The Quantum Wanderer

The next day, after breakfast and portaling the girls back to school, Cecilia and I are back at the experience farming.

This time, we both look for the termite nest connected to Dún Aonghasa. We find it, and rush over the queen. I hurt it, and it emits the order to all the termites to come back. I dig a hole on the wall, so that Cecilia can stay in front of it, and she gets to be the center of the battle. The sea of termites attacking reaches us.

The soul absorption spell is up, and I am taking out a lot of termites. The queen is being carried by the termites to another place, outside this chamber. The kings are all coming after Cecilia, that is doing wide swings of the sword. This cuts them like butter. I take a lot of them, using my right hand to do the railgun magic.

After a short time, the kings are all dead. This feels like a long time for me, but it is actually a very short one. I notice that Cecilia’s breathing is again ragged, she is about to get another huge backlask of experience. I grab her, and run towards the surface. The worker termites and some soldiers are protecting the queen, they left the area. I follow the same plan as before, and plug the tunnel behind us.

We get home, I portal us straight to the showers. Cecilia goes through the same process, but it is now easier for her. I offer help, but she prefers to work through it. We go down and Cecilia gets an early dinner, her stomach is rumbling again.

She lays down on the bed and sleeps. I give it some time, and then open the portal for the girls. They are not there yet, so I close it, and give it a little more time. I get a little worried, wondering on where the termites are taking the queen.

I give some time, and I open the portal for the girls again. This time, they enter the room.

“Girls, I think I am going to the termite nest to finish it up. We already killed all the kings, there are still a bunch of workers and soldiers, but I am afraid that they might try to move the queen and create another termite nest.”

Ruby opens up a smile.

“Can I help, my lord?”

“Of course.”

She is dressed for the knight school, she already has the armor on. We portal back to the termite nest. I sense the mana for the termites still alive. They moved to another chamber, not so far from the previous queen chamber.

Ruby just goes. I take care of the eggs and larvae. After sometime on that task, I take a look around with my mana sense, checking if there is anything left. Not a bug. I go with Ruby towards the dwarven city, I want to do a last inspection. I throw my mana sense around. No bug around either.

I look at Ruby. She has goo all over, but she is happy. We portal back to our showers. The other girls are clean already, and they make a disgusted face, probably directed at our smell. They go downstairs for dinner, while we clean up.

We go downstairs and have some dinner. The others ask how was it. Ruby complained that the big ones were gone, but it was a quick fun. We have dinner and retire for the night.

The next morning, Cecilia is already up when we wake up. I notice how toned she is now. Her levels shot up a lot. I can see that her mana pool increased to tremendous levels, and her muscles are toned. She didn’t get too big, but I can sense her new found easiness moving around.

“Good morning, sleepy head.”

“Good morning, cheat.”

“Me? Right now you are the cheat.”

“YES! This was AWESOME!”

“What level now?”

“I got to seventy fucking six!”

“Wow. Nice.”

“Yes, definitely.”

“Try to not show off too much, that kind of level is a little too high.”

“I am aware. I am the first non-hero to reach this. By the way… What is yours? You ended up not telling.”

“Yes, I didn’t want people to phreak out. I am 291 right now.”

Her eyes bulge. “What?”

“You heard it, 291.”

“You are kidding me. There is no such thing.”

“Ok.”

“291… Holy shit… “

I shrug. “I went through a lot to get there, though. And it was a lot more dangerous than what you have been through. At your level you still can’t face the dragonesses, unless you use the weird things I use. They are already very strong.”

She looks at the dragonesses, with an increased sense of respect. After breakfast, I contact Dávrin and let him know that the city is free of termites. He tells me that his people is almost ready, he only needs a couple of hours to get them in line.

I go outside, and sit below the tree. I enjoy the slower paced world this is.

Around noon Dávrin connects with me. I go inside the house, to my room, and portal myself to the square. The dwarves start noticing me, and kneel down. I ask them to just stand up. I find Dávrin already in front of the line formed.

