Ch 99 – Bidding Farewell After Months’ Worth of Planning and Scheming

Within a silent room where a large, rectangular table resides in the middle, nine luxurious chairs surrounded it from all sides while two humanoid figures can be seen sitting on their respective, assigned chairs.

"Kilt-san, how may I be of help to you today?" Imerda said, her face serious but also has a hint of boredom to them.

Silently taking something out from a tear in space that he nonchalantly made, he took out a scroll and toss it to Imerda who caught it in one hand.

"In a few weeks' time, you'll start to attend Sage's Magic Academy as a new student once they start taking in new students," Kilt dropped a bomb out of nowhere, causing Imerda's eyes to widen.

"But-"

"No buts. Unlike the Insurgents of God, most of your strength comes from external factors considering the nature of your cheat. Your reliance on the spirits has been growing too much each passing day, nearly all of your strength depends on them. My reasons for this decision are also not just for you, it's for the whole kingdom. If you successfully bring back the knowledge of the Magic Kingdom and from the Sage's Magic Academy, many of the kingdom's royal mages, and the general mages of the kingdom, the power of the Magic Kingdom has been growing too fast for my liking, and I would like to nip it in the bud before it becomes an actual problem," Kilt calmly explained his thought process. Listing more of his reasons, Imerda can't refute as she can only let out a reluctant sigh after Kilt's lecture.

Knowing him, Imerda was sure she wouldn't be able to refuse his orders so she just silently accepted her fate, but she can't help but think about her previous life and a certain man Honda has been closed with, 'Sage's Magic Academy, I wonder if it would be the same like in the game. And Lute, is he really the one I think he is? Even though I only saw his face for a short time, I'm pretty sure he is the same person as that certain character.'

***

Right outside the eastern gate of the Pendragon Kingdom, a weird sight can be seen currently concurring in the early morning of the Central Continent. Atop a ginormous green pig the size of a large hill, and perhaps even bigger than it, sat a family of three. One was a young man with violet eyes, and long black hair that reaches their neck, wearing a white robe over a long-sleeved tunic white shirt, and black pants, on his right hand was a wooden staff with a spiral design adorning a reg gem on top of it. The other was a tall figure, wearing a baggy black shirt and tight black pants, covering his face was a featureless white mask that only has two holes showing the man's eerie black eyes. And the final one was a young boy—perhaps the age of ten or more—with raven black hair, and crimson eyes, wearing a crimson shirt with a black hoodie on top of it, along with tight-fitting black pants.

Right in front of the eastern gate of the Pendragon Kingdom was another trio. One was a black-haired young man wearing a black and red tracksuit. Beside him were two beauties with traits similar to those of elves, such as blond hair and emerald green eyes, yet their ears were those of a human, showing they were simply just normal humans. The two sisters' appearances were similar, just that the older sister had a larger everything, including height and bust size.

Their eyes were teary and the younger sister even had snot flowing out of her nose, but nobody judged her as this was truly an emotional moment for the six. They were allies, friends born from the hardships they spent in the Shadow Dungeon, the time they spent with each other—inside and outside the kingdom/dungeon—had made them quite the close friends, so having both Lute and Kira, along with their son that the three have come to love now leaving, it made them feel bittersweet inside.

"LUTE-SAN!" SIlvy shouted, tears flowing out of her eyes like a waterfall as the trio standing outside the gate waved their hands high in the air to bid their farewell.

"Oi! Lute! Remember to bring back some presents to us once you come back!" Honda shouted with a grin.

"Yeah! Also, bring some of the good stuff!" The good stuff Bella mentioned was alcohol and wine, the past few weeks they spent having fun at Nature's Garden—Silvy's new restaurant—was mostly her drinking and eating nonstop like a ravenous pig.

"Haha! I will!" Lute shouted on top of the Verdant Hill Pig that they sat on.

"Goodbye, Uncle Honda, Aunt Bella, and Aunt Silvy!" Raiden shouted loudly with all his might. His hands waved high in the air while turning into a burst of crimson lightning for a split second and appeared right in front of the crying trio, taking each of them into one tight hug.

"Remember to be well mannered, Raiden-kun," Silvy patted Raiden's head, causing him to grin widely.

