664 10/12 4:32 (Autumn, Day, Midrar's Capital)
Sabel hurriedly grabbed onto Mafel and Amber, pulling them towards the exit, understanding that what would follow could not be heard from any of them, either because it was a conversation between parents, important individuals for the city's survival or even both categories they belonged to.
Luna followed them, much more interested in her Mate's destination than any word the two parents wished to exchange with each other. 'How exactly should I treat them? They are my Sabel's parents, after all. And they don't seem like the types that she would be better without... Ah, well.'
Red eyes moved back towards her three Mates, ignoring almost completely the new assistant leading them outside after launching them a brief piercing gaze, examining them for any hidden complications and being satisfied once she was certain, moving back to observe the area around them, her True Sight working hard to find the flaws in its construction.
Sabel, not knowing exactly what to do now that the initial meeting with her parents was concluded, simply decided to bring the three of them to her home before they started exploring the city.
Wading through the rush of People, paying special attention that no one would near Luna too closely, Sabel guided her three Mates away from the Guild itself.
Passing through various streets, Amber curiously watched the flow of People around them.
This was, after all, her first proper experience in a city and especially around so many People in a single place.
And no, Nealet didn't influence her emotions as much.
Beyond just the sheer difference in the quantity of the People in the streets, the most notorious factor in her view being that most of them had no combat abilities whatsoever.
"Short-lived ones' cities are really something." The blonde noted aloud while her eyes constantly moving all around them to observe the passing Humans.
"Should I be flattered?" Sabel asked to herself at a low voice, a deadpan expression on her face as she watched the tourist-like Phoenix at her side, leading Mafel to join in.
"Well, you know how it is. Phoenixes and Dragons, the two most famous example of Long-Life Species, tend to be quite solitary from the point of view of Humans. And this, combined with their innate power, means that a small family could quite easily suppress multiple Dungeons."
"Yeah, it's true. Both of us tend towards claiming a territory near Dungeons or atop a Ley Line Convergence. It's easier that way. The former can be of assistance in the acquisition of funds by selling or trading excess Magicule Crystals while the latter accelerates the Energy Recovery once sufficiently Attuned." Amber automatically informed, too busy People-watching to really pay attention to her words.
Mafel sighed, her next words tired. "Please don't sell any while traveling with us. The sale of Magicule Crystals is banned by the Guild without explicit authorization."
"Why?" Amber asked, returning to full awareness at hearing so confusing a statement, remembering the sheer number of individuals that bought Magicule Crystals from her mother and receiving a dull gaze from Sabel in response.
"Because, even if they cannot be absorbed as Magicules, they are still hyper-dense masses of Energy. With the right techniques, they can be easily turned into weapons of mass destruction." Sabel exclaimed, leading Luna in the back to start wondering.
'Could I use Magicule Crystals as additional Batteries to store Astral Ichor?' Luna wondered to herself, thinking of her Artifacts, more than anything her Sunless Mantle. 'Well, not that I am flush with Crystals or Astral Ichor at the moment.' Setting aside her plans for the future, Luna started to pay full attention to her surroundings.
More precisely, towards the invisible things swarming the sky of the city, Beings that she could only see thanks to her True Sight being able to perceive the presence of something where just air should be.
"Tell me, Sabel, were there any incident involving mass casualties here in the last... Oh, let's say, thirty years? Maybe forty?"
Luna's question caused her Mates to flinch, Amber's eyes immediately watching all around them, actively paying attention to her Heat Sight to try and find any disturbance in the zone around them while Sabel did her best to seek out in her memories any reason behind the Lunarian's sudden question.
However, it was Mafel that reached the answer.
Her eyes, now brightened to a soft cyan to show the activation of her Soul Gaze Skill, were now trained to the sky, being able to perceive with immense details the veritable flood of Ghostly Apparitions filling the sky.
"That is-! Impossible! How?!" Her shocked voice attracted the attention of the other three, her disbelief clear for them despite her trying to be as subtle as possible. "The sky is practically full of Ghosts. So many that, even in the bloodiest of battlefields, this concentration of them would make no sense. And why are they so... so calm?"
