By the time he made it back to his room, his headache was mostly gone. He was also out of breath and his lungs felt like they were burning — but it was okay since it was the good kind of pain. A pain that told him his body was doing some renovations.
‘Still asleep, huh?’
Maya still hadn’t gotten up, seemingly muttering about beer and something or the other.
Reivan took one more look at her and closed the door behind him, exasperated at how she slept so soundly in the presence of someone she’d only just met.
“Good morning, Your Highness.”
“Fuc—!” Reivan’s shoulders jumped as he followed the source of the voice, sighing in relief when he was met with the sight of his guardian knight. “Valter. Good morning. I assume you’re here because…”
Valter nodded. “The observer assigned to you and that young lady has gone elsewhere due to the incident causing your current predicament.”
“I see… And for how long do you think they’ll be gone?”
“Until the issue has been resolved, I assume. Which will take the better half of the day, if all goes well. If not, well, then perhaps it'll take a few days to a week.”
“Then I can go back to my true form for a bit.” Reivan sighed. He used [Effect Reproduction] to cure what was left of his hangover in an instant and immediately found the wand he’d thrown away last night, summoning it to his hand with [Formless Will].
With that over with, Reivan undid his transformation.
| Reality is returning to its intended state |
...
| Elemental Affinities restored |
| Physical Might restored |
| Race restored |
| Age restored |
| Mortal Vessel restored |
...
| The fabric of reality has been temporarily strengthened as a result of your actions. |
| Reality cannot be falsified for 10 minutes. |
Reivan closed his eyes and focused on the sensation overcoming him. It was as if the surface of his body was on fire and there was burning lead in his bones. Everything hurt.
Everything.
Fortunately, it was over in an instant.
When he opened his eyes again, his clothes felt a bit tighter and he had grown taller too. But the thing he noticed before any of that was how much better he felt being back in his own skin.
‘Yep. Being me is the best.’
Reivan heaved a weary sigh and pointed his wand at the sleeping Maya, preparing to cast a spell to induce a deeper slumber. His wand glowed with the light of mana, and certain runes on it flashed to answer his will. After five flashes, each with a different set of runes lighting up, the spell was complete.
A stream of pink smoke erupted from the tip of his wand and it steadily drifted up Maya’s nose.
Now, she would not wake up no matter how loudly they conversed.
‘Sorcery’s such a pain in the nuts to learn, but I have to admit, it can do a lot of things elementalism can’t… And I don’t even need the right affinities.’
The spell he just used was a military-grade spell that forcefully induced a deep sleep in someone who was already unconscious. It sounded useless in this case, but it was a peaceful and rather easy way to pacify a captive without hurting them.
‘I can see how it can be misused though… But just about every power can be misused.’
Valter clapped his hands thrice. “You’ve gotten so much better in practically no time at all, Your Highness.”
“It’s no big deal.” Reivan shrugged. “With how close I am to ascendance, memorizing a few spells is nothing.”
A healthy body meant a healthy mind.
Or rather, the mind was closely associated with the brain, and the brain was part of the body. As Reivan refined his body with qi — and at some point — essence, his mind actually grew more refined as well.
Of course, he was no genius. But at the very least, his brain’s processing capabilities and his memory were incomparable to a normal person’s.
His skills in manipulating magic power didn’t even need to be mentioned, so with everything he was equipped with, studying a few spells was easy. Aizen had also looted numerous grimoires of various grades over the centuries, and as the prince, gaining access to them was easier than eating breakfast. It literally took no effort at all since he just had to ask someone to bring whatever he needed to his room.
‘It kinda feels like I’m cheating. But when I think about it, it's not...’
Undoubtedly, everybody could study sorcery just like he did.
They just needed to be half-ascendants.
Simple.
Obviously though, nobody who aimed to learn sorcery would take such a roundabout route.
It would be akin to someone training as a sprinter for decades, eventually breaking the world record for the sport — just so they could acquire the leg power to ride a bike.
Reivan merely used what he’d gained from his training to dip his toes into another discipline. If someone asked him if it was possible to be as good as the Sage King when it came to sorcery, he would kick them for asking such a stupid question.
He naturally couldn’t.
Maybe if he got his hands on a grimoire with every spell in existence, he could cast all of the spells perfectly and at amazing speeds.
