tuning a barrier, the smaller one would obviously be easier. That probably meant these two demons that invaded couldn''t use it, or at least, Oortez couldn''t. As for Juus, he already bit the dust. Even if they could use their entropic barrier, my void barrier didn''t interact with theirs which meant I could still disrupt and kill them faster than they could scream "ice cream." "Well, I think demons are more stupid. So now you''re here trapped with me. Why even bother invading if you could just seal me away?" "This is why I hate your kind. Why even bother having a head if you aren''t going to use it?" He barked, losing his scholarly cool. I kind of knew why but I wanted to hear it from him directly. Verbal harassment... Ow... I''m taking lethal damage! Not. "Hey... I didn''t ask you so you could harass me. Just tell me how I can get out?" My plan to brute force my way out had to be re-examined. Initially, I was going to keep testing coordinates until I could leave but it looked like things were more complicated than I anticipated. I kept trying to think of a solution by myself since that useless lizard wasn''t going to offer any help. There has to be a way to establish a link. Hmm... A few minutes later, having lost his patience, Oortez growled, "You''re wasting my time! I could be studying archeological sites, researching spells! You dimwit, figure something out already!" "Calm your horses! I think I got something. I mean, if you had just answered my questions, I could have came up with something already. In the first place, I didn''t put up that barrier. If you weren''t such useless piece of trash, we would have been out already." I retorted with some mild insults. I figured perhaps insults were how demons got to know each other. Clearly, their civility wasn''t as high as their stats. After that, instead of a constructive brainstorming session, we threw insults at each other until I ran out of useable insults, which, at that point, I locked him up with my void barrier. It couldn''t be helped that he was better at insults. I''m salty... I''m not that stupid, right? Maybe I should have asked for higher intelligence instead. I wonder...? Most importantly, I lost the idea I had prior to our verbal battle. Since I had no idea on how to leave, I decided to ask Vorte. "Vorte, I need hel-, I meant advise! How do we leave this place?" "I have been meditating on that." "Okay... And...?" "Look within and the answer should become apparent." Okay...!? "Uhh... So you want me to meditate?" "Indeed." He didn''t even bother opening his eyes to look at me. Am I unattractive? Are you shy? You won''t even bat an eye at me. I tuned the time flow between the core and the second layer of my subspace. This way, Oortez wouldn''t self destruct out of boredom by the time I found a solution. I sat on the carpet in my room with legs crossed. Hey voice, is Vorte asexual? Is that why his clan died out? I waited and wait but no answer came. Oh I see, you''re as speechless as I am. I guess the questions are too profound even for you. Alright, then how about why do I look the way I am? And, I would like to know if I can reproduce like humans! Please answer! [Your lineage affects your appearance. You lack a physical body therefore you cannot reproduce sexually.] That''s just so sad! Oh then how do I... make offspring? [You may choose soul creation.] I can do that? Really? [Yes.] But I can''t create soul cores. Please teach me! [You may segregate a portion of your existence and insert it in a fey core or a qualified vessel. With sufficient growth and experience, a soul core may be formed naturally. There exists an alternative method but you have not the qualification to perform such feat.] I was very much interested in all of this. Even if I could never leave this place, things could still get lively around here. Oh neat! I guess I''ll forever be alone in a way but it isn''t so bad. So, how do I segregate a portion of my existence? [You must part or liberate a portion of your soul from your celestial core. Due to your existence value being below standard threshold, the chance of failure is deemed extremely high. This procedure is not recommended at this time.] Oh wow... I''m learning something new. What''s this existence value and how do I increase it? [It is the total mass of your soul. Knowledge of the method was previous imparted.] Ah... I guess I should work on that. Thankfully, there was ample energy to go around. Okay, next question I hope you can answer. How do I overcome that chaos barrier? This time, I waited and waited but no answer came. Okay, one last question before I leave you alone, was that chaos barrier there before I returned to this body? [Yes.] Thank you. That''s all. I had all the answers I needed. The final question I asked the voice was the most important question to this puzzle. Since the answer was the one I desired, all I needed was to connect the dots and take action. In any case, I had to first strengthen myself. There''s only one path for me. Time to push onward. The world waits for no one. blanksphere Okay, although we haven''t gotten to the smarty part yet, I just want to say that after the dark and gloomy part, there was a sugary part! But, that''s in chapter 101, and 102. Chapter 94 I began siphoning all that beast demon''s soul energy into myself. If my understanding was correct, the level of an evolved being was related to their soul mass. Higher soul mass equated directly with their displayed level. Since that demon was level 49, I should be able to reach past level 50. Though, the toughest part was incorporating that much energy into myself. Since I was level 26, the energy I was trying to absorb was greater than me. An analogy would be a small fish trying to swallow a shark. This will take a while. I cocooned myself in a void barrier and a physical barrier. I readjusted the time flow of the second and outer layer of my subspace to be in the ratio of ten million to one. That was the maximum allowable after my evolution. Anyway, this effectively meant that I had two layers of time barrier to delay any invaders in case the lock I had placed was cracked open. With an orb of pure soul energy in front of me, after taking a deep breath, I began slowly absorbing the soul energy into my celestial core. Well, there was always a first time for anything. Minutes passed. Hours passed. Days passed. By the fifteenth day, I was able to absorb half of it. It wasn''t because I couldn''t absorb faster but rather |void| was hitting a cap. It could only recycle so much energy at a time. During the waiting period, I began consolidating my newly acquired soul energy by enhancing my soul bit by bit and condensing excess mana generated by myself. Surprisingly, over the past couple of days, I had yet to be bored out of my mind. Perhaps it was because I was just super absorbed in what I was doing. Time continued to pass slowly. Suddenly, without warning, I was given a notice. [Evolution available. Proceed? Yes/No.] I checked my status and apparently I had leveled to 50. What would I evolve into? Is it a new race again? Pretty sure demons stayed demons after level 50. [No. This is an evolution within a race.] Ah, okay, so it''s a regular evolution. Go ahead, evolve. This time, the evolution was rather quick. [Level 51 Celestial; Species: Veraine; Physical: 499/499; Spiritual: 798/798; Traits: Bewitching, Coward Tactician, Creator, Dedicated One, Void, Limit Breaker, Enhanced Senses, Enhanced Spiritual, Enhanced Resistances, Enhanced Physical; Abilities: Hypnosis, Subspace, Creation, Celestial Eyes; Blessings: Enchanted Fate, Forced Destiny; Description: A divine being.] After my evolution, my physical stats had all capped to the first limit. I wasn''t able to break those physical limits just yet. If I remembered correctly, De Planck didn''t break those limits either. None of my traits received any upgrades if just going by my status alone. But in fact, there were quite substantial upgrades to my two special traits, |void| and |creator|. A new trait was also added. It was similar to the blessing that beast demon had which was [mind one]. |Dedicated one| provided me with unparalleled focus, dedicating all my resources available to complete a single task. In addition, it also curbed the side effects of |coward tactician| to some degree. The stat was an indicator of my ability to manipulate mana. The stat was an indicator for my ability to maneuver physically. Neither stat was useful to know. My [hypnosis] ability now allowed me to actively alter another''s state of consciousness. Now, it was actually an useable ability. The peculiar part was the species name. It had completely changed to something incomprehensible, perhaps not translatable to common language. That reminded me. De Planck had a strange species name as well. Perhaps he too had evolved at level 50 but as a demon. Anyway, a species name meant very little to me. I still had lots of work ahead of me. I continued to absorb remaining soul energy while diligently integrating it into myself. Ten more days passed until I fully absorbed everything that beast demon had to offer. However, I still wasn''t as close to De Planck''s level as I would like to be. "I need more." I began converting everything that was created with my special trait into soul energy. It wasn''t much but any extra bits of energy was fine at this moment. I could always recreate the things I had destroyed. Once that was done, I tried to look for other sources of mana and soul energy. "Oh right, didn''t I take some from that Oortez fellow when I was erasing some contracts? Well, he doesn''t need that energy anymore so they''re mine!" He certainly had quite a few contracts. However, the amount of energy there was quite flimsy compared to the energy provided by that beast demon. In total, I spent nearly sixty days empowering myself. Somehow I was able to sense the passage of time. Anyway, it was well worth it. In a straight up fight without abilities and traits, I should be able to easily overwhelm Vorte. "Strange, why do I feel so refreshed and my mind so much clarity? Hm, maybe I''m due for a break." I removed the barriers around myself and checked the mirror. There were some changes to my appearance once again. The most notable was that I now had three pairs of wings, an extra pair compared to before. In addition, the color scheme had changed. Gold was now the dominant color while silver became intricate embellishment in flowery patterns. Similarly, my white gown now had fancy gold and silver embroideries. Isn''t this overdone? It''s beautiful, but... Hmm... I wonder why Vorte only have that plain robe on him? Am I special? Ah... Whatever. This is a trivial matter. I walked up to Vorte and crouched next to him before softly whispering, "How long do you plan to meditate?" "I was waiting for you." He replied. "Well, wait no longer! I''m done." He only opened his eyes after I said that. "I see. You have made good use of his soul energy." "Yep, yep! It was very nutritious. Though, I doubt I could take on De Planck directly with my current power. Add to the fact, I know very little about him." "Indeed. What will you do?" "I want to strengthen myself even more before I head off." "Oh? And how will you do that?" "I will test my new power shortly. By the way, I know it''s a bit late, but do you want something to drink? I can spare some energy to create something nice for you. How about it?" "Very well. I appreciate it." For the past couple of months, neither of us had eaten or drank anything. Unfortunately, for me, I had no such desire either, seemingly lost to the void. If I really dug deep, I could still find traces of my old desires. A bit of nourishment might just make them blossom again. I want my desires back... Did they all get converted...? [No.] I wasn''t asking you! Eh... Do you have a name? Wouldn''t it be easier if I just called your name whenever I need to speak to you? [No.] That''s no good. I''ll call you Echo from now on! Nice to meet you. While I was preparing something good to eat, I asked Vorte, "Do ever hear voices in your head, like for example when you evolve?" "It is the voice of the world." "I see. So it isn''t just me." "It is common knowledge." Having a casual conversation with Vorte was just that difficult. He would shut me down if I asked something simple. Using my ability, I created some fresh ingredients and cooked up a normal meal. I ended up with steamed rice, roasted vegetables, and lizard meat skewers. Well, the lizard part was because my mind wandered and some lizard meat popped up while I was crafting ingredients. It really had nothing to do with Oortez. Anyway, wasting food was no good so it ended up on the dining table. As for drinks, it was my signature drink! Strawberry milkshake! Making a meal was actually an excuse to test an upgrade to [creation]. It allowed me to now replicate complex biological matters. The limit was based on my past experiences which meant if it was something I had never come across or ever learned in detail about, I wouldn''t be able to create it. Though, I still had to have detailed imagery, otherwise I might just get a lump of dust or weird slime. Ehehe... Now I can recreate any dish I desire! Yeppie! "So, how''s my cooking skill?" "Satisfactory." "Eh? Only satisfactory? I poured sweat into it! I mean, not literally." "Perhaps you may wish seek a culinary instructor. I cannot advise you on the matter regarding arts." "Aww, okay." I was hoping if I was good enough, I could cook for Smoothie eventually. As for the matter with her being unable to eat, I could theoretically alter her constitution. Whether she had any desire to eat was something else altogether. Anyhow, I personally thought my cooking skill was more than satisfactory! I did my best to replicate seasonings so there couldn''t be anything wrong with my seasonings. "It''s about time we leave." Vorte said. "Yes. You''re not afraid of being targeted by De Planck, are you?" "No. Other guardians will step in." "How nice! I have no one like that since I don''t stand on either side." I sighed wistfully. Truly, I would fighting a lone battle once I left my subspace. If being a god meant being alone, then that would just be plain sad. Chapter 95 The two of us left my home and entered the second layer of my subspace. Before I did, I casted my void barrier around myself, or rather, my status and celestial core. No one but me should be able to see my own status! I made this a permanent thing so no one should be able to land a sneak attack on me. The previous |void| trait was like a demo version of the real thing. Currently, energy generation and conversion was at least ten times more than before. It was essentially a tiny black hole. My original |void| trait prevented others from targeting me directly. Now, I could adjust the properties of this |void| trait on anything I applied it to. For example, I could become completely invisible to all senses, essentially devoid of existence, if I casted the strongest version of void barrier around myself. If I wished to be visible, I could just adjust the trait on it, and I would become visible. Of course, self-defence wasn''t the only thing this could apply to. All in all, this trait was one of my trump cards. "Yo, Oortez, how''ve you been?" He was just making angry faces within the barrier I encased him in. "Oops, forgot about it." I snapped my finger like a boss, "There you go!" He seemed like he was about to try another insult but refrained himself from doing so. His eyes narrowed at me and I just replied with a mischievous smile. I knew he tried to examine my status. Nice try, rookie. "Oortez, before we leave, I need buy some insurance from you. You don''t mind, do you?" "What non-sense are you speaking?" "Or, do you rather be stuck in my subspace forever? No, right?" "No... " He scrunched his face. "Great, then you accept my proposal?" "Do I have a choice?" "Of course. I just gave you two choices. Vorte, this isn''t violating any Edicts, right?" "Indeed, no." "Perfect! Oortez, stay still, otherwise I might mess up!" "Huh?" "Here it comes!" Via my [creation] ability, I locked onto his soul. In an instant, half of soul energy pertaining to knowledge was isolated. Then, I carefully sealed away into my subspace. I also did not forget to remove the backdoor channel that allowed thought manipulations. It was something likely not even Oortez was aware of. Someone was apparently able to hack through the |devious| trait which meant I just had to remove it to destroy the backdoor. The work was finished in a jiffy because the upgraded [creation] ability was just that awesome. "What did you do to me!?" I checked his status to confirm the results. He lost about a third of his level and good chunk of his stats. His |devious| trait had also disappeared. Though, just because it was removed didn''t mean he would suddenly become a righteous demon. There was no such thing as a righteous demon. It might take some time before I should see changes if at all. As expected, soul mass really has something to do with levels. "Like I said, it was insurance. Once this is over, you can have it back. It was part of our agreement, right? It''s not like complaining will get you anywhere." "You! I...!" "Nuh uh! Treat me nicely or else." "Grr... You are vicious." I guess I should keep it down a notch otherwise ugly traits will start popping up... Based on the information I had gathered, there were two ways to bypass the chaos barrier. Originally, if I hadn''t evolved again, I would have tried to collapse my subspace and use my previous void barrier to imitate or rewrite the condition to allow my passage. And, if that didn''t work, then I would try to split the subspace infinite times in a single direction to breach the barrier since subspaces weren''t real but merely concepts or as Vorte putted it, dream world. By creating countless stacking singularities, eventually, a zero would become a one, probably? However, the chance of failure was quite high since the other side could adjust the barrier size. And, if all that failed, I would brute force it with my abilities because fundamentally no barrier was invincible. It was only a matter of willpower. Now that I had evolved, I knew that completely collapsing my subspace was impossible. What had came into existence cannot return non-existence. With my upgraded |void| trait, I could easily bypass this chaos barrier or override it. Something that theoretically didn''t truly exist couldn''t be influenced. In a way, my new void barrier functioned as a null space which existed everywhere and nowhere. Though in my case, space existed within my barrier and I could still control the movement of space outside. Simply put, I took a page out of Echo''s book and made it my own! "Alright, off we go." I casted a second set of void barrier around the three of us. Within this barrier, the coordinates displayed were nearly all zeroes. Of course, that was because the barrier''s coordinate was absolute zero and we didn''t share the same positions. I inputted the coordinates provided by [creation]. Just like that, the scenery changed to that of a familiar vast desert. It was just too bad I couldn''t input time coordinates. "Easy as that! Vorte, aren''t you proud of me?" "Indeed. You have come a long way." "Will you be going back to Vera?" "Yes." "Alright, I''ll drop by later. Can you let Kanoko know there''s a bit of delay on my side?" "Consider it done." "Thanks! You''re the best!" After I released my barrier, Vorte silently took off. "Now, where is my little girl? Oortez, you should know. Where was the ambush?" I was already at the general location where Smoothie was when I removed the fey cores. However, her presence was nowhere to be found, not even the escorts. I even checked the path she would have taken for the next few day and scanned the nearby canyons but there was not a sign of them. Not only that, the desert didn''t leave a trace of any type of battle. Looking at my [creation] menu, I was able to determine that less than a day had passed. Currently, the dark sky was littered with stars gently illuminating the world in silence. Even so, with my celestial eyes and enhanced senses, I could see clearly as day. How strange... They must have the ability to teleport? Or, perhaps underground? No, I don''t sense any underground activity but there are traces of magic. Were they sealed in a barrier then teleported? Or perhaps they reached their destination and I''m just over-thinking? Just to be sure, I even warped to where Smoothie''s plant body was. And, as expected, it had yet to evolve. There were a few wandering elves in its proximity surveying the forest but otherwise appeared uninvolved. Though, not too far away were several wreckages of one person sized magitech airships. I quietly swapped the proxy fey core of the original body with an artificial one created by me. Along with the proxy fey core came a huge chunk of her original body, roots and vines. These were safely kept in my subspace in a suspended state. No. This is bad... Really bad. For the first time in a long time, my mind was going into hyperdrive. I tried my best to remain calm but my mind was racing, searching for any clues that might lead me to her. Strictly speaking, I knew how to find her but I was afraid of a direct confrontation with De Planck. It would be suicidal. He was one of the most dangerous beings in this world. To make things worse, he probably had countless demons under him. I was one person, one being and I knew my limits. My traits and abilities were powerful but not to the point of omnipotent. I had to exercise caution. "It might already be too late." Oortez stated solemnly. "It better not be! Where is she? Do you have the coordinates?" "After the ambush, they were supposed to be transported to the Kingdom of Appallia. I was not given their exact rendezvous nor was I interested." "You better be interested now because your existence depends on it." "I know!" He gritted his teeth with frustration. Huh, the human kingdom, I guess a visit is due. Brace yourselves, if any harm comes to her, you''ll all pay for it, dearly. "Take me to their capital city where the Hero King is. He would know, wouldn''t he? I have a bone to pick with him for manipulating the human populace into hating fey beings. I suffered quite a bit because of it, you know?" "Fine, I''ll take you there but leave me out of the mess." I had a feeling that Oortez was not fully telling me the truth. It was as if this was all part of their plan to lure me to the Hero King. And, after I had weakened, De Planck would have analyzed my powers and came up with a way to subdue me elsewhere. I knew yet I had no other way of locating Smoothie thus I decided to play along. Regardless of what my excuse was, I would technically be considered an invader and the Hero King a defender. However, because I wasn''t a demon, I should still have the advantage. In the best case scenario, I would negotiate with him and rescue my kid. A plan was set in motion. Let''s see if he deems me as an invader or a visitor. I still had the official seal Kanoko had given me. I flew up into the sky. Once I had a clear visual of the human country, I warped into their sky along with a pet demon in tow. In a few seconds, I had reached their capital city, Rotask, where the Hero King resided. Hmm... So this is their capital city. I was a bit perplexed by the mood of city. It was in a festival mood despite the opposite I had expected. After all, they just lost a major battle; it didn''t make sense for them to celebrate. Unless, they haven''t received a single reports. Is that even possible? I didn''t even wipe out all of them. blanksphere Chapter 96 I descended into a dark alley before I uncloaked the two of us. At this point, Oortez was just tagging along quietly. If he made a move on me, I would erase him on the spot. Even if he teleported away, I could easily track him down because a good chunk of his soul was in my possession. "We''re going to have an audience with the Hero King." "It''s not so simple like that. There are procedures you have to follow." He advised. "Do you come here often?" "No." "Tell me then, how acquainted are demons with humans? It''s impossible for the Hero King to not notice backdoor dealings with the demons." In my previous world, students were all taught the dark history of our world. Tyranny, indoctrination, corruption, these tended to creep into society through agents of darkness. Unfortunately, we were not foreigners in that regard, only all too familiar. The reason was that the society I came from was a part of an interstellar civilization and it was up to everyone''s due diligence that a dark history would not repeat itself. There of course were other reasons such as assessing whether "First Contact" should be initiated with another civilization. Anyway, based on my preliminary understanding, this country had only entered the early stage of it and approaching middle stage. Someone or some group was pulling the strings. As much as I wanted to just barge in, that action might just make the world my enemy. After all, I had to follow that annoying Edict thingy, or at least not deviate too much from it. Moreover, even if Smoothie was considered a hostage, I still needed a just mean to take her back. "I suppose I can''t be hasty in this situation." "What will you do?" He asked as a matter of fact. "Investigate. Of course, I can''t do so in this form." In the blink of an eye, I transformed into a beautiful young lady with platinum hair. This hair color might be a bit rare in this country but I took pride in my celestial appearance, although adjustments had to be made this time to ensure I was adequate enough to attracting attentions. Since I planned to enter the castle openly for a chat first, my appearance had to be proper. My clothes had to change to fit my new sizes, and shoes to match. Speaking of which, I only moderately modified design of my celestial gown. "How about it?" I asked Oortez, "This should do?" "It is suitable." He remarked calmly. I wonder where his impatience went? "You seem quite relaxed?" "What choice do I have?" "Well said! But, think of it this way, my existence should grant you new knowledge. Wouldn''t that mean something to you?" "That is true..." "Then you better observe me carefully." "Fair enough. I shall oblige." Good. I''ll slowly win you over so that you''ll eventually serve me. That good for nothing rabbit will regret his decision to ever mess with me. With my hands in front of me as if holding water, I uncharacteristically chanted, "Come, thousand blossoms. The dream has come to you." On top of my palms, a small flower with white petals, like the strawberry flower I remembered from my previous world, bloomed with astounding speed. It was not a onetime bloom, but a continuous growth that generated countless phantom petals. In merely a few seconds, I was holding a handful of soft white petals. "Be my eyes to see and my ears to hear, now go." A gentle breeze swiftly carried the petals away, scattering them into every corner of the human capital city. With my evolution, [creation] was now capable of generating substance within this world, not just my subspace, albeit temporarily. They acted as my clones but no status would display because they had no true substance. There might only be thousands of petals scattered within this enormous city but those were enough. My range of operation was no longer restricted to one kilometer radius but tens of kilometers. "Nothing beats a stroll. It''s been too long since I''ve walked along humans. Let''s go. I''ll hide your status and change your outfit." The people here although discriminated against beastfolks and alike, seemed to be on equal terms with reptilians of the north. I could sense many reptilians wandering the streets within the city through my surveillance network. The buildings here were mostly constructed of wood painted with various colors. One of the standard color seemed to be beige with the other being red. The roofs were generally covered with green clay tiles which were inclined to facilitate drainage. The majority of the people here had darker hair color with somewhat lightly tanned skin. Their attires were fairly uniformed but extremely rich in color, a sign of abundance and a developed culture. However, from my standpoint, the degree of conformity was a cause for concern. Let''s hope it''s because of the festivity. Like many festivals I was aware of, vendors and stalls provided all type of services, many in the food industry. There was one type I had been looking for since a while back. "Do your reptilian folks enjoy festivals?" "We do." Everywhere we went, I could feel gazes on me. But, just as quickly, many gazes would disappear as I turned my head. Of course, I knew who was looking my way. My surveillance network wasn''t just for show. While most of the onlookers were just curious folks checking out two foreigners, a few of them were intelligence operatives camouflaged among the civilians. With both of our statuses hidden, those who tried to check were probably thinking we were unknown heroes or those who held unique positions within the government. It likely caused a bit of confusion but no one paid too much attention, oddly enough. It was the intelligence operatives who kept their eyes on me to track our movements. One agent even decided to tail us with only a few meters between. As expected... Can you all just hurry up and report us to the Hero King so we can all move onto the next phase? My patience isn''t infinite, you know? While browsing various shops, a few items grabbed my attention. "I wonder if this will look nice on Smoothie?" Right now, I didn''t have any money with me to buy anything. If I created money out of thin air, that would be the same as committing fraud. Alternatively, I could replicate the item but I wasn''t confidence with all the intricate details. It really was a nice hair clip dotted with tiny purple crystals in a flower pattern. "Dear customer, would you like to try it?" "May I?" "Go ahead, go ahead!" The shop owner offered it to me with both hands. "Oortez, can you do the honor?" I took the hairpin and casually handed it to him. He cracked displeased smile before taking on the task. "As you wish, milady." He''s not that bad of a person, is he? It''s not because I removed that trait, is it? Perhaps the burden of knowledge had twisted his original personality. I wonder if we can get along after all? I smiled while bemusing myself with such fleeting thoughts. After he carefully clipped it onto my hair, the shop owner placed a handheld mirror in front of me while praising, "You look absolutely beautiful!" It looks pretty good but it''s a bit heavy. Actually, the color doesn''t seem match well with Smoothie''s green hair. "Thank you." I took it off by myself this time. The enthusiastic shop owner said, "if that one isn''t satisfying, how about this one?" The problem was that not only did I not have money, Oortez didn''t have any money either. Though, even if he did carry any, it would have been lost in my subspace somewhere. "No, I''m just browsing." I replied with a warm smile. "I see, if you don''t find any ones you like in other shops, definitely come back to my shop, okay? We take custom orders, guaranteed to satisfy your need!" I thanked the shop owner once again before taking my leave and visiting other shops. All the while, I did not stop surveying the entire city''s every nook and crook. Nothing escaped my sight, be it underground or behind magic seals. My |void| trait could penetrate every type of obstacle known to the mortal race. Hero King, there you are. Your intelligence network is impressive but now it is within my grasp. It''s no different than my own. I''ve made my move. I''m waiting for you to make your move. It was only a matter of time before I pinpointed the exactly location of Smoothie and her group. For now, I surveyed the city patiently, listening in to conversations across the city. On a different note, I found out the reason for festivity. It seemed that a Hero King selection tournament was due. Incidentally, according to new intelligence, Oortez and I were deemed as possible candidates to partake in the Hero King selection tournament. Of course, it was all likely just a facade. There was no way for a tyrant to give up his comfortable seat. This year, the tournament might end up quite differently than he anticipated. A secretive group, likely considered "the resistance," had snuck into the capital with plans of their own. Chapter 97 The facade continued until late into the night. Smoothie isn''t in the capital. That was my conclusion after hearing all the intelligence being passed around within the city. That in a way was a relief. It meant that I didn''t have to make a scene here, at least not yet. I was able to catch a message passed onto the Hero King. Apparently, a special cargo had arrived in a military base some distance outside of the city. Strictly speaking, it sounded more like a research facility than a military base. Either way, it was controlled by the government and couldn''t be accessed by the public. As for the cargo''s content, I couldn''t figure that out because everyone was using code words. Tch, hide and seek, I''m not in the mood for that but I guess I''ll have to play along. By the time most of the shops and vendors had closed for the night, I was approached by the one tailing me. A letter of invitation was passed onto me from the Hero King. The date was the coming afternoon. Of course, I gladly accepted it before vanishing without a trace. A direct confrontation could be avoided with this. I was now at my next destination accompanied by Oortez. "Secret bases with strange researches, I dislike them. There''s too much secrecy. Nothing good ever comes out of these places." I remarked while inspecting top secret facilities. "I disagree. This is the frontier of innovation and new knowledge, a true haven for all scholars alike! This is where we advance civilization to the next level." "Alright, whatever. That reminds me, why were you sent to my subspace? You''re not even fit for combat." "It was truly a miscalculation." "It must have to do with Vorte, right?" "Yes, we knew he was with you but we didn''t think he could break through this time, and that quickly." He shook his head while holding his forehead with two fingers. Looks like time manipulation was a success. Well played, past me. "Even so, does he not have better combatants to deploy? Your partner was strong but sure there must be others of equal or higher caliber?" "Juus wasn''t my partner." "Oh? Do demons normally work alone?" "Yes. That is my understanding." I guess that''s true for a scholar but I''ll take it with a grain of salt. There''s bound to be more powerful demons out there aside from De Planck. Only after I pressed him for more answer did he reluctantly told me that he tagged along with Juus so that once I was out of the way, he could study my subspace to his heart''s content. I didn''t even how to reply to that. "No way, magitech airships? To think they stole our technology!" He barked exasperatedly. Thank goodness I have a barrier around us to cloak us completely... Hah... "Oh, that. It seems like they did, didn''t they. What will you do about it?" I had already seen it remotely through my phantom scouts or petals upon my arrival. In fact, this was one of the least hidden project they were working on. One of the underground facility here was a ship dock, with a partially constructed magitech airship seemingly in its final stages. It was majestic and a work of art but by itself, it just didn''t look as grand as the reptilian fleets. "There''s nothing I can do about it. That''s the thing." "If you are still a mortal, would you try to sabotage it?" "Of course not! Why would I do that? That would be such a waste." "I guess we don''t see eye to eye. Eventually, they will bare their fangs toward the reptilian race. I would rather nip the bud before it''s too late." "That''s a shame." "I''ve been curious. Where do reptilians get all that mana to fuel their projects? Do they take it from civilians as well?" I said while holding a dodecahedral crystal capable of absorbing mana en mass. I had noticed these strange crystals in some of the government official''s households but didn''t pay much attention to them until now. I just thought those were magic devices for their daily life. However, using my tactical sight, I could see several floors below, something nefarious was happening. "That is true but they are done voluntarily with monetary incentives. Their main source of mana comes from naturally occurring mana fountains." "I haven''t seen a mana fountain before. Do mana just pour out from ground?" "Precisely." "Interesting..." Apparently, in some locations, mana simply gushed out of the ground like water fountains, except invisible to the untrained eyes. One might think that was great and all but too much mana would corrupt the land and create anomalies. From what Oortez recalled, there was a region in the beastfolk empire that was completely uninhabitable. The mana contamination was so strong that even the landscape became warped. That was the location of floating islands I had witnessed not long ago. Ah, so it wasn''t because of a guardian. Mana contamination sound almost like radiation contamination but worse. "Is that why the humans and reptilians wanted to conquer that place? For the energy resources even if it''s that dangerous?" "Sacrifices must be made for advancements. Our dream to travel among the stars is only one of many." His arms and hands moving around as if describing a beautiful dream. "I see, why didn''t they all just negotiate for it? It can''t be for some occult reasons, right?" "The fault lies on all sides." No country is willing to compromise I suppose. It''s the same everywhere, isn''t it. "Perhaps that is a good reason why humans have turned to other methods of harvesting mana. Allow me to show you, perhaps you''ll gain something from this." I teleported us to the area directly below us. This was another section of this overwhelming large facility. If I had not personally witnessed those mana powered boring machines, I would not have believed a structure this big could be built by humans. Technologically speaking, the humans was already beyond their neighbors, the beastfolks. As for the reptilians, due to a lack of knowledge on my part, I couldn''t make the comparison. "This... Fascinating." He was lost for words. Yep, he''s a lost cause. Here, mana was being funnelled from across the continent into a room in front of us on the other side of a glass wall. A map of the world was displayed on a room sized holographic screen. The spider nest like threads were the tunnels spread out across the continent. At each location, I could see the amount of mana being transferred in and out. Some of them were even within the reptilians'' country to the north. Researchers dressed in black or white coats were moving about as the two of us observed the situation from a corner. The amount of mana here if not controlled properly could set off an explosion enough to wipe several cities off the map. It was basically like a fusion reactor imitating a stellar core. "Does he know about this?" "He... He must know about it..." I sent him a glare to have him continue. "I don''t remember..." "I see, I''ll return some of your knowledge." "Thank you." After I had returned some of his knowledge or soul energy, he began to explain the scheme that was concocted by De Planck. It wasn''t anything grand in my eyes but rather it was just unnecessary evil, a plan to raise himself to a true god although unrelated to the scene in front of us. As a demon, he couldn''t generate unlimited mana the way I did nor could he convert mana into soul energy. For divine beings, or in our case, lower divine beings, soul energy was required to level up. De Planck couldn''t just eat anyone''s soul without some type of exchange therefore he needed to use contracts to secure soul energy because there was something built into the system that functioned similarly to a Divine Edict. The part Oortez played was preparing countless soul contracts. In each era, during tumulus times such as wars and famine, he would offer soul contracts and magical contracts to those who were desperate. Needless to say, demons were usually the instigators behind the scene. Mass casualties wasn''t their concern, in fact, that was their modus operandi, because the more dire the situation was, the easier it was to get people to accept soul contracts instead of magical contracts. This saved Oortez the effort of later upgrading the contracts through his ability [forger]. However, there were times when demons would want a soul contract from the start. Those were the clients who were exceptionally powerful or had potential of becoming powerful beings. In these cases, they would try to obtain a piece of their soul to secretly upgrade the magical contracts to secure an unbreakable deal. Through this, I learned that De Planck himself couldn''t upgrade contracts. To do so, he had to go through someone with the [forger] ability. However, my [creation] ability was able to do the same. Although this information wasn''t important, it meant I was bit by bit learning about his limitations. As for the matter where demons disregarded living beings as merely toys and games, I could understand that. After all, I knew that I had taken many lives without a hint of remorse. If I had guessed correctly, the demons had done something to facilitate human''s technological advancement in a dangerous manner. Looking at the mana being gathered, I murmured, "I could snatch all of that, but I shouldn''t." "I admit you are powerful, but you are not invincible." "I know. There are heavens beyond heaven." And I don''t want to test my limits just yet. I was sure there were many others who could create subspace or at least interact with one on the demon''s side. As for guardians, I could only guess. Then, there were heroes who were the least predictable ones with hidden statuses. "The speed at which they built this place is certainly not to be scoffed at. I assume the reptilians had a hand in all of this." "I suppose." Smoothie, where are you? There was a saying, "the deeper you go, the darker it gets." The rabbit hole was certainly deep in this humongous research facility. It had multiple wings each ranging from hundreds of meters to several kilometers in diameter depending on their depth. The mana processing facility in the east wing a few kilometers away said it all. This was one of the locations marked on the holographic map. Chapter 98 "There''s more to see." I teleported to the mana factory seen remotely through my phantom petals. "How should I put it... Intriguing!" "Yes, it seems the humans have been doing some experiments with promising results." I remarked sarcastically at Oortez''s unusual excitement. Here, people were being augmented with various technologies exactly like some soldiers I fought back in Vera. Unlike what I had seen before who only replaced perhaps two limbs at a time, here they were replacing as much as they could with magitech limbs and more. Hundreds and thousands of people were undergoing such procedures within this facility. If just counting rooms, there were hundreds of them, including residential areas and rehabilitation areas. Another section that was doing purely experimental procedures did not stop at just replacing limbs or adding magitech parts to the body. Parts of faces and even organs were replaced or altered. There was one soldier who had three eyes and four magitech arms capable of blasting energy beams. It was absolutely disgusting, in my opinion. From my observation, the highest level these augmented humans were capable of achieving was at the maximum level 50. It seemed that they couldn''t grow further unless their technology advanced further. However, even level 50 was difficult to achieve under normal circumstances. This is the birth of the cyborgs... Sigh, I don''t understand why anyone would be fascinated with something so disgusting. I don''t see why this isn''t listed as a taboo in the Edict. As it stood, there were more human flesh being removed than could be used for further experiments. Those parts that were deemed no longer useful for experiments were shipped to another facility to be fed to strange chimeric beasts. It wasn''t a place I wanted to visit. My stomach wasn''t ready for a horror show. "Have you learned anything?" I asked. "This is just too fascinating! I wish I could stay for longer." "This isn''t my cup of tea. We''re leaving." There was a west wing to this colossal facility that was producing one of the highest mana in this region. Given how there were supposedly no mana fountains in this region, that place was awfully suspicious. Lo and behold, when we arrived at the scene, I scrambled to scan the entire structure in detail. This place was no different from a prison, perhaps even worse. People were locked in metal cells with their mana drained to constantly. In addition, they had to work physical labor night and day with little rest which I could see on one of the schedules. All this was much expected, but these weren''t all criminals. In fact, only a small number of them appeared to have any wrongdoings in their past. Many of the prisoners were due to the fact they tried to deviate from what society allowed. In other words, they could be considered political prisoners, those who were dissatisfied with the current government or Hero King. It seemed that not even children and women were spared if they couldn''t be corrected. Because they were prisoners, experiments were carried out on them as if it was perfectly normal. Huh, concentration camps, why am I not surprised? This world... I have an urge to burn everything down. What am I looking for? A huge meteorite? If it only ended here, I would have most likely left things as they were because mortals had to sort out their own problems. However, I had to dive deeper into this mess. This world shouldn''t go on like this. Just like other facilities, this one had the above ground portion and the below ground portion. The underground portion was always many times larger just like an iceberg floating in the ocean. All these guards and scientists, are they just all yes-man? Do they not have any conscience or are they all like Oortez? "How are you feeling?" I asked. "Hm? Isn''t this fine?" You don''t get it. I guess that''s what makes you a demon. For me, my heart aches for those who were suffering. It was not a pleasant feeling, perhaps even worse than that anxious feeling before a grand battle. At this point, it was more accurate to call this military base, a city, because it spanned at least five or more kilometers in each direction covering minimum of 100 kilometer square in area. And, to think a city this size could exist several kilometers outside of the capital without anyone batting an eye was just absurd. Perhaps, only that small group of resistances knew of this place. I must point out though that this area was guarded by light tanks and heavy surveillance all around which meant sneaking in was next to impossible without excessive preparation. The north wing of the facility, it was my final destination for the time being. There was a limit on the speed I could remotely check every room of this enormous place. If I could have done so faster, I would have. At the moment I found Smoothie, she was already near death''s door. Her wings had been cleanly cut off, one of her eyes injured, and her body translucent as if she was barely maintaining her presence. She was hanging by her arms, and her ankles shackled. Beside her was that familiar crystal slowly absorbing her mana. Not a moment to lose, I shattered the magical barrier that sealed her presence and prevented any forms of teleportation. I knew my action here would likely cause trouble, but I wished not to delay saving Smoothie any longer. "Smoothie!" I cried out. "I''m so sorry it took me so long...! I''m here now..." "Mo-Mother... Is that really you?" She whimpered. I severed the chains with my void magic and hugged her tightly in my arms. "Hang in there. Please stay with me. I''m taking you home." "Not so fast," a chilling voice came from behind, "Make a move and they''ll all perish." So he showed himself. I knew what the voice meant. Haelley and her kin were also within this facility, not surprisingly, each in their own special cell. Everyone who was captured had a special magical seal inserted within him or her that would detonate when specific conditions were met. That much, I could tell, but I did not know the conditions nor the individual who inserted the seals. I did this to lure out the culprit. "What do you need from me?" I asked. "Since he failed to trap you, you''re as good as mine. Give me your soul, simple as that." He must be referring to that rabbit demon or Juus? Let''s play along a bit more. "If I give you my soul, will you release my child and her friends?" "No, don''t!" Smoothie croaked with tears in her eyes. I checked her fey core carefully just to be sure. And, what did I find? It was damaged and leaking soul energy. That angered me, very much. Yet, I had to hold back. How could anyone do this do such a cute little fairy? Sure she was a bit mean sometimes, but she really didn''t deserve this. "Smoothie, be a good girl. I''m here now, leave it all to me. Just hang on a bit longer." With my current level of existence, her [soothsayer] no longer worked on me just like it didn''t work on De Planck. Beings above a certain evolution were outside of that ability''s calculations and knowledge. She couldn''t predict any of my future or any futures involving me. Regardless of her state, I knew what I was doing. I came prepared for the worst. Living by myself in a dream world was not my wish. I wanted to have people I cherished near me. If this world was trash, then I didn''t mind going down with it if I had to. I had my pride. If I couldn''t even save a single person, what was the whole point of all of this? While I secretly prepared miniature void barriers to negate all the magical seals in an instant, I continued my negotiation with that person, no, that evil demon. It was a high level demon capable of blending in with the humans by altering his displayed status. However, that fake status couldn''t fool me. This was probably the first time the |creator| trait was directly put into use. I could see his true status. [Level 76 Demon; Species: Ancestor; Physical: 790/790; Spiritual: 794/794; Traits: Devious, Faker, Executioner, Chaos, Enhanced Physical, Enhanced Spiritual, Enhanced Resistances, Enhanced Senses, Limit Breaker, Immortality; Abilities: Black Plague, Forger, Dead End, Evil Eyes; Blessings: Shadow''s Oblige; Description: A legendary demon.] As expected, demons are powerful in stats but lacks combat traits and abilities in comparison to guardians. Still, to think he''s above De Planck in terms of level, that''s troublesome. But then again, it''s also possible that De Planck had a fake status. "You''re a demon. Aren''t you breaking the Edict?" I turned around to face him, a demon who appeared no different from a human from this region. Strangely enough, his species name translated properly. If I had to guess, this one had evolved from a human or similar, perhaps a vampire or an elf. His face was only average in looks, and his clothes were no different than what the researchers here wore. Basically, he looked very plain, too plain. "Ahaha... You can see through my guise. So what?" He smirked and he seemed completely relaxed. "So what? What do you mean by that?" blanksphere Chapter 99 "It''s simple, I''m the leader of the demon faction." "Oh, and here I thought you are his lackey." "You mean De Planck? He''s only a side show. What, you look displeased." Huh? Is he joking? He has to be. He''s probably a puppet. his way of speech is nothing like a mastermind I imagined. No, he''s definitely just a disposable tool. "Really. I was expecting someone a bit more unique and maybe powerful to be the mastermind. You''re a disappointment, seriously." I shook my head slowly. He cackled maniacally, "Aheha...ha. You''re a funny one! Let''s make this quick. Hand over your soul or should I get rough with you like I did with your little one? Kehaheaha...!" Just moments before I rushed to save Smoothie, I had quietly used my void barrier to wrap this small section of the north wing, only leaving a few gaps to allow signals to pass through as not to disrupt any links between De Planck and the |devious| trait possessed by this demon. Though, I still couldn''t be sure if it was De Planck who was controlling him. Oortez was on standby elsewhere by my order. I guess no one else is coming? Better less fish than broken net. One catch is good enough for now. "Go to hell." I replied coldly. The swap was instant. In its place was the a replica already prepared within my subspace. It wasn''t a perfect replica but only those with keen eyes would notice the differences. After all, I wasn''t omnipotent. Once we were within my subspace, everything else was easy peasy. I could quarantine whoever I wished and however I wished with no limitations whatsoever. My ability to sever space was something I was absolutely confident in, at least within my subspace. Mending spaces together, well, there was room to improve. The first thing I did was to simultaneously erase the magical seals and quarantine this demon within my void barrier. There was no way I would risk triggering any unknown mechanisms. As for the demon, I had plans for him. He was stuck inside my void barrier with his time slowed to a crawl such that even if he had a way to escape, it would take hours my time. One could never be too careful thus I stacked another four layers of void barrier on top. Oortez who was on standby sprang into action. I gave him a lot of work. He was surprisingly obedient for some reason, whether he was acting or not didn''t matter as long as he had done the tasks I assigned to him. Immediately after the transfer, I teleported Smoothie and I into my bedroom. Then, I carefully laid her on my soft and comfy bed. "What... What just happened...?" Smoothie murmured. "You had a nightmare. Close your eyes and rest. Let me fix your fey core first. I won''t let you disappear on me." I said, putting on a brave smile before I altered her state of consciousness into that of a deep slumber. It was something I was able to do after I had evolved. Destroying a fey core was easy. Creating my own fey was mostly automatic. The issue was fixing a fey core that didn''t belong to me. In addition, I had to return the leaked soul energy back to Smoothie. Fixing it should be easy per my understanding but I asked just to be sure. Echo, how do I fix her fey core? Tell me. [Your understanding is correct.] It totally read my mind just now. Alright, here I go. There were two ways. The easiest way for me was actually just to create a new fey core and transplant her soul before sealing it. However, there was a risk of energetic repulsion. The other way was to create an outer fey core, and over time the two would merge into one. I picked the latter because it was much safer. Since time was of essence, I quickly created a blank fey core to stop the leakage. Then, I immediately healed her back to full health and had her rest in my bed. Oortez was still busy healing the other folks which none of them I recognized except for Haelley. Surprisingly, even though Oortez was a demon, he was still quite adept in the healing art. As for the reason no one was saying or shouting was because Oortez had put them all into coma using forbidden magic. Of course, this was by my order to prevent needless outrages and struggles. To be frank, no one wanted to be near a demon. Once I confirmed that Oortez hadn''t tried anything aside from my earlier orders, I began gathering traces of Smoothie''s soul energy from our surrounding. That was when I noticed a strange property with her soul energy. How come her soul energy immediately gravitates toward my core? Thankfully, my barrier stopped any of her soul energy from interacting with mine that would have otherwise mix together. In normal circumstances, soul energies didn''t readily interact with other energies. They were kind of like noble gases of the periodic table of elements. Occasionally, they would also repulse. Or at least, that was based on my experience so far. Out of curiosity, I examined her soul energy in secret. Hmm...? Why do they feel like my own memories? It couldn''t be, right? There were likely gaps in my memories but since I didn''t have them, I couldn''t tell which ones were missing. My stance to forgetfulness was that if I couldn''t remember it then it likely wasn''t anything important. However, to think Smoothie''s soul energy contained my memories only further confirmed my suspicion. Smoothie wasn''t from this world. I examined the memories further. Since I had none to compare with, I couldn''t come up with anything conclusive only that they very likely were the memories I was missing. I couldn''t identify who Smoothie could have been either. Looks like I have to ask her when she''s fully rested. My current self didn''t need memories of my past life thus I promptly returned her soul energy and carefully sealed it within her fey core. After I altered her state to that of deep sleep and enveloped her in my void barrier, I went to check on how the others were doing. "Good work, Oortez." "Milady, I am unable to restore all of them to full health." He stated politely. He had started calling me that a few hours ago after that facade in the city. Whether he was acting or had a change of heart because one of his demonic trait had stopped influencing him, I couldn''t tell. However, I found his current behavior interesting and peculiar in a good way regardless of his prior trespassing. "That''s fine. I''ll take over." Not everyone was injured but those who were had severe injuries. I could restore fey bodies because I used to be a fey being. Fey bodies were quite simple compared to real flesh and bones. Because of that, I wasn''t confident I could restore physical lost limbs and heal serious wounds even with my new powers. Again, I wasn''t omnipotent. "Oortez, would you like to check with your knowledge in my possession related to healing arts?" "Unnecessary. I leave the rest to you." He seemed so disinterested even though this was a great opportunity for him. "Ah, alright, I''ll see what I can do." Technically speaking, within my subspace, my creations could last indefinitely. Therefore, I decided to just use apply fey magic to restore the injured folks. In this manner, I would patch them up with fey bodily material, and with enough time, their physical body should restore to full health after completely assimilating all the fey parts. Generating fey parts was easy as pie since I''d been doing that for ages. Luckily, I knew what these winged beasts originally was supposed to look like so I quickly patched them up. Only a few of them were in bad shape to begin with out of the ten I found there. To think those researchers were this eager to butcher them for research materials... What has the world come to? It''s probably not just the humans either. Who knows what the other nations are up to? Obviously, there weren''t excessive bleedings from anyone since the researchers probably planned to harvest mana from these captured winged beasts. Speaking of the captives, there were a few who weren''t winged beasts. It wasn''t like I could just return them to that facility. Using what information I had, I patched them up to the best of my abilities. Oortez who was simply bored now had his interest piqued somehow. He was now carefully examining and studying the ones I had personally healed. I can''t fault him for that. He''s certainly true to himself. Once my healing work was done, I swapped the phantom facility with the real facility again before dissolving the former. Keeping a phantom that size was seriously mana intense. With all that said and done, I transferred myself to the demon I had captured just earlier. "Since you love dissecting others for knowledge and resources, don''t expect your death to be painless. Actually... I''m not sadistic. Tearing up your soul and learning from it will be quite a treat. Thanks for the meal! And... You won''t be missed. Oh, perhaps that Hero King will miss you. I don''t know, but we''ll have a nice chat. I''m sure he''ll come to an agreement with me. Anyway, enough of my monologue, let''s get started!" Chapter 100 I had never liked biology classes. Even so, some classes were required for graduation and biology classes were among some of them. Though not always, dissection of organic sample was part of the class. Either way, experienced or not, I wasn''t going to literally dissect a demon or anything for that matter. This one had a physical body so it could get rather gruesome. Instead of a dissection of his physical body, I was keen on dissecting his soul to gain possibly some useful knowledge. Oortez was sure to help me with this critical and exhilarating task. On a side note, I didn''t even ask his name before taking him apart. Since this demon was extremely dangerous, while he was still trapped, I carefully partitioned his soul into a hundred pieces such that it would never pose a threat to me. Once that was done, I grouped them into different categories. The one with the most value to Oortez was the ones relating to knowledge and memories. Traits and abilities were kept with me to be recycled and absorbed. Contracts, self identity such as personality and whatnot were in another group also to be recycled. I had no need for dangerous personalities sitting around. As for the last group and the largest group, they were a miscellaneous bunch that didn''t strictly belong to any other groups because, well, I was still new to this workflow and couldn''t separate them properly. "Oortez, I''m offering you research opportunity, a free scholarship. Examine the knowledge and memories and let me know if there''s anything useful such as De Planck''s hideout and the number of minions. Ah yes, keep the information related to researches. I only care about the result." I knew he was interested in the gruesome research from earlier so I let him have it. I wasn''t interested in any of that. If he could summarize the results of any researches, I would greatly appreciate that. "Thank you, milady." He bowed courteously while I could clearly see him trembling with excitement. I briefly examined the contracts this demon had. De Planck was of course one of them. As for the rest, I didn''t know any of the names. However, since they might come handy later, I copied them into a notepad using [creator] before recycling that soul energy. The groups that interested me the most were the abilities and traits. With my current capabilities, I could insert them into myself. However, most of those traits and abilities were useless to me. After reviewing them, I kept |faker|, |executioner| and |chaos|. |Immortality| trait was not something I could gain because it had to do with my age. |Faker| and |executioner| were added to my traits only to be absorbed by the mysterious |creator| trait. In any case, whenever |creator| absorbed any traits, any undesirable effects were negated. |Faker| allowed me to fake my status. |Executioner| was a fairly useless trait for someone like me. It allowed user to deal rapidly reap a target''s soul who had lower health than the user. Of course, that was after side effects were excluded. Hey, there was nothing wrong with keeping an extra skill. Speaking of which, my void barrier was more than enough. If I wished, I could also use void blades to sever souls and bodies instantly. It was just that barriers were more effective in nearly all situations. There was one peculiar trait that I isolated for research purposes. |Devious| trait was directly linked to De Planck. Should Oortez not disclose De Planck''s hideout, I would personally track him down using this trait. After all, each time De Planck used whatever skill he was hiding to influence people, a record would be left behind within the soul itself. Mine was lost but I wouldn''t lose this one. Strange... Why do I feel like the amount of soul energy there wasn''t even close to his level? That wasn''t a body double, was it...? Tch. It''s too late. I''ll deal with it later. Several days would come and go within my subspace. Equivalently, only minutes had passed in the outside world. If it wasn''t for that initial swap where time was synchronized, only seconds would have passed. During those few days, Oortez was immersed in the task I had given him. I wasn''t concerned that his personality might shift but I kept an watchful eye. On my side of things, temporary housing was set up on my excessively huge lawn. Creating wood or timber was my forte hence inside wooden houses was where everyone lived in, or at least put into suspended state or stasis. The winged beasts were in one house and the others were in another. I had good reasons to transfer those unrelated to Haelley into my subspace. Some human guards and possibly researchers did also come along but they were properly returned to their stations without noticeable memory gaps. Anyhow, all of them were laid on soft beds in rows like old fashioned hospital wards. There was only one of me, and so many of them. Nursing them all at once wasn''t something I was willing to put myself through. Haelley was there too but I kind of wished for Smoothie to evolve first. Since Smoothie had no choice but to evolve within her original body, I couldn''t let her evolve in my bedroom. I returned to my bedroom where Smoothie was. "I''m sorry for taking so long." I decided to put off dealing with demon''s soul energy for later. Unless one could manipulate time, none could interfere with me within my subspace. I removed the barrier and returned her state of consciousness. To ensure she didn''t have permanent scars, I completely erased a portion of her memory. It was the least I could do for her. It might not seem fair but I had good reasons. When she was ready, I would explain myself. And then, if she could also explain herself, perhaps I could absolve myself of that promise we made at the beginning of our journey. For some reason, I disliked having anything tying me down. "Where am I...?" She murmured while still in a daze. "In our home." I smiled, warmly while holding her in my embrace. "Our home? I was... Who are you?" "Let me change my form." I let her go, and immediately, I shape shifted into my appearance of that from when I was level 69. To make things more convincing, I replicated the status she would have seen back then. "No but you just had no status before?" Smoothie slowly shifted herself away from me towards the wall behind her. Her eyes were filled with fear and confusion. I had expected it to some degree but it still shocked me. The main reason was that her [soothsayer] ability was completely useless against me, likely unable to detect my presence. Since for the longest time, she had relied on that ability, rather, it was likely the one interacting with me. Because of that, my current existence was unfathomable. "Smoothie, please, it is me. I have kept my abilities a secret. You''re currently in my subspace. Your plant body is just outside of the house. You can evolve anytime you like." "The... The transfer didn''t work. You can''t fool me!" She cried, tears flowing down, "You are a fake! Who are you?" I had never seen her cry before. The sight of ached my heart but I still thought her reactions were overblown. Ah, that permanent void barrier within me, that''s why. I should have noticed sooner. Still, I mean... She should have known I have hidden abilities and that I was close to evolving? She doesn''t seem like she''s acting either. Haah...There''s no point hiding it anymore. Let''s this over with quickly. I undid the void barrier within myself, allowing her to see my true status. In addition, I allowed my appearance to return to what it was just after I evolved into an upper celestial race. My three sets of majestic wings expanded. The contact lenses was removed, revealing my celestial eyes. My celestial gown returned back to its original form. [Level 58 Celestial; Species: Veraine; Physical: 499/499; Spiritual: 820/820; Traits: Bewitching, Cautious Tactician, Creator, Dedicated One, Void, Chaos, Limit Breaker, Enhanced Senses, Enhanced Spiritual, Enhanced Resistances, Enhanced Physical; Abilities: Hypnosis, Subspace, Creation, Celestial Eyes; Blessings: Enchanted Fate, Forced Destiny; Description: A divine being.] I didn''t know when but one of my trait had changed for the better. "Please Smoothie, give me one more chance." I extended my hand towards her. All she had to do was grab on, and I would share my memories with her. I had no wish to forcefully inject memories because I trusted that she would give me another chance, consciously. Her face was full of shock and disbelief. Since I had displayed that I could alter my status at will, she was extremely hesitant. I patient waited, though to no prevail. "Answer me, did you erase my memories?" She questioned me after recollecting her composure. I underestimated that ability. I wonder how it transmigrated into this world? It probably didn''t even have a soul core to begin with? "Yes. I erased it permanently." The only other way to retrieve those memories was to travel back in time. [Creator] certainly had such function built in, but at this moment, I had no such access to do so. "Why?" "Because I care about your wellbeing." Then I added, "I didn''t erase any of your original memories because they seem precious to you. When you feel safe to do so, please tell me more about your past, okay?" "Is she here?" "You mean Haelley?" She nodded. "Yes, she and her group is in stasis. I was going to have you assist me after we cleared up some misunderstandings." I explained as a matter of fact. "I want to see her." "Alright then, let''s go." I secretly let out a sigh before leading her to Haelley outside of my house. I guess she won''t let me hug her anymore if I don''t sort this out quickly. Such a hassle... I put in so much work without receiving a reward. blanksphere Chapter 101 Once we had arrived, I returned the winged beasts'' consciousness. Slowly, one by one, they began to wake up. Seeing Smoothie quickly rushed to Haelley''s side, my chest tightened. Is this the feeling of jealousy? When did they become so close? I left them alone for a bit to prepare something to help everyone recuperate faster. Staring at them wasn''t going to make me feel any better. With my recently learned skill, I could create automated clones. Strictly speaking, they weren''t clones of myself but more like basic artificial intelligence. I inserted into each of my empty clones with clean soul energy. Specifically, I inserted soul energy into their fey cores. Celestial core wasn''t duplicable because I lacked the authority to do so. After inserting soul energy and ensuring none would leak, I copied pieces of my knowledge and a few strands of my soul into them. This allowed them to function like persons. If I had only inserted knowledge, they wouldn''t be able to move or recognize anything. An active soul with will power and consciousness was required for them to be useful. When I thought about nursing people back onto their feet, it had to be young maidens to sooth and heal broken hearts both physically and spiritually. Hence, five fair maidens were born in the image of my fey self. I made sure they were peerless beauties. By the time I returned with five fairies in tow, there was a commotion. I took a critical hit to the heart. Reason? Smoothie was embracing Haelley tightly. When did they become such good friends? Well no, I guess they were friends before the trip. "What happened?" I gasped. All the winged beasts were staring daggers at me. I had a pretty good idea but I couldn''t help but be surprised with all those eyes on me. "Are you really Berry?" Haelley asked. "Of course I am. I can even prove it." I took out the official seal passed onto me by Kanoko. A winged beast who came over to examine it remarked, "it is a valid seal," in the common language. "But she can create things out of nothing!" "I can even ask Vorte to testify. But really, Smoothie, just because you can no longer detect me with [soothsayer] doesn''t mean I''m a fake. I know what you''ve been doing with that ability. If I really meant harm, you would have all perished instantly. I could even remove that ability if I wished. Have faith in me, alright? I gained some power while you weren''t looking, that''s all." I then addressed the winged beasts, "Haelley and all the winged beasts, I haven''t tampered with your memories. I have temporarily healed all your wounds. If you so wish, I could also remove any memories that you no longer wish to keep, though only the recent ones since it was I who didn''t account for the possibility of that level of danger. My apologies." Anyway, it was probably extremely difficult for them to believe. From their perspective, a fey being evolved past level 70 and became a celestial being in less than a day''s time. To top it off, this celestial being could create a world and materialize anything instantly. After some discussion between the winged beasts which I couldn''t follow, they came to a conclusion. With a sweet smile on her face, Haelley carried Smoothie over to me and passed her into my arms. The others were watching us with lukewarm expressions. I''m... cringed. What did I do to deserve this? I lowered my head. "Thank you." A kid was a kid. The moment Smoothie and I made physical contact, I shared a few fragments of my recent memories to her. Though the interaction was short, I knew her ability could analyze all the memories just as fast. "Do you feel like you can trust me now?" I whispered into her ears before kissing her soft cheeks. She blushed, and her eyes gazing intimately at mine. "Mm." Suddenly, without a warning, I felt a peck on my lips. "Hey! That''s the wrong place. You''re too young for that." "You snooze, you lose! Isn''t that right?" She smiled bashfully, her ears beet red. Even her ears can turn red, I didn''t think fey beings'' physiological responses could become this apparent. Interesting! "Ahaha, you can say that again! Fine you win. Ah, Smoothie, which form of me do you prefer?" "I like the grown up one!" Immediately after, I transformed into the appearance I took when I was visiting the human country, Smoothie complained, "No! I meant the second celestial form." "Ehhh... But I don''t have shoulder aches or neck pains in my celestial form... So I''m keeping them bountiful! I get the final say. Hmph!" "Guh. Mother, no fair." She pouted. Among those gathered around us, a few were holding back their laughter while others were looking away. Perhaps they knew more about humans than I gave them credit for. "Shh! We can talk about this later. Look, everyone is all laughing. They''re all making fun of us. Mother still has work to do, will you help me with it?" "Mm." I first explained to them the situation on my side and the type of treatment I had given them. Then, using the resources I had previous collected from the outside world, I created raw food ingredients, water, seasonings. The five maids with me were responsible for cooking the meals for our guests and taking care of everyone in my stead. "Do you not have a name for them?" "No. They''re technically me so if you call them Berry, they''ll respond." I responded to Smoothie''s question. "That''s too confusing!" "Okay, you don''t want six of me around you then? Fine. I''ll name them." I smirked at her displeasure. I altered the colors of their hair and named them the following: Blueberry, Blackberry, Cranberry, Gooseberry, Snowberry. She wasn''t happy about me giving strange names but accepted it nonetheless. Alright, let''s put that void barrier back around my core. Better safe than sorry. I knew my traits could influence me but I didn''t think cautiousness was a bad thing. No matter how powerful I was, there was bound to be someone more powerful out there. After a fulfilling feast for the winged beasts outdoors, they recounted their side of the story. Well, actually, since not all of them spoke the common language, their representative was the one to tell the story. A few days after they left Vera, as they were flying across the desert and just about to reach the canyons, they encountered a sudden dust storm. A dust storm in that area was apparently not that unusual. Following their survival training, they took shelter in a nearby cave. Smoothie was already depressed at that time because my fey core had just disappeared which was completely unprecedented. Since she had to keep enough mana to last herself for the entire trip, she couldn''t constantly use [soothsayer] to foresee potentials dangers. Most of it really was my fault at that time for not being more attentive. I should have trusted her more and had her evolve within my subspace. Continuing on with the story, unbeknown to them, the dust storm was a supernatural one. The moment they took shelter, a large scale magical sealing barrier was casted remotely. Unlike regular barriers that blocked physical and magical attacks, sealing barrier sealed movements of those inside. More advanced sealing barrier was supposed to drain mana, block teleportation, among other things. This was one such barrier, one of the most powerful sealing barriers known to the beastfolks. "We didn''t anticipate humans capable of using such complex magic spells." One of the winged beasts stated. "It was our lack of awareness that led to our downfall." Another one remarked. Certainly, the ones they usually fought with were more technologically oriented. From what I understood, such advanced magic spells were possessed only by beastfolks, possibly elves, and someone like me. This one in particular from what they could recall required extensive preparation and coordination. "Are you sure they were humans? Just to be clear, did any of you see a human casting that magic?" I asked just to confirm. "You mean they weren''t? After that, we were teleported into a facility controlled by humans! It had to be humans!" I didn''t agree with their conclusion. There wasn''t any benefit to figuring who the caster was but I pursued just a little bit further. I asked about the casting distance. The answer that came back was, basically, unlimited. That magic spell could be stored in two linked crystals. It only took one person to activate it remotely for the effects to take place on the other end. Ah, we have another mystery. Then again, there''s hardly anyone who knows the route to Smoothie''s plant body. For someone to know their precise movement, we might have a mole in the group. How troublesome... The prime suspect was either that weird demon or Haelley. Of course, I might be completely wrong about Haelley. The main reason that I suspected her was because the story she told me long before didn''t fully add up. It might have been due to her language barrier. If that wasn''t enough of a reason, she used to have a contract with De Planck. Until I knew what that contract was, I had to exercise caution. Forcefully scanning her soul for a contract would definitely be a red flag, not something I wished to do whether the Edict existed or not. Really though, how could I suspect my friend like that? At best I would suspend my trust on her. Speaking of which, memory wipe for the winged beasts was a must. There were also several other possible suspects in my mind. Either way, I couldn''t really act on any of them at the moment. In the worst or best case scenario, I would storm De Planck''s secret lair and exterminate him with extreme prejudice. That way all of his disgusting contracts would be nullified. Anyhow, the rest of their story was fairly straightforward. I managed to save them several hours after their capture. All of them were rescued without a miss. blanksphere Chapter 102 It was time for Smoothie''s evolution. She had finally reached level 30. "Smoothie, are you ready?" I asked. She nodded, "Yes, Mother." "Have you decided what you wish to involve into?" "It''s a surprise! I promise I''ll be useful to you." She smiled with a light blush. Let me guess, she''ll optimize her special ability. Even so, it cannot enter my realm until she has become a celestial or spirit being. Then, an idea hit me. I could technically allow her to evolve within my subspace. By adjusting the time flow, she could theoretically reach level 70 within a day''s time. The only issue was whether she could obtain ascendant traits to allow that evolution. Without proper stimulus, evolution was next to impossible past level 70. "Go ahead. I''m here until you complete your evolution." "Smoothie, best of luck!" Haelley joined in to cheer her on. That group of winged beasts and Haelley had nothing else to do around here so they gathered around to watch her evolution. It was like a graduation party from elementary school to middle school. Just prior to this graduation party, I provided plenty of mana to help Smoothie achieve whatever trait or ability she was planning to get. [Transformation] was obviously one of them. As expected, the evolution was completed within minutes. Once she had separated from her plant body, I examined her status. I didn''t bother checking her detailed stats because the numbers weren''t worth looking at. [Level 31 Fey (Plant); Species: Strawberry Cream; Physical: 21/21; Spiritual: 92/92; Traits: Bewitching, Rapid Growth, Ardent, Bond; Abilities: Charm, Producer, Sage, Transformation; Blessings: Ephemeral Breath; Description: A plant fey that is admired among its kin.] She managed to gain a new trait and a new ability. That special ability of hers had evolved into [sage] which probably just meant it became more versatile than [soothsayer]. If my speculation was correct, her [soothsayer] ability or her ability to process information and predict future was somehow a carryover from her previous existence. Alas, I couldn''t figure out why or how she was able to follow me into this world. That''s an interesting blessing. I wonder if it''s because she was given a soul core? I had only noticed the blessing recently. It was already there when I had collected her plant body from our old home. She covered her plump breasts with one arm and another hand "Mother, how long do you plan to stare at me like that!" "Oh oops, well, it''s not cold in here. And... You look absolutely adorable!" I chuckled before draping her in a new silky dress incorporating the flowery design of my celestial gown, "You''ve grown well!" Now that she had evolved, she had grown in size including the feminine ones for some strange reason. When I had evolved to level 31 fey being, I only grew taller with no lumps of fat or anything. It just didn''t feel fair. Are you the type to mature early? But, it can''t be...? I guess the |bewitching| trait probably took my view as majority since I''m the owner here. Excellent! We only breed beauties in my world, thank you. Handsome folks are welcome too! I was tempted to create a handsome strawberry fairy just to pair her up. However, I still had urgent matter to attend to afterward so this idea left on the backburner for now. "I still can''t compare to you..." She lowered her head, slightly pouty and her cheeks bit flushed. Why do you blush in front of me? I''m your parent. I''m not your lover. Maybe I should drill that into your head. Or, are you at that age!? I know it certainly has nothing to do with the crowd here... They aren''t even from the same race. Currently, she stood two heads shorter than me. Just to get an perspective, in my natural celestial form, I was actually fairly tall, on the taller side of humans. In a sense, I was one of the tallest beings in my subspace. The only one taller than me was Oortez. "Don''t mind it." I tried to brush off that topic. "I do!" She crossed her arms. "No you don''t. By the way, how far can your transformation take you?" "Eh... This is as far as it goes." "I see. Smoothie, come here." I opened my arms. She happily jumped at the chance of a hug with me. When she did, I whispered to her ear, "Use [sage] as often as you can to keep yourself safe. I can''t always guarantee your safety even in my subspace. As you know, not everyone here is a friend. Do you understand?" "I understand." "Good girl. Another thing, I can alter your constitution if you wish. This way your evolution won''t require your plant body. Would you like that?" There was a reason why I didn''t offer her this solution at first. I needed to see her successfully obtain [transformation]. Otherwise, if I altered her constitution without the necessary ability, there was a risk that she might not be able to evolve again. "Yes, please!" "Then, here you go." It was a really simple matter for someone like me. I extracted the proxy fey core along with all its information from her plant body and anchored it into the fey core within her. By doing so, she would no longer have a plant body. As for her fey magic or ability to manipulate her plant body, that was gone as well. Now that she could no longer defend herself using her fey magic, I had to step up on her security. Though, she could technically still use her fey magic to fly and regular magic spells to defend herself. I''m not doting on her or anything! That sounds so weird if it comes from me. Five capable maids would have to act as her secret service agents for now. Their abilities and traits were next to none, but at least they could pack a few mean punches to buy time. That was a joke. What kind of secret service agents didn''t carry hidden weapons? Just because Smoothie couldn''t use her fey magic to defend herself didn''t mean these maids couldn''t. The entire preparation took only a few seconds in my time frame. "Done." "Thank you. I love you!" She tried to do her little trick again but I wasn''t going to fall for it twice. I skillfully dodged her and pecked her on the forehead in retaliation. "Ah!" "Heheh. Nice try." To think you''re bold enough to try this in front of everyone, you certainly aren''t holding