Sorry for any typo errors, in a rush.
Chapter 13 & 14 -
Sol still stood at the balcony looking off into the distance, Mitra was already long asleep. He sent mana into the runic ring and found it could hold quite a large s.p.a.ce inside and was curious as to how it worked. He saw everything the Former King described and nodded gratefully, he took the satchel around his shoulder and tossed it in.
Sol wondered if he should go talk to the rest of the royal family but decided against it. He and the Former King already had their words as men and that old man would surely honor it. Sol quickly departed the mansion and headed towards the Palace Medical Ward.
He quickly entered after sending a slight nod to that guards and found no one was present yet and the girls were probably still sleeping.
[Well he looks rather cold today...and he"s got a new ring too..maybe he"s expecting rain?] -Guard 1
[Bahahaha, I know right I"ve never seen that symbol before. Think it might be fake?] -Guard 2
[There"s no way it"s fake! Didn"t you see the Royal Seal? But wait...it"s a new seal] -Guard 1
[Fool that"s why I said it might be fake! New n.o.bles with new seals always get an introduction to the entire of Eathernvale!] -Guard 2
[Well maybe he just didn"t get his yet? Bah! I"m not thinking about this anymore!] -Guard 1
[Me neither let"s just ignore this guy like we always do! First he has the Duke"s seal and he"s happy! Now he has a new seal and he looks mean!] -Guard 2
And so the two quietly became guardians once more.
**
As Sol entered the ward, he realized the girls weren"t here yet and were probably doing something else. He sort of missed seeing Maria and quickly regained his focus and made his way to Renissa"s personal room. He entered and realized Renissa was sleeping quietly on her bed, he quickly moved to her desk, opened it and picked up the potion and the note. He made sure it was the correct thing and then placed it in his runic ring.
He then turned to leave, he gave Renissa a meaningful glance walked over to her and pulled the blanket over her. Sol then quietly left.
(So you came back for it huh...I take it you plan on staying?..That"s good I"d hate to see you leave...you called me Grandmother after all) -Renissa
It seemed the cold-faced granny let out a warm smile and could truly fall asleep in peace now.
Sol hurriedly went back to the mansion but this time he followed the directions he was told by Nightmaster Duke and went to the stables. There he met the large, robust gray-haired old man who was all ready to ride out.
[I take it you"re ready?...Have you told the King?] -Nightmaster Duke
[No, there"s no need for that] -Sol
[Understood] -Nightmaster Duke
The old man didn"t ask any questions and directly showed Sol to a horse. The horse was black in color and incredibly huge, compared to the horse in Sol"s memories that was uploaded a horse shouldn"t be this big. It had thick black fur and rippled muscles, it did not look like a horse at all. Compared to even Nightmaster Duke"s horse it was much larger and had powerful demeanor
The horse calmly glanced at Sol with pride in it"s eyes, Sol stared back and the beast shivered a bit. It could sense the animalistic nature in Sol"s blood and it subconsciously lowered it"s head for Sol to reach. The Nightmaster upon seeing this was shocked.
(What would he say if he knew no one in Earthernvale could make this arrogant horse, lower it"s head)
Nightmaster Duke shook his head as he thought of this and quickly dispelled his thoughts.
[Can you ride?] -Nightmaster Duke
[I"ll manage somehow] -Sol
Sol climbed onto the black-furred horse and it gave a low snort that was akin to happiness. It nocked one of it"s hooves and showed it was ready to go.
Sol instantly had memories flush into his mind, he saw himself as a young man with a bow on his back riding on a horse. He had complete control over the horse as if it were his own limb and he could sense and see the surroundings clearly. In a quick moment Sol had already fixed his posture as if he had ridden a horse his entire life.
The horse became even more elated seeing as it"s new rider had learned how to control it properly and had felt a sense of superiority over other horses. Nightmaster Duke stared at him astonished for a moment before quickly shifting his gaze as to not be rude.
(He can already master riding? What a complete monster) -Nightmaster Duke
[Alright! Let"s go!] -Nightmaster Duke
Sol with a simple wish of his will turned his long golden-magma like hair to a dark black and he pulled his cloak over his head.
