The baron was in a strange state of mind. He was sohow inbetween begging Eliron to stop, and cussing out his existence all at the sa ti.
Eliron sighed and ignored him, choosing to focus on the baroness instead.
Thankfully, it seed Cassie trusted him enough to not teleport them into the room. Not like there was much she could do even if she did.
’Now, back to work...’
The baroness was breathing faintly as life drained from her body, but the good thing was that she was still alive.
The sword that had cut through her chest was still burning brightly, but Eliron needed it to grow more vibrant, so he poured his own mana into it.
Since the curse affected the mana core, one of the only ways to cure it was by completely destroying the core—which lay within the left ventricle of the heart. All while eviscerating the curses at the sa ti.
Maybe if the curse was still fresh, he would have been able to save her core. But because it had been left to fester for too long, there was no other way.
As the flaming sword consud what was left of her shattered mana core, Eliron placed his finger on her forehead and closed his eyes, a blue glow emanating from underneath his eyelids.
Mages as well as knights had two mana cores.
The physical one that could be detected, and the spiritual version that could only be sensed.
Seraphine’s forehead began to glow a white-blue colour, lines of energy covering the entirety of her skin.
Now that the physical core was gone, he had to purge out the spiritual core as well.
As his mana flowed through her body, he mapped out the position of the cursed mana laying in her mana veins, then like a shepherd, he ushered them all to the center of the spiritual core.
Of course, the effects were visible in reality, as Seraphine’s body began to convulse.
’Almost there...’ Eliron thought as he pushed back the last wisps of corrupt mana. And then in an instant, he collapsed his mana into them, completely obliterating them as well as her mana core.
"Eckk—!"
The baroness suddenly gasped, taking in a deep breath. Then slowly, hair began to grow lighter in colour, pitch black giving way to platinum blonde.
The blackened skin vanished, turning pale, very pale. ’Perhaps too pale?’
That was when Eliron rembered that a sword was still sticking out of her chest...
Seraphine was seconds away from dying of anaemia!
"Yennefer!"
Yen imdiately placed her hand atop the wound, a bright golden flash occupying the entire space, blinding the onlookers.
After a few seconds, the gaping hole sealed, and colour returned to her skin.
Seraphine blinked, slowly opening her crimson eyes to stare at Eliron.
She looked so similar to Cassie that it was as though he was holding the rchant in his arms.
"W-who are y-you?" She asked, her words slurred.
Eliron smiled. "Welco back to the land of the living, Baroness.l
The shield fell and the Baron imdiately dashed into the room, hugging his confused wife close to his chest while profusely thanking Eliron.
Cassie was kneeling next to her mother as well, tears welling up in her eyes, anwhile, Duke stood at the doorway, staring at her, his gaze faltering.
Eliron walked up to him and tapped his shoulder. "What are you waiting for?"
Duke’s hands balled into a fist. "Do I really have the right to approach her after all I’ve done?"
"Hmm?" Eliron blinked, his eyes narrowing with annoyance. Then without warning, he suddenly shoved him forward, Duke stumbling to a halt right in front of his mother.
"Duke?" Seraphine smiled as she stared at him. It was clear that she was still confused by what was going on, but she raised her hand toward him.
"Mum..." Duke held her hand and placed his forehead on it, tears rolling down his eyes. "I’ve missed you."
Eliron stared at them for a mont longer. ’So this is what a family looks like?’
He had never experienced anything like it in his last life. For as long as he could rember, it was basically him and no one else.
’It looks fun.’
Perhaps in this life, he would get to experience sothing similar...
He wrapped his arms around Artie and Yen’s shoulders. "Let’s start packing, our ti in Kingsbridge has co to an end!"
Three days later...
At first, after being healed, the baroness found regular daily activities to be tireso. She could not walk for prolonged periods or even eat hard food.
This was because a huge amount of her cells had been destroyed and had to be reconstructed by Yennefer.
But a few days later, she was slowly beginning to regain herself, and strong enough even to attend the eting Eliron was having with the baron.
Her and Baron were seated on a couch opposite Eliron, three steaming cups of tea placed on the table between them.
"Thank you for your patience, my lord. I know you are in a hurry, I feel ashad to have kept you this long." The Baron bowed.
"Ah, don’t be bothered, our ti in Kingsbridge was more than morable." Eliron replied.
He then turned to the baroness. "It’s good to see you are in good health my lady, it’s unfortunate that you had to lose all your mana in the process."
The baroness waved her hands dismissively and smiled. "A small price to pay for life. I’ll eventually regain my magic."
She took a sip of tea and stared at Eliron from above the rim of the cup, her crimson eyes growing more intense.
