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Chapter 411 – Shadow Pavillion
A gaping hole appeared on the forehead of the assassin as blood started flowing through his head. The other two assassins nearly wet themselves when they saw that.
The man had died so easily. And yet, somehow his body was still upright, holding the gun in position to attack the other two assassins.
Ning brought the gun down and cocked it again before pointing at the 2nd man.
"N-No!" the man spoke, but that was all he could do. Ning didn't bother listening to the man at all.
BANG!
Another man was dead and still his body remained upright. Ning cocked his gun once more and pointed towards the last remaining person on this side of the cart, the girl.
Ning put his finger on the trigger as he looked at the begging eyes of the girl. She desperately wanted him to not kill her.
Ning suddenly put the gun down. "I can't shoot you," he said.
The girl's eyes widened with surprise and a happy expression came upon her face.
Then Ning spoke again. "Shooting you would be too kind. You tried to poison us, right? It's only right that I poison you as well."
Ning asked the system to make some poison that he could use against the girl. The system quickly created a vial of poison that appeared in a flash of light in front of Ning.
He caught the vial and slowly walked up to the girl. The fear in the girl's eyes was something Ning very rarely saw even in Kumia.
"If you do something to others, you need to at least be ready to have the same thing done to you as well," Ning said as he slowly opened her mouth and poured in the poison.
He waited for just 2 seconds before the most vicious of screams left the girl's mouth. Lisa who was not far away felt her heart skip a beat when she heard her cries.
She looked at Ning with fearful eyes at just what he was capable of.
The two men were done putting out the fire and they also saw the girl scream. They couldn't tell what was wrong with her at first, but slowly, they saw her stomach melt away as blood started pouring out of her.
BANG!
Ning put a bullet in the woman and shut her up for good. Even he hadn't expected the poison to do this 'good' of a job.
Even after she died, the poison kept eating away her inside as she practically melted from the inside out.
Even then, she was standing still with her gun pointed at the other two. Without a single wasted moment, Ning made her and the other two dead corpses shoot.
Multiple gunshots rang once more, but this time it was the two men who were being shot at. Immediately they ducked to the side of the train behind one of the seats.
Even then, one of them got hit on the legs. He dragged himself to hide behind the seat.
The two men would put out their heads and shoot towards Ning, but Ning was already next to Lisa by now and was protected by the barrier he had put up earlier.
Ning walked away from the barrier and towards the two men once they were out of bullets.
He walked up to behind the seats to see the two men furiously putting in the bullets onto the empty chamber with trembling hands. When they saw Ning show up, they felt fear like never before.
The man with the bullet in his leg finishing reloading and quickly pointed at Ning. Ning casually grabbed the gun and tried to pull away, but the man pulled the trigger before Ning could grab the gun away.
3 of Ning's fingers were blown away. "Tsk!" Ning cried out. He couldn't feel the pain, but he still didn't expect himself to be so slow that he lost to a normal human.
The other man finished reloading as well and pointed at Ning. Ning didn't bother with grabbing the gun anymore and directly pulled out a spear from his storage.
With a single swing, he managed to cut one of the men's wrists and half the gun of another man. The man with the lost wrist cried out in pain. Meanwhile, the other man was in shock to see his gun cut in half.
Ning looked at them with a disgusted face and swung once more. With that single swing, he killed both of the men at once.
Ning wiped away the blood from his spear blade using the men's clothes and stored it back. Finally, he returned back to Lisa and turned off the barrier.
"Who are you?" Lisa asked with a stunned expression.
"What do you mean?" Ning asked.
"You… you have killed people before?" she asked.
"Yes, I have," Ning said.
"But you said you were a doctor. What sort of doctor kills people?" She asked.
"I'm whatever I need to be," Ning said. "Come on let's leave this cart. It's not a good idea to sit around in such a bloody place."
Lisa mindlessly nodded as she kept staring at Ning and then at the other men.
"Don't worry, they won't harm you now," Ning said.
"They will. This was only the beginning," Lisa said.
Ning was a little surprised. "Are you sure?" he asked.
"You don't know Shadow Pavillion. They will keep sending people to kill you until the job is done. Since we killed their low leveled assassins, they will start sending higher ones to kill me," she said.
"Are they a well-known assassin group?" Ning asked.
"They are well known in the underground circles. They are very hated by everyone with high status, but somehow my brother seems to have gotten in contact with them and sent them to kill me," she said.
"Your brother must hate you a lot then," Ning said carelessly. He picked up Reever onto his shoulder and said, "Let's go.. We don't want to be seen with so many corpses around us."
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Chapter 412 – Dual Awakener
Reever slowly got back to consciousness as the sound of the train rattling came from around him. He was weaving back and forth on the seat along with the train.
He slowly opened his eyes to see the sideways figure of Ning sitting on the seat in front of him. "What's… going on?" he asked. He found himself lying on his wife's lap with a splitting headache burning through his mind.
"Hey, you! You're finally awake," Ning said as he saw Reever open his eyes. "You were trying to drink the juice the old lady got us, walked right into her trap, same as us. Damn those assassins. We were doing fine until they came along."
He suddenly got up from his wife's lap and screamed, "Assassins?!"
The people sitting in the cart suddenly turned to look at him with a weird look. Reever cowered down a little and hid back into his seat.
"Assassins?" he whispered quietly.
"Yes, but it's fine. We've taken care of them already. We were poisoned by them, but fortunately for you, you had a doctor riding with you," Ning said.
"Let's not talk about that anymore, please. That is not an experience I want to keep remembering," Lisa said with a shaken face.
"Sorry," Ning said. "Anyway, you've been asleep for two hours or so. We should be reaching our destination in another hour."
"Oh, okay," Reever said dumbly. He was still confused a little and took the moment to gather his thoughts.
"So, I was poisoned?" he asked.
"Yes," Ning said.
"But why? A terrorist?" he asked. "Wait, no. You said assassins, so were these deliberate attacks?"
