Chapter 28: The Amazon Queen’s Black History?
Chapter 28: The Amazon Queen’s Black History?
Loki Sky was completely, utterly lost.
He stood frozen at a crossroads, staring blankly at a chaotic maze of intersecting alleys, overlapping architecture, and mismatched academic halls. For all of his supernatural gifts, multi-element talents, and strategic wits, Loki possessed a severe, almost comical deficit: his sense of direction was nonexistent.
In the open wild or across well-defined landscapes, he excelled. But the moment he was dropped into a labyrinth of stone and mortar, his internal compass shattered. Navigating a city was entirely up to Fate—a continuous roll of the dice or the flip of a coin. Where he ended up, who he bumped into, or what random treasures he stumbled upon were entirely out of his hands.
Beside him, a faint ripple of amusement echoed through their mental link.
Shehuang, his stunning summon, was quietly enjoying his misery. She already possessed a master-level understanding of both the Eastern Planes and standard summoner lore. In fact, she had quietly accompanied Loki through his Summoner and Planar Knowledge class twice already, keeping silent simply because she treasured their uninterrupted alone time together. Had he thought to ask her for directions just once, she would have gladly pointed the way, playing the role of the beautiful princess guiding her hopeless hero.
But Loki was stubborn. He preferred to let the winds of destiny carry him through Myst. Unfortunately, today, the power of Fate guided him directly into an encounter he had been actively trying to avoid.
"Loki Sky. Why aren't you in my class?"
Loki winced. Damn it. I forgot that Lady Fate has an alternate name... Lady Chaos.
He turned slowly. Looming over him was Ayala. Her tall, athletic frame exuded an imposing aura, and her piercing green eyes burned with unmistakable resentment. It didn't take a genius to figure out what had happened—his loyal, meatheaded brother had clearly sold him out, and the Amazon vanguard instructor had come to hunt him down personally.
Trying to deflect, Loki offered a weak, innocent smile. "Oh, Teacher... What was your Amazon last name again? I don't think I ever caught it."
Ayala lifted her chin, her posture radiating fierce tribal pride. "I am Amazon Ambassador Ayala, Daughter of Talya. I am here on a diplomatic mission, serving as a gesture of peace between our peoples and the Human Kingdom."
Loki blinked, his face completely blank. "Oooooooooooooooooh~?"
Ayala’s brow twitched. Snapping her fingers, she pointed aggressively toward a cluster of distant stone training grounds. "Get to class. Your brother is already waiting for you. You’re just wandering around wasting time anyway."
Loki shook his head, his eyes subtly scanning the buildings behind her. Ironically, the lecture hall he had been searching for was right behind the very Amazon he was trying to dodge. "I'll find time for that later. My priority is my true path: becoming a Summoner. Let my brother handle the front lines."
Ayala stared at him, her expression shifting to one of profound disbelief, as if he had just personally insulted her entire career choice. "A Summoner?"
"Yup," Loki said proudly. "The path of true power. Magic over might, brains over brawn. The road less traveled... A Summoner!"
"But you carry Amazon blood," Ayala argued, her voice tightening. "You were born to fight! It’s in your—"
She cut herself off, the sudden realization hitting her like a physical blow. Loki was a man. To an Amazon, encouraging a man to fight alongside them on equal terms was a direct insult to their cultural dignity.
Her stern demeanor instantly collapsed, replaced by a sudden, intense curiosity. She stepped closer, her tone demanding rather than asking. "What is your grandfather's name? How old is he, and where is he living?"
Loki irritatedly crossed his arms. He hated being ordered around. "Karl Sky. He’s somewhere around two hundred years old, currently retired up north in a small city near the Dwarven Kingdom."
Ayala’s eyes narrowed, snapping back instantly. "You know damn well which grandfather I am asking about. The Devil grandfather. Tell me."
Loki’s expression flattened, his voice turning cold. "Oh. That bastard. His name is—or was—Arngrim, Son of Hervor. Last I heard, he was around a hundred years old. As for where he is? Hopefully dead, rotting inside some monster's belly."
Ayala froze. The fierce, unyielding Amazon ambassador went rigid with visible shock, a stark contrast to her usually abrasive personality. Her green eyes dilated, locking onto Loki with an intense, trembling unease. The information seemed to actively tear at the foundations of her worldview.
"Did... did Arngrim, Son of Q~, wield a magical longsword named Tyrfing?" she asked, her voice dropping to a harsh whisper.
Loki thought of the ancient, legendary longsword hidden away in his family home—the one his mother strictly forbade him from ever touching. He gave a single, tight nod, offering no further explanation about its whereabouts.
"Arngrim..." Ayala breathed, her composure slipping further. "Where was he last known to be alive?"
Realizing she was finally speaking to him with a shred of actual respect, Loki decided to throw her a bone. It was obvious she was hunting him down like a law enforcer tracking a notorious criminal.
