The Siege of Arconia Chapter 48 + Epilogue + Next Volume Chapter 1 [Includes End of Volume Grimoire List As Well]

As I held the piece of paper in my hand, I had to try not to laugh. I didn’t want Zeke thinking that I was making fun of him but… his idea seemed somewhat preposterous. Like it had come straight out of a children’s fairy tale. “So… this is like a treasure map?”

Zeke sighed. “I know, I know, it sounds unlikely, and more likely than not the map leads to something else, like a religious site or a tomb. But, I always dreamed of one day being able to go there, or to lead an expedition to see where this map lead to. Of course, I can’t do that.” He let out a weary smile. “I deluded myself into thinking I might do so once I retired, but now that I know more of what my father’s job entails and what it really means to be governor, I know that I will never get time to do something like that - not unless I abandoned my responsibilities completely. And I cannot do that. But, if you want to go towards that area anyway, and you wish to explore this world for an answer to your worries… I’ll give you this, and if you ever come back to Arconia, how about you tell me what it lead to?”

I took a look at the original map. “This isn’t in an a language I know…” That was a big hole in my ‘the Ruler of the Astral Winds was from Earth theory’: the fact that if it were so, people would recognize the language I had written my grimoires in, unless he knew a language other than English. However, I had seen some grimoires from Hansini when the Book Fair had come to town, and none of the writing systems matched anything that I could think I’d seen back on Earth.

Still, even if such wasn’t the case, Hansini was one of the biggest hubs of Liberomancy in the entire world - it could be said to be second only to Serragnia.

My first choice of destination was not Serragnia for a number of reasons, chief among them being that it was much further away than Hansini.

“Alright, I can agree to your terms,” I said, carefully taking the pieces of paper he offered me. “If I end up finding something cool, maybe I’ll send a message through the Liberomancer’s Guild to tell you what it is.”

The Liberomancer’s Guild of every country were independent of each other - but they oftentimes communicated with each other. Maybe not with other guild branches a massive distance away, but definitely to those who were situated next to each other. In that way, like a game of telephone, you could pass on a message through the various institutes, and although it would be slow, it would still be faster than walking back to Arconia unless I somehow found a way to teleport.

With that said - if I actually found a horde of Rank Four and especially Rank Five grimoires, I would do my best to keep my mouth shut about what I had found.

Liberomancers relied on cooperating with each others, yes, but they were also simultaneously competitors. The benefits of cooperation were constantly weighed against the risks that a competitor would later use what you shared with them against you - at Rank One and for a good part at Rank Two cooperation was greatly favored over competition.

It changed drastically at Rank Three given how much more powerful Rank Three grimoires were - and Rank Four grimoires were so closely guarded that you could never find one on the open market.

If a Rank Five grimoire existed, or was rumored to exist in a place, I had no doubt that multiple countries would readily declare war on each other just to seize it. Yes, people were bound by rules and regulations - but that was only until the benefits of breaking those rules and regulations outweighed the negative effects. And a Rank Five grimoire would doubtlessly be such a treasure. If it got out that I had one, there would be many people, most of them Liberomancers, who would not hesitate to kill me to get their hands on such a grimoire.

The Ruler of the Astral Winds had been forced to hide most of his misdeeds or do them secretly when he had been Rank Four - but could do whatever he wanted when he was Rank Five. Why was that? Because Rank Five was just that much stronger than Rank Four, to the point where he was said to be practically invincible! Only a demonic Rank Four grimoire had been able to defeat him, and seeing how much more powerful [Crimson Lance] was then an ordinary Rank One grimoire I could only imagine how powerful that Rank Four demonic spell might’ve been.

“I thank you for that,” Zeke said, now returning to his usual business-minded self. The excitement that initially adorned his face was now gone.

I had felt sorry for Drake, but I couldn’t help but also feel a twinge of sympathy for Zeke right now. There were clearly other things he wanted to do in life, but being the elder sibling, he must have been under a lot of pressure to perform, not only for his sake, but also to set an example for his younger brother. And he must have set aside many of his desires, like exploring this area, for that sake.

“When will you leave?” Zeke asked.

“In a few weeks,” I told him.

He shook my hand. “I don’t know if we’ll be able to meet again before you leave, but if we can’t - I wish you luck on your journey, Master Liberomancer.”

I chuckled. “Am I still entitled to call myself that?”

“Oh, don’t worry,” Zeke said. “Neither me nor my father have any desire to contest that title of yours. As far as I’m concerned, you made something new - that this world hasn’t seen before, and that is good enough to get that title. I finished that grimoire you had made by the way, soon, they might call me the Spider King of Arconia.”

