Kaylessa, on the other hand, didn't care for Luka's nakedness because she bathed with her father as a child. Thus, she didn't mind seeing a naked male. Moreover, the sight of Luka's sex organ didn't stir up any feelings of lust within her; Kaylessa knew that her position as First Princess meant that she would eventually have a political marriage rather than a love partner.
Luka became incensed at their invasion of his privacy and wanted to get away from the royal inspectors. He decided to depart from Langerlan temporarily via spatial magic. After Luka met Ptelea, the boy avoided using his shadow keystone to visit the shadow realm because Luka wanted to keep his access to this plane a secret from the tree spirit. Unfortunately, this meant he didn't have many locations to go.
Luka learned spatial magic after Alectos took him to the magic plane. Thus, the mage didn't have any beacons in his homeland either. Moreover, an ocean stood between Langerlan and the Heavensfell Dukedom. Luka realized that the risk of a teleportation error would be high if he tried to return home without a magical beacon.
In the end, Luka's choice of destination was either Twilgrave Woods or another section of the Great Forest, such as the Thallian Gorillas' home or the former site of the swampland. Since the boy hadn't seen these animals for a while, he chose to visit them. The mage took a moment to pick the right beacon and then activated it.
Luka arrived at the Thallian den instantly. However, he didn't see the gorillas, but something destroyed their nests! Luka searched the vicinity diligently and saw smears of blood on the ground. He followed the trail for some distance until the boy heard vicious roars up ahead.
Luka approached silently and reached a clearing. He witnessed the male leader standing in front of his troop of gorillas. The redhead bled from several claw marks on his chest. He was facing a leopard! Behind the leader was a female holding a child, who was bleeding profusely!
The big cat's ears twitched because it detected Luka, and the predator turned its face toward him! In a split second, the leopard pounced at the newcomer!
Luka became startled by the sudden attack, but his mind quickly settled down due to his fighting experience. The defender waited patiently for the animal to reach him. Luka timed his magic perfectly and cast Blink!
The leopard's fangs clicked shut and unexpectedly failed to tear into soft, human flesh. The animal turned its head to look back and search for its prey. Suddenly, the predator felt a sharp pain in its neck, and the world began to turn in its vision. Plop! The animal's decapitated head rolled on the ground! Blood gushed out of the wound like a fountain before the headless body dropped on its stomach.
"Yuck!" Luka complained as he became soaked with blood. At the moment the leopard turned its head, the boy reappeared from the Blink spell. He slashed its neck with Spatial Blade before the animal detected Luka standing behind it.
When Luka looked at the Thallians, they became wary because the gorillas never expected this weak-looking human to kill an enemy that their leader couldn't beat!
"Don't you remember me?" the boy asked gently. He quickly opened his spatial storage and pulled out a stack of tofu puddings.
The redhead reached out and accepted one of the boxes. When he opened the lid, the animal recognized the sweet-tasting dessert right away. The leader looked at his injured child with guilt.
"You want me to heal him? Okay," Luka nodded. However, when the human tried to approach, the mother gorilla made a sound and bared her teeth while pulling the child back. Luka realized she didn't trust him, and he declined to approach her. Instead, the mage came up with an idea to heal the injured gorilla. He gathered light essence in his right palm and then threw it at the child. "Heal Ball!" His magic enveloped the gorilla, and its wound began to close.
The troop witnessed this miracle and clapped their hands while hooting appreciatively.
"You're welcome!" Luka replied with a smile.
The child stirred awake and leaped out of its mother's hold. The young gorilla ran up to the human and hugged Luka's leg.
The mother gorilla scolded the child and tried to pull it away.
However, the young gorilla refused to release Luka.
"The child has accepted Luka as his boss," Ptelea interrupted. The tree spirit arrived in time to witness Luka's fight with the leopard, but she didn't feel the need to intervene and save the human.
The two elves also followed Ptelea and watched the fight with great interest because they didn't realize Luka was proficient in spatial magic. Otherwise, the human couldn't reach this part of the forest in a short period.
