Storming night

~(Oberon POV)~

As I was aboard the ship, the group's elf couldn't move at all thanks to Hilda's ability named 'Mare' blood magic, which can paralyze any enemy that smells the blood on the air that goes straight to their brain and meets with their Nerf system. If you think about it, it's a kind of scary ability.

I first surveyed each of the passengers one by one, and there was indeed one of them that looked familiar; indeed, it was a man called 'Rhys Therel' Oberon had met him when he was still seven years old when he paid an omen to my father for help protecting the Ryumilua from the monster. Rhys was almost a hundred years old; he had the middle-aged look of a man, and he had light yellow hair.

"W-Who are you?"

They don't know who Oberon is, thanks to the white mask and distorting magic that make my voice unrecognizable to them.

'I should keep my disguise.'

"Who I am did not matter. I am here to stop you from doing what you are going to do."

("Hilda loses your control a bit.")

Hilda's red eyes start to get brighter as she gives a bit of freedom to her victim, who can talk without stuttering but still can't move fully.

"Why do you think we should listen to strangers like you?"

Oberon picks in his pocket a purple badge with intricate craft on its surface and its shape. Seeing the badge shown by an unknown figure in an instant, he knew he was not a stranger; instead, he was one of the selected few who had the 'Celdia badge'.

Celdia's badge was bestowed by the king or queen, whoever saw fit, even if they came from other races.

"How did you? "

"It does not matter how I had this, but you know I had King Larfal's permission to do what I must do. You should follow King Larfal to stand down and wait for further orders."

"So, they can attack freely!? If we do not stop that caravan, that filth will burn down our secret land!"

(("That's right!"))

"Rhyst-sama is right; we can't let those filthy animals freely attack our land!"

'Animal? *Sigh* that idiot brainwashes his people to such an extent. No wonder father did not like him.'

Oberon knows their hatred was without reason; however, if they continued this path, it would only lead to the destruction and enslavement of the elven races. Hilda, who stood beside her master, felt a rage seeing how ignorant the very people that master tried to protect were and unconsciously twisted each one of their fingers. Seeing their expressions change into agony reactions and seeing their fingers twist, Oberon stopped his servant and patted her head to calm Hilda down.

("My apologies, master.")

Then Oberon sensed that someone had come from above. He was already aware of someone on the watch tower, but she was still a child. As our eyes met, I could see that she had a small wooden sword. It was the costume of Ryumilua to raise their child to become a warrior from the age of five, and from a glance, she was probably the same age as Ais or maybe older.

As she tried to land a hit on him, she started to get slowed until she was flooding to a complete stop, and from her perspective, she was trapped in an invisible pool.

"Are you too young to be a fighter?"

Without reply, the young girl just struggles to be free, but because it is unlucky for her, no one can escape it. It seems each one of them doesn't care about the girl.

"I will say this once you pull back your ship to Ryumilua, or I will force you to, and... I will report this to King Larfal for your master defying his order."

"Ugh!"

They knew that my voice could reach the king directly, so it was obvious that the masked figure was not bluffing.

"But it was Myriil-sama's wish and ours to stop them... Are you telling me we are the ones who tried to stop them from attacking us? Let me ask you, this masked man, who are you siding with?"

"I am siding with Elven races. Even if I tried to explain the reason those prides of yours will never understand or try to understand."

Oberon then erased the fog and melted the ice, stopping the wooden ship that had the same design as the old Viking ship, but instead of using manpower to move the ship, it used magic as a propeller to move the row on the side of the ship.

'No, it's no time to be fascinated by how it works... First, I had to force them back to the Ryumilua, but it took two combined magics to reach the shore fast.'

Alv Lake was indeed the biggest lake in Gekai because most of the endless rainwater and mountain glaciers filled the lake, making it the deepest lake in Gekai. According to the legend, the lake was created in the aftermath of a fight between a high spirit and a powerful monster.

'First.'

Oberon gazed toward the girl he captured, who tried her best to escape the gravity prison. Even though she tried to throw her weapon, it only stopped right in front of her.

"You can put down your weapon, small girl."

"I- I am not small."

"You said what you liked, but I will not let you down if you do not put that weapon away."

She looked reluctant and gazed back toward the group, including the elf, who was still paralyzed.

"I will if you let them move again."

