The ceremony ended while I was a big topic in a bad way. Even now, as I walked to my carriage, I was looked down upon by many people on the way.
And as I was about to reach my ride, someone stopped me.
"Dustin would like to go take a ride with us."
It was Lady Leticia and my sister. Seeing them, I would really like to go, but the backlash from earlier is still sticking with me, so I need to decline. Even now I am struggling but am acting tough to get to the carriage, so sorry, Fina.
"Thank you, Lady Leticia, but I am not feeling well right now, and I need to get home early."
"Oh, I see. But if you do have time, please come visit us."
"Of course, thank you for coming; the same to you, Serafina; see you later."
After that, I got in the carriage, and Kiara said to me,
"Are you okay, your highness? I thought it would be better if Mistress Leticia and Princess Serafina would accompany you."
"I know, but I want to be alone now as I sort out what happened."
Yeah, like shit, this pain keeps on bugging me, and I feel like scratching my whole body.
"I see, I understand, but I do hope you talk to her majesty about what happened."
"That's my plan. I would also go and meet Serafina after taking a short rest."
"I'm glad, so please take your time."
"Sure, thank you, Kiara."
~~~~~~~~~
The ceremony ended, and I laid down on my bed.
"I didn't get any cheats from it, did I?"
As I complained, I felt a tap from my side, knowing who it was from the feeling of the tap. I answered.
"I'm fine, and I was just exhausted."
I said that and thought that it still hurt.
"I need to drink it, huh?"
Saying that I took the vial containing the goddess' tear from my pocket that I got when I got inside.
Although I am adapting to the pain and am regenerating right now, It is still not good to waste a precious opportunity for which I made a sacrifice.
Thinking so, I prepared as I drank the vial.
"Woah, it feels comfortable."
I thought it would be painful since having a power-up usually happens that way. But contrary to what I expected, I feel light and warm inside.
I expected a negative result since the effect during intake varied from person to person. So I was prepared to have the same experience as my great grandfather, who received a terrible taste in his mouth.
But it's a good thing that didn't happen, and it is a nice feeling.
Now let's start. I read that one can control the flow of the energy of the potion. So let's control it and create something from it.
I start to feel my body and make the energy flow inside my body by circulating it.
First, I repaired all of the damage I had received, and then I broadened the flow while keeping it the same size. Afterwards, I made nodes at special parts of the body and made them smaller and wider.
However, just because it is small and thin, that does not imply that it is weak. Because I also made it harder by compressing it to make it hard as steel but flexible as rubber.
As for how I made it possible, there are substances like this one, such as monster parts. I learned that string users like assassins use monster hair, skins, or other parts.
With that as a base of comparison, I created that image for my roots. And, believe it or not, it provides benefits, unlike those with large roots.
Big roots absorb more but have more impurities. But mine contains fewer impurities; what about absorption? Heck! Create more roots to have the same absorption intake.
It is like having multiple pipelines that absorb clean water while discarding unwanted ones.
Time passed by, and as I was improving every single part of my power nest, I went to the last part.
This would be the last thing I need to do, and it might be the hardest one at that.
The source is where the roots begin to grow.The root of all roots is what many call it. Although not wrong, I still think it is better to call it source.
Here, the source is like a container that gathers mana. My strategy here is to find a way to make the mana move in an orderly fashion once gathered, so that when I absorb different elements, they are evenly distributed.
I made it like this so that when creating a core, it will be easy to manipulate. The mana used in creating an efficient core needs different elements, not just one's affinity.
There was an experiment, which I can't say was an experiment since it used a person's future. But worst of all, what they used were slave children who died early on.
The children were forced to absorb a single element and purify it. The first one to feel the negative effects was the fire element user.
At first, it was efficient; the magic used was strong and powerful. But as time went by, the body of the child was unable to take it.
They become weak as time goes by. Until one day, the child's whole body burned. And these negative effects also happened to the other children.
This event happened to become a great sacrifice for the greater good, according to the article that I read in the library here. But for me, it was a torturous event that happened to innocent children.
I calmed myself after remembering what I read from that incident and continued to create the proper balance for mana element absorption.
Time passed, and I was done.
When I opened my eyes, it was already dark.
I got up from my bed and noticed there was food on the table.
I guess Kiara thought I was just sleeping and left the food.
"Hmm, it's cold. I guess it took a long time, huh?"
Saying that I look at the clock.
"What the heck, it's already midnight?"
Guuuu
"Yup, I'm hungry alright."
I then sat down, but not until I felt a nudge on my feet.
"Haaa, fine here."
Sighing, I opened my collection and gave him a rock.
Crunch
Good thing I received some rocks when I requested them. And I get it on a weekly basis.
Oh, I didn't realize it before, but he's really growing slowly, huh.
First it grew a lot, but now Titan has only grown by a few inches in diameter.
And I had no idea what kind of creature he was. However, I discovered that its habits are very similar to those of earth lizards. But he isn't one, so what exactly is he?
~~~~~~~~~~
A week has passed since then. Right now I am going to visit the castle, although I don't want to. I was given an invitation.
As I got into the gate, I heard the few guards talking in whispers outside.
"Why is he here?"
"Yeah, wasn't he already kicked out?"
"That's right, and I believe what happened at the ceremony should be the last nail in the coffin, right?"
"What can we do? He was allowed to get in. He might have begged for an appeal."
"Heh, as if he can recover from what happened."
"True, it sucks to be him."
"""Hahahaha"""
I heard laughter that couldn't be considered a whisper anymore.
But I am surprised; is it like this when a person reaches the age of seven?
Or is it just me?
As I was surprised and confused about what happened, I continued to get into the castle.
"We are almost there, your highness."
While I was thinking about what had happened earlier, Kiara informed me that we were getting close to our destination.
But when I looked at her, she had a very cold look on her face.
So I asked her
"What's wrong, Kiara?"
"Huh? Nothing, your highness."
Hearing that, I thought of not asking any further.
She might have heard those people talk about me, huh?
But that didn't end there, because as we got out and entered the castle, the servants in the corridor were also whispering.
And not surprisingly, it is about me and my situation.
We walked as the chatter from the servant still continued, and when I looked at Kiara's face, I suddenly turned my head back.
Damn her eyes; they are dead cold.
I don't know if it's because she doesn't like the whispers or not. But please keep your cool.
Sighing in my mind, I thought I needed to stop this because we were nearing our destination. I guess I need to change her mood.
"Kiara, did you train here before becoming my personal maid?"
"Huh? Ah, no. If I did, then I would have seen you before."
I was relieved to see her expression change and continued.
"So, where did you train?"
Ah, it was not far from the main castle.
We continued to talk as we walked until we reached our destination.