[Mitra, hide your presence] -Sol
The Boned Blade Golden Bow with it"s golden l.u.s.ter and powerful aura immediately retracted it"s blades from it"s limbs. The aura of the bow completely vanished and the bowstring became a grey dull color and looked just like an ordinary bow.
The Nightmaster then clicked his horse and galloped forward, Sol leaned down to the horse"s head and whispered a few words in it"s ear; with a quick stomp of it"s hooves it had already caught up to the Nightmaster. The two followed the path straight to the gates, the guards open seeing the Nightmaster approaching yelled out to the gate-keeper.
[THE NIGHTMASTER IS COMING! OPEN THE GATES!] -Guard 1
*Clink Clink*
The huge gate immediately lifted and all guards on sight dressed in their Royal armor sent a salute towards the Nightmaster. They glanced at the golden-eyed youth who rode side by side with him and noticed his n.o.bility ring and understood clearly that the golden-eyed youth wasn"t ordinary so they took no chances and saluted him as well.
Sol gave them a fleeting glance as he rode by and the guards felt themselves shiver.
(What beast-like eyes!) -Guards
These guards had never seen Sol before and only those who saw him before was already accustomed to seeing his eyes. To these people who had never seen him before it felt like a predator had took a slight glance at them, those were calm eyes but they carried a innate ferocity that would shock others.
Only the 3rd Queen had felt the full burst of that ferocity and she knew all too well that Sol didn"t feel 100% human. She felt like he was an upgraded species of human and after all to her it would make sense if humans from another world differed from them so she didn"t think too much about it. How could she know it"s true origins?
Sol following the Nightmaster sped down the hilly road of the mountain, people who noticed this old man"s shining silver-like armor made way and Sol noticed all the different mansions along the way.
[Those are other n.o.bles houses, you haven"t met them yet because truth be told since you arrived the King refused all visitors. We must carefully pick and choose who knows about your existence, the last thing we want is some jealous n.o.ble running off to another city spreading knowledge about you] -Nightmaster Duke
[Mm] -Sol
Sol was more focused on the people of the city and looked at them curiously, they seemed happy.
[Why are they so happy?] -Sol
[Well.....because you didn"t land on our great city] -Nightmaster Duke
Sol couldn"t help but smile awkwardly and one could have even sworn they heard a snicker from Sol"s bow.
The guards opened several more gates and eventually they entered a town district, Sol and the Nightmaster had to slow down considerably here as the traffic was quite huge. Sol looked at the different kinds of people and showed curiosity dampening his face. He looked at the various foods and all of the different wares on sale and before he knew it they were already at the main gate. Sol reluctantly continued riding and ignored everything.
[When you come back you can enjoy all that the main city has to offer at no rush! We need to reach there before dark! I would have been happy if you had went to the Bloodmana Wasp nest later down instead of so soon....but alas..] -Nightmaster Duke
The Duke"s words trailed off and he didn"t bother finishing. The guards at the main front gate saw the approaching imposing figure and immediately ordered -
[Nightmaster Duke is here! Open the gates! Open the gates!] -Gatekeeper
Sol and the Nightmaster quickly rode out of Earthernvale City.
**
Nightmaster Duke and Sol were currently speeding through the vast fields that separated the mountain from the rest of the forest. From the mountain one could clearly see for miles around it"s surface and was relatively save as it had huge trees strategically placed around the mountain itself totally concealing it and it"s walls.
There was even shrubbery entwined and covering the walls and if one saw it they would think it was a forested mountain. Earthernvale was placed with a good strategic set up in mind and Sol could see it the further he got away from the city. Not a single unnatural thing was seen from afar.
Nightmaster Duke saw Sol looking back and chuckled, he guessed what Sol was thinking about.
[It"s a type of defense, the entire area here was carefully developed to make this place a suitable stronghold. Earth and Water mages worked hard to produce the desired effect and it"s always worked well for us] -Nightmaster Duke
[It was masterfully done...] -Sol
Sol gazed at the mountain in awe and could tell that it was truly the work of countless sacrifices.