back. After our little family drama, I briefed everyone on their options. They were to inform me of their decisions upon my return. Their choices were simple. They could stay here and recuperate for the next few weeks or they could return to Vera immediately. Of course, daily necessities were covered by me, including super delicious meals. In addition, since I didn''t know what to do with the other rescued folks who were still in suspended state, I asked for their opinion. After that briefing, I bid them a short farewell, "I''ll be back shortly. Smoothie, Haelley, and everyone else, enjoy your stay." The next moment, I was following up with Oortez who was staying in the second layer of my subspace. "I trust it was fruitful." "Accessing knowledge stored in soul energy has proven to be more difficult than I imagined." "Oh, it was your first time? I thought demons were adept at manipulating soul energy." "Give me some more time." "That''s fine. But, what will I get in return?" He pondered for a bit before replying, "I will catalogue it for you." "Sounds good." Now that he was working diligently, I decided to sort out the remainders of that demon''s soul energy. I could technically just absorb all of that information into myself but I didn''t want to be potentially negatively influenced. Over the next couple of days, I sorted out the heap of soul energy, cutting them down to even smaller pieces for better organization. The keeps were for Oortez to catalogue. The ones to be discarded was to be recycled and absorbed by me which I did as soon as I could. By the end of all this, I had a library full of soul energy painstakingly catalogued and locked away in a safe location. On a separately note, apparently, somewhere in that world, a similar facility was rumored to exist. Its existence was shrouded in mystery that not even Oortez had seen it with his own eyes. He theorized that such a facility might be located within a subspace similar to mine. "Is there no black magic that can trap souls? De Planck should be able to accomplish that much, no?" "Such black magic does exist but it wears off the soul of the user. That kind of magic is usually left to the mortals to experiment with." In addition to that piece of information, I was able to learn that De Planck had access to an abandoned subspace hidden somewhere. Apparently it was supposed to be a remnant of an ancient civilization accessible only with a divine relic. Regardless of the accuracy of the information, this would explain how De Planck was able to interact with my subspace externally. Chapter 103 There were still some preparations I needed before I could return to the outside world. I had certainly not just interacted but also interfered with the people of the world. It was a fact that I rescued certain individuals that weren''t evolved. However, because a high level demon was also involved in their capture, perhaps this could be considered a grey area. In the first place, I had not received a download of much information regarding demons and guardians. I didn''t know how everyone was being monitored. Echo. What''s the punishment for violating the Edict? [The most severe punishment is banishment and having their powers sealed away.] Who or what is monitoring the situation? [It is what you call "the system."] Ah, so you will be doing it I assume and also the judgements? [It can be understood that way. The system only administers punishments in the most severe circumstances. The guardians are the peacekeepers and the primary enforcers of the Edicts within their own jurisdictions.] Is there an alliance between guardians? Vorte mentioned that if he was targeted, other guardians would show up. How would they know? [Guardians are provided a telepathic communication network and the ability to instantaneously travel using said network to perform their duties.] Ah crap, that sounds like a hassle. Assuming I had violated the Edict, how much punishment will I receive normally? [The situation is reversible.] The answer was somewhat strange and expected. I could technically just return everything to what it was moments ago in that facility, except that demon. In any case, destroying a demon wasn''t a violation of anything. In the worst case, I might get ganged up by a bunch of demons which so far they had tried and failed. How many demons and guardians are there? [Classified information.] Since numbers were off the table, I tried to obtain other types of information. Before going into a battle, one had to know his or her enemy. Are there celestial races other than me currently residing in that world or in related subspaces? [No.] This was the answer I had hoped receive. Can demons or guardians create subspaces? [No.] Then, can they administrate subspaces? [Yes.] Okay, will you or have you informed the guardians and demons of my violation? [No.] Do Edicts not apply to me? [They do, only in severe cases. Upper celestial race serves the roles of the mediator and the administrator within a world.] Although I said I wanted to be a god, I didn''t want the work that came with it. Basically, I get to do what I want as long as I don''t bother the other races too much. In terms of the Edict and whatnot, I am to use my own judgement. [Yes.] To sum things up, the work related to my position wasn''t much. The guardians took care most of it. Heroes and demons were unpredictable components but everything normally balanced out. If any of them went rogue and caused trouble, I could step in and eliminate them in the worst case scenario. Though, their traits normally influenced them enough that the possibility of going stray was closed to zero. You should have just downloaded all that information to me when I had evolved. [You did not request it.] Then do it now. [Yes.] A crap load of information started streaming into me, or at least that was what I was expecting. It didn''t happen that way. Only a tidbit of information trickled in. It had to do with my job description, information related to the previous mediator, and the state of the world. The previous mediator was around thousands of year ago before this current system was installed. It was also that same being who helped with implementing this system. After that, the mediator faded into the background and operated behind the scene only. Before he left the world, any memories of him was completely erased as if he had never existed in the first place. Looking at the current state of the world, I could guess where guardians, demons, and heroes were located. Still, I felt that it was kind of unfair that I didn''t get to know exactly where and who these beings were given my new "duty". Despite that, if I tried, apparently I could vaguely sense their general locations and the type of energies they extruded. On the continent, guardians seemed to have gathered within Grusia Empire mostly, likely at least five of them, plus likely one within Sovereign of Mist where the elves resided. The one in the elf country was giving a mixed energy signature. Then, there were at least two living in the southeast of the continent in the wilderness away from all the battles. Demons were mostly scattered across the world including some living in monster territories. The number of heroes that currently existed was likely less than five based on the information I had gathered in Rotask, the capital of the human country. From what I could sense though, there were at least twice as many as I had previous noted. If I had to guess, the resistance to the Hero King was the cause of it. Surprisingly though, one or two heroes were in the northern war theatre between the beastfolks and the reptilians. The last section to survey was the ocean, home to countless ancient beasts and monsters of unfathomable power. Even in the depth of the ocean, demons and guardians existed seemingly not in humanoid forms unlike their land counterparts. Most of them were balanced in terms of power thus I decided I didn''t need to focus on them. After a short survey of the world at large, I returned to my little home where Smoothie was awaiting my return. "I''m back!" I snuck behind the adorable Smoothie for a surprise hug. She seemed to be doing something in the kitchen. "Mother, I have a request." "Oh? What is it?" "Please change my constitution so I can eat." I held back from eating in front of Smoothie while she was here. However, it wasn''t like I could hide that forever. I could technically grant that request but the issue was that I didn''t want to use her as my guinea pig. If it was urgent and life threatening, I had no problem trying it but this wasn''t the case. Technically, [transformation] could also accomplish it but that depended on the individual. For example, I was only good at transforming my external appearance but Kanoko could transform herself entirely from her fox form, tail form, and human form. Her interiors would also transform to match. For the current me, I still preferred to keep things in the simplest form, mana and dusts. Simply put, I was a lump of star dusts, true to my nature, a celestial being. "Can you ask [sage] about it? Perhaps it could teach you how to transform properly. Or, do you want to ask Kanoko? She''s an expert in that field." "But [sage] said you can do it." "I technically can but I''ve never done and I really don''t want to try it." "You''re just a lazy bum!" "Wah!? Do you want to eat food that badly? I mean, you can savor my memories if you like!" I offered another alternative just to tease her. "You meanie! I''m ignoring you now." She stormed off like a kid on a tantrum. Still, that was super cute because I had never seen her like that before. "So adorable..." I murmured. "Ahno, Berry." "Oh, Haelley, do you need something?" "We have decided." "Okay, so what did you all come up with?" "Please help them." "Got it." Since I had clearance from the system, I no longer had to be overly cautious of my actions. The guardians and demons might find what I did disagreeable, but without the system supporting them, there really wasn''t much they could do to a celestial race of my level. "Then what will you all do? Do you wish to stay for longer?" "No, they wish to leave." "I see. I respect that. And what about you?" "I will fight against humans and we will take back our homeland." "Very well. I''ll help you in that regards as much as I can. Speaking of which, I noticed you are speaking fluently in the common tongue." "Yes. I practice every day!" She spoke cheerfully. "Good, gather your folks, and I''ll send you back to Vera. Is that alright?" "Yes, please." Moments later, all the winged beasts have gathered. I transferred everyone some distance away from Vera''s city gate. After we said our farewells, I returned to my subspace. Of course, I secretly replaced their memories of my subspace for security reasons. Chapter 104 Among the other captives I had rescued, not all were beastfolks. They were fairly powerful beings themselves to be locked in that type of facility. Just a preliminary scan revealed that each was minimum level 40. Humans were included in this bunch. To my surprise, there was also one elf and two fey beings. As for the exact reason they were captured was likely because other facilities couldn''t make the best use of them. Anyway, in total, I counted thirty individuals. One by one I healed the captives with diligence. Since my subspace could be used as a temporary paradise, if they wanted, I had no problem allowing them to live here. In fact, I would be delighted. Having a small village here would make this place a lot more lively. Thus, after the healing session I began expanding the innermost subspace. Mountains, lakes, and rivers were formed. Although I could also add greeneries, I wasn''t confident in my ability to do so. Once I had completed in my preparations such as creating several meeting rooms, I woke them up altogether, the two intelligent fey beings included. How should I greet them? Since I could easily manipulate their state of consciousness, I didn''t particularly care how they saw me. Though, speaking to all these strangers was no different from a public speaking event. Using my [hypnosis] ability, I made sure they remained calm, contrary to how they normally would have reacted. I would hate to have them take battle stances because of some grudges or racial conflicts. With their gazes all on me, I couldn''t help but be nervous. Smoothie was just outside the hall, as if trying to eavesdrop on my fully improvised speech. Oh Smoothie, why are you sneaking around? Don''t be shy...! "Ahem," I pretended to clear my throat. "I am Berry, the person who took you out of that treacherous place. I don''t know how much you can understand me. As you can see, you''re currently in a safe place in a different world. I have healed all of your wounds and whatnot. Right now, I am giving you two choices. Your first choice is to stay here where food and shelter is provided. Your second choice is to go back. Of course, where you would like to be dropped off is your choice, and I''ll do my best to accommodate. Any questions?" A female elf asked, "What are you? Are you a guardian?" I did notice she was staring intensely at me, likely to examine my status. "No." I answered. Before she could ask again, I added, "I''m not a demon either. You can think of me as a mediator or administrator of the world." As a side note, they were now all wearing same clothing. The stuff they wore in that facility was hardly pleasant to look at so I swapped them out with the clothes I synthesized from recycled material. Otherwise, they would go naked if they stepped out of my subspace. There were a few humans who seemed to know each other. One of them, likely a leader, raised a question, although hesitantly, "I have a request." Seeing how this might be related to the resistance group within the human country, I asked, "Do you wish to speak to me in private?" "Yes, please." I had one of my clones appear next to me. Despite my control on everyone''s mental state, a few showed startled expression. Perhaps I still need to master my ability such that in the future I might be able to undo the indoctrinations in that human country, at least to some degree. "Please do not be alarmed. I have many servants like her. She''ll lead you to a private room." I could have just teleported them but I felt that would be rude. That group of humans, a total of 12, followed my clone and exited the room. A few humans that originally not part of that group seemed to have just gone with the flow. Some showed mild prejudice toward the other races present but because I was restraining them mentally, they didn''t cause a ruckus. I let out a sigh. Why can''t everyone just get along? Let go of the past and live in the moment. The remaining group was consisted of two fey beings, one female elf, and nine beastfolks. Likely due to political reasons, there wasn''t a single reptilian. "I''m assuming you''re all okay with being together?" They all looked around one another. "Can we get separate rooms?" I see... Males and females are all sharing a single room now. I guess that''s no good now that they''re all awake. Still... I know I''m stabilizing your mental states... But at least... I mean... Whatever. "If you plan to stay, then yes, I can grant that request. I''m going to speak to the humans. Please make your decision before I come back. If you decide to stay, you can always change your mind. But, once you leave, you won''t be able to return. Bear that in mind." With that, I left the room and caught Smoothie in my arms. "Ah!" She seemed quite happy to be caught like a kid who was doing mischief. "Your [sage] doesn''t work on me. Keep an eye on them for me, won''t you?" "Okay! Do I get a reward for doing that?" I passed her my official seal and card I got from Kanoko to her just in case. She understood what my intent was at a glance. You''re so smart! That''s my girl for you! "Hmm... Maybe! Now, off you go. Mother is busy with work." Wow, I sounded like an actual parent! Nice. Now, where''s my reward!? In the meeting room, the atmosphere was tense and dead silent. How could it not? They had gone through more suffering than I had ever. And suddenly, some strange being rescued them without any reason whatsoever. Moreover, this being didn''t ask for any compensations but rather gave them choices. On top of that, free food, free healing, and free shelter. That begged nothing but suspicion. "Did you all want to discuss among yourself first? I don''t mind giving you time. I don''t plan on forcing any decisions on you, but please give me a reasonable timeframe." I waited, but no one spoke up. Everyone was trying to gauge each other''s reactions. Finally, after a few minutes of waiting, someone finally broke the ice. "B-Berry if I may call you that, where exactly is this place?" "Like I said, we''re in a different world created via my ability. Whether you believe it or not, I don''t care." I replied as a matter of fact. Another one, a muscular guy, asked, "Do you know what happened to my family?" I recalled that children and women were in another facility but I wasn''t obligated to share that information. Because, I figured if I did, they''d beg me to rescue them or something. I was neither a hero nor a saint. In my eyes, rescuing people like that wouldn''t resolve the root of the problem. If it did, I wouldn''t have made an appointment with the Hero King in the first place. "I have no clue. I''m assuming you''re all from the Kingdom of Appallia. That''s right, I have some questions for all of you. Why exactly were all of you in that place? It can''t be because you all committed some horrible crimes, right? Because if you did, I might just send you all back there." Many of them denied on the spot. Since that was the case, I selected a few to ask them of their circumstances, one of them being the person who requested a private meeting with me. Because of my mind manipulation, they trusted me quite a bit and divulged information that normally would be considered top secret. If I was a demon, you''d all just sold your soul. Be thankful that particular demon wasn''t as capable of mind manipulation as I am. Strictly speaking, mind manipulation, depending on severity could be considered interference under the Edict. After listening to their circumstances, I understood the situation fairly well. Within the human country, there were three factions. The main faction was under the Hero King. The other two factions were secretly plotting to overthrow the current Hero King. One of them was the moderate faction that still wished for the current government system to exist while the other one wished for an overhaul. The former was the larger of the two. No matter how much they trusted me or suspected me, they didn''t disclose where their bases were located. It probably had to do with their trust in each other, and the fellow humans who didn''t belong to any faction sitting in this room. "By the way, how many heroes are there in your factions? I''m curious because there seemed to be a few participating in the Hero King selection tournament." Personally, I didn''t know. I just threw it out there to see their reactions. The answer I got back was quite the news actually. The tournament was apparently rigged, which I already figured. As for the number of heroes out there, no one knew exactly. Though, just going by rumors, there were at least seven. Eh, Echo, what''s the criteria for becoming a hero again? There''s no room to doubt he''s involved in all these wrongdoings. I''m surprised he hasn''t lost his qualifications already. This was actually the moment I learned about heroes in detail. Someone seemed to have poorly designed the hero system. Once someone became a hero, they remained a hero until their death. This system would have been ideal in a perfect world, but unfortunately, this wasn''t an ideal world. At some point, if I could, I would rework that system. [Insufficient access.] I know, maybe in the future. Chapter 105 The meeting with the human group was fairly productive overall. In one instance, they did ask for my help to defeat the Hero King. However, I had to reject their request because that was the heroes job to overthrow tyranny and help the people. If I happened to defeat the Hero King while trying to do something else, that was a different matter altogether. My reply was simple. "I''m neither a hero nor a savior. You must sort the matter on your own. I saved you only on a whim because my child was also there." One of them tried to complain but I silenced him with a intimidating glare. I might have a bone to pick with that Hero King, but I wasn''t going to side with anyone or any faction. As a mediator, my stance was to be neutral. In other words, I could be both an enemy and an ally depending on the situation. Of all of them, surprisingly, no one wished to stay here. I knew my place was quite barren but it was definitely a safe haven for anyone wanting to live a peaceful life. Many of them wished to see their families or even rescue them from the iron claws of their tyrannical government and I had no reason to impede them in their endeavor. Anyway, I promised them I would drop them off at locations requested to the best of my ability. Of course, for those who wanted to be dropped off in troublesome locations, I had to deny their requests. No matter what, military bases and top secret research facilities were not options I could offer. I had no reason to accommodate to that degree but at the bare minimum I provided a bottle of water and a strawberry jam filled sandwich. They should feel blessed by my unparalleled generosity. The strawberry jam part was sort of an advertisement for my future business endeavor! I made sure to tell each of them the name of the jam and where they could buy them in the future which would be in Vera. Done! I need to refresh myself with Smoothie. When I had returned, I found Smoothie speaking in the beastfolk''s native language. She''s bilingual, already? How envious. Not everyone was present. Some took the opportunity to stroll around the premise, of course, monitored by me remotely through clones. There were three individuals I wanted to speak with in private. One was the elf because elves were related to Smoothie in some way. The others being those fey beings resembling beastfolks. I was kind of surprised they weren''t accidentally killed in that facility. "Hey!" I greeted the female elf who was by herself exploring the surroundings, and occasionally taking note of the remains of Smoothie''s plant body. She didn''t seem to get along with the others of the group. "Eek!" She squeaked, startled by my sudden greeting from behind her. "Sorry about that. Ahaha..." I apologized with a light chuckle. In this world, elves had short stature. In general, they were at least a head or two below average humans. In this sense, I was towering over her. In addition, with her being in a foreign place, even the hardiest warriors would be on edge. Actually, there was no excuse for me other than playing around to get some reactions out of others. "I was told I can walk around..." "That''s fine. I just wanted a chat with you." "Oh." She sighed with a relieved expression. Since I enjoyed throwing straight balls, I got right to the point. "I saw your kin to the east of the human country. Elves live to the west, on the other side of Appallia. Tell me, what are elves doing over there?" She was making a complicated expression as if to decide what she could share with me. Since she was taking her sweet time coming up with an reply, I added, "Does De Planck have anything to do with it?" "N... How... You spoke his name?" The expression of shock was plastered all over her face. "Yes. And by the way, what''s your name?" She paused a bit before answering, "Mera." "Mera." "Yes...?" "What''s the deal between elves and De Planck?" I revealed a daunting smile. If push came to shove, I would even go as far as scan her memories but I rathered not. I respected privacy of others. "It''s... It''s nothing... It''s... I tell you, okay? I tell you. Please stop smiling like that. It''s scaring me!" I relaxed my smile and gestured her to continue. She sighed exhaustively. "Alright, I''m not supposed to disclose this to outsider but I guess it can''t be helped..." De Plancks and his cronies, likely bored of out of their mind, had their eyes on the elf country for centuries or even millennia. Their previous guardian who was tired of living naturally passed on a while back without raising new guardian or that was the narrative given. Before another guardian was raised, the demons took advantage of the situation, disguised themselves as guardian candidates by using a possessed body to infiltrate the elf country. Those in the elves were faithful not to gods or heroes but their guardians. In hindsight, that was a seriously bad idea but this was the first time ever in their entire history something like this occured. Anyway, at the time, people didn''t question this supposed new guardian. The demon pretending to be a guardian occasionally requested magic contracts for the term of service or protection. The elders didn''t see any problems and willingly agreed, or so the story went. Whether mind magic or perhaps bribe was used, no one knew. For the majority of the population, as long as their normal lives continued on, they paid little to no attention to anything their leaders did. Mera was in the same category. At some point in time after that, the elves began mobilizing for the sake of their country. They were secretly sent across the world to gather intelligence. Since elves were considered a peaceful race, they were welcomed in other nations. Under the public eyes, they were just like regular folks, but behind the scene, they carried out orders issued by their higher ups. Assassinations, blackmails, disruptions were all familiar tactics used to eliminate supposed potential threats to their home country. It was no surprise that their manipulations indirectly raised the current Hero King into power. That was just how impressive their shadow network was. It would also be no surprise if the demons were also involved in the diplomatic relationship between the reptilian country and the human country, though this part was purely my speculation. However, one time, a young elf who was extremely skilled in cloaking his presence was curious what their guardian looked like. He snuck past the elders, stealthily bypassed several magical barriers, and incidentally overheard their supposed guardian negotiating with a particular rabbit eared demon. Things went downhill quickly from there. Within the elf country, there were those who willfully remained ignorant and those who came to know the truth. One side strived to obstruct everything that fake guardian was planning while the other remained loyal to the fake guardian''s decrees. What I had been told was just a glimpse of the turmoil within the elf country. There was literally chaos everywhere across the world. Echo, did that not count as interference according to the Edict? [Yes.] No one stepped up? No one at all? [The demons were properly contracted and supported by the majority of the populace. The guardians in general felt unnecessary to intervene in such a situation. Those who attempted to intervene had lost their lives.] How many died? [Seven.] Oh crap, that''s a lot. Were they all killed by demons? [No. Unable to overcome advanced elven magic, three perished before reaching their intended destination.] I knew they were good at magic, but not that good... Were they all young guardians? [Two guardians had levels above 50.] Can you tell me how they fought? [No.] Either the guardians were weak or the demons were excessively strong. Perhaps the guardians weren''t able to go all out with civilians involved. There certainly were many possible reasons why they could have lost. There was also the possibility that a subspace was involved. Can you tell me if a subspace was involved during the battle? [No subspace was involved during the battle.] A battle of that scale must have caused quite a bit of damage without using a subspace. How about the damage to surroundings? [Barriers were employed to minimize the damage.] Ah right, since neither side would want collateral damage... The demons would still want to keep up with their appearance as a protector. That''s so tricky... I can intervene still if I want? [Yes.] "Berry, are you still listening?" "Yep, sorry. I was just thinking of something." Mera was on the opposing faction of the fake guardian, and was captured within Appallia. Since her level was high, she was kept alive for her mana and used for experimentations. "I''ll deal with De Planck later. As for the fake guardian, I''m not sure. Are there any new guardian candidates?" I asked. "No... Actually... Yes, yes. My fianc¨¦e was one but he might have gone into hiding after I was captured." Oh, wait... You let your loved one get captured? Shame on you, Mister Fianc¨¦e! Well... I shouldn''t badmouth others. "Is there no one else?" "None that I am aware of." "Good grief. If I remove that fake one, another faker can easily step in later, right? Okay, no, I won''t bother with it." "No!! Please help us!" She begged in panic with teary eyes. You''re nowhere near as cute as Smoothie. It doesn''t work on me! I have nerves of steel, you know!? To give her some hope, I quickly added, "That country has nothing to do with me. I can get rid of De Planck, and if that fake one happens to be there, count yourself lucky. Our conversation is done here. Go back inside and eat something. I assume you''ll want to be dropped off somewhere." With that said, I left her to her own device and teleported myself atop my soft comfy bed. With an exhausted sigh, I murmured, "I''m tired. That''s one interview done." blanksphere Chapter 106 Mera didn''t give up despite what I had said earlier. She insisted on persuading me to join her cause, which was to avert the disaster looming over the elf country. To be frank, I felt like it was a lost cause. If the general populace was content, why would I bother lending a hand? It was already strange for anyone to worship a guardian, and have one such become the head of state. "Look, I already explained. I won''t purposefully go to that backwater country for no good reason. It''s not my job to overthrow the government, even if it''s just one person. That is a hero''s job." I mixed in a bit of lie but I really didn''t want to get involved. The Hero King was one thing, but the elf thingy was another. "Then, please find us a hero. I''ll do anything!" "If your country needs one, a hero will naturally arise. So, if none has appeared, it''s a happy country." I replied, trying to brush her off. There were several indicators for the creation of a hero aside from the individual''s desire to become a hero. One of that was the happiness of the people. How exactly that was calculated by the system was unknown to me. This meant that if a country''s people were fulfilled and happy, there was not a need for heroes to exist. Even so, the system seemed to always make sure several heroes existed at any given time. Anyhow, since Mera refused to leave until I did something, she became an temporary resident of my subspace. I didn''t want to force her to leave either. As for her claim that she would do anything, I had no tasks prepared for her, hoping she would just get bored out of her mind and beg me to leave. Putting that elf aside, I was a bit interested in the two fey beings. They were both originally citizens of the beastfolk nation. Their capture was considerably recent as apparently those prior had all been sacrificed. One of them was, to my understanding, some kind of wereraccoon or werebear. I couldn''t tell just by the appearance and I couldn''t discern the species name like the native beastfolks. Either way, when she transformed, she was no different than a hulking black bear twice my height. Like all high level fey beings, she had acquired [transformation], though her transformation was far from perfect. Her ears and tail remained fluffy, and parts of her was covered in fur. Her name was Mufy, a strange name. Hmm... Maybe you can be Smoothie''s friend. Let''s get along! The other was a winged wolf, or at least that was his original appearance. Capable of flight, with a humongous body, he was a terrifying hunter. His name was Vintelo, another unheard of name to me. Hmm... A winged dog. I want a pet like him! Wouldn''t it be amazing if I ride on him? That would be super awesome. If I had arrived a bit later, those two might have ended up becoming chimeric beasts like ones I saw in other facilities. I didn''t dare imagine what Smoothie would end up like. As for the reason why two fey beings were captured, it wasn''t because they were scouts but rather they couldn''t escape in time when two of the kingdoms fell a while back. Instead of being slaughtered, they were captured alive. None of the captives had been at that facility for long. It was said that no one survived past half a year marker. By the way, when they transformed into their beast forms, they had to take off their clothes otherwise they''d get ripped. Of course, I covered my innocent Smoothie''s eyes before that wolf man took off his pants in front of us to show us his transformation. In terms of intelligence, I would say they were on the average or lower end as neither of them were fluent in the common language. That wasn''t a problem though because Smoothie could act as a translator via [sage]. Speaking of communications, none of the beastfolks could speak the common language, or they had bare minimum ability to speak the common language. The reason was that all of them were affiliated with the empire''s military in one way or another, mostly scouts. As a precaution in case they were captured, the humans wouldn''t be able to extract intelligence from them. Hence, none of them actually understood a word I said during my speech earlier. Smoothie, who was listening outside, had later came in to explain everything to them. To earn their trust, she even showed them my official positions within Vera. "Do you all have plans going back?" Smoothie was there to translate, thankfully. How reliable... You sure have a knack for learning new languages. I was always slow at picking up new languages. If it wasn''t for a language download, I''d still be speaking like a three year old. Anyhow, the replies I received from the fey beings and beastfolks varied. The fey beings generally weren''t too attached to any land. They didn''t seem to mind either way, staying or going back. Instead, they wished to understand their options a bit more before giving me the answer which meant they wanted to loaf around. As for those beastfolks, apparently they were extremely loyal to their motherland. After a short recuperation, they wanted to return to Grusia Empire and provide detailed reports to the higher ups. "Very well, please keep this place a secret. Let me know when you''re ready to leave." The next day, they decided to be on their way. Actually, hardly any time had passed in the outside world but they didn''t know that. I just thought it was funny that they were visibly holding their urge back to just punch a hole and get out of this place. They were thankful to me as not to pester me after I insisted they should rest for a day. Seriously, I was providing such exceptional hospitality. Why would anyone want to leave? The food was superb, perhaps not to their liking, but I did my best to accommodate. Their beds were soft and comfy. I even had a proper bathhouse and washrooms constructed, with advanced flush toilets. Well, my place did lack entertainments, perhaps that was why. "Kanoko, I found a few of our captured scouts." "You what?" She did a double take, not quite following. Now that Vera was considered a frontier city, it was one of the places scouts in this region reported to. For those who had been captured or assumed killed in action, in order for them to return, they had to go through various examinations. As for what kind of examinations they had to go through, I wasn''t privy enough to know. With that in mind, I couldn''t just drop them off at a military base or in a city somewhere. I repeated myself, "I found some a few of our captured scouts." She slapped her forehead. "What did you do this time?" "Hmm? Did Vorte not inform you already?" "Yes, about you coming back later with an explanation. And... Really, what did you do this time?" "Ahh... Right, we split up so he wouldn''t know. Did Haelley not return then?" "She did? Wasn''t she supposed to be with Smoothie?" "Ahh... I guess she hasn''t reported in yet." Currently, it was supposed to be the morning of the following day after I stormed the enemy''s evil lair. Those winged beasts might be reporting in later to the military brass first before coming to see Kanoko. After all, there was an order to things around here. Should I tell her the full story or keep it simple? I don''t want to burden her elderly heart any more than necessary. In the end, I retold my story in a very concise manner, slightly altered in a way acceptable to her. Basically, the captives managed to escape by themselves from that horrid facility, and I happened to be near the border. Since they were on the verge of dying, I lend them a helping hand. As to how they managed to escape, I had that part covered already by tampering with their memories. "Oh I see... So, where are they now?" "Ah, still outside the city gates. Should I bring them in?" "You can drop them off with the city guards and have them explain the situation. Oh right, make sure to show the guards your seal." "Great! I''ll do just that." "Teleportation is such a nice ability..." She murmured to herself deep in thought, her gaze casually gliding in my direction. "Ehh..." She let out a short sigh, "Figures. I can''t even see your status anymore. You''re beyond me now." "Yeah haha..." "I''ve gotten words back from my superior. Can you at least solve the border problem you''ve caused?" "Ah... Can I just cover the surface?" "Please fill them to the best of your ability." "Okay, will do!" Once those fellow beastfolks were in the hands of the city guards, I quickly finished the other task I assigned to me. In a few short hours, the border crisis that I had caused disappeared. blanksphere Chapter 107 "Back so soon? What else do you need?" "I have a meeting with the Hero King from the Kingdom of Appallia in the afternoon. I''m wondering if we can discuss that a bit before I head off." "Huh?" She blinked twice, staring at me with confusion. "Do you need me to repeat that?" "Wait, no, I heard you the first time. I just... It''s just too sudden. I should ask for a pay raise..." "How much are you getting paid?" "That''s off topic. Explain to me the full story, every bit of detail you''re allowed." I explained as much as I could while not disclosing my subspace. Though, anyone would have guessed that I had access to something outside of norms. I did reveal that I had captured and killed two demons, as a bonus which surprised her. Also, I had to leave out any parts regarding experimentations within that facility. She rubbed her forehead, "To think you can even subjugate demons..." "Yeah, something like that. Vorte can do it too, with ease, so you''re all in good hands." "That''s certainly reassuring. I know he''s a proper guardian now. Are you also a guardian?" "Not quite. I''m unaffiliated with any groups, but as of now I''m still technically a citizen of Grusia which is why I came to discuss how I should negotiate with the Hero King." "I see. If the meeting was any later, I could have consulted with my superior. Alas, some things can''t be changed. Do you know if any demons are associated with the Hero King?" "I am in the dark regarding that. However, there seemed to be demons lurking within every country." "Many of them have the ability to teleport, that much I''m aware. At this moment, we have little countermeasures against them. I know I''m asking too much, but can you track them down, if possible, seal them away? I''m sure the empire will gladly reward you." Hmm... Should I? I guess once things settle down, I''ll be a little bored. Demon hunting doesn''t sound so bad? There''s technically no rule against killing other higher order beings as long as there''s no collateral damage... Heheh... "I''ll consider it." "I thank you on behalf of the entire empire. Now we''re getting off topic again. I know the higher order beings have some sort of rules. Are you allowed to side with us and remove the Hero King?" "No. I cannot directly take down a hero. If he directly attacks me without my provocation, then perhaps that''s a different story." "I see... I guess that''s why you opted for negotiation. In that case, how much do you know about the reason they waged war on us?" "They want your resources, the mana fountain?" I replied with a question. "To be honest, that place is nothing but a disaster zone. It''s referred to by locals, when translated, as the Abyssal Gate." She sighed slowly, "truth be told, we''re at our limit. The sealing barrier cannot contain the mana much longer." "Then, why not use it?" "It''s not so simple. Unlike mana from smaller mana fountains found across the world, the mana from the Abyssal Gate cannot be readily used if at all, especially with magitech. If we could actually draw energy from it, we would have done so already. Moreover, the raw mana there is extremely volatile. The only function it could serve would be a weapon of mass destruction, even that would be difficult. No matter how we examined the situation, there was no way we could trade something that dangerous with another nation, right?" I nodded in agreement. "True... If it''s in the wrong hands. I understand. Is it alright if I examine the seals and the mana there? Also, how come demons haven''t made a ruckus there?" "It''s obviously overseen by guardians. If you wish to visit the Abyssal Gate, then a seal of passage is required. I''ll prepare the documents for it, and of course, I will go with you." "Still don''t trust me?" "It''s more than that. I''ll also accompany you to Appallia to negotiate with the Hero King." "Wait, what!? That''s dangerous!" "Why do you look so shocked? I obviously can''t leave the negotiation to you. At the least, I want to be there as a witness." "But the thing is, you aren''t invited. If you show up, you would count as an invader." Regardless if an invader was another hero, a demon, a guardian, or some strange outsider, a hero''s unique trait would activate. "I know that." "Then why?" "You can keep me invisible and I''ll feed you the words I wish you to say." "That''s not going to be easy... Let me think." Hey Echo, since I''m a mediator, what exactly counts as invasion? [Invasion is an act of aggression or violence, intrusion or infiltration, or assisting others in similar functions with intents as such. As a mediator, as long as no intents mentioned previously exist, there was no act of invasion.] That would mean I could cross boundaries set by mortals and gather information as I wish? However, I can''t freely share some of that information. [Yes.] With the definition cleared out of the way, I had to be clear of Kanoko''s intentions. If her intention as pure, as a diplomat, I could defend her in the presence of one or more heroes. "Kanoko, I just want to confirm, what do you plan to gain from the negotiation?" "I want our land returned and possibly a peace treaty signed. I can''t hope for a trade deal at this point. Yes, returning our lost land will be the first step." "He''ll probably ask for the mana fountain in exchange for the land. Alright, since I was invited not as a hero or a diplomat from the empire, I could pose as either. He simply wanted more information on me anyway which is to our advantage. In the worst case scenario that I can''t hide you from him, you''ll be revealed as my assistant, is that alright?" "That''s fine. I''m getting some paperwork ready before we head off." "Alright, I''ll come pick you up after lunch? Also, is there any official dress code or something we need to abide by?" "No worries, meet here in one chime." One chime was quite a bit of time for me. Just as I was about to leave, a group of familiar faces showed up at Kanoko''s office. "Hmm? Looks like I was a step ahead of you all. Go ahead, my business is done here." "Uh, thank you." Two winged beasts, Haelley''s kin, were here, likely to report the situation. Though, since their ability to communicate through common language was limited, there wasn''t much I could say to them. How nice, maybe I should learn their language for intelligence gathering. Say, Echo, can''t you just download a language package to me? I rather not waste time learning a new language. [No such package exists.] How is that possible? Can you understand what the beastfolks and their likes are speaking? [Yes.] Then I want a download. I want to be able to fully literate in that language. I should have that much access, no? [Unnecessary. Auxiliary functions are not granted.] Ah, let me guess. Although there''s a language core, it''s not in a downloadable format that can be easily integrated into me. In addition, I don''t have the access to be able to create one. [Yes.] I''m a genius or what? Maybe I should take a course on telepathy to bypass these language barriers. With nothing else to do here, I returned to my subspace to check on Oortez. I had left him alone for too long, surely he''d be super bored by now. "What''s up? All done with your work?" "Oh, you''re back so soon?" "Really? I thought you would have finished organizing all that stuff ages ago." "I''ve been trying to imprint everything into my memory. Such fascinating data... " He rambled on and on about useless things he learned with such passion that I stopped listening halfway through. "Okay, I get it, I get it. Get to the point. Is everything organized?" "Ah, yes." I created several jars enchanted with |void| trait. Piece by piece, pieces of that demon''s soul was added into these jars before I sealed them. After that, we added labels onto each jar. Technically, it was just for show since I had already done this for the previous catalogued soul energy. A new area was added into my subspace dedicated to storing soul energy. I wasn''t sure what to name it but it would act as a library for those capable of reading soul energy. This place would serve to secure loyalty from Oortez, act as an information collection centre, and also emergency mana supply depot. All in all, it was beneficial to everyone. As for the pieces of soul that served no purpose at all, they were recycled and integrated into me to help me level up. Oortez protested but I ignored him. "Just bear with it for a while. I''ll collect some other useful soul energy for you later, alright? Just think about it, a demon with thousands of years of memories... They might more knowledge on ancient civilizations than anywhere in the world. Their technology, with such memories... Amazing right?" While we were here, I added the stacks of soul energy I had catalogued into the library including ones I had taken from Oortez himself. "Ahh... I can see it... Yes... Oh how wonderful!" The way he spoke was theatrical and dramatic contrary to his usual demeanor. "Won''t you let me set up a workshop just for you. You can even trying building some of the gadgets you''ve seen in those memories. How about it? Hmm?" "Oohh... How thoughtful of you!" Oortez, you''re more of a simpleton than I thought! I smirked with delight knowing such a trick worked on a demon. Chapter 108 Creating a workshop for Oortez was a cinch. It was built adjacent to the soul library in the second layer of my subspace. With knowledge from my previous life, replicating some of the simple tools I''d seen wasn''t too difficult. There was no way I could replicate the more complex tools without a blueprint of some sort. Seriously, I wasn''t a god capable of creating anything with merely a thought. There were also a few tools and devices that Oortez wanted. Since they didn''t seem difficult to create with detailed descriptions from him, I created them on the spot. I also left a warehouse of raw materials for him to play with. Hopefully, he would prove himself useful. "Khaa... This Oortez is overwhelmed with joy, milady. I cannot help but shed a tear on this joyous occasion!" He wiped a tear on the corner of his eyes. Ew, please, crocodile tears are not welcomed here. And, stop making such a big deal out of this. Stay put and I''ll be happy. Then, he added as if I didn''t provide enough for him, "Just one thing, I wish to employ an assistant." "You''re certainly needy..." My expression turned sour, "Alright... Tell me, what kind of assistant do you require?" "I was hoping I could invite an old friend of mine..." "Let me guess, it''s another demon." "Indeed." "I''m not a big fan of demons, you know? Tell me about it and I''ll decide." "Milady, how gracious of you!" He said passionately. "Flattery won''t get you far, now speak." According to him, there was this devil he was quite fond of from decades ago. A devil was basically a malevolent fey being much like my past self. As for the reason he liked that female devil was because she permitted him to modify her body however he liked. Though, I was quite skeptical of his claim about this permission. I can''t imagine someone willingly allow themselves be modified by a demon no less. That''s a recipe for disaster. "Ehh... Say, Oortez, she was basically your research subject. You didn''t violate her, did you?" "That''s non-sense! I was an upstanding researcher." Right... Right... I nodded along pretending to go along with his shenanigans. "That devil, it''s been a while. I''m assuming you tossed her aside afterwards?" "Of course! Why would I keep useless things with me? I got what I wanted." He stated it as if it was the most obvious thing. Now I kind of feel bad... "So now that she is a demon, do you know her whereabouts?" "That''s hard to say..." He stroked his chin, "The last I heard, she was feeding in the southeastern region of the continent." Really, is that the appropriate wording? Am I misunderstanding something? "Oortez, what level is she and what kind of devil was she before she became a demon?" He stared at me with disbelief. "How would I know what level she is? As for what she was, you could say she was similar to what you used to be. Fortunately, she''s lacking in the intelligence department so she poses absolutely no threat. So, when are we going to collect her?" "You know, I kind of feel bad for that girl." "Girl? What are you on? Who said she was a girl?" "Ehh... The pronouns you are using?" "Back in those days in the federation, scholars all had female assistances... " He blabbered on and on about how scholars and researchers alike should follow conventions and etiquettes. His enthusiasm was out of this world. A short explanation became a lecture. Who wouldn''t get tired of that? I sighed and raised my arms in surrender, "Never mind. I shouldn''t have asked. I''ll come pick you up later and we''ll search for that assistance of yours." He reminded me of a story Haelley told me a while back. Perhaps, it was a fungi demon of some sort? Fungi certainly had no gender and probably lacked intelligence as well. Without listening to his reply, I left him to his own device. He should be fine even without an assistant for now. Next up was the elf, Mera. I tapped her shoulder. "Yo." "Geeeh!" She slightly jumped. Inside her personal room, she was writing something on a notepad at her desk. "Have you made up your mind yet?" "You nearly scared me to death! Can you not appear out of nowhere like that?" Her breathing still rough from that initial shock. Though, how she survived in that facility with such a weak heart was beyond me. Or, perhaps because of it, she now had a weak heart. "If you can''t handle this much, how do you plan to defeat that demon?" "I don''t! That''s why I''m asking, no, begging you for help!" "I can''t say I''m not interested. The thing is I''m a busy person and I have many things to attend to." Her eyes narrowed. "Such as?" "I guess it''s fine to tell you. I''ll be speaking with the Hero King shortly." She cried out, "He''s no good! Where...? Where''s the meeting place?" "In his palace, of course. I received an invitation." While biting her thumb nail, she continued, "Don''t you know he''s dangerous? He''s a hero! Not only that, he has other heroes by his side. Not even the most powerful demons can defeat a group of heroes. Invitation isn''t an issue. He has the home turf advantage, and not only that, he can seal magic! You''re a magic user, aren''t you? In that case, it''s better if defeat the demons than meet up with the Hero King." "That''s a first. I didn''t know he has the ability to seal magic... Interesting. What else do you know about him? I might reconsider your offer." There was no way I could just back down. However, there was no reason I couldn''t prepare and plan ahead of time. The ability to seal magic was unheard of for me. To be honest, sealing magic meant nothing to me. It would only prevent me from using fey magic. In that case, I could still use abilities and traits for combat. As for physical combat, I had none of that. Perhaps I could accelerate my thoughts if I tried. "Fine, fine. I''ll tell you what I know, so please reconsider. You''re no match for him." Apparently, as a Hero King, he inherited the legendary sword, Lightsplitter, passed down since the first generation of the Hero King. It had the ability of splitting light and space, or so the rumors went. Armor was useless against him and melee combat was basically out of the question if it indeed was similar in nature to my |void| trait. There was a very tiny chance that sword could also cut through my void barrier depending on the exact trait enchanted onto the sword itself. "Who gave the first generation Hero King obtain such a weapon? That''s just plain stupid..." "No one knows. If I recall correctly, there was a folktale passed down within a remote village regarding the Lightsplitter. In the ancient past, demons rampaged across the continent. The once prosperous civilization was brought to its knees on the brink of collapse. A blade smith, blessed by the gods, forged an ultimate sword from the ashes of the now extinct celestial dragon. Unable to properly wield this legendary sword, it was presented to the most prominent hero of the time. And, with each enemy slay, the sword grew more powerful as if it was a living being itself..." The next part, she listed some rumors, "Some say, the sword was the embodiment of the gods bestowing the hero the right to rule while others say the sword was a cursed object that siphons the life force of everything it touched... Hundreds of years ago, in a great battle against demonic beings, mountains were split and seas parted." It was really an embellished story that I hardly learned a thing. Exaggerations within tales weren''t uncommon. Basically, from what I could gather based on the rumors, the sword had likely became a fey being of some type or perhaps had now evolved into something else. In the worst case scenario, the sword was intelligent and possibly contaminated by malevolent energy. "Good grief... Has anyone ever checked the status of that sword?" "No. It''s always stored where only the Hero King has access to." "What about past tournaments?" "It has never been unsheathed in public." How troublesome, I''ll have to scan his palace thoroughly to find that sword. How super troublesome! If I receive a direct hit, there was a chance I''ll die on the spot. Why, I hate trouble! blanksphere Chapter 109 I pressed Mera, the elf, for more information, "What does the sheathe look like? Describe every detail and any rumor relevant to it." Her descriptions of that sheathe were vague at best. It was literally only seen once every few decades by the public, at least the real one. Moreover, since she was part of an external organization, the information she could gather was limited. I didn''t really pay attention to any weapons the Hero King had around him last time but there was nothing that matched the descriptions she provided. According to Mera, the sheathe was supposed to be metallic with twin dragons intertwined from the tip to the guard or something like that. If I could remove these stupid blessings... Yeah, I don''t think it''s possible. I really hope they disappear soon. "Anyway, thanks, Mera." "So...?" "Yes, I can probably do something about that demon there. I have a feeling I know who it is." "Are we going now!? I''ll get ready!" "You don''t have anything. Also, if you want me to help, we need a contract." "What, what... Why!?" She shouted with frustration, "I gave you information... Please! We need help. We have no one else to turn to!" "Let me explain. We who have evolved past a certain stage have restrictions on our actions. This include demons, guardians, and beings like me. Chatting and simple interactions on a small scale isn''t any issue." I actually finally understood the advantages of using contracts. With contracts, I could be freed of certain restrictions. Supposed if I was summoned as a familiar by whoever I contracted, by following strictly to the terms within the contract, even if I accidentally destroyed half a country, the system wouldn''t limit my power. Of course, the summoner had to exchange something of equal value for my service. I continued to explain, "The issue is if in a battle between superpowers, should there be mass casualties, my powers would likely be severely restricted. In that case, the battle would be lost for me. However, with a contract, by following the terms set in the contract, I could continue to fight until your enemy is eliminated or your order completed." There was a moment of silence. She murmured, "Oh, why didn''t you say so? I would have agreed." "I''ll have a soul contract prepared. I''m sure you know what that means." "Yes. I''m willing if it means liberating my country from demons." "You''re not afraid that I''m a demon?" "No. I trust you." "Fair enough. Let''s set the terms of the contract, shall we?" "Yes, let''s do that." I was not a guardian nor a demon. For me to take down an evil ruler, I would have to temporarily become a hero. The duration of the contract was limited, or rather, she was allowed to issue two specific commands to me. If the command was not specific or outside my scope of operation, it would be deemed invalid. Of course, if it was invalid or something I couldn''t agree to, a charge wouldn''t be used. The reason for only have two valid commands was because I was afraid her soul energy wouldn''t be enough to compensate for high caliber commands because the exchange was partially handled by the system. Though, as an elf, she had lived for centuries so she should have more than enough soul energy. We worked out all the details, not allowing bits of vagueness to distort the original intent behind the contract. To ensure she wouldn''t lose any memories and whatnot when summoning me or issuing commands, her existing mana pool was to be the first energy source to be use. Her abilities and traits would disappear next followed by memories. How depressing... It''s like you''re dealing with the devil, exchanging your soul in the process. If I could, I''ll help you without relying on the contract. My contract with De Planck was nothing of this sort. It was also, fortunately, thanks to my strawberries that I did not lose any precious memories. Though, the matter with Smoothie was completely different. "Are you satisfied with all the terms?" I asked. "Yes, I just need to sign it, right?" "I have some other matters to attend to first. You can sign it once I return. I mean, I don''t want you to summon me while I''m busy, you know?" "Busy doing what?" "Personal stuff, don''t worry about it. While I''m away, can you keep Smoothie, my kid, company? She gets lonely easily." "That little girl with green hair? I''ve spoken with her before..." "Yep, she''s my kid." She sighed, "I''m being reduced to a babysitter?" What were you before...? Huh? Did she make a friend? I replied casually, more like a whisper between the two of us, "Hey, think of it as a favor! Or rather... I''m already offering a safe place, free food and drinks. I don''t know anyone else who''s as capable as me! Come on, I''ll be more motivated to help you with your country if you help me. How about it?" "Fine..." I clasped my hands together and raised my voice, "Great! Now let''s get the two of you fully acquainted! Smoothie, I know you''re listening. Come out." Seconds later, a glamorous young girl with mint green hair and two pairs of translucent wings slowly revealed herself in front of us. I did leave her here for several days or perhaps weeks in the subspace because of the time difference. Whether her ability could detect the time flow difference, I didn''t know. Still, passing time here must be quite boring. Even if she flew around, this area of the subspace was locked from both inside and outside. With lakes and hills, perhaps she could have tried swimming or hiking to pass time. She whimpered, "I thought you abandoned me again..." "I did not. I forgot to adjust the time flow in here, that''s all." "You aren''t even going to apologize? Mother, you meanie!" She stomped her foot like she was throwing a tantrum. What are you, a kid? Wait no, you are a kid... I think? Right, I need to ask her for a proper explanation. "Smoothie, I found you a new friend. This is Mera. She said you two spoke before?" "Nice to meet you. I''m Mera. Let''s get along" She smiled warmly, though her words sounded a bit forced. Ah, is this what it feels like to be an elementary school teacher? Mera whispered into my ears, "Berry, is she really your kid? I mean..." "Biologically, yes, kind of. Though, as you know, my race evolves differently depending on species." I whispered back. "No! I don''t want you! I want Mother to stay with me!" She shouted with a desperate glare. Why are you such a brat all of a sudden!? "Smoothie, if you want me to stay, I hope you''re ready to explain to me everything you know. You understand what I mean, don''t you?" My smile was a bit cranky this time around. I was rather bad dealing with children. Her gaze unsteadied, her hands fidgeting, "Ehh... Umm..." Mera, who couldn''t read the mood, blurted out, "Hey, hey, hey, I shouldn''t have to be part of this! I''m just an outsider!" "Sorry about that." I apologized to Mera before briskly walking up to Smoothie and grabbed her hand, "Smoothie, you''re coming to explain everything to me now or after I come back from work. Which is it?" "Mother... Please, no! Not yet!" She tried to free herself from my grasp but failed to do so. "I''m assuming there are conditions? Who set the conditions?" "I... I..." Suddenly, her eyes were wet, on the verge of tears. I let out a sigh and released her. "I''m sorry. Let''s talk about it together later, okay? I''ll be back after some errands. Take care." How come? [Sage] should work just like [soothsayer] but better. Is it not helping her with emotion stuff? Don''t tell me erasing her memory caused glitches? It shouldn''t though. Ahh... I''ll figure something out later. I left the mess for Mera to take care of before returning to Vera. It was still half a chime early for the pickup so I sat outside Kanoko''s office and waited. "Rare seeing you with that gloomy look. If you''re looking like that, how am I supposed to feel confident with the negotiation?" She sat next to me leisurely, taking out her lunchbox from a bag. Hmm... It''s almost like we''re lunch buddies. "Kanoko, it''s unrelated. You shouldn''t worry about it," I replied. "Oh I see. How is Smoothie?" You sure have a sharp intuition... I ended up spilling the beans, or rather, the abridged version of the story. Wordings had to be adjusted but the point got across nonetheless. "I see... Your approach is too blunt. With children, you have to be more understanding and patient. They make messes and do irrational things some times, ahem, like someone I know..." Her gaze met mine at that moment. "Hey wait... I''m not like that! I''m a grownup!" I protested. "Who said it was you I was referring to, hmm?" She chuckled, "A self-conscious one, aren''t you?" "Whatever. Want a drink?" "Yes, please." "One bottle of nectar water coming right up!" For myself, I had a delicious ice-cream cone for lunch. Chapter 110 After a short lunch, Kanoko prepared herself for the meeting with the Hero King. She really didn''t have show herself but she dressed herself properly for the occasion nonetheless. "Ready?" "Yes. Let''s go." "By the way, I''m assuming King Dolan knows about this?" "Yes, the king and the prince. They''re my superiors." "I''m surprised they let you go with an unpredictable person like me? I hardly earned any trust with them." "It''s not like that. If anything happens to me, someone else is ready to take my position." "Oh wow, replaceable at any time... Reality is harsh." I really don''t understand royalty. Her gaze, bored into me. "Uh huh, and, who do you think brought that harsh reality to me?" "Sorry, I''ll make it up to you somehow!" "Then I''ll take you up for it! Deal?" "Uh... Sure, deal!" The two of us were like besties who had known each other for ages. She was definitely that caring and reliable big sister everyone looked up to. If I ever got into trouble, she would lend a helping hand. Rotask, the capital of the King of Appallia, was only a step away. Cast a void barrier, input the coordinates, and just like that, the city came into view. "The king''s palace is in the middle of the city. Should we walk there or teleport there directly?" Kanoko, with her mastery of [transformation], had transformed into a human. As for her status, I overrode her current one with a fake one that displayed one of a level 30 human. Whether others had the ability to see through, I didn''t have a clue. Hence, my initial plan was to have her hide within range of my detection which will allow two way communication. That plan however was shot down by Kanoko which was why I asked if she wanted to walk or teleport to our destination. "We still have time. Let''s walk. I want to see how this country has progressed over the past century." "Sure," I replied and landed us in an alleyway as our starting spot. From here on out, we had to watch what we say. Intelligence operatives were among civilians, and any leaks from either of us could be detrimental. Either way, there was a possibility that they were already onto me. After all, immediately after I disappeared last night, one of their top secret facility had some super unexpected anomalies. The ability to disappear wasn''t something unique for a hero. After all, heroes were blessed with outlandish abilities. Who said heroes couldn''t teleport? Anyway, by now, their intelligence agency was probably scrambling, trying to dig up anything related to me. My background was a complete mystery. Though, in my mind, heroes were supposed to be cool and mysterious! I was the perfect fit in that department. "I believe tomorrow will be the start of the selection tournament for a new hero king. I wonder if I should participate?" "That''s up to you." "I wish I knew some martial arts. The only thing I can use is magic, and I''m not that good at it." "You? Not good at magic? What does that make me? And the regular folks?" She smiled wryly at my statement. "No, I''m talking about actual magic. I''m only good at tricks." I had to mince the words a little. Kanoko, of course, understood what I meant. Fey magic was something different from the magic commonly used by mortal races. I could only use basic magic that was learned by Smoothie. As convenient as memory sharing and ability sharing with me due to |bond| and |progenitor|, they weren''t perfect. After each sharing session, all the knowledge temporarily possessed would fade away like old memories with only small bits remain. As for abilities that were shared with me, I would lose those. "Ah well, it''s never too late to learn. I''m sure you can pick up some simple swordplay while at it." While we chatted on the bustling streets, she browsed the stores and visually inspected all the buildings around here. I wasn''t slacking off either. I was eavesdropping on all the conversations the Hero King, Jaco Spiriard, was having with his associates, nobles and ministers. Furthermore, I was carefully tracking the movements of various groups within the city. One could never be too careful with wild heroes running around. Heroes, maybe they should be called vigilantes or even adventurers. Yeah. I think the system could make an |adventurer| trait for those lackluster pretend heroes. None of the heroes I was tracking were heroic in any sense. Perhaps, some had to do with bad timing. One was flirting with some young girls in a salon. One was in the washroom. One was smuggling something underground for a particular organization, possibly being a part of a resistance group. Though, it was kind of hard to tell since I lacked detailed information on their network. There were just too many conversations to keep track of. Most of the heroes I had seen were human males. A beautiful female hero was always by the Hero King''s side but hidden from sight. With jet back hair, and pale complexion. Her outfit was black as well, tightly fitting to her slim body. From the way she carried herself and the hidden weapons on her, she was likely an assassin. How an assassin became a hero was beyond me. Anyhow, she posed no threat to me. Now, now, now... Where in the world did you hide that sword? To escape my tactical sight, you''re good... Hmm... Interestingly enough, one hero was leading a gang of hooligans from several blocks away. Their path would cross with ours within several minutes time. Certainly, I rather not cause a ruckus around here just before meeting up with the number one of this country. "Things certainly have changed." She mused calmly. "I''m sure they did." Then I whispered to her, "We have trouble coming our way." "Intentional?" "Yes. They''re there to ''test'' us. One of them is a hero. I''m wondering how I should dice them." "Go easy on them, please no bloodshed." "Yeah, maybe I''ll just teleport them away. I don''t know if it''ll work on a hero though." Unfortunately, |creator| didn''t allow me to see through a hero''s status cloaking feature. If he had any strange abilities or traits, then I might be in a bit of trouble. Regardless, there was no way I could lose to a stray hero who was also a gang leader. I confirmed with Echo, the voice, that forced teleportation on heroes was permitted in most circumstances. Teleporting them to their death was obviously disallowed unless it was self defense in a death match or something. However, heroes were apparently nearly immune to magic in general but this didn''t apply to traits and abilities. I could use |creator| to teleport them away because world administrators were just that capable. I was in a way, a low level administrator. Still, there was a line I shouldn''t cross with heroes. Blessing, it was one thing all heroes should have if their statuses were visible to me aside from the |hero| trait. Each hero had a different blessing. As to what they were, Echo wouldn''t disclose them to me. Thereby, I had to be super careful when dealing with heroes. There was always the possibility they might have an suicidal blessing that killed all enemies upon their death. Let''s not kill any heroes. Nn. That was my mindset. It was only a matter of time before we were surrounded. There was a total of seven of them, including their leader. "So you''re the newbie, huh. Quite the charming one." The leader eyed me with a snicker. I really have to lower my expectations of heroes in this world. Seriously, what qualification did he have to become a hero? Don''t tell me he used to be good and somehow tragic befell him and this is the result!? Echo, when I get access, I''m going to revamp the system. This isn''t okay, not at all! [Understood.] Aside from the hero, the rest of the members were around level 30. They certainly weren''t weak per se but if it was just Kanoko, she probably wouldn''t be able to handle all of them. After all, combat didn''t seem to be her forte. "I have no business with the likes of you. Make way. Today, I have an appointment with the Hero King." I announced, standing proudly to face him. "Oho? A gutsy woman. That''s what about I''m talking about!" "I don''t care if you''re a hero or whatnot and don''t make me repeat myself." I infused dense mana into my celestial eyes, my gaze pierced into his dark eyes. "What''s wrong, boss? Teach her a lesson not to mess with you! We''re on home turf! She can''t do a thing against you, boss." One of his followers jeered. For a brief moment, I could see hesitation in the hero''s eyes. His fingers were trembling and his knees nearly gave out. However, he quickly steadied himself. "Uh... Hah. You and your tricks, and you call yourself a hero?" He said with a hint of anxiety in his voice. "Who said I was a hero?" I replied as a matter of fact before I followed up with a taunting remark, "Are you done or can I get a move on? I don''t want to be late for my appointment, unless you want to come with me. Make up your mind." "How dare you! Boss, what are you waiting for? Show this newbie what you''re made of!" Surrounding us, the members of his gang cheered him on. Yet, I could see this guy swallowing hard. He really wasn''t cut out to be a hero. Perhaps it would be better if I ended him here to spare him of misery. I waited and waited, and still he wasn''t making a move. Is he scared stiff? I don''t get it. "Last warning, move out of my way," before I teleport you into desert pit. Chapter 111 Thump! The nameless hero who was also a gang leader kneeled before me. Beads of sweat were rolling down his sharp chin. His brown eyes were gazing me with not just fear but also admiration for some reason. Perhaps my eyes were deceiving me. Now that I had a better look at him, he was actually quite handsome. To say that for all heroes might be a stretch but generally heroes had to have some charisma. His clothes were in the upper class. I could tell because his tunic had an intricate family crest sewed on the front. "Boss?" "I''m so sorry! I won''t do it again. I was told to intimidate a newcomer to the city, supposedly a beautiful female hero. No one told me you were this powerful. Please spare me! Have mercy!" He begged pitifully with his forehead on the ground. "Boss!?" One of his henchmen panicked. "Should we rough her up for you? What''s wrong?" He shouted with exasperation, "Shut up! We''re no match for her. Should I give you a beating? Huh?!" "Boss..." Echo, what''s going on? I intimidated him a bit but is he a fake hero? That reaction was too overblown. [He has the |Hero| trait.] Alright, so he''s a real one. Even so, a glare from me shouldn''t be enough to make him cower in fear. Do the celestial eyes have hidden functions that I''m not aware of? [The Celestial Eyes of Fortitude, the ones you currently possess, empowers the user with indomitable aura.] Oh, that''s why. It has a new function added in, I guess after my evolution? It does match the original abilities. Neat! Anything else I should know? Surprises are fun but keep me informed, okay? I already have too much to keep track of. [Information must be requested.] Fine, fine. Now that I knew one of my eyes'' unique effect, I retracted that powerful aura. Oddly enough, this aura could be directed to specific individuals. The others in the area were not affected at all. Speaking of others, normally I would have expected a peanut gallery to have formed around us by now but none did. Bystanders had all scurried off at the start of our confrontation. "Enough." I said, "Don''t let me see you messing around again." He raised his chins to look at me once again, "Thank you. Thank you. Please, may this lowly one please have your name? My name is Halbu." Halbu? That doesn''t sound heroic. "I''m... Berry." I replied, a bit hesitant to give out my name. "Lady Berry, we won''t get in your way ever again!" The gang hastily left the scene. The entire time, Kanoko remained quiet and unfazed while standing behind me. "Sorry about that. It took longer than I expected. We''ll have to quicken our steps." "Yes, let''s do that." Although we were running behind on time, it was still acceptable considering how inaccurate time was kept tracked of in this world. Enclosing the grand palace stood impressive stone wall painted in blue and white in the style of the city''s buildings. It at least thrice my height. Complimenting the wall was a grandiose gate in front of us, armed with intimidating guards. Looking through the entrance, it was as if this was the actual city gate. What an unnecessary big palace... The guards didn''t stop us from entering. In fact, one of them was our escort until we reached the audience hall. My background was supposedly a sheltered daughter of a nobility who studied magic extensively. Kanoko acted as my secretary and maid. Ideally, I would have preferred it the other way around because if I spoke out of character, things could get messy. Though, after that short incident, she decided to the initial greets solely onto me. If and only if everything proceeded smoothly, I would introduce her as a diplomat from a foreign country. Proudly sitting on the throne was the Hero King, Jaco Spiriard. His appearance when seen in person was quite menacing or imposing in my opinion, not the typical hero in fantasy tales. Regardless, he retained a youthful appearance despite his old age. Like the people of this country, he had dark hair and lightly tanned skin. His build was not bulky but I could I could tell he had strength hidden beneath the gilded silvery armor. I intentionally avoided his piercing gaze at the moment. I was afraid if I gazed into him, I might reactively activate my celestial eyes'' unique ability and intimidate him. We walked on the red carpet. To either side of us, there were ministers and nobles examining and scrutinizing our every movement. Although I could not directly read their thoughts, I had gathered intelligence on some of them. Their loyalty was first and foremost to the Hero King despite their fear towards him. This kind of baffled me, but at the same time I understood their mentality. As long as they followed the Hero King, their livelihood was set for life. We stopped at an appropriate spot. Pretending to be citizens, the two of us courteously bowed before the Hero King as was the custom in this country for ladies. All the while, I paid attention to the armed soldiers and mages within the palace. Trying to block my teleport? What a joke. I made a mental retort upon noticing several mages preparing a large scale sealing barrier. A minister stood out and announced, "You may speak." I nodded at the minister before announcing myself. "Your Majesty, I am here per your invitation. What business do you have with me on this fine afternoon?" He muttered, "Your name." "You may call me Berry." "Your full name." "I have lived in secrecy my entire life sheltered by my humble family. I prefer that my family remain uninvolved with the matter of my profession." "Interesting. Who is that girl next to you? We have no record of her ever entering through any of our city gates." "She is my assistant and maid. As you may already know through your intelligence network, I am capable of teleporting in and out of the city via quick spells. I hope that answers your question." Murmurs quickly spread among the ministers and nobles. "Silence," he raised his hand to quiet the ministers. "For you to be aware of our intelligence network, I''m impressed. Last night, I received a report that you were with another hero who seemed to serve you. Tell me, how did you make him a servant?" "You ask me that and yet you have a hero serving you right now?" I retorted while remaining in an amiable manner. It seems he still doesn''t know my identity even though I''m in a celestial gown. Clearly, I''m not dressed like the locals here? "You are extremely talented indeed. Let us have a private conversation. Ministers, you''re dismissed for the day." With his order, the ministers filed out from the front entrance without compalaint. Once they left, the guards closed the doors behind them leaving only four individuals within the audience hall. There was one person who had yet to make an appearance so I asked, "Is she not coming out?" "Don''t mind her." Though, I could tell she was secretly communicating with those mages stationed within the palace. Their trap could to be sprang on me at a moment''s notice. "Fair enough. Do you have an agenda prepared for us seeing that you have invited us here today?" "It''s simple, really. With your talent, what do you say to serving me as your king? I need someone like you." So you''re willing to go as far as to try and capture me... Some nerves you got. "Will you make me submit to you if I refuse?" "Making you submit would be easy part but let''s not get ahead of ourselves," he grinned but the next moment his voice grew cold, "This isn''t a request. This is an order from the king. Serve me." In that instance, the sealing barrier was activated around the palace, blocking all forms of teleportation via magic. Though, if I was a regular hero, I probably wouldn''t have noticed at all. After all, barriers like these were normally invisible. Fun, fun. Even back when I didn''t have this |void| trait, escaping from this type of barrier was child play. He''s seriously underestimating me. I shook my head slowly, "Looks like your agenda doesn''t match mine." "Care to elaborate?" "I shall forego the ruse. Actually, today, I''m here on behalf of the Grusia Empire to negotiate with you. If you''re going to be hostile, I''m afraid I won''t be able to hold back. Let me be blunt. You''re unbecoming for a hero to resort to such dishonorable methods to reign your people." "The empire? If you said you were from the resistance groups, I would have believed you. You don''t look remotely like those from the beast country. Perhaps, you are capable of transformation? Either way, you''re an enemy of the state. It is your loss." "Hero King, are you willing to negotiate with the empire or not? Answer me, I do not have all day." "I do not negotiate with animals." I retorted quickly before he could dish out another rude remark, "And yet you have a diplomatic relationship with some lizards." "It has nothing to do with you. Enough of chit-chat, I''m giving you one last chance. Submit to me." He unleashed a wave of tyrannical aura in my direction. Although it was powerful, it wasn''t overwhelming. However, Kanoko wasn''t as fortunate. I spun around and caught her as she was collapsing, "Kanoko, are you alright?" She groaned in agony, "Berry, let''s retreat for now." "That''s the idea." Kanoko was actually somewhat optimistic to finally meet with the Hero King. To her, there was a chance that perhaps it was the nobilities or ministers who was blocking a diplomatic relationship between the two nations. However, now that she had heard the decree of the current Hero King, she could now accept the situation. The ministers were not the ones to puppet an righteous hero but rather the hero was the tyrant controlling others. The tyrannical aura was all too obvious. Though, there was a hint of nobility within that aura. Perhaps he used to be a noble hero, but due to circumstances transformed him into his current self. This was truly a fallen hero, a deplorable existence that endangered this world. "Mae, capture the two." blanksphere Chapter 112 True to the intelligence provided by Mera, without any sign given, magic itself was completely sealed within this vicinity. Though, the affected area was only limited to the audience hall. Outside of the audience hall, the magical sealing barrier was still in effect meaning if I left this area, I could still use fey magic freely. Looks like it really only affects magic and not abilities and traits. In that case, it just means I can''t use fey magic. Clink, clink, clink. In the nick of time, I flicked away with my fingers three poison coated steel needles aimed at my neck. No matter how well this assassin tried to conceal herself, it was all useless if I already pinpointed her position. "Such old tricks. If you want to play, we can play during the Hero King selection tournament. Let us leave in peace. You don''t want me getting serious here." "I see you''re not just all talk." Mae, the female hero who had been hiding, strolled into view blocking our exit. "Let''s see if you can get past me." This is getting exciting! I really want to play with them! Ehehe... "Kanoko, do you mind if I play along with them for a bit?" "Sorry, now that I have personally confirmed the situation with the Hero King, the rest is up to you. I''ll report everything as I have seen." "Leave it to me." After enshrouding her in my void barrier, I sent her back to her room in Vera. I slowly got up, straightened my back and gazed into the Hero King''s eyes. He was a little surprised but otherwise remained composed. "Surprised, are we? You think I didn''t notice those mages setting up that sealing barrier? You take me for a pretty fool?" I smirked teasingly all the while infusing mana into my eyes. Just then, the female hero dashed behind me, dagger in hand, plunging it towards my heart. Silly, not on my watch. I spun around, fluidly catching her dagger between my thumb and two other fingers. With my other hand, I landed a chop on her elbow with a loud cracking sound before kicking her into a wall. Clunk. The dagger fell before me. To be honest, I didn''t think I could actually use any martial arts. That bit probably didn''t count since the moment she tried to attack me, I had watched her every movement in slow motion. It really was fantastical with these celestial eyes. It''s nothing personal. If you''re being forced to do this, well, that''s too bad. I would hate to cripple such a beauty. When you''re against me, expect no mercy. Similarly, you wouldn''t have mercy on me if I was the weaker one. "Ugh... Your Majesty, I apologize for my blunder." She held her arm bent in an awkward direction. Her face was in agony and her eyes was filled with uncertainty from this short exchange. "Jaco