Chapter LXI - Dice (part 1)

Everything went to hell, and there are not that many things I can do…

I slowly lifted my body up as my consciousness was trying very hard to stay awake. The wounds on my body aren't healing as fast. I coughed blood thanks to the damages I received all over my body.

Whatever this guy is, he is not normal.

I turned my gaze up and stared at him in the eye. He looks back at me from behind his white mask. I couldn't tell what expression he had underneath that disgusting cracked mask, but I can tell he is laughing at me. The big red dots on his mask shine bright reflecting the light from the flames around us.

Signs of explosions and flames are all around us. Between me and that guy, is a huge crater from the explosion that just exploded a few seconds ago. And besides the two of us, there was nobody else.

I clenched my fist until it bled and bit my lips, trying to stay awake. 

This guy is strong… too strong.

My mind only processes one thought and one thought only.

How do I beat him?

.

.

.

"Woah…"

My mouth opened wide from the sight in front of me.

If you have a budget of over millions of millions of dollars, what will you use it for?

You should try making a mansion.

This mansion… No, Manor, is basically like some king's home. It's definitely much better than Valon's place.

After entering the gate, the first thing you will see is the horse. The white stone horse was placed on a fountain, in the middle of a roundabout right in front of the front door.

Aside from that fountain, there are also another two on the right and left. The right and left side is already like a small park. Multiple leaves that were shaved to look like animals can be spotted. One of them even resembles a dragon.

This is cool.

Not only that, but there are also gazebos in the middle of those parks. You can sit down there with a cup of tea, and appreciate the house from the distance, as well as enjoy the air in the middle of the animal-shaped trees.

That is cool. However, the closer we get to the mansion, the more I can see how rich Valey really is.

The mansion is a four story tall building, with multiple windows on each floor. The front door alone is already somewhere around five meters. Not just that, remember how Valon's door knob is made out of gold? Valey's whole door is made out of gold.

Maybe it's a coated gold door, but it's still eye opening. Because a full gold door will be impossible to open due to the weight.

"Which… one is your room?"

I asked Valey, while my eyes were fixed on the ball-shaped roof up there.

"The fourth floor. On the edge, right there."

She pointed at the window at the very edge on the fourth floor. I gagged at knowing that.

Having the most end room usually means you were belittled by your family, but who am I to say? I would accept even the basement if my house was like this.

"Valey… this is amazing…!"

Cony accepts it a little quicker than me.

"Your house is huge!!!"

She is a typical childish person, after all.

Valey looked at me to see my reaction, but my face already says it all.

"This is so cool, Valey."

"Thanks! Don't forget, it's my parents house."

She walked to the front door where a butler was already waiting for us. Me and Cony followed her and entered the house.

The smell inside the house is like a lit candle. The peaceful smell as you entered the house really hit me hard, since I haven't smelled something like this in a very long time.

Valey said some stuff to the butler, then waved her hand towards us, telling us to follow her upstairs. 

I didn't even realize the large stairs right in front of me. Everything is just so perfect and seamless…

Cony walked carefully, trying not to dirty the floor from her commoner boots. I saw her walk like that and laughed while simply walking normally.

We followed Valey to the fourth floor, where her room is at. And just as I guessed, there were not that many doors. It's probably because the rooms themselves are already large as heck.

A single floor has at least four to six rooms, and each bedroom has its own bathroom. The hall that leads to the rooms is on the side, so we can see the outside of the house while behind us the rooms are placed.

Valey kept on walking to the end of the hall and arrived in front of a large yellow door. I can see some papers placed in front of the door. Messages and warnings, like 'Do not Enter!' or 'Food only!'.

She really was going through a phase…

Valey tried to cover the signs as soon as she realized I was staring at it.

"I had my reasons, okay…"

She said shyly, and I simply chuckled while Cony laughed. She opened the door and showed me the sight of a girl's bedroom.

Yep. This is wrong.

Do I still get the chance to leave?

.

This is hell.

Right here.

I would rather be face to face with Galar again than being here.

Just like any girls night, the girls are doing... girls stuff. I didn't pay attention because it hurts my pride. But when I get asked stuff like who is my crush, I said...

"So Rize, do you have anyone you like?"

"Yes."

"Who?"

"Yes."

"..."

Valey chuckled when hearing my answer, while Cony, who asked the question, became extremely confused.

This thing just kept on going. Though I do enjoy some of them, like playing card games. The card games here are a lot easier than the one over there. I won every single game, which makes Cony and Valey a little bit annoyed.

We played cards for only twenty minutes, then they continued their gossip. Valey told us how she was the second from last child in her family. 

Her family had six children, four females and two males. Three of her older brothers and sisters are already married, while one more is already on the way. Aside from her and her younger brother, everyone else already had a soulmate.

"How old is your younger brother?"

"Fifteen. He is currently enrolling in the magic academy at Xyphon. It's only his first year though, but I do quite miss him."

"Ahh, what are his abilities?"

Cony seemed interested. She didn't always have a thing for magic, but more for physical abilities like swordsmanship. So it does surprise me.

"I recalled... It was lightning magic and wind magic."

"Eh? Double elemental?"

Cony was quite surprised. Not many people can use more than one element, and those who can are considered rather talented.

"Yeah, we were pretty surprised when we found out too. That's kind of why he was enrolled."

"Lightning like his older sister it is. And the wind?"

"Well, technically the only normal element is wind. My family was known for its wind magic after all. And for those like me, who uses a lightning element, are quite...-"

"Placed aside?"

"S-Something like that..."

Valey rubs her shoulder shyly, but deep down she was a little hurt.

"So, the reason you became an adventurer..."

"Was to learn magic on my own."

She closed her eyes and started telling us the sad story of her life.

"My family has been one that is known for its magical abilities. My older sisters and older brother were very powerful wind magicians. They all at least had reached Intermediate ranks."

Intermediate? Intermediate is powerful?

I guess for normal people, it is. But for an adventurer, that is like a Green ranked level. Which means Valey should have been above them.

"They all received very good and talented teachers. They learn from them, and... Hell, even my younger brother went to that crazy expensive academy."

Valey turned to stare at her hand. Her hand was rather rough, because of the harsh training she had while being an adventurer, as well as the tough times.

"But for me... They didn't have any teachers for me. So I'm down to only deciding on my own: to do something or do nothing."

"You chose to do something. You became an adventurer."

She nodded at my guess.