Rupegia

Chapter 52: Glare – Part 2

Today is the 24th, day of An.

Ciel wakes me up with the help of Lina, who holds back her hair and gives her encouraging words.

"My mouth is feeling oddly dry, you know. It's as if something is missing," Hana says and stares at Ciel. She manages to guilt Ciel into sharing.

My [Spirit Magic] and [Mana Control] increased by 1 (now 0+2 and 0+15). My [Sense Soul] increased by 2 (now 6). I can now see someone's "Endurance" and "Strength" stats.

But the best growth of this morning is that I can now see Aoi's HP.

 

Aoi stands on her hind legs, opens her wings wide, puffs out her chest, and smirks. Though, she looks more comical than imposing, due to being in her smaller size.

"Diamond dragon scales…" Klein mutters and her tail massages one of her temples.

"Hey, so my increased HP really is due to my dragon inheritance," Hana comments.

"I'm more interested in her MP and 'Magic Power,'" Roxanne says with a light shrug.

"Same," Ciels says.

"Gih."

That means "a lot."

"Well, that's not fair," Hana says with a frown. "Why are dragonkin so bad with magic, then?"

"Gih."

"That's bullshit. Why do the wereanimal and beastfolk races not have the same problem with magic, then? They also have a non-human inheritance. The demon race is even more talented with magic than the average human."

"But your race is the only one that inherits from monsters," Roxanne says.

Lina chimes in, "Think about it like this: If the dragonkin were as good with magic as they are with physical combat, they would be unstoppable."

The dragonkin are the Klingons or Krogans of Rupegia. Frightening stuff.

"As if that would be a bad thing," Hana says and snorts.

"You have more energy than, even real dragons," Aoi says.

"Hm…" Hana grabs her chin in thought. "But aren't the beastfolk good with both?"

Lina smiles and pats Hana's lower back since she doesn't reach Hana's shoulder. "You overestimate them. The beastfolk are mostly rebellious and independent. The dragonkin have more raw strength."

"You know a lot about the beastfolk," I say to Lina.

"There's a lot of them living in Wideberg."

"I see…"

We get up and I sadly store the beds back in my "Item Box." Then we go down to have our breakfast.

Ciel seems so happy that she almost hums as she eats.

"Happy to be traveling again?" Lina asks Ciel.

"You bet," Ciel answers, chipper.

Lina smiles adorably and Ciel doesn't resist, patting her head during the entire breakfast.

We head outside and breathe in the fresh air. The white wooden town looks quite picturesque as it stirs awake.

We make our way to the gate and see that it will be a repeat of Rabanara. We are likely to waste an hour or so just to get out due to the number of other caravans also going the same way as us.

Then we find Rande's caravan. The commoners we have been traveling with are all gone now and a new set of commoners going to Goldport are taking the ride with us. I see that the noble's carriage isn't here anymore.

Osaria sends us a warm wave when she sees us. Roxanne smiles back, but she seems a little sour after that for a while. Anton and Krysta also greet us warmly, though Anton seems to be still feeling a little awkward about our "agreement."

The elven sisters greet us with a smile and a wave; Julien also sends one to Ciel; the two brutes and the joker send a casual "yo" to Hana and Roxanne; the rest of the guards give the usual friendly nod.

Laertes merely sends a glance at us and gets on top of the (now fixed) carriage.

We get our horses but don't mount them just yet. There's no point when we are just going to stand here and wait in the line to get out of town.

"Hm…" Lina mutters, trying to start to talk but anxiety holds her back.

"What is it?" I ask.

"C-can I go to the carriage and talk with Oura?"

"Sure. You didn't have to ask."

I pat her head and she blushes, embarrassed at her own shyness.

Alissa and Klein stay together, talking about girl stuff. Hana and Ciel are talking about Hana's new armor and testing her mobility. Roxanne immediately pulls out an [Alchemy] book and starts to read about flammable compounds.

Feeling a little needy, I get Aoi and hold her in my arms. I caress her spine and she gives me a happy lick on the chin.

