With Sily in his arms, Shun closely followed Esna and the other elves. Soon, a massive, yellow-and-white palace came into view. Esna and the other elves quickened their pace upon noticing the palace; they knew what Shun wanted and dared not delay. In a few minutes, they reached the enormous steel-barred gate, half a kilometer from the palace.
Several guards of different races stood on either side of the gate. Normally, they would stop the newcomers, ask for their identity, what they wanted, etc., and then go inside to ask someone of higher rank. But just as they were about to step forward and stop them, they saw the faces of the newcomers and then stood completely still, unable to move. Esna, Shun, and the other elves passed the guards and went through a small door in the corner of the massive steel-barred gate.
Seeing Shun and the others leave, the group of guards finally relaxed their tense bodies, taking a deep breath. After all, they were just a small group of guards; they knew the positions and power of those entering, so how could they dare stop them and question them? Probably even princes and princesses wouldn't dare!
Once they passed through the small gate, the group finally slowed down and walked at a normal pace towards the main gate of the palace. They were now in the palace courtyard, and to be honest, a real palace courtyard. It stretched for several kilometers, surrounded by artificial mountains, lakes, waterfalls, beautifully planted flowers and trees! Everything imaginable could enhance the scenery and atmosphere! Even Shun couldn't help but be surprised at first, but Sily was the most surprised and excited of all!
After all, the little girl was nothing more than a small beggar struggling to survive on the streets. She rarely even ventured out onto the normal streets, and there weren't even any nice houses or buildings in the lower classes. This was the first time Sily had ever seen something so magnificent; you can imagine her excitement. The truth is, even before they reached the front door, Sily had already come to her senses and was excitedly continuing to explore the palace and its surroundings, completely forgetting that Shun had carried her.
As they walked through the courtyard, Shun noticed Sily's excited gaze and, smiling slightly, said, "What's wrong? Do you like it here?"
Sily, still visibly excited, replied, "Yes! This is the first time I've ever seen such a beautiful place!"
"Hehe, if you want, I can buy this place for you, you can live here as long as you like. Of course, you don't need to worry about food or water." Shun said with a slight smile, but these words struck Esna and the other elves' hearts like a hammer! 'He realizes this is the palace courtyard, doesn't he? Usually only members of the royal family and their guests have the honor of sitting in this courtyard, but this man is actually saying he'll give the whole courtyard to this little girl if she wants it!' Although these thoughts crossed their minds, they also knew that this man could easily take the entire kingdom if he wanted to, so when the subject came up, they prayed to God repeatedly that the girl would refuse, their foreheads slightly sweating.
Hearing this, Sily excitedly exclaimed, "Really?" But then something else came to her mind and she fell silent, 'I can stay here as long as I want, I don't need to worry about food or water? Or...' After these thoughts, she bit her lip and continued to think with an unknown pain in her heart, 'Really.' 'He saved me only by chance, and he's already doing me another great favor that I can never repay, how can I ask him to take me with him?' She was even more upset as she thought this, and her eyes were starting to redden. She didn't know why, but the thought of leaving Shun had sent a strange, painful feeling through her entire body, and she had involuntarily begun to tremble.
Shun, noticing Sily's trembling, asked in surprise, "What's wrong? What's the matter?"
"N-nothing," she said, the tremor in her voice audible.
Shun still didn't understand why she was suddenly acting like this, so he asked, "Don't you want this garden?"
Hearing this question this time, Sily felt even more depressed instead of excited. She turned and looked at the courtyard that had just filled her with immense excitement. Now, a hatred had formed towards it because she felt it was separating her from Shun.
"No, I don't want it."
Shun was somewhat surprised by this answer, but Esna and the other elves couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief upon hearing it. They couldn't help but give a thumbs-up and say, "Thank you, little lady!"
After a moment of silence, Shun took a breath and said, "Ah, anyway. If there's anything you want, just tell me, and I'll do it for you."
Hearing this, Sily's depressed and sad mood suddenly brightened as if she had found hope, and she said excitedly, "Really? Anything I want?" looking at Shun. If he would really agree to anything she wanted, then...