The mother gorilla became sad at her premature separation from her child but accepted the tree spirit's decision. She patted his head gently before turning her back on him.
The troop departed and returned to their nest.
"Luka, I'll help you form a contract with the child. But give him a name first," Ptelea said.
Frankly, Luka didn't want this gorilla because of the enormous responsibilities in taking care of it. But the parents already left it behind, and Luka couldn't just leave the child alone. "Let's call him Gripper because he likes to grip my leg."
[Hahahaha!] Bel burst out in laughter while the two observers smiled faintly.
"You got a better name?" Luka grumbled.
The tree spirit shook her head. "You must provide his name to bind the contracted beast to your will. His name shall be Gripper," Ptelea concluded. She created a link connecting the two souls. "As the Great Forest Guardian, I permit a contract to form between Luka as the contractor and Gripper as the contractee. May your fates forever join as one!"
Luka felt a new energy flow into his body.
Bel hopped on Gripper's head. [I'm your senior, and you have to listen to me. Now, let's go back to the village!]
The gorilla obediently charged like a bull in the direction of the village.
Luka sighed because he initially tried to run away from Ptelea, Kaylessa, and Meriel by entering the Great Forest. But he realized that the spirit would automatically know his location because of her role as the forest guardian. Additionally, he gained a new burden for his troubles. Luka fervently hoped that Gripper wouldn't learn lousy behavior from Bel. But the master had a hunch it was wishful thinking.
Chapter 34
Honorary Elf (Part 2)
Luka made the worst decision of his young life. He should have listened to his gut feeling and declined to form a beast contract with Gripper. The first clue of this ill-fated relationship came when Ptelea commanded Luka to sign up the gorilla without soliciting his opinion on the matter. The second clue was the glee Bel experienced in having a minion to boss around. As for the third and final clue? Just look beyond the gate!
The residents of Langerlan gathered with their arms while preparing for a massive invasion of giant ants. Some elves focused on plugging the hole in the wall. Others skilled in the earth and water magics dedicated their time toward creating a moat to surround the village. The soldiers gathered longbows, emptied the storehouse of arrows, and distributed the ammunition to archers stationed at checkpoints atop the walls.
To understand how Langerlan reached this precipice of catastrophe, let's roll back the clock to a week ago when Luka showed up in the village with his new contract beast.
The guards stopped him from entering because they worried that the Thallian gorilla would harm the residents.
However, Ptelea stood up for Gripper and threw a temper tantrum. "Gripper is a good boy! I performed the contract ceremony for him and Luka. Are you questioning my authority as the protector of Langerlan?" the tree spirit screamed.
"No, of course not!" The gatekeeper immediately surrendered and allowed the animal to enter the village.
Ptelea led the way, followed by Gripper and Bel, and finally Luka in the rear.
The boy quietly told the gatekeeper, "It wasn't my idea to take the gorilla. It became injured from encountering a leopard, and then the parents abandoned th
e child into our care. That's why Ptelea is very protective of the young beast."
"We understand," the guards nodded appreciatively after Luka's explanation.
Kaylessa and Meriel turned visible and waved as they entered the village after the group.
From that moment onward, Luka turned into a nanny. Ptelea was bossy and demanding. Bel often gave bad ideas to her, while Gripper was the servant who executed her orders. First, they went to the aviary outside General Folen's treehouse and stole bird eggs to eat daily. The birds became aggravated from this theft and refused to serve as message carriers. The poor general had to round up some of the militia to guard the aviary and prevent the thieves from stealing more eggs.
Second, the trio interfered in the militia's morning exercises by stealing weapons and burying them in various parts of the village. Thus, the soldiers wasted valuable time using earth magic to dig up and recover the stolen goods.
Third, Bel became dissatisfied with the portions of food that Ellaria served for lunch. He ordered Gripper to sneak into the storehouse and steal food.
