Skybound Throne

Skyler stood up with a nod.

"Yes, I guess it’s the reward for the Giant Crimson Venom Spider that was killed by Scar and Dread. It didn’t vanish."

Charles came beside him to watch what spell the scroll held, as Skyler unrolled the soft, paper-like fabric. Charles tsked.

"The drop rate of spell scrolls is very low. But it dropped when they killed the boss. They were some lucky bastards."

Skyler grimaced at the mention of luck. Damn, this was his sore spot. They both saw the ancient language engraved in the white scroll. Charles was able to read the words since he had learned a few spells before and knew about the language.

It was a Novice-tier fire element spell, ’Burning Touch’, which infused the user’s hand with burning fire, allowing them to deal minor fire damage with a touch.

Charles rubbed his chin.

"The spell isn’t hard. I can master it in two days, but before that, I have to form my fire elemental crystal. What about you?"

He paused suddenly.

"Do you have affinity with fire?"

Skyler was surprised at his words.

"No, I don’t. But it will take you 2 days to master this spell? Why so long? Shouldn’t a read-over be enough? I just memorized it when I grasped the meaning. The language is hard to comprehend, but it’s easy if we understand the process of the spell."

Charles stared at him as if he was joking. How the hell can someone learn a spell by reading it once? Even if it was just a novice tier spell, it wasn’t possible! But Skyler’s eyes told him he wasn’t joking at all.

"Haha, no way... I don’t believe you! It’s simply impossible!"

Skyler flashed a smug smile. He was getting more awesome with time. He cringed at his own thought.

’Damn! This is all 505’s fault!’

If 505 could hear his words, it would have cried in protest! What did it even do when it wasn’t even present at the scene?!

Skyler tossed the scroll to Charles, who caught it before it fell down.

"I want to show you that I’m not lying. But unfortunately, I can’t use the fire element. Hehe, so I will show you when I get a spell related to my element at the academy."

"Let’s break the core."

Charles watched his back silently as he drew his spear and, with all his strength, began to strike the floating core.

"You are so annoying... Why the hell didn’t you learn any basic spells when you have such a good comprehension ability?"

Skyler chuckled softly.

"Will you believe me if I said it’s because a bit over a month ago I was just an ordinary person and had no need to learn spells?"

Charles grumbled. How unfair. He sighed and started helping him break the crystal core so they could finally leave.

It was surprising that his cold exterior had faded, and life had returned to his detached eyes. If a week ago someone told him he would change so much in such a short time, he would have called them crazy.

Riruru watched them silently, curious why they were breaking the glowing core that gave off a weird power she couldn’t eat.

She watched as cracks spiderwebbed across its smooth surface and white and gray currents began to escape the cracks.

Skyler and Charles drew back momentarily and attacked it again with all their strength.

With a resounding boom, the core finally shattered, sending a last wave of current rippling outward. After all, it wasn’t hard to break a crystal core if one truly wanted to.

The currents gathered in the center of the chamber, and the space trembled slightly before a flickering portal formed.

Charles and Skyler hurried toward the unstable portal. They had to leave, as it would close in a minute! Suddenly, Charles stopped and glanced at Riruru.

"Are we taking her with us?"

Skyler shot him a disbelieving look. Riruru had helped them in finding so many herbs, and he still wanted to leave her behind? No way! Even if he had to beat some sense into Charles, he would take her with him!

"I kidnapped her. She’s mine now!"

Charles rolled his eyes, speechless. He didn’t mean it in any wrong way!

Riruru wasn’t any ordinary beast. She was strong, and they were taking her from the crystal. He was just worried her presence would alert the people outside.

If Skyler’s status was really what he had told him, shouldn’t someone be out there waiting for him, unlike his family?

"You’re very weird sometimes. It wouldn’t be very helpful since the Lights might be able to sense her presence. But just hide her, I don’t want her to get taken away from you by powerful Lights when we are out there."

Skyler’s eyes widened at his words. He hadn’t considered this since his dad was the guild leader. He grabbed Riruru.

"They dare! No one is allowed to!"

He glanced at Riruru and muttered.

"Sorry, I know it will be uncomfortable. But can you hide inside my clothes? Just until we are in a safe place."

She blinked in surprise but understood what he wanted when he grabbed the front of his shirt and made space for her to slip in.

Skyler flinched when her cold body slid inside his shirt and touched his skin.

"That... tickles! Don’t move too much!"

Charles wore a blank expression as he watched Skyler look inside his shirt and reprimand Riruru for being naughty.

What the hell was even going on?? That was a freaking snake! You idiot! This was what he wanted to shout, but he held his tongue. It seems his first true friend after so long was not completely sane.

Skyler furrowed his brows when he felt her moving around again. He chose to ignore her for now and moved toward the portal.

Charles rubbed his temples. Ultimately, he pushed everything to the back of his mind to avoid making any misguided deductions, like how Skyler might have a strange fetish.

He watched as the ash-brown-haired youth jumped into the portal and followed behind.

The portal disappeared behind them, dissolving into the surroundings. Then, a mechanical voice echoed in the air.

(Initiating the detachment protocol for a minor dimension from universe #578

Returning the fragment to the enslaved universe that has lost the eligibility.)