NOVEL WEB Chapter 26: Normalcy?
Chapter 26
Kimiko Pov
Kimiko was chuckling a little in mirth while Arthur pouted a bit when he heard that he just wasn’t enough to deter the threat.
‘I feel like my strength has been insulted. Not to mention I am more than level 600! Master! I want to punish these cretins for insulting their Grand-daddy!!’
Kimiko stopped laughing as she processed the entire sentence said by the King as she questioned Arthur.
‘Hmmm, Arthur, what is this [Demon] they were talking about?’
Arthur just thought for a while before answering.
‘Like I told you before, Master, when the [Great War] was happening, Posat was invaded by rouge-cell of Demons. The leader of those Demons did something unusual…..’
‘He tried to absorb the dead body of [Cetus], one of the most powerful water and wind creature as well as an almost extinct race. Well, he was successful and tried to attack the Palace. During that time; I had just crossed the boundary of Lvl. 500 while that demon was around 650. Not surprising that he had fused himself to it but the body could only grant him [Stat], not the [Skill]. I was able to suppress him using the weapon left by Master Solomon and sealed him right under the Capital. Mostly the mana collected throughout the capital area; half of it goes to maintaining the seal while the other half goes to maintain the [Barrier]’
Kimiko thought for a while. The [Demon] is sealed underground but didn’t that mean it is still alive and would potentially danger the Capital because it was right under it? Usually Villain did those kind of things in Anime, didn’t they?
‘Hey Arthur? How can you unseal the [Demon]? Is it safe? Was there anywhere else you could have sealed it?’
Arthur just nodded as he explained.
‘You see, Master, the [Book] left by Master Solomon is actively suppressing it using the vast amount of Mana from the surrounding. The book is in a secret place whose vault can only be opened by those of Royal Bloodline. Not to mention that you also need the blood from Elcot family’s main House to unseal the binding on the [Demon]. The blood of the Dragon was used for ensnaring the [Demon] weakening it. So if it ever does break the seal then it is quite weakened unless you use the blood to undo the seal. To take the blood for Duke Stan takes incredible power and the only option is to go for Aaron or his little sister. So there are two seals on the [Demon].’
‘As for why I couldn’t, there were not many options left. The [Book] had many things that could have helped me against the [Demon] but the level requirement was stringent and I could barely use even half of the things inside due to the restriction placed in it.’
Kimiko played with the Sundae for a while before speaking.
‘Hey Arthur, Can I take a look at the [Book]? Is it possible?’
Arthur seemed to think for a while before replying.
‘It’s possible, master. You see, I routinely check the status of the [Book] or the ‘seal’ yearly. There is still a month time period left before my yearly visit but I can move it up. Plus, the King can do that now that he is…. gossiping about me there.’
Arthur just straightened up from his lax position before slowly heading towards the King. Just as he neared the King, the King turned his head towards him, looking at him curiously. Arthur said.
“Now that I am here, I want to check the condition of the seal.”
The king seemed to muse for a while before agreeing to his demand before turning to the Prime Minister for his approval. However, the Prime Minister just quirked an eye at him.
‘He is very punctual about his checks every year, so why is he doing now?’
But he let that thought go. It did not hurt anyone and he had many things to worry for now. As they walked to the throne room and in front of the Throne. Kimiko looked at it interestingly. Maybe there was a hidden mechanism? The King took out a circular Medallion from his breast pocket and held it in front of him. It was gold in color. There was no extravagant design on it except for the map of Kingdom of Posat etched on it. Then the king bit his finger as little drops of blood fell from his fingertip to the medallion. Suddenly, the blood got absorbed as straight red lines appeared on it, intersecting in the middle. Then the King revealed a hollow space right in the middle of the backrest of the Throne.
It was small and had similar color to its surrounding therefore concealing it cleverly. He took the medallion and pressed it in the hollow space. It fit perfectly as the red lines spread from the medallion to the rest of the Throne before disappearing. Suddenly something clicked and the Throne vibrated slightly. The arms of the Throne slowly fell sideways. The backrest turned down backwards while the seat part of the Throne moved forward and separated into half; upper part and lower part. The above part fell ahead of the down part and now where the Throne was, there was a staircase that went downwards.
Kimiko looked in surprised. She had though that that Throne chair was made from one big slab of [Adamantine] but she was wrong. She counted 5 slabs of [Adamantine] intrinsically joined together. She nodded in appreciation.
‘What better ways to hide a secret location than right under one of the most indestructible material?’