Ning didn't answer immediately and looked towards Lisa. He was waiting to see if she wanted to tell the truth or hide it.
"They were after me, and by proxy, you as well. Someone in my family doesn't want me to return," she said. "And it's likely my second brother."
"What?" Reever asked. "Your second brother hates you?"
Lisa fell into thought for a bit and said, "Hate is perhaps not the right word. It's more like my existence is a threat to him, so he wants to get rid of me."
"Still, your brother tried to have you killed. What a shitty brother. What threat could a sister have to him?" Reever cried out loud.
"He didn't have any before. But since he thinks I do, I will make sure there is some now," Lisa said with a determined face.
"How much money do you have?" she asked Reever. "We will need to buy some dye at the capital when we land."
"I have the dyes right here with me," Reever said as he brought out a paper bag.
"No," Lisa said. "Not black. I will need to dye my hair yellow."
"Yellow?" Reever asked. "You really don't have a complex about your hair then?"
"I'm sorry. It was just a lie I had to say to not make you question my motives at the time," she said.
"You don't have to wait until the capital. I can't help you get your natural hair right now," Ning said.
"Really? You can do that?" Lisa asked with surprise.
"Eh? How will you do that, brother Ning?" Reever asked with a confused face.
"Easily," Ning said and stood up to place his hands on Lisa's hair. "Any length choices?"
"No, I like it just the length it is," she said. Her hair went a little past her shoulders and that was the way she wanted it.
"Alright, here I go," Ning said and asked the system to return Lisa's natural hair.
In a flash of light, the dark colors went away from her hair and a bright blonde color remained that made her stand out a lot.
"Done," Ning said and sat back on his seat.
Reever's eyes went wide when he saw his golden-haired wife. "You look beautiful, honey. I can't beleive what I was missing out on," he said.
"Eh?" she quickly grabbed her hair and brought it in front of her. From root to tip, every single strand of her hair had grown blonde.
A few tears left her eyes. "Thank you. It's been years since I've seen my hair in this color. I won't have to live in fear of being found out any more," she said.
Reever suddenly turned to look at Ning and asked, "Brother Ning, you can Enchant as well?"
Ning chuckled a little and said, "Yes, I can."
"Hmm, what do you mean as well?" Lisa asked.
"Eh, didn't you know? Brother Ning is an Invoker. But he can somehow Enchant too," Reever said.
"No way, wouldn't that make him…" Lisa gasped in surprise.
"Yeah, I'm what's known as a Dual Awakener. I can both Invoke and Enchant," Ning said.
"That's right. You created those rocks too. I forgot," Lisa said.
"Eh? What rocks?" Reever asked.
"Never mind," Lisa quieted down, not wanting to let her husband learn about the massacre.
"Let's just sit tight. We will reach the station soon," Ning said.
The rest of the way went normally. Ning left the seat once to go to the toilet and returned quite soon.
They watched the grassland with massive farms pass by from their windows. Ning could feel the air get significantly colder as the time went on and by the time the next hour had passed, it was the temperature had come to the point which in most places would be considered normal.
'We must be getting further from the equator,' he thought. The train kept moving as it whistled and puffed steam through the countryside.
In just a few more minutes, the grasslands ended, and more modern houses could be seen on the horizon. The capital was getting closer.
Far in the distance, Lisa saw the silhouette of a city through the window.
"We're here," Lisa said with a face of anticipation. It had been almost 15 years since she left, and she was finally back once again.
"I'm home."
Chapter 413 – Noble Square
The three of them got off the train and brought out their stuff to the platform.
"What do we do about the cart?" Lisa softly asked Ning.
"Don't worry, I've already dealt with that," Ning said. "Anyway, now that you are here, do you still need me to go along with you? Will you be in danger at your own home?"
"Please stay with us, if you can. The danger isn't gone yet. My brother won't stop targetting me just because I'm home. It didn't stop him before," Lisa said. "But the worse problem is the Shadow Pavillion. They won't let go of this humiliation so easily."
Ning nodded. "Alright, let's go then."
Lisa had her hair tied up in a bun and was wearing a hat on top of it. Unless someone really looked for it, they would likely not see her hair.
Ning took all the suitcases into his storage and they all walked out.
"Woah!" Reever exclaimed when he saw the city. "It's so crowded, and the buildings are so tall. Also, why are they all so colorful? Do the people in the capital have that much money?"
"Have you never been to the Xandria city before?" Lisa asked. "I thought you came here to take your Aether Tower test."
"No, I took those in Sterling city. I would have come here for the 2nd test if I passed that. Unfortunately, I didn't," Reever said.
Ning looked and found the capital to be much better than the city of beginnings. The place had many people, but the roads were also much bigger so it didn't look as crowded.
Colors flashed everywhere, be it buildings or people. Even the carriages were very colorful.
"Where do we go now?" Reever asked.
"The Noble square," Lisa said.
"The… noble square?" Reever asked. "What's that place?"
"As the name suggests, it's a place where only nobles are allowed to live in. Unless you have a noble title, you cannot purchase land in that area," Lisa said.
"Ah, right. I've heard of those. So your house is there too?" Reever asked.
"It's close enough," she said.
Reever walked out and stopped a carriage. It was a human-run carriage with the driver outside the carriage, controlling it with his Aether.
"Where to?" the driver asked.
"Uh… the-The Noble square, please," Reever said. He wasn't used to riding human-drawn carriages at all and became a little awkward.
They all got in and the carriage started moving.
"Dammit, I didn't realize it was the expensive kind. I wouldn't have stopped him if I knew beforehand," Reever said.
"Then why didn't you just send him away?" Ning asked.
"It makes me look like a cheapskate if I do that though. Also, don't all nobles ride these sorts of carriages? I want my wife to return like a noble too," he said.
Lisa giggled a little when she heard that. "Thank you for your kind thoughts, but unfortunately, what you said will not come true," she said.
"Eh? Why not?" Reever asked.
Lisa just smiled and looked out of the window. Her face showed an expression of nostalgia as well as unfamiliarity as she looked outside.
