349. Feast

It was a wonderful day. The birds were singing, the sun was shining, and the flowers were in full bloom. Everything was going great!

The only thing that could make the day even better was a delicious morning breakfast. A scrumptious meal at the crack of dawn. Oh, what would be better than feasting on the terrified Human fleeing down the road?

Crunch! The large Wyvern swooped down, swallowing the man in a single bite. A group of nearby travelers saw this bloody scene. They erupted into screams before taking off in full sprint. With a burp, the large Wyvern looked up and watched them go.

She wasn’t in a rush to chase them down. They were weak. Humans were always weak. And they’d always lead her to others. A single Human wasn’t enough to feed her, let alone her flock.

Raising her head, she saw the other flying figures waiting for her above the clouds. There were about forty of them. Her kin. [Lesser Frost Wyverns]. She was the leader of their pack. Their flock. Or… whatever was left of it.

They’d been far more numerous, once. Until a contingent of Humans had attacked and beaten them in battle while they were pursuing a herd of Oliphants. It was ridiculous. How could Wyverns be beaten by those weak pests?

But it hadn’t been Humans that defeated them. No— that silver-haired girl was responsible for their defeat, and she hadn’t been a Human. She’d been able to speak their language. No Human, Kobold, nor Cyclops was capable of that.

The large Wyvern was certain they had been dealing with something else. A Spirit, perhaps. There’d been a Grand Spirit present too, so the silver-haired girl might’ve been a Spirit in disguise. Or maybe an apparition created from the corruption of the world’s end— like the one that had chased them out of Sharik.

Whatever the case was, the Wyverns had fled. Their previous leader had been slain. The Frost Lord. And as the next highest-leveled Wyvern in the flock, she was in charge of a large bulk of the remaining Wyverns. She became the Mistress of the Remnants.

Not all of the survivors had followed her. The rest had either scattered or formed their own smaller groups. Still, forty was plenty. More than enough to bring down entire Human settlements with ease. The Mistress of Remnants roared as she took off to the sky, giving chase to the fleeing Humans.

They’d hidden behind tall walls, crawling beneath the shadow of buildings. Her flock hesitated as they caught sight of the city. They were still slightly afraid— scared that they might be defeated once again. But she rallied them. And as the city raised its alarm, she unleashed a frost breath and took out an entire section of the wall in an instant.

Her flock saw this. They were emboldened by it. In an instant, they heeded her call. They descended on the city. On the screaming Humans. And they had a grand feast that morning.

It was, after all, a wonderful day.

It really was a wonderful day!

Edithe, Daniel, and I were finally back together. My companions, reunited. It made me so happy. I found myself grinning from ear-to-ear the entire time as we chatted and caught up with each other. I literally couldn’t stop smiling.

Of course, I’d already met with Daniel again a few weeks ago. And Saffron was here too— she was also my companion! But there was something quite special with being with both Edithe and Daniel again. It made me feel warm and happy inside.

We settled down at a nearby table, secluded to our own conversations. Helena Warshade was talking to king Artik Alyras about… something unimportant. Blah blah Primeval Demon, blah blah Humans dying. Something like that.

Edithe shook her head as she faced me.

“I still can’t believe you went down to the Bloodied Gulf by yourself, Salvos. That’s reckless, even for you.”

“Don’t worry about it! I wasn’t really alone. Willy was there with me the entire time. Also, there was Centina and Kron too!”

I waved a hand off dismissively. Daniel raised a brow.

“Centina and Kron?”

“Yep. Kron’s a [Krokodis] and Centina’s an [Evolved Centinel]. They’re my friends who helped me out in the Bloodied Gulf!”

My two companions paused. They exchanged a glance, Then they burst out sa one.

“Wait, you befriended a Centinel?”

Both Daniel and Edithe stared at me with round eyes. I placed a finger on my lips, hurriedly looking round. No one was paying any attention to us. I sighed in relief and I whispered.

“Shhh. Not so loud!”

“You’re the one who said it out loud.”

Edithe massaged her temples. We continued talking. I wasn’t the only one who regaled stories of what I’d been through while we were apart. Daniel scratched the back of his head, averting his gaze as he spoke.

“I… uh, became a [Trader] for my second Class.”

My jaw dropped. Edithe blinked a few times. And he scowled.

“Look, I didn’t want another combat Class, alright? I like money, so it made sense at the time.”

