The Arcane Emperor

Chapter 4 A Fairy and a Broken Seal

In another time and another place, within a messy room that had strange runic drawings plastered all over the walls and a spreading crack on its wooden floor, stood a single man. He looked to be roughly 30 years of age. Rainer would recognize him as a younger looking version of his grandfather. Rainer shared this man's black hair and blue eyes though he stood at 6'4", almost half a foot taller.

He could only frown deeply looking at the note Rainer left behind.

The boy had always been careless, hence the existence of the seal that held the majority of his magic in the first place. He was not the type that could survive in our world, not like his mother and sister. His mana talent and work ethic had been simply too low even if he was the only other one to have the power of the arcanist. In fact, he would be an easy target had the council and various guilds not agreed to ignore him so long as he was sealed. Now, not only did the seal disappear along with him, there are massive signs of spatial fluctuations!

I can sense the magic, he clearly did this by himself, but how?

And what the hell was he doing in the first place?! I need to figure this out before others realize that the seal has been removed…

"And this note! Of course, he would leave behind such a thing...You were sealed for a reason!"

He couldn't help but exclaim the rest of his thoughts aloud. Frederick Nvos spent the next few hours trying to figure out what spell Rainer had cast from the mess that was his great-great-grandson's notes. He couldn't help but bury his palm in his face when he found the journal Rainer kept.

A wall-walking spell...How did he even get towards that from what I gave him? None of his calculations or any of his runes make sense. It should have just fizzled out after making him go unconscious from mana loss.

Frederick decided to cast the spell himself just in case. And the result truly surprised him. It was only for a moment and by the slightest degree, certainly not enough to pass through an object, but his body truly phased outside of this dimension. In a crazy fever, he started going through all of Rainer's notes again trying to see what he missed.

To think my apprentice created such a magnificent spell!

Whether he was still searching for what happened to Rainer or just more interested in his apprentice's spell, who knew? Rather, was it really okay for someone who stunted Rainer's power and growth to consider him their apprentice all of a sudden?

Back in the present time and within the world of the so-called "apprentice"…

The moment Rainer had entered the Goblin mage's room he went to grab the [Enchanted Oak Staff] and the [Scroll of Fireball].

At least now if I need to run he won't be as strong.

He went right after to apprise the fairy and to get her attention.

[Fairy, Female, Fae Enchantress lvl 2]

"Hey little one, you wouldn't perhaps kno…"

Before Rainer could get another word out the originally sobbing fairy's face lit up and she started speaking at the speed of light.

"You appraised Luna! Luna is so happy. Hero has come to save Luna!"

Rainer felt a strange feeling come over him like a pair of eyes were boring into him from somewhere beyond, for just a moment, and then the feeling quickly vanished.

"A-raa-caa-naa-ist? Elera mai yu tai Luna."

Yet the smile quickly disappeared and she continued to keep mumbling in that almost ethereal language.

[Skill Gained: Fae Language lvl 1/10]

"Elera not Hero, Elera come for Luna's fairy dust too. But if Elera not hero how.."

Not wanting to waste skill points that, based on only receiving 1 for a level up, were likely rarer than he believed, he did his best to piece together something in her language.

"Me here...to...help?"

"Elera speak Fae yani!"

"No wait, wait, I'd rather speak in this language, I'm not too good at...Fae."

"You say you are here to help Luna but why do speak language of dumb ones. Luna doesn't believe you."

Luna took the confused looked on his face to mean he was angry.

"Wait please don't hurt Luna, Luna will give you dust. Luna will work very hard to make lots and lots of dust, please."

"I used skill points to learn it okay? And you! You know it too. Now come on, we don't have much time, where is the key to your cage?"

"You wasted precious skill points to learn the dumb one's language…" she muttered to herself.

Rainer couldn't help but blush a bit at that comment that he very much heard. Really there was no need to know what the goblins were saying. And looking at the notes on the table it didn't give him any reading ability either.

"Hehe, mom always said humans were very dumb."

He got a little annoyed at the constant subject changes, but more so at the fact that he wasted skill points.

"Hey, do you want me to help you or not. It's fine, I'll just leave…"

She, in a panic, waved her arm but winced soon after from the pain.

"Ah...please don't leave Luna."

Feeling guilty, Rainer abandoned any initial plans of teasing her, just now reminded of how bad of a state she truly was in.

