Li, Tao, and Anuar observed from their less privileged position, their initial envy transforming into sothing more complex... a vicarious pride and dawning realization of just how far their friend had climbed.
"Brother," Li murmured, watching another defeated noble being helped away by his embarrassed family, "we’re never going to have these kinds of problems."
"Speak for yourself," Tao responded, though his voice carried more hope than conviction. "As soon as I get into Gold Rank thanks to Ren’s cultivation thods, surely... Ah, look, here cos another noble..."
This one was different. Younger, probably fourteen like Ren, but clearly more "brave" than most... or perhaps just more foolish. His face was set with boldness that bordered on recklessness.
"My parents said I shouldn’t co," he declared as he approached, his voice cracking slightly with adolescent intensity. "But you defeated my older brother yesterday. Nobody defeats a mber of the Ashford family without consequences."
He activated his fusion, revealing he had contracted a hawk-type beast that gave him increased wind control. He was only Silver 1, but clearly trusted in his abilities, his posture radiating confidence of soone who’d rarely lost a fight.
Ren sighed, bored of all this but ready to give another quick lesson.
It was then that Tao stood up.
"Hey, Ren," he shouted from behind, his voice carrying across the garden. "Can we try? This one seems even below our level. If he can’t defeat us, he has no right to waste your ti..."
Ren considered for a mont, then smiled. "Why not?"
The three friends looked at each other grinning and ca running, their own beasts materializing in flashes of light. Li’s and Tao’s Plants, now at Silver rank, were dramatically different from the weak versions nobles were accustod to facing. Their vines were thick as a man’s arm and fast as striking snakes, their tendrils strong enough to restrain opponents of similar rank without difficulty.
The conventional battle against plants that nobles rembered, against vines they could easily break, was over. Plants were now problematic beasts, versatile and more useful than many other far more popular beasts. The foolproof public cultivation thod had changed everything about how they functioned in combat.
And Anuar’s Frog, dark and massive with skin that glistened like wet obsidian, could control water and beca incredibly heavy when it activated its special ability. The creature was massive.
Noble Ashford looked at them with disdain, his lip curling. "Workers? Seriously?"
But his expression changed rapidly when the battle began. The Plants at this level had developed legs, moving with speed and coordination their Iron or Bronze equivalents had never shown. They scuttled across the ground, their movents unnaturally fluid for plant-based creatures.
Anuar’s Frog also amplified the Plants’ power and growth with its water control, creating a synergistic combo the noble clearly hadn’t anticipated. Moisture in the air condensed around the vines, making them swell and strengthen, their speed going up even more and their grip becoming ironclad.
Noble Ashford had no ti to react or even fly...
In less than a minute, he was wrapped in unbreakable vines, with the enormous Frog placing a webbed foot on his chest and applying enough weight to make breathing difficult.
"Do you surrender?" Li asked with an enormous smile, showing his poorly contained glee.
The noble, unable to believe he’d been defeated by "workers", could only nod weakly, his face red from exertion and humiliation.
Li, Tao, and Anuar looked at each other, then burst into victorious laughter.
"We did it!" Tao shouted, pumping his fist in the air. "We defeated a noble!"
Their envy of Ren hadn’t completely disappeared, but now it was mixed with their own pride. Maybe they didn’t have processions of noble suitors or massive mansions, but they had real power. Power they’d earned through hard work and thods Ren had shared freely with anyone willing to put in the effort.
By the ti night fell on the sixth day, the garden resembled a comic battlefield. Challengers in various stages of defeat decorated the landscape like living warnings not to underestimate Ren Patinder or his allies and workers.
♢♢♢♢
The seventh day arrived too quickly.
Ren had to return to the academy, and afterward would co the extra nobility exams before the ceremony where he, Luna, and Liora would officially receive their noble titles. Larissa would be there too, but as a Royal, she received everything automatically without need for ceremony or special examination.
This last day of vacation dawned with a line that extended to the street.
Suitors. More suitors than Ren had believed possible could exist in a single district. Young won in expensive dresses, so accompanied by chaperones, others by their entire families. The line stretched like a rchant queue on market day, except instead of goods, they were all there to evaluate him.
"This is absurd," he muttered while observing the procession from his window.
