Chapter 211: Arrival at Harmonia City

Beneath the moon and stars shimmering in the night sky, the clearing came alive with quiet serenity.

The rhythmic hum of cicadas blended with the cold evening breeze, while moonlight bathed the forest floor in a soft, silvery glow.

Each step they took stirred the grass with a gentle rustle, and the earthy scent of leaves filled the air.

A boy with snow-white hair gently led a blindfolded girl with obsidian-black hair into the heart of the clearing.

"Are we there yet?" the girl asked, a hint of excitement in her voice.

The boy smiled. "Just a little more."

After a few more steps, he moved behind her and carefully untied the blindfold.

As the black cloth slipped away, the girl blinked into the moonlight, her vision still adjusting.

A few heartbeats passed, then a soft gasp escaped her lips as her eyes lit up in wonder.

The boy and the girl were none other than Regis and Vanessa.

After spending time with the others in the inner world, she asked him to let her experience the outside world once more.

Regis observed her reaction for a short while before commenting with a cheeky smile on his face.

"Don’t tell me you’re going to cry again?"

At his words, Vanessa’s glare instantly shot right through him.

"You said something?"

"Huh? Must’ve been the wind. It’s quite cold, after all."

"Tch!"

"So, how is it? Isn’t it good to be alive?"

"Yes..." A look of nostalgia appeared in Vanessa’s eyes, "Yes, it is."

"There’s something I’m curious about..." A curious expression appeared on Regis’s face as he spoke.

Before they left his inner world, they had made some modifications to their soul contract.

One such modification was giving Vanessa the ability to enter and exit his inner world independently, while the other modifications were quite similar to the terms and conditions he had with his party members.

However, these were not the things he was curious about at this moment.

Vanessa, with her eyes still glued upwards to the night sky, asked, "What is it?"

"It’s nothing serious. I just realized that I haven’t asked you what you wanted to do with your new life?"

"Huh?" She looked at him with an expression that said, ’wasn’t that obvious?’.

"Well, I wanted to join your corporation in the future... unless what you offered back then to them doesn’t apply to me?"

"No, of course it does." Regis waved both of his hands, "I guess I just needed a verbal answer from you."

"Is that all you wanted to ask about?"

"Actually, there’s something else."

"What is it?"

Regis smiled as he looked at the stars above, "I just wanted to ask you whether you’d like to awaken aura or mana?"

At his words, a weird expression suddenly appeared on Vanessa’s face, "Now that you mention it..."

"Hm? Why do you look like you want to take a shit?"

"Shut up for a moment, will ya?"

"But why are you suddenly acting strange?"

"It’s just... I feel like there’s already an energy circulating in my heart..."

"Huh? Can you try to use it?"

"W-What if it’s demonic power?"

Seeing the fear on her face, he shook his head and reassured her, "It can’t be, your body that was corrupted by the demonic power had already been destroyed..."

"B-But what if it already corrupted my soul?"

"That’s impossible too, since I would have already absorbed it the moment you all entered my consciousness."

Regis then looked her in the eye and said, "Just stay calm for now, okay? Sit down and circulate the energy first. I’ll help you if anything goes wrong."

"Okay..." Vanessa obediently sat cross-legged on the grass with his hand on her back.

After a few deep breaths, she closed her eyes and stimulated the energy deep inside her heart.

Although she normally had a teasing and independent nature, the trauma she had buried deep in the back of her mind was now threatening to resurface.

After all, Vanessa had just been a child when she was exposed to the cruelties she had experienced back then at the demonic human camp.

No matter how strong and mature she may seem, she was still a child at the end of the day.

’You can do it... You can do it...’

Vanessa chanted in her mind as the energy in her heart began circulating.

"Relax, okay? You’re not alone anymore."

Regis’s gentle voice drifted from behind her, enabling her to regain her calm.

With his palm on her back, he could easily detect if there was something bad happening inside her body.

However, the energy that he had sensed made Regis’s blood-red eyes go wide.

"Wha..."