I couldn’t help but smile - in a way, much like seeing those Elephant Frogs being used during the siege, it was nice to see what kind of lasting legacy I was leaving in this world. Back on Earth, I had been nothing more than average. Here though I was something akin to lower nobility - I had already managed to make somewhat of a difference, even if that change was rather miniscule in the grand scheme of things. I couldn't do much to change society as a whole in the way that I would've liked, but my contributions had likely saved the lives of at least a hundred people in the city.

It felt good to feel important, but not nearly enough to deter me from finding a way home. And as it was, even if I could enact societal change on a far-reaching scale, I knew that I lacked the requisite knowledge and experience to be able to make do so and that I would more likely than not just mess things up. What worked on Earth might very well not work here in Arconia, after all.

“Were you able to make a translation?” I asked him.

Although Charlotte’s Web was written in English, it was still possible for Zeke to speak the translation he knew out loud for someone to transcribe or just to try to write it himself.

The problem was that might not necessarily work. Certain things did not translate well between languages, and the more complex the work, the higher the likelihood that the translation might fail to make a successful grimoire. There was even the possibility that it might work but give an entirely different skill or spell because the translation was that far removed from the original.

On top of which, certain things like poems which relied heavily on wordplay were practically impossible to make faithful translations of that would work as grimoires. So were things that involved technical terms from my world - how would one translate things like ‘quantum physics’ or ‘electrons’ into a language of this world accurately?

Charlotte’s Web was not exactly that complicated, but it was Rank Three, which greatly diminished the chance of that kind of thing working out.

“I haven’t tried yet - most people would not even consider it worth attempting,” he admitted. “But if I can, we could potentially make other copies for our people to use in the future. Despite the massive cost involved and the extremely low probability of success, it still might be worth it for the potential payoff.”

If there was another dryad attack, this grimoire would without a doubt form a great pillar of defense. Not to mention [Summon Tyrant Arachnea] was a useful spell in and of itself even without the combo.

We spoke of some smaller matters before wishing each other luck.

As I exited, I remembered that there was still one last thing I needed to take care of - if I didn’t, I couldn’t feel like I’d left things unfinished here in Arconia. My conscience would not rest easy if I did not do so.

“Granny Qi…” I said one day, when I felt like the time was right. Or was the timing really right? She was just having breakfast so I also thought that maybe I should put it off for now…

When was the time right for something like this though? I was going to be leaving soon, and I also knew that if I kept kicking the can down the road I’d never get it over with - it was best just to peel off the band-aid right now.

“Yes?”

“I uh, have something I’d like to tell you before I leave…” I began.

I had already told three people the truth of where I came from, Lance, Drake, and Zeke. It didn’t feel right to not tell Granny Qi as well.

The only thing was that this felt harder than those other three - I had been living under her roof for quite a long time. How was I going to justify why I had hidden so much from her?

Secrecy had made sense initially, but I had kept things from her for a very long time. There were multiple points of time where I felt it would’ve been appropriate to come clean to her.

“…it’s about where I actually come from. I’m sorry, I wasn’t honest with you earlier, but I wanted you to know before I left,” I began. She stopped drinking her tea, put her cup down, and folded her hands on the table.

I had her full attention now.

And so I told her about Earth - how it was like and how I’d gotten here. How I was looking for a way back, and that I hadn’t found one as of yet. That the reason I was leaving Arconia was to see if I could find a possible way back to Earth.

Once I was done, I waited, wondering how she was going to react. She had listened while maintaining a flawless poker face throughout, though I felt like her eyes could bore holes into my head given the intensity with which she was looking at me.

“...so that’s it,” she said and finished the remaining dregs of her tea before going to go wash her cup.

What?!

“Um, is that is?” I asked. “I thought you’d have more of a reaction…”

“Oh, I knew you were hiding something for a very long time,” she said, waving her hand dismissively. “I’m actually just glad it didn’t involve some kind of crime. I had the craziest theories before, though it looks like the truth is stranger than fiction, isn’t it?”

“Yeah…” I said.

And that was it - she never felt the need to bring it up again.

The day of reckoning soon arrived - the day when I was set to leave Arconia.

Out of one last moment of desperation, I made my way to the same place where I had spawned in this city, as if saying “Hey- I’m leaving for good, so if you want to show me a path back home, you better do so now!”

But nothing happened, and so, I could only go through with my decision to leave.

