Ch178-New Face Old Friends (Patreon)

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Ch178-New Face Old Friends

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Lola went upstairs to have breakfast with Spring, and the rest of the Sezari household, to give Ria and Sylver some privacy. Sylver sat back into his seat, and the liquid metal woman oozed onto the table directly in front of him and formed herself into a talking face.

“I want to make the world a better place,” Ria said.

Sylver just looked at her and waited before formulating a response.

“But I don’t know how to do that,” Ria added.

There was a couple of seconds of silence, during which the two just stared at each other.

“And I also realize I don’t have a good understanding of what it would mean to ‘make the world a better place.’ I want to go with you, so that I may experience this world, and eventually find a way to make it better,” Ria continued.

The reasoning behind her decision felt… childish.

Not childish, rather it felt simple.

Ria wanted something but didn’t know where it was, so she decided the best course of action to find it was to wait for it to find her.

“And I want Chrys to be taken care of. She stays safe, she doesn’t get hurt, and if she decides not to help you, you don’t force her,” Ria said, while Sylver silently looked down at her, and waited to see if there was anything else.

Sylver clasped his hands together over his stomach and leaned further backward in his seat.

“I have a few conditions. And the first is a deal-breaker if you can’t accept it… If it ever comes to a point where we are given the choice between helping a very large group of people or helping me and mine, we will discuss it, but the choice is ultimately mine to make,” Sylver said.

“Could you elaborate?” Ria asked.

“Let’s say we discover a magical relic that could be used to heal 50,000 people. Or it could be used to make me stronger. In this hypothetical, even if you don’t agree with me, even if you’re certain you’re right, and I’m being selfish, you will respect my choice, and won’t go against me,” Sylver said.

He could see Ria struggle with the hypothetical, but it was only for a brief moment.

“I have no issue with that,” Ria answered.

Her soul was a very strange thing right at this moment, she was calm, but it was a forced calmness, almost like the kind a fighter might impose on himself because panicking in the face of danger would lead to their death.

“Even if my decision will make the world worse off?” Sylver asked.

Ria thought it over before she answered.

“If you are to be believed, I am immortal. Whatever damages are incurred in the short term are irrelevant in the long term. Broken eggs and omelets and all that… While we’re on the subject, when I figure out how I can make the world a better place, if I decide to leave, I want your word that you will allow me to leave unharmed,” Ria said.

Sylver had hoped he hadn’t reacted with his face, but going by the fact that Ria all but bit her lip, she knew he wasn’t happy hearing that.

“I have already told you, Ria, you are a part of my family. I want what’s best for you. As long as you don’t try to hurt me, or any other member of my family, you’re free to do whatever you want,” Sylver said.

He sat up in his seat and was embarrassed by how hurt he felt by Ria’s words.

“I know,” Ria said without so much of a hint of malice.

Sylver had to wonder just how little she thought of him if she actually needed him to say it.

“If at any point you decide to leave, you have my word you won’t be harmed,” Sylver swore.

There was another pause, during which only the fact that Sylver’s gut was telling him to forgive her for this, saved this partnership from being ended there and then.

She was young, Sylver couldn’t apply his way of thinking to her.

Not to mention she wasn’t from the same realm as him and was a creature unlike any other.

“Do you have any other conditions?” Ria asked.

“Don’t lie to me. And don’t lie for me. I will never put you in a position where you’ll be asked a direct question and have to lie, but if you somehow are, always be honest. I know what I’m doing, and if I know you’ll always answer honestly when asked, I can plan around it,” Sylver explained and did his best to put the insult Ria didn’t seem to even be aware of behind them.

“Alright,” Ria said quietly.

Sylver clapped his hands together and Ria’s face lost shape for a split second.

“In that case, I’m very glad to have you on board! Let’s go have pancakes,” Sylver offered, as he stood up from his seat, and lowered his hand towards Ria.

She stared at his black fingernails and moved her face to look up at Sylver again.