**
After riding for quite some time they finally reached the border of the forest, Nightmaster Duke"s face became grim and Sol picked up on the changes and instinctively quieted down his horse. Mitra said he would only speak when need be and would otherwise reserve his energy to be able to warn Sol about incoming beasts.
Nightmaster Duke followed by Sol quickly and quietly entered the forest following a detailed route. Sol noticed on this route he saw a lot of a particular tree and couldn"t help but ask about it in a quiet tone, the Nightmaster had been riding by his side and could hear it easily.
[What are so special about these trees?] -Sol
[Oh so you"ve noticed huh? These are called Fishtail trees, you see that fruit like thing that they bear that looks like a fish tail? It"s obvious where it got it"s name from right? What you didn"t know was that these trees are special, they give off a disgusting smell that only beasts can smell and they absolutely hate it.
These trees not only smell but they absorb a lot of mana from the area making it even more undesirable. When beasts see these they instinctively move away, it"s like a ward of sorts. These trees are carefully and specifically placed at specific points around Earthernvale and it"s another way to make the city even safer, it"s the one good thing mother nature has gifted us humans.
However, these fruits that they bear do not have seeds and it makes these trees hard to find and incredibly valuable. One of these trees are worth a lot and we can only afford to place them nearer to our city and keep watch on them. If we could have as much of them as we wanted, the entire city would be surrounded with it] -Nightmaster Duke
[You mean they can only be implanted from somewhere else?] -Sol
Sol was shocked and wondered just how much time, energy and lives it must have took to complete the entire process.
[Well yes, only under one other circ.u.mstance can we find seeds to make new trees and that means you"d have to find a Mother Fishtail tree, however you might as well give up on that. One of those hasn"t been seen in thousands of years] -Nightmaster Duke
Sol said nothing more and they followed the Fishtail tree path in the forest, they only came across a few minor animals who couldn"t pose a threat mainly because Nightmaster Duke"s aura scared all low level beasts away. Every now and then Sol would see one peeping at them but it wouldn"t attack, it would just stare as if waiting for the right opportunity.
Sol had an idea stopped and picked a few of the Fishtail tree fruits and placed them in his runic ring. Nightmaster Duke nodded in satisfaction, even something like that could save your life out here in the wild.
After they penetrated the forest border, things took a drastic turn. It was no longer sunny and filled with tiny animals but quiet and eerie. The Nightmaster and Sol sped through following the Fishtail trees and then stopped at a hideout like man-made structure, similar to the wall it was barely noticeable and because of the Earth and vine mixture wrapped around it"s apartment sized walls one wouldn"t be able to tell it was a dwelling place.
[From here on out, there are no more Fishtail trees. This tiny little fort here was built by the King and every day he would come out here and look towards the Bloodmana Wasp hive, he misses the 2nd Queen every day of his life....] -Nightmaster Duke
[Hmmm....Isn"t this a dangerous place for someone to place a city?] -Sol
Sol looked through the window like s.p.a.ces in the fort and could see the path leading to the hive and thought it was too close to the city. Sure it was a good distance away but Sol thought it was much too close and was completely stupefied.
[Haha, no need to worry about them attacking Earthernvale, we used their hive as a defense to keep other beasts away. Those Bloodmana Wasps won"t be coming after us in Earthernvale, the mana is too shallow there and it"s in their nature to go towards places dense with mana.
Not to mention we placed quite a few Fishtail trees around it"s borders separating us so I"m sure we won"t have to worry about them. You haven"t seen another beast yet right? They stay away from this place as they themselves are terrified of Bloodmana Wasps] -Nightmaster Duke
[Oh...I see] -Sol
Sol understood that they used the hive as a barrier and thought it was smart, Sol could tell that there weren"t many beasts in the area and it seemed they all steered clear of the hive. Nightmaster Duke then broke his silence.
[ I can"t go any further, If I do they will sense my Dantian and come chasing after me...after all it would be like food showed up at their door. I will wait here for as long as it takes, I pray for your good fortune Sol and remember your life is more precious than anything else so if you can"t succeed now then return and try again in the future] -Nightmaster Duke
Sol felt the concern of the Duke and it made him feel a bit warm inside.
