BLAIR | Chapter. 146: Effervescent Escalations (Patreon)

Chapter. 146: Effervescent Escalations

I sighed as I looked at the moon shining bright. The fires and small embers had been put off, all that remained were the raining ashes and the charred wood. Taking a walk around the city had shown me all the destruction the dragon had caused, well over half had been burnt, very few places were untouched, and all I could do was grit my teeth in silence. I turned and headed for the house, the garden had been burnt, but nothing else within it had suffered damages. That was a silver-lining, even if it was selfish.

I entered the house only to see Lumina lounging around the couch. She turned to face me, her dark skin and crimson eyes shining under the moonlight. Her expression seemed neutral, indifferent but there was a soft touch in there that I couldn’t put my finger on. After a moment, she spoke.

“Unlike Sun, I don’t blame you for saying you will kill the humans.”

I slowly nodded as I was reminded of the situation, Lumina continued.

“I sort of got to see what happened in the Nest, and I well, I wanted to kill them too. Yet you refrained, or at least forgot about it since it was in the name of the city.”

I sighed. “I did, but now… I just feel resentment.”

“It’s fine to feel resentment.” Lumina admitted. “Use it to kill them when the time comes, but if it never comes don’t hold onto it. It will just cripple you. Right now, there is turmoil so there is a chance you will need to kill them. But in the future, once it is a bustling city, it is best to forget.” She relaxed. “Well that’s just my advice. There is no point in holding onto resentment if people can change. Once a rival could be your best friend hundreds of years later.”

I took her words in. It’s fine to feel resentment for now… Lumina continued.

“Well, let’s forget about that dumb topic for a moment. I see that you’re heading to try to progress further in Essence discovery, yes?”

I nodded, and she asked.

“Have you made any progress?”

“I have.” I took a deep breath. Normally I would’ve been excited to tell Lumina or Elasia, but the circumstances were different, and my mood wasn’t that great either. “I managed to sense my Essence for the first time today.”

Lumina narrowed her eyes with a small smile. “And?”

“I tried using a skill, it felt wrong so I didn’t continue it.” I shook my head. “Then I dropped to the ground and threw up blood as my mana attacked my insides.”

“That definitely sounds like Essence.” She agreed. “That’s good.”

“Why do you ask?”

Lumina shifted. “I wanted to mention that, Essence does not necessarily relate to our Prophecy nor our affinity. Some individuals are defined by such things, others, not so much.” She shrugged. “I feel like you should know that, that there is a chance that your Essence isn’t even related to Dark Plants.”

I thought for a moment. What she had said made sense, and now it made me question. How close was I to my Prophecy, how close were the dark plants to me? I didn't really know.

“Thank you… I do need to think about it quite carefully.”

Lumina nodded knowingly. “Do not worry, the fact that you sensed your Essence already is a testament to your greatness. Even if you actually do not understand what it actually is, if the skill fits it perfectly, then it could be used. In theory anyway. If you wish to use your Essence with skills that sort of fit what it is, then you ought to understand it.”

“What do you mean?” I asked with confusion.

“What I mean is that, you might understand what your Essence is if you happen to have a skill that fits it. Wouldn’t count on it though, and if you do happen to cast the skill and not notice that it’s wrong. Well, there will only be pain and suffering, and if the skill is strong? Well… you might just die.”

“Right…” I remembered Elasia’s words still.

Mistake your Essence and try to put it into a skill, and the only thing you will suffer from is unimaginable pain.

And now there was another pair of words.

If the skill is strong? Well… you might just die.

Lumina sat a bit straighter and leaned forward, peering into my eyes. She still wore the rags from back then, which I finally made note of, it bothered me enough to mention it.

“Don⁠—”

“Why haven’t you changed your clothes?” I asked, interrupting her.

Lumina blinked and looked down at herself. “Because they don’t get dirty, besides, it’s not important right now.” She dismissed it as she recovered her poise, gazing at me once more.

She held my gaze for a second and then shook her head.

“The cool effect is ruined.” She laid back on the couch with a sigh. “I was going to say to trust in yourself and something along those lines, don’t worry too much about it. It’s a process that generally takes years for most people. For me personally it took about six months.”

“Six months?”

She nodded. “For El, I think it was closer to two years. It doesn’t really matter, one thinks that Monarchs are talented when in reality the only trait that every single one of them shares is the insanity that we have gone through. So with that in mind, do not use it as a comparison more so to just understand that it takes time.”

“It does.” I acquiesced. “Even then, I want the dragon dead as soon as possible.”

“I am sure you do.” She smiled. “That’s why you have to work hard. For now, I believe Elasia will sort out parties to search for any signs of the dragon nearby. To protect the city, our home, I too want it dead, and so does Elasia, we want you to kill it… Well we want to kill the humans too…” Her face turned bitter. “Even now I am a bit of a prisoner to The System, isn’t that funny? I could’ve killed the dragon, and yet…” She looked down.

“And yet?”

“And yet I was scared of the repercussions…” A deep sigh echoed through the room. “The System is a terrifying thing. Unfortunately, as much as I hate the dragon I am not willing to throw my life away…”

“The System really is a pain in the ass…”

Lumina chuckled. “That it is. But it keeps the world from collapsing⁠— ah, I shouldn’t have said that.”

I raised my brow and Lumina continued.

