The day of Gronoville's Crafting Fair.
"Well, why didn't you just say Nagami was your childhood friend?" Gnawraul said teasingly, gleefully pressing her thumbs against both of Zalroth's cheeks, kneading them like a tired kitten. Zalroth rolled his eyes in indignation, finding the older of the two sisters' statements displeasing and even irritating that she made such a correct leap in logic.
[Gnawraul "Koutita" is a very short, and dark tanned skinned Imperiou with the appearance of an eight-year-old female human; she has a spikey mass of shoulder blade-low pure white hair with her fringe only covering her forehead, glowing dark purple eyes with light black scleras, very chonky thighs, three large dark purple claw mark-like tattoos on the outerside of each of her thighs, doesn't have nipples or any reproduction organs, two thick light black horns that sprout from each of her temples and curve ninety degrees towards the centre of her head, a very chonkey dragon tail that is the same length as her body, light black scales running down her spine and across the top of her tail, and two small light black dragon-like wings on her hips with dark purple wing membranes]
"That isn't even close to what I said," Zalroth grumbled as Peuonie joined in on poking the guy's face, basking in the joys of feeling the sensation of touch much like her sister was. With the sound of a whirling drill and Nagami's excitement zipping from the backyard, Zalroth poked through the gap in Golemight Smithy's side garden door before Particle Warping himself, the Imperiou sisters, and the slightly large box in his arms into the eerily unpopulated street.
"I dunno, someone like you saying you'd do something someone your age asks of you so adamantly can only suggest some shared history with them," Peuonie added as she piggybacked on Gnawraul's back, like Gnawraul did to Zalroth.
[Peuonie "Peni" is a very short, radiently fair skinned Imperiou with the appearance of a five-year-old female human; she has freakishly flowing knee-low white hair with glowing cyan ends, glowing golden eyes with white pupils and cyan scleras, a dainty and delicate body, doesn't have nipples or any reproduction organs, long pointed upwards elf-like ears, an opaque glittery golden seven-foot-long ribbons sprouting from the outer side of her wrists, and three inch pale gold wood branches with glowing cyan cracks all over them sprouting over her body[one on each of the outer sides of her calves at an upward forty five degree angle, and four evenly spaced out on her forehead at an upward eighty degree angle]]
Raising a hand but stopping mid-raise, given his face was already occupied, Zalroth defeatedly sighed at the reasoning, wanting to change the subject of the conversation by commenting, "On another note, what is with everyone below four feet wanting me to carry them?"
"Dunno, it just feels natural, I guess," Peuonie responded, explaining how Zalroth just has a natural sanctity to him. Zalroth slumped his shoulders, unable to believe Peuonie gave the same reason, word-for-word, that Chronia had given back when the two of them were kids.
"Look, I get you wanting to be carried given your hair-."
Zalroth was cut off mid-sentence, as he felt a weak force smack against his back with an even weaker thud, followed by a pitiful grumble of defeat. At the pestering of the two Imperiou, Zalroth turned himself around to see the source of but more importantly, who had bumped into him.
[The teen is an average height, teenaged half-human/half-fairy; she has neck-length frilly and curly blonde hair, silver eyes with a glowing golden outline, super fair skin, a slim figure, and six thin metalic butterfly-like wings that are each half the size of her body]
[She is wearing a sleeveless white silk shirt, light grey cotton trousers, black shoes, and a lavender wool regal robe embroidered with golden thread flowers]
"Urrr... how undignified of... me?" a dignified-sounding teen, her words trailing off as her eyes met Zalroth's, causing her cheeks to slightly redden from the intensity he exuded. But as she stared at him, the excitement behind the girl's eyes grew and grew into sparkling orbs of envy when her attention shifted from the guy to the living weapons.
"Yoo! Are those two strong Imperiou! Gah!". The teen was clocked in the back of the head, cutting her Imperiou appreciation off prematurely. Clutching the back of her head, the girl swiped her head back, her eyes slightly welling as she looked at her personal maid, an elemental humanoid of fire assigned to keep tabs on the girl.
"Must I remind you that your easily distracted focus is the reason why your father constantly refuses your request to leave the capital so close to the start of the school term, Princess Alikio?" the fiery maid uttered strongly, her tone diseptively cold for how much passion her words carried.
