Morale 14: Sinclair's Melody.

"Flores… Flores!" Lizen shouted. He had been trying to wake up the hero for a few minutes now, only to fail. He even tried to shake the hero awake, but all attempts to wake the hero came up fruitless.

Sigh. "[Star Jolt.]"

Putting his finger on Flores's neck. Lizen sent a small jolt of electricity that shocked Flores awake.

Jolting awake, he instinctively threw a punch towards the nearest person. His fist, however, was caught, and he soon found himself on the ground as Lizen slammed him.

"Oops. Sorry about that. Reflexes." Lizen scratched the back of his head while holding the attacking Cinder.

The slam knocked the wind out of the hero. Even with his level being much higher than before. Flores was still wheezing on the ground as he tried to catch his breath.

"What… the hell!" Flores exclaimed between breaths.

"Yeah yeah sorry. We gotta move."

"But training doesn't start till another hour." Flores yawned. "The hell do I have to be out for?"

"It's not training. It's something very urgent.."

"Alright alright. I'll be out in a minute."

/~/

After getting out of bed, and throwing on his day clothes, Flores traveled with Lizen through the streets of Ken'bitch. As he walked. He saw someone run past with a rather large crate holding weapons, and it wasn't just that one person. Many more passed by carrying crates, weapons, materials, and armor. All of which varied in different shapes and sizes.

This piqued Flores's interest. And he turned to Lizen to ask.

"Are y'all preparing for a festival or something?"

"Yes and no. The wave is in a few days, so we need to register you to the hourglass."

"Wait. The thing that counts down to the wave, and teleports me?"

"Correct."

"And you're only taking me now." Flores's blank expression turned into a scowl as he interrogated his archer friend. He also forgot about the dragon hourglass, but he didn't want to let Lizen know that.

"Geez, sorry. May I remind you what happened in the last two weeks."

"I think this is something that should have been done first."

"I was following Mihare's orders. Blame her, not me."

"Says the person being pet-."

"Another word and I'll make you have erectile dysfunction."

"Yeah, right. Like there's a spell that does exactly that… there's not a spell that can do that right?"

"I don't suggest finding out." Lizen grinned as he moved ahead of the Morale hero. Flores had doubts about a spell that did exactly that. But thinking back to how much magic Lizen had made him keep his mouth shut. On the off chance it was an actual spell, he'd like to keep his junk far away from it.

Following behind the archer with less witty comments, they arrived at Yomiko's house. As they opened the front door, several warlocks and witches in robes stepped forward and took a bow.

"Greetings, Captain Lizen. And our esteemed Deacon of Morale, Sylvester Flores."

"Yo." Flores waved, making several members of the group giddy at getting a wave from the hero. The head warlock grumbled and silenced them all with several punches to the head.

"Ahem. It's an honor to meet you. I am Yeshet, member of the Coven of Foo. Our grandmaster has sent us to assist you in registering to the hourglass."

"Are all these people really necessary?"

"N-no my lord. Apologies."

"Wait I wasn-" Before Flores could interject, Yeshet shooed away the rest of the mages.

"Sorry for the wait. I shall take you to the hourglass right away."

The warlock opened the doors, allowing Flores and Lizen inside.

"You know, I never really asked what this place is for. Is this like the capitol building or some sort of lab?"

"Both and more. This building served as an archive. It cataloged every surviving book after the Devil's Choir. It also functions as a lab for magical and alchemical studies. A stronghold for the citizens during a wave. And the capital building of Foo... also the grand master's house."

"This place sounds pretty stacked." Flores thought while he ignored the never-ending explanation from Yeshet. After what felt like five minutes, they finally arrived at the dragon hourglass.

"Welcome, my lord, to the Hourglass of the Dragon era!"

"Jesus, it's huge. How did you guys even get it in here?"

"Our ancestors built around it."

"Wow. A daunting task."

Flores stepped up to the hourglass and touched it. A beam shot out from it and hit his gem, displaying a time along with the name of the location.

Hourglass of Foo

Time till next wave: 20 hours, 43 minutes, 22 seconds.

"About twenty hours. No wonder the town was preparing."

