Chapter 7: The Weak Demi-God

Lucian

Cai definitely made me feel comfortable in my father’s home. I was given towels, and a night robe, some soap, you know, basic bath materials. And after I washed up and got dressed, I followed the directions my host gave me to meet her and her friends out in the courtyard.

It was now seven at night, according to the wall clock in my bedroom before I left. Strange thing was that when it was night out, it was stupid dark, barely any moonlight type of dark. When I stepped out from the back, I noticed the row of lights hanging off wooden shoots, something similar to bamboo garden lighting on earth. Except these were extra luminous, and I had to assume they had these shoots lined up all around the perimeter for shadow spotting reasons.

“Hey, Lucian! Over here!” this perky voice called out to me, and I stuck my head out past the corner of the courtyard, noticing the camp fire, and three people around it.

How the hell did she spot me?

There was Cai, mystery girl, and mystery guy—her friends. I waved back at the girl with a warm smile, then started to approach them. The closer I got, the more visible their features became—were all Ligerian girls drop-dead gorgeous? She had an unorthodox hair color also, a light shade of blue and sapphire eyes, while the guy next to her looked more like me, minus the… the elf ears?

Talk about a curveball.

I picked up the short elf ears before I noticed the huge scar on his face, over his right eye that looked milky white. I had to imagine he was blinded in that eye from the war, but it didn’t make me look at him any different.

“I’m glad you decided to join us!” Cai’s friend greeted.

“Glad to be invited!”

“Cai had told us so much about you. Please, sit, sit.”

I did, on the same log Cai was sitting on to her right, in between her and her friend.

“My name is Mira,” the blue-haired girl extended her hand, and I took her offer, her handshake surprisingly strong. “And this is my boyfriend, Jett.”

Jett shot me a short salute, my friendly wave over my head mirroring his.

“Wow, you look just like our god, Kiran!”

“Heh, really? Well, I do get that a lot back home,” I replied, taking the compliment, and her hand that still had mine shaking it.

“Geez Mira, you don’t have to flirt with the guy right in front of me,” Jett teased.

She giggled nervously, peeling off of me embarrassed. “I wasn’t flirting with him, just making a fair observation!”

Nah, she was flirting with me.

She had a subtle blush on her round face, and even after Jett caught her, she turned back to me with those big friendly sapphire blue eyes. “Oh, where are my manners!” She turned to the roast in the pot, grabbed the ladle and a white bowl, and served me. “I made it myself! I’m the palace’s chief! Learned how to cook all types of stuff after the war. Mostly Raito’s cultural dishes. Might as well pick up a hobby while defending the turf, am I right?” She smiled. “Please, try it!”

“Ah, thanks!” I said, taking her offer. “It smells amazing.” She gave me a huge steel spoon too. Inside, it looked like soup with a bunch of meats inside of it. The liquid was red, which gave off spicy vibes, but the smell was sweet. On the side, she set this dough ball in another dish—I’m assuming to go along with the soup?

I tried the meat first, scooping it in my spoon and bringing the steamy chunk to my lips. After two modest blows, I bit in, the meat practically melting off the stubby bone, sending all types of flavors in my mouth. “Mmm, tastes just like chicken!”

“You mean, you like it?” Cai asked.

“Yeah,” I chewed. “What is it?”

“It’s Mumu,” Mira said proudly.

I turned to Cai for an explanation, and she came back with something that stopped me mid chew. “It’s an equivalent to rodents on earth.”

I spat out before she could even finish her sentence. I nearly slipped from that log with my theatrics, but I sure as hell didn’t feel like I had overreacted—I had just eaten rat for Christ sake!

Cai noticed me freaking out and passed me her drink, something seemingly safe like water. “Here.”

 

I took her offer, the bubbles from her glass pricking my nose. I guzzled it down in two seconds, then gasped in relief. There had been a lemony taste that’d I missed when rushing it down, but it had felt like I just downed seltzer water. Wasn’t strong enough to wash that taste of fake chicken off my tongue, though.

“Oh, I’m sorry!” Mira said. And I turned to that sheepish expression on her face, forgetting my manners.

