Chapter 12: Arzhela's influence.
Alseace was surrounded by snakes that appeared from the water. Arisma was ready to behead him if he tried to move, and Arzhela's staff was glowing as if she was ready to disintegrate him if he tried to tell lies. He then nodded his head with understanding as he stared Arzhela in the eye.
"Tell me, where do you come from," Arzhela asked as she dipped herself in the river and let her whole body be bathed in cold water.
"I came from a world called Dasmein," Alseace answered without hesitation, but suddenly Arisma scraped his neck with her blade and he started to bleed. "I'm telling you the truth... If you're asking me where I really came from, I came from a world called Crioseran," Alseace explained as he gulped, but made sure he didn't look nervous.
Arzhela slowly stood up and showed the curve of her body to Alseace and her nipples were erect. Alseace didn't react to them at all and his eyes were focused on Arzhela's face instead.
"Crioseran..." Arzhela held her staff tightly. Her expression told Alseace that she knew about it or had heard about it. "Now tell me everything," Arzhela said as her body released steam and made her body and clothes dry.
Alseace told his story in a calm manner, and he didn't leave a single detail about the life he had in Crioseran. He also told her about the life he had in Dasmein, but this time he didn't say anything much about it. He didn't tell her about his skill or about Sierra, but he told her that he entered the vortex and ended up there.
"On the 7th day, an unknown force will come and kill us all, is that what the system told you?" Arzhela asked and showed a troubled expression. "But even though you knew, why didn't you try to stop the war?" Arzhela looked at Alseace with suspicion.
"Even if I want to, I don't have the power to prove my words. This isn't my war and I rather stay away from it since I don't know much about the situation. But I feel like helping to carry the dead bodies and gain information from both sides, to see which side is the strongest one before I can make a move," Alseace answered, and his body started to wrinkle because of the cold.
Arzhela chuckled softly as she slowly took a few steps back. "Clever boy. This war is important for both Clans, and even if there's an unknown force that will come, we won't stop fighting until one of us dies," Arzhela flew and landed on the ground. "With that amount of Karma that you have, how amusing. You can stay and watch, you can continue helping us carrying the dead, Alseace LaRoze," Arzhela said as she walked away and disappeared into thick mist.
Arisma disappeared as well even though her killing intent was still lingering on his neck. He took a deep breath and exhaled deeply as he looked at the sky that was slowly brightening up.
"(She doesn't look like a puppet to me, and she acted like a Saintess as well. I wonder if something is off about her, but she ignored the system prediction which is really odd)" Alseace thought and put his attire on.
The trumpets had been sounded, and all the knights went to the battlefield even though it had been destroyed by yesterday's war. This time, both the Commander and the vice commander were at the back since they had brought all the knights they owned. It would be a shame if the commander and the vice commander died on the battlefield.
Alseace didn't get the chance to get a look at the commander and the Saint from the Cresta Clan. He wondered what they looked like, but the problem was Arzhela was in the military camp and watching the war from the distance. It made him unable to move to the other side since he didn't want to show his true intentions.
As soon as the trumpets were sounded for the second time, the knights started to charge at each other. Spells were thrown into the sky and clashed with each other and exploded like fireworks, but terrifying ones.
It was the first time Alseace had seen the mist turn red because of the bloodbath that happened on the battlefield. The thick mist hadn't disappeared since the morning because of the rain from last night, and the ground had turned into mud.
Alseace had learned a lot for the past three days from the war, and today as well. He learned how elite knights used their weapons, and he could use their moves in his training later with Sierra.
Since he didn't have anything to do, he decided to go into the woods and did a bit of training, and try to copy the moves that he had been watching. He used his own sword and started focusing on his training without getting bothered by the sound on the battlefield.
Without him realizing it, the trumpets had been sounded, and the 4th day was finally over. He then hurriedly went to the battlefield, but to his surprise, there were too many dead bodies that got stacked up. It was totally different from the previous days, and even though it looked terrifying, for him, it looked like a feast.
[Strength has increased by 1.02 points]
[0.004100% EXP gained]
[Magic has increased by 1 point]
[0.004021% EXP gained]
[Strength has increased by 1.04 points]
[0.003993% EXP gained]
...
...
...
...
