Amanir was looking around in confusion.
He found that the Life Vein was smaller than normal or at least smaller than he remembered.
But then, he sensed Rex was looking at him.
Glancing over, he saw Rex was looking at him with such a gaze that made him uncomfortableâit was as if he was looking at a trash bag. Feeling probed, Amanir tucked his massive ears onto his body as if he were naked.
On the other hand, Rex could only shake his head.
"Is this your friends?" Suddenly, Andreas approached from the side.
Recalling that Andreas was standing behind him, Rex quickly moved to the side and presented him.
"Linthia, Amanir," He gestured towards each of them. "This is Andreas, he helped me earlier"
"How do you know my name already? I havenât told you," Andreas turned to Rex and murmured.
He was both confused and surprised at the same time.
Of course, Rex had forgotten about this.
Knowing someone elseâs name instantly could be used as a threat, the same way as he did back when he fought the Archangel of Knives. Rex has always used the stat window like that, to assess danger and also as threats.
Having done it for so long, he had begun to make small mistakes like this.
Just as Rex was about to say an excuse, Andreas laughed aloud, "Why the long face? I must have told you my name earlier to you by mistake, havenât I?" Focusing back to Amanir and Linthia, he reached out his hand. "Pleased to make both your acquaintances"
Upon hearing this, Linthia and Amanir shook his hand and also introduced themselves.
"I must say, I didnât expect to see a kind one like you here," Andreas commented, directing it at Linthia.
"Eh�" Linthia tilted her head a little in confusion. "What do you mean?"
Just then, Amanir cleared his throat from behind, "Sheâs not particularly nice at the start but with time, she grew nicer. It didnât take long before she became close to us like this. Of course, the biggest factor was because of how cute I was. Who could even resist me?"
Saving the day, Amanir flapped his flabby pink earsâtrying to act cute.
Recognizing the signal, Linthia also laughed and awkwardly pinched Amanirâs ears, "R- Rightâ¦"
Andreas laughed louder, "Cute Demon Spirits like you are always good with the girls, Iâm envious"
Both he and Amanir laughed cheerfully, matching in personality.
Soon, Andreas turned to Rex once again, "Oh, right, did you also come here to take refuge?"
"Refuge?" Rex raised an eyebrow questioningly.
Andreas nodded, "I guess you havenât heard. Lady Davina is helping the Ravencort House to stall the nearby Voidal Monsters while they patch their Obelisk of Lifeâs bubble, so Voidal Monsters have been gathering in the nearby area due to their battles. But I reckoned it would be done soon"
"If not to take refuge, did you guys come here to trade or work?" He asked again.
Rex shook his head, "Weâre travelers, weâve only arrived so we donât really know our way around"
"Well, if thatâs the case, allow me to show you around!" Andreas said, pointing at his own chest.
Upon hearing this, Amanir and Linthia in reflex looked at Rex.
Pondering for a second and finding that it was hard to refuse Andreas if he was this excited, Rex decided to follow him for now as he learned where he was and strategized, "If you donât mind, it will be a great help"
Nodding happily, Andreas led them through the Life Veinâheading to the main bubble at the end.
Life Veins are the roots of an Obelisk of Life.
Spirits who entered it could follow the Life Vein like a road to reach the Obelisk of Life and within the spiritsâ territory, every single Obelisk of Life standingâwould always host a city. Of course, every time someone entered, the guardian of the Obelisk of Life would know.
A guardian is the people who governed the city, the one who created the bubble.
Following from behind Andreas, Rex pulled Amanir back to talk.
"Do you know where we are?" Rex asked.
Amanir shook his head, "No, I donât know where we are"
As soon as he said that, Rex looked at Amanir as if he was useless again.
Had Devo been the one who was here, he would definitely be a lot more helpful than Amanir.
Seeing that Rex was judging him again inside, Amanir rolled his eyes, "Donât give me that look, this is not meâbeing incompetent. Just imagine if I dropped you somewhere in your world, would you know exactly where you are?"
"Fair enough," Rex shrugged his shoulders, Amanir made a good point.
Gazing ahead again, Amanir contemplated, "That said, Devo might be very useful if he was here"
"Oh?" Rex raised a brow, surprised by Amanirâs humility. "What makes you say that?"
"Devo is a part of the Skillian Divine Court also known as the Sky City, the Skillian Family governed over that court and they were tasked to protect the sky. Many called them the Gatekeepers of the Sky, and due to their position, they knew every corner of the Empire" Amanir answered truthfully. "If you want to find him, we should go to that city but Iâve never heard a nobody could pay the Sky City a visit"
Upon hearing this, Rex couldnât help but frown.
So that explains it.
As soon as Rex entered the Spirit Realm, he could feel Devoâs presence clearer.
Even though he was being extracted from him, the connection was still thereâand now that he was in the Spirit Realm, it was stronger. Rex found it weird that he could feel the link pulling him to the sky, and now he knew the answer.
Devo must be there, in the Sky City. Maybe heâs imprisoned, I donât know until I see it for myself.
"Do you mean I need status to reach there?" Rex asked.
Amanir nodded gravely, "Yes, a lot of status. Iâm sure you have to be a nobility"
Knowing that alone made Rex massage his forehead, he really couldnât waste any time now.