But the worst incident by far was inspired by Ptelea. She noticed some anthills in the Great Forest and decided to play a prank. The spirit ordered Gripper to trespass into the factory and steal two casks of honey syrup. Then she made the gorilla pour the liquid into the opening. This prank agitated the giant ants, which soon came out of alternate holes.
Unfortunately, Gripper spilled some of the syrup on himself. When he ran back to the village, the ants soon determined the location of the perpetrator. The Queen Ant enjoyed the syrup's taste and commanded her ants to raid Langerland for more food. Thus, close to twenty thousand soldiers and worker ants marched toward the village!
The hunters soon encountered these giant creatures and quickly returned to alert everyone.
Folen sent scouts to pinpoint their destination. When they reported that the army steadily approached Langerlan, the general tried to divert their path and lead them astray. However, nothing worked, and the ants continued their march toward the elvish settlement.
General Folen recruited the royal airship to scout the ants' movement from the sky, and he used the updated information to adjust his war plan.
"Why don't you flee the village?" Princess Kaylessa asked when the officer made his request to borrow her vessel.
Folen shook his head. "We can't abandon our Tree of Life and our ancestors," he replied.
"As much as I respect the tree spirit, Ptelea was the mastermind behind the prank to pour the syrup into the anthills and anger them. She must assume the responsibility for her actions," the princess argued.
"The Life Tree is the foundation of Langerlan. To abandon her means our deaths," Ailmoon retorted.
The royalty sighed because Kaylessa realized the headman was correct. Each elvish community settled around a Tree of Life, and the residents treated the tree as a holy relic. Thus, it wasn't realistic for the princess to urge them to leave Langerlan and abandon the tree even though Ptelea was at fault for creating this mess.
The general smiled warmly at her concern for Langerlan's doomed population and made a suggestion. "Since the Giant Ant army is within the vicinity of Langerlan, our scouts will observe its movement from our treehouses. We don't need to borrow your airship anymore. For Your Highness's safety, I strongly urge you to return to your vessel and depart before the enemies arrive."
"Yes, let's return, Your Highness," Meriel concurred. "I promised your father to keep you safe," he said.
Princess Kaylessa shook her head. "How can I abandon my subjects in their time of need? Besides, I devoted my precious time following Ptelea and Luka and studying their unique relationship. If anything happens to them, then my research would be wasted," she retorted. "I plan to stay and use the firepower of my ship to assist in defense of Langerlan," she declared proudly.
Folen and Meriel traded helpless glances. They knew that the princess was stubborn; once she decided, Kaylessa would not change her mind.
"What armament does your vessel carry?" the general inquired. Since she insisted on staying and using the magic ship to fight the army, Folen decided to learn more about its onboard weaponry.
"Jaisoh, tell him," the princess commanded and snapped her finger.
Jaisoh Steeleheart came from a lineage of royal knights that guarded the royal family. He served Kaylessa since her childhood and was a close confidant. "Your Highness's vessel is built for speed and protection. Orichalcum reinforced the bowsprit and outer plating; they should withstand physical damage. The forward space contains an energy cannon powered by replaceable magic stones. We also store a hundred bombs to drop on landbound targets for hit-and-run operations," he recited.
"How powerful are your bombs?" Folen asked.
"Each one can create a hundred-foot crater upon impact," the knight answered.
"By my estimate, there are twenty-five thousand giant ants in that army, and each invader is roughly eight-foot long. Suppose that each bomb takes out fifty of them, that comes out to five thousand dead. We're still stuck dealing with four-fifths of the remainder."
"Even if we successfully prevent their entry through the walls, the ants could still dig underneath and create new tunnels to bypass our barriers. I'm happy to let you perform bombing raids on that army, but I can't see a path to victory in the end," Folen admitted openly.
"If Langerlan falls, please escape in your airship and return to the kingdom, Your Highness," Ailmoon requested with a deep bow. Folen copied the headman's gesture.
