Chương 66: [BL] 65. Separation.

"It seems to work." Kroos smiled. The Count clasped his hands behind him and tilted his head at Willow, who struggled to sit up straight. Sticky blood clung to her nape. Her consciousness waning, and the world dimmed before a banner flew above her, bringing in a proper light for her eyes to work again. But this was all too much for her brain as she slowly felt a hand behind her back, voices shouting for her, worried faces in her vision, then everything blacked out, and Willow was glad for that.

In the darkness, everything was strangely comfortable. She heard the swish of water. They were hot. And she felt the familiar heat creeping up her neck and her cheeks. She grumbled, opening her eyes to a comfy, well-lit room. Perfumed water let out a sweet smell that clung around her. She raised her hand to massage her temple only to slap water on her face.

"You're awake," Leynah said beside her. The silver-haired woman knelt after putting down her book. Willow blinked again. She was in a bathtub filled with runic water.

"How long—""Not an hour or two has passed yet, I think," said Leynah.

"I'm just here to make sure you're not drowned to death."

"Geez, thanks." Leynah rose and planted her hands on her hips, face frowning down at her like she had just done something stupid or something.

"You passed out because you reached Mind Zero."

"Mind Zero?"

"It's when you use an overwhelming number of Runes when your runes should already reach zero; you will lose your mind and black out. The only way to recover is if someone is nearby and able to get you runes, or you sleep for an entire week."

"Great, and now with my Elf Ears, I could easily fall victim to this mind thing."

"Well," Leynah leaned against the tub, scooping a handful of water and splashing it in Willow's face. What's that about? She scowled, blinking some of the magical water that made it to her eyes.

"I wouldn't be hard on you since getting Mind attack resistance is necessary. They sure love to target you, don't they? Still though..." Leynah grimaced.

"Count Kroos should've seen this coming with your Elf Ears and all."

"I think he did, and he let it happen," said Willow. If that were true, honestly, it didn't surprise her at all. Kroos would absolutely let her faint if that made her stronger.

"Becks and I thought so as well," Leynah admitted. As Leynah narrated how she and Becks confronted Kroos, Willow read her new spell. [Right of Hunt II] → [Auric Mind II]—The Auric Huntress senses the need to possess a stronger mind. A mind that would make her invulnerable to the mind attacks of stronger predators. Through experience, she recognises it. Through intense pain and the example of resistance, she showcased to her body the necessity of a powerful mind.

And finally, through her will, she modified her spell. Auric Huntress will no longer get +30% Sense +30% Arcanic when facing a stronger predator. Instead, she will gain an indomitable mind that requires her to close her eyes and break any kind of mind control if under a mind attack. The time needed to sever a mind attack shall depend on how strong her opponent's Arcanic is.] So… Not exactly an upgrade, but more of a modification.

Willow puffed her cheeks in annoyance and lowered her nose, then kept glaring at her status. Why couldn't it be just a new enhancer or an upgrade instead of a modifier? It would probably be way too convenient. When she thought about it, the way to get stronger in this world was, well… to level up by killing. So perhaps here, the [Auric Huntress] class did the next best thing and modified the Right of Hunt.

It would suck to lose the plus thirty percent Sense and Arcanic boost, but in exchange, she believes this mind defense shall serve her far better.

"Anyway," Leynah continued.

"You'd have to decide where you want to go. The Rift farm or this Devil Rift. Becks and I'll follow you. The entire army is now just waiting on your decision."

"You too will follow me? Wait… the entire army waiting for me?"

"Yes?" Seriously?

"Clothes!" Willow rose, jumped out of the tub, and almost slipped. She found some tunics hung above the door hooks and pulled one—a green one. Then she stopped, examining it, turning it over. She'd already worn a green one before, so perhaps the blue one might be better—but there was also another that looked like a light blue ocean—"Seriously?" Leynah crossed her arms.

-- It turned out that whatever tunic she wore didn't matter since Kroos's servant had given her a red surcoat that clasped above her chest down to her stomach. Willow ignored the blatantly enlarged Kroos's flower crest emblazoned across it. This would just disappear when she donned her class outfit anyway. A procession awaited her. A group of every single tier-threes—all fourteen of them, including the princess' [Royal Guards], Kroos' honour guard—the [Sword Masters], the evolved Veterans—[Champions].

They all awaited her in front of the throne room, where two grand doors were held open by Kroos' golden servant. This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. Willow's feet were tiptoeing to avoid them and slip inside the room until Leynah dragged her back by the neck collar and almost threw her to the middle of the formation where Derrick stood proud in his knightly armor modelled after a white unicorn knight with a unicorn's horn jutting upward from his helmet.

What's all of this for? Before Willow could turn and glare at Leynah, Derrick bowed his head to her.

"My lady. Are you ready?" Willow drew a sharp breath and straightened herself.

"Proceed, Lord First Sword." Derrick turned; his purple cloak swished, and the man led the group of tier-threes with Willow in the middle of them, marching across the red carpet. Eyes gawked at them. Willow found Josha and Shera's eyes to the left of the room where the Sheran' folks stood, led by Erick, who stood at the front of the villager formation. Alongside the Sheran' folks were some Legionaries; all of Josha's Rider band were with him. They even brought the Griffin and Nora inside to watch the proceedings.