My plan was this - I would first make my way to the capital, get some things done there like buying grimoires and the like as well as meeting the king, after which I would make my way to the University of Hitutsa.

There, I would try to find more information if I could about anyone who may have come from Earth, as well as getting a grimoire that would help me fly.

Afterwards, my plan was to eventually make my way to Hansini. There were actually two large merchant caravans that passed through Hitutsa - my best bet would be to hitch a ride with one of them. I might even end up coming back to Arconia then, possibly, in a few months if I caught one which was moving down back south here.

At Hansini, I wanted to explore more grimoires, and I guess that now I would also try to see if I could find that treasure which Zeke had wanted to find.

There might even be some clues hinting that the Ruler of the Astral Winds was from Earth and possibly a way to go back if he had made any progress on doing so.

If Hansini turned out to be another dead end, that would then leave Serragnia as the other most likely place that might have answers.

And if even that had nothing…

I shook my head. No, I couldn’t let myself wallow in despair - I had found myself in this world somehow, hadn’t I? Logically there must be a way back as well!

Two people accompanied me right to the gate as I was leaving.

One of them was Drake and the other was Granny Qi.

“Good luck, brother,” Drake said, shaking my hand. “I would have loved to come with you actually - it sounds very exciting, what you’re doing.” I would’ve liked that - I was leaving everything and everyone I knew in this world behind, and the knowledge that Drake was watching my back during my travels would’ve been quite reassuring. “But, I have my duties here.”

“I know,” I said. “Tell your brother that I haven’t forgotten the little present he gave me - I’ll see if I can find something.”

“Oh? What present? You mean that map - ah, I didn’t know he was serious about that,” Drake said. “But yes, if you find some buried treasure, do let us know! And one day, once you come back, we’ll go and drink the night away - the three of us!”

“I look forward to it!”

I then turned to Granny Qi.

Tears were gently streaming down her face- the only other time I had seen her cry was when she had been reminiscing about her husband near that waterfall that flowed backwards. “Thank you for everything - if I, if I find a way back home, and I know it’s a reliable one and will stay open long enough, I’ll come back to visit you one last time before leaving.”

Even while I said that, I couldn’t help but feel like I was lying.

If I found a way back home - it would likely be a temporary gate like the one that I brought me here, and even if it wasn’t, how could I be sure it would stay open long enough for me to make the journey back to Arconia? In nearly every single situation that I could think of, I’d have to take the opportunity to go back without hesitation. “And if I can’t come back - rest assured that I made my way back home,” I told her.

“Do you have enough for the journey?” she asked, wiping away her tears. “Food, water, anything that you’re forgetting…?”

“I think I have everything,” I said, while hugging her in a tearful embrace.

“Oh right, on that note,” Drake said, interrupting us. “You do have the paperwork explaining where you got the demonic grimoire from, right? You don’t want any other incidents in the capital…”

“Yeah, it’s all here,” I said to him. I took a deep breath. “Both of you, thank you, and hey - we all just might meet again.”

“I look forward to it!” Drake said. Granny Qi didn’t say anything, but nodded as a gentle smile blossomed on her face.

It was odd - I had a lot of bad memories of this city. I had arrived here with nothing and had been homeless for quite a while as I lived on the streets before finding Granny Qi, I had been fired from my job unjustifiably after working what would be considered abnormally long hours on Earth at said job, and to top it all off also had to fight in a siege and nearly died.

And yet, I couldn’t help but feel something trying to keep me from leaving.

There were lots of negative things about Arconia, yes, but in that moment, it was like they had all vanished as swiftly as the morning dew.

Granny Qi, getting to see her village, that unique waterfall, my coworkers back at Lauren’s shop, the Book Fair… I couldn’t say that everything that had happened to me in Arconia had been a negative experience, now then could I?

Without a doubt, I’d miss it.

But then again, it wasn’t like this was goodbye forever, was it?

And I couldn’t stay here forever - I was sure that there was an answer to how I could go back home - and if by chance someone from Earth did happen to show up in Arconia looking for me, Drake and Zeke would try to send a message to me.

Given how much time had passed though, that seemed highly unlikely.

The only real thing that I felt was left unfinished in Arconia was the issue of that girl - that girl during the Book Fair who had looked like she recognized the language I wrote in before buying two of my grimoires.

But, she had most likely left with the merchant caravan, and so there was practically no hope of finding her now. Maybe I’d see her if I joined the merchant caravan that would be headed back to Arconia once I got to Hitutsa?

And so, it was not without a heavy heart, but I did indeed take the first steps on my new journey as I exited the gates of Arconia.