"And don't forget your daily training!" Bella added as Raiden nods his head.

"And be sure to pester your dada on how to be a swordsman like your cool uncle here," Honda added last while showing off his blade that was sheathed on his waist.

"Mmm!" Raiden nodded his head for the last time. Turning back into a bolt of crimson lightning, they all watch him reappear back on top of the Verdant Hill Pig as it started to walk away. And so, their final farewell has been said, and they can only bid their goodbyes to the family who slowly disappeared into the distance.

***

Sitting atop the ginormous Verdant Hill Pig, Lute raises his head to the sky as it slowly descended into nightfall.

"Porky! You can stop now!" Lute shouted as Raiden who was playing with Kira slowly stood up. Glancing down, Lute watches as Porky slowly crouch down and melded in with the field of grass around them, as if he has fully turned into a grassy hill.

"[Flight]."

A blue light enveloped Lute's body as he slowly floated down to the ground after jumping from Porky's back and onto the field of grass on the ground. On the other hand, a white platform appeared below Kira's feet and he hovered down to the ground with ease. While Raiden simply run down parallel to Porky's body down to the ground after crimson sparks enveloped his whole body.

"Raiden, go grab some firewood for us along with some wild animals," Lute said while he presses his right palm down to the ground, the ground around him slowly shook, and a series of rocks erupts from the ground to form a circle for the campfire.

"On it!" Raiden shouted, his eyes glowing a crimson color while crimson sparks reappeared back around his body. With a swooshing sound, both Lute and Kira watch a trail of crimson sparks disappear into the distance towards the forest in the distance and back to them in mere seconds. "I'm back!"

As Raiden reappeared in less than 10 seconds, he can be seen holding a stack of dry firewood while a dead wild boar was being held by his other arm. His physical strength was quite absurd for a child, but his speed was on another level. One can only wonder where his special ability came from. Was it magic, a divine magical treasure?

Grabbing the stack of firewood and the corpse of the wild boar, Lute lights up a fire by snapping his fingers to produce a spark out of nowhere and started a fire with ease.

And so, minutes flew by and a divine scent entered Raiden's nose as he slowly salivated. He gulped, feeling the saliva that build up within his mouth chamber and rush towards Lute who was now standing in front of a fully roasted boar with juice dripping from its body and falling into the fire below, turning into a mouth-watery smell as it evaporated into gas.

"Here's dinner!" Lute said as Raiden hastily grabbed a stick for himself and munched down on boar meat. Gently grabbing a stick, Lute passes it to Kira who has arrived beside them, and sat down on the grassy terrain in a lotus position, his mask ever-present while the stick of boar meat passes through his mask and directly onto his mouth.

In a scene that one can only describe as heartwarming, the family of three not bound by blood nor legal laws, went to eat to their hearts' content on this particularly windy night. The soft evening breeze caused their hair to flutter with the wind while the grass around them did the same. Happy smiles adorned their faces as the great food and great weather would make any man happy to be alive.

***

The family of three can now be seen standing far away from their previous campfire and porky, now, they stood on flat ground in the grassy plains around them unlike the uneven ground around them. Lute can be seen holding his wooden staff adorning a red gem on top of it tightly, while his eyes were steeled with resolve.

"Raiden, make sure to scout the surrounding area for any threats. This operation is a very important one for Dada, okay?"

"Mmm."

Nodding his head, Raiden's body got enveloped in crimson sparks and disappeared once more just like any other time once he activated his special ability.

"Kira, money please."

From Kira's waist, he tosses a bag that when Lute caught it, the sound of metal clinking with one another was heard. It was crisp and delightful to hear, especially for someone like Lute who has a particular obsession with money considering one of his most broken spells is purely reliant on money.

"[Status]," Instantly, an invisible only Lute can see—under normal circumstances—appeared after he muttered the spell name.

[Strength: 10,000]

[Agility: 10,000]

[Vitality: 10,000]

[Intelligence: 50,000]

[Spirit: 150,000]

[Luck: 20,000]

"This is it, I guess. Either I live after sacrificing a majority of my lifespan and gain a mythical attribute, or lose it all and die," Lute muttered as he dangled the pouch of platinum coins in his hand and chuckled. To think his most special ability is to buy things, oh how things have truly changed. From a measly villager who lived in a remote village to a fraudulent adventurer.

