Chapter 73. City of Nafluica

“Thank you Mrs. Neremont for taking care of us this month.” Ken said gratefully to Sophia’s mother.

“Thank you both for being friends with my daughter. She’s always been homeschooled and never really had much interaction with people her own age.” Sara replied as the group settled at the dining table for the final morning of the pair's stay.

“Sophia is great! She is very smart and I’m sure she will become a great inventor one day and come up with some amazing artifacts.” Ken said happily as Alice gave him a side glare and pinched his leg.

“When you first approached me, I really had no intention of training you. But your words changed my mind and after a month of training, I can confidently say that you are without a doubt the most gifted individual since Zishell and Julius. I know I couldn’t offer much help when it comes to your enhancements, but best of luck reaching holy level. While you might become a rival in the near future, it would be a waste for someone as talented as you to never make it to your prime.” Frederick added as the family and Ken enjoyed breakfast.

Similar to a few of the other heroes, Frederick performed his duty and held lessons one day a week at Staeburg Academy where eager students flocked the lessons trying to get everything they could out of the hero.

Just like with every other academy Ken had visited, the young man became the center of attention when he attended those lessons and it took everything he had to stop Alice from going off on some of the more aggressive and persistent girls.

“There is no way you weren’t of great help! Just getting to train with one of the top ten and getting to understand your thought process alone was more than I could have ever asked for. While the knowledge you provided me about artifacts and enchanted weapons might not help me directly in my journey to reach holy level. Once I get over this, it will surely help me defeat Julius and Zishell and become the number 1 hero.” Ken replied with a confident smirk.

“I believe You will definitely reach holy level before this year ends and best of luck becoming a hero.” Sophia added, slightly disappointed that the pair would be leaving.

“You should come to Dragonspire with your father during the tournaments. There are some great resources at our library and very smart people that could definitely help you on your research into artifacts.” Ken offered as the group chatted.

As the family chatted with the two guests, the time eventually came for the pair to leave as their necklaces started to glow.

“Thanks again for everything! I will see you at the tournament Frederick!” Ken said sincerely as the pair waved and disappeared from the living room of the hero and once again returned to the familiar common room of Dragonspire.

“Morning everyone. Did you all miss me?” Ken asked with a smile as he greeted the girls waiting for the pair to return.

“Of course I missed you! Hurry up and get to holy level so you won’t ever have any excuses to leave me again!” Genesis complained as she clinged onto Ken and refused to let him go.

“Did you already eat or should we head for the dining hall?” Emma asked as she greeted the pair.

“We had breakfast with Frederick and his family. It’s Sunday! let’s head to town and have some fun since there is no class for any of you!” Ken suggested as the girls agreed and the group headed for town while chatting about everything that happened during the month they spent apart.

“Hey Ryo! Come with us to town!” Ken shouted happily as the first year waved at the group when he saw them walking through the campus.

“Why are you inviting those kids when it should just be us catching up!” Cecilla complained.

“Hi Ken! Glad to see you are back! Can my friends come as well?” Ryo asked happily as he rushed over to the group as others watched in envy how naturally he was able to communicate with Ken.

“Of course! I will treat them all to lunch and dinner, sucks you and Alice can’t enjoy any of the delicious food! How’s school for you so far?” Ken asked.

“It’s been great! I have made many new friends. The classes are super interesting and thanks to you, none of the royals or nobles tried to pick on me or any of my friends!” Ryo said happily as the group left for town while chatting happily.

“Did you find the training with Frederick useful?” Clare asked.

“Not so much for how I can reach holy level but it’s definitely useful for when I want to actually compete against the top level fighters. I definitely feel like my progress slowed drastically compared to before. Hopefully I didn’t hit that wall after reaching divine level like most have warned me about.” Ken replied casually, not all that worried about hitting the wall that might be his downfall.

“Maybe you should focus on one area instead of trying to train everything up equally.” Lovetta offered.

“I mean, I think that might be the best bet for me to get to holy level as soon as I can but it might mess up my eventual peak if I start favoring one area above the rest. I think I will stick with trying to improve everything like always and if by next semester I don’t think I could make it. I will buckle up and put all my efforts into a single area so we can leave this behind us.” Ken replied as he explained his thought process.

“Do you have any plans for the break? You can come over and train with my dad again.” Seraphina asked happily.

