Chapter 467 Epona
Upon arrival, they were immediately greeted with large walls that stretched across the border of the city. Patrols roamed around the top of the wall as they were not able to see too much since they were on the ground.
On the wall itself, Shiro could identify a few runes that seemed to restrict the amount of mana one can use should they try to forcefully breakthrough over the wall.
'Seems like force is not an option unless you want to make the entire city your enemy.' Shiro mused to herself with a smile before walking towards the main gates.
Showing them her ID, the guards narrowed their eyes at her before nodding and letting the group through.
Immediately feeling a few pairs of eyes on her, Shiro felt a little uncomfortable but knew that they were doing it for security reasons. Of course, if she was to take a bath and she felt a pair of eyes on her, she would no doubt consider the option of poking them in the eyes.
While she wasn't exactly old fashioned, she still wanted her bare body to only be seen by those she trusted deeply or her future partner.
Entering the city, she saw the marbled buildings that seemed to glow with holiness that made her feel an urge to vomit since she wasn't the most religious person around. Especially when you consider her previous death to be the result of a future god.
The other buildings were rather modern due to their sleek designs and simplicity. Rather than huge flats and skyscr.a.p.ers she was used to seeing in Japan, Epona was filled with detached houses and a few flats that could be seen here and there. They weren't huge flats ether, only small scaled ones.
Shaking her head, Shiro pulled out her phone and messaged the party about her arrival.
Waiting a few moments, they scheduled their meeting in one of the better restaurants in the city. After all, that was the only acceptable place that Yin would agree too.
Hearing about her daughter's shenanigans again, Shiro couldn't help but laugh lightly since she had to admit that she missed the glutton in the time that they were apart.
"Right then, Attie, we're about to go meet my friends along with your sisters." Shiro smiled as Attie nodded.
Deep inside, he was a little curious about his other family members.
Following the map, Shiro soon arrived in front of the restaurant called Desires. A rather interesting name considering the fact that Yin's primary desire was to eat the best food every day.
'Let's see… I don't exactly want the guards to see what I really look like so I guess a little illusion wouldn't hurt. I'll just look like I've entered the toilet before 'disappearing.'' She thought to herself as she flicked her finger. Without anyone noticing, an illusion was cast onto them as they entered the restaurant.
Upon entry, they started to make their way to the toilets while their main bodies looked around for Lyrica and the others.
Seeing the set of familiar people in the distance, Shiro's eyes warmed up a little as she could not suppress the smile on her face. While it may only be a few days, maybe weeks in the real world, they had actually been apart for a much longer period of time. The same would go for them since they were challenging dungeons every day.
As she approached their table, she waved her hand and revealed her true appearance only to the party.
"Ah Shiro! You- PFFFF Why the hell did you adopt another kid?!" Madison called out as her attention was immediately grabbed by the adorable youth in Shiro's hands.
"KID!?!" Lyrica widened her eyes at Shiro.
"Pft, what are you thinking. I'm still a v.i.r.g.i.n." Shiro chuckled as Lyrica instantly blushed and looked away.
"I don't t- actually, never mind we were wondering about that. So who did you kidnap this time?" Madison sighed.
"Hey, I'm offended. Technically, I've never kidnapped anyone ok? And is that the first thing you ask me after not seeing me for so long?" Shiro asked with a twitch in her smile.
"Well, without losing your cherry you're already the mother of three and the queen of a race." Aarim chuckled as she took a sip of her drink.
"Quite true. Anyways, girls, this is Attie or rather, Atesh is his name. He is a fire spirit born from the combination of two flames that I had acquired just before entering the trial. In one sense, I am his mother since I 'gave birth to him' in one way or another." Shiro smiled as the group nodded.
While they were listening to Shiro explain about Atesh's circ.u.mstances, Yin crept up beside him as she looked at him with curiosity in her eyes.
"So are you my little brother?" She asked quietly.
Tilting his head, Atesh nodded after a short pause.
"In that case then here, have this. It's my favourite food in this restaurant. Since you're my little brother, big sis will make sure you also get the best food ok?" Yin smiled as she had never interacted with a baby before. Seeing Atesh, a feeling of wanting to dote on him appeared in her mind as she was even willing to share her food without getting anything in return.
As for Lisandra, she stood by the side and only glanced at Atesh every once in a while.
'How cute… I wonder how his cheeks feel.' She would think to herself.
Noticing that Yin was having fun with Atesh, Shiro smiled and patted her head before looking over to Silvia and Chen Yu. Seeing that they were in a world of their own, Shiro decided to leave them to their own devices for now and fill them in later.
Shaking her head, she glanced at everyone's stats.
[Lisandra LVL 110 Celestial Seraphim]
[Yin LVL 118 Dark Star Devourer]
[Lyrica LVL 117 Sword Saint Apprentice]
[Aarim LVL 117 Grand Force Mage]
[Silvia LVL 123 Grand Healing Sage]
[Chen Yu LVL 121 Phantom Reaper]
[Madison LVL 121 Demonic Valkyrie]
*Whistle~
"Damn, seems like you've been quite busy haven't you?" Shiro asked with a smile since three of them were actually passed level 120 now and the other's weren't too far off. Not only that, but they had also acquired quite a few interesting classes such as the Sword Saint Apprentice.
Her guess was that it was the step before Elven Sword Saintess since it had apprentice in the name but there could be a chance for Lyrica to get a hidden class that could potentially be stronger than the sword saintess.
"Yeah, the requirements were a bit annoying to complete but with Keiko's help, we were able to do the item gathering part quite easily." Lyrica smiled.
"I see, I'll have to give her my thanks later then. Also, Aarim, what's a force mage? I don't think I heard of something like that before?" Shiro asked curiously.
"Well… let's just say I control gravity to some degree." Aarim chuckled.
"Heh~ I had always taken you for one that focuses on attack due to your previous class." Shiro raised her eyebrow.
"I used to be but control suits me a bit better. You see, having too many attackers is also bad since we don't have anyone to control the battlefield. Sure we have you but you can also fit into other roles so we need a dedicated control mage. Hence why I picked this class since it allows me to control the battlefield quite nicely." Aarim replied with a smile.
"I see… In that case then this notebook should be quite useful for you." Shiro nodded before printing out one of Kuromi's research notebooks that contained quite a bit of her understanding around being a control mage.
Flipping through the pages, Aarim was surprised at how detailed and informative it was and couldn't help but look at Shiro with shock.
"Where did you even get such a treasure?" She asked.
"That? My big sister gave me it." Shiro replied casually.
"Wait what?"
Hearing that Shiro mentioned her big sister, the entire party paused for a moment as even Yin stopped her doting on Atesh.
"Mn? Oh right, you girls don't know. You see, I met Kuromi in my trial. In one way or another, she's technically my big sister of sorts. Her family is my family." Shiro explained briefly as there was a longing look in her eyes.
Seeing this look, Lyrica couldn't help but feel both sad and jealous. Sad because Shiro seemed hurt but at the same time jealous because she wished that Shiro would have the same look when thinking of her.
Quickly shaking her head, Lyrica felt a little ashamed to be thinking of this when there's clearly something up with Shiro's big sis and decided to listen to the story silently.
Explaining the experiences she had within the trial, the group spent the next hour or so catching up on what everyone had been doing.