Bastard Homunculus: Reborn in the Corpse Pit

"Yeah, just like that...try flicking your wrist a bit more, that'll exert more force," Remarked Ravella, before cracking her whip across with a swift flick of her wrist to demonstrate.

"I don't think I can flick it any harder, it kinda hurts. I'm not sure I can wield this weapon properly, it's better off in your hands. It doesn't suit my Combat Template, anyway," Responded Lexia with a frown.

"Hey, don't be so pessimistic...you're getting the hang of it at an impressive pace. And the more you exert your wrists, the more flexible they'll get, so you have plenty of room of improvement. You're not going to master it overnight, so just keep working at it," Replied Ravella with a smile.

It was the 30th of November, 1918, a few days after Raven and Aster met with Jules to discuss the Undead King. The Irregulars were currently atop the Pearl Mountains, getting in some last minute training to prepare for the upcoming battle, since there was a strong possibility that they would need to get involved.

A couple of days ago, they'd discussed what to with the Relic Armament that Celia had acquired from the Knight she killed, Drote Amethyst.

While he was a Pulverizer, the weapon was so light that it was compatible with a Thrasher as well, but Ravella suggested that Lexia should try it out and see if she could wield it.

The others were doubtful but figured it was worth a try, and as it turned out, Lexia displayed some potential with it. It helped that it didn't require as much technical skill and finesse as a whip, so it didn't matter much that her wrists weren't as flexible as a Thrasher's.

That said, while training with her Assassin Combat Template, using throwing weapons was something she'd already worked on, so she did have a degree of flexibility in her wrists to begin with.

Still, it was undeniably a weapon that wasn't exactly the most natural fit to her Combat Template, so she had to make a few slight changes to the way she channeled her Mana through her body, slightly skewing away from the Assassin Template and creating a new, somewhat unique Template for herself, with an element of the Thrasher Template mixed with the Assassin Template.

"I suppose my progress could be worse, but at this rate, I won't be anywhere near good enough with this thing to use it in a real battle. And readjusting my Combat Template is so tricky...it isn't too late to go back to my purely Assassin Template, but if I keep this up for much longer, I'll be left with no choice but to master and adjust to this new Template.

More often than not, when a person tries to come up with and master a unique Combat Template, they end up with a Template that's less effective than if they'd gone with one of the standard Templates instead, that's why unique Templates are rarely ever attempted. It's basically a miracle when someone creates a unique Template for themselves that's stronger than, or even on par with, one of the standard Templates," Sighed Lexia wearily, starting to feel disheartened.

"That may be true, but looking at how much you've progressed in just a few days, I think this is worth the risk, I believe this unique Template you're attempting to adjust to will be worthwhile. Hm...oh, hey, I have an idea! Can't you make your wrists more flexible using your Bone Magic? Like, reducing the number of bones of making them less rigid or something?" Suggested Ravella with a gleam in her eyes.

"That's...actually a pretty solid idea. How did I not think of that?" Responded Lexia, feeling a bit more optimistic before she focused on the bones in her right wrist, starting to adjust them to try and make her wrist more flexible.

It took a few minutes of trial and error, but she eventually figured it out, before her eyes widened slightly as she rotated her wrist with much more fluidity and flexibility than she could before.

"Let's test it out, swing it at me," Ravella called out, before Lexia nodded and met her gaze, spinning the weapon around a couple of times to warm up.

In its default form, the chain of the weapon was one meter long, and the sphere had a diameter of twenty centimeters, with the spikes all over it each being five centimeters long.

The chain could extend upto ten meters, and the sphere expanded proportionally with the chain, upto a diameter of a hundred centimeters. The spikes also extended in proportion to the chain and sphere, with a maximum length of twenty-five centimeters.

Lexia then whipped the sphere forward with a sharp flick of her wrist while simultaneously running her Mana through the handle of the weapon, the chain rapidly extending as the sphere expanded, Ravella's eyes widening in alarm as it closed in on the left side of her head faster than she'd expected.

She quickly got down on all fours, narrowly evading it as the large, spiky metal ball whizzed past the top of her head, before shrinking as Lexia pulled it back while continuing to run Mana into it.

"Woah, that was amazing! That was way faster than before, I could barely react in time!"

"Yeah...I didn't expect it to make such a difference. Alright, then, I've made my decision...I'll continue pursuing this unique Template," Stated Lexia with a look of determination in her eyes...