"Sorry...Alright, we can talk later, for now, tell me where the key is."

But before she could tell him the door swung open and in came the Goblin mage from earlier. While he talked Rainer appraised him. The Goblin mage wore animal furs that were feathered at their sleeves and waist along with a hood over the top of his head. On his neck and fingers were an assortment of rings and jewelry.

[Goblin, Male, Fire Mage lvl 12]

"Damned human mage, you think you can steal my prize?!"

Immediately Rainer grabbed the cage and sprinted towards the way he came, staff in hand and scroll stuffed into his pocket.

Flames soon erupted. The hand of the [Fire Mage] shone brightly. A torrent of fire and flame threw itself towards Rainer, just as he heard the noise and jumped for all his skill was worth. He had just barely avoided the fireball yet he could still feel as if a stove was lit upon his back and landed awkwardly on his left foot.

Ignoring any pain, he ran even faster out of the room. Just before Rainer exited the room he activated the [Fireball Scroll] and immediately fired an [Arcane Bolt] behind it, empowered by the staff.

"A child masquerading as a mage!"

The Goblin yelled out as he easily dispatched the incoming fireball. Yet right after, the Arcane Bolt slammed into a blue ethereal shield and a large cracking noise could be heard as the Goblin's necklace shattered. The Goblin stuttered back for a moment wondering if he should give chase, but the greed of owning his own fairy propelled him forward against the better judgment to seek reinforcements.

Running down the tunnel Rainer began to panic for a moment.

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck! When the hell did I become such a hero!?

Still running Rainer looked down at the staff seeing cracks all along it.

What is this, a three use item or some shit? Fucking [Appraisal], tell me these things!

He ran and he ran. But soon, he remembered. There was nowhere to go. Not only that, the Goblin, even as a mage, was faster and was probably gaining on him at this very moment.

Rainer turned around one last corner before setting down Luna's cage. He gripped the staff with both hands. His mana already dangerously low and his stamina no better, the build up from the lack of sleep and hours of walking had taken its toll. Gripping so tightly his knuckles turned white, he formulated a plan.

Hearing footsteps, Rainer made ready. The staff began cracking from the pressure as his mana quickly approached zero. And so, came about an angry goblin that ran past the corner, a flame about to gush from his hand.

Rainer charged as the staff displayed an [Arcane Blade] at its tip extending over a foot out, the enchanted wooden form barely holding together. He stabbed forward with the Arcane Bladed-Staff and the violet luminescent blade penetrated through layers of blue magical shields and, along with the sound of the cracking and breaking of enchanted items, entered straight into the chest of the Goblin.

The Goblin had done everything right. He activated all his defenses. He had a spell prepared to counter-attack. He had inherited every enchanted item from the previous Goblin pyromancer and chief shaman. Yet, what should have been a weak mage had destroyed all those artifact's defenses instantly.

Before the might of the Arcane, such preparations fell to nothingness…

Yet he was still not defeated. As the Goblin reached to unleash the spell in his right hand Rainer channeled the last of his mana into the staff and jumped backward as it exploded from within the Goblin.

Shards of enchanted wood tore apart the insides of the Goblin, dealing the final blow. Rainer himself managed to get far enough away but in the end, several splinters stabbed into his back as he huddled around the small cage.

[10 Primary Level Difference, Experience Bonus added]

[Experience Gained: 68%]

[Calculating Excess Experience]

[Arcanist has leveled up to lvl 3/25. Standard Attributes have been distributed. 1 Attribute and skill point have been rewarded.]

Rainer wordlessly picked up Luna's cage and limped over to look and make sure the Goblin mage had truly died. A nasty gash in his chest and eyes wide open, the Goblin was most assuredly dead.

Rainer's feeling on the subject had changed from the past. Maybe because it was the first time he had been in a true fight rather than acting as little more than a poor assassin, or perhaps it was the actions of these goblins, but his view had truly changed.

He felt exalted as he gazed upon his fallen foe.

Other than his initial apprehension when he first came here this was what he felt he had searched for all these years. The thrill as powerful magic rushed through his body and was unstoppable as it killed the enemy before him.

He squatted down and searched through the Goblin's belongings, but as he used [Appraisal] all over him he only found broken enchantments and simple items apart from two.

[Ring of Fae Transference: Allows a fae wielder of the ring to return to the Fae-City of Laeria. Conforms to user's size.]

