Chapter 209 Power Boost
Elanor finished the remaining eggshell pieces, and Shaman quickly opened up Elanor's status.
[Elanor]
[Mid Tier 4]
Due to Elanor not having a system she isn't assigned a level but an estimation is made.
"Oh my, you have gone up an entire tier." Shaman was more than impressed with the results and couldn't imagine how much stronger Elanor could have gotten by eating all four eggs.
"Wait really?" Elanor was shocked as she thought it was impossible for her to progress her tier, especially since she had been told her hair was what prevented it.
"Seems like it pushed you past your limit." Clara looked over to see Elanor's stats as well.
"Could we give her a system?" Elysia whispered into Shaman's ear, wondering if it was a good idea.
"Hmm I'm thinking the same thing, but I'm not sure if we should take her with us…. At least not yet." Shaman wasn't sure if it would be a good idea to bring Elanor along since she is weaker and it will be quite some time before they can get her more eggshells.
"Let's wait until after we finish her request." Clara knew Elanor wanted to return to the elf palace so it was best to see what will happen after that to decide.
"Mhm." Shaman agreed as she didn't want to put Elanor through any more trouble.
"What's wrong?" Elanor finished cleaning up after the small meal and saw them all whispering.
"It's fine, just gauging how strong you are now." Shaman didn't want to mention Elanor joining to avoid distracting her from her current goal.
"Oh okay, is there anything else?" Elanor was full of energy and felt like doing something so she hoped she could come along.
"Do you think we should try the next floor, Kiruya?" Elysia quickly interjected knowing that if they were, Elanor would most likely come along as the entrance to the palace was in the dungeon.
"Yes, but we can do that tomorrow. I want to make some preparations before entering the palace in case we make it to the boss." Kiruya didn't doubt they would make it to the boss so she wanted to make sure they were ready to enter.
"Wait, tomorrow?" Elanor, realising what Elysia was implying, was shocked to hear they could be heading to the palace tomorrow.
"Seems like it." Shaman didn't mind waiting, plus she still felt lethargic after evolving so resting was ideal.
"Ahhh I'm not ready at all." Elanor started to freak out as she didn't expect it to happen so soon.
"You will be fine, don't worry about it." Silver walked up to Elanor and gave her light pats which were surprisingly soothing.
Elanor looked up and took a moment to process Silver's new looks as he was a lot more mature now. This made her blush, but she quickly shook her head as he was still way too young even if he may look 18 now.
"Damn, our son is smooth." Clara couldn't help but comment on this as Elanor's small moment of blushing didn't go unnoticed.
"Grrrr, she better not develop anything, he is still too young." Shaman would refuse any women that tried to approach him, especially considering Silver's mental age.
"Well, if we take Elanor along then maybe it won't be so bad." Elysia, being more open minded, figured taking Elanor along would help Shaman be at ease.
"Even then that would be too much." Shaman now had the opposite problem as although it sounded appealing, she didn't want to see or hear the kinds of things they would do.
*Sigh* "I guess we just have to wait and see. After all, you can't be looming over his shoulder all the time." Clara knew Silver hadn't even been around for a year, so for him to grow up so fast would definitely be an odd feeling.
"Hmph." Shaman didn't want to think about it so she tried ignoring her team member's troublesome opinions.
"If you need me I'll be in my room." Kiruya, knowing the plan, decided to leave them to do whatever they wanted.
***
<Demon lands>
"Is she still alive?" In a vast open throne room, a woman with a pair of red horns was speaking with a butler. The demoness wore a black and gold cape covering most of her body, yet it showed no effort to hide her well endowed chest or her spiked teeth. Where the cape opened up to reveal her hands, the edges of old scars peeked from under her sleeves.
"From the reports of our scouts, Clara has resurfaced." The butler bowed as he gave his report.
"Tch." The demoness clicked her tongue and stood up from her throne.
"Do you wish for her to be dealt with?"
