61 Chapter 59: Tranquility Before Chaos

__Twilight Manor__

In Riveria's room, the yoga group was having their weekly session that was sorely missed by the high elf and the ex murderhobo, Ais.

"Lars, we haven't done this in a long time. I missed it." Ais' face was serene and Riveria smiled at their interaction.

"Un, I also missed this. It's good to get stronger in the dungeon. But it's also a nice change of pace." Lars breathed rhythmically.

"What did you even do? It's like you suddenly disappeared from Orario." Riveria was curious.

The expedition group of the Demeter familia made waves upon waves in Orario.

A little squad of three that can dive deep inside the dungeon.

And it was only possible due to Airmid. With Lars' help, she was able to make a bag of holding.

A little backpack that could contain enough supplies for an expedition.

Hunting down monster rexes is actually a big deal that needs to be reported to the guild.

And the trio killed Amphisbaena on their own. A feat that shot up their fame massively.

Not to mention that Airmid is the record holder for the fastest level up to 2. Everyone is eyeing them for what's to come next.

The only reason they're left mostly alone is due to Demeter working overtime to keep the hussies and no good gods away.

"Anyways how has Meowmere been treating you, Ais?" Lars asked and Ais' eyes sparkled.

"Don't even ask, she hugs it to sleep like it's a stuffed toy." Riveria sighed and Ais pouted at her.

She was like a kid that couldn't sleep with her teddy bear.

And the mama elf of course chided her that sleeping while hugging a dangerous sword was not optimal.

"I love it very much, of course I'll keep it with me at all times." Ais huffed.

"Well, I'm glad that you like it so much." Lars chuckled as he patted her head.

Riveria blinked at her reaction. 'Is she a cat? Why is she purring? Is it the reaction of the sword!?' Riveria thought of useless things.

"She's been carving through the floors with it. Ais caused pandemonium in the colosseum one time. She went on a hunting spree." Riveria sighed.

"Yeah, my stats increased a lot due to it." Ais bobbed her head in joy at that.

Even though she's calmer now. Once a murderhobo, always a murderhobo.

"Goor job, remember to max out all your stats before leveling alright?" Lars smiled and she nodded eagerly.

The time then came for the magic lessons. And as a scholar that have a passion for magic, Riveria just couldn't help but be enamored by Lars' magic.

"Lars, I'm really curious about something." Riveria went serious.

"Hmm? Ask away." Lars gave Ais some jagamarkuns. Aka; hash browns or croquettes. And she started nibbling on it like a hamster.

"How does your magic work exactly?" Riveria is sensitive to magic. She could be even be called a prodigy among prodigies in magic.

If you exempt Lars and Alfia in the mix that is. The former having an understanding of magic that's out of the box.

While Alfia is simply built different. "My magic huh? Is it because it's so strong with such a short chant?" Lars grinned and she nodded.

"Well, how about I show you a little better trick?" Lars imagined a flame, how it starts, how it's fed, what makes fire appear in the world.

And the root of it all, is molecular excitement. He then supplemented it with fuel. Creating a flame out of thin air.

"I'm no scholar, Riveria. But there is a study of the universe called physics." Lars did the opposite and turned the blazing flame into ice as he sapped its energy.

"Physics?" The duo looked at him in confusion.

There are academics present in the world where they study how the world works.

But they're too blinded by magic and the mystic. Science finds answers through pure logic, experimentation, and observation.

Unlike magic that seemingly bends the world to your will.

"Yes, physics. Like this ice for example. How does it form?" Lars asked them and they looked at him like he was stupid.

"Because it's cold?" Ais answered and he nodded, but Riveria thought about it more deeply.

"But why is something cold?" Riveria asked and he gave her a thumbs up.

"Yes, there is an explanation for everything. And I have an intrinsic knowledge of it." Lars winked at them and they frowned.

"How? How do we learn of that sorcery?" Riveria was salivating at the thought of the secrets of the world.

"I can't explain, I'm just blessed by the divine." Lars said with a straight face.

And Loki who was spying on them couldn't believe it, he was telling the truth.

The duo slumped down in defeat, but he patted them on the shoulder.

Ais went wide eyed as she looked at Lars touching Riveria. She's the untouchable royal princess after all.

"Don't worry, I might not be able to explain it well. But I've been trying to turn my magic chantless. And I researched about it." Lars took something from his inventory.

And it was his notes on how magic affects physics. He might not be a nerd, but he still had a tertiary education.

So he tried remembering everything he could and pieced anything that he remembered little by little.

"Are you sure? This is your notes..." Riveria felt reluctant, he was giving away his work for free.

"Eh, it's nothing important really. Just a side project of mine." Lars shrugged.

"Now, Ais. I know you're more of a kinesthetic learner. So I'll give you a feel of how my magic works." Lars grabbed her hands.

"H-how inappropriate." Riveria's ears turned red at the indecent hand holding.

Lars made his mana flow and he formed gusts of wind with it. The flow of magic cycled through Ais first before the spell was cast and she tried to remember it as best as she could.

"One more time." Ais requested with puppy dog eyes and he couldn't quite reject her.

So he did it a couple of more times and she started practicing immediately.