Shun smiled and nodded, "Of course!"I've told you before, haven't I? Saving you was fate. Besides, I would feel really bad if I left you there without doing anything after saving you."
"I understand..." Sily spoke softly, but there was excitement and a slight happiness within her. If he would fulfill any of her wishes, she could ask him never to leave her, couldn't she? As she thought this, her face flushed slightly, and her excitement and happiness intensified.
Meanwhile, the group had already arrived at the inner gate of the palace. The double-winged brown door was already open when they arrived; two servants stood at the entrance and greeted Shun and his group as they arrived, saying, "In honor of Master Shun's arrival, His Majesty has begun preparing a feast. However, since it is not yet ready, allow me to take Master Shun to one of the guest rooms."
At the same time, the other servant spoke, "A bath has been prepared for Master Shun; you may use it now if you wish."
Shun smiled, then looked at Sily, who was still tightly clinging to his clothes in her arms, and said, "Go and wash. Then you will find me in the guest room." "Ah, and also, put these clothes on after you wash," he said, then took a package from Esna and gave it to Sily. Of course, this was the outfit Sily had liked beforehand.
Sily reluctantly got down from Shun's lap and then took the package. She nodded in agreement when she heard what Shun said.
Once Sily nodded, Shun looked at the maid who was preparing the bath and said, "Help her wash, and bring her to my room when she's ready." He spoke as if giving an order, but the maid didn't dare complain and said, "Understood." They were somewhat aware of the arrangements the king had made for this man's reception, so even though they didn't know what kind of person he was, their fear was no less than the king's, so they didn't dare disobey any order.
After the maid nodded, she took Sily and began to lead her to the bath, which was now ready. At that moment, Shun looked at the other maid and said, "Take me to my room."
The maid, too, without daring to show any disobedience, simply said, "Understood."
Meanwhile, Esna smiled and said, "Master Shun, we need to give some reports to the king, so we must part ways for now. I enjoyed our journey together." The other elves nodded in agreement with Esna.
Shun smiled, sensing the sincerity in Esna's words, "It's nothing. I also enjoyed our time together. This was the first city I've visited since I came to this world, thank you for showing me around."
Esna and the other elves smiled upon hearing this and said things like, "It's nothing," and "We can show you around anytime." Then Esna bowed and said, "Then...""We are leaving," he said, and departed with the other elves.
Shun watched them go, and when they soon disappeared from sight, he asked the servant to take them to his room. The interior of the palace was not at all dull compared to the exterior. The floors, walls, and everything else were made of white marble, and the many columns on either side of the pathways were made of gleaming stone, creating a good resonance. The sight and the atmosphere it gave were very strange, but it felt good. The pathways were wide and comfortable, about 20 meters from floor to ceiling, and quite long. There were hardly any people on the pathways, only a few guards standing motionless here and there, a few guards patrolling the pathways, and a few servants; otherwise, there was nobody else.
Soon they came to a staircase at the end of the wide pathway, also made of marble. After passing the path leading to the second floor, the surroundings were now not as empty as the lower floors, and occasionally some large and valuable doors could be seen. After a while, they came to a door that was larger and more gleaming than the others. The maid pointed to the door and said, "Master Shun, this is the room His Majesty has prepared for you, please come in." She then opened the door.
Shun entered, followed by the maid. The room was very large, about 120 meters. There was a red carpet on the floor and a large, white bed at the end of the room. On either side were wardrobes, and next to the bed were several more cabinets and drawers. Was such a large room really necessary for just a bed and a few cabinets? Shun found it absurd but didn't say anything.
After bringing Shun in, the maid spoke, "Master Shun, I will come back to inform you when the meals are ready. If you need anything, there is a small button in the drawer to the right of the bed; click it and I will come to help you immediately."
Shun was surprised to hear this. He had thought the drawers were just empty spaces, but one of the cabinets actually had this function! Very interesting. He shook his head, and then the maid bowed and left.
