Chapter 74 Key
"Grandpa Max, what happened after?" Lily asked with her pink eyes sparkling, hoping for a happy ending.
"After that, we sealed the Soul Urn within a building in your Mortal World, Arcadia. With the long passage of time, my son's Soul recovered fully. And as for what happened next, I'm sure Lucian knows." Maximilian explained, then looked at Lucian gratefully.
"Arcadia!? Isn't that our world?" Lily exclaimed in a shocked tone and continued, "And how would Big Brother Lucian know what happened after?"
Lucian and Maximillian were speechless by her innocence and naivety.
A moment of speechlessness later, Lucian cleared his throat and explained, "Lily, do you remember the blood-red monkey from earlier?"
Lily nodded, "Mm. But what does the terrifying monkey have to do with Grandpa Max's story?"
"That is because the terrifying monkey is Maximillian's son," Lucian explained while trying to suppress a sigh. Lily was too innocent.
"What!?" Lily exclaimed as her eyes widened in disbelief. "But that monkey's fur was blood red while Grandpa Max's fur is golden. …Though, his golden fur does have red tips."
"Lucian is correct." Maximillian nodded before continuing in an offended tone, "My son used to be a glorious Golden War Monkey. Now, he has been reduced to … I don't even know what that Race could even be called."
"Your son's Race is called Titan Drunken Blood Monkey," Lucian said with a shrug.
"Tch. He may now be a glorious Titan, but I'm confident a Drunken Blood Monkey is a lowly Race compared to the even stronger, handsome, and powerful Golden War Monkey Race." Maximillian grumbled while not forgetting to boast about how superior his Race was.
"Anyway, it was great meeting you," Lucian suddenly said, standing up while gesturing for Lily to do the same. Although Lily was confused, she still listened and stood up.
"You can now take your son back, and we will be on our way," Lucian said to Maximillian.
Then, as though Lucian had just remembered something, he slapped his thigh and added, "By the way, we don't need anything in return. We're just glad you can finally reunite with your son after a hundred thousand years."
Lucian looked at Lily, and without missing a heartbeat, continued, "Right, Lily? Don't you think it's wonderful?"n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om
"Of course, I'm sure Grandpa Max, his wife, and everyone from the Golden War Monkey Race will be happy." Lily nodded with a beautiful, happy smile. She was genuinely happy for them.
"Now then, where is the exit? I still have to feed my dear customers." Lucian asked as he looked around for a door. Unfortunately, no matter how hard he looked, he could not find a single door!
[Host, one cannot leave a Mage's Dimension through a door.] The System suddenly said.
[Fuck, do you think I don't know that? Now quickly, do something to help me leave this place. I don't want a ticking time bomb.] Lucian responded, already feeling his back drenched from the amused and shameless grin plastered across Maximillian's face.
[Unfortunately, the System has no way to help the Host. Good luck and remember to take all of Maximillian's treasures.]
[You useless piece of garbage! Not only did you get me into this mess, you're not even helping!]
By now, Lucian would be an idiot if he had not realized the System definitely knew about the Soul within the building that had later been destroyed and rebuilt from the ground up.
Everything was just too coincidental to be mere chance.
However, the System remained quiet as though it did not hear its Host's words.
"Big Brother Lucian, there isn't a door in this room," Lily said in a confused tone, not understanding how one could leave and enter a room without a door.
"I know." Lucian sighed and eyed Maximillian with begrudging eyes.
"Let's sit back down." He continued before sitting back in the chair followed by Lily, who was confused but listened to him.
As soon as Lucian sat down, Maximillian's amused and shameless smile widened even further. He rubbed his hands like an old merchant about to make a lucrative deal and spoke, "How can I allow my benefactor to leave without showing my gratitude!?"
"You don't have t-" But before Lucian could speak further, Maximillian cut him off, "No. No. I insist. Please allow me to show my benefactor, no, my Golden War Monkey Race's benefactor our gratitude!"