"This place has changed a lot," she said.
The place transitioned from a commercial place to one with fewer people but bigger buildings with signs hung around them.
"Building of Agriculture. Office of Electricity and Telecommunication. Are we in some sort of government zone or what?" he asked.
"Ah yes, this is the area with a lot of government buildings. In fact, every single government building is right here, in this very block" Lisa said.
The carriage went past the governmental area and reached a much nicer neighborhood. The houses were much cleaner looking and had a lot more color. There were also significantly fewer people here.
"Is this the Noble square?" Reever asked.
"No, this is just a simple area for richer families to live in,' Lisa said.
"Eh? Such nice location and it's not for nobles?" Reever was surprised.
"You will be shocked when you see how well the nobles' houses are," Lisa said.
Ning looked out and saw significantly more colors that just made the area look aesthetically pleasing.
It didn't look as depressing as the city of Beginnings did.
"I don't see many kids around here," Ning said.
"What's the day today? 2nd of the week right? They must all be in school right now," Lisa said.
"Oh, so they don't work like in City of Beginnings?" Ning asked.
"No, people here can afford enough without sending their children to work as well. Still, you will see them in the commercial area from time to time," Lisa said.
The neighborhood changed once more and Reever was finally sure that this was the noble square.
Each of the houses was massive manors with its own garden and lawn. They were all far apart from each other, and he could see many servants tending to them past the walls.
"Where should I stop?" the driver asked from outside.
"The furthest you can go," Lisa said from inside.
"The furthest?" the driver looked at them in shock. "Are you sure?"
"Yes," Lisa said.
The driver didn't speak anymore and brought them to the furthest he was allowed to around here and stopped.
The three of them got down on the side of the road at the end of the noble square. Reever felt his heart bleed when he paid 30 Sils for just that one ride.
"Let's go," Lisa said and walked forward away from any of the houses in the area.
Reever was confused, but he kept on following. Finally, they came upon a massive mansion, far bigger than any of the ones that Reever had seen previously.
"No way! So big," he said softly as he looked at the wide mansion. He couldn't even tell how long it was, but just from the length, he could tell that the person living here must've been one of the richest men in not just Xandria, but in the entire world.
There was a long line of people at the gate, waiting to enter the building. Reever also walked up to the line and got in the queue.
But then a hand grabbed his arm and pulled him away.
"You don't have to line up," Lisa explained.
Ning followed the two as they strayed away from the long queue of people and went directly towards the main gate that wasn't even open.
"Open the gate," she ordered the guards standing guard.
The guards were a little surprised. They looked at her face but couldn't recognize her at all. Still, the way she was giving orders, they couldn't immediately ignore her.
"Miss, please queue up in the line. We will let you enter once we've confirmed your identity," the guards said.
Lisa sighed and took down her hat. "Then bring someone with more authority," she said.
The guards immediately went pale in their faces when they saw the golden hair flow down from her head.
They immediately ran away and got an older gentleman who was wearing a blue suit and tie and had a monocle on his left eye.
The moment he arrived and saw Lisa, his eyes went wide.
"Open the gate," he ordered.
The guards opened the gate and the old man walked out. He immediately got onto his knees and spoke.
"It's an honor to welcome you back, Your highness, Princess Elizabeth."
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Chapter 414 – The Palace
Lisa smiled when she saw the old man. "Uncle Tim, I didn't expect to see you still working here," she said.
"Your highness, this old bone has only known this one job. No one else would accept me due to my lack of experience," the old man said.
"It seems your humor hasn't changed either. If you are considered inexperienced, then it's safe to say that this empire is in deep trouble," Lisa said.
"Haha," the old man laughed. "Please come in, Princess."
Lisa nodded and walked in. Ning followed behind her, only to realize that Reever wasn't moving at all.
He turned around to see that he was awestruck at what was happening.
"Honey?" Lisa too noticed that he didn't move and called out to him. "What's wrong?" she asked.
"Your highness, these are?" the old man asked.
"This is my bodyguard," Lisa said as she pointed to Ning. "And this is Reever Skulls, my husband."
The old man's eyes went wide. "Yo-your husband, princess? You got married?" the old man asked in surprise.
"Yes, I got married for nearly 2 years now," she said.
"Oh dear god! This is big news. Let's go in quickly princess. I still need to announce your return to the whole family," the old man said.
Ning pulled Reever who was slowly coming out of his shock. "Um, dear… when he says, Princess… it's an endearing term right?" he asked.
Lisa chuckled when she heard that. "I'm sorry for keeping this secret, but No. I really am the princess. I am the 3rd daughter of Emperor Kain, the only royal Princess of the land.," she said.
Reever's jaw dropped when he finally heard the truth come out from his own wife's mouth.
"It's… really true then?" he asked.
"Yes," Lisa said. "Now let's go in."
The path past the gates went past 2 massive gardens on either side of the road, which split around a giant 20 meter wide, circular fountain with multiple streams of water coming out of it at the center.
The split road then joined on the other sid4e of the fountain, in front of the main palace.
The palace itself was fully white in color with golden accented pillars at different places.
Ning could see that the palace was nearly 300 meters wide, with a little open area on either side before massive trees grew around them.
Ning counted close to 40 different windows just on the front 3 floors of the palace, each tinted in a shade of black that made it impossible to see inside.
He then saw multiple pointed endings on the roof up at the top that had guards sitting on them, looking around the place.
He was only then starting to notice the other people that were around the place. The maids, servants, guards, there were so many of them, and every single one of them was looking at him.
Or more accurately, they were looking at Lisa with faces of shock.
The three of them walked up 3 stairs to reach the main door of the palace and walked in.
The people inside turned to look at who was entering, and when they did, they were all shocked.
"They all recognize you?" Ning asked.
"No, it's the hair," Lisa said. "My status is on a higher level thanks to my hair."
"Your hair gives you a higher status?" Reever asked confusedly. "How does that work?"
