Eluard arrived in front of the girl who slumped inside the broken metal cage as her hand reached out to him. It felt like she was asking to take her with him.
[ Name: Olivia Winterice ]
[ Age: 15 years old ]
[ Race: Human ]
[ Status: Princess of the Royal Family, Separated, Poisoned (Mild) ]
[ Affiliation: Norva Assili, Royal Family ]
[ Magic Power: Apprentice Mage (Quarter Ring) ]
[ Magic Root: Glacial Thunder Magic Root (Legendary) ]
[ Magic Aptitude: 9.7/10 (Apprentice Mage) ]
[ Magic Affinity: Lightning, Ice, Water ]
Eluard's eyes twitched after reading the summary of Olivia's attributes, 'Isn't she a tad bit too strong?'. He wasn't complaining out of jealousy, but because of the shock factor that her affinity and magic power presented.
Furthermore, he saw that she was poisoned, "No wonder her breathing is low and weak. The poachers must have captured her, and her being poisoned was to prevent her from fleeing.", he muttered under his breath.
[ Glacial Thunder Magic Root (Legendary) ]
[ Additional Effect: Polarized Glacial-Thunder Magical Interference ]
[ Ice magic spells casted have a random lightning elemental effect added. Lightning magic spells casted also have a random ice elemental effect added ]
[ Additional Effect: All lightning magic spells have increased effectiveness by 200% ]
[ Additional Effect: All ice/water magic spells have increased effectiveness by 350% ]
Olivia's magic root was leagues ahead of Lucan and Emi. Even if they were all at the legendary rarity, Olivia's offensive power could sweep over the others of the same level.
Maybe even those who were a tier higher might not be her match at all.
On the other hand, Olivia was grateful that this robed man had come over to kill her captors that ambushed her a few days ago. Now, a chance presented itself for her to escape from the clutches of the Norva Assili empire, particularly from her family and the despicable people over there.
"Senior… save me…", she softly spoke before losing consciousness.
Save her? Save her from what, who, and why?
Eluard was confused. He did want Olivia to be recruited, but he needed to know the specifics as to what was currently happening first. Jumping onto a trail of problems without proper information would end up badly for him.
Emi and the rest went over, disturbing his thoughts. When Eluard faced them, they slightly backed away as his magical deterrence pressured them.
Gathering her courage, Akane stepped ahead and bowed to him, "Senior, thank you for helping us. We are grateful and are indebted to you."
Eluard waved his hands, "It's nothing particularly extraordinary. Does anyone know how did this woman end up here?"
Many of them shook their heads, showing their lack of understanding of Olivia's situation. That was when another demi-human approached him and narrated how Olivia came upon their caravan.
He was cowering in fear because of Eluard's pressure but he managed to tell his story, "We-we saw her being dragged to the caravan a-a week ago. She had other people with her but most of them were killed."
Eluard now understood a part of what happened, "Did someone from her group come over to that bald man and conversed with him briefly?"
"Ye-yes. Se-senior, how did you know?", the demi-human was shocked. Was this senior watching them all along or was it the senior's omniscience that gave him the answer?
In Eluard's mind, it was far too obvious after recalling Olivia's identity.
Princess of the Royal Family.
Norva Assili, the confederation of northern tribesmen on the Northern Glacial continent.
Then, this woman ended up in the volcanic grassy plain, south of her origin.
'She must've run away from home because she was sick of the royalty and other noble stuff. Then, one of those in power used this incident to deal with her and the standing of the royal family.', Eluard thought.
Olivia wouldn't go here in the first place if she didn't have something in mind. And that something in her mind was to stay away from the power struggle back at her home.
As expected of royal descendants, their rebellious stage was far more intense than those who came from the lower ranks of life. The latter wanted to rise and prove their power to the world like the fools they were, while people like Olivia wanted to step down and have a break about such nonsense.
The mask's slithered eyes glowed in a golden hue as Eluard faintly understood what happened to Olivia, "I see. Emi, have you decided?", he turned to the little girl and Akane.
Emi tightened her grip on Akane's hand, hoping that her big sister would approve of her enrolling in the academy. Akane noticed this and couldn't help but let out a sigh, "Senior, truth be told, I am happy that you have chosen my little sister as your student. I-I would just like to request something of you."
