The Spear King explained what happened in Metus to Lasc, my senior disciple, who only nodded along while listening.
"Are you catching all of this, Number Zero?" [Lascavall]
Standing by his side, the robotic maid's eyes literally lit up blue.
"Recording is in session. Please continue." [Number Zero]
"Why are her eyes glowing like that?" [Fettle]
"Don't worry about it. So you came here with Alt and Fina to… live here?" [Lascavall]
"It's the only option they have." [Fettle]
Lasc scratched his chin.
"Realistically speaking, that's gonna be pretty tough. Most of the world hates him simply because the gods don't like him. This will quite literally move nations." [Lascavall]
"True, but that doesn't mean everyone in the world would take action. It's not like everyone has a personal vendetta against him so it's a bit of a stretch to say that humans across the world would travel just for him." [Fettle]
Lasc turned to me.
"Do you know how many countries border ours?" [Lascavall]
"Nope." [Solace]
"Six?" [Fina]
Lascavall gave Fina a thumbs up.
"Correct! Six countries! Now, do you know how many are allies with us?" [Lascavall]
"I'm going to say around… Three?" [Solace]
"What about you, Fina?" [Lascavall]
"...Is it six? I didn't see any battles going on when we passed the border." [Fina]
Lascavall put up his hands to make an X symbol.
"Wrong! The correct answer is… None!" [Lascavall]
"None?" [Solace] [Fina]
"When our Master finally said Ivanda was strong enough to take on a nation of her own, she came back to her home nation. Which was here before she started a revolution. She did hit and run tactics, grew her army, took the lord's head, and defeated a hero said to be closest to reaching the strength of a Supreme Hero." [Lascavall]
"...And?" [Solace]
"She aggressively expanded the land for resources to rebuild the land. Thus, making everyone around Naballia hostile!" [Lascavall]
"That's… one way to do things." [Fina]
"She must be stressed everyday." [Fettle]
Lasc shrugged.
"Maybe. Maybe not. All I know is that her very presence keeps all those hostile nations at bay. This used to be the status quo, but adding Alt into the equation changes things." [Lascavall]
"It means they can ask for support to take out Naballia." [Fettle]
They must be talking about a common enemy. Since I'm here, the hostile nations would be able to increase their forces from outside that want me gone too.
"I see… Then maybe it's best for me to-" [Solace]
Cutting me off, Fettle ruffled my hair.
"Don't sweat the big stuff, kid. Leave it to the adults. You have quite the backing you know? Maybe even the Sword King will show up to protect you." [Fettle]
Fettle must regard the Sword King highly considering the way he speaks of him.
"Is the Sword King stronger than you?" [Solace]
Fettle paused for a moment.
"If it were any other King… I'd probably say no. However, the Sword King is… on another level altogether. There is no King that is capable of achieving his feats whether it be past or present." [Fettle]
"You mean slaying multiple mythical beasts?" [Solace]
"Oh, you've heard that story?" [Fettle]
Fettle chuckled.
"It leaves a lot out. Mythical beasts have their own grading system of how powerful they are. Even then, any King is capable of defeating one of the most powerful mythical beasts. Er… with much effort of course. The only difference between us and the Sword King is that… Each of the mythical beasts he fought was considered an individual separated from their race. They had achieved the status of a "Calamity"." [Fettle]
("Calamaties…") [Solace]
If I remember correctly, I saw something like that back at Lapis' magic tower. Something along the lines of each of them being powerful enough to destroy the world.
"Wait, didn't Lapis help fight with the Sword King?" [Solace]
"...Lapis?" [Fettle]
"Oh, I mean Lapasia Fae." [Solace]
I forgot that few people knew of Lapis' nickname.
"Ah, the Great Sorcerer. Do you know why Lapasia sought out the Sword King to fight mythical beasts?" [Fettle]
"...No?" [Solace]
"That's because the mythical beasts she wanted to hunt were nearly immune to magic." [Fettle]
"Sounds like Jukhan…" [Fina]
Fina mumbled that one to herself, but I guess the Spear King picked it up.
