Chapter 202 - End of the Trials

"But still Ainz...I don't want to cause any trouble to Cecil or Lucia..." Eli said worriedly.

"Don't worry, nothing will happen to them...also, didn't you see?"

"Hm?"

"Cecil...he knows how to read the ancient language written in those records inside the magi-tech building...I also saw him vigorously recording all the knowledge down inside his magic tome..."

"Th-that...wouldn't that make him a national, no—a continental treasure?"

"Precisely, even if those bastards from the Empire want to do anything to him...they'll have to ask whether the other Kingdoms will allow them to do that."

Eli nodded. What Ainz said made a lot of sense, but Eli noticed a problem.

"But...since he's part of our kingdom...then we've basically monopolized all the benefits and knowledge...not to mention that Cecil's apparently been taking part of some hidden trials and getting more rewards than the rest of us..."

"Yeah...we'll have to leave the negotiations to your Father...but I'm sure he'll understand the importance and benefits that Cecil will bring to the Kingdom...I also heard from Mother that Cecil's foster Mother, Lucia's birth Mother, is a pretty powerful figure. Even your Father has to respect her to some degree," Ainz said.

"Hmm...I hope that it'll be enough...you know very well how the Orca Empire can be..."

"Yeah, but with Cecil gaining the World Tree's Blessings, I'm not sure if it's possible, but he might be able to gain the protection of the Elfenheim Kingdom just because of it. We also have friendly relations with them and don't forget, our allies, the Neftersea Oceanic Empire. I'm sure that Fina wouldn't take things lying down if her best friend's boyfriend was getting picked on." Ainz smirked.

Eli could only giggle at his words. Whether if it was luck or not, Cecil had made friends with many powerful figures. With Silver publicly killing the Empire's prince in the trial grounds, it could be said that Cecil had displayed open hostility towards the Empire.

It was worrisome, but his connections and the friends that he's made, were also pretty powerful people. Not to mention that once the boy has come out of the trials, he'll be pretty influential himself since he's acquired the ancient knowledge from the World Tree's Trial grounds.

All Eli could hope for is that things would proceed in a manner that would only benefit him and their kingdom.

Although the Kingdom was ruled by dragons, the dragons were all inherently opposed into meddling with the mundane world.

They'd rather keep to themselves and observe the changes of the passing times. They were a long lived race after all, much longer than any of the other races of Alterna.

The Anglaria Kingdom was powerful, but without the certain backup of the dragons, many other powers such as the Beastman's Orca Empire and the Gigantes' Titanic Kingdom, didn't see them as a threat.

The Empire was also somewhat hostile to them. The Anglaria Kingdom's rulers hadn't once been in conflict with them in the past, so they couldn't determine why the Empire was always so hostile and overbearing to them.

What most people could deduce was that...the Empire simply hated the Kingdom because of their similarities with the humans. In the eyes of the Empire, the Beastkin were simply just humans with beastman features.

Of course, this was only speculation and no one could actually confirm if this was true or not.

The beastmen and humans were always at conflict. This dated back all the way into the ancient era. What sparked the conflict had already been long forgotten, but the blood feud continued nonetheless.

Normally it was the beastmen who initiated the attacks on the human continent, but it was surprising that this time the humans had actually taken the initiative. The only thing that people from the Urrugdrasil continent could deduce was that the human kingdom, Tempest, had been the one pulling the strings behind this invasion.

On the surface, the motive was purely for revenge, but was this really the true reason? It seemed a little unnatural, but they could also attribute it all to human nature. It was only natural to take revenge for a past transgression, but did the humans have to wait 10 years before doing so?

*****

When everyone had stopped and awoken from their cultivation or resting, the Academy Leaders quickly gathered everyone together and made their way back up to the teleportation gates' room.

When they got inside, the leaders turned their attention towards Cecil. It seemed that only he was able to read the ancient language so they could only rely on him.

Cecil shrugged and walked forward when he saw them urging him with their eyes. He walked up to the stone slab and took out the key that he had used earlier to open the door.

He inserted the key into a small opening just below the stone slab. He twisted the key to the right 2 times before a small click was heard.

Then the stone slab started to crumble away and a pedestal, that Cecil was all too familiar with, appeared in its place.

There were no words or instructions on what to do next, but Cecil already knew what to do. As everyone was puzzled why the gate hadn't activated yet, Cecil pulled out the Providence.

He liked this one the most because its name was pretty cool and the blade had a cool grayish color. Cecil then stabbed the sword into the pedestal and gray colored mana began flowing from the sword and into the pedestal.

The teleportation gate began to power up. It didn't take long before it was fully activated.

"Alright...go on." Cecil said as he turned towards the Academy Leaders.

Mal'norr only pounded his chest in response before leading his small group of students into the gate. The Beastman Reinhart didn't bother to say anything and led his students into the gate. Cleo and Eva thanked Cecil before going through the gate.

"Alright, let's get going." Zephyr said. He then brought the remaining students from Arks and walked through the gate.

Only the Little Kings were still waiting just in front of the gate. Cecil pulled out the Providence and walked over to his friends. The gate was beginning to power down after Cecil pulled out the sword, but it still had enough energy to power one more jump.

Cecil turned around to take one last look at the trial grounds. He smiled when he thought about all the things he went through while inside.

"Let's go Cel~"

At Lucia's words, Cecil led everyone through the gate and they all quickly exited from the trial grounds.

Not long after Cecil and his friends walked through the gate, a person materialized inside of the room. The person was a middle-aged male elf. He had a powerful presence and was standing ramrod straight with his hands behind his back.

"Hmm...He took 4 of the World Tree's Thorns and the magi-tech that he himself had personally created...what an intriguing child. So why wasn't he inside of the World Tree's vision then? I can tell he isn't part of our world...and so weren't those 'heroes'..."

If the trial participants were still here and they were able to listen to the middle-aged elf's voice, they would all have found it very familiar. It was the voice of the World Tree's Administrator. This elf was actually the Administrator that the Elven King had informed them about before the start of the trials.

"Hmm...It does not matter. Whether that boy dies in the coming conflict, or if he'll be the harbinger of hope, all of the World Tree's 13 Thorns have been taken. These trial grounds are no longer needed."

The elf waved his hands and the buildings and plazas in the trial grounds began to crumble. The forest began to emanate a luminous green glow and in the next instant the environment changed.

The trial grounds were no longer present. In its place was a lush, underground forest teeming with life. The monsters that the trial participants had encountered weren't present and only docile and harmless animals were left inside of the forest.

The Administrator sighed and he too began to glow with a green light. "It looks like my task has been completed...I pray that that youngster may survive...the other Thorn owners should have sensed it by now..."