Mushoku Tensei: Reincarnated as a Beast Race-Chapter 117 - Red Dragon Lower Jaw

POV: Rygar Adoldia

It had been several months since we went to the depths of the Dragon King Mountain Range to test the Emperor-level magic, Earthquake.

Since then, we traveled through the Sanakia Kingdom, the Kikka Kingdom, and the Shirone Kingdom, and after passing by the edge of the Conflict Zone, we were now finally approaching the Lower Jaw of the Red Dragon.

After crossing it, we would finally be officially entering the Asura Kingdom, in the Wishiru region.

This time, as planned, we made no prolonged stops in any of the kingdoms during the journey, although I had arranged to stop by the Sanakia Kingdom when I returned in a few years, as I wanted to visit Fendrel, Erina, and her son.

Anyway, nothing very important happened during that time.

We continued carrying out missions as the adventurer group "Gods of Combat".

Most of these missions were led by Eris, Skoll, Eidar, and occasionally, by Lilia and Aisha.

Only when the situation involved large numbers of enemies or significant threats would Ghislaine and I intervene.

It was excellent training for all of them.

Intense training was always essential, but nothing replaced the real experience of combat against opponents who fought with the intent to kill.

In one of our nightly conversations, Eidar mentioned that they were close to reaching Rank S as adventurers.

Although it was a notable achievement, for me, rankings were never a priority.

What mattered was each of their individual growth and their ability to survive and thrive in this world where strength was a major factor.

Furthermore, along the way, many warriors appeared to challenge me to combat. After hearing that I had become a North King, it was only natural. Some challengers were really strong, but none offered much resistance.

As we approached the Asura Kingdom, information about the missing persons from the Fitoa teleportation became more frequent in the cities, but no news emerged about Paul, Zenith, Rudeus, or Hilda.

They were still listed as missing.

There were few options remaining regarding their whereabouts.

They could have been taken to a distant continent, such as the Demonic or Celestial Continent, could be imprisoned somewhere remote—either as slaves or in a labyrinth—or, in the worst and most likely scenario, they could simply be dead.

Eris already knew about the death of her father, Philip, and her grandfather, Sauros.

She did not react with despair or denial. Even at the Iron Legion base, when she learned about the Rescue group and the deaths among the victims, she had already prepared herself for that possibility.

Although she did not have a particularly close relationship with her parents, Sauros's death affected her deeply.

However, she was a strong girl. Instead of letting grief consume her, she channeled her pain into training, sharpening her determination and directing her hatred towards those responsible for her grandfather's death.

Lilia, on the other hand, after so much time without any news, began to make plans in case her masters, Paul and Zenith, were dead.

She considered all her options and decided that, if no concrete information was available by the time we reached Asura, she would return to live with her father in the Milbotts region, located after Wishiru.

Of course, she would not stop looking for them, but she also had nowhere to return to in Fitoa, and she did not know the location of any of them to follow.

Apparently, her father had a dojo and was an instructor of the Water God Style there, and while they were talking about it, Lilia shared something that completely changed my view of Paul.

She told us that she met Paul when she was still young, at her father's dojo.

When he fled from the Notos household, he went to Lilia's father's dojo seeking training, but when Lilia's father suggested that he marry Lilia and take over the dojo when he grew old, Paul ran away—and before disappearing, he went to Lilia's room at night and raped her.

That account filled me with disgust.

I could not understand how Lilia, after all that, became that man's wife.

She explained that when she was expelled from the Palace after being injured while protecting the princess, and was looking for a job, she saw an opportunity in him.

If he did not accept her as an employee, she could blackmail him with that information.

But after serving him for years, she realized that he had changed. Paul had become a "respectable" man, in her words.

But I did not agree with that.

To me, Paul had always been just an irresponsible womanizer according to the accounts of those who knew him; his ability to seduce so many women was even impressive from a certain point of view.

But a rapist? That crossed all limits.

My instinct was one of repulsion.

When I first encountered Lilia, I had tortured to death the adventurer who was trying to rape her.

What was I supposed to do, knowing that Paul was Lilia's first man and had raped her? The fact that Lilia had forgiven him for it confused me even more.