Then Arthur walked ahead of them. Hugo did not come, telling the others that he would stay guard. The staircase looked long and was lighted with torches that seemed to come alive when it detected presence nearby. After 5 minutes of walking downstairs with the King they reached a vast open space. By her rough estimate it was 100 * 100-meter area with massive big pillars supporting form the four corners. It seemed to be made with some enchanted yellow minerals causing the whole room to have yellowish glow. It was filled with gold coin and silver coins. There were jewels, gems, paintings and bottles that looked like rare alcohols. There were materials as well like potions, elixir, rare metals and so much other things. Kimiko quirked an eye at that while Arthur explained to her.
‘You see, Master, this place could also be said as the ‘Treasure room’ of the Royal Family. They have collected fine piece of arts and other things as well. The Royal castle was built atop the [Seal] itself not because the [Book] that suppressed the [Demon] didn’t seem to budge but rather the [Seal] seemed to be far weaker when the [Book] was at a certain distance away from the [Seal]. Otherwise the Royal castle would be nearer to the land than it is now.’
At the end of the hall was a small door. It was also made from [Adamantine]. The King kept his hand on its surface as the door slid sideways. There was another smaller room, not nearly massive as the room before but still huge. There was a pentagram in the middle while an object was floating above it. A simple book.
[Lemegeton: Lesser keys of Solomon Tier: Mythic]
[Description:
A reinforced book containing all the known Magic Spells as well as the Spells created by Solomon himself or researched on. It is his life-long work as well as his commitment to research things. In life he had created many Great Magics. All the original spells he created but could not use due to insufficient Level required are also added in it, some may use [Divine Language] therefore it becomes even more powerful.
Its content can only be fully viewed and used by Solomon while his familiars can only do half of it. A research book that Solomon kept at all times leaving it just before fighting the ‘Demon King’ to protect his little town.
Effect:
- A book with a built in spell module. You only need to chant while the spell module inside will instantaneously allow 100% mana efficiency. Also enhances magic based attack by 1500%
- It has passive ability to make and store mana inside, allowing a person to cast infinite amount of spells if spells have total usage of <5,000,000 mana per sec altogether because it can replenish the same amount of Mana. (Mana collected: 553,889,000/ 1,000,000,000)
- It has 7 slots to passively cast spells at the cost of using mana stored inside:
- 1)Ancient Barrier (Half-complete): Spell that blocks Physical and Magical attacks from outside at the cost of Mana. The bigger the area, the bigger the drain. One of the most powerful barriers said to have withstood one full-powered attack of *************. Found in an unknown Ruins as an incomplete barrier. Real name: Unknown
- 2)Minor Seal of Lemegeton: A Level 500 Spell that can seal things at the cost of Mana. An original spell made by Solomon, however weak to [Holy] attribute.
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- Its spells are separated into Four types:
- 1)Ars Geotia: Spells that cast 72 kinds of Magical Constructs and Golems created by Master Solomon, Mistress Kimiko and Master Terza and stored inside the book.
- 2)Ars Paulina: Spells that uses [Divine Language] or other [Ancient Language] as its core. It is Forbidden Magics that can cause catastrophe and the only part of the book where Master Solomon was not powerful enough to cast it. Level Requirement of the least powerful spell: 800.
- 3)Ars Almadel: Spells that it mostly suited for defensive purpose like [Barrier], [Seals], [Illusion] and Supportive purpose like [Enchantments] and [Healing].
- 4)Ars Notoria: Spells that is used for offensive purposes of all elements: Fire, Water, Wind, Earth, Magma, Ice, Mud, Lightning, Storm, Space, Time, Nature, Light, Darkness and Holy. It is categorized into: <Lvl 100, <Lvl 250, <Lvl 400, <Lvl 550, <Lvl 700, <Lvl 850 as well as few <Lvl 1000. Can also be used with [Old Languages] and [Common Languages] though effect may vary.
- Allows User to cast 10 Magic Spells at a time, if the User has [Parallel Processing], if not then 4 Magic Spells.
- Resist Magical Attack of below Lvl 250 and immune to Mental Affliction like [Fear], [Confusion], [Dread] & [Charm] attack below Lvl 650.
- Gives the user passive ability [Ultimate Mana Regeneration].
- Indestructible as it has achieved ‘Mythic’ Tier.
“Unbelievable….”