"Indeed, my lord. There's also this. The grand master says it'll be the most useful weapon in your arsenal."

"Well, I gotta see that then." Flores was handed a bag of sand, which he immediately dumped into his flag

Banner of the Dragon Hourglass C

Abilities Locked Equip Bonus: Skills: Waypoint Banner

"Well, Yomiko was fucking right!" Flores exclaimed.

"What you get?"

"Teleport-fucking-tation!"

"Huh. Been a while since you've been this excited."

"I've seen some shit. It takes a lot of effort to make me excited. Now, when can I test this out?"

"Anytime you want. I don't give a shit."

"Isn't there training today? Or grinding? I need a specific time, you know."

"Fuck if I know. With the wave going on, I have to focus on other things. So training and hunting are canceled. At least with me, anyways."

Lizen tossed Flores a set of keys. The hero juggled it between his hands before he could finally catch it.

"For the armory. You'll probably find something useful in there."

"Wait. So does that mean-"

"Yes, Kennedy. You got the day off. Thunder Song. Teleport the strong."

A bolt of lightning burst through the front door and curved toward them. As Lizen was enveloped, the bolt turned around and curved on the way out as well.

"I really hate that guy."

"Tell me about it." Yeshet sighed.

/~/

Flores groaned. After learning of his supposed break, he used the extra time to go back to sleep. But when he woke up, he had no idea what to do.

He didn't have a phone, and he couldn't read the world's language. So his usual options to pass the time were a no-go. So with his choices limited, he decided to grind for the upcoming battle. Since his newest armor was damaged, he put on a spare, then left the room to find some people who would go hunting with him. This search turned out fruitless, however.

Riala and the other monsters left for the sanctuary to prepare for their own wave. Shun, Lizen, and Mihare were also busy with various prep work. Yomiko especially, now that she had to deal with wave prep and an upcoming tournament.

Everyone was busy in one way or another. Even when he offered to help, everyone dismissed him, saying that he earned a break after everything that's happened. Even though he agreed with that statement, doing virtually nothing all day was going to get old really soon.

So what will Flores do now that he has no one to go with? Simple. Go with his pets.

"[Beginners Flourish!]" Flores swung his flag at a moth monster. It barely dodged the hit, and it flew up to gain some distance. Before it could attack, Cinder sprung into action. She ran along his flag and leapt towards the moth, shooting a weak blast of fire at it.

The moth stared at the fire coming towards it. From its glass-looking eyes, it shot a beam of light that blasted through the flames. And if it wasn't for Fonhare tackling the fox to the side, Cinder would have gotten hit.

As they landed on the ground, the moth continued its assault and released several shards of glass around them, firing a light beam at one of them. The beam refracted on the glass and flew towards another. The beam continued to refract off one another. As it grew larger and more powerful, it returned to the moth who released it back at Fonhare and Cinder.

"[Defense Order!]" A green field expanded below Flores's feet as he formed a wall with his paper arm.

"Laser Moths. I'll guess this world calls you Laze Moths or something to that effect." Reinforcing the paper with life force, Flores stood his ground as the beam collided with the wall. Flores grunted as the power was a lot more than he expected, but the wall held out until the beam exploded.

As the dust settled, the moth called its prisms back to its wings and started to fly away. That's when a purple translucent flag fell from the sky and pinned its left wing to the ground. That's when another flag came flying out of the smoke and cut through its other wing, grounding it for good.

With no way to escape, the moth directed its eyes to the area where he last saw Flores. That's when a bunny and fox leapt out of the dust, both closing in to attack. Cinder unleashed another blast of fire while Fonhare swirled its ears and descended downward.

Clank

When the attacks hit, a familiar sound of metal rang out. The moth that was once expecting its death sat silently as both pets dealt zero damage to the creature. Taking another moment to realize he was still alive, the moth's eyes started to glow as it prepared another beam.

"[Normal Stab.]"

Flores walked over and stabbed the moth through the eye. While it was writhing in pain, Flores stabbed it through the head, finally killing it.

234 EXP

"Why didn't that… shit I forgot to add them to my party... how do I even do that?" Flores smacked his forehead as he looked over to Fonhare and Cinder.

