Chapter 11: Baptism of Esh

As his father said, a week later, even a little earlier, the roads were cleared of monsters and now we are leaving for the city of Aquos. Although the city of Zover was not boring, there is nothing at all here. The city is considered a transit point for a reason, of course there are many hotels and restaurants, but nothing else, no parks, no gardens, no theaters, and even no arenas ...

Having sat in the carriage to the house, we, accompanied by the knight's corps, the city of Aquos, which was sent to clean the roads, moved home. Upon arrival home, I immediately checked the possibility of creating a gate to the city of Zover, because I really wanted to go hunting one more time for the Goblin souls. Fortunately, the Gates worked, but each use of them consumed an appalling amount of mana, which is very bad, because if I go at night, I need to arrive home by dawn, but with such mana costs, I can't do this, because the only way, with with the help of which I can restore my mana - this is the "Mana Potion", but they are running out, I should use them, only as a last resort. Of course, it is in the intra-system store, but I can't buy it, because I have run out of loans and have nowhere to earn them, gifts were not given to me anymore, tasks were not given to me, and in principle I can not save anyone ...

Realizing that I could not go hunting for the Goblin souls yet , I decided to just do magic and try to increase its supply as much as possible, and then I can hunt well!

Until my fifth birthday, I only did that I increased the mana supply and learned magic, I was even able to get the skill I needed, shortly before the Baptism rite.

305, August 11, Morning

- Mr. Esh, you look beautiful. - said Claire, who helped me get dressed before a significant day.

- Thanks Claire! When do we leave? - Thanking her, I asked what I was very worried about.

The reason for my excitement is the Extra Skill [Stealth] that I was able to get a month ago. That day, my parents left for the capital on business and on the way back, they took Alice, who came to Emily and I's birthdays.

Getting the skill was pretty hard. Initially, I thought it would be easy to maintain the dark energy around my body, because you only need to manipulate your mana and not let it dissipate, but it turned out to be terribly difficult.

Using the gate, I went to the Goblin Forest, since now my mana allowed me to go there and return back, while still hunting normally. Once in the forest, I immediately enveloped my body with dark energy, and taking the small dagger that I had stored the day before, quietly stolen from my sister, I went to exterminate the goblins. I wandered through the forest for three hours, I thought about Claire, Emilia, Roxy and the other servants who stayed at home, I was very worried that they would panic and send knight squads in my search, but I had no other choice.

After killing a dozen goblins, I decided to eat. After calling up the inventory, I took out a small bedding and a small bag of food, which I had done in advance, and having laid everything out, I began to have breakfast.

- Bon Appetit! - I wished for myself. For breakfast I had cottage cheese with fruits, which in my inventory will never go bad and warm black tea. Having finished breakfast, I got up and checked my mana status - [MP: 3581/5724]. By five years of active development of my mana, I achieved unprecedented heights. In the magic books that I periodically read, it was said that if a child begins to use mana from virginity, the development of his mana core and magic channels occurs very quickly. It so happened that in five years, I was able to increase my mana supply to five thousand, which is almost seven times the supply of my mother.

"Aina, how much time has passed?" - I asked Aina, which I asked in advance to start the countdown.

[Six hours and fifty-four minutes Master. Seventeen hours and six minutes left] - After answering, she paused for a second, and then added— [Master, I recommend restoring your mana to seventy percent. Drink "Mana Potion - Medium."]

"I agree, it's better to be prepared for everything." - Agreeing with her, I opened the inventory and took out one of the three medium mana potions that I stole from Mom's warehouse.

After drinking the potion and recovering four hundred and fifty units of mana, I continued my hunt for goblins. Going even deeper into the forest, I stumbled upon a group of goblins led by a Hobgoblin.

[Analysis] - Concentrating on the Hobgoblin, I mentally thought about Analysis.

[Statistics]

Name: Hobgoblin

Race: Goblin

Gender: Male

Title: [Leader]

Level: 19

"The leader means ... I need to kill him first" - Having analyzed the situation, I can confidently say that by killing him first, the rest of the goblins will not be a problem for me. A leader is a title by which its owner can control smaller goblins.

"It will be easy, one Hobgoblin and nineteen ordinary ones ..." - Having scanned the territory and not finding any more traces of goblins, I created the Shadow Spear and threw it at the Hobgoblin. Having reached it, the spear easily struck his head, and he fell dead to the ground, and the goblins that were under his leadership began to panic. Using a chain lightning, a mid-range spell of the lightning element, I dealt with all the other goblins, and after finishing the job, put their bodies in my inventory.

