Chapter 16 - Nobility
"Hey you, you're finally awake."
"Huh?" I got up from my bed...? "Where am I?" I asked Rafael in the corner of the room.
"You're inside the castle. This goblin of yours wouldn't leave your side since yesterday."
"Yesterday? Oh yeah, what happened? We got back safe?"
"Yep. You're pretty damn heavy you know that?"
"Haha. Did you explain to the king yet what happened?"
"No. You're the one who accepted this quest so you'll be the one doing the explanation."
"Touché."
I got up from my bed waking up Rize that's been sleeping on my side while she's sitting on the floor.
"Hngrr?"
"Hey Rize."
"Are you alright now Zieg?"
"Yeah I'm fine. I'm going to go explain to the king now what happened." I gave her a pat on the head. I then looked towards Rafael, "Come with me. You'll be the representative of your group Bladedge."
"Got it. I'm going to explain it to others. Just talk to me when you're ready. And get dressed. You're half naked."
"Ah...hahaha."
I got up and asked Rize to leave the room.
"Hmm? I leveled up to 15 huh? I forgot to claim the rewards. System, claim level 10 and level 15."
[Level 10 Reward]
[Portal Key, go near to any eliminated dungeon and it'll be reset and the monsters will be twice as strong.]
"This is good for leveling. Nice. Claim."
[Level 15 Reward]
[Choose a blessing.]
[Five Leaf Clover]
Increase your luck by a 100%, disabled if life is below 90%.
[Charismatic]
Increase your likeability of others by 100%. Enabled only if life is equal to or greater than 40%.
[Demonic Aura]
Due to this aura that emits the as the monsters, more enemies will be lured towards you. Can be disabled anytime.
"Hmm... I don't need luck. Demonic Aura might be good for leveling but the portal key is sufficient. I'll get Charismatic blessing. Might be good for establishing relationships with kings and princesses."
I got up and wore my armor. I went through the halls of the castle and met with Rafael first.
"You ready?"
"Yeah. Let's go Zieglind."
We went to the chambers of the king.
"Ah... Greetings Zieglind and Rafael of Bladedge. Take a seat. I see that you all were wounded. What happened at the forest exactly?"
"Getting to the point already huh?" I gave Rafael a strike from my elbow. "Ugh."
We sat down on the couch and explained the situation.
"Well... Your caravan leader was sending in humans to be fed on a plant."
"I see..."
"You seem calm about this king." Rafael exclaimed.
"Well. No need to lose my sanity here. By the way, where's the location? I'll send some personnel there."
"Ah about that. We already took care of it. The bodyguards near the caravan were eaten by the plant so we couldn't save them."
"Ah... Really? You've done a real favor for the Itz kingdom. How about the caravan leader?"
"He too was devoured."
"That's good. I just hope something like this doesn't happen again." The king stood up and ordered his bodyguards. "Bring those in."
The bodyguards standing behind us got out of the room and went back in with a container holding two pouches. And two amulets.
"Please take this you two." The king handed us the pouches and Rafael and me got the amulet. "That pouch holds 1000 gold. My apologies I can't give you more than that. I wish I could but the remaining funds will be feeding the people in this country."
"No don't be sorry. Its okay. This is plenty for us. Right Rafael?"
"Wow... Oh uh yeah." Rafael awkwardly agreed.
"Thank you gentlemen. And also that amulet boosts your strength." The king explained.
"System, analyze."
[Breaker Amulet, +50 strength for each level.]
"So... +50 strength. If I'm level 15... +750 strength?!"
"Wow. I'm level 35 and this gives... Wait... What did you say Zieglind? Are you LEVEL 15?!" Rafael shouted loudly.
"Huh? Yeah."
"How did you beat us then? We're a party consisting of level 35+, Lila being the lowest, level 31."
"I don't know. Ruf and Ruz makes good weapons and armor."
"Hmm... That might be it."
Due to our bickering we forgot we were infront of the king.
"Oh uhh... My apologies king."
"Don't worry Zieglind. Its okay. I have another request. Please kneel here of me."
"Huh? Umm okay."
I went ahead and kneeled. The king pulled out a sword and used it to tap both of my shoulders.
"I hereby grant you the the title of Knight, a symbol of nobility."
"Thank you so much king."
"Don't worry about it. Same for you too Rafael come here."
Rafael got his title of Knight too.
After all the formalities, our meeting ended. We went outside the castle with Rize and the Bladedge group.
The skies were orange as the sun sets down. The light breeze enveloping our bodies. This world was so much fun than I ever expected. I didn't know what to do next so...
"So... Where are you going now?" I asked the Bladedge party.