To the right of the swords was a very tall weapon almost as big as Caesar. It stood at the very least 6 feet tall and had a crescent blade at the end… the shaft was raven black, and the edge was silver. It looked similar to a scythe from Caesar's past life.
Joe suddenly walked beside Caesar and gazed at the scythe with a longing look, "that is the best weapon in this treasury… The legendary dwarven blacksmith that made it passed away long ago," He spoke in a reminiscent tone.
"Why would a dwarf make such a large weapon? There is no possible way a dwarf would be capable of using it," Caesar mused to himself while stroking his chin.
Joe just shook his head with a confused look as well, "I'm not sure, legend states that this weapon was originally made for a woman that the dwarf wanted to court… The woman happened to be of noble vampire lineage," Joe said with a wide smile.
Caesar rolled his eyes, "do you expect me to believe in something so coincidental? Why would a weapon as old as that still be here?" Caesar asked in an amused tone.
Joe just shrugged his shoulders and walked away, "you don't need to believe me, do what you want," he replied.
Caesar sighed deeply and reached out for the two swords he was previously inspecting, below the swords was a matching sheath and belt to go along with them. He tied the barely discernable belt around his waist and sheathed both swords.
Caesar glanced at the scythe one last time and decided to use the last bit of room in his storage ring for it… although a scythe was impractical for battle and used primarily for reaping fields, he felt a strange compulsion towards it.
Once Caesar got what he wanted, he looked at Renee that was currently wearing a different ring on each finger and a beautiful necklace that was around her graceful neck.
"Haha, too hard to choose one?" Caesar chuckled and asked gently.
"Don't act like I didn't see you just put that weird looking weapon inside your ring, you're not much different!" Renee retorted with a wide grin on her face.
She took off the rings on her fingers one by one and settled for a ring that carried vermillion gemstone and emitted an imposing red.
"Have you decided only to take that?" Caesar asked curiously.
"Mmhmm, I don't want to take too much from here… and besides, this ring reminds me of your eyes" Renee rubbed the ring on her finger softly and smiled slightly.
Caesar's lips curled, and he looked towards Joe that was currently stuffing his pockets with all the gold he possibly could.
"We came to this mountain for mana gems, did you happen to find any?" Caesar inquired from Joe.
"Hehe, surprisingly, there was one mana gem stashed in that chest over there," Joe said and pointed his finger towards a chest in the corner of the room.
Caesar nodded his head and sighed with relief… "we did not come in vain then," Caesar spoke with a relieved tone.
Caesar decided to head out of the treasury room, he had gotten what he wanted and then some… he already had enough gold and didn't want any jewelry.
Renee followed after him and regretfully glanced at all the wasted treasure one last time.
Caesar bent down once again and walked through the little doorway; he helped Renee out and held her hand.
"Don't worry. We will excavate this treasure sooner or later. However, we have much more pressing matters to attend to." Caesar said teasingly when he noticed her regretful expression.
Renee shook her head and glared at Caesar, "I'm not regretful because of the treasure but because the dwarves that lived here left behind such great things, but no one will be able to appreciate their craft…" She said sorrowfully.
Caesar pecked Renee on the forehead, "you are truly kind… don't worry, this injustice will surely be answered for at a later date," Caesar comforted Renee, and they began walking towards the exit of the mountain while holding hands.
Caesar raised his still sore right hand, and a cold mist escaped from it, he had gained an increase in mana because of his battle with the frenzied Joe. He was curious as to how strong his ice magic had gotten.
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
Renee and Caesar walked into the tunnel they came from. She raised her right hand and ignited her bluish flames on her palms.
The flames immediately illuminated the dark tunnel, and they carried on their way, Joe came running from behind and soon caught up with them.
They walked through the passageway in relative silence, Caesar sneaked a glance at Joe and observed his smiling expression… Caesar knew that although Joe was smiling, deep within, he was hiding his anguish.
'It's something that he will have to get over himself. I won't be able to assist him,' Caesar silently mused to himself.
They soon approached the exit of the mountain and walked even faster, none of them wanted to stay in this wretched place any longer than then they needed to.
Joe walked even quicker than Caesar and Renee, he reached the exit and once again moved his hands in a strange pattern.
"The people who invaded this place must have known the secret codes for the doors. However, they did not know the location of the hidden treasury," Caesar said quietly, just audible enough for Joe to hear.
Joe nodded solemnly, "I was thinking the same thing, there might have been a damn traitor amongst us," he said hatefully.
The sound of the stone lifted interrupted their conversation, sunlight entered into the passageway, and Renee put away her flames.
