CHAPTER 81

  BACK TO HOME

  “Theodred?” Aadya really wore a surprising face. “Oh! THAT THEODRED. You really have some courage… what would happen if the real one truly finds you? He does not seem like a guy who takes kindly to people who impersonate him.”

  “You met him?” Hans inquired.

  “Not personally.”

  “Then he can go fuck himself— damn, it sounded so manly.”

  “Your elf body is around sixteen after all—”

  “Why?”

  “To handle aura efficiently, an age must meet the criteria, or do you want to wait for more years—”

  “No, please.” He clenched his fist, and felt his body sucking the natural mana, transforming it into the pure white aura, “Let’s start raising the grade—”

  “Stop it right there.” She warned, “You must not learn any aura skills.”

  “Was there terms and conditions attached to what you said?” Doubting her words, he asked.

  “No,” she shook her head, “ There is a better path for you.” Her smile resonated Hans’s grin. She then emphasised, “What is the fundamental difference between a human knight and an Elven knight?

  “Hmm…” Hans thought a little, “Humans have a bloodline while Elves have… wait a minute. Spirit contracts. That Elven king summons a very huge turtle spirit that gives him an absolute defence…”

  “Yes, and since you possess the light element, the same as Elven royals. You’ll have the chance to get the strongest light spirit.”

  Without getting too excited, Hans burst the bubble, “That’s only possible for the Elven royalty. ”

  “Then, I’ve a perfect person who’d allow you to get one. She can’t help but find senseless meanings in prophecies.”

  “Who?” Hans asked, doubting the name he was thinking.

  “You already met her.” She widened her eyes and breaking suspense, she said the name, “Queen Reina.”

  His thoughts came out. “That’s a nasty proposal. Honestly, she scares me sometimes.” Hans complained, “Don’t you know she aimed to kill me—”

  “Yes. But she wants to kill Hans, not you… Clandor royals are born with light element and even in them, only females are born with it. You, as an exception, will definitely pique her obsession with prophecies. Don’t you want to learn the royal skills of the Clandor family?”

  “Can’t say I disagree with you…” Hans contemplated, “I want to screw Reina badly so this will do fine.” He snickered, saying, “Just imagine her face when I steal her technique and a royal spirit—”

  “That’s not the — anyway. Happy birthday.”

  Hans looked at her startled, he chuckled, “You got dates mixed up. Wow, gods do make mistakes.”

  “No, it’s the twenty-second day of the second month.”

  “The heck! I’ve been sleeping for three months—”

  “No, just for a week. I wanted to wish you a happy birthday so I fast-forwarded the time. You happy? A god is wishing you a birthday—”

  “Oh, you lunatic goddess, ” Hans cried inside and for the first time he wanted to give a good smack at Aadya’s head but he abstained. “What the fuck was I thinking,—Thanks a lot, goddess. Should I leave now?”

  “NO” She refused.

  “Dear god,” he held it in, “What now, respected goddess?”

  “You can’t just go back looking like THAT.” She gestured at him.

  “Oh! Yes. How do I turn this off.” Hans asked

  “Lead your consciousness to the pattern in your right hand” she pointed, prompting Hans to finally notice his hands sharing the same circular pattern as hers. “I have two? Why do you have three?”

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  “Your tendency to have everything is no joke, Hans Parv.” She sighed raising her hand while her other hand slid pointing down from top to bottom, “This makes me, human, this one is for the current me and the last one is for turning me into the foreign god like your friend—”

  “Wait, Deli… you mean to say, I had the chance to become something like that and I chose to become an elf—”

  “You wanted to be a knight, I gave you a chance, why are you whining?”

  “No, but it does hit close to home.” Hans expressed.

  “Excessive greed has been the reason for the downfall of many nations, Hans. Heed those words and get the hell out of here—”

  From an advanced warship to the dreary snowy plains. In an instant, the scenery changed. “The fuck. She didn’t explain how to turn back to human— focus on the first pattern.”

  “EXECUTE COMMAND KEY- LOAD_HUMAN_CODEX”

  “Load Human codex— agh,… this fucking… Ugh…”

  His body convulsed as the transformation process began. He started writhing uncontrollably as the first wave of agony hit. His skin, once smooth and pale like that of an elf, began to turn wheatish and roughen, reverting to its natural human texture. The delicate, pointed ears that had marked him as an elf started to shrink and reshape, causing a sharp, tearing pain that made him scream out in anguish.

