Lichtstadt

Clair POV:

I flew back and told the others about the birth and Lily, I also told them about our monthly visit we will hold from now on and they agreed.

A few weeks later we reached the gate of Lichtstadt, it's the capital of Raska and is large.

The walls are 40 metres high and out of white stone. Four gates lead inside and are guarded by soldiers in white plate maile. They all have the symbol of Siria on their chest.

The guide said that this city is over 2.000 years old and has a constant population of about a million people. Almost all of them are religious and follower of Siria. The church is one of the most powerful instances in this country and even the empress, who reigns since 50 years, has to be careful with them.

No one really knows when the church was established, some say that it exist for thousands of years, other think that it established itself after a dark time around 2.500 years ago.

History itself is dark if you go back for 2.500 years. There are some ruins with ancient texts but no one is able to read them and knows about their origin.

"Seems like this city is extremely religious," I said and gave Ilza a beret while putting mine on.

"Why do we have to wear them?" Ilza asked puzzled.

"The Church of Siria discriminates against all non-humans. Drull and Lilia look like a human but we have our pointed ears, so it's better to hide them until we're inside, they might not let us in if they know that we're non-humans," I explained.

"I already don't like this city," Lilia said.

"Halt, what do you want inside Lichtstadt?" A paladin looking guard asked as we came to the front.

"We'd like to see the temple of Siria and want to rank up inside the adventurer guild," I said.

"Trespassing fee is one silver coin," he said and we gave him the coins.

"The temple is in the centre of the city, just follow the main street, all gates lead to the temple," he then said with a smile and led us through.

"Easier than I thought,�� Ilza said as we were out of his reach.

"Religious people like it if someone is interested in their cause and my [Persuade] skill also helped," I said and we looked for an inn.

We came across shops, restaurants and inns as we walked on the main street.

"Doesn't this look way too clean and unnatural?" Ilza asked.

"Yeah there are no living houses or beggars," Drull said.

"They probably don't want them to be seen, beggars are most likely banned from the main street and living houses aren't allowed to be built on it. Main streets are for the tourists and tourists normally don't want to see the people of a city, they want to have fun and buy things. That's normal and also practices in Nahar, with the difference that we don't have beggars," I explained and walked into a side street.

The scenery quickly changed and normal living houses were lined side by side. At first, they looked luxurious and pretty, but the farther away we got from the main street the worse the conditions of the houses became, however, they didn't become ruins. Some poor looking people roamed around but not many, all in all, it still looked like a good city without much poverty.

Half an hour later we reached a large square with stalls on it.

"This must be one of the normal marketplaces inside the city. I think the nearer we get to the temple the better the houses. Most likely only nobles and rich people are allowed to build or own property near the temple," I said and looked through the groceries.

"They have a lot of fruits and vegetables. Most of them I've never seen," Lilia said.

"Let's buy a lot of them so that we can eat them whenever we want," Ilza suggested.

Half an hour and a lot of happy shop owners later we finished our little grocery shopping trip and went back to the main street.

"Excuse me," I asked a meet skewer stall owner.

"Yes?" He replied.

"Where can we find the residence of the Empress?" I asked.

"The palace is at the opposite of the temple. You can't miss it, just follow the main street and turn around when you're in front of the temple," he replied.

"Thank you, and four skewers please," I said and we ate chicken skewers on our way to the temple.

And as I assumed, the houses got bigger and more luxurious the nearer we came to the temple.

Until we reached a really large plaza without any buildings on it. Except for the middle. A gigantic temple, completely made out of white stone and at least 1.000 x 1.000 x 300 metre big stood there. Statues of women in robes decorated the entrance and guards in shiny armours stood in rows, ready to act if something happens.

"Too much pomposity, religion doesn't need such a display of richness," I said as we walked inside the temple.

"You're just jealous," Lilia snickered.

"No, I am Not," I said grumpily.

The inside was built in Greek architecture with an altar in the front and a giant statue behind it. People offered things at nearby smaller altars and prayed.

We reached the main altar.

"Drull does she really look like that?" I asked, looking at the stature of a human woman with long hair, she wears a robe and has a sceptre in her hands.

"Last time I saw her she had pointed ears," Drull said and suddenly the statue began to glow.

People around us gasped and fell on their knees. They started to pray.

"Is that normal?" I asked while looking around, even the guards were on one knee.

"O shit," Drull mumbled, raised his hands and then was send flying by a beam of light. He the beam of light smouldered his arms and he looked at the statue.

After that, a heavy mana pressure fell down on everyone present and I quickly shielded Lili and Ilza with a mana field of my own. The mana was at least in the mid twenty million.

The guards, the civilians and even the priests fell unconsciousness while Drull was forced to his knees.

A white light came out of the stature and a woman that resembles the stature came out of the light. She had glowing white eyes and her skin radiated light.

"[Identification]," I said and her status came into my view.

