52 An Unexpected Destination (1/2)

A smile floated across Kara's face as she watched sleeping Rainer. She found the previous bobbing of his head as he had struggled to stay awake through their talks pleasant to watch.

The conversation returned to the Fae, albeit at a quieter tone.

”Do you think they believed him?” She asked.

Elru paused for a moment, but it was Theodore who answered.

”It doesn't matter,” He said.

Delilah replied in the Druidic Tongue.

”Who's going to call that man's bluff?” Furtak translated, seemingly echoing the words.

”In the end, they could be certain in him lying. But who's going to tell the Dragon in a cat costume that he's not really a cat?” Elru said.

Kara looked over at Rainer again before her face froze. Just yesterday, he was clean shaven as usual from Luna's flame, but today…

It was as if weeks had gone by.

Seeing her frozen look, everyone glanced over to Rainer before they experienced the same revelation. Yet before they could bring any question to it, a small fairy flew out from his coat.

And a few moments later, she was small no longer.

Long straight silver hair elegantly fell down her shoulders. Her violet eyes had a slight glow. Her pale skin lacked even the slightest imperfection. A one-piece violet dress went down to just above her knees.

Standing just short of Kara's height was Luna far different than before. She gazed toward the sleeping Rainer, and a small flame escaped her hands. In just a moment he returned to the previous form, his hair shortened to just above his nose and his face clean-shaven.

Rainer had kept the fight with the Fae Queen mostly unknown. Whether it was the transference of a far stronger Sacred Faerie Fire or Luna's growth, nothing was mentioned.

Luna lightly kissed his forehead before looking over to everyone else. The Fae Queen had already been considered quite beautiful even amongst the Fae. And with Luna taking her image along with the changes with Rainer's Arcane-laden Mana, everyone in the room found it hard to look away.

”I am still quite tired; can you take Rainer to his room?” She asked before returning to a small size once more and entering his coat.

”Luna is sleepy,” A small voice responded from the coat before she became no longer available for everyone's many questions.

”I'll take him,” Kara said while snapping away from the sight she had been lost in. Even looking entirely as an adult, she was still Luna. Kara headed over and carried Rainer. Her movements in picking him up didn't affect the exhausted [Archon] in the slightest.

Kara returned moments later.

Elru looked strangely at Kara as she thought over the day's events. More than anything she couldn't understand how even through [Aura Detection] Kara seemed no different than any Wolfkin. Her being a Demon mattered little with what she knew about Kara.

Fae were not among the races affected by Demons. And while they certainly didn't have any good feelings towards them, Elru, a studier of history, had the same opinion of nearly all races.

The ritual Demons practice was adapted and possibly discovered during a period when all of the North was a single empire. And this single Empire waged a constant war against the Demons to the east.

In the time Demons would awaken their transformation ability and their Demonic Aura, a talented human could reach level 25. In a prolonged war, such a fact could have eventually lead to a dire situation for the Demons.

But with the use of the ritual, even a minor skirmish became an opportunity for the Demons to awaken their young.

Yet countless centuries later the technique of war became one of wanton slaughter. In the end, the evil of humans or Demons affected the innocent the most.

Knowing they wouldn't get any real answers without Rainer, no one discussed the fully-grown Luna. And while she only now reached her full adult form, she was, in fact, only mildly younger than Gunthar at 52.

”Gunthar, how about we test out our new skills?” Kara asked.

”Ah, of course, Little Wolf.”

The two headed to a different room while the rest moved their discussion to a different subject.

”Elru, you mentioned the existence of Sun Elves far from here. Are your Fairy Rings perhaps able to reach nearby there?”

Elru nodded.

”Then good. Perhaps one day, when I look closer to my old self, I shall like to see how different, or similar my people in another world are.”

”What do you mean look closer?” Elru asked, ”Is this related to why you are so interested in the Forbidden North?”

Furtak listened closer as well. He didn't know anything about Rainer's interest in the Forbidden North.

”We know of a way to recover a portion of what we once were. We'd still be undead, but we'd recover much of our previous sensations as well as appearance.”

Elru thought it over before posing a question to Theodore. With his agreement, the final answer only waited for Rainer's awakening.

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”What shall we do with our prisoner?” Furtak asked pointing to the unconscious Fae. Without Rainer's draining, she would awaken eventually. The female Fae only wore leather armor and had red hair.

Elru had healed her injuries as they approached life threating. A testament to the damage done by Arcane magic to Fae, who could otherwise survive anything but losing their heads.

”I'll handle it. I forgot to teach this to Rainer earlier, but with his skill, he likely can put on a stronger seal.”

Chanting the same words as her sleeping spell Elru instead started drawing a [Body Enchantment] rune. Something she didn't think could be done on anything but a Fae, prior to Rainer's revealed ability to enchant even Kara.

She drew a Rune on the forehead of the still unconscious Fae. After 10 minutes of work and with an addition of her own Mana the seal glowed lightly.

”Furtak, can you add Mana? You should get an understanding for when it's filled. It'll hold for a day. The effect gradually gets weaker after that,” Elru said as she sat back in her chair, her Mana depleted.