Seeing how much Grandpa Max was insisting, Lily felt it would not be nice if Lucian did not accept, therefore, she interrupted, "Big Brother Lucian, it's not nice to continue saying no. Grandpa Max will feel bad if you don't accept. After all, you saved Grandpa Max's son."
Maximillian's eyes brightened, finding the little girl more and more pleasing to the eye.
As for Lucian, he smiled bitterly. He wanted to ask Lily whose side she was on but knew she was just being kind-hearted and was tricked by Maximillian.
Knowing he had no way out of this, Lucian sighed, "Fine, Maximillian, you win. What do you have in mind?"
A large toothy grin appeared on Maximillian's face before laughing uproarously, "Hahaha, finally. Now this Sovereign will be able to eat and sleep in peace, knowing my benefactor was well rewarded for what he has done for us!"
'...' Lucian felt his eyelid twitch. He had seen shamelessness before but this was a level of shamelessness that exceeded everything.
"Although I would like to reward you with resources and Artifacts since you are in Soul form, you can't take them back. Therefore, I can only give this," Maximillian said to Lucian, then lightly touched his forehead with his finger.
"Memory Transfer," Maximillian muttered.
"Grandpa Max, why are you touching Big Brother Lucian's forehead?" Lily curiously blinked her eyes.
While his finger remained on Lucian's forehead, he kindly smiled at Lily and explained, "I am transferring memories directly into Lucian's Soul."
Lily's eyes widened and she curiously watched while wondering just how strong Grandpa Max was.
[System, can I access the Inventory while in Soul form?] Lucian suddenly asked the System, while Maximillian transferred memories into his Soul.
The System replied, [Yes, as long as the System is active, you can access the Inventory.]
Then, the System continued, [However, it's not advisable to use the Inventory in front of an existence like Maximillian. Even though he is grateful to you for reviving his son, he could turn hostile at any moment.]
Lucian silently nodded, feeling regretful that he could not rob Maximillian blind.
Since Souls were non-corporeal Beings, they did not possess a way of storing items.
Well… unless a Mage had a very rare Artifact known as Soul Artifacts. Compared to regular Artifacts, Soul Artifacts were bound to the Soul and grew proportionally to the Mage.
Even Ancestral God Lucian only had twenty-seven Soul Artifacts, which seemed like a lot, but they were acquired from eons of slaughtering any Mage who had sinister intentions toward Celeste Universe.
Soon, a System Notification appeared in Lucian's mind.
<{Moon Grove Forest Secret Realm Key has been transferred to the Host.}>
'A Secret Realm?' Lucian mumbled to himself.
A Secret Realm was similar to a Mage's Dimension. They were separate, closed-off Dimensions from the world, and could only be accessed with a key or when the Secret Realm opened upon certain conditions being met.
Secret Realms could be created once a Mage became an Immortal. Often using them as homes for their families, testing grounds to find talented individuals, for entertainment, to pass down their inheritance, or even as traps to kill their rivals.
After a minute of silence, Lily could no longer contain her curiosity; therefore, she asked, "Big Brother Lucian, what kind of memories did Grandpa Max give you?"
"I received a key, no, more like a set of instructions on how to open a Secret Realm," Lucian said before explaining what a Secret Realm was and that there was a Secret Realm in the Moon Grove Forest to Lily.
After the explanation, Lily asked, "Grandpa Max, if you wanted to reward Big Brother Lucian for reviving your son, why did you not place the rewards in the building with your son's Soul Fragment?"
After hearing Lily's question, Lucian realized he had overlooked that.
'Even though Lily is naive and innocent, she isn't entirely ignorant.' Lucian thought to himself, impressed by how she realized something he had overlooked.
Maximillian sighed and explained, "I can't say too much. If you are curious about the reason, you will find your answers within the Secret Realm. That is all I can say."
He then continued, "Anyways, although I would like to keep you two here longer, I don't want to run the risk of the Universe Spirit noticing I brought two Mortals from the Mortal Plane into my Dimension."
Maximilian waved his hand, and Lucian and Lily realized their bodies were slowly disappearing.
"Until the day we can meet with our physical bodies, I entrust my son to the both of you. I hope you will care for him as if he were your own son."