I remember being a mother and losing my husband. Now, all I have is my daughter.
All of these memories are dead, like ashes from a funeral pyre. They don't belong to me at all.
"Mommy, I want cookies," I heard someone ask me. As everything around me dissolved and changed, I saw myself as a female moth monster. Four hand two big moth wing I guess not bad
I felt every emotion this monster is experiencing right now as I've become her.
"Oh, I'm sorry, my child. But there's a cookie limit we discussed, don't we?" I said softly to my child.
My child looked at me with pleading eyes for a moment. Although I tried to stay strong, I felt my heart melt from those eyes as I said, "Maybe one more cookie is allowed."
Suddenly, my child hugged me. "Thank you, Mom," she said. I was at a loss for words. Since the moment she held me, I felt a sense of familiarity.
I lifted my child to my chest and walked to the kitchen in front of us.
"So, my child, which cookie would you like?" I asked.
Her eyes lit up as she said, "The cookies you made are the most delicious." I couldn't believe it. Her innocence and adorable face made me love her even more. But there was one tiny thing I was missing—I was still the other monster, known as Espresmory, the one of higher authority. Her authority alone could crush me like an ant. Those feelings weren't mine, so it felt like a fake thing. But I knew that wasn't the case. Being a mother was an incredible experience.
After hearing her reply, I spun around on the ground and swung my moth wing extremely fast. I started flying until I reached the ceiling. I stretched my hand to the highest drawer and opened it. Inside, there were cookies in a basket, but I knew those were handmade cookies that I had made.
"Here," I said to my child as I gave her a cookie. She held the cookie with her four hands. Just her eating the cookie was cute enough to make my nonexistent heart beat fast, both mine and hers.
From that moment on, I saw countless memories of the time I spent with my child until that cursed day. I began to remember a few days before the incident.
Bep, beep, beep, beep, beep.
I opened my eyes as I got up from bed. I was in my bedroom. Then, I went to the bathroom and brushed my teeth and washed my face. I heard the door behind me open. I saw my child, but it wasn't her. It was Archios. I was starting to lose my mind. I couldn't help but think of myself as Espresmory, but on the contrary, I was sans the skeleton.
If it were possible, I would love to turn off those memories. In this mental state, I can only remember and think. I suppose I need to accept myself as Espresmory temporarily.
My child came to me and I lifted her to my chest. Let her sit on my lap as I give her a toothbrush, and she starts brushing her teeth.
"When is your school today?" I asked my child, who answered sleepily, "At the second set of moon, Mom."
"I see," I said. After we finished, I dressed her up tightly, as winter was here, of course. Monsters usually don't need to care that much about their physical bodies as humans. They can still catch a cold, but it wouldn't pose any danger.
As we got out of our big, fancy house, it was easily clear that I was rich, Archios. Why am I not that rich? This was strange.I'm at loss of words , I mean, who wouldn't think about it when they see such an expensive car in front of them?
As both me and my child got into the car, I saw a little displeasure on my child's face. "What is wrong? Did something happen?" I asked in curiosity.
"You said we would go to the mountain of yellow forest last weekend," my child replied. "What the why am I calling her my child? She has a name too, Saratya. My kid, oh Archios, what is happening to me right now? I can't comprehend this at all."
Sans that, that's who I am, yet now I'm Espresmory. This is so confusing.
"*sight* I'm sorry, my child, but you know how much work came to me during winter. But I promise tomorrow we will go to the mountain and see Nasira palace," I said with kindness. Saratya smiled back at me. "Thank you, Mom. Oh, Archios, her smile is just otherworldly. Is it because I'm in Espresmory that feels like this, or are my true feelings?"
Soon I was sitting on the chair, writing on paper nonstop, all four of my arms working nonstop until someone knocked on my office door. "Get in," I said.
The door opened, showing a deer-like monster. "Mrs. Espresmory, this is a report about the beast hunters' activity and their status," the monster said.
"Let me see it," I said. The deer monster walked toward me and gave me a full file.
"You can go now," I murmured, which made the deer monster go. Although most monsters have the shape of animals with human bodies, sometimes they are completely random. There is a guitar-type monster that is a guitar with limbs and a head.
I opened a file with my two hands while the other two hands were still writing. There are reports about which areas they have cleared from beasts. Although beasts are pillars of the ecosystem, they are also destroyers of the ecosystem when left unchecked. But when beasts are left unchecked, the ecosystem they created falls, and thus monsters release animals to hold the ecosystem before monsters did this. Now, the nature-filled ground was a lifeless land with no way to survive. But monsters can, so we built all those ecosystems from stones to stones, trees to trees.
We don't expand cities; we develop them. We try to keep the land alive, but that aliveness is very dangerous. Beast hunters follow orders from people like Espresmory and others to control the forest because it is the best thing to do.
After all, those beasts are still alive being in their hearts. Animals are not evil or good; they are part of a cycle, and monsters are the ones who started and keep it going. Such a fragile cycle. If we stop even for 5 years, the ecosystem we built will stagnate until it takes 10 years to recover.
All of this reminds me of my old friend. He once said, "It is easy to destroy when one is powerfully enough. It is easy to create when one has enough time and resources. It requires an unmoving, patient heart to keep things safe and controlled."
Hehe, my pal. I swear, if I become overlord again and create the 10th region and the hell alliance, I will make you the leader. Since in the previous timeline, I accidentally fell for your wordplay.
"I guess tomorrow is busy as I expected. I thought if I finish the whole month of my plan, I could take my daughter to see Nasira Palace. Hmm… wait, that's it." I need to finish the plan, but the plan can be waited for if I had someone else to do it.
I smile as I search on the computer beside me, tapping words into the computer with both hands, searching for someone in the database who can do things for me temporarily. After an hour of searching, I haven't found anyone who can do what I want.
"What should I do right now? I can take the day off, but that would ruin our plan to take out the red pain ant beasts. Those ant beasts, although they are keeping the roots of the trees in the forest alive,they are hunting too much, and their population is getting out of hand. To deal with them, other managers and I decided to use a rank 5 monster because it will just keep them in a limited number." I spin on my chair. It's been only two hours since I got to work, and my child's school ends in the fifth set of moons, which is another two hours later.
I sit deeply, trying to find a way. Although I have money and a job, I have no free time for my daughter, which is the only thing making me sad. But this is my responsibility.
Hehe.
Responsibility is a funny thing if you think about it, a little deep. You'll know one accepts responsibility as what it is. One will become unmoving like a mountain peak. They're full of the "they can't do it but I can do it" mentality. If she didn't fully accept this responsibility, she would have easily chosen something else. This isn't a lack of caution, but caution without worry. Yet, caution without worry creates a sense of urgency over time.
Then, the phone on the table rings, making me look at it with excitement as I hurry to take it. I hope it's my daughter because my daughter usually calls me to tell her though whenever she wants to changes in plans, such as seeing the Nasira palace. As I take the phone, I see the number of someone I know, but I don't like it.
Rasgakla, the prodigy of magic, he is the same age as my daughter. However, he's not someone you want to associate with. He's arrogant, cruel, and has destroyed my plan to recover two dying ancient forests. Yet, he hasn't even apologized to me or the other managers who spent a whole week crafting that plan. As an upper-rank 7, his authority alone rivals ours, so we can't do anything, even if we had the authority. The city is behind helping him manage resources to maintain his upward trajectory in growth.
My mind races as I realize that, as rank 7, he's allowed to interfere with our plan. As the manager of the guild, I know this, and as a monster who knows him, I understand that whatever he wants is not good.
"Hello, this is Espresmory talking."
