The Arcane Emperor

Chapter 79 Sacrilege

Sailing across the open ocean, a large merchant vessel went along as if nothing was out of the ordinary. Yet looking at any of the sailors one would see a far different reality. They went about their tasks as mind-controlled drones, their eyes empty of the previous vigor of a skilled and well-traveled crew. All at the behest of a single man.

Beside the helmsman of the ship, stood a tall demon with white long hair and red eyes that looked no more than a man of 40. His legs were covered in fur and his feet in hooves along with a long black pointed tail at his back. He needed to occasionally maintain this form to reinforce the powers of the Incubus over the whole crew.

Demon Prince Fang in his black cloth attire looked out over the crew as the tracking mage he put under his power so long ago gave him a status update. A long black cloak covered the Demon's body despite the sun that beat down upon him.

"I can only get a general sense of her location," The grey-haired Mage, renowned in the North for tracking, spoke. Yet his eyes no longer carried any of the luster of knowledge and magic they once did. Only a fervent expression of worship towards the power of a Demon who far surpassed him.

The [Greater Demonic Reaper] growled at the news. But punishing mindless drones was a futile affair.

"Do the Dragon Isles disrupt you so?" He asked. Growing up here, he knew full well of the occasional weirdness that sometimes affected magic of a more sensitive nature. Some Mages' stories even attributed it to their greatest, but accidental, findings.

Though for such a prominent tracking mage to be disrupted made no sense. The effect should not be so great for the man he trapped under his control.

"It is the Half-Demon...I do not understand but there is some strange interference around her."

"Keep the ship on its course," He simply spoke, before his body became covered in bluish scales and his head became a mix between fish and serpent features. Moments later, in a blur, he vanished with only a few ripples on the surface of the water.

Hunting souls had always calmed him down. And he couldn't afford to end up stranded at sea because he let his temper get the better of him. They'd stay mind controlled for at least some time without him there to reinforce it.

On the beach of the island, Rainer soared straight up into the sky. Looking out over the distance he used [Arcane Revelation] to make up for the lack of light beyond just the moons and stars.

While it wasn't anything like night vision, he could see Souls when combined with his knowledge of [Soul Detection]. Even further in the distance, a great deal away, he could see a tree that not only stood above the rest but did not seem native to the environment. A clear sign of a world tree branch and perhaps some larger settlement.

He smiled. A decent sized gathering of Souls was not too far from where they landed, likely some village. Only a single presence that contained both Aura and Mana, but not particularly high, existed among the gathering of people. The rest had nothing but their Soul along with a few that had some Aura.

"There's a village not far from here. We'll head there once I return," If such a weak gathering could survive on this island, he had enough assurance to go meet with Talvara in [Sleep Learning] once more.

"Was it a success?" Talvara entered and asked Rainer just moments after he had Luna cast a sleeping spell on him.

"I'm ready, when should I leave?" Rainer said, a part of his mind still using [Void Detection] on the strange soul connection.

"The moment you leave this space, I'll send word to my followers to provide a distraction. I have already canceled the Bounty after our first meeting. But Aurora would not know of this. I will send a message the moment she is free from the Barrier."

"Any warnings about who's guarding her?"

"Aurora would not have been caught, if they were ordinary Priests of a Divinity," Talvara started, "It is for the best you avoid any conflict and leave it to my followers to provide a distraction. Even they will seek to run the moment you are clear and they are able."

Ranier gave her a look of confusion, as to how her followers ever competed against such individuals on their plane, let alone how the rest of this world did if Void Lords matched up so poorly. She soon answered his unasked question.

"Channeling Divine power, beyond the pittance they regularly have as priests, expends their body if not even their life. They do not use it lightly. Or at least, they shouldn't. Aurora seemed to have been caught by one far more lax in valuing their life. But nonetheless, do not fight one if you do not have to."

Wasn't planning on it.

Rainer thought. It wasn't hard to tell that despite his misgivings towards the magic-hating empire, Aurora was definitely more at fault than them. He saw no reason to kill the people capturing her even if in the future he knew his Academy could make him an enemy of the whole empire.

"I'm off then,"

"Do not forget [Archon], often the best course of action is merely to flee," Talvara warned one last time before Rainer awoke.

"Rainer?" Sarah spoke to the suddenly awoken [Archon].

"Time to go, her people are preparing a distraction," Rainer spoke, "Step back."

As he waited for more room, he armed eight [Arcane Lance]s and used [Arcane Presence Armament] in preparation.

Luna flew back and sat on Kara's head, not insisting she should go. After all, Rainer was staying in this world.

Arcane filled the air as Rainer manipulated power from the Arcanium, weakening the very fabric of space itself. With the magic of the Dragon Isles still distorting the pathway, though less than when near the storm, Rainer prepared and focused a bit more than usual on his upcoming Void-walk.

