"I swear, it's the truth!" Shade chuckled, but suddenly he shrank and placed himself in front of the woman. "Someone is trying to open the door."
It was immediately apparent, as a loud bang echoed through the cellar, that someone had just tried to break apart the doors. His serious voice made her slightly nervous. She ducked behind the Fenrir, but she wasn't afraid. Not with someone like Shade protecting her. He had previously explained that the prison cell she was in wasn't really that bad at all. It prevented all communication, disrupted the radar skill, prevented him from opening a portal to the Shadow Realm, and even kept Shade from sensing who was outside as long as the doors were closed. That said, the thick doors only withstood three powerful hits before they cracked open. Shade, without any warning, unleashed a powerful attack. Something that looked like the shards of liquid shadow shot like magic bullets toward the opening and pulverised what was left of the doors. However, Shade instantly relaxed and returned to his normal size.
"It's just Arthur." The Fenrir said casually to Cate, who sighed a sigh of relief and straightened.
Arthur walked in, completely unfazed by the Fenrir's attack. In front of him, a part of his shield was shining with a blue hue and slowly turning green.
"I told you to protect her, Shade!" The angry voice of the Inquisitor made the Fenrir wince, but he huffed back after a heartbeat.
"And I did just that." The Fenrir said towards the angry man followed by the silver lynx. "What's she doing here?"
"She showed me the way." Arthur walked towards Cate and closed her in his embrace. "Are you all right? Did they hurt you?"
"I'm fine... When I woke up, Shade was already in the room, and he told me that the kidnappers had only locked me here." She hugged him greedily and kissed him in gratitude. He had found her and would continue protecting her. Those were the only things that mattered.
She let him go very reluctantly and smiled again seeing his worried but slowly relaxing face. He looked around the cell she was in and sighed. Cate froze as something wet touched her hand and started sniffing. She glanced down and saw the majestic lynx looking at her with a calm expression. She knelt down and patted its head.
"Thank you for leading Arthur here." She said with a warm smile.
'Don't mention it.' Cate heard the words directly in her head and she looked around in shock. 'Don't worry. It's me."
Cate looked at the lynx with surprise, and then looked up at Arthur, still keeping her hand on the large feline's head.
"Is she your other familiar?" She felt the confusion from the lynx, and Arthur looked slightly alarmed, seeing her so close to the large cat.
"No. My only familiar is Shade. This lynx is technically a wild monster, Cate..." He replied and the Nekomi felt her stomach turn into a knot.
Her hand, still petting the lynx's head, stopped mid movement. The soft fur was pleasantly warm, but Cate was suddenly terrified. A wild monster, and she was petting it as if it were a house cat. Cate felt sick as another realisation dawned upon her. She was treating a Divine Beast, the messenger of Goddess Raia, one of the rare Moonlight Lynxes, without its due respect.
"Meow?" The Lynx looked at the Fenrir who simply put his massive paw on Cate's hand and Lynx's head.
The Nekomi felt a lengthy conversation occur between the two that seemed to happen in a mere moment. The Lynx looked as if she smiled and looked again at Cate.
'A familiar? Hmmm... That would solve all my problems.' Cate felt a strange sensation in her body when the blue eyes of the Lynx flashed with mana light as she appraised her. 'I like you. I can be your familiar.'
Before she realised what she was doing, Cate, to her shock and delight, had internally agreed. It was like a dream coming true. Having a familiar was rare in Saftia, and they were usually docile monsters such as Desert Geckos or some types of Messenger Birds. A familiar like Shade was unheard of, and a Moonlight Lynx was equally as impossible. Before she could even consider the consequences, a dense pulse of mana connected her and the Lynx. In a moment, they were one being, forever bonded. Cate took a deep breath, she instinctively knew what she had to do.
"Eira. Your name is Eira." Catherine said with a soft voice and noticed a large window open before her, which only she could see.
She gasped in utter disbelief.
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All life experiences and achievements so far were accounted for.
When an individual with great potential is offered an apprenticeship under someone with a legendary class and they receive broad training, such an individual is eligible for a unique opportunity to receive a random high-tier class fitting their teacher's profile.
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The random class quest rewards have been altered by the Silent Guardian. The Divine Mana used to influence the quest still lingers and must be used for the recipient's benefit since the Divine Entity broke the rules and removed all class paths except for one. As a result, your mana pool, stamina and mana regeneration are greatly improved.