[Malgor's Fae Cage Key: Opens the runic seals on cage created by the pyromancer Malgor.]

Rainer grabbed both the key and ring and looked over to a still silent Luna before opening up the cage.

"Hey? You coming out or what?"

Rainer remembered the rope still attached to her leg but before he had a chance to do anything the rope burned heatlessly with a green fire at the snap of Luna's fingers. She tried to walk out of the cage but her small form immediately stumbled.

Gently Rainer reached over to carry her out, himself in a decent amount of pain from what was likely a sprained ankle and the numerous splinters in his back.

"Are you okay, can you heal yourself or something?"

"If...you...could...give...Luna mana...Luna better."

Rainer thought for a moment before he opened up his status screen.

[Primary Classes: Arcanist lvl 3/25]

[Titles: Arcane Scholar]

[Exp: 8%]

[Sub-classes: None]

[Race: Human]

[Skills: Sleep Learning lvl 9/10, Appraisal lvl 1/10, Goblin Anatomy lvl 1/10, Long Jumping lvl 1/10, Sprinting lvl 1/10, Bare-Fist Fighting lvl 1/10, Muknar Language 3/10, Faaran Runic Language lvl 3/10, Fae Language lvl 1/10, Arcane Energy Manipulation lvl 1/10]]

[Skill Points: 9]

[Talents: Excellent Arcane Affinity, Human Growth]

[Stamina: 1/6(12)]

[Stamina Regen: .1% per second]

[Mana: 0/17]

[Mana Regen: .0011 per second]

He knew it without checking, but he was completely spent. But, before he could ask Luna anything she had already fallen unconscious. He looked down at the little fairy in his hands and saw a strange scene. Her body shimmered for a moment as her originally green eyes became a brighter emerald and her hair transformed from brown to the same color.

Aha! I've seen through your disguise...Is what this moment feels like, but I've learned absolutely nothing.

Though, in the first place, why did I even help her? Well, I would gladly help a hurt puppy but I wouldn't risk my life for it. Besides, not only did she have that ring, she had that weird flame ability. How did she get caught in the first place?

Checking over the Goblin one last time Rainer limped back to the room, hoping to find something similar to a mana potion and to see if he could fix this little thing up.

On his way back he looked over everything he gained recently. He, however, decided not to spend any attribute or skill points. His first instinct was to min-max himself, focusing only on magic related attributes and skills, but even though that would likely make him powerful, this definitely wasn't a game.

If he died, he would stay dead. He didn't know where he got that feeling from but it was strong. Min-max builds often depended on a person becoming good enough to never get hit or abuse the game's system. Neither of which he had any confidence in doing at the moment.

And then with skill points. He already regretted spending points on the "dumb one's" language. He could've swung his [Arcane Blade] around a few times and used the skill points to get a high level of swordsmanship.

For now, everything he had a choice on, he'd save…

Probably.

[Arcane Scholar: One who walks the path of the arcane and can create his own roads through innovation, study, and experimentation. 5% experience bonus. Gives skill: [Arcane Energy Manipulation]]

Isn't this a little too amazing for what I did? Grandpa, the cheat you gave me, I'll treasure it forever.

Though, seeing his experience level left him confused. He had 72% when he was level 2 and he gained 68% from killing that Goblin mage. So that meant that leftover 40% Exp had become only 8%.

A degree of 5? I need 5 times the amount of experience to reach level 4? No wonder that Goblin was so arrogant in chasing me. He probably felt my mana thinking I was low leveled and wasn't even comparable to him…

[Arcane Energy Manipulation lvl 1/10: Allows the user to directly manipulate his own Arcane Energy and pull on Arcane Energy that exists beyond this dimension. Mastery will improve all Arcane skills and spells.]

Well, there's what my next sleep learning session will consist off. Learning how to manipulate mana was insanely hard and here I'm just granted whatever this is. Perfection.

[Spellbook: Arcane]

[Tier One: Arcane Bolt lvl 10/10, Arcane Bolt Armament lvl 1/10]

[Tier Two: Arcane Blade lvl 1/15]

[Arcane Blade lvl 1/15: Creates a blade of unleashed Arcane Energy. Can become an extension of any body part or magic catalyst.]

