I asked some of you guys to be opened minded last time, about 90% of you were. I thank you for that, the rest of guys I would like you all to stop trying to predict how generic my story will be and judging it beforehand and sending me messages. Read first, Judge after! Thank you very much and here"s your double chapter!
Chapter 8 & 9 -
Sol was angry, he was furious. His new mind showed him things he did not see before and now he felt as though he had walked into a nest of vipers and mistook it for vines. As he left the door, he turned and began walking towards the exit of the mansion. On the opposite side of him a few figures noticed the golden haired boy leave and were stumped. This was naturally the King, Former King, Renissa and Nightmaster Duke.
Sol didn"t even so much as glance at them even though he saw them from the corner of his eyes. His previous self would have already changed direction to go greet them but he no longer felt the need to be subservient, the only thoughts in his mind was the upcoming trial he would find himself in.
(I don"t have the time for idle chatter, I need to go prepare) -Sol
Sol had quickly left and already reached the street climbing towards the Palace Medical Ward.
**
(Isn"t that Sol? Where"s he going? Never mind that....What"s with those eyes? Wasn"t he supposed to have dinner with us?) -King Ironspine
The King looked confusedly at the departing back of Sol, and found it was strange. Not only had he ignored the King"s order and left the dining room but he completely ignored the King"s approaching presence. The King however did not find it rude or disrespectful rather he was more worried about why Sol"s behavior had clearly changed.
(Is...that the same guy?) -King
Even though it clearly was, the King still thought silently to himself. He had only seen Sol just a few moments ago and as far as he knew Sol carried around a bright warm atmosphere like the sun and now he felt like a sharp golden dagger. Calm and observant eyes, one could feel a sense of vigilance hidden deep within, a complete contrast as opposed to before. Sol had been trusting and naive the first time the King saw him but now he had become guarded and his eyes had a faint wit and the King could feel it.
[Isn"t that Sol? Where"s he going? That boy never listens to me!] -Renissa
Renissa clearly had not seen his expression and so didn"t read the atmosphere.
[Could it be...he didn"t notice the King?] -Nightmaster Duke
(...Nope...I don"t think that"s the case...I have a feeling I know what happened) -Former King
[Leave him, Quickly let"s go inside...something may have happened] -Former King
And so, the group entered the Dining Room.
**
Sol arrived at the entrance of the Palace Medical Ward, he entered and upon seeing the maids who were busying filing away and barely had time to glance at Sol. He gave a slight nod and quickly made his way to Renissa"s personal room as to not disturb them , before he entered a voice called out to him.
[Sol! Hey you came back huh! Did you mi--, eh?] -Maria
Maria noticed Sol"s face, more specifically his eyes and paused midway with shock in her eyes.
[Y-You what happened to you?] -Maria
[Well you could say... a bad headache I guess] -Sol
Sol gave her a warm smile as he replied. He felt no ill intentions from her and so far she had been kind to him and he didn"t want to be like those n.o.bles so he treated her as he usually would.
At first she remembered the beautiful, pure golden pupils and when she looked at his current eyes, there was no longer the hint of innocence but a subtle hint of indifference and a slight dark murkiness that hid his thoughts deep within the bright l.u.s.tre.
She didn"t know how to approach him now and just stood there blankly for a second. Sol finally broke her stupor when he continued to unlock the door, and went about his business.
[...Are you okay?] -Maria
As the green-haired, kind sister like nurse came over a look of worry evident on her face. She drew her face close to Sol"s and placed her hand on his head to check for a fever. Sol turned to look at her and stared deep in her eyes, giving her a wry smile which made her heartbeat hasten. She quickly stepped back with a red face as she herself didn"t realize how casually she closed in on him clearing her throat and fixing her gla.s.ses, naturally her only thought was about his health and had no ulterior motives but Sol still teased.
Though she liked teasing people, Maria was innocent and was rather easily teased. Her life she lived mostly within the Palace Medical Ward and it"s environs and hardly ever went lower down the mountain to where the main city resided.
