Prologue 42 (Part 3) Illjako and Gramanos (4)

It was late in the evening and the atmosphere was tense upstairs. Unlike downstairs, it was empty and quiet save footsteps that paced, prowled, sat, crouched and halted in random order, over and ovr again.

The room was mostly bare, the sand and a few wildlife to replicate the climate of a savanna, not counting the dense clusters of trees that generously spaced apart. The heat along with it and even a few mosquitoes. Other life forms were either burrowed into the ground or hanging on trees, and a Leopard could not sit still in this room situated at of the upper levels.

The extravagant house had a few visitors downstairs that their presence had been forgotten. But just being in a Gramanos household was enough honor for them, so they would still smile and bow and tell others of the tale. They might even begun games by asking each other what they had actually seen and if it were a lie or not?

Half a week had passed and Gramanos Almaganom was as nervous as she was disgusted and also curious as to her role in all this.

*He – Jason Haon Illjako - made an attempt to touch me, but the girl he is to be wed to is my niece. However… The Queen mother said I should do what I need to do to get this matter over with.*

It was no joke.

Gramanos Almaganom was a side family member. Even the way her name was spelt – with her Family name before her first name – showed her status as a side family branch member.

If she finished this task, she might - *might* - just join the main family branch, though.

Her name would be EVERYWHERE. Her first would be before her last name!

The coronation ceremony would be on for an entire month.

She would have cultivation resources.

She would have access to he highest names.

Permission to the most restricted areas.

Knowledge to the darkest secrets…

…Gramanos Almaganom was excited but the condition put her at a loss. One more week and she would have to report to Uniah Gramanos's mother.

She sighed, her fingers had been playing with the head of a mouse and it had been clawing at her paw while wriggling and squeaking. When she finally noticed one claw had actually touched her, the mammal exploded into a burst of blood.

If only this case were that simple as she had done with the rat…but how would the Mother Queen take it?

Will she see it as betrayal? Gramanos Almaganom could very well die after becoming a main family branch member. If she did. Or would the Queen Mother commend that the work was finished?

Gramanos Almaganom had tried to tell her, so she could not be blamed for any thing that transpired as a result.

She fell on her bum and pouted then stared at the ceiling as she remembered someone's presence. This one had been kneeling for at least 6 hours.

"Do you have any problems?"

"None at all, my Beautiful and Resplendent liege."

"So, why are you still there?"

"Downstairs, your guests have been waiting."

She crossed her legs and then lounged back till she rested on both her palms.

"Tell me - give me an average of how many people in the side branch have successfully made it into the main branch since the beginning of time in regards to the Royal Noble House of Gramanos."

"Not up to 10."

"Hmm.. how many have tried?"

"At least more than a million."

"…the process, have you ever participated?"

"There are different trials. One i-"

"I have heard about it!" She sapped at him, revealing her current mood, and the servant kowtowed before apologizing.

"What your feeble brain cannot understand of my question is that, the main family… are they encouraging or spiteful during the process?"

He did not answer in time because she could kill him if she did not hear what she wanted but she could also kill him if he dared to refer to the main branch Royal Noble members as scornful.

Lying would also leave him without his soul.

"… It is a form of entertainment to them. Perhaps, they find it to be simply amusing. In fact, my Beautiful and Magnificent Liege, if they did show scorn it will be to make the intimidating trial to be a source of inspiration to the younger Sphinx's while curbing others that are ill prepared for such a task that they believe to be daunting."

She did not answer, so he should still be alive by the morrow.

Maybe.

Gramanos Almaganom thought she remembered the man's voice, at that made her think about if his words had truly been useful or not. So, she said one word that made him assume a million things.

"Enter."

***

The week was now over and Kazu Nini fell to her knees, panting hard.

The Alchemist had been right about it, like her thoughts from even before she had met him, she knew what exactly she had to do. But the doing was the problem.

She could keep it up and leave this her new move as a state that she entered when the battle got hot. But so far, she could not maintain it.

In fact, she wanted it to be a constant mode she was on. Maybe later one, but she had to work on her endurance with it.

Now though, she could leave the Cultivation Haven Room to its full settings while leaving he suite at half of it.

It was easier to chain moves easier now. And adding that Uniah Gramanos knew nothing of her clay dolls, she still had another ace up her sleeve.

But looking past this Royal kitten, if she was able to make this new move a perpetual state, then she could constantly fight opponents above her level because of the principles behind it. Within a reasonable range of course.