Oberon was surprised by a bit of her compassion at such a youthful age.

'They do not even care about her yet...'

("Hilda, let them move again.")

("As your command, my master.")

Just as I ordered Hilda to point her palm toward her captive, a red cloud came out of each one of them, and the blood cloud started to gather from a red floating liquid.

"*Slurp*… Thanks for the food."

After Hilda absorbed her blood back, they could freely move once again, but Oberon kept his guard up, even though he did not bring any weapons with him. With magic alone, he could take them all down without dropping any sweets. Followed by them, the girl just dropped her weapon, floated toward Oberon's hand, and let her go from gravity prison.

"Now turn back your ship, or I will do it myself."

They still looked reluctant, as I predicted, because it was not his first time dealing with this type of person.

"I can't shun Myriil-sama's wish."

"Just tell him there is a big storm coming."

"Big storm? The sky is clear as..."

With just a thought, Oberon flowed by the overwhelm of mana, controlled the cold and warm air, and started building a cyclone of clouds that started to gather out of the blue and was followed by powerful wind and screaming lightning.

"How did…"

"You look down on the royal guard too much. King Larfal and his trusted commander have already prepared everything. You all should have stayed and waited for further order, and yet."

It should take half an hour to reach the shore with the strong wind Oberon used to send back the ship. Rhys knows it was not a natural storm because, in his lifetime, no storm was able to gather in minutes.

"I- I understand."

'Good, I am glad to bring that badge with me.'

Finally, with a bit of force, Rhyst ordered the crew to turn back his ship toward the shore of Ryumilua, and with the help of powerful wind, I made sure we should be able to reach the shore muck quicker. While I concentrate on my magic, a small girl keeps her gaze on me.

"What is it?"

"How did you stand on the water? I see no ice or place to stand."

"That's a secret."

If Rhys or someone knows my signature magic of gravity, everyone will find out that I am the one who forces them back. That small girl kept her stoic expression, but I know she was a bit upset. The girl had golden-blonde hair and sky-blue eyes. Different from Lefiya, her mana was lower than hers, but there was indeed a faint mana in her.

"What's your name?"

"Ryu… Lion."

"Lion…"

Oberon's mother did teach about the hierarchy of family that is recognized by the king because of the low population of each one of them before they were born; it was already being decided what their job was when they were born. Lion, they are one warrior family who should be respected because of their duty as sacred tree guardians.

'Her mana was not the same level as Lefiya's, but she was still developing; with good training, she could become one royal guard."

It was, of course, except that special individuals could change their assigned jobs, but their family names would be taken like Aunt Hilda could make her own family or marry someone with high prestige and take that family name as her own if she liked to, but from the look of it, she had no attention to marriage anytime soon.

"Why did they look down on you?"

In the violent win, Ryu could hear a masked man's words clearly, like he himself was the eyes of the storm.

"You don't know how they treat and teach how to look at other races and nearby fishermen. It makes me want to vomit to think about respecting such people."

'I did hear that Ryumilua harassed a fisherman around the lake, but it's pretty rare to have such a passion for other races in a child.'

I just shook my head and replied to her.

"Ryu Lion. I will remember that name. The elven kingdom needs an elf like you. Be strong, Lion, and don't let them change those opinions of yours."

Ryu seemed surprised by the words that I spoke to her; however, before she continued asking questions, her commander ordered her to go back to the watch tower.

As we were close to the shore, there was a reed plant barrier that we had to pass first before arriving on the shoreline. The reeds that we passed through had a magic rune written as a warning to any intruder, which is why no one could sneak on Ryumilua through the lake.

"!!"

Oberon felt a disturbance on his makeshift barrier that was not as effective as Orstrid does, but it could give him an early warning. This projectile had the speed of sound, and from its trajectory, it aimed at Hilda.

There was no chance to put up a barrier. Oberon created a powerful earth shield, moved as fast as he possibly could, and stood in front of his servant Hilda.

(CLANK!)

It was like getting hit by a high-caliber bullet and leaving a crack in the earth's shield. From its power alone, it could kill Hilda if it landed.

("Thank you, master.")

("Stay close to me.")

'Their ship was already out of commission. I should retreat.'

{Dense Fog}

I pulled Hilda closer and flew away before they could even catch a glance at me. I felt another arrow being fired once more then I cast gravity to lighten Hilda's weight and asked her to hug me from behind.

