Chapter 732 Second Signal (1/2)

Joshua was briefly astonished when he easily saw through Steel Strength vision that the Drakonid girl's essence was the shape of a Slime.

Was Syndicate not… a balrog? No, there was no rule that balrogs must be male, that line of thought was mistaken… That was wrong too, since balrogs have no gender in the first place! But be that as it may, why would Syndicate choose to take Lisa's appearance? That was completely different from usual!

The rest was hard to describe. One way or the other, Joshua had arrived by the main gates of his residence, with the crestfallen Black in one hand, and the dejected Syndicate in another. Everyone inside gathered toward him at once, asking different questions with surprised expressions—the real Lisa was amongst them as well, the Drakonid girl having just returned with Ying from the factory zone after buying new furniture for her new house.

Some time ago, Lisa had suddenly indicated that she did not want to stay in the academy's hostel, wanting instead to live alone in a house. No one refused such a normal request, while as for funds, Lisa's academy points, after being exchanged for precious metals, was sufficient to even purchase the detached villas around the liege's residence. However, the Drakonid girl simply bought a small building by the southern factory district, and moved in quickly.

The environment of the industrial district was not actually optimal, but higher mana radiation was not an issue for Lisa. There was even a pair of passionate siblings next door who helped her, and the elder brother was said to be a member of Winter Fort Academy.

After they had listened to the whole story, Ling was the one who summed things up most precisely. ”So, to avoid misunderstanding and not really knowing how to explain Syndicate had taken up your appearance, you simply moved out?”

”I actually wanted to move as well.”

Lisa grinned in embarrassment, scratching her head. ”But I mainly want a house that belongs to myself, it gives me a better peace of mind.”

Meanwhile, Syndicate was honest revealing the actual fold of events as it sat on a chair obediently.

”My Lord, when you were helping to shape me, you said that I could create a new body as I wished. However, I am still a balrog, and couldn't imagine how to build a human body even after thinking for the better part of day… After getting back to the hostel for a nap, I slowly took this form before I knew it.”

”Instincts, huh? Being part of Lisa's body for too long, causing not only bloodline to be linked, but even lifeforce to affect each other.”

For Joshua's part, the warrior was not interrogative. He was mainly curious about the balrog's change in form. Still, it was rather logical if he thought about it: high-level Slimes and Abyssal Ooze would attain ability to change their form into other creatures they devour, and that was naturally the case for Syndicate's true form—perhaps on a higher-level as well, able to adapt to its surroundings and augmenting its form.

Still, unlike others of its kind which attained form by devouring other beings, Syndicate was instead being devoured by Lisa for the better part of the year, its bloodline essence affected in reverse… something embarrassing for a balrog.

In fact, the term balrog was a little incorrect. Syndicate was now much adept at the electromagnetism ability of the Ancient Dragon of Lightning. Its ability as a balrog was only left with its power to 'heat up', at most acting as a heat pack for Lisa during winter.

”Think positively. At least Lisa's look is pretty, much better than your ugliness.”

Ying carefreely slapped Syndicate's shoulder. ”Moreover, you can't stay with Lisa in male form—cohabiting with an underage girl? You'll be thrown into the Moldavian stockade.”

”Hmm, ah, oh…”

”That's right!” Black added, trying to spice things up, while Light jingled on her head. ”You actually used Lisa's cute appearance to trick us out for cards, that's too much!”

”Ding-ring-ding-ring! (That's too much!)”

Syndicate said nothing.

***

In the end, it was a little interlude and nothing too momentous—according to Zero-Three, the matter was simply a case of changing into another person after thinking about them for day and night.

On another note, it was rare for them to gather for a meal in the liege's residence. It was a pity that the First Party was carrying out a mission in the Ural Mountains, or Joshua's apprentices would be all present instead. Nonetheless, Joshua left them a motivational message on the Information Terminal.

At present, the early quartet of the First Party was nearing graduation, their ability about to reach Gold after seven years of fine training and difficult battles. In fact, their leader Ivan had touched the wall to Gold while exploring subterranean reaches, even stepping into that level recently. Even so, most were not Joshua who directly stabilizes after ascending, and Ivan still needed time to settle into his powers which had increased exponentially.

Apart from Ivan, his sister Amelia had changed her class to a dragon-trainer mage—or a dragon-rearing mage if put plainly. The former huntress had formidable elemental affinity and talents, and could rapidly unleash substantial devastating magics if undisturbed, vaporizing a small forest directly. A true cannon, and while the First Party now shields her, when that white dragon of hers mature in future, she would be able to fight independently.

The unusually discreet Karin was actually nearing Gold-tier as well. She had built a stable elemental in her own body, able to swiftly restore mana through reserves of magical substances in her own body, unleashing spells that far surpasses her typical magical output. The core itself was a simplified version of Joshua's Nuclear Heart, and as long as she kept striving forward, there would be a day where she became a being who could control the power of the sun as well.

Meanwhile, Arlwa the Seventh Prince's ability was developing ordinarily. His aura and magic were both rising steadily and not worrying, albeit without any unexpected improvement as well. Still, he had recently earned praise with his culinary arts, even learning to equip enchanted puppets, displaying unprecedented gifts in magical engineering.

On the other hand, the dwarf Nick was the rather special one… He was in seclusion at some unknown place instead of carrying out missions with the First Party. Allegedly, he was altering his body with some augmenting magic or mana elements, refining his living essence, taking steps to become a superhuman being. In fact, that was the most direct path to Legendary, one similar to Barnil's own, Legendary runic mage who had attained Strength Mastery. If Joshua were to point out which apprentice he believed most likely to reach Supreme first, there was no question that it was Nick, and not Lisa despite her superior ability.

After the meal, Lisa happily took Syndicate's hand and bade Joshua and the others farewell, before returning to their house at the southern district. Everyone from the Liege's Residence watched as they left, before cleaning up as usual.

Joshua himself returned to his study—it had been some time since he was here. He reached out to touch the world map on one of the walls which was filled with red and black dots, some of which had words written beneath.