I wasn't sure if this could be considered paranoia on the Princess's side as she was being this careful even on her own peak that she controlled, but maybe I could learn a thing or two about going to extremes to stay safe. I would observe the ways of this kingdom and its people before I cement myself into an unshakable position to lead them against the demons that were on their way.
Chapter 83 - The Crown Prince
A grand occasion was taking place on the Snowy Peak of the Frozen Kingdom. A new Royal Guard was about to be appointed, and the selection would take place in the form of combat!
All of those that deemed themselves worthy and had sufficent status climbed the long bridge into the luxurious world atop the Snowy Peak. Grandiose establishments were left behind as many nobles, adventures, and mercenaries found themselves congregating in a large square field that had tiered seats in their surroundings
At the forefront, an elevated seating was present where the Ice Princess herself would be observing the match. Lower seating was present on the sides for merchants, adventures, mercenaries, and anyone else with sufficient status to attend. Nobles would be seated on the opposite side of the Princess observing the matches as well
An occasion like this would not normally draw such huge crowds, but it was the presence of the Princess that forever wore a cold expression that people were waiting to see. When the new Royal Guard would be sworn in, there was a tradition of the veil that covered the entirety of Princess Adelaide's face to be gone for an instant. Many came just to be graced by this sight
---
I could see many figures congregating as I remained hidden in the far corners of the high seats that the princess was looking down from. My figure was fully transparent with the rank S equipment I recently received as well as the many hiding skills that nearly erased my existence from people's eyes
I could see the figure of Captain Ryner standing valiantly on the side of the people that would be competing, with his face showing an expression of confidence. Various types of foods and refreshments were being passed around by a collection of expertly dressed maids
I turned my attention from the sights of people into the surroundings as I enjoyed the peacefully rustling white colored trees that symmetrically lined up this entire venue.
One of the things that continued to surprise me in this kingdom was the different types of beauty you could see with their architecture and simple layouts of the various snowy and colorful trees. It continued to remind me just how different the world I was currently living in.
Figures continued to fill in as discussions rose to their peak, before Princess Adelaide rose with her hand glistening in the air, bringing an abrupt silence. I had half of my attention placed on watching the skills that continued to rise in proficiency and combining the ones I could, with the other half of my attention on the events playing out in front of me
The rising of her hand signalled the beginning of the affair, as the people coordinating the event moved around to start the first match. At this point in time though, rough winds blew out as something majestically appeared in the skies
The beast that just appeared perfectly fit the description of a Gryphon, with large outspread wings and a sharp beak that glistened in the light. Atop this mighty looking beast was a dashingly handsome man accompanied by a woman that was letting out a crazy level of power
My focus fully shifted onto them as I felt the feeling of an EPIC ranked individual once again.
"My dear sister, you would hold such an event without inviting your loving brother?"
In a playfully berating tone, the voice rang out from the figure as the Gryphon slowly landed near the elevated seats where we sat. Looking at the figure drifting up to the princess and matching it with the information I held, this would be the powerful Crown Prince that was currently set to become the next ruler of the Frozen Kingdom
He truly did have the strength to prance around as he did, with the only guard he brought along being EPIC ranked. The terrifying guard's eyes observed everything in the surrounding, the gaze landing on Princess Adelaide's rank S aides that stood around her.
The seemingly loving brother ascended the platform and came face to face with the Princess, his arrival bringing with it a level of tension in the recently calm surroundings. His hand moved out and landed on the shoulders of the veiled princess with a light pat, and I observed a slight tremble occur on her figure
"That is no way to welcome your older brother. Come on, let's see if we can get a few words out of you today. How about 'Brother, it's nice to see you!'? Hmm, no? Haha, oh well!"
The Crown Prince talked this way as the veiled princess remaining still, her covered face only blankly staring back at him. He smiled brightly at this response as if he had won something and turned aorund to the mass of people around us
"Today is an auspicious day where our favorite Princess will add another guard to her collection. Let us enjoy ourselves, and watch the great matches unfold!"
Exclamations rose out as people matched the Crown Prince's enthusiasm, and two figures stepped into the square arena to start the first match. The dangerous EPIC ranked woman stood behind a chair that was right beside the Princess, where her old brother took his seat when the match started
Not a single word was traded between the siblings after this, as the platform we were standing on became filled with an uncomfortable air.
I looked at this newly appeared Crown Prince and recalled the things Princess Adelaide mentioned the night before. Among the many things she brought up after we agreed on a mutual cooperation, the name of her older brother occupied much of the discussion
Crown Prince Aeneas, the royalty that controlled Summit Peak, as well as the Frozen Paradise that the youngest Prince Theodred occupied. The biggest thing she told me to keep in mind was to be careful of the rapidly changing face of this Crown Prince.
The berating persona of an older brother was not in any way how the person was in the dark. He was a shrewd individual who had taken control of two Peaks, with the Princess losing the battle against him when it came to the Frozen Paradise that their younger brother occupied.