The Second Bookmark/Volume 2 Epilogue

Several months earlier…

Silas could only curse his luck. He had only managed to make his way into the capital of Meloukas in the first place by having a friend of his smuggle him under a cart, while that friend caused a commotion at the front gates, letting Silas slip past security.

Otherwise, he would have no doubt triggered the guards’ [Demonic Detector] ability.

Now though, the merchant caravan had left the city two weeks ago, and he had been left stranded in the city. His friend had been unable to pull off the same trick twice, and so Silas was on his own when it came to finding a way out.

If he didn’t find a way out he would be eventually discovered and captured.

After searching, he had found a way out of the city… only it was not quite the kind of route he wanted to go down.

The city was surrounded entirely by a wall, which as per his knowledge, had no gaps or crevices from where he could sneak out. But there was a rudimentary sewage system, and at this specific point in the wall there was a place where there was a gap just large enough for a man of his build to slip through on towards the other side.

It must’ve been used for purposes of cleaning or the like given how he found out about it in the first place by eavesdropping on some sewage workers - but that was all just nonsense Silas was trying to think about to avoid thinking too hard about what he was going to do.

Taking a deep breath, he crawled under one of the narrow gaps under the slabs leading into the sewage network.

He nearly gagged immediately at the smell, which seemed to find its way past the wisps of cotton he had tried to stuff into his nostrils in a vain attempt to stop it, though this only lead to him breathing through his mouth…

…meaning he could almost taste some of it.

It was dark, but he had [Night Vision] and was able to, after what felt like an eternity, find the gap he was looking for on the other side and squeeze out of it, finally able to breathe the fresh air of the outside.

No doubt he reeked - and Silas was not normally squeamish or prude - but he did like to keep himself clean if possible. If nothing else, looking like some kind of mutant sewer monster was not very conducive to keeping a low profile.

It was still late into the night and he found himself a nearby stream to submerge himself in, trying his hardest to get rid of the grime that seemed to be eager to cling onto him despite his best efforts.

Though, he only did so after he had made sure what he had brought along with him was safe.

The sun was about to rise once he was done and he needed to get moving, whether he still smelled or not.

There were villages nearby, but he couldn’t stay in one of those.

If they discovered he was a Liberomancer, all sorts of questions would naturally arise, which he would not be able to answer. He was not originally from Meloukas either, and his differing facial features alone would’ve been more than enough to invite a round of questions that he would like to avoid.

Instead he walked for several hours deep into the wilderness until he happened upon the den of a pair of wolves.

Two applications of [Crimson Lance] made swift work of the parents, and as for the cubs, he did not need to waste mana in dealing with them.

Silas was only a Rank One Liberomancer, but [Crimson Lance] carried more than enough offensive power to get him out of nearly any situation he could not evade.

To write it, one had to kill another person with the help of a spear or other lance-like weapon and then use their blood as ink and their skin as paper for the grimoire. Silas had slain a prison guard in another country in order to write the grimoire at the time.

There were other demonic grimoires, like [Dark Hand] that required the victim to be killed by manual throttling, but given his small frame such a task would not have suited someone like Silas.

Some of the demonic grimoires had specific people that needed to be killed in order to make them - many of the Rank Two demonic grimoires required the slaughter of family members. However, Silas had no family, so even if he was able to get to Rank Two one day, he would not be able to make such a grimoire.

Still, even a Rank One demonic spell carried nearly as much offensive power as a Rank Three grimoire in certain scenarios, especially in his line of work.

Once he was sure his hiding place was secure, it was time.

He placed a hand to his chest. “Master… I have something to report.”

He got no answer, but he knew that his master would not answer his beck and call like a common street dog.

It was as night fell, and after he had gorged himself on soft and tender wolf cub meat, that the shadows in the cave intensified.

Something in his heart roared - after all, his heart was not his and his alone anymore.

He had given his heart to the Spirit of Darkness many years ago - back when he had not been known by the name of Silas.

He couldn’t even remember what his original name had been before he had been given that name - he had gone by so many aliases over the years that all of them had a way of blending into each other. He thought his birth name started with R but he wasn’t entirely sure even about something as simple as that.

He prostrated himself. “Master, I have news to report.”

He took out what he had carried out of the capital - a grimoire which he had been carrying in a waterproof wine skin, so that the journey through the sewers had not tainted it whatsoever.

Silas did not have a translating device, but he knew what the title said - Sonnet 95. “I found this, and thought the lettering was similar to what we were looking for, Master.”