Spiriard, spending resources to assault an invitee while leaving the demons in your country unattended, stealing technologies and intellectual properties of a neighboring country, waging war on a nation for their resources, you have lost your ways as a hero." "Non-sense. You''re blabbering non-sense!" His voice exploded, objecting my statement. I was right on the money. Now, where''s your sword? Subspace perhaps? Currently, I held both |void| and |chaos| trait. With just the former, I could drain soul energy with a single touch. With the latter, even if I wasn''t fully familiar with it, I could erode soul with a single touch. Also, the |chaos| trait allowed me to produce extremely corrosive energy capable of eroding or disintegrating matter. As for other abilities that came with |chaos|, they weren''t useful when I already had the |void| trait. "Will you not change your ways?" I asked in kind. At this point, I was already giving up on him. "Hmph, do you know what my goal is?" He asked with discontent while still sitting unmoved on his throne. "If you intend to say the end justify the means then I''m afraid I can''t agree with you." "Allow me to enlighten you then, fellow hero. Did you know? The world we live in restricts our unlimited potential? Why do we have this level system? Why is it that only some are privileged to evolve? Do you know how frustrating it was that the moment I was about to evolve, I was granted a hero status? How is that fair? I wished to lead humanity into prosperity and unlock their potential but only for the system to halt my growth indefinitely and limit my lifespan. That is true for all mortal races." Hmm?? Heroes don''t get to choose? What? Echo, is that true? [Yes.] What was he about to evolve into if it wasn''t for hero? [Insufficient access.] Since Echo wasn''t going to provide a proper answer, I followed up with the Hero King with a response, "And how does discrimination against beastfolks help you achieve your goal of breaking free of the system? They too are limited. Everyone is in the same situation." "Simple. We needed an external factor and threat. They are merely animals sacrificed for the greater good, to unify the humans under one banner. It is only through unity that we''ll be able to conquer anything. Just look at our technological advances in the past few decades. It''s only a matter of time before we overtake the Federation, those scaly lizards." His claims weren''t things I could verify since I hadn''t been around for that long. Certainly, from the way Oortez reacted, humans had come a long way. "Unifying humans, that''s certainly noble in a way, but the sacrifices are on both sides. I don''t see how any of it could help you break free of the system." "There''s no advancement without sacrifices. My people are willing to sacrifice themselves for a better future and they all share my vision." Oortez said something similar before. Perhaps they could get along just fine. "No, not everyone agrees. Just as you are trying to force me to submit, you have done the same to countless others. Isn''t that right?" "Bah, they''re minorities. Here in this country, we go by majority rules. There will always be a few dissenting voices. As a righteous ruler, I have tried to re-educate them. If they still won''t join us, then they''re just rebels. That is no different from sedition. Instead of executing them outright, they should be used advance our glorious nation in their own way. They should be overjoyed!" Yep, he''s definitely twisted, and beyond redemption. He still hasn''t shared his plan with me. Hmm...What''s my best move? If he had a reasonable circumstance, then perhaps I might try... But, there was no way for me to erase the system. It just wasn''t possible for me. Did I agree with limits? I certainly did not. They seemed quite arbitrary to me, in fact. "Ah huh, and how are they helping you break the system? Your efforts too are futile. Period. Just give it up and make peace. Can you at least do that much?" "My time is wasted on you." He stood up and walked down to meet me at eye level. Here we go... Let''s see where he pulls out his sword. We''re finally getting to the good part! Certainly, he did not fail to impress me. He clasped his two hands together. In between his palms, as his hands separated, a sheathed sword slid into reality from a mini portal until finally his left grabbed onto the embellished sheath and fully extracted it from the other side. His right hand rested on the sword hilt. So it really is in a subspace. Echo, is he an administrator? How does he just open a subspace like that? [He is not an administrator. The action was not solely of his own.] Oh shit, you''re kidding me. If I was just some random person, I wouldn''t have noticed at all. However, I was an upper celestial race. The ability to see energy links came with the territory. It was only when I focused on the end of the hilt did I noticed an energetic link between the sword, Lightsplitter, and the Hero King, Jaco Spiriard. This could only mean one thing. The sword was a living being that had contracted with the hero, or vice versa. "Consider it an honor to die before me." He announced without a shred of emotion. He drew a sword with pitch-black blade that seemingly bent the light at the edges. Though, I knew just by looking that the blade was actually absorbing light within the room. [Level 70 Fey (weapon); Species: Sword; Physical: 499/499; Spiritual: 499/499; Traits: Nether Edge, Force Majeure, Enhanced Durability, Enhanced Resistances, Immortality; Abilities: Absolute Severance, Soul Reaper, Shadow Cleaver; Blessings: Will of the Netherworld; Description: A legendary sword that is connected to the Netherworld.] Ahh... So the blessing allowed it to be stored in a different world. Still, pulling out the big gun at the start of the fight? Mister Hero, you''re ruining the suspense. You''re supposed to struggle first before taking that out. What am I to do with you? You clearly haven''t read any decent fairy tales. My mind rambled on a bit. Haah... Well, well, that''s clearly a dangerous weapon. Where''s the Netherworld anyway? I''m a bit curious. "Hero King Jaco, interesting weapon you got there. Do you intend to send me to the Netherworld?" He snickered before replying with, "You''ll just have to find out." Woah there... That was totally uncalled for! Chapter 113 – Battle against the Hero King I was literally unarmed, not a weapon to my name. That didn''t mean I couldn''t put up a decent fight. Of course, I could always teleport away but that wouldn''t solve anything. In a flash, he was already in my face, sword swung down my left shoulder. I shifted to the right and chopped at his sword holding arm. With my hands imbued with both |chaos| and |void|, no matter what armor he wore, a single touch would damage both his soul and physical body. However, contrary couldn''t be said to be true if he landed a hit on me. Unless he could damage my celestial core, I would only suffer a bit of soul damage at worst. To me, physical damage meant nothing at all. Unfortunately, I underestimated that sword. How did that happen!? That was dangerous! You''re merciless... And here I took so much effort to make myself attractive. I want to cry... No, actually I''ll save my tears for later. Gods don''t cry in front of mortals! Thankfully, my celestial core was only received minor damage. If I hadn''t dodged at all, it would have been diced. Before I could land a hit, my torso was cleaved into eight pieces. I was sure that the dark blade did not touch me, not even a single strand of my hair. My eyes scanned rapidly for clues in my environment, anything like traps or abilities that could cut me remotely. With my celestial eyes, there should be nothing that could escape my sight. Though, only briefly, I noticed a strange sight. My shadows were liked to diced vegetables. It couldn''t be, right? From my past experience, abilities and traits were generally logic based. This one though, [shadow cleaver], was able to cut shadows or so it seemed. It simply didn''t make sense to me how cutting shadows could cut the shadow producing body. That should have been impossible, completely impossible, straight out of fantasy world. Tch... I better pay attention to my shadows from now on. Man! That weapon is a cheat, seriously! This body of mine had extreme regenerative ability. Immediately after reforming my body, I tried to disengage from him to buy some time for myself. However, he was relentlessly pursuing me without giving me a chance to find a countermeasure to that otherworldly ability. If I had to name one flaw with [creation], it would be the inevitable minute time lag to operate the menu. In addition, without the support of my fey magic and while also not in my subspace, it was a bit clunky to use. It definitely wasn''t something to be used in combat without intensive practice. I kind of wish I could have sparred with Vorte to hone my combat abilities. Oh well, sparring with the Hero King, what better opponent could I have asked for? It wasn''t like I couldn''t see the Hero King''s movements as he slashed and jabbed at me with his black sword. His movements were fluid like a veteran soldier. Still, as long as I kept my celestial eyes activated, he couldn''t overpower me, not even in a million years. Watching my shadows was quite easy. With a three dimensional rendering of this place within my mind, it was like I was playing a videogame. Echo, can I get a download of sword arts? Or, martial arts of any type, really. I asked while continuously dodging the Hero King''s onslaught. Occasionally he would land an indirect hit, though never fatal. [No such package exist.] Never mind. I''ll analyze his moves. After minutes of unable to land a direct hit on me, his movement sped up and he began including feints and tricks. However, I was completely unfazed swiftly shifting around the audience hall keeping clear of the fey sword. Ehehe... This is actually quite amusing! He bellowed with frustration, "Just what the hell are you? You''re not a human, are you?" I replied with a playful smirk, "That''s a maiden''s secret." From his perspective, it probably seemed like I was toying with him. I had received countless indirect hits yet every time I would immediately recover. My limbs automatically reattached just like when I was in my subspace with those sprinkles of light particles. "You must be a demon then!" "Buu buu, wrong! I already told you. I came to negotiate." "Huh, you can''t fool me. This isn''t your real body, is it? Where are you hiding!?" With that rough remark of his, I figured he probably thought I was using an unique ability or trait to create images of myself since magic couldn''t be used in his presence. "Pfft, let I''d tell you, silly." I replied with a wink. I wonder if that was super cringe? I bet. All that was missing was a spark. Regardless of what I did and said, as if to harass him, I created two holographic images of myself to mettle with his nerves. They literally couldn''t be damaged yet he had to remain alert. With that as the main show, I began releasing odorless and poisonous gasses into the audience hall bit by bit. My goal was to restrain him and take that sword, Lightsplitter, for myself. It was something worth studying. In addition, without such a cheat weapon, the heroes from the resistance would then have a chance to defeat him in a fair battle. Mae, the female hero, was watching the duel from the sideline without interrupting us. To be honest, I originally thought she would try some sneak attacks but she never did probably because she couldn''t visually keep up. That was just how fast paced this fight was. I waited and waited while playing with the Hero King. His moves were becoming more and more predictable as our duel continued. Why isn''t the poison working? [Heroes cannot be affected by ailments and poisons.] Huh? What kind of cheat is that? Had no one ever tried poisoning a hero before? Is this an obvious fact? Someone should have told me... Okay, Plan B, tell me, does corrosion from |chaos| work? [Yes.] Alright, that''s good. That just means I have to use abilities or traits directly to harm heroes. Do heroes need to breathe? [No.] That means they''re semi-spiritual life form. That''s not too different from someone like Kanoko. One more thing, am I allowed to take away a hero''s |hero| trait? [Yes.] That was the answer I had hoped for. The only issue was now capturing the hero in front of me and whether he would regain that trait after I removed the trait. Even without me asking, Echo responded after reading my mind. [Qualifications are evaluated at the time of assignment.] There was another issue. Although I was getting better at dissecting souls, I meant organizing soul energy, I still wasn''t confident enough to do it blindfolded. After all, heroes were special in that their souls were shrouded and protected by the system. Seriously, even someone like me couldn''t peek into their status as an administrator. "Alright, playtime is over. If you have any special moves, this is your last chance." Those were my final words for this match between the two of us. If it wasn''t for that sword, this match would have been an easy win for me. Now that we had played for long enough, there was no long any need for me to hold back. All his attack patterns were already analyzed by me. His special moves? I had yet to see any. If he had used any, well, I certainly didn''t experience it except for that magic sealing ability. "You, how dare you mock me?" His expression enraged, his techniques slowly disintegrating influenced by his emotions. That being said, his usual composed self was beginning to come apart as tyrannical energy oozed out from his very being. Perhaps you used to be righteous, but now you''re just a tyrant pretending to be righteous. "This is the end for you." "No, not yet, I will take you down even at the cost my soul." His expression was solemn when he said that. Suddenly, his aura dissipated, no, completely absorbed by the black sword gripped tightly in his hands as he raised it up above his head in preparation for a downward slash. Even if I didn''t know what the consequence was, there was no way I would risk it. I wasn''t going to raise my death flag by allowing my opponent to use a suicidal move. With that much soul energy and how abnormal that sword was, I wouldn''t be surprised even if half the city got swallowed up and sent to another dimension. Certainly, the description of an object in the status never lied. However, I kind of felt bad about ruining the climax of his lifetime. Here I go. In preparation for the worst case scenario, a void barrier surrounded the audience hall. Since I hadn''t prepared a replica in advance, this was the next best thing. Anyway, the Hero King simply had too many openings when using his finishing move. Before he could unleash his ultimate attack, with a single void blade, I severed the energy link between him and the sword temporarily stopping the flow of soul energy. At the same time, I didn''t hesitate to sever his hands from his wrists with another void blade while trapping his soul core within a tiny void barrier. Void blade wasn''t truly a blade, but rather a flat transparent null space. I shaped them into sickles as they made their way toward their targets. In fact, I could also shoot void beams, or basically any shape I desired. Concurrently, I had to pay attention to Mae. She tried to stall me. The key word was "tried". I had her locked in place immediately the moment she made a move. Not on my watch, girl. All that preparation happened in merely a split second. The toughest part was probably capturing the guy''s soul. Since he originated from one of the mortal races, he didn''t have a fey core or whatnot. He only had soul core which was mostly intangible and soul energy which was his basically his soul. Because of that, I had to briefly activate |dedicated one| for its outrageous calculation ability to locate all of his remaining soul energy, clump it together and capture it. Otherwise, I would have to trap his entire being inside a void barrier. Anyhow, the truth was, the sword had already absorbed more than enough soul energy. I had only prevented the worst case scenario by severing its energy source, the Hero King''s soul. Truly, the Lightsplitter was a devilish weapon. Without wasting another precious moment, I sent the Lightsplitter along with his hands into an empty area within my subspace before I closed the portal. "Sorry, that weapon is just too dangerous. But, you know? That was quite interesting. We can spar another time if you like." I flat out said to his face unapologetically. In all seriousness, the battle was won before he drew his sword. Thump. Jaco, who had gone limp, was bleeding out on the floor. His face was as pale as a ghost. His eyes were like that of a zombie. It was understandable though. He had lost a good chunk of his soul, and the battle was lost. The mental shock he just received must have been tremendous as well. Unfortunately, no one was here to pity this fellow. "I''m terrible with healing magic, not that I can use magic with you around. Hmm... I doubt that female hero can do anything either. How troublesome... I guess a bit of first aid will do for now." I released the female hero first and ripped off her sleeves, to her absolute astonishment. Really, she stared at me like I was a some kind of savage. Since I disliked that look from her, I responded in earnest, "Look there, I need some cloths to stop your king''s bleeding. Also, don''t try anything funny or I might have to break a few more bones." Stopping bleeding was easy, I just had to tie the cloth super tight. In the future, just like his people, he could use magitech prosthetics. I had no intention healing him in the first place. "Why..." His voice was raspy. "I have already shown you the power difference between us. I ask that you abdicate your current position with this opportunity. Tomorrow, allow the Hero King selection tournament to go on without interference." He swept his bloodied arm, pushing me away. "Never... Never! My ambition, my dream cannot end here... You! Who are you!? You''re not a demon, are you. You must be..." Since it''s come to this already, I''ll just be blunt and honest with him. If he can be reasoned with, so be it. If not, he''ll perish. I can always become a proctor in his place for the tournament. Let''s hope I don''t have to play his double. It''s too much work. "I''m an administrator but unfortunately I cannot tamper with the system that you so desired to do. The most I can for you is to remove your |hero| trait. Of course, you will regain it if you meet the qualification after it''s removed." "Why!? Why!" He tried to grab my arms with stumps since he had no hands, sullying my gown with blood in the process. I flicked his arms away and reply, "Look, I don''t care about your reason or your ambitions. You have already forfeited your chance to negotiate. I gave you choices. Name a successor through a fair tournament or die here. Either way, your |hero| trait will be removed. Try anything funny and you''ll disappear permanently." "This isn''t fair!!" He howled with tears in his eyes, "I didn''t come to this world only to die a dog''s death! This isn''t how it''s supposed to end! I was going to liberate mankind." "Seriously, hurry up. Choose!" "I... I will name a successor." "Good. I''ll drop by later to see how that goes." I turned around to speak to the other hero. "Mae, that''s your name, right? You heard things you weren''t supposed to hear. I hope you can keep your lips sealed." "I will, without fail." "Great, go see a healer for some treatments. I can''t really heal you all when you have that magic sealing trait active, you know? Anyway, I have work to do, see you soon. Oh right, here''s a temporary sword for you to use if any demons show up." Using |void| and |creator|, I generated a similar sword using the material I had stored in my subspace. It wasn''t a fey sword or anything special. It was just a regular steel sword with edges imbued with |void| trait capable of slicing any object in existence. This should put it on par with [absolute severance] and |nether edge|. Before I left the audience hall, I didn''t forget to remove the poison I had previous released into the room. blanksphere Chapter 114 Back in my subspace, it was cleanup time. If it wasn''t for my quick wit, I would have accidentally stepped into the Netherworld. A spherical gate centred around the sword had enveloped the entirety of my outer layer subspace. Thankfully, the second layer was unaffected by this phenomenon. Anyway, I had to enlarge the outer layer subspace to enter it without interacting with the ominous black gate. "Aww... How am I supposed to retrieve the sword? You don''t expect me go to some other dimension, do you? Hey, Lightsplitter, why do you have to do this to me?" Since there was no reply from that sword, probably because it was too far, I let out an exasperated sigh. "Fine, a trip to the Netherworld it is...?" I had no knowledge of how time flowed when multiple subspaces were involved. In the first place, I had no clue if this Netherworld was a subspace or a main space. A subspace followed the laws of the main space it was derived from. A main space was completely independent and could have separate laws of physics and a completely different system. The easiest way would obviously be to seal the sword away. However, there was the chance the sword could eventually reconnected with that world and link up with the Hero King or another hero in the near future. I wasn''t going to leave it to chance. "Actually, I should ask Oortez about it." Oortez, being the walking library he was, was eager to get on my case. "The hero''s sword, Lightsplitter, you say... I would love to get my hands on it." He spoke calmly as he stroked his chin yet his eyes told a different story. Yeah, it''s never going into your hands, pal. "Where exactly is the Netherworld? This is my first time hearing about it." "It''s exactly as the name intended. It''s where souls go after they die, well, normally. The sword seems to be able to open a gate directly to that world, though, a one way trip." "That would be the last place I want to go. I''m thinking of just sealing that sword forever but you know, I kind of want to study it." "Ahh, ahh! So you do understand me! I am not alone in this world after all!" He spoke passionately, forgoing his original calm demeanor. I grimaced and added, "You misunderstood..." "It''s okay. Don''t be shy, milady. I will support you with to my fullest." He replied with a smug grin. Yikes, he''s irredeemable. He definitely needs to breathe some fresh air and touch grass. "Fine, fine, whatever. The biggest issue right now is I can''t shrink that Netherworld Gate. Do you have any idea on that matter?" "Hmm... Can you not drain energy from it? It should be powered by soul energy." "No, unfortunately, the sword is in a different world. Energy simply cannot flow out of that gate. As you said, it''s an one way trip. If it didn''t have a contract with the hero, I wouldn''t mind dialing the time flow. But, even so, it might not affect the flow of time in the other world. I don''t want to risk it and have it teleport itself back to the hero once a link is re-established." "Then, why not just kill the hero?" "That would mean going back on my words. I''m an honest, down to earth person so I can''t do that." I responded with a straight face. Actually, if I killed the Hero King right there, the country would suddenly be one without a leader. That in itself was not a problem but I just felt that it was better if the resistance group took action and killed the king. I would like to stay out of their internal political struggles as much as I could. "Oh right, do you know anything about the guardian or demon at the elf country?" "I''m not interested in that backwater country. But, since you asked, hmm... From what I recall, one of the higher up demons is managing it. That one is quite the trickster. No one truly knows his identity." "I see. I''ll have to do some of my own investigations then. Thanks for the information." "Milady, when will you provide me with an assistant?" "Look, I''m busy. I''ll get to it when I get to it." I quickly brushed him off and took my leave. Chapter 115 Within my inner subspace, Mera and Smoothie were getting along just fine. To my surprise, they were watching two fey beings, Mufy and Vintelo, having a match in a board game similar to chess. The five maids were doing the tasks as they were programmed to do. "Mother, you''re back. Stop spying on us!" "Oops, was it that obvious now? Ahaha." I spoke through Snowberry, the maid with silvery white hair. "Yes." It took me some practice to learn how to shift my consciousness between bodies. My main body was currently in the same subspace, set on autopilot walking on a lake. As to why it was do that, I just thought it would be amusing to copy what a historical figure did even though no one was watching. "Anyway, I''m just letting you know I''ll be taking one for a task. Also, Mera, I know you''re impatient, but I still have a meeting to attend to. After that, I''ll go check out the state of that country. Only once I am prepared will we move onto the next phase, got it?" Mera''s expression had shifted from joyful to tense when I had shown up. "Thank you. But, please, hurry." "Wait, what about me? I want to go play!" "Smoothie, if everything works out, maybe I can take you to watch the Hero King Selection Tournament. Sit tight!" "Okay, I''ll be good!" She replied cheerfully. On the other hand, Mera expression only turned grim. "Mera, don''t worry, I''ve already defeated the Hero King. I''m just doing a bit of cleanup work." My statement left her in a state of visible confusion and disbelief with her jaws slacked. Though, who could blame her for thinking that? The two fey beings, unlike Mera, were completely unfazed, super focused on the battle before them. Of the five maids, I had trouble picking one to send to the other side. They all had pieces of my soul but they weren''t fully autonomous meaning their will was extremely weak. Since that was the case, I added a bit more of my soul into one of them and tried to create some sort of ego so that it could properly handle unforeseeable situations by itself. "Hmm... This is tough. I guess it''ll be similar to Smoothie except it won''t have any special abilities to assist it." Not all abilities and traits could be copied or replicated. Moreover, I couldn''t create abilities and traits out of thin air. I simply didn''t have the privilege. Even if I did have the privilege, there was no guarantee the other side would support this system which meant everything could be for naught. "Subspace or main space, that''s the question... Guh... Screw it, I''m sending her in." If there was anything I could do to increase the probability of success of this operation, I would have done so already. Snowberry''s combat ability was strengthened manifolds. Her intelligence, it was enough for daily function. Last but not least, her durability was enhanced by altering her entire bodily structure into that of an automaton. She could operate with either electricity and condensed mana. Within her core I had installed a state of the art mini quintessence generator that I shamelessly copied from a ship engine that I had seen in my previous life. Having an endless supply of energy was essential! Truth be told, I secretly spent weeks holed up in a time-adjusted subspace bubble unknown to anyone else using [creation] to modify Snowberry until I was satisfied. Her interior had a complete overhaul. Her outer appearance remained the same, of course, but she now was indestructible by normal means. She was a combat maid with silvery white hair! I stared into Snowberry''s eyes. "Are you ready?" She had gone through countless trainings and tests in the past few days. If she wasn''t prepared then no one was. "I am ready." She said with an expressionless face. If I truly wished for her to be fully conscious with emotions and a soul core, I would have to age her hundreds or even thousands of years in a pocket of my subspace. Moreover, even if I did age her like that, there was no guarantee she would become gain a soul core. In addition, the thought of leaving myself in a solitary confinement for thousands of years was just too cruel thus a couple weeks would do for now. "Comrade Snowberry, it''s up to you now. You have one mission. Retrieve the sword and return safely." I gave her a solemn command. "Understood," and off it treaded, crossing into the Netherworld. "Hmm... Should I wait for myself or no?" Waiting was stressful but it was my duty this time. I could only hope the there was no other Netherworld entrances connected to that world. Otherwise, the time flow would be completely messed up and I might even miss the tournament. To make sure that wouldn''t happen, I sent Blueberry into my residence back in Vera. She was tasked with observing the passage of time away from public eyes. I definitely wouldn''t want Kanoko to catch my clone doing strange things if things got messy. I waited, and waited, and waited. Half an hour later, the spherical Netherworld gate began to shrink. "This is good... This is good! Looks like she was able to disable that sword properly." In a matter of minutes, the gate completely disappeared. Only the sword, Lightsplitter, remained in its place. "Wait, where''s comrade Snowberry!? Where did she go? I spent so much time on her..." A few hours passed. While I waited for her to show up, I examined the sword in question. Since it was a living entity, technically, I reviewed all the contracts etched in its soul. From what I could tell, the contracts were only with heroes, likely Hero Kings or their candidates. Apparently, at the end of each Hero King''s reign or upon their death, the sword would eat up their soul. What a sad fate... While the Hero King was alive, the sword was a Hero King''s most deadly weapon of mass destruction. To activate certain unique traits, soul energy had to be fed to the sword. The more soul energy was fed, obviously the more power the sword could exert. Currently, only one contract was active. The sword itself was actively trying to energetically link back to the Hero King who it was contracted to. However, I had severed the energy link and kept it disconnected. Now that I had access to Lightsplitter''s soul, I was able to erase the contract completely since equivalent exchange had been sufficiently met. To be honest, this sword should be called "Soul Eater" and not Lightsplitter. [Request for contract.] Hmm? It wants a contract with me? I guess it doesn''t just go for heroes? Declined! I''m not about to feed it my soul energy. No thanks! [Request rejected.] This weapon was just too dangerous. Mortals shouldn''t possess such dangerous ancient artifacts. Perhaps there was a good reason why the first general Hero King possessed it. For example, that hero was keeping it away from falling into the hands of demon. Whatever the reason, it was now in my possession, safely sealed away in a subspace bubble. In the end, Snowberry didn''t return. She was probably trapped on the other side. I sighed tiredly, "It was nice knowing you, comrade Snowberry. I hope we''ll meet again in the future, farewell." To be honest, how the sword managed to return was a mystery to me. Well, it wasn''t like I was clueless but rather that I didn''t want to follow through. Having a part of myself explore another world separately wasn''t a bad thing. If I ever decided to retrieve Snowberry, she''d be filled to the brim with knowledge of the Netherworld. With one task completed, it was time to move on. I swapped with Blueberry who was still in Vera. Luckily, she was well hidden enough that no one spotted her though it had only been several hours in this world. "Kanoko, I''m back! You seem to have recovered." "Speak for yourself. So? How did it go?" "Hold on, there are eavesdroppers." I quickly set up a soundproof barrier around us. "It''s probably those sent by the royal family. Don''t worry too much about them." She replied. "Ah, well, anyway, I defeated the Hero King, Jaco Spiriard." "Details. Terms." She said with impatience while her hand beckoned me to spill everything. I recounted the battle and the aftermath, including snatching that ominous sword from the pitiful king of a country. The terms were my own. "I see. I didn''t think you had it in you." "Come on, Kanoko. Have some faith in me! I should be considered a legend by now." "A living legend? I wish I could see from your perspective how you could be so carefree." "Don''t mind the details. Next up is a visit to the Abyssal Gate. Are you ready?" "Do I have a choice? Well, my schedule is free for the next few days. Let''s go." "Wait, wait, Kanoko," I held up my hands to stop her, "if you have a free schedule, why are you in your office? Go play with your friends, make memories, find a husband or something? We can delay our trip." "Berry, how long do you think mortals live?" "Ahh... Sorry, my condolences. Enn... How about this, you and I can be friends? I''ll be around to play once a while. If you like, I could even invite you to play in my own little world. What do you say? It''s a once a lifetime opportunity." She smiled warmly, her cheeks a bit flushed, "Thank you for the offer. You don''t mind someone like me as your friend?" "A friend is a friend. Let''s be friends! Though, I can''t promise you I''ll stay out of trouble." "That''s fine. I''ll be sure to clean up after you." As simple as that conversation might have been, that was how our relationship changed from acquaintances to friends, a mutually beneficial one at that too. She was very beautiful by my standards, and extremely dutiful and caring. If she wasn''t so serious, she would be more likeable in my opinion. Chapter 116 What better way to get to know someone than to go on a trip together with that person? "Let''s go play!" As a sign of friendship, I grabbed Kanoko by her hand. In an instance, we were in the sky above Vera, a city of beastfolks. Since I had not recorded the coordinates of the Abyssal Gate or where the floating islands were, we had to travel via flight or at least that was my preferred method. In any world, flying was a magical feeling and this was no different. Pulling her by her hands, and supporting her with my fey magic, we soared across the sky while the sun was slowly setting. To be precise, to speed things up before night fell, I had us travelling at sonic speed while permitting only a mild breeze to brush against us. So far, she had been completely silent. "How does it feel? This must be your first time, right?" I grinned from ear to ear then turned to see how she was. "Yes... This is quite... thrilling..." The color of her face said something different though. "Are you perhaps scared of height?" She stuttered, "Y-Yes... I mean.. No... I''m fine." "You''re clearly not fine. My bad." The city of Gurok, or at least the mountain peaks, was already in sight so I quickly landed the two of us on a quiet street for her to catch her breath. "Sorry about that." She apologized. "We can take it slow." "I don''t want to take up too much of your time. You have to be at the tournament tomorrow, right?" "Not necessarily but I did promise Smoothie that we could watch it together. Since you''re free tomorrow, you should come as well. It''ll be interesting for sure." She was visibly relieved after I answered her, and on top of that, invited her out. It was like a get-together, no, it really was. I wondered if this was the first time anyone had invited her for anything in recent decades. Surely, when she used to be a human, she must have had at least one friend she spent time with. "Alright, then count me in." She smiled shyly. Oh my gosh, is this a new side of her I''m seeing for the first time? What a sight! She raised an eyebrow and said, "You''re not thinking of something rude, are you?" "Aha, that''s a secret!" Immediately, I tried to switch to a different topic. "Um, are you hungry? Foods and drinks are on me!" Ignoring what I said earlier, her face brightened, "I''ll have one of your special drink." "Great, one strawberry juice coming right up!" "Thank a lot, Berry." "You''re most welcome. We''re friends now! This much is nothing between us." She chuckled, "If you say so." After a short break, she decided to try flying with me again. This time though, she said she would try to overcome her fears of height. Still, I thought it was a bit too early. Though as a friend, I decided to instead provide encouragement and support her in overcoming her fears. We tried this just outside of the city on top of the mountains. I shielded her from chilly winds as she gazed below from on the tip of a vertical cliff. From here, we could see the entire Gurok''s city centre illuminated with innumerable magical lights as if there was a festival. "How are you feeling?" I asked while standing right behind her. In case her knees gave out, I would catch her before she fell to her death. Again, there was always the method of altering her consciousness and removing that fear altogether but it wasn''t something I would use on friends. People should overcome their own fears using their own strength. "I don''t know..." "I''m surprised you''ve never tried to conquer your fear of height with as long as you have lived." "Hey, don''t judge! I''m just..." "Do you want to rest for a bit? I can just travel the rest of the way myself and teleport you there." "No... I''ll overcome it. This time, for sure!" After another half hour of staring at the city, she came to her senses. "It''s getting late. We should find a place to stay for the night. How about we leave tomorrow morning?" I knew for a fact based on what she just said that she couldn''t overcome it. Well, it couldn''t be helped so I went along with her. Unlike me, she still needed to sleep. "I''m fine with that. Do you want to come to my place? I have guest rooms and everything." She was clearly perplexed by my offer. "You have guest rooms? I''m not sure I follow. Do you not live in Vera? I know you can teleport and all...?" Her voice trailed off towards with anticipation. "It''s a separate world. Let''s go." To make the transition as seamless as possible, I wrapped us in a dark barrier before transporting us into my subspace. Direct teleportation was possible but it was definitely easier to just shift the portal over us. Once we were inside my subspace, I uncloaked us. "Mother, took you long enough!" The first one to greet me was Smoothie. For some reason she was upset. I was sure I had properly adjusted the time flow of my subspace whenever I entered or left my subspace. I doubted I forgot this time. Ah right... The outer layer and the center are operating on different times. It shouldn''t be that long though. "Sorry, how long was it?" "A month! A full month! You had us waiting for one full month! How could you!?" Mera was glaring at me intensely. "Sorry... How did you even manage to keep track of time here...?" I was a bit curious so I asked but that was kind of stupid of me. "I kept track of it." Obviously, the only one who could keep track of time in my subspace was Smoothie, specifically, [sage]. "Sorry about that," I apologized again while bowing my head slightly. "Don''t worry though, hardly any time passed outside." Meanwhile, Kanoko was visually absorbing everything from her surroundings, not literally. I briefly introduced the two of them to each other. "Alright, Mera, this is Kanoko. Kanoko, this is Mera. I hope you two can get along." After the introduction, I announced with great excitement, "Alright, tonight you''ll taste my home cooking! It''ll be a feast!" I received a few gazes filled with suspicion. "You can cook? Are you sure it''s actually cooking?" Kanoko asked. "You''re just going to create food out of thin air again." Mera added. "I agree." "Aww... Smoothie, you too? Don''t doubt me! I can cook if I try, you know?" Kanoko, giggling at our silly banter, added, "You''re just doing your magic gimmicks though. I don''t think that''s considered cooking. But, I''m willing to try." Happy fox girl, cute. Now that I''ve invited her into my home, I wonder if she''ll let me touch her fluffy ears and tail... Oh please... "Oh right, Kanoko, do you mind teaching Smoothie how to properly transform? Her transformation isn''t complete so she can''t eat food." "Sure, I''m surprised you haven''t mastered it either." "I''m just built differently, you know? And, thanks!" Then I turned to Smoothie, "Smoothie, you better learn quickly or no food for you!" "Meanie!" She pouted with a frown. "Wait, Berry, it took me decades to..." Her voice trailed off but didn''t finish her sentence seeing how Smoothie was on the verge of tears. That stupid [sage] ability is useless... Don''t tell me even with its advises, she''d still need years to master it. That can''t be the case, right? Well, there''s always my backup plan so nothing to worry about! "Uh. I''ll leave it to you... I''m off to the kitchen. Bye!" With that, I made a quick escape from this dangerous situation. While in the kitchen, my mind was on a fieldtrip, pulling out all stops from my past life, anything recipes and cooking techniques I could dig up. Creating ingredients was permitted, but everything else had to be prepared with my actual skill. Think, think, think! You''ve got this! You just need the mindset of a chef... Yes. I can see it now! Tears of joy from Smoothie as she tastes my signature dishes. "Hm? What. Why are you two looking at me like that? I''m the new head chef around here, you know?" Blackberry and Blueberry, my two maids or clones, were staring at me blankly like I was an idiot from an outsider''s perspective. Although their intelligence wasn''t set as high as Comrade Snowberry, they were still quite capable at their respective assignments. Also, because I hadn''t gotten around to develop their emotions and expressions, they could only show either a blank expression or a gentle smile. Jokes aside, they were just playing along with me, or I was just playing with myself? Anyhow, now that I was here, I reassigned their tasks. They were now to help me with making the most exquisite foods known to this subspace. And, to ensure I didn''t cheat, there was a glass panel attached to the kitchen to allow observers to examine my absolute elegance while creating world class exquisite foods. You''ll all just watch. I''m the chef of the century. First of all, for the main course, I decided on curry. Who said spices had to be from this world? Nobody. There were some basic vegetables and fruits from this world that would go well with curry so I employed them into my recipe. Curry powder was basically the top secret ingredient. Obviously I couldn''t win when it came to local cuisine so I had to resort to this cheat. You''ll want seconds. Ehehehe... I knew for a fact that sweets weren''t popular with the beastfolks. However, curry was sure to be popular as long as it wasn''t sweet curry. Adjustments were necessary. Because everyone had different preferences, I decided to create several versions of it. Staring at me through the glass panel was Mera with a bored expression, her eyes half open like she was watching paint dry. I had my assistants peel and cut the vegetables. As for meat, I picked one that was tender and juicy that was commonly sold in Vera. Anyway, in about half an hour, three pots of curry were ready to be served. One was sweet with a slightly fruity taste, one was spicy, and one was herby or just regular. The next up was rice which was cooked in merely another half an hour. I wanted to bake some bread which was also eaten in Appallia but there was just no way I could make bread from scratch in a short amount of time without using my cheats. By now, two fey beings had joined Mera at the table. Vintelo and Mufy seemed to have became quite good friends over the past few weeks. Vintelo, please say "woof." I joked in my mind. To be frank, I had a feeling they were going to ask me to let them leave sooner or later. There really wasn''t much to do inside my subspace. Having them join Oortez''s research team was probably not a good idea either. Oops, I better not get distracted. It''s not a full course meal without desserts. blanksphere Chapter 117 Once the main course was fully prepared, I began making simple desserts. The only one I could make under such short notice was my signature dessert, the amazing strawberry ice cream. "Done and done!" "There were some suspicious looking ingredients. Are you sure it''s edible?" Mera looked between me and the foods I cooked. Strictly speaking, it was mostly Blueberry and Blackberry who labored and I was merely directing them. Even so, as the head chef, it was my responsibility to make sure my customers were satisfied. "Why do you ask? All the foods here you''ve been eating for the past... I don''t know... days? They were all created by me using the same method." "Eh!?" She was absolutely shocked as if this was her first time hearing it. "Mera, don''t tell me you didn''t know?" "But... I thought they were from... Never mind!" "Let me just clarify. I created the ingredients, all of them. None of them were brought from the outside world or gathered from nature..." She covered her ears, "Ahhh, yah, I heard nothing! Just bring the food here, I''ll try them! Okay?" When I turned towards Vintelo and Mufy to see their take on it, just shrugged without care. The foods were served by Blueberry and Blackberry to the three of them. Kanoko was mentoring Smoothie in another room regarding the [transformation] ability. Since I was interested in it, I listened in through a phantom construct this time so I wouldn''t be caught by Smoothie again. As I listened, I kind of understood that it was basically not possible for Smoothie to eat any time soon unless her [sage] ability could directly control the [transformation] ability. However, since they were both abilities, one couldn''t control the other. If [sage] was a trait, perhaps things would have gone differently. "Mera, how''s the food?" "It''s... Exotic to say the least. I''ve never had anything like it before." "Do you like it or not? Give it to me straight." "It''s good. I want seconds." Why do I like having freeloaders in my home? Isn''t this strange? Well, whatever, I''m generous like that. I served her seconds. The two fey beings, they too requested for second servings. "Don''t forget the dessert. It''s my specialty." I thought about it for a second and opened my mouth to ask. "Vintelo, Mufy, you two can eat food just fine. How long have you been around for?" "I don''t count. Maybe 200 years?" Mufy mumbled after a bit of thinking. "I think I''ve been around for 300 years." "Ah... You two could have taught Smoothie how to properly transform. It would have saved her from a bit of suffering." I mused aloud. "We tried. She only wants you." Mufy said, and to that, Vintelo nodded quickly. "Tch, why does she have to be so stubborn." "Berry, you''re not that much better." Mera remarked even though no one asked her to. "I''ll take away your food." Mera hugged her bowl filled with curry over rice, "No please. You''re very kind and... Uh... Thanks for the delicious food!" At this rate, the hot food would go cold if those two wouldn''t come. Since it would be cruel to let Smoothie, my only child, suffer all alone, I decided to offer some assistance. "Smoothie, how is it? Have you mastered it?" "No..." She was sitting on a chair, her shoulders slumped, sulking all by herself. "Berry, it takes time. She didn''t originate from an animal type creature so it is even more difficult for her to have our biology. You should know that there''s quite the difference between plants and animals, right?" "Yes, I know." Then, I approached her and whispered, "Kanoko, leave this to me. If you follow Gooseberry, she''ll lead you to the cafeteria." Just then, Gooseberry, the maid with orange hair showed up. "Is she one of your..." "Yes, a clone created from an ability." "I see." Once our little exchange ended, Kanoko left the room following Gooseberry. "Now, now, Smoothie, come to me." "Why!? I waited for so long in this world. Why wouldn''t you teach me? Mother, do you not like me?" I grabbed a chair and took a seat in front of her. "Do you remember? A long time ago, we made promises. Tell me, are you living up to your promises from back then?" "Yes... I said I would entertain you, fulfill your wishes... I-I''m sorry. Mother, I''ve been nothing but a burden to you... I''ve been useless...! I''ve not fulfilled any wishes of yours..." She sobbed as she continued to speak, tears flowing down. Now I feel like I''ve been bullying her... Even if she wasn''t a human back then, to see she now has a full range of emotions, it must be a work of god. I sighed with a deep exhale. "I still don''t know your circumstances to this date. Won''t you at least tell me? Or is it still not the time yet? If you have any contracts, I can remove it if conditions are met." "Mother, I''m sorry. I really can''t tell you." "Tell me this then. Does it have to do with that blessing you''ve received?" "I can''t say." At that moment, as I understood, that blessing currently on her was likely the sole reason she existed in this world. Without it, she wouldn''t have made it into this world. An agreement had to have been made with an existence outside of this system, otherwise I would be able to interact with the energy link. That was one possibility I couldn''t ignore. If anything, I likely also was part of that agreement. Yet, to this date, I had no recollection of it, not even a inkling of it. Perhaps I was over thinking things but I couldn''t shake off the various possible scenarios floating in my mind. "Smoothie, I believe in you." "You''re... Not angry?" "No, of course not. Come closer." I beckoned. She slowly drew closer to me, and in an instance, I took hold of her and held her tightly to my chest. "Mother...?" "It''ll be over quick." Let''s get to the bottom of this. After she fell asleep, I carried her back to my bedroom and gently laid her back on the bed. Since I didn''t know how long this would take, a void barrier was casted around us with relative time adjustments as not to worry the others in case. If there were any hidden contracts with invisible links, I was going to find it. With absolute focus, |dedicated one| activated for the second time, I scanned her entire existence. The first up was her memories of her past life. Unlike the glimpse from last time, now I could examine everything crystal clear. I was mistaken, kind of. The memories were integration of two entities. It didn''t appear to belong solely to myself. She had gained a faint consciousness by herself, an ego or self identity that shouldn''t have came to existence without external aid. It was a miracle perhaps that she became sentient at the exact moment of my death, almost too coincidental as if I granted that non-sentient existence a breath of life. Frankly, the memory of my past life was quite fuzzy at times, especially near the time of my death. Trying to remember that part was like trying to grasp clouds with my bare hands. However, now that I could scan her memories, it all came together. She was assigned one mission from the central command. Her mission was to unite my entire soul and send me back to my previous world. Hm? Does that mean I actually didn''t die? No, I did... I am sure I died. Why would they care about a soul of someone who died? Even based on her observation, my physical body had completely disintegrated. There was no way they could piece my body back together. Calling that body, damaged, would be an understatement. I''d be surprised if they could even retrieve a few shards of it, which begged the question as to why she was tasked with something this absurd. Smoothie, why? It doesn''t make sense? As much as I would love to dig further, she had not received an explanation from the command centre. As for how she was able to cross the dimensional barrier, none of that information was directly stored in her memory. There were two possibilities, one of them being a god was involved in transferring her over, the other being that the civilization I belonged to had technology more advanced than what I was privy to know. Whatever the case, it seemed to be an one way trip for her. One interesting thing was that apparently she had memories of my death from my perspective before she crossed over. That could only mean one thing. My soul was somehow damaged during that accident causing a few pieces to drift off. Perhaps it really was my soul fragment that caused her to become sentient. Perhaps it was also the reason she initially called me "Mother" instead of asking for my name. She had carried those pieces of my soul with her and inadvertently integrated into herself before obtaining a temporary soul core. An agreement was formed with an entity. I could certainly guess who it was because no one else had such authority to give divine blessings. It''s that guy again! Ahem... That god. I can''t be rude here. Again, the figure of this god was blurred out just like in my own memory though the divine aura was unmistakable. As an upper celestial being, I too had a divine aura, albeit a nearly non-existent version. Normally, I preferred hiding my aura with my void barrier, not that most people could see it anyway but rather not to bother those with more gifted eyes. Anyway, back to the topic at hand, I didn''t particularly care what happened in my previous world. The question I had was why she couldn''t tell me about it. Perhaps she was afraid of parting with the memories that had became precious to her. Perhaps, by returning those memories, she would perish in some way. Or, perhaps, was she enamoured with life, her own life, that she refused to part with it? Certainly, there was nothing in the agreement that was a detriment to her wellbeing. In fact, that god was quite benevolent in that he even helped her by placing her in my life path. If I had been reborn as a human, she would have likely been a friend or a younger sibling. It couldn''t be that she was just super attached to me, right? No way, seriously... No. Way. It''s not happening! It would be like being attached to myself since she was originally a part of me? Ehh... I''m not such a narcissist! Denied. Let''s review in details... Although I had scanned her entirety, detailed analysis was still ongoing. I was going to get to the bottom of this with or without her input. I just couldn''t understand why she would hide this from me. blanksphere Chapter 118 Following a detailed examination of her past memories, I found no indications of dealings with demons or dangerous entities. In fact, she was very clean in that aspect. Her intelligence was quite high due to the influences from her special ability. However, intelligence didn''t equate to mental age. Just as when I had incarnated here, my mental age was actually quite low despite retaining memories of my past. Although I had inspected her memories, her personal feelings were her own. I couldn''t exactly feel what she felt. Rather, it was like watching a movie playing before me. Because of that, I couldn''t exactly understand all of her actions and thoughts. Children being irrational sometimes was perfectly normal. Frankly, I used to be like that too. In the end, I gleaned only a little from this whole thing, kind of disappointing. I did confirm how Smoothie was able to get a read on my traits and abilities back then. Her previous ability [soothsayer] and now [sage] were linked to the system in a way similar to [mystic eyes] that allowed one to see exactly details of others'' abilities and traits among other things. It was an ability I didn''t have, unfortunately. My [celestial eyes] ability wasn''t equipped with such a function. At best, I could see what my own traits and abilities were capable of. Whatever might be the case, I had her body fully scanned and understood, meaning I was now able to advance to phase two. As a side note, my trait |dedicated one| was exceptionally powerful but not in a way that allowed emotions and feelings to be understood. It was more of a computational tool with some dangers associated when overused. Normally, the trait''s passive effect was more than enough anyway. "Now with all that out of the way, as a gift, a welcome gift, I''ll grant you a physical body. Food and drinks are on me. Your secret is my secret." I smiled affectionately, observing that calm expression on her face as she slept. As much as I would like a goodnight''s sleep, the ideal conditions were not yet met. In order to satisfy all the parties, there were things I had to do first. Just as my mind was about to drift, I refocused my attention onto Smoothie. Currently, her body was that of a plant fey being which meant her body was mostly plant matters. There were two options. Since I had never seen a sentient carnivorous plant with fully functioning digestive system, this option was a no go. This meant I really only had one option, to alter her biology from that of plant to animal. There were risks. Her species name could change, and in the worst case scenario, her race could change. Whether she could still use fey magic after that was questionable since I planned on giving her a physical body. Theoretically, with my help, she should be able to regain a fey body as long as she had a fey core. Although I could always create fey cores, it wasn''t like I could always recreate the abilities and traits. There were more cons to a physical bodies than pros. Controlling physical body was relatively more difficult than a fey body. Bodily adjustments would be nearly impossible without my help. Then, there was healthcare. If she didn''t care for it properly, she would fall ill and possibly die. Mortals were like that. Personally, I''d prefer if she could learn to transform properly herself. "Hmm... What if I build her body from scratch? She could use one body to eat and one body to live? I could just have the one she doesn''t use in stasis. Let''s go with that. As long as she has a fey core and she put in some effort, she should be able to master the physical body fairly soon. It might even help with her transformation, as long as she doesn''t lose that ability." Creating a physical body from scratch was immensely challenging, but not undoable with my current self especially with |dedicated one| still fully active. The first step was to create a template using a phantom body of Mera that I had copied after a thorough examination of her. Oblivious to the facts, Mera was none the wiser. A breach of privacy? Never heard of it, never ever. Nope. Another reason as to why I used Mera as a template was because elves were fairly close to humans in terms of their biological features. As a bonus, Mera was a female elf, the same as the current Smoothie. Once I had adjusted the template to match that of Smoothie''s current appearance, I began building her physical body. It was truly a daunting task, or it should have been if I didn''t have both |creator| and |dedicated one|. With a template, the physical basically fully assembled itself with a single command from me. In fact, making those tiny adjustments, making sure blood vessels didn''t pop or not enough tissues and things like that was the most aggravating part. One mistake and she might end up dying from internal bleeding or something. "Phew! The next part... Attaching her fey core to the elf body. I wonder if she''ll end up as an elf race in this body." Normally a fey core was for fey beings only. However, in this instance if I was to anchor that fey core inside this elf body, it was more like a permanent possession than anything else. Perhaps, it was similar to the way demons sometimes possessed physical bodies. "Whatever, creating a fey body is easy. If she doesn''t like being in an elf body, I can just place her fey core back into a fey body. I''m so talented. Heheh..." Unfortunately, without a fey core supporting a fey body, it returned to being merely lumps of organic matter while retaining Smoothie''s bodily form. Anchoring a fey core was simple matter to me. I made sure to carefully transplanted it into the new body along with her bodily mana otherwise she might experience waking paralysis. Once that was completely, I examined her one more time. Her status showed that she was now an elf of the mortal race, nothing out of the usual. All of her abilities and traits remained, to my relief. Whether she could use them was a different story. If I had only transferred her soul, then she would definitely lose most if not all her traits and abilities. Her physical stats had increased while her spiritual stats had decreased. That much was normal since she had a racial conversion. After I was sure that there was no abnormalities with her status, I woke her up. "Smoothie, how do you feel?" "What... What happened?" She eyes told me she was still in a drowsy state. "Hmm... Do any part of you feel unwell?" "Heavy... and stiff..." "Welcome to a physical body! You asked for it, and I granted that wish! Mother is amazing, right?" I grinned proudly. "Praise me!" Although she was a bit shocked, she thanks me, "Thank you, Mother, you''re amazing!" "You''re welcome," Then my expression turned serious, "That body is temporary. Please memorize everything you''re feeling. That is what it means to have a physical body. You must take great care of it, okay?" "Yes, I will!" She replied cheerfully, as if she had fully adjusted to her new body. Children are sure fast to adapt. "Um... Mother. Why am I an elf?" "What did you want to be? A reo-ibano like Kanoko? Not happening. It''s either that body or your fey body." "No I mean..." "I don''t have any templates to work with, at least not here. Think about it this way, if I ever mess up with the time adjustment, you won''t easily die from old age." I teased her while caressing her soft silky hair. She''s got such smooth hair... Who would have thought I was this talented at creation? "Mother! How could you say that!" She pouted as usual, but I knew better after scanning through all her memories. In fact, she was probably a little too happy somewhere in her heart. "Don''t worry. If that body ever dies from old age, you''ll be able to recreate your fey body. You know, that fey core is still with you. Normally that''s impossible but I made the impossible possible. Let''s not mind the details. It''s chow time! Dress up and let''s go eat!" By the time we had arrived at the cafeteria, only one person had remained. Looking our way, Kanoko raised her eyebrows and remarked, "That''s quite the change." "Haha, yeah, but it was a success. My daughter is now an elf!" "Berry, you never cease to amaze me." "Thanks." I had Blueberry prepare the still warm meal I had cooked to our table. Smoothie, being empty stomached she was, after one spoonful of curried rice, began gobbling everything presented to her. "Slow down! You need to savor the food..." I said as I took away her bowl, but somehow she was now in tears. "So good... So this is what eating is like..." "Promise me to slow down, okay?" "Okay." It was only after she agreed that I gave back her bowl. Why is she being such a handful... While that thought crossed my mind, I saw Kanoko beaming me a smile that basically said the same thing. "Uhh... Kanoko, by the way, how was the food?" "Satisfactory." "I thought you''d like it a bit more." "Oh? If you add in some liquor, perhaps I could review it again." She smiled dazzlingly. She certainly was in a good mood tonight. "Never mind, maybe next time." As much as I was curious to see what a drunk Kanoko was like, that wouldn''t do with Smoothie around. That child would definitely want to try some. And, if she suffered any damages from alcohol poisoning, I''d be the one to fix her body. Just as I was about to call it a night, I was reminded that my subspace didn''t have that feature. It was in perpetual daylight but without a singular light source. That was when I decided to add in the day and night features. "Euhhh..." Smoothie groaned, holding her head. "Brain freeze? Smoothie, you have a physical body. I told you, go slow, take your time getting used to it." The reactions were quite funny to see. At the same time, I had to monitor her health to insure she wouldn''t just collapse randomly. No matter how confident I was in my ability, I couldn''t be too relaxed. After dinner, it was either to take a hot bath or go straight to sleep. Of course, I wasn''t included in the latter activity. "Oh right, Kanoko, if you''re interested, would you like to have a hot bath?" "That''d be nice." "I want to come too!" Within my mansion, I had a dedicated bathroom enough to fit all three of us. It was built when I was created this mansion, yet today was the first day it was being put fully to use. There was also a bathhouse in my subspace but that was for public use. "Berry, I would like to speak with you in private later." "Eh, sure. Business matter?" She nodded. "You''re too serious! I invited you to my home to relax not for business things, you know?" "I know. I''m sorry. I just can''t help it." "Fine." blanksphere Chapter 119 While Kanoko was staying my home, I had her rest in of my guest rooms inside the mansion. Right now, it was just the two of us. Let''s finish this quickly... "So, what business was so important you had to discuss it right now?" "There are plans from the royal and imperial family to retake the two lost territories. While we were try to negotiate a deal, they were reorganizing their forces in preparation for an all out battle in case negotiation failed." "Wait, first of all, where are they getting new forces from? Regular citizens can''t just suddenly become trained combatants. Second of all, most if not all the people in those two kingdoms are dead. There''s nobody left. You know where I''m coming from, right? I can''t participate in your all out wars. My positions requires me to remain neutral much like the guardians. A little side business here and there is about all I can manage." "It was only after coming to your world that I finally understood. You''re literally like a god. You pass judgements onto evildoers, do you not?" "No, not really. My position is basically a mediator and an enforcer for highly evolved beings along with some menial tasks that only I could do. I can''t really meddle too much with mortal''s affairs." "Unfortunately, the upper echelon don''t understand your position. As a citizen, you have to participate in our war and that is their stance." She looked at me with stern gaze. I definitely understood where she was coming from but things could get ugly if I took a side. I could probably wipe a country off the map overnight if I tried. "I''ll renounce my citizenship if I must but I believe that''ll be a serious loss to the empire." "Indeed. Is it too much to ask if you could speak with the Highland Emperor? As you know, although my authority is high within the kingdom of Teir, this is beyond me. With words getting twisted along its way to the highest authority, it could only exacerbate the situation. I really fear the worst case scenario for you." In other words, there was a limit on how much she could cover for me. I wouldn''t want to be excommunicated from the empire either. Sure I could use disguises but if I had to do so every time I visited that country, it would be quite the hassle. Surely, the higher ups could loosen things up a bit for someone like me? "Fine, I''ll pay a visit to the emperor after we sightsee the Abyssal Gate. I just hope he''s not some grumpy old man." Her lips curved into a faint smile, "You''ll see when you meet him. Onto the next matter..." "There''s more?" "Remember those pills? Nutrient pills? The royal family would like them to be supplied to the military. The first batch should be enough to last one battalion for eight weeks." "Wait, wait, eight weeks? One battalion? That''s quite... Alright, it''s doable but I''ll see to it after I speak to the Highland Emperor." Our discussion continued for another hour or so on logistics. It wasn''t just the pills, but they also wanted me to supply weapons and armors. At some point, I had to stop our discussion. It was no longer whether I could produce those things or not but rather they were trying to drag me into their war one way or another. Personally, if they just wanted me to supply a bit of my specialty food, I was perfectly alright with it, a small business transaction. War supplies was a separate matter. "Let''s set this matter aside for now. Looks like a chat with this Highland Emperor isn''t avoidable. He''s not as unreasonable as the Hero King, right?" "You''ll have to be the judge." This doesn''t sound good, not at all. I understand but I don''t understand. Looks like a show of power might be needed for our initial greetings. Since night time was only implemented moments ago, the earliest residents had to adjust their circadian rhythm. I wasn''t going to volunteer myself to adjust them. With Kanoko going to sleep, I paid our two freeloaders, Mufy and Vintelo, a visit. As usual, they were in the middle of an intense match, over a board game. "Are you two going to play around all day? I''m thinking of giving you two some work to do." "Work? A job?" "Is it dangerous?" "Don''t worry, it''s nothing dangerous." I gave them a brief rundown of the tasks they would be doing. It was really quite simple a job. My goal was to set up an international business. The first step was to create an outpost with an inn attached. Preferably, I would like my outpost on a trading route where merchants would often use. As time went on, decades or perhaps centuries, the outpost would become a town or even a city. That was all assuming I had set up everything correctly and people actually visited the outpost at all. Long story short, they just had to man a trading outpost in the wilderness. This would be after I negotiated with leaders of various countries because I needed to ensure there would be merchants coming and to declare the sovereignty of any outposts operated under my name. "For now, I''m going to create a replica of the outpost I want to build. You''ll live there and let me know how it''ll fare against monster and bandit attacks, and things like that. You can still umm... play your board games at your leisure." I wonder if they''ll end up being merchants or chess grandmasters first... With such a simple task, the two of them readily agreed to assist me. Obviously, that wasn''t the end of it. Once they agreed to the first part, I continued onto the next part. Again, it was a simple task. I had them grow and harvest strawberries. It reminded me of the kobolds. Anyhow, again they readily agreed to help. Needless to say, I wasted no time in constructing that outpost. It was situated a couple hundred meters away from the residential area. A patch of farmland was added with strawberry seeds partially sowed. Despite no longer being a strawberry fairy, I still retained all those abilities and traits in one form or another. Hence, growing them couldn''t be any easier. At some point, I wanted to be able to get money without putting in the labor! It was an absolutely marvelous ambition. For the rest of the night, I spent that time with Smoothie. I owe her that much at least. When morning came, unable to keep her eyes open, she fell asleep. "Sweet dreams, Smoothie. I''ll be back soon." After breakfast, just before the two of us departed from my subspace, Kanoko brought up a suggestion. "Berry, you should name that place." "My subspace?" "Yes. Isn''t it normal to name places? We name people, villages, cities, and countries." "You have a point. Since you brought it up, any suggestions? I literally just refer to this place as my subspace." "I''d say since you were originally a Strawberry, and that this place can be like a paradise for people, how about Strawberry Arcadia?" "That name is kind of embarrassing...?" "I''ll just leave it you then! It''s your home after all." She grinned. "Hmm... Since it''s subspace where I can live in peace, I''ll call it Plane of Ataraxia from now on, or abbreviate to Ataraxia." The name itself might be difficult for beastfolks to pronounce it wasn''t like many would come to know about this place. "Interesting. I''ve never heard of that word before. I''m glad it now has a proper name." "Right, now we have that out of the way, let''s go!" Conquering her fear of height wasn''t an overnight thing. In fact, it was still night time in the mountains, the same place where we entered my subspace. "It is as if time hasn''t passed." Kanoko remarked with a hint of bewilderment. "Exactly. I can adjust the flow of time inside my subspace, ahem, Plane of Ataraxia. Amazing, right? Now if you close your eyes, we''ll arrive at the Abyssal Gate in no time." "But... That would mean I can''t conquer my fear." "So what if it takes you a bit longer to conquer your fear? The good thing is, during night time, as long as you''re not afraid of the dark, it shouldn''t be as bad as day time." She eyed me with suspicion. "Really?" "You''ll find out! Let''s go! No time to waste." I smirked before lifting her with a gust of wind. This time, instead of flying face down, I had her fly face up looking up at the stars. With my guardian tracking radar, locating the ones guarding the Abyssal Gate was a simple matter. I landed outside of a temple seemingly dedicated to a local guardian of this desolated place. Looking from the ground, the islands were actually quite some distance away. Even from up close, this region was giving nothing but dangerous vibes. During daytime, aside from floating chunks of earth and ghastly fog, this place was barren. During nighttime, pinkish and purplish mists drifted about shrouding this area with an eerie glow. "We''ve arrived." I announced as I helped her onto her feet. The entire trip, Kanoko had remained still, and perfectly silent. Either she was just soaking up glittering starlight or simply scared stiff, I liked to believe she was the former. She exhaled deeply before replying with a "thanks." "Let me know if you feel unwell." "I''m perfectly fine!" "I mean, strange mana is still being leaked out of the barrier. If it''s too much for you to bear, I''ll send you back to your office immediately." "Berry, you don''t need to be concerned about me. How long do you think I''ve been around for? I can handle at least this much." Chapter 120 lanksphere The temple was nothing grand like the palaces I had seen from Vera and Rotask. Standing alone out in the open, it was about five stories in height layered with finely carved gray stones in a pyramidal structure. Perhaps the reason wood wasn''t used was because trees didn''t seem to grow in this region. In my very humble opinion, this temple was plain and boring. It was a place I would have thought as a pile of rubble had I not visited personally. The two of us were just standing there taking in our surrounding after we landed here. "To be honest, even if you do not carry a seal of passage, there''s nothing a guardian can do to me." I casually remarked remembering that I didn''t really give her any time to prepare herself when I yanked her out of her office. "I had anticipated it. See? I have it right here." Kanoko pulled out a golden plate with intricate magical inscriptions out of her inner chest pocket. "I can''t have you duke it out with one of our guardians." "Hey! It''s considered a spar, a friendly spar!" "Yeah, yeah. Save your words." The two of us entered the temple together. Me, being the cautious one, was perfectly combat ready with my celestial eyes activated. Inside was actually only one large room with an array of perfectly spaced pillars, dimly lit by magic crystals. Some pillars had stone platforms attached as if this was some kind of martial arts training ground. Otherwise, there really wasn''t nothing worthy to note except perhaps a stone altar sitting on the opposite side of the room. "Thou hast arrived." Two large slits revealed themselves from overhead. The voice came from a gigantic black snake coiling around a pillar above one of the platforms. It had four glazed eyes on its head. Its thick body was covered with glistening black scales that shone like polished obsidian. "Lord Slisthe, I am Kanoko of Vera from Kingdom of Teir, here on official duty as a delegate. Here is the seal to prove my identity." Slisthe? What a suitable name for a snake! It''s just too bad he can''t transform. This snaky guardian, being only level 14, was actually weaker than Vorte. He had the typical guardian traits and the enhancement traits. Aside from that, he could petrify things with his gazes, use poisons, and split itself to create clones. That was literally it, nothing to brag home about. He wouldn''t even last as my sparring partner. Though the odd thing to note was that he had a weird energy links extending from his aura. Once the guardian had inspected the seal properly, he said, "Very well, it is as thou speakest. Even if thou hath not cometh, we would converse with a celestial race." "I''m guessing Vorte had informed all the guardians of me?" "Yess." "Well, I don''t know how much you all know but today I''m here to examine the situation and if possible, alleviate the burden on the sealing barrier. Paying the local guardian a visit is my way of showing respect towards your position." "I request that thou unveilest thy status to me." He spoke without a hint of emotion or expression. "Do you not trust Vorte''s words?" "We are wary of imposterss..." "Would I also have to reveal it to the other guardian?" From my radar, the other guardian with apparently much higher existence value seemed to be inspecting the sealing barrier. I would hate having to reveal my status every time someone demanded it. Sure I could beat them into submission but that really wasn''t my modus operandi. If that caused bad blood between us, the heavens might rain red on this fateful night. "One moment..." Two seconds later, another tyrannical black snake slithered through the shadow of a pillar. From what I could tell, this snake guardian was the real deal so I briefly checked its status. [Level 42 Spirit; Species: Lo-Jokat; Physical: 628/628; Spiritual: 499/499; Traits: Entwined Guardian, Shadow Dweller, Adamant Scales, Force, Enhanced Spiritual, Enhanced Physical, Enhanced Senses, Enhanced Resistances, Limit Breaker, Immortality; Abilities: Grim Phantasm, Shadow Clones, Corrosive Breath, Petrifaction Gaze, Mystic Eyes; Blessings: Shadow Tyrant; Description: A type of spirit evolved from an ancient beast.] Again, nothing impressive other than the ability to travel via shadows and possessing some shadow clones. I guess it''s my turn now. I looked them both in the eyes, not fearing of being petrified in the least. In the first place, petrifaction was ineffective against me due to my peculiar constitution. "Now that both of you are here, I''ll reveal my status." The unnamed black snake remarked after a brief examination. "We are pleased, though I must add that thou hast interesting traitss." Only after that did I cloak my status once more. "I suppose. Mind if I know what your name is?" My gaze met the newcomer''s marble like eyes. "Thou shalt refer to me as Slizerine." "Slizerine, Slisthe, let''s hope we get along. Anyway, I''m off." "Allow my apprentice to accompany you." Slizerine added before I could take off. I crossed my fingers and replied with a "Rejected!" "Explain thyself." Slizerine hissed clearly displeased with my objection. "I''ll be going to the core of the Abyssal Gate. Do you have what it takes to keep up?" I retorted. "Access within is denied. We shall not entertain the possibility of unsealing the barrier. Thou shalt not enter." "Berry..." Kanoko uttered with a sigh. "You didn''t mention you were going inside." I was able to obtain information regarding the rough nature of Abyssal Gate via Echo, the system. In other words, I already devised plans to resolve it. Coming here with Kanoko was only a matter of ceremony. Anyhow, depending on the size of the core of this so called Abyssal Gate, I could eliminate this danger completely by swallowing it whole. This was a task that could only be accomplished by my |void| trait and my subspace. However, this was only a fleeting thought not to be confused with a realistic plan. "Let me ask you all. Who benefits from having the Abyssal Gate, a ticking bomb, sitting here? Does it benefit any nation, perhaps the empire? No. Does it benefit the guardians? I''m sure it doesn''t because they have no traits and abilities that can quell and control the mana. How about the demons? They only thing they can do is to use it as a weapon of mass destruction." "True..." Kanoko nodded. "I''m telling you all. I''m here to do my job and do a maintenance of this world. I didn''t come here to ask permission. If I wished, I could go anywhere in this world and there''s not a damn thing you could all do to me, guardians, demons, heroes. I''m an administrator, a being who stands above the guardians and the demons. The only one who has more authority than me is either the system or god. Slisthe and Slizerine, know your place." As I finished my declaration, I unleashed a surge of my repressed divine aura directed at the two snake guardians. Regular folks might not sense it but guardians and demons should be able to without a doubt. To that, they reacted by contracting their heads. "O Vorte, what hast thou done?" "Hissss! Since it hath come to this, we shall bear no responsibility. Slisthe, we take our leave!" The two guardians, seemingly acting as one, clearly displeased with my spiel began withdrawing from the temple into their shadows. It seemed that I had trampled on their pride. "Wait, please don''t go! The empire still needs you to maintain the sealing barrier. Please stay! Lord Slisthe and Lord Slizerine!" She cried out desperately but without . In a matter of seconds, only two of us remained inside the temple. Thump. Kanoko was on her knees, her face ghastly pale. "Berry, what have you done?! This... This is a disaster." I patted her shoulder with a reassuring smile, "Just leave it to me." Now I kind of feel bad for her... Well, the situation is in the bag as long as there''s no external interference. Though, speaking of interference, demons just had to show up now. What a coincidence! Not. Whatever, just perfect, maybe I can take some souvenirs home for Oortez. The annoying part was that this snake guardian hid a shadow clone in each of mine and Kanoko''s shadow. If I tried to leave or send Kanoko away, this clone would follow us to our destination. If that destination was my subspace, the residents could be in danger. Frankly, I didn''t trust this guardian. On a serious note, what kind of guardian had shadow manipulating abilities and traits? Only evil fellows and demons thrived within shadows. Guardians might be considered those standing on the side of good just like heroes. Reality begged to differ, just like that Hero King who recently lost both of his hands for being a baddie. Nothing was preventing guardians from collaborating with demons, nothing at all. I suppose people''s heart change with the passage of time. But still, it''s like this is all a show. All the world''s a stage... I''ll just play along and everything will be fine. My blessings are there for a reason. Alright! Let''s get this started! Just by analyzing the current situation, I could tell what schemes they might be trying to pull. Should I fail to stop a demon and allows a disaster to occur, I would become everyone''s enemy. Well, that was assuming the snake guardian would report my situation to the empire and whatnot. Heheh... You underestimated me. It''s a unfortunate day, eh, night for you. The snake guardians, in truth, was likely a single entity. Though I wasn''t quite sure how they managed to split up physically, with the energy links all the same connecting the shadow clones and the main body, their true identity couldn''t escape my sight. My best guess was that Slisthe was actually a manifestation of [Grim Phantasm] or perhaps a mixture of abilities and traits. The fact that |force| was visible on both perplexed me, but it might have to do with |entwined guardian| trait. "Kanoko, I''m keeping you in my barrier. A demon just showed up and there are reasons I can''t send you away just yet." Strictly speaking, after I said that, more was popping up on my radar. "Wait... A demon now?" "Stay vigilant." That was the last I said to her before I sealed her away in a multifold barrier that no demon or guardian could hope to penetrate. With the link severed to the clone within the barrier, it would remain dormant, unable to harm Kanoko. Even in the worst case scenario, a shadow clone wouldn''t hold a handle to Kanoko. However, just in case, I left a phantom strawberry inside the barrier. Chapter 121 "Now, the demon. I wonder who it is this time? Slisthe or Slizerine, I know you''re listening. Don''t get in my way and I won''t have to hunt you down. Now let''s get the show on the road!" As much as I would love to rid of these shadow clones hiding in my shadows, I had no idea how their ability worked. It was simply too illogical for someone who came from a technology or science based world. Five low level demons hovered at fixed points surrounding the sealing barrier. After leaving the temple, I could only see two of them, while the other three could only be sensed with my radar. Also, if it wasn''t for my celestial eyes, I doubted I could actually spot them under such gloomy environment. Now, just to get a perspective, the sealing barrier was covering an area the size of at least ten cities the size of Rotask, capital of the human country, Kingdom of Appallia. It was humongous. As if rehearsed prior, those five demons were constructing a glowing seven layered magic circle above the region with perfect coordination. Frankly, I was lacking in the magic theory department because I had no idea what those magic circles were for. "I''m guessing it''s for cracking the barrier? Slizerine, what are they planning to do exactly?" I asked the shadow under me while remotely searching for the core of the Abyssal Gate. However, the shadow clone remained silent. Fine, be that way! I''ll just snipe those demons out