Chapter 62: A Ring's Value (2)

Luna paused as she was about to touch the World Tree. A gentle breeze carrying with it a winter’s chill, caused her silver hair to flutter in the wind. But she did not notice.

“Rainer…” A small voice escaped her.

He slightly furrowed his brows seeing Luna looking at him. Her eyes were slightly red, and sniffle followed her words.

“What’s wrong?”

“If I am not useful…” Luna quietly mumbled. She recalled the fight with the [Arch-Lich] and even last night as the patient Elru had nearly snapped at her after hours of trying to teach what should be an easy Glamour. In fact, many Fae didn’t even need to be taught and could often just copy the basic kind with ease.

And now Rainer wanted her to change to a new class.

Rainer only sighed as he looked at Fairy who seemed even smaller than usual in his hand. He recalled the story of the First Hero, perhaps one of the only stories she ever heard. The lightly falling snow and gentle sunlight reminding him about their escape from the mine.

“What happened to your faith in me?”

“I have faith in Rainer’s success but…”

Bringing the small fairy close to his chest he spoke, “What do you think, if one day your Flame disappears, I’ll just leave you behind? You are not a tool Luna; you don’t have to be useful…and you are not just some experiment for the machinations of that bitch Queen. You are my partner, my companion. I don’t care if you never fight again and just hide in my pocket. I’m taking you with me, whether you like it or not.”

The two stood there for a few minutes. Under the warmth of the World Tree, that radiated heat.

Sniffling a few times, Luna wiped away her tears,

“Luna will change her class now.”

She fluttered over on her own.

“Find something related to your flame.”

She was quiet as she looked through them, but she quickly found the one she wanted. She spoke of it to Rainer, and he immediately agreed.

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After selecting it, she shared the class with him.

[Holder of the Faerie Arcane-Fire: True Faerie Fire holds within it the power of the Fae. No Magic can stand before its consuming Flame, nor can any light compare to its healing touch. Yet this Flame reaches beyond; it is empowered with the might of the Arcane, and with it imbues the Holder. 100% General Improvement to all Fae and Spirit Skills and Spells. 25% General Improvement to all Skills. 45% Reduced Mana Cost of the Faerie Arcane-Flame. +2 Intelligence, +2 Affinity, per level past 1]

Seeing the lack of stats for such an impossibly rare class, Rainer was all but certain; points went into a related hidden attribute.

“Hehe. Now Luna can say to Rainer no matter how much stronger Luna is than him or how much he teases Luna, Luna will keep him around,” She said, proudly puffing out her chest.

“Then maybe I should tease you more now while I can.”

“Luna was only kidding, only making a joke,” She hurriedly added after flying behind him.

Rainer and Luna returned to the party. She sat on his shoulder, covered in a Glamour she had previously failed at accomplishing, appearing as a small silver bird. Glamour worked best the closer it was to reality. For younger Fae, changing into birds was easier than trying to appear as a full-grown human.

Elru showed surprise at Luna’s success immediately following a class change but held back her curiosity to use [Appraisal]. Something quite difficult for most Fae, her included.

“Rainer, we talked about how we’ll hunt. With Elru’s flight and Glamour, we need only wait for her to return with a location. The usual issues of monster’s sharp senses will be irrelevant. The Yeti we faced, had they been in a normal state, would have never approached Gunthar unless they were sure in killing him, let alone me. And now with your increased Mana…But Elru solves this perfectly.”

Kara said smiling toward the Fae. Quite happy herself at the opportunity to close the gap between her and Rainer. Without Elru to guide them, who knows if she’d even gain experience on such a hunt. Thanks for reading on ManaNovel!

Gunthar dejectedly shook his head, “As always, Sorcerer, to be able to gain experience so quickly…”

How often had he gone on hunts for days and yet found nothing worth any real experience? How much had he trained feverishly in his 52 years of life to reach level 25 as a Paladin? He had hope that on the monster hunt Rainer would experience just a touch of the difficulty leveling most faced, perhaps gain some understanding of the world.

And while he was always glad to see him get stronger, he couldn’t help but be a bit disappointed.

But Gunthar bounced back quickly. He even accosted himself for not expecting such a conclusion.

Seeing no disagreement, Elru shimmered in a Glamour and flew off into the Forest.

