"I feel the same Spirit Energy that I had when I was alive. I feel the bond with the surroundings, even when I'm in my Spiritual Form," Lia explained as her lips formed a smile.
"With that, I believe I should be able to use my spells even without being summoned," she further explained, just to make it easier for Azekiel to understand what she said.
Since Azekiel wasn't a spellcaster, she spoke in layman's terms.
Since Lia was a spellcaster, she didn't need to touch things to fight like Raphael. She also didn't need physical attacks like Raphael did. All she needed was to create a bond with the nature to have her spells take effect. That's why just the spirit energy was enough for her.
"I don't know if it's a temporary effect or a permanent one, but if it's permanent, it would be amazing. That means I would be able to help you without needing to be summoned," she continued; however, at the same time, she also rolled her eyes. "Not like you would've summoned me above Raphael."
She had been with Azekiel long enough to know that whenever he needed to Summon someone, he only selected Raphael. Not only did he trust Raphael more, but he also believed that Raphael was inherently stronger and better-suited for a battle.
Throughout the days, Lia felt more and more useless. She was like a spectator who had no cards to play with.
With this new change, she believed she could finally have some skin in the game. Even though she still didn't touch anything or anyone other than Azekiel and Raphael, she could still have some fun now.
Just to test, she clapped her hands. An illusory formation circle appeared before her, which shot straight to the water ahead.
The Formation Circle wasn't made from her energy, so it wasn't in the spiritual form of energy. Instead, it was pure nature's form.
Their formation circle landed on the water, submerging inside. Before long, the flow of water started slowing down massively. It was as if the water had suddenly come to a halt.
"It works."
Not only her, but even Azekiel was pleased with the change. Now he truly had two people who could fight for him. Previously, he could only summon one person, and that too for only one minute before running out of soul energy. But now, Lia was always going to be his passive support.
It came just at the perfect time as well, especially when he needed to leave the Tower to fight the mythical beasts that had attacked the earth.
"Raphael, can you also attack without being summoned?" Even though he understood that it was a spellcaster thing, he still asked Raphael, just to be sure.
Raphael could only shake his head. "I am not a spellcaster. I can only attack with my own strength."
Raphael was pleased that Lia was able to use her strength for their team. This truly made their team stronger.
******
[Two hours later]
Azekiel was walking in the direction of the moon with Raphael and Lia, telling them about the new hidden quest that he had received.
He informed the two of them about the importance of this hidden quest and the rewards that were for the quest.
"Castle of Infinity... It's the second time I heard about it in a quest. Last time I received a key, and this time it'll be a map of the Castle."
"Castle of Infinity appears to be an important place. I believe it's good that we can jump straight to the eleventh floor," Raphael chimed in. "The faster we get to the Castle of Infinity, the faster we can see what's actually inside."
"However, if I'm not wrong, that place must be a celestial place. The name does remind me of another Celestial Place we had, called the Castle of Mortality."
"It's quite possible that the similarities in the names are a coincidence, but it's also possible that it's more than that. And if it's indeed similar to Castle of Mortality, then we definitely need to get there before anyone else can."
"Castle of Mortality? Can you explain more?"
The name indeed sounded similar to Castle of Infinity, which increased the curiosity of Castiel about what this place actually was. He wanted to understand the Castle of Mortality to make some ideas about what kind of place the Castle of Infinity could be.
"The Castle of Mortality was the oldest thing in our realm. In fact, it was even older than our civilization. It's said that it was the place where our civilization actually started. However, only the Godkings were allowed inside, so not much is known about that place. At least I don't know much."
"We used to call that place the Celestial Palace, where even the Godkings could only go once in their lifetime. It was also the most secure place in the entire realm and even approaching that place without permission was an offense that could get someone killed."
"That's why, if the Castle of Infinity is also a Celestial Palace, then I really want to see what is inside. At least we should get there before another King can."
With the kind of importance that the place had, Raphael didn't want anyone else to enter before they could.
"Don't worry. No one can enter that place before us. At least not any King. The King who has reached the farthest is Lucifer, and even he's only supposed to be on the Fifth Floor. He isn't clearing the tenth floor in the next five years. Meanwhile, we will be on the eleventh in a month."
No matter how much this timeline was different, Azekiel didn't believe that in this timeline, Lucifer could clear the floors in a month that took from five years in the last timeline.
"Moreover, I have the Key of the Castle of Infinity. I don't think anyone would be able to enter the Castle without the key," he further added.
"Unless there are more keys than one to the Castle of Infinity." Lia chimed in. "It's not safe to assume that there is only one key."
She was also right. However, before Azekiel could answer her, he heard the sound of battles coming from the distance.
"We are close to the territory of the Orcs. If I'm not wrong, it should be them being attacked! Right on time!"
"Lia, cast an illusion in our surroundings. Make the Triads blind. I'm going in."
Azekiel called forth his Gauntlets since he couldn't fight the Triads bare-handed. They were known for their hard-to-penetrate defense and their powerful offense, after all.
"Consider it done!" Lia exclaimed. It was her time to shine!