I open the portal, and the procession start. Again, a lot of people go through the portal. Again, it takes some hours for everyone to go through. After this is done, I go back home, it is already time to receive the girls back home.

***

Professor Marianne’s POV

I meet Cecilia after some days, she says she had a cold. But I wasn’t expecting something like this. It feels like she is another person in terms of strength. Her mana now is intimidating, and I am level 51. It flows freely. She is using spells without incantations. There is something wrong here, it is not possible to advance levels enough to show like this.

Her magic increased to unbelievable heights. Her spells are now stronger and faster than less than a week ago. This is not supposed to be.

I wonder if we can get some information on what happened here. It may be something dangerous. If it is not something dangerous, then it is something that this school would really want to apply to other people.

We go to the training grounds, I get close to her.

“Lady Cecilia, I see you feel… Different? Did something happen in the past few days?”

“Yes, professor. I had this bad cold. I couldn’t even leave my room.”

“No, I mean, other than that.”

“Not really.”

It is lunch time now, I was about to get close to her again to try to pry a little deeper. I don’t buy this cold thing. I was about to do that, when the dean’s secretary comes to me, the dean is summoning me to his office urgently.

“Good afternoon, dean.”

“Good afternoon, professor. Just a minute.”

He finishes filing up some paper. This is probably a power move, to show who is in charge. After he is done with it, he places it unhurriedly on the out basket, and looks at me. He inspects me carefully. It looks like he is trying to find something.

“How can I help you dean?”

“Please, sit.”

He generally has a careless tone towards everything. When professor Ambrose nearly killed someone, he was laughing about the whole incident. Not here, not now. His tone is acid. I am executing an order, not a favor. I stay silent.

“I was informed that you are harassing lady Cecilia?”

“Dean Edward, something happened with her. I am positive she is way more powerful than she was. Than I am. Than anyone I have seen so far is. There has to be some explanation! We have the right-“

“LISTEN TO ME!”

I shut up mid sentence.

“What did she tell you?”

“She told me that she had a cold, but-“

He slaps the table. It seems I am walking on thin ice here. I keep quiet.

“If she said she had a cold, she had a cold. End of discussion. End of matter. Are we clear?”

I can feel that the ‘or else’ was just not said out loud.

“Yes, dean. I apologize.”

“Good. This was a good talk. You can go.”

I stand up and leave. I don’t think this would end with only my career.

***

Marcelo’s POV

During breakfast on the next day, I remember about Hikari’s wedding, that is going to happen in just 3 days.

“Opal, did you get to finish the piece for Hikari’s wedding?”

“It has been ready for some time now, my lord. Do you want to see?”

“Yes.”

She takes it out of her holding bag. The statue is absolutely fantastic. It is a couple, kissing each other. Underneath it, there is a very small light stone, that is pouring just a little light through the glass, in a way that makes the places the couple touch shine.

I remember Rudolph commenting that the pendant was too much, but this is absolutely fantastic. I still think it is better than the pendant, but at least it is something that doesn’t carry a price tag. I wish I had a camera to record this before we gave it away. I summon Rudolph.

“Rudolph, can you pls find in a store a fine cloth bag we can put this in?”

He looks at the statue, and shakes his head. He is thinking the same thing I am. I giggle. Opal frowns.

“What happened, my lord? Is it not to your liking?”

“Quite the opposite. I was thinking of just choosing something that we got from the dwarves to give as a present, but it would create waves, because it would be too expensive a present. But then you just produce something… Wonderful. You are very gifted, my love.”

Her face gets a little red, and she smiles. I am thinking of going there either today or tomorrow, so that we can stay in the inn.

“Girls, on the subject of the marriage. I had completely forgotten, but do you have clothes to wear? Cecilia?”

“We do, we do. We have had that noble ball, remember? We had acquired fine dresses then. No one from Hikari’s wedding is going to know that those dresses were worn before, so even if we follow the stupid noble rule of new clothes, we are good.”