"Please take Luka with you," Dilya added and bowed.
"Okay," Kaylessa agreed reluctantly. She turned her attention toward the general again. "When should we start the bombing run?" the princess inquired.
"We'll start when the ants congregate tightly in the same spot, and your bombs would become more lethal," Folen replied. He asked the militia to create earthen walls to funnel the ants toward a central area. His initial plan was to douse the enemies with oil and then set them on fire. But there was a risk that the flames would spread uncontrollably and engulf the Great Forest. Thus, Folen was happy to use the bombs for whittling down the ants first.
Once the soldiers adjusted the landscape to his satisfaction, the general waited until the giant ants became trapped by the earthen barriers. "Start the bombing raid!" he commanded.
Kaylessa sharply nodded at Jasioh, who returned to the airship and piloted the vessel to fly over the enemy troops. The two maids tossed bombs from the side while the second royal knight pulled the trigger and fired the energy cannon. Boom-boom-boom-boom-boom! Phew-phew!
The airship danced overhead and reaped the lives of the giant animals by the dozens.
The defenders of Langerlan cheered and yelled, "Long live, Princess Kaylessa!" The elves were surprised that she would join their fight, and her royal vessel's assistance raised their morale.
The elvish archers began their friendly competition to kill the most enemies. Each bowman utilized a different color for his arrows. When they enter the battlefield afterward to retrieve the spent arrows, the elves will count their kills at that time. With bragging rights on the line, the archers fired their projectiles quickly and aimed for the eyes, which were the softest part of the giant ant's body. Tchuk-tchuk-tchuk! They smartly targeted the survivors of the bombing run and those closest to the walls of the village.
However, these activities only reduced a quarter of the enemy troops. Moreover, flying ants arose and chased after the magic ship!
The two maids exhausted their bombs and quickly gathered magic stones to replenish the main cannon's fuel.
Jaisoh piloted the airship like a daredevil and made sharp turns in the sky to shake off his tail. When he saw that the chasers collided in the air, he took advantage and made an air-defying one-hundred-eighty-degree turn. "Fire!" he yelled.
The cannoneer obeyed and pressed the trigger. Phew! His energy cannon tore through two flying ants like a hot knife through butter.
The remain
ing two chasers caught up and attacked the cannoneer! As one flying ant tried to bite the elf's head while the other enemy targeted the cannon, the maids pulled out their daggers and blocked the strikes!
The knight immediately released his hold on the trigger and drew his blade. He stabbed each enemy flier in the eye and forced the giant ants to back off.
Jasioh made a sharp turn and directed his vessel away from the ants.
The cannoneer returned to his post and fired the cannon again. Phew-phew! He cut off the ants' wings and watched with satisfaction as they plummeted to the earth and crashed into their comrades.
Princess Kaylessa watched the assault while standing next to General Folen. The royalty felt happy at her retainers' performance.
But the general suddenly spoke up. "Princess, please recall your men," he said.
"Why?" the princess was surprised by his request. "My airship could continue the assault," she argued.
Folen smiled gently. Although he was a general whose orders were absolute, the elf couldn't disregard Kaylessa's concerns. Thus, he took a moment to explain his reasoning. "You need to save some magic stones to run your vessel. Your bombs are extremely effective, but your supply has run out."
"At this juncture, the energy cannon isn't effective in reducing the number of enemies on the battlefield. And if we can't repel them, then you need to conserve the stones to escape on your airship," he explained patiently.
"You should listen to General Folen. He has a war plan to execute," Meriel reminded her gently.
Kaylessa's face softened. "Yes, you are correct, Meriel. I will obey, general," she agreed. The princess set off a flare, and a pink color exploded in the sky.
Jaisoh noticed the signal and immediately directed his vessel to disengage. He squeezed the airhorn twice to confirm receipt of her command. The three comrades remained watchful for signs of more fliers chasing their ship. Fortunately, no flying monsters appeared.
The Divine Summoner: Godson of Altima Page 28
