Stuart
‘Boffel? Could it be the ‘Divine Luminescent Wing’? And calling him ‘Your Grace’? Isn’t that a title used in ancient times for Morning Stars? And the Monarch of the Skies? Oh, goodness. Could this Magus be a Morning Star as well?’
The female Magus who had a pair of thick glasses on peeked at Leylin, feeling like he was as unfathomable as the mountains and the seas. She could not help but lower her head, feeling ashamed at her previous conjectures.
Boffel did not spare her a glance. Since violence could not be employed in the library, the usage of Morning Star domains was restricted. She could hear some of what they were saying, but since this was an honest conversation there was nothing to be hidden anyway.
“Oh, my apologies. The information here is just so abundant that I forgot about the time!” Leylin stood up, looking apologetic.
“Anyone who disturbs a Magus immersed in the ocean of knowledge should have their souls scorched in the flames of the ninth hell. Why would I mind?” Boffel had a very witty way of speech, and Leylin immediately formed a better impression of him.
Boffel was not at all surprised about Leylin staying in the library all day. Many scholarly Magi would treat the Great Library as their home upon reaching Sky City for the first time. There were people who stayed within from a few months to even decades, and if not for having too little information points, they would even stay there for their whole lives! Compared to these people, Leylin had only been there for a month, which was very normal. Boffel felt that he seemed to have too many information points, but then again, considering he had just returned from a foreign world, he must have gained large amounts of knowledge from it, so this was understandable.
“Alright. I shall head there now.”
Leylin placed the book back in its original position. He had reaped a great harvest this time, and the Great Library currently did not have anything especially useful to him. Besides, the Monarch of the Skies had summoned him, and it was best that he tidy himself up. This was a necessary part of etiquette.
“And you, earnest young lady!” Leylin shot a glance at the female Magus who only wished she could hide behind her book.
“Your Grace, Boffel, and this… your Grace. Please forgive me for my offensive behaviour!” Cold sweat was already dripping from the female Magus’ forehead.
Though Sky City was a peaceful area that paid attention to the law, Morning Stars always had privileges. The moment Leylin or Boffel found her an eye sore, she would wind up in a pitiful state even if they didn’t act themselves.
“Haha… don’t be afraid! I want to thank you for accompanying me while I studied for this past month. Treat this as a gift!”
Leylin laughed, and the library card in his hands flew out. Scanning the female Magus’ library card, he transferred his remaining information points to her.
The Great Library now held little meaning for Leylin, which was why there was no point in having these information points with him.
“This…” Though Leylin felt that the number of information points left was pitifully low, to the point that it had almost hit zero, this was still a gigantic amount for the female Magus! She immediately cried out in surprise.
By the time she had recovered from her shock and wanted to thank Leylin, she found that they had long since left.
“Your Grace’s act of providing financial aid to other Magi is truly admirable!” Boffel could not understand Leylin’s actions, since the information on him showed that Leylin was not someone so charitable.
“Hehe… I’m just in a good mood!” Leylin chuckled.
This explanation rendered Boffel completely at ease. Warlocks were truly a group of Magi who were very emotional. In such good moods from the benefits from the library, they could indeed reward any low-ranking Magi as they wished. This unusual situation lost all strangeness when Warlocks were involved.
Boffel did not pay much attention to Leylin’s momentary act of kindness, and instead brought to attention some things to take note of when meeting the Monarch of the Skies.
“I don’t get it…” Leylin immediately asked Boffel, “I’m merely a Morning Star. Why would the Monarch of the Skies want to see me?”
The other party was a Breaking Dawn Magus with influence all over the central continent. He had complete control of the airship networks, and possessed a foreign world of his own that had been completely taken over. The Morning Stars and Radiant Moons under him were innumerable.
This sort of person should, by right, be far superior to him. Why was there the sudden desire to meet Leylin?
Leylin had once had the idea of making a trade with the coordinates of the Lava World, but he’d never once expressed these thoughts.
‘Something’s suspicious…’ Leylin stroked his chin and immediately, Jupiter’s Lightning came to mind. It could not be helped. He had few enemies in the central continent, and Zegna was the only one of them could influence the organisation behind Sky City.
‘I was just worried you wouldn’t come!’ A smirk appeared about Leylin’s lips.
The heart of Sky City was a large-scale floating garden, forming the ‘floating’ landscape that gave the title of the floating city.
This garden— the Drifting Garden— was the heart of Sky CIty’s power. It was also the temporary imperial residence of His Majesty, the Monarch of the Skies.
