Vera happily hummed as she cooked Lux's favorite dishes.
Just before midnight, Lux returned home from Elysium with tears in his eyes. Eiko was still crying when Vera entered the training hall. The baby slime jumped into her Grandma's arms in order to cry her heart out more.
The wise grandma didn't ask why her grandson and her great granddaughter were crying. She just held both of them in a loving embrace, and told them, "Welcome home."
Perhaps due to the exhaustion from their journey and sadness, the two fell asleep two hours after their arrival. Even after the sun's crown peaked and appeared in the East, they were still in bed.
Vera didn't mind and allowed the two to sleep as long as they wanted.
"It's done." Vera smiled after she had finished cooking everything that Lux and Eiko liked to eat. There was beef stew, grilled fish, chicken soup with vegetables, grilled corn with butter, and freshly baked bread.
She wanted to prepare more, but she knew that there was a high possibility of Lux and Eiko not having an appetite when they woke up.
As soon as she finished placing all the dishes on the table, she heard the door to Lux's room open. A moment later, a Half-Elf, as well as a yawning baby slime, descended the stairs.
"Good morning, Grandma."
"Manma!"
"Good morning, Lux," Vera replied with a smile. "Good morning, Eiko. Breakfast is ready, let's eat together."
"Mmm," Lux hummed as he sat on his chair. "It's been a while since I ate your home-made cooking, Grandma."
"Manma!" Eiko said as she crawled down from Lux's head and lightly jumped on the table, away from the dishes. The baby Slime then crawled towards Vera and looked up to her like the spoiled great grandchild she was, hoping to catch her grandma's attention.
Vera chuckled and lightly patted Eiko's head. She was quite fond of Lux's and Iris' baby Monster, whom she also treated as her great grandchild. After making the baby Slime happy, Vera then placed a plate in front of her and served her some beef stew, a grilled fish, and a few cobs of grilled corn.
Eiko happily ate the grilled corn first because this was something she couldn't eat often in Leaf Village.
Lux, on the other hand, gave himself a good serving of beef stew. He then held a roll of freshly baked bread in his left hand, and alternated his bites between it and the beef stew on his plate.
"As expected, Grandma's cooking is the best," Lux praised Vera's cooking to the high heavens, which earned him a sweet smile from his grandma's weathered face.
"Manma!" Eiko nodded in agreement before eating the grilled fish on her plate.
Vera watched the two children eat with satisfaction. Eating alone was quite lonely, but whenever Lux and Eiko returned home from their journey in Elysium, their house would become lively for a short period of time.
"Eat as much as you want," Vera said. "There are still plenty in the kitchen."
"You should also eat, Grandma. You won't get full by watching us eat."
"Manma."
The old lady chuckled before nodding her head. She then filled her bowl with chicken soup and ate in a good mood.
An hour later, a satisfied Half-Elf and a baby Slime, washed the dishes together. Vera had gone through her usual morning rounds around Wildgarde Stronghold to ensure that everything was peaceful.
Lux knew that his grandma would be away for an hour or two, so he decided to use that time to check his inventory.
< Favonius Legacy, The Heirloom of the West >
(Degraded Pseudo-Demigod Armor)
Rarity: Mythical (Degraded)
Requirements: Must gain the recognition of Favonius' Will.
– This armor was once worn by a Saint. However, due to the passing of hundreds of years, the armor had degraded to the Mythical Rank.
– After its rank degraded, the stats of this armor also degraded. In order to restore the armor to its former glory, you will need the help of a Saint-Ranked Blacksmith.
– Only those that had been recognized by the will of Favonius can wield this armor set.
– This armor is Soulbound to Lux Von Kaizer.
– This armor can be worn by any Creature under your command.
+20 to all stats
+300 to Defense.
– 50% Resistant to Wind Element
– While this armor is equipped, the wearer will gain the ability to fly.
– While this armor is equipped, the wearer will gain the ability to use the skill "Sky-High Rush".
– While this armor is equipped, the wearer will gain the ability to use the skill "Gale Storm."
Active Skills: Razor Wind, Acceleration Charge.
Passive Skills: Levitation, Auto Fit
Title: Favored by the Wind.
< Razor Wind >
(10 Mana)
– Send razor-sharp wind blades at your target that deals +100 Wind Elemental Damage.
< Acceleration Charge >
– Increase flying speed by 100%
< Levitation >
– The wearer of this armor can hover two-feet above the ground.
– This passive skill can be turned on and off.
< Favored by the Wind >
– The effect of Wind Elemental Damage, or skills, will increase by 20%
– Thrice a day, you may cast the skill, Healing Wind.
