WIEDERGEBURT Act II: Chapter 8

The next morning, our forces gathered together and set off toward Vhan. Most of us walked. A few rode on Struts, those bird-like Demon Beasts with fluffy feathers, gangly legs, and long necks. However, they weren’t the only mounts people were riding on.

I glanced at a large reptile as it passed by me, its four long legs granting it a swift stride despite how slow it looked. This one had green scales that glistened in the light. Yellow eyes with no whites stared at me as it went by. I’d only seen a few Land Drakes before, but I’d still seen enough to recognize one.

It took 2 hours to reach Vhan from our current location, but that was partly because we moved at a slower speed so as not to exhaust our fighting forces too much. When we finally reached the city, and I got a good glimpse of it, I could only frown when I didn’t immediately spot anything out of place.

“It doesn’t look like there’s anything wrong here,” I muttered.

“It does seem rather peaceful, doesn’t it?” Kari added.

“That peace is deceptive,” Tungsten said. He and Erica were marching alongside us. We were at the head of the procession. “It might seem peaceful now, but that is only because those invaders have slaughtered all the people who were living there. Wait until you enter the city.”

This man had a very blunt way of speaking, but I figured his gruff attitude was just a part of his personality and tried not to let it bother me. Kari didn’t seem bothered either. On the other hand, Erica was rolling her eyes at the man.

“Everyone!” Erica shouted as she turned around and glanced at our army. We were about 3,500 strong, which wasn’t much compared to the forces arrayed against us, but that didn’t stop her from exuding an aura of confidence. “An unknown force of strange creatures have invaded one of our cities, taken the lives of our people, and disrupted the peace we have maintained for thousands of years! We cannot allow such villainous acts to go unpunished! Today, we will teach these invaders of the mistake they made in coming here!”

The woman was a great orator. Her words had a rallying effect on our troops, causing them to cheer, shout, and stomp their feet. I recognized that it was probably more than just her words. The women of the Battling Valkyries adored her, and the men of the Paladin Sect coveted her strength and beauty. It wouldn’t be outrageous to consider her an object of worship among the masses. I’d heard through the grapevine that Erica even had her own fanclub.

“Are all of you ready?!” Erica demanded to know. The resulting roars made her turn around and pointed the massive claymore in her hand at the city. “Then CHARGE!”

Her words were like a battlehorn that echoed across the vast plain, and with her command, the men and women of the Paladin Sect and Battling Valkyries broke into a sprint. Kari and myself also ran alongside them. Our two companions for this mission, Erica and Tungsten, were with us.

Like most cities, Vahn was surrounded by a large wall meant to protect it against invasion. These ramparts had the usual broad top with a walkway and stone parapet. However, they weren’t very tall compared to some of the other cities, or maybe that was just my perspective due to the massive mountain located in the very center of Vhan, upon which the city had been built around. Everything looked small compared to that.

A loud whistling sound filled the air as we ran. Everyone looked up and became shocked to discover arrows pouring down on us from above. Not only were these people, creatures, shooting arrows at us, but I could even see some massive boulders being lobbed through the air as well. They were using the city’s trebuchet against us!

While I was wondering if I should do what I could to block the descending projectiles, Tungsten leapt into the air as he unsheathed his battle axe, and then he began spinning. Spiritual Power surged from his body as his spin acted as a catalyst to channel it. A powerful storm of wind swept out from his body and created a strange funnel that drew all the arrows and debris in. I could only gape when I saw the boulders being torn apart from the wind pressure.

When all the projectiles had been destroyed, Tungsten stopped spinning and landed on the ground next to us. He continued running as if nothing had happened, causing Kari and I to glance at each other. I liked to think we were strong. However, the strength this man just displayed with that one Spiritual Technique made me feel inadequate. That Spiritual Technique of his was at least an A-rank.

Our charge continued unimpeded thanks to Tungsten. It wasn’t long before we reached the massive gate. The portcullis was a heavy vertically-closing gate consisting of a latticed grille made from a combination of metal and wood. I judged it to be at least twenty meters tall. Currently, that gate was closed.

“You’re up, Erica,” Tungsten said.

“Oh, my. Ordering me around like that. How bold of you,” Erica said in a chiding manner, though that didn’t stop her from acting.

