Ellake
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Chapter 147 - A Path Decided
🕑 Added 2024-10-15 19:00:05 +0000 UTCNate turned to see who had spoken and found a woman quickly approaching them. He would have guessed her age to be in her late twenties but it was always hard to tell with the increase to lifespan that mana and superhuman Stats seemed to provide. She wore what looked like an armoured skirt, with metal plates splayed out on the white fabric. The same was true of her shirt and coat, with a shiny breastplate covering her white blouse and a loose blue coat with more metal sewn onto it completing the outfit. While Nate couldn’t make sense of the design or how well it would work as armour, that wasn’t what captured him. It was the woman’s eyes that did that. They were golden and shone with an inner light. Framed by shoulder length black hair she looked a little like a fallen angel to him. But it wasn’t him she was focused on, her gaze firmly planted on Guard Inspector Koriolos.
Nate glanced at the man and could see that all the fight had gone out of him. Whoever this person was, they were apparently not someone that the Guard Inspector was willing to cross. That made Nate sigh a little internally, as it meant that it was basically a certainty that the woman, their itinerant saviour, was a Noble.
“I asked a question, Inspector. What do you think you’re doing?” asked the golden-eyed Noble.
“I am here on orders to investigate the death of Fabien Lussier, Second-son of the Earl of Dralogne, Princess Morgane,” answered Koriolos.
Nate cringed internally. Not just a Noble then. The woman was royalty. He didn’t know if that was better or worse. His only experience with the Royal family so far had been with the second Prince. That titanic man had seemed fair, but Nate wasn’t fool enough to think that such behaviour was purely out of the goodness of his heart. Whatever games the nobility and royals played were games that Nate wanted no part of. Yet here he was, caught in the middle of exactly those kinds of games, all because of the greed of one Crafter. A woman he might have worked with, if she hadn’t proven herself to be a greedy snake. It was enough to make Nate want to scream in frustration. He might have, if he were somewhere alone, just to let the emotions out. Instead, he bottled them up, storing them to be released in an artwork later.
Glancing at Kiri he could see his best friend hadn’t relaxed as the Royal and the Guard continued their discussion.
“On whose orders?” demanded Morgane, her golden eyes flashing in the afternoon gloom.
“I…I…” stuttered Koriolos, apparently unable or unwilling to answer.
“You know the guard is not to conduct business on University grounds unless given specific permission to do so. Do you have the appropriate papers for such? I want to see who signed them,” commanded the Princess, holding her hand out as she approached the Guard Inspector.
As she approached, she was finally within range of Nate’s sphere of awareness and he felt a moment of confusion as he sensed a Concept surrounding her very person. At first he wondered if it was coming off of her armour or some other item on her. It only took a moment to realise that while the equipment she was using was immaculate, most in the Epic tier with a single Legendary piece hidden beneath her breastplate, the Concept he was sensing was coming off of her body itself. While his Conceptual Insight was trying to figure out what Concept it was he focused back on the conversation.
“I have no such papers, your highness. But these two are just commoners. Surely they are not to be given the same privileges as the nobility,” equivocated Koriolos.
“That is not the letter of the law and I will remind you that you are a representative of the law, of Etrua, and of my family. If I catch you violating the law again to suit your own needs, or because you’re being paid to do so, then I will make it my latest mission to see you removed from the Guards entirely. Do I make myself clear, Inspector?” replied the Princess calmly.
“As you say, your highness. I apologise for my rudeness. May I be excused?” asked Koriolos, his subservient words not quite reaching his eyes, which looked incredibly annoyed at being inconvenienced.
Princess Morgane flicked her fingers at the man in response, which Nate took as an indication for the man to take his leave. Koriolos seemed to agree, as after one last frustration filled glance at Nate, he turned on his heel, heading for the gates of the Royal University.
Nate turned to thank the Princess so he could beat his own hasty retreat, only to find the woman staring at him with a curious gaze.
“You garnered even more interest and opposition than I expected,” she commented.
“Excuse me?” replied Nate, unsure of what she was getting at.
