Jonathan A Countyman
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Chapter Ten Leaving Home
🕑 Added 2022-12-28 19:30:01 +0000 UTCLily watched as her father loaded her bed into the wagon. Yesterday she had blown up the lake, and mom told her to pack. So she had packed a bag for an extended trip. Only for Mom to suddenly start her on packing her entire room. This didn’t quite seem right. It was a quest to the borderlands. Why the hell were they taking the entire house with them? Well, everything in it anyway. Dad’s workshop, her mother’s books, all their clothes, the kitchen, the tables and chairs. Mom and Dad had worked through the night, even hired a couple of extra hands to pack the whole house. What on Earth.. No scratch that, what on Solkira was going on?
Suddenly she heard a voice from behind, “Come on sweetie, stop standing around and help us pack. We need to be gone by noon at the earliest if we are to keep to my schedule.”
She looked back to see her mother carrying a crate full of spell books, and asked, “Why are we packing the whole house? I thought we would be gone for a little bit, and then come back.”
Ivy scoffed, and then pointed at the lakefront, “After what you did? Absolutely not. I’m sorry sweetie, we can’t come back.”
“Why not?!” she pouted.
Ivy let out a breath, “I’ll tell you when you are older sweetie. Not now.”
Lily frowned, and then recalled Mom mentioned someone called Zemoria yesterday. “Does it have something to do with this Zemoria figure you were muttering about yesterday?”
Ivy looked away.
Lily smiled, “I knew it! It does! Who are they? Why are you running from them?”
“Trust me, sweetie, you are better off not knowing. Now hurry up and help us pack, we need to get moving. The sooner the better. I don’t want to be here when Zemoria shows up to investigate your mess, okay sweetie?”
“Will the Village be okay?”
Ivy smiled awkwardly, “Mostly. Zemoria won’t hurt anyone, but the village won’t be the same after she visits.”
Lily was still curious, but her mother shut down further questions, and directed her to pack. Although not without leaving some odd comments. “By the way, if Zemoria does ever find us, run. Don’t let her catch you. It would be bad enough if that old dragon catches me, but if she gets you...” Mom had trailed off with that, but she had the impression it wasn’t anything good.
Lily spent most of the morning packing. A few people from the village even came over to help, and she got to say goodbye to her friends. Although she only had two, a couple of girls about her age. Lily had a feeling she wasn’t going to see them again, but at least she had only known them a short time. From her memories she knew that her family tended to keep to itself. They may have been here for her whole second life, but she had the impression they were outsiders.
Now she had to wonder. What happened to her mother in the past? Why was she afraid of this Zemoria figure? All questions she had a feeling Mom didn’t want to answer. She made a mental note to find out. Perhaps dad could answer a few of these questions? Although she figured it might be best to wait until they were on the road. As Mom was really pushing for them to get a move on. Lily made a mental note to be far more careful with her big spells. If Mom would freak out like this every time she uses one, still it was nice to know she had a trump card like that in her pocket.
Another thing she noticed were their draft animals. Back on Earth people had used a variety of different choices such as horses, oxen, and donkeys. Often depending on what is available in their region. Of course in the modern world, tractors were often an option, but most families couldn’t really afford them. Not where she lived anyway. Things were different down south where more industry existed. It didn’t help that most industrial goods required parts that had to be shipped in from off-world. Regardless where the family had a tractor or a horse, it had always taken a certain form. Instead of those, she found her family was using a large bird-like creature with a plump scale-covered body, large wings, and a strong looking beak. As for its legs, they vaguely resembled that of an ostrich, albeit much stronger looking. In fact, these Stalpeks looked very strong, and they moved quickly. Apparently they weren’t very good flyers, but they were excellent runners, and well-suited to the rough terrain of a forest.
The wagon was also designed with the forest in mind. It would help them make good speed along the forest roads even if they weren’t well maintained. Before she knew it, her home was packed up, anything they could not take was sold to the village, and they were on their way.
Lily shifted forward and settled onto the front seat of the wagon next to her father. Mom was with the two adventurers, and not in the wagon. Now seemed like a good time to ask, “so who is this Zemoria figure that Mom seems so scared of?”
He sighed, “You heard about that did you sweetie?”
She nodded, “Yeah but who is she?”
He looked around, “Don’t tell your mother I said anything okay sweetie?”
Lily nodded, “I promise, I won’t tell her.
“Alright, I can’t tell you much, but I can tell you a bit of what I know. Zemoria is one of the great dragons, a Nature dragon as I recall, and a very old one at that. Your mother once had a relationship with her, one that... soured before I met her. I’m afraid I don’t know all the details on that, or what their relationship was. From what I do know I understand that Zemoria is somewhat... irate with your mother. Frankly when dealing with angry dragons you have only two options. You either stay out of sight, and hope they forget about you, or you appease them.”