"Lady Espresmory, I'm Rasgakla. Can I ask you something? What do you know about the hive city of the west?" Rasgakla's voice was filled with curiosity and a desire to know.
Why does he want to know? Why me? Although I was once in the hive city of the west, I don't have extensive information about it.
My thoughts are linear, as I've learned this way of thinking allows me to think more effectively and correctly.
"Why do you ask? Are you planning to go to the hive city soon, or is there something else?"
"That's none of your concern. Just tell me what you know." Rasgakla's voice was filled with impatience. "Hehe, this is Rasgakla. I know."
"Hmm… no, if you had asked me nicely, I would have answered, but you didn't." I said with a tease, expecting a rush of anger or a burst of energy.
"Please just tell me what you know. I need to know them."
I coughed for a moment. This was clearly not what I expected. I knew Rasgakla. He's very arrogant and demanding. He never asks questions like this. His personality is that way. But Rasgakla's words didn't match his personality. This made me feel like I was talking to someone else.
Is this really Rasgakla at all, or is someone pretending to be him?
Okay, those are thoughts to think about later. Right now, I need to know more.
I said with caution, "What do you want to know about the hive city?"
"About the church of Archios."
What?
"Which church are you referring to?"
"The Satiera Church."
I widened my eyes in shock. Why did the Satiera church, the only church I explored in Hive City, have security? Did he search my reports? No, no, no. Guilds have security to prevent such things. How did he know?
"That church is in the underground city of Hive City. Be careful of the underground city. Ever since Scats appeared there, it's become a battlefield. Hive City don't mind you, doesn't know what's happening. I don't know what you're planning, but don't go there. I escaped alive from there at the cost of my companions. Yet, that was when Hive City was helping, and Scats were at their lowest moment. Now, Hive City is in full-on mode to exterminate Scats. So, Hive City won't help you. As for Scats, they're more powerful than ever before." I said with a warning tone. This was very serious, but it seemed Rasgakla didn't care.
"Then that's even more perfect. Tell me, no. I heard you created blueprints to engineer. Create a blueprint for me by tomorrow, and it better be a hypermodel."
I almost broke the handle of the chair.
He asked me for information, and I gave it to him, but he didn't even say thank you or anything. No gratitude.
Soon, my palm released the handle of the chair.
Yeah, if he showed gratitude, he wouldn't be Rasgakla at all. This was truly Rasgakla. I knew.
"Are you done?" I asked.
Then he declined the call
"Rude as always."
"What should I do now? I don't have to create the blueprint at all, but not doing it could damage the guild's process. Or, I could take a day off to go with my daughter." I can't help but feel conflicted between two choices: my responsibility or my daughter.
Then my phone rang. Time on the phone showed notifications arriving.
Moments later, I saw the notifications. I saw my daughter, along with her friends, right today. It's Friends Day, where they enjoy time with each other.
Then I decided. I knew what to choose. The moment I saw the notifications, my choice was my daughter. I would choose her happiness, of course. My job is important, but there's one thing: I can catch up with them if I get late from work. But that will be painful, but it's worth it.
I smile as I decide to take a day off tomorrow. To do that, I need to meet someone—one of the most powerful monsters in the city. Although his authority within the monster society is higher than mine, his power of monsters also decides their place in society. Basically, authority and power are the only things that keep monsters higher than others. No Tana can raise a monster, although we still use it.
I get up from my chair and look outside the city. It was beautiful as the sun was setting down, not in a circular motion, but from up to down. It would take just an hour for the sun to disappear from view, even now, it was fading.
"Well, I need to finish a few things first," I walk back to my chair, taking two files and getting out of the room.
The building I work in is a circular apartment complex. Inside the circle, there's a giant tree that covers the garden in the center. But that's not the main point. There are over 2,000 rooms after room.
I started walking down the road in front of me. On my right side, there were windows going endlessly, showing me the giant tree. Just in a few minutes, I was in front of a room with a little sight. I opened the door.
"Oh, Espresmory, what happened? Did something go wrong?" the blue bird monster asked me as he was practicing magic, trying to rise above rank 5 and become an extraordinary monster. But due to his busy lifestyle, he wasn't able to rise in rank.
"I needed to talk to you. I need a day off tomorrow," I asked him, which surprised him a little. After all, I never asked for a day off since I got into the job.
"… why do you want a day off?" he asked me with curiosity in his tone.
"Oh, I need to go out with my daughter. You know, Saratya. I promised her that I would take her deep into the forest to see the Nasira palace. You know, since the orbital locations will be in the perfect place to see them tomorrow, and my daughter wants to see them since she's never seen them before," I explained.
As I said it all, the monster in front of me looked at me with a strange face. Then he said, "Espresmory, you know how serious our job is. Although I understand that you want to spend time with your daughter, you can't just take off immediately."
Of course, I know he'll say something similar, which is why I brought my two-month report in a file.
"You're right, but here's my report. Everything is almost complete. All it takes is a few guild members dealing with it, and others, which are other managers, can easily handle. I think I have every right to take a day off."
The monster paused before taking the files as he read them at an increasing pace.
In a few moments, he finished reading all of them. Truly, he's just too good at reading. If I had to give him a title, I'd call him a bookworm.
"Hmm… from the reports, it's possible to give you a day off. How about this? Espresmory. Let's make a deal." He said with a smile, but that didn't give me warmth. I looked at him with a face of disbelief. "Look at it."
This was going to be a pain in the ass, as always.
I won't lie; it was an exhausting task, but for Espresmory, it was almost a daily occurrence. Every week, she had to do it again because it was a favor repayment.
"I'm tired, ahhh. I want to go to bed and sleep," Espresmory was straight up tired. Her legs were little shaky, and her body was clearly exhausted.
Seriously, why am I even narrating those memories that aren't mine? I do it instinctively, and I can't stop it. But right now, let's just go.
As Espresmory or I walked through the corridor that seemed very quiet, she noticed her surroundings. It wasn't new yet, but it always felt like it.
"So, he asked you to do it again," Bee Monster asked with a not-so-surprised expression. Her name was Ariella.
"Yes, always once a week. Although I have no problem with it, it's hard for me too,I can't always help him ascending it is hard task" I said with a tired face. To be fair, I was truly tired.
"So, did you also ascend as well last time? You were a natural rank 6 now?" she asked me with genuine curiosity.
"Well, I didn't have much time to ascend. But I became an upper rank 6 a few days ago. And what rank are you right now?" I asked her, not with curiosity, just asked.
"I'm now at peak rank 5, just one step away from becoming an extraordinary monster like you all. I need only a few more days, and I'll become a natural rank 6 monster. I'm certain I'll become an extraordinary monster." Rank 1-5 is normal or standard monsters, while rank 6-9 is extraordinary monsters that can unleash overwhelming amounts of magical energy and even beyond their needs.
Although monsters don't need to eat anything, they do eat food to taste and heal themselves. The more food a monster consumes, the more healing effects it provides. They also need sleep and get tired. However, extraordinary monsters are a whole different story. Their bodies have self-regeneration and sensory abilities that surpass those of normal monsters. They recover so quickly that they can recover from five days of tiredness in just half a day. Their minds are as developed as their senses.
As for me, I'm a manager who became an extraordinary monster and now only needs to reach transcendent rank 6 to break through rank 7. Of course, the busy lifestyle of an extraordinary monster makes it difficult for me to advance my ascension. To ascend monster need those three things times, a special nature within soul, Higher soulland capacity are required, but most monsters have almost equal special nature within their souls and have such low soulland capacity that all they need is time.