+2000 max mana (permanent)
+25% mana regeneration (permanent)
+10% stamina regeneration (permanent)
By mastering all basic elemental spells and unlocking basic combat skills, you have met the requirements for obtaining a class:
Rarity: Rare
Mystic Fencer is a warrior who is capable of using swords and spells alike. The ace of all trades, master of none, the Mystic Fencer is a capable fighter and a competent medium-range spellcaster.
Class obtained!
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By receiving tutelage from an individual who possesses multiple Legendary classes, the class offered to you is upgraded.
New class available!
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Rarity: Very Rare
The advanced form of the Mystic Fencer, an Arcane Blader is capable of using a wide variety of weapons and devastating spells. Contrary to Mystic Fencer, the Arcane Blader's weaknesses are few.
Class updated successfully!
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By taming the Moonlight Lynx and forming a Familiar Contract with it, your class option is upgraded.
New class available!
Rarity: Legendary
Spell Sword is the master form of the Mystic Fencer. The Spell Sword is a feared warrior and respected mage whose combat prowess and magic acumen combine into unparalleled mastery.
Class updated successfully!
You obtained a title: Battle Maid
A reward for defeating an enemy fifty levels higher than you while wearing only a maid's outfit. The maid's outfit now provides a bonus protection, equal to light armour. Higher-quality materials provide more defence.
You obtained a title: Blade of Moonlight
By forming a Familiar pact with the Moonlight Lynx, you can manifest an ethereal blade made of moonlight. As light as a feather, as durable as mithril, the shape-shifting blade is yours to command. It can be any blade you imagine. The blade inflicts additional Holy Damage and Fire Damage as well as emits light. The illuminated area depends on the user but cannot be turned off. It requires mana for upkeep.
Class advancement available.
Spell Sword -> Spell Blade
Class rarity adjusted.
Legendary -> Mythic
Class updated successfully!
You obtained a title: Inquisitor's Apprentice
You are recognised as the Arcadian Apprentice Inquisitor. You are eligible to receive the Inquisitor subclass once your main class reaches at least level 75.
You obtained a title: Blessed by Eriar
You were blessed by the Silent Guardian, Patron of Arcadia. The chosen of Eriar cannot be bound - they serve only their God and the Emperor. You can nullify any status alignment you are under. You can break any item and void any will-binding contract.
Her slave collar opened on its own, falling to the floor as Catherine very slowly dropped to her knees. Almost automatically, she tried to put it back on, but Arthur stopped her with a warm smile and hid it in his item of holding. Her eyes blurred with tears of happiness as her head spun with wonder and excitement. Everything was happening so fast she was shocked. After all these years, she’d obtained a class and a subclass that she could obtain if she reached some absurd level. While she wasn't sure if she could ever gain such a high level, the first class, a Spell Sword... A class she had only heard about in the bard's songs and tales of the long-gone Heroes of the past...
And she had obtained a superior version of it.
"I've got a class, Arthur..." She whispered in disbelief.
"Congratulations, Cate." Arthur scooped her from the ground with a warm and proud smile. "I knew you were exceptional."
"I... Thank you." She put her hands behind his neck, pulling herself closer to Arthur's face, and kissed him. "Without you, I would still be no one, my Dearest... I love you so much."
He walked out of the cellar with her in his arms. He ignored the soldiers who were tying up her kidnappers. Eira followed dutifully behind them, but Shade was gone; he had disappeared into the shadows so as to not raise an alarm across the city. For Arthur, everything else was an insignificant detail, unworthy of his attention. Only Cate existed and the fact that she was safe.
"You won't be pretending to be a slave anymore, Cate." He said with a serious voice, still holding her in his arms.
"But I won't be able to help you." She said reluctantly. "Without that collar, I won't be able to stay by your side..."
"I will always have you by my side, my Kitten. Would you marry me, Cate?" He asked with an absolutely honest and serious facial expression, causing her heart to flutter.
"Yes!" She answered, or at least tried to, because the excited and delighted moan she gave out before she kissed him was barely recognisable. She stopped kissing him long enough to take a deep breath to calm herself. "Yes! I will, Arthur!"
He smiled and stopped as they turned the corner. She was so excited that she was surprised she hadn't fainted yet. But perhaps her excitement was keeping her conscious.