And with nary a fluctuation of space, the [Harbinger] walked across the Void.

Rainer passed through the barrier around the cell with ease, immediately assuming it was meant to keep people from leaving rather than entering.

He glanced down at the chained and unconscious Abyssal Elf. With a quick use of his [Arcane Blade], he cut through her bindings.

Grabbing her roughly, Rainer didn't even pay attention to the guard outside the cell room rushing outside to, likely, warn others. With the Aura inscription still working on her manacles, Rainer only spared her a moment's inspection with [Void Detection], finding her lacking in Void Will on top of the imprisonment.

He operated the Void Will in his body as he poured his power into [Void Detection], piercing through the barrier and [Void-walking] several hundred feet outside in an instant.

Weaker than the World Tree's, indeed.

Without even a moments glance at the dark surroundings, Rainer Void-walked rapidly away from any semblance of life.

He then wasted no time sinking into the fastest [Eldritch Flight] he could manage. Sounds of distant battle went out behind him, the distraction as planned. But a single man covered in a white aura blurred in the sky flying towards him.

Repeated Void-walks in an attempt to escape landed Rainer on a beach.

A barrier blocking his next Void-walk, caused him to throw the now awake Aurora to the side. She slammed into the sand within the barrier, a great deal away from the arriving combatant.

The white phantom descended from the sky and with barely even disturbing the sand beneath landed in front of Rainer, revealing the man behind the power.

"Who else but a mage to rescue the murderer," The spear-wielding warrior spoke, a hint of Divine power now surging through him and distorting his voice slightly.

Rainer felt an [Appraisal] effortlessly pass through him, reminding him that his companions knowledge on the certain subject matter was not absolute. He returned in kind.

[Human, Male, Spear Master lvl 17(2nd), Priest lvl 6(2nd)]

[Title: Priest of Malur]

Rainer glanced around the barrier, having no intention to fight the man in front of him. He considered himself a third party. There was no reason to kill wantonly.

But before he could Void-walk to Aurora and then leave the weak protection, it increased in power. And the man in front of him let out a yell in pain as his original brown eyes glowed with white Divinity. The body nowhere near capable of holding such power, bled from its eyes as underneath the Divine light the sclera of his eyes turned red to match.

"You have chosen your path poorly, wretched Defier."

The choice to fight was not his to make any longer.

Rainer did not even bother to appraise the changed man, knowing there could be consequences and he'd likely not see anything worthwhile even if there weren't. The power that partially inhabited the now failing body was clear.

With not giving said Defier a chance to respond, the changed spearman rushed forward, his blond hair blowing back against his sheer speed as his body became wrapped in a glowing white aura.

Within the barrier, [Void-walking] proved no more difficult than outside it. The spear stabbed forward only to meet empty air. And the assault of eight [Arcane Lance]s fired one after the other.

The spear wrapped in the Divine power, parried each of them, their power releasing around the possessed man.

The moment after he had Void-walked, Rainer already prepared an [Arcane Combustion] immediately following the armed release. The Arcane-Fire exploded directly on the target.

An instant later, a man covered in burns rushed out of the explosion, his spear stabbing forward with strong skill and a Divine grip wrapping around Rainer to prevent him from [Void-walking].

[Arcane Awakening] entered its maximum as Rainer activated Surge as well. His mind and body reached new speeds.

Rainer dodged to the side, trying to parry with his [Arcane Blade] as he summoned the hilt to his right hand, but was too slow. A final use of [Arcane Awakening: Shield Mode] prevented his head from being stabbed through and, instead, the Divine power glanced and cut along his cheek. Rainer grimaced in pain as he felt his very Soul assaulted, but the Divine power invading him stopped short.

He poured [Arcane Invigoration] throughout his body as the Divine power gripping him surged in strength. Everywhere in his body tightened with pressure and pain. The spear pulled back, but slightly off balance from being redirected by Rainer's shielding and with the [Arcane Blade] already in position, it took only the slightest movement for the spear head to be cut off.

But the spear wielder paid no mind to his missing point and lunged forward closer and slammed down at the [Archon]. A shining hammer of Divine power covered the end of the spear's shaft.

The all but dead man in front of Rainer had even more Divine power coursing through his body.

[Divine Hammer] met [Arcane Blade] as a clash of powers rang out, blowing sand away all around them and further brightening the moon-lit night

Rainer gripped his enchanted hilt with both hands as the spear turned hammer by the Divine power carried with it a pressure that covered his entire body. Only a use of [Arcane-Spatial Domain: Spatial Shift] kept the far stronger attacker at bay. Even despite the figure being able to resist a part of the magic.