"Guess they're still too weak. Should I take them to fight bundrill… eh, not with Fonhare around."

Prism Trumpet C

Abilities Locked Equip Bonus: Magic Atk +3, Skill: Solar Ballad

Prism Moth Flag C

Abilities Locked Equip Bonus: Magic Atk +5, Light damage boost (Small)

"Interesting. So the wings are prisms. Wonder what they could be used for."

"Lots of things now duck!"

"Yeah but what speci- duck?" Flores ducked as ordered and narrowly dodged a Bundrill Father. Immediately changing to his Litsune flag, Flores moved in front of Cinder and Fonhare, only for a blur to crash into the father before he could do anything.

"I swear your spatial awareness needs work." Coming from the dust was a familiar face holding the father by its ears.

"Lizen? What are you doing out here?"

"I can ask the same thing myself. I thought you got a break today?"

"I need stuff to do and this was the only thing that I could think of."

"Fair." Lizen tossed Flores some water before dropping the bunny on the floor. Despite having one of its kin being killed in front of him, Fonhare looked indifferent about it, much to the surprise of Flores.

"I was gonna make some lunch. Wanna join?"

"Well, I have nothing better to do. We're not giving bunny to Fonhare, right?"

"Unless you want him to eat bug meat." Lizen snickered as he cut open the bundrill father

/~/

"Well there's your exp issue. You haven't got them a Behemoth collar yet. They're collars used to register monsters to your ownership."

"Very detailed explanation."

"You were bound to ask. Thankfully, I have a couple on hand."

Lizen pulled several collars out of his pocket and tossed them on the ground."

"… a couple?"

"Yeah. Neila asked me to find her some more monsters for her zoo. I couldn't resist." Lizen nervously laughed.

"So that's why you're out here." Flores muttered.

"No. That's something else."

"...Okay then." Flores scavenged through the pile of collars and pulled out two of them. He gave the orange one to Cinder and the cyan one to Fonhare. Cinder, however, did get a bit rowdy as he tried to put it on.

"Now some blood."

"Ow." Lizen quickly pricked Flores's finger with a needle and swiped some of his blood, dragging the blood across the two collars. The blood turned purple as the stripe formed a ring around the collars.

Bundrill Registered

Fonhare Level: 2

Class: None

Litsune Registered

Cinder Level: 15

Class: None

"Oh. I can add classes to them as well."

Fonhare

Class: Melee

Cinder

Class: Mage

"You think I can absorb one of those collars?"

"Fuck if I know." Lizen tossed over a collar to Flores who immediately put it into his flag.

Monster Tamer Flute I Conditions Met Abilities Locked Equip Bonus: Maturation Adjustment (Small)

Monster Tamer Flute II Conditions Met: Monster Stat Adjustment (Small)

"Woah. That gave me two things."

"Well, what do you know? Guess any material works. Speaking of which, you did go by the store room before you left, right?"

"No, I sort of forgot."

"Of course you did." Lizen sighed. To Flores's surprise, he was eating the bunny meat just fine without gagging once. One of the perks of living in a fantasy world.

"So. What are you doing out here? You already know my reasoning?" Flores interrogated.

"It's a long story."

"Shorten it."

"Alright fuck you." Lizen sighed. "Anyways. Somewhere in this forest lies the grave of my mother, and the rest of my siblings of the Sinclair lineage. I go there every month to pay my respects… also, to apologize for not being there when they needed me.

"...scratch that. Give me the long version."

"Since when were you so pestering?"

"I learn from you every day. Now, what the hell happened?"

Sigh. "Fine." Lizen pulled a bottle out of his bag and started to chug it.

"Why are yo-"

"If I'm going to be sentimental, I'm not being sober for it."

/~/

"MOM! MOM!"

Crying. That's all I could hear that day. And in front of them all was me, holding my dying mother's hand.

I am Lizen Sinclair, the oldest, and next heir to the Sinclair lineage. Our family was special, being the only ones in the world to access the power of the devil. The power known as Cerezo. With this power, we were able to rival the heroes. And my father became known as the most dangerous warrior around.

