A/N: Point out any errors if you spot them
--
Arnold was now sitting on the steps up to the dorms.
His interaction with Rachel from before will probably be the last time they see each other since she's going to become a servant of Morwenne's family. It's not that uncommon for households to employ their disgraced family members as a last resort. Well, it's not uncommon among girls, whereas boys just go off to join a mercenary group or just become a foot soldier with no name or status.
"?" a noise caught his attention so he looked around.
Then he faintly heard a "Papaaaaaa" coming from the sky. The moment he looked up, he saw someone's breasts right in front of his face before he was knocked back, not expecting the impact.
Ceru, now straddling him, yelled: "I need to talk to Papa about something urgent!!!"
"…That was quick." He adjusted himself upright, pushing Ceru to his chest. Her hot breath touched his face.
Talking like this is going to make him lose his focus. Forget her small uniform, Ceru's body was just too destructive. Everything was soft and despite him being taller than her by two heads, she felt way bigger with all that meat on her bones.
He still can't believe that adorable floating eye is such a succubus when in human form.
He lifted her up like you would lift a cat and put her down next to him. "Hey! I'm not Papa's toy—"
"…What did you find out?"
"Is everything okay, Papa? You don't look well…"
"My day was just a bit chaotic. Nothing a little sleep won't fix." He patted her head, which made her lean closer with a purr, "So, are you going to tell me what you found out?"
"Uhm, okay… The Oracle says she wants to stay by Papa's side and fight with you!"
"I see…"
If Angelica said that to someone, she definitely means it. She's not exactly the cunning type who deceives others. Everything is from the heart. Of course, she will withhold things if she feels others aren't ready to hear them.
It's good that the two of them became allies. With her by his and Mian Xi's side, they will be able to defeat Oriel.
The purpose of the fight isn't to kill the demon, but to seal his soul away forever using Mian Xi's spirit powers. But where he's going won't be a place where just anyone can escape from as long as you're strong.
"There is something else…"
"Hm?"
"…Papa, did you fight Young Guinevere during your travels?"
'Young Guinevere? Oh, right. She must've known all the Valkyries from her previous life. Is… Is Guinevere that old?'
Cerubim/Seraphim reincarnation happens every thousand years. But there are rare cases when they don't reincarnate for ten thousand years.
Frowning, he asked, "What makes you think that?"
She pointed at his neck, specifically the Cardinal artifact around it.
"The same energy coming from this artifact is coming from her body."
"How did you meet Guinevere?"
"Uhm, well—"
As he listened to Ceru, Arnold couldn't stop himself from becoming pale.
This is the worst thing that could've ever happened. There were no rogue human puppets. No, if there were, he never heard of them because virtually no portals to the "Layers of Hell" popped up.
'Fuck, did I do this? The Death God can't control the tides of Cocytus properly while in combat with Aedri.'
It's a mystery how such a powerful goddess was tricked and enslaved. But funnily enough, that was the good outcome. At least for the time being while demon cults are popping up around the world.
Blaming himself won't fix anything. It's his responsibility to make sure nothing else can come out of that red portal.
"What's wrong, Papa?" Ceru tilted her head seeing him scratch his head while deep in thought.
"This is the worst… At least Guinevere and Lancelot stayed behind. They should be able to handle most of the threats since some of them are weak to divinity. I'm curious what Guinevere did to Suluvuk. Maybe I should—No, I have my hands full all week so I can't spare any time to go there."
There's also his job of scouting the route through the demihuman encampments. He wanted to finish at the end this week after he extracts some information out of Hessinia and gives Tyran some punishment.
"Suluvuk can't die…" Ceru said grimly.
"Right, that curse that makes them immortal. The only good thing about the curse is that it needs the portal's energy to maintain a steady flow of power."
Zephyros used the harsh environments of those dimensions in his favor. Instead of using one's own mana to fuel such a powerful curse, why not just have the environment do it for you?