Mana and Arcane Power poured from him as he focused on using the Spatial Shift to push back the physically superior foe. Rainer switched to [Arcane Awakening: Might], as every other portion of his mind focused on the fight and warding off the Divine power pressuring him with [Arcane Invigoration].

The webbing between his thumb and finger tore slightly. The pressure increased. His feet sunk into the ground. A use of [Arcane Presence Armament] turned the world violet amidst the glowing white. Rainer pressed down on his opponent in turn, but to no avail. His enemy already choosing the death of their vessel, poured as much power as the bleeding body could handle.

A passing moment of clarity to a different time, a time when he fought Devils by the thousands reminded him that he did not wield just a weightless blade, but a magic one. Might became Surge, the [Arcane Blade] vanished, and an increase of gravity, aimed not at the opponent but the spear, followed. The knowledge of a skill followed through his body as his posture slightly shifted.

And with an Arcanum Step, the divine spear moved a minuscule distance past Rainer's body, and toward the ground, as the [Archon] himself surged forward. Magic flowed from his enchanted hilt once more.

The Divine being had only a moment to defend. The shielding around the spearman's broken body flickered as the [Arcane Blade] cleaved him in two.

A scar tore across in the straight line where the spear struck the ground, and a severed body hit soon after. The already exhausted body faded to death immediately. Its Soul sucked to somewhere else.

"There will always be one willing to serve my will, [Archon]," The voice warned, and yet Rainer did not even pay attention to it. He turned around with his [Arcane Revelation] covered eyes and issued but a single command.

"Jor. Devour."

With a burning rush of power, the scaled violet Serpent soared out of Rainer's shoulder and opened its maw as the leaving Divine power instead found itself pulled in another direction. Even the clearly small part of the Divinity's true power struggled but against Jor, who freely ate and devoured the roots of the World Tree, it lost ground.

A final stunned and confused cry, not matching any of the previous detachment and confidence, spelled a temporary end.

"Sacrilege..." The voice vanished into the maw of the Serpent.

The Divine barrier flickered out of existence. Rainer immediately Void-walked to Aurora, his Serpent flying behind him and keeping a wary slitted eye on on her. Its eyes far less translucent than before were entirely black with the exception of a violet line in the center.

"So I did get your eyebrows," he remarked amidst a groan as his organs healed with [Arcane Invigoration].

The Abyssal Elf only sneered at him as she removed her cuffs, having already damaged one of them earlier it was only a simple matter to use [Void Call] to remove the rest. Though, under the restraints, it cost her a large portion of her Void Will.

The moment she left the Divine Barrier, she received a message of the Bounty being no more. But it did not lessen the indignation of being thrown around as a sack of garbage. She did not even register that she was saved by him.

Rainer turned around seeing this, though he kept a close watch through [Void Detection]. Despite her currently all but empty pool of Void Will, he didn't completely let down his guard.

Just as he was about to walk back to his party, he felt a tiny presence of Void try and attach itself to his Soul. Something he could have never felt without his recent advancements.

A small surge of [Arcane Rage] and [Soul Manipulation] later, the connection snapped and a surprised gasp rang out behind him. Still under his skill's effect, Rainer moved with supernatural speed, and landed a boot into her stomach, sending her flying several feet as she landed harshly in the sand.

"No wonder you got captured…" He gave a final remark as the Abyssal Elf herself Void-traveled away, a cough echoing out from her along with a pained gasp.

Rainer also vanished, returning to his party just as those, the other Void Lords who stalled the priests, made their way to the scene of the battle.

Rainer returned to the now relieved members of his party.

Kara went up to give him a welcome back kiss only to pause as she saw a small slightly angled horizontal scar under his right eye.

"Rainer...what happened?" She asked confused, running a finger along the mark.

Rainer's own hand replaced her, and a single use of [Soul Detection] told him what he already suspected. He glanced at the recently gained skills, altered title, and experience in the meantime.

[Skill Gained: General Magic Blade Mastery lvl 1/10]

[Skill Gained: Arcane Blade Mastery lvl 1/10]

[Title already held: One who Defies Divinity. 5% Bonus Experience gained added to title.]

[Experience Gained: 0.01%, 4.3%]

"A bit of a complication. Otherwise, it went well. I'll tell you about it later, I'm just kind of hoping we can get some sort of Guest Quarters at that nearest village," He joked. He wouldn't even mind some straw after so long in a boat meant for its trips to be measured in feet not miles.

Kara nodded, guessing already what was involved whenever Rainer had a bit of a complication.

Sarah looked at them strangely at the heavy mood brought from just one scar. Wasn't his whole body just covered in them just a week ago?

With the distance not particularly far, they decided to walk. No reason to surprise anyone by flying in. Lilia, however, took Rainer's shoulders. He misted out Arcane-Ice as usual, the night was cooler but for the mostly normal Lilla, the heat still affected her far more strongly.