“That’s it? What about-”

“Ria, I trust you. I’m very very rarely wrong about these kinds of things. Pay attention, be careful, and when in doubt, ask Spring. He knows me almost as well as I know myself. Your heart is in the right place, and for now, that’s enough for me,” Sylver said and kept his hand within Ria’s reach.

She jumped up onto his hand, and slithered up his arm, to perch on his shoulder.

Ria would later tell him that she didn’t know why she accepted his hand so easily, other than that it felt like the right thing to do.

***

One of the effects of [Horde Of The Half Lich] was [Greater Undead Armament], which essentially functioned the way [Tools Of The Shade] did but wasn’t limited to just tools.

The weapons and armors the perk produced were restricted solely by Sylver’s imagination and mana. It even worked on him, he now could create a sword, dagger, bow, war hammer, ax, shield, helmet, chest plate, gauntlet, spear, scythe, scissors, even something as small as a 1-inch dart.

The only downside was that the durability of the created item was dependent on how much mana Sylver poured into it.

If not for [Greater Undead Channeling] Sylver would have had to manually focus on each individual shade, and individually provide them with the necessary mana to keep their sword, shield, or armor piece in shape. Instead, Spring more or less took what was necessary, and handled the logistics for him.

There was, however, a problem with equipping every single shade with its personal set of armor.

Mana.

Sylver didn’t have enough.

At his supposedly impressive 5,841 MP per minute regeneration, he could grant 8 shades a full set of durable armor, along with a single one-handed short sword, but that was it.

But if he did that, Sylver would be left with almost no mana to cast any other kind of spell. Even giving himself a set of armor and a sword required 10 times the amount of mana a set of [Necrotic Mutilation] armor needed, with arguably less defense to show for it.

The other problem was, and the reason Sylver didn’t just make clothes for Spring using it, was that the created weapons and armors looked near identical to Sylver’s robe when he actively infused it with mana. The creations were so dark they looked like there was a hole in reality, and would most certainly attract unwanted attention.

Which would defeat the whole point of having Spring cover himself in skin.

In the end, Sylver gave the shade a bright green tunic, dark green pants, and a small triangular brown hat, because Spring wanted to wear it.

Sylver didn’t remember ever owning such a hat, but then again, he wasn’t exactly keeping detailed records of what hat he did and didn’t own.

“How do I look? And how did it go with Ria?” Spring asked.

He added the second question as if it was an afterthought, and not something he had been itching to ask since the moment Sylver and Ria returned from the workshop to have breakfast.

Everyone had unanimously accepted a ‘no serious talks at the table’ rule, and the vast majority of the conversation was in regards to what to have for dinner.

Chrys had developed something of an obsession with food, according to Maul and Ging. She was gradually building up a tolerance to new tastes and was steadily progressing towards trying cinnamon pancakes.

“She’s in, for the time being. My understanding is that she still views me as some sort of calamity-inducing monstrosity. She also seems to have grown attached to Chrys, and in her mind, working for me and helping me is how she can help Chrys,” Sylver answered, as Spring pulled his scabbard onto his other side, and tested to see how easy the sword was to withdraw.

“She mentioned that Doctor Abel lost his daughter when she was 10 years old. Given the way Ria’s soul was formed, there’s a good chance she’s projecting the dead daughter onto Chrys,” Spring said.

Sylver had been vaguely aware of the topics Ria and Spring discussed while Sylver wasn’t paying attention, but hearing the shade say it out loud made the vague information clearer. Ria regarded Doctor Abel, the researcher who had supposedly created her, as something of a father figure, which meant Spring’s theory was all the more possible.

“Might be… But it’s a good thing, regardless of the reason. Mentally Ria is around Chrys’ age. She isn’t human, obviously, but her mentality is human… ish… It might be a good idea to keep them together as much as possible, so that when Chrys grows and matures, so will Ria,” Sylver offered.