“It’s not that it’s some kind of secret information, but it’s not something you should have in mind. Whether The System is good or bad for the universe should be for you to decide.” She looked at the ceiling. “Elasia and I, are people that have seen pretty much everything, you are like our daughter of sorts. We want to see you succeed.”

“Daughter?” I raised my brow.

“Well what else would you be?” She snorted. “Elasia almost died trying to protect you, and while I was just your mentor, I am also Elasia’s… well, you get the idea. You are like our daughter.”

The thought made me pause, curiosity and some shock evident. “Like your daughter?”

Lumina pondered. “No. You’re our daughter.” She smiled. “And you make us pretty damn proud.”

My mind shut down for a moment, all the troubles in my mind disappearing. “Huh?”

“It’s been about two months or something since The System arrived in your world, and yet you are already going to C Grade even though you started at E? That’s amazing is it not?”

“I guess so?” I scratched my head.

“While neither Elasia or I can take true credit for your achievements, we still feel happy that out of all, hm…” She pondered. “Out of all the scum in the universe, we got to be the ones to mentor you and help you in some way, hence you are our daughter, well if you want to be of course, it’s not something we can force onto you, at the same time we might be jumping too fast into it.”

At that moment a bright flash appeared between both of us. It was Elasia and she had a difficult expression as she looked at Lumina.

“I told you to wait on that…” She plopped down on the couch.

Lumina scratched the back of her head. “I just felt like it was a good time…”

I simply looked at both of them. Elasia awkwardly coughed as she met my gaze, there was an evident embarrassment.

“I can’t believe we are asking this, but… Blair, would you like to be our…” She looked away. “Daughter…?”

I blinked, my mind whirred, and Lumina looked at me expectantly, while Elasia looked at the ground. They ⁠— the two ⁠— had just asked to be my parents? I had parents… already. Well they were dead… My family was… I had a new family now, a pack, in the form of Sun, Elasia, Lumina, and Ronald, The Light Maker. Things are different now.

Parents. I felt something trigger within my heart as excitement overtook me, I felt warmth like never before as I simply nodded.

“I… would like that a lot… yes…”

Lumina smirked, and with a wave of her hand I felt a push from behind. I tripped and Elasia gasped, catching me. In an instant, Lumina hugged the both of us. Elasia slowly followed as we were stuck together for a moment. Lumina caressed my back with some affection as she spoke.

“I am happy to call you my daughter, Blair.”

“Thank you…”

Lumina smiled.

“And, I’d be more than happy to see you kill the humans if they try anything stupid again!”

I smiled. “I will.”

* * * * *

A few days passed and the city was being rebuilt, as the elf and the other person had confirmed. But, Aria hadn’t seen the elf again after that. She had just gone back, retreated into her luxurious villa that had survived. It was a modern house. It even had a television from what she saw. It was clearly a ploy, deceit. While she enjoyed a luxurious life, the other people had to sleep in tents and other things while the city was being rebuilt.

Moreover, even though the elf was so heated about killing people, Aria never saw her follow up on it. Not even some kind of warning. It was clear that it was a lie, just like the protection that had been offered, or her level. The elf just wanted to keep them around, perhaps it was out of pride, perhaps it was for something more nefarious, that she didn’t know. But she wasn’t going to sit still and do nothing.

Her husband had died at the hands of the dragon.

And yet, the so-called Savior only repelled the dragon. She claimed that she would kill the dragon, and yet she had just shut herself in the house. Aria didn’t understand it, or rather, she understood the lies. If that person wanted to be stronger she would’ve left and gone to hunt somewhere, level up more so she could kill the dragon, but all that person did was stay in the coziness of her home.

It was unfair. And at this point, Aria was tired.

The city was amazing, its city lord was not. There was only one thing left to do, and that was clear to her.

* * * * *

About a week had passed since the dragon attack and Victor Valens couldn’t believe his eyes as he walked down the cobbled street. Gone were the broken buildings and the ashes, everything looked brand new, and aside from the dreary mood that hung around the air, it was as if nothing had happened. If he was completely honest with himself, aside from a bad sleep, he had completely forgotten about the experience.

He thought about it every now and then, but he was just used to things. Perhaps he was different, but he wasn’t exactly shocked about two hundred people dying in one fell swoop. Well, the number was shocking, he just wasn’t shocked about seeing the bloodshed. Perhaps it was because most people died in their homes. That he was unsure, it certainly sucked.

He vividly remembered hearing a shattering sound when the dragon showed up too, so he surmised that the city had some sort of barrier protection in place. In short, he didn’t exactly blame anyone, it was just a natural disaster, though he also understood that not everyone felt the same way. Nonetheless, he had gotten something curious, information that he overheard.

Tired of injustice? That’s how it started. Then gather at the south-west, the last charred house.

And so he did, at the dawn of night, he followed. Soon the small groups of humans gathered into a crowd of about two-hundred of them, and at the center, standing before the burnt building stood a woman, she wore a headband and had flowing golden hair. He remembered her from the confrontation that happened a week ago.

If he remembered correctly, her name was: Aria.

And she clearly had changed.

[Human. Lvl. 84]

Everyone gathered before what would be considered a human elite. She smiled and spoke.

“It is time for a new city lord…”

Victor raised his brow.

“It is time for a…”

“Rebellion.”