This, of course, resulted in complaints from Sarah, until Kara agreed to give her a ride on her shoulders and abruptly grabbed her up there.

"Wow, your hair is really soft," Sarah remarked, now happily resting her arms on Kara's head.

Kara's attempt at embarrassing a Nvos by carrying them failed for a second time, now with the younger version.

They came upon a larger than expected village for the area, the entire place surrounded by a tall wooden wall.

"Halt," A guard called out, "What the hell are you do-" The younger guard started talking only to receive a slap on the back of his head from an older one, not even in uniform apart from his wooden spear tipped in metal.

"Pardon Hunter," the man said, fully detecting the Aura of the group and recognizing by gleam more than a few enchanted items, "Would you like me to guide you to the Hunter's Guild Inn in town?"

Rainer raised a surprised eyebrow, before realizing that perhaps this village was less of a fishing one as he originally assumed, but perhaps a way station for monster hunters wishing to explore the island? Or maybe there was once a well-visited Dungeon that warranted the building of a Hunter's Guild. He certainly didn't see anyone that would be a Hunter apart from a few with a small amount of Aura and single strong presence.

"We'd like to meet with the head of the Village," Rainer responded mixing a bit of Arcane in his voice.

With the added Charisma and sheer power in the words, the older guard decided it best to simply agree. After all, it wasn't as if they could stop them in any case. And the Chief made his larger house pretty obvious to find.

A few quiet minutes later, walking through the small town that was, in fact, a fishing village by appearance, they were at the largest house, a bit of a ways up in the center of the village. Noticing how very far the World Tree still was, Rainer wondered if there was a larger port further south, and closer to the tree.

He noticed right away that neither guard was human. Both had small ears on top of their heads rather than next to them. Rainer ventured them to be from a Tiger, given the result of the [Appraisal]. The young guard had hair mixed with both orange and black, while the older one was a simple black, including his ears and tail.

"Sav, Sav!" The older man yelled as he knocked on the door.

"Come in and take a seat," the man responded, having already heard them coming and detected both the Aura and Mana. He found himself more than disturbed by why they were here.

Entering the room, Rainer was led to a larger table to sit down.

Coming out of a back room, Sav brought a jar of wine with him, along with several clay cups. He glanced at the strange group in front of him, wondering what Hunters, or whoever they actually were, were doing here in this season. The monsters were far too deep inland as of now to be worth going hunting for. Not that most of the monsters on this island would go within 10 miles of such a powerful party.

"And how can I help ya, Magus?" Sav wasn't too worried about the man in front of him. The Mage Guilds had a tentative peace at the moment with the Dragon Isles. And few would be stupid to act with abandon in lands that weren't completely welcoming to their kind. The enchanted items and far too pretty face made him think this Magus to be a Guild-raised one.

Rogue mages may flock here to get away from either the South or the North, but just as they hid here so too did bounty hunters pursue them. There were, of course, some Rogue mages who were running from Mage Guilds for reasons other than crime, but gold was a universal motivator.

A bounty was a bounty and old scars of war had healed slowly for those who experienced the wide ranging might of magic.

"Just passing by, I was hoping for some information on the nearest port town," Rainer said as he appraised the older man, looking to be in his 70s but still quite fit. His hair was entirely gray, matching his ears.

[Tigerkin, Male, Spear Hunter lvl 25]

[Title: Spear Wielder]

Sav raised an eyebrow, not understanding how they even got here then.

"We ran into a... magical storm. It destroyed our ship, but I managed to fly us quite a bit and ended up here. Frankly, we'd like a place to sleep as well."

Sav gave a gruff laugh before responding without even thinking, "What kind of moron runs into a Ship Killer?" But when he saw the face of the person across from him his face went white. Before he could even try to stumble out an apology and devolve to begging the grossly powerful group of people not to kill him, he was met with laughter instead.

Rainer sank down into the chair, while Kara covered her mouth as she laughed. He didn't even have it in him to pretend to be some Lord Magus who got offended. Not that he would have for no benefit in the first place.

"This moron right here," Kara said with mirth as she placed her hand on Rainer's head, only for him to playfully swat it away.

"Are they that easy to avoid?" Rainer asked, now feeling the loss of his ship. With all that time spent in [Sleep Learning] sending Mana through and exploring every single part down to the very grain of the wood, he doubted he knew an object better.

"I'll get you a map," Sav responded, deciding to temporarily leave the room before the powerful mage in front of him changed his mind and chose to be offended. He didn't even question how he ending up reaching here not knowing of to avoid such easily avoidable magical storms. What mages did in their free time was beyond him.

Rainer glanced around the room in the meantime, noticing a spear of a far higher quality than anything else sticking out. He rubbed his scar for a moment, an unpleasant reminder that he wasn't as resistant as he thought, and went to study the weapon down to every inch with [Arcane Revelation].

