Chapter 34 - 34 : Travelling Together (1/2)

After finishing the deal with the female beastmen, Arthur stored Lara and Mozu's corpses in his storage as he didn't want to possess them in front of Mary because that was his big secret and only Lucy can know about it.

To be honest, even though Mary said she would guide them, she felt awkward now that she thought about it thoroughly, I mean, she clearly knew they were a couple, heck! Lucy called him 'hubby' earlier, so wouldn't come with them is considered interfering? nevertheless, what was done is done and nothing can change it since she promised to guide them to the Ma Clan, then she would do it.

Arthur made sure to look around and see if there is anything worth taking, but there is none, it seems that principal took all the goods and ran away...

He then turned around and asked Mary

”Since you are going to guide us, how about you tell us where this clan is? I'm quite interested.”

Mary was taken aback for a moment before stabilizing her posture and hastily replying

”Err...It's in the Itas continent, as for exact location, it's very difficult to describe, plus there are various magical arrays that distract any invaders, but I know them all, plus a lot of the people there know me, so they will probably welcome us..”

Once Arthur heard her response, he was 2 parts delighted and 3 parts excited, because he loved traveling and discovering this world, and he wanted to go to the eastern continent for a long time now.

It is said that it's a small continent compared to the 3 others, but it has some strong individuals.

It has no official ruler, but everyone knew that the elves were the one in control there and opposing them is like opposing all the other races.

In fact, the elves were a peaceful race and very rarely fought, and many similar races living there also didn't like fighting, such as fairies and spirits.

The continent is one giant forest, but of course, there are some scattered cities, but they were not as big as in the human continent.

One of the most famous cities is Rondo, it is the city located near the world tree, and it's where the Elves mainly live, except some others who are scattered here and there.

As for fairies and spirits, they liked living in forests and enjoy nature, they are rarely seen and aren't hostile against visitors, they would only attack if you invade their terrorism and try to steal or kill someone or something.

....

Very soon, the trio left the office and headed out of the building.

Actually, Arthur didn't want to leave just yet, he wanted to get the library! he really hoped there are some good books left so he can take them.

To be honest, he enjoyed reading, and enjoyed even more discovering new things about this world, it's true he still didn't read all of Zodiak's books as they were a lot, but he still wanted to amass even more and read them in his free time, which he would most certainly have a lot of from now on, because since Mary joined them, he can't transform into lightning and carry her with him, first because they were not soul linked, and even if it was possible he would not do it.

One must know that to do it, he needs to hold her, and he would never touch another woman when he has Lucy, moreover, she is with him so how could he shamelessly touch another woman, so the travel this time would not be fast but not too slow either.

He had the dark cloud and with his speed, it should be fine to travel at fast speed, but he wanted to enjoy travelling more and pass time exploring, in fact, he wasn't very rushed to get to the clan as it would obviously not disappear in a day or two, so it doesn't really hurt to take some time and enjoy his life with Lucy.

There were some holy church soldiers still patrolling not too far away and didn't seem to notice what happened, so Arthur disposed of them in a flash using his lightning form, then he entered the library.

As for Lucy and Mary, they stayed outside to stand guard if anyone came plus Lucy wasn't interested a lot in reading, in fact she hated it, she only read a lot of books in the cave for the sake of Arthur, so now that she is given a choice, she would rather do nothing than reading.

Mary saw how Arthur became lightning and in a split second all those soldiers instantly died, she couldn't even follow him when he was in his original form much less now, she could only mutter some things with a low voice, still not believing what she saw

”S-So fast..., I can't even follow him with my eyes..”

Unfortunately, this did not pass unheard by Lucy, she turned her gaze at the still surprised Mary and proudly said

”Hehe, of course, you can't, no one can beat my hubby now! in a way it's thanks to you hehe”

Lucy seemed so proud as she bragged about Arthur, she indeed said some arrogant words by saying he is unbeatable but Mary knew they were not just some arrogant words, and he is pretty much unbeatable, heck! even Lucy herself became such a terrifying individual, and Mary would shiver every time she remembered that kick of Lucy.