At this moment, the regal energy enveloping Vanessa’s body glowed softly under the moonlight.

It was an ever-so-familiar purple energy that Regis had been studying since they left Bakurad Fortress.

An energy that was only achieved through the fusion of aura and mana....

Aether.

***

A few more weeks passed...

Thu—ku—tuk—- Thu—ku—tuk—- Thu—ku—tuk—-

The soft sound of wooden carriage wheels rolling over the stone pavement echoed gently through the area.

In the distance, mountainous silhouettes kissed the blue sky, birds glided overhead, and pink petals drifted from blooming trees, creating a picturesque scene.

Yet, the most striking sight was the silhouette of the towering, pristine city walls rising on the horizon.

Unlike common stone, these walls appeared to be forged from a special material.

Rather than the usual dull gray, they shimmered with a bluish hue, as though enchanted by magic arrays.

White support pillars lined the structure, each crowned with a watchtower where guards were visibly stationed.

More guards could be seen patrolling the wall walk, while additional sentries stood at the base of the walls, especially clustered near the grand city gates.

Inside the carriage, Regis, Pandora, Killian, and Aurelia stared at the spectacle before them.

"Woah... is that really a city? Isn’t that more like a fortress?" Killian commented, his tone brimming with awe.

His words were not without reason.

After all, just the number of guards alone exceeded that of the Bakurad Fortress, from what he remembered.

Eldrin chuckled, "Well, Harmonia is the satellite city of Ligera, the largest kingdom in the whole world."

He then added after a moment of pause, "When we enter the city, it’s important for you to remember that blatantly staring at other species is offensive, okay? Although you lot may avoid this since you’re kids, it’s better to be safe."

Afterwards, he also began explaining some of the general information about the city.

Pandora, Killian, and even Aurelia all attentively listened to the old mage with interest and curiosity shining in their innocent eyes.

Meanwhile, Regis’s eyes remained glued to the grand city of Harmonia.

’It’s the first time I’ll get to see other races...’

However, his thoughts went back to the scenes wherein he fought with demons, causing his excitement to drop.

’...to think that I met a demon and a devil before I even get to meet elves and dwarves is quite something.’

To be honest, Regis’s heart was filled with mixed emotions.

’I feel a little sad that our journey is ending...’

Over the past two months of traveling together, he had come to genuinely enjoy it.

The nights spent sharing conversations over dinner by the bonfire, filled with laughter, remained vivid in his mind.

There were times when even Rowan, being the uptight soldier that he was, seldom joined them for dinner.

Eldrin’s lessons were deeply engraved in his heart—unforgettable, even if he tried.

Aurelia and Killian’s frequent arguments still made him chuckle from time to time.

Pandora’s unwavering effort and determination in learning Aura Arts filled him with pride.

Even Vanessa’s occasional visits had become treasured memories of their own.

He could still recall the old mage’s expression when he learned that Regis could accommodate objects and even living beings within his consciousness, which housed a world of its own.

That discovery had led Eldrin to begin teaching Vanessa magic as well, even visiting Regis’s inner world himself.

The children had warmly welcomed the old mage, and in return, he gave them a lecture and demonstrated several magic spells.

All in all, Regis could confidently say that these two months had been a pleasant and fulfilling Chapter of his life—one he would look back on fondly in the years to come.

However, he also knew what the end of a story entailed...

...which was none other than a sign of another story waiting to unfold.

A smile bloomed on his lips as excitement surged in his heart, ’I wonder how many new people I will meet...’

At this moment, he suddenly realized something as he took a peculiar object from his storage pouch.

It was a circular object with peculiar patterns on it.

Upon noticing it, Eldrin’s shocked voice almost shook the carriage, "Why do you have the emblem of the Grava Familia on you!?"

"Grava Familia? As in the ducal family of Acheron Kingdom?" Killian asked with raised brows.

Pandora and Aurelia also looked at him with interested gazes.

However, Regis merely smiled, "Can we ask someone to deliver a letter for me? There’s someone important I need to contact."