The Crown Prince's hands had dug down deep and now controlled a majority of the businesses and commerce there, elevating his status even further and giving him increased wealth. She told me that if there was anyone to cause us trouble in the future, it would be him. She was much more guarded against him than even the demons that would eventually wage war on these lands
His figure let out peak rank S strength, similar to the Princess, but the main worry was his EPIC ranked woman that was guarding him with a fierce expression. My body remained veiled in the dark as I watched this Crown Prince and the ongoing matches below.
Chapter 84 - A wolf in sheep's clothing
The hunger that was rising deep within me was quickly pushed down as I sat near my little sister.
My dear little Adelaide. How much longer do you think you will scurry around from my grasp? My face couldn't help but change when I recalled the cute fight you put up for the control of Frozen Paradise
You thought you had control over our little brother and could rope him to stand with you against me? Haha, naive, naive, naive!
The exhilaration I felt while looking at that face that was normally frozen be filled with anger that day kept me up at night!
Yes. That face. I want to see that same f.u.c.k.i.n.g face again.
Furious emotions erupted out and occupied my mind. My fondness of this bitch was quickly replaced with hatred. She was the only one standing against me. Did she not know the things I was doing to keep the people of this kingdom safe?
What gave her the courage to put up defenses against me? Even someone as powerful as an EPIC ranked adventure heeled under me. I looked to the dark haired woman that was releasing a powerful aura as the anger receded within me.
The matches happening below us were inconsequential to me as my eyes kept trying to pierce the veiled figure of my pitiful littl
e sister. No matter how many guards you add. No matter how smart you think you are. Under absolute power, what can you do but falter?
Just like this EPIC ranked adventurer behind me. Just like the many that have kneeled before me. So will you. When that time comes...I will see just how much longer that frozen expression can remain on your face.
I retained my calm as I thought about the brand new strength I would be gaining with the possible deals being made in closed doors. People feared the advent of demons in this world, but I see it as an opportunity.
There were too many fools with rigid thinking running around, and this would cause the death of all of us. Things that were never possible could now be seen before me. Grand aspirations of domination would not just be fleeting dreams. As for those that stood in the way of my dreams? Hmph.
I sensed the uncomfortable figure besides me as a smile returned on my face. Keep on squirming, little lamb. For I will have you in my grasp soon enough.
---
The fights were spectacular to look at, but it wasn't the thing that grabbed most of my attention. It was the demeanor of the prince that stood near the princess. The facial movements were imperceptible, but I continued to see him shift from glee, to happiness, to anger all in a span of a few minutes
My guard was fully up against this new figure as I continued to observe the matches. The strength of the combatants going head to head was great to look at, and it made me admire the way adventurers and mercenaries rose their strength in this world
The adventurers of this world began at rank F like many of the hunters in my world, and gradually increased their strength overtime. You had adventurers who were blessed with powerful and unique skills early on, with some that would most likely rise to become exceptional adventurers that could even earn the title of Hero.
The strength of the beings in this world rose at a much slower rate than the awakened in my world, but they honed their strength through constant acc.u.mulation and experience. A low ranking hunter would start their adventuring in small dungeons and spend months in there obtaining cores and increasing their strength
The skills they had would grow with them as they spent years using and learning them. The damage of an adventurer's C ranked skill could be trained to be powerful enough to the level above if they continued to get stronger.
This wasn't even mentioning the beasts that were the majority of beings in this world. There were many different bloodlines of beasts, and depending on your birth, you could quickly become strong or remain weak.
An example was the race of Mythical Dragons that had control of and used to reside in the center of the continent. A newly born dragon had much more mana than many other beings, and as they aged they received innate skills of their species while also learning how to utilize essence to form other destructive skills.
They were geniuses when it came to mana, and exceeded many other species in strength. This was also why their downfall shocked so many lesser races and made them treat the threat of demons as a possible world ending calamity. But the dragons weren't the only mythical races in this world.
Another source of their strength was the dungeons that lay all over the world. They were established for a long time with some new ones rarely appearing over time. One of the amazing things I found out about the dungeons in this world is that they granted a random skill to those that cleared it for the first time. So adventurers spent their lives travelling all over the world to amass more strength by clearing different types of dungeons to gain more skills on top of the ones they innately have and train themselves
Higher ranked dungeons rarely granted skills of the same rank though, where a very low percentage existed of a party clearing an EPIC ranked dungeon to actually get an EPIC ranked skill. The established norm after hundreds of years was that the more people you delved into a dungeon with, it caused the reward to be split across everyone. So powerful Heroes who could take on dungeons alone would be the ones to find themselves getting powerful skills of the same rank of dungeons they were clearing
But how could someone of rank S clear an equivalent dungeon alone? Even the most powerful EPIC ranked figures could rarely pull off taking down an EPIC ranked dungeon by themselves, and those that tried spent days to barely make it out with their lives. Thus, figures that could do this were very rare in history.