Lucy behavior seemed to suddenly change once Arthur was mentioned, and she continued to talk about how strong he is his magic, etcetera....

Even Mary was dumbfounded when she saw how much Lucy changed in the course of this one year, she never heard her talk in the past, but now she seemed rather talkative, especially when her 'hubby' was mentioned.

....

Once he was in the Library, Arthur looked in excitement, indeed his hopes didn't betray him and the library had some books, in fact, pretty much 40% of the books are still here, as for the others, they were either taken or burned as he noticed there were some black ashes here and there, fights must have occurred there but it was not that much damaged.

Without losing a second, he began rampaging around the library, he stored bookshelf after bookshelf without even seeing the books names, he would do it later, as for now, he would take all.

He didn't care if it was stealing or not, the Academy didn't belong to anyone right now, so it's like he found a treasure and simply took it.

Surprisingly, the area where skill books were supposed to be was totally empty, it seems someone was smart enough to take them but neglected the other books, and that someone was a complete idiot in Arthur's eyes.

'How could you ignore such precious books? damn fool'

5 minutes later, everything was stored in his dark ring, he didn't know why or how, but this storage ring had a very big space, even with all the furniture, gold, books, items and everything else, the storage was still empty, Arthur never ceased thanking Zodiak for leaving such a wonderful thing.

he transformed into lightning yet again and in a split second left the building, and just by chance, he happened to hear Lucy talk and brag about him and his skills.

”You know, my hubby can use ice magic, yes you heard right! ice magic, just like your big sister, so what's the big deal if she can use it? hmpf! my hubby can use lightning magic too, and many other things, hmpf hmpf! that Sonia is nothing compared to my hubby”

Though he was partially glad she was bragging proudly about him, he still didn't like Mary hearing about his abilities, so he decided to punish Lucy with something.

With his incredible speed, he rushed at Lucy, she was still happily talking so she didn't notice him, and even if she did, she can't react in time due to how fast he is.

Just as he was going to crash into her, his left hand stretched and landed on her butt, squeezing it a little, but he soon retracted and appeared next to her, as if nothing happened.

”Oh yeah, I didn't tell you about his....Ah~~”

being interrupted like that, Lucy couldn't help but moan after she felt someone squeeze her buttocks, she then noticed Arthur appear out of nowhere, so she quickly pulled the strings together and knew he was obviously the culprit.

As for Mary, she didn't see what happened and was only taken aback when she saw Arthur appear out of thin air, nonetheless, she came back to her senses in a second and looked at Lucy, though she didn't see what happened, she heard Lucy and her moan so she became confused.

Lucy glared at Arthur for sometime before finally saying

”You.....”

Arthur pretended that he didn't hear her and began whistling and looking away from her piercing glare.

One must say his acting his skills are so poor to the point that he can be seen through in a second, nonetheless, he continued with that act until Lucy retracted her gaze after snorting, seemingly not caring about him anymore.

Of course, she was not angry nor did she blame him, she just felt a little embarrassed as she was in front of Mary and that happened, so she could only pretend to be angry with him.

The trio didn't stay much longer in the academy, instead, they used the teleportation array leading to 'Laksy city'.

Nothing special really happened, they did meet some holy church soldiers, but Mary finished them off this time.

Arthur and Lucy would chat without a care in the world and seemed to completely forget about the existence of Mary, which made her a little sad and cast out, but she didn't utter a word and silently followed behind them, after all, she was only a guide, so why did she expect to become their companion or their friend?

It was around noon when they arrived and the city was bustling, stalls were put as far as the eye can see, and many buyers were bargaining with the sellers about a decent price, there were blacksmiths, cloth shops, etcetera.