He was a brash man. Hard headed, always yelling. And for some reason, hated me the most.

I was only ten around that time. Mihare was only eight, with the other three being six, four and three, respectively. And despite the death of mom, father didn't care. All he did was use this moment to make my childhood hell on earth.

"BLOCK, YOU BRAT!"

The grown man swung his sword, only for it to miss.

"NO, YOU IDIOT! BLOCK, NOT DODGE!"

"But father. I can't blo-" I tried to explain, but I was grabbed by the collar instead.

"YOU THINK I GIVE A DAMN? I WOULD NOT HAVE A DISAPPOINTMENT, LIVE IN THIS DAMN HOUSE! NOW AGAIN!" I was thrown down, only for a sword to immediately slash me across the arm as I narrowly moved out of the way.

That day, I was locked in the closet for not following instructions. And I was there for hours as everyone else got to play and eat. All I had was a stale piece of bread and expired milk. Mihare helped me out, though, by sneaking me food.

Honestly, I didn't know what my mother saw in him. While they were married, his actions were borderline abusive. He never hit her, at least I never saw it happen. It was just the way he talked to her that made me seethe.

Alas, I couldn't do anything. Day in and day out, I was punched, hit and thrown into the forest and told to survive the night. And every time I survived, I returned to more belittling and abuse from my father.

I wasn't able to grasp anything he taught me. I was bad at melee combat. Even worse, I was unable to access that power. And that only led to even harsher training because of it.

Looking back, I don't know why I decided to endure what I did. Maybe it was pride, or maybe I didn't want to subject my other siblings to the same "training" that I was forced to do. But I knew that was false. He didn't do anything to Mihare or the others. He actually loved them like a father would. And I was the only one left out.

So I just trained. Trained every day to prove him wrong, to gain his respect. On the days he went on an expedition, I would sneak to Yomiko's house to learn magic. I would also secretly train with a bow, being the only weapon I was proficient in. Mihare also helped, teaching me hand-to-hand combat. And although I could never compare to her level of skill, I was able to grasp a better understanding of it. A better understanding than whenever my father tried to "teach" me. And by teach, I mean hit me for over an hour as he told me to learn from experience.

This was my routine for years. Around age thirteen, I could fight my father, and I started to become more rebellious. We would verbally and physically fight daily, to the point that Mihare got hurt when she tried to stop us. She ran away after that, and that's when my situation finally changed. After that fight, we just stopped talking to each other. No more "training", no more snide comments. We just ignored each other. And that continued on for years until my eighteenth birthday.

Foo tradition states that when a kid on the path of the warrior comes of age, they're tasked with hunting a powerful monster plaguing the area. And my father, as one last act of maliciousness, gave me the hardest. The omega of the forest of Zell

/~/

"Pause pause pause! You were tasked to kill your wife?"

"Back then she was a monster. Now she's a sexy beast."

"I refuse to believe you guys are divorced."

"Shut up!" Lizen blushed. "So yeah. I went to the forest and was prepared to take on Riala."

"In a fight, right?"

"..."

"Oh. This is getting good."

"Shut up you perv."

/~/

Anyways, I gave no protest. And I went into that forest to prove him wrong.

I was level 70 around the time, with my bow and magic trained to its maximum. Unfortunately. I still hadn't learned my mother's power, so I was going in at an extreme disadvantage. But I couldn't care less. If he wanted to see what I was made of, I was leaving that forest with everything, or nothing.

Arriving at the front gate, I took down Ray and his guard. I then pushed forward and fought the twin dogs. I almost died when Shiku dropped a house on me. But after I knocked out Leo. Her support was cut off, which allowed me to gain some distance and slowly take her down from afar.

After healing up a bit, I went into the throne room to fight Ricten. But instead of the elephant, Riala showed up instead and proceeded to kick my ass. That was when I was thrown into jail. And that day is what changed my life forever.

/~/

"I must say. You certainly were a handful. Ray and Shiku are gonna be healing for weeks after what you pulled. Now, which country sent you? Hatyr, Foo? My guesses is Foo."

The monster tried to nudge me to answer, but I didn't answer. All I did was lay down on the bed and stare at the ceiling.

