The Arcane Emperor

Chapter 74 To New Horizons

After Rainer had void-walked his sister back to the mansion following her gain of the translation skill, Sarah had left on her own, interested in watching Kara, Laneth, and Gunthar spar.

Her brother had also told her about his Dragon and apprentice and she was keen on meeting both. Heading out into the courtyard, Sarah briefly tensed at the sight in front of her at least until she noticed that no one else seemed to be bothered.

A large Werewolf glowing with dark blue runic lines and a skeletal figure covered in grey and black musculature faced off against one another. The ground rumbled with every clash, though the fight ended up short-lived. It wrapped up quickly as the fighter, who she now recognized as Gunthar, returned to his original skeletal form.

Sarah noticed that his Aura was depleted; the massive Aura pool she sensed from Kara apparently giving her a huge edge in endurance.

After her grandfather had learned about her skill to enchant herself, he opted to get her combat training from the Qi users of China. The "System" of this world called the energy she learned about their "Aura", and the odd power she sensed in Kara "Demonic Aura."

Sarah had tried to learn to use Qi in the past without success, though she had managed to learn how to sense it. She watched with interest as the Werewolf grew smaller.

Kara shifted back, her bracelets' transformation to clothes all but instant.

"Still struggling with the cost?" Kara asked Gunthar. They had yet to finish a duel with Gunthar's new form. Apart from both of them being more durable in their transformed states, the former Sun Elf ran out of Aura too quickly.

"It is proportional to the power of the form, though even with the current cost, I feel as if I have only scratched the surface," Gunthar responded. He suspected that if he could wield the full power of the stolen Soul, Kara would not be his match, even transformed and using her enchantments.

"Don't think just mastering this will let you catch up," shifting again, Kara teased in a vibrating voice caused from her werewolf form as if knowing what the Undead was thinking.

For a moment, Gunthar was thankful for his own lack of a living face, though it didn't help hide the tone of his voice. "I have no such thoughts, little Wolf,"

Both of them continued their duels, Gunthar using only the Aura he could recover with [Battle Meditation] and testing out his recently acquired Fae Soul from the failed assassination attempt. Neither of them wished to travel to the Dragon Isles only to end up as burdens. And so, their training had only increased in severity after they received improvements from Rainer. Both feeling a renewed vigor to reach the 2nd Tier.

Following the continuing duel and with her original goal in mind, Sarah went over to Lilia, only to stop short as she saw the Dragon beside her.

She had already lowered her expectations towards the creature of myth given its current age, but this was a little too much to witness.

Rolled over on her back, Tiamat purred contentedly as Lilia absentmindedly rubbed her belly while reading the book Rainer had given her.

I wonder what other mages would think if they saw one of the so-called Rulers of Mana in such a state…

Sarah thought. It was true that the little dragon had an obscene mana regeneration rate, but…

Suddenly losing interest in studying the Dragon as she had planned to, she opted to instead watch the spars, enjoying them as a third party for entertainment rather than participating herself.

Eventually, she went to find Rainer again and exchange status screens.

Back in his room, Rainer sat in a chair with Luna on his lap. He was beginning to gather his initial thoughts for making another Absolute spell, Luna with him looking on as before, though this time she opted to keep her full size as Rainer worked on the Runic formula.

He was thankful she wasn't too mad at him.

Adding on to that was him explaining that if the System wasn't active on Earth, meaning he would struggle to return, she and Kara were more liable to become experiments for the council than enjoy their time on Earth with him.

Luna couldn't argue against that reasoning for not bringing her, no matter how much she wished to.

Suddenly gaining courage, she decided to share a bit of her past she kept hidden before. She knew how much it would upset Rainer and had done all she could so that he would not pursue Yulia before he was ready. But with her already dead…

[Heat Resistance lvl 7/10]

[Burn Resistance lvl 6/10]

Luna shared her skills with Rainer, causing him to blanch and do everything he could to restrain his anger. Such was both a benefit and an issue of the familiar bond in that she would fully know what he felt if the emotions were strong.

To gain such a level of resistance would normally be an admirable thing. Something that a person of great willpower suffered through, and trained relentlessly with, in order to achieve grand heights, but forcing such a skill on someone could only be akin to ruthless torture.

He refused to let Luna think that speaking of her past would upset him, and be reluctant about sharing in the future. And Rainer knew his fairy would do exactly that if she knew how furious he was at the soul of Yulia in his ring.

With a silent drawing of his Void Will the anger left him.

He kept his arms around her as she talked about the preparations for nurturing a Faerie Fire to Sacred levels. And how it was Quera who reasoned that it would be better to make Luna forget about the experimental parts and to treat her in a manner that would make her less likely to turn the flame on all of them or try to escape.

Luna herself understood that fairy's actual intentions. Which was what made her struggle even more with the memory of Quera and her eventual death caused by Luna's escape.

Especially the part where she nearly killed Quera with an outburst of uncontrolled flame. She killed three other Fae in charge of her as well in that incident, whose role was keeping up the Princess role she had grown up with. All of whom treated her well, though she never knew whether that was due to compassion or otherwise.

