NOVEL NEXT Chapter 25: Unveiling
--[a small gift in advance]--
As Zandor discussed telepathically with Sarasvi, Lua was increasingly less nervous. If she had offended the god in front of her, her life would already be over; the fact that she was still breathing meant that any offense had been forgiven.
“Urgh, huh? Where am I?” Lua heard her sister waking up beside her.
“Irv!!! Are you okay?” Lua asked her sister with concern, not caring much about the noble etiquette, and even less about the divine being who had saved her.
“Sister Lua? What happened, where are the bad guys? And who is that young man?” Irv asked while rubbing her eyes.
“He saved us from the 'bad guys,' his name is... well,” Lua didn’t know what to tell her sister; she didn’t want to lie, but she also didn’t want to offend the god with a youthful appearance. What if he preferred to act from the shadows? Or maybe he was a narcissist. These questions kept swirling in her mind along with other thoughts.
“It seems that introductions are a bit late, you can refer to me as… Zandor,” Zandor commented while thinking of the name from his old life.
“Oh, thank you so much for saving us, Mr. Zandor,” Irv said, bowing to her benefactor.
-Oh, my heart can’t handle such cuteness- Zandor thought, trying to maintain a stoic expression. “Well, since I’ve introduced myself, it would be ideal for you to do the same, don’t you think?”
“Oh, yes, sorry for the late introduction. My name is Lua, and this is my sister Irv. We are daughters of Duke Florwyn of Lilienhurst, and we were heading to the SilverCrow Academy of Mages to enroll.”
“My sister has also just come of age and is at the marrying age,” Irv commented cheerfully, causing Lua to blush.
“I-Irv!! What are you saying now?” Lua spoke nervously, even though the young man in front of her was quite handsome and her type, he was still a god, although she didn’t know what kind.
“What do you think? I’m looking for a worthy husband for you; so far you’ve rejected all the suitors father has shown you. If you keep this up, you’ll end up an old maid,” Irv commented confidently.
Oh my god, girl!! Who taught you to speak like that? Apologies, Mr. Zandor, she doesn’t know what she’s saying!!
“HAHAHA, it’s been a while since I laughed like this. -It’s been a while since I had a somewhat normal conversation- How far is this 'SilverCrow Academy of Mages' from our current location?”
“Wait a moment,” Lua closed her eyes for a moment, and immediately a faint light emerged from her hands and materialized into a map.
-Oh, so they also have an inventory- Zandor thought, curious to see what else they had. It was no problem for him to take a look at Lua’s inventory. He saw that she had various trinkets, clothes, specifically dresses, a couple of weapons, 4 shelves full of books, and… a stack of heart-shaped letters?? Zandor pretended he hadn’t seen that. He also had an inventory, obviously upgraded to the maximum being a divine being, courtesy of the Espher.
“Girl, your inventory is extensive, which doesn’t match your level. What item are you using as an 'enhancer'?” Zandor inquired. Lua’s inventory space would be that of a person who had reached at least Level 40. Since she was Level 15, it was impossible.
“Oh, I’m surprised you discovered it with the camouflage function,” Lua said, though she only thought the last part.
“This bracelet was a gift from Count Wander at a banquet after I was admitted to the SilverCrow Academy. He said it would help me catch up with the other students.”
“Let me see it for a moment, will you?” Zandor commented with some seriousness as his eyes had a slight purple glow around his irises.
“Here you go, I don’t understand what you would want it for—” Lua didn’t finish the sentence before she saw Zandor destroy the bracelet with one hand in a violet flame.
“Perhaps that count hides more secrets than he lets on, girl. This bracelet had 2 additional enchantments; the camouflage also served to make you unaware of it.”
“The first was a permanence curse; the object would return to your wrist if you moved more than 5 meters away from it. The second should worry you; it was a tracking one. The 2 elves who were chasing you also had a similar one, observe,” Zandor explained as he brought out the bracelet from one of the elves from his inventory.
“B-but why? I’ve known Count Winder since I have memory, he’s been my father’s friend for 20 years!!!!!”
“Maybe it was in case we got lost…” Irv spoke nervously.
“I don’t see it that way, little one. Frankly, all this noble drama seems irrelevant to me; I left politics behind a long time ago. But anyway, as a thank you for showing me something interesting, I’ll make you a similar one.” Zandor replied as he took out a hammer, a bar of Obsidrill, and a chisel from his inventory.
“Hmmm, a bracelet is practical and portable, but it lacks efficiency in terms of protection. Plus, it’s easy to steal or lose. It’s more logical to design a bracer with retractable functions to enhance its defensive capacity. It will also need a core to activate runes that improve the user’s perception. An appropriate core would be one of the antlers of the Zarcalods deer, or perhaps the eyes of the Magferacelis eagle, which would enhance its agility and reflexes. Maybe add a slight short-range teleportation spell for combat… Argh, so many good ideas!! Oh, and I must also consider its level. A very powerful item in the hands of a girl under 20 years old and at Level 15 would raise many questions about how she got it… although, I could ask Sylvan for a favor, he owes me for not coming to see me. I think that will be enough… right, also a camouflage function to avoid inspections and potential thieves.”
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[RELEVANT DATA]
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Enhancer:
A natural or manufactured item with the quality of providing a significant improvement to one or more attributes of the bearer. Items can be found in areas with a concentration of Mana, in the form of pearls with a grayish tone, or artificially crafted by humanoids. The Dryad race has abilities that grant a type of temporary enhancer to objects, though the object eventually loses its durability, becoming obsolete.
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Magferacelis Bird:
The Magferacelis is a formidable eagle with exceptional combat skills. It resides in mountains, barren areas, or deserts, adapting its grayish-silver plumage to stand out in deserts and camouflage in the mountains. Its speed increases as a fight prolongs, and it uses magnetic fields to deflect projectiles and recover its armored feathers, which it throws as weapons. It has an advanced vision system that allows it to detect minimal variations in its environment with high precision, improving its ability to anticipate and dodge attacks.
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Obsidrill:
Description: A dark and dense mineral with a rough texture and matte black color, with deep blue veins reflecting light in an enigmatic pattern.
Properties: Absorbs mana from its surroundings and can be used as a battery to store magical energy. It is lightweight compared to its density and highly resistant to magical impacts.
Location: Found in deep and dark mines, away from sunlight, where volcanic obsidian dragons dwell. These dragons absorb the present mana with their mere presence and replace it with their mana-debilitating sulfur, creating an extremely hostile environment for those unprepared.
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