“No plans for now and I would love to train with your father again but is he no longer after my life?” Ken questioned while Seraphina simply asked him not to worry.

“You are always welcome to come home with me. I’m sure my family would love to have you again.” Indra said quietly.

“We will have to see. I have been traveling, studying and training so much that I really haven’t spent all that much time with my family, but getting to holy level is obviously the most important for me right now.” Ken replied.

“Hey Ken. Can I come over for a few days and visit? I have never been outside of Vespera before.”

“Sure Ryo! I’m sure my siblings would love to have you over.” Ken replied happily.

As the group hung out in town, the day quickly turned to night and after a fulfilling dinner, it was time to head back to the academy where Ken would spend the next month catching up on all of his school work and training from morning to night so he could continue to improve.

“CLARE! You really got my request rejected!” Alice shouted angrily at the elf princess.

“You had your alone time with him in Staeburg! It’s only fair if I get to be alone with Ken.” Clare countered as the pair argued.

“Stop it you two! Why can’t everyone just get along!” Ken interjected as the pair ignored him completely and continued their bickering.

“Good luck getting Thallan to train you. I had some chats with Valentina after you left, I am sure they were definitely lovers at some point so maybe bringing her name up will help.” Cecilla offered as Ken got ready.

“Or bringing her name up would make him turn me down if it was a salty breakup.” Ken replied.

With everything set, Ken and Clare bid their farewell to the rest of the girls as their necklaces started to glow and the pair disappeared from Dragonspire and reappeared shortly in the capital city of the Nafluica kingdom.

“Welcome to Naflucia Academy! Princess Clare! Ken!” An energetic voice greeted the pair the moment they landed.

“Hello headmaster Nelson. Thank you very much for accepting our request.” Clare replied gracefully while Ken also thanked the headmaster.

“How could I turn down the opportunity to have the most famous student from Dragonspire since the days of Julius and Zishell to interact with the students at my school! And of course we are more than happy to have you here as well princess Clare.” Headmaster Nelson replied as he started walking the pair from the headmaster office.

“I have a question, Headmaster. How often does the hero Thallan teach here?” Ken asked as the pair followed the bald chubby old man down the hallway.

“Thallan is here once a week for 2 hours. He will be here in two days for his next lesson.” The headmaster answered as the trio headed for a large assembly hall within the beautiful academy.

After arriving at the assembly hall, Ken realized that the headmaster wasn’t lying about taking full advantage of this situation.

“Hello everyone! Thank you for gathering here today. Please help me welcome the princess of Yelwraek, Clare Yelwraek! And obviously you don’t need my introduction! The young man next to her is none other than the phenomenal KEN!” Headmaster Nelson shouted as the large crowd of students cheered.

For any normal 19 year olds, the sudden crowd and pressure might have been overwhelming. However, for a princess from the largest kingdom and someone who’s been under the public eye for years, the large crowd of admiring students caused either any trouble as the pair effortlessly introduced themselves and spoke calmly to the crowd of students.

“The two of you are free to join any lessons you wish and will have free access to come and go as well.” The headmaster said as he provided the pair each with a bracelet artifact similar to what they have at Dragonspire as the trio walked to the dorm rooms.

“Do you want me to send over a student to be a guide or would the pair of you want to go at your own pace?” Headmaster Nelson asked, after showing the pair their luxurious room.

“You don’t have to bother anyone, headmaster! We will just wander around at our whole pace. Thanks for taking care of us.” Ken replied politely as the headmaster bid his farewell to return to his duties and left the pair to do their own things.

“Alright Clare. Why don’t we go on a date today and just explore the town. We can attend some class from tomorrow onward but I’m mostly here to see if I can get Thallan to train me.” Ken asked as Clare readily and happily agreed on the date.

“I will show you around! I have been here plenty of times before.” Clare replied happily as the pair dropped their belongings and headed for town for a day of exploration.

The kingdom of Nafluica, located on the northern part of the Yuwoa continent, is rather cold year round. Even though it’s already April, the air was still cool and the citizens were still wearing thick coats.

“So Darrumburgh is sandwiched in between 2 of the largest elf kingdoms? I wonder how it happened during the early days for such a distribution to happen.” Ken wondered as the pair took a horse carriage and headed for the city center.