She said that she felt anger towards him for a while, but after working at the royal palace for many years, she realized that Paul was one of the more reasonable cases among the nobles.

Ghislaine didn't know about this either, and when I asked her about what he was like in his adventuring days, she said that, at least in the time they were in the same group, she hadn't seen him do anything like that.

That only removed him from my list of must-kill targets; he was Aisha's father and Lilia's husband.

But that did not mean that I did not despise him, and the argument that there were several among the Asura nobility who were much worse did not justify anything to me. They would all die if their lives were in my hands.

If Paul were dead somewhere, to me, that would be the best resolution.

As for Aisha, when I asked if she would stay with Lilia in Milbotts, Lilia did not know how to answer.

She said she would think about it when the time came.

Regarding my training, there were some advances.

Thanks to the new high-level spells I learned, my magical control improved, especially the fire spells.

Inside the carriage, grimoires, books, and scrolls accumulated, and each one contained valuable knowledge.

After these months of learning, I could confidently say that I had in my arsenal all the high-level spells of the Dragon King's Kingdom.

There was still the study of magical circles and enchanted items that I needed to delve into, but in terms of spells, I mastered them all.

Having a gigantic mountain range nearby to test my high-level spells was extremely useful.

I even learned and tested the Emperor-level spell, Absolute Zero, a few weeks ago, when we were crossing Shirone.

With that, I could now be considered an Emperor of Earth and Water.

The Lightning Step continued to be a challenge.

After gaining a bit more control over the Demon Eyes, I tried using it again. Once again, I failed.

The speed was even greater than I anticipated, an overwhelming power, but this time, unlike the first attempt, at least I did not become completely unconscious.

It was proof that it was within my reach. As long as I continued strengthening my body and refining the control of my mana, eventually I would master this technique.

On the other hand, the Holy-level Barrier magic presented difficulties.

Perhaps because I was not focusing on it enough, I still could not use it without enchantment, which restricted the methods I could use to improve it.

The same went for Divine Attack magic.

Regarding the new type of magic I was exploring, Gravity magic, I had not yet achieved results. Perhaps it was a magic too complex to learn without dedicating my full attention.

Basically, as far as magic was concerned, I was making progress.

However, since I had many things to learn at the same time, and considering the fact that I was always traveling, training my touki, and assisting the other members of the group in their training, the evolution was happening at a slow pace.

The same went for the touki.

My most notable progress was in the development of the Beast God Style.

I continued training in the other styles as well, mainly the Sword God Style, but, just like with magic, I was improving slowly.

The only thing that pleased me was that my natural strength continued growing rapidly.

Of course, that "slowly" was only in my perception.

To be honest, the mere fact that I was able to advance in so many areas at the same time was an impressive feat.

Few people in the entire world would notice any improvement, even if they were doing only half of what I was. My immense talent in magic and touki allowed me to continue improving, even while training several things at the same time.

Even so, I could not master everything simultaneously.

At the moment, I was dividing my time among various types of magic and various fighting styles.

Even with my talent and willingness, it was clear that if I did not focus on something specific, my progress would continue to be slow.

Therefore, I made a decision. When I reached the Sword Sanctuary, my main focus would be touki training. Magic would take a backseat for a while.

If I truly wanted to surpass my limits, I would need to prioritize and perfect each aspect of my power at its proper time.

Putting training aside for a moment, I felt that this strange group was becoming more united.

Ghislaine, who previously seemed to care only about me and Eris, was now becoming increasingly close to Lilia.

At first, I found this closeness a bit unusual, but I thought it might be something positive.

In fact, I had nothing to complain about, since Lilia seemed to give some rather interesting ideas to Ghislaine about what to do in bed, which made our nights extremely exciting.

Eris saw everyone in a different way.

To her, Ghislaine was her mentor and source of inspiration, Eidar was a rival, Skoll was a loyal and fierce pet, Aisha was her younger sister, and Lilia was her personal advisor.

With me, her relationship was more complicated. Over time, I noticed that rather than diminishing, her affection for me only grew; she seemed like a typical young woman in love.

I really did not know what Lilia was telling her, but whatever it was, Eris seemed increasingly confident and determined, and that was reflected both in her training and in her constantly upbeat mood.

