Salvos

We left Huthwaite a day after, gold filling our pocket, new titles to our name, and property to own. I didn’t see the point of any of this. I much preferred the cheers of people, chanting my name. I’d have stayed in the city for longer just because of that.

But we had to leave. We had things to do, places to go. Edithe had to return to her company, while I had to speak with Lily. Daniel also finally decided on what he wanted to do.

“Wait, are you serious?”

I stared at him, in shock. Edithe blinked.

“I’m with Salvos on this one, are you really sure you want to do this?”

Daniel nodded.

“I made my decision. I’m stronger now. Smarter. I have two Classes and a rare Title. I’m more experienced and I know about their manipulative tactics. I will return to the Elutra Kingdom.”

“After all they did to you, you’re going back to help them?”

It wasn’t that I disagreed with his decision. I was just surprised by the suddenness of it. He shook his head.

“I’m not going to help them. No— Faith told me that the Inoria Empire was planning on a mass summoning ritual. One that would sacrifice all the citizens of the Elutra Kingdom. If this is true, then someone has to stop it. Someone has to step in. But only if it’s true.”

“So, you’re going to investigate first?”

I snapped my fingers, and Daniel drew his lips into a thin line.

“I’ll try. I can’t just stand idly by knowing that millions of lives are in danger and I can do something to stop it.”

I grinned.

“I’m impressed. You’re actually sounding like a [Hero] now.”

He scoffed, walking forward.

“I have always been a [Hero]. But a hero? That’s something I’m trying out for the first time.”

Then his shoulders sagged.

“I just hope I don’t die in some dumb heroic sacrifice moment.”

Edithe patted him on the back.

“We’ll just have to buy all the equipment you need to ensure that doesn’t happen. We have the platinum, after all.”

The Human man brightened. He greedily pulled open a pouch full of a hundred platinum. That wasn’t all we had. Each of us had a bag of 100 platinum coins on our person. In our bag, we had another 300 gold. That still wasn’t it. The rest was too much to carry or collect all at once. So, we stored the remaining 2,700 platinum, 573 gold, and 1045 silver pieces with the Merchants Guild.

Apparently, there were a lot of rewards to be collected for killing the Lich. Daniel said that it should have amounted to over 10,000 platinum coins total, but not everyone wanted to pay up the money. Some companies or countries or organizations had placed the bounty hundreds of years ago, so they said it was not valid.

Edithe suggested that we tried to press for it, but Daniel thought it wasn’t worth it. We were still getting thousands of platinum coins from this.

“We have more money than a small country even has!”

He sighed wistfully as we sat on a carriage, on the way out of the Vaun Qieur Empire.

“I’m going to buy all the best equipment. Since that damn Lich broke my longsword, I’ve felt practically naked.”

“But you’re wearing clothes?”

I cocked my head.

“It’s a metaphor. I’m just so used to having a weapon on me at all times, I don’t feel complete without it.”

“I have to admit, I’m the same way.”

Edithe chuckled. She gestured at the air, pretending as if she was holding something.

“Ever since my staff was destroyed by the Lich, I’ve felt oddly vulnerable. I’m glad you flew us back as quickly as you did, Salvos. We avoided a lot of possible mishaps that way.”

“I am pretty amazing, aren’t I?”

I beamed, leaning back. Then I peered at my companions.

“But can you guys not fight without your weapons?”

“We can, Salvos. My staff, however, was enchanted to boost my spellcasting. I do have the Cane of Retribution, but it has more of an active effect than the passive effect of my previous staff.”

“And my longsword was made out of mithril. It’s supposed to be one of the toughest materials out there. It’s said to be equivalent to the eldergreen wood used by the Elves or orichalcum used by the Dwarfs.”

“Huh.”

I glanced between the pair. They had basic equipment, bought from the local smith in Huthwaite. But they didn’t really have anything extravagant. Daniel’s Draconic Scalemail armor was also destroyed by the Lich. Really, despite being Diamond Rank, the three of us had basically no gear.

We did have some gear when we set out for the Plaguelands the second time, after Ghostlight was destroyed. But after all the battles we had, we now had nothing.