"It seems that in this part of the forest the goblins are over." - This is expected in principle, yesterday the standard training of the knights of Zover was held, so there are almost no goblins here, I specifically chose this day, because the smaller they are, the safer. Having decided to have a snack, before going even deeper, I climbed a tree and got out my lunch, four sandwiches with apple juice, which I could easily make by taking apples from our garden, this small snack brightened my day.

Having a snack, I decided to relax a bit and just watch the green forest, reading a magic book and drinking iced tea. After reading the book, I again turned to Aina, who continued to count the time.

"Aina, how much time has passed?"

[Twelve hours, Boss.] - She answered and fell silent again, waiting for my next question.

"Twelve hours, yes?" Well, I'll have a couple of small "Mana Potion" and go hunting. "- After drinking three ordinary potions, I restored mana to sixty-five percent and after collecting all my things, I went deeper into the forest.

Half an hour walk and I found ten creatures five kilometers from me. Accelerating my body with lightning magic, I reached them in a few minutes. As it turned out, it was the most common pack of wolves, thinking it was better than nothing, I quickly dealt with them using the wind element - [Air Blade] and collecting their carcasses, I headed to another source, which I found when I ran to the wolves . When I got to the place where I felt magic, I noticed a terrible picture. The goblins dragged along the bodies of three girls, there were thirty goblins in total, but there was one unpleasant problem, along with these goblins, there were also several hobgoblins, namely four.

"Aina, can I help them somehow?" - Asking the advice of my assistant, I continued to watch the goblins.

[Master, you can kill the girls, thereby saving them from torment. The likelihood that you, in your current state, can help them is twenty-one percent.]

"Tc ... Aina, make a plan." - Having decided to at least try, I asked Aina to make a plan of action.

[Accepted, the plan is ready. Using the Shadow Spear, kill one of the Hobgoblins, then use the Chain Lightning to neutralize the rest of the Hobgoblins. While the three Hobgoblins stand still in a daze, using the Air Blade, kill the front row of their subordinates and use the Lightning Jump to get to the girls and cut the ropes with which they are connected. Once the ropes are untied, the Master will need to give them time to escape. As soon as the girls run a decent distance, the Boss will be able to use the Earth Element to create a wall between them and the goblins, and using Earthbound, you need to fetter the survivors, and finish them off with an Air Blade or Water Spear. It all depends on the reaction of the girls, if they quickly start to run away, then there will be no problems.]

"This is bad, if everything depends on the girls, then problems can arise, there are three children who are only eight to ten years old. But there is no choice, I can always kill them. "

Having accepted Aina's plan, I waited for the right moment and began to act. Sitting on a tree, I created a Shadow Spear and threw it at the farthest Hobgoblin, the spear pierced his head without any problems, and preventing the rest of the goblins from recovering, I immediately used Chain Lightning on the remaining Hobgoblins. And at that moment, I thought of something else, I decided to use a slightly different tactic. Having created the gate directly in front of the goblins, I wanted to push the goblins into them, leaving the gate, of course there was a garrison of knights of the city of Zover.

Having created the gate, I used the Element of Air, and simply threw the small goblins into the Gate, reducing their number to ten, the goblins that were very far from them simply did not fly. By this moment, the Hobgoblins had already begun to come to their senses and I, distracted by a trifle, did not notice how one of them had already approached me and brought a hand for me. Seeing the shadow, I turned around and tried to dodge, but it was too late.

- Ahh! - Roaring from the pain in my left hand, I quickly bounced and applied a little healing, reduced the wound from his sword.

"Damn, this is bad, you can't relax!" - Looking around, I realized that I was so lucky. The girls had already passed through the gates, and I was left alone against the crowd of goblins.

"A dozen little things and three hobgoblins, I can handle it!" - Cheering myself up, I remembered one quote from my past world. "Support itself is an important part of any x * in * go plan!"

"And where did I just hear her? I don't remember anymore ... "- Throwing this out of my head, I set to work. Jumping into a tree, I easily killed another Hobgoblin with the Shadow Spear, but the others decided not to wait until I did kill them, and crashed into a tree, they threw me off him. Fortunately, the little thing was too stupid and slow, it simply did not have time to reach me, I, quickly killing them with spells of the element of fire, was left alone with the hobgoblins.

"Die!" - Mentally thinking about it, I applied [Lightning of Anger] and with this, I instantly burned their skin.

"Fuh, it was difficult ... Especially to maintain the dark energy around my body, if it weren't for it, I would have dealt with them without any problems." - Thinking about it, I quickly drank my health potion and checked my hand, took out plain water to wash it blood from your skin.

