Chapter 31
The two stayed for the night inside the valley as the guests of the Titan Andes. And as Rennel had just fought with the titan after traveling for several days, the girl was pretty much drain of energy, as such she was understandably tired.
While Rennel was sleeping, Chaos and the Titan Andes had a serious conversation. The topic of the conversation revolved around the girl, the administrators, and the power balance of the world.
The Titan Andes was worried that Rennel’s existence might cause imbalance in the world which Chaos did not deny. After all, with Chaos as the teacher; Rennel was almost certain to stand at the top of the world if she was allowed to grow.
The Titan Andes was also worried that Chaos had some design on the world which was understandable considering that Chaos was an intruder from another plain. And with Chaos’ power, there’s actually very little that Andes or the other titans could do to stop him if it decide to act against them.
It was not even certain if the combination of all the administrators, the guardians, the dragons, and the titans was enough to stop Chaos once it decided to claim this world.
Chaos was of course too lazy to even care for this world much less conquers it. To stop the titan from worrying too much about the matter, Chaos promised that what it fears will never happen as the world was too low level for its liking. Although Chaos’ words were insulting and harsh, the Titan Andes actually felt much better. This was because Chaos was a higher being of existence, and therefore had no need to lie to the titan, especially if one considers the difference in power.
Now, the only remaining concern was the girl, Rennel who was still immature and therefore, could be easily influenced by external stimulus. After being blessed by a 'seed' and trained by Chaos; Rennel has pretty much become an irregularity, or a variable with an unknown level of danger. What's more, the girl was student of the terrifying Chaos so they couldn't really act against her. Or at least not openly.
In other words, the Titan Andes doesn’t really know how to deal with the girl.
And as such, the Titan Andes could only believe that the girl would grow up with the intent of not harming the world. Which also mean that it could only pray that Chaos would raise the girl to be well intentioned.
The two converse (mentally) till the first light of dawn shines upon the land. After preparing everything they needed for the journey, the duo said their goodbye to the titan and went deeper into the valley towards their next destination.
Compared to using the regular roads, traversing the Andes valley was a much faster way of getting to the city of Turok. This was because the Andes valley was the most direct and the shortest path to their next destination. This was also one of the reasons why they entered the valley in the first place besides challenging the Titan Andes.
Although the Andes valley was the shortest path to the next cities and towns including the city of Turok, very few people would actually dare enters the valley – choosing the long path instead. One reason being the titan that resides in the valley, the other reason would be the powerful monsters that call the valley home.
In other words, the valley was extremely dangerous for ordinary people. But since Chaos and Rennel was the farthest from the word ‘ordinary’, the danger in the valley wasn’t a problem for them. Chaos aside, a being who wouldn’t even bother to give these monsters a single glance; Rennel considers the unlucky monsters in the valley as a way to earn some fighting experience and money.
And since the two usually hides their aura, the monsters couldn't measure how powerful they were and would try to ambush or openly attack the two, thinking of them as prey... Well. just the girl actually since the monsters couldn't even see Chaos.
And as one would expect, the result of these ambushes and attacks were quite predictable. Due to the difference in power, none of the monsters in the valley stood a chance against the girl. Which mean they all ended up dead under the hand of the human girl they treated as prey.
As for the monster corpses; Rennel would collect the corpses of the monsters that could be sold for parts and meat. Those that could not be sold are left in the area for the other monsters to feast upon.
In a sense, the journey in the Andes valley was no different to a stroll for the two. And since they could also pick up money (monster meat and parts), it was quite the profitable stroll.
Anyway, while the two “monsters” were enjoying their “stroll” inside the Andes valley, something big and important was happening back at Blizzard city.
What’s the big and important event it was you asked? It’s the return of the king of Almena who had been embroiled with the war against their neighboring kingdom of Forst.
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Almena Castle
A blonde youth wearing formal and gallant-looking suit and a cape knocked on the beautifully designed wooden door. And only upon receiving the permission of the person behind the door to enter did the youth entered.
The blonde youth carefully closes the door before looking at the man seated on a magnificent chair behind a large wooden desk while reading a parchment. The man behind the large wooden desk was Vernel Almena, the king and ruler of the kingdom of Almena.
“Welcome back, father.” The youth greeted the king while bowing his head.
The man put down the parchment he was reading and looked at the blond youth. “Raise your head. There’s only two of us here so no need to be too formal.”
“Thank you, father.”
Then blonde youth slowly raises his head, revealing his appearance. If Rennel was here, she would be surprise after seeing the person. Why? Because the blonde youth was someone Rennel was acquainted with: The adventurer Clyde!
Yes, Clyde, or to be more precise, Clyde Almena is the oldest son of King Vernel of Almena which makes the young man the crown prince and possibly the next king of the kingdom of Almena.
“Take a seat; I have some things I needed to discuss with you.”
The king pointed to a seat and told the Clyde to seat down so they could converse properly. Clyde nodded and sat down. He then turns to the king and waited.
“I’ve read the report,” The king started. “And it seemed I’ve left a lot of problem for you to tackle. The monster problem was especially concerning. Who knew that a few years of neglect could birth a terrifying monster such as a goblin king? If not for the quick action from Souren and Tigre, who knew what would have happened.”