(What"s up with this kid? It"s almost like he"s a different person...but it"s not like it"s a bad thing..if before he was the young brother I"d want to hug constantly then now he"s the hot stud I want to devour!) -Maria
Maria giggled in her head as she jokingly pictured Sol dressed in barbarian clothing with his golden hair fluttering in the wind uttering corny lines to her.
[Yeah I"m okay, I just need some rest] -Sol
[Okay well if you need anything, I"ll be right outside] -Maria
[Alright then, thank you] -Sol
Sol then turned around and entered as he was just about to close the door , he opened it once more. Maria hearing the door re-open turned around to see if everything was fine and looked at Sol ponderingly.
[Hey Maria....Thanks again...for everything] -Sol
Sol looked at her sincerely and for a second she could have sworn she saw the same eyes she had seen when she first saw him. A warm smile plastered across his face that felt like the kiss of the sun.
*Thump*
Maria blushed and had no idea why, she looked at him wide-eyed as if she didn"t understand. Sol didn"t wait for her reply and closed the door behind him.
(Thanks? didn"t you just say it just now?) -Maria
Maria was someone Sol wanted to call a friend, She made him feel comfort. He could sense no ill will or ulterior motives from her and he was happy to meet someone like her. She was the only person who had made any physical contact at all, with the exception of Salina but Sol understood it was just her nature of loving weird things and didn"t give her any emotional credibility. The fact that she was so readily able to touch him meant she didn"t view him unfavorably and that was more than enough for him to feel satisfied.
**
Inside the dining room of the Duke"s Mansion.
The King of Earthenvale currently had an unsightly expression as he looked at the 3rd Queen Salira, the Former King was no better off. Renissa remained calm and quiet but one could see the anger in her eyes, yet she understood her role and kept quiet. The Duke said nothing his loyalty was ever supreme, but any fool could tell he was bothered.
[You did what?!!] -King Ironspine
[You foolish woman!!] -King Ironspine
The King turned to the three n.o.bles present.
[The three of you outside now! Get lost! I will talk to you another time when my fist isn"t trembling!] -King Ironspine
The three n.o.bles as if struck by lightning had already long been out the door. Everyone was quiet, the prince and princesses, Nightmaster Duke and Renissa, even the Queens.
(I thought as much...when will this girl learn some tact?...Well Julius is to blame too this is the reason he said he fell in love with her in the first place, if I can recall correctly something about a woman with a fire burning inside. Didn"t he know his mother was a gentle and kind soul? He should be blamed as well for marrying such a lunatic woman. Well it isn"t her fault completely though, however that ill habit of hers still brings too much trouble) -Former King
The Former King looked on quietly and calmly, he had already begun thinking about how to pacify Sol and knew it would be tough.
[Didn"t you know you could have killed him!! He doesn"t have a Dantian you know!! What"s more is you ruined any chance of him having a good relationship with the Royal Family!!] -King Ironspine
[...I-I said I"m sorry Julius, How could I possibly know that he would have such a circ.u.mstance? Regius even told me he practiced Warrior Arts So I thought he had a Dantian, I didn"t know about where he came from either....I-I I just wanted to know a bit about him and what his personality is like....] -Salira
[NO! YOU DIDN"T THINK! If you were using your brain then you would have known he had special circ.u.mstances! G.o.d!...there are so many means that you can use to get to know someone why do you always have to choose this one! Let me ask you this, Can you put yourself in his shoes? What would you have done?] -King Ironspine
[I...I just *sob*] -Salira
People who knew the 3rd Queen, knew her as a Powerful Queen and a 7th Order Mage and was someone to fear and respect. But to the people who REALLY knew the Queen would expect what is about to happen-
(Oh lord...Here it comes) -Former King
[Wuuuuu....wuwu....wuwu *sob*] -Salira
The 3rd Queen begun crying, like a child.
(Chh..) -King Ironspine
The King turned his head with a bad taste in his mouth, this is why he could never fix her habit. It would always end in her crying, in truth he knew his wife was a nice woman and was just a bit too meticulous when it concerned unknown factors. However, once she knew the truth about someone"s origins she would never pry further and not even into one"s future affairs.