"Alright. Silence game it is. I can be here for years. I'm not sure about you, however." The omega opened up a part of the wall, and out came a table and chair. Sitting down, she pulled out a bottle of alcohol and poured herself a glass.

"Want some? It's the new flavor from Fallum. They call it 'dragon killer'." Riala smiled as she poured me a cup. It was odd. I witnessed the cold-hearted queen of Zell turn into a drunk in mere seconds. She couldn't be the most dangerous person in Arcadia.

"Is she seriously planning on waiting? Maybe she's trying to demoralize me by showing she's not scared. Well, screw you, deer, I can play these games too."

"Fuck off." I muttered. "Yeah, that'll show her."

"More for me then!" Riala cheered.

"Damn it." I swore. A mental battle with her will be difficult. Although… I haven't had alcohol before. I guess one cup wouldn't hurt.

Twenty minutes later

"That's when I shocked him with all my electricity!" Me and Riala shared a laugh as we drank through another dragon killer. The stuff was potent, even I couldn't handle a few drinks before I got drunk. Then again, I never really drank before, so my limit may be lower than most.

"Anyways. That was my last magic test. My greatest and only achievement in life." I chuckled as I downed more. "Hell. The only reason I'm here to kill you is because my father ordered me to. Maybe then he would accept me as a person and not an ant under his bootheel. Some birthday."

"Oh, it's your birthday? Congrats!"

"I wish it wasn't. This damn ceremony has me spending time trying to kill the unkillable omega. It's not like she already beat the previous metronome hero or anything. But sure, let's send the eighteen-year-old who CAN'T CONTROL THE DAMN CEREZO!" I smashed the cup on the ground and buried my head in my hands.

"All I wanted was to make my father happy. And be successful at something for mother. Now look at me. Weak, pathetic, and unable to wield my family's special power. No matter what I do, no matter how much I try. I'm just seen as a failure, a nuisance. And for what!? What did I do to piss him off!?" Tears started to stream from my eyes. Over seven years of holding it in. It all came out today.

"There." sniff "You got my intentions. So just kill me and be done with it. Being spared isn't worth the turmoil I'll receive when I retu-" Before I could even finish, Riala pulled me into a hug. It was comforting in a weird way. It felt like a bird, deer and human trying to comfort their mate. A weird mix of animals to hug at the same time.

"You poor thing. Is this the pressure you humans have to deal with?"

"Don't baby voice me."

"Hh, apologies." Riala backed off, but Lizen pulled her back in.

"I never said stop hugging. I need a cute face to look at for a while."

Riala's face then flushed red. "C-cute?"

"Yeah. Your face is beautiful to look at, and your hair is gorgeous. You're also ditzy with the way you act, but you can be serious enough to run a kingdom. You're just everything I'm not. Pretty, hot, powerful, rich… well, I am rich but you know the point."

"But you should compare yourself to others. I had years to overcome my shortcomings."

"And that's what makes you so great in the end. A monster coming from nothing and building something great. If only I was half as great as you."

"But you are. You defeated Ray, Shiku and Leo. Three of our best warriors. You're not so bad yourself. Especially with those toned muscles of yours. Very nice.

"Like macho men, I see. I'll keep that as a list of weaknesses." I flexed a bit to tease the deer. That made Riala blush even harder. The whistle on her mini train went off with some steam coming from the smokestack so she could hide away her face.

"Ha. Closet perv."

"Shut up, Shut up, Shut Up!" Riala whined.

It was honestly just so refreshing. After Mihare left, I finally had someone who would actually listen to me. Someone who appreciated me. Even after I tried to kill her, she would take time out of her day to console me. Those eyes, that sexy figure, her cute blushing face when embarrassed. It was just so memorizing.

And after we had more drinks together, one thing led to another and…

/~/

"You forget to use a condom." Flores laughed. He waited for a laugh back but stopped when he didn't get one. "...Holy shit, Neila was an ac- Ow." Flores rubbed his head, as Lizen hit him.

"Don't say it like that. She was just an unexpected arrival."

"Extra steps basically."

