Eshaware... is the most ’fantastical’ feeling region in all of Lunerra, at least if one ignores Akael, the land of the faes.
After Cevilian, which looks like a glimpse into the future of my old world, and Holar, which looks like sothing out of science fiction... this is a place that feels like a magical dieval city in a fantasy universe.
The atmosphere is dense with mana, the architecture is often curvilinear, the buildings are by no ans overly tall, and spells that can be seen, even felt, in literally every step.
Yes, not mana or runes.
Straight-up, spells.
The ’spells’ that elves, mana’s best friends, use as they are, without the need for any interdiaries.
And that is precisely why, even in the room where we had been left to rest, the expressions of the trio beside were confused.
"This is... too strange."
It was Julian who spoke.
"I know how the Elves use mana, I know how mana is cultivated in their lands... And yet to experience it myself is simply strange."
It was, of course, not difficult to get used to, but it would take so ti.
Spells were, after all, quite a different concept to the nature of the ’system’ we had.
Whereas the system processed mana through runes, ’spells’ were the direct processing of mana itself according to the genetic techniques, will, and desires of the elves. Therefore, the movent of mana in the atmosphere, structures, local technology, and more was perceived by humans as if it had a will of its own and acted as it pleased.
I tore my eyes away from Julian and turned them toward Adrian and Alysia, sitting side by side on the long sofa in the room.
They were... half-elves, after all.
And even I wasn’t completely sure what their reaction would be.
But, surprisingly... they seed fine.
"Adrian."
His slightly widened eyes, which had been darting back and forth in focus, suddenly stilled, then turned toward .
"Ah, yes?"
"How does it feel?"
He waited a brief mont before answering, then his eyes left and went back to looking at random spots around the room.
"Close and... familiar."
He raised his hand, and the mana in the room cald slightly.
Not his own mana, but the mana in the room.
"It’s more like the skills I’ve gained from working on my own than the ones I’ve used through the system. I think they’re the skills I gained as an elf. You know, the mana manipulation thing and my ascension skill."
He paused montarily, then lowered his hand with a sigh and the mana in the room returned to normal.
"It’s just... the abundance of mana is a bit dizzying. Nothing compared to the dungeon a few months ago, though."
It was exactly the answer I expected, except for the comnt about the dungeon.
I looked at Alysia out of the corner of my eye and our eyes t.
Honestly... she didn’t look confused or srized at all. She was extrely calm, as if she didn’t feel much, unlike Adrian and Julian.
"I feel the slight differences, but I’m not as talented as you."
Understandable, I guess.
Finally, I raised my arm and checked my watch.
The ti we were given to rest was six hours and we had now completed one hour of it.
At the end of the remaining five hours... we would begin our eting with the Aroniel Family, who were in charge of Eshaware.
King, queen, princess, and... prince.
Only these four.
I stretched slightly, then leaned back in my seat.
"Rest well, take a nap even. It’s... going to be a long night."
*******
Even though I had told Adrian, Alysia, and Julian to rest, I didn’t really listen to my own words.
As soon as I was in a room where I could be alone, I simply started to review everything I had planned to do in Eshaware.
Unlike previous tis, however, this ti... I focused on a particular family that was the center of most of my plans.
The Aroniel Family. What the Elves call, though, the Royal Bloodline of Aroniel.
The only family that rules Eshaware.
Yes, even though there are nobles in this country, they are simply a title and a status symbol. They’re not even divided into ’barons’ and ’counts’ like in Cevilian.
Almost every family, or rather bloodline, has different branches and each of these branches has a different status of nobility in Eshaware. The further away from the main branch, the less noble.
But, even the highest-ranking nobles have nothing to do with the running of the country, unlike the semi-parliantary system in Cevilian.
It is the royal family itself that makes all the decisions and implents them. They have the first and last word, everything.
That’s why they are so important.
I squinted my eyes slightly, rembering the look the princess gave at the airport.
They won’t be happy, when the eting starts.
At so point, they might even turn it from Laute to the fact that Cevilian is not taking this matter seriously by sending ’us’.
No, they will.
Because as elves, and especially as royalty, they are overly proud.
It’s going to get on their nerves to see an upstart like instead of people of their own status.
So I have to do everything in my power.
Even if our status is not the sa... they need to see as their ’equal’.
And I know the way to do it, even though I’m going to play with their emotions and it’s going to be a lot of work.
It’s just...
My eyes slowly drifted to one of the screens in front of , a screen with a head-to-toe image of a specific person.
His pale yellow eyes stared at contemptuously from the photo, and his platinum blonde hair, the sa color as his sister’s, was long enough to spill over his shoulders.
His attitude, as if he was superior to everyone else on the planet, made him both feared and respected at the sa ti here.
And he was at the center of my plan.
~knock! ~knock! ~knock!
I paused at the sound of the door, all the thoughts in my mind faded one after the other.
"Enter."