"There is no one to blame but Yulia. Nothing that happened to Quera or anyone else is on you."

The pair then merely sat in silence, as Rainer brushed Luna's hair with his hand. He wondered how someone so kind could be a result of such twisted circumstances. All he could do now was try to give her a better life, and despite him not minding her attachment to him, he knew that he needed to do more to let her grow out of her over-reliance on his presence.

Following a knock on the door, Luna opted to shrink and take her place in Rainer's hair, the feeling from the familiar bond radiating closeness as she enjoyed her favorite spot with a weight off her chest.

Out in a hallway of the mansion, both Rainer and Sarah sat side by side as Luna looked on from his hair.

"I'll show you mine if you show me yours," Sarah said, eliciting an eye roll from Rainer as he received her status screen and class in return for his. He was quite happy at having his sister here to distract both him and Luna from recent and past memories.

"Luna too," the fairy remarked as she showed her class to Rainer's sister. Though for some reason she did not want to show her status screen to either. Something about Luna being a proper maiden went unremarked by the two.

[Manaborne Lvl 1/25 One created under a natural baptism of Mana, who can wield such energy as if another limb. Mana is but another extension of their existence, for their use and for their taking. Mana serves to fulfill their will. +5 Affinity, +1 Willpower per Level past Level 1]

[Name: Sarah Nvos]

[Age: 16]

[Titles: Manaborne]

[Primary Classes: Manaborne Lvl 1]

[Sub-Classes: None]

[Exp: 0%]

[Race: Human]

[Skill Points: 0]

[Talents: True Mana Affinity, Manaborne, Human Growth, Gift of the Fae(Maya)]

[Stamina: 14/14]

[Stamina Regen: .1% per second]

[Mana: 413/413]

[Mana Regen: .0612 per second]

[Constitution: 14]

[Affinity: 72]

[Vitality: 13]

[Endurance: 14]

[Strength: 7]

[Dexterity: 14]

[Intelligence: 72]

[Willpower: 102]

[Attribute points: 0]

"Gift of the Fae…" Rainer spoke, he would never ask this of Maya, no matter the debt between them. In the end, he wasn't sure what he should be most surprised with about Sarah's status screen.

"Maya called me back just before we left and suddenly kissed me. Before I could even retort that I wasn't interested in joining their marriage, I noticed my Mana regen surge."

"They can only give it out once their entire life…" Rainer remarked with surprise.

"I mean, you saved her wife... really, from what she told me it's not even that big of a deal compared to that. And you already have Luna's, which is probably why they felt bad they couldn't give it to you," Sarah responded.

"But it's not like I did it for free."

"What? Some spells in exchange? Writing down something she already knows is hardly a big deal. Besides, would you care why someone did something?"

Rainer already knew the answer to that. Laneth obviously had no idea he was saving Rainer's party members by helping him leave the Fae Realm as quickly as possible. And yet Rainer couldn't care less. For him, it was not the thought that counted.

Was it so hard to believe that it was the same for someone else?

"How are your Intelligence and Willpower so high?" Rainer asked, noticing that tidbit. Along with an endurance and dexterity that surpassed his original ones. He opted not to ask about the absurd amount of Mana, given that she was hiding it at least where [Mana Detection] was concerned.

Sarah resisted making a joke for once, given the reason that Rainer didn't know this was the same reason he was sealed. She also ignored his own class' ability to learn skills extended beyond anything that could be called unfair. Jealousy for him inheriting their grandfather's power had never occurred because of his lack of Mana ability. Though now, there existed a tinge of it.

"An evolution after learning Affinity Attuning and Runes. You form and meditate on certain series of Runes in your Mana Pool to improve your mind and magic. Which in this case would be Intelligence and to a lesser degree, Willpower. Well for most anyways. I had a natural affinity towards Willpower type Rune sets."

Rainer grimaced. He had found it strange that Yarik could even put up a fight against him when [Arcane Awakening] essentially made him a double [Archon] and with Arcane's naturally ability versus other schools. He attributed it to the joint effort of the other two tier 2 mages, but what if it was something else?

And with how Mage Towers of Gunthar's world and Mage Guilds of this world kept secrets, he all but knew this world had similar methods. Perhaps not as good as his Earth's but they may exist nonetheless.

He even then recalled his inability to use [Mana Reading] on George.

Was it related?

"Stop pouting, you grossly overpowered mage. It was impossible for you before, but with your new Affinity levels plus [Sleep Learning], it shouldn't be hard for you to train it up before trying it out for real. Really, the huge problem with it is that you can lose Mana regen for a few days if you screw up. And since it costs Mana to train with…"

Rainer nodded. At least in this rare case [Sleep Learning] could partially make up for his lack of Mana Affinity. Sarah had never learned the skill despite his grandfather always trying to teach it to his descendants. Only Rainer had managed it, making Fredrick believe it was Arcanist exclusive.

The skill itself required Rainer to learn a Runic formula, but his grandfather had done something else to him when he cast it. Apart from guessing that it is related to the creation of the White Void, Rainer was truly clueless as to what Frederick did.

