'Incredible'
Claire couldn't help but have that thought, looking at Ren, who was standing on the broken golem with its gem, which was the golem's core, in his hand.
Whether it be their readiness for the battle, inspiring Relia to fight, or how well they fought, if Claire could score them, it would be perfect, and that was Claire also considering the fact that Ren was injured in his arm.
'I didn't even tell them to do that…'
The gem, although normally important since it was the most valuable part of the golem, really wasn't when you considered that the Nature Tower had hundreds of the same golems.
'Are these two really rank 1?'
The two fought with power similar to a whole rank higher than what they were perceived to be by Claire.
With a suspicious stare, Claire soon shook her head.
To a rank 6 like her, it was impossible to hide one's rank, even if they somehow did. Aria and Ren fought with the mana and abilities that a rank 1 would have,
They were just really good at using what they had, creating an illusion of power coming from a higher rank.
'A rank 1 with the power of rank 2, a clear indication of talent. I'm glad.'
Although suspicious, Claire didn't have a reason to push it; staring at their souls told her that they didn't have any harmful intentions, and if they became good friends with her sister, wasn't that a win-win?
Aria and Ren helped Relia get into the fight, which made Claire very happy.
Don't they say that starting something is already half the challenge?
While Claire was in her thoughts, Relia approached with a green gem given to her by Ren
"Sister… did we do well?"
Looking at the girl, who was previously nervous, stare with confidence and somewhat expectant eyes, Claire chuckled, patting her head.
"Well doesn't cut it; you did amazing."
Relia's eyes gleamed at the words before she blushed in slight embarrassment at her sister's action, pulling away from Claire's hand.
"I-I'm not a kid anymore, you don't have to do that."
"Huhu, Big Sis thinks you still have a long way to go, so I'll stop only when you're as strong as… no, stronger than me."
"Stronger than you?"
It was a thought that Relia never had or believed she could reach.
She had heard many stories of her sister, how she kept hundreds alive on the battlefield with her spells, how she fought alongside some of the greatest of her generation to slay a resurrected demonic entity, which was rank 7.
Sure, Relia was a rank 3 at an even younger age than her older sister, but that was it.
Rank 3 was just before the wall of talent of rank 4.
Although it took her a couple of years to move up to rank 3 from rank 2, Relia believed that the path to rank 4 would be even longer than her start from rank 0 to her current rank 3, maybe even double the time.
By then, her older sister would have grown stronger, their gap, which was like a puddle to a lake, becoming a pond to a sea, the chasm between them widening even more.
That didn't even consider the fact that there was still a wall of rank 5 and rank 6, which was said to be even harder than ranks 3 to 4.
But even so, Relia's eyes gleamed with her resolve previously shown in the tent, emerging once more.
'Rank 10…'
She believed what Aria and Ren said about the Chaos God that would be resurrected in the future.
Although she didn't believe that she could reach that rank, she would definitely try with all her might to reach a rank near it.
'Even if it's hopeless…'
Ren's words, the words and feelings of the ocean-eyed body, replayed in Relia's mind.
'Doing nothing is even worse; this is not where I'll stop.'
Rank 4?
Relia would climb higher than that, to reach rank 5, then rank 6, and even the world's limit of rank 7. She would become stronger, even if only a little.
To save this world, the one she grew up in and loved so deeply,
Relia remembered her time on Earth as Melissa, most of what she could remember was the smell of alcohol and cigarettes or the bruises on her skin.
The angry expressions of her parents when she went to college. The decision was a desperate attempt to escape her home, or more accurately, their home.
Her parents' belief that she would fail, that she would amount to nothing, and their desire for her to just stay with them.
Compared to that, this world had treated her so much better; maybe it was because she was nobility, or maybe the bare minimum was so refreshing to Relia.
But in the end, Relia's decision was made like all those years ago when she wanted to survive her assassination and started ranking up.
She took a glance at Ren and Aria, who were smiling, their eyes telling her to go and do what she wanted.
So turning, she looked her sister in the eyes and declared.
"Claire, you're right… I still have a long way to go. I am rank 3, yet I'm still weak. I'm a noble of Aureus, but I'm still nervous. But even so…"
Her sapphire eyes glowed with an immense resolve that her sister had never seen in the girl; her voice was soft, yet it clearly resounded in the empty hall of the magic tower.
"I will become stronger than you and go further, not so you'll stop calling me a kid, but because that's my own choice, because that's my own wish."
A smile couldn't help but form on Claire's face watching the ambition in her younger sister's eyes.