To the right were most of the Legionaries and Veterans forming a deep line formation with Maxim leading them. Willow kept in line with Becks because she didn't know anyone else, and Leynah stayed behind her. The entire group came to a sudden halt. Willow cursed herself when she took an extra step by mistake. She quickly withdrew, and out of the formation, Derrick stepped forward, his greaves sunk into the soft carpet, and he went on one knee in front of Kroos.

The Count stood, unsheathing a sword of pure white stainless steel that overflowed with condensed power. It was as if Kroos had somehow encased his runes and swelled them around the sword. [The Bannerlord passes Noble's Grace to the Sword Master!] Wait. This felt familiar. Like reading her mind, Leynah stepped beside Willow.

"I did a similar thing before to you, right? It's a Spell. A Spell that requires us to give our most important sword to someone else to grant them extra attributes. Although, perhaps saying it was similar was insulting. Count Kroos boosted his ability with this ceremony." Willow nodded along. She squinted her eyes to identify the sword. [Noble's Grace (Tier Three)] [Slot (Honor Rune: 10/10)] [Star Strike] [1] - Enchantment- [Sword Dance]—Enhances wielder's Swordmanship and Sense. + 100% Sense.

"That sounded powerful," Willow whispered.

"But why am I here?"

"You boost the Ceremony. Just by being in the procession, you will allow Lord Kroos to grant more attributes to Swordmaster Derrick."

"How?" Willow raised her eyebrows.

"You're a Bright Star," said Leynah, as if that explained anything. Motes of golden light swirled around Derrick and Kroos. Slowly, every light gathered above the [Sword Master], falling to the Noble's Grace, lending their brilliant light, painting the pure white sword with a rich sheen across its steel. Derrick stood and sheathed the Noble's Grace. Resounding claps followed soon after, and Willow clapped as well.

"First Sword Derrick will lead a host to purge the Devil Depth Rift!" Kroos declared. He opened his arms to Willow's right side where the legionaries stood.

"He shall lead every fourteen tier-threes alongside the bulk of our brave legion!" The assignment drew a sharp reaction from the Sheran's folks. Willow twisted around to see them, and some of them hung their heads down.

"Meanwhile, I shall go with the brave villager of Sheran to protect their Rift farm." Erick, Josha, and Shera, knowing this was the plan all along, stood impassive, while the other villagers shared a grin with each other.

"I wish you luck, my friend," said Kroos. He clasped his hands together and gave Derrick a half-formal bow. The [Sword Master] returned it.

"My Lord." The ceremony was followed by a logistical meeting between three people only, as the [Sword Master] insisted. Kroos, Erick, and Derrick conversed among themselves near the throne. Midway, Kroos invited Krywen, Evan, and his Grandnephew to join the conversation so they could learn. Willow, meanwhile, tried to find Josha and Shera. Everyone started walking around when the golden servant brought food. Kroos had made it clear for them to eat before their hard march. Where are they?

She looked around, her hand idly taking a piping hot skewer drenched in dark, sweet sauce. Willow might have seen Shera a moment ago among some legionaries who insisted that she take some of the food, but her eyes narrowed down on the skewer. The first bite was heavenly; she had to bite back a moan. That caused Willow to turn, and her eyes almost sparkled when she saw, right near the corner, a servant carrying those seaweed-sprinkled chicken drumsticks. So obviously she took a step there until somebody pulled her.

"Wait!" Shera groaned, panting, pulling Willow by her collar just like Leynah did. Then she wrapped her hands around Willow's hips.

"We wouldn't have seen each other for a while, and the first thing you do is go where the food is instead of saying goodbye?" Josha broke apart from her Rider band and walked toward them.

"Maybe you inherited Mera's gluttony along with her body," Josha said, rubbing his chin.

"I think that's the case," Willow said, knowing full well she was always like this. She almost missed her team bus twice because of—well, never mind that.

"So? You're sure about this?" Josha smiled, a sad smile. Willow returned it. Of course, she was not sure. She wanted to go with them, but…

"Yeah. You saw the tree," Willow tried to point toward the arrow slit, but Shera's hand still wrapped around her. She groaned a bit.

"I don't want to see a flying castle of Devils, not if I can help prevent it. Besides, what Derrick said made sense: that I can lead them to this Manalith." Something, someone was sobbing behind her.

"Josha, is she crying?"

"She is." As she turned, Shera loosened and hugged her again. Willow smiled at Shera's hair and pulled her closer.

"Thank you for everything," Shera said amid her sobs.

"You know, I'm thinking that my arriving in this world kick-started this Apocalypse ordeal for a while," Willow said. It was a thought that sometimes flitted inside her mind, but one that she thought a bit too ridiculous to pay attention to.

"The timing—""That is nonsense," Josha said.

"This is just how our world is. You don't need to think too deeply about it, Willow; remember when you feel you're about to lose yourself—" He paused, motioning for her to go on.

"Cling to logic."

"And how would it serve you if your logic were all poisoned by your own mind?"

"You're surprisingly wise," said Willow. Josha blushed a bit and scratched the back of his head.

"It's just what my father often tells me."

"We'll see you again, right?" Shera raised her head and looked at her with teary eyes.

"If not in the Rift farm, then I'll see you guys in this village," she grinned.

"I'll be expecting a tour."