86 Changing of the Guard (1/2)

Rainer sat at the back of the ship, the vessel moving faster than expected with magic clearly coming from the ship's captain. The waters themselves seemed to desire for this ship to reach its intended destination.

[Merfolk, Female, Master of Flow(2nd)lvl 12, Water Mage lvl 19]

[Title: Melder of Tides]

As he briefly looked back at the beautiful Merfolk responsible for this, Rainer wondered how important this Ambassador was to command such a person as her ship captain. Said ambassador currently slept, Moon Elves apparently being a nocturnal race. So rather than meeting her first thing in the morning, it had been prior to bed that they left the port from her perspective.

Gunthar was currently checking out their rooms below deck. Though, Rainer had little doubt that the undead was playing with Tiamat by now.

”Luna?” Rainer asked, having had something on his mind in relation to the Fairy.

”Hmm?” the Fairy answered, slightly muffled by his clothing before she managed to pop her head out.

”You know even if we weren't together, you could still stay with me.”

”That doesn't make sense,” the sleepy Fairy responded quite reasonably.

”I mean...even if we weren't dating, you'd be welcome to stay with me.” He realized he never really questioned Luna's presence from the same angle as Kara's. And judging by the look on Luna's face, he suddenly realized he was probably better off not ever questioning it. This moment marked the first time she ever looked at him like he was a moron.

”Luna will go back to sleep now. Clearly, Rainer can only be this silly in a dream.”

”That's right. Only in a dream...” he said, quite embarrassed.

”Maybe I shouldn't have eaten that funny looking fruit,” Rainer heard Luna mumble to herself as she slipped back to sleep. He wanted to ask what fruit and from where, but decided to leave her to her dreams.

With the emptiness of the sea before him, the [Archon] pondered on their destination. Neutral City stood as the one point on the coast that wasn't owned by the Tarainien Empire. Though less on the shore than on the top of a cliff overhanging the water. Three founding clans served as both the leaders and its primary military force. One being the Blood Moon elves, another of the Hammerfell Dwarves, and the final one being the Lamia of the Everlasting Grove.

The original three founding heads also functioned as the city's deterrent against the Tarainien Empire, at least if Liandra's half-mumbled explanation on any of this could be taken for the truth.

That presented an opportunity…

Rainer thought to himself. When it came to allies for his Academy, Neutral City did not seem like a bad place to start. And given their races, he had an easy gift from his supposed homeland.

More importantly, each of the clans belonged to at least a slightly-magical race. When it came to said races, Rainer had something many of them would kill for if they knew about it: Body Enchantments.

He, of course, still needed to think on some combination of high cost materials beyond just Mana Crystals so he wouldn't end up being requested to outfit armies. But so long as he offered free labor, something that would be quite the gift from an enchanter, it would be a powerful bargaining chip that would also cement his status as a far Northern Lord Magus. After all, unless you were Rainer, this wasn't something learned without years of training and outside help.

Rainer did have some thoughts on working up to the actual political ruling body, but he knew his own limits. He was more liable to punch a politician in the face rather than convince him or her of anything. To do something like that properly would require his own politician to negotiate for him, something he'd known he'd need since he truly thought of his Academy.

Sarah...might actually prove to be a good choice for that. That seemed to be within her interests, and he'd certainly bring it up to her, but that would still take years of training and likely studying under someone with actual experience. Given her current residence, she was in a decent position to learn. But, in the end, he still needed to broach the topic with her and see if it was something she'd actually enjoy. He'd also need to find a person she'd be learning under, preferably someone who would also work for himself in the meantime.

Starting diplomatic relations right with the Founding Heads was currently his best option, and he had an in with them right on this ship. With his Charisma aiding him, he thought he had a decent shot. Not that he had any plans to seduce anyone, but everything socially was easier when you had a better appearance.

Rainer experienced it himself when he used all his free-time from [Sleep Learning] to pick up weightlifting in high-school. That specifically, unfortunately, didn't help too much with his original goal but, oddly, being muscular made him quite popular with guys.

Brought out of the ruminations of his hard work only making him more popular among men, Rainer focused on something he considered far more important: Absolute Dominion.