"Amongst the prince and princesses, only 3 of us were able to acquire the golden hair from our father. This means that only the 3 of us have a right to become the future ruler of this empire," Lisa said.
"What? Does that mean you ca—"
"Sister?" a surprised voice came from somewhere in front of them in the hall. Lisa turned around to see a black-haired girl that was slightly younger than her.
"Lina?" Lisa asked with a shocked expression.
"Is that… really you, sister Liz?" the girl asked. The girl didn't look that similar to Lisa, but she had features that both of them shared.
"Yes, it's me, Lina," Lisa said as she started to get teary-eyed.
The girl called Lina immediately ran up to her and hugged her. "I didn't believe them when they said you were alive. Thank god you are," she said.
"I'm sorry I didn't tell you anything when I left, Lina," Lisa said as she hugged her sister back.
"Bu-But how? We found your corpse during that night. I thought the assassins had got to you," Lina said.
"They did, but I was saved," Lisa said.
"You were saved? Wait, does that mean 7th Mother is alive too?" Lina asked.
Lisa's face turned pale when she heard that. "No, mother she— she didn't leave with us. She…"
Lina gasped. "I'm so sorry sister. I thought because you survived that she—"
"It's fine. I know your intentions weren't bad," Lisa said.
Lina stepped a bit back from Lisa and looked at the two men beside her. "Who are they? She asked.
"This is my bodyguard, and this… is your brother-in-law," Lisa said.
"Hello," Reever greeted her.
Lina looked at Reever head to toe and said, "Hello, I am Princess Elina, who are you?"
"I am Reever Skulls," Reever introduced himself.
"Skulls?" Lina cocked her head. She tried to think of the surname for a bit, but no information came to her mind.
"Are you a noble of a different empire?" she asked.
"What? N-no, I'm not noble," Reever said.
"Eh? Sister, you married a peasant?" Lina asked.
"Watch your tongue. That's my husband you are talking to," Lisa scolded.
"Oh, sorry," Lina quickly bowed her head.
"Your highness, let us go to your room. You might want to rest," the old man said.
The old man then called someone nearby. It was a maid that seemed to be cleaning.
"Can you take the princess' bodyguard to the waiting area? I will be back in a few minutes," the old man said.
The maid nodded and called Ning, "This way."
"I'll see you guys later," Ning said and followed the maid.. Lisa and Reever split away from him and were taken to their room, while Ning had to be on his own for a while now.
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Chapter 415 – Payment
The maid took Ning to an open living room. The room had light coming in from the giant windows and was brightly lit.
There were 4 sofas in the middle, all surrounding a single massive glass table that had a flower vase at the center.
Directly above the table was a beautiful chandelier hanging from the patterned, white ceiling.
Ning sat on one of the tables and looked around at the walls. There were different drawings on them, all belonging to various men and women he had no way of recognizing.
Directly in front of Ning on the wall was the biggest drawing of all. In the drawing was a man holding a sword directly through a beast's chest.
The man had golden hair and had a well-built body. As for the beast, it looked like a lion, but there were purple cracks all over its skin.
The drawing was meant to represent a sense of glory and victory, and Ning could feel that coming off of the painting.
'That must be Emperor Kron who defeated the invading beasts from the empire,' Ning thought.
From yesterday's theater play, he remembered that the Emperor used swords, so it was quite easy to recognize him.
'Blonde hair… is that why he became the emperor?' he wondered.
Footsteps rang out from outside the door, and Ning looked to see the old man named Tim walking into the room.
"Sorry to keep you waiting for so long," the old man said as he entered.
"It's fine. Are the two doing okay? Are they settled?" Ning asked.
"The princess should be fine settling down, it's her home after all. However, the prince consort might need a little more time," the old man said.
"Oh that's good," Ning said.
"May I know your name?" the old man asked.
"It's Ning. Ning Ruogong," Ning replied.
"Ning… Ruogong? I'm afraid that's a name I have never heard of before," the old man said.
"It's fine. I'm not a citizen of your empire or anywhere close by. So it's obvious," Ning said.
"I see, Mr. Ning. Thank you for helping to bring the princess back all the way here," the old man said with a bow.
"No problem," Ning said.
"How would you like to get paid?" the old man then asked.
"Sorry?" Ning was caught off-guard.
"The payment. I doubt you are fine with what the princess promised to pay you. How would you like to get paid?" the old man asked.
"Oh, I'm not doing it for the money. They are my friend, so I was just helping them," Ning said.
"No way. Please tell us what you would like to get paid with. Money? Land? Title? If it's possible, I will hand it to you," the old man said.
"I'm not joking. I really don't need any form of payment," Ning said.
"Ah," the old man said as if he understood something. "You must be of the sense that you could stay with the princess and get closer with the royal family. I must disappoint you, mister Ning. After you take your payment here, you are to leave the premises and never return to the princess again."
"The royal family has much better guards than you, so you will no longer be needed," the old man said.
"Oh," Ning said. He didn't expect to be thrown out so quickly. He was expecting to be welcomed to stay since Lisa was the one who brought her in.
"Call Lis— I mean, Princess Elizabeth. She will tell you to keep me around," Ning said.
"I'm afraid I cannot do that," the old man said. "You will have to take your pay and leave."
"But I was specially asked by your princess to protect her. Are you going against her wishes?" Ning asked.
"We respect the princess's wishes, but we will go against them when it comes to her security. We can't let a random guard stay around her at all, so I must ask that you tell me what you want to be paid with so that I can send you away without you keeping any bad feelings towards the royal family," the old man said.
"You really won't let me stay even if the princess wants me to?" Ning asked to confirm.
"I'm afraid not," the old man said.
Ning sighed. "Very well then. I will be leaving," Ning said and stood up from his seat.
"Eh? What about your payment?" the old man asked.
"I told you, I don't need any," Ning said.
"Are you… for real?" the old man asked. He hadn't expected Ning to not ask for anything in return for safely bringing the princess to the palace.
