Drake stared at the top of the tent's canvas, the morning light brightening it slightly as it bleed through. The torches within the tent long since burned out and the rain finally sputtered to a stop.
He gave a slight grin and whispered, "Not like I could have heard it anyway…"
A soft groan came from his side and he looked over to see Sah Ul' nuzzled close. Her breathing had become steady and even compared to the night before after they had avenged Rvul.
How she was truly feeling mentally he could only guess. And why she had decided now of all times to consummate their marriage was a mystery to him.
But he had no qualms with being led by the nose. In fact, seeing this side of Sarah was a type of gap moe he could only dream of. He had in a way, tamed a warrior princess.
"Xena, eat your heart out."
But Drake's blissful monologue could only last so long before something as always came up.
His body was still somewhat aching but recovered for the most part. It seemed his Asuran blood wasn't just for show. Compared to the last time he went overboard and used Septenarius the first time, it was a walk in the park.
Drake's aura and skills had gone back up and in full effect once he and Sarah had finished bumping uglies, and Sarah had gone to sleep. Leaving Drake to his thoughts for the rest of the night till morning.
And there was currently someone outside the tent.
Drake got up, doing his best not to disturb Sah Ul', and dressed himself. Going out and exiting the tent a frowning Natto faced him.
"Satisfied with ourselves are we?" she groused.
"I'd be lying if I said I wasn't. Also, she tapped out first," Drake said, raising his eyebrows, "Just for the record."
Natto's eyebrow twitched, "For whose record?! Enough of your false bravado. We have a mountain of things to address and I have forced myself to be patient while you deal with your grief and urges."
"More problems? Have the teens come back yet?"
"There are several urgent matters. First, we simply do not have enough housing to accommodate the new residents should they all choose to stay. Unless there are craftsmen that can help with erecting the buildings we need it will be difficult. Then there is the infrastructure for the sewage and water systems. And after that, we will need to expand the farmland we are developing as well as capture more domestic monsters for food!"
"That's a lot of problems."
"Whose fault do you think this is?!? I have tried to inform you earlier but you would not listen!"
"Well it sounds like whoever you told didn't want to listen and needs to be fired from his job," Drake proposed.
"That person is you, dolt!" Natto screamed, sighing, she rubbed her temples, "This is not the only problem. This morning we also had a large group of visitors who need to be greeted. They demand to see you and will not see anyone else."
Drake tensed. The last time he had heard this it was Marrissah.
"Fine, which gate? I'll deal with it now."
"The South Gate. It seems that they have come a long way," Natto explained, "They are beastkin, but that is all I know."
"Ah, I'll head there now. Come get me when either Sarah wakes up or the teens are back. Once they are back I'll have to have a sit down with them and the elf princesses."
"Princesses? You did not mention there was royalty among them. This could change things…"
Drake wanted to ask how, but he needed to go to the gate and greet the visitors. Despite what happened with Marrissah he was still the lord of the city and would have to continue his duties as such.
Sighing he began walking in that direction. Along the way he was joined by Bjorn, Chelsea, and eventually Theodore.
"I heard what happened, not sure what to say, bro… How is she holding up?" Bjorn asked, placing a hand on his shoulder.
"She's not doing the best, but she's resting right now. Sucks that you can't take a break even when you need to. The world doesn't stop just because something tragic happens," Drake grimaced, "I'm heading to the South Gate, apparently there's more visitors, you guys coming?"
"This one would go to worlds far abound to accompany my Lord! In thou's time of need, one's knight must be ever-present! Tis a matter of course!" Theodore boomed.
"Oh, how I missed your enthusiasm, Theo. I could use more of that right now," Drake chuckled.
"You know Drake, I know we've had our differences but… I am really sorry for Sarah's and yours loss. My parents haven't been around for a long time, but I know how it feels…" Chelsea consoled.
"Thanks. I lost my Dad when I was pretty young but I still remember how the months felt after…" Drake sighed, "I appreciate the thoughts guys, really."
They talked casually for a while longer. Drake found out that Bjorn and Chelsea had found a place to stay somewhat close to the center of the city. Also, Harley was now stuck to house duty full time as she was entering the end of her pregnancy.
"Kids huh…" Drake mused, thinking of Sah Ul', "Do you think you'll be a good Dad Theo? Who am I kidding, you're the head of a school now aren't you? Practically made for raising kids at this point!" he smirked.
"It truly is a blessing, my Lord. However, this one would be remiss to not state how nerve-wracking preparing for a newborn is. Perhaps even more disastrous than maintaining my love's appetite…" Theodore laughed but it was hollow and empty.
Drake took a good look at Theodore, noticing the bags under his eyes, and his mustache not shining as it once did. Theodore was tired, it was plain to see now.
"Hey, you're not selling me on kids right now Theo," Drake scoffed.