What angered Arthur a little, is when he saw the slave traders selling their slaves who were put in a cage made out of steel as if they were animals, he came from the world where slavery has long since disappeared, so seeing living beings treated like that didn't seem right.

He felt pity, but he can't just buy them all then release them, because he was not some savior or a hero of justice, but he also was kind a black-hearted person, however, there really is nothing he could do except wish them a good luck to at least get a good master, maybe someday he will stop this nonsense and make slavery disappear completely.

Even Mary didn't like what she saw, especially when almost all the slaves were beastmen, in fact, beastmen were the most common slaves, either for fighting, house labors, or even sexual needs, very rarely would you see demons or elves, as for other races, they were hard to find in the first place so to find a slave of one of them is near impossible.

Once the trio appeared, they attracted a lot of attention, especially Lucy, white robe, blood red eyes, silver hair, a voluptuous body, a curvy waist and an enchanting figure, who would not be attracted to her, her figure really looked like an angel or a goddess.

”Hey, W-who is this beauty?...” (random citizen A)

”I don't know bro, maybe a princess or a noble?” (random citizen B)

”I don't know who she is, but damn! I've never seen someone as beautiful as her, even the emperor's daughter is not her match” (random middle-aged man)

”ah! When I see her then I remember that when I return home I'll only see my ugly wife...how could life be so unfair..”(an old man)

” 'Slap' Who did you say was ugly? you are ugly! your whole family is ugly, back in the day, men chased me all day long but I chose you, damn that was the dumbest mistake I've ever made, come with me, NOW”

The old man's wife slapped him a few times before dragging him from the collar to a nearby alley, people around could only sigh and pity the man.

As for Lucy, she was used to this gazes and reactions, so she didn't pay them any attention and continued walking with Arthur and Mary, she actually was holding Arthur's arm intimately, even her breasts were pressing on his arm.

Arthur enjoyed the feeling of her chest, those soft round balls, he really wanted to touch them right now and enjoy them, but he didn't do it, they were now in public and he couldn't do something this reckless, just her holding her arm like that was enough for him.

He ignored the burning gazes of the surrounding men, and just kept walking and observing the stalls seeing if there is anything worth buying.

They roamed the city for 2 hours, but none of them bought anything as they didn't anything worth it.

Finally, they stopped in front of a renewed inn and entered it. Even though it was in the middle of the day, it was still bustling as many soldiers, mercenaries and citizens were either eating or drinking.

Like always, Lucy attract a lot of attention yet again, and all present men were looking at her body up and down, while drooling, it would be a lie to say they were not enchanted and mesmerized by her beauty, they lusted over her body, and some of them even began shaking from excitement, while other sneakily put their hands on their pants and 'began training'....

Arthur, Lucy, and Mary headed towards the reception desk, where a muscular guy was standing, he was also looking at Lucy and was attracted by her prettiness but he didn't dare hold his gaze for a long time as he looked at Arthur and Mary as if assessing them. And to be honest, he was jealous of Arthur, as he saw the beauty hold his arm like that.

Actually, Arthur's appearance wasn't bad, to begin with, it's ordinary, but with his red eyes, it added to a touch of charm to him that made him eye-catching.

Very soon, they arrived in front of the muscular man, and Mary handled the talking, she booked 2 rooms, one for her and the other for Lucy and Arthur.

When the muscular man received the payment, he headed off to get the keys for the rooms.

The trio stood in front of the desk, patiently waiting for the muscular man to come back when some people headed to their direction.

It was 4 people, they all seemed to have a tattoo on their shoulder, it was a scorpion, they all seemed like experienced fighters, and they had either swords or sabers sheathed on their waist.

3 of the incoming people had an ordinary appearance, just like any other citizen, except they excluded a cold aura, as if they killed countless lives, as for the 4th one, he was slightly taller than the rest, with scars on his neck and chest.

”Hello there little girl, how about you come with this uncle? This uncle is from a mercenary group called 'The Black Scorpions', you should know about it, right? I will surely treat you well.”