The Third Queen actually had a traumatizing past that led to this personality quirk that only the King and Former King knew about. Salira was never a citizen of Earthernvale, but rather another city that had been decimated. Her parents were n.o.bles there and she lived her days quite carefree in the Mage Academy during her childish years. Then one day her father who was the Knight Commander for the Scout Brigade of their city was doing his usual patrols around the city when they found an unconscious and heavily injured middle-aged man.
They brought the man in for treatment and having no where to go afterward was invited to stay at her parent"s mansion when Salira"s father found out the man had some skill with a sword; and so the unknown man accepted gratefully. A few days pa.s.sed and things seemed to be well, the unknown man joined the Knights of the Scout Brigade and every evening at dinner would tell the family about his many travels and things he had seen.
It was one day the middle-aged man had gone to do his rounds and left his door open in the room he was provided. Salira happened to past by and curiosity struck her. She gave in to curiosity and comforted herself by saying she would only take a peek and entered.
At first she found nothing weird at all and she was about to turn and leave when she noticed the bed the man had been sleeping on seemed weird. It seemed as if it had been moved, curiosity once more troubled her and so she made her way to peep under his bed. Once she looked she saw two eggs twice the size of a human head.
Eventually she thought nothing about the eggs and pushed it back in her mind, after all she was only a child of about 10 years at the time and didn"t see anything wrong with having eggs. She thought maybe it was a souvenir from his travels and was probably a fake egg as it was too big to be the egg she was accustomed having for breakfast. After a while she forgot about the egg and paid no mind.
Then one day at dinner time, the unknown man had never shown up. Worried the family sent a maid to search his room for him and were told the unknown man had already long left. Then a few hours afterward, loud banging was heard on the city"s walls. An S-Rank Beast belonging to the dragon-serpent familia had begun destroying the city walls. It didn"t take long for the beast to break down the wall and spread death in it"s wake, Salira"s city had been destroyed in a single night and only had a tiny fraction of survivors, Salira"s parents were not among them.
In the middle of the city was a broken egg that was cut cleanly in half and left as if to welcome the beast. The egg was obviously placed there to agitate the beast and draw it"s attention. It was later found out that the man was a wanted man from another city who came up with a get rich quick scheme, he had stolen the eggs from an S-Rank Beast kept one fleeing the city and used one to focus the dragon-serpent"s attention on the city.
The man had used the lives of an entire city to become rich, someone had gotten a hold of the man"s plans who had probably dropped it while fleeing and found out everything was planned. From the moment he stole the eggs, to the moment he cut one of them open. He knew he could not overpower or outsmart an S-Rank Beast and the eggs had a scent that the S-Rank beast could trace so he came up with this devious plan.
He used the powerful scent of the egg and burst it open in the middle of a city to attract it"s attentions while simultaneously giving it several targets and fled. It didn"t take long for the S-Rank beast to respond and it completely annihilated the city.
This was precisely the reason why the King would never scold her too harshly, he knew it was out of her control. She would always probe strange people thoroughly and wouldn"t let up until she knew.
[Hmph. It"s easy to kiss and make up like this when the hurt person who was involved isn"t here. This disgusts me.] -Liore
Liore just indifferently glanced at the area, she was aware of Salira"s story and happened to hear it once when the King and Former King spoke but she thought that Salira still had behaved too unreasonable. Liore frowned and folded in her arms not caring about the direction of the conversation any longer.
[I agree with big sister today! I tried to tell mother to stop but she got angry! Now big brother is angry!] -Regius
[Mother...Crying will not save you this time. What you did was horrible and you must fix this personally. You can"t expect everyone to accept your weird traits, especially when they are so bizarre] -Salina
Salina who barely ever said a single word had begun scolding her mother hypocritically.
[Wuwuwuuu...Look who"s talking..wuwu *sob*] -Salira
[Alright alright that"s enough, let"s go find Sol. Salira...you know what you have to do right?] -King Ironspine
[Yeah...wuwu] -Salira
[ I suggest you all leave him alone for a while] - Former King
[Eh? Father?] -King Ironspine
[No matter what you say to him now won"t make a difference anyway, let him sort out his own emotions. I have a feeling his mind caved under the Hypnotic Stream and if what Renissa says about him is true then most likely his mind was broken and remade differently. I"ve seen him in combat and I can vouch with absolute certainty that his body always reacts to his situations and pushes itself to evolve. What happened here was no different, just this wasn"t an evolution of the body but of the mind.
