The changes of her skill became very clear to her the next couple of days. Unlike before, where she could only feel it vaguely and incomprehensibly, the now upgraded [Veritas] skill. The main change was whenever she talked, she could clearly feel whether or not it was a truth or a lie. In fact, it didn't even matter whether or not it was her talking.
If she thought about it, she only had vague feelings, but should she ever speak of it out loud, she could very distinctly tell whether it was a truth, a lie, or a partial truth. The skill was useful. Too useful, in fact. Had she been a normal person, she would have been scared, but the people around her had proven themselves.
All Nine could hear was the ring of truth from them, and it made her feel indescribable things. She couldn't help but become more affectionate to her Nox for a whole week whenever he spoke words of love to her. Though she already knew the other was telling the truth, the new skill made her feel rather emotional because of how strongly it reacted whenever Nox told her 'I love you'.
She couldn't quite wipe the smile off her face when she thought about it.
"Ah, younger brother must be thinking about Nocturne again," Deltan complained to his friends, rolling his eyes.
The other four were about to nod when Nine nailed him in the head with a Tier One ice spell with unfailing accuracy even though she wasn't looking at him, causing them to abandon the motion straight away.
Meanwhile, Deltan, who was now cold and shivering, felt like slapping himself. He always forgot how good his brother's hearing was. Next time, he had to use a voice transmission instead…
On cue, Nine sent another ice spell towards him, causing him to dodge hastily.
"What was that for!" Deltan protested.
Nine raised a brow. "I don't know. But I had a feeling you were thinking about something I didn't like."
The Eldest Prince felt like crying. So, he couldn't even think about it now?!
Brooke snorted. "Heh. Serves you right!"
Deltan growled, wrestling the other to the ground. "Shut up! Like you weren't thinking about it too!"
"I wasn't!" Brooke deflected hastily, not wanting the wrath of his Teacher to descend on his head.
"You were too! I saw you smirking!"
"No, I wasn't!"
Finding them noisy, Nine sent a volley of harmless but annoying Tier One spells at the two, creating a chorus of yelps.
Lucien coughed to hide his laughter, unlike Eden and Aciel who were laughing without restraint. Nine proved that Lucien made the right choice when she sent some of those spells their way as well but didn't touch Lucien.
[Sense Danger Lv. Up] pinged his System.
Lucien wordlessly dismissed the screen, not sure whether to laugh or cry. Was this also considered danger?
…
Outside Cosmos City's white walls, a sole Undying stood outside it, glancing up at the pristine walls. They were so white that they were practically glistening under the sun.
The Undying's name was Lloyd Valentine, Player name Valerius.
Valerius' eyes shone with great expectations as they entered the city, only to be stopped by the city guards.
"Halt!" one guard said, the other still stationary. "Please provide your identification!"
Valerius reflexively opened his inventory to pull out the identification needed, before wanting to slap himself. How could he have forgotten! Players weren't able to enter these big cities before someone had first ventured to one and revealed their existence.
Right now, the NPCs all thought that he was just another person from their world. As such, he didn't have the proper identification needed to get into Cosmos City! If he tried to enter now, they would think he was suspicious because he had no identification.
By now, the two guards were staring at him, alert and suspicious. Valerius knew that he had to quickly dispel their doubts.
"Ah, uh. I have no identification…" Valerius sheepishly trailed off.
The guards eyed him with doubt. They had clearly seen the other reach for something, but then he claims he's empty handed?
"Arrest him!"
Before he could react, Valerius was already pinned down to the ground. The unlucky Player choked back the curses that wanted to leave his mouth. Ugh, how could he have forgotten something so elementary in his haste!
This was back before Players were known throughout the game. NPCs weren't even aware of their existence yet! Although one could use an Adventurer's Guild identification, the main problem was that the Players couldn't get their hands on it! Mainly because the place they had spawned in was so rural that no one in their right minds would ever set up an Adventurer's Guild there!
Valerius gave up resisting against the guards. He was too low of a level to view the NPC's level, let alone escape. Wallowing, he missed the glances that the guards exchanged after seeing his actions.
Well, this was fine as well, right? Valerius cheered himself up. Even though he made a misstep here, he was still being brought into the city, and that was a step closer to finding a golden thigh he could hug onto. He came here looking for a specific person.
If he was just able to find them, he would be able to inspire some form of sympathy or lend him a helping hand, then he would be trusted and soar into the sky, unlike his past life.
This time, he would be successful in life and make money so he would be able to pay for his mother's hospital bills. Whilst hoisted in the guard's restricting hold, Valerius silently gripped his fist, a look of determination appearing on his face.
…
Nine, who had received the report almost instantly as Valerius was brought into the city, curled her lips. Ah, finally. This was the first Undying that had come to the city. Though she was a bit surprised at how quickly they came, she would still go down and take a look.
In fact, it was rather strange that he had made it all the way here so quickly. From what she had gathered, the rest of the Undyings were still in the early stages of the game. This one had come here rather quick even if he was a Beta.
The previous Betas hadn't made it this far, after all.
"Strange," Nine murmured. "What's so different about you?"
Nocturne pondered over the report as well. "Shall we go take a look?" he asked, sending away the guard.
"We shall," Nine said, holding her hand out to Nocturne. "But not now. Not without some necessary precautions first, and some time to observe him."
"In that case, shall we have a spar?" Nocturne said, a bit too eagerly. After all, their spars did tend to get them quite… heated.
Nine smirked at her legally wedded wife. "Is it a spar you want? Or something else?" she teased, her voice low and sultry.
Nocturne flushed red. "Mm," he said at last, his eyes going half-lidded.
Nine laughed. "Alright, then."