"So, how's your growth?" I ask her.

"Very good. Humanoids are tasty, they gave me lots of strength," she answers.

I cringe while smiling. "Yeah… we aren't going to kill a lot of humanoids again so soon."

She gives me a toothy grin. "I know, but it doesn't change that, they are very tasty."

I get an idea. "Do you think you could drink my blood?"

Her beautiful eyes gleam at the idea. "Yes! You have tons of mana; your blood would be very tasty."

I raise an eyebrow at her. "Do you actually taste the mana? Blood by itself doesn't taste good."

She tilts her head cutely. "But it does?"

"If you say so…"

"Hehe. I wouldn't mind if you, used [Slavery Magic] on me, too."

"Would it even work? You're not fully part of the system yet."

"We'll know if we try."

"What about that part of you leaving me if I ignore you? If you're my slave then it'll be harder for you to leave."

"If I'm your slave, then you have more responsibility, to keep me happy." She smiles smugly as if she has everything thought out. "And even then, if Hana can escape slavery if she wants, then so can I."

I smirk. "Confident, aren't you?"

Her nostrils light up. "Dragons are proud."

"How do you know that?"

"It's knowledge I was born with. Dragons are proud."

That's actually very convenient.

I kiss the top of her head and steam comes out of her nostrils.

"Once we are nobles, I want you to grow to your normal size and walk beside us. No more hiding your abilities. You can talk freely, too."

She grins again and licks my chin. "I'll pray lots so that I, get the system faster!"

I hug her tighter in my arms and she rubs her head against my cheek.

After having our fill of snuggling, we stare at one another again. "I know that the Gods will listen. It's just a matter of time… Ah, now that we are talking about it, how have you been praying?"

"Every night before I sleep, I ask to get another piece of, the system. I also ask to get included in, your 'Followers' Gift."

"How much do you know about the Gods?"

Her non-existent eyebrows try to knit together. "Well, I know their names."

"Right, we need to teach you more about the Gods, then."

She gives me a toothy smile. "Okay!"

The caravan starts to move and we finally get out of Goloria when the day has fully started.

We mount our horses and go down the spiral of the Pillar.

Alissa and Klein mount the same horse and flirt a little as they talk. Alissa's hands don't leave Klein's furry and long monkey tail for a single moment.

We reach the end of the Pillar, where the road splits off in all directions. We take the eastern one towards Goldport. There's some traffic in that direction, so I cast [Swift Foot] on the commoners. This way we can more easily pass the slower caravans and reduce the number of times that we have to move to the side when a faster caravan wants to pass us.

We leave the beautiful dark and light parts of the lake faster than I'd like. With some mild disappointment, we finally leave Goloria behind.

Now we are back inside the dark and damp forest of gigantic trees. It feels less oppressive this time; though, maybe I'm just getting used to it. I summon a light elemental so we can all feel more comfortable.

I discreetly leave a [Gate] "coordinate" in the forest for when we go back to Goloria. It's a really good idea to always leave a "coordinate" outside of any place we enter. We've been ambushed far too many times for that to be considered paranoia.

I whisper to Aoi and she glides towards the window of Rande's carriage. She perches herself on the windowsill and looks inside.

Through her eyes, I see Oura and Lina happily discussing passages from a book. Osaria looks at both of them with a predatory glint in her eyes, making some blood pump downstairs for a few moments.

"Li, Wolfy wants to dismantle those, exploding arrows," Aoi says.

"Oh, right! We still have to understand how they work," Lina says. Her gloomy eyes glow a little with excitement that quickly fades. "Sorry, Oura, I have to work."

"It's no problem," Oura says with a kind smile and pats Lina's head, making her blush slightly.

This girl. I'm sure she's not that innocent about her charms anymore.

Lina nods and scurries out of the carriage with Aoi wrapped around her neck.

I offer my hand to her and help her up onto the horse, then we gallop away with Roxanne following us.

I feel the annoyance of losing Alissa's blessing again, but I endure. Hana is very calm right now, making it much easier to deal with her [Bind].