Caesar took a long stride forward and lifted his head, the strong winds in the cavern promptly greeted him as he took a deep breath.
The musky and humid air in the mountain had nearly been intolerable. Renee imitated Caesar and also took a deep breath of fresh air.
Joe, who was used to that environment, didn't understand why Caesar and Renee were so relieved. He had been in an underground prison for nearly 20 years after all.
Once Caesar relished the freshness of the air once more, he turned to the left and caught eye of the carriage located a fair distance away.
"Thankfully, no mishaps seem to have happened while we were gone" Caesar breathed a sigh of relief and started walking towards it.
"It's about time we continue on our way. We stayed for far too long," Caesar continued and spoke in an exhausted tone.
Both Renee and Joe nodded their heads in agreement. No one could have expected to be greeted by thousands of dead remains and eight-eyed demons.
As they got closer to the carriage, Edward, who was waving his hand toward them, entered their line of sight.
"Hey! What took so long?" Edwards loud shouting entered invaded their ears
Caesar didn't feel like shouting back, so he waited until he got closer to answer, after a minute or so of walking, they finally reached the carriage.
"It's a long story Edward, you’re better off not asking, but, if you insist… I suppose Joe could tell you." Caesar eloquently dodged the question and entered into the carriage.
Renee subtly followed Caesar leaving Joe there with a wry smile, Edward looked at him inquiringly while tapping his arm in irritation.
"Ha… well, it all started with…" Joe started to tell Edward all the happenings inside the mountain, of course, he left some specific details out, but Edward still got the just of the story.
Once Edward heard what happened, he looked at Joe with shock, "y-you have berserker blood coursing through your veins?" he asked in a wary tone.
Joe scratched the back of his head, bashfully, "it's not so great. Most of my problems in life are because of it," he said humbly.
Edward just shook his head and pulled the reins of the horses, "great powers comes with great responsibility…" Edward spoke as if he were an old sage.
Inside the carriage, Caesar was leaning on the door while Renee was leaning on him… Caesar reached towards his right eye and took off the eye-patch. He stashed it back inside his pocket and closed his eyes.
"How are you feeling?" Renee asked worriedly, seeing his movements.
"It
feels much better now. My regeneration capabilities are not to be scoffed at," Caesar said casually, which relaxed Renee.
Caesar had wanted to test his ice magic after his increase in mana, but it would appear that he would have to wait until tomorrow.
Both Renee and Caesar slowly fell into a deep sleep, they both had been through a lot this past day.
re
After they both fell asleep, the necklace hanging on Renee's neck started to shine brightly for a short time before dimming once again as if nothing happened.
Only the sound of their deep and rhythmic breathing echoed out inside the carriage, both Joe and Edward were talking energetically throughout the night.
The next morning, the loud chirping and the bright sunlight invading the carriage awoke Caesar, he tossed and turned for a few seconds before begrudgingly getting up… He felt as though waking up in the morning became more and more unbearable as time went on.
He yawned loudly and stood up. Renee seemed to awaken at the same time Caesar did and also stood up.
The carriage was currently stopped, so Caesar opened the door and hopped out; he observed the surroundings. They seemed to have passed the mountain range and entered back into a grassy plain.
They were surrounded by grass and a peaceful wind; no trees or animals were in sight… Caesar stretched his limbs and brushed his hair with his hands.
Renee hopped off the carriage and landed right behind Caesar. She also studied the surroundings and couldn't help but complement its beauty.
"What a peaceful and beautiful place!" she muttered.
Caesar nodded his head in agreement and walked to the front of the carriage. Both Edward and Joe were sound asleep.
Caesar reached out to them and nudged them gently, "you two can sleep in the back, I'll drive the carriage for the morning."
Both Joe and Edward slowly moved their exhausted bodies to the back of the carriage and slammed the door, once they left, Caesar sat on the transport and gripped the reigns tightly. He patted the seat by his side and gestured for Renee to sit down.
Renee climbed up on the carriage and did as he asked, to which Caesar just smiled softly and pulled the reigns. The horses had enough rest. However, they probably needed to get some water.
"Are we going to skip breakfast?" Renee asked curiously.
"We need to find a water source to quench the thirst of our horses, and of course bathe," Caesar replied.
"Hmm, when do you think we will find one" Renee kept asking questions like an impatient child that wanted to be fed… Caesar's great cooking had spoiled her.
Caesar just smiled and patted Renee's head, he took out a few pieces of dried jerky from his storage ring and handed it to her.
"Although it's just jerky, it's spiced quite nicely" Caesar praised the jerky while handing it to Renee.
Renee took the meat from his hands and nibbled on it like a rabbit. Her eyes sparkled once she tasted the flavor.
