Chapter 89 - The Outcast (Patreon)

Jiran tossed and turned throughout the night. He maintained a strong focus through his aura, unable to sleep soundly with the two newcomers snoozing just a few meters from the entrance to their burrow. Mayalyn, on the other hand, slept like the dead, as usual. He had tried to wake her when he discovered the identity of their guests, but she told him in no uncertain terms that since it was not a ‘life or death emergency,’ it was certainly not worth waking up for.

Jiran’s eyes snapped open when the princess began to shift and mumble. He stifled a yawn and got up with a stretch. By the time he ambled outside, Oliviala was already poking at the fire and prepping a piece of Mayalyn’s kill for breakfast.

“Good morning, Jiran,” Her voice was cheerful as she sent him a little wave.

Do I talk to her about it? No, definitely want to wait and talk to Mayalyn first.

“Oliviala,” He nodded.

“Please, call me Olive. You make my name sound so… formal.”

Well c’mon. You’re a freaking princess! Of course your name sounds formal.

“Aren't you the one who was calling Lenton all sorts of weird things yesterday? Now you’re worried about the way your name sounds?”

“I am hardly anything special like Master Filibree. He’s saved tens of thousands of lives, won countless battles, discovered many secrets of mana and density, and guided a dozen generations through the Cruex Military Academy. The list goes on and on. He is a great man, the epitome of what it means to be a proud Imperial Citizen. Meanwhile, I have accomplished nothing. You should not compare us.”

That's actually a pretty impressive resume.

Once the fire was hot enough, Olive began seasoning the meat from multiple pouches of herbs and spices she had taken from her satchel. Jiran watched with some interest before moving to the cleared ground he and Mayalyn use for stretching and sparring.

He moved through the stances Samris had taught him. Aura and Forcing pushed against his muscles, increasing the difficulty of each move. Cameron woke up shortly after he began. The boy relieved himself, mumbled a good morning to Olive, then joined Jiran.

“Breakfast will be ready shortly, Jiran. I hope you’re hungry,” Olive flashed him another smile which caused Cameron to groan.

“So all it takes to get you to behave like a normal girl is a guy with glowing eyes who can one-shot beasts above his tier? Good to know.”

“Cameron, thank you for offering to give your portion to Mayalyn and Jiran, how thoughtful of you,” She turned her smile on Cameron, though it became a bittersweet thing that made him growl.

“Hey! It was just a joke, geez. You wake up on the wrong side of the stump today?” Cameron scowled as he assumed a starting stance and moved into his first stretch.

“I don’t believe anyone appreciates your very inaccurate insinuations. You will be much better company when you learn to keep your mouth shut. As your father does,” She finished with a smug shake of her head.

“You can’t mean that, he speaks two sentences a season, how is that good company? Anything is better than stony, brooding silence punctuated with the occasional smack to my skull!”

Jiran chuckled as the cousins’ antics helped withdraw the drowsy fog he had yet to clear. Their banter tugged on his heart; reminding him of the last time he had seen Niya. He noticed that Cameron’s movements were slightly different than his own. The differences were minor: A foot placed at a steeper angle, a knee bent a little less, or an arm position that forced different muscles to activate.

“Northern Imperial Stance, huh? I thought Feylon was in the south along the coast. Who taught you?” Cameron wondered aloud after observing Jiran in return.

“Samris Le’Feylon, maybe he was from the north. I don’t really know much about his past,” Jiran grunted through a particularly difficult series of handstands.

Cameron mumbled the name a few times before his eyes lit up.

“Are you talking about Samris Le’Furiette, the outcast son of Dagris?”

“Le’Furiette? Why is that so familiar? Hmm, maybe that’s him. Like I said, I don’t know who he was before he came to be the Magistrate of Feylon. Why do you call him an outcast?”

“Ugh, are you being dense on purpose? Obviously because he was ‘cast out’ of Furiette. You know, the Northern Metropole, the Last Bastion of Man, the Frigid Wall of the North? So you’re nothing more than a country bumpkin after all?” Cameron rolled his eyes when Olive shot him a dirty look.

Le’Furiette… Wait, what?!

“Le’Furiette, as in Emperor Dagris Le’Furiette the Demon King?! Samris is thesonofanemperor?!” Jiran fell out of his stance and lost the tight rein on his speed of speaking as he shouted at Cameron.

“Oh, now you’re talking fast? Trying to figure out your tier is so frustrating! I told you he wasn’t tier four! Are you some kind of skipper?”

“You think I tiered up without maxing out my attributes?” Jiran couldn't help but look at him with one raised brow.