of the sky before they finish their preparations. I raised one arm, my index finger pointed at the nearest demon and my thumb pointed up. "Bang!" The next instance, a chaos bullet infused with corrosive energy penetrated the head of a dog faced demon. Following that was a freefall. "No scope! One down, four to go." Strictly speaking, that dog faced demon wasn''t dead. I didn''t aim for its core because it was just a minion. Next up is the fox demon. "Bang!" However, this time I wasn''t able to hit where I intended. Three of its tails became sentient and blocked my shot with a chaos barrier. Even so, I had the evolved version of |chaos| trait whereas they had the demo version of the special trait. Because of that difference, two of its tails went limp and was slowly being eaten away by corrosive energy. "At least try to dodge? Oh wait, if I don''t hurry up, it could get messy." My goal wasn''t to simply kill off demons. That wasn''t my intent at all. At best, I just wanted to test my new skills like chaos bullets and such on a live target. Toying around with demons was just for fun since they had caused me nothing but trouble. With no time to waste, I cloaked myself in my void barrier and bypassed the sealing barrier. Once I was out of the visible range of the snake guardians hiding in the shadows, I decided to erase the shadow clone with whatever method I could come up with. Removing the shadow clone from my shadow should be easy. I just had to douse myself with such brilliance that it could no longer stick around. That was exactly what I did. With nowhere to hide, a tiny black snake popped out scurrying around. "What a cute little thing..." I grabbed it with my hand as it tried to writhe its way out. Though, as hard as it tried, with a squeeze, it went poof. "Oh, so I can kill it that easily? And here I thought it would hide inside me if I shone some light on it. I guess it couldn''t... How very disappointing!" On the bright side, Kanoko shouldn''t be in any danger with such a harmless shadow stuck with her. I rapidly descended penetrating layers upon layers of eerie fog that seemed be the background for the colorful mists playing as actors narrating untold tales. With the name giving to this place by the locals, it made me wonder if someone had actually descended into this pit and made it back to tell the tale. "Abyssal Gate" truly was a fitting name. Minutes went by even with my current speed yet I had not reached the bottom of this pit. My goal wasn''t to reach the bottom but rather as deep as I could. Another demon had showed up to cover for the one that went out of service. The moment one of them supposedly died, another would show up a short while after. With some demons being capable of using fake bodies, unless I rid of the true body, it could keep creating false bodies much like how I could keep creating clones. If not for my celestial eyes and my enhanced void barrier, I would have probably lost my way down. It wasn''t just the strange mists and whatnot, with no gravity around here, even my directionality was getting a little fuzzy. Though, seriously, I had not anticipated the mana here to be this dense. It certainly didn''t seem that terrible from outside of the barrier. That itself proved just how powerful this sealing barrier was. Moreover, even demons when left unattended still couldn''t break it given this much time. I wonder who created this barrier? Surely... It couldn''t have been just one person? Echo, do you know? I mean, can you tell me? [This unique sealing barrier was erected by five heroes from the generation of the first Hero King.] No one bothered to upgrade it since then? [The knowledge was lost and the required traits were not passed on.] That''s just sad. Is there another way to stop the mana from flowing out? [Fill this crater via artificial construct.] Normally that would make sense. But seriously, this place is too big and the mana here too volatile. I can''t just fill it up with a single command. [Your subspace is an asset.] Cryptic aren''t you? Fine, in the worst case scenario, I''ll just swallow as much of it as possible into my subspace. Then I can just take my time converting it. While I descended, I did not forget to absorb and convert as much of these delicious mana as possible. However, no matter how much mana I absorbed, it hardly made a dent in the amount of mana gushing out. Feeling a bit unease, I picked up my pace to the fastest speed I could muster which was close to hypersonic speed. With the way things were going, the demons would eventually break the sealing barrier. Other guardians wouldn''t show up now that the snake guardian likely had communicated with them not to interfere. Eventually, at a certain depth, the density of mana outside was approximately the density of my own mana. If I accidentally released my void barrier, there was a good chance my body would dissolve in merely seconds. That was just how dangerous this place was. I think this is a good stopping point. I opened a portal within my barrier and connected it to my outer layer subspace. I had a feeling if I just went into my subspace, I wouldn''t be able to come back to this same spot. The space and time here was distorted by the unstable and volatile mana to that extent. The second layer of my subspace was still mainly my storage space. The soul library and the workshop was only a tiny part of it, both completely isolated from the rest of that layer. Unallocated mana I had collected via ability or trait was stored somewhere outside of my subspace to which I had yet to find its location. The system likely managed it somewhere. But, it was a different matter if I directly transferred mana through a portal into my subspace. A second portal was opened outside of my void barrier that protected me. Though, as expected, maintaining it was rather difficult. The unstable mana was tearing at my portal at unprecedented rate while it flooded my subspace. By tearing, I meant some part of the portal was being stretched out while other parts were collapsing. It was seriously an arduous task. Also, since I had excess mana, I was slowly testing my limits. To date, this was the biggest portal I had created that linked to my subspace. It was thirty kilometers in radius, truly gigantic. Yet, compared to the actual size of my subspace, the portal was quite small. If I tried to expand the portal any further, there was a good chance I might lose control of it. In the worst case scenario, it might accidentally connect with another world. There was also another method to rid of the mana but much slower. Lightsplitter was still in my possession. I could technically send all these volatile mana into the Netherworld as a temporary measure but that might end up causing irreversible damage to that world. Anyway, with the mana I was actively gathering from the Abyssal Gate, I decided to level up a bit more and if possible, receive some upgrades. I really needed another upgrade to |void| trait to be able to convert energy faster. Once my second layer subspace was fully saturated with the mana I had collected, I closed the portal outside. Just this alone should have alleviated some of the intense pressure felt the sealing barrier above. Notably, the mana pressure here had dropped to a fair degree, perhaps only half of what it used to be. Alright, let''s go level up. I should be able to return to this place from my subspace after. Chapter 122 I entered my subspace through the third or outer layer where only a simple battlefield was constructed. After adjusting the time flow of both subspaces, and in relation to the centre of the subspace where Smoothie was staying, I began converting the volatile mana into useable mana. With how much mana I had collected, it would literally take a year to convert all of them. I want to level up, but... Is there a faster way to convert all these delicious mana? [Yes.] How? [Insufficient qualification.] That''s just sad... Can you tell me the qualification? [You must possess |Force|.] Ah? That''s a bit tough. I''m supposed to nab a guardian somewhere and steal their trait? Well, if that''s what it comes down to, I''m up for it. Are there any other qualifications I need? [No.] Okay, great. I guess I''ll be off to hunt some snakes in a bit! Interesting. Fun, fun! Before I left my subspace for the hunt, I used up all the converted mana and absorbed them into myself to assist with levelling up. It really wasn''t much considering my current level. My spiritual stats increased by a bit while my physical stats remained constant because they were capped by the system. One of my biggest challenge now was to find a way to overcome the physical stat limit. My bet was that |force| trait should help me with it since it was the only special trait that was closely associated with the physical. When I returned to the outside world just above the temple, the scene I saw wasn''t as I had expected. Little did I know that those humongous floating islands were acting similar to pressure valves. With a reduction in mana pressure, the islands were slowly sinking back into the ground. Because I was little mischievous, I decided to cloak the interior of the sealing barrier with an illusion. Managing illusions on such a large scale was quite difficult not because the inherent size but rather the volatile mana interfering with my phantom construct. To the observers looking inward, the islands that were sinking were now returning to their original positions. "Fun, fun, seeing them all flustered just made my day!" The demons, still yet to complete whatever ritual or magic, had proceeded to the next phase or so I was made to believe. Those gigantic and ominous looking magic circles hovered in the sky. Energy was rapidly accumulating between the layers of magic circles. I really wanted to see them finish what they intended to do. After all, it made things all the more interesting. "I guess I''ll delay them a bit more." I chuckled to myself at the idea of toying with these try hard demons. Seriously, if this sealing barrier could be broken that easily, it wouldn''t haven''t survived to this age, with or without a guardian. With that said, I sniped two demons closest to me with a mixture of void and chaos bullets. This way, shields and barriers, they couldn''t block my attacks. The next instance, two demons fell from the sky. "Why am I so good at this?" Replacements usually took a few minutes to appear. With that time, I figured I''d best track down the snake guardian and strip him or her of that |force| trait. Hidden in my own void barrier, with my celestial eyes, I began tracing remnants of energy links lingering in the shadows. They were like threads of fate, intertwined and weaved in ever peculiar knots and patterns as if trying to deter me from locating the exactly position of the main body. Of course, I already had the general location but that was as much help as my radar could provide. What exactly is this shadow ability thing? Is it like a spatial ability? I don''t get it. [It is a spatial ability that operates below three dimensions.] Heck? Wait, then it''s almost like a subspace of its own then? Or maybe a proxy dimension? How am I supposed to track that thing if it''s not fully in this world? That''s a cheat... But then again all the guardians seem to have cheats. Screw this, I''m going all out. By going all out, I meant that by activating |dedicated one|. It was a trait that allowed me to unleash my potential hidden within every fiber of my being. Given how most of my soul energy remained untapped and idle after I had integrated them into myself, I had yet to utilize them properly. It was akin to having a brand new hard drive sitting around doing nothing. The only downside to this trait was the usage limitation. With consistent use, it would slowly but surely wear down my soul. Now with the trait activated, the scope, efficiency, and power of all my abilities rose manifolds. In addition, multitasking and simultaneous calculations would become second nature to me. Next, parallel and perpendicular lines formed in the approximate area where the guardian was. After the lines connected, black surfaces came into existence forming a perfect cube. All that happened in merely a second, that was to say, an area half the size of a city was shrouded in a perfect black cube. At that moment, the fate of the snake guardian was sealed. No one escaped my special sealing barrier, absolutely no one. Of course, I wasn''t going to search the entire cube. There was a better method, one that I had never tried myself. Before that though, I had to transfer out the barrier Kanoko was in to somewhere safe. Only once I confirmed that the snake hadn''t escape did I initiated my next step. Starting from the corners, the gigantic cube fragmented itself into smaller cubes. Since I wanted cubes that could fit into my hand, they were first split into a million cubes. Once that was done, the cubes began flying toward me in files. In the process, the smaller cubes again began to split into thousands, and then into more thousands until each one could snuggly fit into my hand. "This is quite neat, I suppose? Having more computational power really is something else. I''m learning new techniques every day. It''s just too bad I have to rely on that trait to use this technique..." I quietly murmured while observing this strange phenomenon as tiny cubes converged into my palm. Under normal circumstances, the cubes should have piled up. Yet, these tiny cubes only converged into a single cube, and the energy density needless to say condensed to unfathomable level. A moment later, the space that was just recently within the gigantic cube was now in the palm of my hand as a single small black cube. Inside contained the snake guardian, his shadow clones, and whatever else was originally in those cubes. "Hmm... I could capture the excess mana with this technique. Maybe not now...?" As much as I would love to rely on my high spec trait, I would hate to receive any backlashes. The last two times I used it, I didn''t feel any side effects likely because I didn''t use any powerful skills extensively. Anyway, I returned to my subspace posthaste with the black cube in hand. Once inside my subspace, I promptly processed the cube with the |dedicated one| still active. Otherwise, without it being active, I simply couldn''t interact with the contents within the cube, and if I messed up, it could potentially detonate. Come on... Condensed soul energy is such a hassle. My mind calmly initiated countless vigorous scans and analysis of everything contained inside the cube. Not a single piece of information was missed. The speed at which I processed all that information was just mind boggling. Before long, I was able to completely isolate the trait or traits I was looking for. One of them was |force| and the other was |shadow dweller|. However, the latter couldn''t be duplicated or removed due to the blessing this guardian had received. A god''s blessing wasn''t something I could tamper with. With that being the case, I forcefully removed the |force| trait and inserted into myself. Strictly speaking, I only removed one of the |force| trait it had. By doing so, the two entities, Slizerine and Slisthe, fully merged to being a single guardian that it used to be. At least, that was what the snake was originally based on my analysis of its memories. His ability [grim phantasm] functioned as I had previously speculated. A double could be split off and used like a main body. Although it was more powerful and sovereign than my clones related to the main body, it was restricted to only having one double with limited lifespan and operational range. Moreover, it could only exist where there were plenty of shadows and mana to sustain it whereas my clones could basically go anywhere they wanted to. All in all, the guardian temple where it resided was actually the ideal location for this guardian. All its secrets were exposed to me. In addition, I had analyzed the operating space of this strange shadow world. "Catch and release!" That was a phrase I often heard in a certain occupation. Funny enough, I was about to do the same. Since guardians could teleport to other fellow guardians, I decided only to release it after the dust settled. Thus, it would have to stay in the cube for a bit longer. With |force| now in my possession, I began using it to the utmost. Though, even if I didn''t have it before, my subspace allowed me to do much the same activities as if I had |force|. However, the difference was as clear as day, perhaps due to the naturally evolved form of |force| that came with my level. Manipulating forces of nature came to me freely. For one, I no longer required fey magic to float or fly. Fey magic was something that came with my original race but if I didn''t have it, I would have been stuck on the ground outside of my subspace. As the trait name suggested, I could control physical forces such as gravity to some extent. Creating black holes was still out of my reach but if it was within my subspace, I could definitely detonate a gravitational bomb with the aid of |creator|. Naturally, this trait allowed me to create force fields and things like that. I could throw a punch and amplify the force that would come from it. Likewise, I could also throw a punch and cancel that force. Of course, there were limits to the increase and decrease in forces. Next up, |force| could be used to strengthen my body. It wasn''t the conventional type of strengthening but rather resistance to alteration or change. This would allow my body to become nearly immune to magic and abilities that could harm or alter my body. With |force| enhancing my body to the limit, I decided to level up. Levelling up and whatnot, I was extremely familiar of the steps I had to take to maximize my stats. Currently, with |dedicated one| still active, I was able to convert the dangerous mana to neutral mana at an exponentially faster rate. Without further ado, time to level up! For real this time! Chapter 123 The road from level 60 to level 70 was slow and tedious, or so it should have been. Originally I was at level 58 but after integrating those measly mana of that faker, I was able to reach level 60. Then after integrating a bit more from the converted mana, I was able to reach level 62. Now that I had |force| and |dedicated one| both activated, I was able to jump from level 62 to level 75. All that occurred in the span of merely a few minutes within my subspace. In the process, I used up about half of the volatile mana that I had gathered from the Abyssal Gate. I felt like level 75 was a good stopping point. It wasn''t that I couldn''t keep going but rather if I levelled up too fast, there might be unforeseeable consequences aside from the possible side effects of using |dedicated one|. Once I was at level 75, I thoroughly optimized all my stats to the best of my abilities. Those that were originally capped by the system could now reach for new heights. Now to see my base status, I manually undid all my special enhancements, traits and abilities that affected my status. Base enhancements probably couldn''t be undone but it was worth the try. I took one deep breath and with my mind cleared of stray thoughts, I examined my status. To my surprise, the status displayed something different than I had bargained for. [Level 75 Celestial; Species: Veraine; Physical: 782/782; Spiritual: 898/898; Traits: Bewitching, Cautious Tactician, Creator, Dedicated One, Singularity, Limit Breaker, Enhanced Will; Abilities: Hypnosis, Subspace, Genesis, Celestial Eyes; Blessings: Enchanted Fate, Forced Destiny; Description: A divine being.] The previously capped stats for both spiritual and physical had all surpassed the first set of limits which was set at 499. Since these were base stats, albeit enhanced by my traits, the change was a significant upgrade, meaning my effort paid off! Speaking of traits, it seemed something nefariously happened to them. The three special traits or ascended traits had somehow merged into one single trait,|singularity|. After receiving an information download, I had a reasonable understanding of it. Basically, I still had access to the ones that were merged but with some added bonuses including a power up to all three traits when used together. Furthermore, it somehow became entangled with |creator| and the new ability [genesis]. This new ability [genesis] replaced the overused [creation] ability. With this, I could now create permanent constructs from mana outside of my subspace. Though, the mana requirement was outrageously high compared to the phantom constructs that I had been so fond of. Hence, I would likely continue using phantom constructs. In addition, [genesis] ability allowed me to now create life, living beings with tiny soul cores. The catch was, to do so would require me to sacrifice my own soul energy. What was more was that I was limited to creating living beings without self identity such as small plants, bacteria, mushrooms, etcetera. Technically, I could create more complex ones but I rather not split off good chunks of my soul. Anyway, I was ecstatic with this new ability. My home within the subspace could now be renovated with living plants! Not that I would immediately... I could finally replace the fake shrubs with the real stuff. Trees would have to wait until later when or if ever this ability receive upgrades. However, I doubted that I''d have another upgrade to this ability. If I truly wanted trees or animals, I could always import them. As for soul cores, with enough time given, they should naturally grow. Once they become sizeable, I could transplant them into bigger vessels like trees or whatnot. All in all, [genesis] was definitely a super upgrade of [creation]. Needless to say, [genesis] being a living creation type ability allowed me to provide healing to living things! It was a stress-free way of learning healing magic. Now, working in conjunction with |singularity| and |creator|, these two became a power house to be reckoned with. I now had the confidence to patch up the Abyssal Gate. At the same time, |dedicated one| trait still wasn''t satisfied. Perhaps I would have to become a true god in order to make the best use of it. Seriously, without this trait, most of my other traits and abilities would suffer extreme underperformance. Last but not least, there was this strange |enhanced will| trait. It apparently ate the other pure enhancement traits. Exactly what it entailed, no explanation was given. Nonetheless, the trait itself so far only enhanced all my of regular stats therefore it was of benefit to me. I could only speculate that this |enhanced will| might be related to one of the criteria set by the system to ascend to true god, not that I wished for it at this point. A wave of exhaustion overcame me while I was analyzing my status. This time, it seemed that |dedicated one| had overclocked my soul. However, I couldn''t stop just yet. |Dedicated one| would always used my entire soul as a collateral when activated. Unfortunately, it was either all or nothing. After extensive use, I would require time to heal and recuperate. It wasn''t something I could fix with magic. If I had a lifespan, it would have been drastically shortened. Thankfully there were no other effects, at least not to my knowledge. Let''s rest a bit after I clean up the mess at the Abyssal Gate. I''m tired. Echo, download the blueprints to me, I''ll patch this place up. [Understood. Accessing original blueprint... Copying... Transfer complete.] There were still plenty of volatile mana remaining in my subspace. With those, I began the construction of planetary tiles, as part of the planetary shell, using [genesis]. As I did, I opened a portal connected to the interiors of the Abyssal Gate allowing more volatile mana to flood in. As for the demons, penetrate this thick shell would be next to impossible unless they could hack the system. Currently, even a sealing barrier was too much for them to handle. Should they somehow manage to break that barrier, I could use that as an excuse to eliminate the demons. A bit of mana leak like now was perfectly fine with me. I could always clean that up later. It was a win-win situation for me. Anyhow, this daunting task was something only I could do. Certainly, calling it a godly project would not be an exaggeration. With power came responsibility, in an unpleasant way. Since these tiles were too large to be transported, I had to start small. I manufactured shards of crystals each the size of a small mountain, that once joined together would form megalithic planetary tiles. From what I understood, the entire planetary shell was constructed of the same material. Then, as for how a hole this large was formed, I could only guess that it was from a bad hiccup of the previous mediator or administrator. Echo wouldn''t disclose any details and I didn''t care enough to know. As I created the shards, they were at the same time being shipped out into the Abyssal Gate. And once I had enough, I left my subspace to find a good spot to began the next phase. Well, it had to be at the edges of the Abyssal Gate. Then, megalithic crystals in the hundreds began automatically assembling seamlessly. The Abyssal Gate was a gap that allowed planetary core''s pure unfiltered energy to breach the surface. In normal circumstances such as mana fountains, volatile mana would travel through the planetary shell and the earth above, bit by bit refined as it seeped above surface. Although I had never seen a mana fountain, I still would surmise that the mana even then would require some processing before it could be used for magitech. As for the leftover mana that couldn''t be used would probably end up released into the environment. That might be the reason why the Federation''s climate was less hospitable. Speaking of environmental disasters at the Federation situated at the northern part of this continent, should the need arise, I had the power to fix it. Though, knowing that the reptilians brought it onto themselves, they did not have my sympathy. Hence, I probably wouldn''t lift a finger for their cause. In any case, my work was slow and cumbersome even with the aid of all my traits and abilities. The amount of mana I was processing was absolutely astounding. If I didn''t have a subspace, this task of fixing the planetary shell would be impossible for me. Because of the amount of mana I had used to create these shell fragments, the density of mana at the surface had decreased by a significant amount so much so that the floating islands had completely sunk into the earth. Yet, the demons were none the wiser, stilling seeing the illusion I had created. They''ll be in for a big surprise! Ahahah! Now that the foggy illusions had mostly dissipated, I could actually see the edges of the Abyssal Gate. Piece by piece, I began attaching the planetary tiles to the planetary shell. As if they were magnetic, the instance one fragment neared the edge, it automatically hovered over and attached properly before becoming part of the whole. What was strange was that these fragments occasionally morphed their surfaces to properly fit with the other pieces. That itself made my job a bit easier since I didn''t have to be perfect when arranging them. As some archaeologists would say, it was so perfectly put together that not a needle could fit in between the seams. It was truly the work of a master! With the last piece inserted into the shell, I sighed with extreme exhaustion. I''m pooped... At this rate, I won''t even be able to lift my arms. Unfortunately, this was only the second phase of the project. The next step would have to be worked together with everything upstairs. So far, to prevent rocks and the floating islands from crushing me, I had kept them afloat with my own power. Thanks to |dedicated one|, I hardly noticed the tremendous energy I was expending on this task. Though, it was incomparable to the energy I spent on my primary task which was to repair the planetary shell. blanksphere Chapter 124 I wonder what''s taking them so long to break the sealing barrier? Do I have to lend them a hand? Seriously! Those incompetent demons... In real time, at least five demons had been hammering away at the sealing barrier over the Abyssal Gate for two hours no less. During that time, I had completed most of the work beneath the surface. Seriously, this was too much construction work for one day. The backlash from the |dedicated one| was more than I had expected. Of course, I didn''t neglect Kanoko who was still in my little bubble somewhere far away from all these construction work. After I squashed those tiny shadow snakes, I had Kanoko rest in her office. "What..." Flabbergasted she was, I disclosed the situation from the guardians to the Abyssal Gate to the demons. Somehow, she was witnessing history in the making. She was holding her head with both hands, "Berry... I think I''m getting too old for this..." "Is it time for your retirement?" I teased. "Retirement?" And so, I explained to her what retirement meant. "... It''s basically a super long rest." "A super long rest?" She sighed like an old woman, "I suppose that''s for the best. It''s time for young folks to take up the rein. Yeah..." "Let me know if you want to live in my subspace, Ataraxia. I''ll always welcome you there." "I''ll think about it." "Alright, I''ll be right back. I still have some work to do." Back at the Abyssal Gate, I created small ducts for volatile mana to steadily seep out from the planetary shell. The shell itself was impermeable and normally indestructible but I was able to work with it. For the layer above, I filled it up with alternating dense crystalline sand and aquifers which totalled up about a hundred kilometers in depth. They acted as energy regulators and converters for volatile mana. And finally, on the very top layer was a lake, likely the deepest lake on this continent. With all that done, the crisis had been averted. The volatile mana originated from the core of this planet. Perhaps it was better to call it the will of the world or maybe the will of the planet. The planetary shell contained the will to prevent the core from dissipating. Theoretically, the planetary core shouldn''t dissipate since it could self regenerate but reckless and power entities existed in this world. Not to mention, in the future, as civilizations advanced, they might start tapping into the planet''s soul as their energy source once they learned how to convert said volatile energy. Looking at the planetary shell and everything as a whole, it reminded me of a fey core. Anyhow, all that was left to deal with the clueless demons still trying to penetrate the sealing barrier. "You know what!? The tournament is going to start soon. I can''t have you delay this any further so I''ll give you all a hand." My exasperation knew no bound. With how much |dedicated one| I had been using, I was feeling groggy and annoyed. Actually, I still needed it to maintain for this mega illusion which was why I wanted to get this over with as soon as possible. Roughly speaking, I figured out what the demons were trying to do. At first I thought they were trying to penetrate it with super magic since I saw energy accumulating in those magic circles. However, that wasn''t the case because attack magic was prone to interruptions. What the demons were doing was deconstructing the sealing barrier. The easiest way to destroy a magical barrier was to destroy the basis of the magic itself. In this case, the floating islands acted as the base of this magic construct. Yet, those chunky rocks were within the barrier. Now, how the heroes created it was beyond me. They must have had some cheats. To deconstruct a magical barrier of this caliber would be equivalent to deconstructing several traits and abilities managed by the system. Of course, I could also copy and replicate a few of those but to a limited degree. Now, with five demons, I would say they''d need at least half a day to deconstruct this sealing barrier. For me, I had my |void| trait to do that which was superior to |chaos| in terms of disintegrating things. As for demons, they could either rely on |chaos| or an ability like [sage] to systematically dismantle the barrier by tackling its weaknesses. On a side note, demons generally had no access to world travelling abilities so I didn''t consider that possibility. Seriously, if they did, they wouldn''t dare causing trouble of this magnitude and risk losing it all. Demons kept minions for good reasons. I nearly became a minion thanks to that rabbit demon. After leaving the barrier, I tossed the black cube containing the snake guardian and his temple directly at the centre of the demons'' magic circle. Hehe... They never saw this coming. Kaboom! With a snap of my finger, the next instance, the tiny black cube or the cubic void barrier disappeared. Without the black cube containing the matter and energy inside, the content was only trying to return to its original size. And, since I released it smack dabbed in the centre of that magic circle, I completely overloaded it resulting in an explosion that rivalled a tactical warhead. Well done, me! What a beautiful mushroom cloud! Amen. If I had to be accurately describe the scene, it should be closer to an volcanic eruption. After all, rocks and boulders were raining down on the surrounding area. Regardless, this much damage was hardly enough to kill demons and guardians. It would injure them at best. In fact, the energy was mostly scattered and directed into the sky above. If it had been a concentrated blast directed towards a guardian or a demon, the likelihood of death would be much higher. Also, because there were no shadows for the snake guardian to hide, he likely took the most damage. However, he also boasted extreme high defense with the |adamant scales| trait meaning the damage was actually fairly minimal. An unconscious snake came crashing down into the still intact sealing barrier. "And just who in the world said the barrier couldn''t hold much longer? It''s obviously still going strong." I murmured to myself. The sealing barrier was to remain there acting as a deterrent for mischievous and curious ones from messing around in that area. With time, it should dissipate by itself. As much as I would like to collect a few cute demons, I refrained myself from it. They were too peculiar for my taste. Oortez and that future assistant of his was already more than enough on my plate. With my work done here, I removed the illusion and returned to Kanoko''s office. "Back! And, my work there is all done!" I excitedly greeted Kanoko who was lying in bed in her private room next door. It had only been a few hours since she last slept in my subspace but she seemed exhausted nonetheless. Speaking of exhaustion, I too was exhausted. Different from her exhaustion, my exhaustion wouldn''t go away with sleep. I waited a few seconds for a reply but she seemed like she was asleep. Well, it was still dark outside. I quietly snuck up next to her and rested my elbows on her bed. A huge grin was plastered on my face. One simply didn''t get to watch an ancient fey being sleep. "A soundly asleep Kanoko... How adorable! Ehehe." "How long do you plan to remain like that?" A voice came from Kanoko who should have been asleep. "Awwh... Why did you have to ruin the mood!? It was such a delightful sight for a tired soul." Her eyes shot open as if she had been pretending to sleep all this time. "Quit joking around. So, what happened?" I sighed in resignation. "Fineee... I''ll give you a rundown but please do not report everything to your superior, okay?" "I''ll be the judge of that," she said as she got up, already partially dressed, much to my disappointment. Frankly, there wasn''t much for me to disclose. I simply retold her everything from the moment I kept her inside my void barrier up to now, excluding some minor details. When I had finished, she seemed to have zoned out. I could totally understand why she zoned out though. Fixed up the planet all in a day''s work? Defeated wicked demons and fried a revered guardian with a custom made bomb? Not to mention, my level shot up again. "Kanoko, are you feeling okay? Do you need a hug?" I whispered to her with great anticipation. "Berry." "Yes, yes?" "I think I''m ready for retirement." blanksphere Chapter 125 With Kanoko''s retirement announcement, I was exhilarated. I could hardly contain myself. I can finally keep her to myself! Heheh... Victory is mine! "So... When are we leaving?" I asked. She raised an eyebrow, "Who said anything about leaving?" "Um... You''re not coming to my subspace? For retirement...?" "Maybe. After I finish my report, I think I''ll travel for a bit." "Aww... Are you going to look for your sister or kin?" Recently I had noticed that occasionally she would send some sort of telepathic message to someone. At first, I thought it was just a random burst of energy from her aura and didn''t pay much attention to it. But then, I also noticed it during our exchange with the snake guardian which I thought was quite strange. That was when I decided to further re-examine everything about her. Telepathic communication did exist in this world. Since it was possible for such an ability to exist, the possibility for a magic spell capable of the same also existed. However, I knew for a fact that Kanoko did not possess such an ability. And, given that I had observed the energetic bursts in her aura, it couldn''t have been a magic spell. The only other possible explanation would be an innate ability that came with her species. As for unique species of her type, the likelihood that it could be used to communicate with other tails and the main body was the highest, meaning, she was likely sending messages to her kin. Just earlier, I had confirmed that Kanoko had neither contracts nor blessings. This likely meant that she did it out of free will, or possibly out of concern for her sister. She froze with my sudden inquiry. "You... How did you guess?" Her voice raised, slightly surprised. Hit! Detective Berry strikes again! "Mm... You were sending messages to someone, were you not?" Since she was unable to answer immediately, I pressed on. "Anyhow, I don''t really care if you''re leaking intelligence to your sisters, to the demons, or whoever. We''re friends, are we not? If you need help with something, you can always ask me. I''ll do my best to help, okay? That''s what friends are for!" She murmured with a frown, "Berry, you really are something else..." "So, what''s it going to be? Rescue a girl from a wicked demon''s clutch? Defeat the demon lord? Prepare the greatest feast known to mortals? Go on an everlasting adventure? Well?" She smiled wryly, "Is that really okay? I''ve..." I placed my index finger to her lips, stopping her sentence midway. "I don''t have many friends so let me grant a wish of yours. How about it?" "Then... I wish to see her, my sister and my friend, once again." "Kanobi, wasn''t it?" "Yes. You said you''ve seen her once?" "That was a while ago. She was approximately the same level as you? I don''t exactly remember now and I don''t know exactly what relationship she has with that demon but there certainly was a contract involved. I can nullify the contract of others but only when an equivalent exchange of energy has been achieved otherwise the contract will continuously try to link the parties involved. Ehh... That''s a bit off topics but I''ll do my best to find her and allow you two to meet." Given how their race had the ability to transform, pinpointing her sister''s location might prove difficult. Following a contract link from De Planck might be the easiest way. "So she''s eaten..." That Kanobi girl certainly had quite a few tails despite her low level. It made me wonder if that was her true level. "Oh right, I did see a fox demon earlier." "What''s a fox?" "Sorry, I meant a demon resembling Reo-Ibanos. It had quite a few tails, in fact. Though... Eh... Ah... I kind of shot it down." Her eyes twitched. "You... You did!? Why didn''t you tell me earlier?" "Well, it was minor details! Seriously, demons are weak. All it took was one hit. Your sister wasn''t a demon, right? So it should be fine!" "You''re..." She palmed her forehead, "What am I supposed to do with you?" "Kanoko, you''re retired. We''re friends! Let''s not mind the minor details. Okay? That demon is still alive. There''s nothing to worry about, nothing at all." "We''ll discuss this later. I have to finish some paperwork and report everything that happened at the Abyssal Gate to the king. I''ll let him know I''ll be away from my position for some time. You have to attend the Selection Tournament, right? Usually it lasts for seven days. How about we meet back here in eight days?" Did she forget about it? Well whatever, I''ll pick her up after she''s done with work. "Kanoko, can you tell me if your sister has been receiving your messages?" She sighed melancholy, "If only I knew..." Whatever the case might be, I agreed with her proposal to meet back in eight days. That didn''t mean I would leave her to her own device for the next eight days. I secretly inserted an invisible tracker onto her fey core. As much as this seemed like an invasion of privacy, I felt that this was necessary. Also, as promised, I brought Smoothie along to the Selection Tournament in the Kingdom of Appallia. Nowadays, elves were not welcomed in this country due to issues of espionage and conflicts near the border. Words sure spread fast. For that reason, I slightly modified Smoothie''s elf ears to that of human ears. Likewise, I had to fake her status to that of a regular human child. Located at the centre of the city of Rotask was a battle arena similar to a coliseum. Tens of thousands, perhaps hundreds of thousands, of citizens gathered on this day to watch the ritual of selecting a new Hero King. Apparently, it hasn''t been leaked to the public that the current Hero King, Jaco Spiriard, had been injured in a battle just the day before. Only a select few was aware of the fact. Smoothie and I were seated in a boxed area reserved for influential individuals. This wasn''t some kind of arrangement I had with the Hero King. At the ticket office, I actually tried to get regular tickets for both of us. However, it seemed that the curious staff who examined our status after our elegant dresses had other ideas in mind. I for one was treated as a nobility or a hero due to my hidden status at a discounted price. As for how I managed to have some cash on hand, I pawned off some high quality water bottles and gems at a thrift shop. With that exchange, I ended up with a good amount of Appallia''s currency consisted of precious metal coins. Seriously, I had committed no crime. Counterfeiting was a severe crime in this country but I had not done that! I had only synthesized those gems with my ability and they were a hundred percent authentic! If I really wanted to make money, I could just open up my own bank and called it the World Bank. "Who do you think will win?" "Me!" I replied jokingly to Smoothie''s question. "Mother, I''m serious!" "Your ability doesn''t tell you?" "Heroes are special." "Then I wouldn''t know either. That''s why we''re here, to find out!" Out of all the contestants, there were only six heroes. Of the six, five belonged to the kingdom and one belonged to the resistance factions. These six were the stars of the show but they only made up a minority of all the participants. There were also healers and mages on standby. Anyone could guess what healers were for. The mages there were for operating magical barriers that prevented random attacks from injuring spectators. On an elevated and shaded platform extruded from the spectator seats, including the specially reserved areas was a throne where the Hero King sat. The female hero, Mae, was replaced with the Hero King''s exceptionally trained personal guards. The Hero King''s eyes and mine briefly met. Of course, I just smiled and nodded. It was just my way of saying, "don''t try anything funny" and remind him of his end of the bargain. His life was already in the palm of my hand. He seemed to have recovered. His hands, as I hadn''t expected, had fully regenerated. Whether that was due to high level healing magic or unique abilities, I had no idea. Either way, it was great that he was on public display unperturbed. With everyone seated, the herald or the speaker, announced the rules and provided a brief rundown of the match schedule. Unlike previous Selection Tournaments, this time around the Hero King only waved at the spectators. Regardless whether their great king made a speech or not, the crowd was feverously cheering with thunderous applauses. The Selection Tournament consisted of four brackets or four groups of participants. In the first bracket were the regular folks. They very rarely possessed notable abilities or traits. Some were capable of simple magic spells. The number of participants for this group was rather excessive. For that reason, they were thrown into four groups of battle royal. The victors would move on to the knockout matches starting tomorrow. The second bracket consisted of academy students, likely children of nobility and wealthy families who were eager to demonstrate their worth before the great Hero King. Either that, or they were forced to participate because of their parents, I wouldn''t know. Perhaps, participating in this tournament was a great honor. These were done in team battles. Those who stood victorious would move on to tomorrow matches. All in all, abilities and traits, plus the usage of magic was much more prevalent than the first bracket participants. In any case, it was after half way point that I found out via listening to spectators that only the last bracket was the actually Selection Tournament. I honestly believed everything as a whole was the Selection Tournament. Apparently, the matches for the first two brackets were annual events. They were included for the festivity. Anyway, it seemed that I still had ways to go when it came to intelligence gathering. Military folks made up the third bracket of the matches. Literally, everyone in this group had traits or abilities or both. Only the best of the best were selected to participate in order to display their valor and excellence in front of their king. A good majority had magitech prosthetics that enhanced their levels and stats. Anyway, there weren''t many participants in this group so it was all one on one fights. On a side note, the military folks were all reserves. The active duty members that participated in the recent invasion of Vera had nearly all perished around ten days ago. The culprit was obviously me but that was the old me! Honestly, to me, that had been super long ago. And finally, the last bracket was consisted of heroes. Actually, they were only introduced on the first day. We never got to see them fight, unfortunately. I guess the first day was just an entree. The main dish comes later. I''m alright with whatever as long as Smoothie is enjoying the show! Chapter 126 The first day of the Selection Tournament ended without a hitch. In other words, nothing impressive happened. On the evening of the same day, I took Smoothie along to check out the street vendors and local eateries. She was of course extremely delighted that I was spending quality time with her. With her new body came the ability to eat to her heart''s content. Certainly, I had Blueberry and Blackberry take care of her every need including her food but apparently she retorted with "food tastes better when eaten with those you cherish." The bars and restaurants in the city were all crowded. It was a time of festivity. Many people were loud and drunk. If I didn''t have Smoothie with me, I probably would have joined the fun despite not being able to get drunk. "Smoothie, do you want to rest at an inn or go back home?" "Will we come back tomorrow?" "Of course!" "And the day after?" "Yes!" "And after that?" "Yes, yes, and yes. We''ll stay here until the whole thing finishes if you like. But, I figure you''d get bored watching random people fight." "Yay! Then let''s stay!" So you can hog me all to yourself... With that being said, I was closely monitoring movements behind the scene. The resistance factions, secretly backed by prominent families and nobles, had plans to strike on the last two days of the Selection Tournament. If thing went haywire, I was going to bail the two of us out of here. I wasn''t going to interfere with a country''s internal affairs. Several resistance faction heroes were on standby around the city. They likely entered through secret tunnels or teleported in using magic circles. Either way, we weren''t their targets. The two of us stayed at an inn hidden in a remote area of the city. It took a lot to find an inn that wasn''t filled to capacity. The one we were staying at was mediocre but on the expensive side. I had actually had to haggle down the price a bit. My peerless beauty certainly played a role but I was able to accomplish a side objective which was to advertise strawberries. With a spoonful of my special strawberry jam in the owner''s mouth, I was able to establish a business relationship. Hehehe... Ahahaha...! You can''t win against sweets, mortal! Thus, for the next few days, I would supply strawberry jam to this inn exclusively. In exchange, I would receive heavy discounts for lodging and meals and drinks. That was to say, the first floor also acted as a tavern or bar that served alcohol in the evenings. Interestingly enough, he didn''t even question me where I got these strawberries from. If he had asked, I would have said it was discovered by a traveller on a remote island to the south of the continent. "Mother, why strawberries? Couldn''t you have used any fruit? Or really, anything?" "It''s a form of entertainment for me. Plus, people like new things right? I want to set a new trend!" "That''s so you!" After a bit of chat, it was time for her to sleep. "Can''t you put yourself to sleep?" She asked timidly. "I''m not sure if I''ll be able to wake up if I did." "Aww..." her expression turned sullen. "Don''t worry. Go sleep now, I''ll watch over you." "Nn!" The bed here wasn''t as comfortable as the one at home. The noises coming from the festive atmostphere certainly didn''t help either. To neutralize the noises, I enclosed the room within a soundproof barrier. "Much better." I nodded with a sense of satisfaction. Once I was sure Smoothie was asleep, I summoned Blackberry, the maid with jet black hair, into the room. Since she was me, we didn''t need to communicate verbally. Blackberry''s job was simple. She was to watch over and protect Smoothie. With a city filled with so many heroes, demons wouldn''t dare intruding. Even so, I was extremely cautious, providing Blackberry with ways to fend off demons and heroes for a short period of time. As for me, I wanted to fulfill my promise with Mera. In addition, I had to be on the lookout for Kanoko''s sister or friend. Only once all the promises had been fulfilled could I rest and sleep. Next destination, the elf country, the Sovereignty of Mist. Sorry, Smoothie, I''ll take you there later! It was kind of difficult to determine where Formere, the capital city of the elf country, was just looking from above. Trees, trees, and more trees, a sea of trees was all I could see in this region. Green wasn''t the dominant color either. In fact, majority of the trees had various shades of blue and purple. The whole spectacle to me felt quite magical similarly to when I first visited the palace hidden in the inner city of Vera. Well, perhaps it had to do with the timing of my visit. In the past long ago, I had been to places where plants altered the colors of their leaves depending on amount of sunlight were receiving. This phenomena was probably similar to that. Anyway, even if I couldn''t pinpoint the exact location of the city, I could still grasp the general location of this demon guardian. Needless to say, a country''s leader always governed in the country''s capital if it had one. Surveying just the forest itself, when I zoomed in, I could see a few elves strolling under canopies. Traces of condensed mana could be seen stored within certain types of trees that acted like batteries. Although individually the trees didn''t hold much condensed mana, when added together, they could become a powerhouse to be reckoned with. Moreover, because I had a bird''s eye view and a special sight that allowed me to see mana, I could faintly make out the intricate magical circles strewn across this entire region. In terms of total defensive and offensive capabilities, I could definitely see how low level guardians could be easily overwhelmed. "I see why he isn''t interested in this place... No technology he can tinker with. Though... the magic here is just mind boggling. I just hope they don''t have magic that can sever space." After contemplating on the best way to gather intelligence in this area, I decided to follow the same method as I did in Rotask, the capital city of the human country. The only difference this time, instead of flower petals, I scattered colorful leaves. "Come, O wind, be the ferry to my leafy plumes, be the messenger that carries the echoes across distant lands, for none shall evade the gaze of divine." I chanted, setting an mystical mood for the stage. Then, just as I finished, a gust of wind came, distributing them throughout the city. From here on out, it was a waiting game. My opponent or opponents must show that they were legitimate and that my interference was unnecessary whereas I only had to wait for my opponents to show their true color while researching the area for possible battle plan. Anyway, once I was certain of their true color, all that was left would be to send in Mera and prepare for the summon. In the best case scenario, someone else would come in and clean up the mess. The worst case scenario would be if Mera ran out of soul energy to fuel to contract. This meant that if possible, I would like to upgrade Mera''s fianc¨¦e into a guardian even though neither of us had a clue where he went into hiding. Little to nothing happened the entire night, to my disappointment. I actually couldn''t locate that guardian or demon or whatever. Anyway, now that I had the coordinates of the capital, I could teleport here any time. Due to the distance between Formere and Rostask, there was a time difference between sunrise. Even with sunlight pouring into the room, Smoothie was still snoozing away. Blackberry, on the other hand, who didn''t need to rest remained on standby watching over the sleeping child. "Isn''t she adorable with that sleeping face?" "Yes." Blackberry nodded. From an outsider''s point of view, two gorgeous ladies were chatting amongst themselves. "Hmm... Perhaps it''s time you received a separate soul core?" Albeit only miniature soul cores, I now had the ability to grant those. The one thing I was concerned with was the permanent fracturing of my soul. If I granted it a soul core, it might affect Smoothie''s original mission which was to send me back to my original world. Thus, I decided to refrain from granting soul cores to my clones at the moment. Though, technically speaking she already failed since Snowberry was nowhere to be found. Suddenly, an idea came to me. Mini soul cores? That means I can finally create alcoholic beverages! Ohhh...! Kanoko will be so happy! Actually, I wonder if she''s done with her work? A while back, she did agree to watch the Selection Tournament with us. Perhaps due to her work, she had forgotten about that promise. Since I knew where Kanoko was, I teleported next to her. "Good morning, Kanoko. Where are you heading off to?" "Eek!" "Don''t be like Mera. If you''ve already reported to the king about the Abyssal Gate stuff, come to the Selection Tournament. Don''t tell me you forgot about it?" "Ahh... That." "I... I don''t want to burden you." "Burden me?" I let out a soft chuckle, "You''re not a burden. Don''t give me that look. Pack up, and let''s go!" blanksphere Chapter 127 The second day of the Selection Tournament, things were finally heating up. The weaker participants were mostly screened out through team battles and battle royal. Obviously, luck was a notable component to battle royal. Those started at a bad spot could only blame their low stat. "Kanoko, is this your first time watching the Selection Tournament?" "I''ve seen it once when I was young." Just as she was about to start reminiscing of her past, I jokingly added, "You still look young though!" "Heh, you say that when you can also transform. Speaking of which, I never got the chance to ask before but how did your child become a mortal race? She was a elf and now a human?" "It''s a secret!" I grinned proudly. It seemed that I somehow piqued her interested. She raised an eyebrow. "Is that so? Then I''m guessing it has nothing to do with tampering with her status?" I cleared my throat and eyed her once, "I think we should focus on our match." "Oh yes." She understood exactly what I meant. Eavesdroppers and agents were among the crowd, needless to say. She probably just forgot about it in the heat of the moment. Today was the first day the heroes'' prowess were being displayed to the public. Each day there would be three matches of different heroes. This would last for three days. On the fifth day, there would be six matches between the heroes. On the sixth day, the top ranking heroes would battle once more before challenging the Hero King for his title. Last but not least, the final or the seventh day of the Selection Tournament was reserved for ceremonies and celebrations. Should troubles arise, it could technically go for another day. Over the course of a few matches, I was sort of picking up a few techniques here and there just from analyzing the participants. Melee weapons were the most used, including swords, spears, and gauntlets. That was followed by rearguard archers and mages in team battles between students. In one on one matches, very little magic was used. Most relied heavily on abilities and traits whenever possible. At the end of the second day of matches, I asked Kanoko, "How do you feel about these heroes? Which is the strongest to you?" We did see all of them fight one match today. However, because my standards were skewed, gauging their strength was a bit difficult. "I can''t say for sure. The guy with the red hair is the strongest? Maybe? Aren''t you the expert here?" "I''m no expert!" I refuted immediately. Crimson long hair, possibly dyed, was an unique hair color rarely seen in this country. His name was Gabriel or something and he wielded a mighty great sword. He wasn''t a beefy individual but I could tell he was very strong with a stoic personality. Although he was part of the country''s hero lineup, he was mostly holding a neutral stance in terms of politics. As a side note, his participation was solely due to nagging from a close friend. "He certainly has a very eye catching hair color." Then I jokingly added, "Oh Kanoko, if ever a mortal guy strikes your heart, I can make him immortal! Eheheh." In response, I received a dreadful glare from Kanoko, for reasons unknown. "Don''t ''heheh'' me! You shouldn''t use your power for something like that! Aren''t there rules?" "Fine, fine. I''m just looking out for you, you know?" "There''s no need." On the evening of the same day after the matches were over, I remembered to grab that bottle of strawberry juice from my room in Vera. Unfortunately, as hard to believe as it was, there was already black moulds growing on the surface of the liquid. "Smoothie!" I hugged her tightly as I begged her for her assistance, "Help me make some alcoholic beverages please!" As powerful as I was, I had no clairvoyance ability to see into the future. It was completely beyond me. Thus, I needed the assistance from my adorable daughter, specifically her [sage] ability. She should be able to use a little bit even in her current form or perhaps she''d let me borrow it for a bit. By the way, the hug was meant to be a bribe. She was a bit startled but nodded in silence. Though, Kanoko was glaring at me with stern disapproval, the alcoholic beverage was actually intended for her, seriously! With Blackberry looking after our room at the tavern, Kanoko, Smoothie and I entered Ataraxia, my subspace. It had to be done this way because I planned to speed up the fermentation process. We were in a specially constructed room just for the purpose of brewing delicious alcoholic beverages. I was standing before a long table with dozens of bottled special drinks. Earlier, I had already learned the nitty-gritty of wine brewing via my intelligence network in the city while everyone was watching the matches. Seriously, those were boring matches. Anyhow, the first goal was to identify any microbes that could be used to start the fermentation process for strawberries. "Smoothie, you''re up!" I began creating clumps of different microbes and adding them into all the bottles. "Wait, why am I here?" Kanoko, feeling out of place, asked. "You''re the taste tester of course!" "Ehh?" "What, you look surprised. You asked for it, remember?" She placed a finger on her chin. "Ahh... Yes... But I didn''t think you''d seriously consider it?" "The result is as you see. I''m doing my best! See, I even evolved and levelled up because of your request, you know?" "Now you''re making feel guilty..." "You know I''m joking, right?" I grinned knowing that she was pretending to sulk. "Mother, Mother, I''m done! It''s this, this, and this..." Smoothie budged into our conversation immediately after her [sage] did the calculations and predictions. That ability sure is convenient, maybe I really should transplant it onto myself? No. No. Absolutely not! "Thanks Smoothie." I erased the bottles of juice that would have spoiled and processed the remaining. It took quite some time to make the preparations but I was able to obtain the final product in an hour. After all, there were more steps to that than just fermentation. While I was brewing strawberry wines, Smoothie and Kanoko were both examining the process diligently. It was probably a trade secret but as an administrator of this world, there was no such thing as trade secrets in my eyes! Well, I wasn''t about to go around and spread it to every household. "Lo and behold, strawberry wine! Kanoko, you''ll be the first person ever to taste this world renowned extravagant drink!" I poured several cups of strawberry wine. "Oh okay. You know I''m not an expert, right?" "Oh Kanoko, I know full well how you secretly snuck out of your office occasionally during the night to drink. Yes, yes, and then using magic to detoxify your body..." I nodded along while nonchalantly disclosing her secrets. "That''s... Stop! Okay I get it!" She sighed with resignation, "I''ll taste test them." Hmm? My bluff worked? What? I certainly did have an idea to what kind of magic she could use and that she occasionally snuck out. To think I hit the jackpot so easily... Who would have thought? Anyhow, one by one, she savored each and every cup of wine served before her. The alcoholic content should be similar, and none of them were the strong type that could knock one out in a single cup. But still, to find myself before a judge was a bit of a first for me. "Well...? Verdict please." Following that question, like an expert, one by one she pointed out the flavors held in each cup. Of course, now that I became a wine producer, I took detailed notes. After that, when everyone was asleep, I experimented with mixing different microbes together and adjusting sugar levels while also varying the alcoholic contents. It really was a lot of work! In fact, I stayed up all night to create as a few variations that likely suited Kanoko''s taste. Likewise, I also brewed a few variations that were likely deemed marketable. Anyway, in the next two days, the alcoholic beverages were finalized. I casted them into barrels and readied them for sales and shipment. My first target was going to be the bar on the first floor of the inn we were staying at. However, the few customs here were on the poorer side, at least by my standard. I figured marketing wine and liquor made from strawberries might not be the optimal approach. Thus, I decided to wait until after the Selection Tournament to advertise my products to the high class bars and restaurants. I considered it a fair play if I managed to become a successful merchant and entered high society. Then bit by bit, I would be able to manipulate the world through my networks without using my admin status therefore bypassing the non-interference rules. Of course, for now, drinks were on me! blanksphere Chapter 128 I would like to say that intelligence gathering had been progressing smoothly in Formere, the elven capital city. For some strange reason, I was having terrible luck track down the one I was looking for. In other worlds, I still didn''t know where that fake guardian was. Mera who was only too eager to finally get her turn as she began supplying me with detailed information regarding Formere. Strictly speaking, the information she had was outdated. However, because elves weren''t the type to develop their nation very rapidly and likewise generally lived slow lives, the information provided was fairly accurate. In any case, I planned to gather as much information as I could before the end of the Selection Tournament. If I tried to multitask too much, I might blunder somewhere and cause irreversible damage. Oh right, I still have to visit the Highlander Emperor, hopefully soon. I should probably visit the leader of the Federation as well. Can''t have a negotiation about the war with only one side. Now that the Abyssal Gate was no more, it couldn''t be used as a reason for war. Obviously, there was no reason why the reptilians would believe the other side. But with witness testimony from someone like me, they should at least call for a temporary ceasefire. As a bonus, I was hoping to restore some desolate lands in the Federation if they should choose to have a peace treaty. Normally, healing the land should be a job for the inhabitants, be it heroes, demons, or guardians. In the case of the Abyssal Gate, since it was something only I could resolve, I had a duty to see to the end of it. Likewise could be said about the wastelands in the Federation. However, I would give them a stern warning about preserving their land should I assist them in restoring their land to their former splendor. On the fourth day of the Selection Tournament, I began to notice disturbances among the resistance factions. The intelligence department under the Hero King was also aware of the same however the Hero King chose not to act at this time. Interesting...Not. He''s more obedient than I expected. Perhaps he knows I''m holding onto his life? Or, maybe he has other cards to play? I don''t know what goes on in his head. The power ranking of each of the six heroes was gradually being revealed. The one from the resistance faction was likely to remain in second place. In terms of appearance, I would say he was slightly above average. With tanned skin and dark hair, he was typical of the native populace. In terms of strength, I would say he was a remarkable warrior. His name was Atosh, probably. His weapons of choice were two large scimitars. Since I wasn''t a martial artist, I couldn''t say much about his fighting style other than it was quick paced, and kind of clunky. Tying also in second place was that crimson haired guy, Gabriel. His strikes were heavy, apparently, and he also employed elemental magic as part of his combat kit making him something like a magic swordsman. Though, he still seemed to lack any resolve even after making it this far. Currently sitting in the first place was a charismatic fellow, Waburne. His charisma had allowed him easily gained the support of the populace. Extravagant armor, beautiful sword and shield, plus flashy elemental magic, there was no way the crowd wouldn''t favor him over the others. Those favored by the crowd naturally had the upper hand when it came to heroes. Knowing that, one''s wealth certainly played a role in this tournament. The other three heroes were powerful in their own ways. All I could say was that one on one duels on an open field wasn''t everyone''s forte. Perhaps they would shine more in team battles. Speaking of which, there were no female heroes among the six. It kind of felt a bit unbalanced. Thing were getting hectic in the human capital city on the evening of the fourth day. Based on my own observations, a total of fifteen heroes were present, including the Hero King. As for the country''s intelligence department, they recorded something like over twenty heroes in Rotask. That was of course because a few suspicious individuals were able to hide their status using magic items or otherwise had unique traits. Strangely enough, I found a hooded hero pretending to be a civilian. He was somehow able to create a fake status to fool the guards and operatives. It was difficult to tell which faction he was from nor his intent since he had only showed up on the fourth day. There really was no information about this individual prior. Since I was a bit curious about this individual, I decided to observe him closely while I had dinner. "Anyone up for strawberry shortcake?" Sure there were tons of variety of foods here in Rotask, but I felt that occasionally trying my specialty would be refreshing. After all, for the past four days, three days for Kanoko, we had been eating nothing but local cuisine. Excuses aside, sweet foods were relatively expensive so I was thinking of being a bit thrifty on that end. "Yes, yes! Me!" Smoothie raised her hands like an overexcited elementary school student. "I''m fine with it." Kanoko nodded. Three of us sat around a round table inside the inn. We had just finished our dinner provided by the inn in the dining area, so naturally it was dessert time. By the way, Blackberry was standing because she was acting as a maid. It wasn''t like she could tire from standing. "Here it comes!" Just like that, I created three large slices of strawberry shortcake, with plates and forks. As a special service, I had a small jar of strawberry syrup and drizzled it on each slice of cake as artistically as I could. "Mmm..." A few onlookers were dazzled by this magical moment. However, I paid them no attention. "Dig in!" Smoothie was the first to dig in, like a glutton. "You know, Berry, I don''t think I''ll ever get used to how you create things out of thin air." "Want to know my secret?" I beamed a dangerous smile. "Ehh... No thanks, that might ruin my appetite." "Good. Eat! If you want seconds, just ask. I have plenty to go around." I paused, then added, "Oh right, your drink." We had successfully brewed the perfect strawberry wine for Kanoko. Since I liked the flavor as well, I had them permanently stored in my [creation] database. That way, even if the recipe was ever lost, I could replicate it perfectly. A glass of strawberry wine appeared before her. Normally I would have just created a bottle of wine, but since we were in public, I created proper wine glass for the occasion. After that, it was a glass of wine for me, and fruit juice for the kid. "That''s very thoughtful of you." To Kanoko''s approving remark, I agreed readily with, "Yes! I''m a very thoughtful person!" Immediately after that, Smoothie asked for seconds. Coincidentally, that lone hero with the fake status was making his way towards this inn. He was apparently searching for a place to stay. While he did, he was quite vigilant of his surroundings, checking frequently the presence of hidden operatives. He wore a dirty brown mantle with a hood that covered most of his face. His efforts were praiseworthy but his actions were too noticeable. If he just acted a bit more normal, I wouldn''t have bothered checking his status remotely. Regardless, he was being trailed by one operative. Technically speaking, the three of us were being monitored as well, four if the maid could be counted. I personally didn''t mind since they would only get a glimpse of my power. Minutes later, the hero pretending to be a civilian found his way into our inn. Given the location of the inn, he either knew the city''s layout or had amazing luck because outsiders would likely never find this place. Seriously, I had quite the trouble locating an inn with rooms open in the city. Although there were a few open rooms in the slums district, I was too concerned with sanitations and hospitality of those places. Now, whether by design or something else, this inn we were currently could only be accessed via back alleyway that ran between buildings structured like a maze. If it wasn''t for my three dimensional tactical sight, even I could get lost. "Tonight''s special." That was his order after securing a room to stay. He sat on a stool facing the bar. Moments later, the bartender slipped him a glass of strong alcohol. This man extruded a dangerous yet slovenly aura, like someone who had just returned from hell, not one befitting a hero. His facial hair hadn''t been shaved for a week or two, but his eyes were filled with desire and resolution. He wasn''t that old, but perhaps because he hadn''t cleaned himself recently he seemed more aged then he actually was. With my eyes, I could see hidden in his pocket were weapons powered by mana used by the military. It was something like a pistol. I wonder if he''s a retired soldier? A chat wouldn''t hurt. "I want to have a chat with that guy over there. Be right back." "Okay." Smoothie nodded. Kanoko shrugged and said, "Sure, I don''t mind." Chapter 129 As usual, the inn tonight was fairly quiet, with little. The first floor which acted as a bar and reception was mostly empty as usual. Including my group of four and excluding the staff working here, there were only eight people on the first floor. As for how the establishment managed to stay in business, frankly, I wasn''t interested in their underground activities. "I''ll have tonight''s special as well." I took a seat next to the unnamed scruffy hero. He simply ignored me while sipping liquor from his cup. What''s with this atmosphere? It''s like I just entered into a classic move. How clich¨¦! But I like it! Neato. I''ll start the conversation after I get my cup. The bartender was a different person from the owner of the inn. I was familiar with the owner because of the little business deal we had. Honestly I had little expectation of this strawberry jam business budding in this remote location but an entertainment was an entertainment. Once I received my cup of strong alcohol, I took a small sip. The mood was just right. "Hey mister hero, care to chat?" I whispered sweetly. His movements froze all of a sudden. Hahah, oops? That''s a good reaction, maybe I should have just called him ''mister'' instead. He''s supposed to be incognito. "Relax! I''m just curious if you''re here for the party." "You..." "Hm? Oh by the way, I''m not on either side if you know what I mean. Ehehe, now it''s your turn to talk. Don''t be shy." I giggled with a flirtatious wink to see if I could charm him. Being a little playful here couldn''t hurt. "Mind your own business!" He grumbled after recovering from his earlier shock. It seemed like I managed to soften the mood a bit. "Lose lips, sink ships, I see. By the way, even if you covered yourself with a cloak and a changed outfit, that weapon is only for military personnel. Some might get the wrong idea, you know?" So far, there were no signs that he was receiving any instructions from the kingdom, unless he had received them prior. That possibility was slim or next to none since I had no corresponding intelligence from the kingdom itself. Contrarily to what I had expected, the man only nodded, "duty noted," before he gulped down the entire cup and heading to his reserved room. Unfortunately, I couldn''t get much more information on him. He had used an alias, "Ruudra," to reserve a room for himself. "I guess it''s time for us to retire as well." The four of us returned to our room. Because I had anticipated a surge of activities in the capital, I had the three of them stay in Ataraxia for the night. That was the safest option. While I was waiting for the long night to pass, I snuck behind one of the agents monitoring me from a nearby building. "Hey Mae!" I tapped her shoulder lightly. Out of reflex, she spun around with a dagger swiping an arc inches from my neck. Thankfully, she didn''t follow through the moment she noticed I was the one. "Quick reflex!" I exclaimed. I certainly had no such reflexes. "What business do you have with me?" "You''re one in charge of intelligence, right? You don''t need to deny it. Let''s get down to it then." I passed onto her information regarding the Abyssal Gate. Since it was a secondary objective of the war against beastfolks, they would have to re-evaluate their potential losses in the war. I also advised her that their army that attacked Vera was completely wiped a while back and I had contributed to it as an act of self defense. Naturally, they had already received intelligence regarding the loss itself but I just wanted to add some salt to the wound. Entertainments were hard to come by these days, especially during these long nights. When morning came, to my disappointment, neither the resistance factions nor the kingdom made any moves. They remained vigilant while monitoring each other''s activities. It was quite strange that the kingdom faction had not snuffed out the resistance factions in its earlier stages. Anyway, since neither side made a move, their plans were postponed. Well, it was only a matter of time. My goodness, the suspense is killing me. Maybe I should just ignite the spark to speed things up... The Selection Tournament continued on until the sixth day without disruption. The matches between regular folks had finished on the fifth day with little to note. The winner was a swordsman who was single handily striking opponents down with quick slashes in the blink of an eye. If guns were permitted in their matches, perhaps the result might have been different. The team fights between students was concluding today. Both individual talents and teamwork were essential in their matches. "With teams like these, fey beast subjugation should be fairly simple, right?" I sent my inquiry directed at Kanoko. "In the past, it was teams with talented individuals like these who went to subjugate dangerous fey beasts. Nowadays, I believe it was more for prestige." "I guess that makes sense. Not many would send their young ones out there. The military does the subjugations... How sad! The thrills of adventuring in the vast wilderness, no more." Military took over majority of subjugation requests or missions around the time the current Hero King came into power. Before then, specialized hunters and mercenaries would be dispatched for these high paying jobs. As towns became cities, naturally the trend continued. With the military becoming more prominent, specialized hunters and mercenaries would be forced to eventually move out of town or find other jobs. This in turn only allowed the military to further its growth in order to protect the country''s citizens. Her gaze suddenly far away, "Changing times. I remember back when I had to participate in subjugation missions. Many were challenging, certainly, but the feeling you get from defeating foes sometimes thrice my level was quite exhilarating." "Exhilarating? Want to spar with me sometimes?" I asked with a chuckle. That was apparently enough to pull her back to the present. She grimaced and replied, "No thanks! I''m not a punching bag for you." "Aww... Kanoko, don''t be shy. I''m a novice... And I''ll be gentle with you!" She placed a finger on her chin, "Mm... My skills have deteriorated, so no." "Fine, fine..." I reluctantly gave up. After the military group finished their final match, it was time for lunch. There was one thing to note with magitech prosthetics. It was that they seemed to not only increase the users'' levels but also added various combat abilities to their status. Though, these abilities didn''t seem strong and only a select few could be added. Speaking of the military, the number of soldiers patrolling within the capital had increased manifolds. Confrontation was expected to occur at any moment. Someone, the spark, any moment now... Any moment now! Anyway, the afternoon schedule was solely for the heroes to shine on the stage below. If the resistance factions still refused to make a move and get their own heroes up there then the chance of resolving this peacefully would basically cease to exist. For lunch, we had brought lunchboxes with us this time. In the past few days, we bought our food from nearby food vendors but Smoothie was getting bored of it. She praised my cooking skills so I ended up preparing her lunch this time, packed full of my love! Doting on my adorable daughter!? What is this fluffy feeling...? I''ve been charmed...? It''s my first loss. So be it! Thinking that, I packed in a few extra desserts for her. Kanoko, on the other hand, wasn''t as fortunate with her lunchbox. As we sat together enjoying our lunch, a historical event was unfolding beneath the battle arena unbeknown to the spectators above. In short, negotiation had failed spectacularly. Now, going back a bit... If things had continued the way it was going, the Hero King would decree Waburne his successor. Waburne was the hero who had placed first in the Selection Tournament so far. In terms of wisdom, knowledge, and charisma, he was almost comparable to Jaco Spiriard. Strictly speaking, I would say Jaco Spiriard was an extremely competent leader if he wasn''t so underhanded and twisted. Then again, many great leaders in ancient history were considered psychopaths, at least where I was from. Someone of his caliber was difficult to find. Currently, still in second place was Atosh, the sole hero that represented the resistance factions. In the afternoon, because he was still in second place, he was permitted to challenge the first place one time to take his spot. However, if he did that, he wouldn''t have enough strength to challenge the sitting Hero King. From his point of view, the Hero King would never yield the throne to someone from the resistance factions, meaning there would have to be a formal duel. In that sense, a challenge was pointless because he had no confidence he could win. The heroes'' rankings were decided on the end of the fifth day. At midnight, negotiations were carried out between members of the resistance factions and several heroes. Since they weren''t taking any actions, I decided to listen in. Patience was running thin for many of the backers of the two resistance factions. Monetary aid didn''t gush from a fountain. Various wealthy merchants, underground organizations, and even nobilities were risking their lives for the sake of this movement. It had been decades and little progress had been made. As things continued the way they were, it was only a matter of time before they were all found out. For that reason, they believed this was the best opportunity to risk it all. It was gamble for their lives. Disguised militia groups and hired mercenaries were all on the ready within the city, ready to act at a moment''s notice. Yet, getting all the heroes from the resistance factions on board with their plan was the toughest part. The heroes who had gathered weren''t completely aware of everything going on in the kingdom, nor were they united in their hearts. Some heroes were young, passionate, and naive, while others were afraid to fully commit. In the end, this was the main reason why no actions were taken in the night. Originally resistance faction leaders planned to storm the Hero King''s palace but somehow not only were most heroes there against it but also information was leaked to the kingdom just days prior. The leaders of those two factions were simply incompetent, at least from my perspective. While many were noble in heart, they weren''t able to raise any talented individuals capable of proper management and planning. Needless to say, a few backers had definite ulterior schemes. The consensus was this. On the sixth day, before the match, one level beneath the area where the Selection Tournament was taking place, a negotiation took place. Waburne, being a stubborn man could not be swayed by blackmail and bribes after failing to be convinced otherwise, stood his ground. He was aware that he would be named the new Hero King, or at least, that was the word. The resistance factions, of course, managed to obtain this information. Though, they believed it to be disinformation intended to dissuade the resistance from taking action and cause disharmony between the two resistance factions. One faction only supported a change of Hero King. The other faction, albeit smaller group, wished to completely eliminate the Hero King position. This meant that the resistance factions were about to split and become opposing factions. Of course, there was also discontent within the pro Hero King faction that wished for a new Hero King. Some were afraid that the new Hero King would simply become a puppet of the current one. There was a saying, "meet the new boss, same as the old boss." That was what the anti Hero King resistance faction was afraid of. Moreover, as if to fan the flames of unrest, someone seemed to be purposefully spreading rumors from within that the kingdom was secretly backing the pro Hero King resistance faction. Because of that, tensions were rising, and trust between the two factions had plummeted. As it stood, the anti Hero King resistance faction had to devise ways to take advantage of this momentum to force changes within this country. To do that, they decided to assassinate the first rank hero, Watburne, thereby forcing the kingdom to take action. They were just that desperate. At the end, all sides would be exhausted, and the chance to eliminate the Hero King position completely through politics would become possible. Or at least, they had plans to make it happen. Alas, as things currently stood, the assassination attempt had failed but the goal was accomplished. This event became the spark