Meanwhile, elsewhere on the Pearl Mountains...

"How about this!?" Exclaimed Raven, as he rapidly circled around Aster from above, before firing out his beams at the ground around him.

"Where are you aiming? Just because your attacks can't get through my Telekinetic Zone doesn't mean-...," Began Aster tauntingly, before trailing off as he realized what Raven was attempting, as his beams drilled a circle in the ground around Aster's zone.

He then rapidly swooped down, landing just outside the circle before driving his claws into it and pulled with all his strength, Aster's eyes widening as Raven lifted up the chunk of the ground that he'd carved through with his beams.

Raven then flung it away with a rapid spin using all his strength before Aster could get off, throwing him off the mountain before Aster quickly grabbed his body with his Telekinetic Zone and flew off the chunk of earth, which went spiraling down towards the forest below, a loud crash echoing out as it plummeted and hit the ground.

Aster let out a slight groan as he shook his head dizzily, his vision spinning around as he felt slightly nauseous.

"Tch, I thought that'd work better than it did," Grumbled Raven, as Aster flew back over.

"To be fair, if you'd done that before I figured out that I can use my Telekinetic Zone to fly, I would've fallen all the way down. Points for creativity, that was a smart move," Replied Aster with a wry smile.

"Don't patronize me, I-...," Began Raven dryly, before trailing off as he picked up Celia's scent barreling towards him from behind.

He quickly spun around, right in the nick of time before he caught her, her back thudding against his chest and causing him to stumble back a bit, barely maintaining his balance.

"Woah, you okay?"

"O-ow, my arms...thanks for catching me, Raven, I appreciate it. I really hate sparring against Tacitus...since he can nullify our Magic and sucks at pulling his punches, sparring sessions against him usually means him beating the shit out of you," She grumbled, her arms trembling in pain, right as Colt crashed on the ground a few meters to their left.

"Heh, yeah...that's exactly why he's my favorite person to spar against," He grinned, his body covered in deep bruises.

"I'd offer to heal you, but you probably don't want that, do you?" Sighed Raven, as he healed Celia.

"Hell no! Why would you even suggest that?"

Meanwhile, in the Capital...

"Thank you for meeting with me, you two. I appreciate it," Remarked Jules, as she took a seat.

"Come on, why so formal? I know we haven't seen much of each other in a while since you've been so busy ever since you became the Commander of the Knight Order, but you can always talk to me like you did before, you know," Responded the First Princess with a smile.

Lyra Diamond, the First Princess of the nation and next in line for the throne. She was in her early thirties, with long, silky, light blonde hair that went down to her waist, light purple eyes, a fair complexion, and she was slightly above average height, with a slender figure with large breasts.

"So, what's this about, little sis?" Inquired the third person in the meeting, the First Prince.

Krest Diamond, the oldest of the King's five children, he was in his mid-thirties, with medium length, scruffy blonde hair, green eyes, heavy stubble on his face, a fair complexion, and he was of about average height with an overweight build.

The King had a total of three wives, his Queens. Krest was the son of the first Queen, Lyra was the daughter of the second Queen, and Jules was the daughter of the first Queen. Siele, the Vice-Commander of the Knights, was the son of the third Queen, and Rione, the First Squad Captain, was the son of the second Queen.

"There's a certain matter I wanted to discuss, so I thought I'd ask the two of you about it, if that's okay," Replied Jules, as she glanced around at her older siblings.

"Still sounding kinda formal there, Jules. Just be yourself, isn't is exhausting to have to constantly act like that? I know it is for me, having to put on an act around father and the Nobles who agree with his way of doing things, but I don't need to, or want to, keep up that act around you," Sighed Lyra as she leaned back in her seat.

Outwardly, she always maintained an act that made it seem like she was of a similar mindset to the King when it came to the treatment of Commoners, but in reality she was a kind, caring person who couldn't stand the way the nation was being run.

So, at a young age, she resolved to change the nation from within and put a stop to the unfair treatment towards Commoners. And to that end, she'd secretly formed an alliance with the Pope, who agreed with her goal and helped ensure that she got the title of Crown Princess to be next in line to take over the throne once the current King retires.

The Royal siblings had been very close and tight knit when they were growing up, and Lyra, being the oldest after Krest, did her best to influence her younger siblings to prevent them from turning out like their father, which paid off, as it led to Jules becoming the Knight Commander and gave her the opportunity to lay the groundwork to support her sister's goal.

