Chapter 58.

The monsters here were much stronger than the ones that appeared during the Waves. Raphtalia noted the large two-headed snake monster. Judged her position and the monster's and waited for Trystan to make an opening for her and Rifana.

Trystan tore it's head off. Raphtalia jumped into action. Her Sword cut through the snake's scales with. The screech it unleashed was deafening. Rifana did the same and then moved back as it began to flail around.

Trystan put an end to that by crashing down on the other head. They waited for a moment. Turned to Ms Nicol after they received their experience.

Ms Nicol was standing on a disc high above them and as soon as the battle finished she dropped down as the disc lowered. Augusta and the Bow Hero were both presents on the disc as well. It was rather reassuring to have the disc lower so fast after they won their fight. It was proof that Mr Adrian was observing them.

At the moment, they were on what Mr Adrian had described as an 'abandoned continent'. There would be no chance of any witnesses and the monsters that had been alone for millennia. It was the reason why he was cutting loose. She could see the massive beams of light that lit up the sky. He banished the night itself. She could only see and navigate the formerly dense forest due to her perception stat. It was very kind of Mr Adrian to ravage the forest around them so completely. He had annihilated Large portions. He'd killed thousands if not tens of thousands of monsters.

Raphtalia, Trystan and Rifana hadn't leveled up even once despite that.

The experience was going to Nicol and Augusta. They would need a higher level to survive.

"Well done," said Nicol. "you're all improving fast. You overpower the monsters with ease. We'll have to spar to help you get used to the tricks that humanoid or intelligent opponents throw at you."

Raphtalia nodded with a faint sense of satisfaction. It was odd. She'd never fought without Isis. The thought was bittersweet. Raphtalia promised herself again. Isis would be back with them.

"Can we spar now?!" asked Trystan, his tone serious. Voice soft. Not at like she'd expect from a giant bird, "we haven't fought other people."

Raphtalia was glad to see how serious he could be. Adrian rarely showed his worry to Trystan. What had occurred hours prior had scared Trystan. Still, Raphtalia couldn't deny that it was good that he was serious.

Nicol shared a look with Augusta who said, "We can once we get a couple of levels. It will take us another hour or so before we can fight you without dying."

Nicol shook her head. An incredulous expression marked her face, "3 hours," she said. "Level 1 to Level 29 in three hours. We'll be at level 40 within another hour or two. Did you all level this fast?"

Raphtalia frowned and considered the statement, "Isis, Trystan and I were a bit slower. Rifana was about this fast. We leveled faster than this during the Wave though."

The naked surprise on both their expressions was strange. Mr Adrian was a bit faster than normal today. Maybe it was that power-up thing that Fitoria and Mr Adrian were talking about. After studying them for a moment longer Raphtalia asked a question.

"How long does it normally take to get to level 40?"

The two people from Ayrith shared a long look before Nicol answered. "It can take years to get to level 40 though some people manage it a lot faster. Even then though it should take months to manage." she said, before shaking her head, "and he's got access to an hourglass to start a Class Up ritual. This is mad."

Rifana corrected her, "This is the power of a Hero."

Raphtalia saw that Rifana was about to continue when the disc started to move around them. They got the message. Mr Adrian must have finished harvesting the area while they had been talking. She promised herself to stay focused and got onto it. Careful to keep the Bow Hero in place even though he was bound to the disc.

Once they were all on the large discIt moved above the canopy where the absolute devastation became clear. She could almost see the Hourglass they had teleported to. He had razed huge portions of the forest in an expanding circle around the Hourglass. No fires, no signs of damage other than the forest being gone.

Mr Adrian was dropping something small onto the soil that grew into one of his plants in seconds. It was taller than the Canopy and was almost 100 meters tall. It made her realize that it was one of many and that the others had blended in with the remnants of the area.

They began to move again. Raphtalia took a deep breath. She had no time to waste. She needed to build as much skill as possible in these five days.

It was her only choice.

"Any concerns?" asked Mr Adrian. The glow from the Hourglass faded. Nicol and Augusta tested themselves out. They were moving much faster now.

