Side: Faris
After obliterating the Orc settlement, we made camp in the same spot we had before, deciding to return to Feel with the dawn.
However, no one was riding on the backs of Jade and Fluorite, the rare Griffins walking next to our Holy Grave’s beast carriage.
Perhaps because of that, both of them seemed lonely.
“I’m sorry, Jade, Fluorite. Your masters are tired. They should wake up soon, so please bear with it for a while longer?”
Jade and Fluorite nodded at me with sad expressions, but when they looked at me with those innocent eyes, I started to feel apologetic myself.
That’s right, Great and Prim, Jade and Fluorite’s masters, were sleeping inside our beast carriage.
Last night, everyone else was exhausted and battered, so we couldn’t even stand a proper night watch.
So, those two took turns watching through the night, and thanks to them, we were able to recover significantly.
As a token of our gratitude, we decided that they would rest in our beast carriage on the journey back.
They were sleeping snuggled together, and as a newlywed couple, it was heartwarming to watch.
“Looking at their sleeping faces, they still seem like novice hunters who just became adults.”
“Only in their sleeping faces, though. But they haven’t dropped their Mana Rings, and moreover, it feels like their magic power is leaking out, which is typical of an Ancient Class.”
I understood what Burks and Clarice meant.
With this Alliance, we had leveled up for the first time in a very long time.
Not just one level, but three or even four.
So, my husband Cliff also reached level 53 and could now be promoted to G-rank, and Burks, Salina, and Clarice also reached level 49, so in a few years, they might be able to get promoted to G-rank as well.
As for myself, I’ve reached level 57, so promotion to P-rank, while it will take time, no longer seems like a distant dream.
Even if all of us combined attacked them while they were sleeping, we probably wouldn’t be able to inflict much damage on these two, and we’d likely end up being counterattacked.
Still, their magic power is indeed leaking.
Prim, the Winged Folk, has larger wings, but Great, despite being a guest, is a normal Human.
Yet, Great also has something like wings; why is that?
“Great’s race is Human, correct?”
“Yes. Apparently, the guests’ world only has Humans, and I’ve heard they don’t have the concept of evolution.”
He said there are people with engravings on their hands called Engravers, and Great is said to be one of them, so that must be something like the Winged Folk in the guests’ world.
“I’ve never heard that becoming an Ancient Class grants you wings. It’s true that Prim and the Grand Hunter’s Master have wings, but there’s no doubt they were born as Winged Folk. And there have been guests who evolved into Ancient Class like Great, but they didn’t sprout wings.”
Guests have visited Helios Orb in the past.
The most famous are Sayuri Reina Amister, who married into the Amister Royal Family, Kazushi Minato Torencia, who married into the Torencia Royal Family, and Shinichi Mibu, who married the Shrine Maiden and later became the first Pope of Bacion. But there are about ten others who have left their mark on history and serve as role models for those aiming for that path.
Sayuri is an O-rank Healer and an O-rank Crafter, while Kazushi and Shinichi are O-rank Hunters, so they have naturally evolved into Ancient Humans.
However, there’s no doubt that neither of them had wings.
This is because both Kazushi and Shinichi were alive until about 30 years ago and were active hunters, and more importantly, Shinichi is the Master of the Grand Hunter’s Master, so there’s no room for error.
“Faris.”
As I was contemplating the wing-like things on Great’s back, the Order’s Master called out to me.
“Is something wrong?”
“How are they doing?”
The Order’s Master also felt sorry for making them stand guard all night, and they had just come out of a life-or-death battle, so he looked quite worried.
Great is going to marry the Order’s Master’s sister, so he will be his brother-in-law. It’s natural for him to be worried.
“They’re sleeping soundly.”
“That’s good. It’s only about three hours until Feel, so let’s let them sleep a little longer.”
“That’s best. Once we reach Feel, they’ll have no choice but to wake up.”
When they were re-summoned, Jade and Fluorite were given instructions. It was clear from the Order’s Master’s relieved expression that he had believed his outlandish report.
