Chapter 1040: Holy Emblem

"Alex. Are you thinking of something?" Alicia noticed Alex's weird state and asked him.

Firia also turned around and came closer.

"Ah." Alex blinked his eyes a few times and waved his hand. "It's fine. I was just in thought earlier. No need to mind me. I will wait until you two finish."

"We have finished and found you were in thought."

Alex nodded. "In that case, let's go."

Alicia and Firia felt a bit weird when Alex brushed the matter off but didn't pry into it.

"Alright, then." Firia hugged him and kissed him. "Good luck."

"Thanks." Alex smiled and looked at Alicia. "Let's go. Where are we going?"

"Follow me." Alicia turned around and flew to the sky.

Alex followed her while waving her hand to Firia.

The journey didn't take too long, only five minutes. They landed in front of a small building in the middle of a forest.

"What is this place?" Alex asked while observing the building with his Spirit Eyes, finding many energy signs underground.

"Where Eulja conducts its research." Alicia smiled and used a token to teleport them inside. "We have several places like this depending on their use. This one is for arrays and the most discussed topic is your Array Technique…"

"Array Technique?" Alex tilted his head before finding Eulja's symbol on her forearm. "That…"

Normal people wouldn't realize, but Alex could see the small arrays that had been compressed into one logo. "Holy Emblem?"

"Yep." Alicia nodded with a smile. "We have conducted the research about it and successfully recreated it to fit our own body. This will be the universal form."

"So fast?" Alex widened his eyes. He thought that the research would take a bit longer, considering they needed to configure the technique and changed the structure to fit a God Rank Expert.

"It's not that different to be honest. We just calculated which array did we need to have for the basis of Rank 9 Arrays. Mostly, they are related to our element, Divine Energy, Gathering Symbols, and such. After laying the groundwork, we proceed to create a layer of them.

"As you know, a Rank 9 Array consists of more than a million symbols. We needed to compress those symbols to this small…Of course, it's impossible. We ended up solving the problem by creating layers." Alicia explained.

"Layers?"

"Yes. If we want to paint a house with white paint, it will be there for the rest of eternity, right? And when we want to paint it with another color…"

"It will just create another layer of color. I see. So, that's the trick to compress symbols to a small Eulja Logo." Alex nodded in understanding.

"Yes. However, the time and process took longer than expected, so it was hard to produce such a thing. Besides, a Rank 9 Array is harder to compress than we thought. Do you remember how they used their Holy Emblem?"

Alex thought for a moment. "I know. They summoned the symbol and connected it with a few more symbols to complete the array."

"Exactly, but it's possible because they didn't need a lot of additional symbols. Take a look…" Alicia suddenly summoned Eulja Symbol. However, instead of an additional circle, it grew in all directions as if the symbol was tree roots. Those were symbols as well.

"This…" Alex widened his eyes.

"Those symbols are the remaining symbols. There are still around one hundred thousand symbols that you need to create. But considering you have compressed around one million or so symbols, I don't think this is a problem." Alicia shrugged.

"True enough. One hundred thousand symbols will probably require one second." Alex nodded. "Having that logo alone has fastened the process by around ninety percent."

"Of course, there is one weakness for this technique." Alicia smiled. "Because of so many layers that are compressed, we have an array limit."

"What do you mean?"

"First, many arrays are not suitable for this technique because they require too many symbols. Most of the arrays we have tested are ranging from one to five million symbols. Above that is already too high." Alicia sighed.

"Fair enough. But the process is almost complete with that logo alone." Alex nodded.

"The second will be the number of arrays you can use in one tattoo."

"Hmm?" Alex furrowed his eyebrows.

"We have compressed too many symbols in one small image. More than this will cause a complex reaction. To counter it, we have selected only a few and know that the current progress allows us to only have five arrays in one logo. You can have two tattoos, but I think more than that will not be beneficial to your body for various reasons."

"Then, can we replace the logo with another one?" Alex asked. "I mean, they are connected with each other, right? I am sure that we can replace a certain layer if we want to use a certain array."

"Yes. First of all, we are using a Divine Beast's blood to create symbols like this before getting another layer for the color. This layer of color is so expensive because it is the material to keep the array working. The blood will soon be washed away or lose its effectiveness at one point, right?"

Alex nodded. "I understand. Even so, this is already amazing."

"Amazing is an understatement. A Rank 9 Array Master normally requires thirty seconds for one Rank 9 Array. And this Holy Emblem allows us to create one array in one to three seconds. Can you even imagine the effect? It will revolutionize the entire job." Alicia sighed.

"Well, there is that. Just make sure that the personnel who are working here are loyal, so there is no information leakage. After that, we can proceed with all things related to this." Alex smiled.

"Yes. For now, let's enter." Alicia stretched her hand, guiding Alex inside the building. "I will bring you to someone, so you can get tattooed…That is if you want."

"I already have a plan to use this, so there is no way I will back down." Alex shrugged and followed her. "But I can't really show myself to people for the time being."

"I have a route for that. The escape route of this building that allows us to move toward the most important person in this place." She smiled and began walking.