[Agility has increased by 2.11 points]
[Dexterity has increased by 2.13 points]
[Magic has increased by 1.14 points]
[Strength has increased by 1.29 points]
...
[You have leveled up!]
[Extra Point added by 1 point!]
...
[Your Karma has increased by 1 point]
"(2 points from the elites which means their highest status point is around 200, and 1 point from normal knights. Does that mean a First Ring of Retribution is around level 300 since they wouldn't distribute all points in just one stat, right? With that information alone, I'm almost as good as them, this is really nice)" Alseace stared at his [Scavenger] as he carried a dead body back to the military camp.
Alseace gulped and wanted to look at his status, but he held it until he leeched all the EXPs and Status Points. Unfortunately, he was unable to get all of them since the Cresta knights had already taken the bodies of their knights with magic as soon as the trumpet was sounded.
Arisma reported the total number of casualties on the battlefield. 46,000 knights and 12,000 elite knights died from Sikar Clan. The Cresta Clan also lost that many lives, or even more. Both armies still had at least 50,000 knights and 24,000 elite knights left.
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Name: Alseace LaRoze
Level: 4 (53.613762%)
Karma: 100/100
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Status
Strength: 141.05
Agility: 139.06
Dexterity: 137.37
Vitality: 140.19
Mentality: 141.36
Sense: 100.45
Magic: 109.87
Stamina: 150.96
Extra Point(s): 3
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Skill : [Leftover] [Pain Resistance] [Leech] [Sword Art] [Spear Art]
[Dagger Art] [Axe Art] [Staff Art] [Bow Art] [Martial Art]
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Sub-Skill : [Scavenger (E)]
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Achievement : [The One Who Did Nothing]
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"(Should I risk it?)" Alseace looked at the Cresta Clan military camp. "(I might get the rest of them before they cremated the bodies)" Alseace walked to the woods to take the Cresta knight's attire. "(No, I shouldn't. I don't want to risk getting caught again, and who knows what kind of person the Saint is. Greed is going to kill me)" Alseace stopped walking deeper into the woods and decided to stay at the camp.
Alseace saw Arzhela walk toward the pit with Arisma following her from behind. It intrigued him, but he decided to stay put and watch from the distance.
Arzhela stood on the edge of the pit and looked at the lifeless bodies stacked like trash. She started to shed tears and everyone felt the sorrow that she felt and made them all cry with her. Although Alseace was watching her from the distance, he felt his chest being pressed and it made him hard to breathe.
Tears fell to his cheeks and it surprised him when he touched them with his fingertips. "I'm crying?" Alseace was shocked by it and started feeling a sense of overwhelming sadness.
Arzhela snapped her fingers and embers started to appear from thin air. They slowly flew down, and as soon as they touched the dead bodies, a fierce flame lit up and burned all the bodies into ashes and melted the armor in an instant.
The emotion that Alseace felt turned into joy and relief when he saw the raging flame. Tears were no longer coming out of his eyes, and the heaviness in his chest had been lifted up. The flame only lasted for ten seconds, but it was enough to empty the pit and leave the melted steel and iron behind.
Alseace didn't remember much about what happened after that and was awoken by the sound of the trumpets. He felt weird and started to feel attached to the people around him. He didn't mind it at all and decided to watch the war from the distance again as always.
Time flew by without him realizing it, and it was already nighttime after he leeched all the EXPs. He fell asleep in one of the tents that he found empty. It was empty because the knights that lived there were already dead.
"Remember Alseace. It's for your own safety. Don't trust anyone, only trust yourself. I'm not trying to make a path for you, but for now, just follow the rules as long as you're with me," Sierra said as she cleaned the glass behind the counter. "Whatever you see, don't interfere," Sierra looked him in the eye before she sent him into the vortex
Alseace opened his eyes and realized something was off with him the longer he stayed there. Remembering how Arzhela could affect his emotions and actions made him feel her sadness and even made him cry.
"Staying here is dangerous the moment she came here. I should leave before it's too late," Alseace said as he looked at his surroundings. He then left before being noticed by Arzhela and her personal knights who were always by her side. "I guess I have no reason to wear this attire anymore," Alseace removed his attire and entered the woods to get his coat.
Alseace stood on top of the cliff and watched the battlefield from above. "It's already the 6th day. Tomorrow is the last day," Alseace said as he walked back into the woods and waited for the night to come.