"He offended the wrong people because he was a true monster, and my grandmother was poisoned as a result," Loki explained flatly. "He abandoned her and his own daughter to seek an antidote herb hidden deep within the Snow Secret Realm, located in the central Infinite Sky Mountains north of the Elven Kingdom. He hasn’t been seen or heard from in over fifty years. Good riddance. I hope he’s nothing more than a block of ice for orphaning my mother. She was just a child when grandmother died. She had no one. Even a literal devil should have chosen to save his daughter."
Ayala opened her mouth, but the words caught in her throat.
There were things she desperately wanted to scream at him, secrets she was strictly forbidden from revealing. Loki had absolutely no idea that he was the biological great-grandson of the reigning Amazon Queen, Hervor. If the royal court ever discovered his existence, the Queen herself would march into the human world to execute him personally, desperate to erase the absolute shame of bearing a "Devil" child. Furthermore, the Amazon royal heirloom—the sacred sword Tyrfing—had vanished into the human world the exact day the Queen's child was lost.
"Count Loki! There you are!"
The tense silence was shattered by a sweet, melodious voice. From the doorway of the nearby lecture hall, a beautiful young woman peeked out.
"Oh, it looks like Instructor Ayala was keeping you from arriving on time," Princess Lana noted.
Beside Loki, Shehuang let out a quiet hum of acknowledgment. She had already sensed Lana lingering behind the door, which was the real reason she hadn’t pointed out the classroom to Loki earlier. She enjoyed watching the drama unfold.
Loki nearly facepalmed. He had been standing a mere ten feet away from his destination the entire time.
Recognizing that the window for private conversation had closed, Ayala quickly masked her shock. She cast one final, heavy look at Loki. "Do not neglect your Vanguard training. The longer you avoid it, the more you will regret it."
Swoosh—thud, thud!
Activating her <Blink Teleport> skill, Ayala vanished into thin air, reappearing seamlessly on the stone rooftops. With the fluid, practiced grace of an anime ninja, she leapt across the structures, sprinting back toward her training grounds.
Princess Lana watched the prominent Amazon depart, her delicate features twisting into a slight pout. Turning her attention back to Loki, her face brightened. "Come on, Loki! I saved a seat for you right next to me in the back. Let's get some study time in together, okay?"
Loki sighed, adopting a distant, professional boundary. "It's Count or Sir Sky, Princess. I've told you this. I'd rather not get too close; your brother and mine will both throw a fit if they see us huddled together."
Lana lifted her chin defiantly, looking like a minor boss character throwing a tantrum. "We aren't doing anything inappropriate! Just get inside, Sir Loki, and help me study. Humph!"
Seeing no way out of it, Loki relented with a nod. "Fine. But Shehuang sits directly between us so nobody starts spreading rumors."
Lana’s jaw dropped, her mouth opening and closing repeatedly as she struggled to find a logical argument against his conditions. Beside them, Shehuang elegantly covered her lips, her golden eyes twinkling with mischievous delight at the princess's defeat.
As they walked through the heavy doors, Shehuang leaned in close, her voice a sultry purr. "Massssster~! You must always protect your chastity when venturing out, hehe~!"
Loki groaned internally. Yeah, someone needs to protect me from my own summons first.
The class was exceptional.
The curriculum was governed by a brilliant woman who held the esteemed rank of an 8th Circle Summoner. She ran the entire department single-handedly, covering core summoner fundamentals, advanced spellcraft, planar mechanics, and specialized monster lore—specifically focusing on rare creatures that explicitly chose to become summons. Crucially, she also taught non-summoners how to effectively combat the class, breaking down their distinct tactical weaknesses compared to traditional mages and healers.
The professor maintained a comprehensive, restricted library of summoner-exclusive spellbooks within her office, available for students to study but strictly forbidden from leaving the room.
Even Shehuang, who normally looked down on human magic, maintained an adorable, satisfied pout throughout the lecture, silently acknowledging that the 8th Circle woman knew her stuff. She sat gracefully beside Loki, occasionally pouring him glasses of chilled Apple Wine from her personal spatial ring to keep his thirst at bay.
Noticing that Lana was staring longingly at his drink, Loki sent a brief mental request to his summon, asking her to pour the princess a glass. Shehuang complied with flawless, elegant movements, though Loki could distinctly feel the slight ripple of jealousy pulsing through their contract.
Lana, being a Half-Elf, accepted the glass with immense gratitude. She had inherited the refined, highly sensitive taste buds of the elven race, alongside an incredibly irritable digestive tract. While pure High Elves were strictly vegetarian, Lana could technically digest meat when survival demanded it; however, consuming large portions invariably triggered severe, painful digestive issues. The light, crisp apple wine was the perfect alternative.