I relax a little bit. Actually, I can’t relax much. The suit I used was dirtied with blood. I turn to Rudolph.

“Rudolph, how can I procure a suit? I forgot about this completely.”

“If I get your measures, I can procure a pre made one, lord. It doesn't carry the same status, though.”

I can’t resist trying to score some points with my girls.

“Rudolph, look around this table. I am going to arrive with them in my arms. Do you really think a mere suit would make any difference?”

Rudolph salutes and Cecilia blushes, but the dragonesses don’t really react. I think they didn’t understand the underlying message. I clear my throat.

“Anyway, we could go to Shoria tomorrow and stay in Akiko’s inn. That way we also get to enjoy some of the city before, and see how things are going. What do you think?”

“It sounds good, my lord.” Opal voices, and the other girls nod.

After breakfast is over, I portal them to the school dormitory. Rudolph and I go up to my room, so that he can take my measurements.

“Rudolph, how much for the suit?”

“About one gold coin, at most two.”

I hand him two gold coins from the dwarven bag.

“Lord, we are told to not use your money, ever.”

“I don’t know, Rudolph. Getting personal items for free seems… Weird.”

He sighs, and pockets the two gold coins. Now I don’t have much to do. I go to the guild, it is nice to take it easy after the days helping Cecilia level up. I visit the guild.

“Hello, Lionheart! How are you?”

“Hi Griffin. I am well. How have you been?”

“Very well. Everyone here is excited. Have you heard about the expedition?”

“No, what happened?”

“The guild in Angelica is putting up a request for an expedition to cull some monsters that are too close to the city. They are paying very well.”

“What monster is it?”

“They didn’t provide that information. There are some rumors that it is a type of monster that was thought extinct, but apparently they didn’t do the job well some 500 years ago. Now, the monsters grew in number, and they are going to threaten Angelica again.”

“Are these monsters close to the city?”

“I am not sure. They should be, if they are posing danger. We all have just been informed that the details are going to be provided in Angelica.”

“How long do you have to reach Angelica for the expedition?”

“4 weeks. I hear there are going to be adventurers from all over.”

Griffin keeps talking about what he is going to do with the money. He says that the payment is going to be on the platinum coin size for mithril adventurers. I tell him to be careful, nothing in this world is free. If the pay is this good, that means that the danger should be at the same level. He tells me that he is going to be careful.

After a little time in the guild, I just go back home. Rudolph tells me that I am being called by Edward. I go to his house, and I am brought to his study.

“Hi Edward.”

“Hi, friend. Thank you for coming in. Let’s have a seat. Do you care to drink anything?”

“Not particularly. Something sweet, perhaps?”

He pours two glasses of some liquor, puts one in front of me, and the other one in front of him.

“I got a message from lady Guina. She is assembling an expedition for monster culling, near Angelica.”

“Yes, I heard about that in the guild today. Some of the adventurers are excited. It is supposed to pay really well.”

He nods.

“She talked to me, she wants a clean slate, bygones be bygones… She is inviting you to join that expedition. She said that your strength would be welcome. It could save lives.”

“What do you think about this?”

“I don’t know. I could see a situation where she just phreaked out because of having her son killed, even if he was an illegal slaver, and now wants to make amends. But I could also see the opposite. You know, those in power are generally assholes…”

We both laugh on his joke. Now I am curious.

“When is this expedition going to take place?”

“It should leave Angelica on the next month, the eighth.”

“Exactly four weeks from today…”

“Yes.”

“Let’s suppose I go there. I am hoping not, but if this is some sort of trap… Do I have free reign?”

“Complete. You can rain Wrax’s fury on them, for all the guild is concerned. This possibility was already checked with Thalor, the third upper echelon.”

“Thank you. I appreciate.”

“No problem.”

I sip a little of the liquor, it is really good. We chat a little bit, and then I go home. It is already time to bring the girls back.

The next morning, we have breakfast and put everything we are going to need in our holding bags. The new suit, the girls clothes, everything. We could probably fit the whole house in there.

