Sen did not have much reaction except that this affirmed his thoughts that many fantasy creatures inhabited this world including this Vallas that he had never heard of before. Risa, however, was surprised. Vallas are very dangerous. Much so that even humans are hesitant to approach them.
The reason for that is simple, Vallas do not have one form, they can take either the form of light, the form of a human, or the form of a fox. With each form comes incredible strength. But that is also not why they are feared. The Vallas have a very powerful spell unique only to their race that makes them unable to be perceived by normal eyes. Only certain beast-men or human with extremely high internal energy, or legendary creatures like dragons and the like are able to perceive them.
After Risa informed Sen of what she knows about the Vallas, he was suddenly very interested in meeting them. Of course, with his current strength, he was not sure of that would be a good idea at the moment. "Where can one find these Vallas?" he asked.
"No one knows, they say that Vallas know ways around the continent that no one can ever find, while others say they live in the northern mountains beside the ice trolls. There's really no constant and reliable piece of information. But maybe humans can know something we don't. After all, our information about the outside world is very much limited."
"Alright, maybe we'll go to a library once we're at that city," he said it naturally as if his goal was already in the hand. "Continue, Leonas"
Leonas nodded, "anyway when she came to the tribe at the time, I wasn't even born at the time. But my father knew all about her. After all, he was the one who saved her."
"At the time he was just a young drow preparing to become the next chief of the tribe. Everything was going smoothly and peacefully, but one day we were hit by a terrible drought. The earth dried, the weather grew hot day by day and even the animals moved on to a better place, taking away our last source of food.
"That's when my father who was scouting the area stumbled upon the injured fox. He took it home, fed it even though the food was extremely scarce. He took a liking to the fox and the fox also seemed to have no intention of leaving. He named her snow after her snow-white fur.
"The previous chief died from dehydration and my father took up his mantle. But he was but one drow and could not contest against nature. He proposed leaving for another place, but the drows at the time had no idea of the outside world behind the fence of their village.
"The fox seemed to sense his despair and one night, right in front of his eyes, she transformed into a beautiful woman. Heavenly, as my father described her. She thanked him for nursing her back to health after she was injured by enemies. As a thank you, she told my father about that place, a place left behind by some king who once disappeared and left his homeland. She painted him this beautiful picture of this place which my father wholeheartedly believed. She said her name was Melaidhrin Snowborn.
"My father had her meet the village elder and they managed to persuade them. The next week, the entire village packed their luggage and started the journey…" Leonas stopped and Sen guessed that this was the turning point of the story, "halfway to that land, that's where the accident happened. When my father was patrolling the perimeter at night with Melaidhrin, her enemy suddenly appeared in front of them. My father remembered that night very clearly. He said that Melaidhrin's powers were inferior to her enemy's. She had suffered a very big injury while protecting him. In the end, she was captured and taken away, but not before she gave my father a device she called the Deus Sistema…"
Deus Sistema!
Sen was startled, now it finally began piecing together. What Cassil wanted from this village was the Deus Sistema. Sen smirked to himself. He searched through his memories before he found what he needed.
The Deus Sistema was an item he acquired when he finished the goblin king inheritance. It was bound to the player and occupied one slot of his equipment slots. The worst thing was that he could not take it off no matter what. He had regretted wearing such a useless item. Even till the end of the Last Realm he still couldn't figure out its use. Its flavor text only stated: 'one of three!' So he had searched the entire realm for two other pieces looking like the Deus Sistema but hadn't managed to find them. It turns out, they weren't in the last realm at all. One was with Cassil, the other with him, and the third, he strongly hoped it was within this village. He wanted to ask but first, let Leonas finish the story.
"She said that the device was able to lead him to that place, but she herself didn't know how to use it and that it was only engraved in her bloodline memories. She was able to lead them there because she was born in that place and could always find her way there like a homing pigeon…I don��t remember what happened later, but when my father returned to the camp after that person took Melaidhrin away, he found out that the camp was attacked, he joined the fight." Leonas took a deep breath.
"But they were all captured, including him. They managed to escape later on, but most of the warriors died and they were left only with children and some young talentless warriors. My father tried to explain but everyone blamed Melaidhrin for being vicious and tricking them so no one believed him. What made matters worse was that my father was never able to use the Deus Sistema."
Risa was immersed in the tragic story while Sen decided that his first step would be finding Cassil and taking his Deus Sistema.
Leonas smiled bitterly to himself, "now my father is gone and his dream of seeing that land would never come true. Hmm! And this Deus Sistema…" he fished out a metal object shaped like a curved tear, "is the root of it all" he shook his head and aimed it at the open window but before it could fly away, Sen stretched his arms and caught it.
