"Grandma, it's good to see you again." Lux gave Vera a tight hug, and the latter hugged him back just as tight.
Not wanting to miss out, Eiko also joined the group hug, leaving her target dummy, Dracul, behind.
"I was getting worried that your recovery would take forever," Lux said after their hug ended. "But I didn't expect that you would jump to the Saint Rank after you left Blackfire. I wonder how Father and Iris will react once they see you again."
Vera smiled because this was something that she was looking forward to seeing as well.
Her body had been remodeled to perfection, allowing her to become stronger than she was decades ago. Also, she became a lot younger, looking like a beautiful lady in her late twenties.
Lux then shifted his attention to his Master, Gaap.
Just like Vera, the Halfling had also regained many years of his life.
He now had gray hair, and the wrinkles on his face were gone. The Half-Elf didn't expect that Gaap had been quite handsome when he was younger, since it was previously hidden by the wrinkles on his face when Lux met him.
Seeing his gaze, Gaap gave him a nod and a smile, informing the red-headed teenager that everything was fine with him.
In fact, Gaap never felt so good in his life. The Blessings of the World that Lux had imparted with him also fixed his old aches and pains that constantly made him suffer.
Gaap's subordinates were also present and gave Lux gazes of gratefulness and approval.
For them, what the Half-Elf did for their Master was something that couldn't be repaid by all the money in the world combined.
Dracul, who was still hanging upside down, looked at the Half-Elf with anxiety.
He wasn't afraid of Lux. In fact, he could kill him with just a flick of his finger. However, the silver-haired lady, who was by his side, could also do the same to him, so the Vampire King could only behave and endure the punishment that was about to befall him.
"Grandma, you can let Dracul go now," Lux stated. "Although it was totally unexpected, he did help with my breakthrough."
Vera nodded and waved her hand, causing the Vampire King to hit the ground face first, but this amount of damage was nothing to him.
Even Eiko's Blast Bombs didn't leave a single scratch on his body. However, the emotional damage he received within this period was something beyond any physical damage he received in his lifetime.
The handsome Half-Elf then shifted his gaze to Lorelei, who was also looking back at him.
"I'm sorry that our duel came to an unexpected end," Lux said with a smile. "How about a round two?"
The corner of Lorelei's lips twitch after hearing Lux's words.
"There's no need to fight again," Lorelei replied. "I accept defeat. It is my loss. I will honor the agreement, but you are not allowed to do anything perverted to me. If you do that, I will go all out to fight you."
"Relax, I'm not brave enough to do that," Lux replied. 'Besides, Grandmaster Hereswith will nag at me for a lifetime if I did something bad to her niece.'
The Half-Elf smiled at the High-Elf who resembled his Grandmaster's beauty. Clearly, they were related by blood, so the Half-Elf didn't dare to do anything perverted to her.
"How about this, I won't order you to do anything now, but you will do me a favor in the future," Lux stated. "Is this acceptable?"
"As long as the order does not violate my bottom line, I will do it to the best of my ability." Lorelei nodded. "You have my thanks, Lux Von Kaizer. I didn't expect any less from my Aunt's Grand Disciple."
Gaap, on the other hand, looked at Kieran with a devilish smile on his face, making the latter shudder uncontrollably.
The black-haired Saint had completely forgotten that it was not only their Disciples who had a deal. As Masters, they were part of the agreement as well.
"Don't worry, I will follow my Disciple's footsteps and simply ask you for a favor in the future," Gaap stated. "You also helped protect him earlier, so I am willing to compromise. However, it will only be this one time."
Kieran nodded. "It's good to know that you still understand proper etiquette."
Gaap scoffed at the Saint whom he hadn't gotten along with even when his Master was still alive. Even so, he did appreciate Kieran's effort to shield Lux from harm, so he decided to just settle for a favor.
Vera then walked towards Dracul, making the Vampire King subconsciously take a step back.
"Don't worry, I won't hurt you anymore," Vera said. "I just want to talk about the Guardianship of the Necromancer's Ancestral Lands. I don't plan on staying here. After all, there are still many things I have to do in Solais. With that, I decided to return the Guardianship of this place to you."
"Y-You will return the Guardianship to me?" Dracul asked. "Are you sure?"
Vera nodded. "I am not a Necromancer, so this place doesn't have any attachments to me. Even so, since I am now its Guardian, I have the power to bestow its Guardianship to another. But remember this—I can take this power away from you with just a thought. Make sure to not antagonize my grandson again in the future, okay?"
Dracul patted his chest and smiled at the silver-haired lady, who had decided to give him a second chance.
"Don't worry, Lady Vera," Dracul said with confidence. "Past is past. I swear on my name that I will no longer do anything to antagonize your grandson from this point onward."
"I pray that you keep your oath dear to your heart," Vera replied. "I still don't have a vampire in my puppet collection…"
Vera left her words hanging, but it was enough for Dracul to understand the meaning behind it.
As a Puppet Master, Vera didn't only command wooden puppets. She commanded an assortment of puppets ranging from humans, monsters, and other demi-humans, which she had collected when she was in her prime decades ago.
"What are your plans now?" Lorelei asked Lux, who had casually tossed his tattered clothes to the side and replaced them with another set, making him look more presentable in her eyes.
"I'm going back to Solais to have a family reunion," Lux answered before looking at his Grandma Vera. "It has been a while since all of us were together."
Lorelei nodded before handing Lux an emblem.
"This is our Family's coat of arms," Lorelei explained. "If you ever visit the High-Elf Kingdom of Espoire Friden, to look for me, you can use that emblem to grant you special access to the city. But be informed. High-Elves don't usually have high impressions of Half-Elves. There is a chance that people will look down on you when you arrive at that place."
"Espoire Frieden…" Lux muttered.
He had received a key that would allow him to teleport to the Ancient City of the High-Elf. But it had a special restriction attached to it.
In order to activate this key, he would need to be a Ranker first. Now that Lux was a Ranker, he could visit the city of the High-Elves anytime he wanted.
As for being discriminated against, he didn't give a hoot about it. For him, there was no difference between Elves and High-Elves.
He didn't mind, and they didn't matter.
But he set this thought aside for now.
There was a place that he wanted to go to first and someone he wanted to meet. For that to happen, he would have to travel thousands of meters underground in order to reach the Legendary City of Agartha.
Home to the people who lived near the Core of the World, and the place where a lonely girl was trapped in eternal darkness.
