As Eisen was looking at the group of monsters seemingly getting along great with his tamed creatures as well as the Fey-Kin Sky, a notification popped up in front of his face.
[New Message]
[Jyuuk] Hey Eisen, I'm not in the wastelands yet, no, but I'm passing by near Ornier right now. It may take an hour or two, but I can be there if you need me to. Where should we meet?
Eisen smiled as he read through this message. Seems like he just perfectly managed to message Jyuuk while he was moving near Ornier, so all would hopefully work out as he planned as well.
So, Eisen messaged the Monkey-Beastperson back while grinning widely.
[Eisen] What a coincidence! I will tell you the exact location later, but it will be outside of the town itself. I will explain the situation later as well. See you then.
Eisen waved the window in front of him away and looked forward at the group standing in front of him. "Alright, do any of you know if there's a secret tunnel in here, maybe? I doubt they would be able to just smuggle you in here through the regular gate." After Eisen asked this, the Half-Dragon Kiron spoke up immediately.
"Yes, I remember it quite well. There should be a wall that can be opened up somewhere in this room. I shall help you look for it." Kiron said, but Eisen simply shook his head.
"That's fine. Caria, can you look for it?" Eisen asked, and the small Myconid nodded before numerous plants, whether they were weeds, flowers or just roots, began growing everywhere in the room, until one of the walls began to move and slid to the side, pushed open by those plants.
"See? It's that easy." The old man bragged while placing his palm on the top of Caria's head before looking toward the hole that was now opened up. "Everyone, follow me. We're leaving town. A friend of mine will come meet us soon, so we only need to wait for him. He can be trusted, don't worry." Eisen assured all of the monsters before they quickly rushed out toward the tunnel seemingly leading out of town, while Eisen was walking in the front to make sure that they really were making their way toward the outside.
After walking for about half an hour, they finally reached the end of the tunnel, which seemed to be basically just a hidden cave entrance. It really was quite out of the way, so it was unlikely for anything or anyone to find their way their coincidentally, but it was still in the realm of possibilities.
Either way, for now, Eisen would just need to wait for a while. Eisen told Jyuuk the rough position when comparing where they were to the town, and then chose to sit down somewhere where Eisen could start experimenting a bit. After all, he had quite some freetime until Jyuuk got there. As such, Eisen took out the eight soul stones that he got from slaying the High-Grade products from the Monster Shop. When Eisen looked a little bit closer at the small orbs, it looked like something was shifting inside of them.
Judging just from the name, it seemed like this literally contained a monster's soul, but Eisen wasn't really sure. "Wait, if it's that, then could I…?" Eisen muttered to himself quietly as he grabbed the first soul stone he got together with that monster's Mana Crystal. "I definitely have to try that out…" Eisen muttered out quietly, internally beating himself up for not bringing his alchemy gear, even though that would be a slight bit insane.
"Just gotta do that later, then…" He muttered out while starting to play around with the mana crystal in his hand, using transmutation in whatever way possible so that he could rank up his Alchemy skill sometime soon to allow him to do some more new things.
While the monsters were all mostly just sitting or laying down near Eisen, basking in the sun and breathing in the fresh air, two people came up to Eisen. Kiron and Sky.
"Ah, Sky, let me take a look at your face!" Eisen exclaimed, and surprised, Sky quietly nodded while the old man kneeled down in front of him, grabbing his self-filling water cup that he always carried with him as well as a piece of cloth so that he could clean Sky's face up a bit.
And after his face was clean, Eisen also chose to quickly clean the dirt out of Sky's hair, completely revealing his blue hair. "Well then! It should be a lot easier to smile without all that dirt clogging your face up, so how about you test it out a bit?" Eisen asked with a cheeky wink, and Sky immediately began to smile softly in response.
"Th-Thanks… Erm, but I have to ask… Why did you help me? You seemed super angry when you saw me, so I was kind of scared…" Sky exclaimed, and Eisen chuckled softly while nodding.
"Yeah, I get what you mean. I was definitely angry, but not with you. With Merc, the man who owns that shop. A friend and companion of mine is actually just like you, a Fey-Kin with a pixie parent. And she's around the same age as you as well. What are you, early to mid twenties?" Eisen asked, and Sky's eyes immediately shot open.
"How'd you know that?! Everyone usually just thinks I'm some little kid… But that other Fey-kin… Erm, what's their name?" With hope in his eyes, Sky leaned forward and stared at Eisen's face. As he was scratching his beard, Eisen smiled and told him.
"Her name is Bree. She's a real bundle of energy most of the time." The old man explained, while Sky simply stared forward with a blank face, tears welling up in the corner of his eyes.