Making a great accomplishment against the Voidal Monsters is probably the only way I could become a nobility as fast as possible. But that required power, I didnât know how strong until I met someone of noble blood.
Shaking his head, Rex focused ahead again/
"But if I had to guess where we are, we should be in the northern part of the Heavenly Exaltia Empire," Amanir stated with a confident tone. "I havenât heard of the Ravencort Houseâbut I do know of Lady Davina. Sheâs the second daughter of Duke Lorcan and from what I have heard, sheâs also the second strongest in the Dukeâs Royal House below the main heir. Since sheâs near here, we must be within her domain"
Rex nodded, at least that was a start.
"By the way, what kind of move was that earlier? Why didnât you use your lunar element?" He asked.
Upon hearing this, Amanir paused for a second, recalling earlier when he used his ears to tackle a lot of Shadow Hounds before turning to look at Rex weirdly, "Did you forget already? Weâre in the Spirit Realm, my power doesnât work like that here. In here, I donât have the lunar elementâthe lunar element is only the projection of my Soul Artifact in your world" Continue reading on Freewebnovel
"Oh, rightâ¦" Rex nodded and averted his gaze away, he needed to get used to the power here.
Moments later.
Andreas brought them to the city at the end of the Life Vein.
"Welcome to Arbitgea" He welcomed, stepping to the side to allow the others to sink in the cityscape.
Rex and Linthia looked around, this was their first time seeing a city in the Spirit Realm.
In hindsightâit doesnât seem to be much different with Dargena City but soon Rex realized that it was very different. Unlike Dargena City which was built from a mix of medievalâand technology, Arbitgea was rougher and busier.
Crossing the city were many rails for train buses or normal trains to pass through.
People barely used any vehicles here, there are only mount beasts, spirit beasts, trains, and also bicycles.
Based on Andreas, Arbitgea is a branch city under the dominion of a powerful House belonging to the Viscount that stands as the unrivaled heart of production. Renowned for its industrious spirit, the city thrives as a hub for skilled spirits, offering them opportunities to craft, innovate, and earn a prosperous living under the Viscountâs rule.
No matter what the skills are, Arbitgea always has a place for everyone who is willing to work.
For once, Rex was in luck.
"As you can see," Andreas started as he walked along the busy street. "Everything here is empowered by the energy siphoned from the Obelisk of Life. Also, you can find anything here from equipment and crafts, information, even a lover!"
Rex nodded as he viewed the surroundings.
Catching a flyer that was blown by the wind, he read it before showing it to Andreas.
"Whatâs a walker?" He asked questioningly.
Upon hearing thisâAndreas smiled, "A Walker is an occupation for those who want to take on jobs in the Black Rift, dangerous jobs. Finding powerful artifacts or items, taking down Void Monsters, that sort of thing. Since youâre strong and also have a Seeker, I recommend you take up that position. It will be dangerous but the payday is definitely worthwhile"
Keeping that in mind, Rex and the others continued onward, scouring the city.
Along the way, Rex noticed that some of the people here were not people but beasts instead.
Like Amanir.
"Those are Demon Spirits like me," Amanir said.
Noticing Rexâs focus was on a pair of rock people with a lizard face, he couldnât help but comment.@@novelbin@@
As soon as he heard that, Rexâs eyes flickered.
"Right, what are Demon Spirits? Why did Andreas say that to Linthia?" He asked questioningly.
"Demon Spirits looked more like beastsâso of course, there are some who treated us badly, someone that thought of us as nothing more than animals" Amanir explained with a light sigh as if talking about this drained him. "Andreas mistook you as a Demon Spirit and Linthia as a normal spirit, thatâs why he said what he said"
Rex nodded his head repeatedly.
Just like back in the Mortal Realm, thereâs also that kind of problem here.
I guess, no matter the realm, the people were fundamentally the same.
In the next couple of hours, Rex and the others looked around.
Rex also asked a couple of people passing by about how to reach Skillian City and most of them laughed at him, thinking that he was joking around. But he did this to double-check, perhaps something changed while Amanir was assimilated to him.
However, after being laughed at for the third timeâit doesnât seem to be the case.
Then, upon reaching the other side of the city, Amanirâs eyes caught sight of a big poster to the side.
A poster that took the entire space of the cityâs bulletin.
"Hey, Rex, come here for a second," He said and jogged to the poster.
Confused, Rex followed Amanir for a moment, separating from Linthia and Andreas.
"Look at this tournament," Amanir pointed at the poster, a poster for the Nameless Dragon Arena. He remembered about this big arenaâand thought it might help them. "For almost five hundred years, the Dukeâs royal household has held this contest. Anyone could enter thisâas long as they have a bit of influence. Even anyone associated with a feudal lord could participate"
Upon hearing this, Rex studied the poster and saw a line at the bottom.
âVictory grants the highest honorâone worthy of the Dukeâs own bloodlineâ
Raising an eyebrow, he turned to Amanir, "What does this mean?"
"Anyone who won and was acknowledged in this very big contest could take the hand of Lady Davina in a royal marriage," Amanir answered blatantly. "Think about it. Becoming a noble is hard, and this⦠this contest is your shortcut"