As Loki sipped his drink, his mind wandered to his upcoming day off. His father-in-law, Marquess Sky, had been generous enough to deliver a full suite of professional brewing equipment to his estate. In exchange for some premium barrels and custom bottles for the Marquess’s private collection, Loki had been granted full permission to begin experimenting with his own unique alcohol recipes.
Speaking of apples... Loki frowned slightly, remembering a bizarre dream he had experienced a few nights prior. He had vividly dreamed of beautiful, otherworldly goddesses gently feeding him a pristine apple. He wondered if that strange vision was the root cause of his sudden, intense cravings for the fruit.
Interestingly, Thorin had mentioned a similar phenomenon. During a recent chat, Thorin revealed that his own reoccurring nightly dreams had abruptly stopped after a strange real-world coincidence. Thorin recalled his past life, specifically the moment he was killed in a brutal tank ambush on Earth. Exactly an hour before the strike, a stunningly beautiful nurse—a woman he had never seen before at the forward base—had offered him a crisp apple for breakfast. As he lay dying in the wreckage, he briefly witnessed a radiant Angel—though Loki suspected it was actually an Earth Valkyrie—descending to claim his soul. After that moment, his nightly dreams vanished entirely.
"Count Sky?"
The professor’s sharp, academic voice shattered Loki's train of thought. He blinked, looking down at the front of the lecture hall.
The woman possessed the intense, unblinking eyes of a dedicated researcher. She smiled warmly, boldly pulling him into the spotlight. "As a confirmed dual-element Summoner, would you mind sharing your personal experience regarding your very first calling? The faculty is eager to compile notes on the subject, specifically to compare your methodology with King Balder and other historically renowned female Summoners."
Loki didn't mind. He smoothly stepped down to the podium, cleared his throat, and began weaving his tale. Naturally, he chose to craft a careful white lie—swapping out the overwhelming, divine presence of Shehuang for the less world-shaking details of Taki Tsuki.
As his narrative progressed, Loki remained entirely oblivious to the growing horror and sheer awe washing over his classmates. He casually described how his initial, reckless attempt had nearly torn open a rift capable of dragging a cataclysmic 9th or 8th Circle entity into the mortal realm, before he finally managed to wrest control of the spell and anchor a highly dangerous 7th Circle Water Mage instead.
By the time he finished speaking, the professor’s hand was visibly shaking, her quill scratching furiously against her parchment as she recorded every word of his staggering raw potential.
Clap, clap, clap!
The silence was broken by Shehuang. His number-one fangirl stood up proudly, applauding with an earnest reverence, as if Loki’s fabricated story was a sacred gospel destined for the archives. Instead of drawing annoyance, her unabashed devotion made the rest of the classroom chuckle, momentarily breaking the lingering dread caused by Loki’s terrifying tale of near-disaster.
Loki slid back into his seat, letting out a soft sigh.
Lana leaned over, her eyes wide with genuine impression. "Loki... Please, would you consider having lunch with me today? I feel incredibly awkward sitting alone with just Vali and Thorin."
Loki hesitated. He harbored a deep, instinctive dislike for Vali's arrogant attitude, though his actual brother, Thorin, was decent company.
Sensing his reluctance, Lana quickly put on her best puppy-dog eyes, her voice turning soft and pleading. "If you come, I promise I will remember to address you by your proper title. Please? I also happen to know the exact locations of every single class we share. If you walk with me, I can navigate for you so you never get lost or hunted down by Aunt Ayala again."
Loki stiffened. "Huh?! Aunt?"
Lana instantly clapped her hands over her mouth, her cheeks flushing bright crimson as she realized her slip of the tongue. She was absolutely terrible at keeping secrets.
"S-She isn't my actual aunt!" Lana stammered quietly, looking around to ensure no one was eavesdropping. "She is a dear, lifelong friend of Queen Leandra. Because of that bond, everyone within Albion Castle addresses her as 'Aunt' to show our mutual respect. My father actually tried quite hard to learn the deeper secrets of the Amazon tribes through that friendship... but Ayala absolutely despises him, haha."
Loki’s expression turned deeply amused. He could easily picture it. King Owen Balder was clearly the equivalent of a legendary Pokémon hunter, constantly trying to expand his Royal Harem by collecting the rarest, most powerful women across the continent. In that regard, the King and Thorin were cut from the exact same cloth.
Amused by the thought, Loki subconsciously brushed aside any reflection on his own rapidly growing, complicated love life.
"Alright," Loki finally conceded. "I will join you for lunch. Just this once. But if things go south or the atmosphere turns toxic, do not ask me again."
Lana beamed, her eyes sparkling with relief. "Thank you so much for coming with me, Loki."
Loki offered a muted nod, though a creeping sense of dread settled in his gut. True to his intuition, the lunch itself would turn out to be utterly abysmal—even if the food was exceptionally good.
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