With both [Void Presence] and [Arcane Presence] stuck at level 9 and him having a general idea how to advance to the next level, it made them the perfect thing to train outside of [Sleep Learning]. That, and their basically-zero cost apart from his own attention. Even more so, the armed version, which eventually dissipated on its own after being unleashed, didn't even require that.

Carefully avoiding disrupting the ship crew, Rainer's eyes sharpened as a wave of pressure extended outwards across the sea. His armed [Arcane Presence] activated. Any fish fled, and any monster even thinking of approaching the ship ran from miles and miles away. They all knew themselves to be in the presence of a predator far beyond them.

Rainer gently reached towards [Arcanium Detection] as he tried to apply not only the weight of his pool of Arcane Power, but the weight of the Arcanium to the pressure. Just the same as the miniscule portion of the Divinity, which tried to stop his [Absolute Rebirth], leveraged power from another place.

Chaos. A strange duality of ordered chaos, it was the only thing he could describe the Arcanium with. A veritable storm that sought to sweep away his will into its deep waters. It was painful to even peer into, unlike the Void. While it wasn't exactly calm, the Void welcomed him in detection. And [Void Call] certainly welcomed its targets into its permanent and all-consuming embrace.

But he lacked the same bonus for the Void that he had for the Arcane, so [Arcane Presence] became first in the list. Rainer shook his head, the first attempt failing. He summoned up the vivid memory of the Divinity's presence and went on again and again. Used to this type of repetition, hours passed unnoticed as Rainer dove entirely into his task, trusting Gunthar to warn him of danger with [Soul Detection].

With an assistance from his [Archon] class and his own ideas of letting his mind drift with the chaos of the Arcanium rather than fight it, Rainer's picture of the Arcanium grew a tad clearer, the pain far less vivid.

[Arcanium Detection has reached level 2]

[Experience gained: 0.3%]

Switching gears and hoping for some inspiration from the duality of skills he was trying to level, Rainer went with [Void Presence] next. With his knowledge from [Arcane Presence Armament] as well as his various Void spells and Void Body Enchantment, it was easy enough to piece together a [Void Presence Armament] Runic formula in just a few minutes.

[Spell gained: Void Presence Armament lvl 1/10]

Different from the weighty and crushing presence of [Arcane Presence], [Void Presence] appeared to be more mental than physical. The world around its target seemed to shrink and sought to consume everything within its grasp.

Though thankfully for the crew, Rainer aimed it out towards the water as before.

Reaching with [Void Detection] and recalling his uses of [Void Call], Rainer tried to advance this presence in the same way. With [Void Detection] being far easier to use than its Arcane counterpart, Rainer's mind had some wiggle room. Beyond just trying to meld [Void Detection], he wielded [Void Manipulation] and [Void Mastery] as he tried to connect [Void Presence] to more than just himself but the very Void.

Unbeknownst to him, the ship slowed, the air became stale, and the water seemed to lose its vibrant colors as the world took on an unnatural stillness and greyness. Rainer felt himself just inches away from bringing the pressure of the Void itself forth, but unable to cross the last gap, he suddenly realized he had gone through quite a bit of Mana with [Void Manipulation] and nearly all his Void Will with [Void Mastery].

Letting out a sigh, Rainer went back to his [Arcane Presence] as he tried to recreate what just happened with the Void part for this one.

As the sun was a few hours from setting, Rainer found his concentration interrupted.

”L-Lord Magus, the Lady Ambassador inquires if you would join her for breakfast,” the voice said with a slight quake in it.

Rainer nodded his head as his [Arcane Presence] abruptly vanished.

”Tell her I would be happy to and shall be there shortly,” Rainer said, hiding his own headache from peering into the Arcanium.

Noticing the crew seemed a bit nervous about something, he decided to show off a bit. [Void-walking], Rainer appeared directly behind the guard. The tier 2 Moon Elf nearly ran into the unnoticed man as he turned around.

”Lead the way.”

The stunned Moon Elf got his bearings quickly enough and did just that. Rainer noticed his display didn't help any and he wondered what exactly they were nervous about that even having someone capable of teleporting so easily in the Dragon Isle's couldn't ease. Was it himself, or rather was it something that appeared far stronger than him? Rainer headed below deck finding himself oddly excited to face whatever threat they feared.