A simple strengthening enchantment for the likely soon to be Trial taker, wouldn't be a bad deal for services rendered.

Within a circular room, a meeting between two Guildmasters of Mages went on.

The Tideborne Guildmaster hid his annoyance as Yarik continued to speak about taking action against the Foreign Enemy Magus.

He didn't necessarily disagree, but rather couldn't stand the oddly mustache-less Skyborne Guildmaster putting up the act of a grieving son. But one thing he did enjoy, was the subtle shift in what was once a Skyborne dominated alliance between Guilds. It was never overt. But often times Maverick was forced to make concessions to the Skyborne when it came to any deals.

Group Spells were powerful, but any long-sensor could notice them and they could be prepared for accordingly with one's own strength. No Mage Guild nor country lasted long without a proper defense against Group Spells. Or at least a way to limit the damage.

Yet what truly gave the Skyborne the edge beside the enchanting legacy they inherited from the once widespread Northern Empire, was their now former protector, Yazir.

The man's Cursed Lightning was widely known and viewed as mostly incurable, especially after a past war with the Dragon Isles and much of the North. And he himself was a formidable combatant beyond that. Frankly put, Maverick couldn't help but hold a bit of fear towards the people that managed to kill the old monster.

The long brown-haired Maverick raised a hand to stop Yarik from speaking.

"The Dungeon meet is too close to risk action of such a level. I apologize Yarik, but the chance to reach the third tier and whatever other rewards, such a tier 2 level 25 dungeon could offer, take precedence," Maverick himself had a level 24 tier 2 class, along with a level 18 tier 2 class.

Assuming any made party managed to complete even just a single stage of the dungeon, especially if they were first, they could change the power balance of the whole world. Of course, someone could try to sneak in early, and many already had spies to monitor it as such, but the chance of success with a suboptimal or small party was so tiny it was mostly disregarded. No single nation had the diversity and strength to create a powerful party for the dungeon that wouldn't be a fool's errand.

Not to mention anyone that tried would be met with the innumerable amount of various spies and traps blocking their way. Not the best way to enter a life-threatening dungeon.

Yarik ground his teeth at the casual dismissal but said nothing else on the subject.

"I hope you do not come to regret this course of action," Yarik said, leaving in a huff and no longer caring to maintain a political decorum.

Maverick shook his head at the sound of thunder that rang out soon after Yarik left, having already covered himself in a [Mana Shield] created to block sound. A measure against the petty little action to travel with lightning within the Guildhouse. The son was nowhere near as even tempered as his father. His old age seemed almost an illusion.

The [Master of Tides] glanced for a moment at the glass of wine in his hand, the liquid slightly shaking from the sound, wondering just what sort of waves Yazir's killers would make.

Rainer sat in the bed that had previously been unused. It seemed along with the tidings of war now was not a good time to hunt Monsters, with most of them heading away, deeper into the island to mingle amidst stronger Monsters far beyond the caliber of most Hunters.

Tiamat sat on his chest as he lay awake alone in the night. She had insisted on going with him tonight, her red slitted eyes staying open without sleep the whole time.

He wondered just what the little dragon seemed to feel after experiencing that storm. The confident, and according to his little sister's delusions, cheeky dragon seemed a bit more meek. Rainer noticed for the first time since advancing his ability relating to the Soul, that a familiar bond was not just a connection of Mana. Rather the Mana was a medium, perhaps not even truly needed between two souls.

And he also noticed another connection forming in Tiamat's Soul. Something Sarah mentioned earlier during the long trip at sea.

"What are you acting so nervous for? You think some disembodied Soul is something you need to worry over?"

Tiamat glanced at him before snuggling into his chest, confirming she was in fact worried, though not whether she actually understood what he said. Even on the small ship, Tiamat spent time either practicing flying with Gunthar's aid, the undead often squealing if Tiamat looked too close to the edge, or in Lilia's arms like some stuffed toy.

To be attached to him confirmed to Rainer that Tiamat may very well have sensed the same thing he witnessed with [Arcane Revelation]. An unsettling confirmation, but a confirmation nonetheless.

"Dragon, Divinity, and whatever else. Does it matter? What more well-known legend is there than of an [Archon]."

Rainer received no response from the dragon that decided to sleep with him tonight, himself deciding now to head to sleep. Kara and Luna were already asleep, both eager to enjoy a normal bed, even despite other desires.

They all had long lives and plenty of time for anything else.

But when tired, nothing beat a comfortable bed.

Rainer took a few minutes to set his party off on their own Auto-piloted [Sleep Learning] sessions, after ignoring a grumble from Sarah to start enchanting her.

"A resounding success," Talvara said as she came into the White Void.