  It wasn’t over; the change now began internally. His bones began to crack and shift, the elegant Elven frame giving way to a more robust human form. Each movement felt like his skeleton was being shattered and reassembled. On his four, he clutched at the ground, his fingers digging into the cold snow as he tried to anchor himself against the searing pain that was rampaging through his entire being.

  “Agh…. This is ..ppainful.”

  Tears streamed down his face, mingling with the blood from where his nails had torn into his skin. He could barely breathe, each gasp of air like inhaling fire in the cold. His vision blurred, the snowy plains around him shifting in and out of focus as his senses adjusted to his human physiology.

  “Fuck this— INGRESS”

  FLOATLANDS CONCORDIA

  “The best way to avoid people getting angry at you is by being sick,” Hans remembered as he appeared in a blinding pillar of light at the centre of Concordia, half-conscious. He wasn’t just pretending; the intense pain was enough to knock out even a sovereign beast. Before arriving, he had barely been holding it together, but now, there was no need. He was home.

  Seeing some familiar faces, he let himself sink into unconsciousness.

  After a few hours, his eyes twitched and he opened them wide. He saw himself surrounded by the sea of people. “Jeez, how much are they going to ask me?” He gulped, “What’s up?”

  However, the colours of his audience remained unchanged, their faces a mix of shock and amazement. His grandmother, Sierra, her eyes wide with disbelief, reached out to touch his face, her hand trembling. “Hans, is that really you?” she whispered, with moist and confused eyes.

  “Of course, it’s me, grandma,” his hand gently tapped hers.

  His grandfather, Rudolf, usually so stoic, stood speechless, his mouth slightly open as he took in the sight of his transformed grandson. “You’ve… changed,” he finally managed to say, his voice thick with emotion.

  Hans had mixed thoughts, but he eventually caught on to Rudolf’s words. “Yeah, I sorta grew up, gramps.”

  He looked at the other faces, staring down at him. His friends and Vanessa crowded around him, their eyes flickering from his new grown-up build to his striking black hair and ruby eyes.

  His new look and physique were enough of a distraction, but it wasn’t for long. Delimira, who was listening from the sides, finally asked, “What happened to you? What did that scamming fox of a god do to you?”

  “Scamming—Deli, are you out of your mind?” Hans quickly checked left and right, “She could be listening, do you want to pop like a balloon?”

  Hans was dead serious. He didn’t know how that goddess mood would swing if she heard her. But when there was no spontaneous response, he breathed in relief, adding, “That woman is out of her goddamn mind.” He sat up, his limbs still sore for no reason.

  “So, what did she do…” Chris closed his face to his, “I mean, you, look like… kinda her?” He scanned him from forehead to chin, “You sort of have the same eyes—”

  “Move your face.” Hans pushed Chris, but his hands slipped past. “Damn it, where does my strength went?”

  No one answered, but Vanessa, “You were out for two weeks, it’s natural for you to feel that way—”

  “Two weeks?” Hans turned to Sierra, “Didn’t Grandma use her spells?”

  “It’s not working.” Sierra answered, prompting Hans to make an expression, clearly asking what the heck she was talking about. So she added, “Your body has grown resistant to divine mana… you don’t… your physiology changed. My healing powers are not working on you, so I have to rely on oriental methods, rest, and medicine.”

  She paused and finally addressed what she was bothered about. “Where is my divine mana? I’m glad that you are well, but your body doesn’t have my mana.”

  “Yeah,” Hans nodded, “That lunatic goddess said your divine mana was stooping my age, like you. So she took it away.”

  “She is an anomaly. How can one claim to be a god when it’s not Yudwin?”

  Sierra’s faith was clearly shaken. For all her life, she believed Parvians to be pagan worshipers. But the presence of Aadya, the black-haired elf god, was cracking her faith bit by bit.

  Chris, listening from the sides, asked again, “So, have you talked with her? How was she? Did she…” Chris shivered, recalling the incident of them dying again and again in a lot of creative ways.

  Hans read his face and said, “Man, she is exhausting. I was walking on eggshells. She is like a spoiled brat with world-destroying powers. And on top of that, she is bipolar; one minute she is smiling lovingly, and then you get the feeling the next word she speaks will be your last to hear—”

  “So, she is basically the female version of you.” Chris interjected, asking, “What are your siblings? She’s your mother? Grandma? Or a thousand-year-old witch?”

  “Probably the last one,” Hans chuckled.

  “YOU SEEM TO BE ENJOYING BAD MOUTHING ME.” A voice rang inside his head, and he broke the cold sweat in the freezing weather.