Chapter 386 - Mission
Eventually, Zaos also learned that Milliendra's powers to level up techniques were also pretty insane. In just a single hour, she made Meditation reach level five. Considering that her magic growth could cause issues or speed up the revival of the demon god, Zaos decided to train her physically instead of magically. With the excuse of playing tag, Zaos taught her how to run a bit more effectively. That should help her in burning all the energy the kids had… after dinner that night, Zaos and Aleni put Milliendra to sleep and began to talk about what they learned.
"There is no mistaking it… when it comes to magic, her growth speed is surreal," Zaos said. "From what I can see, it seems her aura works to protect her. That is why defensive spells cast by others aren't cancelled. Her own spells work in the same manner."
"Following that logic, even the aura that is supposed to scare others probably is just a defense mechanism," Aleni added. "We need to test if that aura got more powerful over the years…"
"Why?" Zaos asked. "Based on what Ameria researched, it seemed that the aura has numerous levels of power. I made sure that I scared the women who helped her during the birth in order to silence them, but the only time they saw her. The level of fear was… the same as a human when they see a slightly dangerous animal. However, Ameria also said that on her research, she discovered that the demon god could paralyze with his aura even those who had strong wills."
Zaos rubbed his chin thoughtfully. It seemed like a useful skill to have for protection… but it was truly a curse without full control over it. Milliendra could be protected from most people, but that also means that she would be shunned by the vast majority of the people of the world, and those who are resistant to the aura were mostly assholes and demons who would take advantage of her to bring back the demon god.
"Testing this in animals is impossible, we can't use other humans without causing some issues…" Zaos said. "We can only use humans who we don't need alive. Still, even I would feel bad in using bandits as guinea pigs… unless they are working for the revived demons."
"We need to capture one of the demons and see what they know about those powers," Aleni declared. "We are walking in a territory completely unknown to humans for thousands of years… we need their experience."
"That is easier said than done, I could tell just by looking at the other guy that he wouldn't break no matter what," Zaos said. "Besides, capturing one and torturing them would be the same as killing an innocent person. I was trained to be a soldier and kill others, but I don't like the idea that my actions will cause the death of innocents."
"Don't you know any spells that might only affect the spirits instead of the hosts?" Aleni asked.
"No… and naturally, there isn't any mention of one in the magic book," Zaos replied after a long sigh. "There must be some spells out there that haven't been registered, but finding any trace of those will be hard and will take too much time."
For Milliendra's future, Zaos and Aleni couldn't kill anyone who was being controlled by an enemy since she could be blamed for it as the person who holds the power to bring the demon god. Still, they couldn't just keep running away if the enemies found them and started the fight. It was only natural that they would kill them… Still…
"You said that Ameria learned a lot while she was doing her research, did you notice her learning anything related to this?" Zaos asked.
"No… she didn't have much time back then before the birth," Aleni said. "There were many books that she could have found that could be helpful, but…"
"As expected, only the royal family has the knowledge that we want," Zaos furrowed his eyebrows. "We can't just return and invade again, though. The followers of the demon god only managed to preserve the knowledge of the spells and they didn't do anything else to fight back until now… we need to find if there is another family out there who has this much history."
"Your family is pretty old…" Aleni said.
"My previous home is too far away and I read most of the books in our library," Zaos said. "Besides, we worked for the king, so why would we need copies of the books the royal family had?"
"I suppose that makes sense…" Aleni said. "Since that is the case, I will go and do some investigation work about this and about the bandits."
"Are you sure this is a wise idea… the last time…" Zaos said.
"I don't need you to remind me of that," Aleni said and crossed her arms, and then moved her body in another direction.
"Well, let's sleep for the night," Zaos said. "You will need to rest since this task won't be easy and you also need to say goodbye to Milliendra. I will do something to help you decrease the duration of the mission."
Aleni had no idea what he had meant by that, but she decided to obey. She didn't want to suddenly disappear, even though it was just for a few days from Milliendra's life. After breakfast, Aleni began to pack her things, and Milliendra noticed that something usual was about to happen.
"Where are you going, Mommy?" Milliendra asked.
"… I am going to the villages to solve some problems," Aleni said and then patted Milliendra's head. "If you are a good girl, I will return as soon as possible."
After saying that, Aleni hugged Milliendra. That was rare since Aleni still felt complicated feelings while acting like her mother. Still, she was loosening up. After she let her go, Zaos approached and then gave her four rings. Those were some unusual tools, but she could tell that those were special.
"They will increase your speed and restore your energy," Zaos said. "Don't take your time out there."
In the end, Aleni received them and then disappeared without saying anything. Zaos shrugged while thinking that he had to teach her how to say thank you as well…