Without hesitation, he tosses the pouch high into the air while slamming his wooden staff down to the ground at the same time. Instantly, a burst of blue light illuminated the ground as a gigantic blue magic circle rapidly formed on the grassy terrain while a rain of platinum coins appeared from the sky.

"[Buy Attribute: Time]!"

With a silent explosion from the sheer pressure his spell gave, the magic circle on the ground exploded into a shining blue pillar that pierced through the clouds from above. The pressure it exuded due to the sheer mana it used caused the whole area around them to visibly shake and the fabrics of space-time seemingly started to warp.

Slowly, Lute's body floated into the air. From him being in the prime of his youth to him starting to grow old at a pace visible to the naked eye. His raven black hair turned long and gray like a coiling dragon. His previous milky skin turned wrinkled and decrepit. His lifespan got burned through to turn into pure magical power to alter reality around him.

"AHHHH!"

A shout that can be considered the wrath of titans erupted from Lute's throat as dark clouds gathered around the pillar like a vortex. Sharp winds blew through the grassy field, cutting many blades of grass and even toppling down trees from the nearby forest.

But with his immortal will, the pillar of shining blue light slowly turned thinner and thinner, yet its pressure got stronger and stronger, until the pillar was only the size of Lute's upright body floating in the air whose appearance has become that of a frail skeleton, where his skin and bones became one.

And so, an explosion of light occurred as both Raiden and Kira who were standing far away from the pillar of shining blue light felt their bodies catapulting backward from the sheer magnitude of the air pressure the pillar brought in its final moments.

Slowly opening their eyes, the duo of father and son saw Lute floating in midair and holding a wooden staff with a red gem adorned on top of its wooden handle. And Lute muttered, "[Rewind Time]."

Like the river of time itself turning towards the opposite direction, Lute's aged appearance slowly returned to his youth. From a coiling dragon of gray hair into raven black hair that reaches his neck. His wrinkly skin that reaches his bones returned to its former glory of milky white and plump like a babe's bum.

'Kukuku!' Lute laughed in his mind, as his operation succeeded without fail on its first try. Waving his staff once more to the air, he casted the certain spell he has been planning months ago upon meeting Honda.

"[Divination Defence System, Activate]."

And so, reality around Lute warped once more as a combination of three certain attributes allowed a certain monster to finally move more unhinged, Sacrifice, Knowledge, and Time.

"[Status]," And finally, he is fully able to see his true stats after hiding them for months on end.

[Strength: 10,000]

[Agility: 10,000]

[Vitality: 10,000]

[Intelligence: 500,000,000]

[Spirit: 150,000]

[Luck: 1,000,000]

'Now, I can start to move a lot more unhinged, from raising my physical attributes a lot faster and converting all of my karma into permanent luck. Slowly but surely, I'll find the answer to the mysteries of this world and reach the peak of this world's magic.' Lute clenches his fist, to think just 1,000,000 Luck would allow him to achieve all of this in a few months' time, he wonders when he fully converts all of his karma into luck.

AN: This is 2365 words, you're welcome.

Okay, finally finalized the stat value system.

F Rank Adventurer = 10 in one of four stat points which are: Strength, Agility , Vitality, and Spirit (though, most of the time, nearly no being can raise their agility to such high levels so just Strength, Vitality, and Spirit are important).

E = 100

D = 1000

C = 10,000

B = 100,000

A = 1,000,000

S = 10,000,000

Z = 100,000,000

Note: For fighters, it's not that black and white where they need to have such high strength, most adventurers are ranked by their battle prowess and not physical attributes. And besides, it's not like they can exert 100% of their actual strength without having enough vitality so it's more complex than ones and zeros. Though the same can not be said for Mages.

And yes, the "do or die" part when he was about to cast the spell was fake. If you had a hint of a brain, Braun was just saying that to give himself a fake weakness so that in the abysmal chance that somebody looks into the past, they'll think he has a weakness.

Writing is making me insane, send power stones.

(July 25, 2022 – 243rd day of writing)