Most monsters believe that reaching extraordinary monster status is remarkable and one of the highest levels one could achieve. However, I became a greater monster, which is equivalent to a high monster that monsters consider gods. This is correct; compared to extraordinary monsters, high monsters are like gods.
I reached that level a long time ago. I believed I was close to becoming the strongest, but then I faced enemies stronger than me, wiser than me, and fiercer than me. My insignificance wasn't enough of an excuse to stop ascending higher and higher. I reached realms of power that most couldn't even dream of. The cycle continues endlessly: I get stronger, then I face stronger enemies, no matter when or who they are. Even as an overlord monster, I was overwhelmed by those I surpassed and those I didn't.
Therefore, I never let my enemies unite often. However, no matter what, they always unite. Why? Because of fear. This emotion called fear is my biggest tool against them, yet it's also my biggest threat to me.
But I will do it all again, no matter what. Fixing my faults and surpassing my previous self is my goal here."
"So, what are you planning to do tomorrow?" she asked me. I closed my eyes for a moment, then replied, "I just need to go out with my daughter. Lately, I haven't been able to give her the attention she needs. Tomorrow, I'll fully embrace my duty as a mother." I said with an energetic voice, even though I was tired. Whenever I think of my daughter, I get energized.
Soon, my friends and I went out for a walk in the street.
"You know, Prince Asriel is turning five in a few days. What are you planning to do with the council?" she asked me.
"Well, there's a problem. He's from a high monster family. It's a big question: will he even come to this world? There are over thousands of worlds he could visit. So, I'm not worried about his highness coming here, even if he does. I'm pretty sure he'll go to Frostland." I said with certainty in my voice.
"Why is that?" she questioned me.
"Because Frostland is the only place that can hold the presence of high monsters. Also, remember that he's a goat monster. Goats like cold." I replied flatly.
"Frostland, huh? It's a shame that I can't go there since I'm very sensitive to cold." She said in disappointment. It's understandable, as she's a bee monster. If she went to Frostland, the magic pressure there would put a lot of stress on her, and the coldness of Frostland is no joke. It can kill her easily. But I can go there as a skeleton monster.
After a while, she forgot her disappointment and changed the topic. "Hey, Es, did you hear about the incident around the Great Sea?"
I stopped my step and thought, "Not much, but I heard that Asdarty Tree is dying because of a new apex owl beast that stole its light and killed anything that came close to the tree."
This incident has piqued the attention of many monsters.
Apex beasts are usually reluctant to leave their homeland. If they do, the entire ecosystem becomes chaotic. This apex beast is at danger level 17 and rank 15, which alone is enough to cause the entire ecosystem to perish. Monsters can't do anything about it because it originated from a dangerous level 17, which is above level 10. Therefore, monsters in this world can't control it. Its rank 15 is something even all kingdom monsters united can't handle. It has the might of rank 15, so they can only let it do as it pleases.
"If Prince Asriel comes here, he can easily solve the problems," she said teasingly.
I know exactly why she's saying it this way. "Don't make it sound intentional."
"Come on, we both know your daughter is Gadahar sooner or later. She'll reach a greater monster level in no time," she looked at me with a calm yet happy face.
"I know, but that means I won't be able to see her anymore. I want to spend as much time with my daughter as possible because she'll awaken Gadahar in the following years," I couldn't help but wish I could delay her awakening. She's only 12 now, but on her 14th birthday, she'll awaken Gadahar.
As soon as she awakens, a high monster will come and take Gadahar and teach them how to control their powers. Gadahar are monsters with the potential to become greater monsters than any other monster.
Right now, there are 35 Gadahar born in this world, and each of them has reached the position of a greater monster. They are so strong that the world we live in right now will be in danger if we're not careful.
"*sight* Can we not talk about it for a while? It kind of makes me uncomfortable knowing that my daughter will never see me again after she turns 14," I couldn't help but feel sad. She's my entire world. I don't want to lose her, but I have no choice.
My friend stayed there silently waiting for me to walk. I instantly understood and started walking.
"Hehe, isn't it funny? Ever since I learned about Gadahar, our conversations always lead us to your daughter, no matter what," she said calmly.
"Hehe, yeah, it always does," I find it a bit amusing too before I tell her that my daughter is Gadahar. We always find topics that lead to completely irrelevant subjects, but now it always comes to my daughter.
As we walk, the sight of the right divide city appears in our vision. It has houses that fly over the air. It's a city where technology has advanced far beyond the other two cities. The middle divide city is like three books with three different themes. The right divide city is based on technology, while the middle divide city is where history resides. The middle city has rich places and is the largest divide city, while the left divide city is where focus is on military and the development of magic. Any monster with a talent for magic goes to the left divide city, along with fighter-type monsters.
The streets of the right divide city are truly remarkable. Each house beside the street is futuristic and technologically advanced, unlike the steampunk-age houses in the middle city.
"Wait, did you hear that researchers are almost finished with teleportation devices and are in need of a tower? They are asking guilds like ours to meet," Ariella asked me, taking my attention.
"How come I didn't hear about it before?" I know my job. I know anything related to my job. I'm very serious when it comes to my job, yet I didn't hear about it.
"About that, it was when I tried to tell you. You had been arguing with Rasgakla before I knew it. I forgot about it," she apologized, scratching the back of her head.
I sighed a little and continued walking, but I asked her, "Do you think Rasgakla will be in meetings?"
Ariella thought for a moment before saying, "He will definitely come and ruin everything, just like always. But there's something he's going to do. He's going to the ancient forest alone frequently, like every two days. Later, he goes to the ancient forest, and the day of the meeting starts. So, I don't know. Maybe he will come or not."
"What! Rasgakla is going to the ancient forest? Why? He usually searches for soulology in libraries and does nothing now. He frequently goes to the ancient forest and asked me about Hive City. What is he doing? What is happening to him? He would do something like this unless someone told him something. Something affected him deeply." I couldn't help but think something happened to Rasgakla because his actions were getting very suspicious.
"Hey, what are you spacing out again?" Ariella's voice took me by surprise as she looked at me with worry.
I smiled softly and said, "Don't worry about it. It's just my paranoia getting the best of me."
She looked at me as she started to walk again.
…
Soon, we reached school. It was a building with five different sites, and the most insane thing was that those buildings were in the sky. They floated on air above the city, but within our vision, Ariella and I were walking in the corridor to take our children. Unlike me, Ariella had twin sons.
As we waited for school to end, I saw him.
Rasgakla.
I got up from my chair and walked out of the restaurant in the school to search for Rasgakla.
"Hey, Es, what happened?" Ariella said from behind me.
I stopped and turned my head to Ariella. "I swear I saw Rasgakla. He was definitely here."
Ariella looked at me surprised, then said, "I think he really is here."
I felt uncomfortable from the way Ariella said that. "Why are you talking like that?"
"Because I'm here," a voice came from behind. As much as the charismatic voice was, it gave me reason to disgust.
I shot a glare back at the voice. It was Rasgakla.
He was the Blue Hawk Monster, the most skilled magic monster this continent had ever seen.
He smiled, but to me, it was mocking. Without a second thought, he pushed me against the wall. My elbow pressed against his neck as we were of equal height. The most amusing thing was that he was 13 years younger than me.
"Well, this is very welcoming indeed," he said with a smile that was always present on his face. Every time I saw it, I saw it as mocking. The smile came from the suffering of others, and she hated it.
"How can you be so ruthless and selfish?" those were the words that always came to her mind at first. I tried to excuse it all by saying that he was just a kid, but everything had limits. His actions were getting out of hand.