"And the beginning stages of forming Runes in your Mana Pool has the largest increases. It tapers off fast, unlike Affinity Attuning which is steady. Really, it's how certain Mage families stayed above others. They had more methods than anyone else and could use multiple ones, constantly getting that starting boost."

Rainer nodded. He still wouldn't get the same effect those with a Mana Affinity could, but it wouldn't be useless.

"Still…250%," Sarah said, looking at her [True Mana Affinity], "I don't see how that's big enough to cause such a large problem for you."

"The difference between a 100-pound bench and a 200-pound bench, versus 200 and 300. Learning and growth are never linear. Among other cases relating to Human progress. Affinity Attuning could be like crossing a wall. Without a boost, no matter how much time I put in, I may never reach the top of the first hurdle and keep falling back down."

"Hey, did you receive experience for what happened on Earth?" Sarah asked, still thinking over what he said.

"No. Maybe. I don't know. I was a bit pissed at the time. Even if I did, everyone was technically [Classless], so it wouldn't be worth anything."

Sarah wondered if she should tell him she wasn't actually in any danger but saw no reason to as of now. It isn't as if it would make him any less angry.

A part of her enjoyed how closely he looked after her since the rescue, even if she fully knew she'd get annoyed with it sooner or later. Being the little sister protected by her brother wasn't bad for just a little while.

Especially after the years she spent thinking she'd have to be the new protector of the family after her Grandfather would finally run out of methods to extend his life.

Amer interrupted further conversation as he entered the room. Rainer had asked to be present when he remade his Avatar.

"You want to come?" Rainer asked Sarah.

"Watch the so-called Devil use rituals and magic to split his Soul in two and make a clone body that simultaneously lets him use parallel thought processes?"

"You're right, stupid question."

Rainer watched with rapt attention as Amer begun the process of building an Avatar. As Amertiyus finished the massive and complex ritual circle, nearly 30 feet in diameter, he sat in the center to calm himself. Another ritual circle, nearly the same, lay across from him.

Numerous Mana crystals dotted the other ritual circle in preparation for creating the second body. Amer had traded some of his knowledge with the Seeker's Circle to acquire them. With Rainer providing an introduction, the exchange was an easy affair.

Sarah stood off the side, interested in this new form of Magic. A modern mage society had of course done away with the concept of 'evil' magic, except for certain organizations. A ritual circle was nothing new to her even if she didn't know any blood magic herself beyond a simple focusing ritual for Affinity Attuning.

Waiting for the Devil to be ready, Rainer thought back to Amer's explanation on Souls and the Undead. Something that interested him greatly given recent events.

Rainer was originally unsure why putting Sasha's soul back elicited such a divine reaction. At least until Amer explained him the basic theories on the Soul that he had learned as a result of studying the Avatar ritual.

When resurrecting an undead, parts of the Soul were inevitably lost. Undead were essentially both dead and alive in more ways than one. He guessed even Gunthar and Theodore lost a part of their Soul when they had been raised, even if it was far less than usual.

And so long as that part was lost, it didn't matter that the rest stayed, was what Rainer assumed. Even taking them into the ring likely didn't happen fast enough to avoid loss, especially considering he often needed to attack them first with [Devil's Soul Language].

But according to Amer, the Soul would heal so long as the lost parts of the Soul disappeared and the original wasn't overly damaged. Which meant Rainer had unintentionally screwed Amer over when he captured the Devil's Avatar's Soul.

But with Sasha, he had a tight grip with [Void Hold] over the entirety of her Soul. There was no chance of any part of it escaping. Nor could he let a small part escape, because he needed to use the Soul in turn to hold her Life Energy.

A huge part of the Avatar ritual was protecting that Life Energy while you split the Soul and keeping it within your main body.

"Then onto the first step. I have level 7 in [Devil Anatomy] as a base. Had I a higher skill perhaps I could create a separate Mana Pool, but with the Avatar they are instead connected."

"So, if you cast a spell, the Avatar has less Mana to work with as well?" Rainer asked and the Devil nodded.

"This is also part of how Life is shared between the two, without it affecting the other."

It seemed like a large disadvantage, but the ability to do two things at once overshadowed that. Especially when one of those things included venturing into the Void and hoping to land some place habitable.

"Wait, you are literally creating another self? One that is as strong as you and can do anything you can?" Sarah suddenly asked. She automatically assumed there would be some huge decreases in strength, among other things. The part where it essentially granted you two minds was already ridiculously powerful in her opinion.

This, however, was too much.

Amer nodded.

"Is all magic on this world so crazy? And splitting your Soul, what level of insanity did this ritual's creator reach to try something like that?" Sarah said, secretly enjoying her pun and awaiting Amer's reaction. Whether a laugh or a groan she'd be satisfied.

"I cannot say," The Devil simply responded. The hardest part of the split was doing it in such a way that the half that remained in the original body could regenerate back to full form. Otherwise, the Avatar ritual proved a dangerous risk as opposed to a free life.

Sarah stared at him for a long while before she felt Rainer put a hand on her shoulder.

"The translation magic isn't perfect. It's rough, huh."

"How can anyone live like this?"

"Gunthar had a few awkward moments when we first met him. I later figured out this was the cause."