“This is Boffel. Step aside.” Boffel flew all the way to the Drifting Garden with Leylin in tow. The Warlock had tidied up and was now dressed in formal attire.
The deeper into Sky City one went, the more the instances of probing and detection, to the point that Leylin’s expression changed slightly. If not for Boffel guiding him, it would have been inconvenient for him to sneak into the Drifting Garden without being detected.
Looking down from the edges of the Drifting Garden, one could see all the sights of Sky City. It left one’s heart free and unfettered.
Further in was a cobbled lane. On both sides of the path were Devil Fungi Taro, Heavenly Intoxicating Nectar, and large amounts of other precious plants that Leylin did not even know the names of. They were numerous, and all in full bloom. If not for the A.I. Chip detecting powerful shackling runes there, Leylin would have had plans of taking a bunch.
“After walking through this area, we will arrive at His Majesty’s residing quarters. I can only accompany you up to this point.” Boffel laughed as he spoke, “His Majesty is a very amiable person, and he’ll definitely…”
“Boffel, you seem to have brought someone new here. That’s against the rules!” Another voice sounded, and Leylin especially went stiff, feeling like he was being stared at by a poisonous snake.
“You!” He raised his head, seeing what looked to be a kindly old Magus approaching them.
“Lord Stuart! This is Duke Leylin Farlier of the Ouroboros Clan, here to meet His Majesty.” Boffel bowed. At the same time, he introduced the person to Leylin in a quiet voice, “This is Lord Stuart, a Radiant Moon Magus. Since His Majesty is often absent, he is usually in charge of managing Sky City…”
“So it’s Lord Stuart!” Leylin bowed, neither too enthusiastic nor too cold. His sensitive soul immediately found a trace of ill intent directed at him. In that case, he wouldn’t bother being too cordial.
“Hm?!” Such an attitude rapidly increased the distaste that Stuart already had. He did not hold back and began to criticise Leylin. “As expected, it’s a little chap with no manners. Is it really alright for this kind of person to meet with His Majesty?”
“Lord Stuart, Leylin is a treasured guest of our Sky City.” Boffel coughed and answered with a warning. Stuart’s attitude was obviously biased, and he could not watch further.
“Your Highness, Stuart, you are in no position to judge whether I have any manners!” Leylin retorted without restraint.
This immediately left Boffel dumbfounded. This was a Radiant Moon, a great rank 5 Magus! In Sky City, he had tens of thousands of subordinates under him, and yet, Leylin was not giving him any face?
In actuality, if the other party was merely a little arrogant, Leylin did not mind humbling himself and treating him the way he did Weyers. However, Stuart was obviously here to create trouble, finding Leylin an eyesore before even meeting him. No matter how much Leylin tried to endure this, he would only be humiliated, and all for nothing. There was therefore no reason to be courteous.
“Good! I’ll teach you some manners right now!” Hearing Leylin’s tone, Stuart was evidently exasperated. Never did he expect a Morning Star like Leylin to speak to him in such a manner!
*Rumble!* Formless soul force was like a raging sea as it gushed towards Leylin.
He had intentionally controlled the might of the spell, such that it affected only this small area. With Stuart’s control, he was confident that he could keep the battlefield within the area and not alarm anyone else.
Boffel could only laugh wryly. While he did agree that Stuart had gone too far, he only stood aside.
“Hmph! Is a rank 5 so fantastic?” Leylin sneered, his soul force that had reached five stars surging forth.
The gigantic phantom of a Giant Kemoyin Serpent with scarlet lines on it appeared behind him, hissing at Stuart.
“Hss!” The ferocious soul tide formed a gigantic black snake, colliding fiercely with Stuart’s soul force.
“Hm?!” Stuart’s eyes widened, not expecting to have difficulties in dealing with Leylin. ‘Five star soul force? Didn’t the intel say four stars?’
Crackling sounds rang out as the two bouts of soul force cancelled each other after the collision. The forces that went astray caused an explosion.
*Pak! Pak! Pak!* The sounds of countless runic chains breaking could be heard. The concealing spell formations that Stuart had previously set up were completely broken through!
“Urgh!” Leylin staggered backwards, face completely red.
Stuart, on the other hand, stood completely still as he stared at Leylin expressionlessly, not intending to pursue this fight.
The strength of this Morning Star before him had exceeded his expectations, and he was a five star Warlock! It would take a large amount of time and energy to take him down.
What was even worse was that this would not be hidden from His Majesty, and Stuart’s expression turned dark.