“A crafter winning entry to the Royal University through the Adventurer’s Guild Tournament is already an irregularity. At the higher levels it might have made more sense, such as if you were over level sixty, with a Tertiary Class and an Embodiment to make up for the difference. But you’re not. That was my first thought when I heard. That you had somehow tricked their ability to measure your level. It would be within the realm of a skilled crafter to do so. But you had not one, not two, but three Guild Platinum’s in your corner,” Morgane explained, ticking them off on her fingers. “That is a significant amount of backing, and while I know that Thousand Needles would willingly participate in that sort of skullduggery, the Storm Spear and the Eternal Grove would never be involved in such. Which begs the question, how could a crafter compete with the likes of Coralie Allais, Null Raoult, or even your incredibly dangerous partner, Miss Kiri Beaufoy.”
The princess paused to glance at Kiri and offered her a smile that looked friendly in nature.
“Oh yes, Miss Beaufoy. I looked into you as well. Your ability to self-heal alone was of interest. I know of other Skills that can achieve similar results, but not ones readily available to a couple of level forties. Especially not ones capable of healing a throat that has been sliced to the bone before the individual would have bled out. Yet here you are, proof that such exists. In your case, I considered other equally outlandish options. Were you somehow using high-end alchemicals? Did you have outside interference? But all my own investigations turned up nothing. You have the same backing as Nathaniel, which means that the Storm Spear and Eternal Grove would not have allowed such a subversion of the Tournament, nor do you have the wealth to purchase such powerful alchemical concoctions. Which brings me to the conclusion of my investigation. You are both exactly what you appear to be. Incredibly gifted and talented individuals.”
The Princess paused for a moment and Nate and Kiri glanced at each other before Nate spoke.
“Are…you trying to recruit us or something,” he asked, quickly adding, “your Highness.”
The woman laughed slightly and shook her head, “No. Just making it clear to both of you. If I can come to these conclusions, so can others among the nobility. Most don’t share my opinions, and as such, will see you as either a threat to be removed, or a tool to be acquired. Whoever sent the Guard Inspector likely desires the former. I’d be careful out there. Best of luck to you both.”
With a small smile the woman turned and left, crossing the grass in what Nate could only describe as a stately fashion. Nate glanced at Kiri and could see the silent agreement to discuss this later in her eyes. With a nod of his head, he indicated the direction of the Adventurer’s Guild. When she gave her own nod of agreement they began teleporting across the city towards the Guild compound, and after checking in at the gate, headed straight for the Guildhouse. Aisling had been clear that they would meet in one of the meeting rooms on the upper levels of the building.
“What did you make of that?” asked Kiri quietly.
“A warning coupled with a desire for some goodwill,” answered Nate, matching Kiri’s whispers.
Kiri nodded that she agreed and Nate settled back into thinking about the Concept coming off of the Princess. It was weird because he thought it should’ve been pressing against him, based on the strength of the feeling, but instead he had felt nothing beyond his ability to recognise the presence of a Concept and the buzzing of Conceptual Insight. He wasn’t willing to let it go but he was forced to compartmentalise his curiosity as they were guided into one of the Guildhouse’s meeting rooms. He was surprised to find Aisling and Evindal already waiting and rushed over to meet them.
He hadn’t realised it, but he had missed Aisling while she had been away and it felt good to have her comforting presence in the form of a static in the air once more in close proximity. Evindal seemed to recognise his reaction and flashed a knowing smile at him.
“Are you alright?” asked Aisling in lieu of a greeting, patting him down like a mother-hen as though checking him physically for wounds would reveal something.
He could see the hint of worry in her eyes and quickly moved to reassure her.
“I am doing alright. Still working through some…things. But I am okay. Is this room…?” he ventured, hinting at his question of whether the room was warded.
“It is,” answered Evindal. “My own warding item. Epic tier. It should be enough coupled with the wardings on the Guildhouse proper to protect us against anything short of someone with your own level of…skill.”
Nate launched into a quick explanation of their encounter with Guard Inspector Koriolos and Princess Morgane’s timely interference, finishing with a recount of the Princess’s assessment of himself and Kiri.