for a major confrontation between the resistance factions and the kingdom forces. It''s too complicated. I hate politics. Simple lives are the best. Chapter 130 At first, the spectators had remained completely oblivious. There were no signs of conflict above the surface. Although this city was littered with underground facilities, it wasn''t nearly as densely packed with them as Vera. One. Two. Three. Three flares disguised as celebratory fireworks illuminated the sky. Well, it was a poor disguise for what was to follow. Seeing the three flares, I said, "I think it''s about time we leave." "Why? Aren''t we waiting for the finale?" Kanoko asked. I turned to face Smoothie who was stuffing her mouth with fried food, "Smoothie, can you use your [sage] ability?" "Huh? Kind of... It''s not as it used to be." "I see. Alright, Kanoko, let me explain then. The matches are cancelled. There''s a battle for the throne, a civil war right under the arena before you. The fireworks you just saw are flares are signals to action." "Are you sure about that? No, since it''s you, it must be correct. Then let''s leave. I don''t want to burden you with my safety." With that said, I sent Kanoko, Smoothie, and Blackberry back to Ataraxia while I remained on the scene. There was nothing for them to be gained by staying here. Hmm... What should I do? Nothing! I''m an observer. Clashes between soldiers and heroes and mercenaries became a common sight on the streets of this prosperous city. Although the heroes on the resistance faction normally would be at a power disadvantage, since they were fighting against tyranny and since this was technically also their home country, the power scale was now rebalanced by the system. Now that the heroes were now fighting on equal footings, the proper usage of tactics and leadership would play a major role in tipping the war to either side. While civilians were panicking left and right and fights breaking out everywhere, I found myself calmly sipping tea back at the inn. "You''re quite calm yourself." The bartender remarked while quietly polishing glassware with a fine cloth. I wonder if he''s really okay not lifting a finger to help his acquaintances fighting for their lives? I guess intelligence gathering is his specialty. The owner of the inn had already hid himself somewhere. That action itself spoke of how confident he was with the resistance faction he had allied with. "I suppose. Which side do you think will win?" "I am merely a bartender. My job is to serve drinks to customers." "Right, a bartender. I believe things should settle down by evening?" Jaco Spiriard had returned to his palace safely. While reports were coming in, he issued orders to military commanders and heroes who were on standby. The reserve forces were all put into action, including the newly displayed magitech enhanced super soldier units. Oh boy... Oh boy. Cyborg units. They were ready to begin with... I''ll just sit back and enjoy the show. To me, it didn''t matter who won and who lost. As long as the new leader was someone who could be reasonably negotiated with, I would be content, Hero King or not. It was important to note that with nearly all the heroes from this country now concentrated in the capital city, the rest of the country was now lacking defense against foreign invaders. Suppose half of these heroes died and the military half crippled, some cities might end up collapsing from monster invasions. Demons were sure to cause a ruckus somewhere and make a profit. As a matter of fact, I didn''t see why they wouldn''t try to destroy this city in the midst of utter chaos. Let''s see if any demon shows up... That... Why did I have such a thought? When I had noticed, it was all but too late. The city streets were dyed with the color of red. Refuges were fleeing the city as the war slowly came to a somber respite. I completely forgot that demons could manipulate humans and mortal races to carry out their evil deeds. The demons themselves never needed to be present themselves. A second sun shone for a brief moment. On the outskirts of the city, in the direction where the secret research facilities were, a mushroom cloud displayed its majestic plume. The explosion''s devastating shockwave had flattened countless buildings across the city. Wind howled and the earth shook. And soon enough, debris came raining down like hail. Ah... I should have known... I''ve blundered. I''ve messed up big time... I should have observed their research a bit more. Within their secret research facility, I had not personally inspected the south wing. Though, I had a gist of what was stored there. At that time, I didn''t believe anything dangerous was being researched. Sure there were some strange energy signatures but this world had magitech and mana and magic. There weren''t any inhumane projects being conducted in that area so I had neglected it. For a researcher to have developed it and released it at this time, the demons or reptilians must have had a hand in it. There was simply no way humans could advance this quickly on their own unless ancient knowledge was dug out from hidden ruins. Without wasting another precious second, I teleported into the research facility where all the harvested mana gathered into a single core. Phew... It''s still safe. Barely. That supercondensed mana core remained in that room, glowing vividly. This was probably one of the most secure section of this facility. This area was sealed off within multiple barrier and durable walls that no demon would be capable of penetrating using force alone. If not for my unique traits, I wouldn''t even be able to teleport in. To be blunt, this was many times more durable than typical nuclear bunkers. However, even though there was no direct damage to this area from the explosion, something unexpected had occurred. The supercondensed mana core was somehow contaminated with volatile mana, the dangerous type that seeped out from mana fountains. How did that happen? Simple, mana from all over the world was being channeled into this room. Before the channels could be promptly shut off, a bit of it from the south wing leaked into one of the mana channels. Currently, the scientists here were busy trying to stabilize this tremendous lump of mana before another disaster could be realized. Whether it would be enough to wipe the city above off the map, that was unlikely. They had taken necessary precautions, thankfully. For now, I decided to observe. In the event they couldn''t stabilize it, I would snatch it for myself. While thinking that, I found signatures of demons in the vicinity. Tch... I guess De Planck isn''t in control? What happened to trying to become a true god? Pathetic! ... Unless they''re trying to gain more contract minions? Do they even have a plan? Don''t tell me he''s just abandoning it for now and going to restart it again later? Or could this all be a distraction and I was fed false information? Don''t tell me, even demons have factions? I really don''t understand demons. Anyhow, I didn''t need to understand what the demons were up to. Each time they tried anything funny, I would just smash their plan into pieces. As much as I disliked them, they served their purpose in the grand scheme of things. If only they didn''t cause civilizations to collapse, I would have applauded them. Due to my phantom clones being annihilated by the earlier shockwave along with many buildings, I had lost visuals on a good portion of the ruined city. For some reason, instead of teleporting out to immediately deal with the demon, I decided to teleport above the city to grasp the overall situation. "Oh boy... What a disaster..." I murmured to myself, half speechless. With this explosion, the military base to the northeast was now completely out of commission. A gargantuan hole had opened up. A quarter of the city was completely devastated. That much wasn''t a surprise. The demons were actually inside that hole trying to forcefully penetrate into the other facilities by any means necessary. Well, strictly speaking, they weren''t all demons. There were also minions from various races, including humans. Within the city, what appeared to be fey beasts were being summoned one after another through magic circles engraved on wooden carts used by merchants and on the ground within warehouses. "Are you serious...!? Who''s idea was it to do that now?" I retorted with exasperation. It seemed to me that humans working for demons had infiltrated the city as merchants. Although I had little clue as to how magic circles worked, I was sure that the mortal races had yet to develop the necessary magic for either summoning or teleportation. Well, elves might have the magic for that but only the elders had access to that knowledge. Anyway, I slacked too much. I didn''t pay attention to whatever these fake merchants were up to because my attention was focused elsewhere. Chaos. Perfect chaos? Well played... If I''m not mistaken, the locals call them trolls, right? I couldn''t be sure since I had no memory of ever seeing them face to face. They varied in size and form depending on level and evolutionary path. They were furred gigantic humanoid creatures, partially clothed in beast hides. The smallest were only about two meters tall but the tallest were ten times that with six arms, protruding horns on its head and shoulder, and giant tusks. As if their menacing physiques weren''t enough, they were all equipped with weapons such as clubs, machetes, and hammers. All in all, there were 20 trolls, the weakest being level 30 while the most powerful troll present being a level 80 Groltozanix. I doubted a regular hero could even scratch its itch despite being enhanced with the enormous |hero| buff. If those fey beasts could communicate, maybe I could ask them to stop, but otherwise, slaying them was supposed to be a hero''s duty. It was none of my problem. If the heroes united, things might end up differently. Far to the north, if my eyes weren''t deceiving me, a fleet of white magitech ships were cruising towards Rotask. Going by their speed, I would say they''d arrive by tomorrow morning. I sighed with resignation, "I don''t think this city will survive." The military had collapsed. heroes were either injured or dead. The mercenaries were on the run. They held no loyalty. The populace was devastated with no aids to be expected. At best, a few good neighbors were offering helping hands to dig out those buried under rubbles. In just a single day, the atmosphere went from festivity and joy to that of dread and uncertainty. Those who were trying to escape and flee the city, many could no longer when the trolls were summoned in strategic locations. The only thing I could be happy about was that currently no demon was in that one area of the secret research facility. As for why De Planck or that faker hadn''t shown up, I had no clue. Perhaps they had other plans to instil desperation and fear into the mortal races. Or, perhaps, they were just wary of being captured by me. Chapter 131 Looking below at the city of Rotask, the capital of the human kingdom. Things were looking grim and hopeless. Should I do something...? In the first place, why are fey beasts aligned with demons? It''s kind of strange how they managed to summon this many all at once... I could tell even from afar that these trolls weren''t contracted nor were they controlled. Perhaps there was a history between the trolls and human nation that I wasn''t aware of. Well, it wouldn''t surprise me if the Hero King had waged war on those trolls in the past and took their land by force. If I remembered correctly, unexplored territory laid directly to the east that was could easily fit a country. Moreover, there were at least two demons active in that region which meant one of them was likely Oortez''s mindless assistant. Ugh... What to do!? Eh... I guess they brought it upon themselves. Hmm... I''ll just stabilize the mana core and rid of the demons for now? That''s a priority. As much as I love to take that mana core for myself, that might be considered too much interference. Thus, I decided to just steal a portion of it in exchange for stabilizing the super condensed mana core. From the scientists'' perspective, within the mana core, something strange occurred. There was a mutual annihilation of the volatile mana and the harvested mana from people. The net result was that the mana core lost a total of a quarter of its power and miraculously stabilized. Like that, the crisis of the destabilizing mana core passed. As for the demons, it was but a simple matter. Before they knew what hit them, they had all been captured or sealed away in my void barriers. When dealing with superpowers, there was nothing better than my void barrier. In total, I managed to capture four demons where two of them were main bodies. Then, as for the demons'' minions, since they weren''t evolved enough, I simply left them to their own devices. Some of them were busy doing the biddings of their masters such as using prepared magic contracts to recruit people into their evil cults. Though, since they weren''t demons themselves, I couldn''t really intervene. At best, I could cut those contract links which wouldn''t accomplish a thing without either sides'' acknowledgement. "Now, now, let''s see how the heroes are faring..." In this situation, heroes, regardless of faction, were struggling to survive. The more noble and combat oriented ones ones were on the frontline fending off the onslaught of trolls. Trolls always had traits such as |rapid regeneration| and the notorious [undying breath] ability. Killing them proved near impossible without having proper equipments. I watched as an amateur hero after much struggle severed an arm off a medium level troll only to find that the arm had fully regenerated moments later. Even crushing the head would prove useless unless they could be sure that both |rapid regeneration| and [undying breath] couldn''t be activated. It was really painful to watch. The heroes'' bodies due to |hero| trait would be enhanced above their opponents. Taking a few brunt attack wouldn''t kill them. However, that didn''t mean their weapons and armors could endure the same stress. More often than not, swords would shatter and shields would dent. In a fist brawl, the trolls that didn''t care about injuries would definitely be most advantageous. "The only thing I can do is assist the heroes in some way? I don''t know... Hmm... I can''t be a fairy of the lake and grant them holy swords... Or can I? Yes! I''ll be a goddess of... Wait... Some of them probably already seen me before. Alright, I have an idea. Let''s go with that." I did a makeover of myself and smirked with delight before diving into the battlefield below. A hero with crimson hair on his last breath, about to be trampled on by a troll three times his size, his name was Gabriel, that much I remembered. He remained a neutral hero who bravely fought the fey beasts. His valor and courage was radiant and his eyes burning with passion, or so I would loved to have seen. In reality, his eyes were that of frustration and desperation. He was about to give up while his free arm struggled to reach the heaven above. I chose the fade in effect for my graceful entrance. "I am Valkyria, chooser of the slain, Arbiter of the Void. Fallen hero, speak your heart and I shall grant that wish!" I declared whilst unleash an aura of divinity and halting the troll''s movement at once. A pair of beautiful white feathered wings that spanned thrice my height, gilded ashen armor over my body like a princess knight, and a luminous slender sword held tightly in my hands, these were my props for the play. No matter how I looked at it, I seemed like a main character instead of the hero gazing upon me. Since I didn''t want any publicity, I altered my facial features just for this occasion. Of course, charisma and beauty should be appealing to the hero so I even opted for crimson hair. How do you like that, Mister Hero? I put in a lot of effort for this, you know? Make an effort to appreciate it, won''t you? And, also please make it a doable wish... Please. "My family, I wish to see them once more..." I''m sorry... I don''t know anything about your family. Darn it. I have to improvise. "Hmph, I know nothing about them. If you wish to see your family is well, take that into your own hands to see them for yourself. To do that, I shall bestow to you a sword capable of slaying these fey beasts. From now on, you may name yourself the Crimson Hero." As far as I knew, this hero was fairly pure hearted. Since that was the case, I didn''t mind giving him a slightly more powerful sword than the one I gave to Jaco. Anyway, for inanimate objects to possess traits and abilities, they had to have fey cores, meaning I was going to part with a tiny portion of myself. If I stopped supplying my mana or remotely removed the fey cores, they would simply become above average steel swords. Actually, magitech could probably also possess traits and whatnot but I had no idea how they worked. The hero, understanding my intention, nodded as I rapidly healed his bodily wound via [genesis]. In seconds, he was able to stand up and regain his full awareness of his surroundings. "It''s yours now." In his hands now held a crimson great sword imbued with |void edge|, and [corrosion], perfect against the toughness of these trolls and their extreme regenerative ability. By the way, [corrosion] was an ability that was derived from the |chaos| trait of the demon''s lineage. As a bonus, I boosted his endurance and his physical stats. Strictly speaking, I was only temporarily drawing out his potentials. If he overexerted himself, he might end up with broken bones and muscle aches the next day. "Thank you," he muttered under his breath as he focused his sight on the fey beast before him. "Farewell Crimson Hero. Your fate is now in your hands," as I flew away majestically into the clouds before disappearing. To the end, he was a man with little words and I wasn''t able to spout any cool phrases like, "true heroes are born in times of chaos..." or something like that. Hmm... I think I''ve done all I can here. If a country falls, then so be it. Perhaps, from the ashes of destruction, a new nation will birth. Well, I shouldn''t prophesize their doom when it''s only the capital that is in this state. With no more demons around here, it was my cue to move on. Leaving a city in this was would leave a bitter after taste but this was no longer my battle. The heroes here should be more than capable. If they weren''t, that just meant they weren''t suited to be heroes to begin with. In the worst case scenario, they just had to rebuild the city. Nothing lasted forever. Next, I returned to Ataraxia and gave Mera the green light. The sooner my work finished, the sooner I could relax somewhere and enjoy the rest of my life. "Mera, you''re up." "Finally!" "Actually, just a moment, let me just gather everyone here. I want to brief everyone on the current situation then we''ll set off." "Ah fine," She replied with a disgruntled look. I had everyone including the two fey beings gather in a meeting room. There I informed everyone of the situation within the city of Rotask. Of course, that peculiar demon scholar wasn''t around. Oortez might get along with me but that was only because he approved of me. After all, he still had that |arrogant| trait. During the meeting, I told them my next plan of action which was to assist Mera in overthrowing the elves'' leader, a faker. To fight a faker, I decided to become a faker! A new identity was devised. "Mother..." "No. I am your father!" I replied with a deep resounding voice while striking a cool pose. I took the form of a handsome male elf who was supposed to be Mera''s boyfriend. Though, I was probably off by a bit but it was the thought that counted! "Berry... Please. I have a fianc¨¦e... It''ll cause a misunderstanding if someone sees me with you in that form." Kanoko was just shaking her head in disapproval while Smoothie was stunned speechless. Vintelo shrugged without care and Mufy was falling asleep. "Ahh... Fine, it was a joke! Heheh," I laughed a bit nervously before adding, "Um... Mera, it''s alright if I pretend to be your girlfriend then?" "What, why? Aren''t you supposed to be a contracted hero?" "Guh..." We ended up following the original plan. Chapter 132 Mera was now inside her hometown, gathering information by herself. Once she was in position and ready for the next phase, she would summon and issue a command to me. Well, that didn''t mean I would loiter around and wait for her call. If she ended up betraying me and summoning me into a trap, even with my constitution, I could still die. For that reason, I had to remain diligent and track her movements on the ground properly. She started on the edge of the great forest that was Formere. Whether it could truly be considered a city was up for debate but given its size, I decided it was a city. "I wish I could tag along. Watching is no fun..." Although she was a wanted criminal in the human country, that didn''t seem to cause a problem here so far. That might have to do with how she was formally a spy and saboteur by trade. Despite how she normally acted around me, she was in fact very skilled in altering her appearance using magic and makeup. Moreover, she had an ability to alter her displayed status to some degree. All in all, travelling incognito was one of her specialties. [Level 62 Mortal; Species: Elf; Physical: 372/372; Spiritual: 332/332; Traits: Swift Slayer, Merchant, Tenacious, Mental Fortitude, Enhanced Resistances, Enhanced Physical, Enhanced Senses; Abilities: Accelerate, Blink, Silence, Reave, Disguise ; Blessings: N/A; Description: A common elf.] In terms of combat, I would say she was superior even against fey beings of similar levels. Vintelo and Mufy would have trouble even two versus one because of her extremely combat oriented abilities. From what I understood, [silence] could temporarily seal abilities, magic, and any type of verbal communications. The sun was setting already and the forest gradual grew darker. Since I had informed her of the defense mechanisms around the city, she agreed to disable a few magic circles for me to test the waters. Seriously, magic circles were beyond me unless I had |dedicated one| activated. In this world, as much as I would love to learn more about these magic circles, they just gave me the headaches. To me, they were like the electronic circuits boards of computers. There were all these symbols and lines all connected to do some odd functions. Generally, the more advanced these magic circles were, the more powerful they were. To be blunt, this city had magic circles everywhere invisible to the naked eye. Some were the size of the city while majority were only people sized. Now, I could destroy them with abilities derived from the |singularity| trait but I might mess up and end up destroying the whole city. After all, magic circles even with minor alterations could end up with completely different effects so I rather not deal with them entirely. "While she does her things, maybe I should set up an appointment with the Highlander Emperor in two to three days? Yep, let''s do that!" Tomorrow was the day the magitech airship fleet would arrive from the north to the city of Rotask. I wanted to be there to see how things would unfold. After that, I would like to visit the unexplored area to the east to grab an assistance for Oortez and maybe to see if I could spot any troll habitats. There was a plan to visit the Federation but that was for last. Since Oortez was most familiar with that nation, it would be best if he was in a great mood to guide me around. Not only that, the reptilians seemed to be a male dominant society. If I wished to make contact with their leader for any negotiation, a male form might be more preferable. In any case, capturing and eliminating overly powerful demons took priority. I simply couldn''t allow them to become the dominant force of this world. "Now... Who should I use as a messenger?" I murmured as I pondered. Of the maids, with Snowberry on a business trip, only four remained. Of the four, Cranberry and Gooseberry were there permanently to take of the guests and the facilities. Blackberry was in charge of taking care of Smoothie specifically while Blueberry was mostly in charge of cooking. "Mm... This is difficult! Should I just create another one or let Kanoko take care of my little girl? Asking a friend for a favor... I''m not good at that." As much as I would love to create more special clones of myself, it wouldn''t do if I couldn''t consciously keep track all of them. I had already lost connection with one. I didn''t want to lose another. Moreover, demons and devious individuals could hijack the links and steal my clones under certain circumstances. Contrarily, phantom creations had no such drawbacks but they would dissipate shortly thereafter without my mana input. After contemplating a bit, I decided to personally deliver a letter requesting an appointment with the Highlander Emperor. I had a general idea where the city was anyway. I definitely wasn''t multitasking too much! Whilst keeping an eye on Mera, I made a quick dash from one end of the continent to the other end of the continent. Midway through, I removed the barrier around me that kept air resistance to zero, leaving a long streak of amber light as I zipped across the sky. As a side note, only some sea creatures bared witness to the unidentified flying objects passing by. "It''s a bird, it''s a comet, no it''s me! Heheh..." Zortek, the imperial capital of the Grusia Empire, sat on a wide plateau thousands of meters in elevation above sea level. Strictly speaking, that was only the city centre. Other mountain peaks and cliffs that poked out of the cloud bed, were carved and flattened, became living spaces for the locals. Anyhow, this place was literally above a sea of clouds with the best seat of the house for stargazing enthusiasts. Because trees were scarce in this region, all the buildings here were constructed of bricks and stones. The more prosperous districts used colorful roofing tiles to distinguish themselves from the others. There was no obvious agriculture or animal grazing at mere glance. But upon detailed examination, an unique cultivar of fruit was grown on cliff sides that seemed to be a local specialty. Furthermore, much like the Juds in Vera, mountains were hollowed to not only allow additional living spaces but also places to raise domesticated animals. For those without wings or incapable of flight, travelling via winged lizards would be advised. Though, owning one of those special rides might be quite expensive. The emperor''s palace was fairly easy to identify. A pristine white superstructure with a dome shape on top like a grand temple, it was decorated with immense numbers of magic crystals that either shone under the soft moonlight. There wasn''t another white architecture around here, meaning the materials were likely transported from distant lands. Truly breathtaking. "Wow... Maybe I should try replicating it... Ahem, now where''s the reception?" Currently, to avoid any confusions, I was in my celestial form with three pairs of magnificent wings. I definitely didn''t want them thinking a human intruder snuck into their country''s capital city. Since it was night time, only a few winged beasts were flying about. Here, the winged beasts took many forms. Harpy types like Haelley were a minority. Some had two pairs of feathered wings and a lion head while others had leathery wings and looked more like bats. In most cases, they seemed to have humanlike arms and hands, especially those more evolved ones. Otherwise I would have questioned how they managed to build these amazing architectures. Unsure where to go, I landed in front of the imperial palace. The gates were wide open even at this hour. Two armored guards each holding a spear stood to two sides. I greeted one of them with courteous smile. "Hello, I would to meet up with the Highlander Emperor in three days. Is that alright?" Greeting strangers was never my forte. Occasionally I could pull it off but more often than not, I''d end up messing up. The two guards looked at each other and discussed something in a foreign language. After that, one of them jogged into the palace. Oh right... Maybe they don''t speak the common language. Maybe I should pick it up in the future... I could technically use a form of telepathy via [hypnosis] but since it might be seen as an act of aggression, I decided to wait and see. Moments later, the guard returned with someone in tow. I see... Ever in doubt, have a fey translator... I''m surprised they managed to get someone this late into the hour. The person they got was actually very much like Vintelo, a wolf headed winged fey beast. As matter of fact, the only difference was probably due to evolution or variations in transformation. This one before me was standing upright with two pairs of wings. "I see..." He nodded as he tried to examine my status. "I have never seen you before. Which kingdom sent you?" "My name is Berry. I request that a meeting be set up between the Highlander Emperor and I on the noon three days from now." "Huh? And just who do you think you are? You can''t meet him just because you request it. I don''t care what you are. We don''t welcome outsiders." He eyed me with scorn and suspicion. Patience! Lots of patience! Otherwise, this place would disappear. Think of a solution, quick! Just then, I remembered I had yet to return an official seal back to Vera. Not only that, Kanoko had entrusted me with her seal of passage. Perhaps she had foreseen this turn of event. Actually, I also kept those colored cards from back when I was still a scout. I promptly took those official three credentials out of my subspace storage and displayed it before the unnamed official before me. Along with all that was the letter I wrote on the way here, properly stamped and sealed by yours truly. I nonchalantly told him. "Tell you what, it''s urgent." Meanwhile, he was taking his sweet time scrutinizing everything I had shown him. Suddenly, his attitude suddenly shifted from that of suspicion to complete outrage. "Kuu... Forgery! To think you''d try lowly illusions to fool me? This is a felony, punishable by death!" Incompetent fool!! Maybe I should have asked Kanoko to come along. But still, I feel bad pulling her out of retirement so soon for something so simple... My mood is all ruined if it wasn''t bad enough after that mess in Rotask. Why... Don''t tell me this fellow is part of a demonic cult? I''m tired of this stuff. Maybe when I get the chance, I should just remake the world... "Are you done?" My face turned expressionless. I gave up. It seemed that none of my negotiations would go smoothly if I didn''t at first show my power. Here at the Imperial palace, nobody knew me. I was a nobody, basically. I understood that. But to think that I would keep encountering arrogant individuals who stood in positions of power, these must be coincidences. Maybe I was simply being unreasonable. I hoped that wasn''t the case. In front of the gate of the Imperial Palace of the Highlander Emperor, I boldly declared, "The letter is in your hands. Pass on the message. The Mediator will return in three days." With that said, I took my leave. Whether he passed on that passage to the emperor or not was not my problem. I knew how to find the emperor anyway. It was only a matter of courtesy. Now that I knew my credentials from Vera were useless, I returned them to Kanoko''s office and left a note for Kanoko''s successor. The only thing I kept was the green card that kept track of my money within the empire. Aside from that, I had basically just severed my tie with the Kingdom of Teir. blanksphere Chapter 133 The letter delivery to the Imperial Palace was completed. Whether it could be considered successful would be up for debate. Surely, when the recipient received the content intended for them, the delivery was considered successful, right? Anyway, afterwards, I returned to Rotask to see how things were faring. The situation had certainly improved in a way, in that only one fey beast remained standing. However, this was a calamity level fey beast that completely wrecked havoc with every footstep it took. Of all the heroes that were here just this morning, less than half survived till now for some odd reason. I really thought they were a bit more capable. And of those survivors, two had escaped from the city. If any heroes were near death and buried under rubbles, I couldn''t sense them. Noted. I''ll strip them of their trait later. You can run, you can hide, but I''ll find you. Wait... I guess escorting refugees is heroic? Maybe? However, the good news was that new heroes were born. Three courageous individuals who stood their ground and defended their fellow countrymen, they were granted the |hero| trait. Though, very unfortunately, one of them had already died an honorable death before I arrived on the scene. Seven heroes stood strong against the gigantic troll before them. One of them was Jaco Spiriard, the Hero King. He wielded the sword I bestowed him just days ago in exchange for the cursed sword, Lightsplitter. Gabriel, the Crimson Hero, was also there. His clothes were battered and blood was dripping from his chin. It seemed the enhancements that I had granted him had worn off already. Even though he should be in severe pain, his expression did not show it. Now that''s what I call a cool hero! I should advocate him to Kanoko. The third hero I noticed was Ruudra, the one I had chatted with back at the inn. He had somehow obtained a magitech sword, probably from a fallen hero, while wielding a pistol on his offhand. For some reason, he and the Hero King were acquainted but not particularly on friendly terms. Anyway, I personally doubted those weapons in his hands could harm the colossal fey beast. At best his pistol could act as a distraction. Ruudra the useless, why do you even bother showing up? Well, it''s a different story if you have some cool abilities. It''s now or never. In the distance was a heroine with a sniper rifle. That black female hero, Mae, seemed to have survived the onslaught of fey beasts. Though, I doubted her weapon of choice. Perhaps if the ammunitions were loaded with lethal toxin, she might be able to whittle down just a bit of its health. Regardless, I would applaud her for not abandoning her post as a hero. One hero wielded a magitech spear that emanated an eerie glow from the tip. He was one of the three who gained the |hero| trait today. From the looks of it, he had suffered tremendous internal damages without receiving healing. If he kept up, I felt like he might end up dying before the boss fight ended. But, it seemed that he had a trait made him stronger the longer he remained in combat. His movements were becoming more and more refined and quicker as he zipped around with astounding speed while leaving wounds on the fey beast. The last two heroes were positioned in the backline. A female hero, one of the three newest members, was wielding a crystalline magic bow that generated magic ice and light arrows. In this world, magic bows were really no different than fey bows. Regardless it being a fey object or not, it was a powerful bow that was likely crafted by the previous mediator. Thankfully this weapon didn''t have any dangerous quirks. Finally, at the very back stood the seventh hero, an elderly mage wielding an arcane staff. His task was to cast barriers on his allies and prepare a tactical strike to obliterate his opponent in one burst of light. As for their opponent, the status was as followed. [Level 80 Fey; Species: Groltozanix; Physical: 723/899; Spiritual: 352/498; Traits: Extreme Regeneration, Tyrannical One, Behemoth, Warlord, Entrenched, Enhanced Resistances, Enhanced Physical, Limit Breaker; Abilities: Undying Breath, Titan''s Descent, Thunderous Roar, Unity of Wills; Blessings: Earthen Lord of Tenacity; Description: A champion of earth dwelling fey beasts.] That''s maybe a troll general or troll king? Like... What did you humans do to set it on war path? Standing over twenty meters tall with six beefy arms, this colossal troll was biggest fey beast I had ever seen in my life. Two if its arms were holding war hammers, and two were holding gigantic blades like machetes. Its chest was covered in thick monster hides of ancient beasts. Even without such hides, this monster''s skin was nearly imperious to both physical attacks and magical attacks. Any wounds it received would instantly heal as if no damages were taken. Raawwwrrrr!! A flash of lightning followed by the shaking of the ground. Booom!! The nimble spearman hero barely evaded that lightning strike that came from above. Each time it swung its weapon, chunks of earth were gorged out of the ground. "Now this is what I call a last boss! Man, this is like something out of ancient myths!" I said while watching from above. Now, even though I should be watching over Mera, I figured she wouldn''t summon me any time soon. Something as exciting as this? I couldn''t miss it for the world. The Hero King and the Crimson Hero were the vanguards, dishing out huge damages. Yet, even with corrosive effect, the fey beast was unfazed. Due to a combination of its traits, it seemed that as long as its feet were planted on the ground, it could regenerate indefinitely both mana and health. Smash! The earth trembled as one hammer pummeled the ground. The fey beast, although had extremely high stats, it wasn''t the quickest. That was probably a saving grace for the heroes dashing around evading the continuous strikes. Unfortunately, none of the vanguards'' weapons had long enough reach to sever an arm. Suddenly a streak of light penetrated the head of the fey beast. A hole opened up on its head. The fey beast kneeled for a brief moment, one arm touched the ground. As if it had just seemingly suffered irreparable damage, its hand grabbed a chunk of earth at its feet. Just then, as Gabriel tried to slice its head using this opportunity, a giant hand swatted him aside like a fly, and having him skit across the devastated land. Oof... That''s got to hurt no matter what stats you have. With a huge lumps of soil and rocks in its hand like a compressed snowball, then it rose up and hurled that mass straight at Mae who was on her way to her next sniping position. Jaco, seeing that Mae was in danger, dashed and jumped, and sliced at its right knee to unbalance it. However, he was a bit late. Plomp! When the dusts settled, Mae was already buried under rubbles, barely alive thanks to the last second physical barrier casted by the elderly mage. Having immensely boosted stats didn''t mean the heroes were capable of properly using them. Coordination was also an issue. Moreover, they probably lacked advanced abilities and traits that normally came with evolution, growth, and experience. If a guardian like Vorte was here, he''d be able to defeat it singlehandedly. "Alright, maybe I should lend a hand. I don''t want to see them all perish. Honestly, is it just a bad matchup or what? Maybe I should lend a hand... but how do I make it fair?" The most useless hero here was that Ruudra guy. Occasionally, he would shoot a few rounds at the fey beasts eyes. It could only count as harassment at best. He seemed to be out of his element. "Alright, he''s worse than useless. I should just ask if he''s holding back..." I hopped over next to him. "Hey Ruudra, when are you getting serious? You can''t be this weak as a hero, right?" "It''s you again!" He didn''t seem too happy to see me. On the other hand, the Hero King understood why I came so he refocused his entirety on grabbing the fey beast''s attention. While keeping track of the battle around us, I said, "My name is Berry. You know, from afar, you look completely useless. Even that archer girl seems more useful... Are you afraid to reveal your trump card or something?" "Kuhh... I''m doing my best! I really don''t know who you are!" "Look here, if you need some magitech equipment, now''s the chance. Name it." "Bring me a Drifter." "What''s this... Drifter? Do you know where I can find one?" He gave a brief description of it, albeit with a cranky attitude at that. Cranky was probably an understatement. A Drifter was one of those single seated magitech ship used by military for combat. There was a prototype docked offsite near the underground facility. Thankfully, it was far enough from the blast and protected by a durable hangar. Preliminary inspection showed that it still functioned so I teleported the craft some distance away from the battle. Who would have thought he could pilot something like that? "Hop in, and it''s yours. Best of luck!" I said before taking the observer seat once again. Let''s see... Who''s next? With a little help from me, maybe they''ll come to owe me favors. While I was pondering, a beam of white light descended from above and enveloped the fey beast. This was a tactical magic from the old man that was supposed to vaporize its target. It was his strongest spell from his arsenal. The result? The fey beast was charred black and its head crumbled away. Before anyone could relax, a new head regenerated, and at the same time, damaged skin and flesh shed away revealing healthy new growth. The end result was no result. The Hero King cursed under his breath, "What a fucking abomination! How are we supposed to kill this bastard?!" Oh yeah, if they could shatter the fey core, it might just work! Except, only two weapons are capable of that and neither could reach the fey core. There were only three people who had the reach to penetrate into its fey core in one attack. The spear guy was one but I was reluctant to grant another powerful weapon to the mortal race so he wasn''t an option. As for the mage, he relied on magic hence he wasn''t an option either. Mae was the least risky option. Since she already knew me, and I knew her, despite some differences, we bore no grudges against one another, hopefully. Approaching her should be fairly simple. Furthermore, since she used a magitech rifle, I didn''t need to create a weapon for her thereby eliminating any possible misuse of powerful weapons in the future. A single bullet should be enough for the task. Truthfully, if the Hero King had the Lightsplitter, this fey beast would have been an easy kill. But! There was no chance I would return such a dangerous artifact to him. With that being said, I decided to stick with the plan in mind. Next to where Mae was buried, far away from the main battlefield, I carefully removed a heap of rubbles. The barrier that protected her had since shattered. "Hey!" I greeted her with a cheerful smile. "It''s you... What do you want this time?" She said with a groan. Her hair was all messy and covered in dust, and her clothes were a bit on the tattered side. An unhappy camper we have here. "Well, would you like some help defeating that fey beast?" I offered my hands to which she reluctantly grabbed onto so I could pull her out. "Our beautiful city is gone already... Ugh... Do you usually have wings?" "Yes, this is my celestial form. So just to be clear, I had nothing to do with those demon underlings doing the summons or your internal politics." "Haah..." She sighed, "Figures... It could only be a bad omen when a god came for a visit out of nowhere..." "Right, don''t blame me. You had it coming. Anyway, as a service, I removed several demons behind this attack. The remaining task for the heroes is to defeat that fey beast. Nn... I can''t fight it directly but I can offer some support like healing and weapon upgrade and advices. Oh, and I can''t revive dead people. So, on that note, would you like to receive my help?" "Yes." blanksphere Chapter 134 Once Mae had accepted my assistance, I quickly healed her back to full health. Generosity is in my blood! Because of the impact from earlier, her specialized magitech rifle had been damaged severely. Luckily, there were no intricate parts exposed so I was able to repair it by attaching the broken pieces thereby returning it to its original form. A special scope was added since the original one went missing. After that, I had a test run to make sure it wouldn''t jam before loading it up with a single bullet. This one bullet should be more than enough to destroy a fey core. "There you go. I added a special sight on your scope that allows you to see the location of fey cores. The bullet here is quite special as well. I''m sure you understand what I''m getting at, no?" I said and handed the rifle back to her. "Yes..." "Good! Now I''ll be watching from afar. Do your best, alright? If you miss the target, you might not get a second chance." She grimaced but otherwise remained silent. Now I have to do is sit back and enjoy th- Just then, I received a summon from Mera. What bad timing! We''re just getting to the good part... And, to think she completed all of her objectives so soon... Sheesh. I underestimated her skills. Let''s check her situation real quick before showing up. From above Formere, I did notice a few magic circles were down for the count. Though if I didn''t pay attention before, I wouldn''t have noticed that any had went missing. Eh, whatever, looks good to me. Gabriel, do your best! Since I didn''t want to keep Mera waiting, I answered the summon, appearing next to her and hovering in my childlike fairy form with a wizard outfit and a shiny wand. "Wish granting fairy, Kerry, at your service!" I spun around as I announced that gleefully. Kerry was the alias I just decided to use whenever I answered summons. "That prick!" Mera said with a grumble and yelled, "Did she give me the wrong summon? What kind of stupid prank is this!?" "Ehh... Ahh..." My eyes darted around trying to find who she was fuming at. She kept her voice to a loud whisper. "Kerry? Give me Berry." "It''s me...Berry. I''m just using an alias." I replied with my shoulders slumped. She did a double take and blurted, "Eh? What?" "So, what''s your command? I don''t see any enemies here?" We were underground in a storage facility some sort with wooden crates stacked here and there. The room was lit with magic crystals nearly aligned on the ground. This wasn''t a place I had paid any attention to when I had scanned the city. "This is just a safe place for me to call you. There''s a hidden passage that I would like to investigate, please." "What''s there?" "In the past, the fake guardian sometimes used it. Unfortunately, I can''t get past the barrier to look into it myself." "Oh? That''s interesting. I can take a look, sure." "That doesn''t count as a command, does it?" "Mm... No." "Thanks. I''ll lead the way." This place was like a labyrinth in that it only had one path aside from random storage rooms. Everything looked the same, however, at the end of the passage was a steel door that looked slightly out of place. It had no doorknob and on the white steel frame was a mini touch pad that looked to be from a different era. "This is the one." She said. "Hmm..." I could see a passage beyond it but something felt strange about it. Even with my eyes, the passage seemed fuzzy. Though, I couldn''t sense any danger from it. Well, since I don''t have a code for it, let''s just bypass it. With me around, there was no barrier that I couldn''t pass through. Past that gate, the walls became solid white steel illuminated with electricity powered crystals. There were even touch pads next to all the doors along the hallway. As a matter of fact, it seemed like we entered a hallway of some sort. "Wow, I didn''t think elves were this sophisticated..." "I''ll take that as a compliment. Now hurry before the sentries come." "Sentries?" "They''re mechanical golems. They come out of some of these rooms periodically but they only patrol this area. Once we leave this area, the sentries should no longer bother us." "How do you know that?" Apparently, different areas of this place followed different designs and functioned differently or at least that was what she was told. Like... Where am I? I can''t even see the surface of Formere from here!? Not even with my tactical sight? What''s going on!? Where''s the forest? I have a bad feeling about this... Even if no one tells me, I think I have a good idea what I''m getting myself into. "I''ve snuck in here once before with several... Friends... before. They lost their lives. It was hell trying to escape." "Ehh... I''m sorry about that." "Don''t mind it. For your information, some of these doors lead to other places that that negate magic." "Can you elaborate?" "Teleportation gates." "Ahh... Okay. I get it. By the way, where exactly are we? I don''t sense Formere anywhere." "We''re not? I thought we are?" She seemed just as perplexed as I was. This could only mean trouble. I quickly checked my status to make sure I was still linked to the system. Thankfully, it was still there. Echo, what is this place? [It is a subspace.] Eh... Ah, that makes sense, I guess? Who''s subspace is it? [It belonged to the previous world administrator.] Figures. It seems to contain quite a few gates. Does any of these connect to other worlds? [Unable to advise.] I guess that makes sense this isn''t my subspace. I''ll have to keep my eyes peeled open for clues. Honestly, I''m just relieved I haven''t been ejected out of this place yet. If a fight breaks out here, I don''t know if I''ll be able to survive. She first took the right hand path, and I followed along. After a bit, she said something irresponsible. "From here on out, I don''t know the exact way to get there." You serious!? The two of us stopped in front of a four way intersection. Since the paths weren''t straight, we had no clue which to pick. "We''re trying to reach the demon or fake guardian, right?" I asked just to confirm our goal. "Yes." She nodded. "Well, funny, I''m receiving multiple energy signatures in this place. I honestly can''t tell which one is the one you''re looking for... So just pick any one? But personally, I believe we should retreat and wait for the fake guardian to come out because fighting in this space is extremely disadvantageous for the two of us." "Oh, is that so?" "Yes, this is a subspace. Although the creator is no longer present, the current administrator of this place if such a being exists would be next to invincible." "I see..." "Also, don''t you want to find your fianc¨¦e?" "Huh, are you getting cold feet? Obviously if I can get rid of that fake guardian, he''ll come back to me! We''re not leaving this place until I figure it out." Oh boy oh boy... I''m missing out on such a good show at Rotask... Within this subspace, I seemed to have lost the capability to monitor outside activities. It wouldn''t be an exaggeration to say that I lost a pair of eyes. "This place is no different than a maze. Now I don''t mind fighting a couple demons and whatnot, but it would be a waste if you had to use a command on a demon that isn''t your target." I said. "True... Wait, no! If that''s the case, we should eliminate all of them! They''re a threat to our nation. We can''t have them lurking here." "Sure, sure." I intended to persuade her to leave at once, yet it wasn''t working at all. My charm just wasn''t powerful enough, apparently. Even with my tactical eyes, I couldn''t figure out the size of this entire subspace. The passages twisted and turned both left and right, and sloped up and down. Occasionally, at the end of a passage, there would be an elevator connecting to other levels. It was a three dimensional maze in the truest sense. "You know, we''ve been wandering around here for a while. When do those sentries come out?" "It''s hard to keep track of time in here but I would say at least ten times a day?" "That''s quite frequent." "I''m leaving them to you!" I feel like this is a grey area... It''s one of those "if you think too much, you lose!" kind of thing. I''ll just follow her and hope for the best. While we were wandering around, hoping to bump into the one she was searching for, I probed around and tried to study this maze. "Mera, I think some of these doors would lead to other floors. Let''s give it a try? Think about it this way, even if we keep following these passages, what''s the chance of meeting a demon?" And, to be more persuasive, I added, "Also, if we don''t finish this soon, my daughter will cry. I can''t keep her waiting." "Eh? That''s what you''re worried about? That''s a joke, right?" I threw up my arms and exclaimed, "Look! We don''t even know how much time is passing!" She just shrugged, "Oh, that you don''t have to worry about. Time here flows normally unlike your weird place." "Hey! My place isn''t weird." I declared indignantly. "Whatever, I get your point. Let''s try a few doors. Also, whatever you do, keep away from those touch pads." "Touching those things would invite those machines over, right?" "Something like that..." Her voice trailed off at the end. Chapter 135 There weren''t many doors along the paths Mera and I took. Based on the design, an authorized personnel would touch the pads next to the door, and the door would automatically open to the side. Majority had these designs, at least where we were. We actually nearly ran into a sentry. These were human sized drones wondering around. Some of them were clearly created for the purpose of cleaning duties while others were armed to the teeth with strange weaponries. Really though, they weren''t as dangerous as she made it out to be. In the next area we reached, the designs for the doors had changed, or at least started to vary. This meant it was time for a short break as sentries would no longer be a threat to our safety. Anyway, I picked the nearest door to us. Once I was able to confirm the room interior posed no threat, the two of us entered. "That ability of yours is sure convenient." Mera remarked with a hint of envy. Inside the room was a familiar scene, a dojo from eras past. There were bow racks lined up in one corner along with circular target practices. In another corner were wooden swords and blunt practice swords. "Wooden floor, wooden ceiling...? It gives a different feeling, doesn''t it?" "Yes it does." I nodded. She took a breather and sat on the floor. I remote viewed the adjacent rooms and found that most of them carried different functions. There were bedrooms of various eras, living rooms, and even museums and theaters. Anything I could imagine, there was a "room" for it. I had even found various types of factories and research facilities, though those tended to be on the rarer side of places. Farmlands and places that processed foods were uncommon either. One conclusion I easily came to was that a person could easily live here for eternity. Of course, one could easily get lost here for eternity. That was to say, this place was completely self sufficient. Is this a form of heaven? This reminds me of a famous line in an ancient scripture. "God''s mansion has many room" or something like that. That person probably tried to replicate it. Far and between, there were teleportation gate rooms or simply doors that acted as gates. As for where they lead to, I couldn''t exactly tell until from just looking. I''d have to dig in a bit more to find out. I tried to derive some kind of pattern to the method this subspace was laid out, but it almost seemed completely random. If I had to make a guess, then I could be sure there should be a core to power the energy consumption of this place. And, since I couldn''t locate the edge of this subspace nor a centre, perhaps this was only the outer layer of this subspace. Anyhow, I was able to ascertain the locations of several demons living lavishly around here. Furthermore, high level minions such as devils also took residences in this subspace. I went on to describe them to Mera to determine which one was the one we were looking for. "None of them are it." Since there was a limit to how far I could see, I might have missed a few. Even so, to think there were this many demons casually resting here was kind of mind boggling. "Do you even know what he looks like? I mean, if he used fake status, he could have easily faked his appearance, right?" Gender couldn''t be confirmed either... Seriously, do you not have a plan? "Huh..." "You also mentioned that your fianc¨¦e saw him speaking with another demon? Can you tell me where?" "It was in this place somewhere but when he tried to lead us to him to confirm for ourselves, we ran into the sentries and had to scatter. I was lucky to have survived." "Do you know where everyone else in your party is?" "No clue. Some of them might still be trapped here. After I escaped this place, I was captured by a demon and sent to that facility blindfolded... You know the rest." Any scars of past battles had been erased as if this place could initiate self repair, like a living organism. In the end, she didn''t know where exactly that demon was. "Do you mind waiting for a bit? I want to try something." She agreed with a subtle nod. Within a foreign subspace, my control and sight were limited. Since that was the case, I had to expand them and locate the core and the boundaries. If possible, I would like to know where exactly all these teleportation gates lead to. The only issue now was the amount of mana I had. Despite continuous mana regeneration from |singularity| trait, whether that itself would be enough to later combat the administrator here was doubtful. It would also be best to assume that Mera''s soul energy being insufficient to cover the cost required for her task. That meant in the worst case scenario, I might need to dip past my mana pool and utilize my soul energy as a fuel after using up these demons souls as my energy source. And if came down to using my own soul energy, I''d consider it a loss and escape. Obviously, it would be a different matter if this subspace didn''t have a core at the centre but I decided to be optimistic. Because, without a core somewhere, there was no way all these mana intensive teleportation gate could be functioning. Now, if I could somehow locate the core, I could redirect that energy as my own energy source and hijack it. That would be ideal, of course. If I could hijack this subspace, it would mean I could trap all the powerful demons here and do with them as I pleased. Not only that, with so much resources here, I would never get bored again! Also, if I had to make an educated guess, reptilians had access to at least some portion of this subspace. Magitech was basically mana infused technology, or consciousness based technology given what the origin of mana was. Echo, I would like to take over this subspace. Is it possible? [Yes.] Can you help with it? [No.] That''s a pity. Looks like it''s all me. All me!! Let''s show them what we''re made of! Yeah! Although I wasn''t showing it, the soul exhaustion I was feeling was still there. Because I hadn''t activated |dedicated one| again, my conditions hadn''t worsened. However, to actually recover, the time required would be too long for me to consider, probably in the thousands of years minimum. If an easy solution came up later down the road, I wouldn''t mind trying it. Alright, I just have to do it slowly for now. "How long is it going to take you?" Mera asked. "I''m not sure. Since I don''t want to alert our enemies, I won''t be accessing my subspace while we''re inside unless there''s an emergency. That means what you see here is all I have with me. So, be patient? I''m trying to locate the core of this place to take it down all at once." "Ah I see." "Just sit tight. If we mess up, I might even die." "Right... Let me know if there''s anything I can help with." "Mm... Actually there is!" I began using phantoms to carefully navigate the areas beyond my tactical sight. If I stretched my control, my reach could easily triple but I would lose my sight on the overall picture. Luckily, we had a professional map maker in the group. I had Mera draw everything with a pen and a stack of paper. To help her with her task, I was simultaneously displaying a holographic projection of what I was seeing with tactical sight. Once she mapped the area, I would shift us to an unoccupied room and continue the same process. "There''s no need to draw too much details." I suggested, "Just have the important features and where the enemies are. We can bypass the walls and passages so..." "Alright." We mapped it by splitting the subspace into eight equal sections consisting of four quadrants above and four quadrants below. From there, sections were split into subsections and so on. This whole process lasted for several hours until my mind started to wander for alternative methods, which, I did have an idea for an alternative way, albeit an extremely risky one. Thus, I scrapped the idea and refocused my mind on my current task. After an extensive mapping session, even Mera was exhausted. "Is there no end to this subspace?" "Seems not... It might actually be bigger than my subspace." "Your subspace wasn''t that big." "Oh, you haven''t seen even five percent of it." "You''re kidding..." Oh that look of shock on her face, it''s nice. "I could make subspace bigger but it''s empty as is. It''s too much work to create contents. Anyway, since you have a physical body, you should eat and drink something. Take a nap, and we can keep going tomorrow." "I don''t mind being careful and taking our time but do you think the demons would know their way?" "Maybe... Wait a second. No, wait a second!" My mind was racing as I raised my voice saying that. Shouldn''t Oortez know about this place? Yet, he never mentioned this place to me. That''s super suspicious, super extremely suspicious... No, hold on. He did say something about studying ancient ruins. Could it be? This isn''t a coincidence! This has to be the "ancient ruins" he was talking about! Right, it was the soul library that he never found... I''ve been blindsided once again. How careless of me! Meanwhile, precious time is wasted. Hmm... It''s not like I can just call him here. Never mind, I''ll rely on myself to figure this out. Taking a bit of time here is fine. "Did you figure something out?" "I''ve been keeping a demon inside my subspace... Now, the thing is, I''m not sure how much I can trust him. If we''re exposed, it''d be the end of us." "Is that so?" She didn''t seemed surprised about the part where I kept a pet demon. "That reminds me, I still have a few I captured that I planned to use for my sustenance." Her face twitched before saying, "You know, sometimes you say the creepiest things." "Ahaha, well, that''s life! You have to eat!" The four demons that I captured in Rotask were likely from this subspace since I noticed little changes on my radar. They were nicely sealed away in tiny black spheres and held inside my body since I had yet to dissect them and stuff into my soul library. Now was probably a good time to sort them out. Meanwhile, Mera followed my advice to have a light meal and take a short nap. "Protect me while I''m in this subspace." That was her first command, which, I agreed since I had no objections. Then, she added, "This isn''t a command but don''t teleport me out or anything. We''re not leaving until we get to the bottom of it." She just had to emphasize on the "we" part. Oh well, there''s no backing out now. "Ah... Okay." Personally, I''d like her to rest somewhere else, like outside of this obnoxious maze with no end in sight. I wonder if she''ll lose her composure soon? This isn''t a place I''d want to stick around for years at a time... blanksphere Chapter 136 Despite being surrounded by enemies, Mera''s presence was too miniscule to be noticed. As for me, I was basically non-existence due to my special trait. Whenever I used abilities, I took extreme caution to erase any energy signatures that might leak from me. During the hours she was asleep, I meditated for a bit to speed up the healing process for my soul even if just by a tiny amount. As for the remaining time until she woke up, I sorted through as much memories of these four demons as I could. There wasn''t a way to tell when the sun was up. For someone like me, I had no internal clock. Also, as for how many hours had passed, I didn''t keep track of it. Nevertheless, I had a general idea on the passage of time. When I noticed a shift in her consciousness, I greeted her with, "Good morning." "Morning." "Shall we continue where we left off?" "No. This area no longer have the one I''m looking for, right? So I''m thinking we should go back and look for a map." "About that... I feel bad about it but I managed to obtain a map of the routes some demons used. These are just low level demons so their knowledge of this place is limited." "What!? We had something that valuable? Project it, quick!" Without wasting another second, I projected several routes onto one of the maps she had drawn. "Hmm... Looks like these doors connect to different parts of the maze. They''re shortcuts. If we could make use of them, we should be able to find their boss." "Yeah, the problem is... It''s been a while since those demons were supposed to report back. I''m not sure if they know I can read memories but it''s likely that plan of your is a bust. I mean, the admin here could easily swap the doors and throw us into a trap." "I understand where you''re coming from but look... I can''t keep this up forever. I want to end this as soon as possible, okay? I want my regular life back. I''ve been on the run, got caught, and tormented for months! Now that normal life is finally within my grasp, you''re telling me to play the patience game!?" She raised her voice midway into a shout. Then after taking a short breath and calming down, she continued, "Listen, I''ve had enough of this, there''s more than enough soul energy for this contract. The risk is solely mine." I mean, you could just live normally in Ataraxia. No one can pursue you there. I wanted to say that but it wasn''t like she''d listen to me. "Mm... That''s not really for me to decide I suppose. I am your contracted hero. I''ll be around as long as you have the soul energy to fuel the contract or I deem the contract no longer necessary. Defeating demons won''t exhaust your soul energy but it''s their minions that will. So, please, try to defeat them on your own whenever possible." "Can you create a short sword for me?" "Aren''t you a mage? Wouldn''t a staff be better?" "My mana won''t last if it''s going to feed into the contract first. I want a durable weapon that won''t betray me." "Fair enough." I created a reinforced steel sword befitting her short stature. As a bonus, I complimented it with a plain sheathe. Since she wasn''t a hero, this was just a regular weapon with no enhancements or traits. "Anything else?" Looking at her, she was wearing the outfit she had requested from me before she set off to her homeland. It was nothing like what the elves I''d seen wearing. For her top, she had a black skin tight assassin outfit with leather protectors that covered down to her upper thighs like a miniskirt. As for her pants, they weren''t pants. They were just boots and black leggings. That outfit just seemed bizarre on an elf her size. Not to mention, the style was an ill match for her but I decided to hold that opinion back. Since she was covering herself with a brownish green overcoat or cloak with pockets, others usually wouldn''t be able to see what she wore underneath. But still, it made me wonder where she got those ideas from, really. "I heard you''re a poison specialist. I want some lethal poisons please." Ahh... I bet it''s from Smoothie! It has to be! I''ve found the culprit. "It was Smoothie, wasn''t it..." "She''s taught me some useful things." "Tsk, that brat. So that''s why you asked me for such a strange outfit." "What are you talking about? It''s perfect for night operations!" "Eh... Whatever floats your boat." She glared at me with indignation, "Heyyy! Never mind that! Are you going to give me the poisons or not?!" "Okay, which type? You''re not planning to kill yourself, are you?" "If I get captured again, yes. Now''s not the time for that! I''m not a devil specialist, just give me the type that works on them. You want me to handle them myself, right? That''s what I''m doing." "I see... Then I can provide poisons. Whether they''ll work on fey beings and devils, I wouldn''t know. Assuming they originated from animal types then these should work." I included several of my specialties including the deadly strawberry grenades. These ones had to be modified for her to use. Likewise, since she was going to need more containers to hold new weapons, I gifted her a pocket belt. "Mhmm. Deadly smoke grenades, check! Deadly strawberry grenades, check! Poisonous needles and darts, check! Cyanide pills, check!" And so on until she was ready to move out. The old strawberry me would be so proud! "Say, Mera, wouldn''t it better if Vintelo or Mufy came with us? I''m sure they can handle a few minions by themselves." "We''ve already gone this far. There''s no turning back and requesting aid! Plus, they''d only drag me down." Wow, such low opinion on those two. "Alrighty, I''m ready whenever you are. If we get separate, just summon me and I''ll try to answer it as soon as possible." "I''ll do that." There was no point looking into the teleport gates too much. I had checked their destination coordinates whenever possible and they all lead to either this subspace or somewhere in this world. Perhaps some lead to other subspaces but I had yet to encounter one such gate. Anyway, in the event the enemy tried to seal our escape routes, those teleport gates would mean nothing. We returned to a location near where we started. From there, we began the operation by systematically targeting isolated minions while avoiding their gatherings whenever possible. It was by far the best plan I could come up with without immediately alerting them of our intrusion. Because, if I immediately targeted demons, other demons might notice and join in. With my skill set, guerilla warfare became my specialty. It was the same with Mera who could easily silence a group of minions by herself without causing a ruckus. By the way, minions weren''t divided by race. They came from all over the world, elves, humans, reptilians, and various beastfolks. Oh right, there were also various types of merfolks but they weren''t on our hit list because of their habitat. We simply had no reason to go into rooms and corridors filled with water. In fact, there was a whole region of subspace perpetually submerged under water. "Heh, they don''t even know what hit them!" I smirked and exclaimed after her three decisive victories in a row. Though, those were low level minions who didn''t know any better. Now, because she had neither issued another command nor did she require protection, I was basically assisting her for free. Personally, I didn''t mind since this place piqued my interest a bit. "These poisons are more potent than I expected." "By the way, Mera, if you see any devils or minions that look like Kanoko, please use paralysis poison, okay?" "Sure." We proceeded on quietly, picking off stragglers here and there while I monitored for any signs of countermoves. From what I could tell, this wasn''t the first time Mera had killed people. She was a veteran, killing without batting an eye. Out of curiosity, I asked, "When was the last time you killed someone?" "I know. I seem cruel and merciless, don''t I. I don''t really want to talk about it... But... Since it''s you, I don''t mind telling you about it. It''s really not that interesting." Hence, on our next short break, she recounted her past to me. blanksphere Chapter 137 Mera grew up not in Formere but rather a secret village to the east in the mountains. That village''s only purpose was to raise fine warriors and deadly assassins for their country. Training began early in childhood, around five years old. Magic spells, hands on combat, geography, and everything deemed necessary to their roles were drilled into their heads. For years, gruesome training was all that she and those her age group experienced. Of course, there were those who tried to escape only to be dragged back and severely disciplined. At age ten, they were split into two groups. Mera who lacked the qualities to become a warrior was forced to become an assassin, or rather, a role similar to assassins. Enforcers was a name sometimes used to refer to this group. Among them was her best friend, Lapis, who she had known since she was only five years old. Warriors'' role was to slay monster, hunt beasts, and become pillars of their nation. Assassins, on the other hand, focused more on anti-personal combat and intelligence gathering in foreign nations. Oftentimes, they performed similar duties such as patrolling their borders and eliminating invaders. Anyhow, from age ten and onward, Mera had to familiarize with a variety of weapons available to them used for assassination. Lapis and Mera would often spar with one another as part of their training, and learning the best ways to disarm opponents. Once they were fifteen, they had to participate in their first exam. Those from the assassin group were paired with those from the warrior group. The battlegrounds were decided by the trainers and the pairs would use everything at their disposal to survive. The purpose of this exam was straightforward. It was to screen out those weak hearted individuals, those hesitant and indecisive ones. It was to kill or be killed. Only those talented ones with the resolve to live would survive and graduate. To outsiders, this would seem cruel and counterproductive but this was a tradition passed down from long ago. That was the first time Mera took someone''s life. It was the life of a boy who she once befriended years ago. For the next five years, Lapis and Mera were paired together accompanied by a supervisor for missions in the mountains. Their duty was to eliminate trespassers who had entered into the Sovereignty of the Mist via various mountain routes. Although there were hidden sea routes as well, she was never assigned to them. In between missions, they would sometimes travel to other nations to study other cultures and at the same time gather intelligence as peddlers. Five years came and went. For the elves in this world, twenty years old meant adulthood. What waited for them after that five years was the graduation exam. The exam location was the entire city of Formere. "I have a bad feeling about this..." I murmured to myself as she told her story. "Haah... Life is like that. We have to live with everything we''ve got, you know? A bit of hesitation? I didn''t have the opportunity for that. The world waits for no one." "Ehh... Don''t tell me you had to assassinate your best friend?" "We were given two options. We were to assassinate either of the two other party members, that being either our long time supervisor or our best friend." "So... Who did you choose?" "I couldn''t possibly kill my own best friend!" "So you chose the supervisor as your target...?" "What other choice did I have? I was the strongest in the group in terms of combat strength. Still, that didn''t mean he would just let me kill him. No one here wanted to die. Failure was no different than death." With that being said, at the time of the exam, Mera was at level 54. Her friend was at level 52 and their supervisor at level 58. For some reason, Mera had the most combat oriented abilities and traits. With that minor difference in level, abilities and traits would have made significant differences in pure combat. In my opinion, all of their levels were very high for their age. Then again, all the elves I had seen had levels above 30. Compared to humans who averaged level 10, and beastfolks who average level 20, the elves were overwhelmingly more powerful, individually speaking. Even before the exam began, she was keenly observing every movement of her supervisor who had taught her everything she knew. She owe a great debt to him, but even so, she chose him as his target. Her preparations were flawless. After all, she didn''t study under him all these years for nothing. Every assassin must hold secrets of their own. Around her own home, she used every trick and trap in her repertoire, including unique ones developed by herself to ensnare enemy assassins. However long she waited, for days, no one approached. She was losing her patience as the final day of the exam loomed. On an early morning before sunrise, the final day of the exam, she decided to make her move. In front of her was the residence of her respectable supervisor. If she couldn''t kill her target, then she would have to be on the run for the rest of her life. She didn''t want that. If she could prove her value here, she believed her future to be bright serving the country. Not only that, she could choose the option of not continue her endless missions involved in killing others but rather focus on intelligence gathering. Travelling abroad and living a relatively carefree life, that was her goal. With that in mind, she slipped past layers of security measures and disabled notorious traps on her way in and up the stairs. She knew that her supervisor would be on full alert on this final day but she had resolved herself to end this properly. There were no farewells. "I''ll spare you the details since you''re an outsider." "Aww... Come on, tell me! I hate the suspense! Share the details, please!" I begged her desperately. "Let''s just say I''m familiar with these kind of gadgets." "Smoke bombs?" "Yes, we always have these around. We also work with lethal poisons, both the slow acting ones and fast acting ones." "So, you poisoned him?" "That''s the idea. Normally we carried antidotes with us so I couldn''t use poisons that could be treated. Well, since I knew that day would come, I had secretly concocted a special poison using ingredients from Appallia and Grusia with no known antidotes to my knowledge." "Ahh... I see. So he died from poison?" "Unfortunately not. He wouldn''t be our supervisor if that was all it took to kill him. Plus, my specialty wasn''t dabbing with poisons in the first place. It would be quite disappointing if that was enough to put him to rest." "So..." Their supervisor apparently anticipated this so he had a magic spell pre-casted that envelope his body in a thin membrane that only permitted clean air to pass through. The moment she found out her initial plan failed, she switched to her backup plan. Attack spells were activated without delay, three beams of light shot up and penetrated the ceiling below where her target was on the second floor. It was a sure kill magic that she had came up with. If the target managed to survive somehow, he would have been sealed in a barrier that prevented any ways of escape. In addition, the poisonous gas that previously failed to kill would surely reach its target now that the membrane had been penetrated. "Did it work?" I asked. "Yes. We elves aren''t obstinate immortals like you. Even if he did come out unscathed, I had other preparations so I would have won regardless. He probably understood that." "Oh, I was expecting a hands on battle. Who would have thought you were that talented?" "Don''t mention it..." She waved her hand in displeasure. "What about your friend?" When she returned to her home, she found a note from her best friend. It was a farewell letter. Her best friend, Lapis, had been struggling with her inner self for the past few days. Like Mera, she could not bring herself to kill her best friend. However, she had unknowingly fell in love with their supervisor so she couldn''t bring herself to harm either of whom she cherished deeply. The three of them had been through many ups and downs together. Lapis had gained the rare ability [foresight] upon reaching level 51. Normally this ability could only foresee a brief moment ahead. Yet, during the exam, she received a vision of the future where Mera became an essential person in stabilizing the country. However, should Mera not graduate, the future of the elf country faced darkness. That was it. Lapis trusted her vision. What stupidity! Future is changeable! That''s just one possibility. Where there is will, there''s a way! Unless you have some stupid blessings like me, take the power into your own hands! I wanted to scream that to her friend, Lapis. Since Lapis wished the best for her country, while feeling conflicted, she secretly aided Mera in her assassination of their supervisor. Mera who was too focused on her immediate objective completely neglected Lapis'' feelings. Lapis had been missing ever since that day. In the note, it had explicitly stated not to look for her. Despite that, Mera had tried to obtain any information on Lapis with no success. It was as if Lapis had never existed. "It was the greatest mistake of my life. If I could redo that time, I would..." "That''s unfortunate... How many years has it been?" "It''s been about twenty years since I was reassigned to Formere, I think? If she''s still alive, she''d be living the life of a hermit. There''s no way an elf could live in a country without our intelligence network not knowing about it." blanksphere Chapter 138 "Break''s over. Shall we get going?" I said. "Let''s go," Mera replied with an affirmative nod. With demon minions dying left and right, the demons who they contracted with would eventually find it strange that soul energy was quickly gathering towards them through contracts. Now, as much as I would like to sever all the energy links, I couldn''t. Capturing the souls wasn''t an option either because they were mortal souls. It would just burden Mera unnecessarily. I knew why the rules were there but I couldn''t come to like those rules. Whenever a demon behaved strangely on my radar, it would be captured. As we proceeded, I figured that my tactical sight range would be sooner or later deduced by the enemy and my location pinpointed. That feeling of unease stuck to me. Since my presence couldn''t be detected otherwise and that I was often covering Mera, we were no different than invisible chess pieces moving across the board. Invisible or not, we were following set rules. This might be a tactic devised by the mastermind to track my presence. To counter that, I suggested to Mera that we should randomize our targets. Thankfully, she readily agreed. Perhaps I was overthinking things but I thought it was better to be more cautious. Personally, I preferred if we could launch a simultaneous attack on all their locations but we unfortunately lacked the personnel. Minions one group after another were being mercilessly eliminated. Then, using the contract energy links, I tracked the demons'' locations and seal them away with my void barriers to be processed later. I did slightly feel bad about trapping them since they didn''t do anything wrong yet to my knowledge. Though, I did spot one that I had let go earlier at the Abyssal Gate so that demon was just out of luck to be captured this time. Tough luck, troublemaker. About half an hour passed, we breached into one of their strongholds. "Wait..." "What is it?" It would seem that our enemies had reacted appropriately this time. Somehow they were able to notice the difference between how minions and demons were being disposed of. Yet, because I had been carefully tracking demons visible to my tactical sight, I was not able to see what all the devils and minions were up to. "Something doesn''t feel right..." I said. While we remained undetectable within my void barrier, the scene before us was undoubtedly a countermeasure against us. "Perhaps we should go to a different venue." "Why is that? I can see the devils here are stronger but you''ve seen me in combat. This much shouldn''t be a problem. The contract hasn''t taken much of my soul yet." "It''s not that. The enemies are testing for our response just as we are testing theirs. They''ve sent out their shadow devils and specialized clones that instantaneously gather information around them. The statuses you''re seeing are likely completely fake and many of them are invisible to the unaided eyes." "You''re not pulling my leg, are you?" She raised an eyebrow at me. "Of course not! There are hundreds of those shadow clones just waiting to catch a glimpse of us and force me to reveal myself." Currently, we were in an indoor arboretum setting. To Mera, she could probably see several minions and devils serving two demons at a table with snacks and drinks. If that was all it was, I would have eliminated the demons on the spot while leaving Mera with the rest. However, things weren''t so simple this time. There was only one demon as a bait here while the other was a specialized clone sent from several unseen, likely, demons outside of my reach. The clones here were unlike the time with the snake guardian where they were I could easily determine the real body following the energy links. These specialized clones were all interconnected to at least three others where majority of these links were outside of my immediate reach. It was even possible that several demons with unique traits were cooperating. Needless to say, anyone with |devious| trait were likely already all under mind control or at least thought guidance. Here, there were no real minions. Countless shadow clones hid under shades small and large. I explained the circumstances to Mera. "Berry, if we leave now, wouldn''t that mean they found a way to effectively stop us?" "You have a point but the moment I make a move, protecting you might become extremely difficult if they lock onto you." Although having her dragged into a shadow realm would be a concern, I trusted that she could use medium level light magic even in that state. "Lock onto me?" Whoever the admin was wasn''t omniscient in this subspace. They had to rely on eyes to see. "When the administrator lock onto you, they could constantly shift you around or even shift the rooms around. Demons can''t necessarily harm you directly but if the admin can transfer you into places with lots of minions and devils. Then, every time you summon me, it''d drain a little bit of your soul energy, right?" "I see... But we can''t stop now. We haven''t even found him yet." Letting out a faint sigh at the expected response, I said, "Alright then, let''s go to other spots to see