Nicol shook her head, "This is…" she said, before turning to Adrian and giving him a deep bow, "Thank you, Sir Adrian. We would have never gained such strength without your help."

Raphtalia had to admit that she was a little surprised. Nicol had been polite but she had never been so...reverent. Mr Adrian looked calm but he wasn't happy. He had liked her scepticism.

"Don't worry about it Nicol," he said, before turning to Augusta. She confirmed that she was okay as well, "If you both are fine then let's get onto the discs. I have something to do before you start sparring with each other."

Mr Adrian drew out an extra disc to go with the one that held the Bow Hero. She noticed that Nicol was uncomfortable and moved over to the empty disc. Mr Adrian walked over to the one with the other Hero. Raphtalia joined Nicol and Augusta. Rifana followed her while Trystan jumped in his bird form, transformed in mid-air and landed on Adrian's platform.

In seconds they were high above the Hourglass and she could see the remains of the once populated forest. It was nothing more than some scrubs and hundreds of 100-meter tall trees that Mr Adrian had planted. An eerie sight.

Nicol was looking around the area with awe. Raphtalia understood. Mr Adrian had taken a monster-infested area and turned it into a wasteland with ease. Trees and beams that he could fire forever.

"We're on the lost continent," muttered Nicol, staring at the mountains on the horizon and the river cutting through the forest they were in.

The Lost Continent, she thought, trying to remember where she had heard the name before.

"It's amazing," agreed Rifana, "I never thought that this place would be real or that I could visit here."

Raphtalia stared as her friend and Ms Nicol started a spirited conversation about this continent. Myth. Right, the Legendary Continent on the other side. Hundreds of stories of adventures had started here. Raphtalia was curious but before she could even think a loud rumbling sound filled the area.

Raphtalia immediately had her sword in hand. Everyone on her disc was in a similar position. She looked around, both at the sky and the land beneath them but found nothing. Possibilities flooded her mind. The source of the noise must have been underground or invisible. Her attention strayed towards Mr Adrian and Trystan who were calm. Mr Adrian had two blades in his hands but was holding them casually. Trystan was lying down.

Doubts flared. They vanished a moment later. A massive structure-no, a building- emerged out of the ground. In seconds the forest, the soil and all the remains that Mr Adrian had seen fit not to absorb had been consumed by vines that seemed to dissolve them by producing some type of acid from underground. Dozens of other buildings. Each of them different from the other but sharing the same basic properties rose. They were at least four stories tall with a shape that was almost like a Pyramid that had its top cut off.

As Raphtalia turned around she realized that this was happening everywhere around her. It didn't take her long to realize that he had created a town. A large one. Raphtalia glanced at the other disc only to realize that Mr Adrian wasn't there.

"There," exclaimed Rifana, pointing high up in the air, higher than the disc. Adrian was there floating as the buildings were reinforced by walls and then hundreds of vines. Defences. She could see wooden streets and even glowing lights as several vines started to glow in the dark. Hundreds of thousands of vines lit up at the same time turning Night into day. Similar things were happening further away.

The disc began to descend. She realized that the town had only looked small because of the distance she had been observing it from. This place was huge. The same size as the capital. Raphtalia got the impression of being very small. It was beautiful and empty.

Once the disc was near the ground she jumped off. Her companions followed and Mr Adrian and Trystan had been waiting for them.

"Nicol, Augusta," he said and waited for a response. The two women were staring at the ground paved with some sort of rough black coloured wood. It felt strong.

He called for them again and this time the jerked in place and turned to Adrian. "Sorry," she said, before looking straight at him, "What is it Sword Hero?"

"I'd like for you two to help Trystan and Rifana train for a couple of hours. Spar and practise some magic. Leave your leveling to me." he said, before pointing at a large open space "there's a large area there for some practice. Try your best to break it. I want to see how much punishment it can take."

"Understood," she said and walked away, her tone suggesting that she had questions.

Trystan and Rifana looked a bit confused. Raphtalia looked at Adrian who answered their silent concern. "I have something important to discuss with Raphtalia. It's about her family."

