The Box's shape was easy to envision, but it was harder to hold. The Sphere had been smaller and lighter, whereas the Box was much larger and heavier.
Draco could feel a palpable weight on his mind as he 'held' the Box. What was surprising was that it was empty, yet Draco felt like someone placed a full water barrel on his head.
Originally, Draco had wondered why Richmond had made him hold the shape of these two ethereal objects. It was easy enough to envision them, but this was not where the difficulty lay.
So why was time being wasted on it?
Now, he had an inkling of an idea. It seemed that there was more to this beginner stage in spell formulation. Even though it was covered by the Focus stat, it still required some proper training before it could be used at will.
Draco then held the Box for almost 30 minutes before his mind could not take any more and he had to drop it. Richmond nodded thoughtfully, then cast a restoration spell on him.
"Continue."
Draco began, summoning the shape of the Box almost instantly and continued to hold it in place steadily. This time, he managed to last for just slightly over half an hour before he hit his limit.
Richmond and Draco began the process of restoration and work. It was a tireless process that even made onlookers feel exhausted by watching.
The maids who shuffled about looked at it with slight curiosity, but couldn't muster any interest when they saw how repetitive it was. Riveting Night, Hikari and Zaine were the only ones able to watch this performance without blinking.
After all, they weren't looking at the process, but at Draco himself.
By the time the day came to an end once again, Draco could hold the Box for slightly more than 40 minutes, which was a great improvement. Before he left the courtyard, he spoke to Richmond.
"Dog-like old man, I hope you haven't been harassing my maids."
Draco's voice was light and seemingly neutral, but Richmond froze and began to sweat.
"Haha of course not! How do you see this old man?! I only came here to train my darling Apprentice, not to play games with some servants!"
Richmond answered righteously. If one did not know him beforehand, they would be fooled into thinking that Draco was being unfair.
However, Riveting Night added to Draco's words in a languid tone. "The maids have been furtively avoiding this area for a while now."
Hikari also thought a little before speaking. "And they look at you with dread, while they give us pleading glances."
Zaine added the final nail to the coffin. "They look like they have been drained of all their energy and it looks like it was caused artificially."
At this point, Richmond's whole robe was soaked with sweat. No matter how he tried to wipe his forehead, water kept flowing out.
"T-This matter… I-It is a-actually…"
Richmond's teeth chattered as he failed to respond properly.
The maids in the area had surprised looks on their faces. Was their dashing Lord Draco finally going to save them and alleviate their pains?
They couldn't help but stop and then stare at the ensuing fiasco. Noticing that more of their co-workers seemed to have halted in the courtyard, more and more maids kept trickling in.
Draco's aura was roiling, a black miasma that promised death and oblivion. His white hair swayed in the wind and his pulsing red eyes glowed with malice.
"Old Freak, so you have been taking advantage of my maids?"
Richmond shook his head. "Never! We have been engaging in mutually fun activities! I swear!"
Draco beckoned to a random young maid, who was startled, but approached Draco slowly. The whole time, she couldn't take her eyes off his face and form.
Since she was a normal girl, Draco's looks alone were good enough to make him stand above anyone of those successful male f.u.c.kboys she had ever seen.
This was not even adding in the effect of the Dark Angel Inheritance, which had even made powerhouses like Diana and Myrine - who were bronze-skinned, amazonian-like beauties from the War Maniac Pavilion - develop a great interest in him.
As such, the hapless young maid was like a servant girl in love with the handsome prince… which wasn't too far off actually.
Draco turned to her and asked gently. "Tell me what Richmond did to you. Start from the moment he had arrived, not just from what he did after I returned."
Draco always channeled his Dark Angel Inheritance's devilish seduction without meaning to, so the young maid felt her legs shake as she struggled to withstand the effects of his bloodline.
Zaine's eyes flashed when she saw this. Draco was currently displaying the power of an Incubus, but one so powerful that any female he targeted would fall easily.
