BXBX NOVEL Chapter 157 - 156 Catching Up With Lilia
After washing up with up with Lilia, Marcus told her to head downstairs first since he had something he wanted to do before heading down.
Walking into his room Marcus sat down on his bed and opened up his status wanting to see if anything had changed since he had fully integrated the spirit gem.
Name: Marcus Ferrous/Irene Geist
Age: 28/20
Race: Unbound Ghost (Great Spirt of Light and Darkness)
Title: Baronetess
Level: 36
HP: 11980/11980
MP: 5540/5540
STR: 525 (+5)
AGL: 515 (+31)
VIT: 497 (+5)
INT: 549 (+5)
SPR: 689 (+7)
Stat Points: 0
Skill Points: 3
Supreme Skills: Embodiment of Eclipse
Unique Skills: Personal Status, ##u#####o##, Master of Soul and Body, Soul Burst, Embodiment of Light, Embodiment of Darkness
Skills: Medium Item Box, Lesser Regeneration Lvl 2, Digging Lvl 3, Fighting Lvl 4, Magic Circulation Lvl 4, Iron Magic Lvl 5, Disassembly Lvl 4, Stealth Lvl 3, Lightning Magic Lvl 4, Creature Appraisal Lvl 4, Fire Magic Lvl 4, Danger Sense Lvl 4, Darkvision Lvl 3, Scythemanship, Superior Lvl 5, Mana Regeneration Lvl 4, Speed Burst Lvl 4, Mana Body Lvl 4, Powerful Slash Lvl 4, Physical Resistance Lvl 4, Heighten Spells Lvl 4, Forge Lvl 4, Trap Sensing Lvl 2, Dark Magic Lvl 4, Light Magic Lvl 4, Driving Lvl 2, Cooking Lvl 3, Cleaning Lvl 1, Soul Regeneration Lvl 2
Blessing of Iron, Exalted Blessing of Light, Exalted Blessing of Darkness
Race Abilities: Invisible, Ethereal, Chill Zone, Float, Possession (Limited), Undying
Specter Powers: Ghost Sounds, Spectral Arm, Phantom Pressure, Life Drain, Tendrils of Shadows
Looking at his stats Marcus became ecstatic; his stats had increased exponentially and after doing some math he found that they had all gone up by fifty-seven percent.
\'I have to say it was even better than I thought it would be, but I wonder if I have reached my maximum potential or if I have more room to grow.\'
Taking out one of the three remaining natural treasure he had, Marcus quickly ate the weird purple banana and looked at his status to see if there was any change.
Unfortunately, Marcus found that his assumption was correct, and his stats did not increase any further meaning he had reach the peak of his potential for his current level.
\'A bit expected but still sad. Although I cannot complain, that mythic spirit gem had enough power in it to stabilize my soul and bring me to the peak of my current potential. I suppose it is most likely worth whatever favor I owe the people who gave it to me.\'
Marcus was quite happy with his massive jump in power, that put him well above the normal prodigies of his level and gave him stats closer to someone around level forty-five.
\'Along with my unique skills average people under level fifty are probably no longer my match. Of course, I doubt I am the only being that has reached their max potential, so I need to be careful and not get a big head. This world is still full of dangers that could swat me like a fly and one wrong step could be the end of me. I barely made it out of my last crisis thanks to the intervention of someone who must be quite strong, and next time I am unlikely to be that lucky.\'
Gathering his thoughts about his new increased stats, Marcus told himself to not get a big head, if he started acting like he owned the place just because he was a little stronger, than it was only a matter of time before someone put him in his place.
Slapping his face with both of his hands, Marcus shoved the numerous thoughts swirling in his mind to the back, and decided it was time to go down and eat with Lilia. He had not had much time with her since she had gone off to school and every second counted.
Walking down to the first floor, Marcus found Lilia in the main living area talking to Clara and telling her about all the things that had happened to her at school.
Approaching Lilia with a smirk on his face Marcus said, "So what was this about a boy that you have become friends with."
Lilia hearing Marcus who had snuck up behind her let put a cute yelp and looked up at Marcus with innocent eyes hoping to avoid the subject.
However, Marcus was not going to let this slide and told Lilia to tell him all about it.
"I think I understand you got your own white knight that came to your rescue when some of the other kids were bullying you during the start of your enrollment."