The man who seemed to be the boss was the one who spoke first, he cut through the chase and shamelessly invited Lucy to join him.

Even though the other men were sizing her up and lusting over her, none dared to speak to her as they suspected her to be a noble or someone with a strong backing, but this man from a mercenary, casually came and asked her to come with him, his tone even contained a bit of threat.

Arthur was really pissed that this man dared to take his wife like that and speak disrespectfully towards her, but he calmed himself, he didn't want to start a slaughter just for this, he should be more reasonable, however, that didn't mean he should sit by and watch.

”I think you misunderstood something, she is my wife, so how about you on your way and we go on ours?”

Once he heard that, the tall man, burst out in laughter, and after some time, he looked at Arthur with a mocking gaze and said

”Your wife? So what! she must be with you because you maybe are a little rich, but I, Bill, am richer than you, plus I'm a sectional leader of the mercenary black scorpion, it's not something that You could possibly match..”

Bill then turned his head to look at Lucy and continued speaking

”So how about it little girl? I see that you are pretty so why won't you come enjoy the night with this uncle?”

Lucy was unfazed and still nonchalantly held arm, she didn't pay Bill any attention, she didn't even spare a glance for him, for her this kind of scumbag was not worth her time.

As for Arthur, he was sure that peacefully talking his way out of this is an impossible task, heck! if it was the past him, these 4 people would already be dead for sure, but he wanted to take a different route, a better one, so just killing is by no means the best outcome.

he stretched his free arm, which was not held by Lucy, and gently put it on her chin, his face descended to match her height and soon, his lips landed on hers, he didn't hold back and kissed her intimately.

He thought that the best way to deal with those people is to show them that she is his woman, and it's not that just simple words from them that would change that.

His actions surprised Lucy, she didn't expect him to kiss her out of the blue, and in front of all these people too, she was not used to that, but she didn't struggle, in fact, she kissed him back.

The surroundings people were dumbstruck, even Bill was astonished, he didn't expect this to happen, every time he mentions that he is from the black scorpion mercenary, everyone would show him respect and every girl would come with him right away, even noble girls were tainted by him, so when he saw this gorgeous woman, his desires surged up, and he thought that he must get his hands on her.

Mary who was behind them didn't know what to do as she saw what happened, a tinge of red appeared on her face, she dropped her head down not daring to look anymore as she felt embarrassed.

One must know, she is indeed an experienced fighter but except that, she knew nothing, for all her life, she followed her big sister, Sonia, so apart from fighting and magic, she didn't experience love, or had a boyfriend.

It was a simple kiss between a couple, yet it angered almost all people present, they stared maliciously at Arthur, with envious eyes, their jealousy now could even reach the skies.

I mean, who wouldn't be jealous if they saw a beauty like that kiss someone in front of them, they could only blame that someone, as he was the one who got the kiss and enjoyed the feeling, as for them, they were nothing but viewers, and could only watch from afar.

Their kiss finally came to an end and their lips separated, though Arthur was still reluctant to let go, as he didn't enjoy as much as usual, he had to, though he dared to kiss her, he didn't do it that intimately.

As for Bill, he was shaking from anger, not only was he rejected, with this simple kiss, it's like Arthur didn't give him any face and ignored his existence, and that made him even more enraged.

In the spur of the moment, he unsheathed his saber and viciously slashed toward Arthur with no intention of holding back, he really didn't care anymore, someone who disrespected like him must certainly die or he would lose so much face that he will no longer be feared or respected.

Seeing what just happened, neither Arthur nor Lucy were worried, instead, they were as calm as a toad in the sun, this slash of his was a joke to them, even for someone like Mary, it was a child's play to block it, much less for them.

Arthur didn't take action this time, Lucy did, in a split second she crushed that sabre by just putting a little force in her fingers, then she grabbed his stretched arm and threw him at the 3 people behind him, even though she tried using minimal strength, it didn't matter that much as the 4 people were sent flying until they hit the tables and chairs not too far away from their current location.