Kimiko muttered. The last time she saw the book, it was a Legendary Tier after upgrade. But now? Holy shit, the amount of Mana in that thing. She had few millions only. And the other thing she worried was how much she would be copy-righted for this basic rip-off from Solomon of her World. She was not a nut for history but she did learn a bit about Solomon when she had gone to a museum before dropping out of high-school. She had explained her world’s Solomon to this world’s Solomon and what happened? He used exactly the same thing. No wonder why the amount of Magical Construct he wanted was exactly 72, not more not less. She did have some suspicion to this decision but paid it no mind.
But there was something missing in it. She could feel it in her soul. A fact that could be identified if she was personally there, holding the book. But for now, Arthur was checking everything he could. Being a creation made by Solomon and her, he could be counted as a Familiar, therefore granting a little more authority to him. He checked the book and looked at the pentagram which had symbols and the likes etched on top and bottom of the lines in the pentagram. She had finished her meal and asked for receipt. She also asked for few more goodies. It was for the maids, totally not for her as well!
‘It seems that the seal is still good. The mana accumulating has not dipped lower though. Half of the mana it collects in a second goes to maintaining the barrier of the city if it is attacked with malicious intent while the other half goes to sealing. The mana has barely regenerated since the last time because I had to use a lot of spell to wear the [Demon] down before sealing it. On second thought, couldn’t I kill the [Demon] now that I am near to its level? No, our fight could destroy the City at worst….’
It seemed he was monolouging once again. After a while, Arthur nodded and walked away. They came up and the King took out the medallion. The Throne rejoined to become what it had once more. Arthur took out a pocket watch from his pocket to see it was 4 pm. He looked to his side, towards the King and the Prime Minister and pouted.
“I am not weak…”
The King looked to his side embarrassed while the Prime Minister just coughed with his hand in front of him, masking a giggle. Arthur just looked in front.
“I must be going soon. I will be discussing with the fellow Guild masters so I bid you both adieu.”
By saying that he left the throne room.
Kimiko pov
She cut off the feed from her side as well. It was time to go back to the mansion. She paid for the packed item and stored it in her Storage Ring. She got out and looked at the sun in the horizon. She just hummed and skipped along the way as she took a long route enjoying and marveling the architecture. She could still see few things that was a part of the village the capital had once been. Nothing much was going on the street as she reached the mansion however it felt good to have a normal lifestyle away from worry.
She just went inside and was greeted by the funny Butler. He welcomed her in. She went to her room and changed her dress inside. The day was fruitful indeed, she got a lot of information but it was time to head back. She did not know the time it would take to remodel the Mansion considering the scope of the Mansion. Maybe they would have started on it already? She could sense that Arthur was coming. She changed her dress and waited on a sofa. When Arthur arrived he looked at her and asked.
“Master? Is there anything else you need to do or shall we depart to the Adventurer City?”
Kimiko just nodded as she said sagely.
“Let us depart. It was interesting visit and I have seen, well not everything, but enough to satisfy my curiosity.”
Arthur deadpanned.
“Bet you were just sitting on a café or something and ate sweets all the time, didn’t you, master? I could hear you eating something all the time and your suspicious way of speaking isn’t helping you case at all.”
Kimiko did not reply as she just walked ahead of him while Arthur just followed, smirking on the way. They reached the basement and teleported to the secret room. The room was just the same as it had been prior. Not that she was expecting something to happen, well mildly interested if something were to happen. She just walked in front of the window and looked at the Adventurer City come to life at the evening. She had spent two hours away and wondered if the mansion was even finished. Looking at her distracted prompted a worried question from Arthur.
“Is everything all right, Master?”
Kimiko just nodded as she replied.
“Just wondering about the new Mansion, Arthur. If it will be finished by evening.”
Arthur pondered as he replied.
“It should be. Frankly, renovating and refurbishing the Mansion is easy as they could have finished it in within an hour, give or take, if they had decided how they would do it.”
Frankly, Kimiko wasn’t surprised at the answer. She just guessed; Magic. She took out the Bottle of Whisky that Arthur wanted so badly as he yelped due to Kimiko throwing the bottle at him. He caught it in mid-air and softly cradled it in his bosom as if it were his long lost child. Then he kept it safe on his Alcohol stand before he beamed at her. He jumped up with his hand in the air, sparkles that seemed to appear from somewhere around him, as he did a perfect dogeza.
“Thank you, Master!”
Her eyes twitched. HE always had the most unconventio….
*Creak*
“Arthur, have you returned saf-…”
It was the elf/secretary, Alma who just looked weirdly at them just like before as she slowly closed the door. Arthur was shell-shocked as Kimiko’s eyes were twitching badly. Sigh She should have expected that as Arthur turned and running towards the door claiming that it wasn’t how it looked like. Moreover, this Elf’s tendency to arrive at such a time without alarming them both was a feat in of itself.