We find a secluded clearing, far from any caravan or other random hunters walking through the forest.

I pull out an explosive arrow from my "Items" and carefully lay it on the ground, then I summon a spirit elemental.

"Enter the arrow," I order.

I see the insides of the arrow through the spirit elemental. There are two different liquids divided between two separate compartments inside the shaft. A potential point where the liquids could mix is in the middle of the shaft, near the arrowhead, where a small piece of glass is located. There's a small piece of wood connecting the shaft and the arrowhead, but I don't know what it's for.

I cast [Earth Wall] and create a bunker, then I summon a small glass earth elemental and order, "Open a hole there and use your body to fill it, like a window."

The elemental obeys and its body turns into a large square. It touches the wall and easily opens a hole where it fits perfectly.

Then I summon two goblins and order. "You, stay behind the window. You, go outside and hit the arrow on a rock. Turn the arrow around so you hit every part of it at least once."

They both nod and we move far away from the bunker.

The goblin starts by hitting the arrowhead against the rock. Nothing happens so it starts flipping the arrow around and hitting all its parts on the rock until the arrow breaks in half and the liquids mix together.

*BOOM!*

"Yay!" Aoi exclaims in happiness.

The guinea pig goblin instantly dies from the explosion and two-thirds of its body turns into minced meat. The other goblin behind the bunker is completely unharmed. The glass elemental receives some minor damage but it heals itself quite easily.

"First test is a success," I say and Lina nods.

I describe to the girls what happened and Lina says, "There's a priming mechanism so it doesn't blow up easily during transport. That glass piece is the key to priming it."

I summon another goblin and pull out another arrow. I use the spirit elemental to make another pass through the arrow and start drawing out a rough sketch of the interior.

The arrowhead is a little "off" to one side. The unknown small piece of wood keeps the arrowhead in place, but once you break it by pulling the arrow and the shaft apart, the arrowhead becomes loose and is able to move a little to the side, where it will fit into a slot. This slot makes the arrowhead touch a loose piece of wood in the middle of the shaft. With enough strength, the arrowhead will push this loose piece of wood backward, shattering the small piece of glass that was separating the two liquids.

"Quite the dangerous liquids. They seem to start a chain reaction that causes a big explosion just from contact," Roxanne says.

"Is that what you wanted when you mentioned that 'gunpower'?" Lina asks.

"No. This one creates too much fire, gunpowder isn't like that. Also, the mechanism to prevent them from mixing is far too complex. Bullets are a bit simpler than this arrow," I say.

"But the reaction seems to start inside the arrow without the need for air. This seems to be one of the requirements for your 'bullet' to work," Roxanne continues.

"Hm…" I scratch my head in thought.

I know how bullets work and how to engineer them, so I have an advantage for that. This mixing of two liquids will require new engineering, which would kind of negate my advantage.

"Perhaps… But we'll have to wait. If you girls don't manage to create my gunpowder then this might be a good substitute for it."

"No pressure," Roxanne says with a smirk and I shrug with an apologetic smile.

We stand inside the bunker and watch the goblin prime the arrow. We hear a click and the arrowhead visibly moves.

"It seems they prime the arrows when they draw the bow," Lina says and we nod.

The goblin hits the arrowhead against a new rock (since the last one was blown to bits) and another explosion occurs.

"Yay!" Aoi claps her claws, making clinking noises.

"Well, the secret has been revealed!" Roxanne says and chuckles.

"Now, we just need to find a way to extract the liquids," I say.

"Use a nature elemental to drill a hole in each side," Lina says.

We follow her suggestion and I summon the elemental. We give it two small flasks and order it to extract the liquids.

The first liquid comes out fine. A little oily and dark, similar to the burning oil we have. The second liquid starts to flow out of the shaft and it immediately bubbles and releases steam.

"Well, that ain't good," I say.

It enters the flask and its bubbling reduces by a little, but when the elemental tries to cork it, the bubbling and steaming shatters it.

