CHAPTER 212: POUTING PRINCESS

Adrian didn’t return to Zarion right away. As the Voidstrider tore through the sky, leaving the rugged mountains of Duragut behind, he rerouted his course, making a beeline for Eldryth.

He wasn’t going to meet the High Elves there, as they weren’t there anymore. He knew this because of a crucial, and sometimes inconvenient, mechanic of his ability.

He had learned that whenever he used [Translocation], any living being held within his [Storage] would be automatically released at his point of departure.

That was exactly what had happened when he had made his instantaneous jump from the Academy courtyard to pursue Julian into the Dwarven lands.

The High Elves must have been incredibly surprised, and likely very confused, to suddenly find themselves unceremoniously deposited in the middle of a student campus. It was a loose end he needed to tie up, and a princess he needed to reassure.

Despite the Voidstrider’s incredible 8-Star powered speed, it still took Adrian almost two hours to cross the vast distance and arrive at the Elven capital.

As he approached, he opened the private mind link he had established with Nyra. ’I’m here. Meet me at the Palace.’

He stored the Voidstrider away and made his way to the high terrace. She was already there, pacing back and forth, her hands clasped tightly in front of her.

After seeing him, she rushed forward, and Adrian could see that her eyes were red-rimmed and glistening with unshed tears.

"You’re back!" she said with emotion. "I’ve still not heard from my father or the others... I was so worried."

Adrian held her by the shoulders, "Calm down, Nyra. They are all safe. They will be back soon."

Nyra immediately wiped the tears from her eyes with the back of her hand, a wave of profound relief washing over her.

"Really? Are you sure?" She looked up at him. "Thank the goddess. But what happened? Where are they?"

Adrian considered whether to tell her the full, horrifying situation. Nyra’s case was different from Serena’s or Karl’s. Despite the fact that she was barely older than them, she was far more mature and intelligent, a future queen who was already involved in the politics of her kingdom.

But at the end of the day, looking at her relieved, tear-streaked face, he still saw the young girl who had excitedly shown him her gardens.

’It only makes sense to withhold this for some time,’ he decided. The truth of the assassin, and the scale of the threat was a burden he could carry for her, at least for a little while longer.

It would be better to let her find out as time passed, once the immediate danger was over.

"It’s nothing," he said with a dismissive tone. "Only a minor complication that has been dealt with. You don’t need to worry about it."

"I don’t agree!"

In that moment, Nyra’s demeanor experienced a 180° shift. The relieved, emotional princess vanished, replaced by her furious side.

She grabbed the front of his tunic and slammed him against the corridor wall.

WHAM!

Perhaps it was because Adrian didn’t try to resist, but Nyra succeeded in pinning him to the wall. She held his collar with a firm grip, her face inches from his.

"Nothing?! Don’t you ’nothing’ me, Adrian! My father and the entire Elven council disappear, a monster attacks my city, and you come back and pat me on the head like I’m a child? I demand an explanation!"

Adrian looked down at the fuming princess and her puffed-out cheeks, and he found the entire display... amusing.

Her attempt to be fierce and intimidating was like watching a kitten try to roar. A small, almost imperceptible smile played on his lips.

He simply waited for her little storm to pass. When she finished, her chest heaving slightly from the outburst, he just looked at her calmly.

"Are you done?"

Nyra’s indignant expression faltered, completely deflated by his lack of reaction. She sputtered for a moment, at a loss for words.

"I... you...! Aren’t you going to say anything?"

"The situation is a matter beyond you," he stated simply, not consenting to her demands in the slightest. "You will be briefed when I think it’s right. That is final."

She stared at him, her mouth opening and closing a few times, but no sound came out. She had thrown her full fury at him, and he had treated it like a mild breeze.

She let out a frustrated "Hmph!", turning away from him with her arms crossed, her cheeks burning red with a mixture of anger and pure embarrassment.

