My class Death Knight is just barely legal…

Chapter 205: Home for just a little while.

Nothing made me feel quite as happy as this particular sunrise, I realised. The way its golden rays shone over Rollas rooftops, illuminating the entire valley and waking the sleepy town

The sight made me reminisce. Not of the time I lived and trained here, though. It reminded me of when last I came here. And the time before that. Those were the times that I returned home triumphantly, the times I spent with my family, restoring what we had neglected for so long.

Slowly but surely, those prior memories were fading and being replaced by happier ones. This time would be no different, I was sure.

As I descended into the valley with Emeri and Revan walking beside me, I allowed a comfortable smile to appear on my face, unafraid, for once, of how it might be perceived.

Our return to Roa had been a welcome one, as both of us needed the rest. Still jittery from our time in Alterian, the newfound calm was a necessary one, I found. Nonetheless, it had seen us a myriad of benefits, the most important of which was my evolved class.

Unfortunately, my parents didnt give me the opportunity to brag about it, that day. Instead, we spent our time catching up after I managed to free myself from the warm hug they had decided to constrict me with.

My family was just as happy to see Emeri as they were to see me, much to her restrained delight. My mother, especially, seemed to love showering her with little tidbits of advice on baking and life in general. Two things that coincided more often than not, she assured us.

Perhaps the least happy person in the house was Amber, my little sister who was now forced to give up her parents attention in exchange for mine. Apparently, this wasnt an equivalent exchange, as I spent nearly all my time trying to soothe her and stop her from crying.

My parents were entirely nonplussed, knowing that the eleven-month-old was in it for the long haul, now that she had started. After she finally acclimated to our presence, she deigned to awe Emeri and I with her walking practice, which was coming along nicely in my opinion.

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She was still struggling, of course, but she was doing better than I had been at her age, supposedly. As a cherry on top, my parents had even taken the time to try to get her to say my name alongside their own Dada and mama. So far, she had only managed Adda, which I thought was close enough. Now if only she understood that adda was me, rather than the piece of candy my mom liked to spoil her with

The next few days were spent in ignorant bliss, as we both knew the announcement for the continental meet would have spread to every corner of our landmass by now. Thankfully, Emeri and I still had a week or so before we needed to be in Reito, so we decided to unwind a bit and extend our stay in Rolla by a few days.

To make sure I wasnt entirely wasting my time, I had decided to restart my skill training in earnest, starting with [Ghost apparition]. While it was natural for the skill to take a long time to evolve, seeing as it was tier 4, it was getting a little ridiculous at this point. Because apparating took so much out of me and was a trump card I tended to hide, I had almost begun neglecting to use it entirely, making its progression rather slow. It was high time I changed that habit.

By now, I had more than enough mana to use the skill a dozen or more times before needing to take a minute to recharge my core. That meant that training the skill had become far more convenient and effective than before. With that all being said, it was still an arduous process.

Every morning, I would head into the hills and find a secluded spot, where I would practice apparating as quickly and as far as possible, in an attempt to stretch the limits of what I was capable of.

Wouldnt you know it, the skill was growing by leaps and bounds each day. After a while, I also began trying to use the skill creatively, focusing on certain spots in the sky to apparate to, rather than using different objects as a focus.

After some preliminary success with these experiments, I decided to go a step further. Normally, I maintained my momentum when apparating, which was actually rather useful. In an attempt to stop it from becoming predictable, however, I decided to try the opposite.

It took more than a few hours before I managed an even-barely-noticeable effect, but I was getting somewhere! Even suppressing my momentum a bit could be useful. Now if only I could redirect it

A week and a half later, Emeri and I came face to face with Reitos towering city wall, its gates wide open. On the way here, it had well and truly sunk in that Revans loyalty had been bought by Emeri. She had seduced the lizard away from his fealty to me with games and toys while I was practising my skills, leaving me to fend for myself.

It didnt matter what I tried anymore. Threats, treats or even tax reductions, Revan wasnt interested. I consoled myself with the fact that all of that practice hadnt been for nothing. Pushing the boundaries of [Ghost apparition] had seen me a lot more skill progression than anticipated, bringing me up from 74% to a whopping 89%! Even more impressively, I hadnt yet perfected my momentum practice, making me believe that achieving it would correspond to a skill evolution.

The results of my training spoke for themselves, but I couldnt shake the suspicion that I was only improving so quickly because I had neglected to use the skill in new and creative ways for so long. The other way to progress was by using a skill in battle, something [Ghost apparition] had seen plenty of. In summary, I believed that the latter was reinforcing my progress with the former, and vice versa, which explained my speedy progression.

I was distracted from my musings when Emeri tugged my sleeves. Absentminded as I was, I hadnt noticed that wed already entered the city without being stopped.

Arent the guards supposed to check our identification before letting us in?

Maybe they recognised us? I spent quite a while adventuring in and around the city with Cerion, you know.

Theyre not checking anybody, though! Who knows who they could be letting in? Emeri pointed out, gesturing at the steady stream of people that was waltzing into the city without a care.

Confused, I decided to seek answers by heading over to one of the posted guards, much to Emeris protests.

Whats wrong, traveller? the guard asked when he noticed my approach.

Say, mister. Why is everyone being let through without proper identification now? Isnt that a security risk? I replied, trying to sound genuinely curious rather than accusatory.

Ah, you havent heard yet, then! All of Roas moves and shakers have come to the city as of recently, what with the whole continent being riled up an all. Anybody thinkin of causing trouble will be captured real quick-like. Any would-be criminals better have a death wish, the way this citys filled with muscle.

I nodded, thanking the man for the explanation.

So which movers and shakers are we talking, here?

Oh, you wont believe me! Theres our very own duke Rass, the captain of the Royal Guard and Even archduke Cerithal!

Again, I nodded in appreciation, before making a hurried parting greeting and relaying what I had learned to Emeri. The fact that Duke Rass was here meant that Cerion wouldnt be far. Likewise, the presence of my uncle was a reassuring one.

Trouble was, Archduke Cerithal was bad news. As the leader of the Aristocrats and the most powerful tier 6 classer besides the king himself, he wouldnt come here unless he had some alternative goal in mind. A goal that was going to draw us right into the centre of the conflict, if my penchant for bad luck had anything to say about it