"How about you Riveria? Try it." Lars smiled at her and the elf nodded with a serious expression.

She then made her mana flow like how she sensed him do it.

Remembering his words that magic is pure visualization. "Chants are a crutch. Exchanging valuable time for strength."

He instructed her and the duo tried to cast their magic with pure mana manipulation.

Riveria tried to release cold air, imagining one of her spells that she uses often.

But she couldn't imagine and let her mana form the spell cohesively.

It was like playing the piano for the first time. Multitasking with something that difficult right off the bat just can't work.

Lars saw that she was about to cause an Ignis Fatuus due to her rampaging mana.

"Ataraxia!" Lars used Silentium Eden on her immediately and the room turned deathly silent.

It was like mana was muffled and snuffed out completely.

Riveria who panicked slipped. As an Ignis Fatuus that was fueled by her large mana pool would destroy the twilight manor.

"Are you okay?" Lars shook her and Riveria looked up at him, he was holding her and she could feel her chest squish against his.

It felt like warm granite and Riveria was in a daze.

"Sorry, I forgot about Ignis Fatuus. You need more control on your mana. Ais can make it flow easily because she's a magic swordsman.

It's always flowing subconsciously. And she's had years of practice on her belt, even though she doesn't realize it." Lars sighed.

"I-it's no problem!" Riveria stuttered as the tips of her ears went red in embarrassment.

He then raised a brow and Ais pulled on his hair. "Lars is an idiot, Riveria's a high elf. They don't like being touched."

"Ahh, that." Lars thought it was stupid, but he respected her culture nonetheless. So he made her float away and Ais puffed her cheeks.

"Me too." She pointed at her head and he chuckled at her antics.

He then caressed her head with a high impact headpat, making her nod in satisfaction.

"Well, don't try to use any chantless spells for now. Just ask Ais how she makes her mana flow whenever she uses ariel. It will help with subconscious mana control." Lars instructed.

"Oh, okay..." Riveria was in a daze. In her long life, the only man that has ever touched her is her father.

And being an elf princess, the yandere elves basically worshipped the ground she stepped on.

She has never been treated normally by someone. Even the other top executives are careful around her somewhat.

But he didn't care. And that made her somewhat happy. 'Wait... He's just a fraction of my age...'

Riveria got depressed as she thought of their age difference. She's almost a century old now.

'Couldn't you have been born earlier?' Riveria got melancholic as she thought that he wouldn't treat her so casually in public.

What she wanted was someone who can stand beside her as an equal. A friend or companion that doesn't see her as the level 6, top adventurer.

Or the elven princess. But someone who just sees her as Riveria, the elf academic that's passionate about magic.

"Let's try it in the dungeon after you two had some practice. Private Ais!" Lars called out to the blonde and she saluted subconsciously.

Even though she didn't know what he meant. "Teach our new recruit here how to be a battle mage." Lars pointed at Riveria.

"Yes sir." Ais nodded and Riveria chuckled at their antics.

"Yeah... Please take care of me." Riveria stuffed down her desires in the recesses of her mind.

__Traveller's Inn__

"Hestia-sama... What exactly are you doing?" Asfi was currently scolding Hestia who was sitting on the floor in a seiza.

"Take told me that this is how you should sit so the scoldings will pass quickly." Hestia twiddled her thumbs.

"You were lazing around, ordering Meryl to fetch you some novels and snacks..." Asfi sighed and Hestia looked down.

"Well, I thought I needed a little reward." Hestia at least looked apologetic.

"Hah... You can't have a break after every hour of work." Asfi rolled her eyes.

"Geh, I'll try harder." Hestia didn't know that managing a familia was hard.

She might be the goddess of the hearth and home. But there were no taxes in heaven.

The little goddess just watched over the eternal flame. Until she gave it to Prometheus so the eccentric god could help humanity in its darkest times.

Before the age of heroes, where monsters roamed the earth in droves.

"Hah, anyways. Please finish your paperwork. I'll check them if there are any mistakes." Asfi pointed at her table and Hestia sighed in defeat.

She went towards the stacks of paper in defeat and Asfi observed her carefully.

"Goodness... Lars gave me more work. Though he still comes in from time to time to help." Asfi rubbed her temples.

Hestia worked when it mattered, but she just had to take a break every hour.

While Asfi observed her for any tomfoolery, she saw an owl outside of her window.

'A message from Hermes-sama...' Asfi opened it naturally, like she was just airing the room.

And when she read the contents, she frowned heavily.

'Lars and co. Will be extremely displeased with this news.' Asfi's face scrunched up.

On all the places where some xenos could be. They ended up in a place where it's basically untouchable.

She then sent a message to him through an oculus.

'I hope this gets fixed without any trouble. That place is on par with Orario as a world superpower...

Lars who was minding his own business, having some afternoon tea time before heading out to the Hephaestus familia received Asfi's message.

"Hmmm? Let's see, did Hermes finally find a clue!?" Lars excitedly checked it out.

But when he read it, his face fell. "Alfia, call the xenos and Fels."

"Why? Did you receive unpleasant news?" Alfia raised a brow and Lars looked in front with a cold expression.

"A lot of the xenos have been transported to Telskyura." Lars revealed and Alfia frowned.

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