Chapter 77

Previously in NWC-

Reno and Luna meet the priest of the church of Mixzys, Donny. Donny tells them stories about the mayor's youth as well as his own. Reno discovers that the necklace given to him by the mayor was made using a piece of rope that once held the mayor's wife's wedding dress together. Luna has an emotional episode as a result of meeting someone who still believes in her as a goddess, even if they don't know it's her...

They arrive at their destination, knocking on Lyn's door. CeCe answers the door, her appearance slightly disheveled. "Oh, hey guys! What's up, need something?" She scratches her head which makes her hair even more disheveled.

"Just came to see if you two figured out a game plan for tomorrow."

CeCe shrugs her shoulders. "You mean convincing the town? It'll be fine!" She chuckles, not a care in the world.

Reno sighs, shaking his head and putting his hands on his hips. He turns to Luna and gives her an understanding look. "I'm starting to see why you get annoyed with me sometimes."

Luna nods her head, crossing her arms. "It's about time you started seeing things my way!"

Reno turns back to CeCe, giving her a pleading look. "Look, this is going to sound extremely selfish, and I embrace it wholeheartedly. I really want to go to the capitol, so please can you take things more seriously?"

CeCe flashes Reno a toothy smile accompanied by a glistening thumbs up. "Don't you worry about a thing! I'm one of the best merchants out there! I'm more than capable of convincing the town!"

Reno picks up a slight scent of alcohol coming from inside the building. He turns to Luna and whispers. "What time is it?"

Luna is confused at first, but she ends up answering. "Roughly 1500. Why do you ask?"

Reno turns back to CeCe and speaks slowly. "Hey, CeCe! How many fingers am I holding up?" Reno puts up two fingers and holds them close to his body.

CeCe giggles, shaking her head. "Oh Reno, you and your silly games! You're obviously holding up four!"

Reno's face drops with disbelief. "Good lord! She's pregaming it at 3 pm?!" Reno looks behind CeCe to see Lyn laying on her couch, also drunk. "What the hell are you two doing?!"

CeCe lazily slaps a hand on Reno's shoulder, looking up at him with a dumb smile. "Can you really blame us? It's not like this town has anything to do in it!"

Reno goes to say something, but quickly realizes the truth to her statement. "Well, while that is true, surely there's at least one way you can have fun without drinking alcohol?"

CeCe shoves her index finger into Reno's lips, shushing him. "Shhhh~. She slowly continues to shush him while closing the door, taking her hand off of Reno to fully close the door."

Reno and Luna look at each other in bewilderment. Finally, Luna breaks the silence. "I… suppose we'll let them have their fun?"

Reno shakes his head, sighing with nervousness. "I swear if they show up tomorrow with a damn hangover I'm going to lose it." They leave Lyn's house, making their way back to the FTG. "Who'd have thought that CeCe couldn't hold her alcohol? I couldn't smell much on her until she was right in front of me, so I don't think she was drinking too much." Reno shakes his head, scoffing as if he still wasn't able to believe it. "3 PM pre-gaming should be illegal." They arrive back at the barn, climbing up to meet Medusa.

"Reno, Luna!" Medusa hugs both of them with her vines, squeezing them together. After she's had her fill of hugging, she lets go of them, smiling brightly.

Reno chuckles, brushing himself off. "Yes, yes, we're home!" He rubs Medusa's head and sits down, turning to Luna. "Well, we got the bag we need. We can't do much until tomorrow I guess." They decide to idle the rest of the day away, making their own plans for when they get to the capitol. "Have you ever been to the capitol, Luna?"

"Truth be told, I may have but simply forgotten. I've been to many places over the span of my life, to remember them all would be impossible. I may have been to the Rosaire kingdom before it became what it is today, but from the sounds of it things will be impossible to recognize."

Reno looks at Luna, taking in her extremely youthful appearance. "Hmm…"

Luna tilts her head, giving Reno a curious look. "What's wrong? Is there something on my face?"