Evindal frowned while Aisling started to pace back and forth.
“Some fallout is not unexpected. I assume I don’t need to tell you to be careful?” Aisling asked, glancing at them both for confirmation before she continued. “Of both the Inspector and the Princess. Nothing but trouble can come from getting involved with a Royal. As for the Inspector, it is unlikely he will return to the University and I will leave orders that he is not to be granted access to the Adventurer’s Guild compound. Hopefully, if you just avoid him for long enough, he will be forced to give up. That is the best we can do for now. I’ll have Deverell look further into it. Happy with my approach?”
Evindal nodded along with his wife. Nate wasn’t so sure that the Inspector would just give up like that, but he didn’t have a better idea for now and was willing to accept Aisling’s proposal. Kiri on the other hand grinned, flopping into one of the comfy chairs in the room and asked a question, clearly aiming to change the topic.
“How’d it go? We saw Luc got a couple of levels.”
“The same for us as well,” answered Evindal with a smile. “Normally I wouldn’t share such, but I am aware Nate could check if he really felt the need to know.”
Evindal joined Kiri in taking a seat while Aisling continued to fuss a little over Nate.
“I am sorry about what happened. Deverell was supposed to keep a careful watch over you. I knew you wouldn’t stop venturing out to paint, so I asked him to protect you when you did so. Unfortunately, it seems you were a little hard for him to catch with your ability to teleport so effectively. Still, it was exactly what we were trying to avoid, and for that, you have my apology,” said Aisling earnestly.
“It’s okay,” he quickly replied. “I knew I was taking risks. Not just with the painting but with the little side project Luc and I came up with. I was overconfident. Dangerously so. It won’t happen again.”
Aisling gave him a rueful smile and responded in a gentle tone, “See that it doesn’t. Now, I did want to see you both and see how you were doing. But Luc mentioned you also wanted to talk about something with us. What was it you wanted to speak with us about?”
Nate grinned. He had been waiting for this moment for a few weeks now. Ever since he had finally decided on the path he wanted to take going forward and how to further his development. With Kiri and Aisling watching, he walked over to stand in front of Evindal and withdrew the Legendary Skill Orb containing the Skill The Time Between, from his spatial storage, offering it to the elf.
“I want you to teach me how to unlock the Lord of Life Class,” he stated clearly, ignoring Aisling’s gasp and Kiri’s amused laughter.
Evindal’s Legendary Class focused on Life Magic. It was a mana affinity, that to Nate’s knowledge, he completely lacked. But his subjects at the University had shown him the path forward. He had a maximum possible affinity pool of a hundred percent. Last he had checked his spatial mana affinity was somewhere around thirty-five percent. It may have changed since he first arrived on Galle, but either way, it was high enough and not a concern for him. However, to get access to the Wandering Realmwalker Class he had needed to have a high space affinity. He suspected the same would be true for the Lord of Life Class, only this time it would be a high affinity for life aspected mana. That meant he was going to need to create some runic arrays that changed the environmental mana around him to give it an affinity for life. However, that wouldn’t be enough. The way the Professor had described it, was that it would have an impact over the years, but it would take a long time to achieve the kind of affinity he needed. That meant he needed to rely on exactly the methods that Princess Morgane had suspected of them. Alchemicals. He needed to see an alchemist. That could give him the required affinity, but not necessarily the Achievements he might need to unlock the Class. But Evindal would know what those were. A Legendary Skill Orb for the potential of a Legendary Life-based Class seemed like a fair trade to Nate, and his eyes were glued to Evindal as he waited for the elf’s reaction.
It seemed like it took a moment for everyone in the room to finish processing his request. After the shock had worn off and Kiri had stopped laughing in amusement his best friend clapped her hands excitedly at the idea, while Aisling got a faraway look as though she was trying to consider the implications. It was Evindal’s reaction that surprised him the most though. He had expected the man to ask questions, or suggest alternatives, maybe to dig into Nate’s motives. Instead, the elf simply smiled blindingly.