We just observe the wasted liquid. It steams away in less than a minute, leaving small burns where it touched the rock and the elemental.

"Well, we just have to make a closed channel so it doesn't touch the air," Roxanne says with a shrug.

It's a little more difficult than that since the channel has to be hollowed out without filling it with air. Even the flask has to be turned into a vacuum by the elemental before it was ready to accept the second liquid. Its color is clear, but it's rather viscous.

"Now, let's mix together a drop of each," Roxanne says.

A little more fussing about with the bottles and the nature elemental manages to pass a drop of the liquid into another bottle.

"Waste of a flask, but oh well," Roxanne says and shrugs.

The elemental uncorks the bottle and drops the first liquid in. The drop touches the second and a small explosion happens, shattering the bottle.

"Hm. You know, this explosion is quite good, maybe we could weaponize it," I say.

"But I can see why it would be hard to make your 'bullets' with it. Maybe I could work on it to make it less unstable when it comes into contact with the air," Roxanne says.

"I'll build a workshop for you. We'll have to make a vacuumed room that's hermetically sealed."

"'Hermetically'?" Lina asks.

"Something that doesn't allow air in."

"Oh… Hm… yes, it will be difficult to build such a thing. We'll need lots of metal."

"Aren't the armor pieces we got enough?" Roxanne asks.

"No. A whole room made entirely of metal would require a lot of it. Especially because it has to be thick, otherwise if something accidentally punctures a hole in it, the pressure would blow you up, or something."

Roxanne frowns. "Erm… how?"

"It's an engineering thing. But basically the air would force itself in all at once, which could be dangerous," I say with a shrug.

I'm not certain, but you don't want to be careless with vacuum chambers.

"Not only that, but the unstable liquid could end up being exposed," Lina says.

"But we don't need to use the steel armor to make the room. We can buy cheaper metals for it."

"We'll also need to come up with a… herme, uh… a sealed suit-…"

"Hermetic suit," I interrupt.

"Yes, that. We need to make it so that she can breathe while still inside the room."

"That's actually the trickier part. I'm not really sure how to do it."

"Couldn't we use slime skin?"

"Oh, that could work. Though, their skin looks a little fragile."

"There are some tough slimes out there, some of them even resist arrows."

"Sounds perfect." I pat her head and she smiles.

We drain all the arrows and fill up half a barrel with each liquid. That's not a lot, but Roxanne will focus on identifying the liquids before we actually try to experiment with it.

After that, we pull out the enchanted Ghillie suit and observe it. The first enchantment we recognize as being [Ignorance]; the second one we have no idea what it is, we only know that it blocks [Sense Presence] after doing some testing; the third enchantment absorbs scents below it.

"I've never seen this second enchantment before, even in the books," Lina says.

"Keep it with you and study it. It would be good to know if there's a countermeasure to it because we do rely a lot on Alissa's [Sense Presence]," I say.

"So, a countermeasure to a countermeasure?" Roxanne asks and chuckles.

"That's warfare in a nutshell," I say and give her a smirk.

Roxanne chuckles again and rolls her eyes. "Oh, another of your weird references?" She asks.

I pout at her and narrow my eyes. "Ei, your idioms are also weird: 'Dwarven beard'; 'diamond dragon scales'; 'let a Glutton eat your words'; and the obsession with goblin semen."

She puts her hands on her hips in a sassy way. "Ours are more literal. What in the hell does 'in a nutshell' even mean?"

"I… have no idea…" I awkwardly scratch my head. "You use it when you are explaining something with only a few words, so maybe its origin comes from reducing something so much that it fits inside a nutshell?"

She scoffs and says, "Not only are Earthlings weird, but they are also boring."

I shrug. "Well, that's not our fault. Earth doesn't have dwarves, dragons, or goblins to reference."

"But you know what they are. You said we exist in tales and 'fantasy,'" Lina says.

"See? Earthlings are so boring," Roxanne says. She pokes me on the chest with her pale finger and Lina nods along.