"Insult my sugar plum again and you'll be missing another arm." Lizen had his hand on Flores's right arm.

"Okay, okay. Chill, Chill!"

Lizen threw Flores's arm away. "But yeah. We fucked. After that, I ran off and stayed in the forest for a while."

/~/

I've been in this forest for about a week and I still don't know what to do. I can return and inevitably face my father, or I can just leave and prove myself to be an actual disappointment. "Decisions, decisions." I sighed and laid upon a pile of monster corpses.

"To be fair, I did survive the night with her… I guess that counts for something… probably." I sighed again. With nowhere to go, I grabbed one of the creatures at the top. It was called a Pluma Roc. A bird that can shoot out its feathers like arrows.

It had been troubling the farms of Foo for a while, so this would be my replacement for failing to kill Riala.

After dragging it out the pile, I started my journey home. Along the way, I contemplated my standing, and decided to do one thing. But before I could put that plan into motion, I was welcomed back with open arms.

Even with the failure and bringing a shoddy replacement, The town still celebrated my safe return. Surviving an encounter with Riala was a bigger deal than expected. They were even more surprised when they found out three of her best fighters were defeated by me. Of course, all they had to confirm these "stories" was the roc I killed. But after they noticed all the various animal hair on me, they all collectively agreed that I actually fought someone from the sanctuary. Maybe not Riala specifically, but beating any monster from the place was a feat within itself.

All this time, I thought I was gonna be hated for not finishing the job. But now, I'm appreciated for giving it my all, as well as killing a monster that was annoying us for the past few months. My siblings were also there to add onto the praise and love. Maybe Riala was right. I may still be young, but if I continue on this path, I could become the figure far greater than what my father saw me as. Special power or not.

That was my thought… until I got home.

Waiting outside the estate was the man I grew to loath the most. Everyone says honor thy father, but I just had enough of him. No more games, no more bullshit. No more pride. At that very moment, I was prepared to give him a piece of my mind.

"Lizen."

"Father."

We both stared each other down. One radiating rage, the other fury.

"I told you to kill the omega, you damn brat. Why are you back?!" My father scoffed, spitting at the ground in front of me. Usually, I'd respond with "Sorry, Father." But today, I wasn't holding anything back.

"What, expected me to die? I went to Zell, fought off her guard, and then lost to her. I have no excuses for my loss, other than you being disillusioned on what can or cannot be killed."

"You dare call me disillusioned! Back in the day, I could rival the omega myself. All until that bitch came."

"Don't you dare call my mother that!" I scowled.

"I reserve the right to call my spouse whatever I want. She was unfaithful. A woman who belonged nowhere but the alley she came out from. Out of all the children she gave birth to, there will always be a stain that shows her misdeeds."

And that's when it finally hit me. The whole reason why I lived the hellish life that I did. I was a bastard child, and my father had to deal with me.

"So that explains it." I chuckled a bit. And that chuckle turned into a laugh. It was hilarious. I never even thought about it. My father, not being my dad. I lived with him for years, trying my best to live up to his standards. And in the end, it didn't even matter.

My father was sent flying back as a bolt of lightning blasted him away from my fist. Getting up, he witnessed me throw away my bow as I walked further.

"Live well, and fight for your place in life. That was Mother's last words and her last request. Throughout all the pain, throughout all the suffering, I listened to her and fought to prove my place within the family. I learned magic, life force, and seven different types of long-ranged combat. Everything to show you I wasn't some brat! Punching trees till my knuckles crack. Enduring the harsh cold nights of the forest. And what does that earn me? A father who loved me despite being the son of a different man? No. It was a bastard who abused a kid for not being his own." I took off my sweater and tossed it to the ground

"Eighteen years of abuse and torture. Today, I'm giving it all back."

I watched as my father went from appalled to angry. He had no more words but understood my intentions perfectly. Rolling up his sleeves, he reached the middle of the training field. When I reached the middle myself, we both held our arms to the sky. Weaving chants and rhymes, the Sinclair manor turned dark as storm clouds rolled in. And before anyone could find out what was going on, the field was filled with a torrent of lightning and winds.

