Chương 72: A Seed Beneath the Sun

As the forest thinned and gave way to the mountain, a dark cave came into view on the slope.

"Aaaaaagh!"

"I don't want to die! Nooo!"

"Help me, please!"

"Marilos! Run!"

"Ugh! Gah..." From the forest, it was impossible to see inside the cave, but the agonized screams coming from within could certainly be heard. The screams belonged to a large group of adventurers who had taken a quest to clear out a monster lair that had been terrorizing the neighboring villages. The entire guild had taken part in the expedition, but this would become its last. Only a few of its members were still alive.

"No! No! Noooooooooo! Aagh!" With a single blow, the adventurer was hurled into the ceiling of the cave and died the instant he smashed against the rock. Only his lifeless body fell back to the ground. The blow had come from one of the colossal purple creatures with long limbs and sharp fangs that inhabited the place. An urtac. No one had expected to find urtacs inside the cave. The monsters prowling the surrounding area had only been bringing food to their masters.

"What are you two doing here?! N-no, it doesn't matter! Run! Run for your lives!" At the entrance, the adventurer who seemed to be the leader of the group came across two youths whose hair was as white as snow. Their deep blue eyes watched indifferently as the few survivors rushed past them at full speed and disappeared into the forest behind them.

"What are they so scared of?" asked the young woman, her long hair draped over one shoulder.

"If they die, they'll just go to Nereziel's realm."

"Well, what their stay there will be like depends on what they did in life," replied the handsome young man, whose own hair was also quite long, falling halfway down his back.

"Though nothing could be as terrible as our ten years of training..." The two youths were, of course, Corenio and Munia.

"But our god really is a slave driver. To think our final test is clearing out this urtac nest on our own," Munia grumbled with a small shrug.

"The worst part is that it's during the day, when he knows we're weaker," Corenio added. That was when one of the urtacs, which had already finished eating the adventurer it had been toying with, approached the twins in search of its next prey.

"Haaaa..." Munia let out a long sigh and began walking toward the creature on her own.

"Looks like Nereziel passed his sighing habit on to you," Corenio laughed under his breath.

"What else can I do but sigh?" At that moment, Munia's eyes began to glow, and the creature that had been about to lunge at her stopped dead.

"It's not that this test is dangerous or difficult. It's simply a pain, and because it's daytime, it will take us even longer." This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. Munia took hold of the motionless urtac's head and, with one smooth movement, twisted its thick neck, killing the monster instantly.

"And that coldness was inherited from Selene..."

"What coldness? I killed it before it even felt pain," Munia defended herself.

"Though I admit it might have looked a little brutal..." Grrk Gark Grak Kragggh The urtacs' distinctive growls had only just begun to echo inside the cave when three more of the creatures appeared. This time, the urtacs were accompanied by a large number of monsters of various kinds. Their intelligence was feared even more than their combat abilities for good reason.

"We'd better get to work, or we'll never finish this test... no, graduation ceremony," Corenio said, starting toward the group of monsters.

"Almost a graduation," Munia corrected him.

"Remember that Selene said there was still one last thing we needed to learn."

"Do you think they'll come visit us?" Corenio asked, raising his hand.

"I hope so. We may be eighteen, but lately they've been neglecting us quite a bit," Munia complained, puffing out her cheeks.

"The problem is that you're too clingy. They're teaching you to be independent," Corenio said, lifting two fingers of his outstretched hand. With that gesture, the monsters' shadows transformed into dark spears that pierced their owners.

"Learning how to keep your shadow from being stolen is about as basic as it gets," Corenio said, shaking his head in disappointment.

"Well, what can you expect from simple monsters? According to Selene, we could already defeat any demigod." The urtacs, which had managed to dodge their own shadows' attack thanks to their incredible reflexes, now lunged at Corenio. But he did not flinch. He pulled out a stick he had been carrying on his belt and covered it in dark energy. Not one urtac lasted more than a single cut from that stick.

"Like I said, what can you expect? The blood of our gods running through our veins is not for show."

"But don't get too confident. This is just the vanguard," Munia warned, idly running her fingers through the hair gathered over her chest.

"The urtacs want to see what we can do, and they'll begin their full counterattack only once we reach the heart of their nest."

"It really is a pain when your enemies can communicate mentally with one another... This is going to drag on forever," Corenio complained, letting out a long sigh that was also quite similar to Nerez's.

"Now that they've seen this, they'll spend the whole day trying to escape..."

"Nereziel!" Munia exclaimed, leaping into his embrace. It was night on the shore of the lake where the twins had chosen to camp when the familiar silhouette emerged from the darkness of the forest.

"Don't let her little act fool you, Nereziel," Corenio said with a smile as he also walked over to Nerez.

"Yesterday she was calling you a slave driver."

"That's that, and this is this," Munia replied, sinking into the embrace.

"I figured you wouldn't have any trouble," Nerez said with a laugh, stroking both their heads.

"I didn't mention it, but if you had taken too long, I would have sent you to a nest ten times worse." The blood drained from both youths' faces.

"Would that really have been necessary?" Corenio asked, swallowing hard.

"It would have meant you were getting too confident, so yes, quite necessary," Nerez replied with a smile.

"But relax. You passed the secret test as well."

"Nereziel, you worry too much. We're already grown up," Munia complained, puffing out her cheeks.

"That's not exactly something grown-ups usually say..."

"Now all that's left is for the two of them to learn how to use those fangs of theirs to control vital energy through blood." As those words reached them, Selene's beautiful figure emerged from the moon's reflection on the lake.

"Ueeegh..." Munia made a face of disgust.

"I'd rather keep studying magic..."

"Don't worry, Munia. I'll take care of expanding our domain," Corenio declared, his eyes shining.

"You can focus on expanding our knowledge of magic without worrying about the rest."

"But not in the empire," Nerez intervened.

"That would only cause problems for Miri, and those problems would eventually reach me in the form of countless hours of prayers to clear her mind..."

"Of course. My domain will be an ally to all who venerate the Dusk Faction," the young man agreed with a nod.

"I don't plan to cause trouble for the empress."

"Now that I think about it..." Nerez murmured, bringing a hand to his chin.

"Miri was complaining about some kingdom where death wasn't respected enough. Phatar, or something like that... I don't particularly care what they do or don't worship, but it might be a good option if it keeps Miri from complaining." Munia tilted her head.

"Don't they worship the god of the sun as their main deity there?" Selene approached Munia and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Even better. That fool thinks I haven't noticed him poking around in my affairs. Let's see how he likes the seed we'll plant right under his nose."