“Shit, I didn’t mean to spit out your food like that! Really, it was great, just… roasted rat wasn’t something I ate back in New York, heh.” I was embarrassed for her, but she took my words well.

“That’s fine! Maybe you should tell me what you’re used to eating back home. That way I can make some of your favorite dishes!”

Jett gave an exasperated sigh.

“Heh, that sounds great, but I don’t think Cai and I would be sticking around long enough for me to enjoy your delicious food.”

“Oh?” Mira turned to Cai. “I was under the impression that Cai brought you here to help us defend your father’s home.”

“That’s one selfish way of thinking about it, don’t you think, Mira?” Jett said, slipping the ladle back into the pot after he had poured himself another serving of rat soup. “The demi god needs to spread his wings and serve all of Ligera. Isn’t that right, Lucian?”

Well, it sounded a bit patronizing coming out of his mouth like that but, “Yeah,” I replied.

“In Ligera, it’s different. A lot different than what your pampered lifestyle had gotten you used to. Here, food is scarce, so you take what you can find, and you make a meal out of it. When you’re traveling out there, you have to take what you can get, and make the best with what you have. You learn to accept that, the sooner the better.”

“Oh, but don’t worry, Lucian. You will be traveling with one of our greatest warriors of Raito, Cahaya!” Mira beamed. “She will take good care of you.”

I cleared my throat, turning away from Cai who was getting all flustered up.

“Just think of it—the two of you, questing together, fighting together, eating and sleeping toge—”

“Ayaaa, I think he gets the point,” Jett interjected Mira.

“Cai will show you the ropes, I’m sure. We will be okay over here. Even though we would be losing Cai. It’s for the greater good. In the long run, it will pay off.”

“Do the shadow elps hit the capital that often?” I questioned.

“At night they do. That’s when they love to hunt!” Mira said, a bit too cheerfully. I looked around, to my left and right, feeling like we were all sitting ducks out here!

“They tend to hunt in waves, or packs.”

You are reading story The Light Prince of Ligera: An Isekai Harem Series at novel35.com

“Then shouldn’t we head back inside where it’s lighter and…ugh, safer?”

“It’s okay, Lucian. We can see them coming with all of the light around us.”

How was she saying this like being bait was a normal thing!

“Also, our weapons are sitting behind you,” Mira continued. “If they attack, we will be ready to fight!”

“Getting a weapon should be the first thing on your to do list, Lucian,” Jett followed. “Maybe Cai had already explained it to you, maybe not, but I’ll say it again to stress out its importance. Besides your father, no one’s light can fight shadow elps head on. Whatever light powers we can manipulate, the shadow elps can cancel it out by outputting the same amount of shadow energy. Reason being is they have a higher supply of power sourced from The Void, making them all connected. And we are limited on light, evenings being the worst times to fight, seeing as we can only absorb the sun’s energy during that time. The best way to neutralize a shadow elp is through enchanted weaponry. Of course the shadow elps caught on, and our special mystic blacksmiths had been made out, except for a select few still living in hiding. Through their mystic weaponry, we can extend our powers, make our light last longer in battle, and amplify our output before these shadow elps even know what’s coming at them.”

“How do these special blacksmiths enhance weapons like that, making them compatible with light energy?”

He grinned. “A good mystic blacksmith never reveals his secrets. And it’s a good thing too. You don’t want that kind of knowledge falling into the wrong hands.” 

“Jett, while it’s vital for Lucian to get a weapon, Cai told us he hadn’t unlocked his powers yet. Am I right, Lucian?” Mira asked.

“Yeah,” I said, almost embarrassingly. “I don’t even know what it looks like.”

Mira giggled. “You mean, Cai hadn’t shown you a light show?”

“No.”

“W-wait a minute,” Jett piggy backed. “You mean to tell me the sun god’s son is powerless?”

“Not powerless, just untapped!” Mira said, quick to defend me. But I wasn’t sure about all of that. Jett was onto something here. I knew he only mentioned it so I could look less heroic to his interested girlfriend, but he was right. I was powerless. If I had the power of light, it’d be something that would have shown up by now, right?

“Here, let me show you,” Mira offered, taking my wrist and lining her pointer finger at the ball of my palm. “It is something that comes naturally, Lucian,” she whispered, her voice turning flirty on me. Poor Jett had to just sit and watch his girl continue to hit on me—what a sport!