Eluard gazed at her. Akane, noticing his piercing gaze, immediately kowtowed to him.
"Pl-please take care of my little sister. She's a bit too naïve and if she causes trouble to you, I hope you wouldn't take it to heart."
Eluard let out a hum, showing his approval to Akane's request, "If you have nothing else, I will be taking Emi and this girl now."
The crowd didn't object. Akane had already given her approval about Emi and nobody knew who Olivia was. Moreover, this senior was powerful and didn't harbor any malicious intentions.
He was suited to taking care of an unwell girl.
Akane stood up and backed away, urging Emi to go over the senior's side.
Three teleportation magic circles appeared below the three figures, widening the eyes of the crowd again.
"Te-teleportation!"
"He should be a magus, no, an archmage!"
They didn't see Eluard move his hands or incantate before the teleportation magic circles appeared. Such skill was comparable to powerful personalities at the top of the League of Wizardry.
"Big sister! I will be seeing you again! At that time, I will be stronger and I will protect everyone here from the human poachers!", Emi bade her farewell to them.
Akane smiled at her little sister, wondering when did Emi had the ambition to become a powerful wizard in the future. She turned around and faced the crowd with a serious expression.
"Alright, everyone. Let's clean this mess up and return to the village as soon as possible."
…
Heavenly Magic Academy.
Whoosh!
Eluard, alongside Emi and the unconscious Olivia, returned to the lobby.
"Oh, I'm back now!", Emi jumped in excitement, "Senior, senior! I'm excited to go to school. I heard that…"
Her babbling made Eluard feel exhausted after a long day.
"Emi, you will have to stay at the guest room alongside this girl for now. Once she wakes up, I will come over and proceed to your enrollment process to this academy.", he waved his hands and bade goodbye.
"But senior, where are our rooms?", Emi asked before she found herself in front of a bed and an open window beside it.
Emi was startled and looked around.
The room was large, at least 30 square meters in area. There was a desk, a cabinet large enough to store many sorts of clothes, a comfort room, and a bathroom, it was a complete set.
She sat on the comfy bed and swung her furry legs, "Did senior teleport me to my room? Wow, so powerful! I wonder if I could do it in the future!", pondering over how powerful Eluard was.
…
"Achoo!", Eluard sneezed.
He took off the mask and a wave of fear and euphoria washed over him. The poor guy started huffing and puffing, holding his chest as if he was having a heart attack.
"Ah, damn it. I couldn't believe I killed someone today!"
He remembered how unperturbed he was when he squashed Master Brandon to death and skewered the bald man like a barbeque. Now that the mask of the magus wasn't on his body, all sorts of feelings assaulted him.
Eluard shook his head, wanting to remedy himself of such thoughts, "Ah, damn it, I should go to sleep. Maybe it'll be gone after I wake up tomorrow."
…
In the border between the volcanic grassy plain and Morning Star Empire.
It was already deep in the night and most of the people were now asleep, particularly those who were in the rural areas.
Flocks stood outside a farmhouse when they noticed a messed-up corpse walking in their direction with steady steps. Its nightmarish figure terrified the group of sheep and started screaming out loud.
"Damn it, what are these animals screaming out for?!", the herder who tended to these animals complained in annoyance. He was having a good night's sleep and his flock had the guts to disturb him.
He was about to burst out of the door when someone jumped in through the window and grabbed his neck, pushing him to the ground.
"Wh-wha-who are you?! Please don't kill me!", he was scared out of his wits thinking that a robber infiltrated his house. When he saw the disgusting flesh that protruded out of the figure's face, he screamed so loud that it reached the ears of his snoring neighbors.
"What the freak! Why is Pete screaming like a damn child when he dreams of nightmares?!"
Pete's voice vanished after a while, with only the flock crying out loud in the dark mysterious night. This confused his neighbors who then went out of their houses and knocked at his door.
"Pete, did something happen?!"
Something broke through the door from the inside and pounced on the leading man.
"Pete, what the-?!"
The man tried to push Pete away but he noticed how Pete looked different as he opened his mouth and bit the man's right shoulder.
"Huh?! No!"