The butler appeared at his side, materializing with the silent efficiency he’d perfected over decades. "It’s the price of being one of the best matches of your generation, young master. Erging noble with powerful connections, revolutionary cultivation thods, and verified combat feats. From a matrimonial perspective, you’re extrely valuable."
Ren sighed. He knew he’d have to deal with this eventually. He’d just hoped for... more ti to relax with his parents and friends.
Li, Tao, and Anuar arrived early to say goodbye, but stopped dead seeing the line of nobles waiting.
"Brother," Li said weakly, his eyes wide as they swept across the assembled crowd, "this is... this is..."
"Ridiculous," Tao completed.
"The ssiah is truly building a giant harem," Anuar murmured with reverence, his hands clasped together as if in prayer.
They were in the middle of contemplating the scene when an elegant carriage stopped in front of the mansion. It wasn’t just any carriage... the Ashenway, Dravenholm, and Starweaver emblems glead on the sides, each one representing power that made the assembled nobles pale in comparison.
The line of suitors imdiately parted, recognizing superior authority. Several actually curtsied or bowed as the carriage passed, automatic responses to recognized power.
The carriage door opened, revealing Liora, Larissa, and Luna, all dressed in formal tunics that communicated their status without need for words. Their maids and guards surrounded them, creating a procession that made the suitors seem like amateur attempts in comparison.
The three noblewon observed the line of girls waiting, then looked at Ren in the distance with expressions mixing confusion, exasperation, and sothing more possessive.
♢♢♢♢
"Ren?" Liora called with a dangerously sweet tone. "Would you like to explain what’s happening here?"
The three friends were in complete silence. Li had to manually close Tao’s mouth. Tao seed to have forgotten how to breathe. Anuar murmured prayers about the ssiah and his blessed harem.
"It’s not what it looks like," Ren began weakly.
"Isn’t it?" Liora crossed her arms. "Because it looks like there are approximately one hundred girls outside waiting to ’see’ you."
Luna maintained her neutral expression in silence, but dark mana surrounded her... and it wasn’t her shadow mana.
Larissa simply observed the scene with an analytical expression. And smiled.
After asking Ren if he wanted a rescue, he nodded with a slight smile but asked for a mont to say his goodbyes.
When he moved away a bit to enter the mansion, he passed by his friends...
The three still remained completely immobile, looking alternately at the three incredibly beautiful noblewon and back at Ren.
"Those are..." Li began weakly.
"Ren’s friends," Tao completed, his voice rising two octaves. "But why do they treat him like jealous wives?"
"I see now... The ssiah already has a better harem," Anuar murmured with reverent amazent. "Quality over quantity..."
"It’s not a harem!" Ren protested, feeling his cheeks burn.
But when he was surrounded by Liora, Larissa, and Luna, with their respective guards and maids creating a protective circle of beauty and competence, he couldn’t deny the image he presented was... interesting.
Ren sighed and entered the mansion.
After reminding his parents not to miss a single day of the ten-thousand-day thod and giving them a big hug, plus saying goodbye to the worker-neighbors, he finally returned.
His friends, still frozen in the sa place, also said goodbye...
"I still can’t believe what you’ve accomplished," Li said, looking at the mansion with amazent that hadn’t diminished during the week. "It’s like a dream."
"And you’re going to be an official noble," Tao added. "Will you rember the little people when you’re important?"
"He’s already important," Anuar pointed out. "He’s the ssiah."
"Please stop calling that," Ren muttered.
"No, let us tease you at least... Your life," Li said finally, shaking his head in wonder, "is completely unfair."
"Totally unfair," Tao agreed.
"The ssiah deserves his nickna," Anuar added solemnly.
The academy awaited. The nobility ceremony was approaching. And after that would co everything he’d been building toward: real territory, political responsibilities, and the power to finally pursue his objectives without restrictions.
"Ren?" Liora called. "Are you ready?"
Ren quickly boarded the carriage, grateful for the excuse to escape all this.
The last thing he saw before the carriage pulled away were the faces of his three friends... showing envy, amazent, and amusent.
The three friends remained contemplating their own much simpler lives, deciding that envying Ren was justified after all.
User Comments
0 comments from readers