Theodore shook his hands and fixed his monocle, "A thousand apologize, my Lord. This one would never insinuate that thou would be on the same poor level of parenting as I. In fact this one looks forward day by day to the time this one can serve his Lord's heirs! Speaking of which, this one has a proposal of sorts!"
"Oh, what's that?"
"In light of recent events, this one wishes to rename the Academy. This one thought it best to erect a statue of the late Rvul Rahk and name the school, The Rvul Magic Academy. That is if my Lord finds it fitting."
Drake smiled, "I don't think there's a better name, thank you, Theo. I'd be honored to make the statue myself when I have some time."
Theodore nodded, "Perfect! This one also thought it best to ask my Lord if he would do the honor of both doing so and giving the new students a small speech! This one has heard of the coming refugees and expects many to be enrolling into the school as per Lady Natto's instruction. This one is sure they would like nothing better than to hear their savior's words of encouragement!"
Drake gave a wry smile, not sure if that was true.
"I'll think it over…"
After a few more minutes of walking they arrived at the South Gate. And as expected there was a swath of beastkin waiting impatiently.
When Drake's small group arrived, the entirety of at least a hundred people turned and glared their way.
"Oh their piercing glares wound me," Drake gasped.
"Shouldn't you be more like, professional," Bjorn scoffed.
"I could, but that isn't exactly me," Drake shrugged.
The crowd parted and a giant of a beastkin woman stepped forward.
Drake was struck by how she looked. Long white hair that went to her ankles and two tails swaying back and forth. She wore tight leather armor under what looked to be chainmail. But her most distinctive features were her height, standing at least a head taller than Drake almost on par with Bjorn. And the large toothy grin she had creasing her face as she looked down at Drake. Finally she had an eyepatch covering her left eye, the other a brilliant sky blue.
"So you're the little Lord I've been hearing about!" she boomed.
"I am not little," Drake grumbled, "What brings you here? What makes you think you need to speak to me?"
"Ah! Right to the point! I like that!" she smiled, "I am Teresa de Hielu, Pack Leader of the Ice Wolves. I've heard that you are liberating my kin from slavers and I have come to pick them up."
"Kin?" Drake thought aloud, "You mean Atropos and Clotho?"
"They would be the ones. My sister left them in my care when she died during the Great Hunt. I'm ashamed to admit that we were separated during the end and had no idea what happened until I was told by some of the people you had freed."
Teresa looked Drake up and down, bringing a hand to her chin and her smile growing as she did.
"Say… You are a lot stronger than I was told… How about a fight?"
"Excuse me?" Drake asked, unable to keep pace with the woman's straightforwardness.
"A fight! It will be mating season soon and I must find a suitable sire. What do you say? If you win you can have your way with me, if I win you will be my stud while we repopulate the clan."
"Excuse me?" Drake repeated.
"It's a good deal, no? No man has ever been strong enough to submit me," she grinned, showing sharp canines, "And I've never seen one strong enough to keep my interest! Oh, are you worried about my purity? Do not! I have never mated before, it is tradition in the Ice Wolves to only have one life partner you see. I know you humans are very picky about that sort of thing."
Drake held up a hand, "Yeah, no. I'm all full up on that, I have a wife, several actually…" he coughed, Claire and him might not be officially married but he would be disgusted with himself if he didn't include her.
"Sorry, but asking was only a formality!" Teresa laughed, rushing forward.
Drake zoned in on the rushing woman. She was not the fastest he had ever seen but definitely ahead of the teens. He gave her a quick once over.
[Teresa de Hielu Level 21]
She's a pretty high level. Has everyone come this far already? Or was that tutorial particularly hard? He thought.
But Drake had just finished fighting Xavier, the scum of Sandal. And Teresa was admittedly leagues below him. So much so that he took a minute to look at his own stats.
[Drake Wallen]
[Race: Asuran] [F-Rank]
[Profession: Miner P5(0%)[F-Rank], Jeweler P5(0%)[F-Rank]
[Elemental Miller] [Unique] Level 29
[Vitality] 846 (20+ 215%)
[Strength] 1058 (100 +15%)
[Dexterity] 820 (95 + 25%)
[Intelligence] 1264 (95+20%)
[Wisdom] 884 (30 + 220%)
[Endurance] 671 (95 + 230%)
[Free Points] 140
[Titles]
…
Dawning of a Tyrant II, Hated by Many, The Awe of Many, Bounty, First Completionist, Top 3, Top 1, One of Four, Slayer of the West, Fledgling Ruler, Baron, Catalyst of the Capital, One of Four, The Warpath
Teresa pulled a large ball and chain from her inventory, the weapon beginning to glow with a bluish-white light as she roared.
Drake stood his ground watching closely as she approached, swinging the massive spiked ball above her head.
