Eon woke up.
He was in the biggest, softest bed he had ever slept in. This was the Count's personal room. He slowly stretched his arms and legs, feeling the strength and stamina of his High Elf body restored. The heavy work of the past few days, killing the Count, tricking the Denares brothers, and using a huge amount of mana, had finally caught up with him. But now, he felt better than ever. The tiredness was gone.
He took a deep breath. His mind, the human soul of Jin-ho, was sharp and ready. He needed to check on his biggest weapon: his mana.
"System," he whispered.
The glowing blue screen appeared instantly in the air, showing his full status.
-STATUS-
Race: High Elf
Age: 96 years
Strength: 10> 21
Stamina: 30>42
Agility: 12>19
Mana: 3000>11000/11000
Insight: 12000>20500
SP: 5>10>20>40>80>160>320>640 (Matter manipulation Skill leveling up points=640) + 5>10>20>40>80 (Alchemy Skill leveling up points=80)
-SKILLS-
Unlocked Skill: Matter Manipulation(Lv 8: 9/600 )
Locked Skill: Heat Manipulation(Condition: Master matter manipulation up to lv10)
Locked Skill: Spell Management(Condition: Create a new spell)
Unlocked Skill: Alchemy(Lv11: 30/110)
Locked Skill: Inventory(Condition: Have more objects than the Host can carry)
Locked Skill: Smithing(Condition: Melt raw ore of any metal)
Locked Skill: Crafting(Condition: Invent an item unknown to this world)
Locked Skill: Skill Shop(Condition: Master all of the unlocked skills)
Eon looked at the numbers. His mana pool was now 11000/11000. It was a massive amount of power. He felt like he could crush a small mountain if he wanted to. Everytime he empties his mana it increases by many folds. And this time it increased significantly, cause he used mana almost till the stat reached only 50 mana point left. So naturally it also increased so much.
His Insight was also high, although he didn't knew for sure what it was for, but one thing is clear. The more he understand magic and mana, the more it just increases. Though for now he didn't find any use for this stat.
He focused on his skills. Matter Manipulation was almost at Level 10. That meant he was close to unlocking Heat Manipulation. Being able to control heat would change everything. He could boil blood, melt metal, or turn water into steam instantly.
He was also thinking about his new goals: Smithing and Crafting.
'Smithing needs me to melt raw metal ore,' he thought. 'And Crafting needs me to invent something new. I need to start making things from my old world, guns, tools, machines. If I can do that, I won't just be an elf; I'll be a king of technology in this backward world.'
'Hmm. Maybe not guns. Who knows what happens, when I lost control over it. In a world as cruel as this, it won't do any good for sure.' Eon nodded to himself.
Just as he was thinking about Skills and planning his next steps according to it, a sharp knock came at the door.
"Enter," Eon said, pulling on his dark, simple robe.
Hans, the old butler, came in. His face was full of worry. Eon had a bad feeling seeing his face like that.
"Master Eon," he said quietly. "We have received urgent news. Captain Valen and the Denares army unit have stopped. They are waiting at a small village right near our land".
Eon's eyes narrowed. "Valen. The one who is 'The Best' at his job?"
"Yes, sir," Hans replied, his voice shaking a little. "He is known to be the most cautious and careful soldier in the Denares army. He suspects something is wrong with the Marquess's sudden retreat. He is too good to simply follow orders that don't make sense. I am certain they have already sent a spy inside the manor to find out what really happened".
Eon understood the danger instantly. If the spy saw an elf bossing people around and found the Count's body, Valen would attack before Eon could blink.
"Where are our forces?" Eon asked.
"The elves are gathered in the lower courtyard, sir," Hans said.
Eon quickly went outside and faced the small group of elves. They were the ones he had rescued from the dungeon. They were no longer weak. Eon's healing potions and good food had made them strong again in just a matter of single day. He could only wonder how his potion is going make them given a year or two.
"Listen to me," Eon commanded, his voice firm. "Captain Valen is at our gates. He is a great danger. I need every one of you to be at your peak. Go, eat, and rest now. Take a deep rest so you are at your full strength. We will only fight when we have the perfect plan."
The elves gave a low bow and went to rest. Eon knew he had to act fast. He needed to know everything about Valen to find a weakness.
He turned and went straight to the deeper parts of the dungeons, where he had locked the denares brothers along with others. Elora was waiting outside the door, ready to follow. She was pale but her face showed a new strength. She had decided that following Eon was far better than getting the same fate as her brothers. Plus she felt that, Eon for some reason was soft on her. It helped her relax a little.
