A New Ray of Hope

A week later, Nox finally wakes up from his unconscious state, panting and hardly breathing, his eyes are wide open as if he's shocked by something, after waking up, he recalls what he has seen in that dream, or was it really just a dream? Nox has always seen memories of his past when he went into his unconscious state, but this time it's different, he has seen something that is neither a dream nor something he has ever experienced.

Nox's heart is pounding, he remembers once when he was with Aveline in Blackwater City...

"Come here you naughty ears," said Nox who was chasing after Aveline, calling her 'Naughty ears' since she was an Elf and always batted her ears when she was happy.

"Come catch me then," replied Aveline sticking out her tongue, mocking Nox and laughing.

The two were having one of the best times in their life, laughing and playing on the green hills in the surroundings of Blackwater City, they then arrived at a tree, that tree was a big one, but not particularly a special one.

"Nox, don't you think this tree is too big compared to the other ones?" asked Aveline.

"It indeed is, you seem to like trees," replied Nox.

"Of course, I love nature and its beauty, after all... Forget it," said Aveline, She was gonna state her position as the heir of the Holy Angel, this position cannot be acquired by any means else than by inheritance, The Holy Angel isn't just a City Lord, but also the Best Mage who uses the Nature Element, their connection to nature is strongest than any other life form, so each Holy Angel will choose one of the children under 10 years old, and the one with the most compatibility to the Nature Element's power, will be chosen to inherit the will of the Holy Angel, and the chosen one was 'Aveline', though the current Holy Angel can still pass on his inheritance to someone else, it's extremely hard to find someone with better compatibility with the Nature's power more than Aveline, ever since a young age, she showed high skills of Magical prowess to make her the best candidate for such inheritance.

In all the history of The Holy Angel City, there was only one High Mage who could utilize the power of Nature, and he left behind a prophecy that one day Holy Angel City would find an inheritor who has the potential to become a High Mage, and with the Power of the Holy Angel, they can be said to become unfathomable, The current City Lord and all the previous ones were only Archmages, unable to break through to the next level, but when they saw Aveline, everyone believed that she is the one with the most potential to become the one in the prophecy, so there was no way that they'd let her go, even though she comes from a poor background, she was taken away from her parents to live in the City Lord's Castle, for her to receive the inheritance, however, all her life she was forced to do things she never agreed to, and forced to accept responsibility beyond her understanding, and because of her low status, she was always bullied by the nobles and the children of The Silverleaf Family, only a friend of her ther was taking care of her and had her back.

Aveline trained diligently through the years, and when she showed positive results, The Holy Angel adopted her as her daughter, and took care of her parents, accepting them into the family, poor Aveline has long forgotten about her freedom and only did anything that she was told in order to keep her family safe live comfortably under The Holy Angel's wing, until a day that she met with Nox.

Nox was at the time working as a mercenary, he came from Blackwater City on an escort mission to Holy Angel City, It turns out that The Holy Angel decided to let Aveline go to Blackwater City on a business trip, to settle many trades with Blackwater City, Aveline was to be escorted safely to Blackwater City, and Nox was part of the escort team, however, the carriage was ambushed on the way to Blackwater City, as most of the escort team died, Aveline took the chance to escape in the chaos, she was long waiting for such an opportunity to flee from Holy Angel's clutches, Nox chased after her since he was responsible for her safety.

After a few days, Aveline was hurt on her retreat way, and Nox found her, she was afraid he would take her back, but he noticed that she didn't want to, he instead helped her heal her injuries and he set her free.

Nox's chivalrous act has left a deep impression in Aveline's heart since no one has ever considered her free will and no one has allowed her to do what she wanted, Nox could've taken a big commission if he took her back to Holy Angel City, but he gave up all that, and just let her go, for that she felt grateful.

After some time, Aveline made it to Blackwater City alone, trying to hide and run away from the clansmen of the Holy Angel who spared no expenses to pursue her through the City, it was then when Nox one day found her exhausted and tired of running away, Nox decided to take her to his house and he took care of her, Nox has never had any ideas about her, all this made Aveline reluctantly fall in love with Nox...

The two had led a happy and peaceful life, Aveline concealed her identity the whole time and barely went out, hiding from the Holy Angel for years, then every time they wanted to have some peaceful time, they went to the big tree in the surroundings of Blackwater City, they recalled all those moments and the life they had been living so far.

"Nox, I'm so grateful for your care and love over the past two years, if not for you, I'd either be dead or caught by the Holy Angel," said Aveline.

"Don't mention it, having you with me, I had lived the best days of my life, I wish these days will never end," said Nox.

"If there ever comes a day when we're separated, we should again reunite here under this big tree," said Aveline.

"Then that's a promise," said Nox.

"Here's a little something," said Aveline, she touched Nox's forehead and used the power of The Forest to leave a bright wisp of her soul inside Nox's mind.