"Poor guy. Maybe I shouldn't play around with him so much."

"Once again, please make sure I'm not there to see it."

"Not a chance. I have to get revenge for nearly falling in love with you."

"You lusting after my perfect form is hardly my fault."

"You constantly bringing up that momentary lapse of judgment is, in fact, your fault."

"Hey, you brought it up this time. Oh, woe is me to have a corrupted little sister who can't get her brother off her mind…"

"If you two are done lamenting about the ludicrous all-language translation skill not letting you make puns and whatever else you are talking about, I am about to start."

"So, it did translate?" Sarah asked knowingly.

The Devil huffed and wiggled the tentacles of his hair at the girl, enjoying her squeal, and opted just to start.

Both ritual circles surged with magic. With a combination of [Flesh Manipulation] and [Mana Manipulation] the circle not containing Amer, formed his second body.

The Mana Crystals started decreasing in size as a figure matching the seated posture of the Devil formed within. With an eruption of power, Amer chanted in the [Devil's Soul Language] severing his own Soul in two.

And with an effort of [Soul Manipulation], sent the less crucial half into the newly forming body.

A tense few minutes passed the as the clone formed to match Amer perfectly. Any alterations to the second body were beyond Amer's ability to perform safely.

"Now just to learn this, and who knows what worlds I can explore," Rainer muttered.

Sarah herself saw the possibility of sending back an Avatar of herself to steal Mana Pools from the Council with no risk.

But both of them were quite far from achieving any singular part of this ritual.

A few hours later, they all gathered in Quera's Mother's house. Even with Rainer's claims of healing Akhor's sickness, the Fae woman refused to let them in, apparently outraged at the cruelty of playing at her hopes in such a manner.

Taking that as implicit approval, he stunned the Fairy and prepared to heal her.

Sarah looked around the room as Rainer prepared to heal the unconscious Fairy. If one went by Rainer's expression, nothing of any concern was happening. And yet the visible tension in even the battle-hardened members of the party shone through all too well.

Rainer's sister had some clue of how understated her brother's view on the Divine. After all, both Luna and Kara had been in the room when he told her of his months in this world.

Luna had only further impressed upon her that fighting against gods and liches was a normal occurrence whereas Kara, on the other hand, had visibly tensed at the reminder of what happened when Rainer had healed Sasha.

Spending time with this party, it didn't take long for Sarah to realize that the wolfkin was pretty much the closest one to normal. A battle maniac she was, but mostly normal nonetheless.

Not even Rainer could take that title, to her surprise. Sarah had made the mistake of asking Rainer about what he's been doing in [Sleep Learning]…

Never again.

Even if it's virtual, how anyone withstands that kind of torture for learning even common spells was beyond her. She had severely underestimated how much he enjoyed magic. His excited and excessively vivid explanation about advancing his so-called [Arcane Rage] to [Arcane Awakening] was not a story she had needed to hear.

The ancient Goblin seemed more akin to a giggling school girl when he talked with his recent Fairy infatuation, more than likely leading to a marriage.

Gunthar certainly appeared normal on the surface, but spending time with him compared to his father made one realize how strange his complete and utter acceptance of existing as a walking skeleton was. He seemed to even see it as a benefit. Hearing him joke of using his centuries of necromantic slavery as a perfect opportunity to improve his Aura was a strange experience.

She questioned her brother's influence on him.

Theodore at least had the recent excuse of being in some strange pseudo relationship with a far-too-beautiful Fairy. Mana transferring and all. Though his moods alternated between normal and depressed a bit too much when not around Elru. That, in Sarah's mind, was normal for a man-turned-undead. Or rather Sun Elf.

Imagining Gunthar as an overly pretty, prude Sun Elf made her want to tease him more.

Sarah didn't want to think too hard on that situation with Theodore and Elru. Though he seemed nice enough of an undead to be happy for. Wrapping her head around the Fae seeing only Mana pools when it came to attraction was already too much for her. The fact that the tentacle-faced Amer was an eligible bachelor was not a fun thought.

Not that she minded how strange most of them were, her brother included. She wasn't exactly normal and it made her more comfortable with what she planned to talk with Rainer about later. While she didn't think killing and draining mages affected her, she knew what Rainer might think of her for it would.

But from what she saw so far, her brother proved a bit too open-minded, if anything. And so too did offhandedly learning from Rainer and Luna's argument that he might not have been able to come back remind her why she trained so hard in the first place.

So hearing that he was willing to potentially sacrifice all of this for her… it validated her repeated decisions to press on every time she found herself wondering whether her current strength was worth all the pain and sweat it took to reach it.

She doubted a little thing like premeditated torture and murder would make him think less of her. Especially considering her targets wanted to do far worse to her.

Calling tearing out a mage's Mana Pool anything other than torture was an understatement. Even if causing pain wasn't the direct goal.

Looking over in a corner, she saw the last member of this strange group. Rainer's apprentice held a creature surpassing myth and legend, even for Earth's Mages, no different than one would a plushy. Even worse, the Dragon appeared more than happy to exist as a pet, despite her intelligence seeming more akin to Lilia than a cat.