A few matches went by as the people around the elevated platforms ate and drank, with the platform where the two siblings were sitting continuing to be an uncomfortable area of palpable tension and silence
I watched as Captain Ryner advanced forward valiantly, defeating two opponents without breaking a sweat. He wasn't joking when he said he was a peak rank S power house. I was probably looking at the future guard that would be following the princess around in the future
I continued to combine skills while the matches were going, gaining new additions of rank A skills, and could even foresee the appearence of the first rank S+ skill. After spamming [Saint's Phantom] consecutively every single second for the entire past night, the skill neared 100 proficiency, and I wanted to combine it with [All Element Resistance] that had also been repetitively spammed and nearly reached 100 proficiency, both turning out to be compatible. These skills were relatively easy to raise as they didn't come with world shattering effects when casted.
Aside from this possible rank S+ skill, covert skills of lower rank like [Dark Assassin] were combined together to produce 3 new covert rank A skills, [Shadow Escape], [Illusory], and [Chameleon's Skin]. These skills were also quickly activated, giving me increased confidence of even those at the EPIC rank not noticing me.
The process of combination was only becoming faster and faster as I chose more skills that I could passively activate which were compatible with one another. My dream of overlapping myself with multiple powerful defensive skills was slowly coming to fruition as multiple rank B+ skills were combined. This provided me with new rank A defensive and support skills that were [Steeled Muscles],[Hardened Bones],[Wind Armor], [Metal Scales], [Tanzanite Skin], [Yeti's Fur], and finally [Frigid Armament]
Almost all of the rank B skills I collected the week that I spent in the Empire before coming here and ones gained from the Skypeak Nest were spent to produce this many compatible defense and support skills. There were so many that even I had trouble keeping track of all of them, and just continued to keep them active so that I could continue creating combinations of the next rank.
Obtaining an EPIC ranked skill through [Skill Combination] might happen faster than I thought with how efficient I was when I put my nearly endless mana to full use with constant activation of skills.
The only other skills that didn't really fit into a category but I had plans for nonetheless were [Regal Archer's Eyes] which rose from [Eagle Eyes] and a previously learnt rank B skill called [Enhanced Acuity].
I was enhancing my skills in such a systematic way that it almost seemed foreign to me, with this type of progress even giving me an excited scare. I wanted to grind my active offensive skills similar to the defense, covert, and support skills that I will just refer to as passive skills from now on since they act that way with my nearly endless mana.
The memory of me grinding [Fireball] in a dungeon as I watched the proficiency numbers go up passed through my mind, and I shifted the plans to visit the dungeons of this world as my next plan of action. I could see an EPIC ranked skill being born in this pathway in at most two weeks, and it would be much less dangerous than battling an EPIC ranked beast while not fully prepared.
Chapter 85 - Dungeon diving in another world
The matches were quickly wrapped up as we were given a show of exciting battles between peak rank S powers. At the end of all of it, the valiant mercenary I knew as Captain Ryner took the title. He stood on the empty arena as cheers erupted all around for the new guard of Princess Adelaide.
The Crown Prince rose up with a smiling face as he clapped, and turned towards his sister, as if he couldn't wait for the final pa
rt of the event to go underway. Two guards led the about to be initiated Ryner over to the elevated platform as he went to his knees and bowed down right before Princess Adelaide.
A golden sword appeared on the hands of the Princess as she rose up and her veil disappeared, her stunningly frozen face becoming visible for everyone to see. It was tradition to give at least this much respect to a newly initiated Royal Guard.
The disappearing of the veil caused the awes of many of the people cl.u.s.tered in this exquisite square field, with l.u.s.tful eyes being extremely clear on the faces of the nobles sitting opposite to us that I watched using [Regal Archer's Eyes]. But none of their eyes had as much emotion as I observed on Crown Prince Aeneas's eyes. They shone with a dangerous glint as he looked towards his sister.
The golden sword in the hands of the Princess lightly tapped the shoulders of Ryner, and he then lifted his hands up to accept the sword. Thus, a new Royal Guard had appeared. Cheers broke out as a veil covered the Princess once more, and a fervent expression appeared on the new Royal Guard as he rose.
"Haha! Yet another pet in your collection little sister. I can't wait to see how you make use of all of them."
The Crown Prince made these his last words as his figure disappeared and reappeared atop his Gryphon, his EPIC ranked guard following right after. Throughout the entire exchange and the few hours that passed during this guard selection, not even once had any words come out of Princess Adelaide's mouth.
She looked to the retreating figure in the sky as I felt heavy emotions of rage almost spill out of her veiled figure.
With the finishing of the event, we didn't stay with the celebrating mercenaries and nobles, the princess making her way to the carriage that was surrounded by many Royal Guards as we made our way to another location
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