Having nothing left to do after the maid left, Shun went and lay down on the bed. Suddenly, he remembered that he had only been in this world for at most half a day, but even that time felt very long. Thinking about it, he didn't know what to do now. He would probably only stay here for a day or two at most, but what would he do after that?
Suddenly, he remembered the name his father had told him, 'Biu Lester!' This woman, his mother, was actually an empress. If he asked the king, he would probably find out who she was and where she was, but he thought that doing so might reveal his relationship with his mother, so he gave up. Besides, he didn't need to see his mother now, so there was no rush. He hadn't seen her for 17 years, and he wasn't missing her either; not seeing her for a while longer wouldn't be a problem, I guess.
As he thought this, he closed his eyes and wanted to check their status, but suddenly he was shocked!What the hell are these statuses?!
Name: Shun Lester
Age: 17
Titles: 'Hermes', 'Hercules', 'Blessed by the God of War', 'Blessed by the Goddess of Magic', 'The Strongest!'
Strength: 18,206,491
Speed (Agility): 13,912,661
Endurance: 24,512,824
Energy: 21,351,021
Intelligence: 5,612,925
Equipment: Simple suit (Effects: None)
"What the hell is this?!" Shun was so shocked he cursed loudly! But this was normal behavior. He had checked his stats half a day earlier, after sobering up, and his current stats had already more than doubled! He had wondered why controlling his power had been so difficult all along the way; so this was it! The more he controlled his power, the more it grew, and the harder it became to control! Damn it!
But his power was already at its peak half a day ago; how much stronger would it get if this continued?! This was no longer just God's fault, this was ridiculous! Madness!
Meanwhile, his stats were visibly increasing rapidly. Even the rate of increase had accelerated!
Seeing this, Shun began to worry. Power is good, but too much is always harmful! If his body couldn't handle this power, could he explode? Shun was now terrified. If anyone heard what Shun was saying, they would spit in his face. Some people were willing to give everything to become stronger, but Shun was afraid he might explode from too much power! 'Brother! Oh brother! So much power is going to waste on you, couldn't you give some to me?!'
Power, speed (agility), endurance, energy, intelligence—all were increasing in number as he watched his stats rise!
Power thirty million, forty million, fifty million... one hundred million! His power level had now reached one hundred million! And it still showed no signs of stopping! Shun's back was drenched in sweat, because the more he developed, the greater the danger became! 'Damn power! Stop it! I'm already at the peak, what am I going to do with all this power?!'
As he thought this, the rate at which his powers increased finally slowed down. Shun finally breathed a sigh of relief, 'Crack!' A cracking sound like thunder echoed in his mind! He didn't understand what had happened and continued to look at the stat count that appeared in his head, but he couldn't help but be shocked when he saw a slight crack in the corner of the numbers. The numbers... cracked??!?!?!?!?
While still in shock, the rate at which his stat increased began to slow down, but the rate of cracking increased, and in a short time, countless cracks appeared on the numbers. After a while, 'Crack!' The screen that appeared in his head completely shattered and turned to dust and disappeared. At that moment, Shun felt even more relieved and experienced a noticeable increase in his senses, but just as he was about to regain control, he couldn't take it anymore and closed his eyes and collapsed onto the bed, unconscious.
.....
Meanwhile, as the screen on Shun's head shattered, a message appeared on the head of a stunningly beautiful girl with blue hair and eyes: ' You have earned the title of
"The Strongest!" The true god has recognized that your status surpasses that of all other living beings and has awarded you the title of "The Strongest!" Do you want to share this information with everyone in the system? (yes/no) If you do not answer within 1 minute, the system will automatically select "yes"! ' The girl stood there with a shocked expression as the countdown began. "What happened? Why did this title suddenly return to me? Was he really killed? Impossible! If that were the case, the title would go to the person who killed him! Can someone explain what happened to me!?" The girl stood there with a shocked expression on her face. Finally, the countdown in her mind ended, and the system automatically selected "yes." Then, a system announcement was sent to everyone in the system: The new owner of the title "The Strongest!" has been revealed!...