As if sensing her thoughts, the shrunken dragon sent a glare her way. Sarah merely smirked back, causing the Eldritch creature to reply with an annoyed growl, though she quickly returned to her half-lucid state as Lilia scratched her.

With Sarah's mana-related senses surpassing anyone here, she also noticed a strange tether of Mana beginning to form between scratcher and scratchee. As their last stop in the Fae Realm, prior to arriving here, Rainer had given Lilia a dose of Fairy Dust.

Knowing already that the Dragon was somehow the familiar of Rainer and Kara was already interesting. This, however, was something else she needed to mention to him after this healing.

Speaking of plushies, Luna's in particular…

Sarah shivered a bit at the memory of that monstrosity before Rainer's [Arcane Presence] brought her back to the situation at hand.

"Absolute…"

She heard Rainer chant. A flurry of Arcane power exploded out from him as she watched the Fairy's body alight with violet.

Bursts of Arcane escaped Rainer's back, making him appear an angel healing a wayward Soul, as Sarah looked on, stunned at the sheer presence of the magic used.

And with a final word, the seconds that seemed like an eternity ended as a final burst of magic erupted out.

"…Rebirth."

Even without the Divine interference, Rainer fell to his knees, his mind reeling from the expenditure of the entirety of his Void Will. Except he kept his consciousness this time, if only barely.

Quera's Mother, while appearing thankful had merely uttered, 'So my daughter got her wish even after death…' and kicked the group out of her house, not paying any mind to Laneth's royalty like she did the first time. Any mention of the [Fruit of the World Tree] Rainer wished to give her ended up ignored completely.

With the rest of the group ahead of them, a weak Rainer was supported by Kara as Luna sat on his head.

"Are you okay, Luna?" Rainer asked. No matter the debt he felt to Quera for helping Luna, the little fairy was far more hurt by her caretaker's death.

"Can we visit again and try to get her to take the Fruit?"

"Of course. Besides, we got a few decades to change her mind," Rainer agreed. Despite everything, Quera's mother did not seem any happier. If they healed her only for her life not to change would it really be paying back what either of the two believed they owed to Quera?

Luna held a bittersweet smile as she nestled further into Rainer's hair. She hoped one day to see Quera's mother happy, even if for all of Rainer's power Quera was still lost to her.

Soon after, with their goodbyes already said in the previous night's party, Rainer and his current group left with little fanfare. Rainer, with their permission, placed a [Soul Trace] on everyone he considered his ally. Soon after the group of 6, along with the still hidden Jor, stepped through the Fairy Ring.

Exiting the tunnel of space and time they ended up several miles outside of Port Ysmar in the Kingdom of Nem. This place was home to the Tideborne Guild, the pretentious name showing how arrogant and obvious both of the Mage Guilds Rainer had run into opted to be in describing their specialties. Rainer remarked that both their claims to being titled "Lord Magus" and the names of the Guilds, made it clear that they thought far too highly of themselves.

It was also by far the largest port on the south coast of the Northern Continent. Recent knowledge of the state of the world made it the best place to purchase a ship.

The Guild was among the wealthiest in the North, if not the most wealthy. Any merchant trying to brave the monster- and pirate-infested waters from the Northern Continent to the Dragon Isles and then to the South without a Tideborne affiliated Mage were in for a rough time. Leaving the Mage Guild to control nearly half of the trade that occurred across the seas.

Whether others struggled through lacking proper protection or from the Tideborne acting behind the scenes, Rainer couldn't say.

Which meant a significant percentage of the profits belonged to them, along with the first pick of magic and mana talented children from the south.

They'd keep the ones useful to their Guild and sell the others at a high mark up. It was both a slave trade and not. The children were adopted by the equivalent of nobles, so it wasn't as if you could feel bad for them. It was assuredly a far better life then they'd have had in the Southern Empire.

Yet, Rainer assumed they wouldn't let children with too much talent go to their competition. It was growing harder and harder to find anything pleasant in the Mage organizations of either world. But with long lives and great power, Rainer had expected as much.

On top of that, the mages themselves were rumored to draw strength from the tides and the two moons, making their position solid so long as they were near the coast. Something that interested Rainer greatly given his plans to establish himself in the Dragon Isles.

And their names were more than just similar. No different than other Mage Guilds, the Skyborne and Tideborne contained numerous smaller satellite guilds in their sphere of influence. Different from most, however, they were among the only guilds of their size to share such a close alliance.

The country of Nem itself had almost no population away from the coast, growing large farmland inwards and leaving a huge buffer of forts at its land borders.

They entered the town soon after, a goal clear in their minds and having little interest in staying around other mages given their recent experience with the Skyborne.

"Why not just use the Fae Gold?" Kara asked. As of now they'd decided to look at the nearby Hunter's Guild. While there were some additional fees for non-members, any sort of bounties were open to all.

All around them people stared at Rainer due to his far-too-high Charisma, but he paid it no mind. Though Sarah was at least relieved to know there was something unnatural about her brother given her first reaction to him.

"No need to draw any unneeded attention to us. Especially with Luna still practicing her glamour. Besides, other than some high-ranking nobles or the Tideborne, who can really handle Fae Gold?"

