Chapter 220: Reyna Barther(2/3)
The question he least wanted to hear came out of Reyna's mouth. He had no problem explaining even to the present Níðhöggr something he hadn't mentioned from the beginning. Being both his subordinates, there wasn't much to mull over, if she was so curious about it, Ethan would talk...
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"...Which is why I kept Maple out of the [True Dungeon], but with Níðhöggr I can finally make Maple stronger. The only problem is that it's her own city--"
His gaze involuntarily turned to her, but what he had in front of him was a Reyna with tears in her eyes, holding Níðhöggr so tight that Ethan could see the latter on the verge of suffocation.
'That order was helpful.'
The first thought Ethan managed to master was this. If Níðhöggr wanted to attack her, he could easily implant its fangs in Reyna's neck, and it was quite obvious that they contained a more than lethal amount of poison. It might seem docile for Reyna, but Níðhöggr remained a monster by the name of one of the most dangerous calamities Ethan could remember, but it seemed that even if that were the case, Níðhöggr was willing to choke to death rather than deviate from his master's orders.
Having now the certainty that Níðhöggr wouldn't deviate from his orders even in the event of death, Ethan felt he could place more trust in it, but first it was appropriate to calm Reyna.
"I understand how you can feel, and I'm the first to say it's okay to vent, but please can you loosen the grip on Níðhöggr..? It looks rather in pain."
To be completely honest, Ethan felt repaid by the wounds Níðhöggr had inflicted on him with this simple gesture, but now Níðhöggr was no longer a creature controlled by someone else for the sole purpose of stopping him, it was his subordinate, and he possibly would avoid having to look for someone else of the same species. Ethan had the feeling that It wouldn't be so easy to find another group of those nameless monsters, but Ethan was also determined to get Níðhöggr to spill the beans out about everything it knew of its species and the first floor.
At his words, Reyna looked down as she pulled up with her nose, noticing that Níðhöggr was actually trying in every way to get out of Reyna's grasp, and yet no matter how hard it tried, it was all for nothing.
"I..I'm sorry!!"
Reyna let him go, and both were able to notice how Níðhöggr after being left, collapsed on the ground as if it had died, which immediately alerted Reyna, but Ethan was also visibly surprised.
'...Níðhöggr? Don't tell me you died?'
He had understood that Níðhöggr was trying to escape Reyna's grasp without killing her, but he hadn't imagined that Reyna, a girl considered weak even by Glenda who had no reason to lie about her real strength, had the ability to overpower Níðhöggr.
'...Master.'
After a few seconds, Níðhöggr returned to move as if nothing had happened and, returning quickly on his shoulder, it could only complain.
'I understand that the master's house is not normal at all, but how many exceptions there must be in a single place? First the girl who can perceive the spiritual energy without the need to unlock it from the depths of her soul, now a girl who not only had a reaction rather different from the common, she has an attribute very similar to that of the master, making it impossible for me to use my attribute. Is it possible they all happen to me?'
Ethan sighed as he heard Níðhöggr's angry voice complaining of its misfortune, but he decided first to reassure Reyna, she seemed almost on the verge of releasing a flood of tears for nearly choking the newcomer to death.
'Later explain to me what do you mean by 'she has an attribute very similar to that of the master'. At this point it would be great to teach all of my subordinates how to control spiritual energy, since everyone seems to possess some particularities.'
Until now, Ethan had barely four subordinates, with the most powerful being Níðhöggr, but at this point the power scale would have varied. He didn't know the actual strength of Maple and the two, so for the moment he chose that he would put Níðhöggr to teach as much as it knew.
Telling Reyna not to worry and that Níðhöggr seemed to be perfectly healthy, Ethan had even proposed that she could try to take him back in her arms, saying it had actually understood the situation, but Reyna convinced of her clumsiness, chose to leave Níðhöggr alone.
"Anyway. From this rather strange situation, I think I've understood something important. Tell me, Reyna, you really want to do your best to help me, right?"
If he had simply told her to follow the teachings on spiritual energy, Reyna would have been too insecure. This would certainly have caused the latter to fail. But by the way Reyna unwittingly held onto Níðhöggr so much, Ethan had realized that she wasn't weak. It seemed something much more complex than simply being weak, as if some sort of invisible veil covered Reyna's true strength, sealing it because of her own convictions. Long story short, Ethan theorized Reyna was weak as a result of all the hatred she suffered for her personality, closing herself in a kind of shell and developing some sort of skill that served just for that.
His strange question made her nod as she looked elsewhere, visibly embarrassed again. She really wanted to help, but she didn't feel confident in saying that she could really help, but the only thing she wanted was one.