The Spirit of Darkness answered him. “Indeed it is. It has been so long, and yet, I still recognize this language as if I had just seen it yesterday.”

Elation rose within Silas’s heart - this meant that all the difficulties he had gone through, including that dive through the sewer, had not been in vain! “So this is truly a language from another world?!”

“Yes it is,” the Spirit of Darkness said. “Did you find out where this grimoire came from?”

“Arconia, a city within Chipker,” Silas said. “The man who was selling this did not know much beyond that.”

There was a sudden flare of the shadows in the cave, as if something had angered the Spirit of Darkness. “I should have known…”

“What happened?” Silas asked.

“Two of our agents within Arconia were killed,” the Darkness replied. “And I have no others within Chipker at the moment.”

The Blood-Emperor was not the first human to give his heart to the Spirit of Darkness in exchange for power, nor would he be the last.

The Spirit of Darkness had a wide network of such people all across the continent, most of them who were demonic Liberomancers, though not all.

Silas’s ‘friend’ who had helped him get into the capital in the first place had been one such person.

“I have a new mission for you then,” the Spirit of Darkness said. “I will attempt to induce a dryad force to deviate from their original course and invade Chipker instead. If we are lucky, they will kill the Otherworlder.” The sacrifice of many innocent human and lizardmen lives was acceptable to him if it would guarantee the death of the Otherworlder. “I do not know how strong he is, however, and in the event that he survives I want you to go down there and kill him.”

The journey to Chipker would be long given that Silas had to go on foot and avoid the busiest roads most of the way, but the impending dryad invasion would also keep them busy while Silas made his move.

“Understood,” Silas said. “Your word is my command, Lord.”

For Silas, there was no greater joy than serving the Spirit of Darkness. The worshippers of Serragnin - that witch (he refused to think of her as a goddess) who had brought much misery to the world; worshipped a false idol.

There were numerous stories of the Spirit of Darkness and Serragnin clashing against each other, though in all of them Serragnin always came on top.

Silas, however, knew a truth that most of the world either did not or refused to believe. That ultimately, it had been the Spirit of Darkness who had beaten and destroyed Serragnin. Stories of her ‘ascending to a higher plane’ were just attempts to explain away her absence from the world passed down by her followers who had not wanted to accept the truth of what had really happened to her.

How did Silas know this when most of the world didn't? The Spirit of Darkness had told him so - and while someone else in Silas’s place might’ve doubted such a tale, given that in its current state, the Spirit of Darkness would struggle to even kill a human infant directly, let alone a Rank Six Liberomancer. There was a reason that Silas had to come here to communicate with his Master after all - there were still those in the world who might be capable of harming him.

Silas could make up reasons as to how it was possible himself - perhaps killing Serragnin had weakened his master to this extent, or his master had done so indirectly much as he had orchestrated the Ruler of the Astral Winds’ demise.

“Another agent of mine works within the University of Hitutsa - when you get there, you can rely on him to help you,” the Spirit of Darkness said. “Tell him - ‘The mountains contain the dangers of rock slides’ to which he will answer ‘And yet the oceans contain the bounty of piles of fish.’ His name is Xin Wu.”

Silas bowed even lower, inscribing those two phrases within his heart.

Although their master, the Darkness, knew all who had given their hearts to him, they, his faithful servants, could not recognize each other without resorting to such tactics. Their master could not be called upon for casual reasons such as confirming identities, and there was also the fact that such things had to be done in utmost secrecy to protect both the Spirit of Darkness and his followers.

Silas was eager to set out once he felt his master’s presence vanish.

He would not fail in this endeavor.

That Otherworlder’s days were numbered!

End of Volume 2 Grimoire List:

Stefan's current repertoire of grimoires:

Rank One

1. A demonic grimoire that grants the spell [Crimson Lance], a powerful offensive demonic spell that can penetrate most defensive spells and skills while striking a single target, and also causes the target to hemorrhage blood after being struck - an effect which is very difficult to treat even with healing magic unless it is Rank Three or higher (this does not apply if the target has no blood, e.g., an inanimate object like a door)

2. Sonnet 95 which gives +1 mana

3. An essay on the properties of water that grants the spell [Create Water]

4. An essay on fire that grants the spell [Create Flame]

5. A short summary of the major organ systems of the human body that grants the spell [Soothe Wounds], a weak healing spell