"What are you doing here?" I pushed my elbow more into his neck. It seemed that his physical condition was the same as always.
"Why doesn't he focus on his physical body at all? He could have upgraded it just a little bit more. Why focus on his magic theme? No, why is his body so weak at all? He's rank 7, which is one rank above me, and he's an extraordinary monster, yet rank 5. No, rank 4 monster has a better physical body than him, yet he isn't. Why…?" It was needless to say that Espresmory was suspicious of Rasgakla with many things.
Before I could process everything, I felt magic energy cover my body and then push me away from Rasgakla at extreme speeds.
I was almost flown away, but I quickly let my magic energy oppose the foreign magic energy on my body and erased it completely. As I lost my momentum, I regained my balance.
"This hurt, but not much when compared to him," Rasgakla said. He put his hand on his neck and checked it whenever it left an injury or not. He looked at me with eyes that barely resembled a 12-year-old monster at all.
I was angry, yes, but I decided to hold back. As I walked towards him, I asked him, "What are you doing here?"
He looked at me for a while. His eyes were hollow yet filled with joy as he said, "Oh, I'm here for my past. You know, I used to learn here too. So, I thought, why not reminisce about my past?"
I get angry when his words leave his mouth. "How dare you say those words when you were the reason for the deaths of dozens of children!"
In the past, before Rasgakla discovered his skills and talents, he was just an ordinary child. But fate was cruel. His parents died due to attacks by scats. He was devastated and refused to eat for a week. Saratya, my daughter, helped him get over those difficult days. However, during a field trip, he and my daughter's class were attacked by scats. Despite the damage they sustained from the beasts, they were still powerful and managed to kill the adult monsters who were supervising them.
Rasgakla effortlessly killed all the scats. But in his rage, he let his emotions blind him and accidentally killed ten children in his fight against the scats. At first, many thought it was an accident, but my daughter told the truth. Rasgakla knew the scats were coming because he had told him those changes everything.
I tried to talk to Rasgakla about it, but I discovered that he had arranged the field trip. He had planned everything, including the deaths of the monsters and the children. He was the one behind it all, and I was powerless to do anything. So, I decided to send him higher up with reports of his crimes. But I couldn't bring myself to do that.
I almost lost control if it wasn't for Ariella, who put her hand on my shoulder.
She looked at me with worry and caution. She was ready to take countermeasures right there and then, which I couldn't blame. I'm a rank 6 monster, and I need to hold myself together.
"I'm sorry, Ariella. I lost my control," I started to calm down. There are so many conflicting emotions going through me right now, but I can't lose control right now.
Ariella looked at me for a few moments before turning back to Rasgakla. But he wasn't there. Just in that split second, he disappeared.
"…"
"…"
"Let's go," Ariella said as we started to go to get our children.
…
After that, Ariella and I took our children and went home. There was nothing unusual. My daughter and I were preparing to sleep.
"Mom, what happened? You seem worried about something," Saratya asked me, her eyes looking at me innocently.
I smiled a little, "No, no, I'm okay. I'm just thinking about someone."
"Is it Big Brother Rasgakla?" my daughter's words instantly erased my smile.
"Why did you think that?" I asked, my tone sad as unpleasant memories came to mind.
"Because ever since Big Ras came to my school, you've been sad," she replied.
"So you knew Rasgakla came to school, how?" I asked, as much as I didn't want to talk about Rasgakla, I needed to know what my daughter knew.
"He came to my class," my daughter said, but she remained silent for a moment before continuing, "I don't know what he meant, but he seemed sad and felt like he was saying his last goodbye."
My pupils shrunk as my mind tried to understand why. Why would he do that? And why was he interested in Hive City? It didn't take long to get answers. Rasgakla was planning to die while fighting in Hive City.
My hands started to tremble as I concluded my thoughts.
"Mom, are you okay?" my daughter shook my arm, bringing me back to reality.
I looked at my daughter for a while before my smile returned as I hugged her.
"I'm sorry. I'm just worried he'll do something stupid again," I said, getting up from bed and starting to walk to my daughter's room.
"But why can't he just come back to us?" my daughter asked me in a sleepy voice, it was clear she was tired.
"He's well. Did something wrong, so Mama punished him so he can't come back," I said with sadness, as countless memories still came to my mind. It made my heart feel pain that was buried deep within me.
I reached my daughter's room. Inside, there were multiple bookshelves on the wall, one bed, a few tables, and magic practicing tools for children.
I got close to the bed and put my daughter on it, covering her with a blanket. Then, I went to bed myself.
Soon, I fell asleep, but this time, memories started to visualize in my dreams.
"Why did you do that?" a voice that was very similar to Espresmory was heard to me. Before me, Rasgakla and Espresmory were both younger than they were now.
"I do what I want, and that's all. If there's someone to blame, it's me," my younger Rasgakla said. His words hit both my nerves and empathy.
Ever since I discovered everything, I decided to teach him, redeem him, and change him for the better. So, I took him on myself.
But now, I found out that he and Saratya get into arguments, and he hurt her. Now, I'm trying to lecture him.
"*Sight* Ra, you need to stop hurting others. It won't help with your feelings and problems," younger Espresmory said to Rasgakla.
Rasgakla continued to look at me. His eyes had no emotion, but his face was filled with gratitude—thankful to me, but he was too silent.
"You need to stop hurting others, Ra. Although I don't know the reason, I can help you if you tell me. Please. I'm trying my best to help you, but you are unwilling to cooperate with me at all," younger Espresmory tried to understand why Rasgakla was so violent and silent at this time. Espresmory was losing her hope to understand Rasgakla.
"…" Rasgakla continued to stay silent.
Young Espresmory sighed and said, "Go to your room." After she said it, Rasgakla walked to his room, still silent.
Young Espresmory stayed on her ground, looking at Rasgakla from behind. After Rasgakla got into his room, young Espresmory walked away to the room beside her.
"Mom, is that you?" Saratya said in a weak voice as she was unable to move from bed. Her eyes had eyepatches on them, so she couldn't see anything.
"Yes, Mommy is here," young Espresmory walked to bed and sat beside her. Saratya was about 7 or 8 years old.
I couldn't help but notice her hand had a big cut, but it had no blood. Since monster bodies were made of magic, it wasn't a big deal. However, what surprised me was that the wound wasn't healing at all. From memory, I knew Saratya was a Gadahar, the monster with incredible power. With their absurd amount of soulland, they were born one in a million, yet her wound was not healing at all.
That's something I don't recall. I don't remember anyone known as Rasgakla in any previous timeline, and I don't remember Saratya either. All of these things happened long before my time travel, so why don't I remember anything about them?
No, this is too early to make any assumptions now.
"Mom, where is Big Ra? I need to talk to him," Saratya asked young Espresmory in a weak voice.
"He's in his room. What exactly happened? Why did you and Rasgakla get into a fight?" young Espresmory questioned Saratya out of worry.
"… Mom, what happened wasn't Rasgakla's fault. It was mine."
"What do you mean? He injured you. How is that not his fault? I'm… *sight* Please explain everything."
"Rasgakla and I were reading a history book together. It was about the hive city of the north and great heroes from there. But Rasgakla suddenly got angry and tried to be alone. I didn't care because I was too curious about why he was angry about them. I tried to talk to him, but all it did was make him more angry and upset until he snapped."
Saratya stayed silent for a moment, but young Espresmory waited patiently. Saratya looked at Espresmory.
"Mom, he told me that I'm Gadahar. What does that mean?"
Young Espresmory was shocked and muttered, "Wha-what? He isn't supposed to know that."
