Chương 41

The forest was completely quiet. Rudra sat in the dirt, reading the blue text boxes popping up in front of his face. [Your actions have ruined a major operation of the Yatan Church.] [Affinity with the Yatan Church has dropped by -500.] [You have been marked as a hostile threat.] Rudra swiped the warning away. He didn't care about their threats. After what they did to the lion, he planned on hunting those creepy cultists down anyway. The next few windows were much better.

[You have acquired the Title "Heart of the Imperial Lion"] [Heart of the Imperial Lion] [Proof of your mercy to the dying King of the Forest. You are the guardian of its legacy. - Courage, Charisma, and Dignity permanently increase by +100. - Companion Synergy: Food cooked and fed to your companion will be 100% more effective.] [You are the first player to successfully tame a heavenly beast!] [You have acquired the Title "Man Who Touched Heaven"] [Man Who Touched Heaven] [You are the first mortal to tame a heavenly beast. - Hidden Stat 'Divine Power' is opened. - Health has increased by 3, 000 points. - Enhances dark magic resistance and holy attacks by 10%.]"Well, that's a lot of free stuff," Rudra muttered. He looked down at his lap. The tiny cub was fast asleep inside his brown cloak. Its fur was a clean split of bright gold and pitch black. Rudra poked the cub's nose to check its stats.

[Name]: Not Set [Level]: 1 [Affinity]: 20 / 100 [Health]: 5, 000 / 5, 000 [Physical Attack Power]: 40 [Magic Attack Power]: 60 [Defense]: 50 [Magic Resistance]: 100 [Attribute]: Light / Dark [Status]: Arrogant Glutton (I am the child of light and the darkness! Fear my might! The world will tremble before my—oh, what is that smell? Offer it to this future king! Roar!) The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. [Skills]: [Eclipse Strike (Lv. 1)], [Shadow Step (Lv. 1)], [Mana Devourer (Lv. 1)] Rudra laughed.

"You have a pretty big ego for a furball." The cub woke up. It yawned, showing off tiny needle-like teeth. Then it immediately started sniffing Rudra's pockets. It let out a demanding squeak and batted at Rudra's hand.

"Alright, alright," Rudra smiled. He pulled out a piece of leftover cooked fish.

"You really are an arrogant little guy. Let's name you Kratos then. Eat up." [The beast's name has been set to Kratos!] Kratos totally dropped his tough-guy act. He grabbed the fish and started chewing aggressively. A few yards away, Elysia sat on a fallen log. She pulled her torn cape tighter around her shoulders. She watched Rudra feed the tiny, dangerous beast. The masked boy was smiling. Elysia closed her eyes. The quiet forest faded away. Old memories crept in. Clack. Clack. Thud.

She was sixteen, sweating in her training gear. She swung her wooden sword as hard as she could. It didn't matter. Her older brother, Piaro, didn't even use a shield. He just lazily knocked away every swing she threw. He didn't even break a sweat. Asmophel stood by the fence, watching them. He was spinning his own wooden blade. Elysia picked herself up from the dirt. Her hands were blistered, but she didn't care. She just wanted to be strong enough to stand next to them.

Later that evening, Elysia sat on a bench, totally out of breath. Asmophel walked over and handed her a waterskin. He gave her a warm, easy smile.

"You're getting faster," Asmophel said softly.

"Keep it up. You'll outrank all of us soon." She hid her red face behind the waterskin. She felt safe. She felt like she belonged. But then the memory turned cold. Fire burned through the Red Knight headquarters. Smoke choked the hallways. People were screaming about Piaro betraying the Empire. It made no sense. Elysia ran through the smoke. She saw Asmophel. She almost cried in relief and ran toward him. But his warm smile was gone. His eyes were empty, clouded with a dark, unnatural purple shadow.

He stepped forward and drove his poisoned sword right through her armor. The poison hit her veins like burning acid. She fell to her knees, staring at him.

"Die, traitor," Asmophel said. His voice was completely hollow, like someone else was pulling his strings. Elysia took a shaky breath. She opened her eyes, staring at the dirt under her boots. The memory still hurt. Her mind drifted to what happened just a week ago. She was dying in the mud. She was actually an advanced alchemist, but she didn't have the time or materials to brew a proper cure while running for her life. Her rushed, temporary potion was wearing off. Then, a centaur found her.

The Empire called them monsters. But the centaur just looked sad. It knelt down and used green healing magic to soothe her burning chest. Then Elysia moved. Her cloak slipped. The centaur saw her silver Imperial armor. The green light vanished. The centaur's face twisted into pure panic, then anger.

"Empire dog!" it yelled. It grabbed a rock and threw it at her head.

"Get out!" it screamed, throwing more rocks and chasing her away. Elysia gripped her knees. She used to hunt people like that because the Emperor told her to. She thought she was the good guy. But laying in the mud, hated by the person trying to save her, she finally got it. She was just a tool for a cruel Empire. The guilt was heavy. Then she looked back at Rudra. He was wiping fish grease off the sleeping cub. He complained a lot. He was totally obsessed with getting rare ingredients and eating good food.

But when he saw a dying animal, he threw away a rich quest and fought thirty dark mages without a second thought. He didn't care about the Empire's rules. He just did what he thought was right. Elysia rested her hand on her sword. For the first time in weeks, her chest didn't feel so tight. Rudra woke up to birds chirping. He sat up. Kratos was asleep on top of his head like a furry hat. He stretched his arms. A blue window popped up right in his face. [Elysia's Affinity has suddenly increased by +50!] [She now views you with deep trust and respect.] Rudra blinked. He looked over at Elysia. She was sitting on the log, calmly sharpening her sword. Rudra scratched his cheek. He was totally confused. I literally just slept, he thought. Did she really like watching me feed the cat?

"Get up, Rudra," Elysia said. She didn't look up, but she had a faint, warm smile on her face.

"We are going back to Silverwood. You have truffles to pick."