< Healing Wind >
– Restores 20% of the Maximum Health Points of everyone within the two-hundred meter radius of the wearer of this armor.
'Even though its abilities have degraded, it is still an amazing set of armor,' Lux thought as he looked at the legacy that was left behind by a Saint.
He then turned the page of his Soul Book and looked at the information of the spear that served as the Saint's weapon when he was still alive.
< Misery's End - Destroyer of Lost Hope >
(Degraded Pseudo-Demigod Weapon)
Weapon Type: Spear
Rarity: Mythical (Degraded)
Requirement: Must gain the recognition of Favonius' Will.
– This spear accompanied Favonius during his travels. In the past, it was a fearsome weapon. But due to hundreds of years of inaction, its abilities and skills had degraded.
– This weapon is Soulbound to Lux Von Kaizer.
– This weapon can be equipped by any Creature under your command.
Attack: 300 - 350
– Has a 10% chance to trigger the skill, Bleed, while attacking an enemy.
– Has a .01% chance to trigger Storm Tempest, while attacking an enemy.
< Bleed >
– has a 5% chance to apply the Bleeding effect to your target with every strike.
– Bleeding effect reduces your target's Health Points by 1% of its Maximum Health Points every 2 seconds.
– Bleed Effect Duration: 10 seconds.
Lux equipped the spear to Diablo, so that the Skeleton Rider could use it whenever he charged at his opponent. But when fighting at extremely close range, Diablo could switch his weapon to the mythical sword that was given to Lux as a parting gift by his Master, Randolph.
It was none other than the blacksmith's prized masterpiece, Blood Moon. This was the weapon that Diablo used during the battle in the Kobold's Nest.
Because of this, the Skeleton Rider had gained a massive boost in his offensive capabilities, making Lux very happy.
After an hour, Lux finally finished sorting out his inventory. It was a grueling task, and he had no time to do it when he was still in Leaf Village because he had been busy helping the Dwarves repair their houses and build the orphanage.
'In a few days, I'll go to Barbatos Academy with Grandma in order to register for the tournament,' Lux thought as he took a mask out of his inventory. 'I have to change my plans a bit.'
The mask in Lux's hand was one of the Mythical Equipment that composed the Faunus Battle Regalia.
It was called the "Mask of a Thousand Faces." It was an exaggerated title, since the mask didn't exactly have the ability to let someone change their appearance with a hundred different faces.
The mask could only allow each user to store two appearances inside it. Perhaps the creator had already expected that the mask would be passed down from generation to generation, allowing many people to use it until it had created over a thousand faces.
The reason why Lux wanted to change his appearance was because he wanted to protect Iris from her father's plan to marry her off to the winner of the tournament.
Iris was a very important lady in the eyes of the nobles, as well as the royal families of the six kingdoms that supported Barbatos Academy. Whoever won in the tournament would definitely be targeted by several powerful factions, and Lux wanted to avoid that scenario.
Surprisingly, when he was thinking about what face to use, an ingenious idea came to his mind. He could copy any face as long as he had seen them once. The great part about the mask was that it could also change the size and shape of the body to create a perfect replica of the person that he wanted to copy.
Since he didn't want to harm other people by copying their appearance, he decided to use his former appearance from when he was back on Earth.
In Lux's past life, he was a chubby teenager with short black hair and light brown eyes. He was confident that he had no look alike in the worlds of Solais and Elysium, so using his past identity was the perfect cover for his plan.
Naturally, he intended to reveal this secret to Vera and Iris as well. The reason for doing so was simple.
He was certain that Iris would not acknowledge the champion of the tournament as her fiance. She would definitely fight tooth and nail with her father, even if the latter were to imprison her somewhere.
The second reason was his grandma, Vera. Lux had a feeling that, aside from him, whoever won the tournament would meet an untimely death as soon as the tournament was over.
This was a feeling that was deeply rooted in his bones, so to ensure that he didn't die in his grandma's hands, telling her about his plan was of the utmost importance.
"Wait for me, Nero," Lux said with determination. "I'll settle all our scores in the tournament. You better not lose to anyone before you face me."
Lux would not allow the arrogant prodigy, or any of the other participants in the tournament, marry Iris against her will. Although he knew that the tournament would be filled with powerful competitors, he wasn't worried a single bit.
The red-headed teenager was no longer the weak and sickly Half-Elf who would faint whenever he over-taxed himself.
He was no longer the useless person that Nero humiliated in the past, or the person that Alexander didn't deem worthy of his daughter.
A faint smile appeared on Lux's face before he closed his eyes to take a nap. He had already formulated a plan in his mind, and he was confident that he would be able to succeed even in the face of needing to fight the strongest members of the young generation within the six kingdoms that supported Barbatos Academy.