Should she make this her Personal Law as a Pixie?. It was something she had never explored. And till now she had not yet read anything about Pixies and their Personal Law. The book her aunt had given her…her precious aunt…. Even the Alchemist had asked her about it.

Kazu Nini wanted another Personal Law though. So, if she could make this new state of her's a constant, then she could have the Personal Law she had always wanted.

The Pixie sighed as she continued her cultivation. It was nearing the end of this month and she had broken through yesterday.

Divine Early Level 8!

This meant that the Ko-jin veins were more than 60% spread over her skin.

Her Explosive Speed was now in Sub-Par; it had surpassed the Imperfect Level. Now, she heard a sound that was 'DANG'. [1]

Attempting the movement under the duress of the Cultivation Haven Terrain and the BodyWeight Suite had helped her mop up all her imperfections from Quick Step , Instant Step and now Explosive Step.

But the best part of it was that she had gotten to Divine Early Level 8 without the new shipment of Mineral Stones.

These ones were 60 Natural Raw Ores, 50 Natural Crystals, and 40 Natural Refined Crystals. [2.]

Rolling her shoulders, she laughed at a mental picture of Uniah Gramanos with broken teeth, a bloodied eye and missing a limb or two.

She did a bit more practice and decided to finish up as many Natural Mineral Stones she could before her time was up for the day.

If the Artificial Stones felt like she had absorbed water, this one felt like sludge. But that was just the for he weight as they felt smoother. However, the pain of her Ko-jin core was half more than that of the Artificial Mineral Stones.

She did not have so little of a hope to use this for breaking through anymore

She managed to absorb about 10 then filtered out the impurities before the time was over. Kazu Nini figured to continue more back at her room before she saw the woman at the front desk.

The Troll always had a face that pitied her, and it sickened he Pixie whenever she saw it but she needed to remind the other lady of a suggestion she had made some months before.

"Hello, Mrs. Ruthany Jasmine."

"Hi there, hope you are not pushing yourself too hard."

She hid her knuckles to avoid them making popping sounds because that was her best effort at holding herself from punching the pity drenched face.

"You remember I said I only wanted to see how far I could go. So, you recommended a 1.5 star room?" [3]

"Yes, but I would not sugge-"

"I want it."

The woman stuttered. "W-w-w-wait don't you thin you are pushing yourself to ha-"

"Nope and thank you." The Pixie beamed a smile that made the other woman torn between getting in he Prime Student's good graces and helping her save her life. "So, what level can I have up to?"

"2."

Kazu Nini arched a brow.

"2.5."

"You know I could literally ask anyone right?"

"Olay fine, 3 but take your time. With your cultivation level, it might harm more than bless you."

"Big dreams need a big heart and a big mind. And if you don't have any of those, use courage instead."

"B-b-but you are my fr-"

"I would have more incentive to make you my friend if you allowed me to do this and stop wasting my time."

Talents were needed everywhere. Talents were the future. And this girl before her was growing an organization that was the talk of the town.

Town, not school.

Kazu Nini did not even know of this because she had not asked and even if she had been told, the only thing on her mind was the upcoming match.

Even more accurately was that it was over the nation.

Mako Nini's demise had boosted her name even louder than anything she would have excepted.

So, of course, Ruthany Jasmine knew about the bet between her and the Noble Kitten. Meaning that, if the Pixie won, it was a gamble worth taking. However, this was a student who had even been skipping classes. Could she even pass her exam at this rate?

The Troll sighed. "Have a good night, see you tomorrow."

[1.]

In terms of Mastery

Imperfect

Sub-Par

Normal

Excellent/Brilliant

Perfect

In terms of cultivation

Quick speed

Fast path can be traced

15 steps for 100 meters

Noisy

Scattered aura

Instant speed

Fast

Path can almost not be traced if onlookers are not fully focused.

10 steps 100 meters

Noisy,

More scattered area.

More restrained aura.

Explosive speed

5 steps 100 meters

Shockwaves are multiple at launch.

When Perfectly executed, shockwaves are in perfect rings.

I will expatiate on this in the coming chapters.

[2]

Just a Reminder

Mineral Stones

In terms of their purity

Raw Ores,

 Crystals,

Refined Crystals

Vein Crystals

In terms of grade

Artificial

Natural

Aluminum

Zinc

Copper

Brass

[2.]

Prologue 24 (Part 3)