"You know Jukhan?" [Fettle]
"Eh… Had a few close encounters with him." [Solace]
"He was… powerful." [Fina]
Fettle nodded in agreement.
"He is a rather powerful individual. Still, he's different from those mythical beasts." [Fettle]
"How so?" [Fina]
"Mythical beasts have near immunity. So around a ninety percent resistance to spells. Considering the ones Lapasia fought with the Sword King, even her most powerful spells felt like a tickle. As for Jukhan, he has "complete" immunity to magic. Mana based, divine, demonic. Whatever you want, it won't work on him." [Fettle]
That… was new information.
("How op is this guy?") [Solace]
Putting aside Jukhan, I can see why the Sword King had to get involved.
"Okay, we're getting sidetracked. Lasc and I will discuss this later. For now, you two kids need to choose which school you want to go to." [Fettle]
"That's… surprising. Don't we need to pull my information from Metus to transfer?" [Fina]
"I'll handle that. Anything else?" [Lascavall]
I raised my hand.
"Can I pass?" [Solace]
"...Pass?" [Fettle] [Lascavall]
"I don't really want to go to school. How about I just follow Fina around or something?" [Solace]
To be honest, I just really didn't want to go through all the studying and stuff again. I've had enough of that on Earth.
"You're still young. There's no reason not to have an education." [Fettle]
"Wait wait wait, before we try to convince him let me explain. Alt, there are two schools you can choose from. The knight school and the mage school. By their names I'm sure you know what the curriculum is like." [Lascavall]
"Knight is more martial art related and mage is magic. I'm not stupid." [Solace]
"Right right. So, it's an opportunity for you to grow stronger. The both of you." [Lascavall]
He's not wrong. However, there was one thing he didn't account for. I have |Unbound Mortal|. Meaning, acquiring |Skills| and such won't require the same amount of effort as others. Therefore, I don't need to go to school.
("The question is whether or not I should tell them that.") [Solace]
Master already knows about it, but he figured it out on his own. I never told anyone I had it.
"...As you may know, I'm a Spirit. I have another method of growing stronger. Thank you for your consideration, but I won't be attending class." [Solace]
Fettle and Lasc stared at me with a mix of surprise and intrigue. Far from my expected reaction of annoyance or frustration.
"If that's the case… You can tag along with Fina I suppose." [Lascavall]
"Fina, which school will you attend?" [Fettle]
"I… Hm…" [Fina]
Fina stood there, contemplating her choice.
"Is there a way I can attend both?" [Fina]
"Both?" [Lascavall] [Fettle]
"I don't want to be confined to one fighting style." [Fina]
The two looked at each other.
"You may want to reconsider. It's good that you wish to grow, but focusing on one aspect is greater than trying to focus on all aspects. How do you think I achieved the title of Spear King?" [Fettle]
"Take me for example. I'm not good at combat like my fellow disciples, so I went into alchemy and technology. Pursue something you have talent in." [Lascavall]
Faced with their arguments, Fina turned to me.
"What do you think, Alt?" [Fina]
"...Me?" [Solace]
I felt anxious the moment all eyes fell on me.
("Should I support her, or should I side with the adults here?") [Solace]
Then, I had an ingenious idea.
"Hey, what if I asked Lapis to help teach her? I've been in Lapis' magic tower before. She has martial skills, magic, and artifacts too. It's like a museum. If she wants to learn everything, why don't we have someone who HAS everything to teach her?" [Solace]
The room fell silent.
("...Was that a stupid idea after all?") [Solace]
"I don't disagree with that idea." [Fettle]
"The problem is whether or not Lapasia is willing to teach her." [Lascavall]
"I'll… I'll convince her." [Solace]
Can I really though? I hope I don't have to serve as her experimental guinea pig again.
"Fina, do you still have the teleportation crystal that Lapis gave you?" [Solace]
"It was confiscated back at Metus." [Fina]
Right… She was jailed for a while.
"Then I'll go meet her first. I'll let you know how it goes when I get back." [Solace]
I then pulled out the white teleportation crystal Lapis gave me from my |Item Box|.
"Good luck." [Fina]
I nodded in response before speaking the magic word.
"|Elara|." [Solace]