It's similar to the Million Year Barrier that needs Valhalla's dying souls to stay intact. Truth is, Freya has never used her own mana to fix the cracks. All she did was open the gateways to Valhalla for a fraction of a second, which transports all the dying souls into this world.
Needless to say, maintaining that barrier requires an incredible pool of mana, one no human possesses.
If the demons knew about this, they would target Freya specifically since she's the only one that can cast the spell that opens the gateways but they see divine practitioners as their mortal enemies instead.
It's good that they can't figure it out for themselves.
'My role is help secure that portal. I should send the dragons and Tyrgavion as backup. It will be the first order from their King.'
It will probably be bad manners to command the army before he could even meet Myrena's family. They'll have to understand it's an emergency. He'll meet with Myrena tomorrow to send the message.
"Do you know anyone that can use runes, Papa? Humans have chosen to abandon runic magic over the last three thousand years."
"I have an idea who we could ask but… I don't know how I would convince that person to help. Hmm, I heard her relative is missing so she's looking for any possible leads to elf slavery."
It's not exactly illegal to sell Elf slaves so narrowing the search down is incredibly difficult. Of course, acquiring elves isn't an easy task and you would need adequate manpower since most elves choose to live in dangerous forests, protected only by nature and spirits.
This doesn't help the search much since Elves are very popular in brothels so just about any fool with enough money or a smart tongue can gather people who can invade Elf settlements.
Hold on, he recalls Rosalyn mentioning something about operating their own slave trade. Slavers tend to trade slaves with each other depending on what the customers they have, want.
One slaver has too many children and doesn't have the luxury of waiting for them to grow up? Simply trade them off to an acquaintance for someone older that will please your customer.
While it's very rare for someone to just trade an Elf away unless it's for another Elf, slavers tend to monitor others in the same trade even if they don't make deals with each other or aren't friendly at all.
An easier solution would be to just look up Sylphy's relative using the System but since he doesn't know who this person is, he can't just click a button and solve the mystery.
"I'll see what I can find out from Rosalyn tomorrow. For now…" he stood up, "I'll need to give Elizabeth what she wants."
"Eeeh!? But I thought we were going to cuddle! You promised!" Ceru pouted.
He poked her puffed up cheeks, making them deflate.
"We can do it tomorrow. Elizabeth is important to me so I need to keep her happy."
"Humph!" Ceru floated away from Arnold when he was about to pat her head.
Why is she such a brat?
Hold on.
Doesn't it look that he's basically cheating on her? Well, she affectionately calls him "Papa" so he's technically just telling his daughter to cover her ears with a pillow while he rails her mom.
Chuckling, he stood up and turned to the door. Though she was keeping her distance while sulking, she still followed from behind. It's good that she managed to make it back without falling asleep. It would be dangerous if her invisibility was broken on some street while she slept.
He was about to open the door to the dormitory building but someone else came outside.
"?"
The most noticeable feature of said person was her long red hair that looked like upside-down flames flowing gently with the wind.
"…Stella?"
"There you are!" seeing that it's him, her blank expression vanished and she pointed at him, "How the hell did you get so strong!?"
◊◊
Ceru said she was feeling sleepy so she headed up to the room first. He knew she was sulking so he just let her go.
Arnold and Stella stood on the front porch. She was wearing a long brown jacket and pajama slippers. He wasn't expecting her to wear a fancy dress during a school week, at night no less so this was quite normal.
For someone so skinny, she had very strong and muscular legs. Even he could see that. She must've put in a lot of dedication into her training over the years.
She was holding the jacket closed tightly and her eyes couldn't remain on him.
"A-Are you going to answer my question or not?" finally she complained, since he was being so quiet.
"I acquired the internal energy of an Ascension Pill." He answered flatly.
"…" Stella's mouth hung open and eyes blanked then her yell resounded: "That's impossible! That's not something you can just acquire! It requires a magic beast's heart—there's no alternative!"