"No, I don't need anything," Ning said. "Although, I would like to know something."
"What is it?" the old man asked.
"If I wanted to be the princess's guard, what would I have to do?" Ning asked.
"We only employ people above Aether Magister that are certified from the tower. Anyone less cannot work as a guard, especially not one for someone so important like the princess herself," the old man said.
"I see. Aether Magister huh? I guess I will have to go to the tower now then," Ning said.
"Thank you, I will be leaving now," Ning said and walked out.
The old man looked dumbfounded. Still, he snapped out of his shock and asked the guards inside the palace to show Ning the way out.
They brought Ning all the way out to the gate and let him go out. Ning sighed as he walked out of the gates and looked around.
He wasn't in a location where he could simply catch a vehicle out of here. He looked at the surroundings and it was still late morning, so he didn't even want to take a vehicle out of here.
He walked his way out of the Royal Palace area until he made it to the Noble square. Then, he roamed the streets until he went past the government building, the middle-class area, and finally entered the commercial area once again.
"Let's find me a place to stay for now."
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Chapter 416 – Disbelief
Ning got himself a room in a hotel in the commercial district, which wasn't very different from the room back in the City of beginnings.
It was a tall building, and Ning stood before the window to look at the capital city. People moved in the streets like a colony of ants. The sheer number of people in that one place was baffling.
It reminded Ning of those few cities in the Southern continent of Kumia, where they were so packed that they had to make buildings that went sky high just to accommodate them.
He then looked into the horizon and could see a massive black building that towered over every other building. It stood somewhere outside of the government district in the west and was so massive that Ning didn't even need to think twice to realize what it was.
"So that's the Aether Tower huh? Are these folks so good that they are even sought after by the royal palace?" he thought.
He walked away from the window and sat on his bed. He was curious about the royal family, so he brought a small piece of information from the system that gave him a general knowledge of them.
Ning was a little surprised when he found out that Emperor Kain had 3 wives and 7 concubines. That was a number he hadn't expected to see.
Even in Kumia where polygamy was normal, he hadn't seen this many wives to a single man. 'Damn, the emperor sure has a harem,' he thought.
Amongst those 3 wives, only 1 was the royal empress and everyone else held no authority in the royal court.
With the 10 women, the emperor had fathered a total of 22 different children. Amongst them, only 3 had managed to successfully inherit the emperor's golden hair.
The 3 were the second son of the Emperor, Gilian Xandars who was born to his second wife. The 5th son of the emperor, Amien Xandars, was born to the first concubine.
And finally, the second daughter of the Emperor, Elizabeth Xandars, was born to the fourth concubine.
The next ruler of the empire would be chosen from amongst these 3, and the choice would entirely belong to the emperor himself.
"I see," Ning thought. "If you have no say in becoming an emperor, and you really want to become one… then the only way to guarantee your victory is by getting rid of your competition."
"No wonder her second brother tried to kill her and stop her from returning. She adds another threat to his ascension to becoming an Emperor," Ning thought to himself.
"It seems she won't really be safe until the Emperor chooses a successor, which is also entirely up to him."
"System, can you let me know if either Reever or Lisa ever have any threat on their life?" Ning asked.
Constantly monitoring two humans will cost a lot of energy
Are you sure?
"Hm, it will really cost a lot? Is there a way to make that task cheaper?" Ning asked.
There are some ways
Ning spoke with the system for a while before settling on a way where he could monitor them, but he also didn't have to spend a lot of energy.
Light shined in front of him and something appeared. Ning grabbed the thing and disappeared.
Reever was way too stunned to function normally any time soon. He laid on the bed, wondering if this was all a dream.
Sometimes, he would have to get up to check if he was even sleeping on a bed, considering it was so soft that he didn't even feel it half the time.
Lisa had gone to the bathroom to freshen up, so he was stuck alone with his own thought.
He looked at the brilliantly white ceiling with patterns that he didn't know could even be made by people.
He was just a village boy who excitedly left the village to go study in the tower and was rejected.
He struggled to even survive with the bare money he was able to gather after those days.
He didn't want to return to the village as a failure, not that he had anything left for him there at all.
His parents had died to the attack of the beasts, along with many other of his friends and neighbors.
He remembered the times when he felt like everything was going downhill. The rejection, the lack of money to even feed himself, the feeling of being a lost cause to the society.
There were times when he had contemplated suicide. There was a time when he nearly went forward with that thought.
It was only when the boss found him in the streets and offered him work in his store that he was able to get back on his feet.
It was thanks to the boss that he met Lisa there as well and fell in love with her.
He had just expected to live a normal life with his normal wife who was simply self-conscious of her hair. What a stupid thought that was.
To think that he was now suddenly the Prince consort to the only royal princess with a claim to the throne.
In just a single day, his world had turned upside down, and he was unsure if it was all even a dream or real life.
"I'm going to go mad if I don't talk to someone about this," he said to himself.
"Well, then you can talk with me," someone spoke from in front of him.
Reever immediately got up from the bed and saw Ning standing up in the middle of the room.
"Eh? Brother Ning, how did you get in here?" Reever asked.
"I snuck in here," Ning said.
"Oh no, this is the royal palace. You need to leave before they find out you are trespassing, especially to a princess' quarters.
"I know, I will leave as soon as I'm done with what I came here to do," he said. "Go bring your wife. It's a very important matter that concerns her too."
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Chapter 417 – Wedding Rings
Lisa and Reever were sitting on the bed, curiously waiting for Ning to explain why he had done something so dangerous just to get to them.
"Right, so here's the thing," Ning said. "I have already been kicked out of the palace."
"What? Why?" Lisa asked in a loud voice.
"Well, the old man, what was his name? Tim? He said that I am not worthy of being a princess' bodyguard. So, he offered me some rewards and sent me on my way."
"He can't do that. I employed you," Lisa said.
"Well, apparently not when it comes to security. You don't seem to have a say on who guards you," Ning said.