The woman bent her knees and ground the steel toes of her boots into the earth, generating a massive amount of heat around her feet. I watched as the air surrounding her boots warped from the heat waves. That wasn’t all she did, though, as the woman also tucked her massive claymore into her side as though preparing to thrust it. Barely a second passed after this action, and then she shot forward with a speed that was almost as quick as my Flash Step. Not only that, but her body began to spin along an axis and soon caught fire. As flames spewed from her body like a fountain, they gradually took shape, turning into a giant firebird that emitted a strange-sounding shriek.

And then she slammed into the door.

I’d been expecting a massive explosion, but instead, the portcullis melted around Erica as she blasted a hole clean through it. And it wasn’t a prolonged melting either. The entire action happened within an instant. One moment there was a door, and the next there was a gaping hole about ten meters tall and five across with molten iron dripping along the ground.

“Everyone, charge in!” Tungsten commanded.

We rushed through the gate. Kari and I ran alongside Tungsten and entered Vahn. Erica was waiting for us, steam wafting off her body and weapon as she stood there. The stonework around her feet had melted from the heat her body was emitting.

“It’s good of you all to come,” she said. “I was growing impatient.”

I rolled my eyes at the comment. “You didn’t wait that long.”

“You’re so strong,” Kari said.

Erica grinned at the blonde woman. “You say that like you aren’t strong.”

“Not as strong as you.”

“Everyone!” Tungsten commanded while Erica, Kari, and I bantered. “You know your tasks! Get to your assigned sectors and secure those safe zones! Kill any cultists you see!”

The people who had poured in through the gate acknowledged his words with a shout, but there were more entering through the hole with every passing second. However, more important than the people coming in through the gate were the creatures standing on the rampart’s walkway.

I’d seen them before, but they normally wore cloaks. Now they weren’t. Pale skin, a sunken face, dark red pupils with black sclera, the creatures before us only vaguely resemble humans in that they were bipedal. They walked on two legs, had two arms, and a head. That was it, however. After that, these creatures more closely resembled a decaying corpse than a living person.

The monsters were holding crossbows. All of them turned around and aimed at us. Erica and Tungsten looked like they were about to do something, but I couldn’t let them be the only ones who worked.

“Kari!”

“I’m on it!”

With Kari by my side, the two of us activated a Spiritual Technique that I had created myself. The Flash Step.

To the unknowing eye, it would have looked like the two of us had suddenly vanished, but we were really just moving at an incredibly high speed. We appeared on the rampart wall before even a split second had passed, and there we battled against the monsters who’d been trying to shoot crossbows at us from above.

I slammed my fist into the face of one creature. With a loud shout, I unleashed my Spiritual Power and transformed it into the lightning element. A powerful bluish white bolt erupted from my hand. The head I had punched exploded, and then the lightning bolt surged forward and struck sixteen more of these monsters, blasting a hole through each one. The corpse fell. Smoke poured from their gaping wounds.

On the other side, Kari twirled her ranseur around her body in a spirited dance, slicing off the limbs of several monsters with each swing. After finishing her dance, she thrust her ranseur forward. A conical beam of light erupted from the tip of her weapon and expanded rapidly. Divine Buster Cannon. All of the monsters trapped within her attack were annihilated in an instant.

There weren’t that many monsters on this rampart walkway, maybe fifty at most, and we made short work of them. Once they were defeated, we used Flash Step to return to Erica’s and Tungsten’s side. There were still Spiritualists pouring in through the entrance Erica had made.

“Let’s go,” I said to the pair.

Erica and Tungsten actually looked at us in surprise. It was pretty amusing to see the way Tungsten’s eyes had gone wide and his jaw hung open. The look of shocked etched on his face was something I was sure I’d remember for years to come.

“I can see now why Erica spoke so highly of you two,” he said with a shake of his head. “Come. Everyone else has their mission, and we have ours.”

Erica nodded her agreement. “We need to reach the ruins at the top of this mountain quickly. The longer we wait, the harder it will be for our forces to maintain their positions.”

