Wolf of the Blood Moon - Book 4 - Chapter 12 - Maxed Out Skill (Patreon)

                                                      Scarlet

My face lights up with a smile the moment I finally get the System Message I’ve been looking for after an entire week of constantly Life Draining Gramps. A week that I ended up spending more time with any other single person than any other time in my entire life.

[Skill ‘Life Drain’ has leveled up to level 30. It is now at the max level for the skill.]

[You leveled a skill to the max level and therefore meet the third of the three qualifications for breaking through to Class IV: Have one skill at its max level.]

[You have completed all the requirements to reach Class IV. Would you like to ascend?]

“Not right now,” I whisper out loud before glancing at Gramps, who pauses in his lecture at the sound of my voice. Then an incredibly wide and proud smile stretches across his face as he asks, “You did it?”

I nod my head, a proud smile of my own on my face.

And it’s about time too. Over the last week, all I’ve been doing is going through lessons with Gramps along with some of his strategy meetings for the war and other politics for Tartarus in general. Most of which has been rather boring.

At the start, I was a little interested in hearing how the war was going. But after he started teaching me history lessons on the world, along with sociology lessons on the different demon species and history on the Royal Family – my family – I started caring less and less. And when he had me come to the political gatherings, including another two balls during this period that I was thankfully allowed to wear my armor in instead of a stuffy dress, I was starting to lose it.

In hindsight, I can’t help but feel that he was keeping me by him this whole time more so that he could interact and spend time with me than he was to train my skill. Which makes me wonder if he knows I’ll be leaving Tartarus soon. Something that I guess is entirely possible if he bothered the witches.

Speaking of the witches, I’m kind of surprised I haven’t run into any yet.

“Let’s put this lesson on indefinite hold then,” Gramps says while standing up from the chair across the little table from me in the outer gardens of the Demon King’s Castle. “I’m sure you’ll want to get to your ascension as soon as possible, knowing you.”

Now that has me smiling even wider before I stand up from my chair, give him a light salute, and begin heading towards the doors leading inside of the castle. But after only making it three steps away from the table, I feel someone pulling me into his chest in a hug. And it doesn’t take me long to realize it’s Gramps. Just the very fact that it doesn’t make my skin crawl with discomfort is enough to tell me that.

“Please come back and visit…” he whispers with his chin on top of my head while holding my head to his chest, making my eyes widen slightly as I understand that he does, in fact, know I’ll be leaving after all. Then he steps back while moving his hands to my shoulders and grins, “And try not to kill too many of my people when you join the war.”

I roll my eyes at that but smile regardless.

“Also, your authority as the Princess of the nation is still beneath that of a Demon Lord during the war effort, so the demons won’t listen to you even if you revealed your crest,” he continues, confirming what I had already suspected. “And if you do find a Class IV demon who is trying to kill you but is too strong for you to take on, simply show them your crest and they wouldn’t dare so much as touch a single hair on your head. Or anyone you consider dear who is around you at the time for that matter.” His face takes on a slightly disgusted look. “Including that human family you have on Earth.”

I smirk at that.

Something I learned over the past week was that Gramps feels very conflicted about the Sylvesters, since he knows that I consider them family and that they basically raised me in a slightly roundabout way, even if I was still treated as an orphan at the start. So he doesn’t hate them, and he even seems to feel some respect for them because of it. But he still dislikes them.

Whether that’s out of jealousy or because they’re humans, I’m not sure.

He absolutely hates White and everything about her though. In fact, I’m pretty sure that if she wasn’t my biological mother and Leonidas’s wife, he’d kill her the exact instant she steps foot on Tartarus again.

On the other hand, when I told him about Aria, I think he actually seemed to be happy for some reason. Which was rather interesting.

Until the topic got o Blue and he was pissed again.

“If you want, we could have a last dinner tonight after my ascension,” I suggest, surprising both Gramps and Tar considering the emotions he sends my way. And after some brief hesitation, I add, “And Leonidas can come too.”

Which seems to shock the two of them even more than my original suggestion did.

Despite my being on Tartarus for several months now, I’ve never actually shared a meal with them. Balls not included, since while I am eating there, there are just way too many people roaming about, and it’s not at a table or any sort of dinner setting. Actually, most of the time during the balls I was preoccupied with trying my absolute best at avoiding everyone so as to not get asked to dance.

Since not only would that be torture, but I don’t know how to dance, and it would be embarrassing.

Don’t plan on learning how to either.

“I would love that,” Gramps says with an actual tear in his eye.

I smile and nod at him before heading on my way, not even pausing as I tell the maid waiting for me at the entrance of the outer garden, “Prepare the bath. I’m going to ascend to Class IV.”

The maid looks overjoyed at that and immediately sets about doing so.

Well, time to torture myself again via ascension…

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