Chapter 171: Dragon Clan (2/2)
”Oh, that? You don't know yet, but I did something kind of…”
”{Dumb?}
”{Inane?}”
[Senseless?]
Rakna blanked as even Alexa joined in. ”I did something risky. Long story short, I faked my identity in a System-wide broadcast. It involved the Nine-Tailed Clan, which fox- I mean Kaelith is from and now her mother, i.e super high-ranked nobility, wants to see me. I really don't think it's a good situation overall.”
Flavia turned her head to stare at him. ”You are a walking disaster,” she uttered and he didn't have anything to riposte with. She sighed again. ”Is there something I should know?”
”You mean about your condition?”
She nodded.
”Whoever you were fighting tried to take over your soul. If I had been too late, you would have been killed and your body stolen. Thankfully, a guildmate of mine was passing by, the same person that sold you the location of the Dungeon, and saved you from imminent risk.”
”I see… I guess my last spell couldn't stop her from using a last-resort counter,” Flavia whispered and pursed her lips. ”You said 'imminent risk', right?”
”Mhm… The takeover has been stopped but not erased. You will have to be careful in the future, if you lower your guard, you might get possessed for good,” Rakna said and lifted his eyes from the journal. ”I'll start teaching you how to control your soul from now on. You need to learn it in order to fend off the takeover as much as possible.”
Flavia slowly sat up and leaned against the headboard. The machine seemed to be able to connect to her soul as long as she was close to it. ”Then I guess you will be able to start tonight,” she said with a playful smile and Rakna looked at her in confusion before remembering.
”Ah… I did agree to that sleeping together nonsense, didn't I?”
”Yup!” She nodded happily.
”Keep your enthusiasm. You're stuck here for three hours before that.”
Flavia pouted. ”Can't you heal my soul yourself? Faster than this machine?”
”I asked the staff and they told me that this thing, while slower, is a lot safer since it is a sequential process with next to zero mistakes. And if there is one, it still wouldn't harm you.”
”…so, I have to wait three hours here?”
”Yes.”
”…”
”…”
”…”
”…want me to read this to you while we wait?”
”…I would like that.”
Rakna cleared his throat began to read, ”'I had reached the peak stage of the Nirvana Realm. The energies of Heaven and Earth had become too weak for me so I was compelled to go into solitary cultivation where I would spend a hundred years finding myself, fighting my demons, and seek for an enlightenment that would allow me to ascend to the state of immortal-'”
”I'm good! You can stop there.”
”You're sure?”
”Yes.”
”Your call.”
”…”
”…”
”{What am I watching?}” Higure couldn't help but utter.
⠀
* * *
⠀
”Finally out of there!” Flavia stretched her arms out as she breathed in the air of Black Steel which was surprisingly clean for a massive advanced city. Some passersby almost tripped when they saw that and hurriedly hid their faces whilst covering their noses.
Rakna watched that happening amusingly then looked somewhere where he saw a blue flash and a little snake jumping away from the crowd to land on his shoulder. ”Hey, little guy. Sorry, I should have warned you before making you wait like this,” he said and Pronos hissed softly.
The snake then extended his tail to Rakna's eyes where a ring was tightly secured.
”Ah, yes. I almost forgot about that,” the therian said and grabbed the ring before wearing it. It was actually a low-tier ring that Gray had given him specifically for Fray to receive the rewards.
”Um, Rakna…” Flavia spoke up uneasily. ”People are staring at us…”
”Well, next time you'll pay attention to your surroundings when you decide to stretch.”
She blushed. ”Right, but it's not that… most of them are looking at you.”
Rakna raised his head at that and looked around him as well. He quickly realized that there were indeed a lot of people gazing at him as if he was an exotic sight. 'Oh…' He instantly understood. 'I'll have to get used to the attention. By now, 'Obsidian and I' must be the talk of a lot of people...'
”Don't pay attention to them,” he ultimately said. ”Where are you staying?”
”At a hotel, ten minutes away from here by foot,” Flavia answered. ”The others should already be there by now.”
Rakna blinked. ”Did you just say… the others?”
”Well, of course. Nyx, Evelyn, and I share a room.”
”…that's why you said 'us' this morning…”
”Yep.”
Rakna didn't reply. He even had started sweating ever so slightly. Things had gotten a lot harder for him. Forget sleeping normally, it wasn't the problem anymore. He probably wouldn't even be able to get a shut-eye.
'…shit.'