"Ekhem... I see that you found your Maid, Lord Ives." A fairly hard-to-read tone from Cardinal Felix Xanah interrupted Catherine's festive mood as she realised how many customs the two of them had just broken. All in front of the most important of the Temple's priests.
"No." Arthur smiled at the man making him furrow his brows in confusion. "I found my fiancée."
"Oh! I... Didn't know..."
"Congratulations to you both! I was wondering how long you would hide it, Arthur." Sion Howthorns chuckled, and heartily patted Arthur's shoulder.
The tall Inquisitor simply grinned as if he felt nothing and, in reality, Sion looked as if he had just smacked a mountain.
"It's indeed the most recent news. I'm very excited about it." Arthur smiled, but both men were looking slightly behind them and a bit lower. "I have heard that your country has some strange beliefs and customs, but I must warn you that Catherine is now considered an Arcadian. Your customs and set of beliefs no longer apply to her."
"If you are referring to the reformists' ideas and their barbaric conduct, I can assure you that there is no place for such practices in the true Temple of Saftia." Felix shrugged with a wide grin and suddenly gasped in disbelief, still staring at something behind Arthur. "Is that..."
"A Moonlight Lynx!" Sion was standing with his hand still resting on Arthur's shoulder as the Baron froze in the middle of congratulating him.
"Her name is Eira. She's Cate's familiar." Arthur said, with a neutral tone that suggested violence could, and would, be used if necessary. A tone that he seemed to have perfected here on this day in Saftia.
"You were chosen by a Moonlight Lynx?!" Felix stared at Cate in disbelief. At first, she wanted to shrink in Arthur's arms, but realised that she didn't have to. Not any more...
"As she has chosen me, I have chosen her," Cate said with a proud smile and reached towards Eira, who leaned her head in shamelessly for pats with a meow.
"I..." The Cardinal deflated slightly and looked toward the sky. He finally rubbed his face and shrugged. "I don't know what I should even do with a Divine Messenger, so I won't be insisting on anything. However, I must warn you, Lady Catherine, that reformists are committing a blasphemous crime in secret. They are hunting the Lynxes and I don't know why."
"They can try," Arthur said with a cold smile. "Anyway... I have a few things to do, Sion, Felix, but I believe that we need to talk. It will be a discussion involving recent events and, most probably, it is going to cause a lot of swearing, so it would be great if we could begin in the morning."
The Baron saw a serious expression on the Arcadian Noble's face, and his frivolous smile slowly melted.
"I believe so..." Sion sighed and slowly shook his head. "I just hope you aren't angry-"
"No, don't worry about this." Arthur shook his head. "I received a few messages from home that have made things much easier for me. The thing is, you might not like it. Hell... I'm sure you will think it's some joke."
"Now I'm curious..." Sion smiled. "Oh, by the way! I found you a few houses to choose from."
"I'm glad to hear that." Arthur nodded with a bright smile. "See you tomorrow, then."
Sion waved his hand and turned towards his soldiers, among whom were Silfa, Ben, and Val'narii. The shocked Archbishop switched his gaze between Sion and Arthur, and he clearly wanted to learn more, but instead he reluctantly bowed and trailed behind the Saftian noble.
"Oh! Silfa, Val'narii, and Ben. You are alive." Arthur smiled at the three who looked exhausted and nodded. "Good."
"If not for the gear you gave us, we would have been dead, Sir..." Silfa stepped forward and raised her clenched fist towards Cate. "I believe this is yours, Lady Catherine."
"I'm not a lady..." Catherine started meekly, but was immediately silenced by Arthur.
"Yes, you are!" He chuckled at her as the Nekomi extended both her hands towards Silfa, who opened her palm, revealing Cate's ring of holding.
"Thank you, Sir. That simplifies everything for me..." Silfa barely stifled a yawn and grinned at Cate, who deeply blushed but smiled back. "Congratulations, my Lady!"
"You can return to the Baron's mansion and rest. You did well today." Arthur nodded.
"We are not going there yet?" Cate asked him with surprise as she put her ring back on. She had missed it more than expected.
"No. We are going to Benjamin for an engagement ring and a few more things you will need."
Thank you all for reading.
I wish you all a great day and as always I wait for your comments.
A big thanks to and who edited the chapter!