However, since the choice of the next ruler is completely upto the King, Lyra was careful not to give away her real goal, so she put on an act that gave off the impression that she looked down on Commoners as well.

Because he would definitely pick a different successor if he realized that it was all an act.

"Can't relate, sounds like a lot of work...it's much easier to just be yourself all the time," Shrugged Krest, as he opened a bag of chips and popped one into his mouth.

"Yeah, easy for you to say...unlike you, we don't laze around all day, doing nothing but eating and sleeping," Responded Jules dryly.

He had no interest in the throne or politics, and he had a strong aversion to exerting himself in any way. Most of the time, he was holed up in his room, lounging about aimlessly.

"You say that like it's an insult, but I don't see it that way at all...it's the best way to live, if you ask me. Life's short, so I'll live exactly how I want to, with no regard to what anyone thinks of me," He stated without hesitation.

"Anyway...let's get to the matter at hand. What do the two of you know about father's bastards?" Jules asked them.

"Only that they're all executed as soon as they're born. Why do you ask?" Responded Krest curiously.

"Do you know if there are any who managed to escape execution, somewhere between fifteen to twenty years ago or so?"

"Not that I know of. I mean, it's not like father would ever publicly acknowledge that he's impregnated women outside of our mothers, the Queens, so-...," Pointed out Lyra, before trailing off and going quiet for a moment as her brows furrowed.

"What is it? Did you think of something?" Inquired Jules hopefully.

"Maybe...I think it was about eighteen or nineteen years ago. There was a maid who disappeared from the castle...I remember her well, she was really friendly and nice. And now that I think about it, I remember that she was in father's room a lot. I must have been around twelve or thirteen when she disappeared, so I never thought much of that at the time, but...in hindsight, it's pretty obvious what she must have gone through," Realized Lyra with a grimace.

"Wait, I think I know who you're talking about. Was it the maid with those bright orange eyes?" Chimed in Krest.

"Yes, that's right! I remember thinking that her eyes were such a beautiful color," Nodded Lyra in response.

"Orange eyes? There's little doubt about it then, the woman they're talking about must be the twins' mother," Surmised Jules thoughtfully.

"Right, yeah...she was pretty hot, makes sense that father would've gone after her," Remarked Krest, as he tossed another chip into his mouth, before averting his gaze as his sisters glared at him.

"You're such a pig," Frowned Lyra disdainfully.

"Talk about disgusting," Nodded Jules in agreement.

"Hey, lay off, it's not like I said anything that isn't true."

"Some things are better off kept to yourself," Huffed Lyra with a shake of her head.

"Anyway, what brought this on? I doubt you just wanted some gossip, so what's this really about?" He asked Jules.

"Well, if I'm right...that maid, she disappeared from the castle because she noticed she was pregnant, and ran away to protect her unborn children. She successfully got away and gave birth to twins, a boy and a girl...both of whom are currently members of The Irregulars," She answered with a grimace.

"What? Are you sure about that?" Responded Lyra in surprise.

"Yes, I have little doubt that they possess Royal blood. The boy was put through a forbidden Ancient Magic Ritual which turned his body inhuman...I'm sure you two have heard of the Homunculus, right?"

"No, can't say I have," Krest shook his head in response.

"Of course you haven't, how would you know about anything that goes on when you're cooped up in your room all the time?" Sighed Lyra in exasperation.

"Back to what I was saying. The boy shares a resemblance to us and father, he has orange eyes and appeared to be in his late teens. And while I haven't seen the girl's face, a recent report from the Second Squad described her as a blonde young woman with orange eyes. I'm fairly certain that they're the children of father and the maid you two mentioned," Remarked Jules with a frown.

"If that's true, then that makes them our siblings...but in all likelihood, they must harbor a strong grudge against the Royal family, and I certainly wouldn't blame them for it," Responded Lyra quietly.

"I'm not sure that's entirely accurate...father's one thing, but I sensed no animosity towards me from the boy during our last encounter, he just seemed indifferent. He does harbor a deep hatred for the church, though, he made that very clear...not that I can blame him, considering what he was put through."

"If these twins are among The Irregulars, then...we're their enemies, right? If and when you run into them again, what will you do?" Lyra asked her.

"I...I don't know. I can't help but feel conflicted. If I ever end up having to fight them, I honestly have no idea what I would do..."