"I guess our conversation is over then since you don't believe me."
He was even kind enough to answer.
Though it's quite strange how someone who claims she's his rival goes up to that rival and asks how to get strong. Strange and quite funny.
She hurriedly grabbed his arm, "W-Wait, o-okay, say I believe you: how did you even get this pill!? My family had been trying to find gateways to other realms by exploring ruins for hundreds of years."
"You went into ruins expecting to find working portals?"
"…"
"Whoever came before us, before the Great Split and the empire itself, must've wanted to destroy as much of their discoveries, inventions, and history, as possible, fearing what humans and other races in the future will do with them. We might've discovered many buried cities from ancient civilizations, but none contained the secret to creating portals."
"Yeah…"
"Your people knew this but kept going. So stubborn. I would say they're as stupid as the Melis believers thinking the Gods will send down the Valkyries again to protect them but I suppose your ancestors actually did something." He leaned against the wall, "Is that your family's only plan? Exploring ruins that might hold nothing but disappointments?"
"…Our last resort is heading into deep waters but there's no way any human can go as far as needed to find a magic beast."
"I'm sure the Dwarves have something that could help."
Submarines aren't exactly a thing in this world. They would serve no purpose outside of making it possible to explore the depths of the ocean no normal human can reach. People aren't that interested in what lies down there so no effort was made to invent a vehicle to explore the depths. Naval battles usually consisted of warships and airships, but never vehicles capable of going into the depths since there was no need for them. Back on earth, humans used them to infiltrate enemy lines undetected or use them to transport missiles or nuclear bombs.
"Even if they do, I doubt they will share the invention."
"Yeah. Still, your ancestors—who were just regular humans—wanted to fight magic beasts, huh? Absurd. The entire demon race feared these things, which is why the Gods threw them into the sea to protect humans."
The beasts never attacked if they knew humans were on the ships. But this doesn't mean they just let humans cross over, only take routes that led to the open sea to trade with other lands.
"…The pill is… was invaluable… They would have thought about the fight after finally finding them."
"What about you? Are you taking up the mantle?"
"No… I… I don't want to kill a sacred beast for that…"
"I wonder if you will change your mind if you found out they're closer than you might think. Across the Intermid Border, there may still be magic beasts."
He didn't believe this himself but it's still possible the demons wouldn't touch these sacred creatures.
"If the demons didn't manage to kill them all, that is. Why don't you run up to the Archmage and ask if you can join her little party that will subjugate the Demon King?"
"…"
"Sounds easier said than done, right? Your family's dream is stupid. No, the method to acquiring it is what's stupid."
They want to go to a strange land that could possibly be dangerous, all for the sake of recon. At least Stella isn't as stupid as they are.
"…I know… But you…" she grabbed his collar and stared deep into his eyes, "You helped professor Rodrick obtain Aether, right?"
"So what?"
'Is this why she gave up on her ancestors' goal?'
"I… I want to know why… why you would give something so precious … away so easily." Her hands gripping his collar trembled.
"Do you think obtaining strength through shortcuts is dishonorable to your ancestors who had to work for it?"
"…"
"Haa…" he took her hands off his collar, "Then why do you seem angry over it? Shouldn't it be celebrated that someone is using Aether to fight for humanity and the energy we feared isn't just useful to suicide bomb a battlefield and that anyone can use it if they're worthy of it?"
"Worthy? Is that why you…?"
He nodded, "I only attempted to help him unlock his martial spirit and Aether because he was worthy. It's not because I thought he deserved it. I only wanted to see if it's possible to bring out that latent potential of his."
"…Does that mean you would do it for other people?"
"Sure. But only if I feel like it."
"T-That's it? You're not going to put a price on it…?"
"You can never put a price on something like that."
"…How did you do it?"
He pointed up at his eyes as they slowly transformed into his Halo.