The door to my room slowly opened, the only thing illuminating the darkness was the screen in front of , but now a much brighter light ca in as the door opened.
And then... a figure with white hair that resembled the light she had brought with her and eyes that seed to disappear into the darkness she was in.
Her dark eyes lingered on for a while, then shifted to the screens in front of .
She said nothing. As she slowly walked in, she closed the door behind her, plunging the room back into darkness.
"Do you need sothing, Alysia?"
She didn’t leave my question unanswered, even if her frozen expression didn’t change one bit.
"You could say that."
I closed the screens in front of , but only one continued to float right next to . And when I clicked on that one, the darkness in the room suddenly disappeared, thanks to the lighting in the ceiling.
I leaned back in my chair, clasping my hands on the table in front of .
"Go on, then."
"You have all the information that the Laute Family had before."
I nodded my head in agreent.
"Yes, I do."
Her eyes narrowed, her body tensed. But I wouldn’t have even noticed if I hadn’t been focusing on her.
"Then you can guess what I’m going to say, what I want."
I tilted my head slightly to the right, as if I had no idea what she was talking about.
"Well, what is it you want?"
Alysia remained silent, looking into my eyes as if she was afraid of but also wanted to show how serious she was. And I just sighed.
"I told you you’re a parasite, Alysia. That you’re a weak person who’ll do whatever the person you’re following wants. But... you also know that’s not actually how it is between us."
Yes, I insulted her before. I made it clear to her the difference between us, I made it very clear where we stood in relation to each other.
But Alysia is not soone who can’t realize that I said all this to use her during the Laute matter.
She is a parasite, yes, that is not a lie.
But she also has much more judgnt, potential, and difference than a parasite.
She knows that I want to use her, specifically her abilities. And she knows that as long as she continues to use them on my behalf, I will give her the value she deserves.
"You are smart, don’t be afraid to use this quality you have. Speak to openly, even if I know what you want."
Finally, she took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and waited for a very short ti. Then, when his eyes opened again, he straightened his posture.
"I want to be cured."
"And?"
"I want to get stronger."
"What else?"
"I want to be more than a... weak... parasite."
I narrowed my eyes even more.
"So?"
And she clenched her fist, her fingers almost trembling from the force she was using.
Her dark eyes suddenly filled with more determination, more courage.
"I want a fruit from the World Tree. That fruit, in particular."
A deep silence fell over the room after her words, and the first thing that broke the silence was a tiny drop of blood seeping between her fingers and falling to the floor.
The second thing was .
"You know that phoenixes are a more precise solution. Why resort to a riskier thod?"
The World Tree, as different and mystical as it is, is a ’tree’.
So there is a fruit. Quite a lot of them...
It’s no surprise that a giant tree has thousands, tens of thousands of fruits. And they are one of the few things that keep Eshaware’s economy going.
They’re full of mana, they’re full of a lot of things that are healthy, and they’re pretty sweet.
But even though there are tens or hundreds of thousands of these fruits, they are not all the sa.
So of the fruits, a random few of the ones at the very top of the tree, are special fruits. Fruits that are extrely rich in mana, fruits that have special effects for elves.
And these ’special’ fruits, even if only for elves, have properties that cannot and should not be ignored.
Like, for example, completely revamping the advanced mana circulation system in their bodies, turning it into sothing completely different and much more special.
But therein lies the problem.
Alysia is a half-elf, not a pure one. So... even if she consus one of those special fruits, it’s completely unclear what kind of change will happen in her body.
That’s why phoenixes, which regenerate the whole body through ’rebirth’, are a more certain solution to her illness than a risky fruit that is known to work only on elves.
"I don’t think I can access phoenixes, and even if I could... I don’t think I could get a quality soul orb from one."
"So what makes you think you can get access to special fruits?"
She hesitated a little, but took a deep breath, raising her right hand, her index finger slowly pointing to a specific location.
.
"You."
I slowly rose from my chair, which I had been leaning on until now, at her word. And Alysia lowered her finger.
Her body trembled slightly, as if even more strained, as I walked with my cane around the edge of the table to her side, but she remained upright.
Finally, when I was right in front of her, there was not even half a ter between us. She had to lift her head slightly to look at .
"Good."
A trace of surprise appeared in her expression, as if she didn’t understand what I ant.
"Always be like this in front of , Alysia. Don’t hide what you want from , your ideas, your thoughts. Don’t try to conceal anything. Be honest, to the end, even if you think negative things about . Because I’m not going to waste a talent like yours."
I raised my right hand, put it on her shoulder, and patted it twice.
"And for the sa reason, I will always try to fulfill what you want from as long as you don’t do sothing I don’t want you to do." Find your next adventure on .Côm
Her eyes, which until now had been timid, doing their best to look determined and brave, suddenly widened. They almost... glowed, even if they were so black that they resembled the blackness of the night.
"But even if what you think makes sense, it won’t happen."
And as suddenly as they glowed, they froze.
"H- ha?"
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