Furtak frowned as the Rune required nearly his entire Mana pool.

”I'm not exactly a [Fae Enchanter],” Elru said seeing his expression.

Elru used Furtak as a means of questioning Delilah. With the [Archon] being a legend of yore, her mother knowing him could only mean Delilah was truly an ancient monster. Even just to reach her current strength as a monster without the aid of an Aura user took considerable time.

Both she and Theodore listened intently as he joined in.

Kara and Gunthar sat across from one another in a wide-open room.

Gunthar still looked through his skills as Kara, who already purchased them, sat in thought over the quest she had received.

With her [Demonic Werewolf] class reaching level 25, and her level 25 [Blade Dancer] set as a subclass, was enough to gain the quest. However, it required her to use a Demonic Dungeon for the advancement.

She would need to return home sooner or later.

”I wonder if this is how casually the Sorcerer purchases his skills?” Gunthar asked.

”What do you mean?”

”I had started looking through them as if I had to choose. Before I soon realized…I don't.”

Kara smiled in acknowledgment. With [Devil Lord]s giving experience greater than low leveled tier 2 persons, they had made significant advancements. This was added on to the numerous [Deviling]s who joined them.

Gunthar had reached level 19 in his [Arcane Reaper], alongside Kara reaching level 19 in [Mystic Dancer], as part of her experience went toward [Demonic Werewolf]. With both gaining 18 skill points from these two rare classes, they easily reached the required 30 to purchase all three skills from the store.

To make such an increase in a single battle could only be heard when one was a high-level tier 2 fighting others of a similar nature and leveling their second primary class. For both, it was as if they ascended in strength with relatively little effort.

”Shall we begin?” Gunthar asked as he stood.

”Let's.”

Gunthar's bones cracked as he rose to a greater height. They turned pitch black and the new clothes Elru made him reformed to cover his whole body.

As of now, Gunthar no longer wore his enchanted armor. When he used one of the [Devil Lord]'s souls his defense surpassed the enchanted set in any case. Two small horns extended from his forehead.

Kara drew two blades and clad them in Aura as Gunthar did the same for his sword. With enough cladding the weapons became blunt.

Both gave a small bow before the situation changed.

Kara felt her heart grow heavy as if death called for her. Her vision grew blurry, but with a surge of Aura she recovered. It was too late, however.

Gunthar's blade was already at her neck.

”What the hell was that?” Kara asked as Gunthar moved back to his original spot. She managed to calm herself down a few seconds later.

”[Reaper's Beckoning]. It tries to convince its target that their death is inevitable. A skill of the Soul. I imagine in your transformed state you'd be unharmed.”

”Again,” Kara said as she readied herself. They spent hours repeating this as Kara witnessed a rare moment of an attribute leveling, Willpower.

”We should have everyone, especially Rainer, train to resist this,” Kara said.

”With the Sorcerer's Willpower, he may not even notice the skill,” Gunthar laughed.

”And the next?”

”I can't use this one yet, [Reaper's Ascent]. It requires the soul of something capable of flight. It allows me to form wings of Aura and take flight. So, there is only the last, [Aura of Demise],” He said as he activated the skill. He displayed his Aura normally, yet an invisible pressure spread out.

Kara found her strength unaffected, yet her thoughts turned elsewhere. Questions filled her mind of whether she could really resist all of Demon-kind coming after her. Whether at that moment she would be abandoned by those she cared about.

Seeing her expression, Gunthar immediately canceled the skill.

”Apologies, Little Wolf,”

Kara shook her head as the thoughts left her.

”It's alright. I'd rather not train with that skill, though…

”Such is fine.”

”My turn then,” Kara's legs tensed as she all but vanished as her [Gift of Lightning] activated. Only Gunthar's trained response managed to deflect her blade. But the other, in a similar gesture, landed by his neck.

”For a single second, it doubles the effects of my enchantments. [Mystic Burst]. But they become unusable for a few seconds after. My other two I'm afraid aren't to be used in training as well. Else Rainer's sole job be enchanting me.”

The two continued their sparring as Gunthar practiced using [Reaper's Beckoning] at opportune moments in combat. Even as she grew used to it, when timed properly it often caused Kara to falter and lose the duel.

Though in her [Demonic Werewolf] form the effect did not reach a point where it mattered.

Rainer awoke. A yawn escaped him as he checked on the night's progress. But soon he realized a problem. There was no night's progress.

Feeling for Luna in his pocket and seeing Kara meditating in the corner he laid on the bed once more.

I forgot, huh?

He thought. He couldn't even remember when he fell asleep nor how he ended up in bed.

Rainer closed his eyes once more as he extended [Void Detection] around him. The strange feeling of sensing the void gave him a state of peace as he thought over recent events.

With Yulia all but gone, and Luna by his side, his worries focused on just a single point, Kara.

With Theodore explaining the defenses a Mage Guild may have, Rainer knew chasing after Yarik now was pointless. At least, until he grew stronger. It was only a question of what his knowledge of Kara would mean.