6. An essay on basic geometry that grants +1 mana

7. A poem Rose had written about Cheddar that gives +1 to Luck

8. An essay on probability, that gives +1 mana

9. An essay on poker that gives +1 to Luck

10. An essay on dice games and gambling that gives +1 to Luck

11. A grimoire from Rob that gives the passive skill [Minor Poison Resistance]

12. A poem Stefan had written back in high school on how much he loved drinking coffee, which gives +1 to Resistance

13. A description of America’s political system that gives +1 to Wisdom

14. A poem he had gotten from Rose that gave +1 mana (He had exchanged Sonnet 95 with her to get this)

15. A manual from Stella that that gave +1 mana

16. A description of how soap was made and worked, that gave the [Clean] spell

17. An essay on various properties of triangles that gave +1 mana

18. A grimoire written by a lizardman whose text was mirrord and gives [Mirrored Slot]. This slot also give +1 to mana (the same effect as the slot before it)

19. A grimoire he had gotten from one of his other coworkers that gives +1 to Charisma

20. An essay on how the stock market worked that gives +1 to Luck

21. A brief history of Egypt that gives +1 to Resistance

22. A description of basic Game Theory that gives +1 to Luck

23. A description of Lanchester’s Law that gives +1 to Wisdom

24. A description of how ranged weapons had evolved from the common bow and arrow to the modern gun that gives +1 to Attack

25. A short essay regarding the sea that gives the [Poissonnier] passive ability

26. A description of how modern banks worked that gives +1 to Luck

27. A summary of The Wizard of Oz that granted [Wizard’s Blessing], a passive ability that lets one cast one spell a day free of its mana cost

28. A grimoire that gives [Summon Red Fox] which allows one to summon a Red Fox once in twenty-four hours. Rank One summons can stay for up to 3 hours or until they are killed. A Liberomancer can normally use a summoning skill of each Rank once every twenty-four hours, but cannot activate two of them at the same time or have two different summons active simultaneously without additional skills.

29. A grimoire written on scented paper that grants the spell [Fragrance]

30. A grimoire of jokes that gives +1 to Luck

Rank Two

1. A grimoire written with invisible ink that grants the spell [Invisibility]

2. A grimoire which Stefan had purchased with granted the spell [Fireball]

3. A grimoire given to him as a prize for winning second place in a tournament that gives the passive skill [Regeneration] which allowed one to slowly regenerate wounds and even lost limbs (though limbs can take weeks to fully grow back)

4. A grimoire on human biology that gives the [Mend Injury] spell

5. A grimoire he had purchased that gives +1 to Wisdom

6. A grimoire on forensics that gives the [Unobstructed Sight] passive ability

7. A grimoire he had purchased that gives +1 mana

8. A section of Romeo & Juliet that gives +1 mana

9. A grimoire he had traded for that gives +1 to Attack

10. Another grimoire he had traded for that gives +1 to Resistance

11. A short biography of Mahatma Gandhi that gives +1 to Wisdom

12. A grimoire that gives [Summoning Extender - Rank One] which increases the duration all summons can be active by an additional one hour

13. A grimoire on stock trading that gives +1 to Luck

14. A grimoire he had purchased that gives the [Miracle Save] ability - once every 24 hours, an attack that would kill the user would instead drop them to a sliver of health

15. A grimoire on the Elephant Frog that gives the [Summon Elephant Frog] skill. Rank Two summons can exist for up to six hours or until they are killed.

16. A grimoire describing the Spirit Festival that gives +1 mana

17. An essay on some points about sailing that gives the [Water Lungs] skill, letting one breathe underwater for up to one hour total each day

18. A grimoire from one of his coworkers that gives +1 mana

19. A grimoire from my coworkers that gives +1 to Attack

20. A grimoire from my coworkers that gives +1 to Speed

21. A grimoire from Lauren’s shop that gives the [Paper Armor] passive ability - every 24 hours it would completely negate the damage done by the first attack that struck the user

22. A grimoire that gives [Summon Bear]

23. The grimoire Lauren left for him personally that gave +1 to Charisma

24. A grimoire Mark gave him upon termination of his employment which granted the passive skill [Longshot] which increased the range of all spells by ten percent

25. A short summary of points about the Elephant Frog that gives +1 to Luck

26. A grimoire that gives [Second Summon - Rank Two] giving the user a second use of a Rank Two summoning skill in twenty-four hours, though both summons cannot exist simultaneously without another skill that would allow this to happen, nor does this allow one to bring back a summon if it had been killed

27. A grimoire that gives the spell [Fish Haul] that can generate an amount of fish whose quantity is influence by one's Luck stat. Synergizes with [Poissonnier] as the nutritional value and taste of said fish can be increased, else they taste like garbage and have very little nutritional value.