Lisa didn't say anything. She too knew that this was true, and also for the better. The guards, maids, and servants that worked in the royal family had to go through an extensive background check to make sure they aren't a threat to the royal family.
So, someone like Ning, who was brought in by them would not be able to stay around at all.
"What if I tell them about your skills? Maybe they will let you stay," Lisa said. Then she thought of something and asked, "Do you even want to stay? You want to wander the world, right?"
"It's fine. I want to stay, or at least protect you guys until the throne is passed to one of you three," Ning said. "Although, I'm curious. Will they even pass the throne to a girl? Imma be honest, your father doesn't exactly seem like the person who cares a lot about women, or he wouldn't marry 10 of them."
"I'm not saying he's sexist or anything, just that he might favor a son more than a daughter," Ning said.
Lisa stayed quiet as she gathered her thoughts and said, "I don't know if he would choose me. We… don't exactly have a close relationship. Actually, none of us do. Father has always kept to himself and only rarely talks to us."
"Mother said he used to be a happier person, but… apparently, he changed after grandfather's death," Lisa said with a sad face.
"Grandfather? Do you mean Emperor Kron? The man that fended off the beast?" Ning asked.
"Yes. Grandfather died of the injury he sustained in battle, and for some reason that changed father," Lisa said.
Ning listened to her speak and nodded. "What's the age difference between you and your other two brothers who inherited the hair?" Ning asked.
"Age difference? Umm, the Second brother is 4 years older than me, and 5th brother is just 10 weeks younger than me," Lisa said.
'Hmm, given this world's date system, that's a small enough gap that giving up the throne based off on who is older wouldn't really make sense,' Ning thought.
"Brother Ning, you took such danger just to come to ask some questions?" Reever asked with a confused face.
"Ah right, I got distracted. Sorry," Ning said. "So, as I said. I was let go from the palace, so I can't be around you guys to protect you."
"Thus, I have come to give you something that will protect the two of you even without me," Ning said as he brought out something from his storage.
He brought out two rings, both made up of gold and had a small, white diamond at the center.
The ring looked quite expensive, given the materials it was made out of. "Here, wear this from now on. This is your wedding ring starting today," Ning said.
The two of them took the rings and looked at them. "Brother Ning, is this… real diamond?" Reever asked.
"Of course," Ning said.
"Oh my god! Aren't they near impossible to make? How did you make these?" Reever asked.
"Make?" Ning was surprised that that was the first thing Reever's head went to. 'Right, he thinks I invoked this.
"Don't worry about how I acquired it. Just wear it from now on," Ning said.
"Uhh… okay," Reever said and wore the ring on his middle finger. Lisa did the same as well.
"Um, can you guys swap those to your ring fingers? People need to think that's your wedding ring, okay?" Ning said.
"Okay," they said with a weird face and swapped their rings around.
"What's so special about these rings, Brother Ning?" Reever asked as he admired it closely.
"These rings are going to protect you, while I am not around," Ning said with a smug face. He was proud of what he had come up with along with the system.
"Eh? These rings will protect us? How?" Reever asked. Lisa looked at him curiously as well.
"Listen up and be amazed," Ning said. "When you are ever in danger, the gem on the ring will change color to let you know."
"If there is someone within a 10-meter radius of you, the diamond will turn Red. If someone is using Aether arts within a 15-meter radius of you, the diamond will turn Blue if they are invoking, or Green if they are enchanting."
"If someone is using a firearm, or any ranged attack on you, the diamond will turn bright orange. If you are in the presence of poison, the ring will turn purple."
"The ring will also pulse on your finger to let you know something is happening, so you can see it. It will also pulse fast to let you know if either of you is in danger."
"I will also know if either of your rings changes colors or pulses."
"And most important of all, whenever you are in danger, actual physical danger, the rings will create a physical barrier around you and make you invisible."
"If that happens, just keep quiet and hide," Ning finished speaking. He waited for them to speak, but both of the husband and wife remained dumbfounded, with no words coming out of their mouth.
Finally, Reever asked, "Brother Ning, are you pulling our legs? There is no way these rings can possibly do so many things at once."
Ning scratched his head and said, "It's that hard to believe huh? Here, let me show you."
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Chapter 418 – Aether Tower
Ning brought out a gun from his storage and pointed towards Reever.
"What? N—"
BANG!
Ning shot without hesitation. Lisa cried out when she saw her husband get shot point-blank, but when she realized that the bullet never touched him, she was surprised.
"It's the same thing from back in the train," Lisa muttered under her breath, but Ning managed to hear it.
"Yeah, it's a barrier. See, it works," Ning said and saw the shaking Reever. "Uhh… sorry about that. I probably should have given notice."
"Dear Alexis save me," Reever prayed. "Please don't do that again, brother Ning. I was about to have a heart attack."
"Yes, sorry," Ning said. "Right, so you know it works. Just keep the ring on your fingers at all times, and NEVER ignore the pulses. They will save your life."
"If this works… then it is really amazing, Ning," Lisa said. "How were you able to even invoke such a complicated item?"
"Uhh… can you just ignore that part? It's a trade secret, I guess," Ning said. "Alright, I will leave for now. See you guys later."
Ning walked out of the room and disappeared, leaving Lisa and Reever to remain amazed at the rings he had just left them.
He reappeared back in his hotel and laid on his bed, thinking of the next step in what he would have to do.
"Hmm, let's go see if they are having some enrollment right now," Ning thought and walked out.
He wandered the street of the capital, eating delicious food on the way, enjoying a carefree life. He visited different stores and bought many things that he may or may not need, but still wanted.
He looked at the sceneries, watched the people rush to do their daily job, and finally, after nearly an hour, reached the location he had wanted to come to.
The Aether Tower.
A 3-meter tall wall surrounded what was one of the largest buildings he had seen in his entire lifetime.
The Aether tower was made up of some sort of shiny purple rock on the outside. It was a cylindrical-shaped building with a slightly larger middle portion and a smaller top portion.
It looked slightly oval in shape but clearly wasn't. Even the very base of the tower was at least a hundred meters in diameter.