Alex trusted her and followed her for several minutes.

She was right. There was a hidden door that led downwards. Alex and Alicia quickly reached the ending with their pace, finding a giant metal door at the end of the corridor.

Alicia pushed open the door and found someone inside. She had a similar body figure as Jeanne, but her expression was cold unlike Jeanne's energetic one. She had blonde hair tied into twin tails.

"Ah, there she is." Alicia smiled and waved her hand. "I have brought someone with me this time."

The female, who was reading the report in her hand, stopped and took a glance at Alicia while saying nonchalantly. "Please come in, Alicia. What do you need for me to sneak in like that?"

Alicia pouted. "You are so cold. Even though you have been my mentor in the array, you are not even happy to see me."

"I taught you because it was an order."

"Really?" Alicia looked away before opening the door fully, revealing Alex's appearance. "You were never true to yourself, so I will just do this…"

"What are you doing?" The female furrowed her eyebrows and found the person behind her. She widened her eyes and blinked a few times. She glanced at the large picture frame behind her and looked back at Alex repeatedly. "Yo-yo-yo-your Majesty!"

The female quickly leaped to greet Alex but got tripped by the table and fell to the ground. "Gya—!"

Alicia smiled. "This is my mentor. Despite her appearance and action, her skill is a real deal."

"Hmm?" Alex furrowed his eyebrows. "A dwarf?"

"Y-y-y-y-yes, Your Majesty." The female hurriedly restored her posture and kneeled on one knee. "I am Lilda, a dwarf."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Lilda." Alex smiled and nodded.

"It's my honor to meet Your Majesty."

"Thank you for taking care of my wife."

"Eh?!" Lilda widened her eyes and looked at Alicia with a shocked expression.

"You didn't know?" Alicia tilted her head in confusion.

"I didn't get any information other than your name and element. You…You turns out…" Lilda gasped.

"I am Alex's wife. I thought you already knew about it." Alicia shook her head.

"As I said, I was tasked to teach you arrays. That's all. I haven't gone out for a few decades already…" Lilda sighed.

Alex shook his head helplessly and helped her up. Lilda was shaking when Alex touched her hand and froze.

"I am here for a reason…" Alex smiled and looked at Alicia. "About the tattoo."

"She can help you." Alicia pointed at Lilda.

"Is that so?" Alex nodded. "Please help me, Lilda."

"Y-y-y-yes." Lilda stiffly replied while trying to process what just happened.

"What should I do?" Alex asked.

"Hmm…Can you wait a bit?" Lilda couldn't think of anything because of the shock.

"She admires you even from your previous life. She is considered the most expert in Eulja regarding the array. One of the Rank 2 Gods in this world, Lilda." Alicia decided to introduce her. "I have heard why she admired you…"

"Wha—" Lilda looked away, embarrassed.

"You were her savior." Alicia wanted to take revenge by sharing Lilda's past. "Normally, Dwarves are good at Forging. There was only one person who didn't have that trait. It was her. Expelled from her race, she met you and learned that forging was just a general verb.

"Anything could be related to forging. Having the heart of a forger, she decided to study many things under your guidance and found something that she could master. It was the arrays or you could say forging an array instead of a weapon.

"In order to teach me, Sister Xingzhi told her about your reincarnation. And she became a die-hard fan once again after you gave the Holy Emblem."

"…" Alex fell silent for a few seconds.

"Your Majesty had changed my life, so I couldn't thank you enough…" Lilda opened her mouth while looking away.

"Is that so?"

"Y-yes." She had calmed down and began to stop stuttering.

"That's good then. My past life didn't make a wrong choice." Alex paused. "I would like to ask you again, can you draw me a tattoo?"

"Yes." She repeatedly nodded. "However, it's rude to ask, but may I know Your Majesty's knowledge about the Holy Emblem and Array in general?"

"I have reached Rank 9 Array Master, but I don't have much knowledge in general. There is so much information in the brain, but I haven't absorbed it yet. Maybe I can absorb it first for one or two months. I am sure I will be better…" Alex answered honestly. "What do you think?"

"That will be good. Before choosing what kind of layer set to create the tattoo, it's better for Your Majesty to know what you want first."

Alex thought for a moment. "Teleportation is a must. I don't have the need for a Gathering Array and Simulation Room since I won't make them unless in a safe place. Other than that, I think I want to have one Barrier Type Array, one Illusion Array, one Attack Array, one Bind Array, and one Elemental Array. That's all."

"It's good for Your Majesty to know about what you need, but there is a problem. We have a vast amount of Array Variety, so Your Majesty can take a look at it first to know about the specific array you want to embed."

"That's a good idea. I will sort the knowledge first and have Alicia or you teach me about arrays for a few months. After six months, we will draw the tattoo, and I can get used to it while training my Array Activation so that I can use it in a fight." Alex explained his plan.

"That sounds like a plan." Alicia agreed. "We can spare another six months for the joint training between Firia and me."

"Yes." Alex nodded and asked Lilda. "How about it?"

"I will help as much as I can, Your Majesty." She repeatedly nodded, making her look cute.