Zaine almost went crazy when she realized that her offspring with Draco would have these kinds of abilities.
"He… makes us do… strange things…" The young maid answered.
Draco's brows furrowed. "What kind of things?"
"Well, he makes us… hop around like frogs… or walk like crabs… all the while, he points at us and laughs wickedly." She clarified, her shame clearing her mind of Draco's seduction.
All the other maids either blushed or hid their faces. This was their life's greatest shame!!
Draco, Riveting Night, Hikari and Zaine were simply dumbfounded by this. They had thought Richmond had been s.e.x.u.a.lly harassing or even molesting them, but he was just making them play the fool for amus.e.m.e.nt?
Richmond fell to his knees and burst into tears. "Are you happy?! Now you know my secret, and have disgraced me in public! All I ever wanted to do was alleviate some stress harmlessly, all the while helping my beloved Apprentice reach the pinnacle!"
His body shook as he wailed loudly, making everyone feel awkward. What was worse, Richmond wasn't even done.
"Yet what do I get?! A rebellious Apprentice who insults his master, calling him 'old freak' and 'dog-like old man'…what did I do to deserve this? Has there ever been a time I've been rude or disrespectful to you?!"
Draco's aura weakened greatly and he grimaced. Even Hikari, Zaine and Riveting Night lowered their heads because they felt that Draco's fault was their own.
Even the maids felt strange, looking away furtively.
It was true, given the power of the old man and his position as their Lord's master, that there would have been nothing wrong if he had done worse things to them, who were but lowly maids.
Yet what he did to them was at the level of a naughty child playing some pranks on his peers.
Draco took a deep breath and realized that despite whether Richmond was right or not to 'relieve stress' by disgracing his maids, he hadn't personally treated Draco badly ever since they met.
He had always been cordial and amiable, even protecting Draco from the other Rank 7 powers when he was Rank 0. One shouldn't forget, the Draco back then wasn't half as outstanding as he was now.
He had only killed Ratchet due to lucky timing, gaining rewards that were far above his league. If Richmond hadn't protected him, that Hidden Power who had been the first to arrive after Draco's opening of the Legendary Treasure Chest would have made Draco cough it up.
(Author's Note: Back during Chapter 9, after that Fleetfoot guy was cooked to death by the Dragon Soul. Draco doesn't know this of course. I'm just giving a specific example.)
At that time, Richmond stood to gain nothing from protecting him. In fact, it would have been the wiser choice to coerce Draco into handing over whatever it was he gained.
Yet he chose to protect his herald, even though it was on a whim. The fact that it was on a whim was far better than if Richmond planned to.
This was because doing it on a whim meant his action came without any strings attached, and most importantly, without ulterior motives. Of course, Richmond had greatly benefited down the line, but he was also reciprocating now by teaching Draco subjective magic.
Richmond might consider this an equivalent exchange, but to Draco, who was a reincarnator with endless techniques and combat skills, the principles Richmond taught him could be applied to various other areas. This was way more than he could ever wish for.
Yet, he had been verbally abusing the old mage… Draco did feel a bit ashamed at this point. He took a deep breath and bowed.
"I'm sorry for being rude… Master. I was simply incensed at the thought of my maids being abused; hence I spoke out of turn."
Draco humbled himself and apologized. This was something that he hardly ever did. He was genial and polite to most people, like his maids or his slaves... but not because he was a good guy.
It was part of his personal cultivation of the Dao of Arrogance.
Being polite and gentle was a form of arrogance too!
However, he had actually bowed and apologized to someone… this was certainly a first from this fellow in this timeline.
Richmond's eyes glinted with sneakiness through his fake tears, which had been spawned through clever manipulation of the elements in ways Draco would never comprehend.
"Sigh… it's okay. All I ask is for you to take my lessons seriously and to continue showing your excellence to the world."