"Woah, it looks so much bigger in person," Ning thought. There were guards at the gate with people going in and out of the place.
Ning walked up to the gate and asked, "Hello brother, do you know if the tower is accepting students anytime soon?"
"Yes, the preliminary test is going on right now," the guard said.
"Eh?" Ning said with a surprised face. "There's one right now?"
"Yes, it will go on for maybe another 2 hours. Once done, there won't be one for another 10 weeks," the guard said.
"Huh?" Ning was stunned. 'But I haven't prepared or anything. Oh no, what should I do?'
"Can I go and take the test right now?" he asked.
"Yes, if you pass the criteria, they will test you," the guard said.
"Criteria? What criteria?" Ning asked.
"You have to be no older than 40 years. That is the criteria," the guard said.
"40 years?" Ning asked.
'I should be younger than that right?' Ning didn't know how old he was considered to be. He didn't have a soul to be tested, so they could only test the body. However, since the body was newly made, and he had only used it a few times even over the last many years when he was in seclusion.
"Yes, I am younger. May I go in?" he asked.
"Sure," the guard said and showed him the way. Ning thanked the guard and walked into the compound.
Inside the gate, he saw a long line of people queueing up for something. 'That's the test right?' he thought and went there.
He made sure to ask a person in the queue if this was the line for the test, lest he accidentally became a teacher another time.
Unlike last time, he didn't have much knowledge of Aether arts to even be good as a teacher.
Ning waited for his turn, which took nearly an hour to arrive. When it finally did, the line had moved into the open ground floor of the Aether tower.
In front of him were two tables side by side with two different items on them. One of them was a crystal ball that he had seen before, and the other one was a solid metal block with a meter on it.
Ning didn't know what it was, but he walked up to it.
"Place your palm on the metal," the person in charge of that table said.
Ning nodded and placed his palm directly on top of the metal plate. He waited for a bit and the meter gave a reading.
22
"Hmm… something is wrong," the person who read the meter said.
"What's 22?" Ning asked.
"It's… supposed to be your age. But… you are too old to just be 22," the person said.
"Eh? Is something wrong with your machine? I'm 36 years old already," Ning lied without a single change in his facial expression.
On the inside, however, his heart was beating really fast. 'Damn, I haven't been out for long in this body huh? 22 years is what? 9 normal years?' he thought.
The person did something and asked Ning to replace his hands. However, the number still said 22.
"Do you have an identity card on you?" the person asked.
"Ah, yes," Ning said and quickly asked the system to make one for this country. He handed it to the person, who read it and gave him a pass.
Ning then walked onto the next table where he greeted the next person in charge.
"Place your hand on the sphere," the man said unenthusiastically.
Ning nodded and placed his hands on the murky, purple crystal as he waited for something to happen.
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Chapter 419 – Admission
The murky shadows in the sphere moved away to reveal brilliant white light that shined so bright that Ning had to block it with his hands.
The shine he had produced was far, far brighter than the young child he had seen a few days ago back in the city of beginnings.
The person in charge of the sphere cried out in shock. "C-C-Call the teachers!" he shouted.
The person who was in charge of age suddenly ran from his place and went somewhere.
"Please stay on the side for a moment." The man had lost all boredom and unenthusiasm after he saw the bright light.
'Hm, I wonder what made that happen. My fully acclimated body or my automatic absorption technique,' Ning thought.
The people in line were also surprised and looked at Ning in awe. They weren't even mad that their turn wasn't coming at all as they all waited to see what was going to happen next.
A man in his 50s arrived, brought by the man who was sent to get him. The old man was about as tall as Ning but had a chubbier body. He had a circular face with a bald head and gray beard.
He wore a black scholarly robe with white pants and had a shawl around his shoulders. He wore gold-rimmed spectacles with a golden chain attached to them in case they fell from his eyes.
The man arrived next to Ning and looked at him. "Are you the one who just tested?" he asked.
"Yes," Ning replied, wondering who he was talking to.
"Can you place your hands on that sphere once more?" he asked.
"Sure," Ning said and placed it back. The same phenomenon rose once more as a stark white light appeared from inside the sphere.
"My god! Just potential," the old man muttered under his breath. "May I know your name, young man?" he asked.
"I am Ning Ruogong," Ning introduced himself.
"Ning? What an unusual name," the old man said. "Young man Ning, I am called Elric Ringer. I am the vice-president of the Xandria Aether Tower."
"Oh," Ning said, understanding that this person was likely very important. "Nice to meet you, Vice president."
"Where are you from, young man? To think we missed such talent before," the vice president said.
"I am not from around here. I come from a village in the north, around the desert," Ning said. "It was only in recent years that I came up south."
"I see, no wonder we didn't find you. We should start sending more willing teachers to go find talents down in the north," the old man said.
"This… test. I passed it right?" Ning asked.
"Yes, my child. With flying colors," the vice president said.
"Ah, nice. So I am eligible for the next test too, right?" he asked.
"You don't need to worry about the next test. You are exempt from taking the next test. We can directly enroll you right now," the vice president said.
"Oh, are you sure? Won't that be against the tower rule or something?" Ning asked.
"No way. No one is going to contradict me, especially when I am trying to enroll a student with such high potential," the vice president said.
"Oh, alright then. Thank you," Ning said.
The vice president Ringer turned to the person he had come with and said, "Take him to the office and ask the teacher there to enroll him, okay?"
"Yes, Vice president," the man nodded.
"Where are you staying, my child?" the vice president asked.
"In a hotel, in the commercial district," Ning said.
"In a hotel? That's so bad. You can move to the dorm in the tower right now if you want to," the vice president said.
"No, no. It's fine. I want to experience living in the city for a while," Ning said.
"If you say so," the vice president said. "Remember, you can always just join here if you ever want to."
"I will keep that in mind. Thank you, Vice president," Ning said.
"Alright, go get yourself enrolled," the vice president said. He then brought out a piece of paper from his storage and wrote something on it.