"Where is she right now?" Interested in the butler's offer, she looked down at him awaiting his response.
"She was last seen heading to Elfheim." This instantly made the demoness lose interest as attacking such a place from so far would cost too many resources.
"There is no point unless she is in the human's domain. We shall simply wait for her to come here. I'm sure it's bound to happen if she knows who she is." Disappointed, the demoness sat back down. Knowing Clara was out there was enough news for the time being.
"As you wish, Demon Lord." The butler did another bow and turned to leave the room.
As soon as he exited the throne room the Demon lord vanished as well, appearing in a room that had a portrait of a family.
"After running away and abandoning the people, finally we will have your daughter pay the price of your shame." Putting her hand on the drawing and over the young Clara's face, she burnt the painting.
"Maybe I should hunt her." Considering going outside the demon lands herself, she quickly dismissed the idea.
"Need to keep it discreet like we have been for years, me going out will cause too much commotion." While the reputation of the demon lands was that of an inactive country, the truth was quite to the contrary. This all stemmed from the diplomatic silence and lack of any real external conflicts, following which the Demon lord ordered they shut down the borders.
"Maybe we should finally reveal ourselves. That Pope is too dangerous and may start getting greedy for land. Arghhh, I don't want to ruin this 200-year-long plan, we are so close."
***
<Capital city of Elysium>
"Have we found Himeko?" The Pope in his usual completely white outfit of hoodie and jeans sat in a chair looking at a piece of paper.
"No my Lord, we have not found an exact location, but it seems she may be in the demon lands. We do not know exactly why or where, but the mana trail left after she used her skill led us in that direction." A short old man wearing a coat was trembling as he spoke, hoping his report would satisfy the Pope.
"Dammit, how does that bitch even have a spot in the demon lands, the place is bloody dead." Even though he liked that there was news, the fact that it was in the demon lands made him angry.
"Well Lord, we can try to take over the place seeing how inactive it's been." Even though the old man suggested the most logical answer, the Pope still looked at him weirdly.
"What do you mean inactive?"
"As you said the place is dead, wouldn't that suggest no one is there anymore?" Confused as to why the Pope was questioning him, the old man took a step back.
"Oh no, there are people, there is still a ruler present, but they have stayed closed off for as long as I can remember. However, I doubt any of them are strong, seeing as there has been no movements coming from their territory." The more he thought about invading, the more appealing it seemed, especially since it would double the size of his land.
'Then Himeko won't be able to run.'
"My Lord, sorry to interrupt, but what about the incoming attack from the Fox Realm?" One of his personal guards brought up a great point as it was common knowledge that a war may break out soon.
"Oh don't worry about that, I will gather the commanders and we will enter the demon's lands ourselves and set up a teleportation network." A grin appeared on the Pope's face as he expected to destroy whatever is left there.
"Get in contact with the commanders, we will aim to leave in a few weeks time." Having given his orders, a few of the knights left the room to communicate the message to the other city commanders.
'Let's see if they can withstand an attack from the strongest race on the planet.'
***
<Hideout>
"So ummm, Shaman and Elysia! While we have some time, is i-it alright if we have a s-session." Clara fidgeted while sitting across from Shaman and Elysia in their room.
"Oh? Didn't expect this." Elysia was shocked as they are not exactly alone in the hideout.
"Haha well ever since I have been accepted and I had that kiss with Elysia I found myself unable to think of anything else." Clara, having suppressed her urges up to now, couldn't hold it anymore.
"Hmm, we can, but we will be heard." Shaman didn't mind, but she was worried about Silver and Elanor.
"It is still daytime so if they don't want to hear it, they can go outside." Elysia saw no issues as it was as simple as leaving if they couldn't handle it.
"That's fine." Clara blushed a bit as being heard was extremely embarrassing, but it didn't matter to her anymore. All she wanted was to be with Shaman and Elysia.
"Alright then, come here Clara~"