But he didn’t have the knowledge required for the magic to take form, so all he would manage was to make his wand light up and waste some of his already limited mana.
In fact, he had to spend a significant amount of time locked inside a fragment of eternity with his nose stuck to a book just so he could cast Clover’s repertoire of spells — which was actually significantly larger than an ordinary sorcerer at his stage. It was a good thing Reivan actually knew the basics since he’d been studying for the Spirit Tower Infiltration Plan for a long time.
‘Yep. I still hate the name.’
All in all, even if half-ascendants had an advantage with the practical aspect of casting spells, they still needed to do a lot of studying too.
But instead of studying to become mediocre at another branch of the supernatural, it was much better for them to stick to one path and try to get as high as they could there.
Reivan sighed as he recalled the loneliness of poring over grimoires for years in a white room within his mind.
He then turned toward Valter with a questioning gaze. “You said my observer left to handle the situation, but you also said it would take them around half a day…? An Ascendant is going to take half a day to find and wipe out some monsters…? Things don’t add up here. Unless…”
Valter nodded. “Your assumptions are correct, Your Highness. There is an Ascendant-level monster on the loose.”
‘Shit. Those fucking idiots…’
Reivan grimaced and sat down on the edge of the bed, careful not to sit on Maya’s foot. “Battlemages were hunting a monster of that level and they let it escape?”
“From what I’ve overheard, that’s not the case.”
“Then what happened?”
“There is a small forest far to the east that has apparently started being infested with so many of a particular species of monster that they’ve eaten everything else in the forest.”
“Seems normal. And? I’m assuming they didn’t resort to cannibalism.”
“That’s right. They frequently attacked a nearby town instead, taking away some livestock… and some people too, from time to time. Things got to the point that the local government submitted an extermination request. The request was accepted and twenty squads of Bronze Cloaks were sent to surround the monsters’ area of activity.”
Reivan sighed, looking out the window to see sunlight gradually illuminate the townscape. “Were they expecting the Ascendant?”
“No.”
“Well, that’s where it all went wrong, then.”
“Indeed. The entire attack force was wiped out before it knew what was coming. It’s a good thing that each squad leaves behind one member to scry. The republic was able to advise the train stations in the area to cease operations in time. Every other town is on high alert too, with two or three Ascendant battlemage overseers.”
“And what did the monsters do?”
“The Ascendant monster is currently in hiding… though I’ve actually found it. As for its numerous kin, they spread out like rats. They’re the smart kind of beasts, so they know humans are coming to retaliate with greater force.”
“If they were truly smart, they would have eaten each other instead of attacking nearby settlements.” Reivan shrugged. “But I suppose intelligence might give birth to some kind of morals, making them avoid the logical option.”
“Perhaps so.”
“Anyway, about my observer…”
Valter nodded, a hand on his chest. “Your observer, as far as I know, didn’t receive any orders to sortie. But they did so anyway — probably because this town is their hometown.”
“Is that so? What’s the plan now, then?”
“If nothing changes, your only option is to wait, Your Highness. Though, I can accelerate the resolution of the issue by killing the Ascendant monster myself. Alternatively, I can help the battlemages track down the monster.”
“You found it but they haven’t? I thought you wouldn’t stray too far from me until we get close to Vel Ayala?”
Valter shook his head. “I didn’t. I only managed to track it down because we both share the same affinity for darkness. It has also sensed me, and is staying away while keeping me in its sights.”
“So it’s nearby.”
“...No. It is quite far. But it can reach this place in a few seconds. I believe it's keeping an eye on me because it knows I can see it.”
‘Oh, right. Distance isn’t a good measurement for Ascendants…’
Reivan licked his lips and thought about what to do, but it seemed Valter wasn’t done yet.
“There might be a way for you to resume your trip, Your Highness.”
“Really? Lemme hear it, then.”
“Remember the trains you sold to the Star of Fortune?”
“Ah…” Reivan thought back to the secret meeting he had with Kalman Adamantes.
He hadn’t meant to sell off any trains because of the risk of revealing the technology behind them, but Kalman’s proposition was just too enticing and he didn’t have the balls to turn the man away in case Kalman never proposed it again.