"And what about buying the ship?" Kara then asked, agreeing that she didn't want to deal with either of those two types of people.

"I was able to trade some currency with Laneth in exchange for some of the Fae Gold. His family didn't have much on hand, but it should be enough to hold us over for a while on top of getting a ship."

Entering the Hunter's guild, the group of five, Tiamat and Luna hiding in Rainer's coat at the moment, was met with a new sight.

[Merfolk, Female, Sea Hunter lvl 22]

[Title: Ocean-walker]

Rainer quirked an eyebrow at the scaled and finned woman's lack of clothes but unlike the rest of the room, after he categorized yet another new race, paid her little mind as he went to look at the bounties. It was also here they could likely find postings for any ships for sale, alongside crews themselves selling passage.

Sarah inspected the brand-new race a little closer. Instead of ears, hers looked more akin to pointed fins, and on top of the azure scales that covered parts of her skin so too did gill-like slits cover her neck. Most of her joints had the added protrusion of a fin. Some modesty was preserved in the form of scales on her breasts, but the woman seemed to not to care one iota about the looks she was attracting.

"Looks like the situation is even better for us than we thought," Rainer remarked as he looked over a for-sale notice.

"And worse for almost everyone else," Kara added.

"I'm sure the Merfolk are enjoying the influx of monsters to hunt for money with the wars going on."

"I'm surprised."

"About?"

"Whenever we met a new race, your eyes were usually glued on them."

"Ah, but you see with [Arcane Sight] I can tell that isn't her actual form. So, it's not as interesting." Rainer couldn't exactly use [Arcane Revelation] freely given it made the entirety of his eyes glow in a strong violet.

"And her actual form?"

"Her legs aren't fully real; I imagine it's something like a fish tail. Now a real, living, breathing mermaid, that is in her original form would earn more than just a cursory glance."

"Should you really be speaking of ogling other women in front of me?" Kara asked jokingly. They've already had a similar discussion when they first met a full-blooded Elf. Rainer's handling of the far more beautiful Fae that came onto him got rid of any jealousy she might feel at a mere Merfolk.

"Hey, you looked longer than I did this time. And biological interest is hardly ogling," The biological interest was sincere. After being around not only Kara and Luna, but the entire Fae race, he had to admit a bit more attraction to even male Fae than most females of other races, despite his reservations over that particular line of thought.

Sarah had the advantage of being a mage and taking after their mother apart from her black hair and blue eyes. But her appearance was a moot point for him, who only knew his teasing about their reunion was so effective from how deeply bothered he'd be if the situation was reversed. In his eyes, she'd always be the snot-nosed kid who wouldn't leave him alone.

"Well," Kara looked a bit embarrassed by that blunt revelation, "I have never witnessed a Merfolk before."

"Same here. So why am only I in the wrong?"

"That's just how it is. Accept the double standard," Sarah chimed in.

"Exactly," Kara agreed, even if she had never heard of the term, 'Double Standard', translated or not, she could guess the meaning easily enough with context.

"Why do I get the feeling I'm suddenly at a disadvantage with Sarah here. Gunthar, you're on my side, right?"

"I am unable to defend your shamelessness, Sorcerer."

A look at Lilia told Rainer she wasn't even paying attention. Perhaps for the best.

Rainer huffed as he looked back at the board. Though a part of him was suddenly worried. His party's attempts at teasing him usually failed or were overturned. But if Sarah played for the other team…

Rainer nodded. He still had Luna on his side. Bless the little fairy.

Unbeknownst to him, Rainer's party attracted both glares and interest from various groups unrelated to their conversation, a conversation that only caused the Mermaid nearby to be annoyed. Even if her race lacked nudity taboos, openly discussing their ogling of her was a little much regardless of the joking tone.

But for the same reason everyone was looking at them strangely, she wouldn't complain. The various mixes of both Mana and Aura radiating off the group were not easily ignored.

Ripping off the paper with a drawing of the ship he was interested in, Rainer immediately went to the inn the ship owners down on their luck were staying at.

Now at the location of his ship, Rainer inspected every inch of the newly purchased vessel as his party sat off to the side. The [Archon] had left a [Soul Trace] on the captain he purchased it from just in case but saw nothing that would need him to seek out the man so far.

He sought to see every single part so that he could recreate it in [Sleep Learning] and practice enchanting. With the Mana-well, enchanting the entire ship turned from a decade-long venture, or alternatively a horribly expensive expenditure of Mana crystals, into a day-long cost-free task. At least, if one only sought to strengthen it.

And the costly profession reserved for the wealthy and grossly talented, proved easy to make progress in for Rainer not only due to his newly advanced [Arcane Sight] but his limitless Mana available in [Sleep Learning].

Even the endless Mana of the Mana-well wasn't free, as it required a small portion of the user's own Mana to manipulate and withdraw the unlimited energy.

Buying a ship had proven surprisingly easy. Due to an uptick in the wars between several of the countries in the Dragon Isles, the number of sea and flying monsters hunted by their armies took a sharp downturn.