'How did she see me?'

I blocked another arrow with a powerful swing and stopped the arrow once again while I kept retreating. Then I capture one of the arrowheads being shot and inspect it in more detail.

'This arrowhead it's no doubt it must be her.'

"… high spirit, grant me your wisdom, 'Wind blow!'"

The mage tried to clear the fog, but at the same time, a group of elves boarded the ship, and leading them was an elf with pastel green eyes and blonde hair. She scanned the boards like a hawk looking for her prey, but the person that she had already seen from the shore was already gone without any trace.

"Lenna, what have you done? You almost killed someone who held Celdia Bedge!"

The elf called Lenna just ignored him, inspecting with her bow-string scream, ready to be released for any enemy shadow she could lay her eyes on.

"They escape."

----

As we flew close to the cloud, I carried Hilda with both arms because, unlike Orstrid, who could fly, Hilda relied on me to be able to fly. I can't see the big lake clearly because of the clouds, but I can still catch a glimpse of it, and it is always mesmerizing to see it under the moonlight.

"Master, thank you for saving me."

"You're welcome."

"I am sorry that I couldn't see that arrow coming."

"It's not your fault. It was probably an arrow shot by Lenna, one of the best archers in the Elven Kingdom. My mother and father did mention her name because of how famous she was. Consider us lucky; we escape without any injury. Her hatred of other races, it seems, was true; she clearly tried to kill you, Hilda."

"How did Master see that arrow coming?"

"It was just the combination of lightning and water magic. You may not see a small voltage flying fifty meters away from us when there is an object through which I could detect and stop those arrows."

'Because I was being hunted so many times, I had to invent detection magic to not get caught off guard by the assassin.'

Hilda, a spirit who has an infinity of ways of controlling blood, had no match against her. Lenna's knowledge of stealth and eyes were sharp, like those of a hawk who could see her prey even behind the bush and could guess the enemy's next step. That is probably the reason she still managed to land a shot at us in dense fog.

"Hm, you are so light. You can ask me for more blood if you need it."

"Master has already provided me with enough blood. I may have had to deal with my vessel, and... it's the first time Master has carried me like this."

She blushed nervously while rolling her long, beautiful, dark hair. It was how she behaved when she was embarrassed by something Oberon did find cute.

"Haha, you are right. Hilda, I want to know, what did you think of the goddess Artemis at first glance?"

Hilda was silent for a moment. She shut her eyes for a moment. It's like she tried her hardest to think of her opinion of Artemis.

"I thought she would be a woman that could stand with Master, but her eyes made it seem as if she could see through anything with those eyes of her."

'I have not fully grasped yet the gods and goddesses' power they still had in the mortal world; it's possible that her eyes could see something like mine.'

"*sigh* I felt a bit of truth in your opinion. I felt like if I spent too long with her, she could find all my secrets. not only her; I believe other girls did have the same feeling. I don't know how to not make them hate me, and I am not sure I am ready yet to start my own family. I am not a human anymore; I am an elf, which means I will live a hundred and possibly a thousand years. If I make a wrong move, I will end up watching everything I build end up in flames."

"We won't let that happen, master. Every servant that master called all work tiresome to prevent such things. Me, Orstrid, Siv, Kuro, Yami, Flora, and Nora all made the same vow at the time: we bound our very souls to yours, Master, to protect things Oberon-sama wanted to protect and serve till the end of Oberon-sama's very last breath."

'You had to trust people who were close to you more...'

"Artemis was right. I am sorry for not trusting you and all of you more than I should."

Then, for the first time, Oberon saw Hilda, a servant who had served him for more than a year and felt a genuine smile and happiness for the first time.

"Apology accepted, Master."

----

As I arrived at the underground manor using a secret underground teleport circle, when I arrived, Siv was already expecting my arrival at the front gate of the manor, and beside her was Flora. Flora then asked me to check my condition because of the request of Orstrid, who was worried about any injuries.

While Flora was examining my body in the nursing room, Siv briefed me about Ryumilua. According to the spy, it seems Ryumilua is following my warning, and with their ship getting destroyed, when it was mentioned that there was another possible ship that would set sail, Siv assured me that she would take care of it.

"Artemis-sama did leave a message for Master."

"What did she say?"