Lily frowned, “Why not fight?”
“Cause that is suicide. Dragons are no joke, most of them have high levels, triple digit high. Their scales make a potent armor, they have extremely strong magical shields, and powerful magical abilities. It takes an army of champions to bring just one down, and that is with the weaker ones. Zemoria is by no means a weak dragon, she is one of the strongest with a level close to ascension.”
Lily cocked her head to the side, as her face scrunched up in thought, “Close to ascension?”
He shifted on the seat, “Godhood. It’s rare but every once in a while the truly talented can reach the coveted level of 1000 and ascend to the ranks of the gods. The last recorded ascension was the God Aurous. Which reminds me, if you encounter any of his followers, go the other way.”
She blinked, “Level one thousand? People can get that high?”
He sighed, “Some rare individuals do, but it’s not easy. Reaching level one hundred is hard enough, for many that can be the goal of a lifetime. Reaching the ultimate level of a thousand? That is a dream, but if anyone in our family can do it, it would likely be you.”
Lily gave him a look, “Me why?”
Her Father just chuckled, “A god chose you as his champion. Champions without exception have always proven to be blessed with strong traits, superior abilities, and a talent to grow more quickly than others. As such it’s not difficult for a champion to reach level one hundred, reaching a thousand is still a challenge. Also I should point out that one out of every ten champions ascends to become a subordinate god under the god that chose them. So Erosi must have seen something in you if he chose you.”
She looked up, and wondered. Erosi had offered to reincarnate her if she agreed to be his champion. He had even given her a family, and she had all the memories of being here for eight years. It was a question, what did that god see in her? What was she expected to do? After blowing up the lakefront she felt powerful, and compared to others at her level she was overpowered. Yet how well would she stack up against a dragon that was nearly level one thousand? Mom was afraid of it, and mom had so many more levels. She also knew mom was strong. It painted a picture. Perhaps they were right, they could not fight Zemoria. Lily decided to consider her a force of nature. You didn’t fight the storm, you got out of its way, and hunkered down. That explained why mom did not want to stick around.
Her father focused his attention on the road, and now that she thought about it, she had a few notifications she had not reviewed. An epically long one actually, but she condensed it to the important ones.
Kills levels 1-5: 22479
Kills Levels 5-15: 479
Kills Levels 15-20: 3
Level up! x7
Notice, due to use of War Magic experience totals reduced
Skill up! War magic is now Initiate Grade D
Skill up! Infernal Magic is now Apprentice Grade E
Lily was tempted to check her new status, and pulled it up for a look.
Name: Lily Thorn
Gender: Female
Race: Elf
Level: 12
Age: 8
Health: 100% (Perfect Health)
Class: Dark Champion
Shields: 9600/9600
Subclass: Dimensional War Mage
Mana: 9600/9600
Titles: Erosi’s Champion
“Hey, um how good is eight hundred shield and mana points per level?”
He blinked, “well for a mage that is extremely good, especially at your level. I didn’t take a magic class so I don’t have access to a shield, but as an elf I do get a decent amount of mana, and know a few spells. I get about fifty points of mana each level. As for your mother, she has an advanced class that gives her four hundred mana per level, which is obviously better.”
“I see, what is considered normal?”
“It varies depending on species. We elves get more mana per level than say a human or a dwarf. We learn magic more easily, and have a natural proficiency towards certain classes. Not to mention we are more at home in the forest, and we tend to learn the bow more easily than other races.”
“I see.”
“Anyway, it’s rare to get more than a hundred points without a class. With a class you can obviously get a lot more. You’ve got a really good class if you are getting eight hundred a level. Just keep in mind that mana isn’t everything. Make sure to work on your skills, they matter much more than a few levels. Traits are good too, but I wouldn’t focus on them. Focus on skills.”
She nodded, and mentally noted down her father’s advice.
Meanwhile, Queen Eriko Stormwind read over the new quest they were about to start posting at the various adventurer’s guilds in the kingdom. Every town had their own guild which reported to the Royal guild here in the capital. Once approved this quest would be sent to the royal guild who would then send it to the various guilds under them.
She looked over it and deemed it suitable. The purpose of the quest was to get additional personnel out there looking for the princess. As troublesome as her being missing was, it was not something they could hide. Not to mention she wanted her daughter back, or at the very least wanted to know that she was safe and sound.
It irked her to no end that the only sign they had found of her was her bag, and her clothes left abandoned at an old shrine. It left her wondering what exactly happened to her after she ran after those bandits. As for who the bandits were, that was another mystery that they had no answer for. Not yet anyway, Eriko already had people investigating that matter. It was only a matter of time before they knew what really happened. Hopefully, the answer would also reveal what happened to her daughter. The queen promised herself that she would find out. She would find her daughter.