Seeing her figure, Caesar couldn't help but lament… she was just too darn cute!
They continued moving in this fashion for roughly three hours before they finally arrived in front of what appeared to be a lake. It was on the side of the road, and quite a few animals were beside it.
"Wow, those are so cute!" Renee said while pointing towards a creature that looked similar to a deer back in Caesar's past life.
Caesar wanted to reply, 'you're cuter,' but he held back, he hopped off the carriage and raised his hand to help Renee off gently.
He walked towards the lake while holding Renee's hand.
'This will be the perfect place to test my ice magic,' Caesar mused to himself, and the corner of his lips curled slightly.
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
The animals by the side of the lake raised their heads and looked at both Caesar and Renee warily. The animals studied them for a few seconds before going back to drinking the water.
Caesar led Renee to the lake slowly. He didn't want to spook the wild animals any more than they already had.
The lake was extremely clear and almost looked like it was sparkling, Confusion was reflected in Caesar's eyes.
'How could a lake be so clean?' he silently thought to himself.
Caesar didn't dwell on the topic too much and started to strip his clothes, after his last bloody battle with Joe and the bandits he was considered far from clean.
Renee slightly blushed and also started to strip her clothes, she stripped down to her underwear and put her graceful toes in the water to test the temperature.
"C-cold…" she swiftly pulled her foot away.
Caesar was currently shirtless and only had a pair of tight underwear on, his abdominal muscles and large bulge were on full display.
He walked towards the lake and gently put his slender fingers inside, he frowned at the abnormally cold temperature.
He turned towards Renee with a playful smile, "you could always heat the water with your fire," he said teasingly.
Renee rolled her eyes and ignited a flame on her palms, instead of her normal blue flames, an average looking orange flame danced on her hands.
"You can use normal flames as well?" Caesar asked curiously.
"Of course, my element is fire… but my demon fire is unique only to my race," Renee calmly explained.
Caesar nodded his head in understanding and walked towards the lake… he extended his hand in the water, and almost spontaneously, the water froze, and a three-inch thick wall of ice was created.
Caesar repeated the process three more times and closed in a much smaller space of water. He highly doubted that Renee was capable of warming the entire lake. Thus, he thought of this idea.
Renee walked towards the enclosed area Caesar had created and inserted her hand inside. Bubbles started forming where her hand was and the water inside heated.
Steam rose from the water, and they essentially created a temporary hot tub.
Once the water was hot enough, Caesar stepped inside and couldn't help but sigh deeply.
"Haah, I haven't had a bath in a long time," he said with a relaxed voice and dipped his long hair in the pool.
Renee followed after him and immediately started to scrub her body; hygiene was necessary for a woman after all.
Caesar walked behind Renee and pulled out a brush and some soap from his storage ring. He placed some of the soap on her hair and softly brushed it.
Renee let him do as he pleased and practically purred from his gentle touch. Caesar continued to rub her hair like this for a few minutes. However, the water started cooling and interrupted their relaxing moment.
Caesar stroked his hair one last time and reluctantly exited the water, the ice he had created was slowly melting, and the animals were slowly congregating towards him and Renee.
Droplets of water fell from Caesar's long hair and trailed down his pecs and perfect abdominal muscles… His underwear was damp and further escalated his allure.
Renee found it hard to take her eyes off him, but her situation wasn't much better. Droplets of water trailed down her breasts and hair, making Caesar sneak glances at her every now and then.
They both walked towards where the sun shone the brightest and slowly dried off. Unfortunately, they didn't pack any towels.
While they were drying, one of the deer-like creatures hesitantly treaded towards Renee, it put its nose next to her face and sniffed tenderly, suddenly it licked her cheek with its pink tongue.
"Hehe," Renee giggled playfully and pat the deer-like animal.
"What is the name of this creature?" Caesar asked curiously.
Renee shrugged her shoulders, "I have no idea," she replied.
The animals all steered clear from Caesar but hovered around Renee. Caesar didn't expect the animals to like him, so he didn't mind much.
After he dried off a decent amount, he walked back to the carriage and untied the horses. He brought them to the lake so they could rehydrate themselves.
The deer left Renee and welcomed the
horses, while they played around, Caesar took a few empty canisters from his storage ring and filled them up with the lake water.
While he was filling the canisters, from the corner of his eyes a blue light suddenly caught his attention, Caesar looked south-west and in the distance spotted sky full of dark clouds and blueish lightning striking every now and then.
"We should probably quickly pack up and get a move on, we need to find a place with decent cover if we don't want our horses to get sick," Caesar said towards Renee while pointing his finger to the rainclouds he had spotted.
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