Chapter 49: Invitation

Lionel, who watched the duo talked secretly, soon went out of the house and went on to the clan house named Den.

The meaning of the clan house was literally the Lion's Den.

As he entered swiftly in his Den, he entered the office where he would usually spend his time as the Clan Master.

There were people helping him, but Lionel was the one who works the most in order to solve the Lion Clan's everyday problems.

And as he sat down on his chair, he saw the paper that was delivered to him before the matter with Desire happened.

It stated...

[The conference of the big powers all over the Vakigo kingdom, Pista, will be commenced in a month from now.

The Lion Clan's Clan Master, Lionel the Lion King, has been invited by His Majesty, Roan Vakigo.

His Majesty hopes to see the Vakigo kingdom's fearsome lion. 

The Royal Court hopes to see Clan Master Lionel to the capital, Vertigo.

Best regards, Court Magician Fur.]

Pista.

Pista is a social gathering of the big shots around the Vakigo kingdom. It was a big kingdom, so there were quite a number of those big shots coming in.

It was also the place where new laws or rules will be enforced when King Roan says so.

It is also the place where the numerous guilds and clans will fight to win over some influence in the Vakigo kingdom.

After all, to get the people's sympathy or be allied with them, one has to 'follow' rules. And, by being able to win some influence in the Vakigo kingdom, one will always be able to 'follow' rules in any situation.

Well, if they were too blatant about what they were doing, no matter how influential they get, people would eventually say something about them.

This is also the event or place where the guilds try to talk about territories, Dungeon teams, alliances, etc.

Basically, it was a party for high-class people where they talk about what to do after they exit the event called Pista.

Of course, as Lionel was one of those people, he was invited.

And that was also the reason why Lionel was troubled. He didn't know what to do with Desire.

"Hmmm. I want them to know him..."

For a master, making people know about your disciple is something that should be considered normal.

In fact, even Lionel wants the world to know that his disciple was Desire.

And such a perfect chance has come upon him to introduce Desire to the world.

And Lionel, a master, what's more, his student was exactly like him, wants his disciple to be feared and renowned as the Lion's Cub.

Even if there were many enemies around him, Lionel was at least confident in taking them all.

Besides, if he were to weigh his enemies and Desire, Desire would always come up on top.

After all, they were just enemies waiting to be killed. Why should he care about them more about his disciple?

"If only I weren't in this situation..." Lionel bit his lower lip as he rested his back on the chair while looking up at the ceiling.

He remembered what made him, the king of a jungle, be shackled. The one thing that made him be unable to enjoy a king's freedom.

It was because of a woman who wants to take his Beast Blood.

However, as Lionel was too strong for her to take on, she targeted Jarina, who basically had Lionel's Beast Blood.

What's more, that woman was a member of Lionel's wife's race. That was why it was so frustrating now that it came to bite him back in his ass.

It was all because of her that Lionel couldn't proudly declare that he now has a disciple.

It was all because of her that Lionel had to leave his wife as bait.

It was all because of her that Lionel has to protect his daughter, even though he was a king.

After all, a king would only take wary actions towards another king. And Lionel knows that the woman has a king backing her.

Either way, Lionel wanted Desire to come with him to Pista.

"Should I just let him go with me?" Lionel thought hard as he closed his eyes.

Lionel thought very hard and for a very long time as he wanted this himself.

He didn't want fame or anything like that; he just wanted to have the alias of 'Desire's master' or have Desire to be known as his student. It works well either way for Lionel.

"Huuuu." He sighed, unable to come up with a decision.

He then shook his head as he thought this wasn't like himself.

Under the starry night sky, Lionel mocked himself for being a Conqueror and one of the Kings.

It was quite a pathetic sight.

****

Huuuu.

With rough breathing, Desire bent his knees to place his arms to rest. It was his first day of practicing...no; it was already the second day as it was already midnight.

When he looked around, he saw Jarina sleeping in a bed that he didn't know where it came from.

Well, it doesn't really matter to Desire as he only had one thing in mind.

'Cores...'

The Cores that seem to be so simple at first now turned into something very complex.

It was something that was involved with Gods, and it seems like it holds something special.

Desire shook his head when his mind dazed off to that topic once more.

He already heard enough from Jarina about the Cores. He knew now, as well, how to make his Core go up to another level.

And what to do in order to make his Core go up to another level...Desire couldn't do it right now.

So, in order not to waste his time, he was trying to do the thing that he always slacked off before.

"Trying to become one with water is hard..." He murmured as he straightened up his bent back.

He already asked Jarina about this one, and she said that it was just to train so well in water magic that it looks like water has become Desire.

Meaning, Desire just has to practice many water magic, spells, everything related to water.

"It's quite simple...but it's hard." Desire murmured as he wiped the sweat forming on his head.

It was simple why it was hard. Desire didn't know any magic related to Water magic.

Well, there were quite a few ones as the Suckus taught him before, but...

"It's not flowing in me so well..."

If before, Desire was a blank state of canvas, right now, Desire was colored with something else.

And unfortunately, Desire was unable to make water be part of that something else.

After all, he only focused on taking that Heavenly Demon Trait or whatever it was.

Either way, Desire had missed the perfect chance to become one with water when he was still a blank piece of canvas.

Well, it wasn't so bad that he would regret learning the trait first, though.

After all, the difference could be bridged through efforts alone. By putting in hard work, effort, and time, Desire could probably become one with the water in no time at all.

Why?

It was because...

[Special Status]

-Current progress with the unification with water: 15%

Desire read the notification that came after he practiced the one spell that he had with water.

It was water magic: Water.

"Whew. I'm finally 15%." Desire said as if what he did was something normal.

Well, Desire could say that it took him long enough to take it to 15%.

Either way, Desire wasn't satisfied with how he was progressing with the unification.

"It doesn't go up anymore..."

Desire noticed that after practicing the water magic: Water, the unification rate hasn't gone up at all.

It was as if there were only a certain percentage that it could go up based on the spell he was using.

It was quite ridiculous as Desire hadn't even reached the master category for that magic, but well. Desire would take it if it meant less time.

However, Desire couldn't do anything right now as his teacher was dozing off.

"What should I do now...?" Desire said after saying goodnight to Jarina and then walked off towards the door of the room.

He then went outside and walked towards his room, where he plans to sleep.

After all, he didn't have anything to do now that Jarina was hugging her pillow tight.

And so, he grabbed a quick change of clothes through the closet Lionel has prepared for him, and he jumped right into the bed.

He was able to enter because the door wasn't locked. They were the only people here, anyway.

And so, as he was about to fall asleep, Desire muttered.

"Cores..."

It seems he still hadn't got that thing out of his mind.

"Should I be thankful that my Heavenly Demon Trait ate up the system...?"

He dozed off in his sleep while saying those words...