After the deal was struck, he asked Jiji, Grand Minister Greteliana, and even Roland who was all the way back in Aizen, if he had made the right choice — and they were in unanimous agreement that it was worth it.
In exchange for a generous lump sum, the technology behind the trains, and every single station Aizen currently owned within Arkhan’s lands — to be signed over to Kalman after a year — Aizen obtained a conditional one-use slave key for the Gladiator King.
The Star of Fortune’s only Transcendent.
Of course, the slave key could only be used to give the Gladiator King one order before it lost its effect. Furthermore, the Star of Fortune somehow, through unknown ways, managed to place the special condition that the slave key couldn’t be used against the Star of Fortune.
But it was worth it.
When it was time for the ruler of the continent to be decided, Aizen would now have a strong ally in the Gladiator King.
All it took was an astonishing amount of money that could drown someone, outdated technology, and land they owned outside of their kingdom. Reivan even managed to lower the amount of money Aizen had to pay by selling off a few of the trains that were already built.
‘If Valter is mentioning the deal now… Then it must mean…’
Reivan smiled to himself. “One of the trains we handed over to Kalman is here?”
“Yes.” Valter nodded with a smile.
“I’m sure that whoever is in charge of it would be more than happy to have two would-be battlemages in his debt for free by allowing them to tag along. Especially with how close the start of term is.”
“They are way ahead of you, Your Highness. One of their agents is already on their way.”
“They work fast.”
“Well, they didn’t build up a considerable force of retired battlemages by being slow on the uptake.”
Reivan and Valter spent a few seconds chuckling at the republic’s expense. It was common knowledge among the royal family and their guardian knights that Arkhan was bleeding battlemages to the Star of Fortune. That was generally what happened when a country was raised on practical and capitalistic values rather than virtue and loyalty.
“With all of that in mind, should I do something about the monster, Your Highness?”
“Hm… How is the Star’s security looking?”
“They have quite a few ordinary mortal slave guards… but I believe they are all capable of augmenting their physical prowess with mana. There are a lot more mercenaries, but they seem to be reliant on firearms, and hence, won’t be too much help against stronger monsters.”
“That’s it…?” Reivan frowned. “They don’t have any Custodian Guards or something?”
“I saw five mortal ones. Though they didn't seem all that strong."
"No Ascendants?"
"At the moment, there are none. But I’m not aware of their internal workings. The Star usually uses their Ascendants as a high mobility security force for its convoys. There is a chance that one or two will show up before the train departs, but I can’t be sure.”
Reivan sunk into his own thoughts for a moment, contemplating how to deploy Valter.
They were getting quite close to Vel Ayala — and subsequently, the Spirit Tower where the Sage King lived. It would be quite risky to bring Valter any further since they weren’t quite sure of how far the Sage King’s perception reached. If it was even half the range that the Sword Star could perceive, they had to be extremely careful.
As was the original plan, Valter would have to stop and wait at a nearby city, and Reivan would, for the first time in his second life, be without a trusted individual watching over him.
That said, they still had a bit of leeway before he absolutely had to leave Valter behind. Reivan was a bit reluctant to let go of so much security for that reason.
‘What to do…’
After thinking about it for a bit, he turned to Valter with a nod. “I'd like you to herd the monster somewhere it can be detected by the republic’s battlemages. I give you leave to adapt to the situation as you please though. This situation is quite volatile, after all.”
“As you wish.” Valter saluted, immediately agreeing to his orders before voicing his own doubts. “But are you sure, Your Highness? Even if I lead away the most dangerous one, there are still quite a large number of monsters that would place your current identity in danger.”
“It’s fine. I’ll place my trust in the Star of Fortune’s prudence. Surely, they won’t depart with a lacking security force, right?”
“Relying on the competence of other people is quite risky, Your Highness.”
Reivan shrugged. “Worst case, the Star’s forces get overwhelmed. In that case, I’ll just transform back and pretend that Clover Salwyn somehow escaped on his own. Or I switch to Plan B.”
Plan B was Reivan abducting some other tower entree in Clover’s batch and taking their place instead. There was an enormous chance of being discovered since he would know next to nothing about them though, so it was obviously a very bad plan.
Valter visibly grimaced at the notion of Plan B. “I beg you to reconsider Plan B, Your Highness.”
“I don’t like Plan B either. It’s better than Plan C though.”