Of course, the subjugation of the Demise Species couldn’t be made public, but the presence of the Orc King and Orc Queen was already known, so they decided to push through with the subjugation of these two.
If it had only been the King and Queen, it probably would have been over just by letting those two charge in…
As for the unusual Prince and Princess species, those details are also being kept under wraps.
There were two Kings, three Queens, and two Princes. Including the one we subjugated, there were six Princesses. If this were carelessly made public, it could lead to speculation that Demise Species have appeared, which would undoubtedly cause chaos in Feel. I agree that this is the right course of action.
Of course, His Majesty needs to be informed, but it seems Marquis Frederica, who will be getting married soon, will be handling that.
I truly pity her for having to report on such stomach-churning matters.
“Order’s Master.”
“Dart, what is it?”
“Yes. There are about three Glass Boas ahead.”
Three Glass Boas, huh.
They have bad luck to appear before the Alliance of High Class and above.
The Order is on alert now, so we don’t need to move.
“Understood. Then…”
“No, Iris has headed there, so I think it will be over soon.”
Iris was heading there?
Then it will indeed be over quickly.
The monsters that appear in this area are mostly I-rank, like Glass Boas, Glass Wolves, and Goblins, but occasionally C-rank monsters appear.
However, they are higher species like Green Wolves and Hobgoblins, so they are not difficult to deal with.
But once you enter the mountains or forests of Mylight, the Monster Rank immediately increases, so you can’t let your guard down.
The C-rank monsters are numerous in the mountains and forests, but there are also B-rank ones, and you might even encounter an S-rank.
The most troublesome are the Forest Whippers that live in the forests, monkeys with blades at the tips of their tails.
Although they are B-rank, they can move freely among the trees and launch unpredictable attacks with their tails, which can extend quite far. A newcomer, and even a B-rank Hunter, can be easily defeated by them.
Whether by luck or not, Great and Prim don’t seem to have encountered them yet, but even if they did, I suspect the two of them could deal with them without any problems.
Another troublesome bunch are the puppet types that appear in mines.
It is said that the ores mined in those mines, due to some factor like mana accumulation, have become monsters. They have no will of their own but possess mineral bodies, making them impossible to damage with ordinary weapons.
Amister has many Magic Silver mines, so there are many Mithril Puppets with Magic Silver bodies and Crystal Puppets with Crystal Silver bodies. In iron mines, Iron Puppets appear.
In gold mines, Golden Puppets, in silver mines, Silver Puppets, in copper mines, Copper Puppets, and in Valentia, which has Adamantine Steel mines, there are Adamant Puppets. In labyrinths, there are Orihalcon Puppets with Divine Metal bodies.
The Monster Rank varies depending on the ore they are based on, from C to B-rank. Orihalcon Puppets are S-rank.
Orihalcon Puppets are rarely encountered, but they are one of the few opportunities to obtain rare Orihalcon, so High Class adventurers would consider defeating them the moment they encounter one.
However, since they are made of Divine Metal, they are extremely difficult to defeat.
Of course, once Jade Silver and Blue-Gray Iron become available, the value of Divine Metal will likely decrease, and the number of hunters actively pursuing them may decline.
About an hour later, Great and Prim finally woke up.
It was still another two hours until Feel, so they could have slept a little longer.
“Good morning. Did you sleep well?”
“Yes. I’m sorry for leaving the guard duty to you all.”
“We had you stand guard, so it’s the least we could do. Besides, it’s still nearly two hours until Feel, so you could have slept longer.”
“Thank you, but it’s almost noon, isn’t it? Even just sleeping makes you hungry, so I woke up.”
That made sense.
We left the campsite a little after 7 o’clock, but we’ve been traveling for nearly five hours with breaks, so it’s indeed almost lunchtime.
We usually take about an hour break then, so we’ll probably arrive in Feel a little after 3 o’clock.
“Let’s have lunch soon.”
It seemed like the timing was just right.
We stopped the beast carriage and got out, and Jade and Fluorite happily came towards us.
“Good morning, Fluorite.”
“Quar!”
Fluorite had been sulking, but she perked up immediately.
