After they chose their orange grade items, a celebratory banquet was going to be held in a few hours as they were teleported out of the tower for the time being.
Stretching her body lightly, she told Lyrica that sheâll go get changed back into her normal form with Lisandra.
Leaving the party for now, Shiro and Lisandra jumped into the rift before exiting not too far away from the event.
Untying her hair and letting it flow down, Shiro walked back towards the party.
"Wait is that? Holy sh*t! Sheâs back!" One of the spectators shouted out since he was part of the Winterâs Grace. He still remembered the scene where Shiro had defeated their faction members with ease. Quickly backing away, he knew that getting her ire was dangerous.
Raising her eyebrows, Shiro wondered why they had such an extreme reaction towards their existence but only shrugged it off.
"Shiro." Lyrica called out with a smile as everyone had regrouped.
"Yo, I was going to say letâs go to a banquet but since the event is going to be hosting one in a few hours, I might as well save some money. Plus, with Yin eating 10 of them daily, I donât think my wallet can hold up to it." Shiro chuckled.
"Wait how did you know?" Silvia tilted her head with confusion.
"Ah maybe this quote should help you figure things out a little. âAnyone else like this f*ck wit over here?â" Shiro grinned.
"AH! That was you!?!?!" Silvia widened her eyes as she finally realised that the archer was Shiro.
"Yup~ Good job standing up to me by the way, really showed some backbone compared to the other participants haha." Shiro laughed.
"God, if I knew that was you, I would have not bothered. Do you know how much my heart was pounding?" Silvia sighed.
"Well at least it allowed me to see how much youâve improved." Shiro smiled and patted Silviaâs shoulder.
"Weâll talk later but for now, I need to go meet my cousin and introduce her to you girls."
"Wait, your cousin is here?" Lyrica asked curiously.
"Yup. You may know- actually, you know what? Iâll keep her identity a secret for now. When you see her youâll probably know who she is." Shiro chuckled.
Seeing her expression, the party immediately knew that her cousin must be a bigshot since Shiro wouldnât hide her identity if not to see their shocked reactions.
"Well Iâll get going for now. Lisandra can tell you whatâs been happening in the two months we were gone. See ya~" Shiro waved before jumping into the rift. She wanted to see if she could ask the city lord on why the Mythic Skill Stone was given away.
Seeing Shiro flicker away, Lyrica shook her head with a smile.
"Sheâs still the same as usual, coming and going at a momentâs notice."
"I suppose sheâs what you would call a free spirit no?" Madison shrugged.
"True. Anyways, do you girls want to go to a café for now and wait for Shiro to come back?" Lyrica suggested.
"Sure, I also want to hear what Shiroâs been experiencing in the past 2 months after all." Silvia nodded.
###
Parkouring through the city, Shiro watched as the tower descended back down into the ground.
âHm, I wonder what else they use that tower for. It would be a little wasteful for them to use it just for the event no?â
{Do you think it can be converted to a giant cannon? Haha.} Nimue laughed.
âPossibly. I mean, with some detailed planni-â
{I was being sarcastic.} Nimue rolled her eyes.
âIn that case then just know that the possibility is there.â Shiro smiled.
{So how exactly are you going to talk to the city lord?}
âWith Keikoâs help. Iâll just say that I know her and she can cover for me.â
{But donât you still need to talk to the guards? It might take awhile for you to actually get in.}
âWho said that Iâll be talking to the guards?â
{Wait what?}
âI can just reappear in the room theyâre in right now and talk to them straight away no? I doubt Keiko would let the city lord harm me so this is the fastest way.â
{So thatâs what you mean by cover for you.} Nimue sighed.
âYup, oh also while weâre talking, howâs the fire spirit?â Shiro asked curiously.
{Itâs maturing a little slowly. With me being water, Iziuel being Forest and you focusing on ice, we canât exactly help it grow fast. We can only wait for now.}
âIn that case then canât I get Yin to help?â
{HELL NO!}
Shocked at Nimueâs sudden outburst, Shiro was a little confused.
{*Cough* The problem with that is with the spiritâs current state as well as its identity being that of an ancient fire, it would be highly nourishing for a phoenix like Yin since itâll enhance their flames dramatically. The moment you present the spirit to Yin, thereâs a high chance that sheâll just instinctively consume it.} Nimue replied as there was no way she was going to let that gluttonous phoenix consume their spirit sibling.
â. . . No wonder. To be fair, even if it was not nourishing, Yin would have probably tried to eat it regardless.â Shiro nodded while jumping towards the room. Exiting her rift, she was greeted by the smile of Keiko and a shocked face of the city lord. Before he could even pull out a sword, Keiko stopped him.
"Seems like youâve been expecting me." Shiro smiled.
"I figured that you would come here after seeing the item. I was the same." Keiko smiled since she was also confused as to why the city lord would put such an item as a reward for the event.
"Now then, since the guest has arrived, why donât you educate us both on your choice, city lord." Keiko smiled toward the city lord.
Furrowing his brows, he watched as Shiro sat down on a chair in the corner.
"While I do not appreciate you introducing a new guest at this point in time, I suppose someone as strong as her will need to know about this as well." He sighed.
"Do you believe in fortune tellers and news of other worlds?" He asked seriously.
"Depends on the situation." Keiko shrugged.
"You see, a while back, I met a fortune teller who sent me on a small quest of sorts with the reward being the mythic skill stone. Back then, my thought was for me to use it myself but as I continued on the quest, things started to become clear to me. The only reason she wanted to give the stone to me was so that I can present it to someone else when the time arrives.
"During the quest, I learned of the different worlds, queens of races, dungeons being the gateway along with a period of time to come called the age of demons and gods. The demons have already arrived hence the battle on the front lines but this is only the scouts. Should the proper demons arrive, humanity would have been destroyed long ago. The gods, high tiered entities that should be something around tier 8, would act as a final defence.
"As I completed the several tasks laid out to me by the fortune teller, I began to trust her word since Iâve seen things that shouldnât have been possible if not for her visions. Of course, it could all be an illusion but I was actually sent to the different worlds you see. I would spend a period of time in each world and learn about their history. Some were much more advanced than ours while others were primitive.
"One of the worlds that stood out to me the most was called Aria. In that world, there were records of a being that could create anything from machinery with a wave of their hand. While the records were incomplete, I know that the being had fought against one of the godâs chosen and lost. Resulting in her death." Alvan explained as Shiroâs breath halted for a moment.
âThe fortune teller actually sent him to the future of my world!?â She thought in shock.
Realising that this meant the fortune teller was most likely a tier 7 entity, Shiro listened carefully for any clues that may help her in the future. After all, it seems like times were shifting as the age of demons and gods seemed to creep closer with every passing day.