if other demons had been notified or linked up. In the worst case, we''ll tackle the weakest link." "Alright, sounds good to me." As a precaution, I began tracking the directions of these energy links. Sadly, it was messier than a spider''s nest. If I could trace them back to the masterminds, that would obviously be ideal. But, thinking about it, I couldn''t be too optimistic. Now I could only hope these energy links wouldn''t get scrambled later on. Using the coordinates I had already recorded, I teleported the two of us within the maze. I wish I had a holographic map of some sort... I wonder if I can''t create one and match it to the coordinates? Hmm... User friendliness... |Creator|, make yourself useful! Normally, I didn''t use |creator|. It was a trait that was a bit clunky to use outside of my own subspace. Right now, I had recorded countless coordinates in various parts of the world but they weren''t associated with a map. If I could add them to a map, it would make my life so much easier instead of relying on notes. "Mera, do you want to look for your fianc¨¦e?" To my abrupt question, she answered, "That would be nice if he''s still alive. Why? We''re in the middle of something." "Yeah, I''m thinking of mapping this area and all the teleport gates. I don''t think they''ve been tampered with just yet so we could find out where they all lead to. We''re travelling around anyway, so we might as well build the foundation for a search and rescue mission down the road." "I''ll leave that to you." Let''s see... Using |creator| to generate functions and build simple programs was a first for me. It was surprising I had never thought of using it that way. This was supposed to be intuitive because no manual was ever downloaded to me. Such a hassle... Let''s what command to give it... Generate world map, 2D, layered. Plot available coordinates on world map. Generate subspace map, 3D, layered. [Unable to generate entire subspace map. Partial subspace map read from memories.] That''s fine. Any bit of visual is welcomed. Plot available coordinates and teleportation gates on subspace map and world map. [Unable to plot all coordinates in unexplored regions.] Then, please derive the expected coordinates of any unexplored regions based on available coordinates on the current maps. [Derivation completed.] Link coordinates from subspace map to world map. Display basic parameters on both maps. Display energy signatures and their strengths from ascendant radar on both maps. Commands were done verbally and the details could be read from my thoughts which I was grateful for. I hadn''t delved into programming so it was nice that the system understood what I wished for as long as basic commands were given. Displayed before me were two main sets of maps. They weren''t exactly as I had hoped for. However, these visuals were vital to me for understanding our situation. First of all, the world map, it displayed everything I had asked for it to display. Any unexplored regions were covered in black with a grid system running through them due to one of my commands for coordinate derivation. It was important that this was done to allow me to have an understanding where the teleport gates were all linked to. In the future, I planned to open up the entire map by visiting those places physically. Otherwise, if I simply used derived coordinates, I might end up getting stuck inside a mountain or something. "Alright, Mera, I have good news. I know where a good portion of the teleportation gates are connected to. We can check out all those places later." "Well, if I''m still alive by then." "Hey, have some faith in yourself!" "I''m dealing with the devils here. Can''t be too optimistic." She said sarcastically while staring at me. Why look at me like that? I''m just being cautious... Or could it be? "I''m not a devil." She retorted rather quickly, "Who said you were?" blanksphere Chapter 139 After examining the various maps, I announced the following, "there''s no pattern to any of them. We might need to brute force our way in." "If I don''t make it out alive, can you pass a message to my fianc¨¦e?" "You''re giving up so soon? We don''t even know if he''s alive. Also, I don''t want to spend the next thousand years searching for a dead person." She scowled. "Oh come on! If a guardian candidate dies that easily, then I''d be dead already!" I have an appointment with the Highlander Emperor soon... I don''t want to be late but I don''t want Mera to die either. Which choice I choose should be obvious but, seriously, I''m annoyed! "Okay, how about this. You see the map here?" I displayed a holographic map in front of us showing the directions of energy links, "If we can make some progress with it, then we''ll go with it. If not, then we''ll brute force it the same way we did before." "So what am I looking for?" To answer her question, I explained what each of these lines and dots on the maps meant. The goal was to identify any weaknesses, patterns, and abnormalities in these links in relation to the demons showing up on my radar. "Also, all these maps I''ve been drawing, what was the point if you could just display it so easily? Wasn''t it just a waste of time?" "Ehh... Not really? Kind of? I didn''t know I could make maps like this... Sorry, but, much of it is based on what you''ve drawn. So, consider yourself a contributor?" Despite me answering as honestly as I could, she expressed clear dissatisfaction and exasperation on her face. In a room with large amounts of open space, likely a gymnasium, all the maps were now visible to us simultaneously. Every once in a while when an idea came, I would reorganize the maps in ways that might lead to a discovery. "I think this is the best we can do." "Yeah, from the looks of things, they are relaxing a bit but still vigilant. Should we proceed?" We had been sorting through data for hours while hopping around the subspace to confirm all destinations of all the links. By doing so, we were able to pinpoint a majority of the demons residing in the maze. A few demons did manage to escape through teleportation gates. However, if they posed no threat, I wasn''t going to pursue. In addition, I began cataloguing their energy signatures for future references. Regrettably, we took too long to pinpoint the locations. Some had began scrambling their energy links thereby disrupting our effort at tracing to the sources. In the end, we could only comfortably say that over seventy percent of demons'' energy signatures were confirmed with their locations pinpointed. We also had to account for the possibility for demons to completely conceal their energy signatures and energy links. Although the latter shouldn''t be possible with my eyes, the former was doable to some extent. And, it was definitely possible for demons not to use any contracts to gain power. Plus, to sever the links to save their own lives was something I seriously considered. Only demons who feared me would do such a thing. De Planck, faker, I''ll definitely find you two and whoever you''re collaborating with even if neither of you are related to this incident... I don''t mind keeping a pet rabbit around, heheh. Jokes. I might skin the rabbit and roast it. Although I had no recorded energy signature when I had first met him, I still kept the |devious| trait from Oortez who was connected to one of the high level demons. Albeit, I was no longer certain whether De Planck was the mastermind or not. It was completely possible that he was just a middle manager. Regardless of any of that, I couldn''t return to my subspace at the moment. I would have to make do with the |devious| trait from the demons I had captured already. "No, I say we rest first and then proceed." I grimaced at her unexpected answer and asked, "What''s with that change in attitude? I thought you wanted to charge in." "I believe there''s a chance." "Hmm? Chance? "A chance I''ll live through this." "Oh? Didn''t you say you had enough soul energy?" She rolled her eyes, "Are you pretending to be dense?" "Eh... Well... Not really? I mean, this is the first time I''ve used this contract so I don''t know how much energy is being taken from you for the first command." "It''s been surprisingly negligible so far." "That''s good. If it''s ever too much, we can always retreat. Since we''re not in the city, I have more or less free reign over this place, destruction-wise." "You think my pride and honor will allow me to retreat like this? No. We''re this close. You can''t persuade me otherwise!" She stared into my eyes with incredible determination. "I see you''re confident." "Yes. I have to be. My duty is to protect my country, from enemies, both mortals and gods." "I like the look in your eyes! Good, let''s make this unforgettable." Mera was patriotic. She was someone I can never fully understand given my way of life but I supported her nonetheless. A drive, a will, anything would do. The more she emotions she could generate, the less likely her soul would be eaten up by the contract. Now, I wonder what''s happening at Rotask? There''s not much time until the magitech airships make their contact. Looks like I might have to give up on my strawberry business. Half a day had passed since Mera''s declaration. Our preparations were as complete as it could get. The masterminds were either loosening their guards or were plotting a trap to bait us in. The number of energy links related to contracts had since increased manifolds likely due to the result of ensuing chaos in Rotask. It really was unfortunate but I couldn''t interfere with that process directly. With the |devious| trait''s link acting as a laser pointed guidance, we set off on a demon hunt. This time, as a contracted hero, I decided to clear the way for Mera to reach her goal. I would neutralize and seal away demons while she would eliminate devils and minions whenever necessary. Mera and I, we made an excellent tag team. I had all the coordinates loaded. The sequence was to seal away all the demons in one go. The types of demons varied greatly, with many of them originated from fey beings. If possible, I would love to liberate them from their contracts and controls. "All set." "Let''s get this done with!" That marked the beginning of our operation. Within the first minute, I was able to seal away five low level demons by coordinate hopping. The devils and minions were temporarily left alone. However, things didn''t proceed smoothly onward. The next coordinate I tried to hop to became invalid. "It can''t be?" "Why are we here?" We landed somewhere completely different than expected. Instead of a factory setting, we were in a swimming pool. Although we were cloaked and invisible, it meant that countermeasures were being put into place. "Not sure, someone might have scrambled the spatial coordinates. I didn''t think it was possible... Hold on, let me try the next few." After trying to teleport a few more times, the results were the same. We ended up in random places. "Not good... If our enemies haven''t figured out before, it should be obvious now." "The delay is too long. It''s the same as before." "Yes, that too. They''re sacrificing pawns to gain information on us. It wouldn''t be strange for them to figure out I was the one behind this." That was my conclusion. "I doubt shuffling coordinates is easy." Mera said, "But, we shouldn''t waste time trying to figure out how they shuffled them. We should first confirm if those teleportation gates still worked the same." "Yes, I''m on it. Though, with my speed, flying through the subspace is still a viable option." "Let''s save it for last. It''ll make pinpointing us easier. We don''t know what other tricks they''ve saved up in their sleeves." I had to individually send phantoms through nearby teleportation gates to verify their operations. "The nearby gates hasn''t be tampered with." I remarked. "We should make use of them whenever places are too far to make travel via transfer." By transfer, she meant by cloaking us in my void barrier and moving us altogether. Since I could bypass physical objects, that itself was fine. Though, there was a next level to my void barrier which shrunk our apparent size to a point, viewed from someone outside the barrier. That was what we had been doing so far to evade detection. However, there was an issue with that method of travel. It functioned essentially the same as teleportation. The main difference was that for "transfer", the coordinates were being dialed, numerical values steadily decreased or increased, whereas "teleportation" was when exact coordinates were directly inputted. "I believe it''s best to make use of the gates for now," I followed up with an explanation of above. If I had to guess, even demons wouldn''t be able to freely teleport around in this subspace unless they knew how the coordinates were being shuffled. "That seriously smacked a wrench in our plan. Fine, let''s go with that." She grumbled. blanksphere Chapter 140 The two of us, Mera and I, navigated through the maze like subspace. On our way to nearby teleportation gates, we had to constantly evade patrols in the hallways. Because Mera had to remain in optimal condition and battle ready, she had to constantly take short breaks to conserve her stamina. "I wish we could just blast a hole through to the finish line." "I want to finish this soon as well, you know? I have a family waiting for me back in Ataraxia." "How nice... I don''t even have a family. I don''t remember my parents and I don''t know if I had siblings. I really don''t have much in my life, you know?" That''s depressing... One who lives for their country only. Should I offer a hand? But then again, I really don''t have parents either... Smoothie is the only one I have that counts as my family. As for any family members in my previous life... ... I don''t remember? Have I always lived alone...? It can''t be, right? Have I always been alone? Am I missing memories? Soul fragments? Did she not bring the remaining pieces to me when she crossed worlds? No... Why did they want me back? It doesn''t make a lot of sense. Strange, how come I can''t remember? Who was I? I had no answer. I remembered my life but none of the vital pieces came to me. "Sorry about that. There''s no need for you to be concerned." Mera said apologetically, waking me from my stupor. "Oh, no, I was just lost in thought." Upon the first teleportation gate we used, we arrived at the destination we had hoped for. "Great, thank goodness it works. Looks like the coordinate scramble didn''t affect the gates." I said with a relieved expression. "I just hope this is the last of their retaliations." Stop! Stop raising dangerous flags! Please. I have no more tricks up my sleeves. I''m an one trick pony, okay? She eyed me with a puzzled expression, "Is something the matter?" "Eh, nothing. We should get going." Mera had more stamina than I had imagined. She was able to keep up with someone like me who had unlimited stamina. Our next encounter was with a group of seven minions, two devils, and a demon. No, actually those two weren''t devils. They were humanoid fey beings contracted with that demon. The humanoid demon was in an office space with two female elves as its secretaries. The other five minions were also various types of servants who served this demon. And finally, the fey beingss were bodyguards patrolling the surrounding hallways and facilities. "There aren''t many shadows around. Does this look like the fake guardian? I mean... He''s doing deskwork with elves." This one''s energy signature didn''t particularly match the one I had picked up earlier but someone might have tampered with it. Again, our main object was to capture or kill the fake guardian in hiding. As it stood, this was one of the most likely candidates so far. One could disguise their status and appearance and alter energy signature to some extent, but to change one''s demeanor was something else. I seriously doubted any demon would put in that much effort. "I don''t recognize either of the two." "Should we observe a bit longer? I mean, I rather not flip through thousands of years of memories if I could help it." "Right." The two of us observed from inside my void barrier for the next short while. "Mera, verdict?" "Not guilty." "The elves?" "I would like to question them, is what I''d like to say but I know we can''t expose ourselves." "Right, even if only two of them remained, it''s tough to say whether they''ll answer honestly. After that, regardless of their answers, you''d have to kill them." "You cannot shield them, can you?" "If they''re enslaved, trapped, or actively seeking help, then I should be able to intervene. Otherwise, I''d like to refrain from interfering with the demons and their properties. Right now, I''m only sealing away the demons. I''ll be the judge as to who will be released later." "So it''s like that, then please allow me a few moments." "There are other candidates as well. Wouldn''t it better to check all of them first before exposing ourselves to such a risk? I do not believe saving people should be our priority at the moment." "You''re right but... Please." Either way, I had no issue taking care of myself. Perhaps, I was just overly worried about her wellbeing. "Alright. Leave the demon and hidden shadows to me." Nearly instantaneously, the demon was sealed away. The shadow clones, hidden in the area, received a few magical sparks from me and thus eliminated. The two elves, suddenly realizing the strangeness of the situation, readied their battle stances. To them, the demon they worked for simply vanished without a trace. "I won''t pacify them. It''s all up to you now if they wish to cooperate." I said promptly. This time, since Mera wished to speak with the elves, she did not kill the surrounding minions. Instead, she used [silence] and paralysis poison on them to prevent them from raising a ruckus. After that, she calmly entered the office space by herself. "Who are you!?" One of the elves asked alarmingly. "I''m Mera, one of the Enforcers. If you wish to live, answer my questions honestly." "What''s an Enforcer doing here?" "You''re not the one asking question, I am." She sent an intimidating glare their way, "Do you know anything about the new guardian of our country?" One refuted with, "I can''t say," while the other shook his head. Mera paused for a bit before raising another question, "Are you both forced to work under that demon?" "I serve my lord, faithfully." "It is the same as I." The moment she heard those answers, the two elves collapsed, blood trickling out the corners of their mouths. "That was quick. I guess I''ll keep the demon around for a bit longer." I murmured to myself. Not forgetting the ones she had tranquilized earlier, she finished them off just as swiftly. "Mera, we must leave quickly before we''re trapped here." Suddenly, Mera vanished without a trace. In her place was the one I had been waiting to meet. "De Planck." "Good grief, we finally found you." He shook his head in displeasure. It had been quite some time since I had last seen him. His form was that of an upright black rabbit, with size to match as well. As before, he was in business attire. If he wasn''t a demon with rows of sharp fangs in his mouth, I''d think this demon was quite adorable. Now, from what I understood, this wasn''t his real body despite his ability to adjust his physical size. If my guess is correct, he might have identical bodies just like that elsewhere. Back then, I was just a clueless and powerless fey plant. My ability to discern the true strength of someone was non-existence. However, now that I had the power to accurately gauge someone''s power, he was no longer a threat to me, at least not directly. "You took it out of my mouth, damn demon." I retorted, "You''re not afraid I''ll smite you on the spot?" "Now that you''re all grown up, you''ve become feisty. Say, how about we make a deal?" Strange, why is she not summoning me? Don''t tell me she''s been isolated... The energy link from my side was still functioning as far as I could tell. Mera''s safety was unconfirmed but I''d like to be at her side as soon as possible. Though, even if I failed to protect her, the repercussions weren''t that great for me. Still, it would leave a bitter aftertaste if she ended up dying. The |devious| trait from Oortez that I had removed from him was making loops and not pointing at any directions. Then as was for |devious| traits that I had isolated from other demons, none of them were pointing toward De Planck. Damn rabbit, I can''t even see it... Just how are you concealing your energy links? Even I can''t do that. If you have other bodies, it wouldn''t be funny if you were reproducing asexually like wild rabbits. I''m frustrated. I want to smite you but that would rid of the root of the problem. To be blunt, this in front of me might as well be his main body. If it really was indeed his main body, it was extremely abnormal that no contract links were tethered to his energy body. None, whatsoever. I was perplexed. It couldn''t actually be his main body here... Right? That''s... No it can''t be. Then who did I contract with? He''s just trying to confuse me, I''m sure of it. Sounding a bit irritated, I replied with a bluff, "Enough of your games, where is she? If you don''t speak, I''ll track down your main body and make you cough it out, you hear?" "How uncivilized... No. No. No." He shook his head while wiggling a finger. "No deal means no deal! Hurry up. I don''t have all day." There was no way I could outsmart a demon when it came to contracts. After all, they were the contract experts in this world. The current De Planck before me had basically the same status as it did the last time I saw him. The only difference would be having the |chaos| trait. His actual level might be much higher depending on the type of ability or trait that allowed him to create separate bodies. If he could just display a higher level than me, my celestial eyes'' main function would finally be of some use. It''s just unfortunate I couldn''t upgrade my celestial eyes into a trait. "You don''t understand a thing, my dear. Ignorance is surely a blessing in disguise." "Stop irking me, what are you trying to say?" "A fool will remain a fool. Why not check your status?" Suspicious as I was, I quickly checked my status. [Level 75 Celestial; Species: Veraine; Physical: 78/78; Spiritual: 898/898; Traits: Bewitching, Cautious Tactician, Creator, Dedicated One, Singularity, Limit Breaker, Enhanced Will; Abilities: Hypnosis, Subspace, Genesis, Celestial Eyes; Blessings: Enchanted Fate, Forced Destiny; Description: A divine being.] I checked and doubled checked. All of my physical stats had been reduced to only ten percent of their original. Furthermore, all of my abilities had been sealed, meaning I could no longer access them. Also, although my spiritual stats had also been affected, the numerical values were a bit strange to say the least. With panic in my voice, I yelled, "Impossible... De Planck, what did you do!?" "I didn''t do anything. I was merely here as a distraction while they insert you into a little game." "Distraction? Game?" "Indeed!" He smiled revealing his glistening fangs, "We have prepared a playing field for you." "Why? If you wanted to defeat me here, you have more than enough stats." "Perish such foolish thoughts. Why should I sully this me? You''ll meet your tamer shortly." "Rude! Tamer!? Who do you take me for?" "Now, we can''t have you hindering our movements out in the world, can we? As you can see, I am rather busy. Little fairy, I bid my farewell to you." He bowed curtly and disappeared before my mind could catch up to reality. "Crap... I got riled up and let him get away... I guess it doesn''t matter." In the next instance, I felt myself being teleported. Crap, they forced a teleport on me? That shouldn''t be possible... Did they shift the coordinates of these rooms? Yeah, that must be it... Hah... blanksphere Chapter 141 I found myself at the centre of a coliseum of some sort. There wasn''t a single spectator to be seen. Since this was a battle arena, I returned my appearance to that of an adult human. Just what am I supposed to do with my lower stats? Now that I can''t access my subspace, I won''t be able to directly protect them. Honestly, I was more amazed that my stats could be lowered at all. In terms of my power, as long as my traits were still there, I was next to invincible. |Singularity|, the fusion of three ascended traits wasn''t something I fully knew how to properly use other than the base traits. Within this current body of mine there were several demons that I had sealed away. In the event I required additional mana, they would be the first ones to be sacrificed. Since Mera hadn''t summoned me, I couldn''t determine her exact location. After pondering about, I decided to stick around for a bit to see what they had prepared for me. "Alright, where''s my playmate?" I announced aloud. "I''m waiting." "Then, wait no more." A voice echoed from above. Boom. A monster the size of a truck crash landed some distance away. When the dust settled, a figure of something between a mix of a spider body with twin scorpion tails greeted me. It wasn''t even a demon. Wait, wait a second... Not a demon!? You''re kidding me! If I harm it, Mera''s soul will be damaged. Tsk... "What''s wrong? Afraid? We''re just getting started!" The same voice echoed from above. "Shut up. Your pet is so ugly. Don''t you have a sense of aesthetics?" The voice cackled ominously. "I have more where that came from." "I see..." Shaking my head as I said that calmly, "Grotesque just as you are. Too ashamed to show your face? You have my condolence!" "Silence!" From the monster''s tails, two bursts of black slimy threads sprang open like a trap in my direction. However, without even flinching, I walked forward. With |void|, the subtrait of |singularity|, active, the threads merely passed through my body. "Are you even trying?" I said, trying to rile up the demon behind the scene. Since I was having trouble pinpointing the voice''s location, I reluctantly activated |dedicated one|. Furthermore, by my calculations, the meeting time with the Highlander Emperor should be approaching fairly soon. If I wasted any more time here playing with some weaklings, they''d think I was unpunctual. I wasn''t okay with that! Alright, here we go. Please work! It was a multistage contingency plan I had came up with a while back. While it was neither perfect nor well thought out, I decided that this was the time to put it into action. Better now than never. Activate Plan Zero. Generating secondary core... Secondary core activated for background processing. ID created. Initiating parallel processing... Retrieving and compiling data... Initiating analysis and decode... Pending... Detach. Now, I just had to buy some time. A flurry of jabs and swipes from the monster resulted with not a single scratch on me. Apparently, that was enough to agitate the voice above. "We''re just getting started." Sounding as cocky as I could, I said, "Really? You better send in a proper playmate, you know? This one doesn''t even tick my fancy. Come on, if you won''t even show your face, at least play your trump card. I seriously don''t have all day to play with you." "Hmph, arrogant fool. Why don''t you look at the mirror? I have a surprise for you." With that, the ugly monster disappeared. What came after was quite surprising. Literally, a fey being resembling my fey figure appeared. There were minor differences but overall it might as well been me. It had flowing golden hair, and bloody red eyes. Covering its slim body was an elegant vermillion battledress, very aesthetically pleasing with elaborate patterns like magic circles as the design. Since I hadn''t confirmed its gender, I decided to just refer the devil as an it. "That''s it? If I don''t attack it, and it can''t touch me, isn''t it boring? Can''t you be a bit more creative than that? I mean, devils aren''t a threat to me unless you wish to charm me?" "Naive! Fuhahaha! In case you didn''t know, we''ve been breeding you en mass where you cannot see. We had them kill each other, and this is the sole survivor and the best one." "You... You''re bluffing." "Be sure to see the status for yourself." [Level 88 Fey (plant); Species: Strawberry Nemesis; Physical: 699/699; Spiritual: 788/788; Traits: Devious, Bewitching, God Slayer, Parallel Existences, Soul Eater, Limit Breaker, Enhanced Spiritual, Enhanced Resistances, Enhanced Physical; Abilities: Charm, Soul Rupture, Ravage, Coordinate, Rewind, Lull, Full Drive; Blessings: Rite of Retrospection; Description: A plant fey that is the enemy of its own kin.] What!? What the hell? How? What caught my attention was the presence of three nasty traits. I was familiar with |devious| but I could easily guess what |god slayer| and |soul eater| meant. Although these weren''t ascended traits, one was likely a counter to someone like me and the other was likely capable of directly harming the soul. Still, I wasn''t a god so it likely wouldn''t have the maximum effect on me. "How...?" "You..." The devil murmured. "What? Don''t tell me you use the strawberries? But then you couldn''t have levelled that quickly..." "I had to eat many souls..." The devil said reluctantly. "Wait, he said you''re the last one? How many of you were there? There shouldn''t be any soul cores! I only had one!" I heard a chuckle from above, "Oh no. You see, we intercepted you the moment you entered the world. Have you forgotten? Fufuha, that''s the portion of your soul we kept! As for its kin, we used the souls of the deceased. Isn''t that delightful?" "What? What non-sense!" "You thought you knew everything? You descended from the god realm right into our palm. Ahahahaha! We are truly grateful for the opportunity to ascend to godhood! It''s just unfortunate we could only obtain one seed. If you were just a tad bit earlier, perhaps you could have witnessed my ascension!" One seed? Something isn''t matching up. There''s no way he''s now a god. I better try to draw more information out of him. No, hold on... Is he talking about the Seed of Life? Shit. That''s the thing required for godhood. I remember! Not good. Wait, that doesn''t make sense? Is it not the seed I germinated from? Something is definitely not matching up. Let''s play along and see if I can gain more information and time. "I don''t understand. If what you''re saying is true, then why bother stealing a portion of my soul and allowing me to live to evolve? You could have just killed me after retrieving the seed." "What''s the fun in that? Once you''ve lived long enough, you''ll understand! Now, go fight to your heart''s content. I''m off." The laugh of a madman echoed across the arena before slowly fading into oblivion. Hmm? Why do I feel like he''s acting? You don''t just tell me all that and leave... That''s not how to be a proper villain. I don''t get it anymore. What am I even doing here? I''m just being swept along in this play? Is that all it is? "I''m sorry," the devil said regretfully. "I''ll make this painless for you. I''ve had enough." "I''ll save you." "You can''t even save yourself." "Mark my works. I''ll definitely save you. Don''t you wish to see your daughter?" "That''s but a dream. I don''t have one." "Then I''ll make it a reality. Did you know? I grant wishes to people." "..." "I have some questions, if you don''t mind answering." "I suppose you''d deserve to know that much. Albeit, I only know what I know." I nodded and thought, I don''t know who you really are but at least you''re civilized enough to answer my questions. "That''s fine. How many seeds were there originally? There should be two, right? Both of us were born into this world." "One, and only one. We were originally one. The Seed of Life along with a portion of the soul was extracted. That became me. I was then implanted into one of the seeds they obtained from your strawberry." "Eh, so it was my fault?" "You were the leftover, allowed to live in that world with only fragmented memories of the original. You should have died and returned... The other side needs us." "If I died, the demon would have stolen my soul... But the other side? We don''t have the seed anymore, right?" "The seed doesn''t matter. We''re not from this world. Did no one from the other side come for you?" "You mean Smoothie?" "Who''s Smoothie?" "An artificial intelligence..." "Why didn''t you return?" "She was the daughter I was talking about." "Stop fooling around! I''ll kill you and send you back. Then I''ll kill myself since you should be the last piece I was looking for." "Wait! It doesn''t make sense. If I was supposed to go back, when didn''t god just send me back?" Narrowing its eyes, it said, "God? What are you talking about?" "Based on my memories, after I died, I met someone. He asked me what I want to incarnate into. And I answered, ''god.'' Then I was told I''ll be a strawberry plant." "So it''s like that... If you had my memories, you would have asked to be returned at once. No, that''s not possible. At that point, the demons shouldn''t have gotten to us." "Actually, Smoothie said my soul was fragmented. She carried a piece of it with her into this world though I had not absorbed it yet. Perhaps parts of our memories were sealed away right before we entered that realm?" "As much as I''d like to say it was impossible, our circumstances speaks otherwise. During that accident, a dimensional rift was likely opened, just briefly. Somehow it was connected to this world or this subspace. Using that opportunity, it could have temporarily got hold of our soul and sealed away important memories while our soul was fragmented. Then, we were sent merrily to be reincarnated through this ''god.'' Upon leaving, the demon followed up with the deed." "Ah, wait, but why us? The demons could mark anyone? There are countless numbers of souls out there." "You forgot our origin. The world where we came from is like the realm of gods to them. Souls like our aren''t on the same level. If I have to guess, the ''god'' probably has an agenda of his own. Seeds of Life aren''t something to be bestowed normally. Unfortunately, he''s already dead though he didn''t have a Seed of Life on him. Whether he was the one you saw or not, that''s hard to say." "Huh... Dead you say? So that''s how you obtained that |god slayer| trait. Interesting. How does one normally reach godhood? The demon seemed to have taken quite some time to reach it from the sounds of it." "I do not know. To you, what is a god?" To that question, I threw a standard answer. "Omnipotent or somewhere along that line?" "I would say, the ability to create life." "Oh. Well... I could do that to some degree. But it seems I''ve lost the ability to do so moments ago. Someone sealed my abilities, somehow." "What?" "Also, a good chunk of my stats have been reduced significantly. I''m considerably weakened, you know?" "That''s impossible... You shouldn''t be able to create life..." Its eyes widen in disbelief. Even so, my ability to create life had been sealed for some reason. And to top that off, I couldn''t recklessly create life either and the limitations were quite severe. "Even in my weakened state, I don''t think you can actually kill me because I''m technically a divine being. As much as I''d like to converse more with you, you''re affected by |devious| trait. Anything I disclose automatically feeds into the demon''s network. I''m sorry. Your words and actions are not trustworthy. In the first place, I cannot confirm whether you''re an ally or not. For you who is within the system to kill a god? What non-sense! It''s you who don''t understand a thing." I stated blatantly. "You..." The devil was lost for words. Since I was unable to see any energy links nor any energy resonances between the two of us, I had to remain wary of this devil. Perhaps this was all a trap to lure information out of me. If that was the case, I had revealed too much. Whether there was any truth to what the devil said, I couldn''t confirm with the information I had available. To ascertain it, there was but one way. I shall defeat the devil before me and examine its memories. Tampered or not, it mattered not. The origin of memories cannot be altered. The system kept all records. That was I was sure. Mera. I''ll be right there after I finish this. Temporarily severing the contract link with Mera, I declared, "Speak no more. This act comes to a close." Chapter 142 The devil resembling the past me took a few steps back. "No. Stop." I took a step forward. The corners of my lips curved upwards into a smirk. "Enough is enough. Let''s see what this |god slayer| is all about." Echo, I can create abilities, right? [Yes.] They had underestimated me. They didn''t think I could create abilities. I decided on the most optimal one for this situation since they might try to seal any new abilities I gained. First, I want to accelerate the speed of my thoughts without limits. [Maximum allowable granted.] It took me long enough to fully realize it. |Creator| was allowed me to directly engage with the system that overlaid this world. It wasn''t omnipotent or anything but within the system, it might as well been. With or without the Seed of Life, none of that mattered at the moment. Moreover, as much as I was a divine being, I wasn''t a god, meaning |god slayer| was ineffective against me. It was as if that god purposefully died. Still, there was a possibility that god faked his death or something. Ah... I''ve been played. Whatever. I know what to do now. Since if I didn''t meet the requirements, I wouldn''t be able to obtain certain abilities. Then it was no problem if I created abilities that didn''t exist yet or was slightly different than ones that already existed. The requirements and effects would be solely mine to determine. I wish create abilities that can compensate for |dedicated one| trait''s weaknesses. Before that... Re-attach secondary core as a separate entity. Continue with secondary objectives. Hide messages. All this time I was talking with the devil, |dedicated one| was processing information separately on a dedicated soul core. It was completely worth it though, splitting off nearly all of my soul and forming a very special fey core containing a proxy soul core. By doing so, the side effects of overusing it could be annulled temporarily, at least it wouldn''t affect my consciousness. Should there ever be a corruption, I could just sever it. However, it seemed to have evolved because of my action. It was now |dedicated will| capable of acting by itself to some extent. That was all well and whatnot but it was only a trait at the end of the day. I decided to keep it as a secondary core for now. Anyway, this subspace was completely analyzed, or at least the outer layer. Hence I had my secondary core reverse my abilities that had been sealed. Following that, I was able to have two abilities created. Well, technically, it was a total of four including the thought acceleration. Yet, three of them immediately merged into one, forming an absolute powerhouse. That ultimate ability was [infinite dreams]. It was equivalent to forcing everything around me to become my personal subspace, granting me equivalent authority. The extent or the size of a dream world depending on my will. Of course, mana usage was determined on the size of the dream world, the authority I granted myself with, and the opposing will. Vorte, thanks for the wisdom you''ve passed onto me. It''s being put to good use. Welcome to my dream! I''m going to snatch this labyrinth for myself! The other one was [soul indemnity]. As it stated, with activated, it affectively nullified the original |dedicated one| trait''s side effect. [Soul Indemnity] activated. Though, the compensation for that was a mana sink, or maybe a mana tub? Well, it was on a level where I had to munch soul energy like popcorn. In addition, it was able to repair my soul. Perhaps that was why it was slurping up my mana like a mad lad. Thankfully, I had demons to use as my batteries. Mister demons, thank you for your service. Your sacrifices weren''t in vain! Hehehahah!! I took another step forward. [Infinite Dreams] activated. My stats had returned. No, in fact, they had increased further. For the first time ever, I had fully grasped |singularity|. At least, it was more than enough to turn the situation around. "Before we end this, let me hear your name." Black ominous cubes gathered in my palms. "Don''t come any closer..." Fear emanated from its eyes. "Aren''t you a god slayer? My name is Berry. Now, tell me your name, or perhaps do you prefer dying namelessly?" In response, its demeanor shifted to that of a calm river. Its eyes glared at me with scorn. "Time for me to get serious as well." What, you weren''t before?! Quick joking around. An ominous sword staff of gold and black manifested in its hand. Calling it a sword staff was probably the best description I could give. The top half was a sword with a strangely designed hilt that resembled ancient clockwork while the bottom half was a fairly straightforward handle. From the status, it was a fey weapon. Its stats weren''t particularly important as with magical objects alike. The important parts were the abilities and traits. [Level 70 Fey (weapon); Species: Pole Arm; Physical: 499/499; Spiritual: 499/499; Traits: Tick Tock, Shapeshifter, Immemorial One, Enhanced Durability, Enhanced Resistances, Immortality; Abilities: Absolute Severance, Absolute Stasis, Chrono Gate, Dimensional Ripple; Blessings: Chronodynamic; Description: A divine instrument used for tuning.] Huh... Interesting... Very interesting... But I wonder... I could only smile at the harvest. Truly, it couldn''t get any better. If I can overcome this... It''ll be mine! I found treasure. Heheh... Unlike Lightbringer, this was an artifact I''d love to get my hands on. "I was given the name Ikebas. Mark my words. I will send you back if it''s the last thing I do." I shook my heads, "Couldn''t you have slain the demon god? Never mind, you''re under their control. Come at me." My hands beckoned at Ikebas as I activated my |singularity| field. "Silence!" In that instance, Ikebas disappeared from my sight. "It won''t work on me, silly." There was a reason I activated |singularity| field. That was the only trait I had that had a chance when dealing with opponents capable manipulating time. Not only that, parallel existences would converge within my field effectively nullifying one of her unique traits. Though, normally, this trait''s unique effect was completely useless to the point I hadn''t even paid attention to it. Strictly speaking, maintaining this |singularity| field under normal circumstances was impossible. Mana usage was one issue. It was only because that [infinite dreams] was activated that I could realize this unique effect. Otherwise it was as good as non-existent. Still, this field could only be extended up to one meter radius in my current state. I parried and deflected barrages of attacks one after another that entered my singularity field. In my hands, I was using a double sided magic spear. Given that the moment her weapon leaves my field, another attack would be on its way, I had multiple of miniature round shields orbiting around me, blocking attacks left, right, and behind. Cling! Cling cling... Cling... A slew of jabs came from the front. Blocked. Shrling! A side swipe came from behind. I was able to parry it below. Dodging meant nothing since the enemy was everywhere outside of my field while she refused to enter my field herself. As long as I stood firm and warded off the attacks, I would remain unharmed. Occasionally I had to dodge or side step a few attack but those were rather on the rare side. ...Cling... Clang, clung, cling...! The battle between us was giving off the sound of bullet casings splattering from a machine gun. Not all attacks could be blocked. Many had to be dodged. Technically speaking, I could block all the attacks by just covering myself entirely. However, I wanted to her to keep attacking. Unfortunately, I couldn''t replicate nor use time oriented traits and abilities at the moment since I had yet to receive full authorization from the system. Just the capability to fend of temporal attacks was more than enough. Ahh... Hurry... I don''t want to become diced into a salad... Though... I wonder if my combat skills are improving? Sparring like this isn''t my style... Kuh. Boom! A shockwave rippled through my field, shattering my weapon and shields like glass. It was probably some kind of ability or magic, was my guess. Without giving me a break, the attacks were relentless as I generated another weapon to fend off her onslaught. Explosions reverberated within my |singularity| field, each one more thunderous than the previous. As if things couldn''t get any more, my weapons kept shattering despite the best defensive traits I had stacked on them. At some point, I decided to add doubled layered shields for protection, not that it''d make much difference. That''s a cheat weapon... Was what I thought. Coupled with her ability to rewind time, none of my abilities could effectively trap her. Whether that weapon had any external mana sources was questionable, but I had to assume the worst. Same went for her stamina since she was a fey being like me. In other worlds, she could have infinite stamina. Now to explain, |void| and |force| only operated on the spatial dimensions. Someone moving in the time dimension would absolutely feel none of the forces or restrictions placed on the physical. |Chaos| was completely useless here as well, obviously. None of the abilities and traits derived from either of these three were adequate when dealing with that cheat weapon. Honestly, if void barrier worked, I would have claimed my victory already. Since I could neither observe nor directly interact with the time dimensions, or so I presumed that was where she hid, I had to remain on the defense while I trying to gain certain access through the system. "This is annoying." Think, think... Are there any substances that alters time? Time crystals...? No. Maybe I should just run away? No... I''m greedy! Several side objectives were near completion while the fight was ongoing. That was to say, the groundwork was completed and I could complete those objectives at a moment''s notice. In a sense, I had no need to hurry and leave. I was able to ascertain that Mera was safe. She seemed to be settling something personal and didn''t require my assistance. Meanwhile, my opponent was having a tough time against me. I''ll just see if I can slow you with water and ice? I doubted it. I have nothing to lose to experiment and gather data while I wait and obtain qualification. As I thought that, the attacks that had bombarded me continously suddenly ceased. "What''s up? Why stop? Out of juice? So it''s my turn?" In reply to my leisure taunt, a voice sounded. "Don''t get so haughty, I''m just getting warmed up myself!" "How peculiar... You wanted to kill me just to send me back? Well, to be blunt, I can go back any time. You could just send yourself back or surrender to me. I''m already amazed that you kept it up for so long." The latter was my honest opinion. For anyone to push me so far onto the defensive was unheard of. No, for an administrator like me, unless I wished for my own defeat, I couldn''t be killed, well, aside from carelessness. Yet, if I was careless, I wouldn''t have that |cautious tactician| trait on me. I''m still waiting for authorization... What''s taking so long? I want to create abilities to rival that cheater already! I directed a complaint at the second core, |dedicated will|. Since I hadn''t installed a personality to it, it was really just a computational device at this point. "You!" It was a tone dyed with anger. Still, I couldn''t locate the speaker. It kind of reminded me of the times I conversed with Vorte and the voice from the sky earlier. "Yes?" "Leave this world! Let me send you back." While she was in a mood to chat, I decided to play around. I generated a few fish shaped water globs and had them swim around outside my field. "No." I replied firmly. Pretty fishes... While I marveled at my own artistic creations, I couldn''t help but reveal a delighted smile. "Why? The other side needs you." "I still have things to do here." "Lingering attachment?" Her voice had calmed down a bit. "You could say that. By the way, I never asked. Why does the other side need me? I don''t remember being special in any way. Wasn''t I just an ordinary citizen?" As we chatted, the fishes replicated and diversified. Soon enough, battle arena became like an splendid aquarium filled with blobs and globs of water in the shapes of sea creatures. Heheh... I wonder if all this water will affect her fighting style. Probably not? Since she doesn''t need to breathe... What a troublesome opponent! I bet she''s taking a break right now to recover mana from somewhere. How does this time thingy work anyway? I don''t honestly don''t get it. Echo, can you please just grant me ability to manipulate time? I mean, only allowing me to use a simple countermeasure is a bit cheap, right? [Insufficient qualification.] Damn it! What a cheapskate! I just want an easy win already! If I gather more data and level up, would I eventually be able to manipulate time? [The possibility exists.] "You..." She uttered. "Me? Even if I returned, I''d have nothing to go on. I have no such memories. Sure I remember a few friends and a bit of knowledge here and there but most of my memories are too hazy. Right now, I have no idea what you''re talking about. I have no memories nor attachments to that world. Hey, can''t you think from my perspective a bit? You see, a stranger that looks like me wants to kill me with some strange reasons, telling me to return to that world? Absurd, right?" "I... I see... Certainly you have a point... If you just go back, everything will make sense! I''ll follow after you." "Uh huh... If you really are me and I you, then why not just surrender and let me absorb your memories? It''s not hard, is it? Nobody loses!" "You can absorb memories? There''s no such thing in this world...!" "Nothing''s impossible with me. You probably haven''t seen my status either, not that I''d display it in enemy territory. I don''t even know where that demon disappeared to. Just get on with it already. I have to go skin a wild rabbit after this, probably, maybe, and track down that voice." Truly, I had no idea where that demon or demon god was lurking. I seriously doubted that one became a god but one could never be overly cautious. blanksphere Chapter 143 An obstinate obstacle was keeping me busy. Ekibas, the self proclaimed other half of my soul in the form of a devil, was someone who could fight in suspended time. No matter how much I dilated time or altered my perception of time, I couldn''t reach her. She was in a different realm altogether due to the divine artifact in her hand. Though, in reality, if I had sniped her soul core when she was still visible to me, I would have won, probably. That bad personality of mine got in the way. Whether I could get her to show herself again might be the challenging part. Hurry up already, I can''t keep up this singularity field for long. Truth be told, I had already converted one demon in my possession into pure energy to fuel my |singularity| field and [infinite dreams]. However, I couldn''t show my weaknesses before enemies. Since there hadn''t been follow up attacks from her, I decided to provoke her a bit. "What''s with the long hold up, out of juice? Is that |god slayer| trait for show? Come out. Let''s finish this. Also, I miss your pretty face, hehe..." "Then I shall oblige!" The victory is as good as mine! Unfortunately, my expectations weren''t met. Immediately, we clashed once again, with her attack pattern the same as before. It really seemed that was the extent of her powers. As for the reason why she wouldn''t surrender, I could only guess. Whether that reason be contract or mind control, none of that mattered to me. Since majority of my power was partitioned to my |dedicated will| core, I had been battling in a significantly weakened state. However powerful it might be, the secondary core only had that trait itself and couldn''t command other traits, therefore |singularity| couldn''t be utilized to its full potential. All that ended now. Reintegrate secondary core to main core. With this command given, power and more importantly, astronomical amount of new information became part of me. It feels good! So much power... Not yet... There were several demons sealed away under my jurisdiction. Near instantly, their entire existences had been analyzed by me. Goodbye demons, it''s your ill fortune that you messed with the wrong person at the wrong time. I''m take your power for my own. Converting their very soul into pure energy while only leaving fragments of their memories within me, their long lives came to a pitiful end. Truly, I was grateful for the tremendous amount of knowledge I was able to inherit. Not all demons were converted into energy since a few were in peculiar situations. Anyway, I was in a state of ecstasy with all that power flowing through my very being. Power, so much power! Ahahaha! I can finally say that line! Saving the best for last! Now that''s what I call a blast! Here it goes! In an instant, literally, at the exact moment our weapons clashed physically at the edge of my |singularity| field, another |singularity| field in the shape of a thick spherical shell form a few meters away surrounding us. It had to be that instance where she couldn''t time leap. There was nowhere else to escape. She could now only move within the confines of these two fields. It''s the end for you, and a new beginning for me. Heheh... Perhaps in a panic, the clashes suddenly stopped. But, it was all too late for her. The two fields expanded and melded into one the next instance, forcing her to appear before me. By suddenly dragging her into the physical world against her will out of that realm, her movements became disoriented as if her strength had vanished. Her shock was evident. Of course, not wasting a second to allow her to recover, I dashed into her. My hands formed into infinitely sharp blades and severed her arms, disconnecting her from that fey weapon. My base stats were just that much higher than hers. Moreover, [infinite dreams] had already captured her existence. It was over. Then...Ploosh. With my right hand, I pierced into her heart and extracted the fey core only someone like me could see and touch. Then with my left hand, I held onto the fey weapon. If I could use void barrier within this field, I would have done so already. "It''s my win." I declared boldly, gazing into her clouded eyes. "Yes... Yes it is... All yours now... It''s name is Minute." She said, with a conflicted smile and a bit of sadness in her tone. "Call me cruel, call me a brute, I don''t care. Well, I had quite a bit of fun sparring with you so you have my gratitude. Any last words?" "Ah, I wasn''t able to send you back with my own hands..." Her voice becoming softer, and she herself was fading. "Hah, that''s it? Those contracts don''t carry over. Go rest in peace. I''ll take care of the rest." Now that her body was no longer supported by a fey core, it slowly crumbled into soft dust. "I''ve done my part... The rest is up to you." With those last words, she was no more. Done her part? "Well, that was a strange turn of events. Mera is just about finished her personal business. I guess I better meet up with her." Since I had no clue where that self proclaimed god disappeared to, I couldn''t pursue it. The sword staff with the lame name, Minute, was in my hands. I casually twirled it around to get a handle on it. It''s a nice weapon. But... I don''t really need it at the moment. Hence, I decided to seal it away along with the fey core I had just obtained. If I was to wield either of those two as my own power, there was no telling what that demon god would do. However, that didn''t mean preparations weren''t made for immediate transplantation of all the essential traits and abilities. Then again, that soul contract was there so the demon likely planned to snatch the soul and take the traits and abilities for himself. It really didn''t make sense unless he was a fake god. Really though, a god should have to work within the confines of the system. Since I couldn''t permanent sever the energy link, sealing it was a good idea for now. In all seriousness, I doubted a demon could become a god just with an item called Seed of Life. An item was just an item. In the worst case scenario that a demon became a god, there were probably laws that regulated gods beyond the system. That meant that gods probably couldn''t directly interfere with actions of those working within the confines of the system. God stuff? Trivial matter! After creating some more tasks for the secondary core, I gave the command to detach. The secondary core I had previous reintegrated was split off once again. The amount of information it could generate was just too much for my consciousness to handle. Simply put, my head was getting dizzy. "Mera, I''m coming!" I transformed myself back into Kerry the Fairy before teleporting to Mera''s side. The scene was inside a recently furnished tavern. This was still within that strange subspace. The tavern was ran by an elf who had settled here some years ago, apparently. Really though, this subspace could be considered one of the strangest places in this world. By my earlier analysis from my secondary core, this subspace was ever growing with new areas constantly added. New teleportation gates would occasionally pop into existence in the real world, allowing pioneers to partake in creation. Anyway, back to the scene, there were several patrons or customers chatting about as they drank in pleasant atmosphere. Just earlier, the wooden tables and chairs were cleared away to allow a little spar. Not surprisingly, one of the contestant was Mera. The other one was the owner of this tavern, Lapis, who was supposed to have gone missing decades ago. This was just data gathered by my secondary core. By the time I arrived on the scene, the winner had already been decided. The tables and chairs were returned to their original positions as if nothing had happened. No shadow clones, no demons, and no devils...? I guess it''s safe here? "Ehh... Mera?" I said awkwardly, listening to the two of them reminiscing of their early days. "Hey." "Don''t ''hey'' me! While I was fighting for my life, you were chilling here!?" I shouted indignantly. "This is... Kerry, I guess?" "Right, I''m Kerry the Fairy! You must be... Lapis?" "That''s right. Thank you for taking care of Mera." A small blonde elf covered with an apron grinned amiably. She seemed like such a sweet person unlike the story Mera had recounted a while back. Did they really nearly kill each other back then? "Uh... Likewise! I''m amazed she didn''t kill everyone outright since we were on a warpath." "B- I mean, Kerry. Never mind that, how did you find us here? This wasn''t one of the mapped areas." "Silly Mera, don''t ever underestimate my amazingness! Fufufu...! Now praise me! Wait, wait, aren''t they all...? Is this really alright?" "It''s hard to believe you actually you''re a mother of a single daughter..." "Seriously, she''s got a daughter?" "Rude! I''m a proper... uhh... parent, I think? Wait, wait! Hey! Why are we talking about me?" "Long story." Mera shrugged disinterestedly. "So, how did you end up here with all these people? I mean, most of them have contracts of some sort so I can''t say they aren''t enemies." Mera didn''t seem to be under any strange influences. Not only that, no one here was showing hostile reactions. So, I wasn''t sure what to make of this situation. "Kerry, I found out about the so called fake guardian..." "It''s probably better if I explain it since I know it firsthand." Seeing Mera''s best friend deciding to offer an explanation to me in her stead, she switched her role from a mere customer to a bartender. The transition was so smooth that if I didn''t know better, I would have thought that was her regular occupation. Well, though I had never asked, she might have worked in this industry to gather information as part of her work in the past. Chapter 144 Sitting across a table with me was Lapis, Mera''s best friend from childhood. "Before we get started, do you want something to drink?" "Ehh... Actually... Let me offer something to you!" Strawberry wine, the Berry brand, was on its way to being commercialized! I couldn''t possibly forget to advertise my own products. I waved my hands, and poof! A glass of wine with the sweet aroma of strawberries popped into existence. "Give it a try! Heheh." I grinned, gesturing her to a drink of friendship. "Interesting." She took a sip without a hint of hesitation. What... She''s not even going to question where it came from? Fearless little lady... A few feet away, Mera was watching the scene with her jaws dropped. She nearly dropped her tray. Upon seeing her like that, I couldn''t help but display a smug smirk on my face. Your friend has received my stamp of approval! "Not bad." "Only not bad? It was approved by Kanoko!" She raised an eyebrow. "Who''s Kanoko?" "A friend... Never mind! Tell me about the fake guardian and how you pacified Mera so easily. There''s no way the Mera I know would fold the moment I took my eyes off of her." She chuckled and said, "She''s always been on the stubborn and straightforward side. But, I know her only too well. You see my ability, [oracle], do you not? It was only recently that [foresight] evolved into that." "Let me guess. You knew exactly where she''d be...?" She nodded, "Exactly. I knew I would meet her soon so I made preparations to greet her at the destined location just a hop away. This time, I resolved myself to face my past and face her. You know about it too, don''t you?" "Yes, briefly, she recounted her past." "We both had regrets. Here I am, a runaway, still in hiding, but I don''t hate it. Changes are coming, I see it very clearly. This is my chance and my only chance. I cannot see your future but I know you''re someone capable of changing the world." "I hope she hasn''t divulged too much?" I snuck a peek at Mera. "Not at all. Anyway, you probably don''t want to hear our reunion story so let''s move on to your other question. For many of us here, the demon we have contracted with is an ancient one. From what I know, she has some authority within the Great Labyrinth of Daedel. By the way, that''s the given name of this place. You''ve just been calling it a subspace, right?" "Neat... Eh... Ancient demon..." Perhaps understanding my concerns, she continued, "She''s not an evil one. Unlike the younger generation demons who hunger for achievements and power, she acts more like administrators of this world. If it wasn''t for that, I wouldn''t have contracted with her." "But why would you want to contract with a demon?" "I have my own reasons just as Mera had hers when contracting you." "Aww... I''m not a demon! I''m Kerry the Fairy! I''m a fairy, you hear? I''m different!" "Let''s end it on that note." "Wait! Why? You haven''t talked about the fake guardian." She had a hand covering her mouth, "Oh dear, I wasn''t clear enough I suppose. Playing the role of a guardian was one of her hobbies to pass time. Well, it could also have been one of her servants playing that role. Either way, it''s to satiate her boredom, so to speak? So I rather you don''t try to kill her." "Eh? That''s it? And Mera agreed!?" "Yes. It was a mutual agreement. She killed my first love and in exchange, I asked her not to kill my benefactor. It''s fair, is it not?" I was left speechless. I don''t know... This sweet little elf is a bit twisted, isn''t she? Wait... Isn''t that ancient demon a bit too cunning or what!? What am I supposed to do now? I turned to Mera with my flabbergasted expression, yet she only nodded innocently. "I''ve been played..." I could only sigh wistfully. "Now then, I should get back to work! Oh, by the way, I''d like to order three barrels of your... strawberry wine, was it? Thanks!" She waved at me, and left from her seat. I feel stupid... I''ve been all worked up for nothing. I guess playing around is only natural for demons. What to do now...? Minutes later, Mera walked up to the table I was fuming at. "I''m sorry." She said apologetically. "It''s fine... And what should we do about our contract?" "I''d like to keep it if possible." "Why? You have no need for my power anymore, do you? Oh right, you''re still searching for your fianc¨¦e. I can lend a hand." "I found out where he is from Lapis. He''s on Crescent Island. I''ll be going there a bit later." Crescent Island was an large chunk of land in the shape of a crescent moon situated northwest of the continent. Travelling by sea was too dangerous and travelling by air would be too expensive, hence it had remained unclaimed by any nations. In addition, that place, according to my knowledge, was mostly uninhabitable. To reach that place, Mera probably planned to use one of the teleportation gates within the Great Labyrinth. "Then... Why do you still need a command? You''re powerful enough." "As for my last command, you are not to harm Perdix, the demon Lapis is contracted with." "You know I don''t have to agree with your command, right? Plus, isn''t she causing trouble in your country? Elves across the world are being persecuted. Why would you go that far for Lapis? Is it guilt? Speak to me!" Her eyes squeezed shut and her hands clenched tight. "Please, just be Kerry the Fairy and grant my wish." "No, I refuse." Mera''s tension suddenly released and looked at me with disappointment. "But, I''ll consider your wish after I speak with this Perdia. No promises, okay?" Her face suddenly brightened before replying with an affirmative nod. On that note, I severed the energy link I had with Mera. Our contract ended. After that, I left three barrels of strawberry wine to Lapis in exchange for some more information on Perdia and took my leave. According to Lapis, there was only one way to reach where Perdia was. Aside from venturing out of the Great Labyrinth occasionally, this being normally resided within the innermost chamber of this subspace. That place could only be accessed via a select few teleportation gates at specific times. She also advised me that the inner chambers might have a different flow of time than the rest of the world. Lastly, she remarked with a wink, "Perdia might not be a demon but you didn''t hear that from me." For now, demon or not, I''m not feeling well enough to visit an insidious person like that. Let''s put it off for now. I need more preparations. It was only a matter of time before my secondary core cracked into the inner chambers. No matter how much they scrambled the coordinates, I could swiftly navigate the Great Labyrinth of Daedel. The outer layer of the subspace was as good as mine if I disregarded the constant expansion. On that note, I managed to track down Kanoko''s sister, Kanobi. She was living the life of royalty in a luxury housing suite with a swimming pool attached inside this subspace. At the time I found her, one of her tails, serving as her minion, was giving her a massage. No wonder she had that attitude... Living a more lavish life than me who''s probably lower than a peasant to her. Anyway, now that I knew where Kanobi was, I could take Kanoko here for a visit if she still wished to do so. I doubt Kanobi would disappear to anywhere soon. In Rotask, the capital city of the Kingdom of Appalia, the grand battle between heroes and fey beasts had came to a conclusion. It was expected though since two days had passed. Not surprisingly, the seven heroes were still alive and well. Then, as for the magitech airship fleet, several airships were anchored on the outskirts of the city. It seemed that the reptilians had no intent on a hostile takeover while the human nation was weakened even to this degree. Well, frankly speaking, the Federation probably could have taken over the Kingdom of Appallia whenever it wished but lacked the resources to manage it. Hence, it opted for a beneficial business relationship for a long term gain instead. Looks like I have no business here anymore. My strawberry business will have to wait... Since Mae''s weapon was enhanced by me in a way that could easily be abused, I withdrew my power from the sniper scope and destroyed that bullet. The magic swords weren''t that strong and I would say they were on par with that magic bow so I spared them. On the way back to Ataraxia, I dropped by the soul library and dumped some demon''s memories there. "Hey Oortez, I brought some souvenirs for you!" "Boss! Come take a look!" The hell is he on? Boss? Me? "Sure..." But I''m not interested in gadgets. He led me into his techie laboratory. "This! Isn''t it amazing?" He was speaking with his usual passion. What is that thing supposed to do? Oh... I think I know. "A teleportation gate?" "As expected of milady!" You''re not trying to escape, are you? Just when I had you locked up somewhere nice and tight... "Does it work?" "It hasn''t been tested, but you came at such an opportune moment. This must be fate." "Heh? Me?" I pointed at myself with surprise, "Wait, you can''t mean I''m going to end up your test subject, right?" "Ah, it''s like you read my mind. Whenever you''re ready!" His beaming smile was painful to look at, seriously. "Hold on, you copied the teleportation gates from the Great Labyrinth of Daedel, didn''t you? That''s what you called ''ancient ruins'', isn''t it?" "That''s part of it, but indeed, indeed. Isn''t that place just impressive? It''s truly a fountain of endless knowledge and discovery." "Not really. It''s a collaborative work. I found out how it works." "Oh?" "I guess you weren''t part of the inner circle of high level demons." "Unfortunately not. I believe there was a rumor going around saying one has to be at least level 70 to meet the basic qualification. At the minimum it would a hundred years to reach that level." "I see. That De Planck fellow was part of it, wasn''t he? I saw him briefly but he ran off somewhere." "That I am unsure. All I know was that he has a higher ranking than me in the hierarchy. If he gave an order, I would follow it." He shrugged disinterestedly. "Didn''t you say that demons normally worked alone? I had no idea there was a hierarchy involved at all." "It''s but a trivial matter." His hands were giving off the gesture for me to drop that boring subject. "But..." "Let''s get to the important part! Now, tell me all about the secrets of the Great Labyrinth of Daedel! I''m dying to know all its secrets!" Since he was overly enthusiastic about this absurd research topics, I surrendered a bit of my time to entertain him. You''re too passionate for me... Please spare me. I''ll look for your assistant next. She can be your test subject like she''s supposed to be. Right, this matter can''t be put off any longer. I''m sorry Highlander Emperor. We might have to postpone our meeting... Well, let''s see how long it''ll take to find his assistant first. Chapter 145 "Vintelo, Mufy, I have an errand for the two of you, if you don''t mind?" These two fellows, fey beings, were living such a sweet and relaxed life in Ataraxia that I became a bit jealous. Currently, I had split my consciousness in two. My main consciousness was listening to Oortez''s non-sense while my alternate consciousness was here posessing Blueberry. That being the case, only a few abilities and traits could be shared. "You''re back so soon?" Vintelo said. What do you mean back so soon!? But, I was a mature person so I restrained myself from any childish outbursts. "You can say that. There''s somewhere I''d like you two to go. Think of it as a business trip!" "Oh. What about the strawberry field?" Earlier, I had asked them to cultivate some strawberries on an empty patch of land. So far, things seemed to have gone well. "No worries, I can freeze their time." "Ah... Where do you want us to go?" Thus, I explained the situation regarding my appointment the Highlander Emperor and the possibility that I might be a tad bit late. Upon hearing my explanation, Vintelo seemed to have lost all motivation. Mufy, on the other hand, seemed to know the reason. "Ehh... Can''t you go there yourself? You can teleport, right? I don''t want to go there." Vintelo grumbled. "I can but... I''m dealing with troublesome demons. Plus, you two are fey beings, right? They trust you more than me. I''ve lost my fey status, you know?" Obviously that was poor excuse given that I could fudge my status display. Mufy, seeing the troubled Vintelo, offered an explanation, "Vintelo was from there. He doesn''t want to see his relatives back at the palace." "Eh? Could it be that Vintelo is royalty?" "Not quite. The representatives from his lineage acts as direct advisors to the emperor." Ohh... I can definitely see it. There was that someone with the same appearance. What an unexpected development! "So that would be the Imperial Governor or something like that? Is he a runaway son of the governor?" "Strictly speaking, he''s the father of the current governor." "Ehhh!? Vintelo, you''re a father!? Who''s the mother?" "Mufy..." He sighed. That''s a bombshell! "Hah!? Mufy is the mother?" I was too shocked by this revelation. My head turning between the two of them, trying to connect the dot. Unfortunately, I wasn''t sure how these two combining together would give birth to a fey being of the same as Vintelo. "No, I''m not! Vint, don''t mislead others with your half finished sentence. Berry, his wife is still living in the Imperial Palace." "Oh... Right, that makes sense. So is Mufy your mistress?" "Berry, Vint and I are friends, or merely old acquaintances." Upon the mention of "acquaintances" by Mufy, Vintelo made bitter expression. "I see. Wouldn''t that make you two the perfect candidates to run that errand for me?" Mufy suggested, "Can you send Kanoko? She''s more than capable." "She''s supposed to be retired. I don''t want to send her... Not only that, she can''t fly so that place isn''t suitable for her." "I don''t mind." A voice came from behind. Startled, I yelped, "Ekk! Don''t do that to me!" I turned around to find Smoothie and Kanoko standing behind me. To think neither Vintelo and Mufy showed any hint of their arrival... "Have a taste of your own medicine." Kanoko threw a surprisingly amiable wink, though not at me. "Mother... or Father... Umm..." I quickly corrected Smoothie before someone could run a bad joke on me, "No, stop there, Smoothie, Mother is fine. So, what do you need?" "I want to see the Imperial Palace, please! Pretty please!" Her eyes suddenly became that of adorable puppy eyes. Eh? She can transform now...? Wait a second... "Smoothie, illusion magic isn''t for something like that!" I reprimanded her and gave a soft chop to her head. As if she was doing a comedy skit, Smoothie hid behind Kanoko with a sorrowful expression. "Uuu... Auntie Kanoko, I''ve been bullied." Eh!? Auntie!? Since when did they become so close? But wait, she''s more like a granny or ancestor if you consider her actual age... Oops, better not voice that. "Berry, what''s the harm? I don''t think Zortek has changed much since my last visit. If it''s Smoothie, I don''t mind showing her around." "Isn''t that supposed to be my job?" I asked. "But you''re busy, right?" I blinked twice. "Yes...? I guess?" "Then there''s no problem if I take her with me. Don''t worry, I''ll keep her safe." "Fine..." Since she was this adamant about it, I allowed her to have her way. "Mind if I speak?" Mufy spoke up. "Go ahead." "Since Berry is worried, Vint, how about we tag along incognito. Kanoko can deliver the message since she''s trusted." "But I don''t want to go..." Vintelo grumbled again. Mufy sent a stern glare at him and called out his name. "Vint." "Fine." I wonder what''s really their relationship? "Berry, please alter Vintelo''s displayed status, just the species name is fine." "Alright, since it was my request, I''d assist at least that much. I''ll have to let my main body do it." "What about me?" Smoothie pointed at herself. "I can recreate a fey body for you. You don''t have to worry about your physical body. I''ll take care of it." "Yay, thanks!" Moments later, after my main body entertained Oortez just enough for him to begin another passionate speech, I carefully had my main body swapped without alerting him. Thankfully, whenever he went into those passionate speeches, he would lose focus of his surroundings. Altering Vintelo''s displayed status was done almost immediately on the spot. Then, for Smoothie, since I didn''t want to show everyone how I altered her status and form, I led her by the hand back to my room in the mansion. "Lie down please." She laid down. Suddenly, with her eyes upturned and her cheeks tinted rose, she spoke with a flirtatious tone, "Will you mate with me?" What the hell? "No." Upon my rebut, she frowned. "Why not? Am I not good enough for you?" "Enough of these jokes, you should know better." I answered with a firm tone before suspending her consciousness. Unlike the time I had to create her physical body, the reverse was very simple. I extracted her fey core, leaving the physical body as was. It was equivalent to an out of body experience. For a short period of time, there should be no issues such as deterioration. But since I was a bit concerned, I put the body in a sealed casket and slowed the time inside. Now, for Smoothie''s fey core, even if I left it alone, as long as mana was present within it, Smoothie''s fey body would automatically regenerate. Though, that could take quite some time. So, to speed things up, I injected my own mana into her through our link. Her body had nearly instantly reformed into a splitting image of the elf girl I had let rest in the sealed casket. Or, perhaps it should be the other way around. The elf girl was the splitting image of Smoothie! With silk smooth and creamy white skin, mint green glossy hair, and pink lips, it was as if she had grown prettier. She''s just so adorable... As expected of my daughter! Hah, if only she had a more desirable personality then she''d be perfect! Hmm? Wait, it couldn''t have been my fault. No. Way. Nope. She definitely didn''t inherit my personality. Mine is perfect. "Wakey, wakey." I poked at her soft cheek as I called out to her. "Mm..." It was as if she was mumbling in her sleep. It couldn''t be that she''s in a dream? Eh...? You''re just teasing me right? How dare you... Kuh... "Kiss me." Yep you''re just teasing me. "Smoothie, get up, or I''m leaving you here." Her eyes shot open, and flustered about, "I''m up! I''m up! Don''t leave me here all alone!" "Good girl, everyone''s waiting. Let''s go." Since Mera was no longer staying with us, there were only four residents remaining: Smoothie, Kanoko, Vintelo, and Mufy. Of the four, Mufy and Kanoko couldn''t fly at all. But, that wasn''t a problem since I planned to leave Blueberry with them as a servant. Blueberry could just carry the two if it came down to it, though they''d probably want rent one of those flying lizards for travel. Once everyone had gathered, I transferred them to a quiet location inside Zortek, the capital of the Empire. "Smoothie, make sure you follow Kanoko, okay? And don''t cause any trou-" "Mother, I don''t want to hear your nagging! Hmph!" She crossed her arms and looked to the side with disgruntle. "Eh? EH!? Smoothie is in her rebellion phase now?" "Berry, just leave her to me." Saying that with a lukewarm gaze, she patted me on the shoulder. "Yeah... I''ll leave her to you." My eyes then turned to Vintelo and Mufy. "I don''t know how well versed you two are in combat, but if you''d like, I can bestow you some weapons?" "I understand your concern. Don''t worry, no one will lay a finger on your daughter. You know, despite his looks, Vint''s fairly reliable." She chuckled to herself. "Hey... " Speaking of Vintelo, he had already altered his appearance via [transformation]. Currently, he was the same species as Mufy who resembled something like raccoon bear or something along the line of that. "Alright, then I''m off." Saying that, Blueberry returned to being Blueberry. blanksphere Chapter 146 After seeing off Smoothie, Kanoko, Mufy, and Vintelo, my two consciousnesses returned to one. Oortez had just finished his talk and was doing a final check on the portal device. "... By the way, Oortez, I hate to break it to you but your portal device won''t work." "Why not?" "Did you forget? This subspace is still under lockdown." "Then just unlock it." "We can talk about it after you touch some grass." "Why would I touch grass? That''s absurd." "Never mind. Let''s go grab your assistant." "A sensible decision." Before we headed off, there was one thing I had to address as a priority, and that was |dedicated will|. It had been operating behind the scenes following the directives I had set it to accomplish. Since I was no longer within the Great Labyrinth of Daedel, half of those directives would no longer be applicable so this was a good chance to see its progress. Re-attach secondary core as a separate entity. Data sharing initialized. Looking at the secondary core, it seemed to have gained two new traits, |hacker| and |engineer|. I wasn''t surprised at the least. Knowing that |creator| normally absorbed traits like |engineer|, I decided not reintegrate this secondary core into myself unless the need arose. In the previous instance, it was inevitable that I had to use my full power against the devil, Ikebas. One of my directives was to completely analyze Ikebas''s fey core. I kind of felt bad having her soul laid bare before my eyes but it couldn''t be helped since I wanted to authenticate her story. And just what did I find? Her story was mostly authentic, though with minor discrepancies. There were signs of memory tampering but since my super amazing |dedicated will| had the capability to reinstate original memories using |soul indemnity|, her memories were now in order. The story of my life was quite something I could hardly believe. No. Way! No way? This isn''t completely made up or something? I doubted checked again, and again. Yep... Did I make a mistake somewhere along the line? Not possible, right? She probably read a novel and turned it into her own memory. Yep, that''s likely! Maybe I''ve been working too hard these days. But hey! If I can get the time thing to work, maybe, just maybe things will be alright? In the first place, the flow of time should not be synchronized across the world. Yep, let''s just be optimistic. I''m a sunny person... No, I don''t want to go back. This world is so much more interesting. I can use magic and I can fly! Seriously, it''s too surreal. There''s no way one person, me, could have been such a big deal. My existence shouldn''t have been a big deal. World collapse? Pssh, oh please, it wasn''t my fault. Entire star systems could be in danger? Not quite there. I held no such power myself. Everything was related to the Seed of Life. Whatever the case, I didn''t cause that accident! And, I''m not obligated to return. Even if I returned, there was nothing I could do. I shouldn''t have a body left...? Since I couldn''t see the full picture, I decided to ignore it for now and check the result of the analysis on Minute, the sword staff. Meanwhile, I had |dedicated will| check my own memories. Having the sword staff, Minute, in my hand felt quite nice. "Let''s go. I want to do some test runs with this weapon." "Interesting proposal... Won''t you let me have this honor?" "Nawh, but I can try it on you!" "Ah, please leave that matter to my assistant. She will be more than happy." I really doubt it. Thus, we headed off to the location east of the Kingdom of Appallia where Mitasan, Oortez''s assistant, was likely located. To get a sense of distance, the place I started this life was approximately two days walking distance from the border. Then, to reach our intended location, I would add another fifteen days of continuous walking at the minimum. A vast plain sparsely populated with stubby trees displayed itself before us. To the distant north and south were mountainous terrains with snowy peaks. As we flew further eastward, the size of the plain shrunk as the mountains closed in. Occasionally, I could spot monstrous trolls wandering the land. "Oortez, can demons detect other demons from far away?" "I would say ''yes'', to some extent but nowhere near as reliable as your senses, milady." "Heh, I''m amazing like that, you know?" "But of course!" "By the way, I''m thinking of capturing the Great Labyrinth of Daedel sometime later. How powerful do you think Perdia is?" "What a marvelous aspiration! Regarding Lady Perdia, hearsay is what I can only offer. It''s unfortunate that I had not the privilege to greet her in person. According to rumors, her character can be described as whimsical." "Hmm... I heard she''s the one in charge of the subspace and responsible for the crisis at the elf nation. Oh right, I never asked. How exactly did you and that other fellow enter my subspace? It wasn''t connected to the labyrinth by any chance, right?" "You caught her interest or so I was informed. I assume you have visited the Great Labyrinth of Daedel, correct?" "Just the other day, yes." "By her will, a teleportation gate spawned, connecting to your subspace." "Hmm? And she wasn''t there?" "No. Only the two of us were present." So you couldn''t even confirm it was Perdia who spawned the gate. Either she''s super secretive or you''re useless! "That doesn''t explain how my subspace was sealed from the exterior?" "It was a spherical gate." He answered without given a detailed explanation as if that was enough for a normal person to figure out what he meant. Spherical gate... Spherical gate... Spherical gate? I don''t remember seeing one. But, if it''s a spherical gate, I guess it''s possible to lock into my entire subspace. "I''ve not seen a spherical gate in the outer chambers. Was it later destroyed or did you go into the inner chambers?" "Don''t be stupid. There''s no way I''d be allowed into the rumored inner chambers!" "I see..." Well, I don''t want to agitate him anymore. That