Subsequently, the rates for protection, especially from the Tideborne, skyrocketed. And with many boats owned by means of a loan to that very same guild, acquiring a ship during times when there was a high cost to set sail proved easy. Even more so when the Tideborne were trying to take advantage and buy or take back the often partially enchanted ships on the cheap.

Their new ship was decently sized. And Rainer was determined to make it run on the Mana-Well as opposed to using a crew or sails.

A month-long ship ride was one thing. Having to be cramped and constantly hiding who you were was another thing for the more exotic members of the group. He conveniently ignored the part of him that deeply wanted to enchant a magic ship that sailed without a crew, and perhaps even more fantastical features he pictured beyond just being more resistant to damage.

Over on the pier, Luna in her smaller form played with Tiamat as Lilia focused on some notes Sarah had written for Rainer on both Affinity Attuning and forming Runes in one's Mana Pool. With Maya easily agreeing to be Sarah's familiar, Sasha followed in becoming Lilia's after the girl had received a dose of Fairy Dust. It made the language barrier non-existent, and with Lilia already learning to read from the skill orb, she no longer experienced any language limitations.

Kara sat with her legs hanging over the pier. She played with her most recent Body Enchantment, constantly taking out her enchanted blades from her hand, and placing them back in.

Of course, when taking into account all the elements of that particular Body Enchantment, the skill rated high enough to provide a large amount of experience to the tier 1 [Mystic Dancer].

"What do you usually do when it gets like this?" Sarah asked.

The port town was designed around merchants, sailors, and monster hunters, not teenaged girls from Earth. Which really was Sarah not wanting to walk around a town comprised of cheap brothels, drunk sailors who've been at sea for months, and the smell of piss.

And even this ship, in particular, was a way down from the Port Town, in a now mostly empty pier that had unused ships sold back to the Tideborne. With enchanted alarms placed on them, guards were redundant.

Not that most people would be stupid enough to steal from one of the largest and strongest Mage Guilds in the world.

The variety of races interested the former Earthling, but with people from the Southern Empire around, the mood seemed tense.

She was also a bit intrigued after having learned the possibilities of Fae magically creating clothing, but Luna looked like she was having too much fun to be pulled away from her current game.

"Spar. Though with Gunthar busy on watch…"

"Then let's go," Sarah said as she stood up, and stepped off the wooden pier and onto the beach.

Kara looked at her dubiously but followed her all the same.

"Appearances aren't everything, you know," Sarah smirked, and without even giving Kara a chance to get ready, enchanted herself with Mana. In an explosion of sand, Sarah crossed the distance between them.

With a palm teeming with Mana, she unleashed a blast of the raw energy, making Kara stumble backward as her mind scrambled.

Without a moment to waste, Sarah swept the Wolfkin's legs and stopped her Mana infused palm just above the Wolfkin's heart.

"You ready to take me seriously, now?" Sarah jumped back as Kara dusted herself off as she stood.

Kara rolled her shoulders as she tensed her Aura. Being this close to civilization, she couldn't access her Demon half even if the pier was empty apart from their group. Her two golden eyes gleamed with interest as Sarah's Mana pool burst forth, no longer hidden and restricted.

The wolfkin was not at all bothered by the sudden attack, knowing full well the annoyance of being underestimated from one's appearance.

Rainer, finished with his inspection, watched the duel with open shock. He knew his sister was hiding something, but this…

He had rushed outside the ship after the noise occurred but saw only his sister and Kara sparing.

While it was true Kara didn't have access to her Demon half, seeing his sister fight her on an equal level was beyond impressive.

The two women, one Aura enhanced and another Mana enchanted, clashed in a fury of sand. Fist and palms interchanged. While the spar proved light in meaning, neither held back within the set limits.

Rainer had found it dubious that she hadn't had any trouble the whole month their Grandfather was gone. Perhaps it was the other side that struggled against her. Her ominous class and massive Mana Pool as well only confirmed that thought.

Thinking back to how she was restrained, and the Mana he saw flowing in her when he first entered that room, he wondered if he had actually saved her or if she was waiting for a moment to escape.

Her body appeared no different than a powerfully enchanted weapon to his current Arcane enhanced eyes.

The two women shared a laugh as Sarah ended up falling into the ocean, Kara in tow.

But suddenly the smell of ozone covered the entire pier.

A streak of cursed lightning ended the light mood as Rainer launched forward, [Arcane Awakening] already flaring to its maximum as he felt the weight of a powerful magic bear down on him.

Across from them on a beach appeared a figure of great power.

[Human, Male, Lightning Sage(2nd) lvl 25, Master of Cursed Lightning lvl 24(2nd)]

[Title: Magus of Cursed Lightning]

The moment the black lightning hit the ground, a human in black enchanted robes appeared. His hair was grayed with age but held streaks of inky black. His eyes, however, showed no sign of the centuries he carried.

A [Mana Presence] carrying the weight of a nearly thousand strong Mana Pool erupted out, only to be swatted aside by a far superior [Arcane Presence].

Rainer readied himself for a battle, a silent call to the Void already prepped to try and end the encounter before it even started.