A white blur briefly blocked his sight of Spring, and Sylver now had a steaming hot teapot sitting in front of him, on a table that hadn’t been there a moment prior.

Now that his senses had sharpened, and evolved, Sylver could feel the field the rabbits used that allowed them to move so quickly. They were actively altering their primal energy field, and extending it, to allow them to move at high speeds without burning up from air resistance.

Sylver had seen similar magic before, but this was his first time seeing it so well executed, not to mention, ingrained into a bloodline.

Sadly, there wasn’t all that much that could be done with their magic.

They were fast, sure, but it was limited to them, and their bloodline.

Not to mention, with the system in place, the restrictions imposed on them meant that their speed was useless in a fight. They were great at escaping, running away, but the second they actively attacked someone, they lost their ability to move fast for an entire minute.

Ging told Sylver that he heard a rumor about a small group of rabbits that would set up hundreds of traps within the time it took their targets to blink. But then explained that it wasn’t just attacking that was the problem, any kind of ‘aggressive’ behavior on their part made them lose their speed.

“Make the world a better place… It has a nice ring to it,” Spring repeated, as he leaned down to tie his shoelaces.

“Oh, it has a wonderful ring. But it is curious that she specified improving the world, as opposed to fixing or saving it. She is either repeating a phrase she heard from someone else, or she took my advice to make her promises specific and achievable, to heart… It doesn’t really matter,” Sylver concluded, as Spring went to tie his other shoe.

“I like it. Making the world a better place,” Spring said wistfully. “Wait, what was that?” Spring asked.

“Hmm?”

“You just felt sorry for her? Why?” Spring doubled down.

Sylver briefly considered giving Spring a proper answer but decided against it.

“I’ll tell you when you’re older,” Sylver promised.

“I was a fully grown man when you killed me! And you’re a fully grown man 1,000 times over, even if I’m only 10% you, I’m a fully grown adult,” Spring exclaimed.

“I meant to say, I’ll tell you when Ria is older. Or when she decides she has learned enough to leave and try to make the world a better place on her own,” Sylver explained, as he took a sip from his cup of tea.

Spring stared at him, and in a very weird way, it warmed Sylver’s heart that he was already so attached and loyal to Ria. Not as much as he was to Sylver, but it was nice to see that the shade had a close companion.

“It’s about the gods, isn’t it? That if she ever tries to make any kind of real change to the world, they’ll form an alliance to stop her. Like they did to Aether,” Spring asked, and could tell by the sudden tightening in Sylver’s jaw, as well as the raw reaction he could feel in the tether that connected them to one another.

“If she is aware of them, they will find her immediately… Actually… They might not, Aether proved their source of information is via clairvoyancy, and no one can see Ria’s future…” Sylver’s voice trailed off as he started to try and figure out a way to test this to know for sure.

“You don’t want to tell her just in case there’s a limit to magic not affecting her. And the you know what on top of that,” Spring theorized.

“If abyss magic doesn’t work on her, nothing will… Anyway, we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it. How do you feel? Comfortable?” Sylver asked, and all but ordered Spring to drop the subject.

“I feel great, thank you. I will admit it feels very strange to taste things. I don’t like pancakes though, at least I don’t think I do. I think I have a craving for rice,” Spring said.

“Tell Maul to make you some. Actually, don’t, we can ask Salgok to make some,” Sylver said, as he walked over to Spring and adjusted his hat, and used a bit of water to smooth back Spring’s unruly hair until it sat flat against his head before he put the hat back on.

As they left the bedroom, Spring’s hair went right back to sticking out from beneath the hat, and after 3 attempts to fix it, Sylver gave up.

***

As Sylver walked through the half-empty street, he could almost see the path the invading monsters had taken 3 years ago. The bricks on the ground were as clean as usual, but the ones that had been repaired and replaced had a slightly different color from the ones that hadn’t been touched in the last 20 years.