“Cameron, leave him alone. Jiran can keep whatever secrets he wants. Breakfast is ready.”

Jiran looked between the two of them with his mouth hanging open.

Of course they don’t think Samris being the son of an emperor is a big deal. She’s literally the daughter of an emperor, why would they be shocked? An outcast though? I guess that makes sense with his unique ability. I can imagine people being scared enough of him to force him into exile. Wait, what if one of their parents is the one who’s been turning off the nodes… Argh! This is so frustrating, Mayalyn, wake your ass up!

As if summoned by his thought, or more likely the call to breakfast, Mayalyn sat up groggily with a deep inhalation through her nose that caused a blissful smile to grace her lips.

Finally!

Jiran was bouncing on his heels as he waited for her to exit their burrow. When she finally did, he scooped her up in his aura and leaped into the air.

“Jiran! Let me down this instant, I need to pee!”

“Erk, Sorry-sorry,” Jiran set her down out of sight and gave her some privacy while he kept his aura on the cousins back in the camp.

“Oh, good, they left. More breakfast for me,” Cameron’s voice oozed delight as he reached for another helping.

“I will kill you,” Olive said in her best imitation of Jiran which caused them both to pause before they erupted in laughter.

When Mayalyn finished, she stomped her way back to find Jiran’s face had turned into a bright red furnace.

“What is wrong with you this morning?!” She huffed.

Jiran wasted no time scooping her up again and putting a little more distance between them and the camp before filling her in on everything he had learned.

“I do not see the problem here. They have an honest desire to be our allies, why does it matter who their parents are?”

“She’s a princess!”

Mayalyn blinked at him slowly, anger at her delayed breakfast beginning to leak into a rapidly growing scowl.

“As in the daughter of one of the emperors, who may have turned off the nodes,” Jiran patted the air in an effort to ebb her cascading frustration.

“Oh, that is why you are making such a big deal of this. I did not realize that is what princess meant,” Mayalyn took a deep breath before sitting backward, trusting Jiran’s aura would conform to support her.

“If they have nefarious plans for us, why would she force her cousin to swear to protect us? If her father is the one shutting off the nodes, then it is likely she does not know and is not connected with that at all. If he is the one, would this not be an excellent chance to learn more about our potential enemies?”

“Of course! It's not like they would suspect us in particular. This is a perfect chance to get closer to them without arousing suspicions. You’re a freaking genius, you know that, May?” Jiran’s smile was infectious and soon her anger was forgotten as she smiled back.

“Feel free to wake me up with those words more often. Shall we go see what our own personal princess has prepared for breakfast? It smelled divine,” She was already wiping drool from the corner of her mouth when Jiran lifted them back toward camp.

“What are the chances I would meet two of them?”

“Two children of the emperors? Well, did you not say they were a thousand years old? They likely have thousands of children. Perhaps you have even met others without knowing it.”

I honestly have no idea. It’s not something I’ve ever heard anyone talk about before.

The second they landed, Mayalyn zipped across the camp and snatched the largest portion of meat before happily sitting on their log. She took a huge bite and her eyes rolled back while her feet drummed the ground.

“Zhish ish sho goowd!” She moaned around the mouthful of meat, her reaction bringing a smile to Olive’s face.

“Good morning, Mayalyn. I’m going to assume that means you like it.”

Jiran translated for them as they exchanged pleasantries which gave him little time to enjoy his own delicious breakfast. He never minded the taste of plain, cooked meat considering density had a way of making higher tier food so delectable. But there was certainly something to be said for adding a little spice.

Between translations, he found a chance to ask his own question to the cousins.

“Do you know how many kids Emperor Dagris Le’Furiette has?”

“You’re thinking about Samris again? I’m pretty sure he’s the 423rd son of Emperor Dagris,” Cameron supplied.

“Four hundred?!" He shot a look at Mayalyn, she noticed and shrugged knowingly before tearing into her second helping.

“It is a shame he had so few sons,” Olive joined the conversation with a wistful sigh that tugged at the corner of her mouth.

So… few? Mayalyn was right. Being a child of one of the emperors isn’t as big a deal as I thought. Which probably means these two are fairly harmless. That also explains why they are out here unguarded to begin with. When you have so many kids, how could you possibly keep tabs on all of them? I need to calm down and stop being so paranoid about everyone all the time.

“Are you going to talk to them about it?” Mayalyn asked when she noticed he was done with his thought.

“I wasn’t planning on it.”

“What did she say?” Olive asked.

“Nothing important. I’m planning to hunt again before we leave. You two are welcome to join us,” Jiran offered.