I didn’t say anything. I just continued staring in shock. Daniel shifted back uncomfortably and sighed.

“I just wasn’t in a good state of mind back then. I know, I’m an idiot. Don’t worry, I’ll get a [Bishop] to reset my second Class—”

And I exclaimed.

“What?!”

Daniel paused. I leaned forward, grabbing him by the shoulders and shaking him.

“Why would you do that? But [Trader] is such an amazing Class!”

He looked at me, working his jaw.

“W-wait, you weren’t judging me?”

“Judging you? Please, Daniel. I’m not stupid.”

I scoffed, drawing back to my feet.

“I met an amazing [Trader]— or, um, [Merchant]? I don’t know what the difference is— when I was in Mavos Academy. She had these rainbow-colored fruits that could grant you a 30% increase to all your Stats for a day—”

I excitedly told both Daniel and Edithe about Ivonne Vigil and the Elf attack that happened after. When I was finished, I gave Daniel an approving look.

“[Trader] is a great Class! You should keep it!”

Edithe nodded in agreement.

“If it’s what you want, then I don’t see a problem with it. Plus, while it may sound ridiculous, non-combat Classes can be useful even in battle.”

He scratched his cheeks, flushing.

“Well, I did beat an Archdemon 10 levels above me thanks to my [Trader] Skill.”

I gasped.

“Woah… amazing!”

Then it was Edithe’s turn. She spoke of the company war— of the hard-fought battles with the Iron Champions Company. And its outcome… with Belzu. I was a lot more grim than Daniel or my stories. I watched as the red-haired woman teared up, talking about Baris’ sacrifice.

“I couldn’t even avenge them. I couldn’t protect them. I…”

She trailed off. I hugged her, speaking softly.

“You did your best, Edithe. Even though Belzu has 60 levels on you, you still managed to hold him back. You even saw through his illusions. It’s not your fault.”

For whatever reason, Daniel gave me an impressed look. When Edithe had recollected herself, she pulled back and shook her head.

“I know I keep saying this, but you’ve really grown a lot, Salvos.”

She mustered up a smile. I gave her a thumbs-up.

“I’m more Salvos than ever! And I already was Salvos!”

Edithe and Daniel chuckled as I laughed with them. The red-haired woman glanced back. She faced the rest of the room— the adventurers were mixing with the Vampires as they were served plentiful meals by servants. It was a feast, of sorts,

“Hadrian is here too. I’m sure he’d love to speak with you again, Salvos. Although…”

She narrowed her eyes. I spotted the blond man locked in conversation with another man. It didn’t seem like a good conversation either.

“Fucking Jake…”

“Jake?”

I cocked my head. Edithe waved a hand off, resigned.

“It’s nothing. I can deal with that later.”

She turned back to face me. She opened her mouth. And hesitated.

“By the way, I forgot to mention this, but…”

Edithe sighed.

“Rachel misses you. Both of you. I left her with William, but she feels like she’s been abandoned again.”

I blinked. I looked over at Daniel, and he shrank back guiltily. I fidgeted in my seat. Then I resolved myself.

“I’ll visit her soon. I promise. After we deal with Belzu.”

Edithe smiled.

“Thank you.”

Even though we were fully caught up with each other, we continued to sit there. Just relaxed. We talked and laughed and enjoyed ourselves. I got Willy to join us at the table, although he was oddly shy in front of Edithe. Saffron briefly left her family when I called her over, but returned to them after five minutes.

Hadrian eventually finished his quarrel with that Jake Human and came over. I greeted him cheerily, but he just stared at me.

“I can’t believe you out-leveled me in such a short amount of time.”

“I am amazing, yes.”

I nodded. He laughed as he took a seat. Our conversation dragged on, and I thought we’d be there for the whole day— which I honestly wouldn’t have minded— until a familiar robed man ran into the room.

The court [Mage] of Alyras. He wore the same expression on his face as he did the night before. And, immediately, king Artik Alyras rose to his feet.

“What is it, Kast? Is it the Primeval Demon again?”

The room instantly hushed as the pale-faced [Mage] gathered his breath. I raised my hand.

“Actually, it’s the Primeval Demons now. There’s two of them, not just one.”

Willy snorted next to me. Kast, the court [Mage], shook his head. He unrolled a scroll he’d been carrying. My brows snapped together as he read out the missive.

“The city of Catark is under attack by Wyverns!”

“Huh.”