[...Well then keep yourself safe, I will return with great news] -Sol
[Wait! Take these!] -Nightmaster Duke
Suddenly Nightmaster Duke gave Sol four flaming orbs and a single crystal one. Sol examined them curiously and could tell they held great power. A burning sensation filled the air as he held them.
[Huh? What are these?] -Sol
[Placed them in a strategic place as possible with the thought of an explosion in mind, when you finished placing them and escape far enough, smash the crystal orb! Remember do not go out of your way to place these orbs! Think of it as a second objective that is not necessary. If you happen to encounter good spots then go ahead and place them, however do not risk your life to place them understood? Your life is more valuable] -Nightmaster Duke
Sol seemed to understand, nodded but then asked.
[Didn"t you say that you used the Bloodmana Wasp"s as protection?....then if it"s destroyed?]- Sol
[Nothing will happen, it was just another layer of protection. We discovered another hive a bit further down and it would be better to eradicate this one, we"ll still have protection but not at the risk of having it this close] -Nightmaster Duke
Sol nodded and left the black-furred horse under Nightmaster Duke"s care, the horse rubbed it"s head against Sol"s as it seemed to understand Sol was going to do something dangerous and didn"t want to part from it"s new rider. The horse stood firmly and nocked it"s hooves, snorting coldly as if telling Sol even if it dies it would wait here. Seeing this Sol couldn"t help but laugh and rub the side of the horse"s face gently with affection.
He then turned around and began madly dashing through the forest following the path to a place where is considered a no man"s land. Nightmaster Duke was shocked by this boy"s resolve and could only watch on in reverence, not once did he see a glimpse of fear in the young man"s eyes and it shocked him. The Nightmaster understood that this was no laughing feat.
**
Sol kicked off the floor and began running towards the hive without a single strand of fear, Nightmaster Duke seeing this clenched his fists and stared at the Sol with hope in his eyes. He walked up to the window and stood firmly like a Guardian made of rock as he stared off into the distance.
(I pray for your great fortune, young warrior of Earthernvale! This old man will wait here until death if need be!) -Nightmaster Duke
**
Sol instantly begun speeding along the path following the thick lush forests and rich soil that danced under his feet filled with life, Sol felt as though he was home. He couldn"t explain it, but the feeling he felt inside the forest was much different than inside Earthernvale. He felt like this was where he was born, these soils rich with nutrients, the clean fresh air and the sound of insects buzzing and flapping happily.
Sol begun to strip himself until he wore nothing but a black underpants that reached below his knees. He took out a few of the fruits from the Fishtail tree, crushed them and rubbed them on himself completely. It didn"t smell bad at all and actually had a really nice scent to humans so it wasn"t a discomfort.
**
The night before -
Last night when Sol began meditating, he had an idea. All of the martial arts he possessed made it so that his brain would have to switch to a particular style and it gave him too much of a delay and that wasn"t favorable at all in the heat of battle.
So he began compressing all of his combat styles into a single style, it took him quite a few hours and because he could easily and vividly remember each and every move it wasn"t hard at all. He compared the styles and found some moves were more profound than others and some moves weren"t as necessary as others, so he chose the best of the best and began integrating them into a single unit.
He began compressing all of his knowledge and creating a style with an explosive style of combat. All of his punches, kicks, movement techniques, all weapon masteries and to top it off he even integrated all a.s.sa.s.sination techniques and medical knowledge giving it a disastrous spin. There was nothing more dangerous than a martial artist with a profound knowledge of medicine.
Sol had finished this style and was quite impressed with it, because of it"s profound deepness that carried the history of an entire planet and overbearing nature he decided to name it "Planar Overlord Style".
Now the only problem was that he still didn"t possess a killer technique. He didn"t have a Dantian and so couldn"t practice warrior techniques, he still held on to a glimmer of hope as he could use Area Perception and have an enhanced vision but he still didn"t know what triggered it.