As the group walked in her direction, Theodore spoke first.

“I’ll handle guard duty; everyone else may do as they please.”

“Appreciate it,” Rainer said.

“And I was thinking. I’d stay behind in Grimlar’s pass when it is time to leave.”

“You aren’t going to wait for the Wyvern?”

“No, I’ll pass on everything you need to know, but Gunthar likely knows just as much as I on the subject matter, apart from a few more questionable methods. But it is your choice whether to use any; I will provide them in any case.”

“Be careful scouting, alright. There isn’t much you can do alone up there.”

“Scouting is part of the reason…another I am truly interested in the technique of that Baron.”

“I can learn pretty fast…”

“Yes, but he invented it! Even by mistake such an ability, and the application for such a discovery…In my passing time, while investigating the North, I’ll be training him. For such a treasure of man to die in his Trial, it would be a waste.”

Gunthar was originally disappointed at his Father’s choice, but hearing the excitement in his Father’s voice, he did not mind it much. He too liked the Baron and saw this as a good thing.

Heading into the forest, the party eventually reached a clearing before settling down.

“While Elru isn’t here, I have something to tell you,” Rainer said while confirming his statement with [Arcane Sight] and [Soul Detection], “Don’t ever leave her alone with Luna.”

“Rainer, I understand your issue with Fae, but,” Gunthar responded.

“Look. I’m sure Elru is a great person. But there is a chance she isn’t. Or that Luna’s Fire is something that overwrites her ideals. Either way, Luna’s current class is a bit too revealing. Just don’t leave her alone with Luna, I’m counting on you guys.”

“Of course, Sorcerer.”

“Okay, Rainer.”

Theodore signaled his agreement as well.

Finished with the discussion, Rainer sat against a tree and found Kara sitting in front of him right after. She leaned on him, facing in the same direction.

“Rainer?”

“Hmm?”

“Do you remember, shortly after you obtained Yalin’s ring and we entered a dungeon, I had told you of my mother’s?"

“Yeah?”

“My Father…and the Spatial Ring he gave my Mother, I hadn’t thought of it till now, but what do you think it means?”

“That he’s Royalty?”

She leaned back into him more. He wrapped one arm around her and another scratched her ears.

“Why do you think…he left me…” Kara whispered amidst the falling snowflakes.

Rainer sighed. His Father had a good reason, dying before he was born. At least, that’s what he was told.

“If he’s royalty, wouldn’t you be found out? He couldn’t have known that you could hide your demon half so well. I’m sure if he knew he would have happily taken you as his daughter. He gave your mom such a precious gift; he must have cared.”

Or she took it from him…

He thought.

“Do you mind if we stay like this as I meditate?” Kara asked.

“I’d like that.”

Gunthar already sat in meditation across from them, while Theodore looked out into the forest, operating [Soul Detection] and thinking about Charles’ skill.

As Kara begun, her meditation Rainer used [Arcane Sight]. Often, he filtered out the World’s Energy that was all around him, but this time he focused on it. He watched as energy entered and exited Kara. As the energy changed, he stared closely.

Comparing her and Gunthar he quickly realized another benefit of her Half-Demon nature; She was twice as efficient. Both Aura pools operated at the same time, and while her Demonic Aura was hidden and not able to be used, it still received the benefit of meditation.

He returned to his thoughts. Spreading out [Void Detection] Rainer felt the omnipresent-Void. [Spatial Domain] followed, yet it was unable to grasp at the void at all. Even working the skill and spell in concert, it was as if each eye peeked into a different world.

He tried everything. Pulling at the Void with his will, infusing Arcane Into it, trying to use [Spatial Manipulation] as well. [Void-Walking] feel under Space-Time Magic but even [Spatial Manipulation] provided useless in his attempts.

Looking at Kara peacefully resting against him, he couldn’t bring himself to test out [Void-Walking] with [Spatial Domain] and so returned to a previous task.

With one arm still around Kara, he brought his other to the right. Holding it out to the side, a string-like Arcane Weave began forming. He still had some issues creating a string similar to a guitar’s, particularly giving it an ability to vibrate without causing significant damage.

He continued the task, creating the string in different ways, occasionally strumming it with [Arcane Energy Manipulation].

It relaxed him. He even felt like he was slightly recovering from the tiredness of recent days.