"So, it's true that I'll never come back," Saratya's voice started to tremble.
She grabbed Espresmory's hand and started to cry.
"I don't want to leave you or anyone."
Espresmory got close to bed and hugged Saratya, calming her down.
"Oh, my child. I'm very sorry, but there's nothing I can do about it. If I could, I would do anything." Young Espresmory said. Her voice was sad, but it was clear that she had accepted that she couldn't do anything about it.
Saratya's sobs calmed as she asked, "How long did you know I was Gadahar?"
"Oh, sweetheart. Every mother feels it like a sixth sense when their child is born. To me, I felt your soul, and I knew exactly what it meant. So, I decided to search for it and found out that you were Gadahar." Young Espresmory said, still hugging her and patting her head.
"Initially, I was terrified, just like you. However, I decided to accept it. Even though you are destined to become a greater monster, you are still my child. So, when you reach 14, I was about to tell you, but it seems you found out" Suddenly, something went missing. It didn't take long to figure out what was missing
"Rasgakla, how did he find out about it?" Espresmory was certain she hadn't told him anything. So, how?
"Mom, are you okay?" My daughter's voice pulled Espresmory from deep thought.
"My child, how did Rasgakla find out? Do you have any guesses?"
"I don't know, but he said I'm lucky to be Gadahar. I can live while he won't. I don't know why, but it seems he too is Gadahar. But there was something different about him. He was jealous of me."
Espresmory stayed there, thinking, but seeing her daughter being okay, she decided to drop it for now.
Espresmory kissed Saratya's forehead. They stayed there for a few moments before they both fell asleep.
After that, Rasgakla became more distant than before, not even talking to Saratya.
After a few days, Rasgakla became known as a genius and prodigy in magic, leaving everyone far behind. He reached peak rank 3 in the age of 9. At that time, Espresmory was only an average rank 4 monster, yet she was in her early 30s. But that day, everything changed.
"So, do you understand?" young Espresmory asked as she was teaching her daughter more about science than magic, since there is both science and magic in monsterkind.
"I think so, but there are still things that I don't understand at all. Saratya is smart, but being smart doesn't mean instantly understanding things."
"Okay, let's put teleportation equations away. Is there anything you want to know or don't understand?" Espresmory asked with patience.
Saratya stayed there for a few moments, thinking, then she said, "I want to understand how tier 3 engines work. Since Ra is very good at it, I also want to understand them."
Espresmory chuckled softly before answering, "My child, my tier 3 engine is a city-wide engine that's incredibly complex and dangerous. It requires time and practice to master, but I can teach you the basics. However, I'm not particularly skilled with tier 3 engines myself, so I might be mistaken. Please don't take my teaching too seriously."
Saratya nodded as she grabbed her pen, ready to write.
Espresmory looked at her with a gentle laugh and said, "Oh my child, that's not how it works."
Espresmory extended her hand, and a radiant white energy emanated from it. Soon, the energy transformed into a three-dimensional model of a substantial object.
"You're familiar with hypermodel blueprints, aren't you?" Saratya inquired. Upon hearing this, Saratya nodded, observing the hologram-like object before her. The only distinction was that it wasn't based on technology but on the manipulation of magic energy.
Saratya approached the model and began to employ her own magical abilities. As Espresmory observed her actions, Saratya's hand soon radiated a white energy. Then, like controlling a hologram, she commenced analyzing the model of the engine until she posed a question.
"Why doesn't this engine generate energy and possess a repair mechanism?" Saratya inquired.
"Because tier 3 engines lack the complexity to doesn't need contingency mechanisms like tier 5 engines. Even if they had repair mechanisms, they wouldn't be flawless."
"However, it has all the potential for them, such as lower power-saving mechanisms and control secretarial systems."
"Hehe, that's the crux of the matter. If we were to produce tier 3 engine products, they would be less. The primary purpose of this engine is to establish a power barrier that can encompass the entire city. These mechanisms were introduced because tier 3 engines couldn't achieve their objective. That's why we categorize them as low and high tier. Low-tier 3 engines barely manage to fulfill their goal, while high-tier 3 engines are complex enough to incorporate contingency mechanisms and well-developed systems of their own, while still achieving their standard objectives."
Saratya nodded, comprehending the explanation.
"So, this is a low-tier 3 engine. If you attempt to modify the original design of the engine to include additional mechanisms, it will conflict with the original design. Therefore, I must create my own original high-tier 3 engine."
Espresmory clapped her hands, affirming Saratya's reasoning, until her phone rang.
Espresmory picked up her phone to check, only to find a report about Rasgakla venturing into the forest alone. Her pupils shrank to the size of needles.
In the forest, there were many beasts, but normal forests and ancient forests were distinct entities.
Right now, Espresmory was frantically running through the forest, determined to find Rasgakla.
The trees seemed endless, with only trees after trees visible to her. However, she had a way to locate him.
Using her heightened senses, a result of her extraordinary monster status and her exceptional control over magical energy, she unleashed them and utilized them like radar. It had a scanning range of 30 meters, though its accuracy might be limited. Nevertheless, during monster moments, if they entered her radar, she could detect them.
Despite searching for half an hour, there was still no sign of him.
"Where on earth is he? What does he think he's doing?" Espresmory was as anxious as Rasgakla was reckless. He was still a child.
Although those were memories manifested in dreams, I could feel anxiety, fear, and assumptions that were eerily accurate.
Beep beep beep beep.
My eyes fluttered open as I found myself on the bed. I had woken up from a dream.
"Rasgakla, why did you do that?" I thought as my day began.
After waking up, I prepared breakfast.
In the kitchen, I made two plates of food—one for my daughter and myself.
The door of her room opened, and I heard her footsteps getting closer. It was my daughter.
She was… well, very prepared. Her backpack was full, and her clothes were in adventure mode.
Hehe, what a cute little girl.
"Morning, my child. Do you want to eat soup?" I said with a soft voice. Right now, we were going to the mountain of yellow forest.
My daughter nodded and drank her soup with delight.
After we have breakfast, we head outside the city and goes to Yellow Forest. The mountains of Yellow Forest is one of the tallest mountains in the ancient forest, there are over 12 ancient forests in total. However, the ancient forest we are going to visit is different from the previous one. I am going as Sans instant of blue and crimson forest it will yellow and white forest
As we walk, we encounter many things. When we head north, the forest becomes wild with beasts and leopard beasts running wildly, heavy beasts shaking the ground violently. Crocodile beasts roam around the swamp, their massive bodies and thick scales perfectly blending with the environment.
There are also other species, such as harpanga beasts. They have the body of a lizard but have five snake heads. Then, hawk beasts fly in the sky, their bodies burning like phoenixes.
Right now, we are walking on the edge of a cliff above the steppe ground below us. It's like seeing the land from skyscrapers. Then, there is a titan clan beast sleeping.
"Mom, what kind of beasts is that? I've never seen them," Saratya said, pointing to the distant sleeping beast that has the shape of a bear. Even though it was very distant to point where you could see all of the city like a dot. This beast was big enough to cover most of our vision.
Espresmory looked at the beast and then at her daughter, smiling. "That's the titan clan beast black mountain bear beast. You know about the clan system of beasts, right?"
"Yeah, the clan system categorizes beasts based on their traits. For instance, if beasts specialize in being poisonous, they are classified as venom clan beasts." Espresmory nods, confirming her statement. Saratya looks at the massive beast one more time and thought,"So, this is the Titan clan? It's bigger than I thought. What rank is it?"