Raphtalia looked at Mr Adrian. Her mind raced, trying to understand what he could be talking about.

Mr Adrian didn't give her much time to think and instead sent her a party invite. She accepted it thoughtlessly and then felt the portal activate. When her surrounding cleared after the shift she was standing at their previous home. It was near the Hourglass that Fitoria had first led them to. Only now did she realize that the disc and the Bow Hero were with them as well.

"Mr Adrian," she said, a silent question in her voice. He nodded and held up his hand before creating a table, and two chairs along with some drinks. They sat down. He took a deep breath before draining two of his drinks- no, Stamina and Soul Soothing potions -how tired was he? The answer came to her immediately. He created a city, even if it was only the skeleton of it, of course, he's tired.

"Do you remember the last hourglass we visited? How the carriage shook?" he asked, "Fitoria mentioned a Water Dragon."

Raphtalia nodded, unsure about where he was going, "That dragon," he said, "told me that you were the heir to that nation. The Heavenly Empress of Q'ten Lo. He wanted me to help you secure your place. The current government is not fulfilling its duties."

Raphtalia wasn't certain what to say. The idea was surreal. Papa and Mama hadn't said anything about Q'ten Lo.

"Are you sure?" she asks. Mr Adrian stared at her while taking another sip from his potion.

"Yes, and not because of the Dragon." he said, "while I was there I noticed more people like those three spies who followed us in Dragon Territory. They showed up in a similar way to my sensory skills. I'd assumed that they had been after me but I'm guessing they were following you. I was a target of convenience or not a target at all."

Towards the end, his tone had shifted into anger. Raphtalia tried to think this through. There was no way that she was royalty of some distant nation. Her parents had never said anything about it and if they were royalty then why were they in another country? It didn't make any-No, it might. Her Father and Mother sometimes spoke in a different language with Sadeena and each other but that meant that they used to travel. Papa did always talk about other countries.

"Raphtalia?" asked Mr Adrian, shaking her away from her thoughts, "any idea about this?"

She frowned but told him about her parents and Sadeena.

He nodded, "So our only possible methods of verification are dead either by my hand or because of the Waves." he said, his tone was calm before turning vicious "those worthless pieces of scum…"

"Mr Adrian?" she asked, caught off guard, her thoughts disrupted by his anger.

He shook his head, "They were observing you." he said, with a loud sigh when she nodded, "observing you for who knows how long. During the Wave and during everything else that followed. They don't care about your life but don't want to kill you...I don't know what to make of that."

Raphtalia felt a chill before fury replaced it. Sadeena, her parents, everyone in her village. They had all suffered so much and she had seen the fight between Mr Adrian and those three people. They had been strong. Strong enough to survive an attack from Mr Adrian. They could have saved everyone.

"Don't worry about them too much," he said, "they are not a priority for the moment. I doubt they can find you with all the teleportation that we do. I wanted to inform you because this is about you and you should have the information needed to think about it. Our actual topic of discussion is more immediately critical."

Raphtalia nodded, even if her heart felt heavy, and tried to focus. Wondering if this next piece of information would be as bad.

"I'm planning to go to the capital to rescue the slaves that were held captive with you and teleport them to the new base," he said. "You and Nicol will take charge."

He explained his plan to free them and then teleport them to the new city. The fact that only two of the buildings were furnished and that he planned to give her the food and medicine right now. The conversation lasted for ten minutes and she realized that this whole day had been about setting up his plan to free the slaves.

Gathering reliable allies in a well-defended and remote area for the sake of safety and protection from tracking. It was something only a Hero could do. No one else would have the combination of the ability to free slaves, teleport them, heal them, feed them and shelter them with ease.

"My teleportation is limited to 16 people every 30 minutes so I'll have to wait for at least two hours…" he paused here, hesitating before pushing through. "I'll be using that time to scout the Castle Town so that I can capture the Hero of the Cane."

Raphtalia flinched and slammed her drink down without a thought.

"Mr Adrian?" she asked, "what-"

"He is the King of Melromarc," he stated icily, "and he has a Vassal Weapon that can be used to travel worlds. He is the only Vassal Wielder that I know of other than Fitoria and he is already my enemy."