"How dangerous…" The black and blue robed figure quietly remarked, before stopping the lightning that crackled around him. He couldn't help but wonder where he failed as a father that his son thought it was a smart idea to challenge such a figure, even ignoring the possible greater power behind him.

After all, he refused to believe such a mage could exist only through his own efforts.

It would be akin to admitting his own failings of needing a Guild and the legacies of the Northern Empire to achieve his current strength. For someone who excelled equally in both arrogance and pragmatism, it was an impossible notion.

"Please accept my most sincere apologies for the blunders of my foolish child and his pet prince. And of my guild," The figure suddenly bowed, defusing the aggressive atmosphere as quickly as it was built.

With the tier 2 level 25 Dungeon meet coming up, and him automatically assuming this figure and perhaps whoever backed him would be there, his pragmatic half won over his other side. The [Magus of Cursed Lightning] who had only bowed to his father centuries ago, bowed to another.

Unbeknownst to him, the girl who was licking her lips at the appearance of such a strong Mana Pool grew disappointed. But nonetheless, began stretching out a thin string of Mana towards the new arrival. He was a bit too far away for her to do anything, but she'd be ready to make her move.

If the stories were true, Rainer was as likely to make him their enemy or their friend.

On Earth and in a dark office, two mages watched the recording of the battle that saw the death of one of the Council's Pillars.

One of which clicked his tongue as he watched the Metal Pillar do the worst thing possible versus an Arcanist. The tattoos of various animals, mythological and mortal, on his dark skin pulsed and moved around his body in agitation as he thought back to his own humiliation against a far younger and weaker Fredrick hundreds of years ago.

"It seems our embarrassment over the terror that Fredrick once inspired in the mages of the Council has kept the younger generations ignorant. Those who hadn't lived through the time when he wasn't shackled by family are unprepared to face an Arcanist. Make a note to have the records of battles versus one, Fredrick Nvos, made public."

So too did they need to know that dodging or overwhelming force was the only reliable way to deal with Arcane Magic.

Such a waste of resources…

Maxwell thought as he watched his Council Executors fail to block the Arcanist's magic and burn for their efforts.

That was new…

Maxwell remarked on the violet fire that covered his former subordinates.

Though the Arcanist's ability to teleport, or whatever he did, so close to a mage trained to resist such a thing was disturbing. There were few mages capable of blocking even an enchanted dagger from close range, let alone a mage surpassing the strength of even some of the stronger Qi users from China.

Dressed in business attire, the woman behind him said nothing as she typed into a tablet.

Even a simple Fireball proved more effective against an Arcanist then the otherwise powerful magic the Metal Pillar tried to use. Anything that wasn't an instant use of Mana, and instead was a form channeling suffered from a huge flaw; the connection could be broken.

A fact often ignored by mages. As a mage capable of breaking your connection would have to be far more powerful, or more skilled with Mana, to do so. And such a mage would often simply win in the first place.

But what made Fredrick so dangerous was that, even prior to his rise in power, he could cut that connection without fail. Which meant anything other than completely instant or very simple spells ended up useless. And in a direct confrontation, the Arcane ruled over other magics.

Was it any question as to why they so desired to unravel the mysteries behind his power?

Though, Fredrick disrupted with far flashier means than his descendant.

As far as Maxwell could tell, Rainer Nvos merely glared the magic of the Metal Pillar into failing. The footage showed nothing else of note.

"And what of his actions prior to disappearing off the face of the planet, this time with his sister in tow?"

No one believed Fredrick when his great-grandson went missing. At least until they had their own Diviners try and find him. Not even Fredrick could hide when the Three Sisters went into action. Though, their price was almost never one anyone was willing to pay.

"The Soul Pillar and her apprentices have been called in. As far as we can tell Rainer Nvos cast some form of Soul tracking magic on multiple individuals."

Maxwell nodded in thought before leaving the office. There was no way a Nvos wouldn't take revenge.

The trail of dead mages recently investigated as having "kidnapped" Sarah Nvos provided plenty of proof that the temper of the Nvos line still existed.

Frederick utterly destroyed the organization that kidnapped Rainer as a child. The same organization that caused Fredrick's grandson, Eric Nvos, to perish in the rescue. They were destroyed so completely and fully, even all but unrelated third parties joined them in their deaths. So too the enchanters who were commissioned to build their headquarters didn't escape his wrath.

Fredrick was never one known for controlling his temper. He was akin to a man who'd raze the bar who served a drunk driver that killed his loved one. And then deal with the brewery that produced that brand of beer afterward.

The acquisition of true power never produced well-adjusted people. Maxwell was well aware of his own failings in that regard. The same failing that caused the Council to value their reputation over preparing their organization to properly fight an Arcanist.

"Reverse engineer it. Have them find all he cast upon."

"How should they be treated?"

Maxwell paused for a moment. There was an all but certain chance they were just random people, so there was no reason to waste the manpower to interrogate them. Mind Mages cost as much as Diviners and Trackers when it came to overcharging for their services.

"Have them put into magic-induced comas and gathered in warehouse thirteen."

The only affirmation given was typing on a tablet.

"Send a message to all Pillars. We have an Arcanist to prepare a welcome for."

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