Rainer hoped for the best. It wasn't exactly clear that Kara was a half-demon. She only seemed like a Demon with powerful capabilities in hiding one's Demonic nature.

I'll have to grab my chef and warn Charles about what happened…

Rainer thought. Would his future apprentice be used to threaten him he wasn't sure what he'd do. Whether he could avoid a blatant trap and ignore him, or that he'd have no choice but to charge headlong into danger. But he knew that the best course of action was to prevent such a situation in the first place.

A slap aimed at his own forehead awoke Kara from meditation.

”Rainer?” She asked.

”It looks bad, right? Out of everyone who wanted to work for me, I only picked out a single boy.”

”What are you talking about?” Kara asked confused.

”You know, the only person from the mine who had magic talent. The boy who I picked out of the lineup of those who offered to serve me, the Lord Magus.”

”Girl. And yes, since you didn't mention you picked her for her magic talent I imagine some might have thought strangely of you. Though, I find it unlikely Charles would.”

”Then that's fine, though I should probably tell Charles anyways…” Rainer said seemingly not noticing Kara's correction.

”How are you?” Kara asked.

Rainer paused for a moment before breathing out a long sigh. In truth, he felt beyond exhausted, even after the night's rest.

Along with his recent near-death experience, he had been aware in [Sleep Learning] far too many nights in a row. Even his improved attributes could only keep the mental fatigue away for so long.

”Tired. But happy,” Rainer said as he grinned toward Kara, ”Now I've only got one source of trouble left in my life.”

”Oh, I'm just a source of trouble?” Kara said in mock hurt.

”The most troublesome woman in existence.”

”Why do you look like you just paid me a compliment?”

”Because I did. Even as the most troublesome woman in existence your good points outweigh it all.”

”Stop repeating that troublesome woman in existence part, you'll probably somehow manage to grant me some ridiculous title….” Kara said.

”Can that actually happen?”

”Since when was that a question you ever asked?”

”I suppose it's not…” Rainer said as he closed his eyes again. Before the nap, Rainer quickly went over what he could Auto-pilot.

His thoughts steered towards gaining two more skill points for [Time Manipulation] before he remembered once more he was missing a skill from the usual three in his skill store. With [Chronomancer] he could reason it away as him already knowing the skill. But with [Archon] he viewed such a thing as unlikely.

With [Arcanist] it was [Arcane Rage], [Arcane Weaving], and [Space Manipulation]. He could only think his lack of a third skill was because he didn't evolve [Arcane Weaving].

[Arcane Rage] was an internal use of chaotic Arcane Energy, whereas [Arcane Weaving] was an external use of ordered Arcane Energy.

He always had an issue with [Arcane Awakening] being a requirement of the class [Archon]. The damage it caused as well as the energy required for anyone other than him in its use made it difficult for him to understand how any other [Archon] could learn it. At least without far higher attributes than what would be available in the first tier.

And so, his thoughts steered towards that perhaps the requirements weren't so concrete. That evolving [Arcane Weaving] unlocked the [Archon] class as well.

Seeing his thoughts drift towards such a speculative conclusion he shook them away. For all he knew all [Arcanist]s that became [Archon]s also had [Sleep Learning]. Or that there was a far easier way to evolve [Arcane Rage].

For now, he decided to level [Arcane Weaving].

He pictured several goals in mind, as he then set his [Sleep Learning] to automatically work towards them. And so, he fell asleep once more.

A white-bearded old man watched on as intermittent screams filled the room. Laying in a bed in the center was the burnt and injured Yarik as several healers attended to him.

Healing magic was not suited, as these mages knew it, to handle such wounds. At least, not without some tampering.

Amongst many healers, they found ways to place conditions on their magic. For some, they could use the blood and sacrifice of others, often criminals, to aid in the magic. A more powerful version came about from self-sacrifice. But many were unable to do such a thing unless in the rescue of loved ones.

So, to heal such grievous wounds, that seemed resistant to healing magic, required a more personal sacrifice from the one they were healing instead.

Pain.

The pain caused by the damage relived dozens of times over as the wounds disappeared.

Yarik's father standing in the room thought over what his son had told him. This man was the true strongest of the Skyborne. In fact, Yarik could only be considered the third.

Publicly, Mage Guildmasters held the title of strongest in the guild. And often, this wasn't incorrect. And yet other times you would have Mages with no interest in the title nor responsibility. Or those incompetent in such affairs would receive enough pressure from the Guild as a whole to not take up the position.

The former was Yarik's father who had never in his ancient life held any position of public power. His goals lay in the strength of his magic and the pursuit of immortality. In his youth, he had aspired to become a Mage King, but he soon saw the folly in such a position.

It was not true power. It was borrowed. Borrowed from the people. From the 2nd Tier experts working with the Royal Family. From the Mage Guild that laid in the territory. Kings were nothing in his view. Even now if he truly wished it how could the Royal Hathor Family stop him in any manner?

Even the title of Mage Guildmaster meant little.