"Is it that strange? Dungeon's Ghosts don't seem particularly different from other kind of Monsters. I mean, sure, it is worrying, but we do have a 400-year-old High Lich. I am sure they are just scared and attracted by his presence." Sabel's question was soon met by the grey-haired one shaking her head.
"It's impossible. Undeads living in a Dungeon are maintained by the Dungeon itself, sure, but all Undeads compulsively crave consuming Living Beings to find their own meaning and combined with the influence of their Miasma... Well, Ghosts should be swarming the city, hunting down everyone. Or, if the presence of the Advisor is too much for them to attack, they should have retreated to haunt somewhere else.
"All the same, however, such a concentration of Ghosts should trigger a Wild Hunt, merging together in a single collective and ravaging everything until their end. It's not so much an instinct, but a natural event, akin to the heart of a Human stopping to beat upon their death." Mafel's explanation, guided mostly from her own previous nature as a Ghost, even if a Dungeon one, only serving to further confuse them.
"Then, why are they so... docile? Judging by the uniforming of the heat, they have been here since a long time ago." Amber asked, her eyes finding the distortions in heat caused by the presence of Undeads, their natural negativity leaving patches of cold that, now that she was paying attention, she could recognize.
"Oh, I don't know. Makes no sense to me." Mafel casually answered, her emotions having long since returned to her previous calm disinterest now that she confirmed it wasn't an urgent matter, causing Luna to snort in amusement in the back.
"If they were here since long ago, they are probably some sort of a security measure. Are High Lich capable of Taming other Monsters?" Luna asked, earning only doubt from her Mates.
"Taming a Monster means annihilating their Miasma. It's a long and complicated process that increases in difficulty as one moves away from Humanity. It's possible, sure, but for an Undead to tame this many different Specters... Well, it would take literally centuries of efforts. On the other hand, this is a High Lich that lived at least that long, so..." Amber shrugged, exchanging a brief glance with Mafel and the two reaching no conclusion.
"The easiest way to confirm or deny it would be for me to devour one of them. But, well, I doubt that me eating one of them would better our situation. On the other hand, that would without a doubt let me give a new Skill to Spirit... Let's watch and see for now." Luna nodded to herself, ignoring the worried humour clear within her Mates. "Well, let's go to your home. We too need some privacy."
Her last words caused Sabel to redden significantly, immediately thinking about a specific meaning that could be hidden behind them.
-
664 10/12 4:33 (Autumn, Day, Midrar's Capital, Sarn's office)
A couple of minutes after their daughter and her lovers left his office, the Guildmaster leaned back in his chair, covering his face with his hands. "Oh, I really am not ready. I really am not ready for our darling having... being in a relationship."
His muffled words were heard from his wife that responded with a brief giggle, quite the uncharacteristic sound from one so normally unflappable. "Please, you should have prepared in advance. After all there is nothing strange about my daughter having some admirers."
Her smug tone was full of pride, her remembrance of the trail of broken hearts she left behind in her youth only serving to fuel her vanity.
"Yes, yes, she is as beautiful as her mother." Sarn sighed once, before shaking his head, setting aside his role as a father in favour of that of a Guildmaster. "Lord Advisor, what are your thoughts?"
Silence filled the room briefly before, a breath later, a Monster entered by passing through the wall, a vaguely Humanoid ethereal figure, presenting no recognizable features except for a vaguely blue glow.
It was still for a couple of seconds longer before its mouth opened and closed a couple of times, words being soon projected through the Ghost. "She is not the would-be-assassin. Her Energy is too singular to be mistaken for anyone else's."
Having finished relaying its message, the Undead lost even the small traces of awareness present, fading back through the wall and returning to its prepared layer, its job done for right now and in so doing confirming that his Master did not believe Luna and, as a consequence, their Sabel to be involved in the attempt.
Sarn leaned back, the invisible tension filling his body leaving with a relieved sigh, thankful that his duty to the nation and to his family would not collide with each other.
Bellemire sat down too, watching her husband and for now keeping silent the fact that the Advisor expressed only that she wasn't the assassin, not that he believed her uninvolved.
Sighing to herself once, she went over the messenger's movements and actions, doing her best to figure out if he left any hint about his next actions.
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