They walked to the cell where Alaric and Darius Denares were kept. The brothers, once proud Marquesses, were now just prisoners, their necks held tight by the painful slave collars.
When they saw Elora walking closely behind Eon, smiling at something he said, their rage exploded.
"You… you animal!" Darius screamed, shaking the bars. "Stay away from her! What have you done to my sister?".
Alaric stared at Elora, his voice low and full of hatred. "Elora, what is this madness? You are with this... this slave?".
Elora stepped closer to the bars. She looked at her brothers, not with fear, but with total contempt.
"Slave?" she asked, a cold laugh in her voice. "He is better than both of you. He is strong and he is honest about his power. You are just weak men, who thinks they are strong. You have always hurt people by keeping me in the dark. Don't think that I don't know about your's deeds. I have heard everything from others."
Her brothers went silent, shocked by her words.
"You ask how I can be with him?" Elora continued, her voice rising. "I saw what you did to Countess Teressa. I knew how you beat and hurt the serving women. You lay hands on women who cannot fight back. You are not men. You are not even deserving to call me your sister."
The brothers dropped their heads, unable to look her in the eye. They had no answers. They were just filled with shame and powerless anger.
Eon stepped forward, ending the family fight. "Enough. Tell me about Valen," he ordered, his voice sharp. "What is his weakness? Every man has at least one weakness. What is his one? His flaw? His one habit that he cannot stop?".
Alaric, knowing the collar would punish him if he didn't spoke, didn't try to test Eon, "Valen... he is obsessed with women. Every single day, he visits the brothels in any town we stop in. If there are no brothels, like the small village he is staying in now, he pays significant amounts of money to poor women to sell their bodies to him. He thinks his money makes his lust a fair business."
Eon smiled, a cold, dangerous smile. "Hmff. Lust. Easy to use."
He turned and walked out, his mind already spinning a plot. Elora ran quickly to keep up with him. Behind them, the Denares brothers yelled curses and promises of revenge, but no one could hear them outside the dungeon.
As Eon reached the main hall, Hans and Verra were waiting for him.
"Eon, what should we do now?" Verra asked. "If the spy manages to gather information about our control over a count house, they will surely report to that captain Valen. Won't he take action immediately?"
Hans added, "Sir, even I, despite being a simple butler of this county, know the capabilities and reason behind Valen's famous nickname. He sure is 'The Best' at his job. Who knows what he will do with this info? He won't just attack; he will destroy everything to clean up the mess."
As they were talking, trying to come up with a final idea, the door to the hall burst open.
Julius, the Count's son, came rushing at Eon, his face red with total fury.
"You!" Julius screamed, rushing to hit Eon.
Eon saw him coming. His high Agility meant Julius's attack was slow and predictable.
'He must've seen that then,' eon thought with an annoyed expression on his face.
'Before, I was too tired to deal with it. But what to do now?'
Before Julius could reach Eon, Hans suddenly stepped between them.
"Young Master, stop this at once!" Hans commanded, using the strong voice of a lifelong servant.
Julius skidded to a stop, confused. "Hans? What are you doing? Why are you protecting this... this thing? He killed my father! His body is in my mother's chamber. Don't you know about it? If you know, then why are you defending this vile slave? You should be on my side!"
Hans sighed, looking tired. "I know exactly what is happening, Young Master. And that is why I am standing here. This 'thing' is the only person who can stop Valen from coming here and killing us all. If you do not step aside, you will ruin everything."
Julius backed away, his anger turning into confusion and a feeling of being betrayed. He looked at Hans, then Verra, seeing their silent agreement. He had lost control of his own home to an elf and his own servants.
He took out a knife from his belt and turned it towards Eon. coming at him on full speed.
Author Note: If you want to know what Eon does as Julius attacks him, you can join my Patreon tiers for advanced 20 chapters. Or wait for a day for the next chapter here.
Make sure to leave a rating about this novel.
Make sure to leave a rating about this novel.
👑 Support the Story & Read Ahead! 👑
Unlock Exclusive Access:
🚀 20-Chapter Head-Start on the public release! https://www.patreon.com/posts/instant-access-144074236?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=postshare_creator&utm_content=join_link
🎨 Access to Exclusive Character Art, lore, and much more.
Discord LInk: [https://www.patreon.com/posts/join-discord-144597844?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=postshare_creator&utm_content=join_link]
or use this: [https://discord.gg/2D7YUsma5s]
To know about Further benefits, visit my Patreon page. [https://www.patreon.com/Visioner10]