[I ask the owner, I could not create an ideal plan.] - Aina apologized for not having thought of this myself.

"It doesn't matter, the main thing is that everything basically ended well, right?"

[Yes, Master!]

「For saving the girls, you were awarded 75 credits! 」

"So for giving loans ... Okay, it doesn't matter, Aina, how much time is left?"

[Five hours and thirty-two minutes left] - Aina reported.

"Excellent, there is very little time left, I will have dinner and read a book, and then I can go home"

***

「Received Extra Skill - [Stealth] 」

[Congratulations to the Master, the skill was successfully acquired!] - Immediately after the system alert, Aina congratulated me.

"Thank you, well, it's time to go home, I hope that everything is in order there ..."

After drinking the last Mana Potion, I created the Gate and ended up at the entrance to my house. Knocking on the door, Kasian opened it.

- Good evening Young Master! - When he saw me he bowed and examined me, he cried out. - YOUNG LORD, WHAT'S WITH YOU !!! - Seeing my torn clothes, he quickly called all the maids.

- I fell and accidentally injured my shoulder, but I was cured in the church and immediately brought home! - I answered, going into my house along the way taking off my torn and soiled jacket, which I took so that I was not cold.

- Young master ... - When Kasian looked at me, he wanted to say something, but with a gesture that I didn't want to talk about anything, I headed for the bathroom.

Entering the bathroom, I undressed and doused myself with water, climbed into it. After sitting there for half an hour, Claire entered the bath.

Good evening Mr. Esh, I brought you clean clothes. - Having said this, she continued to stand, and after a moment of silence, asked in an indecisive voice. - Mr. Esh, do you happen to want to tell where you have been all this time?

- No, I do not want to talk about it. I returned safe and sound, so be kind without asking me about it. - Having said that, I dived under the water washing off the sweat from today's training.

After the bath, I immediately went to my room and saw that Roxy was sleeping on my bed, I smiled and covered her with a blanket, and I went to sleep in her room.

***

That's how I got my skill [Sneak], but I really don't like its description

[Stealth - A special skill that allows its owner to hide his presence from other people. Also allows you to hide skills and magical attributes.

Restriction: You can hide 1 skill / attribute. With increasing skill levels, the number of hidden skills and attributes will increase.

Mana Cost: Skill / Attribute Concealment - 1 unit. mana per minute, Concealment of Presence - 1 unit. mana per second.]

The skill is good, but on the first level, I can hide only one magic attribute. Fortunately, for the month of its constant use, I was able to raise Stealth to the third level, which allowed me to hide one more skill!

Once in the carriage, we headed to the Church. Four people were sitting in the carriage — it was me, Alice, Emilia, and Roxy. I was wearing a beautiful dark gray suit, Alice put on a blue dress with flowers embroidered on it, and she also put on the blue brooch that Emilia gave her. Emilia, in turn, put on a pink dress to match her hair, and three-year-old Roxy was dressed in a pretty white dress.

Alice recently had a birthday, so her magical attributes were announced to all the people, so she was recognized as the true heiress to the throne of the Empire Kraus.

[Statistics]

Name: Alice Kraus

Parents: Egert Kraus / Sirena Kraus

Race: Man

Gender: Female

Title: [Beloved Child] [First Princess of the Kraus Empire] [Heiress of the Throne]

Age 5 years old

Level: 1

HP *: 11/11 {Invulnerable}

MP *: 259/259

Characteristics:

Strength: 11

Dexterity: 19

Stamina: 13

Sensory: 27

Intelligence: 31

Wisdom: 25

Extra Skills:

Imperial Storm Dragon - Divine

Skills:

Water Ball - 2 Levels

Water Spear - Level 1

Earth Wall - Level 1

Air Shield - Level 3

Air Blade - Level 1

Magic Attributes:

Water Element

Earth element

Wind element

Lightning Element

Yes, Alice took up the training seriously. For a month, she was able to learn five spells, so she also has the divine skill [Imperial Storm Dragon], she will become very strong in the future, unless of course she abandons her training.

- Don't worry Esh, you will definitely have a lot of magic attributes! - Alice supported me when I looked at her statistics.

- Thanks Alice, but I'm not worried. I think more about how they will meet me ... - I honestly answered, because the last time when we baptized Emilia, when we arrived, everyone spoke only about me, and what will happen now when they find out that I have five attributes ... I'm even scared to imagine what kind of noise will rise.

