Supremacy Games

"When do you think it will be possible to go for it?" Felix wondered.

"It depends on my mom and sister." Selphie shared, "There is already a small queue to bathe in the fountain...Let's go ask my mom together whether she will let you skip the queue or not."

"Alright...But, I don't really need to skip the queue." Felix smiled, "I am more than grateful by the opportunity."

"Still, mom might favor you."

Although Selphie said so, she knew that her mother wasn't going to allow Felix to bathe in the fountain so soon.

After all, Felix had finally stepped inside her house and there was no way Selphie would let him leave before making progress in her relationship with him.

She knew that her big sister wasn't going to allow her to leave the nine realms again if she wanted to follow him.

...

"Where is Selphie now?" Queen Alfreda asked while sitting in her throne chamber.

"She is taking the human to the royal garden." her guardian Alvin replied from within a hologram.

"I see." Queen Alfreda ordered, "Don't tail them inside the royal garden."

"Understood."

Alvin wasn't planning on doing so even if she ordered him...He might be one of her guardians, but he wasn't foolish enough to spy on Lady Yggdrasil.

'Did mother call for him or is she taking him on her volition?' Queen Alfreda frowned, 'Mother hasn't called him over even once for the past two years...It must be Selphie.'

Queen Alfreda knew that no matter how much Lady Yggdrasil spoiled Selphie, her sister would never disturb her mother with nonsense like introducing Felix.

'Don't tell me she is planning to request a life essence bottle for that barbarian.' Queen Alfreda's expression turned worse at the notion of it being true.

Alas, if only that was it...

...

In front of the royal garden's gate...

"Mom, may we enter?" Selphie requested.

Cluck!

The gate was opened by slithering purplish vines before retracting on the walls and freezing again.

"Follow me." 

Felix remained close to Selphie as she walked through the garden that was emitting all kinds of blissful fragrance.

'This is a paradise...'

Felix kept feasting his eyes on the greatest collection of natural treasures!

With his knowledge, he knew more than 70% of the plants here. All of them were ranked much higher than even S graded natural treasures!

Unfortunately, the trip was cut short as they reached the biggest tree in the garden...It had golden square leaves that kept making rattling noise with the wind like hundreds of tiny bells.

Lady Yggdrasil was sitting under it while reading a thick book.

The moment Felix saw Lady Yggdrasil, her image overlapped with Lady Sphinx.

This eased his nervousness and stressed expression.

"Junior Felix pays his respect to mother tree." Felix introduced himself politely while bowing his head.

Lady Yggdrasil glanced at him for a few seconds before smiling kindly, "Lady Sphinx has truly gotten lucky with a hardworking student like you."

"Mom!" Selphie complained, "You make me look bad. I also work hard..."

"You spent five years fooling around and when you entered closed training, you barely stayed in it for three years." Lady Yggdrasil eyed her in displeasure, "Meanwhile, he stayed in closed training for an entire century. How can you compare yourself with him?"

"..." Selphie kept her mouth shut after being presented with the facts in her face.

Felix could only sympathize with her in silence, not daring to side with her against Lady Yggdrasil.

"So, how's your masters doing?" Lady Yggdrasil asked.

"All of them are doing great." Felix smiled, "They are telling me to deliver their regards to you."

"They must be really having a party inside." Lady Yggdrasil chuckled after realizing that all of them were gathered in Felix's mind.

"Besides Lady Sphinx, all they do is play cards and smoke weed on daily basis." Felix exposed them instantly, making Lady Yggdrasil laugh even louder.

'That little sh*t, giving us a bad image.' Thor scolded while having a joint in his mouth and playing poker with Carbuncle and the rest.

"It's been a while since I have seen them." Lady Yggdrasil requested, "Do you mind if I paid them a visit?" 

"Not at all." Felix permitted without hesitation.

"Good lad." Lady Yggdrasil praised before asking, "So, are you here for the life essence fountain?"

"Yes..." Felix replied with a weird expression at her sudden change of the subject.

Before he could think too much about it, Asna informed him, 'She has already entered your consciousness space and currently speaking with Carbuncle.'

Felix's pupil widened a little in surprise. He neither saw nor felt anything when it happened...She hopped inside his consciousness space as silent as an assassin.