Aaron Pov
Aaron was looking forward to go to his home, now that he had found a way to be stronger. After speaking with his uncle, who had left to bring Fiore with them, he talked to the Mages at the Teleportation room. Even after 10 minutes they weren’t coming, so Aaron got worried for a moment.
“Strange…. They should have come minutes ago…”
While he was thinking he heard a familiar shout coming from the back.
“Aaron!”
He looked behind to see a familiar face.
“Crown Prince!”
The man in front of him was the Crown Prince of Posat. He was wearing a dark blue and white raiment which had an insignia of a ship as well as many medals on the left side of his chest. His hair was wavy, unlike his twin sister Nina whose was straight, which reached his shoulder. He had a sword on his hip and wore a cape. The royal family consisted of 5 members. Unlike other Monarchs or Head of the Kingdoms, the current King of Posat did not practice polygamy therefore he had one son and two daughters. The King of the Kingdom, William, the Queen, Rose, the Crown Prince, Pascal, the eldest Princess as well as the twin of Crown Prince, Nina and the youngest daughter, Isabella, these people made up the Royal family.
The Crown Prince was the head of Naval forces as well. It was inherited by him from birth and therefore managed by him until he becomes the King. However, though Naval forces are nothing to sneeze at, it is at best used as a training purposes by the Prince when he takes over the Kingdom. It is due to the fact that Posat lies in the Northernmost part where there is only one part of the Kingdom that touches the sea. Therefore, they patrol the harbor and the sea around it to control Monster population in the sea as well as to establish safe Trade routes. The Crown Prince just looked at him and smiled warmly.
“Well, I got news that my sister has returned safely so I rushed. And I heard it is due to you, Aaron. Thank you for that.”
Aaron just shook his head.
“I did what I could.”
The Prince just sighed keeping his hand on his hip.
“Ever the modest. Just when will you take compliments instead of just remaining humble? You’ll be my right hand in the future and I can’t let you remain like….. this.”
Aaron just shook his head.
“I don’t do things to get compliments, Pascal. I just do. Father is like me and I don’t hear Uncle William nor you protesting.”
Pascal just sweatdropped and said hurriedly.
“Well, there is a stark difference. First of all, uncle may be nice but he can be a lot intimidating when we do something wrong. Compared to that, you are a Saint. You have a gentle deposition that swoons the people over while uncle’s like a Volcano, it blows things up. Luckily, you got that from Aunt.”
A twinge of unknown emotion was felt in Aaron’s heart when topic about his mother came in.
‘It seems I am still affected by what Nina had said earlier and I forgot to talk to Father about it.’
Aaron grimaced as Pascal asked him.
“Is something worrying you, Aaron?”
Aaron just shook his head.
“Nothing to worry about, Pascal.”
Pascal just hummed and said.
“Well, I have to visit Nina to see if she is ok or not. See you later in the festival.”
When Pascal passed Aaron, a whisper was heard from him.
“Even the military, up to the rank of Generals could be compromised. Be careful with who you interact, Aaron. We are honing towards the traitors.”
Aaron did not speak as he just looked straight as his eyes gave away nothing. The operation to rescue the Baron’s daughter just got harder then. Though, one could easily forget that how the Prince was so sharp despite his goofy nature. The Royal succession in other countries was bloody where wits and power was utilized to crush the candidates therefore resulting in competent candidate to be the successor but Pascal was nothing to sneeze at either. Aaron just shook his head and looked forward to his own ‘Test’ as well.
“Aaron nii-sama!”
He looked towards the source and found Fiore on the shoulder of Uncle Rowley. He just smiled as he looked at his uncle.
“What took you so long, Uncle?”
Rowley just answered, as he undid the magic to his appearance. Uncle Rowley looked a lot like his father just gentler, with beard and more old with wrinkles. He had dark red hair mixed with strands of white hair.
“Well, we met with bunch of people who couldn’t resist the charm of Chibi-chan. So, we all talked with each other a bit. They are good kids, took a liking to Chibi-chan, though only two of them spoke with her out of four.”
Aaron just smiled as he gestured with his head towards the Teleportation Room. The guards nodded at them and opened the door. The trio stood in the circle before the Mage used it to send them to the Ducal Garden where another Teleportation Circle was. They arrived into their garden place atop a stone platform. The guards guarding the Teleportation Circle just looked at them before bowing their heads in respect. Then they went along the path to a huge stone pathway. Then they turned sideways to see a huge five storied manor with a fountain in front. The Teleportation Circle was just outside the huge Manor as different Maids and Butlers came out to greet them.