Rainer noticed the Void-being glance to his right.

"So the scar is even in here…" He assumed, running his fingers over it. A quick use of [Soul Detection] found his Soul scarred, and no use of [Arcane Invigoration] seemed to do otherwise. Of course, compared to the whole of his Soul the damage was minuscule but present nonetheless.

"Yes..the scar. I would not worry, it doesn't detract from you. I imagine something unexpected descended?"

"It was after an [Appraisal]," Rainer added, not particularly seeing a reason to deny it.

"Have you reconsidered taking Void Will as a reward?"

Rainer hummed thoughtfully. His interest in more Void Will was limited. It would be a welcome addition but it wouldn't be groundbreaking by any means.

"What about for someone else?"

Talvara returned a smile.

"It can be done. Anything beyond what we agreed upon?"

"Can I kill you?"

Talvara raised an eyebrow, of course knowing there was more to the question than the obvious.

Rather than explain, he first opted to kill himself. Forming a rune in his brain with [Internal Runic Formation], Rainer let it instead go out of control, exploding and killing him instantly.

Moments later, with his previous body and all other parts disappearing, Rainer reformed.

"I'm not sure how it'll affect other people. Or even if the reform is automatic."

"And you wish to check if it's safe for your party members? And by using me? My, how callous of you." She jested.

"Who but you could recover from anything?"

Talvara laughed at the compliment, that technically was trying to convince her to die. She thought over the premise in the past before, but in the end, she would have never come here if she feared such a thing.

Rather what caused her, begrudgingly, to admit to fear in the past, was his ability to keep her here. But apart from her Soul connecting here, all else appeared but an illusion. And there were advantages to testing this out when he wasn't actually trying to do her harm.

"Make it quick."

A short flash of an [Arcane Blade] later, and the formerly dead Void-Being reformed in the White Void.

"Well?" Rainer asked.

"It was..odd. It happened too fast for me to really note it. Nothing painful. More like falling asleep only to wake up again moments later."

"Did you have to reform your body on your own?"

"No," Talvara answered. Rather she tried to halt the automatic reformation out of curiosity before letting it happen. It was...an odd experience.

Rainer nodded. He had wanted to make sure death in the White Void wouldn't affect his party members any more than it affected him. And a god-like Void-being seemed the best test subject to recover afterward if there were ill effects. Did she even sleep? Or was she even anything that could be denoted as such at all?

"Why do I believe you've thought something rude of me?"

"Never."

Talvara laughed for a moment before speaking again, "For the time being, I must be off. I shall visit again when I can,"

"Thank you for the help, honestly," Rainer remarked before Talvara vanished.

Moments later Rainer pulled his originally Auto-piloting party members back into the Void. All of them appeared with clothes, with him having told them to train as such. Apart from the issues of modesty and him very much not wanting to see his sister naked, he imagined it'd be a helpful exercise for the other abilities of [Sleep Learning].

"For now, we're going to see how long you can stay in here before your mind starts feeling foggy. We'll wake up every half-hour and then try again," The after-effects of [Sleep Learning] were hard to notice while you were actually in the place.

They all began making their best use of the time here. Rainer opted to help Lilia try and learn [Mana Manipulation] while at the same time demonstrating what each rune of [Arcane Bolt] had to do with an actual [Arcane Bolt]. He repeatedly cast the spell for this effort, mimicking his grandfather in doing certain parts as slow as possible.

"What's it like to learn runes," She asked him, staring attentively at the [Arcane Bolt] formed in his hand.

Rainer thought over the question himself, he guessed she meant what it was like when it finally clicked, and Runes were more than just over-complicated letters on a page.

"Well…"

Rainer himself never asked this question to his grandfather. Really, Runes had come a bit too easy for him to ask any sort of questions. After a moment of thought, he figured out the best way to describe it.

Canceling the spell he brought out a piece of paper. He drew a square in the center of it.

"Imagine this as a normal letter of any language. The first step, and now the next step" he drew on the square to make it resemble a cube, including the dotted lines as if it was see-through.

"This will be the next step, a normal Rune. And truly understanding Runes, is seeing that one more step further. Almost as if you are seeing the magic that it can bring about. Another dimension to the object that wasn't there before."

"And that last part is what you see when you look at Runes? And why it can give you headaches? Or make you cast spells with your Mana," Lilia asked.

"Exactly. Think of a written riddle. And if you can't read…"

"Then the riddle can't tire out your head thinking about it no matter how much you stare at it, Nor can you come up with an answer to it," Lilia added.

Rainer smiled, glad she was quick to understand his example he wasn't sure was particularly good. He continued demonstrating [Arcane Bolt] and explaining what each Rune did to cast each part of the spell.