"She gazed with a smile, but I could feel a heavy pressure, Then Artemis-sama said. 'Don't make me wait too long.' That is the message Artemis-sama gave."

'*sigh* I had to do my best then.'

Oberon can't lie; he felt glad Artemis understood his current position. After a detailed scan, Flora had her conclusion.

"Hm, nothing abnormal. Orstrid said that Master did fracture some of the muscles a normally injured master suffered when using 'Long Sword of Light', but there is nothing. I expected some brushes, but there were none. Master, can you summon that sword again?"

"Sure."

When I summoned the bright sword, Flora looked so fascinated by it, but then.

"If you excuse me, Master,"

Flora then took one sharp knife and cut my left arm, to her surprise. After he finished, she cut the wound, which healed in a second without leaving any mark.

"It seems that the sword master summoned could heal the user, but I don't know the limit of its effectiveness... I need more data before making any conclusions."

"I will try to gather it from my experience and report it to you, Flora, but I am sure this skill must have cost me some of my mana; I can feel it."

"That's a good first step. Thank you, master. I hope you can give me more information later."

"Sure, Flora, I will. In the meantime, keep the automaton production going, and I am sorry to ask you to build two more attacker-type automatons."

Flora just smiled and replied.

"Master, your wish is my pleasure. I will make sure it is ready quickly, although we need more material for the core."

The core of the doll was invented by a five-dragon general named Chaos, who invented the core, designed the moving doll himself, and perfected it by Zanoba with the help of Cliff.

"I will try to look for it on the Orario market. If you have nothing you need, I should go back to the dungeon."

----

After the flash of light was gone from my vision, I was back again in familiar view of the dungeon, and close to the portal was the automaton Oberon assigned to guard the portal. When I arrived, they just bowed gracefully.

"Welcome back, master."

"Good work… I don't see everyone. Are they still in Rivira?"

"Sera-sama had a sparring session together with Orstrid-sama."

'Sparing?'

"I see. You both keep protecting our camp, and you can come back when you see again."

("As your command, Master.")

Knowing it would be foolish to let a valuable material unguard, through the road and heavy jungle, as I got closer, I started to hear metal clashing with one another, getting stronger and stronger. As I approached the site, there was a bright light in the sky. In an instant, I knew it was the light spirit that was used as the source of light.

(Clank!)

When I arrived, I saw a couple of familiar faces, and there were a couple of my Familia members gathered to watch the spectacle.

'Of course, the sound and the light catch their attention... hm, is that?'

"Gareth-san?"

"Hm, oh Oberon. Orstrid did tell me you came with her. Where have you been?"

(Clank!)

"I am sorry, Gareth-san. I had an important thing to do."

After a short greeting, Gareth looked back toward the two women, who fight ferociously. It looks more like a duel than a sparring match because of how ferocious Sera was in her attack.

"Did Loki-sama leave you with a letter?"

"There is no letter from her. When I met her, she was already drunk. I feel bad for Captain Finn."

"Ghaha, that's normal for him and us... I knew that you both already reached level two of that new world record, and as a comrade, I should have said congratulations. Ah, I already heard you have now become one of the executives. Me and others all agree with Loki-sama's decision."

"Thank you, Gareth-san. For the new rank, I am still thinking it was too soon for me."

"Being an executive is not about how long you are with us. It was about our goddess' trust, and Loki-sama always had a reason behind her every decision. It's her children's responsibility to follow every order she gives. Remember that."

(Clank!)

"I still have many things to learn. I hope everyone helps to make a stupid mistake."

(Clank!)

"I know you are a smart and capable person. You should be fine; just follow your instincts and rely on other members.

We spoke with each other, but our gaze was toward the two girls who fought. Sera, with her dual blade, attacks Orstrid relentlessly with her skill already activated. Orstrid knew she was no match for her speed and could only block and use her instincts in the fight to find an opening to retaliate.

"…Hm, it seems it's her final attack."

(Thud!)

Sera dashed forward like a dart, aiming for its red spot with such speed, creating a shock wave with her arm crossed and her blade pointed toward Orstrid, who readied her high stance of water god technique, where the edge of the sword aimed at the ground with the handle close to her chest.

'That stance Orstrid always uses to stop my attack... I wonder how Sera handles it.'

