Masteria Online: Shattering the Dark God's Grand Scheme-Chapter 47 - 48 - Reputation

Alice gestured vaguely at Lena. "The two of you are young, and she’s quite unique. Are you certain this is wise?"

"Wisdom has nothing to do with it." Lumi replied honestly. "But she makes me happy, and I seem to do the same for her. Sometimes that’s enough."

Alice nodded slowly. "I suppose it is. Still, watch over her. That kind of raw talent combined with such uniqueness could lead her down dangerous paths."

She looked into Lumi’s eyes directly. "Please don’t let her become a villain."

Lumi gazed at Lena, then back at Alice. Perhaps others would have reacted negatively to a stranger saying such things, but Lumi wouldn’t. Instead, he simply nodded. "I know what you mean."

"Hey!" Lena bounced over. "Are you two talking about me? Were you saying nice things? Please tell me you were saying nice things! Or mean things! I’m not picky! Attention is attention!"

"We were discussing your remarkable progress." Alice said diplomatically. "Though I should mention, I wouldn’t normally be training anyone at this hour. I initially agreed as a favor to Lumi, given his contributions today. However, your aptitude made it genuinely enjoyable."

"Aww, Alice!" Lena attempted to hug the Chief Knight, who smoothly sidestepped. "You do care! Next I’ll teach you the best way to make people think you know what you are talking about, when you actually have no idea!"

"That won’t be necessary." Alice said quickly. "Though I admit, your unconventional thinking did lead to some interesting thoughts on mana for me. Perhaps I will make some minor gains as well."

"Aw really?! I’m glad!" Lena announced proudly. "Tell me if it ends up holding any!"

Lumi felt a familiar pang of concern. It always seemed to pop up whenever Lena was involved.

The issue was, in his previous timeline, he’d never heard of anyone named Lena making waves. Someone with her level of talent should have been famous, should have been recruited by top guilds, should have left some mark on history. Yet, there was nothing.

Why?

What had happened to her? Did something at home prevent her from continuing to play? Did she never find the right group to nurture her abilities?

Or was it something worse?

It was one of the many recurring mysteries. Micheal also came to mind, that guy who got a global achievement regarding orcs yesterday... despite orcs not being a species he knew of in Masteria.

He made a mental note to investigate later. For now, he had to focus on the present.

"We need to go." Lumi told Lena. "The others are waiting, and we have an audience with the Empress soon."

"Ooh, the Empress!" Lena’s eyes went wide. "Can I t-" She stopped suddenly realizing the presence of Alice. She coughed awkwardly, and spoke significantly more appropriate words. "Is she pretty? Is she tall? Does she have a crown? I wonder if it’s pure gold! How does pure gold feel to touch? I bet it’s amazing."

"You absolutely cannot touch the crown." Lumi said firmly. "In fact, maybe don’t touch anything in the throne room."

"But what if something touches me first? What if the crown chooses me? What if I’m the secret lost princess of Herene and this is how we find out?"

"You’re not a secret princess." Lumi assured her.

"You don’t know that! I could be! My backstory is very mysterious! I don’t even know it half the time!"

Alice watched this exchange with a curious, yet strangely fond expression. "Perhaps some additional etiquette lessons would be wise before the audience."

"Gabriel is handling that, according to what he told me." Lumi said. "He’s good with... unique personalities."

"Don’t worry though! Gabriel will do great. I know this because Lumi trusts him." Lena agreed happily. "Plus, I can restrain myself if it’s really important. It’s just hard. So if I don’t have to, I would rather not. Do you know what I mean?"

Alice surprisingly gave a small smile at that. "I do know what you mean."

They said their goodbyes to Alice, who reminded Lena to practice the control exercises they’d worked on. Lena promised enthusiastically, nodding at a speed too quickly to be normal.

Why does Alice treat her so well?

Lumi wasn’t unhappy about it, of course, but it was highly unusual. Alice was stern, stubborn, and brash. This sort of behavior from her made no sense to him.

As they walked through the palace corridors, Lena slipped her hand into Lumi’s. "Alice is nice. She was always stern, but she didn’t get mad for no reason. She yelled at me only when I deserved it, and it was to make an important point. Not for nonsense ego reasons. She seems harsh but she’s actually so nice and patient."

"She’s very patient." Lumi agreed. From what he saw, she had extended a special patience to Lena. He was still confused about it.

"She reminds me of my teacher." Lena continued. "Not the magic stuff. My actual teacher, like, you know. All her patience. It was quite nice."

"Your teacher sounds like a good person."

"She is. Was. Is?" Lena shook her head. "Time is confusing. But she always said I had potential."

Lumi squeezed her hand gently. These glimpses of Lena’s real life were rare and precious. "She was right."

"Maybe." Lena brightened again. "Oh! Do you think the Empress would knight me if I asked really nicely? Dame Lena has a nice ring to it! I could have a sword! I’d name it Friendship!"

"Let’s focus on not causing an international incident first." Lumi suggested.

"Fair. Baby steps. First successful royal audience, then... um, something. You seem to have already mastered the reputation system, I’m still thinking of it in traditional terms."

"Mn?" Lumi tilted his head. "What do you mean?"

"You know," Lena explained. "You spent a bunch of time with Divan, and then your reputation got Alice to teach not just you, but me."

"I see what you mean." Lumi nodded at her words, then explained. "There is no reputation, however. Think of it in a realistic sense. As the leader of our group, I’m credited with capturing Afton S. Crow. Such a massive achievement and favor towards the Aria Knights naturally gives me some status within them. They wouldn’t treat us like strangers."

"That..." Lena thought about it then nodded. "That makes sense."

She looked around at the corridors Lumi was leading them through. "Let’s get going, faster."

"Right."