The mental pressure without a doubt triggered a dire survival trait within him from his special physique. His body sensed his abnormal situation and acted to support it by fixing the problem. At that moment the affected area being his mind, it"s only natural right now his emotions are quite heightened and not just that but his thinking patterns as well. He will see any attempt to befriend him as suspicious right now I"m afraid] -Former King
[Grandpa...When Sol said he wasn"t my friend...was he telling the truth?] -Regius
Regius seemed irritable and couldn"t sit well. It was then Salira had calmed down and looked at Regius astonished. From young this boy had never took anything seriously, sadness was something Regius was not familiar with and could brush of words as easily as pie. Anyone could tell he was looking a bit dispirited and wasn"t his usual self.
[No, you can blame your *cough* mother *cough* for that. Sol is surely your friend] -Former King
The old man said plainly with a cough in his voice. Regius seemed to be pumped up once more and sat down once more with his liveliness.
[Haha! I knew mother was crazy!] -Regius
*Slap*
[Ouch!] -Regius
Sophenia who had been quiet all along stepped up and smacked Regius in the back of his head.
[Don"t say that about your mother! It was I who asked her to do it Julius, I apologize. I didn"t know who he was and I didn"t want Sophia being around anyone weird. Dorian looked at him weirdly and It sort of bothered me so I didn"t know if he was a good person or not] -Sophenia
[Wait come to think of it...where is Dorian?] -Renissa
Sophia pointed to the corner of the room where a statue was being hugged by an unconscious man.
[What in the heavens!! Dorian!!] -Renissa
[What the h.e.l.l happened?! Sleeping on the job boy!! In the presence of the King!! I"ll teach you a good lesson!!] -Nightmaster Duke
*Slap* *Slap* *Slap*
A woozy Dorian awoke with many hand prints all over his face and one particularly deep.
[Huh?....What happened again?...I was in the dining room and then...AHH!! SOL YOU b.a.s.t.a.r.d!] -Dorian
Dorian got up and quickly scanned the room looking for Sol, when he noticed everyone"s gaze was on him he became incredibly red and didn"t want the King knowing of his shame.
[Haha! Big brother knocked him out in a single punch!] -Regius
[Y-You!] -Dorian
Dorian had known Regius every since he was a child and they had all grown up together and knew this brat would have said something. He wouldn"t have minded if he said it after Dorian left but Dorian knew him all too well and knew he would drop salt on the wound almost instantly. Upon recognizing and remembering whose presence he was in, Dorian quickly fixed himself neatly and bowed.
[Please forgive my outburst, your majesty!] -Dorian
*Stifled laughter*
Liore held her mouth in a lady-like fashion and hung her head low. Anyone could tell she was trying her utmost not to laugh.
[What? He knocked him out in a single blow? A 5th Order Warrior?] -Former King
[Mhhm he went like *This* and Dorian went flying!] -Regius
The Former King instantly committed that knowledge to his head, this old man wanted to study Sol. Not for any ill intentions but for his own research, in his life this old man had seen a lot of things and was at his retiring age, he felt as though he had nothing left to excite him. Then all of a sudden a meteor fell from the sky and brought with it a world of change. Many new things to discover and learn and the Former King could not let them go because he knew he would regret it.
This was new territory that no other person had discovered before, this sort of thing made this old man feel young again. Naturally whatever he discovered about Sol would be his personal secret he would take to his grave, he didn"t want others getting in the same idea and stealing his last strand of glory. Sol had no idea that this old man had already subconsciously placed him in his heart as someone of extreme importance.
[Father...but what if he goes to the Bloodmana Wasp hive tomorrow?...Won"t we need to go see him anyway? Shouldn"t we go while the iron is hot?] -King Ironspine
[Oh right! I almost forgot about that because of this incident! Quick let"s go!] -Former King
[B-Bloodmana Wasp???] -Liore
Hearing this new piece of news Liore"s face became paler than usual and one could see intense fright in her eyes.