His body absorbed mana and could compress it but he still couldn"t use it at all. Sol began thinking about this problem, Why is it he can use such a technique but not warrior techniques?
Even a simple move called "Heavy Swing" where the mana inside the Dantian would be given commands, the Dantian would revolve and respond by encompa.s.sing the weapon with mana and make the blow even heavier and more powerful. Even though Sol was grateful for his divine like body which grew much harder and much more powerful than warriors, he still wanted to be able to use those sort of moves.
After thinking about it he still didn"t yield any results and then went back to running simulations of the Planar Overlord Style inside his brain, memorizing and shadow fighting images of himself to deeply burn the style inside of his head. It didn"t take long for Sol to gain complete mastery over this style and he once more returned to his meditation.
**
Currently-
Sol had been following the path, his steps were light and quiet and couldn"t be heard at all. His body was well balanced and didn"t show a trace of faltering even when he ran on completely uneven ground at full speed.
All of a sudden Sol begun hearing a loud rumbling noise the closer he got to the hive, there was only a single small hill in Sol"s view that obstructed the sight of the hive. It wasn"t far at all after a minute he already climbed over but couldn"t believe what he saw-
Huge winged creatures they looked like the wasps recorded in his memory but much different, in short they were much much bigger and were multi-colored giving them a toxic feel. They had wierd holes where eyes would be and had veins of blue running throughout their bodies, their wings flapped with incredible speed and made the earth rumble beneath them. A shining pike at the bottom of their bodies that gave off a cold gleam made one shudder.
Sol gulped as he looked at them and grit his teeth. These were Bloodmana Wasps, one of the most terrifying creatures in Magnolia.
They flew in groups and followed patterns as if scouting and behind them stood a huge cave.
Rather it looked more unnatural like a huge worm had bore through the earth and it gave Sol a rather eerie and foreboding feeling. A musky fishy smell wafted out from the cave, it was strong enough to make any veteran warrior discard their breakfast.
The sheer number of Bloodmana Wasps made Sol"s skin crawl, and the beating of their wings was enough to make any man fall limp. Sol started watching over them and trying to familiarize himself with their patterns of movement. The patterns of the hundreds upon hundreds of Wasps weren"t hard to see at all.
After a while he noticed these beasts were a collective conscious. They had no mind of their own and moved in the same pattern over and over again, this was a stroke of luck for Sol. It meant they were low IQ and couldn"t respond to a changing situation and could only follow instinct and basic orders.
Not fearing anymore, Sol kicked off the floor and quietly began running towards the hive. He had already enclosed on his first group of 6 Bloodmana Wasps and he couldn"t help feeling a bit cold. He quietly shifted to the side and continued running suddenly-
The Wasps deviated from their pattern!
*BZZZ*
The 6 Wasps leaned towards his direction and came at a flashing speed! Sol seeing this lowered his body and skated directly underneath them. The ripples of wind caused by their wings lightly buffeted Sol but he grit his teeth and didn"t make a single sound as the bruises leaked a bit of blood. The Wasps paused for a moment and continued their route.
(What was that!!) -Sol
Suddenly Mitra"s voice sounded out in his head.
(Master! It seems like they can barely see you! However it is still obstructed to some degree! I suggest master turn back now!) -Mitra
(No I can"t...I have to do the things I want to do...I won"t compromise for anything) -Sol
Sol grounded his molars as he looked at the next incoming group of Wasps. He immediately increased his speed and madly dashed towards them. He looked at them directly as he increased his speed and waited patiently for the abnormality in their pattern and as expected-
*BZZZ*
The 6 Wasps madly flew towards them and deviated their pattern! Sol attempted the same thing and skid himself quickly beneath them while constantly paying attention to their stingers. The Wasps paused for a moment and continued their pattern- except for one!
Suddenly the single Wasp flew behind towards Sol madly!
*WZZ*
Sol seeing the incoming Wasp, raised his body in a swift manner quickly drawing a well made Steel Spear from inside his runic ring, Suddenly the image of a barbarian came to his mind and the weight of the spear felt natural and comfortable in his hand.