He understood that being a tier 2 spell is likely what caused it to have 15 levels but that still didn't make sense to him. The levels from 1-10 could just be made to take longer, so why did this spell have specifically 15? There had to be something truly unique about it, beyond the Tier 2 designation. He turned back to the road before noticing just how much his ankle hurt.

The path back felt far longer than the first time. Every step on his left ankle elicited pain and soon he understood that the damage to his back was worse than he thought. The stinging of burns filled his mind. He decided to continue distracting himself with the status screen.

[Constitution: 11]

[Affinity: 17]

[Vitality: 10]

[Endurance: 12]

[Strength: 12]

[Dexterity: 12]

[Intelligence: 18]

[Willpower: 11]

[Attribute points: 2]

Now he looked at his attributes. He guessed the lack of decimals meant that, in reality, every stat was a massive decimal. There may be improvement through training, but it wouldn't necessarily increase it a whole attribute.

Begrudgingly, he now had nothing to do but walk. Though, he hoped the splinters in his back were only skin deep and that his ankle wasn't truly broken. He didn't even want to think about the burns, not that such a thing stopped them from hurting.

Finally making it back to the room he looked over the damage and could not be more thankful he had dodged the main portion of that fireball. The stone had not only been scorched completely black but there was some structural damage.

Though the important parts of the room had been spared much to Rainer's enjoyment. With the desk containing notes on one wall, a series of shelves to the left and right of the door on the adjacent wall, and a bed across from the desk, this room was quite perfect.

The only question was when, rather than if, someone would come looking for the now dead Goblin mage or track Rainer's path through the tunnel.

He set the fairy down on the bed, surprised on how comfortable it looked, plus covered in furs that would probably sell for thousands of dollars back home. Going over to the shelves he started using [Appraisal] on everything; thankfully the skill didn't seem to cost anything.

Soon after, not only did his skill level up to 2, he found what he had been looking for, though it was only a single mana potion.

[Evergrass Mana Potion: Increases mana recovery rate by 400%.]

It was an impressive number, but to Rainer's .0011 regeneration it didn't make much of an addition. He could only do his best to stay awake and alert, lest the Fairy's condition turns worse. He looked over at her resting on the bed that was clearly far too large for her. Her breathing seemed rough and she was curled up in pain.

For now, he'd save her; that was what he had decided, so that's what he'd do. Afterwards? He wasn't sure. At the very least he had no intention of keeping her as a captive and gaining whatever advantage the Goblin mage sought.

Trudging along in an attempt to keep himself distracted Rainer first locked the door and then tugged at the shelves on the left in order to move them in front of the door.

For once, his physique served a greater purpose than simply looking good, as Rainer loathed sports in general. The shelves weren't particularly hard to move, even with an injured ankle.

He looked back at the half cut open entrance to the tunnel. While simply moving the one shelf a bit in front of the door wasn't bad, moving the other across the room and positioning it properly might be out of his reach.

He sat down on the bed planning to fully regenerate his stamina lest he collapse and they both die. He was not in fact completely altruistic. There was hope that whatever a [Fae Enchantress] was that it had some healing ability to use on him.

He did his best trying to keep his eyes open as he stared intently at his status screen. His stamina maximum was even lower than before at a 4. He feared what would happen if it reached 0.

At a rate of about 1 mana per every four minutes, Rainer used his mana to track the time. After about 30 minutes he heard a rough cough from where Luna was Rainer could see her condition had certainly gotten worse.

Having regenerated 7 points of mana Rainer decided he might as well start now, though he had no idea what to even do.

"Hey, hey little fairy, wake up." He said as he tried to shake her awake.

But the minor shaking seemed to only cause discomfort. Not knowing what else to do Rainer took her into his hands and similar to a training exercise his grandfather had taught him when he was younger. He tried to put his mana into her. The original exercise, however, didn't involve a living thing.

[Skill Gained: Mana Manipulation lvl 2/10]

[Skill Gained: Fae Anatomy lvl 1/10]

He attempted to level up [Mana Manipulation] right away, grimacing as he remembered how tough it was to learn back on Earth, but was met with a surprising, perhaps fitting, message.

[Skill points insufficient. Mana Manipulation lvl 3/10 requires 20 skill points]

It made sense different skills would have different difficulty levels, but this much? Though, now remembering when he first learned this, back when it wasn't a skill, it was extremely difficult and took many months just to get the mana to leave his body at all.

