Chapter 45

Rydel stabilized his condition after a short session of meditation. There wasn’t much use to continue cultivating here, the quality of the energy in the meteors wasn’t the best for both the Sun and Moon in his soul space. It’d only worsen their foundations.

Having finished their business, Rydel took the foxy form of Naveena and flew back to the boat. Shael head’s peeked from one of the cabins with their landing.

“Did you have a good session?" Shael said.

“You can’t imagine.” Rydel was full of glee.

“Something good happened?” Shael raised her eyebrow.

“Nothing much, just that we won’t have to practice much more.” Rydel smugly said, before telling her about his new Dao.

“The Dao of the Sun? Really? Those guys from the desert would probably kidnap you.” Shael smiled.

“The sand elves? Are you joking? They are on the other end of the map.”

Shael just smiled a little wider.

Rydel grew just a little bit worried before shrugging. He was under the protection of the high elves in their own manor, they could try and come.

They both exchanged pleasantries for a while before Shael returned to her cabin. Rydel observed the fading Cemetery of Meteors as the boat speeded away. There were no more stops, the next landing would be in Osserion.

***

They did have one more stop on their way. A pack of beasts was attacking a group of mountain elves, who were barely managing to defend themselves.

Rydel had used that chance to throw a Rain of Stars from the boat, where nobody would attack him back. He felt excited as his Dao of the Sun covered the Stars, transforming them into fire rocks that caused massive damage in the area.

After a few uses of the skill, he noticed the difference between his Dao of the Sun and the Dao of the Moonlight. Apart from the obvious difference, the expenditure of energy from each usage was greater than the latter.

However, the sheer capability of destruction was something that the Moonlight could never hope to achieve. Both of them had different uses, Moonlight was better for sneaking and assassination, while Sun was better for general combat.

One of his weaknesses had been alleviated thanks to that. Although he still needed to create new abilities, and get used to the power of the Sun.

Also, he had willed the Moon for different abilities that had conferred him great versatilities. Would the same happen if he praised the Sun? It was on his checklist of things to do.

After helping the elves, they marched back without stopping. In just under two more weeks since they departed from the Cemetery of Comets, they reached the elven capital, Osserion.

***

Osserion was like nothing that Rydel had seen since having reincarnated. Forest elves weren’t very materialistic, if they needed something they’d construct it, if not, then it was a waste of time.

Osserion was the exact opposite. It was opulence in his purest state. The walls were gargantuan, they reached the lowest strata of clouds, piercing the heavens. They were golden and pristine, without a single crack or blemish.

A double set of doors half the height of the walls were locked. Not that they could probably be used. These doors had smaller doors on them, nine sets varying in different sizes.

Carriages and the normal populace were entering from the smallest door. Occasionally, the privileged ones entered through the second smallest.

Rydel wasn’t able to discern the interior from his position, as they hadn’t stopped at the entrance. Their boat had lifted and entered above the walls.

A patrol of guards mounted above hawks eyed the boat with awe and respect, letting them pass without any questions asked.

Rydel didn’t say anything but reassured himself that getting in with Lady Allyna would open many doors for him. He didn’t want to take advantage of her either, nor didn’t he want to offend her. His connections were valuable, it was needed to shelter and appreciate them.

Soon, they went to a landing place of sorts. Lady Allyna left his cabin for the first time on the journey.

“We are back in Osserion, again.” Allyna sighed.

Allyna didn’t have many opportunities to leave her manor unguarded, much less to spend time with Galather alone. That’s the reason she had rushed without caring about the costs, as each day was precious for her.

The last time they had seen each other was thirty years ago in a meeting.

Allyna marched into the crowded streets, the entire group following behind her.

Rydel was fascinated as he watched his first true medieval city. However, this one was tinted with magic everywhere.

The performances in the street made use of their great dexterity to create amazing tricks. One of them was juggling ten daggers at the same time, each of them falling on a different finger every time.

A singer was playing an instrument that resembled a guitar. The sound was muted to those far away from him, but if someone entered his range, they’d be surprised by the amazing melody. Dancers moved to the rhythm of the music.

Peddlers were everywhere, each side of the street filled with them. In fact, if you looked up, you found the occasional peddler above a flying carpet patronizing his latest product.

Pedestrians wore luxurious clothes, not trying to hide their wealth. Rydel felt a little uncomfortable with this, as he felt that he didn’t belong.

However, his thick skin let him forget about this point to keep being a country bumping fascinated with everything around him. He made some ‘oooohs’ and ‘aaaaah’ to annoy Shael a little and embarrass her, but in good faith.

They soon left behind the business area to enter the quiet residential zone, where the Imperial Family had private manors for their members. They entered a modest manor.

Modest in comparison with some of the more exaggerated ones of their neighbors, some of them seemed to be in a war to see who had the more varied manor.

From one that resembled a gothic castle, to one just three houses at the right, that was made from food.

It was a child’s paradise, it had a brown moat, made of a drink that resembled chocolate. The walls were made of hard-cookie and the doors of cotton candy.

“Why is every manor so different?” Rydel asked.

He could understand a little bit of variation as they were in a magical world, but this seemed a tad too much.

“The manors depend on which Dao is cultivated by the owner. To live in a home with affinity to their Daos it’s a luxury, but every little advantage counts.” Shael responded.

Lady Allyna had already left them behind to enter closed-door cultivation, until something important called her. That was the life of an Ascended, their lifespan was twenty times that of a mortal elf, reaching ten thousand years old.

However, the Dao was also much more difficult to comprehend, the quantity of ether to level up enormous. If they could even level up, as many people were stuck because of their attributes distribution.

It was fundamental to have a balanced status, but it wasn’t easy to achieve. They needed to have high attributes to have a lead in battles, making them elites.

This came to a cost, having to balance the rest of their attributes. Too much vitality compared to the sum of strength and endurance, and tumors and even appendices would start to grow from their bodies until the person died.

Too much endurance compared to vitality, and the body wouldn’t keep up, becoming a dried husk devoid of life.

Too much spirit compared to the physical body, and they’ll explode too.

There were too many paths that lead to death. Sometimes, people didn’t have a choice early on, and it was impossible to change at a later date. Barring their path of cultivation forever, as they couldn’t level up even once for risk of dying, and every resource that could increase their statistics base had already been used and proven already ineffective.

Shael led him to his room, the place where he’d live for the next five years. Or at least that was his plan.

“Do you have any recommendations of what to do in my free time?” Rydel innocently asked.

Of course, he already knew what he wanted to do, but he needed to give her some face too. She had helped him a lot after all.

“Now that you mentioned… There is an Artificer that is close to our family, and you could probably learn a trick or two from him. The only thing is that you need to contribute your Daos for certain weapons, but nothing much.” Shael happily said.

Well, he lived under her ceiling.

“Of course, I’ll talk to him when I’m used to the city.”

They made a little bit more small talk before Shael went to her room to rest. She had lived through war and then stayed three weeks in the boat, she only wanted to lay down on her bed and rest for months.

After investigating the room with their spiritual and divine senses. Naveena even made a few chants to make sure. They reaffirmed that they were indeed alone.

‘What do you need?’ Rydel asked.

‘I want to explore the market to see if there is anything worthwhile. Also, let’s meet at the night, we’ll play the poor damsel who needs rescue and needs her prince charming. You’d have an excuse about knowing my elvenoid form, and we can casually meet after that.’ Naveena said with confidence.

They planned out the fine details of their plan and every possible contingency. They were ready.