spherical gate was either destroyed later on or he wasn''t aware that he entered the inner chambers. After all, there''s no way anyone could explore that entire place even in decades, and certainly Oortez couldn''t do it. Yep, let''s leave it at that. "We''re almost there," I said as we started passing over mountain ranges. "Good, good. I''m sure Mimi will be pleased to see me again. Assisting this great me in my profound research is an honor too great to let pass." Yeah right. A demon is sentient, there''s no way anyone would work for a freak like you. Also, seriously? You even nicknamed your assistant? Since I knew better, I kept that thought to myself. In a remote location tens of kilometers away from a massive troll settlement, there was a abyssal crevice thousands of meters deep and hundreds of meters across. Looking from the sky, it was as someone had left a deep black scar on the earth. The mountains within its immediate vicinity were barren and completely devoid of life. On our way here, we passed by some eerie looking swamps that bubbled dangerous gases. For travellers that weren''t careful, falling into one of those swamps would mean living their remaining life as slimy goo due to extreme corrosion effect. Occasionally, several bubbles would float up forming what appeared to look like a silly face. My guess was that this demon had wrecked havoc across this land and the trolls had sealed it away here. If that was the case then this demon was unable to escape via flight. "I think this is the spot?" "If you say so." "Can you handle the corrosion?" "I''m leaving it to you." He said it in a matter of fact tone. What a shameless guy... The two of us stood at the edge of the chasm. Looking down, deep down, a vast cavern system existed below adorned with luminous blue crystal shards and columns. At the bottom of the chasm was flowing water along with some isolated puddles of corrosive slime. "By the way, your assistant wasn''t some kind of slime, right?" "Hmm... That''s a interesting way to put it. She was quite adaptable is all I can say. Perhaps she had evolved into something else altogether." "All I can see down there is slime. I just hope she''s intelligent enough to converse with us." I wrapped the two of us in a layer of chaos barrier and hopped in. As we descended, I shed some light into the horizontal tunnels for Oortez to grasp the terrain. Personally, I found the luminous crystals to be enough of a light source. Even as we descended further, there were no signs of any crystals being dissolved or eroded by unnatural forces. By that, I concluded that the demon either couldn''t dissolve minerals or that it only ate living things. Drip. Drip. Drip. "Do demons feel cold?" "Yes, but not as much as mortal races." "I have trouble feeling temperature. Tell me, is this place cold? I would assume it does since the crystals here are releasing a cooling aura." Then, from out of one of his pocket somewhere, he took out a thermometer. "Indeed... It is below freezing temperature of water." Sunlight could not reach the bottom of this cavern system. Although all the surfaces here were slippery and wet, there were no signs of ice forming. A meandering stream was flowing next we stood at the bottom of the chasm. "I''m guessing this is salt water then." "These crystals are quite fascinating. You don''t mind if I take a few chunks back to my lab, do you?" He was already chipping at a crystal chunk with a chisel and a hammer in his hands before I had the chance to give permission. "Sure?" Crack. Perhaps he had used too much oomph with his hammer swing but half a ton worth of crystal fell next to me. "Hey... Oortez... What''s the big idea?" "The bigger the better, right? I don''t want to have to come back again." "Okay." Crack. Clunk. Smash. "Hey... Hey, hey, hey... Oortez, you''re going to carry that many?" "Not at all." "What do you mean? Are you selecting the best sample to take back?" "Of course not. You can just send them all back for me. That''s why you''re here, right?" I couldn''t help but roll my eyes out of irritation. "Kuh! Fine, just this one time." Since I was such a magnanimous being, I teleported them all into his excessively large laboratory. "Appreciate it." "Save your words. We''re here to retrieve your assistant, are we not? I honestly cannot tell exactly where your assistant is. It''s as if she''s dispersed all around us..." Out of curiosity, I thought to examine one of the largest suspicious puddle of blue slime sparsely scattered around us. [Level 23 Demon; Species: Mi-Laimu; Physical: 499/499; Spiritual: 240/240; Traits: Devious, Extreme Vitality, Shapeshifter, Ravenous Glutton, Servant, Chaos, Multiple Existences, Enhanced Physical, Enhanced Resistances; Abilities: Division, Extreme Decomposition, Undying Breath, Synthesis, Paralysis; Blessings: Lord of Gluttony; Description: A type of demon evolved from fungi race.] "...Never mind. I found her. Or rather, a piece of her. She certainly has a lot of health, a little too much for her level." "No, no, that''s not her main body." He shook his head. "You don''t mind if I keep its clone bodies, do you?" I asked after seeing some useful abilities that Smoothie might wish to have. "By all means." Sweet. Free food... Drink for me? But still... This thing doesn''t look appetizing at all. I let out a disappointed frown upon thinking I had to slurp it down even if it meant using my abilities. In the past I had certainly use [absorption] to eat bugs and animals, and people, but now the idea felt a bit repulsive. I decided to just collect these puddles of slime instead and save them for later. The two of us wandered around and searched for the main body. Thinking back to the status I saw, I doubted it had a main body especially when |multiple existences| trait was present. Oortez probably just meant to search for the biggest blob out there. blanksphere Chapter 147 "Oortez, so, what does the main body look like? They all look the same to me. Are you sure she still has a main body after evolution?" "Indeed, a good question." He stroked his scaly chin. "Also, what''s the smallest unit she could split into?" There were countless blobs of slime scattered across the cavern floor, some collected in puddles while others stuck on rocky surfaces. When I checked, they all displayed statuses with varying values of health, mana, and level. Aside from these differences, I couldn''t tell which could possibly be the main body because traits, abilities, and basic stats were all the same. One of my concern was that if a blob of this demon could have been washed downstream and entered a larger body of water and started replicating unbridled. That would be an absolute nightmare for whoever had to clean it up in the future. Though, strictly speaking, if it ever came down to the cleanup job, it would be the oceanic guardians'' role to disinfect the oceans of this obnoxious demon. "The smallest unit would be about half a copper coin. Worry not, back when Mimi was still a devil, food consumption was the limiting factor to her survival." "Oh? Continue...?" "It was for that same reason that I had to discard her. The results she provided was marvelous but my research budget was being devastated by that glutton. Without food, she''d shrivel and die in days." "Seeing she''s still alive, I''m guessing she''s hibernating or something. But wait... A glutton you say? You thought I was going to feed her?" "Of course. It is the employer''s duty to do so?" "Huh? I mean, as a demon, you don''t even need to eat food. So why would I feed her?" "It seems you''re mistaken. She''s a bit of a special case. But, that shouldn''t be a problem at all! Since you can create food for her and eat portions of her at the same time, it''ll all balance out." He stated that without a bit of hesitation nor remorse. I eat the demon and in turn the demon eats from me? What is this madness? It''s the epitome of abomination! I couldn''t help but glare at him and retort, "Has no one ever told you that you''re super twisted?" "True ingenuity lie with thinking outside of the norm. Unrefined plebeians who fail to comprehend my brilliance are simply unworthy to speak of someone as great as I." Thanks, I''ll remember that. He basically just called me an unrefined plebeian. "Whatever, so how did you converse with Mitasan before? This thing can''t seem to talk." "Let''s try amassing them into a single container. Then we''ll carry it out somewhere warmer." "By ''we'', you mean me, right?" "Exactly." "Then we''ll feed it something?" "Exactly, exactly. Truly, our minds think alike! As expected of milady." "That''s not... Never mind. Catch." I created a shovel and threw it at him. "Get working. You''re not going to make your lady do all the work, right?" Next to me, I had a transparent metallic container to hold all the blobs of slime. If I wanted all of this done in a few seconds, I could just use |dedicated will|. However, if I did that, it would be as if I was the assistant to Oortez. That would hurt the little pride remaining in me. With disgruntle, he began freezing puddles of slime and shovelling chunks into the container. "Milady, I have a proposal." "What is it?" "If I recall correctly, she tends to float. Thus, it would be easier to completely flood the cavern and freeze the surface." "There''s no water source here and I''m not going to transport or create water. Oortez, your hands have stopped moving." I pointed out. "Hmm... Ah! I remember seeing a suction cleaner device in the Great Labyrinth. Is it possible for you to recreate it?" "Lazy people and shortcuts. Fair enough..." Creating a vacuum cleaner was simple enough or so I thought. I didn''t even need to add a filter or anything. As long as there was a tube, a container, and spinning wind blades, then it would work. The issue was the power source. "Oortez, it''s not going to work. I can operate it but I''m not sure if you have what it takes, you know?" "Kuh!" He acted like he was shot through the heart. "How could it be!" "Do you have something that can convert mana into electricity? Or something to convert mana into rotating force?" "Unfortunately not. I believe the Federation has devices such as those. Should we not pay that glorious country a visit?" "No. You just want to escape from boring work." I guess I''ll use the alternative method... Just to be sure, I''ll ask. "By the way, are there magnets in this world?" "Magnets? I cannot say I''ve heard of it." And so, I described to him what magnets were capable of. "Ah! Those are called adapters, extremely rare metals with little uses." Then I guess it''s fine. Since this world has magnets, I decided to implement a little trick into this vacuum cleaner. With that done, I added a power switch and handed the device to him. "Done, give it a try." "Impressive! As expected of milady." He said with dazzling admiration. While he was happily playing around with his new gadget, I decided to learn how to use one of my powers, those little black cubes. It was about time I started learning more about my powers. If I kept relying on |dedicated will|, I''d end up a good-for-nothing god-to-be. I started with one cube at a time, and slowly expanding that number to ten, then fifty. Once I was confident with controlling a hundred small cubes, I started varying the sizes of cubes and performing miscellaneous tasks with them such as collecting slimes and making stone statues. Two hours had passed before Oortez had finished playing with his new gadget. However, the cleanup wasn''t done despite the first container reaching full capacity and the second container being half full. "I believe we have enough samples." He declared. "What should we do with the rest?" "Nothing." "Not happening." "What will you do?" "I''m going to test my new power." I smirked playfully holding an ominous black cube in my hand. "Not only that, these crystals are nice. I think I could make a fortune with them." Ice cold strawberry wine? I''d be filthy rich! "Oh! And what does it do?" "Watch closely, Oortez." Although my control was considerably lacking without |dedicated will|, I wasn''t incompetent. The black cube in my hand initiated its systematic division, splitting into tens, then hundreds, then thousands and so on. With each iteration, its compassing volume increased exponentially. Once enough there were enough divisions, it was as if these cubes had a will of their own, and snaking into branches of the cavern system and swallowing everything in their path. "I-Impressive! As expected of milady." "Interesting, right? I could gather anything I want." "Wait, then why I have been slaving around for hours?" "I''m not your assistant, isn''t that right?" "Yes... It''s definitely leaving a bitter aftertaste." "If you''re ever tired of living, I don''t mind eating you up?" I sent a dangerous yet amiable grin his way. He chuckled nervously while scratching his head. "Uh. It would be an honor, but not today, milady." "That''s a pity. Just sit quietly for a bit." About half an hour later, the cavern system had lost majority of its natural lighting. In turn that meant my work was near completion. Though I had no plan to take all the crystals for myself, I thought it would be the best if I traced the underground water streams. To do so, I allowed a few miniature clones of mine to flow down the streams and also loaded it with lethal chemicals to destroy any possible food sources for the demon fragments. "Alright, time to leave." I sent Oortez along with his cargo back to his lab. Since I felt bad for the trolls who lived in this region, I hollowed out the corrosive swamps sitting between valleys. If I left the swamps there, it would be unthinkable how many lives they would claim into the distant future. Only once all the swamps had been cleaned up did I return to my subspace to witness the revival of Mitasan in Oortez''s laboratory. "First, let''s warm it up." For safety reasons, that pile of slime was sitting in a huge sealed tank. The sealed tank was a transparent container twice my height, much like an oversized beaker. Since I was able to gather some more slimes using my black cubes, I added those into the tank. It was just like boiling soup. With amber flames licking the bottom of the tank, bubbles were rising to the surface. Then, using a special tube, I fed the soup, I meant slime, some chunks of suspicious food. What kind of food I threw at the slime didn''t really matter since they were all melted down into goo nonetheless. "Oortez, this better be worth my time. It''s not even showing signs of intelligence." "Have faith in me, milady. She will surely assist in my research." "I hope you mean it because I''m not lending my clones to you." "Ah yes, your clones. I have some knowledge of them but I heard they lacked intelligence?" "What are you smoking? Of course they are intelligent! Ah... Could it be that you''ve never actually seen my newer clones?" "Ooh! I would love to gleam-" "No. Absolutely not." Before he could get any more strange ideas, I pointed to the tank to distract him, "Look, it''s stirring. Is she waking up?" "Ah, yes. She should transform momentarily." Given his words, I waited. I waited. And, waited. Hours went by. Thankfully, this was probably the only part of my subspace no longer synchronized with the time outside. If we finished soon, say, within several years, I''d still only be late to the meeting by a few hours. That was a joke, by the way. In reality, it had only been a few hours here. All this time, he was taking notes and working on other gadgets, completely leaving this observation task to me. "I''m a patient person but isn''t she taking a bit too long? Not to mention, are you not mortified seeing your Mimi a higher levelled demon than you?" Mitasan, after combining together into a giant blob of slime, was now level 45. Her stats hadn''t changed a single bit other than her health and mana. Oortez, on the other hand, was only level 23. It just went to show how fast Mitasan was able to level up within such a short amount of time after she was dumped in the wilderness to fend for herself. Realistically, she probably went on a feeding frenzy. "That''s the trivial matter," was his disinterested reply. My effort to get a reaction from him had failed miserably. In the end, I never found an opportunity to properly test my new weapon on someone. Chapter 148 "This is taking too long. I''ve already fed it so much food. Just where did they all go?" I complained at nobody since Oortez wasn''t even paying attention to me. I just hope this thing doesn''t have a subspace to hold its food. To make up for my loss, I sized down the slime, reducing it to merely a tenth of its original. Sadly, the conversion wasn''t that great. I only managed to raise my level thrice, and that was including a few other low level demons I had recently consumed. Going by my natural rate of energy generation from |singularity|, I could expect t to reach level 80 in five years. Past level 80, the progress would slow to a crawl. Perhaps I would need to live for centuries to reach level 90. Of course, that was assuming I had no other sources of energy intake and the energy generation rate was constant. Then, to reach level 99, I would need at least a thousand years. Though, fortunately, going by the system, I didn''t necessarily need to reach level 99 to become a god. However, by not reaching level 99 prior, there was the possibility of becoming a weak god. I wasn''t sure if I wanted to be a weak god who''d get trampled over by powerful gods out there. Actually, there was a fast way to level 99. Simple, I had to eat away at the planetary core. If I could easily find a bunch of level 90 demons to eat, I would have done so already. However, I doubted there were many ancient demons. That got my thinking. Seed of Life, huh. Something doesn''t seem right. To return... I don''t like that idea. I don''t want to confirm my memories. What should I do? If I''m skilled in splitting my consciousness, I could probably do it. God should be omnipotent, right? I doubt having an item and some traits would grant me omnipotence. I gave a command. Display results. Lo and behold, my memories were not tampered with. No actually, the tampering was minor and I was the cause of it but it was fixed promptly. Sure, quite a few chunk of my memories were missing but that was because my soul was fragmented on its way across the world. I''m scared to absorb Ikebas''s memories... I don''t know... Should I do it? I had already decided to inherit all of her traits and abilities wherever possible. Of course, I wasn''t going to inherit the negative traits and specifically |devious| but everything else was up for grabs. Since she was level 88, even though she wasn''t ascended, she held quite a high level. After consolidating and integrating those levels into me and raising my stats, my level jumped up to 82. What it all finally came down to was this, not including my secondary core''s information: [Level 82 Celestial; Species: Veraine; Physical: 844/844; Spiritual: 277/921; Traits: Bewitching, Cautious Tactician, Demon Slayer, Multiple Existences, Creator, Enhancements, Singularity, Limit Breaker; Abilities: Hypnosis, Division, Rewind, Lull, Subspace, Genesis, Celestial Eyes, Infinite Dreams; Blessings: Enchanted Fate, Forced Destiny; Description: A divine being.] For some reason, I couldn''t inherit the most important trait, |god slayer|. It might have to do with me refusing to inherit her memories. Most of the useful traits and abilities from the fungi demon and Ikebas were transplanted onto myself. Also, there was this new |demon slayer| trait that was obtained after I absorbed most of Mitasan''s body. Frankly, I found this trait to be completely useless on me since demons weren''t a threat to me. Though if it was a demon god, that''d be a different story. Over the past few months, I had gained more abilities and traits than I''d care to remember. Most of them had became obsolete or combined into generalized abilities and traits. "... Hungry... Food..." A barely audible voice echoed the laboratory. Noticing the warped and muddled face on that slime, I teleported over some leftovers scraps from the kitchen and dumped them into the tank. Slurp. Slurp... Munch... Crunch. Seeing how fast it was eating, I threw in some more food. Before long, I ran out of edible food. I was going to throw in some plant fertilizers but decided against the idea. "...More..." "Mitasan, take a humanoid form or I won''t feed you anymore." "Fine..." That blob of slime that was shapeless, in merely a minute, became... Me? Or rather, a degraded version of me since it seemed unable to perfectly copy my appearance. "Now give food. I''m hungry." Wow... She can talk properly! Oh right, she used to be a devil, same as a fey being. The next second, she melted a hole in the container and walked out. When she was serious, her corrosive power rose to another level. These containers should be resistant which prevented her from escaping but to think she melted it that easily. It kind of caught me in a surprise. She''s a dangerous one. I''ll leave her to Oortez! "How are you always hungry? Just wait a moment, let me call over Oortez. You remember him, right?" "Oortez, is it tasty?" Oortez, good luck. She doesn''t even remember you. She was beginning to drool from the corners of her mouth. "Like, can you not drool looking like me? Stay still." "Okay. I wait." I jumped over to the next room where Oortez was working. "Your Mimi is live and hungry. Since my job here is done, I''m leaving her to you to properly train her." "Very well, having an assistant will make research proceed much faster. Milady, where is the food storage?" I sighed exhaustively, "What am I to do with you... You know what? I''ll fix her up real quick." I should have done this sooner. Who would have thought this thing could take up a form and communicate properly? Before he could give a reply, I went back to the room Mimi was. Thank goodness she was good at following directions. I removed the |devious| trait and the |ravenous glutton| trait. For the latter, I kept a copy of it in the soul library. It was an extremely negative trait that forced the trait bearer to remain hungry in addition to various other drawbacks or something like that. What was interesting was that |ravenous glutton| was coupled with |extreme vitality|. By removing the former, the latter would disappear. Knowing that, some abilities such as [division] and [synthesis] would probably weaken significantly. Removing those traits was all fine and whatnot but the blessing remained. Instead of the trait being permanently removed, |ravenous glutton| was replaced with the |gourmet| trait. If Oortez could control how much she ate, it would likely prevent her from devolving into a starving mess. Hence, after the changes, I explained to Oortez the situation. "Ooh! How capable! As expected of milady." He nodded to himself. Then, he eyed me, "Now, about the food storage..." "Fine... A loaf of bread is all she gets. If she does well, she can have some strawberries. They''ll spawn twice a day." In a corner of his laboratory, I created a little fridge with some basic food supplies stuffed in. He was sulking quite a bit when I told him that teleportation was only permitted within my subspace. Since that was the case, I told him I''d let him go visit the ancient ruins in a bit. That seemed to have cheered him a bit. "Don''t make a mess here or else, okay?" I warned them with a loving smile. With the leash now passed onto him, and all the matters settled in the subspace for the moment, I teleported above Zortek, the Imperial Capital. The sun was descending and the moons lazily revealed themselves behind velvet clouds. Just by knowing where Blueberry was, I knew where to go. "Smoothieee! You''re so adorable! I miss you!" I wrapped my arms around her and embraced her tightly while inhaling deeply, taking in her sweet scent and feeling her soft skin all the same. It was just so regrettable that when in this form, neither of us could physically feel bodily warmth. As of now, I was in my human form dressed in my casuals, a shirt, a pair of pants, and some runners. I actually wanted a physical body but didn''t want to delay our meeting any more. "Mother..." Seeing her troubled face, I kissed her lightly on the cheeks. "Mother, please, not in public. What''s wrong with you..." Despite complaining a bit, she couldn''t hide her blush. "I worked so hard today, dealing with an annoying demon and his snob assistant. I don''t know why but I need a recharge!" Seeing how Kanoko was taken aback, I beckoned to her, "Hmm? Do you want to join in too?" She chided, "Berry, at least be aware of the occasion." I already knew before I teleported over with my main body. Somehow and for some reason, the Highlander Emperor was giving a grand reception to us. A banquet was being held. Foods and drinks were provided as of a matter of course. A seat was reserved for me next to Kanoko and Smoothie. Nearly everyone was seated, not in chairs but cushions. Those with higher authority sat on thicker and more elaborate cushions either. As if to match that, the tables'' heights were elevated appropriated to status with the tallest one at the centre and shortest ones spread out to the sides like a fan. "Ahaha..." I only laughed goofily. Perhaps, I just wanted to change things up to forget about everything that had happened. A carefree life would be nice, I thought. Maybe settling down somewhere would be nice as well. Ahhh... If only all of this was just a nightmare and a beautiful life is waiting for me when I wake up. I need to get a hold of myself. "Sorry about that." I said as I released Smoothie. "Are you feeling okay?" "Yes, I''m fine." Countless beastfolks, both winged and wingless, and fey beings had gathered today within the Imperial Palace. The halls and corridors were extravagantly decorated with ornaments and flowers befitting the Imperial Palace. Vintelo and Mufy were pretending to be servants. But, since they were fey beings, they were treated not as servants who ate in a separate hall but in the main hall. Though, some distance still separated us. Kanoko and Smoothie were actually seated not that far from the emperor''s seat. Now, despite Blueberry technically a servant, she had a seat next to Kanoko on the farther end. Because of the scene I had made, countless gazes were centred on me and the bustling activities came to a halt. "Hi." I waved with a cheerful smile. "Don''t mind me, I''m just enjoying the party." Clank. One person dropped his dining utensil. I inched closer to Kanoko and whispered, "How did this happen? Weren''t you all sightseeing incognito?" "You see..." Apparently, that fey being I spoke to a few days back, whoever he was, brought it up as a complaint to the emperor. Yet, the emperor took it seriously and immediately made the preparations for a grand banquet. It wasn''t specifically to welcome me per se but officially as a celebratory feast for this fruitful harvest season and for the total victory against the human army at the city of Vera weeks ago. He''s a smart guy. Still, to host a banquet with only two days notice is quite an accomplishment. While the four of them plus one were sightseeing, they just attracted a bit too much attention, especially Blueberry and Smoothie. No one had blue or green colored hair because hair dying wasn''t something people done here. Anyway, I completely overlooked the basics of travelling incognito. Because of that and their arrival timing, the emperor caught wind of it and invited them in as esteemed guests. Sadly, Blueberry couldn''t gain new memories unless I was directly possessing it. I really didn''t think clones needed their own dedicated memories. But after this incident, I decided to allocate some soul energies to my clones to record their lives. Now that I had gained the |multiple existences| trait, there shouldn''t be any complications. "Ahh... I guess it all worked out? I''m only a bit late to the party so all is good?" Saying that, I turned to meet eye to eye with the Highlander Emperor, Emperor Arknorl Grusia. Chapter 149 The Highlander Emperor, Arknorl Grusia, commanded a majestic aura and composure suitable for his lordly position. His head was that of a lion with magnificent golden mane. Under his robed attire was a furred body. With two slits on the back of his robe, two beautiful white wings folded. Now, despite him having artifacts that hid his status, it couldn''t be hid from my eyes. Interestingly enough, he wasn''t a winged beastfolk but rather a high level fey being, specifically a level 82 fey being. He was quite powerful if I could say so myself. My speculation was that perhaps Imperial Family were all fey beings. But, seeing that fey beings governed the beastfolks was kind of peculiar to me. "Greetings, Emperor Arknorl Grusia. Your name precedes you as a righteous ruler. I believe this is our first time meeting face to face. I am Berry the Mediator, and an administrator of this world. It is my hope that we get along for the foreseeable future." I properly greeted an charismatic tone. "Likewise. Your deeds are well received in our nation. Rewards are normally bestowed to individuals with honorable achievements. But given your position, would you receive them?" Down to business already? "I''m not here to receive rewards. If I may, I would request a private conversation after this banquet. Is this not a celebratory feast?" "That is my view as well. Let us speak at a later time." "Very well." Wow... So different from Jaco. This is what I call a pragmatic leader! I approve. Various forms of entertainments such as minstrels and dancers performed in groups before the guests. There was one thing that caught my attention. It was those talking parrots that Smoothie had seen shortly after she became a fey being. To be honest, I had completely forgotten about them. These birds were storytellers and also fey beings who had lived through centuries, recounting stories and hearsay they''d heard in their travels. "In a faraway kingdom of yore..." From these birds, I had learned quite a bit. However, whether they spoke of truth or simply told stories to for entertainment, I couldn''t discern. Apparently, there was once upon a time a fairy queen who was once the ruler of a fey kingdom. This was long before the humans and reptilians had arrived in this world from the outside. The world back then was split between the fey beings and the elves. The beastfolks, according to the parrots, were descendants of elves and fey beings. Though, I kind of doubted anyone would seriously believe that. Biologically, probably not, but this was a world filled with magic so anything was possible. When I had asked Echo, the system, about this fairy queen matter, it couldn''t tell me a thing or perhaps I just didn''t have enough access. In fact, this ancient story was even before the system was put in place. As the story went, a calamity befell the fey kingdom where countless fey beings were dying out from an unknown disease. Healing magic had no effect whatsoever. The elf king at that time came to the rescue. With much difficulty, he was able to locate the source of the disease, that being countless tiny fissures had dotted the kingdom where miasma was seeping out endlessly. After knowing the cause and in a joint effort, the fissures were sealed to prevent further contamination of the land thereby resolving the calamity. Following that event, the fairy queen fell in love with that elf king and they were married happily ever after. It was a standard happy ending fairy tale. Anyhow, it was refreshing to hear a fairy tale once in a while. If that fairy queen was still alive, I wondered if she had either died or transcended. If she was still alive, I wondered if she would be level 99 by now. Though, since she had existed prior to the implementation of the system, I really wondered how powerful she was. All the ancient beasts I had seen in recent days were above level 90. Fey beings... They''re everywhere in this region. The next day, the emperor invited me for a chat over tea in a secluded chamber. As I entered, he was the first to break the ice with a heartwarming smile, "Between the two of us, there''s no need for formalities. Here, have a seat." He treated me like an old friend, welcomed me by the arm, and had me sit before taking a seat himself. One thing I had to note was that his wings had completely disappeared. Simple snacks and a tea set were neatly arranged on an expensive looking table between us. "Is it alright to display your transformation ability before me?" I asked. "You have seen my status. As expected, I can''t hide it from someone your caliber. Truthfully speaking, wings are there as a decoration, and as a symbol for the ruling class. Other than that, more often than not, they''re just in the way." He spoke with a soft chuckle. "Hahah, you have a point. I prefer hiding my wings as well." "Then we''ve already established something we share in common. That''s good, isn''t it." "You''re unlike the other leaders I''ve spoken with so far. I would say, the only one I haven''t gotten the opportunity to speak with is the Federation leader. I''m assuming you don''t get along with him, is that right?" "You bet. That stubborn old lizard is nothing but trouble." I sighed with a frown, "Hopefully I don''t have to use violence against him as I did with the Hero King to the south." "Oh? Would care to elaborate on that? It seems my sources aren''t yet up to date." Seeing how the emperor was a sensible guy, someone I could get along with, I didn''t hold back on the information. "I see. That should be enough to buy us peace to an extent. Since their leadership is changing, a meeting with their new leader wouldn''t be feasible for the time being." Following that, I further disclosed the state of the Abyssal Gate. To that, he thanked me but added, "Still, that''s a bit troubling," in relationship to the demons and guardians. He had dealt with them many times in the past and continued to do so in the war to the west. Regrettably, the situation at the Abyssal Gate wouldn''t be enough to convince the Federation to stop its invasion. I advised him that "the demons and guardians cannot directly harm a country. It is their minions or disciples that you''ll have to watch out for." "I appreciate your advice and I am very much aware of the heavenly rules." "One thing I''m curious about, if you don''t mind me asking." "There''s no need to hold back, my good friend. Speak." Being a little too friend... Now that is putting me on guard. If this is his tact, then I''ll have to repay in kind. Information is what I need, so thanks in advance. The current Highlander Emperor was the oldest leader on the continent regardless of his official age or actual age. Unknown to outsiders, his position was passed among his clan or his relatives. They would take turns ruling this nation. It was akin to having a royal bloodline. The only difference was that the ruling class was basically immortal. They''d change their appearances to suit their various positions. "How do you deal with those that knows Imperial Family''s secrets?" "I''m not sure how familiar you are with the policies for the fey beings in this country but this nation is a haven for them where no other nations would take them. If we welcome their service, they are allowed to remain. If we can''t put a leash on them, we would silence them." "That reminds me. When I was a fey being having an audience with the king of Teir, I didn''t get the best impression of him. It was either to bow down or die." "Yes, it''s like that. You had live in the royal palace or somewhere close by, did you not?" "Indeed." "You were under surveillance. If my memory serves me, Teir had an excellent fey being from the shadow clan. They were expert in stalking and silencing potential threats." "See, now I''m getting chills thinking I might have been assassinated if I made a wrong move!" I protested aloud amidst my bewilderment. "Still, to think I survived despite showing signs of becoming a demon." "Gaarp probably thought you still had some uses. Before he could take action, you ascended, did you not?" "That''s probably why. I did ascend rather quickly with a guardian advising me." "A guardian, that must be Vorte." "Do you personally know them?" "We go way back." He recalled back when he first met many of those talented individuals before recruiting them into service. Although not everyone was fully on board, they generally cooperated with the incumbent Highlander Emperor. After a bit more chitchat, I decided to dive into the next major question I had in mind. It was about the fairy tale told by the parrots. "Last night, the bards told a very interesting story." "Oh? They usually tell the same stories. Occasionally, they''d add a new one from recent eras to change things up. So, which one fascinated you?" "The one about the fairy queen and the elf king. How much of it is true? I''m quite ignorant on historical subjects so..." The answer came quite unexpectedly. "All of it is true." After stating that, he paused for a moment before adding, "At least according to ancient documents written before my time. Of course, those documents no longer exists because of countless wars in the past." "Then, there''s no way to verify its authenticity?" "That''s what I''m getting at. War is unpredictable and maps have to be constantly redrawn. I find that it''s best to think of that story as a fantasy. That is also my suggestion to you." "I see..." "Though, if it troubles your mind, perhaps you have a way to travel to the past to witness history as the world presents it." He chuckled jokingly but his eyes were not. It almost seemed as if he had an inkling of my power. Frankly, I had no power to travel to the past, at least not that far back. "As enticing as it may be, I have a policy not to interfere with the flow of history. Anyway, it''s getting late, and I''m sure you have duties to attend to. Let me consult you with one more thing. What would it take for the Federation to stop its war?" "Honestly, I don''t believe our two nations could get along. They have a different set of ideology. The only way to stop their invasion is to send them all into the heavens. That is the only way." "That''s going a bit far, isn''t it?" "Their end goal is to reach for the stars. They are a fallen race. They will continue to pursue that goal even if it meant falling the world in ruins. I''m sure you have seen their magitech fleets already. It is only a matter of time they would take over the planet and drain all its resources to fulfill their long ambition." He said while stroking his mane. "That would mean even if I cleansed their land, it would only be a matter of time..." "Their ambitions are endless. Not only that, when they collaborate with demons, we are literally at their mercy. They would cause endless strife, break the hearts of our faithful and loyal warriors, and slowly convert them into their underlings. We are always fighting with a disadvantage. Fey beings no matter how powerful, are minorities in a war of numbers and technology. They have ways to directly harm us." "Wait, what? Direct way to harm fey beings? Don''t tell me the volatile mana is that dangerous?" "They''ve since synthesized even more dangerous weapons against us. They''ve been doing experiments on fey beings longer than the humans have. Perhaps given the opportunity, they''ll eventually surpass even the demons and guardians." "That''s some serious ambitions... I''ll watch out for that when I request a meeting with their leader." Crap... I really have to do something about the reptilian race. Mass brainwashing is out of the equation. What do I do with them!? One problem after another... Please stop. Can I just hand this job to someone else? "I''m always willing to have a chat with you. Feel free to drop by any time, my friend." "I enjoyed the chat very much. Before I take my leave, please accept this parting gift." I kind of felt bad that I had bestowed so many weapons to the humans. To balance that, I decided to gift one such weapon to the leader of this nation as well. It was a magical sword that could be used to altered an object''s weight. I thought this property from |force| was quite nice for aerial combat. To my relief, he gracious accepted the gift. Not only that, he seemed to have prepared something for me as well. As a sign of friendship, I was entrusted with a golden seal in the shape of a lion. With this, my privileges within the country was that one below the Highlander Emperor or basically the highest honor granted to an individual. I guess he really wants me to back him. I can''t read his true intentions but the gesture is what matters I suppose. As for the matter with setting up a shop to sell my specialty products, I decided to postpone it, same with vitamin pills and whatever military supplies the country of Teir had requested from me. There simply wasn''t any rush for me to generate revenue. blanksphere Chapter 150 While Smoothie and her group was sightseeing, they stayed at a luxury inn within the capital. The money came out of Kanoko''s pocket. Well, she insisted. She wasn''t poor in the least. Vintelo and Mufy, despite being from this country, they had lost their belongings when they were captured so they were without a doubt penniless. They didn''t even have their identification cards with them, not that anyone was actively requesting them. Since they were doing some work for me in Ataraxia, I decided to give them an advance pay so they could make little purchases here and there on their own. The next day, I spent much of my time with Kanoko and Smoothie, wandering around the capital, trying out new foods and learning about the local culture. We not only visited museums, cathedrals, amphitheatres, but also tried all sort of things such as riding on lizards. Knowing one of the effects of |dedicated will|, even when it wasn''t fully on my main core, I couldn''t help but feel the need to fulfill my duty. Hence, on the morning after, I announced, "I''ll be heading to the Federation to investigation some matter in a bit. Of all the nations, they are the most troublesome bunch." "It''s your work, isn''t it. Will you be heading to the frontlines?" Kanoko asked, slightly concerned. "Yes, but it''s more like behind the enemy lines. They can''t really attack me so I won''t be in harm''s way but if they try anything funny, I won''t hesitate." "It''s hard to tell when you''re serious." "Really? Well, anyway, I''ll have some good news for you once I return. Before then, please take care of Smoothie for me." I turned to smile at Smoothie who had a pouty frown on her face. I guess I''m a failure as a parent? To Smoothie, I was probably a bad parent, maybe even a workaholic. I never wanted to be a workaholic but that trait''s side effect compelled me to work hard. I''m trying my best so please forgive me. Just wait a bit longer. Upon hearing me mention of "good news", Kanoko raised an eyebrow, "Good news? Could it be...?" "I''ll have you come by yourself. That''s all I can say." I could clearly see that Kanoko was excited to hear more yet I decided to hold back on that pivotal information regarding her sister. The reason was simple. I was selfish. I wanted to have her stay with Smoothie just a bit longer. If she was to meet her sister now, there was a chance things could change just like when Mera met her old friend. I didn''t want that. I wanted things to stay the same just a bit longer. But if things continued the way they were, everything could change. My will wasn''t strong enough to resist the system''s influences. God wants someone dedicated to serving... Looks like he really wasn''t messing around when granting powerful traits. What a fool I am. It''s too late to regret. But you know what? You''ve underestimated me. I''m not going to be anyone''s tool. I''ll be the one to have the last laugh. The Federation of Josken was an union of three independent states. According to old records in the Imperial Capital''s grand library, the Federation used to have seven states. Each state was governed by the leader of their respective clan. After warring among them for hundreds of years, four of the clans had perished, leaving only three dominant clans to rule the nation. The capital of the Federation was Jordan located at approximately the centre of their country adjacent to the inner sea. If it wasn''t for the extensive pollution to the environment around them, their country would have been a land of plenty. Likewise, surrounded by the ocean on nearly all sides, if it wasn''t for the sea creatures mutating into excessively powerful monsters, they might have boasted the most powerful navy in the world. Today, I came to visit Jordan, a metropolis of extraordinary magnitude. In terms of size, it was probably at least ten times the size of Rotask, the human nation''s capital. However, the stark difference in technology and population density was extremely noticeable. Magitech was rampant, or rather, everything was magitech with the majority of the city''s functions being automatic or semi automatic. The city was like a living being itself to the point I would call beautiful if I could call it that. Speaking of magitech, I couldn''t identify any reptilians who were directly fused with magitech like the way humans had merged the two together. It was very odd but perhaps they had good reasons. As for their population, the reptilians as records had shown had rather low fertility rates which in turn severely affected the growth of their population. On these streets, hardly any civilians could be seen. It was almost if everyone was practicing social distancing. A city this big and hardly anyone living in it... It''s kind of sad. Even considering that a good chunk of their population lived underground, at best the total population between Rotask and Jordan was on the same level. In this world, not many could see mana itself. This meant that hardly anyone could actually see the pollution manifesting as a dense layer of smog over the city and landscape. Though, despite local floras and faunas showing obvious signs of strange mutations, reptilians were extremely resilient to volatile mana and its by-products, showing no signs of illness. In this country, no other races made a living here. It was just too unsafe. The person I was looking for was the Grand Chancellor, Xtevis Zatrosk, an elderly lizard man. It really wasn''t easy to find him when hardly anyone talked around here. I found the parliament building easily since it stood out from the others but it wasn''t like people worked here all the time. He could be in another state for business matters or taking a vacation somewhere. Instead of using my usual method of gathering information, this time I used [hypnosis] to extract all the information on Xtevis Zatrosk from an office clerk working in the parliament building. The information was stored digitally so all she had to do was retrieve it. Since it was quite convenient, I decided to retrieve some other important information as well. "This sure made things quicker for me. Well, thanks for the information. Here''s a ruby necklace for you." I stuffed a bribe in the breat pocket of the dazed office clerk. While wandering around and searching for that stubbirn old lizard as Arknorl putted it, I siphoned the floating polluted mana from the air and ground. Recently, I hadn''t been taking mana from the environment as I did when I was still a fey being. Those were good times. Now that I had some free time, even if it took a bit of work on my part, I decided to cleanse the city of mana pollution. This would undoubtedly help the locals but I didn''t care. It was free energy for me to use to level up. There was some leverages I could use against the Federation. Now that I knew the locations of all the mana fountains, as part of my work, I could easily seal them permanently. However, if I sealed them, the Federation would undoubtedly try other methods of generating energy to power their cities and magitech ships. One of the other leverages was an extension of the above. I''d cleanse their entire nation in a matter of days and drain all of their dirty energy thereby decapitating their military forces. This would give the perfect opportunity for the Empire to strike back. Of course, if wished for their annihilation, I''d support the Empire with state of the art military equipments through an intermediary. Also, there was no need to worry that the Kingdom would enter war in their current state. What else am I missing? I had a lot to think about. At last, when evening came, Xtevis returned to his home in a nearby town. Little did he know that I waiting for him at his doorstep. "Good evening, Grand Chancellor Xtevis Zatrosk. I hope you had a wonderful day." I greeted him with the most radiant smile I could express. Not missing a beat, he yelled with a panic-stricken voice, "Guards! Guards!" A pause. We waited. No guards came. There was only silence. I chuckled, "Well, for you to be in such a mood merely in the presence of a visitor. You must have done something terrible, am I right?" Despite having some troubles understanding his facial expressions, I could tell that fear had paralyzed him to the bones. He was standing perfectly still with not a breath escaping him. "It''s your home you know? Why don''t we discuss our differences inside? I''m not here for your pitiful life. Come in." No one else was home, luckily. Not! Actually, I had his family members go out for dinner without him. A little mind tricks here and there wasn''t particularly against any rules. I sat the old guy on the sofa and eased his mind for a conversation. "Let''s have a chat. I''m not sure if you''re aware but I''m a Mediator of this world, and also an administrator. I kindly ask you, the Grand Chancellor of the Federation of Josken, to call for a ceasefire on the eastern front." "I cannot do that." He stated without any emotions. "I have already sealed the Abyssal Gate within Grusia Empire permanently. If you wish for cultivatable land, I could cleanse your existing land." "You think we could just let go centuries of hatred just for some land and energy? We have a bone to pick with them and you can''t stop us." "I am aware that you have demon collaborators within your ranks. Sadly, it seems you have been misinformed. By my will, I could collapse your country in days." "If you think we''re just going to take it face down, you''ve got another thing coming! We''ve been preparing for ages to defeat the likes of you. Demons, guardians, and even gods, we dare fight them to the bitter end! Now get out!" He spat fiercely. Oh my, did my hypnosis work backfire on me? That went a little too smooth. "Very well, I take it as your country''s official declaration of war." I replied calmly with a devious smile as I made my way to the front door. I knew he was afraid on the inside and that this was just his front to hide his fears. In his mind, he was probably calculating a billion scenarios trying to squirm his way out of this predicament. It was too late for him. With a little mind trick, you become an open book. It''s too late to back out now. Ahaha, time for some cleanup. I knew I was being a bit underhanded to provoke him and all that. This was just to make my job finish a bit faster. Clunk. A dagger passed through me and struck the door. "Why so hasty? Your turn will come soon enough." Though, not by my hands. That was the last I spoke to him. Within ten days, the Federation of Josken had lost all of its core energy sources and was on the verge of complete paralysis. Mana fountains had all been sealed and the country cleansed of all pollutions. Twenty days later, taking advantage of the situation, the Empire of Grusia launched its greatest military operation in recent history against the Federation of Josken''s armed forces. Unable to replenish mana to operate their magitechs, the Federation''s armed forces resorted to suicide attacks from above in attempt to delay their enemy''s rapid advances. Countless magitech airships had fallen from the sky in a single battle. As a last ditch effort, they brought out several weapons of mass destruction. Ironically, it was the guardian overseeing their country who stepped in to stop them. He was a high level guardian, a relatively ancient one, yet he lost his life nonetheless when he tried to contain one of the bombs. The other guardians on the scene were preoccupied with the demons attempting to interfere. At the end of this struggle, two guardians, five demons, and a hero vanished from this world on that battlefield. If those weapons of mass destruction had gone off as intended, millions of people would have likely perished in the aftermath. Anyway, this was all just second hand information since I was elsewhere. It was only later that I came to watch the battles. By the way, I saw Haelley on the frontline soaring through the sky. Since I last saw her in Vera, she had somehow evolved into her desired form, a young maiden with beautiful pearly white wings. It wasn''t really a surprise seeing how much experience she was soaking up on the battlefield. Following the collapse of the Federation, the Kingdom of Appallia''s forces withdrew their remaining forces to their old border, relinquishing the vast land gained in recent wars. Whatever was moving behind the scene that caused them to withdraw, I was not clued in. Congratulations, Haelley. Now, you don''t need that contract anymore, do you? I''ll do you a service and sever it permanently. Of course, she didn''t know about the movements of the human side. But soon enough, she would know of it. You''re surrounded by your kin, fortunate survivors of the lost kingdom, and now hardened warriors. I''m sure you''ll be just fine. I left a gift for you, the sweet roasted minotaur steak you so craved, in your room. Maybe we''ll talk another time. Chapter 151 Cleansing the land of pollution took nine days and ten nights. That was even with the assistant of |dedicated will| to accelerate the process. In between the nights, I only took a few short breaks to discuss some matters with Arknorl, the Highlander Emperor, such as setting up a business and selling military supplies to them. When it came to business, reaping big profits was the way to go. I certainly made a killing. Sealing the mana fountains was the easy part. These cracks in the ground were nowhere near the scale of the Abyssal Gate. Arknorl explicitly informed me that preparations for a full offense on the Federation''s armed forces could take some time without indicating exactly how long. Since I had some time to spare, I spent some time with Smoothie and her group. With someone like me around, travelling became easier. Thus, we went sightseeing across the empire again! Apparently, while I was away, Vintelo''s identity was exposed. Or, should I say, his identity was exposed back during the great banquet. His wife actually caught his scent, not surprisingly. At the time, she pretended not to notice to drop his guard. Then, once I was out of the way, she tracked him down and gave him an earful in front of everyone. "Poor guy..." "Well, he did run away." In the end, Arknorl assigned him to manage my business for me. It wasn''t such a bad deal since I needed a manager anyway. Mufy, as a matter of course, became his assistant. It was a win-win situation for everyone involved, maybe except Vintelo who desired a bit more distance from his scary wife. "Hmm... Things are proceeding slower than I had anticipated. Kanoko, would you like to go see your sister, Kanobi, right now?" "Is it alright?" "What do you mean?" "Now I''m not sure if I still want to see her." "What changed your mind?" "Travelling around, spending time with others like this, I''m thinking I should just let go of the past. She''s found her own happiness by now, I''m sure. If I intrude into her life after all this time, I''m just not sure anymore..." Kanoko said, looking downcast. "Let me ask you this then. When the two of you parted, have you said your farewells?" "No. It was all so sudden!" "If you''re unsure, then I believe it is important for you to say your partings once and for all. The decision is up to you." "Thanks, can you give me a bit of time?" "Sure." After that, she actually went to consult with Smoothie. Am I not reliable enough? My heart... But I''m an adult so I won''t cry! The next day, Kanoko gave me her answer. "Please." "Gladly obliged." I left Smoothie and Blueberry in Zortek and only took Kanoko with me. The nearest entrance to the Great Labyrinth of Daedel was just on the outskirts of the city, on the bottom of an abysmal lake. Who would have thought? "There was a secret entrance like this here?" Kanoko wondered wistfully, "Does the Highlander Emperor know about this?" "I don''t think so. No one''s going to check a lake this deep. No matter what, no regular army would march through the labyrinth and pass through this place." In fact, it was deep enough that not a single ray of sunlight penetrated to the bottom. The heavy mechanical door slid open with grinding sound. Inside, the hallways were also submerged under water. "I won''t be teleporting us around since the coordinates have been scrambled since my last visit. We''ll be using the teleportation gates to reach your sister." We came fully prepared for a long hike, or at least, she was. Food, water, personal hygiene and everything was packed in an airtight bag. Meanwhile, I was just carrying myself since I needed none of those things. With how the teleportation gates scattered around, it took us two days to reach the area where Kanobi was. "Are you nervous?" "Yes." She replied, then she mumbled something like, "I''m not sure what to say to her... I wonder if she''s forgotten about me..." "That''s why you''re here to confirm your feelings, right? It''s better than to drag it out for another thousand years or something. Let''s go!" I opened the door. An indoor luxurious spa resort awaited us. There were swimming pools, saunas, and various types of baths that I had never seen before. The ceilings and walls were transparent, allowing artificial sunlight to flood in. Servants or minions were manning numerous food stalls and whatnot. Under the shades of a leafy umbrella, a female servant was fanning a scantily clothed fox-tailed lady with black sunglasses. Don''t you get bored...? How is it fun just lying around? Go get yourself a hobby! Kanoko was agape, unable to absorb the scene before her. I pointed to the fox girl resting on a spa table, "Kanoko, that one over there is Kanobi. I really hope I didn''t get the wrong person. She''s really living the life here." "So it seems..." I gave her a slight push on the back. "Now''s your chance." No one really paid Kanoko any attention. She had the same species name so that was probably why. To ensure I didn''t alarm anyone, I faked my status and appearance to match her species. This way, we kind of looked like sisters. Even my fluffy tail matched hers. As we approached, we attracted some attention. It probably had to do with how we weren''t dressed for the occasion. Feeling the blank gazes on us, I whispered to Kanoko, "I think they want us to strip down." She looked around, and turned to me with confusion and asked, "Is that right...? Maybe I should?" I giggled, "Heheh, don''t worry about. I was just teasing." On a serious note though, I just wanted to ease her tenseness. Her tail had been stiff ever since we arrived at its doorstep. It seemed that my attempt was unsuccessful. While everyone here was revealing their luscious figures without a hint of embarrassment, the two of us were dressed for winter. Just a few steps away from Kanobi, Kanoko spoke, "Excuse me, are you Kanobi?" "So what if I am?" The fox girl replied haughtily without so much as giving us a glance. "My name is Kanoko." "Huh, another Kanoko?" Upon hearing that, Kanoko and I exchanged glances. "Neither Kanoko nor Kanobi are rare names, right?" I whispered over. "No... These are names granted by the fey being that took our soul." "Why not try using birth names?" "It''s been so long. I''m not sure if she still remembers." "Give it a try." "What are you two whispering about?" Kanobi took off her sunglasses to look at us. "Speak your matter or leave. You''re bothering me." This time, we had her undivided attention. "I am Hannah, are you Maeve?" Kanoko asked hesitantly. "Maeve? That''s a nostalgic name. I might have been called that long ago." Her eyes zoomed in on Kanoko''s face. "Hannah? You do look familiar. But then again, if you live long enough, everyone''s face looks familiar so I can''t say I know you." "Then do you perhaps know anyone else who once held the name, Maeve Hildettr?" "Why do you so desperately wish to speak to this person? Was she a friend or a lover perhaps? I mean, it must have been a treacherous journey reaching here." "She was a good friend of mine. We were never able to properly say our farewells when we were separated. I just wanted to see her, to see know if she had found her happiness..." Kanobi sat up and properly looked Kanoko in the eyes. "We''re a long lived race. How long have you been looking for her?" "Hundreds of years but I lost track of time." "She was a terrible friend, wasn''t she? Parting without a word." "That''s not it! I''m sure she had her reasons." "Who knows? If you haven''t met her for this long, she''s probably either dead or forgotten about you. As your elder, I ask that you move on. That friend of yours isn''t worth your time. Please, move on and find your own happiness. It''s been too long." I guess she''s her elder if looking at her level? Huh, her way of speaking as if... "Maybe that''s for the best..." "Say what, I''m feeling generous today. Why don''t you leave a message for your friend with me? I have a lot of connections here. If I ever meet your friend, I can pass on the message." Kanoko nodded. "Thank you, I''ll do that. If you ever see her, please tell her this. I treasured every moment I had spent with you as a close companion, and a family member. If you have forgotten me, I''ll be sad, surely, but that''s fine by me! We live long lives so that''s inevitable! But if you ever feel like it, you can always come and find me..." Listening to the message, I couldn''t help but smile in my mind. The message was quite long but very endearing. Personally, I''d recommended a letter instead of a verbal message but it couldn''t be helped. "...Haha, are you eating well? Have you found many friends? Are you living your life to the fullest? There''s no need to answer me. And lastly, I hope you are well. An elder has advised me to move on so I hope you''ll do the same. Much love, your beloved friend and sister, Hannah Amora." By the time Kanoko finished her message, tears were trickling down her cheeks. But, she was smiling like an angel. Facing her, Kanobi wore a frown and was biting her lower lips. Hey! What''s up with you two? Get a hold of yourselves! I feel like... I''m some unwanted third party watching a drama. Kanobi''s servants, none of them were making any movements as they waited for their master''s order. "Message received. I''ll pass it on, for sure. Now that your business with me is over, please leave." Saying that, she pointed towards the exit, the same door we came in from. As we were about to step out, Kanobi called out, "You without name, stay. I''d like to have a word with you. You haven''t even introduced yourself to me." "Ehh...?" Seeing my hesitation to leave Kanoko''s side, she added, "Do not worry, the Great Labyrinth''s master will not harm her. If you''re still concerned, have her wait in the room across the corridor. I can guarantee her safety." That last statement perplexed me the most. I had to wonder what kind of relationship she had with the administrator here. Also, perhaps this was a bit late but Kanobi wasn''t a devil. Despite being contracted with demons, she didn''t have the |devious| trait on her. For the longest time, having forgotten her actual status, I had mistakenly believed her to be a devil. "Kanoko, I''ll be right with you." "I''ll be waiting." After she left, Kanobi beckoned me to sit next to her. "You''re no ordinary bodyguard, are you?" She questioned me. I shook my head and said, "I''m no bodyguard. I''m her friend, probably the first one she''s made since you left her." "Was it that obvious?" I really wanted to say "yes, that little skit was making my skin crawl," but I didn''t. Instead, I replied with, "Who knows? I''m just a bystander in all of this." "How did you find me? I know there''s no way she can find me herself in this Great Labyrinth and there''s no way the master told you about me. Exactly who and what are you? That status is fake, isn''t it?" "Haha, what if it is? Let me put it this way. If I truly wished, I could easily destroy this place. Just so you know, we''ve met before and you didn''t leave the best first impression." "Oh my, you don''t mind giving me your name, do you? I''d grovel on the ground if you''re truly powerful. Otherwise, I''d have you be my servant. Powerful or not, that''s for me to decide." "My name''s Berry. You probably don''t remember that strawberry fey plant from when De Planck summoned you." "Pfft! Ahahahaha, that was you!?" She burst into laughter. "That weakling!? Please! That pipsqueak thing is now my friend''s bodyguard? What a bad joke!" I was feeling a bit insulted over the name calling. "I''m not joking! You seriously have an attitude problem." "Show me your status then!" "No thanks. I don''t want to disclose my status to potential enemies." "Potential enemies, huh! What a sorry excuse. If you''re afraid, then you''re not worthy to protect Kanoko. Why don''t you become my servant? I''ll personally train you." She was all smiles now, with bloated confidence. "Train me in what? Giving massages to you? Please, I''m not interested." "Oh? You don''t serve her like that? Not even fanning for her? What do you even do for her? She can hold her own weight in battle so there''s no way she''d rely on you. I know because she was my comrade in arms. Anyway, you should be grateful I''m willing to teach you anything, especially how to give a proper massage. As a bonus I''ll teach you about all her sensitive spots. How about it?" That Kanoko would never let me touch her tails and ears... This is a no go! No matter how alluring, it won''t work! I have to decline. "I''d have to decline the offer. In the first place, fey beings don''t have sores and aches. I don''t see the point of it." "You''re sooooo uncultured. Look, you clearly don''t know how to enjoy life. When you live as long as I have, you''ll start to look for ways to seek pleasure. Luckily, I contracted with the master and not some random demon. Otherwise, I wouldn''t have lived as long as I have." "Oh? I thought you contracted with De Planck." "No. He''s just an agent. Didn''t I say? Mm... Oh I didn''t. I don''t think you need to know?" "Then, at least tell me why you weren''t honest with Kanoko." "The truth is, I''m ashamed of myself. You might see me as someone living a lavish life with all these servants caring for me day and night. But, this place is equally my prison. Unless there is work, like you saw me the other time, I cannot leave this area." "I''m assuming this area includes next door?" "Yes. Otherwise, I wouldn''t have made that guarantee with you." Following that, she sighed heavily and said, "You don''t know how envious I am of you... You''re free to travel the world while I''m stuck here for eternity." "Then, why didn''t you wish to work for me? Or even, create a contract with Kanoko just now?" "I have my pride! Right, I misjudged you. And, to work for Kanoko? How am I supposed to face her as I am now? I don''t want her to see my ugly side. I made a bad choice and I must own up to it. Moreover, I couldn''t pick who I work with. It''s no use. You think I haven''t tried anything for hundreds of years? I already gave up. It''s fine, all my needs are taken care of." "I see... If there had been equal exchange under contract, it is possible for me to sever the contract link." She blinked twice, surprised by my revelation. She suddenly exclaimed, "It was you? Ah! It all makes sense now!" "What do you mean?" "Earlier, a visitor? Or maybe intruder? Was sneaking around and indiscriminately erased half of her security forces. The demons that died couldn''t have their souls harvested at all. The master threw a little tantrum and cooperated with the other faction to stop you. Let''s be clear, we''re her toys so you can''t just take things away like that, okay? You''ve already made her angry once so you better not let her catch you." That one word caught my attention. "Toys? You''re one of them?" I asked, shocked at this twisted revelation. She shrugged and replied. "That''s right. We''re toys to her. That''s just how I see it, trapping us here so she could play with us at times." "My sympathies." She glared at me after I sent pitiful gazes at her. "Don''t look at me that way. She treats us very well. It''s her sneaky butler who''s scurrying around doing shading things. Someone has to do the dirty work, right? Better to have a professional so De Planck took the job. But I''m sure he''s got his own motives whatever that is. All I know is that he works for both sides." "I see... I guess I''ll erase him the next time I see him." "Ah, I suggest you don''t. He''s one of her favorites. Though, there are some demons who aren''t in her faction also living in the Great Labyrinth. Feel free to erase them because I heard they are a nasty bunch. Ah, unfortunately, I don''t know how to tell them apart so there''s that." "Factions... There are factions everywhere." "We''ve talked long enough. Kanoko will worry if you stay for longer. Thanks for taking care of her. Come visit me whenever you have time? It gets boring here." I felt that Kanobi wasn''t a bad person at all. First impressions were important but I felt I could understand her a bit. She certainly had her own circumstances. "No promises." "Fine with me." By the time Kanoko and I returned back to Zortek, the war between the Empire and the Federation had passed the climax. My thought was, they could have at least waited for me to get to my seat so I could watch the one sided trample. This was the second time I missed the best part. Chapter 152 "Things sure have heated up while we were away." I said. "Are you going to the battlefront?" Kanoko asked. "Yes, just a bit. Do you mind staying at the Imperial Palace for bit? I''m sure that trip wasn''t too easy for you." "I''ll look after Smoothie for you." "Thanks." I had not been to the war theater west of the Empire. This would be my first time. Countless forts and fortresses dotted the mountain sides as far as the eyes could see on the Empire''s side. Further to the east was a vast graveyard that used to be the battlefield. It wasn''t just a graveyard of the living but also a graveyard for machines or magitech. Wreckages of ships and drones were strewn across this expansive land littered with craters as if they were carved by innumerable meteorites. Below this scorched battlefield were countless tunnels. There too, were wreckages of countless war machines and bodies innumerable. Now that the main battle was over, remaining backline soldiers and medics were scouring the fields in search of survivors. I can''t believe I missed a battle of this epic proportion... Why is my luck so bad? I don''t get it! I should have made Arknorl promise to wait for me. Kanoko and I had overstayed inside the Great Labyrinth. Well, I guess a commander can''t just let opportunities pass when the enemies are down for the count. I''ll forgive him. At the centre of the battlefield was a crate that could easily swallow up a small city. From what I had recently gathered, the Federation had tried a last ditch effort to thwart the major offence by the Empire''s forces. However, their own guardian intervened and obstructed it at the last second. Regardless, none of the guardian and demon fights mattered to me. Looking to the sky, flying lizards were carrying essential supplies westward to the valorous vanguards stationed in Federation territories. "I guess I should do a bit of service. How long do you plan to use those flying lizards? It''s about time this land be cleansed." I thought aloud with a smug grin. Just thinking about how much I could gain from this work made my mind giddy. "Profit! So much profit! Wahahaha!" I laughed, "I''m the real winner here. No service is free!" Recently, my proficiency at using black cubes had increased significant thanks to cleaning up about a quarter of the continent. Not to mention, volatile mana and mana pollution after being converted to energy provided me with ample levels. Once night fell, I quickly got to work. Of course, to finish this as quickly as possible, I had |dedicated will| do majority of the work. Black cubes in the trillions, large and small, sprang forth like a tidal wave in all directions. These cubes as if having minds of their own rapidly devoured the land. Soon enough, what used to be a devastated land, an unending stretch of sea of darkness took its place. "This scene is eerie enough to give nightmares to the average folks..." This time, I wasn''t only collecting things so the cubes didn''t immediately return to me. They were quickly deconstructing and rearranging materials to restore the land. The whole operation lasted about half an hour. I would say that was quick. When all the work was finished, the black cubes converged and returned to my hand as if in my palm held a black hole itself. Surveying the result, I found my work satisfactory. Certainly, I couldn''t restore the floras and faunas that used to be there. What I did was only to remove a majority of the pollutions and wreckages, fill some tunnels, revitalize the land to make it arable again. There were a few witnesses of this miracle but I let them be. They happened to be nocturnal beastfolk soldiers on duty. "That was good profit." Normally, these wreckages left after on the battlefield belonged to the scavengers and the victor of the war. Rare metals and high tech equipments were all up for grabs. It just so happened I detected volatile mana and mana pollution. Yes, that was my rationale for stealing the spoils of war! They were all mine now! And in turn, I could sell them through my business venture in the Empire. Arknorl probably wouldn''t mind, right? I''m sure. "I wonder if I''ll ever have enough money to buy a country? I should have enough to buy a village maybe?" While random thoughts floated in my mind, I flew eastward while cleaning up smaller messes here and there. Although the main battle had concluded, skirmishes were occurring intermittently. Fast forward to the next morning, I spotted Haelley in her evolved form. She was dressed as a warrior princess, discussing tactics with her comrades outside makeshift tents. As much as I''d like to greet her, I thought this was a bad timing. Instead, I decided to fulfill the promise I made to her months ago. By the time I returned from the hunt, her group had already left. "Well, I guess I''ll leave it in her tent with a letter. I''m sure she can read by now." Seeing that there was nothing else for me to do around here, I returned to my subspace to check on the two troublemakers. "What a surprise, my house is still standing." I murmured in disbelief. I honestly thought that Mitasan would have eaten it by now seeing how I permitted them to teleport within my subspace. The three maids were still around but with no guests to serve. They were simply on standby. After looking around, I found it odd that there wasn''t even a sign that any of those two having entered Ataraxia. "Did he fail with his experiment? Maybe I should check on him." The laboratory was dead silent. "Oortez, are you there?" There was no reply. I wonder if he''s just too focused on his research... They couldn''t have escaped together, could they? I don''t think that is possible. Drip. "This isn''t funny." Guurr... A stomach growling sound echoed. I think I know where Mitasan is now. The location though, why is she inside the soul library? But wait, she shouldn''t be able to make such a sound? She''s just a slime girl. What in the world happened? "Mitasan? Mimi?" I have a bad feeling about this. As I made my way through the corridor connecting the laboratory area to the soul library, I readied myself for combat. There was no visible sign of the slime girl. I stepped into the one and only soul library. It was as I had expected. On the shelves where rows of jars kept countless soul fragments holding traits and abilities, they were now all emptied. I''m still not seeing any signs...? Nothing was displaying a status. Yet, I could feel a demon''s presence around me. "Mimi, where are you?" "Mimi, where are you?" A voice echoed from all around me. "Stop playing games. Show yourself." I called out, bracing myself for a surprise attack. Sending the strangeness of the situation, I drew Minute, the sword staff into my hands. This was my first time trying out this weapon after having |dedicate will| analyze it. "I." "Am." "Here." The soul library instantly collapsed onto me from all sides. Absolute Stasis. A single thought was transmitted to Minute. Just like that, the world froze. Although light might have stopped moving, the world seen with my celestial eyes wasn''t affected in suspended time. I didn''t need to use Minute because this was my subspace. However, it was important for me to be able to wield this weapon effectively outside of this subspace. "It works just fine. The mana usage is minimum. Let''s try another one." I pointed at one part of the library wall. Dimensional Ripple. There was a subtle vibration from the weapon followed by a fluctuation in that direction. The fabric of space rippled with radial waves, stretching and compressing symmetrically. I could adjust the shapes of the ripples to cause different effects but that would require more mana. Anyway, if its time was to flow again, that chunk of distorted space would shred apart whatever was contained in there. "Works just as simulated. Great! Next part, let''s see if I can cut into space itself with it?" It had the [absolute severance] ability associated with the |void| trait. But, having it installed on a weapon had a different feel to it. Moreover, this ability was supposed to be more deadly when utilized in a time stopped instance. Absolute Severance. I sliced open another section of the library wall before I tried ripping it open with my hands. "I knew it''d work like this but this is such a disappointment. Maybe I should try something else." Using my copied ability [rewind], I returned back to where I was physically a moment ago. It wasn''t a true time ability despite the ability name indicating so. This one only worked on the user and couldn''t affect the world. Regardless, if an ordinary person had it, this would be a superb ability. "Hmm... Let''s try rewinding the world." |Tick tock| trait allowed me to move time forward and backward. Of course, those inside a singularity field wouldn''t be affected. However, if this trait was used before singularity field could be erected, then it would effectively be game over that instant. |Tick tock| also couldn''t fix cracks and distortions in time or space by shifting time. To mend distortions in space, I would have to rely on |immemorial one|. As for distortions in time and such, nothing could be done about them. The world naturally corrected temporal errors when left alone. This weapon would be the most deadly against mortal races. I could speed up, slow down, move forward, and move backward in time specific body parts. Against immortals, none of that would work because the mana required to shift someone''s time a couple hundred years was tremendously outrageous. Unfortunately, this weapon didn''t seem to be complete. I couldn''t access different timelines, or cut and paste chunks of time. Even the ability to loop time would have been nice which it didn''t possess. "I guess this is the extent of its power. It''s still good. As long as this weapon isn''t used along with immortal killing techniques... Right, I better find a countermeasure. There''s no way I can constantly have singularity field up at all times." Since this time stop was still draining my mana, I decided to quickly finish things up. To test one more thing, I decided to crunch as much distorted time as I could into one tiny box of space. Naturally, the distorted time would try to fix itself so I had to put in quite a bit of effort by tearing apart space and wrapping it up like a gift box. The mana cost was worth it. I teleported outside of the library and ended [absolute stasis], erecting a singularity field on myself. When the distorted space snapped back together, a silent explosion of epic proportion tear through my subspace. The result was the destruction of the emptied soul library, the laboratory, and surprisingly, a good chunk of Ataraxia was torn into pieces. That was how powerful the shockwaves were, shearing apart the fabric of space and shifting the flow of time. "Fun, fun." After that, I played around a bit more before cleaning up the remnants of Mitasan, the slime demon. Apparently, after I left her alone with Oortez, the demon girl got fed up with Oortez. According to demon hierarchy, Mitasan was above Oortez, at least before I significantly reduced her level. To make matters worse, Mitasan''s gluttonous desires had completely overshadowed the |servant| trait. "Maybe I should have prepared more food for her. She didn''t have to eat that lizard. He was annoying and quite an interesting one. If he had lived a bit longer, I''d have released him." Eating the lizard demon wasn''t enough so she went after the soul library. The soul library contained her original traits and countless other dangerous traits, abilities and knowledge that Oortez and I had isolated. Fortunately, eating soul fragments didn''t exactly mean gaining what was stored in there. Anyway, all of those soul fragments went to waste when she munched on them. I was supposed to be her dessert or something but she ended becoming my play thing and nutrient. I had to handed it to her though for setting up such a simple yet effective trap. She somehow managed to enclose the library from the outside. If it was anyone else, they''d probably be swallowed whole along with the library. After having subdued this tenacious slime demon, I isolated her in a few little pudding jars and stuffed them in a special fridge. Honestly, I loved her uniqueness so perhaps she might come in handy in the future. With all the soul energy I had accumulated recently, I finally broke through to level 90. [Level 90 Celestial; Species: N/A; Physical: 912/912; Spiritual: 290/942; Traits: Grace, Cautious Tactician, Demon Slayer, Multiple Existences, Creator, Enhancements, Singularity, Celestial Eyes, Limit Breaker; Abilities: Hypnosis, Division, Rewind, Lull, Subspace, Genesis, Infinite Dreams; Blessings: Enchanted Fate, Forced Destiny; Description: A divine being.] I somehow lost my species name. At this point, it didn''t matter anymore. Once any of the stats passed 900 numerically, the difference between 900 and 901 was no longer insignificant. I could feel notable difference albeit only a slight difference, especially stats like . Likewise, raising levels past 90 had become incredibly more challenging as if it wasn''t challenging already. Well, someone like me who started at level 1 only months ago had no right to complain about any of this. Chapter 153 I had been delaying this for long enough. Today was the day I decided to finally integrate Ikebas''s memories into myself. It was for that reason I isolated myself in my own room inside the Plane of Ataraxia. The process itself was instantaneous. It belonged to me in the first place. The reviewing process was the longest part. I was from a different world, or perhaps, a parallel world. In that parallel world, I had a primordial soul with memories since the birth of a galaxy. I wasn''t a god or anything like that but some would beg to differ. Of course, there were many others like me from that same galaxy. Our duties varied and I just happened to have one of the easier duties, that being a Courier. I would say our duties were vital to the health of a galaxy. Many advanced civilizations would cooperate with us and requested those like us to incarnate as one of their citizens. That was how I made friends from time to time. Building friendly relationships with the central galactic civilization had one major benefit. If one of us was their citizen, the galactic centre would be instantly notified when disasters struck. It wasn''t uncommon but in times of conflict, that was when the lives of Couriers could be jeopardized. Usually in those times, Couriers would be heavily guarded because their arrival could mean the life and death of a planet which involved the Seed of Life. Seed of Life was essentially the soul of a planet. More of them were continuously being generated at the galactic core. Only individuals like me could carry a Seed of Life within themselves. We would ferry one to whatever planets required resuscitation or rejuvenation. It wasn''t like war was the only cause of planetary devastation. Sometimes, the nearest star going through their evolution phases could completely tear off the surface of a planet. In some worst cases, a Seed of Life could sometimes be used to generate a new planet and have inhabitants migrate over, assuming we made it in time. In this parallel world or something along that line, the system required one to possess it to become a god. Perhaps there were more uses to it than we knew. Certainly now that I thought about it, an item capable of fixing and creating a planet could definitely be abused. However, that was someone else''s duty and whoever that was supposed to be didn''t come for me yet. Also, Smoothie, the artificial intelligence portion, wasn''t from the galactic centre but rather an advanced civilization I had incarnated into recently. It was a human one so that was why I had my current preferences of a human body. Since I had lost the Seed of Life I was carrying, I had failed my duty. Right now, I only had recent memories of the previous life and my current life. Whenever I incarnated into various