Chapter 430 - 430: A chance

It had been several days since Lucen woke up from his illusion. He was watching the two Martial Deities train Alexander and Cael. It was mostly teaching them a few forms and physical training, and in the evening they would spar with him.

Every now and then, the Heavenly Demon and the Martial God would give him advice and train him as well.

Neither Martial Deity knew much about firearms. However, the principles behind fighting remained the same regardless of the weapon.

The Martial God taught Lucen how to divide his attention between multiple weapons, while the Heavenly Demon forced him to remain aware of his surroundings even while controlling Aerial Arsenal.

It was quite good training as he gained a bit more stats from it, and even gained a new trait.

[Parallel Focus]

[Your mind has adapted to performing multiple actions simultaneously. The reduction in awareness and precision caused by dividing your attention has been decreased.]

The trait made using Lucen's various skills easier. It was quite a useful trait to have, especially after gaining Aerial Arsenal.

The days continued like that, but Lucen knew that they could not stay in this place indefinitely, and finishing the training would most likely take years.

Still, since they had trains, it was possible for the two to commute to this place, but that would not really be ideal. So Lucen asked the two Martial Deities if they had a way to train them in the Capital.

"That's not really a problem. They just need to create an altar and pray," The Martial God responded.

"That only works if they have a question they want answered. If you want us to be able to manifest ourselves like this, then you would need to build another temple for us near that area." The Heavenly Demon chimed in.

Lucen considered the distinction. "So an altar allows them to communicate with you, but a temple allows you to appear before them?"

"Correct," the Martial God answered. "An altar allows a prayer to reach us. A temple provides our divinity with an anchor in the mortal world."

The Heavenly Demon gestured toward the temple surrounding them.

"Our manifestations would be far weaker than the ones you see now, but they would be more than sufficient for training."

"I see... So how do I go about creating your temple?" Lucen asked.

"You do not necessarily need to construct one from the ground up," the Martial God explained. "An existing building can be converted, provided it has never been consecrated to another deity."

Lucen nodded. That would make things much easier.

"What would we need to change?"

"The altar is merely the point through which prayers are directed. For a temple, we require separate altars and representations of ourselves. Usually a statue of our likeness is enough, or a divine artifact which represents us, like those hidden in this temple: our two swords, chaos and serenity."

Lucen was surprised to hear such a thing. There were other hidden pieces in this temple, and they were two mythical-level weapons.

'Damn, so there was more to this temple than the two Martial Deities. Not only did the gamers back then fail to summon the Martial Deities, but we also failed to find such weapons. Heh, if I could write about this, the other gamers who loved this game would have gone ballistic.'

"Where are they?" Lucen asked.

The Heavenly Demon grinned. "Well, that didn't take long for you to ask."

"I do not use swords, but only an idiot would ignore two Mythical-level weapons," Lucen answered.

"At least you are honest about your greed." The Heavenly Demon shrugged his shoulders.

The Heavenly Demon pointed toward the lone platform inside the otherwise empty temple. "They are there."

Lucen looked toward the platform. "I inspected that thing the first time I came here."

"Heh, did you think we would leave such important weapons out in the open for anyone to take?"

"The people who constructed this temple created a hidden vault beneath the platform," the Martial God explained.

The Heavenly Demon walked toward one side of the platform and pointed near its base. "There are two hidden catches beneath the stone. Both must be pressed at the same time."

"Why, child, do you wish to gain our weapons?" The Martial God asked.

"Not really, I was just curious. As I said, I don't use swords." Lucen shrugged his shoulders.

***

After that conversation with the two Martial Deities, several more days passed, and Lucen, alongside Alexander and Cael, was about to head back to the Royal Academy.

Just as the three of them were about to leave, the Heavenly Demon and the Martial God simultaneously turned toward the eastern side of the forest.

The change in their expressions immediately caught Lucen's attention. "What is it?"

"A large group has entered the surrounding forest," the Martial God answered.

The Heavenly Demon closed his eyes briefly. "A little over a hundred people. They are attempting to conceal their presence, but they are doing a rather poor job of it."

"Bandits?" Alexander asked.

Cael placed one hand upon the hilt of his sword. "A group that large would not be able to survive near the eastern border without being noticed. That must mean they're coming from outside Norvaegard."

"Considering where we are, Inevir is the most likely answer. They have disguised their soldiers as bandits before," Lucen said.

"Inevir soldiers? What are they trying to do?" Alexander questioned.

"We will not know until we observe them," Lucen answered.

Alexander looked toward the eastern forest. Valerious Village was not far from the temple. Depending upon the direction the armed group was traveling, they could reach it before nightfall.

The village was where Alexander had grown up. He knew nearly every family living there, and many of its residents had cared for him long before anyone began calling him a Hero.

"We cannot ignore them. If they are heading west, Valerious Village might be their target," Alexander said.

"We were not going to ignore them. If they are Inevirian soldiers, we eliminate them before they leave the forest," Cael responded.

Alexander frowned. Despite what was happening, he did not want to kill other people that haven't done anything yet. These people had their own families who would mourn them if they died.

"Then we give them a chance to turn back," Alexander said.

The Heavenly Demon could not help but comment on that way of thinking. "You want to spare your enemies?"

"They are not my enemies. If possible, I do not wish to take anyone's life. To kill another person would not only make that person's family grieve, but it might force another into the path of revenge."

The Heavenly Demon studied Alexander briefly before laughing. "Heh, if I didn't know you, I would think you're a fool who can only run his mouth, but I know you are a fool with conviction."

Alexander did not take offense. "I can accept being called a fool. I would rather be a fool than kill someone when it could have been avoided."

The Heavenly Demon's grin widened, but he offered no further comment. The Martial God simply nodded his head in silent approval.

Lucen looked toward the eastern forest. "We observe them first. If they truly are Inevirian soldiers, and they are planning to do something, we will give them a chance to return to their homeland."

"If they refuse to leave quietly?" Cael asked.

"Then we'll try to capture them, but if that's not possible, we'll end them," Lucen answered without hesitation. "Are you alright with that, Alexander?"

"... If we have no choice... But I hope it doesn't come to that."

With their course decided, the three left the temple and headed east through the forest.

They soon discovered more than a hundred armed men moving westward. The strangers wore mismatched armor and carried weapons from different kingdoms, but their disciplined formation exposed them as soldiers rather than bandits.

Lucen, Alexander, and Cael concealed themselves upon a wooded slope and observed the group.

There were several aura users and mages. The equipment they were wearing had no indication that they were from Inevir.

A scout approached the commander. "Sir, there is a village nearby."

"When we are in here, do not call me Sir. Call me boss." The commander spoke in a weird way, as if he was trying to sound tougher.

"Sorry, boss," the scout quickly corrected himself. "So, boss, what should we do?"

"What else are bandits supposed to do? Of course we'll raid the village. Take everything useful, burn what remains, and kill anyone who tries to stop us."

The scout saluted. "Understood, boss."

After hearing of their plan, Lucen and the other two quietly retreated for now so that they could talk about what their next move would be.

Once they were far enough away, Lucen asked Alexander. "So what do you want to do?"

"I still wish to give them a chance to turn back... But as I said before, if they do not want to, then I will try to at least capture them alive."