/~/

"AnD THats WHeN I kEEKed His Arse." Lizen began to drunkenly laugh. By the time he got to the second half of his story, he had become more sluggish and ditzy. Flores was surprised that he even lasted this long. He went through five dragon killers before getting drunk. The same wine that got him drunk in twenty minutes years ago.

Even with a cliffhanger, however, Flores was satisfied with what he got. He could always ask later. He finally got a grasp of these "father issues" he's sort of hinted at before. But something didn't sit right with him.

Cadenza claimed that Mihare was adopted, and that Lizen was the heir of the Sinclair lineage. But in reality, it's the other way around. What was even more unsettling was that this was only the first part of this story. And despite taking place over seven years, it only explained the death of his mother, and not his siblings. So the only conclusion he could make was that their death's were a recent development.

"But if the Sinclair clan's murder was recent, with both Mihare and Lizen around, who killed them, And why claim Mihare's adopted? Guess I have to wait to hear the second part.

"[Waypoint Banner!]"

/~/

"You know, for someone who claims they're not an alchemist, you're pretty good at alchemy."

"Shut up." Yomiko grumbled. Using a knife, she continued to dismember the large orc in front of her. "Also, you're late. That's unlike you." Yomiko chided.

"Yeah, sorry. Had a drunken stupor earlier."

"Riala?"

"Flores, actually. We met each other in the forest."

"He's working on his day off?" Yomiko raised an eyebrow. "I swear we summoned a weird one."

"I thought he was a "jackpot." Lizen mocked.

He heard Yomiko grumble under her breath before catching the scent of smoke from above.

"Oh shit." Leaping up from his seat, Lizen did his best to pat the fire out.

"Now that you're here, this thing is completely new to me."

Lizen groaned as he patted out the last bit of flames from his hair. "So you don't know what it is?"

"I never said that. It's a mix of acid and healing magic on par, if not universe-tier. I assume this was introduced to the cells via injection, since after death, each blood cell would release the acid, making the creature break down. Then the remaining puddle will be reformed by the healing magic cast by the time the last few cells are melted. A fucked up form of regeneration, but I can't complain cause it works." Yomiko looked over at Lizen with a playful grin.

"Don't even think about it." Lizen hit Yomiko over the head. "More importantly, how can someone condense a spell like this?"

"I should be asking you that, mister twelve magic warlock."

"It's nine… probably. And you're the magic apostle. You should have a much better understanding of rhyme magic than anyone."

"If the student is supposed to surpass the master, then what are you doing?"

"Just get back to the alchemy, please."

"It's not alchemy. And I'm telling you this because this is clearly not achievable by rhyme magic… at least I haven't, so give me time on that."

"I see. Universe tier magic, a separate casting system. And I'll assume vassal weapons, or something equivalent to it. A hydra is behind this for sure. But there's only one person who can acquire this much otherworldly material." Lizen scoffed. "I knew he was around, but to show his hand this early."

"That would explain the orcs sent to kill you. If the hydra's leader is becoming active, that means he's after revenge."

"The first thing the hydra did was attack me. And when that failed, Riala and inadvertently Flores. He's going down the list of people that he could kill just to watch me suffer."

"And he's getting bolder by the day."

Lizen couldn't help but feel disgusted. Rolling out a map of the world on the ground, Lizen circled two locations on the map. "The sanctuary is under Riala's control, and Rinoth are a bunch of isolationists. That only leaves two areas where he could be based at: Hatyr, and Fallum. And my bullet's on Fallum."

"You plan on nuking the nation?"

"Maybe. But at the current moment, none of us are safe until Tylia dies." Lizen rolled up the map and looked over to Yomiko.

"Yo… no, Master. What do I do?"

"You already know what he's after, right? I think it's best to protect them before you do anything rash."

"But how do I do that? He already succeeded once before. How do I go fight and protect Neila at the same time?"

Yomiko laughed. "You're so clouded by fear that you forgot about your greatest asset." Yomiko tapped her hip, the place where she kept her miniature metronome.

Lizen's eyes widened as he realized what she meant. Quickly leaving the room in a hurry, Yomiko let out another laugh. "Oh Lizen. So powerful, but oh so stupid."