"Oh It is rank 7 beast from danger level 9" I said
After that, we continue walking for half an hour, getting behind one of the mountains. Espresmory always uses her technique to sense things around her. Right now, she is aware of movement within a 40-meter radius.
The same technique she used to find Rasgakla, but the thing is, she's doing this from the very beginning of her journey. It takes a lot of stamina. If she were just an ordinary monster, she would need to rest her body every 10 minutes.
But now, as an extraordinary monster, she can perform this task for two hours and only require a five-minute rest. This is what extraordinary monsters are capable of; they rarely tire, except when their are severed from their magic they become incredibly weak but even then their physical prowess alone surpasses that of almost all rank 5 monsters.
So, right now, she doesn't need to rest but in safety measures it is better to rest but my daughter doesn't know that.
"Okay, let's rest here, little one. Are you tired too, my child?" I look at my child, who was holding my hands. She nods.
I go to a tree and put down my backpack. I open it and take my piece of cake, but to my surprise, there was none. Then I instantly remembered what happened. I was about to take the cake, but I forgot to put it in the backpack.
How silly of me! Suddenly, I smell hot, soft bres. I turn to the source of the smell and only find my daughter taking out bres.
'Since when did you make bres?' I can't help but wonder. I need at least an hour to make one loaf of bres, and we didn't have an hour to prepare it.
Soon, my daughter notices my gaze. She looks at me with her adorable eyes.
Then seems everything clicked as she look at bres on her and then smile as walk to me
"I made it on my own at school. Wanna bite?" she asked me. It seems like her question has been answered. She made it on her own at school, hehe.
"Of course," I smile as I had bitten into bres. It was surprisingly good, actually.
Soon, my stamina recovered at an alarming rate. This was because monsters were made of pure magic. They had no flesh or something similar. So, when they felt, tasted, or experienced emotions, their emotions did their job and recovered them.
Suddenly, something felt moving at an alarming speed. At first, I thought it was a beast running or chasing something.
I got up instantly and grabbed my backpack.
"Mom, what happened?" my daughter looked at me, surprised by my sudden reaction.
"There's something around us, maybe-" my words died shortly after I felt even more being chased. It instantly clicked in my mind.
"Horse beast horde!" I ran to my child and lifted her to my chest. One of my other two hands took Saratya's backpack.
I leaped from tree branches to distant ones, soaring through the air like experienced performance. My agile movements made me move with the grace of the wind.
Espresmory, an extraordinary monster of the upper rank 6, possessed incredible speed. However, her speed was no match for the speed of horse beast. The ground trembled, and trees swayed like water droplets falling to the ground.
Tuck, tuck, tuck.
One by one, trees began to fall, although some remained resilient. Half of them succumbed to the force.
"Mom, what is that?" my daughter asked, pointing behind me.
I turned my head and saw colossal yellow horse, the size of a bear, no, even larger. These were sun weaving horse beasts, creatures that lived in horde and moved as a horde.
They were rank 4 beasts, and Espresmory could only take down 100 of them. But this horde was not limited to 100. It was a grand small horde, consisting of 1000 of these beasts.
Espresmory tried to maintain a safe distance from them, knowing that even though beasts generally refrained from attacking monsters, they remained indifferent to them unless they were an evolution clan beast. They considered monsters magical creatures devoid of flesh and blood, holding no significance in nature, akin to ghosts. Yet, they possessed the ability to kill monsters.
If Espresmory and Saratya were not careful, they would be doomed. The beasts continued to run, oblivious to their plight. Soon, they would enter open fields, which would allow Espresmory to fly since she could not fly in confined spaces. Her moth wings began to swing rapidly, accelerating until they became invisible to the eye. Soon, she started to float in the air, gradually rising higher and higher.
Espresmory, her gaze fixed on the overwhelming crowd, remarked, "That was intense." Suddenly, she noticed her daughter's hand trembling.
"That was scary, not intense," my daughter continued to shiver. It seemed that this chase had been incredibly terrifying for her. Haha, Espresmory frequently encounters such situations, so her fear has already subsided. Now that I reflect, my daughter had never faced any serious or life-threatening circumstances. Therefore, this was her first experience, and it makes sense.
Soon, the horde passed them, and their sight faded into the vastness of the forest. My daughter and I descended to the ground.
The earth had their steed imprinted on them. Trees fell, and their movement, if one didn't know one who caused these destructions are results of the sun weaving a horse beast horde migration, They might even think that the titan clan beast was here.
Soon, both my daughter and I will begin walking, as flying poses a greater risk since bird beast may perceive us as prey.
As we walk across the forest that has run down by horse beasts we came to vast steppe land, it welcomes us with its gentle breeze. The steppe land is divided into two halves by a river. It resembles a beach, yet it is filled with lush green grass.
"Okay, this is Claw River," I say, taking out a map from my backpack. "This means we've already covered half of our journey. Let me check the map."
While I was unfolding map, my daughter couldn't help but gaze at the river, its surface shimmering under the sunlight and captivating her curiosity.
However, I failed to notice her gaze as I was preoccupied with the map.
The map depicts the city and its surroundings, with most of the area covered in green. However, on the map's side, there's a red-colored lake that resembles a drawing. Interestingly, this lake is actually an ancient forest. The map was folded three times.
I changed its folding to find the location where we are. Even after folding it three times, it was still enormous, covering my entire vision the there's a blue line that depicts the Claw River.
Claw River is a river where lizard beasts typically reside. It's an easily dangerous area, but since the winter season is on the left continent, the right side is experiencing summer. As a result, the danger is decreasing exponentially, making it a relatively safe place.
Above the blue line on the map, there's a green area that represents a forest. However, just a little higher on the map, there are lighter green areas that depict steppe land. Beyond that, there's a yellow lake-like drawing that represents an ancient forest. At the corner of the forest, there's a mountain covered in yellow forest. The our goal
"Okay, Saratya. Let's go, Saratya?" Suddenly, I glanced around and saw Saratya nowhere in sight. She was missing right now.
"Saratya, my dear child! Where are you?" I shouted, frantically searching for my child, but she was nowhere to be seen. I tried to use my magical sense to locate her, extending my range of detection. Suddenly, I felt a familiar presence near the river, and relief washed over me as I realized it was Saratya.
I strolled to the river and spotted my daughter sitting beside it, gazing downward. As I approached the river, I noticed my daughter gently petting an infant river lord lizard beast.
I couldn't help but notice the wound on the infant lizard beast. Soon, I realized the peculiar situation. Despite their natural aversion to monsters, beasts inexplicably seem drawn to them when they request monster magic energy. This is surprising, considering that flesh and blood become intoxicated by magic energy when it's given to animals.
However, beasts can indeed use magic energy to cast spells, just like monsters. But they are no match for the vast quantities of magic energy possessed by monsters. When an injured beast seeks the assistance of a monster, it requests magic energy. In return, the monster provides its energy, allowing the beast to heal and regain strength.
Also they remember that monsters who have helped them often try to repay their kindness. However, this isn't always the case. Conscience and self-aware beasts can think and reason, even though they remain animalistic. On the other hand, beasts without such consciousness don't seek help or bother with monsters, but they can still kill them.
I sat beside my daughter, her hand covered in blue rays that sucked into the wound on the lizard beast, healing incredibly fast. Soon, the wound closed, and the lizard beast snuggled Saratya a few times before jumping into the river, fading away.
My daughter is sweating a little and feeling tired, which is understandable unless the monster is extraordinary monster. Their physical bodies are burdened by the pressure of magic and magic energy, and my daughter is only at the peak rank 1, which is inevitably has aftereffects.