“Indeed.”
“Well then… Is that all you had to report?”
“Yes, Your Highness.” Valter saluted. “On other news, Dame Gwendolyn is en route to the embassy.”
Reivan hummed in appreciation. Having his favorite assistant in the same country put his heart at ease. He felt like a lost child being told that their mother was on the way.
With that, their official business was over. Reivan took the opportunity to do his usual morning routine, and this time, with an Ascendant observer. Valter didn’t really say anything though, stating that Ascendence was slightly different for everyone, and one should climb the last few steps on the path to immortality on one’s own.
By the time Reivan finished, the sun was fully visible in the sky and it was about time to allow Maya to wake up. Valter vanished to attend to his orders and Reivan cleaned himself off before he donned his disguise.
“I am Clover Salwyn.”
| Reality has been forcefully rewritten |
| Your data has been falsified |
...
| Reivan Aizenwald is now Clover Salwyn |
...
| Name has been falsified |
| True Name cannot be falsified and has been hidden instead |
| Age has been falsified |
| Race has been falsified |
| Elemental Affinities have been adjusted |
| Physical Might has been adjusted |
| Special Abilities have been retained |
| Extra Skills not associated with "Clover Salwyn" have been hidden |
...
| Mortal Vessel has been changed from “Reivan Aizenwald” to “Clover Salwyn” |
Reivan had to endure the familiar discomfort of just about everything about him erupting in excruciating agony. It lasted only for the shorter half of a second, but it was still enough to make Reivan grimace despite his absurdly high tolerance to pain.
Once it was over, there was no sure-fire way to make sure that the transformation didn’t get all messed up — like giving him an extra nose or something — so he checked his stats through [Supreme Insight] while walking toward the mirror.
|
||||||||||||||||||||
‘I really hate how transforming into people just fucks up my status screen, but whatever. I don’t really have to look at it more than once every transformation, anyway.’
Reivan first unhid [Paranormal Intuition] and [Magic Resistance] since all hidden skills were useless until he unhid them. Since hiding them again would be as easy as thinking about it, there was no harm in keeping them on considering what he was about to do. As for [Qi: Unleashed], he would stay away from that for now since his underdeveloped body wouldn't have the capacity to handle it.
Inwardly glad that [Supreme Insight] actually told him what hidden skills were when it first came up, Reivan looked himself over with the mirror one last time before he finally pointed his wand at the still-sleeping Maya, firing off the counterspell for the one he’d used on her.
It would take her a while to wake up, so he sat by the bed and waited for a while.
He could have also just left her there to address his empty stomach, but the gentleman within him said otherwise. There was no love between them and they both may have had ulterior motives, but she did give him a good time last night, so the least he could do was be present when she woke up. As for how he left her to go exercise earlier that morning, that was a different matter for him since he took exercise more seriously than some vague sense of etiquette.
Fortunately, he didn’t have to wait for too long. After about five minutes, Maya rolled right off the small bed, groaning in a drunken haze. “...Clover?”
“Yes, I’m here.” Reivan frowned at how she woke up but wasn’t too bothered. “Put some clothes on.”
“Wait, why are you in my room…?” Maya’s eyes widened as she patted herself down. She hastily pulled the bedsheets to her and covered her exposed chest, backing away to the wall while looking at him in horror. “Did we do something…? You… what did you do to me after we got drunk!?”
“Stop playing around or I won’t treat you to breakfast.”
“You’ll treat me to breakfast?”
“If you stop kidding around, then yeah.”
“Okay then. You could’ve played along a little though…”
Maya got up with a sheepish giggle and searched for her clothes; she didn’t put them on even after she found them though, shamelessly exposing herself to Reivan. “Did you see my ring?”
Reivan’s eyes ran down her figure and he nodded, taking it from where he placed it on the side table a while ago before tossing it at her. “Catch.”
“Ah…” Maya failed to catch it as the ring sailed past her. She turned around and bent down to pick it up, once again exposing all sorts of things to Reivan.
‘...Is she doing this on purpose?’
“There we go…” Maya stored her used clothes inside her ring and took out fresh ones. “Hey, Clover.”
“What?”
“Wanna do it once before heading off for breakfast?”
