Chapter 44: Origins of Saffa, Clovelle, and Fraisea
"So you know about their parents?" Ainen was surprised.
Saffa, Clovelle, and Fraisea appeared in mini-forms, one on his head, one on his left shoulder, and the last one on his right shoulder.
All of them were looking at Irnia, their eyes curious.
'Master, she smells like my mother,' Saffa said, her tail wagging.
'She…was close to our mother physically recently,' Clovelle blinked, focused on Irnia.
'This smell, we can never forget, Master.' Fraisea's paw grabbed Ainen's hair. 'We have smelled it for two years while inside our mother's belly.'
As soon as the foxes appeared, Irnia's eyes trembled intensely.
'W-what…WHAT?!'
"Without a doubt, these cubs' bloodline has a direct connection to Southern Mountain's Nightrift clan. I, for one, know that the Emperor's son brought a fox named Ruoin over a year ago from Star Heaven Mountain."
"Then this makes this a bit complicated." Lilian wryly smiled.
"Why are they here?" Yelvina was puzzled.
"No idea." Lilian shook her head. "That's a mystery."
"I just found them here in this forest." Ainen wryly smiled. "I was cooking food, and they came stumbling through the bushes. Cute fellows."
"Young Ainen, these cute fellows are daughters of a King-rank beastfolk, whose father is an Emperor-rank powerhouse, and they have a long-standing legacy. These girls are direct descendants of a big clan." Raashik dryly said. "And with them here, it makes things a bit tricky."
'Damn. You girls are princesses, eh?'
"I heard Southern Mountain is at war right now," Lilian said, curious. "Could something have happened there that caused the three of them to be here? After all, Nightrift clan's beastfolks have a high affinity for the Space element."
"Indeed. But the fox was supposed to be in Star Heaven Mountain. Due to our deals with Southern Mountain, it was one of our parties that escorted her there several months ago."
Yelvina was confused. "Moreover, the wolf is supposed to be in battle against those Orcs right now. It looks like I'll have to investigate the Star Heaven Mountain and see what happened to Ruoin."
'Girls, I will reunite you with your family, but it seems we'll have to wait. They will have to investigate first.' Ainen said to the foxes.
Irnia, who was standing beside Yelvina, was sweating buckets.
'Damn it! What kind of bullshit is this?! Why did he have to get the cubs and not anyone else? Fuck.'
Irnia felt that the chances of making Mistbound Magic Tower help her kingdom protect against the wolf were lower!
And if Ainen had entered Mistbound Magic Tower, the chance would definitly turn zero!
'Should I tell Master still, knowing that this bastard can potentially become Mistbound Magic Tower's member in the future?'
Irnia felt that her Master would favor Ainen more and would refuse to protect her Kingdom.
'Yeah, nothing can be done. I just have to give up, Maurin. He has to take responsibility and die at the wolf's hands.'
'I'll tell Master about this. She can surely arrange this and make sure that the wolf only kills Maurin and doesn't wreak havoc in the Kingdom.'
"Still, no. You cannot enter right now. The labyrinth also has a ranking system, but it only activates when more than 100 people enter inside, and it only starts counting everyone's points after that, so everyone will enter in the morning when all parties are here."
"Oh…sounds interesting. Guess I'll train and become more powerful in the meantime."
Ainen took out his restaurant.
"Why are you going there?"
"In the Kitchen. I feel more clever there." Ainen answered with a chuckle before looking at the camp. "You two, come on in."
Ron and Syl rushed out of the camp and entered the kitchen under everyone's speechless expressions.
"How are they fitting in that small wagon?" Yelvina muttered. "Could it be an artifact?"
"Apparently, it came with his class." Lilian nodded. "For a chef, a restaurant."
Yelvina blinked. "That's unique even among S-rank classes."
"Indeed."
'Master, I have to tell you something important.' Irnia relayed to Yelvina.
"Well then, we'll take our leave," Yelvina said and turned around. "Naturally, I've brought some Adept and Ascendant-rank members with me to enter the Labyrinth. If you want to call your members, we can have an external competition with extra rewards."
"Sounds good. I'll call them."
…
Meanwhile, Ainen entered the restaurant and started cooking.
Not food, of course.
He wanted to start nurturing weapons in his Arsenal of Arcane.
'First, I want a bomb.'
Ainen started thinking.
'A very strong bomb that can house tons of power.'
'That video…I remember those drop-shaped glass pieces were so tough, they bent and dented into the metal when pressed with a high-pressure hydraulic machine, and it only broke when the pressure hit almost thirty thousand kilograms!'
Ainen remembered the video. His memory was being freshened.
'It was rapid cooling of the glass, causing the exterior to solidify and cool quickly while the interior remains molten and hot.'
'I can just eject heat with my control to cool it rapidly.'
'If I compress crazy power into that glass and let my new innate talent nurture it with various stuff, it would surely explode magnificently.'
'I should be able to make that type of glass, or better!'
For starters, he created a glass based on the video he remembered. He stumbled for the first five minutes, but then got it eventually.
With his fine control of Fire, he was more precise than a machine, and conjured a very fine palm-sized drop with a finger-length tail.
No matter how much he punched, hammered, or attacked this palm-sized drop, it didn't break. He tried his full power, but nothing happened.
However, just a flick of his finger on that tail, and the entire glass shattered into fine powder.
Ainen created another one and placed it in his Arsenal of Arcane before feeding it 1000 Mana worth of fire energy, compressing it inside.
'Done.'
From now on, he would add various fire-elemental and lightning-elemental resources inside to nurture this bomb.
And if things went south someday, he would nuke the shit.
"Alright, since we are going into the Labyrinth in the morning, let's sleep."
Ainen snapped his finger, transforming the kitchen into a bedroom with a comfy bed.
Since whatever he imagined could be created in this Limitless Kitchen, it was easy.
While Ainen and the gang rested, Irnia in the other camp was confiding in Yelvina about the truth of the matter regarding the cubs.
"What..what did you say?"