"A strength-based augmenter? The opposite of Clotho and Atropos. Sorry, but I won't be entertaining you for long, it's been a rough couple days."
Stretching out his hand, his arm flared golden. The massive magically enhanced weapon stopped in its tracks when it slammed into Drake's open palm.
"W-what the?!" Teresa gapped, her eye going wide as a bowling ball.
The ball stopped and Drake slipped under the weapon, grabbing Teresa by the wrist and pulling her over his shoulder, throwing her to the ground and crushing it underneath her from the impact.
Unrelenting, Drake moved quickly to get on top of her, throwing a swift jab into her abdomen, the air from her lungs expelling with a grunt.
The fight was over in an instant. Drake was unwilling to pull his punches at the moment.
"Don't you know it's bad manners to ask someone to sleep with you, then attack them?" he frowned, then remembered how Atropos had acted after her rank up, "I guess it must be a beastkin thing…" he mumbled under his breath.
"Over already?" Bjorn asked from the side, Theodore clapping in congratulations next to him.
Teresa groaned from the ground.
"Anything to say for yourself?" Drake asked.
"I-I like you, we will have incredibly strong children…" she mustered before her head fell back apparently passing out.
Drake felt a shiver down his back, an eerie feeling of deja vu hitting him.
"Nope, nope, nope. I did not just fall into another weird marriage trap!" he shouted, throwing his hands into the air.
"You sure are popular bro," Bjorn guffawed, slapping him across the back.
"You aren't helping! I'm not trying to do this on purpose you know! I have enough women trouble as it is! And there are other options than not marrying someone and marrying them! There are in-betweens you know! Stages!"
With a pop, Natto appeared on Drake's shoulders and nearly fell off as he had his head in his hands slumped over slightly. She clambered up and patted his head.
"Oh my. Have you fallen into another trap of beating up a woman who likes it? Dear me, it certainly would have been beneficial if someone had informed you not to fight her at all costs, subsequently leading to you unknowingly finding another woman to wed that would be a great boon to the city after losing so much of your fighting force," she said softly, raising a sleeve to cover her mouth.
"You did this! Again?!" Drake yelled.
"I have no recollection of what you are saying. I have not and never done such a thing, hohoho…" she snickered, "But certainly it would be poetic justice for it to happen as a result of you not listening to your adviser would it not?"
"You're punishing me for not talking to you by having me marry more gorgeous women? You do know what a punishment is, right?"
"You do not find having women that could slit your throat in your sleep because you are performing active and blatant infidelity punishment?"
"I'm not doing this on purpose!" Drake complained.
"I know, I am doing this on purpose."
"See! I knew it!"
"I have told you this before. Being a leader requires certain sacrifices. As someone who is going to reign over multiple cities and eventually planets. You will need people. The easiest path to secure that is through marriage with influential people. Or are you saying you can be everywhere all the time, all at once? You have not obtained a clone skill if I am not mistaken and you lack appropriate and competent retainers."
Drake wanted to argue but the small squirrel was spot on. He hated to say it, but if he had stronger people or more, it could have saved Rvul. If his people were stronger, being ambushed might not have mattered. If they had more influence over the planet right now instead of their relatively small city, they would have more information as well.
He could be doing more as a leader and she was not so subtly reminding him of that.
"Well talk about it-"
"Later, yes. We seem to have more guests it seems," Natto interrupted him, pointing further out towards the forest.
Drake raised his head and was surprised to see another beastkin man holding a spear.
He looked down to ask if it was more from Teresa's clan but she was still out cold.
Drake tried to identify the man.
[Leonardo Velcruz Level 29]
"He's level 29…? And his name is… The one who killed the other Guardian?" Drake mumbled in disbelief.
The man walked casually through the crowd of other beastkin. The group moved even further away than they had for Teresa, giving him a wide berth.
He raised his hand casually, "Yo, what's up pussy," Leonardo sneered.
Drake's eyes widened, the inflection in the voice, the disrespectful familiarity. He recognized this person.
"G-Grumps…?" Drake stammered, "Is that you…?"
"About time you and I met," Leon laughed, looking down and seeing Teresa, "Took me a while to get here, but you beating up on women now?"
"She attacked me," Drake explained, "I only knocked her out."
Leon shrugged, "Not that I care. I'm here to see you, I've been meaning to give you something for a long time."
Drake raised an eyebrow.
"Clench your teeth, dumbass!" Leon roared and vanished from Drake's sight.
Drake could barely register Leon disappearing before his eyes were able to find him to his right, his arm outstretched.
Drake raised his guard, trying to block the punch, but Leon's hand slipped past it, his knuckles connecting square on Drake's jaw and sending him flying backward into the forest and through multiple trees.
Groaning, Drake got to his feet, feeling a line of warm liquid running down the side of his face.