- The road! Give it to His Majesty Esh Rise, and his family! - Shouted the commander of the knights who accompanied us. Well, it's clear, now not only the Duke's family, but also the first Princess of the Empire ...

Ten minutes later, we got to the church, and as soon as the knight commander opened the carriage door, we left. The first one came out Emilia, the oldest of us, she also helped Roxy come down, after Roxy, I came out, the culprit of today's celebration, who, giving the princess a hand, helped her down. As soon as we got out of the carriage, all the people who stood on the street started clapping. Turning to the church, one of the knights shouted

- The first son of Duke Edgar Rise, Earl - Esh Rise has arrived at Baptism! Open the gate! - After his words, the gates immediately opened, and from them, as last time three sisters and the Archbishop came out.

My parents, who were standing behind us, said the same thing as they did when Emilia was baptized.

- Gods watching us, please give my son the power to protect our people.

After these words, we headed to the same room, as when we baptized Emilia. Entering it, the Archbishop called me, and I, bowing to him, and turning to the icon and crossing myself three times, said.

- The Great Goddess of Creation Aria, please give me the power to protect my people and my family. - Everything is the same as when Emilia and Alice were baptized. After these words, I went to the glass ball, and closing my eyes, I began to pray to myself that the skill would work without failures.

Touching the ball, a bright light appeared, as it turned out - it shows the amount of mana in the human body, it was so bright that it illuminated the entire room. He was brighter than when they baptized Emilia or Alice, even with my eyes closed, it was unpleasant for me. The light went out, and with an interval of five seconds, a glass ball began to show colors. First appeared Blue - the Element of Water, followed by Brown - the Element of the Earth, then appeared Green - the Element of the Wind, Purple - the Element of Lightning and finally Yellow - the Magic of Light.

As soon as it was over, I heard something fall. It was the golden staff of the Archbishop, as soon as he fell, he uttered a faint cry and said only two words, knelt before the icon and began to pray to the Goddess for it.

- Messenger of the Gods! - After his words, my father and my mother also stood in front of the icon, and said they crossed themselves.

- O Goddess of Creation, thank you for endowing our son with the power to save our world! - Having said that, they came and hugged me

- Is the brother strong? - Roxy asked, and Emilia and Alice answered with one voice.

- "He is very strong!" - Having said this in unison, they also hugged me.

After several minutes of prayer to the Goddess Aria, I was finally released from my arms, and we went to the veranda of the Church. Like last time, the Archbishop called me to him and said ...

- May heaven be witnesses! A child has appeared who will free our world from the remnants of the Evil God's army and will return to us, people, the northern lands that we lost after the war! The Great Goddess of Creation heard our prayers, and gave us a child who can do this! Esh Rise, the son of One of the Seven Great Heroines, the son of the Savior and the Dragon Slayer, come! - Having finished his fiery speech, he called me with his hand to him and as soon as I stood in front of him, all those present began to pray to the goddess of creation.

"I think she's getting high from this number of people who pray and praise her overnight ..." - seeing this crowd, I immediately remembered the Goddess Aria, who asked me to save this world ... (I don't know how to translate this correctly))

"Maybe I was in a hurry then, rejecting her request? Well, at least I'll try to do it, until it bothers me, I will save him ... "

***

After five hours at the church, I finally go home

- AAAA ... It's terrible, why were there so many? - I asked my fellow travelers ...

- And really! Why today there were more people than when they baptized me !!! - the princess asked in a hurt voice. It's true, at her baptism, there were two, if not three times less people ...

- Maybe because Esh is the only boy from the highest nobility? - Emilia asked Alice.

- It does not matter! I'm a princess!!!

- Brother is cool! So many people came only because of a brother! - Supported me by Roxy, who was sitting to my left.

And so, from all this it should be concluded that the plan that I came up with as a child will have to be slightly corrected, because well, I very much doubt that it will now be so easy for me to succeed. Well, if anything, I always have plan B, which Aina came up with.

By the way, the only guy from the highest nobility - This means that I am the only boy from all families starting with the Counts. Of the seventeen families, nine counts, five marquise families and three families of the dukes, I am the only son, all other families, only girls were born.

But the Viscounts and Barons have no problems with this. Almost all families have one son and one daughter. And I somehow feel uneasy about this, I really hope that at the moment when I start putting my plan into action, none of them will bother me.

***

The next day, four of the best magicians from the whole Empire arrived at our estate, they were called before I was baptized so that I could start training right away without losing a second and I am very happy about it.

"It's a pity for the fire mage, because he hadn't made such a journey from the capital in vain ..." - Thinking about it, I immediately threw this idea aside and set about training.