“””””””Welcome Back, Master Aaron, Mistress Fiore and Master Rowley!”””””””
They went inside the Manor as the servant followed after them. Then they were all dismissed by Aaron as Rowley just asked the Head Butler who stood beside them.
“Has Alicia come out of the ‘Trial’?”
The Butler just nodded as he pointed out to a young lady on the first floor. The lady in question was 168cm tall and wearing a black swallowtail coat with white plain shirt inside which had a black string bowtie. She was also wearing a skirt that was hidden by her long coat that reached to her thighs. She was wearing a pantyhose as well as knee high black boots. She had long straight red hair that reached to her waist with some emerging from the side of head, revealing her ears, to her modest chest. She had a long bang that covered her right eye giving her an overall look of a calm collected beautiful girl. Alicia smiled slightly.
“How was your trip father?”
Rowley just smiled back, hiding the feeling of pride in him as his daughter had passed her trial.
“Well it was certainly interesting. Well how about we talk in the living room?”
“That would be wonderful. How about you Aaron and Fiore?”
A hint of something laced her voice but Aaron didn’t seem to sense that. He just smiled, looking at his another childhood friend, whose friendship was even longer than Nina’s, but then remembered the path she had chosen. His smile faltered a bit before returning to his sunny deposition as he replied.
“It was interesting though. I got to meet with Nina, however the circumstances weren’t good. And another bad news is that…. Wallace is gone now.”
Her smile faltered a bit this time. Whether by the death of Wallace or another reason, he did not know. Alicia just nodded a bit and welcomed them above.
“My condolence, Aaron. Well, I have been resting for a while now. It’s been 2 hours since I had finished the trial anyway. Though I believed you’d all come by the carriage, not by teleportation from the capital…”
She looked pointedly at them with her gold colored eye. Rowley just smiled wearily.
“We’d tell you but we’d rather give Chibi-chan her nap time cause she is already dozing off on my shoulder.”
Alicia just looked at Fiore. True to her father’s word she had been tilting a bit.
“Let’s do that.”
After keeping Fiore in her room they all proceeded to Living room where Rowley explained everything to her daughter. She did not ask question and just listened on. Well, since she is his successor, telling her was the right thing to do. It seemed her level has gone up quite a bit as she told them her new level. Her level now was 245 and her bloodline boost [Draconic Bloodline] could allow her to fight someone over 40 levels her superior. He nodded, she was an excellent daughter. Now came the [Trial] for Aaron. She nodded as they talked about Aaron going for his trail. She warned him.
“Now Aaron, rest for the day. You need a sound mind and body to tackle the [Trial]. Be careful, the [Trial] can kill you as well Aaron. Everything comes with a price, even strength you gain from there. People who enter without thinking, might not come out. Tomorrow, we will go to visit the Realm in the [Sacred Forest].”
Aaron nodded so did Rowley. He admired how his daughter took over the conversation and gave him pointers.
“Yes, I must to protect everyone I hold dear. The deadline is coming soon and the [Cult] will attack the capital. With father gone to the Frontline and many Royal Mages and Warriors out of the capital, the capital is lacking manpower. There is no convenient time more than this. I will train in the backyard to hone myself and my mind before I rest.”
As Aaron stood up and walked away. She stood up as she reached out to him by her hand but she couldn’t grab him as her hand faltered. She just stood still as he walked away to his room. Rowley just looked on to this seen as he sighed.
“You still fancy him, don’t you?”
She just looked away.
“Yes, I do.”
“Why?”
“Because I do. Is there a reason not to do so? Love works in a mysterious way father. Surprisingly, I initially hated him when I first met him at 3. Now all I can do is protect him from the shadows and eliminate his enemies. To remain close yet so far.”
Her smile turned sad and then her eyes blazed with determination.
Somewhere else
Many cloaked figures shifted through the darkness. One of them eventually stopped so did the others. He said.
“This distance should be enough.”
The others looked skeptical. One of them asked.
“Do you think it will really work?”
The man just shrugged.
“It worked wonders in other places. So it should be good. Though time will take for it to function properly. When it does, the guards will be busy on it while the others sneak inside.”
A woman asked.
“What is the objective this time?”
The man asked.
“To get the blood from the main bloodline of the Duke.”
Wooooo!! 100k views as well as more than 100k words. A first look to our Mythic or Mythological weapon. Also it was a headache to edit because the numbers and bullet did not seem to mesh well like that of MS words does.