"Where you are enrolling, just hand this paper to the teacher, okay?" he said. "I will need to return back to work, but I will see you later."
The vice president left the place, talking to no one else but Ning.
"Come on, brother. Let's go," the man said and took Ning along with him. They walked for a while, then up the stair once, and arrived in front of a room.
Ning read the word 'Admission' on the wall and waited for the person inside to walk out.
Once they did, the man took Ning inside. "Teacher, I have someone for you to admit to the tower," the man said.
"Oh, but it isn't the time to, right?" the teacher inside said. It was a female teacher who wore a similar cloth to the Vice president, just modeled in a way to make it more feminine.
"It's the Vice president's order," the man said.
"Oh," the teacher finally looked away and towards Ning.
"You are getting special treatment, boy. You must've done something to impress the vice president," she said. "Here, fill this form as well as you can."
Ning nodded and took the form. He took one of the pens on the table and started filling it up.
The man took his leave and left the place to go back to his work.
Ning filled the form the best he could and handed it back. The teacher took the form and read it.
"Everything looks fine. Now, just pay 30 Gols," she said.
"Eh? 30 Gols?" Ning asked. That was a lot of money to ask for such a 'young' man like him.
"You don't have the money?" the teacher asked, her eyes shining unusually for some reason.
"Ah, no," Ning said. "Ah, but I do have this thing the vice president gave me." Ning handed her the piece of paper.
"Oh," the teacher said and took the paper before reading it. Her expression dulled as she looked a little disappointed.
"Congratulations kid, You have a full scholarship.. Be sure to thank the vice president when you meet him again."
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Chapter 420 – Aether Beasts
Ning walked out of the Tower. He couldn't believe how easily he had gotten enrolled there.
'3 weeks later huh?' he thought as he remembered what the teacher in the finance room had said.
2 weeks later, there was the 2nd test, which Ning didn't know anything about. Once the people that passed here, passed there too, they could finally be enrolled.
The sun was high in the sky. It had been so long since he had woken up, so many things had happened, and yet it was still only half a day.
'I'm not going to get used to this anytime soon, am I?' Ning thought. He took out the admission card from his pocket and looked at it. It had his name and age as well as a stamp officiating his entry to the tower.
It looked more like an identity card for an employee, rather than a student. "That was what sects were too, weren't they? Just a business with the face of a school. Maybe this is the same,' Ning thought. He was right.
"I have 15 days to spare," Ning thought when he returned back to his room. "What am I supposed to do all of those days?"
He didn't want to waste his time learning the Aether arts, as that was what he would most likely be doing in the Tower in 15 days after all. Learning something only to have to learn it again would be quite redundant.
He also didn't want to go unconscious for the next 15 days as Reever and Lisa could need him any moment. Also, he would want to collect as much Aether as he could with his automatic Aether absorption technique.
15 days of aether was a lot. Given how Ning considered days, it was close to 23 days of collecting Aether.
"What can I do then?" Ning wondered. Finally, something struck him. "Let's go find a part-time job."
Ning couldn't help but laugh at himself as he stood in front of a metal door with a giant bucket in his hand.
The bucket was filled to the brim with some kind of grain that Ning was handed.
"Was I always fated for this?" he wondered. He stretched out a key that was attached to his hip and used it to unlock the metal door in front of him.
He pushed the door and immediately closed it after entering. He didn't want what was inside to leave.
Ning whistled as he shook the bucket and made some noise with the grains inside of it.
The room he was in was filled with rocks and grasses. The ceiling above him was lit up with powerful bulbs that gave the room a resemblance to being outside.
Ning stepped past the straws and feces as he made his way to the bottom of the giant rock in the middle and looked upon it.
He scattered the gains on the stone platform beneath the rock and banged the empty bucket on the ground.
A curious head peeked from atop the rocks. A head with two spiky horns, 2 black, beady eyes, and a purple scar upon its face.
Ning knew that wasn't a scar. It was just how it was supposed to be. The head moved forward to reveal a 3 meter long, four-legged creature with tiny black wings on its back.
The beast had scales on its body instead of fur, all of which had lightning-like scars, each of them glowing purple.
The tail of the beast was thick and long and ended on what looked like a flower, a weird body part that Ning had never seen before on anything in Kumia.
This was an Aether beast.
Ning was, once again, working in a zoo.
Of all the places he searched for a part-time job, this was the only one that had a vacancy open and was looking to employ just about anyone.
The pay wasn't really good, not that Ning cared about the money at all. He was just looking to pass time.
"Come down and eat," Ning said.
"FOOD?" the beast asked. Ning didn't know the classification for Aether beasts, he didn't even know if there was one. All he knew was this was one of the less intelligent beasts.
It was just about as intelligent as a house dog could be, which wasn't to say that house dogs had bad intelligence, it was just that the beasts he had been around before this could hold up a conversation with him, while this one could not.
The deer-like beast jumped down from atop the 5-meter tall rock, slowing down its fall by flapping its wings as fast as it could, failing to make an impact on its speed.
It fell onto the ground with a bang, but it suffered no harm at all. Ning pet the beast as it got down to eat the grains.
"Eat, Eat. No one will steal these from you," Ning told the beast. The beast perfectly understood Ning, it wasn't sure why. It didn't care either.
Ning waited for it to finish eating and watched the beast go to the small water fountain at the corner of the room to drink.
Ning took out a watch from his pocket and looked at the time. It was 12 o'clock in the morning. The zoo was going to open now.
Ning left the room and walked outside before locking the door once again.
"How do you do it?" a man suddenly asked outside. He had been watching Ning pet and feed the beast, something everyone had been unable to do.
The last zookeeper had left for this exact reason. The beast kept threatening to attack him, instead of actually eating what it was given.
"I… have always been good with beasts. I think I give off a harmless vibes," Ning said.
"Well, whatever it is, we are glad that it's working, thank you," the man said. "Anyway, the zoo is going to open now.. You should go take a small break and get back to work."
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