We portal to just outside the city, and go to Akiko’s inn. Once we get there, we reach the counter, and ask for Akiko.

“Honored guest! Welcome!” She turns to the side. “Indira, this is the honored guest I have spoken about. You already have your instructions.”

“Yes, madam.” She rings a bell, and turns to us. “Madam informed me that you are particular about bringing your own steaks for your meals. She also told me that your money is no longer good here.”

She puts out a smile. A kid comes around.

“The boy is going to take you to your room, honored guest.”

“Thank you.”

We get to our room, it is the same one we had booked in the past, a very nice one.

“Is there anything you girls want to leave in the room?”

“Not really,” Cecilia answers.

“Let’s take a stroll in the city, then.”

We once more walk around the city. The whole city is festive because of the marriage. We see some lines with paper flags tied to it. A lot of people around the city is commenting about the marriage. We go to a sweet shop that has tables, and occupy one. I can hear some people talking about the marriage.

“… she is a peasant? How did the baron…” “…was time already, he is not getting younger…” “…you really think…” “…just noble life…”.

The people are really invested in the marriage. Apparently, most people around are approving it. There is some worry that Julian’s family would not be accepting Hikari, but I already kind of knew about it.

After we leave the pâtisserie, we go to one of the beauty shops, and Cecilia reserves a time for tomorrow for the other girls and her. It is the same place where they got their nails done, apparently. After that, we just stroll around.

Once the day is ending, we get back to the inn. I go to the kitchen, and provide them with the kraken meat that is supposed to be cooked for us. The rest of the night is just calm.

Again, we wake up to the rising sun over the ocean. This room is really nice. The girls and I wake up. We go to the restaurant in the inn to have our breakfast. After this, the girls go to their beauty shop. I accompany them, I am thinking that it might get me a better hair cut than my usual thing.

And I was right, the hair cut is way better then the ones I generally get. I sit on the restaurant in front of the beauty parlor, waiting for the girls. When they get out, I am impressed. Even though they are dressed yet, they look wonderful! They have had their hair modeled, each one with a different style. Opal has some braids holding flowers over a straight hair in the back. Shandon has it up, with some strands on half her face. Aquamarine has a side of her hair pulled back, held in a braid in the back. The other half is covering the left half of her face. Ruby’s hair is held tight over her had, then explodes in the back with the curly orange hair. Cecilia has shorter hair than the dragonesses, but it is tied to one side, held in place by a clip.

They sit down, and we have a couple of sweets, then we come back to the inn. I portal us back to our home, so that the maids there can help with the clothing. I open the holding bag that I received from Dávrin, and I put some jewels on the bad. One of them is actually a dragon brooch. I pick it and use for Cecilia’s hair, it hides the pin she is using to hold her hair there.

There are several jewels in the bag, and I pull them out. They are all stunning, and Cecilia’s eyes are shining with them. I am worried that something like this may be too showy.

“Cecs, why don’t we check with Rudolph before? I am worried that it may be too showy, it may cause us problems. We are going to be surrounded by nobles, we might end up entangled into something. What if a noble tells that you stole that from her wife?”

“It’s not like they can hurt us, though.”

“That is true, but where does the escalation end?”

“What do you mean?”

“Let’s say they accuse us. Now we have some armed guards. We defend ourselves and kill all of them. Now, in order to live free, we have to kill the noble and everyone around it. Where is it supposed to end?”

She keeps thinking a bit, but she understands my point. I loved the expression, nail that stands out get hammered on the head.

They choose some smaller pendants, that have an exquisite labor on it, but it is not easy to perceive their value. Most nobles on the place will even think they are fake.

“If it makes you any happy, I would just love to have my katana on my waste. You know men like their toys. I would love nothing more than show it off.”

She giggles a little, sighs, but she gets in a better mood. The dragonesses don’t really care much about our talk. I think that they neither care for jewels nor for razing a whole kingdom, so the whole discussion may seem pointless to them.