Eldritch Creature's Guide

4 Months Later, Zephystrand City

Just like every day, Samiel woke up today after having experienced a deep dream and he started the day with a prayer to the Azathoth as he did every day. After completing the morning prayer, the next thing on the schedule was to take care of his hygiene and then dress himself.

The majority of the day today would be spent in the Citadel's library, where he would be learning about the politics of the Cosmos once and for all as well as some bits of the history from time to time. Although it was intriguing to see that already four months had passed since the fateful event on Snowrose Peak, it seemed to him that it was just like it happened yesterday.

Probably his perception of time was already being adjusted to that of long-lived species, which he certainly was. But right now, what was happening to him, was basically a transition from the short-lived species to the long-lived species. The perception of time itself was changing at drastically tempo.

During these four months, Samiel and Yvraine went on a few dates, as both of them agreed on some sort of courtship.

It was really weird from the start, but fortunately, Yvriane was more experienced, or rather, she had more theoretical knowledge of these things than he. In spite of this, Samiel was unaware that she was equally clueless as he was about courtship procedures. It was only through her mother that she was familiar with courtship procedures.

A lot of the time, they went to some café, then, of course, Yvriane liked strolling through the cities, particularly through the district for Nobles, because the environment up there was most beautiful, and there were fewer people to be seen.

There was also plenty of entertainment in the Noble District, which was perhaps the best thing about it, and its privacy was probably the best thing about it, and Yvraine had told him that there was a more professional touch to the services there than in other parts of the city.

They spent a great deal of time just lying around in the Moon Pond Area, which Yvraine reluctantly permitted Samiel to enter since he started drinking the Holy Water from the Moon Pond the last time he was there. He, or they, at this moment, were very fond of that spot because of its tranquil environment, which... made it the perfect spot for their "dates".

The two of them had many things in common, but the one thing they all liked was tranquil places where one could just lay down and relax. Samiel was able to convert Yvraine to the coffee religion, but for the past month, they have been mainly visiting places that served a special kind of tea that they had not encountered before.

Aside from coffee, Samiel also developed a strong love for tea since he entered the Tower because he encountered many precious types of teas, from which countless of which had beneficial effects on the Professional's soul and Mana.

After Samiel carried out his morning routine, he checked up on his familiar and saw that Nefertari was happily sleeping on her cat tree, which he ordered to be installed across the entire room, so she could have several places for her to climb, jump or play.

Even though she had wings, she still liked to jump or climb things, and thus he gave her several very high cat trees across the entirety of his chambers. They were all custom-made, and surprisingly Nefertari enjoyed climbing them, thanks to the Great Dreamer for that... usually cats are not using the things their hoomans want them to use.

It appeared that she was sleeping, so he exited the room and went directly to the Library of the Citadel. Yvraine should still be asleep or in the training yard, depending on her mood at the moment.

After the four months of the courtship, he still didn't know how exactly to term their relationship, but one thing he knew and what Yvraine agreed on was that he needed time to adjust to it. Samiel had to admit that if Yvraine didn't kiss him on Snowrose Peak, he would probably never notice his own feelings toward her.

Probably because he was as dense as rock, and from the subconscious level, he still held a fear from the traumatic experience from the past. But as one the saying goes, "I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer", Samiel repeated to himself every second to not be overcome by his own fears before he decided on anything.

And thus, he agreed to the courtship with Yvriane, and he had to admit, it was one of the best decisions he ever made. They didn't do anything sexual and only kissed twice since then, but for him, the most important thing was her companionship, that they spent time together and could just talk and escape the feeling of loneliness he was constantly feeling.

***

Among countless bookshelves in the library, where the eye could see, Samiel was sitting on the leather sofa. The Library of the Zephystrand's City was enormous, not for the standards of the Cosmos, but for Samiel, who came from the Earth, it certainly was.

Next to him, there was a small mountain of books, some of them were really ancient looking, as he was reading one after another. He loved reading, which was pretty ironic because when he was a little kid, he hated reading anything and read-only titles in the newspapers.

Samiel had been sitting in this spot for the past four months, and this part of the library is one that not many people come to, as it is a restricted section, where one can only enter it with the permission of the City Lord, so he always just piled up the books he was reading until a small pile was formed from the books he started reading.

After spending several hours in the Library, Samiel decided that it was enough for the day and went to stretch his muscles a bit with some training. The library in the Citadel of the Zephystrand City was enormous, far bigger than anything seen on the Earth, and ironically, this was not even considered as big but rather an average in the Tower and Cosmos.

For the past months, he was mainly studying the political landscape of the Tower, various factions more in-depth, their important personas, people, Transcendents, important Principal Worlds, and some of the High Worlds in the Cosmos.

Fundamentally, everything could be considered common knowledge for someone of his stature as the Holy Son of the Hall of Kadath. Certainly, he couldn't be running around without proper common knowledge; fortunately he got lit of things that he needed to learn from Cardinal Karliana, so he was right now doing so.

After he exited the library, he realized that it was already past lunch, so he went directly to the training yard; he noticed that Yvraine was already there training with her dual swords, so he just sat down at the small stand for the audience, and ordered the butler to bring him something to eat and drink, while he watched his... didn't know what, that would be solved later, to train.

