“I’ll have to thank Ripley later.”
There were a lot of prompts, some of them wanting to reward me with loot chests, but I canned down the urge to inspect, in order to meet up with the others. Although, I kind of hoped the boxes contained some foods, recipes, or booze. Perhaps a churro, or a pizza, or a dry-aged steak the way Pops used to make it. Okay, the last one I could probably do myself after creating a spot in the warehouse for it. Holy shit, was I hungry.
The hero’s party… the Cheat Force, Milia in her Cheat Force outfit, and the Wingstons were waiting for me in the middle of the forest at least a couple of miles from the small city. Gwendolyn and her husband were chatting quietly with the dryad.
What caught my attention was the sight of Ramon conversing animatedly in a fake voice with two people I’d never seen before. They appeared to be nobles, an elf boy and human girl, dressed in uniform robes. They were also magicians, though still learning according to the scan.
[Analysis.]
Simon Waterhand, Star Cadet of the Academy of Ascension. Race: Life elf. Friendly. Magician rank: 5th realm of the Initiates.
Luna Shimmings, Star Cadet of the Academy of Ascension. Race: human. Neutral. Magician rank: 4th realm of the Initiates.
I emerged from the shadows. They nearly jumped, and the boy had his hand on his chest as if having a heart attack.
“Wanda’s jibbing flibbering bottom!” the girl screamed.
“Who in Wanda’s spanked behind are you?” the boy asked.
I stared at them, wondering if their curses were the reason why this Wanda didn’t directly interact with the world. Seeing that no one broke their cover and Beakwing seemed to be hiding somewhere, I realized they were counting on me to get rid of these two.
“I am Raider,” I said, imitating the Lord Ruler’s calm and collected voice, though I wanted to die of embarrassment due to the edgelord nature of this ordeal. Unable to keep that up, I broke character. “What the hell are you two doing in the middle of the woods? Get out of here.”
Seeing the determination in their eyes and stubbornness, I raised my aura. Or so I wanted to, but stopped myself. Fighting the Lord Ruler took everything out of me. It would be idiotic to basically shout to him, Hey, I’m over here! Dumbass over here, and weakened too. So no, I kept it cool.
“Raider, we owe you an academy orientation,” the elf woman said. “We can discuss that while you pack your things. It’s going to be a long trip back, giving us plenty of time to catch you up.”
I stared at them and while they couldn’t see my face behind the mask, I was pretty damned sure they could at least sense my lack of amusement. The boy continued anyway, despite the dwindling momentum.
“We’ll need to get your measurements for the uniform,” he said. “Silver goes well with tall guys like you.” A flash of regret for his average height emerged in his eyes for a moment. “You may end up with star cadet uniforms like us or even something better, given how strong you are. All of that fame. Hey, could I be your friend?”
I looked at Ramon. He shrugged.
“They are a determined lot, if annoying,” he said. Thankfully, he didn’t appear to be leering at the woman. I had no intention of hearing out any pleas for her to come back with them so that he could regress to his womanizing habits. Assuming he got over them.
“Like I told your teacher, I have no intention of joining your school,” I said. “I’m too old for that shit.”
I waved off the student protests, patting Nuwa on the shoulder as I walked past her, mostly as a signal that her father was okay. Her posture showed relief.
Seeing one of the rewards, I knew I had to summon my wolf. Well, after getting rid of these damned kids.
“Kids,” I said as I walked over to them, ignoring their desperate sales pitch. It would’ve been appealing to any starry-eyed novice magic and perhaps even my apprentices. “I’ve got a trip to the city to set off on. It’s a two-week journey.” They stared at me in silence. “Perhaps give that academy offer to others who are interested.”
Placing my hand on their shoulders like we were old friends, I took them into the shadows with me. A few minutes later, we appeared at the gates of the city. Rather than be terrified, as they already squealed their surprise on the way here, the two stared around in bewilderment.
“We can’t scan you,” the elf student said. “But we can sense your power. The force of it. Just what are you, Sir Raider?”
“Just a man,” I said, patting his shoulder. “Sorry you wasted your time coming all this way, but I’m busy.”
Sensing magic coming from the human woman, I gave her a stern warning. “Don’t do something you’ll regret. Or you’ll be joining your Lord Ruler in the middle of that canyon.”
“Canyon?”
They spun to look at the gate, but upon turning back, I was gone. They’d certainly try to return to our gathering spot, maybe with backup, only to find no evidence that I ever existed.
