Bro, I'm not an Undead!

Chapter 1328: Prove It!



After Stern-Mage Weyven Irlis had finished explaining and bowed before Kintar, a few of the other Stern-Mages followed suit, but four remained stubborn.

A Realm Source Mage?

The theoretical peak of all Magecraft that even the progenitor of the art failed to achieve?

It was a lie!

And she was too young, too short!

How could she have possibly reached such a level? What would she possibly know about the Realm Source? Did she know what it took to become a Mage with such a title?

As Kintar took in all the mix of suspicion and praise, she gave an odd, creepy little smile. Somehow, her diminutive stature paired with it made her look even more untrustworthy and uncanny. But she didn't care what these other Mages thought of her. It was, after all, Stern- Mage Weyven Irlis, who had rushed her to the capital of Emeradis, made an urgent call to the other Stern-Mages and presented her before the Monarch as a Realm Source Mage.

What she had done in Bane - killing off millions of Cavern in an instant - had left a deep impression on the female Stern-Mage.

The Monarch believed half-heartedly, Kintar knew. She saw through the look in his eyes. "Unbelievable. Truly magnificent!" he said, beaming, his arms spread wide. He was walking towards her. "I can feel the immense power you are hiding even now. Magnificent!"

'Liar. My armour hides the presence of any energy I emit,' Kintar thought, but no one knew. All they saw was her little smile. She floated forward to meet the Monarch. A few Arch-Mages, the Monarch's guards - part of the sceptical bunch, it appeared - made to restrict her, but the Monarch shooed them away.

He was a chiselled man - notable through his thick, muscular neck- under the gorgeous, turquoise and scarlet robes. He wasn't bald, but he might as well have been. His heart-shaped face was clean-shaven and childish-looking. His eyes were so bright they hid many lies.

Kintar allowed herself to be embraced by him. She could tell he was trying to discern all he could about her - if she truly was a stage beyond Arch-Mage. She allowed it. He wouldn't find out anything about her unless he had a guidance field.

The Monarch drew back.

"You are welcome. Very welcome. You have our many thanks for saving Bane and our treasured Stern-Mage Weyven," he said to Kintar before looking behind her.

Red Rage's glow had dimmed somewhat. He wouldn't have wanted to blind everyone in the massive hall. But even then, the details of his figure remained obscured. He continued to look like a sun with a humanoid shape... and a cape. All who looked at him found themselves bearing a slightly favourable opinion of him already, even without speaking to him.

"And you as well... err..." the Monarch faltered, unsure how to address the Apostle.

"Don't mind him," Kintar said. "He's more of an accessory." Red Rage was offended, but he kept to himself.

In a way, Kintar was right. He was an accessory. Skullius could have sent Kintar alone on her mission in Emeradis. She was the strongest Unlimited Star, and would have deserved to lead a group of Stark Troops of her own like Pherdanta. However, because Kintar could be mischievous and unpredictable, the Hybrid Warmoth had judged that Red Rage would be a good companion, one capable of reminding her of her objective. The Apostle was good with handling people with his current powers.

The Monarch took Kintar's word and merely nodded at Red Rage.

He then walked over to his throne, a great golem decorated with bands of an odd sort of gold that was branded with runes. It adjusted when he took a seat and conjured a separate chair for Kintar to sit opposite the Monarch. She sat over it, hovering an inch from its surface. Her standards were prime. She only sat or stood in her master's abode, and not in Aigas.

Many Arch-Mages sat around the two in a wide arc within the large hall. Weyven and the Stern-Mages who had decided to believe that Kintar was indeed a Realm Source Mage sat on the floor around her and Red Rage who stood beside her seat.

The rest of the Stern-Mages snorted at this, as did the other Arch-Mages, but they would never speak before the Monarch over this matter.

"Why have you come? We appreciate your presence, but you must understand, this is a most unusual visitation. Where do you come from, Mage Kintar?" the Monarch said. Weyven had presented Kintar's name before, and he had taken it to heart. Whatever he believed, Kintar was on definitely on par with the Stern-Mages at least.

"Rather than answer something so tedious, I would rather explain the purpose of my visit," the short, wide-faced Unlimited Star said, her eyes narrowing. "My master sends his regrets for the damages to your country as a result of the anomalous battle hours ago. Aigas bore it, and was wounded. Too many precious lives were lost. My master wishes to create a mutually beneficial alliance to keep Aigas safe, especially with the new threat about."

'No need to tell them it was all your fault, master. That's being waaaaaay too humble,' she thought inwardly.

The Monarch's brows rose. He seemed to extract a different notion from her words. "Master?" Mirth leaked into his voice. "How could someone of your calibre, a Realm Source Mage, have a master? Who could possibly be above you? I'd imagine every creature under the sun would call YOU master."

The sceptical Stern-Mages sniggered and chortled. The intent of the Monarch was clear after

all.

However, Kintar laughed along with them all, much to their surprise.

If it was any other Unlimited Star, the Monarch's head would have rolled for jabbing at Skullius, but Kintar had different priorities.

"Well, I'd rather you meet him yourself and judge if he is worthy. That would be fun," she said, her oval-shaped eyes turning creepier. "In any case, would you consider this request by

my master?"

The Monarch grinned.

"Of course. In fact. I would like to meet him as soon as possible to discuss his terms," he said, waving a hand dismissively. "I am more concerned about your identity, however. You have won over a great share of my nation's most powerful forces with one display of power which I regrettably missed. Do you know what a Realm Source Mage is?"

Arch-Mages were practitioners of Magecraft who had mastered at least two forms of Ascended Magic - Magic that used natural essences to cast instead of mana. The most accomplished Arch-Mage of all time, Arch-Mage Remos, had mastered eleven forms of Ascended Magic. However, even he who created Magecraft itself, deemed himself to have not touched upon the Realm Source Mage title.

The highest form of Magecraft, was Absolute Magic. It involved combining runes (stronger, more efficient forms of brands which contain specific magical effects, like skills in a living body) and essences to touch upon the power of Rules. Indeed, it was a terrifying art. Absolute was absolute. There was no revision for anything that was manipulated to completion with

Absolute Magic.

In the labyrinth of the Yoke, Skullius had tasted such magic. Even his Supreme Skill [Flesh It Like You Mean It] had been powerless against it.

(A/N: Refer to Ch.76.)

Arch-Mage Remos had mastered one form of Absolute Magic, however, he deemed it unimpressive solely because of one thing: output.

His output with Absolute Magic was pathetic. He could only affect a limited number of targets with it, and even then, his mana reserves and skill in efficiently converting mana to essence in order to keep the Absolute Magic erect couldn't keep up. He had documented all these regrets and deemed that a Realm Source Mage was someone who could perform Absolute Magic as

easily as spells from a common Patch of Magic.

It was godly mastery.

Many of the Arch-Mages in the hall, fixing Kintar with arrogant, suspicious eyes wondered if she knew any of this. She didn't appear to be from Emeradis, after all.

And they were right. Kintar knew none of it. She knew all the ranks of magic, but had never known what a Realm Source Mage was really supposed to be. In truth, she didn't care. This was why the next words she said nearly caused the Mages around her to attack. "Whatever it is and its requirements, I'm pretty sure it's got nothing on the Impossible Task. And I'm probably a Realm whatever Mage at this point," she said waving a hand airily.

At once, one of Stern-Mages rose, mana blistering around him.

"Then prove it, you arrogant little mouse! Let us be the judge of it!" he cried.