28. A description of the basics of trigonometry which gives +1 to mana

29. An description of how islands were formed from underwater volcanos, that gave +1 to Wisdom

30. A grimoire gifted to him by Lauren which gives [Summoning Extender - Rank Two] which increases the duration that all summons can be active by an additional two hours

Rank Three

1. Charlotte's Web which grants the skill [Summon Tyrant Arachnea]. Rank Three summons can exist in the world for up to nine hours

2. The plot of Sharknado which grants the spell [Shark Tornado], a mixed wind and water elemental spell whose effect is greatly reduced if not used over water

3. Hei Nan's grimoire which grants the spell [Grand Fireball], a powerful area-of-effect fire elemental spell that synergizes well with [Summon Tyrant Arachnea]

Volume 3: The Journey to Hitutsa (Chapter One)

As I exited the city, it was time to bring out my ride.

If I had found a way to fly, I probably could’ve been at the capital within two days, but despite all of my best efforts I’d been unable to on that part. I’d tried writing about flying birds, horses, even something about Amelia Earhart, but those grimoires had all turned to dust. Trying to make new Rank Three grimoires was a massive investment, meaning that each failure took nearly a month to write and it really stung when it didn’t work out. Both for the fact that I’d failed again, and also because I’d spend the next week thinking about all the other things that I could’ve accomplished during that period of time.

Long story short, flying was out of the picture. I hadn’t brought a cart or horse with me though, because I didn’t need either of them. I carried my mount with me all the time.

[Summon Bear], I thought, and a monstrous creature appeared next to me. While summoning you could choose some of your summon’s attributes to a degree like color, gender, and size - though you couldn’t ask for something which broke the limits of what that creature was capable of. I had summoned the largest, strongest, and fastest bear that I could summon. But I couldn’t, for example, summon a bear with pink fur as bears did not have pink fur. Not even in this world.

Bears in this world were not all that different from bears on Earth, sure, they were much bigger and apparently their fur and hide was a bit thicker, such that they were somewhat resistant, but not immune, to many melee weapons. Not to mention they were also slightly stronger and swifter than you’d expect, even considering their larger size, so there might have been some magical augmentation to their physical abilities as well.

Other than those tiny things though, they really didn’t have any special magical abilities like the Tyrant Arachena’s immunity to fire - not that they really needed any. This was a species which had been honed by thousands of years of evolutionary pressure to become a natural killing machine. In a straight up fight, it would without a doubt massacre an Elephant Frog despite both of them being Rank Two summons, though an Elephant Frog could just hop away to safety if it ever happened to chance upon a bear.

So what was this mountain of murderous strength and wicked claws doing right now?

It was trying to act cute.

It immediately stuck out its tongue once I summoned it, before rolling over as if expecting a belly rub.

Cheddar did the same thing whenever he thought that I was going to leave home in a ploy to get me to stay longer.

That was why it was behaving like a small puppy - because a summon’s job was to serve its summoner, and it thought that by doing so, it would make me happy.

It wasn’t wrong, but we had a schedule we were on, and even with my grimoires which increase the time it could stay active, there was still a total time limit of nine hours that it could stay in this world.

“Look, we’re busy, no time for belly rubs,” I said to it.

It gave me a sad look and tried to look as pitiful as possible - which wasn’t very successful given how terrifying it otherwise was, but I am sad to admit that it still worked on me somewhat.

“Fine! Just for five minutes though!” I began rubbing its belly. “Who’s a good boy? That’s right, you are!”

It began letting out grunts of happiness, trying to imitate Cheddar once again, though it could not given its voice box was far removed from a tiny puppy’s.

If anyone saw us they would no doubt start doubting what they were seeing, possibly wondering if they were hallucinating. If anything, I felt that this was one of the strangest things that I had done while in this world.

While rubbing its belly, I couldn’t help but notice just how massive and sharp its claws were - yikes! If I had been told this was a domesticated pet who had been raised all its life to never lay a finger on humans, there would still be no chance I would go anywhere near it.

But, summons were bound by several rules - the chief one was ‘you will not hurt your summoner!’

That's why I could do something like this without fearing for my safety; without worrying that it might accidentally tear my head off or something with a careless swipe.

“Alright, that’s enough, let’s get this saddle on you,” I said. I had had this saddle custom-made for a bear its size, and being a summon, it readily cooperated as I put it on.

I would be riding it for several days, and I wanted to be comfortable. It also had some extra attachments which helped me tie the rest of my stuff to the bear’s back.