"But look... strong Imperiou," Alikio murmured disappointedly while weakly pointing towards Gnawraul and Peuonie, muttering how she's always wanted to meet a humanoid Imperiou and now there were two of them right in front of her. Hearing the word princess, a single thought crossed Zalroth's mind— getting the hell out of the area before he gets himself and his classmates mixed up in some crazy political issue, like he's heard Chronia mention in all those novels she's read. Turning back the other way, Zalroth took his chance to flee, but didn't get very far before the Alikio started tailing him.
Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
As the tailing continued, Peuonie stared back at the princess, making the girl mentally squeal with glee that one of the Imperiou was paying attention to her. Shifting her attention back to Zalroth, Peuonie leaned forward and whispered to Zalroth, "I believe that princess girl might be my perfect match in this era. Zalroth, use your skill thing to see her status."
"All I'm hearing is, if I want to get everyone back home, I have to get involved with a headache," Zalroth grumbled under his breath, dreading how unlikely escape would be now.
Seeing her chance to do some exposition, Peounie jumped from Gnawraul's back and landed on the box in Zalroth's grasp. Brimming with a smug disposition, Peuonie explained, "Basically, Soul Links have compatibility percentages and only one person can exist at a time that has a hundred percent compatibility for a given Imperiou."
"And you're saying that princess is really your hundred percent match?" Zalroth whispered disappointingly, figuring that meant he'd also have to find whoever Gnawraul's hundred percent match was.
"Depends, if she has a certain class," Peuonie whispered back boldly, while Gnawraul teasingly continued her pressing of Zalroth's face.
"You got an appraisal skill?" Alikio exclaimed, having struggled to hear the conversation but managing to overhear the mention of a skill and seeing a status. Zalroth sighed, knowing Peuonie had put him in an unwanted situation, but reluctantly faced the princess.
"Yeah, I do," Zalroth uttered.
"Can you use it on m-gah?"
Once again, the maid clocked her princess in the back of the head, knocking the wind out of Alikio and mildly shocking Zalroth with the lack of hesitation behind the maid's movements. "Alikio Aulmein, are you trying to get this boy tried for espionage by seeing your class?"
With the biggest pout on her face, the princess jumped back to her feet and angrily flailed her arms in her maid's direction, disrupting the maid's flamey body slightly for a brief moment.
"But Phea, wouldn't it be better to have someone with a skill check my status to see if it's updated? That way, there isn't any chance of it being recorded by a device, right?" Alikio argued, reiterating that finding someone with such a Skill was such a rare occurrence. The girl even used the analogy of a blue moon to emphasise the level of rarity of a person with an appraisal skill.
"And how can you be sure he won't spill what he sees?" Gnawraul said cheekily, making Phea nod in relief that there was someone other than herself who had some sense in them.
"Then, how about he has to show us his, so it's fair?"
Phea was left at a loss for words, Alikio's utter lack of sense for confidentiality managing to break the fire elemental's own rationality, and left to wonder how the king's daughter could be so carefree.
"Whatever," Zalroth murmured defeatedly, wanting nothing more than to get out of the situation as soon as possible.
[Activated Skill: Appraisal(Level :3) x2]
[Zalroth Akikou][Level: 544]
[HP: 4500][Hexa: 5000]
[Class: Creation Crest]
[Vitality: 450][Stamina: 225]
[Attack: 275][Hexa Proficiency: 350](30/70 Crest Credit)
[Defence: 280][Intelligence: 500]
[Agility: 360][Speed: 288]
[Available Points: 0]
[Princess Alikio Von Aulmein][Level: 441]
[HP: 10][Hexa: 10]
[Class: Beacon Saint]
[Vitality: 1][Stamina: 1]
[Attack: 1][Hexa Proficiency: 1]
[Defence: 1][Intelligence: 1]
[Agility: 1][Speed: 1]
[Available points: 2205]
"Hmm..." Zalroth uttered mentally, mildly impressed that there's someone anywhere near his level, especially with how she hadn't spent a single stat point.
"Woah! I think I've seen those Classes in a book before!" Alikio announced with glee at seeing the duo's classes. The height of her excitement clouded her judgment, making the fact of Zalroth's level being so high fly right over her head, or more accurately, she didn't see it as strange, given her own high level.
Snapping her hands around Zalroth's as the guy held the box, Alikio had an idea brimming with potential, and she proclaimed, "You should attend the academy with me~."
"Bruh," Zalroth, Gnawraul, and Peuonie uttered in unified shock while Phea face palmed, finally losing her poker face from Alikio going above and beyond to do anything to act in antifisice to how royalty is expected to be.