“Maybe you just need to feel it, and wiggle it out from hiding…” She showed me what she meant, applying small pressure with that finger, before striking it along my skin, like a matchstick. And on the ball of her finger, this circle of bright yellow light—almost blinding. “Ah, so you do have powers!”

“What?” Cai said, dropping her bowl and shimmying closer to Mira and I.

“See, yes? I took this from Lucian. This isn’t my own light.”

“Is that all you got from him?” Jett asked, noticing how tiny that ball on her fingertip was.

“Yes. Lucian has light, but right now, the output is minimal.”

“Just like a newborn’s,” Jett scoffed, Mira snipping him a quick glare.

“Don’t insult the prince of Ligera, Jett! After all, he is part human. I am sure through time, he will obtain all the power he needs to rescue our world!”

“How very optimistic of you, Mira,” I said, giving her a humble smile. “But I’m still finding it hard to believe you got that from me.” As soon as I said that, the ball flickered and vanished. “I didn’t feel anything when you summoned it.”

“Very soon, you will be able to do this,” Mira demonstrated, spinning a huge ball of light out of her hand, like spinning yawn. It was impressive, and amazing! Quite the light show.

“The power of the sun, the purest photogenic energy,” Mira praised.

“We use this to fight shadow elps in all of their forms,” Jett added. “In this palace alone, I had to wield my own against one of them who shape shifted into my girlfriend, Mira. I allowed it to get too close, and it attacked me. I paid a hefty price for it, but I’m thankful to be alive.”

I had to assume he was talking about that huge slash over his eye. I sympathized with him, having had a run-in with a shape-shifting shadow elp myself.

“They can morph into anything, Lucian,” Mira continued. “You need to be prepared, and keep your guard up at all times! It is… a stressful lifestyle, to say the least.”

“What else can they do?” I asked.

“They can use the power of the primordial Void to do many things. Besides shape-shifting, they can create constructs and weapons, camouflage, induce blindness, walk through walls, send emissions, projectiles and blasts. Even the more elite ones can regenerate and shadow manipulate.”

“Shadow manipulate? What’s that?” I asked.

“Manipulating shadows, Lucian,” Cai finally spoke. “They can manipulate the casting of your shadow to control you.”

My stomach dropped.

“But don’t worry, the more skilled shadow elps rarely shape-shift. So you will see them coming!”

Mira’s optimism was something else, wasn’t it? Or maybe I was just pampered, coming from a place where I didn’t have to worry about huge shadow monsters coming out to get me. Little did I know, it was happening in secret, with the massive wave of homicides, and then more recently, my ass nearly being eaten alive by this spicy little ginger that turned blood-happy.

“Lucian,” Cai called, and probably noticed I was getting shaken up by all of this information. She scooted closer to me, giving me her undivided attention. “I understand that all of this is challenging for you to comprehend. I also understand that we as a planet are asking too much from a commoner of earth. I refuse to force you to embark on this journey with me. It is of your choice, and your choice alone, regardless of what your father expects from you. So, I can offer you freedom right now, and bring you back to your world. Just know I won’t be able to stay with you and protect you from the darkness hunting you in place of our light god. My mission of protecting my people comes first, hence, why I was searching for your father on earth to begin with.”

“And, what is my second option?” I said, almost afraid I had asked.

“Or, we can make a contract.”

“A contract?”

“Under the limitations of your capabilities, if you can help Ligera reduce the shadow elp population to a reasonable depletion, while increasing our population, then I promise to bring you back home. Back to the states. I will even ensure your safety there before I part from you, seeing at that point, my kingdom can defend and protect for a short while without me.”

She had her right hand over her chest, Cai taking this contract seriously. And so should I. I gave myself a minute to think about it, the unsettling silence slicing the tense air in two. It was a contract, a legit agreement I couldn’t break once I entered it. And as everyone stared at me waiting for my answer, I had to reflect on what would happen in both worlds if I declined her offer, and sent my ass back home.

Shit, either way, I was screwed, wasn’t I?

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AN: Hey guys. I hope you're enjoying my first draft of LPL.

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