“Alright, let’s head out!” I said, as it began trotting forward at a comfortable, but still swift pace.

We must’ve been quite a sight - though bears were a common summoning option in this part of this world, so most people would’ve realized how it was that I could ride a bear and be so relaxed while doing so. I wore my purple sash proudly, easily identifying myself as a Master Liberomancer to anyone with eyes to see.

Banditry was far more common now, even with the governor doing his best to stamp it out - but I had no doubt that because of the simple fact that I was riding a bear, no one would dare try anything.

When the above thought came into my head, I sighed.

No!

The quickest way to die in Libraria was to think that you were invincible. Granny Qi’s words echoed from before when she had been warning me about something like this.

The Ruler of the Astral Winds was far stronger than I was now, but had still been blindsided and then slain by the Blood-Emperor.

Forget him, Drake was stronger than I was, but during the siege, a lucky hit to the head had knocked him out unconscious - during which his powers and abilities were useless. He might’ve died if I hadn’t leapt off the wall in order to save him.

No matter how strong you were, you could always be taken by surprise.

That’s why I had realized that [Paper Armor] was actually far more useful of a defensive ability than I had previously thought - mainly because it did not need conscious activation, and it stopped a single blow, no matter how powerful it was.

Say, for example, that I had learned how to use [Ansoon’s Blessing] rather than being an idiot and allowing it to be damaged beyond repair during the siege - on paper it was a far stronger defensive ability as it made you invulnerable for an entire minute, regardless of how many strikes you took.

The issue remained that it required conscious activation, and would not do anything say, if someone had already stabbed you in the chest while you were distracted and had not activated it yet.

As I thought of this, I retrieved my helmet and decided to put it on. It was made of wood and not steel, but did provide a good deal of protection nonetheless. A blow to the head that could potentially kill or incapacitate me was something I’d like to avoid, given I had seen firsthand just how devastating it had been when it happened to Drake.

I had bought a set of leather jerkin armor, which also included a wooden chest piece.

It would’ve definitely been better if I wore full plate armor - but the most exerting job I had ever performed prior to coming here had been as a coffee shop barista. There was no way that I could handle moving around in plate armor without training.

Sure, I had been here for a year and I could’ve tried some training or practicing to get used to a set - but I had found it more important to focus on getting better at Liberomancy. As it was I could not have afforded a full set of plate armor until I had reached Rank Three, so I wouldn’t have had much time to practice with it regardless.

Still, the main reason for the leather jerkin and the helmet was so that my vital areas would have some degree of protection, during which I could buy time for one of my summons to become a defensive wall for me while I struck back at the enemy. Or, if overwhelmed, used [Invisibility] to get away.

As it was, [Regeneration] should’ve eventually taken care of any non-fatal injuries, though hopefully it would never come to that.

It was due to all of these considerations that it was far safer to travel in groups, and traveling with something like a merchant caravan was the best but I couldn’t possibly wait for the time that it would take to come back to Arconia. Who even knew if they would come back next year either - there were still some dryads wandering around, so there was a tiny chance they might decide to skip Chipker next year as well.

We made very good time, and managed to reach Granny Qi’s village before the allotted nine hours was up.

The village wasn’t exactly on the direct route to the capital, but I had wanted to drop by to settle some things so taking a minor detour wasn’t a major issue.

I found the leader of the mercenaries I had hired, and handed him a bag of coins. “Here - sorry some of the pay was late, but I got it just like I’d told you.”

“Many thanks, Master Liberomancer,” he said in response.

“Any issues around here?”

“No, as a matter of fact, there have been many rumors spreading around saying there is a Rank Three Liberomancer in this area, so no one troubles us,” he said with a tiny smile. “And… we might’ve had a hand in making sure those rumors were spread as much as possible.”

I nodded. “Good - if it’ll help keep you guys safe, it’s fine.”

I assured Suki Tang that I had left enough funds to pay the guard’s salaries for the next six months, as well as a tiny amount for a village emergency fund. I was sure that Granny Qi wouldn’t let them fall on hard times either should all of that run out.

“We should be able to start farming for the fall season,” she told me. “By then we’ll be ready, and by this time next year it will almost be like nothing had ever happened.”

The reason the village could recover so quickly was thanks to a massive amount of external support - namely from Granny Qi and I, but I was more than happy to do so.

If anything, I wished I could’ve done even more and lent out a hand to the other villages around Arconia as well, but there was a limit to what I could accomplish on my lonesome.