[Chapter 201] Might As Well Ask

The young man glances to his left with an aura of prowess, as if being acknowledged was a privilege. He glances back at the queen and grows curious of the person in the Alpha Pillar's grasp, although his hands are slightly shaking. Just glancing at such a ferocious creature can make him tremble, but it eases him slightly knowing that it is under control of his new ally.

But suddenly, his worry turns into a smile at Soca's face, "Soca!" But his happiness is quickly diminished as a look of worry reappears on his face. "Are you alright?!"

She winces in pain as she glances over at him, "Shut u-" before she can even finish the last word, the Alpha Pillar suddenly squeezes even tighter.

"Yes, everything is alright. She is being punished for her unacceptable attitude but will return to her room in time, do not worry." Says the queen as she stares down at Soca's arranged fiancé.

He nervously swipes his long hair out of the way before bowing, "Yes, Queen Novar."

He looks at Soca with eyes full of worry one last time before slowly turning around, walking out of the room.

Amelia, Emily, and Lana immediately look back at the queen who is sitting there, her fingers thrumming against the now cracked arm rest.

"We will patiently wait for this supposed savior of yours to arrive, then we will see if he is what you make him out to be."

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Meanwhile, somewhere else in Gream's Tipping Delight.

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*Ping!*

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Mana container reforming....using shadow mana as compensation...

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The message sits in front of my view as I sit cross legged on my bed, refining my mana core as I wait for time to pass.

'I wonder what Winter is doing...is she hanging with her family? Is she keeping Jack company? Is she training? Is she feeding Blossom?' I smile at the memory of the six legged cat, her size matching mine.

The guard watches me curiously as he asks, "Do you mind answering my query?"

I snap back to reality before nodding, seeing no reason not to. "Go ahead."

"What are you doing exactly sir?"

'Sir?' I ask myself as I open my eyes, looking at the guard whom's face is illuminated by a blue crystal in the middle of the ceiling. Now that I get a closer look, he has younger facial features and an even younger demeanor, his height being about 5'3ft tall.

'He probably thinks I am some older man due to my size, stature, and mask.' I shrug it off.

"I am refining my mana core." I add as I simply shrug his response off.

He nods as he opens up a book that he pulled from somewhere. The cover is worn to barely being called a cover, the image long gone in the book's past.

We sit in the silence for a while, neither of us speaking as we respectfully focus on our own things.

After about 2 hours, I hear a knocking on the door. I deactivate 'Mana Container Reforming Technique' and open the door in front of me. I swiftly look around but see no one around me, causing me to step out to see if anyone is in the hall. However, a simple bump causes me to realize there is a person in front of me, and a powerful one at that compared to others. She is wearing a hood which she swiftly pulls back to reveal her Amber scales and purple eyes.

I recognize her immediately as I had encountered her on the surface, the Royal guard we had met. Although I didn't notice her as she was hunched over and had shrunken under my field of vision when all my senses are down. I look down at her as she quickly rights herself, having been unexpectedly knocked into me full force. She looks up at me as she tries to hide the fluster on her face, "The queen requests that you come to the palace immediately."

I think for a moment before nodding, their hospitality having been excellent. I turn towards the guard who is now a few feet behind me, his book already gone from his hands.

I shrug as I glance around the room for a few seconds, checking to see if I forgot anything. Seeing as I haven't, I wave goodbye to the guard as I simply state, "Lead the way!"

She nods as she pulls back up the hoodie covering her face, concealing her scales, face, and body figure. We leave the tavern and begin to walk down the sidewalk, passing by people who, even though a lot less, still point out my odd outfit. After all, jeans don't seem to have been invented in this area of the world yet.

Kids run past us as fathers and mothers chat away. But the best pet of my trip is 2 events that happened, a guy getting dumped, and another being rejected. Definitely a trip worth going on.

I glance over at the Royal guard as I remember the scene from last night.

'What was that anyway?' I ask myself before decidedly asking the lady herself.

I clear my throat before asking, "When we were renting a room at the tavern, the guard had used your name which had caused the drunk men to mess with all the tables and chairs...what was that about?"

She glances over at me as a cute snicker escapes her lips. After silently walking for a few seconds, she sees no harm in explaining.

"It's a running joke from my first night visiting there for a drink. I had an argument with a group of guys that if I could stack tables faster than they could, they were paying for all my drinks while I would pay for all of theirs if I lost. Let's just say I had too many drinks that night and so did they, so they accepted. Low and behold, I won and was named the Table Stacking Master."

"..."