Chapter 374: Revelation
It was still far from reaching the old Geim's size, who was also said to be the Geim equivalent of a midget since he grew up in a 'small' cave without sunlight and only extremely poor fertilizer available to its roots. All that is to say, this plant entity was still a baby and sadly seemingly still unconscious, or at least incapable of speech and moving it's branches like its parent could.
"Master, I demand an explanation right now!!!"
I couldn't help but chuckle at Seraphiel's antics. Wasn't I your literal owner? Manners, miss…
Of course, I didn't mind her attitude with me at all. In fact, it was exactly what I wanted to see.
I obliged her 'request' and told the tale of how we got this thing, and what it was.
Iris was also surprised. "So that's how it is… They were protecting this creature at the outpost. I kept wondering why we were even stationed in the middle of nowhere, but only the Aegis Vanguard - the kingdom's elite soldiers - were allowed to go into the cavern system."
The elves on the other hand had a rather different reaction compared to the ever-so-slightly shocked Iris - they were straight-up hyperventilating.
"The Eternal Forest… We're there?!" One of them shouted.
"Did we die when we stepped through the swirling gate?" Another asked.
"If that's the case then I don't mind dying!" A third archer decreed happily.
"Wait, the Eternal Forest actually existed all along?!" Seraphiel screamed worriedly. After all, she'd staked her eternal afterlife multiple times because she believed it to be a sham.
"What do you mean by that?!" Ambition roared furiously.
"Ugh! Nothing…" My healer quickly zipped her tantalizing lips before she could utter more damning evidence regarding her heretical nature. After all, the six elves were only here due to her oath and their trust in it.
"Master, you said that you talked with its parent who left this baby in your care but… The elven legends say that no mortal can understand their speech." Seraphiel strategically changed the topic, which gained each elf's attention like nothing before did, letting my cunning healer exhale a sigh of relief.
I felt numerous eyes on me.
I stepped in front of the slumbering Geim and turned my back to it so that I was facing all those in my audience. I could also see more and more labor and guard slaves trickling into the audience, including Ronan who was jovially rushing toward us. He would need to wait a while if he wanted to speak with me.
Anyhow.
It was time to make the grand revelation.
"The reason I can converse with the Geim species is that I'm not a mortal."
"H-huh?" Hushed questions and voices of sheer disbelief erupted in the audience.
"I'm a creation of the gods, a primordial." As I said that I summoned forth my status screen, and summoned a second window which detailed what the primordial race was.
As the newcomers were busy reading - and trying to grasp - what was written there, Ayame quickly spoke up. "Creation of the gods? What gods? There are more divine existences beyond the Goddess? And you were created by them? Why was I not informed of this world-shattering information?!"
"Yeah, not cool, baby." Lucille voiced her agreement with my disheartened samurai.
"I will get to it soon. Please give me some time to bring the others up to speed."
"Blossom has no clue what is going on, like, at all." Blossom decreed in an entirely matter-of-factly-tone. We'd officially lost her.
Aurora, my beloved plump alchemist/enchanter, quickly leaned into the dog-girl's ears and began whispering an explanation.
Damn. Now that I had some time to observe all my girls in their full glory, I couldn't wait for night to descend. I had waited such a long time to be reunited with them, and it finally happened. I would ravage all four of them together until I was totally spent, and I won't take no for an answer this time. If I have to drag my Ayame to bed then so be it. In case she is not ready yet, I won't penetrate her damp folds, but she will not be allowed to sit this night out in its entirety, and that's an objectively true fact.
The newcomers had enough time to read over my status screen five times over, so I continued.
"Primordials are existences teetering between mortals and gods - we are not divine entities, but neither do we age like mortals do. We are born from the divine magic of the gods, not from the wombs of our mothers. When we reach level 20, our Rank-Up Mission goes from that of a mortal to that of a primordial. When Selene was about to blast me with her fire spell, I initiated the test hoping it would bring down an armageddon of monsters for me to slay, which would allow us to turn the tides of battle.
However, I was instead taken to a new dimension where time didn't flow - the private training dimension of the primordials. There, for the first time I met those of my kind. Sadly, for whatever reason which they aren't allowed to reveal, they had been imprisoned there, unable to come back to Thalorind.
In that place, I met Malakar, known as the father of humanity, Mearie, one of the other human primordials, Dragnar, the human primordial who was said to be the greatest Berserker of all time - Lucille, girl, do I have some tales to tell you about that man… He was a straight-up menace - Karl who we don't need to mention, and lastly… Luminara."
"W-w-w-w-w-w-w-wait, she is still alive?!" Seraphiel's yelping turned into hysteria.
The person she wholeheartedly believed to be nothing but an old corpse lying six feet under was still very healthy, and the Geim which was said to live in the Eternal Forest was right in front of her eyes. Was she destined to roam the mortal realms instead of joining Luminara for her heretic actions?! But wait, she was already in the Eternal Forest?!
Whaaaat?!
Yep, I could easily read her thought processes and knew that she was almost as lost as Blossom was.
Ambition spoke up in an icy tone, "Miss Solace, would you mind explaining what you meant by those words exactly?"
"N-nothing!"
"I will take over, calm your mind in the meantime." I said to Seraphiel before turning to Ambition. "I apologize from the bottom of my heart, blame me for her actions not, her. Yes, she made a false oath to earn your trust, but we have no wishes to harm you at all."
The elven tank's eyes turned hateful as she glanced at the woman in question. It was clear that despite my words, she felt severely wronged, and not by me but by Seraphiel herself.
"W-wait, Master, don't say more! I'm already going to burn in hell! Ahhhh!!! What have I done?!"
"You're not going anywhere, my gorgeous healer. Luminara will definitely not harm you, for she is my adoptive mother. She calls me Quinnie and jumps straight into my arms as soon as she sees me. In fact, I have a strong suspicion that she is knitting a hundred socks for me right as we are speaking. All that is to say; she would never hurt my cherished teammate."
Let's just say that my statement caused a… myriad of overwhelming reactions.