"Fiouf! Hey, would you take responsibility if something happened to my precious?" Sen jokingly said while stroking the object?
"Your…precious?" Leonas was surprised at Sen's actions, he had just told him it was useless yet he stroked it lovingly. Risa had the same thought so they just stared at Sen while he fished out an item the exact same as the Deus Sistema from nowhere.
"This…"
Sen didn't answer, he tinkered with the two objects for a bit before a clicking sound was heard and the two tear-shaped metals stuck together.
Leonas gasped, "You mean… this thing is real? "His voice shook.
"Yes!" Sen answered while grinning, "The object your father had was only one part of three, meaning it probably will not work unless all tree parts were together."
"Then the land Miss Melaidhrin spoke of is…real?" Risa asked with expectant eyes.
"Maybe, I don't know, that is the first time I've heard about it. This item has been sitting with me for a long time and not until saw Leonas's Deus Sistema did I realize the connection" that was the most logical excuse he could come up with at the moment, but the two believed him in a heartbeat.
"Then with the third Piece, we'll be able to find that place?"
"Do you have it?"
Sen shook his head, "I don't, but I saw it on Cassil's body. If my guess is correct, then the reason Cassil came here was for this very piece. He somehow knew about its significance and tracked it to this place. Too bad he slipped away before I can catch him."
The Zacharias mansion,
An elegant middle-aged woman with fiery red hair stood behind the delicate mahogany desk. The morning sun rays penetrating the room from the ceiling long windows behind her shined and on her back. Her auburn eyes pierced through the paper and looked like as if the next moment it would set on fire, yet, her face was calm and collected. But it was the dangerous calm that people acquainted with her fear and dread her. She was the marchioness, Elaila Zacharias,
"Your ladyship" a knock was heard behind the door as an old man wearing butler clothes entered carrying a silver plate with a letter on it. He walked to her side and reached for the letter opener, placed it together with the letter in front of her.
"Cassil came back last night my lady"
"Oho?" she smiled bewitchingly, "I wonder whether he found the Sistema?"
The butler seemed to hesitate, "my lady, his left arm was cut off. His left ear as well"
"So it's true then…the Sistema never falls into the hands of anyone. There is always a danger wherever a Sistema is"
"My lady, pardon my words, but, wouldn't it have been better to send one of the hidden guards? Whatever danger it was, maybe they would've successfully completed the mission. Instead of tricking that low-level court mage into thinking the Sistema was his family's all along"
The red-haired woman chuckled lightly, her voice sounding like bell chimes, clear and smooth, "because, little Jonas, too many people are watching my every move, waiting for me to slip up. The hidden guards are my most secret weapon, I can't just parade them around. Besides, the danger the Sistema brings whenever I got news of it is not to be taken lightly. Little Cassil made the perfect cannon fodder to test the situation."
Elaila looked at her butler, "besides, it's been so long since you used your memory writing magic. Cassil made the perfect exercise for you"
"Your ladyship sure is wiser than this old man" the butler made a deep bow. "But my lady, what if Cassil had lost the Sistema?"
"I put a special spell on it, if it had ever left Cassil's possession, it would be returned to me," she said as she flashed the tear-shaped object from nowhere.
A paper crane suddenly bumped on the window like a bird hitting a glass wall and still trying to get through. Jonas let it in and it nestled on the man's shoulder, putting its beak to his ears. Whatever he heard was heard by only him and his expression darkened.
"My lady!" he urgently said.
"What is it?" the paper crane was a means of transmitting messages. Whatever was it, it must be urgent. Jonas has been with her for years and knew how to conduct himself. If his face became dark like that then it must've been something really important.
"Cassil took Princess Jenna with him yesterday"
"What?!" for the first time, her look changed from aloofness to anger. "What happened?"
"She…she did not come back with him my lady. He came alone, in fact, not a single guard came back with him"
"Bring me Cassil" the cold look on her eyes made the butler Jonas shiver. And he understood totally why.
Princess Jenna was traveling across the kingdom to gain experience. Years ago, Cassil was her first teacher. Normally a princess like her wouldn't accept a low-level mage as a teacher, nor will the royal family, but surprisingly, Jenna have a talent for spatial magic and fire magic. Spatiomancers being a rare type of mages, the royal family agreed to let Cassil teach her. So when she came back this time to gain experience, she met with Cassil again. Originally, Elaila did not feel easy carrying out her plans for the Sistema with Princess Jenna, a variable, around, but the timing was not in her jurisdiction to control. She never knows when she could get another hint of the other Sistema.
"Oh, and get rid of the hidden guard who was supposed to be looking after the princess" a murderous chill passed her eyes.
"Yes, my lady" Jonas obliged and left the room.
----Author's note:
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