Legend of the Empyrean Blacksmith

THE ROYALS

Lino felt a strange wave of nostalgia wash over him as he marched by foot with boots clanking against the dry earth beneath through a winding, paved road . It has been a long time since he’d departed in the old-fashioned style with a band of rowdy souls to accompany him .

Though he’d suggested they use horses for the easier travel, everyone -- including Jack and Edward -- refused it . There was still a couple of months till the festival and as they weren’t in a rush, they wanted to do some cross-country journeying . Having no heart to reject them, Lino accepted as their journey would still only take around a week which was the length he could spare .

In addition to themselves, Jack and Edward brought with them six other people, four of which were yet to even hit their twenties and two who were rather experienced, Master Blacksmiths . Altogether their little group numbered eleven, a number far higher than what Lino expected . It also meant that the moments of silence were far few and between .

"The Nephelm March?" Edward looked at Felix for a moment before nodding faintly . "Hmm, I do remember reading about it a long time ago . It was the last battle that sealed the Holy Emperor’s dominance over the Continent . "

"Is it true that the Empire’s forces were actually outnumbered ten to one?" Felix asked excitedly .

"It is," Jack chimed in from the side . "The Emperor dispatched his proudest Legion, the Holy Titans Legion commanded by the now-Legendary Guardian of the entire Empire, titular Guardian of Light . " Lino’s ears perked up momentarily as he listened in . So . . . the Empire has at least two Titular Void Cultivators, huh? Lino mused inwardly as he stroked his chin . That’s far from enough, though . . . "They fought the battle on the open fields of Nephelm without either side using any tactics, just a brutal face-off . "

" . . . haah . . . " Felix sighed enviously . "What a sight would it be to witness . . . "

"Oh, shut up . " Lucky rolled her eyes at him . "You’d have pissed your pants just due to sound alone . . . "

"Hey!! That’s a lie and you know it!"

"Do I?" Lucky grinned .

"Now, now youngsters, there’s no need to fight . . . " Edward tried to pacify the two with a strange smile .

"Why don’t we fight you instead, then?"

"Eeh, please, just calm down . . . "

"That’s what you get Ed for trying to play a fiddle . . . "

"Yeah, stop fiddling with our business . . . "

" . . . "

" . . . "

"What?!" Lucky exclaimed angrily . "He can do it but I can’t?" she pointed at Lino who walked behind everyone else innocently until he suddenly got dragged into the middle of it all with all eyes shifting over onto him .

"Hah . . . you’re lucky I’m such a good mood so I’ll let it slide . You truly lucked out . Your luck stat must have been blessed by heavens themselves . It’s astonishingly luckluster how you try to steal my jam . It’s pure luckery, these feeble attempts of yours---alright, I’m done . "

" . . . "

" . . . "

" . . . "

While everyone else attempted to process the astounding numbness that besieged their minds, Lino merely grinned at the blushing Lucky and ignored the atmosphere . Naphelm Fields were situated roughly a hundred miles northward from their current position and were pinched in-between two mountain rings and cut off in south by River Ro . Lino jotted the name into his mind as he suspected another crucial battle would be led there quite soon .

The atmosphere was soon restored and the conversations once again sullied the silence, but Lino withdrew from them, walking several paces behind everyone else . Ever so often he’d feel an overwhelming Divine Sense wash over him and the others, though it appeared only he was able to feel it . After all, neither Edward nor Jack were all that strong -- barely Early Illumine Realm cultivators -- to say nothing of the rest .

Recalling the information from the parchment, he could roughly guess who it was that was scanning them which stunned him even more . What’s she doing here of all places? He could guess as to why she repeatedly scattered her Divine Sense over them -- Lino wasn’t currently projecting any Qi, so outside of some basic visual aid, it would be pretty much impossible to even confirm his existence . Oh well . I suppose meeting her here should make things easier once we reach the Capital .

His lips curled up in a smile as he stretched sideways . Though everyone noticed his sudden departure, Lucky and Felix signaled the rest not to pay it much heed . The two knew his purpose for visiting the Capital most-likely had little to do with Jack’s and Ed’s, despite Lino’s rather obvious tendency for doing things which fed his ego .

As soon as he put enough distance between the group, he suddenly took out two items from the void world . The first was the winged crest with 72 etched on its surface . It was a badge of sorts which confirmed him to be a member of the Great Descent . The other was the mask that he found in his pocket after he departed from the branch headquarters .

The mask was rather simple, made out of white material, encapsulating his entire face save for chin and mouth, with two holes for the eyes . He donned it slowly and suddenly felt the stray of Qi stagnate considerably around him . It turned out that the mask was a worse version of his own hiding ’technique’ .