Name: Siria

Gender: Neutral

Age: 1.936.290

Level: 1104

Profession: Goddess

Rank: X

Title: Goddess of Light, Queen of the Light Elementals, The Jealous One, Worshipped by Many, The Arrogant One, The Intelligent One, The Wary One

Health: /

HP: Regeneration /

Mana: 450.000.000

MP: Regeneration 100.000/sec

Strength: 104.000

Intelligence: 260.000

Agility: 120.000

Wisdom: 230.000

Class: /

This elemental is as old as the planet and established many religions around itself throughout the thousands of years. She can be really jealous and doesn't like it to get ignored.

Race: Lower Deity Class Light Elemental

So this is one of the gods in this world? No HP? Is she made out of mana?

"Drull you fucker, how dare you to come back into my temple!" The glowing woman screamed and shoot another beam of light at Drull, who was again send flying.

"Hahahaha, she's kicking your ass," I said while laughing. Lilia and Ilza looked at the entity with pale faces. Drull is still able to beat them both in a fight, but here he's losing to a woman that is not me.

The woman flinches as she heard me and turned around.

"Who's there?" She asked in an arrogant tone.

"Master, please some help," Drull asked, as he stood up.

"Who're you calling Master? And why are this two not unconsciousness?" She asked and looked at Lilia and Ilza, who looked at me.

She followed their gaze and looked directly at me but then frowned.

"Is there something or why are you ignoring me?" She asked them.

"Clair?" Lilia asked unsure of what to do.

"Hahaha, god truly does his work, she isn't able to feel me and I think she uses mana to scan the surroundings, which doesn't work on me. So she's also not able to see me. She's only able to hear the sound waves," I said with a grin.

But why could Piloro sense me?

"So there is something, why am I not able to see you?" She asked and shot a beam of light in my direction.

The beam missed me and incarnated one of the unconsciousness people behind me.

"Now now, calm down," I said and started to manipulate her mana. Since I got the skill [ Ultra ultimate high Mana Manipulation] I'm able to drain the mana from other people and absorb it.

Her face started to lose its glow and she looked frightened.

"Stop that, how are you doing that?!"She screamed fearfully and I stopped after absorbing a million mana.

She panted a little and looked at Drull.

"Is the thing I'm not able to feel your Master Drull?" She asked him warily.

"Yes Siria, Clair is my Master," he said and stood back up. He already healed himself with a darkness spell.

"Clair, like the new goddess of that church in Aeron? what do you want?" She asked, now less arrogant.

"Nothing, I just wanted to see your temple. Say why did you change your appearance and why are you discriminating against the elfs? Aren't their ancestors your normal believers, who even sacrificed their magic for sealing Piloro?" I asked.

"They were too weak, the humans quickly suppressed their suppressors and I took the chance and switched sides. Why should I help them? They fulfilled their role," Siria said as if it's a matter of fact.

"I'm not surprised that you know of Piloro if you know Drull. I hope he's still sealed. Or else he will destroy the world and there are no high elfs left to seal him," she further said.

"Yes he's with me," I said and took Piloro out of my inventory.

"Please don't put me..., where am I?" Piloro said the moment he was out.

"You! Clair! Free me," he then said.

"Piloro? Where are you? You're able to feel her?" Siria asked baffled.

"Yes I do," Piloro said.

"How?" Siria asked.

"I think it's because he's no god. I'm not able to see his original status, only the information about the crystal. And only gods aren't able to see me," I said and Siria looked in our direction with an open mouth.

"She even does it with gods," Ilza said from the side.

"So you're still sealed?" Siria asked Piloro.

"Yes I am, release me and put the order of things back into place," Piloro demanded.

"No," she simply said.

"Help me to get....," he said but I already put him back into my inventory.

"Piloro?" She asked.

"I put him back," I said.

"What do you want?" She then asked me warily.

"Nothing, just tell your believers they have to stop sending assassins, they are annoying. If they continue I'll kill you and replace you with a light elemental that is more to my liking," I said.

"An elemental has to absorb mana for thousands of years to get as strong as me. You can't simply replace me," She said confidently.

"Oh am I?" I said and conjured a light elemental. It's just a ball of light.

"Master called me?" It asked as it came into existence.

"This is a highlight elemental. Why don't I know your name?" Siria asked.

"Oh my queen is also here," it then said as it turned around.

"Yes, I want to show your queen something interesting, I'll want to give you some light mana," I said.

"I'll gladly take the mana of Master, it strengthens me a lot," the elemental said.

"You see, this elemental was a few month ago just a lesser light elemental," I said.

"Yes, Master gave me lots of his mana, it's really delicious," the elemental said excitedly.

"Now watch," I said and began to infuse light mana into the light elemental.

Normal elementals, who aren't bound to a weapon, can be conjured and bound to a magician. They then will get affinity mana in return for their help. They only convert normal mana into their respected affinity, so that the mage can use it for bigger spells. But they can also absorb mana they get from their contracts. This mana must be pure affinity mana and will strengthen the elemental.

Unbound elementals can also attack, however, they are only able to absorb mana through nature and this needs way more time than a mage source.

