Chapter 146: We'll Get There, Step by Step

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(Veronica)

[The Levels of the [Superhuman Strength; Level 4], [Coordination; Level 4], [Self-Enhancement; Following (Ervas); Level 4], [Javelin Technique; Level 4], [Thread Reeling Technique; Level 3], [Artillery Technique; Level 4], [No-Attribute Magic; Level 3], and [Aura of Fear; Level 2] Skills have increased!]

[You acquired the [Magic Fighting Technique; Level 1] Skill!]

(Ervas)

[The Levels of the [Coordination; Level 3], [Self-Enhancement; Following (Veronica); Level 4], [Inner Skeleton Form Manipulation; Level 1], [Life Drain; Level 3], [No-Attribute Magic; Level 5], [Unarmed Fighting Technique; Level 4], and [Long-Distance Control; Level 4] Skills have increased!]

[You acquired the [Magic Fighting Technique; Level 1] Skill!]

After defeating the Wyvern Boss, Ervas and Veronica were suddenly sent to a dream for an unexplainable reason, but the two, as they butchered the large creature, quickly came to a few conclusions on why this happened so suddenly.

"So you think that it could have been because of both of our souls?" asked Ervas telepathically to Veronica.

"Well yes, both of our souls had developed into something unique, and when we merged in our dreams, its effect was drawn into us the souls of our people from the other Kritias where we came from," said Veronica.

"Abyssal Soul and Soul Void… have there ever been anything with such strange skills before?" wondered Ervas.

"I don't remember… not even after recalling everything from the Skill Compendiums that we once read," said Veronica.

Veronica concluded that it was Ervas power to connect with other worlds, and Veronica's ability to bounce back effects that caused this…

Perhaps, the Original Kritias' souls' grief was so intense and converged into a single entity that is called back to them through their connection that they had with Veronica and Ervas as Demons. Then, Ervas soul power triggered in, creating the connection between worlds, and then Veronica's soul power activated, sending the two towards the direction of the beings that wanted to speak with them instead of receiving the message, similar to how it happened with Ratatoskr.

Of course, this was just a theory by Veronica, and it was bound to have some flaws and holes on it, but they could not come with another solution, so they settled with it.

"But to think that we would acquire the… Divine Protection of our fallen people…" muttered Ervas as he clenched his tiny fists.

"Yes… It was very incredible… there were so many souls together gathering for a single purpose, that the energy generated was slightly akin to a god, allowing them to create a Divine Protection to help us on our journey back to them… to one day save them from the grief and hopelessness that they are going through…" muttered Veronica.

"I wonder why they're still there. Has something happened with Qadall? Why cannot he reincarnate these souls…?" wondered Ervas.

"Most likely because something happened… I suspect that the immense amounts of mana that the war between gods left in the environment made every soul of the people that die there mutate into ghosts or other types of undead monsters… so no one can rest in peace or be cleansed of their memories and reincarnate… they're trapped in undead bodies aimlessly… most likely, their emotions had made them too attached to their former homes, so they cannot escape the ruins of our Kingdom" said Veronica.

"That's…" muttered Ervas.

"It's horrible, I know…" said Veronica.

Although Ervas was always expressionless, he held great sorrow on his big and scarlet eyes, glancing at the floor.

"…"

Veronica, who had taken most of the cheerful emotions when the original soul was split in two, wanted to do her job and cheer up the one who had inherited the gloomy emotions and had a hard time with things.

"Don't worry, we'll get there one day" said Veronica.

"…Yes, we'll get there," said Ervas, nodding. Although he seemingly said it casually, his crimson eyes were burning with resolve.

Veronica patted Ervas head as the two continued butchering the giant creature while the rest of the party finished butchering the other monsters.

"I'm actually incredibly thirsty… maybe that would cheer me up," said Ervas, seeping his fangs into the Wyvern and draining it from most of its blood, leaving the meat clean and ready to cook.

"Now that we maxed level in our jobs, we should change… my Rank is still stagnant, I barely acquired one level… maybe killing a Rank 9 monster might work?" wondered Veronica.