She nodded. Her protests faded away. The King was the same man who had destroyed Lurolana. He had ravaged the entire Seaetto region. The King had accused Adrian of rape and hunted down the Shield Hero for his convenience. There were only two concerns.

"Do you need to do this? Won't Fitoria be enough?" she asked, looking at him dead in the eye. Trying to make him tell the truth.

"Fitoria is unreliable. Hell, the only reason I've asked her to help you level up is so that she'll feel tempted to go and rescue them herself. With her speed that would be trivial." he said.

"But that is not your real worry I'll be fine-" he said, before pausing for several seconds and staring at her and then speaking in a more solemn tone. He had understood her real concern, "Let me correct myself I should be fine. The Book Hero is likely an exception and I won't let the guy get off a single shot before I have him crippled. And normal soldiers and mages are nothing considering I can attack from far enough to not even worry about most of them. I'll be in and out in less than a minute."

She nodded. Still uncertain but confident in his strength. Then she realized something.

"You're going to do this alone," she said.

"Of course," he said, his tone brokering no argument.

"Adrian," she said, ignoring his implicit warning, "we can help. You know that we can defeat most soldiers. At the very least let us be there in case something goes wrong."

The sword hero stared at her for a minute. Two minutes and then a third before he said, "I need you here. You are in charge of the freed slaves and I need you to settle them until I return and it will take me some time since I need to check in on the Spear Hero as well." he paused, "and honestly...I don't want history to repeat itself. As things stand, if the Book Hero shows up again you will die."

His words didn't frighten her. Death had not been something she had feared for weeks now. Truthfully, even now she felt like she was living on borrowed time. Raphtalia knew that she should have died in that Cage. Adrian had performed a miracle to bring her to where she was now.

But she realized that it wasn't for her sake that he wanted her to stay. His dead tone, tired, as if all his energy was gone told her that it was because he wanted her to stay safe for him to be at peace. The selfishness set her on edge until she remembered that he had seen Isis thrown into another dimension. It wasn't that he was abandoning them it was because he was sad.

It didn't help. Her thoughts were still a muddled haze of rage and grief. Isis' loss was one that she felt as well. And that snapped the pieces together.

"That's why you brought the Bow Hero here," she said, "you wanted them to be safe. You plan on sending me back there after telling me all this so that if there is an attack we'll be safe. And if you...if you die. We'll have a place to live. You...this whole day you've been preparing for your death."

He didn't move. His expression didn't change for a long minute before he nodded. "You've missed some parts of the plan and remember that this is in case I die. I plan to stay alive. If you are stuck there Trystan can reach Fitoria who can teleport you out. She is quite apathetic but she is not cruel and cares for Trystan in her way-"

He made to continue but she couldn't listen anymore. Raphtalia was an idiot. He was scared about them dying. He was worried about dying. The thought was horrible. Tears filled up. He must have come close to death against the Book Hero, but he hadn't shown it. Not in front of them.

She didn't realize when he had gotten up or when he had reached her side and placed a hesitant hand on her shoulder. Raphtalia hugged him. Adrian stiffened for a moment before relaxing. It was an awkward hug, but she wanted him to know that she was here. That she'd be here and that he wasn't going to leave them and die. They'd find Isis, bring her back and then they would be complete again.

"Adrian," she said, her voice muffled because her head was still pressed against his stomach. "Don't die." she commanded, "you're not allowed to."

He started shaking. It took her a second to realize that he was laughing. A bitter, cold laugh.

"I'm sorry," she heard, "I know this is not something I should throw on you but you're the only one whom I can trust. I don't trust Nicol or her friend and Trystan is too young. Rifana barely speaks to me and it has only been a week since we freed her," he said, shaking his head. "...it's not fair but even if I do my best I could end up dead and we need to prepare for that."

Raphtalia swallowed that truth and nodded. Her eyes had dried out and now that she was calm she could see what he was doing. Adrian was trying to reduce the shock that would occur if he did die.

Smart, kind and cruel.

His plan was true to his nature.

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