"By the way... how are things with you and Cassie going? Any progress on that front?"
’Heh?’
She smiled. "She can be quite hard headed, but I assure you, she’s very talented, even more so than myself."
"Cassie?" Eliron asked, sounding confused. "Our relationship is as it is I guess... Sorry, I don’t think I get your question..."
The baroness laughed, and it was as though her voice alone could brighten up the room.
"You’re about that age aren’t you? Then surely, you must be looking for a wi—"
"Uhum!!!" The Baron imdiately coughed, earning a side-eye from his wife.
"...Such matters can be discussed at a later date, no?"
He sighed before he continued. "Lord Eliron, you said you had a few requests of us? It is only natural that I grant you a reward after all you’ve done, please, don’t hold back."
A bright, innocent smile appeared on Eliron’s face.
"Of course, I never did plan on holding back."
He dug his hand into his pocket and pulled out a rolled up sheet of paper. But the mont he undid the bounds, the paper unfurled, rolling down to the floor.
The Baron swallowed while the baroness smiled.
"Ahh, where should I start?" Eliron thought out loud. "Alright, this should be a good starting point...."
"I humbly request that the Kingsbridge barony re-build the old trade route that connects Kingsbridge and Artaris."
The Baron had a thoughtful look in his eyes. "The road that passes through the forest?"
Eliron nodded. "Of course, you won’t have to build the entire thing, just half, we will complete the rest of it."
"I see." The Baron smiled.
He had expected Eliron to make a greedy request, which was well within his right, but instead, this was sothing that could potentially benefit them both.
There was only one concern that he could not shake.
Eliron sensed his question before he even asked it. "If the high elves are a concern to you, then don’t be bothered by it. Just do your part..."
He had a relaxed smile on his face as he spoke. "...I’ll handle the rest."
In the coming months, Eliron could already see it. War with the high elves was a long foregone conclusion...
The only way to get to the eastern continent where the kingdom of Donia lay, was to sail across the stormy seas known as the Death Rivers.
So early in the morning, Eliron and his party were at the Kingsbridge Eastern port, ready to board a ship to their destination.
Just from where Eliron was standing, he could see why it was called the ’death rivers.’ The sea was turbulent, large waves of water shooting up the sky at regular intervals.
A thick, dark cloud permanently hung above the farther parts of the sea, flashes of lightning dancing between the ashen clouds.
Swooosh!
A cold breeze swept over the salty waters, washing right over them and causing their clothes to billow.
Ash shifted uncomfortably. "That looks... dreadful."
"First ti seeing the sea?" Eliron asked as they began walking.
Artie spoke in a nonchalant tone. "I believe it is a first for us all, including you Eliron."
She paused and glanced at the sea. "I have to say, it is nothing compared to the rivers in Artaris..."
They stopped close to the water and stared up. In front of them was a large ship that stood like a sentinel, barely swaying even in the face of the unsteady tides.
Eliron smiled as he stared at it. "That is one large ship..."
Yennefer sighed tiredly as she watched it. "Umm... are we sure there isn’t any other way to Donia?"
Eliron walked ahead of the group, picking up the pace. "Yup, this is the only way."
— FINAL SHIP TO DONIA, ALL ABOARD THE FINAL SHIP TO DONIA!
A man sitting behind a desk scread at the top of his voice. Oddly, even though Donia Kingdom was a large comrcial capital, there was not even a single person on the line.
"Good morning sir. We will like tickets to Donia, four people and a spirit."
"Wait, are you serious??" The old man stared at Eliron in disbelief. "You really want to go to that place?"
"Of course, can I get my tickets now?" Eliron asked.
"Ha... Hahahahahaha! You’re just as crazy as the hero we transported last month. Alright then!" He pulled out five wooden plaques from his pocket.
"That will be ten silver."
Eliron placed the coins on the man’s hand, and the old man held him in place with his other hand, his eyes turning serious.
"Be careful out there. They say over in Donia, the dead have liberty, while the living grasp at straws."
Eliron smirked. "I’ll take your warning to heart."
The old man smiled then let go of his hand. Eliron glanced at all the mbers of his group.
"Shall we?"
The journey to Donia had begun.
..
[End of Volu 2]
[Foundations]
Next Volu:
[Volu 3 — The Dead Shall Rise Again]
Thank you all for sticking with through 190 Chapters! I’m going to spend today plotting the next arc, and trust when I say it will be a lot better than everything I have written so far.
What to expect?
Adventures in Donia
Probably 2 - 3 Wars
Modern technological wisdom in the dieval tis.
Trade and kindom developnt!
You can comnt anything you want to see and I’ll look into it as well.
Till then, cheers!
:3
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