"Perhaps killing one monster of a rank higher won't do, we would need to kill several of them… but one level per kill doesn't sound bad, the thing is that the only Rank 8 monster in here is this Wyvern in specific, and it only appears once a day… we would have to wait like two months to finally reach max level in our ranks by just killing it every day…" said Ervas.

"Well, whatever… let's go back home," said Veronica.

"Hey, you two! Carry the corpse here! Let's go, peko!" said Pekorina from a few meters away, calling Veronica and Ervas.

"Alright, let's get going, it was a fun trip," said Ervas.

"Well, we spent just a day, but it felt quite long," laughed Veronica.

As Ervas and Veronica joined back with the group while bringing the butchered Wyvern entangled into metallic threads, the party moved out of the dungeon by walking back through the floors they passed through.

The monsters were way less than before, as each time a Dungeon Boss was killed, the spawn of monsters inside a dungeon would become smaller, facilitating the party that defeated the Boss to run away from the dungeon.

After a few hours of walking, Ervas and Veronica's party reached the walls of the little Kingdom of Igni, which was only a few days old, the walls opened a door automatically as they recognized the party, as the walls were golems that only received those that they recognized.

"Guooonn…" muttered the walls, welcoming their masters Ervas and Veronica.

"It was a long day, what about you?" asked Ervas.

"Guooooonn…" said the walls.

"I see, well, take a rest for now," said Veronica.

"Guoon…" said the walls, understanding the words of their masters.

The moment Ervas set his foot into the Kingdom's paved streets, Lilith, and her 'sisters' swarmed the young boy and Veronica.

"Prince Ervas! Princess Veronica! We missed youuuu!" said Lilith.

"We were exploring a dungeon recently!" said Eisheth.

"We managed to change Jobs when we reached max level!" said Agrat

"We are getting stronger… but we are hungry…" said Naamah.

"Oh right, I've forgotten to give you girls blood… here," said Ervas, using Phantom Form Transformation on his index finger and extending it as a long and tiny tentacle, which he divided in four in the tip and gave to the four girls.

"Ah, Ervas-sama fresh blood!" said Lilith and her sisters, as they drank Ervas blood through these little tentacles… Many would think of this as bizarre, and it really was, but everyone was already used to it.

Ervas was a tender person very close to his family, so he did not mind doing this and he did not find it awkward personally, it was an efficient way to feed them, even if seemed a bit ridiculous.

"Blood Humans need rich blood to sustain their strength after all," said Veronica.

"Aren't Blood Humans like Vampires in everything except the weaknesses?" asked Shade.

"Kind of…" said Ervas, as the rest of the party (the four Lilith sisters included) walked back to the 'castle' at the center of the kingdom, which resembled a modern human building from earth… of course, many details were lacking, so it still had the feeling of a small castle.

"Perhaps they don't have an undefined lifespan like Vampires…" said Veronica.

"There is still a lot to investigate about them, but it is hard without a proper researcher about magic, species and more… although we have a lot of knowledge, we are not experts in this nor we are quite bright in investigating races, but we'll do our best," said Ervas.

"Could there be a person like that within the dead spirits of the Devil Forest?" asked Jason.

"No… I've already checked a few times, mostly adventurers, none of them were focused on the investigation or anything like that…" said Veronica.

"However, I've heard of some say that there is a faraway graveyard that formed after a war between tribes of demons and humans a few dozens of years ago… there are many dead spirits bound to those lands and there is the possibility of someone that could help us," said Ervas.

"Or well, new allies could also be nice," said Veronica.

"So we will be recruiting fallen heroes from a war?! That sounds awesome!" said Amelia.

"Not yet, we must go met the ghouls first… I wonder how they are handling things, Oggoth shouldn't have ever touched them so they should be quite fine by themselves, right?" asked Ervas.

"I suppose so, there isn't much info that we have gathered about them other than the ghouls are good hunters and very territorial," said Ismene.

"Ah, the ghouls… I think the last time we met them was when we traded leather and small tools" said Mysticia, who had appeared to join dinner.

"I hope we all get well together…" said Ervas.

"I'm sure we will, Ervas-sama!" said Lilith.

As the dinner, which included Wyvern steak and skewers was getting ready, Ervas and Veronica decided to change Jobs in the meantime.

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