“I think you’re exactly the kind of disciple a man like me would want to take, Nate. I accept. We’ll need to start spending more time together and I have some of my own ideas to advance you down this path. This will be a Tertiary Class though…and that means you’ll almost certainly only get an Epic version, given your current status. Are you still sure that this is the way you want to go?” asked Evindal, the elf intentionally not yet reaching for the Skill Orb just yet.
“It is. I’ve thought about it all. My Path, my Embodiment, my Classes, and most of all, who and what I want to be. I am certain that this is what I want,” he answered.
Evindal reached out, gently taking the Skill Orb from his hands and turning it over with a small smile, “Then I accept. I will do my best to help you achieve this goal of yours.”
“This calls for a celebration, right?” Kiri commented.
“It does,” agreed Aisling, the usually stoic woman smiling at her husband and Nate. “Come then. I will have someone run ahead and get us a table at the Ocean’s Flow restaurant. I think you will find that the seafood they cook is the best in the city.”
Kiri was up a moment later and Nate fell in as the small group made their way through the city, picking up Deverell and Luc along the way. A night of good food and better company awaited them and he called Frick to come join in the fun, reminded again that for all the suffering and pain, that he was surrounded by friends at the end of the day and that the beauty of these simple pleasures was enough to wash away the stains of his less palatable experiences.
Comments
Mark Corwin
I thought his space affinity was 40% from the first book.
Beggar of Freedom
Divines bless your kind heart!
Ellake
I added this in. Should be in there right after Aisling/Evindal start talking.
BloodStorm
I’m surprised Nate didn’t say one thing to them about the guard inspector dude that wanted to arrest them just minutes before then a princess stepping in to save them. Walking the political landscape they are walking that is a big deal
Ellake
Close. It's hard to do without ruining a big reveal down the line. But I do need to establish it a bit more. He goes into his reasoning in the next chapter, but I do try and foreshadow these decisions. Seems I was too vague this time. Will definitely add more in the edit.
Secret Weapons
yeah I think the connection between Art/Creating and Life just isn't well established. Maybe some more musing on Life being created by something etc. Something that connects the two a bit better... maybe him creating little tiny golems to test something.. essentially "creating life" in a way. That's assuming I understood his reason for picking it correctly.
Ellake
Thanks for the feedback. I'll go back and check and make sure there is a little more foreshadowing in the edit.
Secret Weapons
This whole Lord of Life choice makes zero sense and came completely out of nowhere. If you were trying to hint at it at all before this chapter, you failed.
Ellake
It's explained partially in the next chapter.
Ellake
It's in the next chapter.
Ellake
This would a good call out and an oversight by me. I've edited the chapter and added it in.
John Smith
Largely agree with the points about the Lord of Life class feeling like left field and the lack of discussion of the inspector/princess stuff. This is serial, so in book for it it’s addressed in the next chapter or two, I see how it can flow. But yeah, it feels weird right now to me. Love the story and looking forward to what comes next
Jason Hardman
I vaguely recall that during his second class choice options there was a healing related one due to him practically bringing Kiri back from the dead.
Jason Hardman
Definitely. It doesn't fit that he wouldn't at least mention it, especially as counter action is likely to be necessary.
Zack
Rough guess, he's playing on his conceptual automation to give his creations more 'life' so to speak
Nim
Where did this Lord of Life idea come from? Did I miss it somewhere? Seems like it's out of left field.
LitLeveler
Okay, need help creating a time machine to go get more chapters a bring them back. This book is amazing!
ambullseye
YES!!!. with the inspector AND with Royalty. Especially as he is talking with 2 of his biggest backers AND the conversation started with how he was over-confident and would be more careful Maybe i am too paranoid but to me i would have imagined. mentioning the Inspector would be first then that leads to the Princess and getting feed back on how she operates and then might lead to a tangent to ask about her Concept. Once those were done and maybe having the 2 platinum adventures cutting the princess concept discussion short (either it being to technical for their current chat or them not knowing) and then the conversation would go back to what the meeting was originally about.
ReadingObsessed
Anyone else feel he should have brought up his run in with the bribed inspector?
Raymond Mouton
Thanks for the chapter.