The 3 people were not heavily injured, even Bill was not, but nonetheless, he screamed in pain as his wrist was crushed by her arm, it seems she still can't control her strength and unconsciously crushed his wrist.

”This is just a warning, scram! before I become serious!”

Lucy's cold voice swept over all the inn, and everyone didn't dare even breathe heavily, her voice contained a chill that made them rub the invisible cold sweat in their forehead.

In reality, they all understood that she was not kidding, they literally couldn't see what happened, they only saw Bill slash at Arthur, then he somehow was sent flying towards his 3 lackeys.

Bill was helped up by his subordinates, but he was still groaning from pain and holding his swelled wrist, it was truly an agonizing pain, but this time he didn't dare say any bold words, he maliciously stared at her, then turned around and left while saying

”Don't think you can get away from this, black scorpion mercenary is not just for show and it sure as hell does not let its people get bullied, I'll remember this!”

Silence ruled over the place and none spoke, they shifted their gazes from the trio and seemingly resumed what they were previously doing.

The muscular man finally came back, but he paid no heed to what happened as if it was a usual thing, he passed the keys to the trio and told them the location of their rooms.

Just as they were going to enter their rooms, Arthur turned to look at Mary and said

”Stay in your room for tonight, me and Lucy will go out to resolve some matters, we will go back in a few hours”

Mary could only obediently nod and enter her room without speaking any further.

As for Lucy, she was confused as she doesn't remember them needing to go anywhere, so she looked at Arthur appearing questioning him on what he was doing.

”Don't worry, I need to go see the Emperor, and I want to bring you along, plus I want some alone time with you~~ or is it that you don't want to come?”

Arthur relieved her puzzlement by saying that, to be honest, he wanted to go back to see the emperor only to apologize to his daughter, he really felt uneasy about what he did, and it was really excessive to do that to her, she was only a child after all, there was no need to be that ruthless, plus last time he shamelessly barged in there while hurting that many soldiers while they were only doing their duty, it was really inappropriate.

His point of view of many things dramatically changed, and he wanted to correct some mistakes he made and act more reasonably in the future, it's true some people need severe punishment or even death, but he didn't have to dismember them or heavily injure them just because they said a few things, that's only what a tyrant would do.

”Who said I don't want to come!” (Lucy)

Lucy pouted and crossed her arms seemingly furious, but even with that act, a smile formed on her captivating face.

They both left the inn, then Arthur wrapped his arm around her waist and rushed towards the emperor's castle using his lightning form, he used the lightning form in the city because he knew even like that no one would be able to see him, they would only see a yellow streak of light of lightning pass by them for a split second, so it was no big matter.

...

With his speed, it only took them a short amount of time to arrive at the familiar castle, but in the way, he possessed Lara and Mozu's bodies, and the familiar sound of notification soon rang in his head, and the blue screen appeared in front of him.

You successfully possessed Lara Singlore

You gained a new skill(passive) : [Advanced whip mastery] : when using a whip as a weapon : +15% damage/+5% agility

You gained a new skill(active) : [fire storm]: you use fire attribute to cause a blizzard which burns everything in its way

Cost: 250 mana

Cooldown: 1 hour

.....

To be honest, all skills she got were useless and weak, so Arthur passed them quickly and didn't bother with them, the only good thing he got from her was getting her stats, she had about 7000 intelligence, so it's at least better than nothing.

He then proceeded to the big prey, Mozu

You have successfully possessed Mozu

You have gained a new skill(active) : [Light bullet]: using a Light attribute, you can create bullets which attack with an incredible speed.

WARNING: You cannot use any skills related to light attribute if you do that nevertheless, that would cause too heavy consequences and your possible death

You have gained a new skill(active) : [Sara's blessing]: Your blind faith to the goddess of light, Sara, would be rewarded once you call out to her, and your stats would be doubled for 30 minutes

Cost: none