Kari and I gave her an assenting nod, and the four of us began our journey, making our way inward. As we moved, I looked up at the massive mountain looming before us. It didn’t look this ominous the last time Kari and I came through here…

***

Several days passed. I wouldn’t say a lot happened during that time. Lin continued visiting the library to study humanity’s written language, and I would often join her, though I would sometimes leave her there so I could do my own training. Kari would also occasionally join us at the library when she wasn’t at the Spiritualist Academy. She seemed to have taken a shine to her role as Lin’s “Big Sister.”

I had also finally been able to formally introduce Fay to Lin, which had been one of the most interesting first meetings ever. Even though she’d already known about Lin being a Lamia, seeing Lin for the first time in her true form, witnessing her snake-like body, was a truly shocking experience for the redhead. That said, I liked to think that the meeting itself went well.

At present, Lin was at the library studying again. Kari and Fay both had classes at the Spiritualist Academy. Meanwhile, I was walking through the hallways of the Alchemist Association.

There were a lot more people at the Alchemist Association now. As I walked down the hall, a number of men and women wearing the purple robes of an alchemist were wandering around as well. Some of them recognized who I was and greeted me with a polite bow. Most, however, just ignored me. I didn’t show up very often, so I didn’t blame anyone for not knowing me. I also wasn’t one for standing on ceremony.

I entered the Refining Hall, where nearly 50 alchemists were working on refining pills, and made my way around the hall along the outer edge. The stations that were set up looked more advanced than I remembered. Rather than simple wooden tables, they were desks with alcoves and drawers to store items. Wandering between these desks was the Alchemist Association head’s brother and several senior alchemists.

It looked like the Alchemist Association really was doing well.

Upon reaching the office to the Head of the Alchemist Association, I knocked on the door, and then entered upon receiving a soft, “come in” from the other side.

Feinrea was standing behind her desk when I entered. Her advanced alchemy set was out as always, and just like the last time I had come here, she was mixing different ingredients and jotting down how they interacted with each other. As always, the woman was obsessed—er, dedicated to her craft.

“I see you’re hard at work,” I said while walking up to her desk.

Her reddish orange hair shifting as she looked up, Feinrea Kuuni, the Head of the Alchemist Association, glanced at me with her doe-like brown eyes.

“Eryk,” she greeted with a surprised smile. “What brings you here today? If it’s your share of the profits, you should wait until the end of the month.”

Despite the Alchemist Association doing better financially, this woman was wearing the same shabby robes as before. They did look a little better. It looked like a tailor had fixed them up a bit. They wrapped around her buxom figure, emphasizing her large chest, thin waist, and wide hips. However, I really had to wonder about her lack of care when it came to clothing. Did she just not care for how she dressed?

“I’m not here for money.” I shook my head and smiled. “I’m here because I want to introduce a new alchemy pill into your refining rotation.”

Feinrea’s eyes lit up, both in surprise and joy, when I mentioned a new alchemy pill. “Does this mean you’re going to teach me how to make it?”

“I am.” I paused long enough to compose myself. “It is called the Blood Replenishing Pill. It’s used to replenish a person’s blood after they’ve lost too much. I’m sure you can recognize how useful such a pill would be. This one will require completely different ingredients than what we have been using.”

Feinrea’s body shivered as though she could barely contain her excitement. “What ingredients do you need to make this?”

“We’re going to be using Eldar Sap as the catalyst for this. I also need Yellow Snapdragons, Wild Geranium, Water Nymph Bone Marrow, Mulberry Tree Milk, Spira Root, Four Tongue Clover, and Ancient Cedar Shavings.”

Feinrea jotted down the list of ingredients I needed on some parchment, but the more ingredients I listed, the more she frowned. By the time I was done, a disappointed look had crossed the woman’s face.

“We have most of these ingredients,” she said, the frown she wore growing more pronounced. “However, we are missing the Four Tongue Clover and Water Nymph Bone Marrow. Four Tongue Clover is located fairly deep in the Demon Beast Mountain Range, so it’s pretty rare to come by, and the Water Nymph is listed as a C-rank Demon Beast that’s a B-rank threat. Of course, we can hire some Spiritualists to go out and collect ingredients now, so acquiring them won’t be too much of a problem, but until you showed up, we lacked the money necessary for such a thing.”

I nodded as I listened to her problem, but I didn’t think this was that big of a deal. In fact, this might be something of a good opportunity.

“Don’t worry about hiring someone to get those ingredients,” I said to Feinrea. “I will head into the Demon Beast Mountain Range and get them myself.”