“Yes!” Cameron’s fist pumped the air as he leaped to his feet.

“Before that, I need to use my… technique.”

She must be talking about the acclamation she mentioned. This should be interesting.

Olive kneeled on the ground and crossed her arms before whispering far too quietly for their ears to pick up. Jiran’s aura heard her loud and clear.

“Show me the path that leads to victory for the empire,” After several seconds, her eyes snapped open and she looked right at Jiran with piercing blue eyes brimming with conviction, and something else, something that sent goosebumps creeping up his arms.

When she closed her eyes again and offered a prayer to the voice, Jiran remembered where he had seen that look before.

That’s the same look Mom always had when she would go on and on about the wonders and majesty of the Voice. Zealotry… Gross. Whatever her acclamation just did, it had something to do with me. It would be rude to ask. Do I even want to know?

A few seconds later, she rose to her feet and nodded deeply to the group. “Thank you for your patience, I am ready now.”

“What did your technique do?” Jiran grimaced, dreading the answer.

“Nothing important,” She shot him a wink as she checked the straps on her sword.

Whatever, I probably don’t want to know anyways. Little more trust, little less paranoia. I can do this!

Cameron and Mayalyn were both ready as well so Jiran doused their fire and lifted them into the air toward the Outlands.

“Not going to lock us up in your fluffy prison this time?” Cameron’s joke was swiftly accompanied by a kick from Olive’s metal boot which appeared to have no effect on the durable boy as his smile never wavered.

“I can if you want,” Jiran matched his smirk.

At least he’s somewhat normal now that I’m getting used to him. Or maybe I'm getting weirder from his company.

Mayalyn motioned to him and he brought her a little closer.

“Can you recharge me?” The excited gleam in her eyes let him know she just wanted to enjoy feeling topped off and not that she was actually low on lightning enhancement.

“Actually, I was thinking we should try out fire or ice this morning. What do you think?”

“Lightning is the superior element. However, it would be rational to experiment with the others. Very well then, I accept your proposal.” She stuck up her nose in mimicry of Olive but it only lasted a second before she broke into excited giggles.

“Yeah, yeah. Enjoy your lightning and then we’ll switch to whatever element looks appropriate when we find the next beast,” Jiran could only shake his head and be thankful she had agreed. After all, how could he possibly deny her when she was being so cute? He spent a moment to add the cousins to his party before Cameron nosed in on the conversation.

“What are you two talking about? Switching elements sounds like a battle strategy. Something I should be aware of before I risk my neck protecting her?”

“I don’t think you need to worry about protecting her this time. You’ll be lucky if you even get a chance to attack.”

“Oh yeah?! Wanna take a wager on it?”

Jiran flicked his eyes to Mayalyn who was gazing at the horizon with longing while arcs of electricity jumped between her fingers.

“What are the stakes?”

“Yes! If I win, you have to tell me what tier you are,” Cameron wore a triumphant grin.

“Question for a question then. If Mayalyn kills the beast before you get in a solid hit, I win. Any question I want.”

Finally piecing together the conversation, Mayalyn gave him a thumbs up and a wicked grin.

“Deal! Hah, you’re too easy.”

“Cameron, did you already forget how quick she is? He never said it had to be a tier four either, he could pit you two against the weakest creature in the Outlands and she would kill it long before you had a chance to strike.”

Cameron’s mouth fell wider at each hole she pointed out in their wager. He turned wide, pleading eyes on Jiran who shook his head with a chuckle.

“I don’t need to cheat to win. You’ll see.”

Their journey was a short one as several beasts in the distance were tearing each other apart. The dust cloud from their wild thrashing drew the group closer.

“A frenzy, perfect,” Cameron recovered from his melancholy quickly at the prospect of gaining enough exp to ascend.

Jiran glanced at the information boxes for each of them and was surprised to see Olive’s mana even lower than yesterday.

[Oliviala Le’Cruex] (Tier 4) (1280/1280) (1%)

Since it drained whatever mana she would have recovered overnight, her ‘technique’ might be some version of revelation. Interesting.

Samris was right. Being able to instantly convert density to mana allows me to practice way more than others. Wait, why don’t Olive and Cameron know how to do that too? Lenton overheard me teaching Niya, that’s why he made us leave Feylon to begin with. I would think he would have told the emperors and they, in turn, should have taught their children. Right? Sure, the church would throw a fit, but it’s the emperors’ children, for Fathers’ sake. What’s the church going to do? Kill them? Yeah right.

Something strange is going on here if even the emperors’ children don’t know. I guess I know what my question to Cameron is going to be.

“Mayalyn, don’t hold back.”