Sighing, Marcus was a bit upset with himself that he had not been paying enough attention to Lilia and did not even think about the possible bullying she would have incurred.
Asking for further details, Marcus found that pretty much the only reason for the bullying was the difference in social status.
As Lilia was only the sister of baronetess, which is the second lowest ranking noble title, and was a new noble raised from a commoner, Marcus\' status and Lilia\'s were considered pretty low in noble circles.
Even knights with a long lineage could be considered to have a higher standing by some degree.
Luckily after around a week where Lilia was being picked on by a group of girls who\'s ringleader was a noble daughter of a count, another group helmed by the boy she had been talking about came to her aid.
Lilia continued to narrate the experience about how the young boy with pointy ears and snow-white hair along with his friends defended her.
The boy apparently came from a long linage of nobles and was related to a number of people that held titles in the kingdom, with his highest-ranking close relative being his great grandfather who held the title of Marques.
With the help of these other noble children Lilia was able to fend off the bullies and later even got revenge on them when she showed off her superior prowess in combat training.
Marcus was happy to hear that while Lilia had a rough start, she was now part of a good friend circle and was enjoying her time in the royal academy.
In fact, Marcus found that Lilia had gotten a good grasp of most of her subjects other than math and in things like history and the political structure of the kingdom she was even further advanced than he was.
\'She certainly has learned a lot and seems to be happy; I am really glad to see she is doing well. She has even made it to level fifteen which is quite strong for her age, though unless she gets some more experience by fighting monsters or beast her progress is going to slow down.\'
Marcus continued to happily chat with Lilia for another ten or so minutes until dinner was ready and the two of them headed to the dining room to enjoy the meal.
Eating a delicious soup that used a variety of mushrooms as its base and had a decent amount of tender beef along with a vegetable that resembled bok choy, Marcus could not help but smile while consuming the delicious meal.
Finishing off the meal, Stella brought out a dessert that was similar to cobbler and was filled with a fruit that was similar to a plum in taste but had the texture of a pear.
Satisfied by the delicious meal that had been far superior to anything he had eaten on the road, Marcus continued to talk to Lilia focusing this time on her closest friends rather than her studies.
Marcus after a bit of prying was able to find out the names of Lilia\'s four closest friends, one of which was the boy she had been talking about before.
\'So, there is Alaric Skalbeck who\'s father is a viscount and who\'s great grandfather is a Marques. He is also the boy that Lilia definitely seems infatuated with, I suppose that in another world being someone\'s hero can still sway hearts. Then there is Vania Kental who\'s father is a Baron and is Lilia\'s best friend that is a girl. After that is a boy named Jarett Hinsen who is the son of a prominent knight who is apparently one of the royal children\'s personal knights. And finally, there is Thalia Brenato who\'s mother holds the title of baronetess like me. I suppose I should meet with these four and their parents at some point and try and keep a good relationship between all of them and Lilia.\'
With their meal concluded and Marcus having caught up with Lilia, he was about to say goodnight and let her get some rest when Lilia asked him how his trip had gone.
Gulping a bit loudly, Marcus was not sure how to approach this subject, since he did not want to depress Lilia by telling her that two of his friends had ended up dead.
However, Lilia could see that something was wrong especially since Marcus had a hard time hiding anything from her.
Sighing, Marcus told Lilia the events of what had happened although he did change a few things like how seriously injured he was afterwards and the gory details of Branna and Jesnay\'s deaths.
With tears welling up in her eyes after hearing what Marcus had been through, Lilia gave him a big hug in order to comfort him and Marcus even felt a few tears starting to well up in his eyes.
Lilia continued to comfort Marcus for a good hour and Marcus was really grateful for it since he had not been able to properly express his solace to the Eternal Queens since he felt responsible for their members deaths.
"Thank you Lilia, you have been my treasure since we have been together, and I am glad I was able to get a little sister like you."
Lilia with a shining smile and a few tears in her eyes looked up at Marcus and said in a low whisper that only he could hear and said, "No thank you Marcus. I know you are not exactly my sister but the way you talk and care for me are so much like her and the fact that you inherited her will and memories has made me feel like she came back to me. Without you I would have been all alone, so I am glad to have you as my sibling."
After there touching moment the two of them continued to talk switching topics to happier subjects until the day had already descended deep into night and soon Lilia became sleepy barely able to keep her eyes open and the two of them headed off to their respective rooms.