“You will?” Feinrea asked in surprise.

“Yes.” I smiled at her. “And I plan on taking some people with me.”

***

I returned to the library after checking the apothecary located in the Merchant’s District just in case they had the ingredients the Alchemist Association was missing. They didn’t. I guessed that was to be expected since alchemy had declined so much.

Upon entering the library, the first thing I noticed was the large group of men sitting around the tables. They were all between the ages of… I wanted to say their mid-teens to early-twenties, but it wasn’t like I was the greatest judge of age. Most of them wore the clothing of a commoner. However, there were also a few dressed in silk pants, doublets, and other clothing expected of the nobility. As I walked closer, I was able to pick up the topic of their conversation.

“Those girls are so hot. Damn. I never would have imagined I’d get to see a sight like this.”

“I know. Princess Kari, Fay Valstine, and that new Lamia girl. What was her name again? Lin? All three of them are incomparably beautiful.”

“I wish I could talk to them.”

“Why don’t you go up to them and try?”

“Ha! Do you take me for a fool?! I know what would happen if I went up to them. I’d be politely turned away at best. Girls like that aren’t interested in guys like me.”

“There’s also Eryk Veiger. Don’t forget about him. I heard he’s close to all three of those girls.”

“Damn that pretty boy!”

Listening to the conversation of the boys made me glance at the back of the room, where Fay, Kari, and Lin were all sitting together at a long table. Huh. Students must have been let out of the academy. I hadn’t realized it was so late.

It looked like Kari was testing Lin on how well she had memorized our syllabic letter system. The young Lamia girl was biting her lower lip as she used a quill to draw the letters that Kari asked of her. Meanwhile, Fay was watching the two of them with a complicated expression.

I ignored the boys at the tables and walked past them. They squawked when they realized I’d been standing behind them this whole time, but I honestly didn’t particularly care if they were embarrassed or surprised. Coming up to the table where my three… three… well, I wasn’t really sure what I should call them. Girlfriends? Wives? Fiancées? In either event, I walked up to their table and caught the tail end of Kari’s and Lin’s conversation.

“You’re doing very well. You’ve already memorized 1,000 of our syllabic letters in just three days. That’s very impressive.”

“This princess has a very good memory. Saying that, memorizing so many letters is difficult.”

“But you’re doing a very good job. If you keep this pace up, you’ll have them all memorized in just twelve more days, and then I can begin teaching you how to combine syllables into words and sentences.”

“This princess is looking forward to that.”

As the two girls happily chattered like a pair of sisters, Fay spotted me approaching and smiled.

“Eryk, back from visiting the Alchemist Association?”

I nodded. “It took less time than I thought it would.”

“Eryk!”

“Darling!”

Kari and Lin greeted me after I’d spoken. While Kari was wearing a broad smile, Lin greeted me with a more haughty demeanor, though from the way her tail thumped against the floor, I could tell she was excited.

“Hey, you two.” I sat down beside them. “How is the lesson going?”

“Great!” Kari said before she dove into an explanation of how well Lin was doing. It seemed the girl was memorizing our syllable system at a rapid pace, which I was impressed by.

“You’re doing a really good job,” I said to Lin with a smile.

“It is only natural that this princess would work hard to learn the written language her husband uses,” Lin muttered as she turned her head. I smiled. For as arrogant and haughty as she sometimes acted, she got embarrassed over simple matters way too easily.

I spoke with the three girls some more, but it was mostly about inconsequential matters, such as how Fay’s and Kari’s classes were that day. The two of them told me they were not impressed with their current lessons. According to them, their lessons weren’t advanced enough, which I guessed was because the two of them had already advanced beyond what the Spiritualist Academy normally taught.

“Before I forget,” I began after they finished telling me about their day, “I wanted to ask about how Dante responded after discovering what happened to Grant.”

“He… wasn’t very happy with me,” Kari admitted with a bit of a blush. “That said, because I was the one who killed him, Father said he wouldn’t punish you.”

“Are you being punished?” asked Fay.

Kari shook her head. “No. I think my third father understands why I did it. He said he wouldn’t punish me, though my first father, Valence, wanted to. He said that what I had done was reckless. Dante and Rainer stopped him by reminding him that I wasn’t under orders not to kill Grant Leucht.”