Edithe and Daniel excitedly exchanged ideas on things that they could buy. All the scrolls and potions and equipment they could afford with all the money they had.

“If we find a high enough leveled [Alchemist], we could even get a Potion of Regeneration for you, Salvos.”

The red-haired woman turned to me, smiling.

“A what?”

“It’s a potent potion, far superior to even the highest grade of healing potion. It can help you regrow lost limbs, remove all your scars from your body, and return you pretty much to your physical prime.”

My jaw dropped.

“Woah. Yes please! Give me that!”

“Well, we’ll have to find an [Alchemist] capable of brewing one. They require a lot of rare ingredients, so they’re pretty hard to find even amongst the highest leveled [Alchemists]. I know Gabriel has never bothered making one due to how difficult it is.”

I was starting to get excited, just like my companions. Thankfully, our money wasn’t ripped away from us like the past few times it happened. Daniel especially was happy. But I didn’t really understand why they fussed over the different types of weapons they could buy. I never used them.

I could always make my own weapons. Or, actually, why didn’t I just make some weapons for them?

—--

We stopped in a few cities on the way out of the Vaun Qieur Empire. Edithe wanted to drop by our given properties in the Capital city, but unfortunately it was close to the northeastern end of the empire. We were headed in the opposite direction, to the west.

So, we would only claim our lands later. Edithe was simply happy that she now had a last name. I didn’t get what it meant, and she explained.

“It means a lot, for a commoner like me. I grew up without a father, Salvos. Only my mother looked after me. And she was a prostitute. A nameless whore in the slums of Viechester.”

“Isn’t that rude?”

“Not really. That’s how she used to refer to herself. Then she died. But now I am not just given land to call my own, but I can take on the title of a noble too? I, a commoner, became part of the nobility in the biggest empire in the world?”

She laughed, shaking her head.

“It’s like a dream come true for any girl!”

Speaking of dreams, since I leveled up in [Partial Mortality], I didn’t feel the overwhelming urge to fall asleep whenever I changed to a mortal. I still had the need to sleep. There was no change to the amount of time I needed to sleep as a ‘Human’. But I wouldn’t just flop over whenever I transformed.

Now it took an hour for the exhaustion to seep in and for my eyes to begin failing me. I wondered if I leveled the General Skill enough, would I be able to delay sleep for up to a day? Maybe even more?

But I’d have to sleep eventually. Because that was how you blended in with mortals.

And I tried my best to blend in. I ate their food, even if it was stale, but only when others were around. When I was on my own and hungry? I had a bag full of worms, flies, and other bugs saved up for some munching.

Daniel was disgusted by it. Edithe, not so much. Although she wouldn’t try a cockroach even when I offered her one.

Not a lot of things were happening in this journey. We were just… going back to Viechester. There, we’d split ways. Each of us on our own separate journeys. It was uneventful. But we were spending time together— kind of like a family.

But I had a surprise for them. I wasn’t idle, even if there wasn’t much to do on our trip. Whenever they weren’t paying attention to me, I’d practice my creation magic. So far, I have been using [Nebular Construct] to create Nebular Weapons. Each one, on their own, were Medium Grade. They lasted far longer than any weapon I created previously, the arrows I kept were still usable even after days passed.

Yet, the magic was waning. I knew it would dissipate eventually. I needed something that could last forever. The Nebular Weapons were like the Spear of Flames. They could maybe keep form for a few months. But it would disappear eventually. No— I wanted something better than that.

If that Demon with the crooked horn was capable of creating something as powerful of the Spear of Flames as only an Archdemon. Or, I assumed he was an Archdemon. Then I should be able to make something even better, right? Because I was Salvos.

I didn’t just use [Nebular Construct]. I experimented. [The Primordial Spark] was an amalgamation Skill of various other Skills including [Advanced Fire Creation]. It had to have retained some aspect of that Skill.

So, I used both Skills: [Nebular Construct] and [The Primordial Spark]. I used them together. First, I created a blueprint of what I wanted with [Nebular Construct], then I built over it with [The Primordial Spark]. The process of this weapon creation was not done in a day. Even if I excluded all the failed attempts which took up weeks of my time, the final product took a long time to finish and perfect.