"…I see." She laughed dryly, "…The King of the Dragons—how long have you known you were blessed with this power…?"
"Not long but there were signs. I fought a wild dragon last year. I was able to understand it despite being a human. Back then, I didn't think much of it, or maybe I just didn't notice it? Now all the dragon lords, beings that humans of this era knew almost nothing about, are trying to awaken the draconic power within me."
"I never had a chance…" she stared up at the stars and galaxies visible from here.
"Hm?"
"…If you are capable of doing that—forcing out someone's martial spirit… Does that mean others like you can do the same?"
"It's possible. But I doubt they can do it as effortlessly."
He had a dragon lord soul, making him a direct reincarnation to the child of the Dragon God. He's closer to the Dragon God than every other reincarnation. Well, there's Nait as well…
Others may have tamed a divine soul (Ancient Dragon soul) like he did, but that's not exactly a huge feat for humans. Mix their limitless potential with draconic blood and you get a mutation that surpasses even their predecessors, including their reincarnations, in power.
Myrena's father was one of these people.
"The point is that acquiring the ocular power isn't that difficult. It depends on the person using it and whose reincarnation they are."
"But it's still possible?"
"Yeah. What, are you thinking of asking someone like that if they can help you?"
"Don't question my honor so easily!" she spat back, "I'm just curious! Does that suddenly make me want to suck up to a demihuman!?"
"Your words tell me you're curious. Your tone tells me you're terrified of what that curiosity says about you."
Her face twitched.
"Maybe the curiosity tells others that you're frustrated because your training is going nowhere."
She clenched her fists and gritted her teeth.
He was expecting to be punched.
Instead, her arms fell weakly at her sides.
"There's another way, right…? Martial spirits… The final test for humans to reach Equilibrium."
"Yeah."
"None of my ancestors have ever awakened their martial spirits. Even the geniuses—why? Do we not deserve the power?"
He sighed softly, "I don't know. I asked my master the same thing some years ago and he told me: 'even if you are the strongest, bravest, most righteous man—the Martial Gods see only your potential to grow. If they see no path forward, no hunger in your heart, no flame worth kindling… they pass you by.'"
Stella suddenly laughed dryly.
"So… I've been killing myself in training, grinding my bones and blood for years, and it might not matter? Because some god thinks I don't 'shine' enough? And how can they even tell what's in my heart?"
"I don't know. Before looking for shortcuts, you should consider reevaluating why you want strength."
"What…?"
"You have a goal, don't you? Every warrior should. Repeat that goal to yourself and ask yourself if the Martial Gods—no, if anyone besides you would call it a true goal to make you worthy of this—" he surrounded his body in Aether, "strength."
"…."
It's probably strange hearing these words coming out of his mouth since he got the power through a shortcut. Of course, he will be able to achieve the power naturally even if he lost this homunculus body, since "Endgame Arnold" was one of the few Aether users in the future arcs.
"Or do you want me to tell you if you're worthy yet?"
Her eyes widened slightly but then she shook her head quickly, "Don't belittle me to some street rat looking for scraps! I don't need your help!"
"Asking how I became strong was just your curiosity, huh?"
"E-Exactly! Don't think you're sooo wise that everyone will just listen to your bullshit!"
He shrugged in response then gave her a look over. Seeing that, she stepped back and hugged her body to keep the jacket closed.
"Your getup tells me you came prepared to offer a reward in exchange for some help."
Her face twitched. "N-No it doesn't!"
He raised an eyebrow, letting his eyes deliberately wander over her jacket. "I'm not so sure I believe you. What, are you hiding something under there? Don't tell me you planned to bargain with me using your body. That's a bit pathetic, don't you think?"
Her eyes widened, her face instantly flushing crimson. "Wha—!?"
He smirked, amused at the way she hugged the jacket even tighter. "Figures. You even bothered to wait for me in the middle of the night. Let me guess—some scandalous lingerie, right? Lace? Silk? You trying to be subtle but failing miserably?"