Richmond wiped off his 'tears' and stood up, looking at Draco gently. He was like an endlessly benevolent grandfather who deeply cared for his grandson who had wronged him, but saw through the error of his ways.
Even the maids were touched by this scene. They completely forgot the shame they had gone through, and their impression of Richmond became better.
Richmond's eyes flashed. He was laughing gleefully, lamenting that his acting was truly too good. Now, he had cleaned his slate with the maids and could begin anew!
Besides, he was serious when he said that Draco should continue showing his excellence. A few days ago, when Draco had become a Master Cook, he had received another reward.
｢Congratulations to Mage God Richmond for having a herald achieve a world-class honor! Mage God Richmond has been granted an Oceanwave Pearl!｣
Like the Icarus Heart, it would allow him to achieve perfect mastery over an element, in this case, water. That was why Richmond has used the fire element to make a show for Draco the first time, and later the water shield after Draco performed his feat.
Of course, Richmond had already been able to use the Knowledge of the Elements freely, but it wasn't the same thing. There would be some complications and resistance from the elements, but after using these two items, everything he did contained a hint of those two elements.
For a mage, it was an immeasurable boon. It meant that should he ever meet the Fire God Flashflame, or the Sea God Poseidon, he could fight with them equally and even slightly damage them using their own elements.
Draco nodded and left the courtyard with his posse of beauties. Richmond though, turned to the maids and sighed lightly.
"I must also apologize for mistreating you all. Allow me to make up for my past transgression. I hope you all like this gift."
He channeled a small amount of Divine Energy and cast a wide area beautification spell.
All the maids had been carefully selected before they were allowed to work in the Rank 7 Castle. They had already been quite good looking, even by general standards.
But as soon as Richmond was done with his spell, the various maids transformed. Each one obtained the optimal body proportions; their skin becoming unblemished and their general s.e.x appeal rising greatly.
They now looked like a gaggle of models in a high-end agency.
They were shocked and ecstatic by Richmond's blessing. Each one had hoped to be able to catch their Lord's eye, not necessarily for material purposes, but because Draco was just really… enticing.
Now, Richmond had gifted them with the basic tools to achieve their desires. The rest would rely on their own efforts.
As such, the maids happily thanked Richmond and praised his name to the high heavens. They completely forgot how angry and resentful they had been at him for making them do such nonsensical things.
Ah, what even was the big deal? Did we die? Did we get hurt? Why were we even so angry?
This was what ran through their heads as they dispersed, leaving Richmond, who was smiling craftily. This old mage had achieved the first phase of his goal, and was moving onto the second one.
............…
Meanwhile, the core members of Umbra were running a survival dungeon called the Lost Cave, which was for all levels within Rank 1. The level of monsters would be scaled to the average of the party, with the highest member's level taking precedence.
Rina was out to gather experience to level up her growth items and subsequently herself, while Sublime Notion was busy managing the administration of Vita City State. Cobra was handling the orientation of new members, while Boyd and Uno were grilling them through harsh training.
As such, out of the Five Generals, only Kiran was present. In his group were Slim Fatty, Fitter Cleric, Silent Walker, Dreary Traveler, Rambunctious Buttlover, Warm Spring, Akainu, Sanji, Jada, Jade, and Loving Aunt.
The 12 fighters were currently in the midst of the third round of survival mode, where they were fighting against waves of Kobolds.
The speedy reptilian dogs were around the height of a man's chest. They were also crafty enough to wield self-made crude swords, bows, shields, and daggers, while their armor amounted to worn leather.
However, they were quite a headache to deal with because of their cunningness and speed. Their scaly bodies also gave them a good natural defense that partially resisted slashing attacks.
Kiran, as one of the Five Generals, was naturally the leader of this party since he outranked them all. The reticent monk was thick in the fray, punching, kicking and moving effortlessly through the enemies.
It was like watching those old martial arts movies with special effects. The laws of physics seem to have decided to take an extended break whenever Kiran moved his body.