[Why is he going there tomorrow??] -Liore
[We"ll talk about it la-] -King Ironspine
[FATHER! Why is he going there tomorrow??] -Liore
The calm and cold Liore had begun showing heated signs of panic as she bombarded the King with questions.
[Father I would like to know as well] -Sophia
Sophia who was quiet for most of the evening spoke and supported Liore who sent her a thank you wink.
[Sophia...even you?] -King Ironspine
[It"s this talking behind the back that got us in this situation in the first place. Let"s not have anymore secrets pertaining to Sol, I don"t think he would agree with this secretive nature and I"m sure by now he hates things that are done this way. You all have been acting like children with a new toy and haven"t yet seen Sol as a person and it"s because of this he probably hates us] -Sophia
Sophia"s voice was stern and a bit angry as she spoke.
[I"m washing my hands of this affair, if you all want to continue being secretive about Sol"s circ.u.mstances then I will personally pay for a trip for him to go to whatever city he wants to go to and I"ll personally write a letter of identification. As far as I"m concerned Sol isn"t a citizen of Earthernvale and our laws do not bind him here and he has done no wrong] -Sophia
Sophia was rarely ever angry but once she was, no one could debate with her. She would hit the source of the problem on the head and hit it very hard too. This threat wasn"t an idle one and it was very much so. Sophia believed if Sol"s life here became undesirable she would personally send him away. If he had a chance to start over at another city he might be able to adjust properly. She would even have interrupted Salira"s inquisition had those three n.o.bles not been there, but because of her duty as a princess she could no overrule her mother"s decision in front of anyone, especially those three haughty ones.
[...Fine, Don"t act rashly and listen to what I have to say] -King Ironspine.
[Sol is going to the Bloodmana-Wasp hive to save Liore"s mother and this is by his own choice] -King Ironspine
Liore upon hearing this visibly shook, she had more or less counted her mother as dead even though she knew what state her mother was in. She could never forget the sound of those beating wings that scared her half to death. After her mother was taken away Liore always had a fear of beasts with wings. Smaller creatures like birds and insects were fine as they couldn"t replicate the same effect as a beast"s wings, however the fear was very much there and real.
Although she felt a bit ecstatic when the thought of saving her mother came up, she quickly remembered the danger there and the dream ended abruptly. As far as Liore was concerned a Bloodmana Wasp hive was the same as h.e.l.l on Earth and the thought of Sol entering there made her face pale. She knew pretty well how angry Sol was at the family but didn"t understand why he would risk his life for her mother.
[He"s what? Father..Why? Father are you telling the truth?] -Liore
[Eh?] -Salira
[What?! Absolutely not!] -Sophia
[Father....this] -Regius
[Julius ..how can that be? What exactly made this come up?] -Sophenia
[Calm down all of you, just know that he"s doing this of his own volition. Don"t ask why either, not because it"s a secret but out of respect for his reasons. You won"t pry into that will you right Sophia?] -King Ironspine
[..his own choice?] -Sophia
[Ask your Grandfather] -King Ironspine
[Yes, this is a test for himself. You can consider it that. However, your father neglected to tell you that Sol is probably the only person alive capable of accomplishing this feat and as such it is a fitting test for him) -Former King
[But Grandfather it"s too dangerous! He might die for sure! How can you all say without certainty that there won"t be any problems! You"ve said it before right no one has ever made it back from a Bloodmana Wasp hive before. How can you all be so sure he won"t encounter some strange beast and be killed?!] -Liore
Her blue hair swirled and her pretty blue eyes held a hint of confusion as well as yearning. Of course she would want to see her mother but at what cost? Sol was a stranger to this situation and if anyone was risking his/her life then it shouldn"t be him as far as Liore was concerned.
[No, this is necessary for him. I believe so, as well as your father and Nightmaster Duke. We aren"t taking advantage of him and if he changed his mind then no one would blame him. I personally would see to that] -Former King
As the Former King spoke, his powerful and gentle voice gave a calming effect to the surroundings.
Salira begun thinking it through after the new knowledge she had acquired about him came up in her mind and slowly began to nod. Then a look of delight surged in her eyes as she remembered how he took down Dorian in a single hit.