Her movements were so graceful, so elegant, and yet so deadly, especially when he watched in the fight how efficient she was, decapitating her enemies one after another, as with each slash of her blades, blood would flow, and a head would roll.

It was so erotic.

After ten more minutes, the butler returned, and Samiel felt the fragrance of the food and began salivating.

"That is..."

He said as he looked at the place.

"The lasagna made from the meat of Gold-Tier Twin-Horned Cow, several types of cheeses each made from milk of Silver-Tier Goat, Sheep, and Cow, with other precious ingredients."

The butler introduced him to the food, while Samiel pondered why this one was because lasagna was one of his favorite foods. At that moment, he saw Yvraine smirking at him as he revealed a rare smile.

'Hmm... so she remembered.'

He thought, knowing why he was brought this, probably Yvraine told the butlers to bring him his favorite food when he went here and asked for something to eat. And that was all to going to exercise, as he immediately started eating the moment the lasagna cooled off to an acceptable temperature for him to eat.

After Samiel finished eating, he gulped it down with a glass of mineral water because he didn't like very much sugary drinks and so on, not to mention to kill an aftertaste of such a delicious meal with something as cheap as that; it would be pure heresy.

"I take it that the lunch was exactly to your tastes..."

Yvraine stated while sitting next to him, as Samiel nodded very enthusiastically.

"It was perfect... I didn't think that you would remember it among all my ramblings."

He said quietly; as Yvraine smiled at him, she had entire notes where she wrote everything she learned about him, things like his favorite food or ways to kill someone, or bits about his past on the world called Earth.

"How are things with the incoming problem going?"

He asked as they sat next to each other, while Yvrfaine gently leaned over him, as they felt the warmth of each other, relaxing in their mutual presence.

"Good... the moment Frozen Court learned that they had some members of the Underdark on their Floor, they immediately carried out a purge and killed 2 Legendary Drows, 1 Legendary Duergar, and Matriarch Xelis was several injured on the 67th Floor by the one of the Lords of Ice."

Yvraine answered happily, while Samiel grimaced, as these losses were rather extreme. Not to mention, even one of the Matriarchs was severely injured, and the Underdark lost 3 Legendaruiwes; while it was not a lot to hegemon like Underdark, the problem is, they lost them without achieving anything technically.

"Excellent... and the fortifications of the City and preparations for the Magical Beast Horde?"

This also meant that the Magical Beast Horde would be within their power to deal with, as they won't have Silver-Tier Frostbite Spiders and thus won't be forced to activate the main defensive measures of the Zephystrand to deal with them.

"Everything is completed."

Even though some Gold-Tiers and Silver-Tier were present at the Zephystrand, they won't be moving because the entire cycle here was designed to tempter the people ion the lesser Tiers, so they could fight against relatively weak Magical Beasts and Monsters in a once again relatively safe enviroment.

Normally, these powerhouses would move, but only when their enemies were of the same Tier, which fortunately wasn't, as the Frozen Court unknowingly helped them a lot. Samiel also wanted to test his powers against the Silver-Tier Drider; now, coupled with his Undeads, he believed he could bring the abomination of Lolth down.

As they were sitting there, soon enough, one hour passed, as Yvraine was leaving over his chest, while Samiel was holding her close to him, just enjoying each other's presence.

"Did you know that the courtship among the Elves could take even more than ten years?"

Yvraine then said out of nowhere, and Samiel suddenly opened his eyes.

"No?"

He stated uncertainly about what to say.

"Though for my family, there are some strict requirements needed to be done... though my mother already has accepted you."

She then continued, making Samiel sigh because he had already excepted something like this. Yvraine was the Crown Princess of the entire Nesser Dynasty and also of the entire Silvermoon Elves Species, so of course, there would be many of the formal "things" said politely that needed to be addressed.

"That is good, I think?"

Probably it was, but he didn't really want to deal with this so soon, he never had to in the past because his "fake relationship" never went to this phase, but he was aware that this situation was entirely different.

Even their courtship was not an official thing but rather something informal between the two of them. To be in the formal courtship would require agreement from Yvraine's family and, in accordance, even some sort of contract to patch it up.

Still, he was contemplating that if he wanted a serious relationship with Yvriane, he would need to act accordingly to the social protocol and ask for formal agreement from her father to allow the courtship, and also, it needed to be formalized.

Not to mention, even though Yvrain wasn't saying anything, it would mean a lot to her because it would be the clear symbol that he was ready to move forward, beyond his past, and that they would be considered as a couple.

'Indeed, the fear is the mind-killer...'

Samiel thought as he had already made the decision while kissing Yvraine on her forehead as he hugged her closer. She didn't say anything, just revealed a very satisfied smile, knowing that he had made a choice.

While Samiel rarely talked about his past on Earth, Yvraine was good at reading people, and she knew that he was suffering from some sort of mental trauma, probably caused by some romantic relationship that went wrong... like very wrong.

She never asked him about that, and because of that, she let things flow naturally, even though sometimes they needed a slight push for the flow even to be created.