Sera's body starts to blur red, and her blade is almost as if there is a mist covering her blade. Orstrid instead took a step back. She took a firm step forward, keeping her sword stance. Her eyes glowed green, and her sword was close to her heart to prepare for whatever attack came to her.

(Clank!)

Orstrid managed to parry Sera's slash attack, creating sparks of metal when they collided with a strong, heavy force. Sera, who was already expecting Orstrid to block her attack, spun, aiming for Orstrid's left flank, where Sera, after a long fight, was aware of her left-hand was Orstrid weak side. Orstrid predicted Sera's intent from her eyes and took a sidestep, countering with a swift thrust. The blade grazed Sera's shoulder, drawing blood.

Feeling the pain in her shoulder, Sera took a heavy step back and made a distance between her and Orstrid.

"Not bad, Orstrid."

Sera grinned, her eyes alight with adrenaline. Orstrid then swings her sword to clean the blood on her sword, and then, with a smile, Orstrid replies.

"You became stronger the last time we met, but your intent was still easy to read."

While the audience clapped and cheered, I took a step closer toward Sera, who was still bleeding.

"Oberon, welcome Tsh! ... back."

"Take sat, Sera, let me heal your wound."

After seeing the conclusion of the duel, the crowd started to go back to Rivira; only Loki Familia remained.

"That's a good fight you both showed."

Sera titled her hand with a confused gaze toward the dwarf, none other than Gareth.

"Ah, I am sorry I have not introduced myself yet. My name is 'Gareth Landrock' Like Oberon, I was one of the executives, but I was a bit older than him."

"My name is Sera Rufus, captain of Iduun Familia. Nice to meet you, Gareth-san."

"Oh, so you are a goddess, Iduun child? That means you did watch the fight of this anonymous hero, right?"

"Y-yeah, but I can't say anything further than that."

"Hm, I don't mind it. I think he or she should be anonymous."

It took me a few minutes to cure her wound completely, and Orstrid seemed to have suffered any wound from these classes. Oberon was not surprised with the outcome because Orstrid's strength and knowledge of the water god technique make her defence almost impregnable.

"Thank you, Oberon."

"You welcome Sera. I am sorry, Gareth-san. We will head back to our camp tomorrow morning. I will give you a short briefing about my next expedition."

"I understand… You are always surrounded by beautiful girls. If you continue like this, you will become the enemy of every man you know Ghahaha."

It seems Gareth's remarks are accepted by every male member of Loki Familia.

"I must live with that because there is a certain goddess who wants me not to change. Now see you tomorrow, Gareth-san and everyone."

As we went our separate ways, I noticed something strange in Sera's behavior; she was more silent and less cheerful than usual.

("Orstrid, did something happen while I was absent? Sera did behave strangely quiet.")

("My apologies, Master; I don't know, but she did behave strangely after Master went with Artemis-sama; after that, out of nowhere, she asked me to train with her.")

'… Artemis-sama's teasing seems to have a greater effect than I thought.'

Feel the awkward silence. The one who first broke the silence was Rethusa.

"Oberon, what are you talking about with Artemis-sama?"

"It was indeed a lengthy conversation... I am sorry, but we both agreed to keep our discussion to ourselves because of my safety and hers."

"Hmm, it sounds suspicious. You don't do anything weird to our goddess, do you?"

Rethusa kept her eyes closed toward the elf, who was nervous, knowing that Rethusa, as a child of Artemis, had a chance to smell a lie or see through him.

"I do not dare to do such a thing. I don't want to be hated by the goddess of hunts and her children."

"It's not that I am not trusting you, Oberon, but... Ngm! I don't know what to do in this situation!"

While Rethusa struggles to fix this awkward situation, Oberon steals a glance at Sera, who keeps her gaze on the ground. Seeing that, Oberon can't help but feel pity for her, knowing what was on her mind.

'I hope I could ignore it and hope for the best. Artemis-sama, you are so cruel.'

After we arrived at the camp, the automaton went back to the manor, and everyone went to their own tent, but before Rethusa went to her tent, she gazed toward me as she begged me to do something.

"Sera, I want to talk with you a bit. If you would like to."

"Eh! Ah sure."

They understand we need our time alone. Artemis Familia and Orstrid stay in the camp. The truth is, I don't know how to comfort her; however, seeing her empty gaze, he can't help but feel terrible for letting this go on.