Lino unleash a smudge of Qi momentarily yet the person behind the Divine Sense seemed to have noticed it as the space around him suddenly moved and displaced, forming a spatial vortex . Grinning, Lino casually stepped through and felt the familiar pull . After a few moments of traveling through the space, he was spat out into a rather luxurious room . Over a hundred squared meters in size, it stunned Lino with the sheer number of items hanging like coffers on the walls .

Paintings . . . mosaics . . . weapons . . . armors . . . dresses . . . shields . . . there was everything one could imagine to use for a decoration, with even an occasional statue making its presence known . Lino didn’t let his eyes wander off too far, however, as he quickly shifted them forward where three figures stood staring at him .

The two on the side were Royal Guards, easily recognizable not only through their platinum armor but also through the crest embedded on their chests, a golden fist of all things . The one who used her Divine Sense to scout them out stood in-between the two, donning a rather lavish, ornamental dress . She was on the shorter end of things, quite slender and currently barefoot .

She had a strangely dyed hair, a mix between aquatic blue and emerald green, both colors reflected in the pair of wide and round eyes that were warily staring at him . Lino’s lips suddenly curled up in a smirk; to the public eye, this was none other than the spoiled First Princess of the Empire, Annabelle . In reality, however, she was a Commander of the Empire’s third strongest Legion, Sacred Swords Legion, and was in reality a Level 930 Cultivator, having already formed her own Singularity .

"May I ask as to why the supreme Princess herself has gotten so interested in my little group?" Lino asked casually as he suddenly sat down and took out a gourd of ale . Seeing this, the two guards by the Princess’ side reached for their weapons without uttering a sound, with Lino silently acknowledging their actions . However, before they could fully draw out their swords, Annabelle stopped them with a gentle wave of her hands .

"What does the Mister mean?" just based on her appearance, one would think she was around sixteen years old; however, she was well over a hundred years old by now . "One of my servants picked up something strange and did something, and the Mister suddenly popped into my chambers . "

" . . . " Lino looked deeply into her eyes for a moment and realized that her intention was merely to just test him and leave it at that, but Lino wasn’t as ready to say goodbye just like that . He reached into his pocket and took out the winged crest, fiddling with it with his fingers . "You should recall them . " he mumbled faintly, though just loud enough for her to hear . Her eyes instinctively moved onto Lino’s fingers whereupon she suddenly froze, her entire heart washed over in frigid cold . Her lips quickly trembled, sweat charging out of her skin . "Hey . " a faint voice jolted her from her stupor .

"Leave us alone . " losing her playful and innocent demeanour, she called out to the two guards .

"But Princess--"

"Do not worry . Leave us alone . " the two guards bowed reluctantly and left, leaving the whole, massive room to Lino and Princess alone . As the doors behind her clanked close, Annabelle quickly fell to one knee and lowered her head, her whole body beginning to shake in fear . "Forgive this lowly one for presumptions attitude . Had I known--"

"Just get up," Lino groaned lowly; he inwardly worried whether everyone else will greet him similarly . Though it felt nice, he had to admit, it was also slightly uncomfortable . "I’m not here to flaunt . "

"Y-yes . " Annabelle got up slowly, yet didn’t dare to look Lino in his eyes, squirming silently .

"So, why the interest?" Lino asked again with a faint smile .

"Ah . . . that . . . " she lowered her head in embarrassment for a moment . "At first it was truly an accident as I’m in charge of scouting the westward swath of the continent . But, I was wholly unable to sense you through my Divine Sense despite seeing you with my eyes, which is why I tried repeatedly . "

" . . . hoh?" Lino exclaimed softly as he put the crest away . "Don’t tell me your Father had already commenced the War State?"

"Only partially," she replied honestly . "He did not wish to disturb the state of things too much as of yet . "

" . . . a wise man," Lino mumbled faintly as he got up . "I’m on my way to the Capital," his words seemed to startle her and no matter how much she fought to conceal it, Lino spotted it, sighing inwardly . "Inform your Father and those still privy to my identity . We’ll talk more then . "

"Y-yes . . . "

"I hope you won’t be too afraid to let me see those beautiful eyes the next time we meet . " Lino added casually as he stepped through the vortex and walked out, leaving Annabelle alone .

She was unable to tear away her gaze from the still spinning vortex for a long while, an indiscernible number of thoughts colliding with one another inside of her mind . So far, the situation on the Continent was treated rather casually, both by her Father and his vassals . However, she thought, her brows furrowing . If they are involved in this . . . the situation must be far graver than we realize . I should also thank my Father for telling me about them . . . had I not known . . . I’d have most-likely died . . .

On the other end, Lino found himself back in the open field from which he stepped into the vortex . Quickly locating the group, he headed slowly toward them while thoughts too spun inside his mind . I can already feel the meeting with them will be a pain in the ass . . . he thought with a frown . Royal Members? More like Royal Screw-ups . . . he he . . . khm . . . row, row, row your boat . . .