Translator: AtlasStudios Editor: AtlasStudios
While walking toward the tent, Rhode could already see Lapis, who was unconscious. She was currently clenching both of her hands in front of her chest. Her eyes were closed and she was murmuring something. If not because of the shining green words above her head, it looked as if she was just having an ordinary nightmare.
On the center of her forehead was an green inverted triangle. It glimmered constantly, sometimes shining dazzlingly and other times faintly. It changed with Lapis’s speech. As long as she spoke, the light would weaken, but when she no longer spoke, the light would turn bright and dazzling again.
“When did this happen?” Rhode looked back and asked.
“I’m not very clear either; probably after we were attacked.”
Gillian shrugged her shoulders, feeling helpless. As she told Rhode, Gillian immediately protected Lapis using her skill after she was aware of the attack. Lapis was extremely scared at first and crouched on the ground. Gillian was sure that she didn’t suffer any injury. When everything ended, Gillian had planned to pull her up, but her consciousness was not there anymore and she didn’t know where her soul went.
At this moment, Lapis, who was lying on the ground, finally revealed her true face that was hidden under the cloak. The most eye-catching part was her pair of ears. They stretched out from her long hair and slightly moved. Carefully looking at it, there was a golden thread circling them like an accessory.
This was the reason Lapis always used a cloak to cover her face.
However, Rhode was not surprised at all. In fact, he already knew Lapis’s true identity. After all, when he upgraded the stronghold to the second level, the race information of mercenary group members told him so. Lapis was also no exception.
Lapis
Race: Behermes (Unfinished)
Talent Reward: Sensitivity, Integration strength
Talent Penalty: Low HP
Job: Alchemist / Ranger Apprentice
Hidden Attribute:??
Alchemy Skills LV3
Proficient:??
Physical Condition: Healthy
Frankly, the first time he read Lapis’s information, he was indeed a little bit surprised, but soon he felt relieved. As a player, he had seen many races, including Behermes. He was also very familiar with them.
Behermes originated from the elf race, but they weren’t ordinary elves. Followed by mankind’s scientific development, many people began to try to use mechanical and scientific forces to transform the human body and acquire power. In ancient magical times, there was also a group of elves who tried to transform elves into the most powerful creatures on the continent by using the powers of magic and alchemy. In the past, the Five Creator Dragons fought each other endlessly; naturally, the elves were involved in it, but their weaknesses made the beautiful creatures very miserable in war. As for strength, the dwarves were stronger than the elves. As for fertility, the elves did not reproduce as fast as humans. As for agility and archery skill, the elves couldn’t be compared to the angels. Their fragile constitution also made them have no resistance toward the Devil’s flame. Although the elves were good at magic due to their longevity, they were unable to grasp new things as well as humans. In fact, while the elves still stubbornly used ancient magic, human magicians had already created and improved a lot of magical spells. The elves back then were very passive. That’s why, in search of the continuity of their race and victory, the elves were divided into three groups.
One of them held a notion “since we can’t defeat the enemy, just follow the enemy” and became the foe of the devils who lived in darkness, later becoming known as the famous Dark Elves. Another group still maintained the ancient notion. They believed that they wouldn’t become extinct just because of this war. As long as they could use their power, they would be able to persist until the war ended.
However, there was a group that thought that just persisting until the war ended would not be enough. If they survived just to become the slave of other races, then everything would be meaningless. Although there were flaws in the elves, they still believed that they could still win without the aid of the Devil’s power.
That’s why they decided to change the elf’s constitution. They wanted to have the strength stronger than the dwarves, fertility better than the humans, and magic more powerful than Devils and Angels.
Behermes existed because of that.
Whether lucky or unfortunate, the elves’ attempts eventually failed. Those transformed elves either lost their long lives or became very strange, and some even turned into an mutated existence. Such reformation also caused an uproar among elves. Although some of the elves volunteered their bodies after the failure in battle, most elves still considered it blasphemous and unconventional. Eventually, under the protest of the majority of elves, the Elven Queen had to expel those elven mages and they brought their experiments to another territory. They didn’t know where they were going, but they said that if they succeeded, they would return to their homeland.
In the end, the elves didn’t go extinct in that war. They stood before the twin dragons and protected their races and territory. As for the elven mages, they seemed to have disappeared since they never appeared for centuries. Behermes were regarded as a different species and a taboo in elven legend, just like the Dark Elves.
However, Rhode knew that in the game, this “Elf Transformation” race did not actually disappear; they even built a huge alchemical city under the marsh in the South and all the Behermes had a strong ability to manipulate and produce magic props, but were weak in melee combat. They had low strength and agility; some were simply frail or sick. Almost every Behermes was a natural scholar, and, unlike Ophenian scholars, Behermes prefered to stay at home and enjoy the comfort. Rather exposing themselves to danger, they usually commissioned adventurers to collect a variety of specimens or animals for them.
In other words, they were lazy.
Now that he thought about it, Lapis’s character did really match the Behermes race description. Low individual combat capability, lazy to go out, having a strange understanding toward alchemy. However, just based on that, Rhode wouldn’t believe that she was a Behermes since her alchemy level was really quite bad.
Rhode also knew that Randolf and Lapis lied to him, saying that they were siblings. The information regarding Randolf said he was clearly a human. He wasn’t a transformed human, nor a clone, but a pure human. It seemed like they didn’t tell the truth about each other’s identities.
Of course, Rhode was also curious as for why she, as a Behermes, decided to leave her own comfortable home and go into the human world since she didn’t seem to be special other than being a Behermes. The reason he agreed to Lapis’s request was because he wanted to know what she was trying to do. Looking at the current situation, it seemed like there wouldn’t be any problem though.
The “psychic state” Gillian said was just a slightly more complicated term. In fact, this was just like people in sci-fi movies with built-in chips or artificial nerves and were receiving an electrical signal. Now, Lapis was “accepting” a signal, but they didn’t know where it was coming from or where it was going.
“Then, what should we do next, Master?” Gillian smiled and said while waving a hammer that suddenly appeared in her hand. “If I hit her with this, maybe she’ll wake up?”
“Forget it.” Hearing Gillian’s inquiry, Rhode stayed silent for a moment, then he shook his head to stop her action. He narrowed his eyes and looked closely at Lapis, who was still unconscious. “Let her sleep; inform me immediately if anything happens. I will temporarily stop the journey. Anyway,s nothing will happen from delaying a day or two.”
“Master, you are really gentle; shouldn’t you take this opportunity? She won’t find out about it anyway…” Gillian excitedly rolled up her tail. “In my opinion, this is an incredible opportunity, Master. If you want to do it, I can help you cover it up ah ah it hurts it hurts… !!”
Rhode grabbed Gillian’s dangling tail, preventing her from speaking delusionally. It made this poor fox girl cry and shout. She quickly stood up and pulled her tail out of Rhode’s hand, then stroked it softly.
“Really, Master. You should be really gentle; this is my life.”
“Next time I hear you talking nonsense, I’ll cut it off to make it into a fox fur scarf. In any case, we no longer have to worry about those environmentalist fanatics anymore.”
After he said it, he patted Gillian’s head and left the tent, leaving the girl standing there while stroking her tail.