"Mom, can I have a little rest? I'm tired," my daughter asked with a tired voice. I smiled and nodded, and then my daughter leaned into me, instantly falling asleep.
I patted my daughter's head a few times as I patiently waited for her to recover.
Soon after a few minutes, she woke up.
"My child, are you still tired?" I asked while still patting her head.
"Just a little, but I can move," my daughter replied and stayed there for a few moments before getting up.
Espresmory gets up as soon as we starts moving, crossing the river and walking towards the forest. However, the steppe land is still too vast to cross. I counted 20 minutes of walking, which is how big the steppe land is.
Moment we reached forest I released my magic energy into 40 meter radius surrounding moment something move with my surroundings I can detect them since it is not magic by magic energy it has no will of magic this technique is called magic sense
Magic sense very useful yes but in long run it tire my body so can use it for 2 hours and need to rest for 6 minutes of course I can make magic energy on surrounding more dense to point where I could see everything with 40 radius but it would take too much magic energy from tiring me more easily but if I get to rank 7 this wouldn't be problem as I my sense will be more than capable of doing that also I can make range longer like 100 meter radius but it would take too much focus and I can only detect big movement not small movement I'm detecting right now
So my magic sense is 40 meters radius is in my best density set and fixed level that I it doesn't effect my body and my focus is at level where I don't need to just concentrating no I can walk and think also I can feel movement and shape of my surroundings at necessary level in those range
Soon my daughter and me enter forest air is fresh to point where I can taste it, wind is gentle as they blew against my hair comforting cold is all over my body, shadows of tree is like shadow theatre on ground, sunlight shining everything even though shadows are everywhere and giving warmth that my feel relaxing
Soon, my two-hour limit came reached, although I can go beyond two hours, like ten hours. However, that also means I need to rest more, and there might be beasts to fight. I need to be in perfect condition to fight, and my daughter is at peak rank 1, so she also gets easily tired. Truly, extraordinary monsters are monsters among monsters, but that doesn't change the fact that good timing can bring down even the strongest.
As my daughter and I rested beside a tree, I suddenly heard something break. Instinctively, I got up and materialized swords in each hand. My daughter followed me behind. From the tree on my right side, something hissed, and a blue-scaled snake beast emerged from the tree.
"Blue killer snake beast, it seems I need to fight"Espresmory sight little and take her fighting stance blue killer snake beast is mindless beast that attacks anything came to its territory no matter what it is even monster
Snake beast look at Espresmory for moments then open its mouth widely which start to conjure magic energy into beam of ray that is so hot that it is capable of cutting anything in its path
I, or Espresmory, managed to react in time and created a barrier in front of her. This barrier absorbs the heat and impact of the beam head-on.
This technique is called an invisible shield. It's easy to master if you practice it enough. To create a barrier, a monster needs to have great control over its magic energy.
The monster must control its magic energy to create a wall of magic energy and increase its density within the wall. Then, it must command that magic energy to stay unmoving, it is this simple
As for Espresmory she is an extraordinary monster. Their control over magic is a whole different story. Even if they used the invisible shield technique once, they can do it later like an instinct. Basically, normal monsters need to control and concentrate to make an invisible shield, while extraordinary monsters can do it like a reflex.
This was another trait of extraordinary monster just like I said before extraordinary monsters are monster among monsters
Hiss
Blue killer snake beast looking at Espresmory for a few moments, suddenly spins its head at incredible speed like drills and dashes toward Espresmory.
Espresmory take her child and get distance from blue killer snake which start to follow Espresmory
Espresmory jumping between trees saw blue killer snake beast chase her in her eyes it was like snake beast is flying around
Soon Espresmory spotted the opening in Snake Beast as it slowed down, indicating that it wouldn't last long.as much I'm rank 6 if I get hit by that I will get injured little but I have my daughter in my hand thus I need to avoid direct conformation
"Truly a rank 4 beast. If it were rank 5, it would have been troublesome, but fortunately, it isn't," Espresmory thought as she jumped from tree to tree with Saratya on her arm.
Soon, Snake Beast slowed down and stopped. It was disoriented, but that was precisely what Espresmory wanted.
I put my daughter at tree branches"don't move okay I need to deal with that snake beast stay here" Saratya nodded as she lies against tree holding her backpack in front of herself
I turned around and saw the snake beast still disoriented, but I knew it wouldn't last long. I jumped high into the air, falling straight at the snake beast.
As I descended, I tightened my grip on my four swords and began to spin like a hurricane until I felt I had enough momentum.
Moments later, I reached the snake beast. Its eyes widened in surprise, but before it could react, my swords struck. The first sword struck and tore away all its armor. The second sword cut through the snake beast's body, cutting it in half but not completely severing it. But my other two swords, held in my other hands, used their momentum to fully sever the snake beast's head and body.
When fighting the snake beast, it's crucial to sever its head and body as quickly as possible, and I did just that.
A snake beast's head falls into the ground, and its body violently struggles to survive as it begins to move chaotically.
Espresmory swiftly distanced itself from the body, which was moving chaotically, each swing annihilating everything in its path.
I stared at the body for a few seconds before looking at its head, which was staring back at me. It was alive, but its life was fading away from its eyes. It stared at me until the very last moment.
Soon, my daughter approached me, her eyes wide with curiosity and a hint of fear as she took in the sight before her. "Are there more of these beasts like this?" she asked, her voice filled with both wonder and apprehension.
I gently patted her head and reassured her, "Of course, there are more, but don't worry, Mommy will solve them all. Okay?"
She nodded as we turn around to move forward but right before moving I heard something break maybe branches no it was bone Espresmory look at source of sound and used magic sense but she didn't find anything suspicious so she decided to ignore it
The space between the trees in this forest is more than in the previous one. In this forest, sunlight was dominating, while in the previous forest, the forest was shrouded in shadows.
While walking, I kept my magic sense activated, even though I was rank 6 extraordinary monster. I was still vulnerable, especially when my daughter was near me.
Not long after, my daughter stopped walking, which made me look at her and ask, "What happened, my child? Is there something wrong?"
My child looked at me for a moment before responding, "Is there really no way to not kill beasts at all?"
That question was sudden, but understandable. Death is not something Saratya sees commonly, but she knows about it deeply. She is most scared of death, but Espresmory is a little different.
I look at her or few minutes then and sat beside a tree, putting down my backpack. "My child, come here," I said.
She walked over and sat beside me. "You know about the legend of the immortal lifecycle, right? When I was your age, your grandmother used to tell us legends about the world of hollow reality."
"In ancient times, high monsters tried to make a deal with Archios. They wanted to see a world where death no longer existed, only life and growth. But Archios refused make deal telling them they didn't understand the weight of their doing. High monsters didn't give up, even though Archios was their creator. So, they went to the edge of the universe, to the empty space known as the hollow cosmos. There, they created a mini realm and a world where only life existed and death didn't. Do you know what happened?"
Saratya, looking at Espresmory with confusion, kept her thoughts to herself. "No, I don't know. I couldn't hear Grandma telling me stories because I always fall asleep during storytelling."
Espresmory giggles and pulls Saratya closer. "Well, I expected that, hehehe. In legend, they say that high monsters created the first generation of immortal beasts. However, in other legends, they say they brought near-immortal beasts and transformed them into full immortal beasts. The legend varies from monster to monster."