"I-I'm willing to do anything, the only thing I want is for Glenda...for Glenda to find a place that she considers home. S-She is the confident person between the two, and she always has my safety in mind, but at the same time she tends to close in on herself, I wish you could t-try to make her avoid this. And if I can be a little selfish... I'd like you to listen to... my story..."
He wanted to tell her that he had found a way to stop her from feeling weak, but Reyna was now telling him that she wanted to explain her story, and Ethan was obviously curious. If there was someone powerful enough behind whatever abuse they had suffered, anyone who abused her would have paid dearly. Once he monopolized Orario, he wouldn't have left a single piece of them, whoever it might be.
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Once upon a time, in an indefinite past, there was a girl with azure eyes and hair like the sky. In modern times, the girl would be considered of a showy beauty, but at the same time with a tinge of youth. This girl instead, she had what people called a flaw. From an early age, she had always hated fighting, which wasn't iconic of people of her own race, but if it was just that, maybe the girl would have been easily accepted, yet something went wrong. She had to possess a certain amount of power, this was the trait that distinguished those who were the werewolves from ordinary human beings, and from any other race, at least for those that were part of it. Strength was everything to them, but this girl was so weak that she was even weaker than a human.
This revelation shocked the entire clan of which the girl was part. In a very short time, the latter was labelled as a half-blood, but that wasn't true, the parents were both two strong werewolves, who just like the others, looked their daughter in the eyes, that was not the daughter they wanted.
The girl was too young to understand what was happening around her, but a few days after the revelation of her strength, she found herself between bars while being taken away by her parents by a wagon. Obviously she was scared, confused and alone, but she wasn't the only one. Next to her, there was a little girl a little older than her, who was lying on the ground desperately holding her knees to her chest. 'Even this girl suffered the same as I did...' It was obvious to her, but in those moments that just seemed like a nightmare, she just wanted someone to hug her and tell her that everything was going to be okay.
Imagining that even the girl in question had the same need, the girl named Reyna chose to comfort her as she could. As she approached her and continued to cry, Reyna wasn't very good at communicating, so instead of saying anything, she laid down next to the girl hugging her from behind, as if to give her comfort, but at the same time seek the warmth she was accustomed to receiving from her parents.
The other girl was confused, but seeing a girl probably a little younger than her sharing her own destiny, but who at the same time was trying to comfort her, the girl could only respond to her embrace, turning around so that she could reciprocate. They didn't speak for what looked like hours, but both felt they had established a deep connection.
'If this world is so rotten, I have no choice but to take revenge for myself'
While Reyna was still in a great confusion, not knowing what would happen to her, what they would do and so on, the little girl was looking in front of her with a bloodthirsty look. In front of her there was no cover of a wagon, she imagined the moment when she would taste her revenge for what they had done, her eyes didn't look at all like those of a child. Not even a monster would have that type of look, and yet the little girl named Glenda had no interest in it.
Feeling the atmosphere around Glenda changing completely, Reyna felt as if she would soon leave her, but she still in great confusion could only squeeze her even closer to herself, using the remnants of her vocal cords, now tired from what she had cried, screamed as she was being taken away, was destroyed both mentally and physically, she didn't want Glenda to leave her, too.
"Please...don't go."
That's all Reyna could whisper, and if before the surrounding air was cold enough to freeze any person close to her, Glenda blinked as if to return to reality, she had scared the only person in front of her without even wanting to.
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(Before you say their past is too tragic, I would like to remind you that discrimination exists everywhere. Especially when it comes to werewolves, which are essentially proud creatures and do not accept the weak but only the strong, I have never made it clear that her parents hate her, for example. As is evident, I need to explain more about their past, and if for now we talk about the past from Reyna's point of view, then there will also be the perspective of Glenda)
(I have a discord server. https://discord.gg/cpVr5X8. You may ask me: "Why should I enter the server?". Well, I'm replying to every interesting question you readers are asking in my chapters, so, you should absolutely enter if you want to read my answers. Ah, and you can find some image reference of items in the story such as Light..! (Soon even Qienta).. so it's recommended to join, I frequently post polls as well, regarding things that(most likely) will be present in the story. One last thing, I post chapter updates in my discord right after I posted on webnovel, so I guess you can join to be able to know when I post chapters faster.)
(Poll going on in the discord: Vote what you think is better. I only want to introduce one of these three, the ones with most votes when I feel like it wins. - Light being able to interact with the real world. - Qienta shows up before planned. - More power ups than planned for the girls and Ethan himself.)
(Do you enjoy reading my novel? If the answer is yes, then thanks. I'll leave my Patreon here. https://w ww.pat reon.com/watashiwavdesu)
(Alternate Titles: "Ok now you can call Níðhöggr as 'Fake Touma'.", "..I mean, it was supposed to be only 2 parts, I'm sorry", "Níðhöggr was dead for some seconds there lmao")
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