Pure affinity mana is hard to make and the fastest way to level [Mana Manipulation].

They rank up with each new zero in their MP bar. But a mage can only give his elemental as much mana as he himself has. A mage with 20.000 mana can't raise the mana of an elemental higher than 20.000.

"100.000," I said and Siria grinned.

"1.000.000," I said and the elemental grew taller. It built humanoid forms and looked like a baby.

"10.000.000," I said and Siria looked a little worried but still confident. The elemental grow to the size of a child.

"100.000.000," I said and Siria had a worried look while the elemental grow to her size and looked like a woman in her late teens.

"1.000.000.000 mana," I said with a smile and Siria's light dimmed down.

This must be her equivalent of paleness. The elemental grow a little taller and now looked like a mature woman in her late thirties.

"H...how?" Siria asked.

"And the end 10.000.000.000 mana," I said and a white radiant light came out of the elemental.

A few moments later the light diminished and the elemental turned into a woman in her late fifties.

"Thank you very much, Master, I'm honoured of being your bounded elemental. Thanks to you I ranked up to a High Deity Class Light Elemental," the elemental said in a graceful tone and bowed.

"Do you have a name?" I asked.

"No Master, I wasn't able to receive a name before becoming a Lower Deity Class Elemental," she said.

"What do you want to be called?" I asked.

"Master please choose a name for me," she said.

"Okay, from now on you'll be called Aurinko," I said and Aurinko bowed.

"What are you?" Siria asked he skin stopped to radiant any light.

"I'm Clair, and do whatever I want, so stop the assassins and keep out of Aeron or you'll get replaced by Aurinko. I don't care about your other plans. And don't even think about resistance, you can't feel me and I'm immune to any damaging magic," I said.

"Y..yes," She stuttered.

"Good, then we're leaving, have a nice day. Aurinko, you can go back, have fun with your new power," I said.

"Yes Master, and thanks again Master," Aurinko said with a bow and vanished.

"I never saw her this frightened Master," Drull said as we walked out.

"Are you sure this is okay? I mean she's the goddess of light," Lilia asked worriedly.

"She's just an old elemental. You've seen Aurinko?" I said and Lilia nodded.

"Aurinko is around a hundred times stronger than her. And Siria knows that " I said.

"So you basically made a god out of a whim?" Ilza asked.

"Not really a god, she must be worshipped to become a god but something really powerful, that doesn't exist on this planet," I said.

"Cool," Ilza said.

"Let's go eat something and then to the empress," I said and walked to a restaurant, where we ate until late into the night.

The palace like building, that stands at the opposite of the temple.

And twenty guards were blocking the entrance.

"Halt! What do you want?" One of them asked as he stopped us.

"We'd like to have a meeting with the Empress," I said and put my beret off.

They were a little stunned to see an elf but the guard who spoke to us quickly replied.

"The empress doesn't receive no one, especially no elf."

"That's bad, bad for you," I said and applied enough mana pressure to knock them out.

They felt clattering to the ground and I began to walk to the entrance.

"You think this was a good idea?" Lilia asked as she followed, trying to not step on one of the guards.

"She tried to kill me, this is just a small payback," I said and opened a giant double door.

More guards were inside, they haven't heard about the commotion and tried to stop us when they saw us, but the moment they saw us they felt down.

We moved along corridors, passed some terrified maids and butlers until we reached a door.

"She's inside and sleeping, so stay quiet," I said and sneaked inside.

A woman, who clearly looks Asian was sleeping inside a king sized bed. I sneaked to her, slowly climbed in her bed and looked at her sleeping face. Then I whispered in a motherly tone,

"Okite Yukina-chan tsuaitofäshüredai."

She replied sleep drunkenly,"moh, okaa-san mada gon bun des onegai shimasu."

A moment later her eyes snapped open and she looked at my grinning face with wide eyes.

"Hi," I said.

"W..who?" She asked but then her eyes got even wider and she suddenly petted my head.

"So you have [Identification] on LV 10?" I asked.

"Yes, Max said that you will come in some unusual way," she said and sat up, now also noticing Lilia, Ilza and Drull.

"Meanie, he kills all the fun," I said in a pouting tone.

"Ahem, hello, my name is Yukina, the current empress of Raska," She said, introducing herself.

"Hey, do you have a problem with your church?" I asked.

"They are the opposition, they can annoy but I will manage. Why are you here at such a late hour?" She asked.

"We just wanted to say hello. That and I want to see the summoning runes to a hero and the differences they have to me," I said.

"Can that wait until tomorrow? I'm tired," she asked.

"Sure, Ilza, Lilia and Drull? Please go back to an inn, we'll tomorrow morning at the entrance," I said and then snuggled up to the empress, who looked at me.

"What are you doing?" She asked.

"Sleeping now lay down and let me use you as a hug pillow," I said.

"The description doesn't lie about the °whatever she wants° part," She said and accepted her fate as a hug pillow....