Espresmory patted her child once and then continued, "At first, that realm flourished with life. There was no fighting or anything like that. Everything was good for ten centuries. That realm held its beauty and got its name: the Life Blooming Lotus World. Then, after ten centuries, everything fell apart, when life was born It was supposed to die, but immortal beasts didn't die of old age. Instead, they started fighting each other. Just one reaction caused all the others that world has no lifecycle because of that consequences were severe. As the Life Blooming Lotus World became a battlefield, the sea started to turn red. Flowers that bloomed with the sun, faced death with their bloom. No matter what, beasts started slaughtering each other. This continued for two centuries. Just in two centuries, all that beautiful world turned into an unrecognizable warfare. Then, Archios came and asked them, 'Was it enough to understand what I mean?'do you know what it means"
Saratya pondered for a moment before replying, "I don't know."
Espresmory chuckled softly and then said, "There's a concept called the spiral wheel of balance. When life is created, it's bound to perish when death comes. The world takes what it has given and gives it to others. This is life, starting with death also ending with death, and countless lives are born because of it. As long as one lives, they are destined to die sooner or later, regardless of who it is. It could be me, you, or even a completely different living being. Life and death are the cruelty and beauty of nature. In that wheel, all living beings, no matter if they are animals, beasts, or anything that lives, they are destined to be prey. However, they are also predators that prey. In that wheel, all living beings have a right to survive, but it depends on their ability to fight and prey on others to survive."
"Now, my dear child, let me ask you a question. As the monsterkind who brought life to lifeless worlds, where do we stand in this grand wheel of existence?" Espresmory concludes, addressing her daughter.
Saratya pondered deeply for a long time before responding, "To keep the spiral wheel of balance keep going?"
Espresmory smile, as she patted her head. "That's correct, Archios. His three children has given us the world to live in, with choices. And we choose what to do, and we continue to do it. I don't say killing is correct, but when it's for survival, it is. But killing for pleasure is wrong."
Saratya deeply took those words as she continued to stare at me with her deep black-blue eyes until she smiled and hugged me, which I hugged her back.
We continued our journey for hours until we arrived at the vast, open steppe land. It was a place where countless titan-class beasts roamed freely. These beasts moved as a massive horde, their long necks resembling snakes and their long tails resembling whips. Their bodies were similar to bears, but they were more fatty, and their entire bodies were covered in fur. These creatures were so large that entire forests appeared to be long, grown grass. However, from our perspective, they seemed like ants marching in a single direction.
Thump
My daughter and I were standing on a cliff when it began to tremble. "What is happening?" my daughter asked in terror, clutching close to me. But I remained unmoving, knowing what this meant.
Stones started vibrating, and the cliff began to move. I sight little then I held my daughter in my arms and said, "Don't worry, my child. It seems we will go yellow in a different way."
She looked at me, puzzled by my words. Suddenly, a massive boulder, about four stories tall, fell, revealing a vast expanse of skin covered in fur. Then, the cliff we were standing on began to crumble. But I swung my moth wings and flew into the sky.
Soon, in our vision, the same beast in a vast steppe land appeared. It was rising from its slumber against the cliff. It seems due to its immense weight, countless boulders covered it, it lied against cliff, making it appear like a camouflage at an extreme degree but it is not it is just titan clan beast waking up from nap
Soon, the beast fully gets up, turning to face the horde in the distance and beginning to walk towards them. I fly ahead of the beast, although I am fast in flight. Going up is my hardest part of flying.
After minutes of flying, I finally reach the head of the beast. Its top has no fur, so I land on top of its head as I let down my daughter and stretch my body a little.
"Wow, so this is a giant mountain triplice beast, I never imagined they could be this big," my daughter exclaimed, her eyes wide with curiosity. She start go around top of beast head area it cover was as large as a small farm.
Since this beast was clearly heading towards its horde, I decided to rest. It was certain that they would pass by the yellow forest.
I turned off my magic sense and walked towards the center opening. I opened my backpack and took out my phoeop to capture images of the surrounding area. After all, we were almost half the height of the clouds it was like seeing things from skyscrapers.
Before I knew it, the sun was setting, and the yellow forest began to shine. Even though it was still far away, it was visible to my eyes.
"Mom, can I ask you something?" my daughter asked while sitting beside me.
"Of course, my child. What is it?"
"What will happen to me when I turn 14? Will my awakening be painful, or will I change?"
"*sight* Of course not, my child. It won't be painful. Instead, it will be more comfortable, like shedding chains from yourself. As for whenever you are gonna change,"
I pulled her and started playfully playing with her head. "Not in a million years, you will remain still, my little spirit. Nothing will change that."
She giggled for a few moments before falling silent once more. "Do I really have to go? I don't want to leave here. Is there any way to delay my awakening?"
I smiled softly before speaking. "My child, we both know what it means to Gadahar. If there was any way to delay it, I would have found them, but I did. Nevertheless, I will always be with you."
She turned to me and asked, "What do you mean? The moment I awaken Gadahar, High monsters will come and take me to the Realm of High Monsters. You can't go there."
I chuckled softly for a moment before saying, "You will miss me, right?"
"Absolutely."
"Then I'll be with you in memory, my child. As long as you remember me, I'll be staying with you. But not physically, that's all."
She looked at me for a few seconds before smiling and hugging me. Soon, night came, and a giant mountain triplice beast came its horde, almost reaching yellow forest
So, we descended to the ground by flying with my daughter. Soon, we entered the yellow forest, which is one of the ancient forests. Unlike the previous ancient forests, I entered before devouring dead memory. It is made of white trees with yellow leaves and is situated in a terrain with multiple incredibly tall mountains. Some of these mountains are known as some of the highest in the motherland continent.
The sun was setting, and its light was fading away. However, my daughter and I used other flying to reach the mountain with our momentum since we start to descend from half of height where clouds are located. We easily reached our destination in half the hour.
"*Fast breathing* that was tiring, especially with my backpack. Ughh, my back!" My daughter was tired from flying for half an hour, which was a new record since she can't even fly for 20 minutes. It seems she is growing up too.
I chuckled a little, then stretched my body a few times before saying, "Let's go, my child. Since we're currently at the belly of the mountain, it won't take long to reach the top."
My daughter nodded while massaging her wings.it was covered in sweat clearly tired
Soon, we reached the summit of the mountain. After two hours of non-stop walking, we finally arrived at the top, which was as large as a farmland but almost bordered with clouds.
Then, we proceeded to the center of this mountain peak, which was a massive building. Inside, the ceiling was made of glass, illuminating a blue light that allowed any monster to see all the stars. However, there was a white star that differed from all the blue stars. I channeled my magical energy into the surrounding area, and everything began to work. The ceiling soon started to resemble a phone screen, which I used to see Nasira's palace. My daughter and I lay on the ground, gazing at the sky, which was filled with blue stars and two moons that existed opposite each other. However, right in the center, there was a white star-like object. When one looked at it closely, it appeared like the sun.
"Wow, it's beautiful! Soon, I'll go there." My daughter looked at the ceiling, though sadness was visible, so there was also excitement.
I had the same thoughts, but instead of excitement, I felt unwilling. I didn't want to let my daughter go, but I knew I could do nothing but accept it. Even though I didn't want to lose her, I knew I would miss her just as she would me. I guess it wasn't that bad; those were just espresso feelings, not my mine but I can understand mother's feelings so does what it requires from Espresmory and that is something I can respect
Suddenly, everything started to fall apart—no not the building, but the memories themselves. It seems dead memories doing their job of delaying my overlord-self mind. I suppose this is it. I don't say it was pleasant, but I did enjoy it. I discovered many things I didn't know, and I swear I'll make good use of them. Espresmory, I'm sorry I blasphemously took the only thing left of you.but I had no choice, so I hope you understand.
Goodbye, Espresmory. Although I'm not you, I'll carry those memories as if they're mine.