He gritted his teeth a little before he leveled up [Fae Anatomy] to four, deciding that letting the fairy die would likely mean his death. His body would get worse and the only conclusion would end with him encircled by goblins. Even if the fairy couldn't heal him maybe she could do something useful with that fire of hers, or take him with her when she used that ring.

The points cost a similar amount to when he learned the language. 1 point, 2 points, and 3 points for a total of 6, Rainer gained a new understanding of a fairy's body.

He couldn't help but be amazed, and actually had no more apprehensions about learning this skill. He would ask the questions he had later as with the assistance of the [Mana Manipulation] skill and the now [Fae Anatomy lvl 4/10] the mana flowed quite easily. Rainer was able to guide it into her body. Slowly her body began to repair and it did not take long for her to recover a healthy appearance.

Yet, following a surprising message the little fairy began to seize up.

[Arcane Energy Manipulation has reached level 2]

[Experience Gained: 18%]

Her wings transformed, the lines changing to a black void of night and the wings themselves taking on a deep violet color. Her hair slowly shifted to a glistening silver and behind her closed eyelids a violet light shone through.

Rainer didn't panic, as he knew enough about her now to see she was mostly fine and was instead curious at the changes. It took but a few moments for the changes to finish and soon she started moving in her sleep no different than someone waking up in the morning.

Seeing the fairy waking up Rainer set her down and, using the small amount of his stamina he filled up, carefully took everything off the desk and pushed it towards the tunnel entrance. With a herculean effort, he managed to flip it so it blocked the door completely before weakly limping back to the bed.

He lay flat on his stomach before speaking to a strange, but perhaps better looking, Luna, that was still staring at her new hair color.

"Luna, I'm really tired, make sure to stand guard while I'm asleep okay? Wake me up if you hear anything."

In a trance, she answered half-heartedly.

"Luna will, Luna will…"

Too exhausted to stay up any longer Rainer closed his eyes. For some reason, he trusted her to watch over him. To the point where he just left her ring on his finger and didn't even question if he should put it outside of her reach. That, and the locked door with a large shelf in front of it combined with the boarded up passageway with a desk blocking it didn't hurt.

He, however, had missed one final message that appeared as she finished her transformation.

[Familiar contract initiated, Make Fae Princess Luna Emralira-Igna your Familiar? Y/N]

And soon watching over his sleeping form was a changed Luna. She looked at the new color of her hair and she was truly confused. But when she looked at her wings, she was instead beyond surprised.

Mana wasn't supposed to change her to such a degree, at least not the mana from a mage. An ancient true dragon's mana or the mana of a powerful Fae Queen, maybe, but from a mage, and a low-leveled one? And to such an extreme degree? Not to mention she had already been altered by the Fae Queen's mana at birth and his overrode it!

And the magic he used…

"When was an [Arcane Bolt] so strong...Luna is confused…Even high-level mage couldn't cast such a strong [Arcane Bolt]. It's just a training spell, Luna thought."

"And stabbing with an Arcane bolt. So silly!"

"And look at Luna! Look at Luna's fire."

She said as she produced a small flame in her hand that now, rather than its previous emerald green, was a blackish violet with tints of silver, matching her now black-lined violet wings alongside her silver hair and violet eyes.

"To override mother's mana...Is Luna even a princess anymore?"

"Who ever heard of a fairy having such a flame, Luna says."

And so she talked to herself as she got used to the changes. If Rainer ever asked why she talked to herself she'd probably just tell him it was a fairy thing. He would have no idea that fairies would be embarrassed by such a statement.

Seeing his back that had splinters sticking out of it Luna burned away each, one by one, leaving not a mark on Rainer's skin. And not only that but as the flame burned in the wound itself, it did not cause pain but instead healed.

Exaggeratingly Luna waved her hands and plugged her nose before continuing her work.

"Eww, he smells soooo bad, Luna get rid of it," she said, slightly nasally.

Over the course of a few hours, Luna burned away all of his clothes alongside any burns on his skin, before finally healing his ankle with the same flame. She decided to take a nap on his head soon after…

And in doing so, completely ignored the fact that then there would be no one standing guard and that she didn't actually need to take a nap in the first place. Both of them now rested peacefully, a nude, slightly shivering man, and an oblivious fairy in a violet and silver dress nestled comfortably in his now cleaned hair.

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