Apart from giant holes, there were also giant strips, that were likely the result of long claws slashing through the stone. Another obvious change was that a lot of shops-

Sylver didn’t react as a small black-haired creature landed directly in his path, and with its tail raised high into the air, while it stared him in the eye.

[A skill similar to [Appraisal] has been successfully blocked!]

[A skill similar to [Appraisal] has been successfully blocked!]

[A skill similar to [Appraisal] has been successfully blocked!]

Spring went to kick the small feline, but it effortlessly jumped up into the air and avoided Spring’s follow-up kick. It landed 10 steps away from Sylver and Spring and continued to stare at the two while cocking its head.

“You look well,” Sylver said with his head turned towards Spring, who also turned to face him as if they were talking to each other.

Now that he got a good look at the cat, the tail wasn’t crooked anymore, and that instead of appearing as something wild and feral, the small cat looked… like a slightly underfed housecat.

[A skill similar to [Appraisal] has been successfully blocked!]

[A skill similar to [Appraisal] has been successfully blocked!]

[A skill similar to [Appraisal] has been successfully blocked!]

“Stop it, just how many black-eyed albinos do you know?” Sylver asked, as Whiskers just continued silently staring at him.

“So that’s why the rabbits have been up in arms,” the cat responded, as its tail swished around in an odd pattern, and in the time it took Sylver to blink, the small black cat was replaced by a short man, with a pitch-black head of hair.

His face was scratched up to shit, and his forearms were covered in so many scars that it made the skin as a whole look darker than it actually was.

“You look different; did you do something your hair?” Whiskers and after a brief pause, Sylver lightly laughed at the joke.

“Complete and total makeover, inside and out. If you thought I was hard to kill before, now even I couldn’t kill me,” Sylver boasted, and Whiskers lifted his left hand up to his mouth but put it down without doing anything.

“Glad to hear it… You should know there are 2 priests following you,” Whiskers said without breaking eye contact with Sylver.

“I’m aware, but thank you. How have you been?” Sylver asked, and for a brief moment Whiskers’ smile vanished. It returned a moment later but didn’t look as genuine as it was before.

“I mean this as a compliment. She fought like a cornered rat. And while some don’t consider her victory genuine, Wuss and I were one of the first to side with her,” Whiskers said in a slightly quieter voice.

“She told me. You two made the right choice,” Sylver said, as he continued to walk towards Salgok’s workshop and placed his arm around Whiskers’ shoulder to bring him along.

“Did she tell you what exactly she did?” Whiskers asked.

“Not the specifics, but I’m aware of all the big moves she made,” Sylver said.

“Even when she threatened to-”

“No offense, but I don’t care. Just be happy all of this occurred while I was away. Just between us, I wouldn’t have been as forgiving or gentle as Lola was. But, she knows what she’s doing, so don’t tell her I said that” Sylver said.

He could tell he had soured the mood.

But Sylver wasn’t about to apologize for Lola doing what she thought was necessary to defeat the cats. He liked Whiskers well enough, even if he still held a grudge towards the cat for letting Yeva and Ciege get kidnapped. But now that he knew who and what Poppy was, Sylver’s grudge wasn’t as justified.

“Where is Kitty right now?” Sylver asked as he remembered another blunder he still hadn’t confirmed wasn’t intentional.

“She is currently on holiday in Medera. With Lola being the King of Cats, Kitty has taken on an advisory role. She has-”

“Wait, what? Lola is the King Of Cats?” Sylver asked, and the look on Whiskers’ face was a near-perfect blank.

“The class and perks will be passed down to her when Kitty dies. In the meantime, Kitty is the “official” King Of Cats, but everyone working under her is well aware of Lola being the “real” king,” Whiskers explained.

Sylver, Spring, and Whiskers stopped walking as they turned the corner, and Salgok’s workshop was in full view.

Previously it occupied a small space between two adjacent buildings.

Now it appeared to have expanded into them, as well as a fourth building on the right. And then expanded upwards, by 3 floors. Inside he could see and feel at least 60 souls moving around, and could hear the sound of metal striking metal, and shouting and swearing in dwarvish.