Reivan grimaced and his eyes once again ran through her feminine curves. But since he wasn’t being observed by a battlemage right now, there was no need for him to put on a show of making the typical male choice.
And without a need, he had no excuse to justify it.
With a slight bit of what he thought was regret, he shook his head. “I’ll pass.”
“...Wait, seriously?” Maya looked at him as if he was weird, shook her head with a sigh, and started putting on some underwear very slowly, maintaining eye contact with him the entire time. “One last chance.”
“Just put some damned clothes on,” Reivan snapped.
“I can’t believe you.”
Slightly peeved, she finished donning a clean white blouse and a long brown skirt. With her hair tied up in some kind of braid, she finally pulled her boots up and followed him out.
Reivan led the way to the inn’s eating area, where they were served some breakfast. Since the room only included breakfast for one, Reivan bought her some using the money he won from gambling last night.
“You’re being awfully nice to me this morning, Clover.” Maya teased, an impish smirk on her face as she tore a piece of bread in two and dipped both of them into her soup. “Last night must have been amazing for you, huh? Was it actually your first time? You're so adorable! I'll help you practice getting better if you buy me something nice for dinner too.”
"I'll pass." Reivan scoffed but didn’t elaborate. “I’m just feeling generous after winning big last night. And I wouldn’t have been invited to the gambling table if it wasn’t for you acting like an idiot, so I’m just sharing a little of it.”
“Is that so? Then shouldn’t you give me at least thirty percent of your winnings? I deserve at least that much, right?”
“Don’t push your luck.”
Maya shook her head, muttering about how miserly he was or something. She silently addressed her meal for a while before asking in a slightly subdued tone than usual. “Just making sure, but you haven’t caught feelings for me, have you?”
Reivan looked up from his soup with a raised brow. “Why do you ask?”
“Nothing. It’s just… Well, guys tend to misunderstand sometimes… And it’s a pain. I just want to have fun while I’m young, y’know?”
“Whatever.” Reivan shrugged, looking back down at his modest meal. “I have no feelings for you whatsoever.”
“Really?”
“Yes. Really. I have absolutely no interest in you as a potential romantic partner. You’re just someone I fucked because I was drunk and heartbroken. Now, shut up. I'm trying to eat here.”
Reivan threw a glance at her, discovering that she had a beaming smile on her face. He took a chance to peek at her favor.
| Favor: | (Interest / Desire) 42 / 100 | ||
‘It actually increased by a little… And she’s interested in me now. Right after I said I wasn’t interested in her… What a fucking weirdo. I can’t understand women at all.’
Reivan restrained a sigh and finished his meal quietly, opting to order a coffee as he waited for Maya to finish.
“Hey, but y’know…” Maya whispered so only they could hear. “Last night was pretty fun, right?”
“...Why the hell are you asking that? Right in front of my coffee too.”
“Don't say it like we did something disgusting. Also, I'm just curious. C’mon, admit it. It was great.”
“You have too much confidence in yourself. Tone it down, will you?”
“Screw you.”
“You did. Just last night.”
“...So even someone like you can make jokes like that, huh? How surprising.”
“I don’t like how you said that, so you can buy your own coffee.”
“I hate coffee anyway. But c’moooon. Just admit it. Last night was great, wasn’t it?”
“Well…” Reivan tried to compare last night with all of his other experiences. Each and every last one of them was better than last night solely because he was in his real form, using his own hardware, so to speak.
But still, it wasn’t like last night wasn’t fun.
Reivan shrugged. “It was okay.”
“You’re such a pain the… Just admit it. Say it. Say it was fun.”
“...It was okay.”
“Damn you...!”
Unconsciously, Reivan found himself chuckling at her reaction. “Fine, fine… It was fun.”
Maya clapped her hand in triumph and prodded him under the table with her leg. “Great. So in the spirit of being fun-loving friends, you’ll allow me to share a room and buy me breakfast every morning, right?”
“Where the fuck did you pull that out of?”
There was a bit of a back and forth between them, but Reivan eventually relented with the room arrangements as long as she bought her own breakfast and for the once-a-day boon of shutting her up for two hours straight whenever he asked. She tried to argue otherwise, but they had to stop talking when they were approached by a man in a black coat.
“Excuse me,” the man said politely with a kind smile. “Are you the two battlemages headed for the tower?”