Elsewhere Luna used massive amounts of her flame to...well, Rainer couldn't view it as anything other than playing around. But at least she seemed to be improving her control despite the apparent fun she was having burning reproductions of his enchanted ship with the unlimited energy available in the white void.

"Luna," Rainer stopped her just as she was about to burn down yet another ship, "How about trying to burn only the enchantment? As training?"

Luna looked at him like he just insulted her most prized possession.

"See, Luna was right…" She mumbled.

"Right about what?"

"That if I trained, everyone would expect Luna to always keep training…"

"Alright...just burn the ship,"

Luna let out a happy yip before she fluttered back over and continued her pyromaniac adventures as Rainer occasionally suffered a flashback towards his real destroyed ship.

Kara and Sarah opted to begin sparring only to change their minds. Or rather Sarah did as fighting Kara when there was no reason to hold back showed just how far the difference between the two was, even sans Wolf form. Though while Sarah refreshed her body with no issue after a broken forearm, she did not experience death.

Both then practiced various skills in ways they could not do outside the White Void.

The night went on, and with Luna's help, every participant was woken up 30 minutes later and then put back to sleep when no effects were observed.

Every single member of Rainer's party lasted the whole 6 hour night. And towards the end of the [Sleep Learning] session, he practiced on a replication of the spear the Village Chief had.

The next morning they stood around in discussion, wondering why no one suffered ill effects.

"So either it's different for others, or it's not related to Intelligence," Rainer started.

"Is your space not related to your Soul, Sorcerer?" Gunthar was first to ask.

Rainer laughed a bit. That would make more sense. And just as his Intelligence rose, so too did his total Mana Pool. And a Soul's strength was naturally nurtured by an individual's energy pools, Mana, Aura or otherwise.

With [Arcane Revelation], and his newly improved [Soul Detection], Rainer glanced at his party. Luna, oddly had the strongest Soul, followed by Gunthar's which also seemed to have a strange density to it, likely from his skill. Next was a near tie between Kara and Sarah, and then finally Lilla.

That surprised Rainer the most. His apprentice, despite having almost no energy to speak of, was only slightly behind the Aura mammoth Kara and the Mana-stealing Sarah. And in terms of density, seemed to surpass Gunthar.

Was a Soul Affinity that strong?

Still, his own was a bit above everyone's. Perhaps even an effect of having the two voids attached to his soul.

"We'll be careful about it, but for now I doubt there will be any problem with staying awake for longer periods in the White Void."

Along with pleased looks, was Sarah speaking, "Time for my enchantments."

"Let's go meet with the village chief again," Rainer mentioned, promptly ignoring her.

Soon after, the party headed back to the Chief's house to overlook his various maps he kept from his time as a sailor and later a captain.

"Right here is the range of the Ship-killer," Sav pointed to a circled off area on the map. It was directly south and then slightly east of the Port Rainer set sail from.

So the ship drifted a bit...or for some reason, the Ship-killer was able to leave its area…

Rainer now guessed on the former. From the hidden library of Nalmar, he knew several things about poltergeists, though of course nothing relating to such grossly powerful ones, assuming it was one at all. And it was agreed as a rule from various sources that without the aid of a Necromancer and a ritual to bind them to another thing, they could not leave their original resting places.

And if the storm truly chased no one past a certain range, he doubted it could leave. But the doubt wasn't enough that he'd sail by one again with a Dragon Enchanted ship. At the very least his partial worry at it following them for Tiamat was abated, alongside the fact it didn't really pursue them when they ran.

"What is a Ship-Killer?"

Sav chuckled for a moment before answering, "Who knows? Most consider them magical storms. I once was on a ship with the Tideborne Guildmaster in my younger days. He was convinced they were the ancient remnants of Dragon Magic, or Dragons themselves, and was quite enthusiastic in telling everyone he could about his theories. Mind you this isn't coming from me, but even his two apprentices with him looked at him as if they were containing eye rolls."

Rainer saw no reason to confirm the truth.

"Right now the war between the Sea King and Serpent King is ramping up," Sav continued talking, "It won't be long till others join in. Already several countries have called back divisions of their army which regularly hunt monsters."

Sav's explanation continued. He wasn't giving away any information that most people who made the Isles their home didn't already know.

"Any small war like this seldom stays small. Other countries join in at a chance to gather quick experience for their armies and nobles, or for their territories to expand."

Through his words, Sav kept glancing at Kara, seeing her more clearly in the bright light of day.

"What's wrong?" Rainer asked. He didn't think that man was so daring as to ogle her in front of him, so it had to be something else. Or rather, so daring as to ogle her in front of her.

Does he have a special skill that can sense her Demon-half?