Another detail I noticed was that she had completely abandoned her violent reactions.

Perhaps that was the result of Lilia's advice, or simply because almost everyone in the group was stronger than her—even Skoll.

Not that it bothered her; she still maintained an intense and vibrant personality.

In fact, instead of demotivating her, it seemed only to make her more determined.

Her growth was impressive. I could see the burning flame of her ambition growing more and more, and that was something truly admirable.

Aisha, on the other hand, seemed to see the group as her new family.

She was especially attached to me and Eris, but she showed affection for everyone.

Recently, I started teaching her elemental attack spells beyond water, and as always, she absorbed the knowledge at an enormous speed.

Her mana capacity grew every day, and I was sure that in the future she would become a formidable mage.

Eidar continued to be my salvation in this group. Besides Skoll, he and I were the only men in the group, and that only strengthened our friendship.

In this new world, I could consider him one of my best friends. Although he talked all the time about his fiancée waiting for him in the Asura Kingdom.

He also liked training with Eris, because he said that she kept him under constant pressure to improve.

His progress was impressive, and the friendly rivalry between the two made them grow even faster. Additionally, he frequently trained Lilia in the Water God Style.

After getting closer to Ghislaine, Lilia decided that she wanted to at least reach the advanced level of that style.

She was not in a phase of rapid growth, nor did she possess exceptional talent, so the refinement of her techniques and the conditioning of her body would take time.

Even so, her determination was admirable, and I have always believed in people becoming stronger. In this world, strength was everything.

Skoll, for his part, liked everyone, but Lilia did not seem completely comfortable with him. Her apprehension was subtle, almost imperceptible, but I could notice it.

Perhaps it was because he was a huge rank A monster. But only Lilia had any apprehension.

Even little Aisha saw him merely as a big and deadly dog, but Lilia maintained a certain distance. Even so, Skoll was loyal and protective of everyone, and his presence was a great joy for the group.

After these years of traveling, this group—which consisted of a child and his mother, a fencing master and her disciple, two warriors on their journey to become stronger, and a rank A wolf—became increasingly close.

Certainly, this group didn't make much sense in the beginning, but it ended up strangely working out.

I couldn't help but notice the charm of traveling with a group around the world. I liked every one of them.

I loved Ghislaine, my fierce and loyal wife and companion.

I had two of my best friends by my side, Skoll and Eidar.

I had two incredibly talented and energetic apprentices, Eris and Aisha.

And there was Lilia, who acted as a sort of advisor in the group, in addition to her culinary skills.

I appreciated that dynamic.

Every day of travel, every training session, every mission, and every conversation made the journey more enjoyable.

Despite the ambushes and assassination attempts we faced along the way, I could say that this was one of the best times of my life.

Just like the period when I was learning from Verdia and founded the Iron Legion in the Great Forest after the slave traffickers' attacks.

I could clearly envision a future where I would be married to Ghislaine and Verdia in the Great Forest.

All my friends, apprentices, and subordinates would be there as well.

Several questions hovered in my mind: How would Eris handle Linia and Pursena? How would Ghislaine act around Verdia? Who would be the strongest among my wolf, Taes's wolf, and Rufus's wolf? Would little Aisha eventually surpass them all in strength?

These questions left me curious and excited.

I also constantly worried about the Iron Legion. Since I left, I had been wondering how they were faring.

In the worst case, Milis did not have a military force strong enough to invade the entire Great Forest.

But, in the best case, when I returned, the Legion would be a gigantic and influential force. I had complete trust in my companions, but even so, the worry never completely disappeared.

Well, from here on, we would be leaving some of our members along the way—Lilia, and perhaps Aisha, would stay in Milbotts; Eidar would remain in Ars; and Ghislaine and Eris were still an unknown, as we would first have to see the situation in Fitoa.

Depending on the situation, they could stay, or accompany him to the Sword Sanctuary along with Skoll.

While he was still lost in thought, Eidar's voice called his attention: "There it is! The Lower Jaw of the Red Dragon!"

Rising before the group was the great mountain formation that spanned the Continent. Looking at the place, Rygar sighed. They were almost there.

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