Sylver wasn’t sure when exactly Whiskers left, but he was gone by the time Sylver reached the entrance, which was essentially a small sign hanging above a giant hole where a wall used to be.

“You won’t be allowed inside without this,” Ging said.

Sylver didn’t react to the rabbit’s somewhat unexpected appearance, but Spring all but literally jumped out of his skin.

“Thank you. Sucks to rely on just your eyesight, doesn’t it?” Sylver asked, as he took the small gold-plated rectangle from Ging, and inspected it.

“Please don’t do that again,” Spring asked Ging, who nodded very politely before he disappeared in a barely visible blur of green and white.

Sylver brought the rectangle up to his ear, and very lightly shook it.

“Yeva made this,” Sylver said, mostly to himself, as he placed the rectangle in his pocket, and began to walk towards the giant dwarven workshop.

As he had somewhat expected, two human-sized metallic golems stepped out of the illusion hiding them and stood on either side of the large hole that was being used as an entrance.

Once Sylver and Spring safely passed the threshold, the two golems returned to hiding underneath the invisibility enchantment Yeva had made.

Sylver walked maybe 5 steps, before a small, but exceptionally strong hand, lightly gripped him by the wrist and did its best to get his attention without yanking.

The dwarf said something in a dialect Sylver couldn’t understand.

“I’m looking for Salgok or Ciege,” Sylver said at the dwarf.

The dwarf held up one finger at Sylver and shouted towards another group working in the corner.

A dwarf with gold thread braided into his beard walked over to them, and he and the dwarf holding Sylver’s wrist spoke to one another in their odd dialect for a couple of sentences.

“What business do you have with them?” the dwarf with the gold threads asked.

His accent was so heavy that Spring understood him before Sylver did and responded.

“We’re old friends. We came to say hello,” Spring said, and Sylver nodded along.

The dwarf with the gold thread said something to the one holding Sylver’s wrist, who then gestured at the pocket in which Sylver was keeping Yeva’s enchanted card. Sylver pulled it out and gave it to the dwarf, who closed his left eye, and angled the card until he was holding it against one of the floating magical lights.

He murmured something towards the dwarf with the gold threads, who said something back before he said something back.

Their conversation continued for a solid 2 minutes, up until Sylver felt a familiar soul in the distance, and then felt the aforementioned soul feel his soul.

Yeva appeared out of thin air, a mere step away from where Sylver and Spring were standing and waiting for the dwarves to finish their conversation. She said 4 words in their dialect, that Sylver understood to mean “thank you, he’s safe.”

The moment the dwarf holding Sylver’s wrist let go, Sylver and Spring were teleported up 2 floors and found themselves standing face to face with Salgok, Ciege, another dwarf that had Salgok’s nose, and a young boy that Sylver could only guess was Benjamin.

“Took you long enough,” Salgok said before anyone else so much as moved.

“You look…” Ciege tried to say, but couldn’t decide on a word, as he stared at the unnaturally pale and unnaturally tall, seemingly human, man.

“I had some work done. This is Spring, by the way. You all look well. Except you Salgok, you got fat,” Sylver said and pointed a finger at the slightly wider dwarf.

There was a very odd couple of seconds of silence.

That was broken by the small human boy pointing a finger at the slightly wider dwarf, and very quietly saying “fat.”

Salgok was the first to start laughing, and who Sylver would later learn was his brother, joined in and started laughing too, and within the span of 5 minutes, everyone was sitting at a table that Salgok materialized out of thin air.

Once Sylver confirmed that the room was soundproof and spy proof, and he had a very tall mug of beer, he started to once again retell the tale of the necromancer, and the realm full of ice and bullets.

NEXT CHAPTER

(Btw if anyone has questions related to the previous arc, ask them in the comments, so that I can either answer them directly, or have it answered within the next chapter.)