“Like Yelwreak, Darrumburgh had an extremely ambitious and powerful ruler who was able to conqueror much of their continent and expand their influence. Over time and many wars, the continent eventually became what it is today. Many small isolated kingdoms spread throughout with Nafluica above and Hatharal below as the 3 major powers on this continent.” Clare replied as the pair watched the carriage sped through the beautiful city.

“Basically the two large continents in the north hemisphere consists of 3 major kingdoms each and the two smaller continents in the southern hemisphere got 2 while smaller kingdoms like Miodod are dotted all over the place simply trying to exist.” Ken questioned as the pair got out of the carriage and started walking around the chilly city holding hands while looking at the beautiful stone buildings.

“Yep. Even with over 5000 kingdoms and 10 billion population for us land dwellers. The 10 kingdoms alone have half the world’s total population. That’s why the ten heroes are such important symbols of world peace and why literally every single girl we met is fawning over you because of your potential.” Clare replied as Ken chuckled at her disapproval.

“Are you sure it’s not because I am just the most handsome guy to ever exist?” Ken questioned while the pair strolled around the city center, joking and chatting while entering different stores to look at the local popular fashion and interesting artifacts.

“Na. You are just above average at best. If you weren’t the center of attention because you have what it takes to reach the top 10, I doubt you would have that many girls trying to court you. If you didn’t have the potential to get accepted to Dragonspire, I bet Emma is the only girl you would have.” Clare replied as the pair wandered into a fancy snack shop.

“Poor Emma. If it wasn’t for my overflowing talent, she could have had me for herself but instead, she had to deal with princesses and nobles for my affection.” Ken replied as he ordered some cake for the pair to enjoy while they sat around to chat and enjoy the city view.

“Do you think you can reach holy level? Your progress after reaching divine level has definitely slowed down drastically. I know the feeling of hitting a wall since I’m not talented like Cecilla and it’s been hard for me to progress.” Clare asked in a worrying tone.

“You got just as much potential! I mean each level is twice as strong as the previous right. If we count going from zero to beginner as from a power of 0 to 1. I went from 0 to 32 in about 4 years and now I’m trying to go from a power of 32 to 64 in just a single year. No wonder Fernard’s dad said it would take at least a few years for me even if I am the most talented.” Ken replied with a sigh as the pair finished up the snack and returned to their exploration of the city.

“So what are we going to do? Find a small isolated kingdom somewhere in the corner of the world and disappear from society?”

“You mean even if I don’t reach holy level and provide you a life of luxury you would still be with me?”

“What kind of dumb question is that? Obviously I will follow you to the end of the world.” Clare snapped back.

“Well, like you said. Most girls won’t look at me twice if it wasn’t for what they perceive I could accomplish. If they knew I would be hunted down by the king of Yelwraek if I don’t reach holy level in a little over half a year. I’m sure the majority of them would back down without me having to turn them down.” Ken said with a laugh.

“Now that you put it this way. Maybe it’s better if you fail. Hopefully all those other girls will just leave so it’s just you and me. We can go live in a small hut somewhere and just live off the land and not worry about anything else.” Clare said happily as the pair settled at a busy restaurant to grab some lunch after a few more hours of exploring.

“I think Rena might not stick around if I have to go into hiding but do you really think any of the others would just leave me? I know Genesis said she would be beggars with me and you know Emma isn’t going anywhere.” Ken said as he enjoyed some delicious elven cuisine.

“Yeah.. You are right. I forgot you got a bunch of crazy girls who're in love with you for no reason.”

“I told you it’s because I am super handsome!” Ken replied happily as Clare sighed and shook her head.

After enjoying the day exploring the city, the pair settled at a fancy restaurant to enjoy a lavish dinner before heading back to the dorms to turn in for the night.

“I hope Thallan is easy to talk with and teaches me how to advance in my teleport. Maybe that will in turn help me advance in my overall abilities as well. Even if I know all of you would follow me to the end of the world, I would rather live up to your expectation, reach holy level and one day become the number 1 hero so you can be proud of me.” Ken said as the pair laid in bed.

With the deadline approaching and his growth stalling simply due to how much of an advancement from divine to holy really is. Ken hoped his meeting with Thallan would go smoothly so he could train with the hero and make this trip worthwhile.