He injured me?! And his speed isn't normal! Wait, Natto?! Drake thought, looking around desperately for her.
"I think that makes us even right?" Leon's voice called from outside the forest, holding Natto by the back of her kimono in the air.
Drake growled, "Even for what?! Put her down Grumps!"
Shooting forward, Drake quickly cast his Heretical Septenarius spell, his body going golden and lunging for Natto.
Leon let go of Natto, letting her fall to the floor, and jumped backward, thrusting his spear right at where he was just standing.
Drake maneuvered quickly, using a burst of air to change trajectory now that Natto was free. With a second burst, he propelled himself forward.
Leon had been chanting something since a moment ago, his body flashing in different colors as well, matching Drake's speed.
They remained at an even distance for several seconds as they danced around each other.
"Even for losing me a server first on that new server! We planned that for months, but you had to go and break your hand!"
Drake scoffed, "I got into a fight with my brother! You think I wanted to break my hand on a wall?!"
"I think you should have just broken it on your brother's jaw! You're six years older than him, you shoulda just beaten his ass!"
"You would say that wouldn't you!" Drake grinned, his blood beginning to boil.
When was the last time he had met someone able to keep up with him? Someone who was dead even in ability. Drake could tell at a glance, that they were both testing the waters and Drake wanted to keep this fight going.
Waving his hand he began summoning spells of fire, water, and lightning, throwing balls of fire, cutting blades of water and bolts of lightning right at Leon.
"Oh? Still the little sissy boy, huh? Can't take a joke!" Leon laughed, stopping himself on the ground.
In a motion Drake could barely follow, Leon slashed through the spells effortlessly. The severed spells crashed to the ground and kicked up debris.
The crowds and Drake's small group had moved behind the safety of the gate by now. Leon and Drake's fight beginning to get out of hand.
Drake rushed forward, continuing to use spells to try and catch Leon off guard as he met him in a brawl.
Leon stabbed and thrusted, meeting Drake's enhanced fists in tandem with each strike while still having time to defend himself from Drake's spells.
"I always knew you would come out of that tutorial strong!" Drake shouted.
"It's only natural! We both know I'm the best!" Leon laughed back.
"We'll see about that! This is where I prove I've finally gotten better than you!" Drake replied, his Asuran Instincts finally ramping to their peak.
"Marked! For the Thrill of Battle!" Drake chanted, beginning to pull out all the stops.
He stepped in instantly, throwing an uppercut to Leon's side, and using his other hand to summon a ball of white fire to circle around him.
Leon's face painted in surprise from the burst of speed, but moved his spear's shaft to intercept Drake's body blow. However, the fire spell still landed home, throwing Leon into a forward somersault.
Drake followed, rushing to continue his assault only for an arrow of light to land at his feet, then several more stopping him cold in his tracks, even pushing him backward to dodge them.
Leon stood wiping his mouth with his sleeve. Above him nine glowing white spears hovering.
"I haven't used this skill since leaving the tutorial and maxing it out you know. But since it seems you can't keep your cooldowns in your pants," Leon grinned, his eyes turning into feral daggers, making his face look like a real bonafide wolf, "I guess I won't hold back either!"
Drake smiled back, "Then! To the death!" he howled using his last available status-boosting skill.
"I am the hunter! And you are the prey!" Leon shouted back, "Begin the hunt!"
Both Drake and Leon flexed their auras, the powerful energies clashing in between them sending sparks of red and green as they competed for dominance, neither one letting up.
But before they could continue the battle something large. Very large, crashed down between them, leaving Drake gaping in even more disbelief.
"A-a B-blue MAU?!" Drake exclaimed.
A mechanical voice came from the machine standing as tall as three men, sending Drake back in a daze.
"Will you two goons knock it off already? You dumbasses always competing like there's no tomorrow for no got damn reason!"
Drake caught the verbal quirk and only knew of one person who knew about him and Grumps' rivalry.
"W-Wow-fi?!"
"You're got damn right it's me!" the robot creaked, turning to Drake, then pointed with a bladed hand to the forest, "Now knock this nonsense fighting off, before you destroy the whole got damn forest and your own got damn city!"
Drake looked at the aftermath of their fight. He'd lost himself in the thrift of it once again, not noticing the damage. The ground was riddled with craters from his magic, the wall dented with the same. Some of the forest was on fire. And coming out of the forest were scared and panicked people.
They were the refugees from Sandal.
Drake quickly moved to extinguish the flames and fix the area with his magic, feeling himself deflate.
"D-Drake…?" a voice suddenly called from behind him.
For the third time he turned, recognizing the voice instantly. Standing there with a one-braided side ponytail of dirty blond hair and looking at him with deep blue eyes, wearing a new priest outfit he hadn't seen before.
"C-Claire?"