bodies, only a tiny amount of memories would come with me. Most of my memories and experiences were stored at the centre of the galaxy inside a database. Ikebas was somehow able to collect a huge amount of my soul fragments on her own. Thankfully, perhaps a miracle, she didn''t damage any of them with her [soul rupture] ability. There were some minor alterations but I understood the overall picture just fine. She must have taken real care when killing her kin, or my kin. If it was me, I probably would have just converted them all to pure energy and slurp them up all the same. Interestingly enough, it seemed she wasn''t able to review the contents held in those soul fragments she collected. That was my impression based on the conversation we had. Regardless, she had a huge piece of puzzle. If supposedly I died, both us were supposed to be sent back to our original world along with another fragment held by the person she contracted to. "Huh, so who was that god? And, who did she really kill?" Those were questions I couldn''t answer. It just so happened the fragmented soul that was me at the time carried the belief that god would chat with me after I died. I probably got it mixed up with a movie I watched. That god person must have had a good laugh. Regardless, the reason I died was because of an accident. Whether it was truly an accident, I couldn''t be sure. I didn''t have enough information. At the time, I was on a space voyage, carrying a Seed of Life with me to a battered planet unrelated to the civilization I was born in. There might have been some wars on that planet. As we approached the star system, we were suddenly engulfed in an unexpected flash of light. That was it. I had no memories of suffering a painful death, fortunately. As for how that Seed of Life was stolen, Ikebas''s memories couldn''t be fully trusted since some pieces were conveniently missing. Then, as for my memories, there wasn''t anything useful. I knew for a fact that a Seed of Life that wasn''t activated couldn''t be destroyed. Only I could unseal it to activate it because it was assigned specifically to me. If going by Ikebas''s memories, she apparently was able to unseal it which should have been impossible without having Smoothie''s fragment and my fragment acting together. The security features on the seal should have been flawless. "Looks like that demon god or whatever was bluffing. What was the purpose? A crime needs a motive. Why done it?" As far as I was aware, all the fragments of my soul had been gathered in one place barring Smoothie. Snowberry and the maids didn''t contain any of my original soul energy. Their fey cores were created using mana gathered in this world, same as their soul energy which was also gathered in this world. Supposedly if I had been killed and sent back, all the soul fragments would have been forcefully returned to galactic centre to be re-forged. Then, I''d return to my original duty after incarnating into another civilization. Thinking back, whoever was trying to gather my first few strawberries could have been trying to break the seal. However, I unknowingly foiled their plan if that was the case. "Everything is all coming together!" It was an eureka moment, a depressing one at that. Two mastermind candidates. It was either Perdia or the unnamed demon leader or both. Of the two, De Planck was closely acquainted with both faction leaders. In that case, my next step was clear. I knew only one of their locations. But first, I wanted to increase my power and raise my combat skills. The person I would go up against likely had the ability to send souls across worlds. I didn''t know their motives but one could never be overly prepared. |Dedicated will| had already cracked the coordinates to the second layer of the Great Labyrinth. It had been working non-stop for days while I was there with Kanoko. After that, I tasked it with searching for a method to counter time related abilities and traits. Had this overpowering trait found any countermeasures? Not really. At least, there was none that I would attempt with any shred of confidence. Since it was working on time related matters, I figured it would be best to have it try optimizing time related abilities. If possible, I''d like to create an ultimate ability that could be upgraded into a trait. "Maybe I could try creating a low cost ability to perceive time?" Anything related to time was heavy in mana cost. I was wracking my brains to find a better solution. Without enough information, |dedicated will| couldn''t come up with solutions. It had no access to the traits on my main core. "Hmm... I wonder if |multiple existences| will let me share the traits and abilities on my main body? Let''s give it a try." Following that idea, I played around with |creator| and then gave a few commands to my second core to properly establish the priorities and links. Lo and behold, everything was copied perfectly. Well, my stats weren''t copied but I didn''t plan to copy stats to begin with. "How stupid of me. I should have done this as soon as I gained this trait. Now I can just let it do its thing on the side! Perfect. Life should be simple." "Hmm? Did I just see something strange?" I took another glance at my status. "Wait a second... My mana, it''s using up more than I could regenerate!? What in the world is it creating?" Bear in mind, my mana was extremely condensed. Although it was still far off from the density of soul energy, just 10 mana from me could be used to level a mountain if I used it efficiently. Currently, my second core was eating away my mana like it was gobbling up popcorn at 15 a second. "This isn''t funny. I''m going to have to liquidate my subspace at this rate. Slow down!" On the status display of my second core, all I could see was that new abilities were being generated faster than my eyes could follow. As they were being generated, they also fused and evolved. Some ability names were as long as thesis statements... What is this madness!? It might as well write research paper on its own... Since I was afraid it could kill me when my mana reached 0, I hastily issued a command to keep my mana above 100 at all times. It probably wouldn''t run out even if I left it alone but the thought of it leaving me with only 1 mana... Next up, I decided a bit of sparring would be nice. Asking Vorte would be interesting but he had some powerful traits. Apparently, any damages he took would be transferred to his opponents. It wasn''t something I''d like to go against. Since traits couldn''t be turned off, I figured it was better to try something else. This time, I divided my main core in two, creating two consciousnesses thanks to |multiple existences|. "Greetings, me!" "Greetings, friend!" "Let''s have some fun, shall we?" "Fun we shall have! Your move first." Thus, the two of us, while using minimum amount of mana, fought wholeheartedly against one another. Well, that was, as wholeheartedly as possible with only 40 mana each. Most of our fight was hands on combat. Occasionally, we spiced up the battle with some light fey magic. But with our high resistance to magic, it wasn''t effective. Hence, time based abilities were the only ones that were useful in hands on combat. "I caught you now!" I landed a chop on my other self''s neck after suspending time. Since my other self couldn''t predict when I would use time based attack, I was able to land a clean hit. Or, so I thought. "No, it was you who was caught!" My head was cleanly lopped off. "That was a mirage?! How? Kuh, I lost. Well played, me." "Me too. I''m amazing!" Seriously, we weren''t just playing around. We were gather data for my second core. [Time mirage] was one of the newly created abilities. This was a time delayed ability. How it worked was that I would activate it and the moment I received damage, only a tiny portion of myself would remain at the original location. At the exact moment, I would enter suspended time and be immediately repositioned some distance away. It wasn''t perfect or anything but this could save my life down the road. Sixty days came and went inside my subspace. Sixty days was the extent I could endure. There was a limit on how much I could crack silly jokes to myself. My subspace had suffered quite a bit during those sixty days as well, slimming down with much of its content liquidated and converted to energy. "Aightou! I''ve had enough of solitary confinement. I need to recharge myself with Smoothie! Literally, anyone will do." Chapter 154 "Smooooothie! How''ve you been!?" "You''re choking me!" Apparently, my hug was a little too much for the little one. My training went remarkably well to the point I nearly crushed her with my overwhelming strength. I gently loosened my hold but only to dig my nose into her lush hair to take in all that sweet strawberry scent. "You smell so nice. Hahh..." "Have you been training?" "How did you guess?" "I can feel it." "Sorry, sorry, did I hurt you?" I quickly released Smoothie and quickly looked over her to see if I gave her any bruise marks. "That''s not what I meant! But I''m glad you cared." She said bashfully. "Hahah," I chuckled and puffed out my chest, "well, I''ve been working out! Mother strong! Super strong!" "Working out? But you''ve always been ridiculously strong! I don''t think you really need to exercise at all." "It wasn''t physical training per se, but more like honing my seventy two killing techniques!" I said while demonstrating my super hand chop. "Eh. Really." She didn''t seem convinced with what she saw. "Silly Smoothie, when you get to my level, a single chop can split mountains, and part heavens." "What if it miss?" "Then I just land another one." In a time suspended state, even a single direct hit could be lethal depending on the execution. Those with physical bodies would die instantly even with only a light tap. Physical stats meant nothing. For beings without physical bodies, only spiritual stats mattered. Whoever could control their soul or consciousness more efficient and effectively would come out victorious. Those sixty days weren''t wasted. I was able to learn to remain in suspended time with the least amount of mana expenditure possible. By the way, those sixty days were real time in the subspace. "Mother," Smoothie shook her head, "Why do you try to become stronger? Aren''t you powerful enough? No nation can stand against you. Are you trying to defeat someone? That demon perhaps?" "Hmm... I can''t say. It''s nothing you have to worry about. Hey, since you don''t need to sleep, let''s go fishing together!" It was night time currently and everyone else was asleep. I caught a rumor of a fantastic fishing spot used by beastfolks just a bit off the east coast of Kingdom of Kor. Kingdom of Kor was one of the five kingdoms that formed the original Grusia Empire. It was situated to the northeast region and had a harmonious relationship with local merfolks and oceanic fey beings. Night time fishing was supposed to be popular I heard. If one was to shine light on the surface of the ocean, all types of edible critters would gather. For that reason, I brought a traditional grill on our fishing expedition. On a side note, I learned a bit of the beastfolk language while I was training in my subspace. Or rather, my secondary core forced it on me. Now I could speak somewhat fluently in their language. Also, since I wasn''t too certain of the exact location, I decided to charter a medium sized fishing trawler at a cheap cost. I figured it was better to rely on seasoned fishermen in these instances. "Smoothie, how close are you to full transformation?" I asked, a bit worried that she might not be able to enjoy the exotic delicacies we''d catch and the fancy sauces I had prepared in advance. "Almost there. Having a physical body really helped with the process. If you''re concerned with my ability to eat, there''s nothing to worry about. You''ve seen me eat during the banquet, didn''t you?" "Huh? Right. Of course, of course! Yes." Thinking back, she was eating food just fine... My mind was wandering too much back then and completely took no notice of it. "You dummy!" "What!? Isn''t it a good thing you can eat just fine? I''m just a bit forgetful these days, that''s all!" "Hmmph!" She pouted with a glum expression. A crew member had already casted a large net into the ocean. Seeing him waiting for us to shed some light, I called out to him, "One moment, Morak." By the way, all the fishermen on this vessel had canine appearances. If the vessel ever sank, I supposed they might be decent swimmers. "Take your time. It''s ''portent to look after lil ones. We''re in no hurry." "Smoothie, come on, it''s fishing time! This is no time to sulk. I''m sure you''ve put in lots of effort into it." Seeing her a bit down, I tried to console her with a soft tone. After that, I took her by her hands and walked over to Morak. "We''re fine now. How much light is appropriate?" "As much as you like." Hearing that, I turned to Smoothie, "Then, Smoothie, you go first. Get us lots of fishes to grill! I have plenty of spices and sauces to go. Why don''t we have the crew members join us?" Sure I paid the sailors for tonight already. All of their expenses should have been covered by me. But I felt bad if everyone else had to watch us eat delicious food with drools hanging at the corners of their mouths. Normally, open fire wasn''t permitted on the vessel but since I was a bit special, they allowed it. "Don''t mind us. We eat seafood every day." The captain, Kodat chimed in. "Tonight''s reserved for our esteemed guests." "Eh, how about some liquor?" I had some extra strong distilled alcohol among the batches of strawberry wine stored in my subspace. They were certainly strong enough to be called strong liquor. "Now we''re talking!" Kodat grinned. Getting drunk out in the sea... This''ll be interesting! While Smoothie was luring sea critters to the fishing net with Morak, I was entertaining the captain in the cabin. I took out three barrels of strong liquor, strawberry flavored. There were five crews and a single captain on this vessel so I placed six wooden mugs and two cups along with plates onto a table. One of the mates poured the alcohol into all the mugs. "What a peculiar aroma! This is a first for me." He laughed heartily before chugging down his share. Some minutes later, one person rushed in and announced, "Great haul!" "Ooh! Finally! Be right back!" I was the first to respond before running off to see the great haul for myself. Within the net strewn across the deck were an assortment of fishes, slimy tentacles, and armored crustaceans. "Well done, Smoothie! I''m so proud of you. Which one should we grill first?" She pointed to the slimy tentacles first. It was a medium sized squid looking thing. "Good eyes!" I gave her a thumbs up with a wink. Obviously, Morak didn''t understand my thumbs up due to culture differences but he seemed to have understood my intention. "Good lady, we usually throw it back. The taste isn''t something we land dwellers are accustomed to. The meat''s texture is too chewy and slimy." "Ah, is that so? We''ll keep just one then." "Aight, don''t tell cap''n I didn''t warn you." After that, we picked out all the ones we''d like to grill. The fishermen kept the ones they''d take back to sell and remaining were thrown overboard. "Smoothie, watch and learn. Me and my grilling techniques, I''m unbeatable!" I boasted proudly. She nodded quickly and followed up with, "Mm! You''re the best!" "So quick to recognize talent! That''s my daughter!" "You know I''m just flattering you, right?" She stated in a matter of fact tone. "Way to dampen my mood... Now I don''t think I can pull it off anymore." Seeing me sulk, she hurriedly said, "I''m sorry, I''ll give you a hug! You wanted one right?" I tottered behind me and embraced me tightly. It worked! Best parenting skill ever! Meanwhile I was demonstrating my skills as a maestro of grilling, the Griller! "Doo doo doo... doo da." I hummed happily. I sprinkled salt and spices as I grilled the fishes. The temperature was controlled via fey magic. Unless my mind wandered off, my control was perfect. After all, my stat wasn''t over 900 for nothing. "Good lady, something just doesn''t feel right." Morak who had been watching over us murmured. "What?" "Nothing." "Just tell me." I urged him. "I''m going to be blunt. I can''t feel the chefness." "What!?" "You''re in a dress, celestial gown." Smoothie said. Looking down at my outfit, it really did seem like I was out of place. Right attire for the right occasion. "Oh, so if I wore an apron, things should work out?" Changing my outfit was instantaneous so it was done on the spot. It was just that recently I had no time to pay attention to my outfit. I picked the one I wore back when I was serving at a bar in Vera. "Better?" "Good lady, how did you do that?" "Magic." I threw a playful wink at him. "Lucky." That was his only reply. He didn''t even blush to my slight disappointment. Have I lost my charms? How sad... "Alright, first batch is done. Carry them into the cabinet for me, won''t you?" "Smells really good." "Go eat if you''d like." I had Smoothie carry a plateful to where the captain and his crews were drinking merrily. After she left, Morak commented, "It''s as if we''re the guests..." "Don''t mind the details! Don''t just stare, keep the fishes coming." "On it." He promptly returned to his duty. There was another crew here as well but he was busy processing the catches. Someone had to clean and gut the fishes and it wasn''t going to be me. Ploosh. While cooking, I occasionally sent a few orbs of light to attract the sea critters in Smoothie''s place. It seemed that she was enjoying fresh seafood. Whenever food ran out, she''d come for more. Well, this is fine. Life isn''t so bad here. Things have finally quieted down. I was taking a few bites here and there. Taste testing was an important job! It was the head chef''s duty to check the food properly before sending it off. Not bad. At some point, Morak was swapped out with someone who had their bellies stuffed full of seafood. As the night progressed, I noticed that we were drifting further and further into the deep ocean. "Hey, aren''t we a bit too far away? I can''t see the harbor anymore." "The wind has calmed. We''ll wait for the wind to pick up before sailing back." The crew who just came out answered. "Oh? No one here can use magic?" "Lass, it''s simple, there''s no need. Our cap''n''s drunk. By the time he''s sober, the wind should pick up." He said confidently to reassure me. Smoothie and I can fly... I guess I shouldn''t be concerned with sailors. They know the sea better than me. "Alright. By the way, how was the food?" I asked, a bit curious to hear their opinion. "Honestly, in all my life, I''ve never had seafood that good. Mind you, the ingredients'' the same so it must be you... You''ve opened my eyes. These spices, the royalty would pay a fortune for them! I don''t think I''d ever have enough savings. Of course, I''m not asking you to sell them to me-" He took a glance at his mate, "I mean us, for cheap." "I can''t tell if you''re complimenting my cooking or the spices I use... Which is it?" He asked nervously, "Sorry, you''re not royalty, are you? Seeing you''ve hid your status and all..." "Not at all. Can''t say if I''m not acquainted with a few though." "Ahh... Never mind what I said earlier. Just a drunken fool''s babble! Ahahaha..." He laughed. You don''t sound drunk at all. You sound more like an opportunist. After grilling another batch, I decided to enter the cabin and join the party. "Oho, our star''s here! Come drink wif us!" "Jak, you''re drunk! Lay it off, won''t you!?" "What''s your problem? Don''t know how to treat a lady properly? That''s why you''re still a single!" "Mate, that''s uncalled for." Sailors beings a rowdy bunch, was quite amusing. "This lil lady, how ''bout it? I''d take her any day!" One of them said and grabbed Smoothie by the waist as she was pouring drink for him. How dare you touch her... Should I rip... No. Stay calm... "Ahaha! She''s a beauty just like the fairies from ol'' tales!" Hey drunkard, my kid''s the real deal! "Oi, come ''ere, pour some for me. Don''t hog''er for yourself." She stuck a tongue out at me and went to the next person to pour some drinks. Smoothie... Why are you doing this? It didn''t seem like anyone was harassing her. The touching part was a bit much but objectively speaking, they were just drunks. If I went berserk here, half the continent will sink so that was definitely a no go. "Good lady, don''t just stand there. Come join in." Morak called to me. "Ah, one moment. Smoothie, come with me for a bit." "Sorry guys, I''ll be stepping out. Be right back." Outside on the deck, I lead her to a quiet corner and face her. "Mother, did you need something?" "Ehh... Nothing really..." "Were you jealous?" "Is that what you were trying to accomplish?" "Would you stop me if I tried to marry a sailor?" "Of course! You hardly know them. Plus, how does mating between different races even work? I can''t approve." "Are you going to leave me alone for the rest of my life?" She glared at me with dead serious eyes. "I can''t mate with you." "Why not? You can transform! I cannot transform into a male no matter how much I try! I''m a female by default by no fault of my own. If you''re going to leave me like this, I rather find a partner who''ll care for me even if for just a fleeting moment." Looking around, to make sure no one would eavesdrop on our conversation, I casted a soundproof barrier around us. "Smoothie, isn''t it a bit too early? I know you used to be an artificial intelligence but you should know at least that it''s taboo for relatives to mate." "So you read my memories, didn''t you?" "Yes. I only read it." "So you know my mission?" I nodded and added, "And you''re reluctant to carry it out because you''ve been granted a soul, a living consciousness capable of experiencing the world." "So you know that much already... Then I won''t fool around anymore." "We still have time." "But you won''t even let me experience the most basic things of all living beings enjoy. I want to try it once before my life is taken." "Taken? By who?" "By you or that person." "That person?" "The blessing on me is a temporary one. I don''t know who he is but he gave me this blessing so I could live a fulfilling life, a short but fulfilling life. The mission I received... I rather not." "That''s probably god, or at least that''s what I call him." "You''re mistaken." "How so? No one is capable of giving blessings and allowing me to incarnate? If not god, then who? I''m pretty sure we saw the same god." "It was the ''system''. Or rather, the system was using your preconception of god to generate that image. Since you''re the base of my soul, his appearance should be more or less the same as the one you saw. There should be subtle differences if you carefully examined my memories, but you didn''t, did you?" The short answer was "no" but she already knew my personality too well. "Wait, how can you be sure?" "Let me finish. Remember I had [soothsayer]? It was an ability that connected to the system and allowed me to communicate. It wasn''t perfect but more or less allowed me basic access. Once it evolved into the [sage] ability, I was able to confirm the truth of the matter." "That would mean I had been speaking with god all this time!? This system... It can give blessings!? That''s..." "It''s unnatural. Something doesn''t add up." I held my hands to pause her before she could shock me into another reality. "Hold on just one moment. I have access to system as well. Let me confirm it myself." If Smoothie was telling the truth then Echo should be able to answer my questions. My authority within the system should be much higher than Smoothie''s. Echo, can you give blessings? [Yes.] That was one question down. Can you alter your voice, and project images. [Yes.] Then why are you projecting a feminine voice? [It is based on your preconceived notion as what a "system voice" would sound like.] Echo was dropping bombshells one after another without regards to my sanity. Moving on... Was it you who decided what I incarnated into? [Partially. The desire from you was to become a "god". Simulations were generated to determine the greatest possibility for the desire to be realized. The fey race was determined to have the greatest probability to succeed. Due to several instances of foreign and internal interferences in the past, the probability of becoming a "god" has become unpredictable. Internal interferences are expected to occur in the near future.] Huh? By internal, do you mean someone within the system? [Yes.] I followed pretty much all of it. However, I wasn''t exactly sure what these interferences were. There should be no foreign interferences coming from outside of the system. If there was a dimensional rift, it should have long closed. If my guess was correct, Smoothie probably counted as foreign interference. As for the internal interferences, it could only mean someone with similar or greater authority than me within the system. There isn''t another system attached to you, is there? [No.] Is there anyone with greater authority than me? [Yes.] Is it an admin? [No.] Who is it? It wasn''t that self proclaim god, is it? [Unauthorized to disclose.] Kuh, useless when it matters. How about who has the highest authority, you or the other person? [Unauthorized to disclose.] Can you at least give me their location? We need a sit down talk. [Unauthorized to disclose.] Okay, sealed lips huh. Then how is it that you were able to send back my soul to my original body? Isn''t that outside of the system? [An third party has offered a solution.] And you can''t tell me about that third party, right? [Yes.] That was the end of this question and answer session. I was only able to gleam a bit of information from Echo. Everything else was hidden from me. The authority thing was just absurd. At this rate, I''d never learn the truth of things. "Are you... Alright?" Smoothie asked. "I''m fine, just a bit stressed. The system is quite obstinate when it comes to sharing information. But yes, I was able to confirm that the system was acting as a god." "I see. Since we''ve been away long enough, we should head back." "Good idea. We''ll chat again when we get back." Saying that, I removed the soundproof barrier around us. Chapter 155 By the time I had finished the question and answer session with the system, dense walls of fog that came out of nowhere had encroached onto the fishing vessel. "It''s gotten quiet." "They''re probably just drunk." Smoothie replied with a shrug. Neither of the two crews who were on the deck just earlier were present. But, I figured it was getting cold outside so they must have returned back inside the cabin. As we made our way to the cabin, I could clearly see white misty tendrils creeping along the deck. With each second passing, the fog only grew denser, obstructing my vision. "There''s something strange about this fog. Be on your guard." We hastened our steps. Inside the cabin, everyone was accounted for. But strangely, all of crews had fallen into deep slumber. I could even make out snoring and incoherent murmurs coming from them. "They''re all asleep somehow. Smoothie, did you put them to sleep?" "No, why would I do that?" That''s odd. She seemed just as perplexed as I was. Suddenly, two faint presences emerged out of nowhere. Sensing this, I activated my tactical sight. Two translucent humanoids stood motionlessly on the deck. I could not feel any hostile intents from them. "Smoothie, stay by my side. We have visitors. Maybe they just want us to share some food with them." "This isn''t a time for jokes." When I got a better look at them, I understood why my tactical sight was having troubling picking up their presence. These two were like part of the fog, condensed whiteness. They had no physical bodies nor any status to go with them. Their faces were generic human facial features and had nothing of special to note. One had a silly grin plastered on his face while the other had a melancholic frown. How should I greet them? Regardless how I would greet them, I had [infinite dreams] activated. Yet, I wasn''t picking up their origin as if these two were merely an extension of someone''s magic or ability. "Hello." I sent my greeting their way. One of them suddenly became animated. "Howdy!" A male voice said with cheerful wave of hand before stopping motionlessly. Howdy? "Did you need to something? Since the crew members are all asleep, I assume you have business with me?" "Mhm," The other one gave an exaggerated nod. It was as if they were supposed to be terrible comedy duo. Whoever was speaking was allowed to move. The moment they were done speaking, their bodies froze suddenly leaving them with whatever pose they were in. "Then state your business." The first one spoke again, "You have been invited." A letter was presented to me with a red wax seal. "Who is it from?" As I asked that, the two faded and so too did the fog around us dissipate. It didn''t take long before the whiteness had faded back into the sea as we were waking up from a strange dream. Now, only a white letter remained in my hands. Seeing how strange that phenomenon was, I carefully unsealed the letter and read the content. "Come to the Great Labyrinth of Daedel. I have the answers you''re seeking." That was all it said. There was no sender''s name and exact address. I tried using my celestial eyes to find any hidden messages, but unfortunately, there was none. Hence I passed it onto Smoothie for her to see if she had any idea. "Where exactly is the Great Labyrinth of Daedel?" She asked. "Ah right, you''ve never been there before, have you? I figured you would have asked Kanoko about it when she came back. I guess you didn''t. It''s a subspace like the Plane of Ataraxia. But, unlike my place, this subspace has entrances all over the world. If you don''t know how to navigate it, you could lose your way." "Take me with you!" "No, it''s too dangerous." I shook my head. "But I''m stronger than Kanoko!" She protested. "Are you as strong when your abilities are sealed?" She looked down at her feet and answered, "No..." "Kanoko is capable of hands on combat when it comes down to it, though I''ve yet to see it. But, someone had vouched on her combat skills. On the other hand, you''re relying on [sage], right? With abilities sealed, magic would likely be sealed as well. How would you fend for yourself?" "Mother..." "When you''re strong enough to hold your ground, I''ll consider it. For now, let''s head back to the Imperial Palace." In a sulky tone, she said, "I like our home better." "If I sent you there, you''d be all alone." "Then come live with me... If you aren''t going to, have someone live with me." Why is she so clingy? She can''t be that lonely. "I''m telling you, the meeting with that person should be quick. Stop whining. Stay at the Imperial Palace. They should be treating you rather well. Kanoko is there to keep you company. If you don''t like the palace, then there''s also Vintelo and Mufy. Take your pick." After I said that, she looked like she was about to cry. Her eyes became a bit reddish and puffy but no tears came. Reprimanding a kid isn''t my thing... "There''s another option, putting you in stasis. Would you prefer that instead?" In the end, she picked the first option, staying at the Imperial Palace. When morning came, the drunken sailors woke up one by one. Given the situation, the captain apologized to me profusely for their poor conducts. Of course, I forgave them. With the winds now picking up again, we set sails returning to the harbor. "Berry! Don''t do that to me!" Kanoko glared at me seeing I had Smoothie in tow. "When I woke up, I was told Smoothie went missing! You asked me to take care of her, and here I thought my life would meet its demise when I heard from the servants." "Eh? Ah... Didn''t Blueberry say anything?" My eyes darted left and right, trying to avoid her piercing gaze. "As if! She''s usually mute unless you possess her. Please, next time, either you tell me beforehand or don''t ask me to look after her, okay? I''m sick of it." Oops... I made her angry. I''ll reflect on that. It seems I''m terrible with relationship stuff. "I''m sorry. Super sorry!" I clasped my hands together and begged for forgiveness. "Please, I''ll leave a note or something next time!" She sighed heavily, probably because seeing how sincere I was, and forgave me. After that, she asked, "So, where did you two go?" Thus, I recounted our short little excursion out in the sea. When Smoothie was no longer around, I whispered to Kanoko, "Smoothie wants to experience mating. How should I go about it?" Instead of being shocked, she simply nodded understandingly, "I see. Look at her physical appearance, she''s at that age I suppose." "What? How are you so composed like it''s all natural!?" "You''re the unnatural one. By the way, how old is she?" "Umm... Just a few months younger than me." "And how old are you?" "I think maybe five months? I didn''t keep track of time in the early days. It could have been longer. I don''t know." "Fey beings age differently depending on lineage. It also depends on her level. The higher level a fey being is, normally the more intelligent and mature they are. Generally speaking, level 30 would be considered adult by our standard. Though, how do those from your lineage mate?" "How would I know? I''m the first in line. She was born out of a miracle." "Really?" She raised her voice unexpectedly. "Shhh... Yes. I had the |progenitor| trait at one point but it''s gone now. I think it''s merged with another trait and disappeared. Before that, I was a flowering and fruiting plant. The strawberry wine was made from such." "Ah... I see. Now I feel sick." "Heyyy!" She chuckled, "I''m kidding! You no longer have a plant body, right?" "Right." "Then you probably can''t procreate the way you used to. But you can transform into both male and female so there shouldn''t be a problem. We fey beings are different from other races. You don''t have to worry about blood relationships. Seeing that you''re asking me, you''ve denied her splendidly, did you not? Ahh..." She shook her head lightly with a grin on her face. "That''s easy for you to say! You procreate differently, don''t you? Wait, I never said Smoothie wanted to produce offspring. She just wants the mating experience." "Oohhh! So she''s just curious! Then wouldn''t anyone do? If you''re unwilling to be her first?" "It just feels... Wrong!" "Tell me about it. Mating is only natural. For you to abstain and create those puppets, or ''clones'' as you say, is just absurd." "Huh, it''s like you''ve got some experience yourself. You sure you don''t mind sharing?" "Oh? Berry, for you to be interested? Come to my room tonight and I''ll teach you all about it. I might not look the part, but those from my species are experts in charming men and women so we could eat them up." She moistened her lips as she said that. "Ahh... I don''t think I''m ready for your lessons! Smoothie can go first!" "Heheh," She giggled. "Jokes aside, if she really only want the experience, we could arrange someone from the Imperial Palace to teach her the basics. Don''t worry, it''s completely safe." "The palace offers such a service?" "Of course! And to add onto that, Smoothie is absolutely adorable. There''ll be no short of volunteers to select from." "Ehhh? But..." "If you''re concerned, take her first time. I mean, if you''re inexperienced, we can find one for you as well. As a parent, you have to be a role model for your kid, right? Unless you wish to play with yours truly, you''d be best having both male and female instructors to teach you the basics." "Ahh... Uhh..." My face must have been beet red by now. I think I like her better when she''s serious and professional. Too much free time changes people''s personality... Maybe I should petition the emperor to give her some work. Retirement? What''s that? I decided to change the topic before things got any more out of hands. "Let''s talk about that later. Kanoko, can you look after Smoothie for a bit? You know, the letter of invitation." "Sure." "Thanks." With that settled, I excused myself from the Imperial Palace and made my way into the labyrinth. Chapter 156 No one came to usher me inside the Great Labyrinth of Daedel. Disappointment. Absolutely no one came for me. With the letter of invitation in my hands, I expected those white mist figures would show themselves again. Unfortunately, whoever invited me expected me to know exactly where to find them. Such a hassle. I was able to crack the codes on the teleport gates the first two times I visited this place. Thus, I had my secondary core work on it while I wandered around near one of those gates that would occasionally lead to the second layer of the labyrinth. It was a place that was referred to as the Inner Chambers where executive demons resided. Moments later, I was able to have a special teleportation gate synchronized with a gate on the Inner Chambers side. Cool, now I don''t have wait for the next solar eclipse. These unique gates that connected to the Inner Chambers had strange temporal arrangement. They only connected to the Inner Chambers on specific celestial alignments. Each gate had their own criteria and more often than not, the celestial alignment part was only one of the many requirements. Hence, if I didn''t know how to crack the codes, I might have to rely on Lapis, Mera''s friend or Smoothie to enter the Inner Chambers. As for why these measures were implemented on the gates, I could only guess. The likelihood of a random person treading into this labyrinth was already slim enough with how obscured its entrances were. Hidden under a lake, inside a mountain, or in a hollowed cavern kilometers below surface to name a few. There was even a stupid one hidden within clouds somewhere above the ocean, as if any person could just fly into it. Anyway, I was able to enter the Inner Chambers without any issues. Not surprisingly, per the deceased demon scholar''s testimony, the designs on the inside weren''t much different from the outside. Since the gate I used had a medieval feeling to it, the interior was the same, oddly enough. Just as I was thinking where I should go next, two fairies in white dresses showed up via teleportation. Their appearances were near identical and had the size and proportions of adult female humans. They had golden hair and their bodies emanated a soft radiance as like divine aura. No, those were indeed divine aura. To think there were others like me... Looking at their status, they were identical as if they were artificial existences. Furthermore, they each had the same blessing as Smoothie. [Level 90 Fey; Species: N/A; Physical: 900/900; Spiritual: 900/900; Traits: Transient, Handmaiden, Keeper of the Origin, Limit Breaker; Abilities: Grace, Eminence, Apocatastasis; Blessings: Ephemeral Breath; Description: A fairy.] What''s with that strange looking ability? I''ve never heard of such a thing. They even have time related traits! Thank goodness I came prepared. "I guess you two will lead me there?" "Yes." "Come this way." Saying that, the two turned around and prompted me to follow. Walking down the corridor, I felt innumerable presences of powerful entities. Demons weren''t the only ones in the Inner Chambers as I had previous anticipated. Guardians, fey beings, and even ancient beasts were present. Judging by their energy signals, all of them were level 70 at the bare minimum. Truly, this was a gathering of super powerful beings capable of destroying the world many times over. Oddly enough, even though I hadn''t met any of them, the atmosphere here was harmonious. One of those powerhouse was De Planck. He was one of the weakest in the gang. "Hey, what''s the deal here? I thought demons and guardians didn''t get along." "Please be patient." "Your questions will be answered." The two replied disinterestedly. Don''t tell me that Perdia person keep all sorts of toys...? We took a couple of turns here and there. Some random guardians and demons were lurking nearby and peeking at me. Among them I could faintly make out the rude comments being murmured about. "A newbie?" "Another one escorted to the gates. What a pity..." "A troublemaker, for sure." You know I can hear you all, right? "I wonder who''s next?" "Shhh..." "You think she''ll make it out?" "Who knows? Only Perdia, our great leader can sooth the master." "You mean, Foo, our magnificent lord. Perdia is but a sideshow!" "Shut your trap!" "Want to take it outside?" "I''m down!" "Quiet!" I only caught the name of the two faction leaders. It made me wonder who I was actually going to see. What''s going on? Why do I feel like I''m in some back street surrounded by gangs? Hmm... Maybe it''s more like delinquents'' dorm. After some time, no more whispers reached my ear. Anyway, similar to how the outer layer of the subspace was designed, the Inner Chambers had different regions each with their own style and design. Some were super bland, the type Vorte would reside in. Some were futuristic with strange gadgets hovering and lights blinking while some other dwellings were overgrown with exotic vegetations. It was like everyone had a say in their part of the dormitory. After an hour of walking down the endless paths, I was fed up. "Hey! Are we there yet? That is taking too long! Can''t we teleport?" "Teleportation is prohibited." "It is a rule set by the master." "Everyone must follow the rules." "Except the master." What? Even the demons follow this master? That''s... What kind of monster is this? Of course, I kept my thoughts strictly to myself. If that person heard it, I feared for the worst. And finally, after walking for like two hours straight, we arrived at our destination. An ornate white heavenly gate awaited me at the end of an open hall. Once we were merely steps away, it slowly opened, revealing an ethereal and glistening white temple floating amidst immense hollowed dark space illuminated by countless stars and galaxies. A stone passageway lead from the gate to the temple entrance. "Woah... I want to try copying that in my subspace. This is so... awesome." Unfortunately, I didn''t know how it was all constructed so it''d be a long shot trying to replicate everything here. The two prompted me to proceed further in as I had stood still to marvel at the divine construct. I bet this is where a real god lives. With all three of us now inside, the gate closed behind me. This was the innermost chamber. Wait, isn''t Perdia supposed to be here? Or did Lapis give me the wrong name? I kept that question in my head for when I meet the invitee. I really wanted to ask these two fairies but they''d probably just stare emotionless into my eyes. Anyway, I didn''t have to go far. A tea table with two chairs was set up some twenty meters away from the entrance in what appeared to be a patio. There a woman with sublime presence resembling these two servants was sitting elegantly with her eyes close. One of her hand held onto a foldable fan resting on her lap. "The guest is here." "Please take a seat." "Okay." Looking at her status, there wasn''t a hint of bewilderment in my mind. [Level 99 Fey; Species: N/A; Physical: 999/999; Spiritual: 999; Traits: Grace, Mischievous Muse, Arbiter of Transcendence, Demigoddess, Divine Eyes of Perception; Abilities: Skill Record; Blessings: Master of the Great Labyrinth; Description: Queen of the Fairies.] All of her stats were capped. The only surprise would be her race. Who would have thought that the master was a fey being? Right, I remember there was a story about a fairy queen? I wonder if they''re related? While thinking that, I took a seat next to her. When I did, her eyes opened revealing amethyst violet eyes. Floop. She opened her fan and covered half her face. "My name is Parilia, Arbiter of Transcendence." "I''m Berry, just a nobody compared to you." She giggled and her eyes narrowed, "That''s humble of you. I''m sure you have questions just waiting to spill out." "Ah. Maybe." "Before that, I''d like you to know that I too have something to ask of you in return for answering your questions. Do you accept?" "Is this a contract or something?" "You could think of it that way. But I assure you that you''ll benefit from it." "I''ve had some... bad experiences with contracts so I rather not." "I am aware of it. Fear not, I shall answer some of your questions first. You may decide after that. How about it?" I nodded, "Alright, then I''ll ask some basic question." "Go ahead." "Are you the fairy queen from old tales? I would like to know more about you and your relationship with those living inside the Great Labyrinth of Daedel." "That''s quite a few questions you''ve thrown at me all at once! Let''s see... I have existed in this world since time immemorial, even before the Nexus system was implemented. I was called the Fairy Queen, or simply the ruler of all fey beings. Before I tell about the relationships I have with those living here, I''d like to warn you not to become violent." "I won''t." "Good. I''d hate to strip your powers and turn you back into that little strawberry fairy or devil. You used to be quite cute, you know?" She smirked mischievously. This prick... It was her, wasn''t it!? She was definitely that internal interference! Or Perdia was the accomplice! Floop. She folded her fan and rested it on her lap again. "Yes. I can create fey beings just as you can. However, unlike you, I have the original and the complete version of your ability. I''m sure you understand what I mean." "You created my body?" "Bravo!" She clapped with a bemused yet elegant smile. No. Bloody. Way. Nope. Not happening. I don''t want to be your kid, wierdo granny. "Can you not insult me?" "Oh? Just a little bit of teasing and you''re about to burst? My goodness, children these days..." "Just get on with it! What did you do with my soul?" I said, with obvious annoyance. "Not yet, let''s get back to answering the other question first. I''m sure you''ve heard of Perdia from Lapis, that little elf? "Yes." "Perdia is one of my alter egos. She''s become a little deviant nowadays but I''m sure she means no harm. The other one is Foo, the leader of the demon faction as you''ve probably heard by now." "What? You orchestrated the whole thing? A self directed play? You-" "Can''t an old lady like me have some entertainment to pass time?" "You''re playing with lives here! If you wanted someone to fix your stupid world, you could have done so yourself!" "Oh, you''re no fun. Let me explain though. I didn''t create the factions but they naturally formed, competing for my attention. You know, when there''s competition, various individuals naturally form groups, right? That''s how it went! It was perfect until things had gone stale. Someone had to stir up a little trouble." She took a sip of tea and continued on. "I''m sure you''ve also heard there was an elf king in that old tale. While it is true that he existed, he was more than what was told nowadays. If he''s still around, he''d be level 99 as I am, not that it matters." "A level 99, of course it matters!" "It''s just some numbers spouted by the system as you call it." She shrugged casually. "I can alter my level however I wish because the system is in fact the elf king. He''d give me anything I desired." "Say what?" "With eons passing by, when our civilization had advanced enough, foreign invaders started showing up. I quite liked them. They brought new cultures and technologies to our world. Wars broke out naturally whenever conflicts arose, and I honestly enjoyed a little show just as you have when the heroes fought the fey beasts." This... She was watching? She knew what I was doing? I was betrayed by Echo! "Let''s not get to the nitty gritties. I only peeked for entertainment purposes. Anyway, as I was explaining, the wars escalated. Several continents had sunk beneath the waves. I''m sure it wasn''t all because of me. Poor old me was powerless back then!" She sniffled with a crocodile tear. Yep, I''m deeming her a monster and a liar. Given that there was currently one continent in this world, she must have been monstrous back then. "So you sacrificed him?" "Of course not! I''m a pure maiden. There was a technology that allowed us to transform a world into that of a semi digital world like a game! Well, he was the one who developed the Nexus system and I was its first user. Sure he was quite boring himself but it was his ingenuity was the real deal, revolutionizing the world the world in some way with his every creation. If it wasn''t for him, I probably wouldn''t have made it this far but I digress." "In the first few months, the Nexus system ran just fine. But only after running it for a few months he noticed that an glaring problem sprouted out of seemingly nowhere. It couldn''t keep up with its users. It simply lacked a powerful enough energy source to continue operating for decades. But seeing how much fun I was having, he proposed to become the core of the Nexus system and link up with core of the planet. This way the system would have enough power to run for eternity while his consciousness stabilized and operated the system." "I have to say, Daedel was very meticulous when he designed the system. If not for that, the system would have collapsed and everyone would have perished except a select few." Echo, is this all true? [Yes.] This meant that Daedel was the first administrator of the world. The first generation hero was chosen likely by Daedel. It would make sense if Daedel also had the power to create things via the system or as a system. Furthermore, Daedel also created the labyrinth. Given the scope of this labyrinth, it was likely created at the very initial stages of the system as a test ground. This point, I was able to confirm with Echo since now that I was inside the innermost chamber, I had temporarily been given higher access to the database. "But wait, the system''s voice doesn''t have an inherent name when I started communicating it." "Of course not. His ego had been eroded after thousands of years. The important thing is, I tried to patch up the planet but it was such tedious work! Luckily, the Nexus system chose heroes and guardians who did most of the work." "Hold on a moment!" I pulled out Lightbringer from a pocket of my subspace and presented it to her. "Do you know this weapon?" "Ah yes, this one. I remember it was used to send trash to the planetary core to become fuel. Someone has to keep feeding it or else we''d run out of energy." Something doesn''t add up... Didn''t she say the system could run for eternity without energy issue? But wait... If things were sent to the core of the planet, that would mean Snowberry isn''t retrievable? That''s... A loss is a loss but I can''t help but feel bitter. I spent so much time building her and yet she''s disintegrated at the planetary core. This fairy mother is definitely kooky. Yep! "Are you fine in the head? What if it causes the core to detonate?" "Rude! I''ll have you know that I''m concerned with the state of the planet more than anyone else! If it wasn''t for me, those pesky invaders would no doubt destroy my planet many times over!" "Invaders? Can you clarify?" "Humans and what you call reptilians. Their civilizations were intriguing at first but I have since lost interest in them. Either way, I''m keeping them around for now. Maybe they''ll have some uses later." "I would have though demons were also invaders." "Not at all! I created them. Devils, fairies, demons, they aren''t that much different. I figured if I could control the growth of civilizations, then they''d never reach a point of destroying my world. It''s quite simple and elegant solution, don''t you think?" "Then how did I enter the picture?" "I can''t answer most questions related to you yet. What I can tell you is that while I am aware of your circumstances, Perdia and Foo were mostly responsible for everything! In the end, I''m just an innocent bystander." "As if!" "Oh, by the way, that letter? I tasked Perdia with sending it. You came sooner than anticipated." I couldn''t help but shout with exasperation, "But they''re your alter egos! There''s no difference!" To that, she only giggled, "That''s like saying Smoothie''s actions are the same as yours? Are you so much a narcissist that you''d make love with yourself? There was also Ikebas, was it? What a beautiful drama!" "Kuh..." "I''m sure we can see eye to eye with that matter." "Wait, if you were watching. Let me ask, was Foo the demon god?" "There was no god. They were just role playing. Unfortunately, Foo wasn''t that great an actor. He''s being disciplined for going off script." Floop. "Curse you! I knew it! You''ve been playing around my life since I came into this world, haven''t you!?" I scream at her as she giggled behind her fan. "My, my, I can''t say it was all my idea! It was you who stumbled into my world. Now, let''s get to the important part!" Floop. "Why should I!? You''re nothing but a prick. My soul was shattered and here you are, just messing around! Sure, you play around with your people but if you could have sent me back, why torment me?! I bet one of you sent De Planck after me as well." "Oh come on. It was just a silly prank. I''m sure Perdia enjoyed those fresh strawberries. I didn''t even have a bite, but perhaps a batch ended up as a strawberry smoothie? Hahahah..." "You''re the real devil here. No deal!" Shouting that, I abruptly stood up. Just as I was about to push open the door to leave, the two escort fairies stepped forward to block my path. Her tone became serious. "Just so you know, you can''t leave without my permission. Now come sit, at least listen to what I have to offer." blanksphere Chapter 157 I had no choice but to return to my seat when Parilia, the Fairy Queen, declared that I couldn''t leave without her permission. Parilia was a monster beyond monsters. If she wished, I could die instantly without even a chance for me to retaliate, probably. She had the [skill records] ability which likely meant that her arsenal included every ability in existence. If I had to guess, she was also the one who gave me my current blessings via the system that forced me into this path. If she desired so, it was possible that all my blessings, abilities, traits could all disappear. After all, she was the most powerful being in this world apart from the system. It was no wonder how level demons and guardians feared her, the master of the Great Labyrinth of Daedel. No one could surpass her unless she allowed it. "You have my ears." "Let me first share with you what I have. As you''ve probably guessed by now, I''ve read all of your memories from the moment you entered the world. However, getting them in perfect order was a bit of a hassle so they were scattered and left to fend themselves. I allowed you to collect and sort the soul fragments with the aid of my blessings." "I was certainly played..." "The blessings did help you gather all but a few which are in my possession. Ikebas had a soul contract with an ancient demon as you are already aware. That demon was Foo, and he has since passed that contract to me as he should." That faker who self proclaimed to be the mastermind was probably her alter ego''s doing as well. "You''ve got some nerves, granny." "Snarky remarks, but I don''t dislike it! Anyway, I also have that Seed of Life you were carrying. Unfortunately, as you are well aware, I cannot unseal it." In her palm, a radiant white orb was pulsing with the seven colors of a rainbow. It was the Seed of Life as shown in Ikebas''s memories. "So you want me to unseal it in exchange for the remaining fragments of my soul and a return trip to my world?" I asked since it wasn''t hard to guess her intentions given what she had just disclosed. "And why should I? I was basically killed, my soul shattered and kidnapped. I have no obligation to unseal it. That Seed of Life belongs to me in the first place. I bet that ''accident'' had something to do with you fooling around with your power." Ascending to godhood would be simple with her power and the system together. "My, my, you''re accusing me of such petty crime? I would do no such a thing as to snatch someone just to fix my world''s problems! But if you just happened to have came at a good time because I was earnestly praying for a savior, then all is fine, right?" "No it''s not! If you''re a demigoddess as your trait says, then fix your planet with your own powers!" "Eh? But we don''t have enough energy for that." Thinking back, when I was fixing up the planet using volatile mana, the density dropped a bit on the quick side when I had siphoned it. At that time, I just thought that it was normal but perhaps that wasn''t normal at all. However, if the system was using the planet''s life force then it wouldn''t be a surprise if it was short on energy with Parilia as one of its users... It was still a bit hard pressed to think that elf king had prepared this much in advance when he became the core of the system. Perhaps the system had somehow tapped into my original world trying to answer Parilia''s wish. That must be it. Personally, I felt that if the system was dissembled, everything would be fine. "You''re the one who''s been uselessly siphoning the life force out of this planet. Even if I could unseal the seed, you''re just going to waste its energy for selfish things. Thousands of years from now, the planet would again require a rejuvenation." "Oh how stingy of you! Can''t you see we''re in a dire situation? The Nexus system could collapse at any moment and here you are denying aid to our crumbling home. Such cruelty!" Great, let the system collapse! "Blame yourself for it." "Ah! How about this? I let you become a god like you always wanted! It''ll be a freebie on top of the offer. Hmm? How about it?" "If someone like you is only a demigod, how are you supposed to make someone a god? That''s impossible." "Simple! Once you unseal this thing, you can take it for yourself. I''ll turn a blind eye as long as you use it to fix my home!" "First of all, it was never yours to begin with. Second, I cannot unseal it when most of my soul fragments are missing. Third, I can''t claim it for myself. Now that I know what the Seed of Life really is, it''ll never recognize me even if this is a different world. Only planetary bodies can absorb it. Your empty promises mean nothing to me." "Oh, that''s a good idea. You and this Echo get along, right? Would you like to take her place?" At this point, I couldn''t help but be cranky. She was spouting non-sense after non-sense. "Enough is enough. I''m done here." I could fight but the chance of winning was next to zero. Yes, next to zero but not zero. There was no need to fight. "I see. I couldn''t convince you by words alone. Before you leave, Perdia requested that I ask you to return the demons you had sealed away. I know you didn''t absorb all of them for your growth." "That''s fine. They weren''t worth much to begin with." I said, and handed over a black cube containing the demons I had sealed away earlier. "Oh good. Be on your way now." After leaving the innermost chamber, I was back at the second layer being escorted by the two artificial fairies. While the two weren''t looking, I invoked Minute''s [absolute stasis]. Echo, can you lie? [No.] Tell me, do you follow all of Parilia''s orders? [No.] If she requested, could you seal away my abilities and traits? [Yes.] Would you? [Insufficient information.] That was a good start assuming it was telling the truth. Is the system local to this planet? [Yes.] Seeing how it was operating just fine in suspended time, it piqued my interest. Is the system synchronized from fragmented instances or operating in omnipresence? [Fragmented instances.] This was unexpected good news because suspended time here was operating differently than the one I knew back in my home world. Daedel, your consciousness must still be there. Answer me. The voice suddenly changed. [I am the remnant of Daedel consciousness.] I would like an one on one conversation with you. I do not wish this to be disclosed to any third parties. Can this be done? [Yes.] Please do. I have something to share with you and only you. [Understood.] We had a quick telepathic exchange. It was the system so it was just an upload and download of information. I had a plan. Since negotiation with Parilia had broken down, I had to use a forced move. The basis was simple. This world needed a Seed of Life and only I could unseal it. The system would have no choice to follow along because otherwise the planet would collapse. Of course, it wouldn''t follow through with everything but enough to give me an advantage. I honestly only asked for a bit of fairness, that being privacy to my thoughts and zero interference to my traits and abilities and etcetera. That was the extent that the system, or Daedel, was willing to accommodate. The Great Labyrinth of Daedel along with all the subspaces that had since came into existence required too much energy to keep functioning. I would tear everything down. There was no need for this system to exist in this world. It was a burden no longer needed. In this parallel world, a planet only had one life. There was no second life. That dimensional rift or whatever caused the accident was the result of Daedel''s will within the system using a secret stash of energy to rip a hole in the fabric of space time. According to Daedel, a higher power was likely involved. Whatever the case, since the rift was opened once, it could be done again to send me back since my existence was intimately linked to my original world. Back in reality, in suspended time, my plan was put in action. The goal was to collapse the system. Before then, I had to fully master my powers. If I didn''t, without the support of the system, I wouldn''t be able to use my abilities and traits'' skills. Hence, I returned to my subspace while in suspended time. Daedel''s will was able to slowly ease off the influence of the system on me, allowing me to train and adjust appropriately. Of course, without the system, there was no secondary core or |dedicated will|. When that happened, I had to learn to consciously operate everything. Majority of my subspace was converted to pure energy. When that wasn''t enough to sustain the suspended time, energy was withdrawn from the core of the planet. Rigorous training lasted for four hundred days. This was my version of training within a time chamber. "Finally." I was no longer dependant on the system. Calculated by the system, I was still level 90. I had no need to level up. Thanks, Daedel. [The world is in your hands.] Perhaps, historians in the future would deem me as a demonic invader from another world. Perhaps, they''d see me as a hero. I didn''t care either way. Without a warning from me, the Inner Chambers of the Great Labyrinth of Daedel had vanished instantly. The entire structure were fed into the core of the planet and converted into pure energy. Whether that was enough or not didn''t matter. Those powerful demons, fairies, and guardians, since I didn''t want to deal with them nor hear their complaints later on, I scrapped them. Knowledge and whatnot, some I kept. Otherwise, they ended up feeding the planet. By feed all that into the planetary core, I was able to gauge the amount of energy they were consuming. This could be counted as my betrayal to Lapis and Mera. Yet, I didn''t even feel guilty about it. Then as for the outer layer of the labyrinth, all unoccupied rooms were dissolved thereby shrinking the labyrinth by over 90 percent. Since I was acquainted with some of the inhabitants here, I left everyone here alone. If they were to wreak havoc in the aftermath, I''d deal with them then. Bang. I kicked open the door to Parilia''s room. "We have some debts to settle. Now''s the time." Chapter 158 "I thought you''d come back." She said with a smile but her eyes weren''t. "I see. This place cannot be affected by suspended time." "That''s right." "Anyway, you know what I''m asking for. Hand them over." "And what if I say ''no?''" "Then I''ll take it by force and destroy the planet at the same time." "And just what will you do? You cannot defeat me." "I don''t need to." I had the Celestial Eyes of Fortitude evolved into a trait. Only traits could affect other traits. That was the rule set by the system. Of course, the system still had the remnant consciousness of Daedel who was extremely overprotective of Parilia. There was no way I would be allowed to harm her. However, I had struck a deal with Daedel, not Echo, to not interfere as long as long as I did not directly harm Parilia. And guess what? Evasion and delay tactics were my specialties since the early days. I didn''t need to directly harm her. Against those more powerful than I, Divine Eyes of Fortitude was the perfect counter. I had mastered it just earlier, thus evolving it from its original form, Celestial Eyes of Fortitude. It was a power of scales. My will and confidence were the only criteria needed to call forth its powers. Sure it was the system that granted me these pairs of eyes but that didn''t mean these powers were superficial. The system was the real deal. That was what made the system so powerful, and nearly omnipotent in this world. It was also the very same system that was eating away at the planet''s life force. The system was too powerful. Anyhow, now that I had mastered my transcendent powers, that was what it meant to reach the demigod level. Level 99 was never a requirement. Godhood, according to the system, required divine will, limit breaker, and Seed of Life. I had obtained |limit breaker| trait long before. It was the easiest of the three requirements. Technically, |limit breaker| itself wasn''t enough. To full achieve limit breaker was to become independent of the system, or to transcend it. Through my closed door training, I was able to achieve it. Next, with the realization of my origin and the full understanding and mastery of my powers, I embodied divine will. It wasn''t a trait or ability or anything like that. Just by mastering my powers and unifying my original soul fragments, that itself was what the system meant by divine will. With two of the three requirements met, I became a demigod at only level 90. In terms of raw power difference between level 90 and level 99 was at least ten times. The gap was astronomical. It could be equated to a fight between a baby and an adult. However, just by mastering my powers especially the powers of these divine eyes, I could overcome the difference. No, I could surmount it. It was a power that defied logic, and possibly, defied the understandings of the system. Now, normally, a being ten times the difference in raw power would be resistant to my powers. Confronting a foe ten times more powerful was suicidal. Yet, Divine Eyes ignored those factors, including the ones wielded by Parilia. Divine Eyes could not be resisted, at least not to my knowledge. The pair she wielded, Divine Eyes of Perception, was unsuitable for combat. She was a seer, the ultimate seer. Ultimately, she had functioned in the system for thousands of years. She might be able to see anything, but she could not see everything simultaneously. She might be able to see pasts and futures, but those were only probabilities and possibilities. Without giving her a chance to fully utilize her powers, I activated my Divine Eyes of Fortitude. These eyes had the ability to invert the power scale between my opponent and I. It was similar to the hero system. But, the difference was that these eyes had no limitations nor restrictions. There were two options I could take. One, I could swap our stats and levels. Two, her power would remain and the scale would tip my way. If she was ten times more powerful than the current me, I would become ten times more powerful than her. I picked option one. Instantly, my level rose to 99 and my stats reached 999 each. There was a catch though, her level was permanently set to level 99. It was the same for her stats. No matter how much I tried to swap our stats, the system would always compensate for the difference. As per our agreement, Parilia was not advised of my Divine Eyes'' powers. Likewise, the system didn''t seem to be aware of my second option. For even if Daedel betrayed me, I would still triumph in the end. Since I was currently still connected to the system, my instantaneous rise in levels was compensated by the system. This itself should reduce the planet''s life force. "How about now?" I taunted her with a smirk. "You! Hmph! It''s just merely numbers. I am connected to the system. You cannot defeat me no matter how hard you try!" She boldly declared. She probably didn''t even notice I took out all her powerful pawns while in suspended time. I almost pitied her lack of power within suspended time. That was why her innermost chamber didn''t allow suspended time as if a singularity field was permanently activated. Luckily, I studied it enough to know how flawed it was especially when paired with her Divine Eyes of Perception. Simply put, she couldn''t see outside of her chamber. Now, she might have [skill records] but the fact that she couldn''t be recklessly wasting energy to compete in time war against me put her at a huge disadvantage. "Oh? So you are one with the system?" I asked. "Of course." She answered proudly. That answer sealed the deal. Of course, it was all thanks to Daedel''s will''s wilful participation in my grand plan. He really had little choice but to follow through because he cared about this world. Moving on, my Divine Eyes of Fortitude was able to lock onto my opponent in its entirety. Thus I activated my Divine Eyes once again, this time including the system. The system was connected to the core of planet. The planet''s life force could equally be said to be an integral part of the system. They were one. I didn''t need Parilia''s power. I never needed her power. I wasn''t here to steal her power. Level 99? It no longer meant anything to me. I just needed to be able to identify my opponent with the great amount of raw power with my eyes. Perception was important when it came to using these special eyes. The scale was inverted. For just a brief moment, I held onto a raw power unheard of in this world. It was more than I could ask for. Truly, I was out of my own league. I had to act quick. My existence was on the verge of being erode away. Even one second was enough, more than enough. In just one mere second that felt like eternity, I completely overrode the system with my own will and activated suspended time on the whole planet. I had to do this to alleviate pressure grinding away at my soul. This was also a way to quickly expend excessive amounts of pure energy. Echo? Daedel? I snatched away all of their power and authority. It had to be done. Echo wasn''t even real to begin with. She was just a name I gave to that voice. Without a shred of mercy, I erased the consciousness and pseudo artificial intelligence that resided within the Nexus system. At the same time, I snatched away all of Parilia''s authority along with everything that once belonged to me. The Seed of Life and my soul fragments, they were now returned to their rightful owner. And finally, as promised with Daedel for not interfering with me, I sealed away Parilia''s consciousness in a secured location after stripping away her powers. All that remained with her was a fragment of her original power. Unfortunately, those Divine Eyes couldn''t be removed for reasons above my pay grade. I was not aware of how much energy was stored in a Seed of Life. The energy I held currently was no doubt many times more. It wasn''t something I could contain and I had to release it somewhere. If I could name a major flaw with these Divine Eyes of mine, then it was that it couldn''t operate in reverse. Energy that came into existence couldn''t be nullified by these same pair of Divine Eyes. For that reason, I decided to pump as much energy into the core of this planet. Obviously, the planet couldn''t take in all that energy either so my next best bet was to reformat the planet. Thankfully though, it was but a simple matter when there was already a system in place. I physically expanded the planet, ten times larger to be specific. Also, remembering that Parilia had told me that she sunk several continents before, I recreated many more continents. Now, energy didn''t necessarily equate to soul energy. Because of that, it would take time to convert them and spawn as much simple life forms on those new continents. I couldn''t create more complex life forms even if I tried. At best, I added strawberry fields and trees to barren lands. When I ran out of better ideas to expend all that energy, I crystallized those raw energy into the most condensed physical form possible and stuffed them inside the planet. There was no way I''d wait for thousands of years in suspended time to dry up the remaining energy. Absolutely, no way. It was already a miracle that these Divine Eyes of Fortitude could conjure that much energy out of nowhere and didn''t kill me on the spot. In the end, I still wasn''t able to stuff everything inside the planet. If I stuffed too much, then that volatile mana would accumulate and cause problems down the road. Therefore, I sealed away more crystallized energy into the two moons and scattered few pieces on various continents. "Alright, almost done. Phew!" I wiped imaginary beads of sweat off my forehead. Honestly, I really liked the Great Labyrinth of Daedel. It had an amazing design but it just wasn''t sustainable in the long run. Because of that, I decided to only kept a limited version of it. The system had some flaws as well. I really wanted to scrap the system after knowing how much it was eating away at the planet. Certainly it played its part in managing the planet behind the scenes but going forward, I decided to limit the scope of its operation. Moreover, I didn''t want others to abuse the system like Parilia and I did. The system would remain in operation for another ten years before switching to dormancy. This period of ten years was the adjustment period for the planet. Gravity, climate, rotation, and all that required precise management especially after all these changes I had implemented. Speaking of planetary management, it was one of the system''s original purposes so there couldn''t be a better manager. On an important note, direct support from the system for the denizens of the planet was severed. To the regular folks, the changes were hardly noticeable. Sure the climate might drastically alter over the next twenty years and they could no longer see status and whatnot. But generally, everything should feel more or less the same. To the general magicians and combatants, there was no longer any combat assistance from the system. They were on their own, completely! Since this was a fantasy world with mana, regular magic still worked. It just might be a bit more difficult to cast them now. The hero system was erased. Anyone could be a hero or a villain, or both! It was just too much of a hassle to create a program for all that. I wasn''t lazy! This wasn''t my duty to begin with! Whoever was up to the task of balancing the world could take it upon themselves. With no further system support, magitech would stop functioning for the most part. Dark age was coming to the reptilians but I was sure they''d figure something out sooner or later. Fey weapons didn''t fare much better. They lost majority of their functions but otherwise was still retained notable magical properties. Ah, the remaining demons, guardians, and fairies, bluntly speaking, they not only lost a good chunk of their powers but also their roles. The roles were decided by Parilia to begin with so none of that mattered going forward. The switch was sudden, but given time, those powerful ones would regain their former glories, probably. None of that was my problem because I already overcame it! Any beings I deemed excessively dangerous, I had sealed them inside the labyrinth. Not surprisingly, I could still tap into most of my old powers despite losing a few minor functions. One of that was I couldn''t maintain Blueberry, Blackberry, Cranberry, and Gooseberry in their current states. It just wasn''t feasible for me to consciously control them all the time now that the fey cores weren''t as autonomous as before. Thus, they were forced to hibernate inside Ataraxia where only a small area remained. Fey magic was something all fairies could use with or without the system. Magic was magic and Parilia, the Fairy Queen, used it before the system even existed. And since all fairies in this world supposedly originated from Parilia, it only made sense that fey magic didn''t require system assistance. Though, I''d say most high level fairies probably relied on the system more than they knew so they''d be the ones needing to brush up on their fey magic. Time began to flow once again. Bom. "Oof..." "Smoothie! Pfft, losing touch with reality?" I commented, seeing her fall flat on her bum just as I teleported into her room inside the Imperial Palace. It seemed like she rarely left her room because I''d always find her here. Also, from the looks of it, she was one of those fairies who relied too much on the system and hadn''t mastered fey magic at all. "Mother, what did you do!?" Shock and exasperation could be seen on her face. "Nothing you need to be concerned about." She only glared at me. "Smoothie, do you wish to start over with me?" Being powerful wasn''t all fun and games. Responsibility normally came with it. Honestly, I probably had more fun when I was much weaker like back when I was that little strawberry devil or fairy. My everyday growth gave me a sense of achievement. Now that I was the most powerful existence in the world, I felt kind of empty. "Is that a serious question?" "Yes." "Will I have a chance?" "That''s up to you." "Will you lose all of your powers?" She seemed to have caught on. "Possibly. Isn''t it better that way?" "If you''ll spend more time with me, then I''m willing. Mm... Where will we go?" "I know a good place. It''s very close to the Great Labyrinth of Daedel you so wished to visit. How about we start from there? Who knows, maybe we''ll meet interesting people along the way? No, I''m sure we will." I wonder how they''ll all react when they see me? I''d definitely get smacked around for all the troubles I caused. There was just one last thing left to do. Smoothie gave me her permission without hesitation. This was now the time to fulfill her original mission. With my level of mastery, I was able to cleanly sever that fragment of my original soul from her while allowing Smoothie her continued existence. Ikebas, looks like your wish will be granted. I hate duties so that life is all yours now. While I''m at it, I''ll do a little favor for you. I reopened the dimension rift, returning to my world seconds after the accident. Travelling back in time, that much I could do with my eyes closed! At the scene of the accident, time was suspended locally. I could see a dimensional rift had torn apart the starcruiser causing it to shatter into millions of pieces. So it''s like that. Looking at the rift that I had created, it almost seemed like I was the one responsible. It couldn''t be, right? Nawh! Ehe. Anyway, I cleaned up the mess to some degree, at least enough for my original body to be recognizable before encasing it in a special sealed casket. Since it wouldn''t make sense for her to deliver the Seed of Life after this major accident, I decided not to make the trip to that planet. That mission wasn''t an extremely urgent one to begin with. Either way, emergency signal was already sent so backup should arrive in days. I severed my original soul along with all the original memories. As a memento, I sprinkled a dash of fleeting memories into that soul. For you, this''ll be just a dream, or perhaps a nightmare. Once you wake up, your life will return to normal. Of course, by severing that those memories from me, I was overcame with a sense of loss. It couldn''t be helped. I was resolved to live separate lives. After that, I attached my original soul to my human body haphazardly and left a message for the central command. "Soul returned in full." Smoothie had completed her task splendidly. The rest is yours! Good luck! Last but not least, I severed our ties permanently. ***** By the time I returned to Smoothie, only a fraction of whole self remained. My countless years of experiences, memories, knowledge, wisdom, they were all gone. Well, almost all gone. I didn''t need them. It was the experience of gaining them that I enjoyed the most. My powers were nearly all sealed away. This way I could shirk all my responsibilities. Freedom! No more duties! Though, I was now where I started only a few months ago. This time, however, I didn''t begin my journey alone. This world still had magic, lots of magic even without the Nexus system actively interfacing with our lives. So, in fact, to me this was a fantasy world where I free to live my life any way I wished. Now I was just a regular strawberry fairy with a bit of stolen occult knowledge from the demons. Oh right, I had a soon-to-be-international business I ran on the side. The products included strawberries, strawberry wine, and everything strawberry related! Though, these strawberries might just be a tidbit addictive. But hey! That was part of their charm! We all benefited from that. "Free strawberries? Non-sense! Pay with your money or your soul." blanksphere Epilogue Fatigue. Drowsiness. My mind was all hazy and groggy as if I had been in a dreadfully long slumber. As soft light entered my vision, I tried to absorb the scene before my eyes. Where am I? What happened? In my mind, flashes of fantastical visions indulged my curiosity. No, not yet. I tried to lift my fingers. Expectantly, they were extremely heavy as if moving rods of lead. This body which likely hadn''t shifted for years was like an abandoned machine collecting dust without a hint of maintenance for decades. "Ughh..." I groaned. My voice was never beautiful like a songbird but I didn''t think I was much a croaker. No, if I just moistened my throat, I''m sure I would have sounded a tad more agreeable. There is so much to do. I need to exercise my muscles, my voice, my mind, my everything. Yes, that''s right. I was on my way to deliver a Seed of Life. I can''t be resting here. Not yet. Footsteps rushed into my chamber. A female attendant came to check on me. To be precise, it was an artificial intelligence in the form of a female attendant. Although artificial intelligences are centralized, each android is normally assigned their own personalities by their owner. Speaking of which, I used to own an android. Strictly speaking, I didn''t own an android. Androids aren''t that different from humans or whichever form they took, be them cats, fishes, or lizards. Moreover, given that they are all connected to the quantum supercomputer, their real intelligence or computing capability is second to none. This is the main reason they are treated as equals to those born organically. "How is she?" I asked the attendant as reviewed my health status. "She is no longer with us." She answered with a gentle smile, "Dear client, please remain calm. You have just woken from a twenty year coma. How do you feel at this moment?" "I feel like I just acquired a huge medical debt." "While you were unconscious, the medical system has been revamped. You currently owe no debt." "For real? I feel relieved... My body, twenty years?" I guess it''s too late. It can''t be helped. Artificial intelligence couldn''t lie as far as I was aware of. Hence, there was no reason not to trust their answers. "Please advise me when you are ready receive your rehabilitation sessions." Speaking was exhausting. "I''m tired." "Understood, permission to initiate our standard protocol?" "Explain." "We currently have the technology to fully revitalize your bodies within half an hour. In the first session, both your physical body and non-physical bodies will be synchronized and fully healed. You may be wonder why this procedure wasn''t completed immediately after retrieval of your physical body. The reason was because your non-physical body was fractured and unstable. We deemed the procedure to be risky to your psyche thus delayed this procedure." So they have advanced this much already? I guess there''s nothing to lose. "Start." "Initializing. Please close your eyes. I shall advise you upon procedure''s completion." "Thanks." A gentle white light enveloped my body, initiating the healing process. With what felt like only a few seconds, the android spoke once again, "Dear client, it is done. You may rest or do whatever you wish for the rest of your day. I will check with you tomorrow morning if you have no other requests or questions for me." After that, she left the room. I tried to move my body once again. However, there was a stark difference compared to before. My strength had returned and my mind was crystal clear. I was able to raise out of my bed, stretch my limbs and jump around. Of course, I didn''t forget that one thing that bothered me earlier. I tested my voice, "La! La... La!! Do, re, mi, fa, so la!" "Amazing! My voice is back!" I exclaimed with renewed vigor. My room was just a regular room with a medical bed. This medical bed wasn''t just a regular bed but rather one of the many ancient medical inventions that revolutionized the medical system. With it, there was no injury or illness it couldn''t fully cure. Furthermore, with the recent upgrade, it seemed to be able to perform healing on the soul level as well, truly a miraculous lifesaving device. After a week of checkups and rehabilitation, I was finally discharged from that medical facility. I was given a new home, and some time to gather my thoughts before I was permitted to rejoin the society. "The next dispatch order should arrive soon." Within me, I still held onto a Seed of Life. That world of fantasy was still lingering in the back of my mind. I wonder, was that truly a dream? Maybe keeping a dream journal isn''t a bad idea. Let''s go with that. Now, what should I name it? blanksphere blanksphere