"What's this?" asked Nox.

"This is a wisp of my soul so that I can always be with you. If we get closer to each other, this wisp of soul will be brighter as it is now, Also I'll be able to help you if you ever get in danger," said Aveline.

"I don't understand this at all," said Nox.

"It's alright, you will understand someday, though I hope we never get separated..." she replied.

Back to the present situation, after Nox woke up after fighting against the Venomous Aura for a week, he now understands what Aveline meant at that time, she clearly appeared in Nox's mind when he was unconscious, and told him that she is waiting for him.

(Isn't this proof that Aveline is still alive!!! She's waiting for me, but that place she's at doesn't look like the big tree we always met at) thought Nox, he then searched his soul to find the wisp of Aveline's soul and he did find it, however, it was too faint which meant that she's too far away.

(Anyway I will need to go to that tree, I might find some clues) he thought.

Nox went out and met with Amara and his friends, Lucia couldn't look at Nox, too embarrassed that she kissed his forehead when he was unconscious, and then Amara called Nox and Lucia to a private room where the City Lord Lyra was waiting for them.

"I would like to congratulate both of you Nox and Lucia for surviving this disaster," said Lyra.

"It was all thanks to City Lord Lyra," said Lucia.

"Surviving it this time was thanks to City Lord Lyra, and I would like to apologize for my previous offense," said Nox.

"Don't give it any mind, right! I called you here to discuss a matter of grave importance," said Lyra

"Is it related to the cooperation between our two kingdoms?" asked Lucia.

"Indeed, does Noxw know of this?" asked Lyra.

"I do, Lyra told us everything at the Hunting ground," said Nox.

"Good, then this will make it easy to explain, My Waterfall City is indeed strong, especially with the existence of Lucia an unprecedented attack High Mage, and with Nox having the ability to control the 'SS Rank' artifact '𝚴𝖎𝖌𝖍𝖙𝖒𝖆𝖗𝖊', however, we're still not powerful enough to be the City that gets the throne, if any word of this were to spread out, Holy Angel City will turn against us," said Lyra

"And that's why, we're gonna need more time to gather more power, As for you Nox, I have spoken to Master Odysseus, and he said that there are still many of the Venomous Aura inside you, and any use of the legendary Dagger would only pose a threat to your life," said Amara.

"I'm indeed aware of such a thing, does Miss Amara and City Lord have any advice for me?" asked Nox.

"Indeed, there is a way not only to suppress the Venomous Aura, but also use it to a certain extent without great dangers, and that's through using spirit arrays, you should set off to Holy Angel City and meet with an Array master there, only by learning about spirit arrays can you truly subdue that dagger," said Amara.

"Thank you for this suggestion, I will do my best to control this power and use it carefully," said Nox, (Holy Angel City, Aveline's homeland, wait for me)

"And you Lucia, I'm well aware of the situation of the Luxion Kingdom, but you can already see the situation here is very dangerous, and your enemies have colluded with our enemies, so we need your kingdom's support and we need it to be as secretive as possible," said Lyra.

"Then I'll write to my father the King about this issue..." said Lucia.

"Your father is the King!.." said Amara while very shocked.

"Haven't I already told you?" said Lucia.

"You said that you were from the Regncrown Family, you never said that you are the daughter of Lux Regncrown," said Amara.

"How do you know my father..." asked Lucia, but Amara remained silent.

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In the City Lord's castle at FangRoar City, the Tridrakon Alliance was holding a meeting.

"Repeat what you just said!!" shouted FangRoar angrily at a figure who kneeled before the three heads of the Tridrakon alliance.

"Your Highness, the Girl you ordered us to kill, has been dealt with..." said the warrior, he appeared to be the third General who went to attack the Oni, while his two companions fought the Oni, he was holding General Redfeather back so that he doesn't interfere with the mission.

"Not that you idiot!!! The other thing you said!!!" shouted Ryūjin, the City lord of Ryushiro City.

"Yes... Both the generals you sent with me, have died..... His eyes..!!! He's a demon!!! He killed them... No!! He devoured him!!!!" said the General who was scared shitless.

Fangrong burst in anger and squashed the General's head with the floor, he killed him on the spot.

"How dare he be afraid of someone else in my presence!!" said FangRoar.

"Today we lost 3 of our strongest pawns," said Arachne.

"But we killed Lucia, finally we can get the full support of that kingdom," said Ryūjin.

"Hahahaha interesting, I'm looking forward to the following weeks!! As for that demon they speak of, I'll see him myself soon! Hahahaha" said Fangroar.

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Additional Content

Chapter 38.5: Castle level & Soldiers tiers

𝜦𝖚𝖙𝖍𝖔𝖗 : ʜᴇʟʟᴏ ᴅᴇᴀʀ ʀᴇᴀᴅᴇʀs, ɪ ʜᴏᴘᴇ ʏᴏᴜ ʜᴀᴠᴇ ᴇɴᴊᴏʏᴇᴅ sᴇᴀsᴏɴ 𝟷, sᴇᴀsᴏɴ 𝟸 ᴡɪʟʟ ʙᴇ ᴊᴜsᴛ ᴀs ᴀᴍᴀᴢɪɴɢ.