"Ah..apologies," Sav said with a cough and quickly sought to explain, "She has the eyes of the Wolf King's bloodline. I was just a bit distracted," What went unsaid, was he automatically assumed this Aura user was a former slave. It was the only way he could understand how someone who unmistakably had the unique eye color of that line had not come from the Dragon Isles. Why someone who had the Aura Talent of the Wolf King's line ended up a slave, he couldn't say. Nor why a mage would treat any of the Wolf King's descendants nicely, let alone enter a romantic relationship.

He smirked for a brief moment, thinking this clueless mage had run away from home relating to that. He had spent a considerable sum on acquiring a few love stories he gained an interest in reading during long travels at sea with nobles and mages who had nothing better to do then speak about literature. Some were smart enough not to treat the people who held their lives in their hands poorly.

"It's fine," Rainer said, glancing back at Kara who seemed to have sunken into thought, "Continue."

"The small port town further south on the island deals with some of the earlier entries into the Dragon Isles. Often ships from the North that have no plans to go further in. A great place to acquire Northern goods.Though not the most popular choice."

At the end of the conversation, Rainer had one final request.

"Can I see your spear?"

Sav looked at him dubiously but with reluctance handed the spear over.

"And a private room?"

"Might I ask what for…?" Sav asked nervously. He couldn't even fathom what was going on.

"I can't very well let anyone see the enchantment secrets of the Nvos family."

While still skeptical from what little he knew of enchanting, Sav hurriedly led the strange Magus to an empty room.

After a quick use of [Soul Detection], Rainer took out the Mana-Well. As he didn't seek to get Sav in trouble for having something that was possibly incredibly rare, Rainer opted not to use [Draconic Enchanting].

The Mana-Well sang with power as Mana flowed into Rainer's control. The spear shook as Runes appeared within, inscribed by its current holder.

Different from the usual enchantment, Rainer sought to let the Mana flow into the spear itself, mixing in what he learned from [Draconic Enchanting] into the Faraan variety. It wasn't much of an improvement, but it was worth it to at least do it. The end result was somewhere in between the shorter, more superficial enchantments, and the longer more permanent ones of the Faraan kind.

The wood was far thicker than anything he'd ever seen and the metal was stronger than ordinary steel. Rainer took his time, having already figured out the maximum amount he could enchant the spear with in [Sleep Learning].

Close to half an hour of work passed and with a final burst of the Mana, the enchantment took hold.

[Strengthened Ardul-Steel Spear: An Ardul-Steel spear which has been heavily strengthened by enchantment]

Exiting the room, Rainer held out the spear to the stunned Sav.

"I...Thank you, Magus…" Sav recognized the gleam of enchantment instantly. Had this Magus truly spent Mana crystals on him?

"It's just a strengthening enchantment, consider it payment for services rendered."

An Aura enhanced grip and attempt to bend the spear told Sav it was most certainly not just any enchantment, but he wasn't one to argue.

After heading back to the Inn to prepare to leave, Kara and Rainer sat alone in their room, with the exception of Luna on his head.

"What do you think about what he said? Do you think it's true or a coincidence?" A pretty large coincidence her eye color would have to be, given her mother's gifted Spatial Ring and the recognition from a random village chief.

"I'm not sure. Can we go to the Wolf King's territory?" Kara asked. The countries themselves had names but were more often than not referred to as their Ruler's territories.

"Of course. But that wasn't what I was asking."

"I'm...not sure. If he did, in fact, give that ring to my mother, and I can't deny the chance she didn't just take it," She laughed a bit, her mother was a bit wild as a person, "then isn't it a high chance he knowingly abandoned her and me?"

Rainer sighed, not really knowing what to say.

"But can I even be mad at him for it? For all intents and purposes, a child of a Demon and anyone else is always a Demon. It wasn't as if she or I could safely live in the Dragon Isles, let alone as members of some sort of royalty. Nor would it be the best life for him to go with my mother..."

"All we can do is look for him. You can decide how to feel when you meet him," Rainer said, putting an arm around her shoulder, "and if he makes you feel like punching him in the face, I'll help by holding him down."

"A roaring first impression on your future in-law that'll be," Kara added before realizing she may have spoken that far too soon. A smile went across her face at him not even reacting to that. A part of her now wondered what his traditions for marriage were, rather than thinking about her possible father anymore.

"Luna will hold him down too," The fairy cheerfully added, eliciting a laugh from both Kara and Rainer, "Luna was serious," She complained in faux hurt, a statement that did nothing to quiet either of the two.

Giving a final glance back at the small town, Rainer wrapped the group in [Eldritch Flight] and ascended into the sky, making towards the port located near the World Tree Branch.

They would make their way into the Wolf King's territory and Rainer planned to use the seedier parts of cities to gather information he needed about Rogue Mages and the Isles itself.

And for Kara, to see if she truly descended from some part of the Wolf King's line and if they could find her father among that line.

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