“Has there been any word from the Leucht Family regarding this matter?” I asked as Lin’s tail curled around my left leg.

“Not yet, though I’m sure they know something has happened by now.” Kari tilted her head and frowned. “I don’t know what they will do, though. There’s no evidence to suggest that Grant was even killed. Even if they discover he died, I’m not sure they will be able to find out who did it.”

I wasn’t so sure about that, but I knew there was no benefit to mentioning this right now. She could be right. She could be wrong. Only time would tell.

“Oh!” Kari suddenly sat up straighter. “Before I forget, my third father wanted to speak with you about something.”

“Dante did?” I leaned back in surprise. “Any idea what he wants to speak to me about?”

“Not a one, though I imagine it has something to do with our last mission,” Kari said.

Her words caused me to glance at Fay, whose rescue had been the subject of our mission. She looked a bit red in the face. Perhaps she was also remembering what that mission had been about. In either event, this was a pretty fortunate situation.

“I also need to speak with Dante, so this works out well,” I said.

“You do?” Now it was Kari’s turn to appear surprised.

Smiling, I said, “Yes. You see, I need to gather some ingredients from the Demon Beast Mountain Range, and so I was thinking now would be a good opportunity for the four of us to get some experience by journeying outside together.”

The three girls looked stunned by my declaration, which I had to admit came kind of out of the blue, but I also remembered that exploring the outside world had been one of Kari’s dreams. While Fay and Lin still seemed somewhat shocked, Kari soon recovered. Her eyes, like brilliant stars gleaming in the night sky, looked like someone had just told her that her birthday had come early.

“We’re getting to travel outside?! Really?!”

“You are including this princess in your journey plans?”

“Are you sure traveling into the Demon Beast Mountain Range is a good idea?”

All three of them asked me a question at the same time, causing me to give them a strained smile as I raised my hands in a gesture telling them to calm down.

“Easy there. Let me answer your questions one at a time. I still have to get permission from Dante to let us enter the Demon Beast Mountain Range. Yes, I am including you in my plans, Lin, so long as you want to come with us. And the four of us are sufficiently strong enough to journey into the Demon Beast Mountain Range, Fay. I’ve taken a measure of your respective strengths. Each of you are more than capable of fending for yourselves out there.”

My words seemed to ease the three girls, though it didn’t calm down Kari’s excitement. She immediately began talking with Fay and Lin about how excited she was. While Lin also appeared enthusiastic about the idea, though she tried hard to hide it (her tail gave her away again), Fay appeared a bit uncertain.

“Are you worried?” I asked her as she listened to Kari talk about all the things she wanted to see once they traveled into the Demon Beast Mountain Range.

“What I really want is to explore the ruins located deeper in the Demon Beast Mountain Range…” the enthusiastic princess was espousing.

Fay sent me an uncertain smile. “I… well, yes. There are many dangers in the Demon Beast Mountain Range. If we go in there and something happened to Kari…” she gazed at the smiling girl and bit her lip. “… I don’t think I would ever forgive myself if I let her get hurt again.”

I understood that she was talking about that time when they were younger, how she and Kari had gone outside the walls of Nevaria and were attacked by a pack of low-ranking Demon Beasts. Kari had been seriously injured. It was obvious to me that Fay blamed herself for what happened, but it seemed like she was forgetting something.

“You two are far stronger now than you were back then.” I reached out and grabbed her hands, which had been sitting on the table. “Not only that, but Lin and I will be going with you. Trust me. So long as the four of us are together, nothing will happen.”

Fay looked at our hands, and then she looked up at me. I was a bit embarrassed by her gaze, partly because I knew why she was giving it to me, but I didn’t let go of her hands. Instead, I tried to infuse my confidence into her.

It must have worked because Fay’s smile finally relaxed. “Yes, you are correct. Thank you, Eryk.”

“You’re welcome,” I responded simply.

Since we were more or less done at the library, the four of us packed up our supplies and left. We traveled through the streets of Nevaria. I would have said the streets were crowded, because they were, in fact, filled with many people, but our group had no trouble moving through them. People parted before us as we walked.