Sol"s left foot implanted itself the floor and sent a terrifying ripple throughout his muscles, the mana in his body heated up and began revolving inside of his muscles! With a quick and swift motion, Sol arched his back and leaned backward and with all his might he stepped forward transferring all of his weight into the spear and threw it directly towards the Wasps face!
The spear left Sol"s hand like a shooting star and it"s gleam felt as though it was cutting the sky as it honed in on the Bloodmana Wasp-
*PUCHI!*
A loud penetrative sound rang out as the spear completely and easily pierced through the Wasps hole-like eyes and exited out the other side of it"s head continuing onward, Sol didn"t stop to see where the spear would fall as he had quite a few in his runic ring and quickly dashed towards the other incoming group Wasps who seemed to recognize the change in atmosphere.
They quickly flew towards the direction of their kin and Sol nimbly but quickly dodged out of the way and used this opportunity to gain some ground. When Sol turned around he realized all the Bloodmana Wasps gathered around the corpse of the Bloodmana Wasp he killed and flew around it. Sol let out a breath of relief as he felt a slight sense of fear and quickly continued on not daring to waste this opportunity and made his way toward the hive.
(These creatures although their IQ isn"t that high, their instincts are spot on] -Sol
**
Upon almost reaching the hive, Sol had a bad premonition and quickly dove behind some bushes. He slowed his breathing and peered through the bushes to notice a different kind of Wasp guarding the entrance. Two black Wasps similar to the Bloodmana Wasps stood flying in one spot outside of it"s entrance.
These wasps were obviously different, the most different feature besides it"s color was that they had eyes! They even looked as though they had faint intelligence, Sol could tell because they seemed to be observing the commotion outside! Had Sol been slower they may have saw him and who knows what would have happened! Sol knew which Wasps these were, they were mentioned before and were called the "Guardian Wasps".
Sol felt a sense of dread but his eyes showed even more resolve! He looked at the both Guardians and quickly brought out a heavy bow and a few arrows. He placed one arrow in his mouth and held the other two in his hands. As Sol held the bow in his hands, a memory of a young girl surfaced in his mind. The young girl had slanted eyes and wore tribal clothing, she seemed to hold the bow in her hand as if it were the most normal thing.
Sol felt as though the bow was something he couldn"t live without, he held the bow exactly like the young girl in his memories as he put both Guardians in his sights. Sol instantly loaded both arrows and nocked back the bow, he took a deep breathe and slightly exhaled some as his focus increased.
The bow Sol was using made of a tree called Kingwood, it was a fine piece of tree for one to make a bow from but few people could draw it"s bowstring without some type of strengthening spell. The Former King understood this bow was perfect for Sol and had them made an even strengthened version of it. Sol saw something resembling a diamond placed within the bow limbs but didn"t bother thinking about it.
The Former King revised the Kingwood Bow and made it a terrifying force to be reckoned with, he did this with Lightbringer in mind so Sol would have some experience with a bow.
As the bow drew back, the tension of the strings could be heard. It felt as though the chain on a gigtantic beast had been stretched to it"s limit. Sol"s hand trembled slightly as he drew the string and placed both Guardians in his sights and exhaled the rest of air as he released the string.
*SWISH* *SWISH*
Two flashes of light quickly pierced the sky and went directly toward these unsuspecting Guardian Wasps.
*SPLISH*
In one quick motion both arrows entered their eyes and drilled into their heads and their huge dreadful bodies fell to the ground. Sol seeing this calmed down, he noticed the Bloodmana Wasps didn"t come over to their bodies and was quite stumped. It would appear these creatures didn"t have a collective IQ but instead had intelligence and that was a bit terrifying.
Sol looked at the hive quietly for about thirty minutes not daring to move just yet. As expected two other Guardian Wasps came to stand at the same place, they seemed to be buzzing around the corpses of their comrades curiously and after a while they settled down and flapped their wings at the same spot of the other two taking their spot.
Sol quietly waited and watched them both, where he hid was good enough for his body to be completely immersed in the bushes and had enough distance to stay out of the limited sights of the Bloodmana Wasps.