I considered giving them a potion as a souvenir, tell them some encouraging words, but decided against it. One, I couldn’t risk anyone connecting the dots when my shop got big. Two, I didn’t want to reward them for being annoying. The woman had likely attempted some kind of binding or capture spell, believing they’d force me to go with them or meet with their headmaster. Or she sent out a signal. Whatever she did, I simply didn’t trust them.
We wasted no time meeting Beakwing deeper into the forest and taking off, after making sure we left no kind of trail. Their lightning horses weren’t too far and thanks to them, the entire Wingston family had rides. When the Lord Ruler made his signal known, accepting my favor, I’d escort them back. His bratty daughter and the Astral duke were the only people on the political side of things that I’d be wary of.
Accessing the lookout from home, I opted to teleport Wolverine to me. A holographic mental image of him in my lap signaled his transport, but just in case, I had Beakwing stop. The hero’s party continued forward after I gestured at them to keep moving.
[Waiting for Wolverine’s confirmation… Tagging along: Cheetara. This is non-negotiable.]
Her holographic blue image outline placed her on my shoulder.
[Wolverine has been notified and requests immediate transfer. Confirm. Yes or no?]
I did and just like that, my wolf and kitten were in my embrace. Since we took off our Cheat Force getup, I gave a surprised Milia a wide smile. Wolverine licked my face, tail wagging at seemingly light speed. Cheetara followed his lead, nestling against my face adorably.
“I missed you too,” I said. Sure, I was only gone for a few hours, but the spirit beasts were still quite young. Basically kids.
Milia didn’t get left out as they shared the same love to her seconds later.
“How is this possible?” Milia asked as she hugged Wolverine and Cheetara again.
I absently stroked Beakwing’s head as we took off again, homebound. There were a lot of prompts that I’d attend in a bit.
“Turns out the guard tower is a lot more than it seems,” I replied. “We’ve got to upgrade it as soon as possible.”
Milia nodded. “I mean, it bloody transports people. Of course we’ve got to upgrade it. This is amazing! What else can it transport?”
“Wolverine and Cheetara will have to show us when we get back,” I said. “They discovered its functions.”
Cheetara meowed. I accepted her into my arms, patting her head.
“Keep looking after her, Wolverine. I’m proud of you.”
It was still baffling that the pets could understand me or sense my emotions, as Wolverine nearly went nuts with excitement. Soon, both pets rested in my arms.
Milia rested her head on my shoulder, and all felt right.
When we were about five minutes from our home, I caved into the prompts, as some of them began to flash, really wanting my attention. The first one confused and surprised me.
[The Lord Ruler has declared you a friend of the kingdom. You are welcomed and guards will not attack you.]
[You are now known as a Lord Ruler Select, an official contestant for the crown. Fortunately for you, only the name Raider has been added to the list, therefore you as Nate are not obligated to participate in the battle for the crown.]
[For fighting the Lord Ruler to a standstill, despite all odds being against you, and ending up as a friend of the kingdom, you’ve earned 50,000 spirit coins and 1 merit. Warning! You can only have 5 merits. It is a miracle you have 1, considering your opening circumstances and your anti-hero stance. Something may happen upon collecting 5 merits…]
[Current spirit coins: 122,901. Wow! A small fortune. Current merits: 3 of 5. You cannot spend merits at this time. Tsk, tsk. If only you would’ve chosen the supreme hero class. But the Philosopher’s Stone is still the next best thing.]
[You received 5 chests. Two B-ranked, two A-ranked, and one S-ranked chest.]
[Pending upgrade for Wolverine. You must land for this. He must also meditate in the spiritual room at least once.]
[Cheetara has learned Shining Realm Crushing Blast. Warning! You may want to build a proper training area for the kitten. When she grows up into a cat, this won’t be necessary. You let your Wolf… teach your kitten this dangerous attack. What is wrong with you?]
[You received a Lover’s chest.]
[You received a Pixie chest. You may want to have Opal around upon opening this.]
[You received 5 heavenly spirit coins. Total number of heavenly spirit coins: 8.]
This was a lot to open. How the hell would I explain any of this to Milia?
Down below, I noticed Alexander give a fist-to-chest salute as we descended. The hero’s party stopped at the farm, as well.
With the situation already explained to the Wingston family, they’d simply relax for the rest of the day and be escorted back tomorrow. Damn, being out in the sticks made me realize we either needed to find a messenger boy or get a newspaper service.
