Ch 40 The Agoge Connection
Back at his shelter, after his wolf's unfortunate demise, Necro decided to remove his armor. Faye expressed her concerns, noticing the determination in his eyes.
Faye: "What are you doing? Your face says that you will do something reckless again."
Necro explained his plan, "I need this armor to grow, so I will mana forge everything that I have in this."
Faye cautioned, "No, you will create a monster that may kill you."
Necro, confident in his understanding, countered, "I don't believe so. With my experiments, I learned that you need a purpose before doing it, a strong one."
Faye inquired, "So, what's your purpose now?"
Necro revealed his simple objective, "A full-body armor. I'm not adding skills or whatever, just increasing its size to cover my body completely. Nothing fancy, just functional."
With purpose in mind, Necro set to work, using all the meat in his inventory for the process, leaving only four kilos of panther meat for his own sustenance.
Once his work was completed, he stood clad in a full black malleable armor. Faye, however, remained skeptical.
Faye warned, "You have seen all the skills of those monsters. You can't defeat her with just armor."
Necro confidently explained his strategy, "That's why I will throw things at her so she will trust her shield even more, and her arrogance will increase. If everything fails, I will need to teleport here and give up for now."
With his plan set, Necro teleported back to the cabin, where the lone plant monster was swiftly defeated.
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Necro figured it might be best to start with a couple of questions to gauge her willingness to answer truthfully.
Necro: "What's your name?"
Lyra: "It's Lyra Shadowhoof."
Necro: "Second question: What's your age?"
Lyra: "15. Good grief, will you be asking ten questions about me now? Did a pervert fall in love with me?"
Necro decided to press on, undeterred. "Third question: The closest friendly settlement or village?"
Lyra thought for a moment before answering, "To the northeast, about three days of walking. You can spot it if you follow the sea."
Necro was curious about the presence of dwarf villages.
Necro: "Any dwarf villages around?"
Lyra nodded, "Yes, there's one to the southeast, about a day's walk from here. But I must warn you, they won't be friendly to you."
Necro was puzzled, "Why not?"
Lyra's response was straightforward, "Because you're a life forger, dummy."
Necro pressed further, "Is there some way for them to know that?"
Lyra explained her reasoning, "I initially thought you were a beast tamer, but when your wolf died, it left no corpse behind. So, the only logical conclusion is that you're a life forger."
Necro pointed out that she hadn't fully answered his question, "You said how you discovered it, but you didn't answer my question."
Lyra admitted, "Sorry, I've never been there myself, but in my village, we have something called a mana checker. It scans anyone unknown before they can enter."
Necro, intrigued by this new information, couldn't help but ask, "What's a mana checker, then?"
Lyra: "Eh? You know nothing about life? It's a stone. When you insert your mana into it, it shows your age, name, and job."
Necro: "If you have multiple jobs, what will that mana checker thing show?"
Lyra clarified, "It shows only the first one because it takes years to develop a job, so what you do the most is what's important."
Necro decided to continue his line of inquiry. "Is this cabin yours?"
Lyra confirmed, "Yes, why?"
Necro raised another question, "What is that crystal ball thing on that table?"
Lyra answered, "It's a communication tool."
Curious, Necro delved further, "With whom did you communicate last?"
Lyra didn't hesitate, "My mother. Your questions are over now, it's in turns. My turn. Now, what's your name?"
Necro decides to use the same name he mentioned earlier through the crystal ball.
Necro: "Look, this won't be fair to you. I have no memories. You can call me Albert."
Lyra: "Eh? How did you recreate your wolf so fast?"
Necro thinks for a moment and responds, "10 minutes, is that fast? I need to wait for my essence to recharge for 1 hour."
Lyra: "And let me ask you, how did that sword go through the shield?"
Necro thought that it wasn't a good idea to reveal how he did it to someone. "You tried to kill me earlier; I have no obligation to tell you that."
Lyra retorted, "No, even when I was upset about your shameless display, I told my creatures to 'capture' you, not kill."
Necro inquired, "Why did you say it? You could control them with your mind, right?"
Lyra explained, "I could, but if you don't have a clear intent in your mind, it's better to say it to become clear. For example, I was angry, and my monsters could have killed you because of it. It's a subconscious thing, so I made it clear just in case."
Lyra continued, "You really have no memories? You used a good strategy to win, being so weak and all. I killed two of my monsters and didn't need to kill the other two."
Necro then asked, "Before I forget, I touched that ball on the table, and someone spoke to me. Will that be a problem for me?"
Lyra reassured him, "I have to contact my family once a day at night, so they don't worry. I guess you will not have problems."
Finally, Necro inquired, "What are you doing alone here in the forest?"
Lyra replied, "I'm not alone; I became Level 4 yesterday, so I have four creatures, well, two now. But during the night, my essence will become full, so tomorrow morning I can hunt again. Being in this forest is part of my agoge, probably yours too. You probably hit your head somewhere and lost your memories."
Necro: "What is agoge?"
Lyra explained, "It's a passage rite. When everyone turns 15, they receive a system from a god and are left in the wilderness. But I've said too much already. Now it's your turn. You have a system, right? A voice in your head that teaches you what to do?"
Necro affirmed, "Yes. How long have you been in this forest?"
Lyra replied, "Four months. And you?"
Necro admitted, "I have memories of two or three days, something like that."
Lyra guessed, "I would guess that you have around two months since you're Level 2."
Necro lied, "Yeah, right."
Lyra then questioned, "Why did you slap me? Do you know what it means?"
Necro seemed puzzled, "What does it mean?"
Lyra clarified, "Eh? No, it means nothing."
Necro then asked, "Let me ask you this, Are life forgers and skill seekers enemies?"
Lyra responded, "Why? The enemies are the monsters. Each time a village reaches 150 people, a monster shows up and kills everyone. They don't discriminate."
Necro: "150?"
Lyra confirmed, "Yes, the dwarves were the first to discover this and told everyone."
Necro's tone turned more solemn as he said, "Goodbye."
Lyra was taken aback, "Where are you going? Can we duel again someday?"
Necro questioned, "Why are you saying that?"
Lyra explained, "Well when in an agoge, we are supposed to become strong, to be respected among our people."
Lyra, with a hint of humility, asked, "Agoge means raising, to become grown-up, you used unconventional tactics and won, please teach me."
Necro, still cautious, replied, "I don't trust you."
Lyra hesitated but then pleaded, "Please, I was thinking that I was stronger than you and I lost. I will do anything if it means becoming stronger."
Necro couldn't resist teasing her, "Anything?"
Lyra quickly clarified, "Yes, eh? No wait, I'm a virgin, I will not do anything sexual, I'm not that desperate."
Necro, amused, agreed, "I will come back here in a week for a duel and more questions. See you."
With a smug expression, he teleported back to his small shelter.
Faye observed, "For a moment, I was thinking that you would force yourself on her."
Necro acknowledged, "Well, I had desires if that's what you're talking about."
Faye, with a teasing tone, commented, "Oh, I didn't know that you had a naughty side."
Necro explained, "It's probably this body, but I can't pursue a relationship. I need to become strong fast and get information. Speaking of it, you said that life forgers and skill seekers were at war, but that's not the truth."
Faye nodded, saying, "Yeah, she is lying or the system is wrong or not updated."
Necro concluded, "One more reason to find more people, to confirm information and to learn more about this world."