She reached up to pat her head against, but stopped.
'You've really grown…'
Claire understood her younger sister's feelings and realized that she had really changed.
A change that would shape her very future.
"Stronger than me? How ambitious, but what is life without some ambition?"
Claire took the green gem in Relia's hand and started walking away. The broken parts of the golem started floating and following her, as well as the knocked researcher.
"I have matters to attend to, so sadly, the tour is cut short. You should head to the family's mansion. I'll visit once my work is finished."
As Claire walked away, the three gazes stared at her, one seemed offly sharp, causing her to chuckle, understanding why, making her turn.
"Hmm, but as a Tower Master, I can't let you leave empty-handed, right?"
…
["Are you happy?"]
["Why wouldn't I be? And you should be thanking me! Your arm is fixed now."]
["Right, thanks."]
["Tsk, how bland."]
["How could I ever repay this!? Money? My body? My life?"]
["Hehe, I'll take it all!"]
["Your greed is sickening!"]
While they were chatting, Ren looked at his left arm with a smile; it was completely repaired by Claire's healing magic.
'Truly the best of the best.'
The injury that should have taken a week to heal was healed in a matter of seconds. Ren couldn't help but wonder what the limit of that magic was.
'Maybe she could heal a cut limb or resurrect the dead…'
Though rare, Ren had seen magic of that nature before in the Abyss.
In any case, he was very thankful towards Claire and took a glance away from his arm and looked around.
They had left the Nature Magic tower and were currently in a carriage bound for Relia's home in the capital.
Claire wasn't with them since she had work, so it was just the three.
Aria was staring with a calm expression at the item that Claire had given her.
But internally, she was jumping in joy.
There was a blue glowing gem in her hand, which was similar to the green gem that the golem had as its core.
It was a rank 3 Mana Gem.
Mana gems were refined versions of the Mana Crystals that monsters had in their bodies. What made it different was the fact that the gems could recharge themselves with the nature mana in the air.
It was an amazing boon!
They now had one and a half rank 3 storages of mana. If you included the semi-absorbed crystal, they got from the [Gorge Devourer] back in the forest.
With this, Aria could become rank 2 at nearly the same pace as Ren.
And this gem wasn't just useful for ranking up; she could keep using it until she became rank 3.
Relia smiled at Aria, who was looking deeply at the Mana gem before she spoke.
"I'm sorry…"
Ren looked away from Aria while Aria looked up from the gem.
The two were confused as Ren asked.
"Sorry? For what?"
Relia smiled bitterly,
"Back in the tower, I… panicked."
Relaia became nervous and couldn't act, merely looking at the ground; without the encouragement from the two, she would have been useless.
Aria laughed at her words,
"But you still helped, right? I mean, who hasn't been nervous?"
She took a glance at Ren, who likewise looked towards her.
"Aria's right, panicking is normal. I panicked quite a lot when I first started to fight, so if anything, you're doing a lot better than me."
"Same for me."
"Really?"
Relia tilted her head, even though she hadn't known them for long. Ren and Aria didn't give off the impression that they would panic, only showing a confident face when in danger or in any situation, really.
Realizing that she had a long way to go, Relia smiled with a nod,
…
'Whoa… is that statue made out of diamonds?'
'How much did this cost?'
Ren and Aria were astounded as they arrived at the Aureus home.
The mansion wasn't absurdly large, but that in no way meant it was small.
It was dozens of meters tall, and its width was indescribable.
The intricate design of the building was quite the sight to behold, as well as the other things around it.
They had passed the gate of the mansion and were in the front, where there was perfectly maintained grass that extended far from the gate to the entrance of the mansion.
Along the single paved road, the carriage was moving past tall statues of people who seemed very important.
How could you tell they were important?
By the fact that most were made of expensive materials such as diamond or gold, there was a jade statue as well, and some materials were unknown to Ren and Aria but shone with the same quality as the rest.
Relia had mentioned that they were the previous heads of the family.
"Our family typically makes the statues out of the material that the family head of the time favored, was known for, or gained the most success from."
It was an interesting tradition that Aria and Ren had never heard of before.
As they pulled up to the entrance and got out of the carriage, the two couldn't help but flinch looking at the paved road the carriage was just moving on.
'Diamonds! And… are those?'
'Mana gems, as lights?'
Thousands of Gray colored diamonds and Mana gems were placed incrementally along the paved road.
["Aria, you mentioned being a noble in your past life. Is this…"]
["This is not normal."]
["..."]
The Aureus family wasn't just wealthy.
They were Wealthy Wealthy.