Cameraman Never Dies

"I am really special aren't I?" Judge kicked the predator corpse that was too damaged to be of any value. "My build is not fit to bear the huge recoil, yet I can. Do you want to know why?"

Saphiel looked at him curiously, but did not say anything. Judge could feel his curiosity, but he was reserved.

"Well, if you don't want to I am not telling." Judge waved his hand as they resumed their journey to find a Shroud Grasper. "And if you want to know why, just ask me."

"Why then?" Saphiel's strides were light, they failed to make noise even when stepping on all the dried leaves on the forest ground.

"Glad you asked," Judge turned back to look at Saphiel, "I once had a dream, a very lucid one. I know what I was doing but I did not know I was dreaming..." Enjoy new stories from My Virtual Library Empire

Without mentioning his master's name, he started to recount his training with Seraphis, but he exaggerated it a bit and said that it 'only' lasted a week, though a day was all it took. But he sliced up the story and mixed it in a blender before telling. He did not say anything about his occasional visits to the ozone layer, (just to do a checkup yeah) but he had instead told him that he did very well in training. He told her the training was in a starting phase and was not hard at all— 'Just to be safe'.

After recounting the whole story, he ended with his master saying that they were just in a dream and both would forget about the week they shared. But as a loving student, (yes loving) he had refused to forget about his master and her teaching.

"... the result? I remembered bits of my training, but not everything."@@novelbin@@

Saphiel, who was following behind him closely nodded before clapping. "I'd give the story an 8 out of 10, there are some areas that were lacking."

"...Wha?" Judge stumbled forward, deflated but quickly recovered. He sighed and focused on his way forward, they were now inside the foggy area of the forest. "Well, I should thank you for the constructive critisism." He quipped.

"What does it have to do with you being able to handle the recoil?"

This question made Judge laugh, this was what he had expected in place of an average 8 out of 10 rating. "That's where the twist is, I can bet that you would be surprised to hear my master's name."

"Kiddo, you are underestimating me," He smirked. "Even if she was well-known and was powerful, I can bet I won't be surprised."

"Then are you up for a bet? I would pay you just how much the commission costs. If you lose, you have to give me the commission money."

"Alright, I bet." Saphiel did not mind the money even though it was a substantial amount of a hundred sten. He was more curious about the name, something told him that this new mercenary, Dorian Caine, would not tell him the name unless he did so.

Judge let out an audible laughter, "Prepare to be surprised then, she is called... Seraphis!"

Saphiel's undecipherable face clearly showed fluctuations, indicating that he was surprised beyond measure. His eyes widened, even his mouth was agape. "...S-Seraphis?!"

"Well, welcome 100 sten," Judge said happily.

"How do you know m- her?"

"She is standing right beside me isn't she?"

Saphiel... no— Seraphis was dumbfounded, this kid was not bluffing. The original her was just known among the phoenixes and dragons as the 'Brute Phoenix'. So it was surprising to hear her name outside the Land of Phoenix. "Does that mean..." She thought for a second, "How you control the recoil... do you know bady strengthening principle?"

Judge nodded, "Yes, but as I said, I do not know much. I am just doing with what I know." He did not know how to explain it correctly, If it was back on earth I could have just told her that it was just like writing exams, even though you do not know the whole theory— you make do with what and how much you know.

"Hmm..." She went deep in thought, but before she could speak further, they heard a deafening shriek that seemed to penetrate their skulls and attack deep into their brains.

Judge covered both his ears with his hands in a desperate attempt to block the noise but to no avail. Seraphis just stood there and watched him try to block the noise, and after a brief moment of the deafening scream, every noise within the forest came to a standstill. It was as if they had entered a graveyard, there was no sound. Silence permeated the air like an uninvited guest.

"It seems I have more things to teach you," Seraphis laughed, "it must be the arrangement of fate, giving me a pupil whom I do not remember teaching Just when I was starting to feel lonely."

Judge wanted to shout how she was unaffected by the shriek, but decided it was wise not to say anything. "Looks like I got myself a master who has memory issues."

Seraphis stared at him for two seconds, "Based on your behavior, I think I know why I took you in."

No way! Does she remember our fight?! Oh god please no— oh wait! I am a god. At least I would be. Judge remembered the embarrassing memory he had when he first fought his master, he had lost despite them fighting inside his own domain.

"What was that shriek just now?" He decided to change the topic.

"A cry full of pain and desperation, a cry for help. It seems to be from a prey, a powerful prey at that." She looked deep into the forest where the noise came from. "There is a lot of thick fog there, we seem to have found our target when it is out to hunt food."

"Allow me then," Judge walked forward and lifted the earth below them via a simple ethercraft. He then took out the Wooden Crow and aimed at the thick fog.

Normally, Seraphis would have scolded him for aiming at a prey inside a thick fog. The shot had nearly zero chance of success, and would end up alerting the enemy, but there were two reasons why she did not stop him. One, she was there only to watch and lent a hand only when necessary. Secondly, she knew that Dorian was not an idiot, he would not be aiming at a thick fog without any plan. Unless of course, she was wrong about him.

Judge looked through the scope, the fog was extremely dense, making it nearly impossible to see through.

Suddenly, Dorian Cain's silver eyes with golden strands turned ashen white, there was fog churning inside both of them. His vision blurred for a bit and just after that, he could perfectly see through the fog, this was his ability to see through the clouds, a Cloudstrider's specialty.

———

Amber looked at the spacious hall in front of her, this was the docking station inside their palace in Wistmere. It was a one-to-one replica of their original house.

She was delighted yet gloomy, she came here expecting a brand new experience. But all she got was the same old house, but hey, at least she was back home... a replica at least. She can now make sure that she at least won't be uncomfortable.

Alex waved her goodbye as she was taken away by the maids. After a long walk through familiar hallways, she finally ended up in her room. Without waiting there to admire the beauty of the room, because well, she knew the place, she made her way toward the bathroom.

There was already a bathrobe, towel, and a set of clothes prepared, and the water was heated. She took off her clothes and let herself sink into the bathtub, feeling the warmth all over her body, the exhaustion from her travels seemed to have been washed away.

After a long period of time, she got out of the bathroom. She wore a black dress with yellow patterns. The maids were waiting for her to get out and were outside her room, only when she clapped and let them know that she had finished her bath did they come in.

Next up on Amber's schedule was Dinner, she walked through the illuminated hallways adorned with various decors and ended up in front of the grand double door that led to the dining hall.

Following in her youngest brother's footsteps, she sighed and looked at the door, waiting for it to open. And it soon did, two butlers who stood on the sides opened the grand doors.

Soothing music filled her ears and bright light blinded her eyes as soon as the door was opened. There was a party with many guests present, everyone's gaze was focused on her. What?! Why is there a party, there was no prior notice!