"Oof, Lina, you traitor," I say and the little imp dares to smile.

We return to the caravan and spend our time leisurely. Lina returns to the carriage and Roxanne starts studying the dark liquid with her special lens that lets her see mana "signatures."

I continue my practice of [Soul Manipulation]. I can now keep my soul out with barely any mental effort, so I feel that I'm almost finishing creating the skill. There's one vector I haven't fully explored yet, which is the "soul-changing" that I can do with [Redirect Mana]. I can "change" my soul so that I can more easily attract "attuned" mana, or in other words, free-flowing mana with a "signature."

"Roxanne, can you lend me this lens for a minute?" I ask.

"Sure."

"Excuse me, I need this too." I grab her black tail and she looks at me curiously.

Since her tail is solidified mana, (aka, "fake matter"), it means that her mana has a signature. If I can change my soul to that "signature" by using [Redirect Mana], then I can use my special [Materialization] on it and gain an appendage!

I fucking cracked the code!

Gih!

"Use some magic, please," I say.

She casts a [Fireball] and throws it upwards. Some mana leaves through her tail and floats in the air.

Gimme!

I extend my soul over it and use [Redirect Mana] to "change" my soul to the same "signature" of the mana.

It's as hard as I remember, like flexing a muscle that you never used before. You know it's there, it's just difficult to use it the way you want.

But that's the last stretch for [Soul Manipulation]!

The road is a little busy. Just like on the way to Goldcross, the number of caravans and hunters roaming about makes the way completely clear of monsters for us. This side of the High Forest isn't having the same problems as Lord Mavel's territory.

Lunch comes and we savor Krysta's home-cooked meal.

"You're still the best cook out there, Mom," Klein says and Krysta returns a lovely smile.

Krysta sits beside her to eat and their tails entwine, making me envious and even more fired up to finish my [Soul Manipulation].

I turn to Aoi and say, "I think I should start teaching you what I know about the soul, too. If I can become a dragon, then you can become a humanoid."

Aoi stops mid-chew and stares at me like a statue. Her galaxy-like eyes bore holes through my soul as I feel the gears in her head turning from the mumbling escaping through [Bind].

"KWEH! YES! THAT'S AMAZING! I WANT TO BE A HUMANO~~-…!"

I cut the screaming inside my head with my mind.

I wait a minute before I say through [Bind]. "You done?"

"Hehehe. Sorry, sorry. Yes, I'm done! No, wait, I'm just starting! Teach me [Soul Manipulation]!"

"As you wish."

Gih.

He offered to help teach her.

"Thanks, Gify."

Gih!

We continue on our way after filling our bellies with roasted Dragolite and a cheesy casserole.

Holly suddenly sees a worrying sight. Thirty horsemen are coming towards us, all of them wearing red cloaks and a tabard with the yellow imperial sun on the chest. They are equipped with a mix of leather and metal armor. Most of them are soldiers, with only a few archers and mages, but there's also a lone temple priest among them.

I warn Rande and the guards tense up a little. I summon two earth and two fire elementals and position them in front of the caravan as a deterrent.

The imperials pass by a few caravans and ignore them. When they approach ours, they slow down, making us even warier.

The group of imperials stops in front of our caravan, blocking our way.

The leader, who's wearing a white cloak with yellow stripes, comes out from the middle of the group and stops a few meters in front of the others.

"Is this the Este Escort Company caravan?" The leader asks.

Rande growls and walks forward, stopping right between the two earth elementals. "Yes. I am Rande, the owner of the company," he says.

The leader's face is obscured by his helmet, but his eyes are neutral and imperative. "Is the fellowship Helios protecting this caravan?" He asks.

"Yes, we are here. I am Wolf Ryder, leader of Helios," I say.

I notice the imperials tense up and their hands squeeze their spears tighter.

His eyes glare at me with unbridled anger. He contains himself and says with a very stern tone, "I am Commander Taavi. I represent the Imperial Enforcers and I am here to take you, Wolf Ryder, to Goldcross for trial. You are accused of destruction of private property."