ɪɴ sᴇᴀsᴏɴ 𝟸, ʏᴏᴜ'ʟʟ sᴇᴇ ᴛʜᴇ ʙᴀᴄᴋɢʀᴏᴜɴᴅ ᴏғ ᴀᴍᴀʀᴀ ᴀɴᴅ ʟᴜᴄɪᴀ, ᴀs ᴡᴇʟʟ ᴀs ᴛʜᴇ sᴛᴀʀᴛ ᴏғ ᴀɴ ᴀʟʟ-ᴏᴜᴛ ᴡᴀʀ, ғᴏʀᴍɪɴɢ ᴀʟʟɪᴀɴᴄᴇs ᴡɪᴛʜ ᴏᴛʜᴇʀ ᴋɪɴɢᴅᴏᴍs.., ᴀɴᴅ ᴍᴏʀᴇ.. 𝖘𝖙𝖆𝛄 𝖙𝖚𝖓𝖊𝖉! There' a bonus at the end (⁠☞ﾟ⁠ヮﾟ⁠)⁠☞

"And now if you excuse me I have a lesson to give!!!" said Godfrey.

"𝕾𝖚𝖗𝖊, 𝖌𝖔 𝖆𝖍𝖊𝖆𝖉!" said the 𝜦𝖚𝖙𝖍𝖔𝖗.

"Ahem, in this half chapter, I'm going to..." said Godfrey, but was interrupted by Amara.

"Godfrey, let me do this lesson instead!" said Amara.

"Finally some free time," said Godfrey.

"In today's lesson, I'll tell you about how is the castle level related to soldiers' tiers," said Amara...

The level of a castle is important to achieve higher horizons, to increase the level of a castle, a rare gem is required, it's called "Gem Of Wisdom", each gem represents a level.

The training of soldiers requires those gems, here we're transforming normal civilians with some talent, into soldiers with the help of magic, which is why soldiers recruited through this method can only stay in the same tier all their lives, unlike People who are born with spiritual energy or Mana Power, they can advance in tiers and ranks as far as they're capable of.

At Castle level 22: Only soldiers of tier 8 and below can be trained.

Castle 26: Tier 9 soldiers can be trained at this level.

Castle 30: Tier 10 soldiers are only available at this level, the difference between each rank is highly significant, so everyone thrives to reach C30 and recruit tier 10 Soldiers, as for the current level of each City and their power level, all are recorded on the Big Seven Ranking Board.

The Big Seven Ranking Board!

The power of a City contains the overall power of all its soldiers, Mages, technology, and more, here are the levels and current power of The Big Seven :

Waterfall City: Level 26, Power: 177M

Aurelia City: Level 26, Power: 180M

Aerion City: Level 27, Power: 210M

Arachne City: Level 28, Power: 250M

Holy Angel City: Level 28, Power: 280M

Ryūshiro City: Level 28, Power: 285M

FangRoar City: Level 29, Power: 330M

Those cities are part of alliances, because even the strongest city if left alone against multiple enemies, might be destroyed!

Alliances:

There are 3 known alliances in the kingdom of Eldoria :

New Dawn Alliance: This alliance was established 2 centuries ago by the former City Lord of Blackwater City, It has 34 cities, and its leaders from The Big Seven are: Holy Angel City, Aerion City, Aurelia City, and Waterfall City, the Alliance president is Holy Angel City. Alliance Power: 2'650'000'000.

Tridrakon Alliance: The name refers to the 3 dragons of the Alliance "FangRoar City, Ryūshiro City, and Arachne City" with FangRoar City as the president, the alliance has 45 members with more cities willing to join. Alliance Power: 3'110'000'000.

FànRòng Chamber Of Commerce: Though FánRóng Family has a strong military force, it stands on neutral ground to keep running its business with the kingdom's strongest Cities, they don't interfere in politics and only care about business. Power: Unknown!

"I Hope to see you soon in season 2!!" said Amara Fireheart.

"Waterfall City is always open to you dear readers," said Lyra.

"Btw, Why were you crying, Amara?" asked Godfrey.

"If you wanna know, wait for Season 2, it won't be far!" she replied. 😌

"I can't wait to get more rest!!" said Godfrey, sleeping and covered with a blanket.

"I feel like We forgot something..." said Amara.

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"Why did no one think about me!!! I was attacked at the hunting ground too, am I not an important character!!" shouted General Redfeather, who was left alone crying.

𝜦𝖚𝖙𝖍𝖔𝖗 : ┐⁠(⁠￣⁠ヘ⁠￣⁠)⁠┌