Entering the lavishly designed room, Rainer saw the currently unveiled ambassador.

”A pleasure, Lord Magus. I apologize for my lack of introduction earlier, I had been quite tired. I am Elelarea of the Blood Moon. If you wish, you may call me Ele, Lord Magus.”

”Rainer Nvos, and just Rainer shall do,” he replied, waiting for her to sit back down at the dining table. He couldn't recognize anything on the table, apart from the primary meal, the ever-popular meat of the Fenrar City Dungeon boss. An unseen flash of [Arcane Sight] went across his eyes as he determined that there was nothing magical within the food. Even if there was, he doubted he'd come across anything as strong as the Fae poison, but better safe than sorry.

They were mostly quiet as they both ate, Rainer more so genuinely enjoying the food, and Ele letting him focus on that.

”I must say, I was quite surprised at having my guard changed at the last minute,” she commented after a few minutes.

”I have been wanting to visit your city for quite some time, and I have no qualms with protecting a lady such as yourself on the way there.”

”I quite happily accepted the change. As strong as any of the Wolf King's inheritors are, I find you more impressive. Though… I feel that is not your only motivation?”

Rainer had little interest and equally little experience in playing coy, so he decided to state his goal.

”I wish to enter into a relationship with the Neutral City. I've brought with me an offer from my homeland. My hope is with this to meet with the Founding Heads or leaders of the city.”

”And what is that exactly? Your offer?”

”Enchantments of the body.”

For the first time, Rainer noted Ele's face had been anything but carefully constructed to display a certain emotion. Her eyes opening wide had most certainly not been on purpose. Perhaps she had some knowledge of the Fae? He had used his own [Acting] skill from the start, and carefully used it to hide the smirk that wished to emerge on his face.

”If our journey goes well, I see no reason as to why I cannot pass along your intentions to the Founding Heads. Though, whether or not they grant a meeting is not within my power,” she said, recovering quickly from her shock.

”Perhaps you might personally serve as a demonstration as well?” Rainer asked, ”I do not mind fronting the materials for the enchantment in this case.”

He planned on having her unconscious for it, while he still thought over the ingredients he'd claim it needed in the future. Though, he didn't know the taboos of either her race or really of any society in this world. Was someone seeing even just her midriff while not being her intended or husband considered committing a high crime? Or was it the opposite or even something more normal in between where he'd have the same permissions as a doctor would.

”I shall take your most generous offer into consideration…” she said, almost seeming as if she didn't fully believe him, ”So then, Bard of Violets, shall we entertain the crew this fine night?” Elelarea asked.

Rainer's face cramped for a brief moment at the distaste for that name. It wasn't as if he truly needed to hide his identity, it was more of a habit than anything else, but he certainly didn't enjoy that moniker.

”So finally I got through that [Acting] skill of yours,” the Moon Elf laughed lightly, ”Though, I do not rescind my offer.”

”As long as you can give me a new nickname, I'll play any song with you,” Rainer responded.

”You know I have been curious since I've found out…”

”About?”

”Where do you find the time to be such a powerful mage and yet be capable of playing such music?”

”Magic is magic,” he responded noncommittally. His music was heavily based in magic after all.

”What about where you learned [Aldori Elvish]. Though, given some strange words, I can only assume it's a translation magic of some sort...both would be equally impressive.”

Had she switched to that from [Imperial Standard] earlier?

”The ways of beyond the Forbidden North are a mystery to many,” Rainer did his best to deflect his uniqueness to his supposed homeland.

”That they are.”

”Well then, I should take my leave since we're done with the meal. I am a guard afterall.”

”How diligent you are. I feel safe already. I'll be out later after some work for our duet.”

”I look forward to it.”

As she watched the powerful mage leave her room, Ele let out a sigh of relief. Her decision to play it more casual than usual had not horribly backfired. She considered herself as having a good read on people, but you never knew when you sat across the table from someone like him where they drew the line between friendly conversation and tearing off your head.

But that was what made it so much fun.