"When... when will my father and the others be back, then?" she asked, her voice suddenly much quieter as she tried to change the topic.

Adrian fixed his collar. "In some hours. I have already sent for them to return from where I left them." He then added, "But before they arrive, we will be returning to Zarion. And you will be following me."

Nyra spun back around, her previous anger and embarrassment forgotten, replaced by a surge of pure delight. "Really?! Thank you!"

"Don’t stress it. I promised you before, have you forgotten?"

Despite his promise, Adrian knew he was willingly bringing her along. She possessed a very high intellect and a good perspective, and coupled with the fact that she now had his Soul Imprint, it would be strategically best for him to have her close by. He saw no disadvantages.

"We won’t be going right away," he added. "Take your time to get ready. I have one more promise to keep. I’m going to fix your barrier until then."

Nyra’s eyes sparkled. "What? You can fix it?"

"Not exactly," he clarified. "You might not know, but the barrier is capable of self-regeneration. Which means it’s already recovering on its own, even as we speak."

Nyra looked confused. "But... it has been weeks. I would guess it’s an extremely slow process."

"Exactly," Adrian gave her a nod. "The rate is currently exaggerated, likely because the damage from Theron’s attack coincidentally severed a key sustenance thread in the barrier’s energy matrix. I don’t need to rebuild the whole thing. I just need to fix that one thread, and the barrier will recover by itself once more."

Nyra was left with her mouth open. "That... is still amazing. I don’t know what a ’sustenance thread’ is, but if you can fix it... I and all our people will be immensely grateful to you."

Adrian waved it off. "You don’t need to worry about it. Or have you forgotten a human damaged it in the first place?"

Nyra couldn’t argue with his logic. She eventually laughed lightly. "Well, if you put it like that... Still, thank you for fixing his damage. I will go and prepare right now. I need to organize the kingdom’s affairs before I can depart."

"Okay," Adrian said. "I’ll speak to you when I’m done."

Nyra went her way, and he took to the air, heading for the border where the wounded magical shield lay waiting.

***

Adrian hovered before the remarkable, nearly invisible barrier. With the new knowledge of its origin from the Damien’s tale, he was more curious than ever. He wondered who she was, and if he could ever replicate something as grand as this.

’It’s a masterpiece.’

What truly made it amazing was its ability to passively draw and circulate ambient mana to sustain itself. The cracks Theron had created were many meters wide, but they were struggling to close.

And just as he had guessed, one of the main sustenance threads that fed energy to this section of the shield had been completely severed.

He examined it with [Omnisense] for ten whole minutes, mapping its energy flows and the complex runic structure of the broken connection.

"It shouldn’t be too much of a challenge to fix," he concluded.

For the next thirty minutes, beads of sweat formed on Adrian’s forehead as he worked his own form of mana engineering.

He had to use his sheer, overwhelming willpower and his control over mana to brute-force a solution.

He compressed and shaped it, forcing it to mimic the intricate runic patterns of the original thread.

He failed several times, the delicate construct fizzling into nothing, but eventually, he managed to forge an exact replica from pure mana, one that clicked into the system like a perfectly machined puzzle piece.

After Adrian saw that it was complete, he stepped back and wiped the sweat from his brow, admiring the barrier once more.

With the help of [Omnisense], he could see the network of energy flowing properly again, the great cracks in the shield already beginning to close at a visible rate.

He was very thankful for his strong will; it allowed him to maneuver whatever the procedure for weaving was. For now, he was glad that the barrier was back on the path to recovery.

He turned to see Nyra already waiting for him with bag in her hand, her curious green eyes watching him.

"Are you done now?" she asked as he landed softly beside her.

Adrian nodded. "Precisely. The barrier will be fully erect in around... five days."

Nyra didn’t ask any more questions. "Thank you, once more," she said sincerely. "Can we go now?"

"Why not," Adrian replied. He took her bag from and with a thought, materialized the Voidstrider beside them, walking over and holding open the passenger door for her.