Maya answered, though a bit guarded. “Yes, but where did you hear such juicy intel?”
“Our ears are everywhere… Ah, here.”
The man took out two of what seemed to be business cards made of pure gold. On their surface were words engraved in magically glowing ink, and the sigil of a star surrounded by ten smaller stars.
He gave them one card each, his smile widening as he watched them read the words. “I am Thomund Valand. I have the pleasure of speaking for the Star of Fortune.”
“O-oh…” Maya visibly tensed up at the name, throwing a glance at Reivan. “C-Clover, he says he’s from the Star of Fortune… What do you think?”
Having been alerted by Valter earlier, Reivan naturally knew what the man was here for. “How can we help you, sir?”
“Rather than how you can help us, we’d like an opportunity for us to help each other.”
“I see. Harmony breeds wealth, huh?”
“Indeed, indeed.” Thomund nodded with a chuckle, seemingly elated that Reivan knew the Star’s maxime. “It has come to our attention that the two of you have come into a bit of a predicament.”
“Yes…” Reivan nodded, before gesturing at an empty seat. “But before that, why don’t you take a seat first, sir? You must have come a long way.”
“Not at all. But I will take you up on your offer with gratitude.”
After the Thomund sat down, he crossed his fingers over the table and looked Reivan in the eyes. “You strike me as a man who values his time, and time is money, so let me get straight to the point — we own a train and it is currently docked in this town’s station.”
Maya reacted to this with expected confusion. “The Star owns a train? But I thought…”
“Times are changing, miss.” Thomund chuckled but said no more about the matter. “While the travel ban is a measure that all consumer trains must follow, we, a private party with our own permits to travel through Aizen-owned tracks, are not chained down by such things.”
Reivan rested his elbow on the table and leaned forward. “And you’re going to take us with you?”
“That is the plan, yes.”
“For what price? The two of us aren’t exactly in the height of financial stability at the moment.”
The man shook his head with a smile. “Not at all. We don’t want your money.”
“A merchant company that doesn’t want my money…” Reivan sneered and scoffed. “You said this was a proposition that involves helping each other, and you can indeed help us. But what can we do to help you? That’s what I don’t understand.”
“Why, you can use your skills to help bolster security. These are dangerous times we live in, after all.”
Maya seemed about ready to accept the man’s reasoning but Reivan simply shook his head.
“You are aware that we haven’t even stepped foot in the Tower yet, and as such, don’t know any military-grade spells, right?”
“Indeed, we do.”
“Then just what kind of security can we even provide that the glorious Star of Fortune doesn’t already have in spades?” Reivan sighed and reclined in his seat. “Please stop playing games and state your real purpose in seeking us out to do us a favor. I’m beginning to think this is some sort of trap or something, though I’m not sure what you would have to gain other than the Tower’s resentment in that case.”
Thomund’s gaze remained fixed on Reivan’s eyes for a few moments before he shrugged and nodded. “I suppose I was being a bit insincere. Simply put, we plan to make this shipment to Vel Ayala no matter the cost. Two budding battlemages won’t be too much trouble to bring along. In fact, there is no trouble at all since we have unused VIP cars.”
“You still haven’t said what you have to gain from this.”
“What is there to say? We simply wish for the two of you to remember the kindness that we showed you in the future. Perhaps, when you are considering... other employment options after an early retirement.”
“I see.” Reivan pretended to think about it before keeping the card in one of his inner coat pockets. “I will remember it if I consider an early retirement. Maya, you’ll remember too, right?”
“Eh?” Maya still seemed out of it, looking up from the golden card in her hands. “Ah, yes… I’ll remember.”
The man from the largest conglomerate in the world nodded in satisfaction at their answers. “I’m glad Ms. Hardeling thinks so. And you too, mister…”
“Clover.” Reivan finished for him. “Clover Salwyn.”
‘He knows Maya’s name but not mine, huh? Is the dad she mentioned important?’
“I see. It’s good to meet you, Mr. Salwyn. This way please, I’ve prepared a carriage to take us there.”
Thomund stood up, followed by Reivan after he urged the dazed Maya to hurry up.
Last Edited: April 25, 2024
Lol poor maya doesnt even know who she is trying to compare herself to
Ignorance is bliss.