Chapter 84- Leveling Demon (Part 1)
The car drove back to the palace swiftly, and Rize and Venera walked inside. Her father didn't arrive yet for some reason, even though his car moved first. Rize had to guess that he went somewhere else to deal with this crisis and plan for this all-out invasion of the mountain range.
Things were slow the past few days, but they were bound to pick up pace rather quickly. After all, it was the quiet before the storm.
"What do you plan on doing now, Venera?" As they walked through the corridors of the palace, Rize asked curiously when he noticed the thoughtful look on her face.
"I need to awaken as soon as possible, but it is still a month away from now," Venera said. "Until I awaken, there isn't much to do besides practice and get stronger. But…"
She stopped and looked at Rize. "I'm going to keep an eye on my father's plans and what he will do. I think I can get my hands on that info with some persuasion."
"... Do you think your father would do it?" Rize asked. "Killing everyone there, I mean."
From what Rize knew, Theodore wasn't a good person, but he had a minimum level of morality where he wouldn't target innocent people for no reason. However, there was nothing more dangerous than an extremely powerful man who feels cornered for the very first time.
As much as Theodore was righteous to those who are innocent, he is also, like any other person of his level, a power-hungry freak. A man who singlehandedly built this empire into the behemoth it became.
How could that man ever allow someone to threaten his position? The position he had worked hard for decades to cement. It was simply not an option, even if the innocent people of Zatharis were going to be sacrificed. In his eyes, it was merely collateral damage.
"I… don't know," Venera replied as she looked away. "And I frankly don't want to know. I'm certain the answer won't please me or anyone else."
"..." Rize exhaled a long breath. He really didn't know what to say at that moment. War was ugly, incredibly so. But nobody could stop a man like Theodore if he set his mind to it.
'As they say, War doesn't determine who is right; it determines who is left.' Rize thought to himself.
"For now, we should just focus on getting stronger," Rize said. "Only time will tell what will happen."
"What about you, Rize? What do you want to do?"
"Me?" Rize looked outside. "Tomorrow morning, I'm leaving the city."
"Where?" Venera asked.
"Well… I have actually awakened." Rize said as he channeled his energy through his body.
"Oh?" Venera raised an eyebrow. "When?"
"When I was stuck in that factory, it was the reason why I survived and was able to escape," Rize said. "I need to start training and getting stronger. Just practicing my sword won't do; it's time to actually hunt monsters."
Venera nodded her head. It was a dangerous choice, but it was something every combat-awakened person needs to do. Even Venera herself needed to do that.
"I can give you a good place to go to hunt. It's where most Royal Knights go during their training." Venera said.
"That's really helpful. But… Is it ok for me to leave your side and go train? I mean, it's my job to-"
"Your job is to get stronger and protect yourself, first and foremost," Venera said. "As you saw, things are about to get completely out of control, and we need to be ready. I'm safe as long as I'm in the palace."
"..."
"Don't think too much about it, Rize," Venera said as she approached him and looked into his eyes. "We need to do what we need to do. Understood?"
"Mmm…"
"Your potential is immense, so don't let yourself down."
Rize felt warmth in his heart seeing how caring Venera was toward him. He couldn't get accustomed to how she treated him this well when the previous Venera would've thrown him away and didn't care whether he lived or died.
That change must be written in history.
***
The rest of the night passed rather peacefully, all things considered. The talk about the events of the speech itself kept going, as active as ever. Almost every channel on TV was talking about it, and nobody really had an answer to what truly occurred.
The division between people was already brewing fast, and it was only a matter of time before they all started unraveling the truth.
On the other hand, only a handful of people knew what the king wanted to do in detail. What was known for a fact was that the war was inevitable.
With that, the night passed and the morning of a new day arrived. Rize woke up very early and ate breakfast in one of the many kitchens assigned for workers and staff. Even though he had only been there for a few days, he was already liking the atmosphere.
The butlers and maids were very nice and pleasant to be around, and he was able to make some friends quickly. One of the chefs even gave him extra pancakes purely because he was good-looking and 'well-behaved'.
Rize was only coming to discover the advantages of being a gorgeous person lately. It wasn't all too bad, after all.
After that, Rize picked up a bag filled with necessities for the trip and left the palace. It was still dawn when he did so; the air was fresh, and the sun was barely peeking from the horizon.
"Mmmm, what a pleasant morning." Rize exhaled as he checked his phone. Venera had sent him the location yesterday, which was not that far away from the capital outskirts.
'She had also given me a route out of the capital that isn't very risky. She really is the best.' He smiled to himself as he closed his phone and walked down to the exit of the palace.
Then, he took a taxi to the capital borders. Getting outside was justifiably an entire process unlike a few days ago. There were many people leaving the capital, mostly out of fear or simply for business.
The line was long, but, using his badge, Rize was able to get out in less than 20 minutes. The moment he emerged into the world outside, it was like a different place.
The stretches of vast greenery, the forest beyond, and the older, ruined buildings were scattered across it. It was gorgeous and peaceful.
'What a beautiful world this is.' He smiled. 'Time to get to work.'
Rize then started walking toward the forest. A part of him was excited to finally test all his new powers in a fight.
Well, a reasonably challenging fight, not a death sentence. The forest itself felt quite peaceful that day; the birds were chirping, and the trees created a gorgeous canopy above Rize's head. He felt like he had reunited with an old friend.
He was so familiar with this forest that he could even call it home. He had spent weeks and weeks in this place, surviving, learning, fighting, and adapting.
'Time to actually reap some rewards from that.'