Reno shakes his head, shrugging his shoulders. 'No, no. I'm just a bit curious about something?"

"What is bothering you?"

"Well, since you asked. How old are you?"

Luna's face sours. Her eyes narrow as she glares at Reno with annoyance. "Why does that matter? I'm as youthful as ever."

"Geez, I'm just asking. No need to get so defensive. Besides, whatever happened to that whole thing about trusting each other?"

Luna's angry expression falters, turning to one of nervousness. "I suppose you're correct on that." She thinks for a moment before her shoulders drop. "Fine, I'll tell you. I don't know the exact number, but I'm 1,000, plus or minus up to 50 years."

"950 TO 1,050?!" Reno's eyes widen and bulge slightly at the pure disbelief.

Luna's expression sours once more, her frown growing. "Rude! I don't know how your universe works, but my age is nothing more than a testament to my magical abilities!"

"In my universe most people don't even like to be 80, let alone ONE THOUSAND!"

"Well, in this universe age isn't much more than a number in terms of youth. As I said, I'm just as youthful as ever. The stronger one's soul, the more mana they can handle. The more mana they can handle, the longer they live. If you meet someone with as much experience as me then you'd better behave yourself!"

"Let me get this straight. The older you are, is it just a way to gauge someone's power?"

"In a sense, yes. There is obviously the natural lifespan of a race, but that lifespan is highly dictated by genetics. Some races are genetically predestined to live longer than others. Humans average roughly 100 years, while dragons don't necessarily have an average age limit."

"There's dragons in this universe?!"

"Of course. I thought they had them in your universe too?"

"Dragons are just a myth in my universe." Reno taps his chin, thinking. "You said they don't have an average lifespan, why is that?"

"Their genetics. They're naturally powerful beings whose souls are able to process mana before they're even fully born. Age means nothing to a dragon. So long as a dragon continues to stimulate their mind they will remain youthful. There are stories of dragons who simply opted to live their lives in solidarity, losing their minds to insanity due to a lack of new mental stimuli."

Reno shakes his head. "What a life. Powerful from birth and all they have to do to stay alive is touch grass."

Luna chuckles at his statement. "Would you like to ever meet a dragon in person?"

Reno doesn't even think for a moment, shaking his head. "HELL NAH!"

Luna jumps as Reno suddenly shouts. "Really? By how you were acting when I first met you, I thought you'd be excited?!"

"Are you kidding? A dragon would eat me alive!" Reno makes an 'X' with his arms and shakes his head violently. Luna sighs and shrugs her shoulders. Night quickly approaches and the three get ready for bed. Reno watches as Medusa falls asleep, thinking to himself. He turns to see Luna still awake, getting comfortable. "So, Luna?"

Luna turns to face Reno, looking up at him with curiosity. "What's the matter?"

"How old do you think Medusa will live to be?"

Luna smiles and shakes her head. "(His obsession with Medusa is quite adorable.)" She begins thinking about the question seriously. She thinks back to the ruins where Medusa defeated the monster beyond Luna's imagination. "To be honest with you, I don't know. I CAN tell you, however, that she is much stronger than either of us realize. I think she'll live a very long and fulfilling life if that's what you're worried about."

"Longer than me?"

Luna giggles, covering her mouth. "If you don't want to get old before her then you'd better take your training seriously from now on!"

"I do take it seriously! But… maybe I could try a bit harder, not that I've been slacking off or anything."

"Of course you aren't. If it makes you feel any better, the more power you help me regain, the more power you have. That means your life gets longer every time you help me."

"Infinite life hack discovered."

Luna looks at Reno with confusion. "Hmm?"

"Don't worry about it. Goodnight, Luna."

"Goodnight, Reno."

Reno looks back at Medusa and smiles with pride. "(She's going to be the oldest living person one day. My Medusa is the strongest!)" With that, the party drifts off to sleep just in time for the sun to set.

TO BE CONTINUED...