I knew she was a spoiled one, but if she’s not trained a little, it could lead to some trouble, don’t you think?
For lunch, we had skewers of Blue Lake Bull and Lake Rabbit with salad and bread, but Grantpus, Battle Horses, and Griffins were served tenderly stewed Blue Lake Bull meat.
The Trader’s Guild is quite generous to provide something so delicious for their mounts.
“What? Magic Enhancement?”
“Yes. I’m sorry, but could you try it? And please, give it your all.”
“Ah, understood. Then…”
After we finished eating, the Order’s Master suddenly said that.
He had noticed it too.
Great, following the Order’s Master’s request and using his Mana Ring with all his might, still showed something like wings on his back.
“Great, you’ve got wings!”
“Wings? Whoa, seriously!?”
He wasn’t aware of it himself?
We were fighting the Orc Queens when Great was dealing with the Orc Emperor, so we didn’t get a good look, but perhaps they were there then too.
“Your eyes have even changed color.”
“You’re right. They’ve turned blue.”
I hadn’t expected his eyes to change color.
“Prim, do you know anything?”
“I don’t know either, honestly. But they say the wings of the Winged Folk are made of surplus mana, so I guess Great’s mana must be that immense…”
Even the Winged Folk don’t seem to know.
Mana Ring is a magic that enhances weapons and armor with mana, but it also enhances one’s own mana.
However, I’ve never heard of surplus mana being generated.
The only explanation I can think of is, as Prim said, that Great’s mana is immense.
“Great, try reducing the Mana Ring output a little.”
“Like this?”
At Prim’s suggestion, Great reduced the output of his Mana Ring.
The wings disappeared, but at the same time, Great’s mana decreased to a level that even I could feel.
“As expected.”
It seems Prim has some idea.
“What do you mean?”
“The wings of the Winged Folk are made of mana, which means they are lumps of mana. I’ve never consciously done it, but the Winged Folk also enhance that mana, so self-enhancement magic like Physicking or Mana Ring has a greater range of enhancement compared to ordinary people.”
That’s a well-known fact.
That’s why the Winged Folk have more mana than other races and possess power comparable to High Class even without evolving.
“Perhaps Great only sprouts wings when he uses Mana Ring at full power?”
“To be precise, it’s not that he’s turning into a Winged Folk, but rather an enhancement using wings created from mana.”
Prim sounds unsure, but I understood what she meant.
If that logic holds, then anyone could become stronger by creating pseudo-wings from mana and layering Mana Ring on top, right?
“That might be true, but the fact remains that Great can only do it at full power with Mana Ring. For others, it’s uncertain if they can even create wings.”
When she says that, I can’t help but agree.
For starters, I don’t even know how to create wings, let alone how much mana it would consume.
“Great, how are you feeling now?”
“I have no problems whatsoever?”
“…It was my mistake to use you as a benchmark.”
Cliff asked Great about his mana condition, but it’s true that it’s not helpful.
He’s an Ancient Human and his mana is on a different scale than ours, so Cliff was foolish to try and use him as a reference.
“Well, how about imaging wings behind your back and using your mana like that? Especially for you, Faris, since you’re a Fairy, imagining wings shouldn’t be difficult, right?”
That’s true.
Fairies also have wings, so I know what wings look like.
Imaging that with mana.
Let’s give it a try.
“…Impossible!”
As I thought that, I immediately gave up.
No, I could imagine wings and form them with mana, but it consumed an incredible amount of mana!
I stopped immediately when I realized it, but even so, the mana consumption was more intense than fighting normally!
My race, Fairy, although not as much as Winged Folk, still has more mana than other races.
Furthermore, I’ve evolved into a High Fairy, so my mana has increased even further.
Even my mana wasn’t enough, so it should be safe to assume that at least an Ancient Class evolution is required.
Though, I honestly feel it’s questionable if even a Grand Hunter’s Master could do it.
Ah, Prim’s mana is said to be comparable to Great’s, so she might be able to do it.
…These incredible children are becoming even more incredible. What can I even say?