I was sure a part of that was still because of Lin. It had only been a few days since she began traveling outside, and that was not enough time for humans who had never seen a Lamia before to get used to her presence. However, there was also Kari, the Princess of Nevaria, walking alongside us. Of course, I didn’t disclude myself and Fay. We were fairly well-known now thanks to the Spiritualist Grand Tournament, but we were definitely overshadowed by our two companions.

When we arrived at the Nevarian Spiritualist Headquarters in the Northern District, one of the guards at the front gate directed our group to the command room. It looked the same as I remembered it. However, there was only one person inside this time. It was Dante, sitting with his feet propped up on his desk and a lazy expression on his face. I’d never seen a more lackadaisical individual than him.

“Oh? So you’ve come, Eryk. I see you’ve brought quite the entourage with you.” Dante glanced at us with an easy-going smile before greeting his daughter. “Kari. You seem to be enjoying yourself.”

“I am, Father,” Kari said simply. I wondered if her fathers ever got confused since she seemed to call all three of them by that title. How did they differentiate from each other?

“You said you wanted to speak with me,” I said.

“I did.” Dante took his boots off the desk. They hit the ground with a dull thump. “I’m sure Kari has already informed you that we have no intention of punishing you for Grant Leucht’s death since you were not the one who killed him. However, I must warn you to be on guard. While we haven’t been able to determine whether or not the Leucht Family is aware of what happened, I wouldn’t put it past them. They seemed to know everything that’s happening in Nevaria before even Empress Hilda knows.”

Nodding at his words, I accepted them for what they were. In truth, I had already planned on being on my guard.

“I’m sure that’s not the only reason you wanted to speak to me,” I pressed.

Dante grinned like a boy who’d been caught doing something he shouldn’t have. “You’re right. The other thing I wanted to talk to you about is to see if you’re interested in joining the Nevarian Spiritualists. I don’t think I need to tell you how impressed I was with your performance during the Spiritualist Grand Tournament. I think you’d make a great addition.”

“You’re offer is very flattering, but I refuse,” I said.

“Don’t be so hasty to refuse,” Dante said. “Give it some thought before coming to a decision.”

“I have given it some thought.” I looked at him with a sly smile. “I knew the moment I won the Spiritualist Grand Tournament that people would begin trying to recruit me, but I have no intention of joining any organization, be they the Nevarian Spiritualists, the Imperial Royal Guard, or a mercenary company. I have my own goals and plans.”

Dante sighed in disappointment. “I see. So you’ve thought about this since before the tournament was even won.”

“Correct.”

“Well, I won’t lie and say that isn’t disappointing,” he admitted, scratching the back of his silver hair.

I shrugged. “Don’t look so glum. While I don’t plan on joining you, I do plan on proposing several ideas to help strengthen Nevaria, which includes making the Nevarian Spiritualists more powerful than they are now.”

While I was talking to Dante, Kari, Fay, and Lin were having their own conversation. I kept one ear open so I could listen in. It wasn’t eavesdropping since they were right next to me.

“Is it just me, or has this conversation gotten a little off track?” asked Fay.

“It is not just you. This princess believes our original purpose for coming here has been completely derailed,” Lin added.

“To be fair, I’m pretty sure this was Father’s reason for requesting him, so it’s not as if this wasn’t his original intent,” Kari said.

“It seems you have your own reasons for coming to see me,” Dante said when he heard what the three girls were talking about.

I smiled. “That is correct. I came with a request.”

Leaning back in his chair, Dante placed his right elbow on the armrest and leaned his head against it. His silver hair shifted. Bright eyes like burnished steel stared at me. The smile on his face still appeared lazy, but it also seemed sharp somehow, like a half-drawn blade.

“What is your request?”

Straightening my posture, I calmed my expression and stared into the man’s eyes.

“I would like you to grant myself, Kari, Fay, and Lin permission to enter the Demon Beast Mountain Range.”

Rather than looking shocked, Dante just chuckled tiredly. “Yeah, I figured it was something like that.” His expression grew stern as he stared at all four of us, causing Fay and Lin to straighten their posture. “Given that you won the Spiritualist Grand Tournament for this reason, I really don’t have any choice but to grant your request. However, I have a caveat that I would like to add before giving you permission.”

“And that is?” I asked.

Dante wore a mischievous smile as he said, “that you take my three sons with you.”