"Felix?" Selphie nudged Felix with her shoulder to wake him from his daze.

"Sorry, yes elder." Felix requested politely, "It will be a great honor to experience the renowned life essence fountain for even a few seconds. I hope elder can grant me this request."

There was no harm in requesting the owner again since Lady Yggdrasil could still reject having him touch the fountain if he acted too brazenly.

"Since my daughter has lost the bet, it is only natural that you get what you were promised." Lady Yggdrasil smiled, "However, you have to wait your turn in the queue."

"I have no problem with that. Thank you, elder." Felix bowed his head to show his appreciation.

'Mom! His turn will be in less than six months!'

Meanwhile, Selphie got agitated after seeing that her mother wasn't planning on delaying Felix's bath for a decade or so as she said.

'You don't have to worry.' Lady Yggdrasil comforted her, 'It looks like he has another purpose for his visit to the nine realms...He will stay here for a long while even after bathing in the fountain.'

'Another purpose?' Selphie raised an eyebrow, 'What's that?'

'You don't need to know.' Lady Yggdrasil shooed her away, 'Leave us alone...I have something to discuss with him.'

'Mom...'

'Leave.'

'Fine!'

"Felix, I am going to visit my big sister...I will be back soon." Selphie left the garden with an annoyed look.

"Okay..." Felix was baffled by her sudden departure, but he knew that it must be Lady Yggdrasil telling her to leave.

"Come join us in your consciousness space." Lady Yggdrasil smiled, "Your masters have told me about your real reason for coming here."

"Of course they did..."

...

The moment Felix opened his eyes within his consciousness space, he saw Lady Yggdrasil and the rest of the tenants all sitting in a round table with tea and alcohol being served by Candace.

"So, you want a portion of my first root to make a divine weapon...What an interesting request." Lady Yggdrasil stated as she eyed Felix.

Felix remained quiet, knowing that she didn't need an answer out of him.

"As much as I am interested in seeing my first root get used to forge a divine weapon, I cannot help you with that. You should ask Cyclope to replace the material." Lady Yggdrasil shook her head in rejection.

"Is there anything I can do to change that?" Felix asked with a serious tone, "I will do anything in my power for it...Just ask."

Felix knew that he was way out of his place to make such a bold statement, but he really didn't want to use his favor on this.

"No offense my child, but what can you do to help out my problems?" Lady Yggdrasil smiled kindly, "You are still too young to even comprehend half of them."

"I see..." Felix smiled bitterly.

He would rather not push further after receiving a second rejection...Lady Yggdrasil might be kind and gentle, but she wouldn't tolerate his nonstop pestering.

"How about you give it another go at developing runic familiarity on other races?" Lady Sphinx suddenly suggested.

"Hmm? What do you mean?" Lady Yggdrasil knitted her eyebrows in focus.

"You have exhausted all of your ideas and ended up marking the experiment as impossible. But now, there is another hope."

Everyone turned to look at Felix like they were staring at a guinea pig.

"What?" Felix's shoulders tensed at the sudden switch of attention to him.

"Him?" Lady Yggdrasil titled her head slightly, "I know that you have done remarkable things with him, but that's on a genetic level...Runes are a different story."

"He already has three types of the Universal Codex written on him." Lady Sphinx assured, "Adding another layer of Runic Codex shouldn't be an issue if we found a way to make him compatible with them."

"Hmm, it's still two different things. Universal Codex can be passed on to anyone. But the Runic Codex is written on just three races in the entire universe and can only be inherited by pure-blooded Elves, Talisms, and Sages." Lady Yggdrasil disclosed.

"I know that's why I said we need to find a way to make him compatible first." Lady Sphinx replied.

"How exactly can we do that?"

"I will figure it out on my own." Lady Sphinx proclaimed calmly, "If I pulled it off, will you give him a portion of your first root?"

"If you pulled it off, I will do more than that." Lady Yggdrasil eyed Felix with bright look, "I will teach him runes personally."

"Deal."

"Deal."

Throughout their entire conversation, Felix had absolutely no clue what they were talking about! Universal Codex? Runic Codex? Runes only inherited by pure-blooded Elves, Talisms, and Sages?

So many questions were coursing in his mind and no one seemed like they planned to clarify his doubts!