[You may be right! If anyone has a chance at saving Lieren it would definitely be him! However it will still be ridiculously hard because of those Guardian Wasps that have eyes. If he has good fortune he can accomplish it without a hitch!] -Salira
Then she remembered how she treated him and felt both bitter and guilty in her heart. She wanted to speak to him and explain herself before it was too late. She just hoped maybe he would understand and give her another chance. As she would surely never make that mistake again.
The group continued talking some with both excitement and worry in their voices. All the while Dorian had remained silent and had a hint of shock in his eyes. Sol was actually going to go to a Bloodmana Wasp hive, there was no hint of delight in Dorian"s eyes.
Even he recognized how grave the situation was, entering that sort of place was a sure death trap and the frightening part is Sol wouldn"t have any help at all. Dorian was a hot blooded youth, he wanted to rival with Sol even though he was a 5th Order Warrior he had never once looked down on Sol"s abilities. Dorian viewed him as a rival and that was as far as it went there was no bone deep hatred or any sort of ill feeling.
**
While all this was going on, Sol sat calmly in his room collecting herbs from the trays. He didn"t even need to read or look to find what he wanted as he had arranged it in chronological order and knew where every herb was. By using scent he immediately found all the various and rare herbs he needed to complete his mission.
He collected medical herbs to treat Liore"s mother and himself for any future problems. He took herbs that could disguise his scent and herbs that repelled beasts. Renissa being the Medical Saint Master of the Palace Ward had a large range of herbs to choose from, it would be weird if she didn"t and so Sol helped himself.
(What else should I take...? I"m missing something for sure...) -Sol
Sol placed one of his hands on his chin as he thought to himself.
(Wait..Ahh..Liore"s mother has a Dantian, getting inside is only half the battle, the other half is getting her out. I can be disguised because of my physique but she cannot. If we were to run into Wasps while I was carrying her and they sensed her Dantian I"d be in trouble. Hmm... Luckily I have a plan but I have to confirm something) -Sol
Sol picked up a medical book and begun reading, the name of the book was "The connection between Mana and Life".
After flipping through for a while and reading, he then picked up another book which was a Bestiary. He flipped through till he found the description of Bloodmana Wasps and confirmed everything. Though he already had this information, he had to make sure so no unforeseen circ.u.mstances happened. He finally came to a conclusion.
(Hmmm..So if one"s life force is suppressed, so is their Dantian) -Sol
(Good, I can create a poison that can put her in a near death state and replicate the effect. It"s not hard to make at all) -Sol
Sol got up and begun creating the poison.
(2/3"s of Nightshade, 1/7 of Saxon Leaf, A whole leaf of Iris Blade, Lotus Wine Root 1/4....) -Sol
He started up the Pill furnace and continued cutting and grinding, mashing and mixing. After a few hours he had created a pill and a potion and quite a few other pills for his own use.
He placed the potion inside of Renissa"s personal draw and placed the poisoned pill in his pocket after wrapping it carefully.
(Now that it is taken care of, I should meditate for a while and use this opportunity to gain a bit more strength) -Sol
Sol did just that and sat cross-legged on his bed as he naturally knew how, he closed his eyes and imagined himself falling into a river. He entered Bhudda"s Grace and slowly sank into it"s depths...time stopped and he could feel the ripples around him. Then that otherworldly suction force came out of his body, absorbing the surrounding mana. What Sol didn"t know was that their were purification mana barriers within the Palace Medical Ward. The current mana he was absorbing was much more pure than when he was within the Mansion Training Field which had natural mana from the Earth.
(I can tell I won"t be able to break through anytime soon like the first time, but still I can feel my body strengthening so I should continue meditating and creating a proper base for the next breakthrough) -Sol
He continued to absorb mana and once he was full, he would practice Tai Chi and expel the rest of impurities and in the process his body would become a little bit tougher and a little bit more powerful. He repeated the process over and over and began solidying his foundation of the First Order Warrior. Who knows after how long, the 20 hour night came to an end and the suns began to rise, along with it Sol"s eyes opened.