"I—It's not—!" she stammered, almost hopping in place.
"Y-You've got it all wrong!" she finally exploded, her voice breaking. Before he could tease her further, she closed her eyes shut tightly and whipped open the long brown jacket—and revealed…
A pair of oversized pajamas decorated with smiling sheep, the kind only little kids wore, complete with cutesy buttons and sleeves slightly too short for her arms. Her shorts were puffy at the ends, giving off a youthful and adorable shape.
Arnold blinked.
She trembled like her soul was leaving her body. "…T-They're comfortable, okay!?"
Silence.
She then smirked, "What, you thought I would throw myself into your arms just because you're stronger than everyone in this empire? Your ego might be the biggest there is~ I'm not as cheap as the whores in your harem." Then she closed her jacket again and harrumphed.
"Remember our first year at this academy?" he changed the subject as he looked down the concrete path to the side.
Coincidentally, this is where the two of them met, right when Arnold was about to enter the dorms for the first time.
"What are you suddenly talking about…?"
"You said you would surpass me by the time we graduate." Stella's face reddened, "I didn't even know who you were but you came up to me so boldly and declared our rivalry in front of everyone. What was your promise again? That if you lose, you would become my wi—"
"S-Shuddup! I was a stupid child back then! Just a thirteen-year-old idiot!"
"That idiot child seemed to think she was a worthy gift to the victor so I guess you're the one with the biggest ego, Stella."
"Grrrr….!"
"—Well, Stella," he stepped forward towards her as his eyes turned red and his Aether surrounded his body, "Do you still believe you can catch up?"
Magic, Forbidden Martial Arts, Martial Spirit, Aether, Pure Martial Art—
The two of them were incomparable because he is in the realms of demigods while she is still a mere human. Even if she does have the same potential as him, she will never surpass him.
Luke was his only equal while she was only ever on Flora's level—barely.
Her pupils shook and she almost tripped when taking a step back.
"…" then she lowered her head and shook it from side to side.
He placed a hand on her trembling shoulder, "Then admit you want the shortcut or stay a normal human who is dragged down by limitations. I wonder, which one of these will grant you the full power of Fire Lily?"
He then stepped back, "Good night. Don't ambush me like this again. I'm a bit jumpy with all these assassins running around."
Even now, he could sense a bunch of them watching him.
"Wait!"
He stopped.
"…If I said I want to take the shortcut, would you help me?"
"…Sure." He looked back at her, "I'm always interested in what martial spirit I can pull out of people. It's lonely at the top when I'm the only one with this sort of strength. But you will probably not take the handout, will you?"
"…I still haven't given up. But…" She turned, "Our rivalry is over."
"Our? I never considered you one at all."
"S-Shut up! I'm trying to say something here!"
"…"
"I'll join the Hero's Party for the sole purpose of looking for magic beasts beyond the Intermid Border."
"And then? Who will make the cultivation pill for you?"
"I'll worry about it after I slay a magic beast!" she shot back then stomped away.
Stella's goal after becoming worthy of Fire Lily was never quite explained. Maybe because of Arnold's current strength, she thought that if he can achieve that level of power, any human can with enough training. If she wasn't a Transcendent, he would call her an idiot but fortune favored her in this lifetime—meaning she is half right in her opinion about Aether.
While every human has the power dormant, using it is an entirely different thing since most, if not all, regular humans just explode mere seconds after acquiring the power.
Forcing the power to come out used to be easy back in the day, which is why there were so many suicide bombers on the battlefield. Runes existed to force the body to grow (not in the physical sense) and release the power but are now lost to time. But acquiring that power through effort and determination, takes years off one's life. Then again, not even the martial masters sung about in legends acquired this power.
Arnold is technically the first human to capable of using it.
Roderick is now the second. Maybe Stella will be the third?
Yawning, Arnold entered the building, satisfied that Stella will join the Hero Party.