How else could it be explained that he could double jump, perform an endless amount of flip kicks, punch more than once within a second, and other 'illogical' feats?
With his Daoist monk robes, Kiran really did look like the incarnation of the western depiction of an oriental martial artist.
His ability to weave through the battlefield was also greatly enhanced by his bloodline, which he had hardly used before. He had to concentrate all he had for the opportunity to revive his mother after all.
But now that he had, he was one with it, and by extension, his mother. Juno had been observing her amazing son and marveled at his growth.
As such, she had been guiding him on how to use his bloodline as he fought ever since he had revived her. For some strange reason, her soul was present in Boundless too, though he could not bring it out as he could in the real world.
As Kiran fought, a weird light-brown energy spawned around him, which was similar to the aura Draco and Riveting Night produced, only much weaker.
This was one of the two Inheritances of the Gautama Buddha Lineage, the Noble Energy Inheritance. This Inheritance allowed lineage members to generate a special form of energy called Noble Energy, which could be used in a mixture of ways.
One could use it to strengthen the body, impart it to strengthen a child, purify sickness, repel evil spirits, cleanse the mind and more. The limits of Noble Energy had yet to be discovered, as the majority of the Buddha Lineage members were too weak in their bloodline to display much.
Kiran though, had a surprisingly good grasp over this Inheritance. Of course, because he was a mixed breed, he could not use the second inheritance like Juno could despite his high bloodline purity, but that wasn't an issue.
After all, he had access to the Lineage of his father, but he had no knowledge or training on how to use it and neither did Juno. He was stuck in a similar situation to Draco, which was quite problematic.
Kiran used his Noble Energy to enhance his speed, his strength, and his reflexes. The drain it put on his bloodline was heavy, but Juno had taught him how to lower the consumption in real-time.
Warm Spring was handling the healing for the group. With her Holy Light Stave, she was able to keep the 11 members of the party hale and hearty.
If she could hold out against Void Killers with more than 20 fighters, she could certainly handle these Private and Specialist Rank monsters that were far below humans on the State of Being rankings.
Dreary Traveler kept spawning undead from the corpses of the slain monsters, using the least amount of mana, resulting in the weakest variety of skeleton soldiers. They were able to hold down the kobolds with ease.
The undead would kill some of the endlessly spawning monsters and increase their ranks, which strained Dreary Traveler's mental control and his mana. When he reached a staggering number of undead, he finally stopped summoning more.
He allowed his undead to fight, their numbers naturally reducing as they killed more and more monsters. When their number reached 100, his mana had regenerated to full and his eyes flashed.
He began casting one of the Uncommon skills of the Necromancer class, which was Skeleton Knight evolution. The ambient Worldly Energy of the area was pulled into the remaining 100 undead who evolved into Skeleton Knights with full armor and good quality weapons.
They no longer shambled about like idiots, using trash-tier weapons to fight like fools. Instead, they emulated the basic skills of a trained soldier, and had Common weapons and armor.
It was the equivalent of summoning 100 semi-pro players, which was an amazing feat for anyone. However, Dreary Traveler was a Necromancer, which was a hidden class.
Hidden classes were a whole different ball game from normal classes. Their skills and their growth would inevitably make them stand out, which was why one needed to have a hidden class to qualify to join Umbra's core members.
These 100 Skeleton Knights instantly changed the fight across the many rounds that came, even when faced with bosses.
Warm Spring's healing became more adept, Kiran's Noble Energy became more refined and the enemies were culled quickly. As for Rambunctious Buttlover and the rest, their contribution also wasn't small.
Rambunctious didn't use his Lyrical lines skill, but rather used a new Uncommon skill called Talkative. As he spoke words which registered as gibberish to all players, the monsters within 30 meters of him though, began to lose health over time.
How could Rambunctious Buttlover be called a bard if he couldn't even talk his enemies to death?!