"B-Bree…? Finally… I've been looking for her ever since my mother died… She… She's my sister!" The boy exclaimed, and immediately Eisen shot up while looking down onto him. "She's your sister? Really? I'll immediately introduce you to her later! Can you be patient for a few more hours?" Eisen asked, and slowly, Sky nodded.
"I've waited for years, so what are a few hours?" He chuckled as he was wiping away the tears in his face, and Eisen chuckled while Caria and Melissa looked at him confused.
While Eisen was looking over at his Queen Bee and thinking about what to do about those two Bees that were killed, Kiron looked at Eisen with a smile.
"Sir, simply seeing how you treat monsters or half-monsters such as us and even wore a bitter expression when slaying those that were imprisoned, I can see that you are a person with a pure heart. You are truly what one should aspire to be like." Kiron exclaimed, and Eisen looked at him with a wry smile.
"Well, thank you, Kiron. But you don't need to say things like that. But let's get to you, alright? You're a Half-God-Dragon. How were you captured?" Eisen asked, leaving Kiron to form an angry look on his face.
"It has been those of the faction of evil that have betrayed my trust and as such attempted to steal my essence of existence, often called 'Experience' in this realm. However, their ritual was still incomplete, and as such I was able to keep my memories, even though my strength decreased. I am still a creature of Rank 9, but my strength equaled that of a Rank 0 hatchling. Through combat, I have been able to increase my strength up to my current strength, equaling that of a high Rank 3. I do not gain levels, but step by step, my strength increases instead." Kiron explained while Eisen was left confused.
Was Kiron something like a test subject? But if they were able to use a Rank 9 creature as a test subject, how strong were those that Peaked supposed to be? Kiron was obviously talking about the evil, chromatic dragons, that were also behind Eisen's loss of experience.
Seeing that Eisen was deep in thought, Kiron continued to speak. "As they were not able to see what I am, however, the people that caught me thought me to be a diseased or injured creature of a high rank, and as such chose to sell me as such." The Half-Dragon explained quickly, before immediately continuing. "The issue with my father, however, is that I myself have only met him once during my coming-of-age ceremony on the day my age reached 100 years. Only then did I find out who and what I am, and I have been caught up in conceit ever since. But from the moment that my strength has been robbed, such conceit has vanished. I am no longer strong enough to allow myself such behavior."
"If your father is a deity, can't you try and somehow contact him? Maybe ask him to reverse what was done to you?" Eisen asked, and in response to that question, Kiron clenched his fist, burrowing his own claws in his palm.
"It would be pure disgrace to rely on my father for such a thing, like I have been for the past five decades. I need to regain my strength on my own, or else just that strength will not matter. For that reason, I have a question for you that will strongly decide my path of action from this moment on." Kiron said with a clear and determined voice as he kneeled down in front of Eisen, leaving the old man utterly confused.
"I think we have met before. I could not remember it in that dark place, but now I do. You are Eisen, Half of the dwarves and half of the giants, an absolute master of all crafts that even the gods can not wish to rival, and the very first person, nay, living creature, that ever reached the peak of existence, is that not so?"
Surprised at such a sudden question, not only Eisen, but also Sky jumped in surprise, the latter staring at Eisen in utter confusion.
With a soft grin, Eisen nodded while he was scratching his beard. "Yes, that is me. However, I'm not such an existence, at the very least not anymore. The same thing that happened to you, happened to me, just that my ritual was complete. I lost my memories, my skills, and my levels, leaving me basically at zero. I am not much stronger than you, although my level rose considerably today, because I killed all those high ranked monsters. From 79, my level went up all the way to 97. And there is one more thing you need to know before making any choice regarding me. That man that owned that shop, Merc, is an Omega. That is an existence created out of the experience collected from the five that peaked." Eisen explained, expecting both Sky and Kiron to freak out, but it was quite different.
Both of them were just staring at him in pure awe, and Eisen ended up laughing in response to that. "Don't look at me like that, please. I'm a regular person, like the two of you. So treat me like it." Eisen said, and quite quickly, Sky accepted with quick nods even though he was still staring at Eisen in confusion.
However, Kiron reacted quite differently.
"I see, then I have made up my mind. I would offer myself to be one of those you have tamed, but I do not have that ability. However, there is something similar I can do that comes from my mother's side of me." Kiron exclaimed before quite literally bowing down to Eisen, basically pressing his forehead onto the floor.
"Eisen, I hereby fully pledge myself to be yours up until the day that I die by the blades of your enemies. I am yours to be used, both your shield and your sword, and I will set your life above mine with every breath that I take. I swear to be your loyal Knight until I am no more."
[Kiron has offered himself to be your Knight. Do you accept his pledge?]
