"Now you will witness the greatest show of your lives!" I said in a commentator's voice as the big red curtain opened.
"Whoa!" Zaliph shouted in excitement alongside Ephtos and Junk.
"What will you do Lucius-sama!?"
"Not so fast little Zaliph, you'll find out soon enough." I gave a small wink.
With an extravagant movement with both hands, I pointed towards the waterfall in front of us and concentrated my spiritual power.
The water falling from the top fluctuated slightly, and a small amount of water shot out somewhere in the lake. Although the portion was the size of a water glass... But he had managed to get it to go off course!
The three children were gaping with looks of admiration.
The show had been a resounding success.
"How did you get it!?" Zaliph jumped first.
"Kah kah kah! It is not an easy task, I had to make great sacrifices for such feats"
"Can I do the same?" asked little Junk.
"Yoho! Of course!" I smiled widely with my arms crossed and chest held high. "When you grow a little bigger, you'll be as big as me!"
"I-I want to be like Lucius-sama too!" The restless Ephtos said and Zaliph nodded as well. They both seemed motivated… or I meant, all three of them were very excited.
"Kah kah kah! You are all as talented as I am. When you grow up, I'm sure you'll be legendary war heroes."
"Yes Master!" the three shouted as they jumped for joy.
Now he had acquired three little pupils.
One thing is certain, they have potential thanks to the fact that they are from the Quaramis.
These kids tend to follow me around quite often, so I always end up finding some kind of mischief on their part... but not this time... they are unusually docile today.
I am currently training at the waterfall. It's only been two days since I started... and my progress is slow but steady.
The amount of magic power I can manipulate from the outside flow has gradually increased. Ryujinzhu had told me that it might be a good sign, as increasing it daily was no easy task.
But I have to admit... it's not easy at all.
This is asking too much of me.
I have found that I have some talent. Perhaps that is due to Goddess-sama, but I am not someone almighty and omnipotent who only needs to train a little to destroy half the planet with a clap: my talent makes me learn quickly and excel in skill, but strength is not included. That is something I must acquire by my own means, since after all, I am still a human in this world.
That is undeniable and I have the same weak common characteristics of a human.
Now I spend most of the day training here and Ryujinzhu comes in the afternoons when she finishes her training with the other princesses.
This is my sacred duty! I can do it!
I was training like I always did, until the mischievous little Aphril brothers showed up. That brings me to the situation I'm currently in...
Surely these children have nothing better to do and are bored...
"Why don't you join us Lucius-sama?" Zaliph asked, bringing me out of my thoughts.
"Hey?"
"Yes!" said Ephtos, who jumped at the idea. "Come with us!"
"Where to?"
"You can't know yet… it's a secret," Zaliph replied with a malicious laugh…
This doesn't look good.
"I think you already know, but I can't leave training."
"It will be quick!"
I wouldn't want to do it, but they are very insistent and will continue like this until they are exhausted.
I've experienced this before, so I'll just give in... as long as it's something quick that allows me to get there before Ryujinzhu comes back.
But to be sure, I will confirm it.
"If Ryujinzhu comes back in a while and doesn't find me here, I'll surely be in trouble."
"Don't worry," Zaliph replied with a wide smile; and following his example, so did Ephtos and Junk. "It will be a quick walk, Ryujinzhu-sama won't even know what we did."
As I thought about that and mentally questioned his words, he continued. "So?" He insisted with his arms crossed.
For a son of Zaphyris, Zaliph is an interesting individual. He doesn't look at all like his cautious mother.
"Fine, I'll go with you. As long as you promise not to do any mischief that will get us into trouble. If you meet that requirement, then I'll go with you." When I made my conditions clear on the table, the three of them reluctantly agreed.
And so the demands were successfully accepted.
***
"I don't understand why we are walking through the forest," I complained as I exhaled heavily.
Something told me it wasn't a good idea...
As we leave the waterfall, we begin to walk through the forest and now it seems that we are heading towards the walls that divide the Quaramis Palace from the rest of the City of Qars.
What do they plan to do? I think the answer becomes more obvious and intriguing as we get closer to our destination...
"We will take a little walk around the City of Qars" Zaliph said.
"Are you sure we'll be okay with staying low-key? It doesn't sound like this is your first time..."
"Relax, we always do the same thing and we haven't been discovered yet"
They still haven't been discovered? That's strange, since all of this is under Wolf's Domain Field... I think both he and Zaphyris already know about it but they are understanding and permissive.
When we arrived at the great wall, the three children searched between the wall and the ground for what looked like a pile of dry leaves and branches covering a piece of ordinary ground.
That was a bit strange, since there was no entry.
But everything changed when Zaliph used a basic earth spell to create a hole in the ground.
When the ground was cleared, what appeared to be a long tunnel with stone-textured walls was revealed.
It was a tunnel that connected the outside with the inside of the palace; and the exit for the three mischievous ones towards the fun.
This tunnel already seems to have been built with this intention...
Once inside, we walked around the narrow space for several minutes until we came across a thick door with the symbol of the Quaramis. And from the central symbol came carved connections that covered its entire wooden structure.
The door had no knob and didn't seem to have a lock anywhere either...
What is that supposed to mean?
I thought that until Zaliph knocked on the door and the symbol glowed with a faint blue light that spread across all the connections carved into it. The door made a strange sound of a mechanism operating inside it and then opened shortly after.
"Oh? Amazing," I muttered to myself, but it was heard clearly in the quiet place.
"Is that right, Lucius-sama?" Zaliph said.
Could this mechanism be a native creation of the Divine Empire Realm's mechanical technology? I don't have an answer and can only come up with theories as I analyze the door's operation. But I'll leave that for now.
It's not like I'm going to come to a concrete answer.
On the other side of the door was another forest. Just before we left the place, Zaliph made sure to cover the entrance with an earth spell and then place a mound of leaves and stones as he had done previously.
He makes sure to mark the spot... but he should probably already know its exact location if he's done it repeatedly.
After crossing the outer forest for countless minutes, we finally arrived at what was the City of Qars.
The first thing that struck me was the wide, busy streets where there were so many races passing by from everywhere; the large buildings and establishments with modern structures with styles similar to those of an aquatic fantasy world.
"Whoou!" I was the only one who was surprised.
Zaliph, Ephtos and Junk's satisfied faces were smiling and proud. They seemed to want to give me this impression.
I admit they have done it. This place is beautiful!
There were many races walking from all sides and the streets were so crowded that you could hardly walk without feeling cramped; the shops were overflowing and there were all kinds of stores on every corner.
The wide streets were divided into large blocks every certain distance, so there must have been specific sectors at each transition.
Although I am in an area that is not so high, from here I can see large buildings and cathedrals with imposing symbols.
And as if all that were not enough, in the sky there were aquatic animals flying in the air as if they were swimming: whales with six or perhaps eight large fins and sharks that looked different from those of my time.
But something that people used to fly at this time, was the famous ocean animal: the huge 'Mobula Birostris' (Manta Ray) of the Sacred Ocean.
The Sacred Mobula Birostris had strange but beautiful patterns that glowed with a warm blue light all over its body. They swam in the air gracefully and people used them as a means of transportation.
It is interesting to see how aquatic animals use their spiritual circuits to create water around them and in the direction they want to go; and after that, they use their body in the process to move around. It is part of their nature and they do not exert any effort at all unlike other species of life on the surface.
There is so much to see and discover that I wouldn't have enough time today to do it properly.
"Where would Lucius-sama like to go?" Zaliph asked.