It was like I was a smith, using the flames to heat the sword so it could be tempered. But instead of simply making it stronger, I wanted to make something that would never erode. Something that would last for as long as I lived.

General Skill [Advanced Mana Manipulation] Level Up!

[Advanced Mana Manipulation - Lvl. 7] -> [Advanced Mana Manipulation - Lvl. 8]

Experience is awarded for the leveling of a General Skill!

General Skill [Lesser Enhanced Wisdom] Level Up!

[Lesser Enhanced Wisdom - Lvl. 2] -> [Lesser Enhanced Wisdom - Lvl. 3]

Experience is awarded for the leveling of a General Skill!

General Skill [Lesser Enhanced Wisdom] Level Up!

[Lesser Enhanced Wisdom - Lvl. 3] -> [Lesser Enhanced Wisdom - Lvl. 4]

Experience is awarded for the leveling of a General Skill!

Class [Adept of the Fae] Level Up!

[Adept of the Fae - Lvl. 26] -> [Adept of the Fae - Lvl. 27]

Gained 2 Secondary Skill Points!

“Huh. So, General Skill experience is added to my Class.”

“Did you say something, Salvos?”

“Nope!”

We were far beyond the borders of the Vaun Qieur Empire now. We switched carriages a few times, no single carriage able to carry us all the way to the Sunmere Republic. We had just crossed through Nixa, entering the borders of the Sunmere Republic, when I decided to finally unveil my gifts to them.

“I have something to show the both of you.”

I spun around as we entered the fancy bedroom of the inn. They exchanged a glance, slightly wary of what I was hiding behind my back.

“Salvos—”

I ignored Daniel, instead revealing the weapons I had spent the past half a month creating.

“Ta-da!”

[Primordial Longsword: Medium Grade Weapon - A weapon created by Salvos, gifted to her companions. It can be enchanted, upgraded, and tempered just as any other weapon. Inflicts minor fire damage.]

They stared at it with wide eyes. Daniel picked up the longsword. It was made of metal throughout, down to the handles. The crossguard jutted out from the hilt like horns, twisted up into the air. The blade was lined with a gray, and the rest of it was a pure white.

“This is…”

He swung it once, and what almost seemed like a trail of black smoke followed behind it.

“You’re giving this to us?”

“I am!”

I nodded eagerly. I glanced over at Edithe who was inspecting the staff I had given her. It was very much like her old staff, except with a gray and white shape that seemed to coil into each other to the very tip of the staff.

[Primordial Staff: Medium Grade Weapon - A weapon created by Salvos, gifted to her companions. It can be enchanted, upgraded, and tempered just as any other weapon. Minor enhancement to fire magic.]

“You made this, Salvos?”

Edithe was baffled. I could see her eyes glazing over the intricate network of mana threads used to design the staff.

“Yep!”

“The amount of refinement behind it… it’s made out of magic, but it’s real. It would take decades for it to even begin to lose form. And it’s not even difficult to repair— you can bring it to an [Enchanter] to restore it whenever it starts to degrade.”

She glanced over at me, her mouth hanging open.

“You could sell this for hundreds of gold.”

“It’s for you.”

I shook my head, vehemently forcing it into her hands. She accepted it, still in shock.

“I—”

I hugged her. I tightly clung onto the red-haired woman— my companion— and spoke softly.

“Thank you, Edithe.”

Looking over at Daniel, I grabbed him and pulled him into the hug as well.

“You too. The both of you are my companions. You accept me for who I am, more than anyone else in the Mortal Realm. Thank you.”

They were surprised at first. They didn’t know how to react. But slowly, they accepted the hug as I continued.

“A part of me will be with the both of you, even when we separate, alright? When you’re fighting those jerks in the Iron Champions Company, I’ll be there with you, Edithe. When you’re killing those jerk [Cultists], I’ll be fighting by your side, Daniel. Don’t forget it.”

I paused, taking a deep breath. Then I exclaimed.

“And especially don’t die!”

They chuckled. Daniel shook his head as Edithe smiled. She lightly tapped me on the forehead.

“We should be the ones saying that to you!”