Clyde nodded after hearing his father’s words. The appearance of the goblin village and goblin king was definitely a surprise to everyone. If not for an accidental discovery from some low-level adventurers, who knew what would have happened?
“Still, the biggest surprise was the appearance of that person… Rennel was it?” Then king touched his beard while in a deep thought. The sudden appearance of the mysterious girl who could kill a goblin king was truly a surprise even to the king.
“Souren and Tigre both reported that the goblin king in that village was far more powerful than a regular goblin kings. If the words of those two were to be believed then that specific goblin king would have been very difficult opponent even for them.” The king crossed his arms and look at his son that was just quietly listening in his seat.
“What’s more… according to the result of your investigation, the girl in question came from a very poor village far north of the Hellmark region?
“Yes,” Clyde nodded and answered affirmatively.
After the event in Greenhorde forest settled down, Clyde sent a group of skilled investigator to investigate the mysterious girl’s origin which to his surprise, was rather easy to find. Well, maybe not really surprising considering that the girl wasn’t trying to hide her place of origin in the first place.
“Yes, she really was born in a poor village to the north. What’s more it was the worse type of village where parents sell their children to slavery…” The word ‘slavery’ made the prince’s expression that has been neutral till now, gloomy. And considering that children were involved, the prince could not help but feel especially heavy in his heart.
The case of parents selling their children to slavery wasn’t particularly new or uncommon. On the contrary it was quite the rampant practice in poorer areas and regions in the kingdom. Unfortunately, there’s very little that he or his father, the king could do to stop this practice considering the economic situation of the kingdom and the ongoing war.
“From what our investigators had gathered, Rennel was the only one who did not get sold to slavery. It seems that she run away the night before the slave trader could arrive in the village. And when the village men were about to capture her after many hours of searching; they were hindered by a mysterious person.”
“A mysterious person, you say?”
“Yes, the village men called the mysterious person “great magician.” According to our investigators, that person might be someone skilled with mental magic, and possibly, Rennel’s teacher.”
Mental magic, as the name suggest is a branch of magic that targets the mind directly. Practitioners of this branch of magic are skilled in illusions, telepathy, mind reading, emotional and mental manipulation, and the likes. Due to the nature of the magic; mental magic was considered a very dangerous branch of magic.
Of course, that’s not to say that users of such magic are evil but it does makes it easier for them to commit all kind of atrocities. Fortunately, practitioners this principle was few and far between. Probably because of how difficult it was to learn spells from the aforementioned mysterious magic system.
Clyde explained that the mysterious “great magician” used what seemed to be ‘Fear’ magic to intimidate the village men. Besides intimidating the men, the mysterious person had also bought the girl using a monstrous boar known as “the forest king” as payment – all while not showing his or her real appearance the entire time.
King Vernel raises an eyebrow when he heard that investigators weren’t even to verify the true gender of the mysterious person dubbed as the “great magician.” The king did not believe that the investigators that his son had sent to investigate were incompetent. But rather, it showed how illusive the mysterious magician was.
“How curious... and you’re telling me that this mysterious person whose gender couldn’t even by verified was the girl, Rennel’s teacher?” The king asked.
“Although it was just speculation on our part, but we think that that should be the case.” Clyde nodded, “Rennel herself told the guild master that she was under the tutelage of a mysterious teacher who she met near her village but refuses to divulge anything beyond that.”
“You said the mysterious person was a magician but from the report I’ve just read, the girl was a spear user, was that correct?”
“Yes, father… Rennel was indeed a spear user – a very powerful and skilled one at that. But from what I gathered so far, she should also be capable of using magic judging by her excellent mana control and perception. Even Natalie admitted that she’s inferior to her in terms of mana control. As for why she prefers using spear rather than magic, it might have something to do with the fact that she’s better suited to use the spear rather than her teacher’s magic system.”
“Oh? Even that child Natalie admitted her inferiority? That’s very curious indeed. Natalie’s talent was something that old man Emeril boosted a lot, and yet someone, who’s not verse in magic, had more talent than her…”
The king tapped his right index finger on the wooden desk as he contemplates on something before looking at his son.
“What do you think of the girl, Rennel?” The king asked.
Clyde was taken aback after hearing his father’s sudden question. He also didn’t understand why his father would suddenly ask that.
“I’m not sure what you mean by your question, father.” Clyde asked awkwardly.
Seeing the confusion on his son’s face, the king could not help but roll his eyes.
“You’re already at that age and you still don’t understand such a simple question? Fine… fine… I heard that this girl, Rennel was quite the beauty. Do you have any interest in her?” The king clarified.
Clyde’s eyes widened in shock after the king clarified his question. How could he still not understand the king’s intent even after that? But since he understood, Clyde was starting to feel bashful.
“I, I’ll be lying if I say that I’m not attracted to her but we barely know each other… besides I don’t think she’s interested in me.”
The king looks at his son’s lack of confidence with slight irritation. In terms of character, looks, status, and talent; Clyde lacks none of this. His only weakness was that he seems to lack confidence when it comes to matter s of the heart.
“Fine, fine, I digress. Let’s forget about it for now, and discuss more important matters,” The king relented. “How’s the other thing I asked you to investigate? Any result?”
Clyde’s bashfulness disappeared as if it was an illusion, and nodded seriously at his father.
“About that…
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To be continued
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