CHAPTER 30: THE NEBULA ECLIPSE

In the office with a view that overlooked the garden, where a pair of maids tended to the curated nature worked, the young lord sat at his desk, overwhelmed with papers stacked high enough to block his vision.

"Eugh..." He sighed.

’This is my least favorite part of my position. I get I’m a big-shot noble and all that, but seriously...Does everybody need to reach out to me?!’ The thought surfaced on his mind as he sifted through the letters.

A knock came to the door amidst his twirled mind, breaking his attention away, much to his approval, as he set his papers down.

"Come in," he allowed, leaning back in his chair as he stretched.

Entering with a slight bow of her head, the scarlet-haired maid came bearing a fresh pot of steaming tea, along with a plate of sweet bread, setting it down on the messy desk.

"I thought you’d need a break by now, Master," Irene said with a smile, pouring the hot beverage into a cup for him.

"You’re right, it’s just–wow, there is a lot of paperwork to get through. Seriously, has it always been this built up?" Leon said with a quiet sigh, accepting the tea as he blew on it lightly.

Irene sat in the chair near the row of bookshelves, a few feet from the desk as she placed her hands on her lap with the tray, "We’re entering a rather troublesome period, Master, if you recall..."

"What’re you talking about?" He asked.

"The Nebula Eclipse," Irene answered as she looked towards the ceiling. "You were still just a child when the last one occurred, so you likely don’t remember."

"Nebula Eclipse? Yeah, I don’t recall anything with a grandiose name like that."

"It occurs every eleven years, an eclipse that lasts three days—during that time, monsters come out in full force," Irene explained, drinking from her own cup.

–

In the chamber of "body improvement", he sat on the bench with the brawny butler overseeing him during the process of bench pressing the steel plates.

"C’mon! C’mon, one more!" Augustus cheered on, keeping his hands close by the bar in case the lord’s strength faltered.

While the brawny, mountain of a butler excitedly urged him, it was easier said than done as he struggled. The weight of the steel was magically altered, bringing it to several tons.

Even while reinforcing his muscles, the tenth rep was enough to make him break a sweat.

"Hffff...!" Leon strained, pushing the bar up.

As his arms were pushed to their limit, he brought it up for the final push, earning cheers from Augustus and Phoenix.

"Nice!" The burly butler yelled.

Phoenix added in, "You made that look easy, man!"

[Strength Increased.] [+1]

Sitting up with a sigh, he wiped the sweat from his forehead, exchanging high-fives with his two workout companions. Devoid of a shirt like the others training with him, he looked down at his body, now hardened with hard-earned muscle that filled his frame.

’It’s been two months since my magic was sealed. That’s ten months to go, if I make it. The Nebula Eclipse...It could be any day now,’ he thought, catching his breath.

[Status]

[Level: 27] [20500/50000]

[Physical Attributes: 90 | Rank (A) Captain]

[Magical Attributes: 93 | Rank (A+) Archmage]

"Alright! My turn!" Phoenix enthusiastically said, practically body slamming the bench right as the nobleman moved from it.

Leon watched as the adventurer gripped the bar, still catching his breath as he wiped his sweat away, "Gonna try and beat my max?"

"Pfft," Phoenix playfully blew air past his lips. "Easy peasy."

Augustus helped pick up the weighted bar with the very same excitement, seeming to live for pushing iron, "Go for fifteen, then–no, twenty!"

"Hold on, hold on–that’s a bit much! I was thinking, like, eleven–woah!" Phoenix said, surprised as the hands of the butler laid off the bar, leaving the full weight to the adventurer.

As he watched the struggling reps come from his companion, a "pulse" came from within his body, grabbing his attention as he turned away.

[ATTENTION: Hostile entity recognized near estate.]

It was a warning only heard by him, echoing through his mind as the two continued their workouts in blissful ignorance. He glanced back, seeing the men without a care in the world as he turned his focus back to the supposed threat.

["Noble Surveillance"]

From his own body, his vision transcended his physical form, instead viewing the entirety of the area surrounding his estate. From the fields of green grass, the well-maintained garden, and even the roads leading to it–he saw it all like a bird in the sky.

There was something lurking just beyond the entrance to the gated estate–an inhuman fiend, of scaley, purple skin.

’A lizardman? What is it doing here?’ He questioned.

By the way it moved, gazing through the gate while using bushes to try and obscure its presence, it seemed to be scouting the land, and certainly up to no good.

["Schoeller Warp"]

From the workout room, he teleported his body outside, right behind the prowling, man-reptile with a seamless transition. Fortunately, the lizard was right within the bounds of his teleportation skill. He stood there in the stone road just outside of the Schoeller gates, watching the hunched-over, scaled fiend peering through the metal barrier.

"Hey, mind telling me what you’re doing out here?" Leon asked the reptilian monster that had yet to notice his presence.

The lizard man spun around, drawing a curved sword as it released a shriek like a frightened school girl, "Kyaaaa!"

Leon stood there with a perplexed expression at the noise that left the towering reptile’s mouth, "What was that, dude?"

"Y-you caught me off-guard, human! However...Deceitful tactics won’t work now that I know where you stand!" The lizard-man hissed, attempting to save some semblance of his manhood as his tail flicked, keeping the blade raised.

[Lizardman Warrior] [Level: 18]

As he reached his hand for his own sword in response, his fingers only grasped at air, finding his sheath not buckled to his pants, "--Ah?"

Bringing his gaze back up, the lizard was already in front of him, aggressively swiping its curved steel down. He slid back, leaning his body to the left as the reptile’s sword emitted a vile, liquid substance from its edge, cutting through the soil past him.

’Crap, I forgot my sword...and my shirt–guess I’m doing this the old-fashioned way,’

he thought, clenching his fists.

A part of him was excited at the opportunity, wanting to test his physical prowess after his strenuous training. As he raised his fists, the tall, yet nimble reptile dashed towards him, swinging its blade wildly.

He sidestepped the sharp edge, glancing to find the lizard’s fangs lunging for his face in the very same motion as the sword strike. Ducking beneath the monster’s bite, he sprung upward with an uppercut delivered right into its gut.

"Gyaaa–!" The lizard-man spat out as its entire body was thrown back.

It slammed into the gates, though quickly bent its body around, using the metal barrier as a foothold. The swift recovery of the fiend surprised him, having to slide back as it erupted from the gate fang-first, seeming to want his scalp as an appetizer.

He rolled beneath the rabid jaws, jumping up to his feet and spinning around just as the lizard landed.

’It felt that hit, but I didn’t do any significant damage. I guess one-punching monsters of this level is still out of the equation–I’ll need to reinforce my body,’ he planned.

The lizard spat out onto the road, "Guaah...You hit hard for a human, I’ll admit! But, you’ll still be a meal for the Legion!"

’Legion?’ He thought.

Amidst his thinking, he found the reptile on the assault again as it hastily paced for him while spinning its sword around.

"Greater Strengthening. Critical Up," he whispered the invocations as the enhancing mana surged through his limbs, clenching his fist with greater power.

With slippery speed, the reptile circled around him, dashing from one direction to the next as if taunting him. Cackling laughter escaped its hoarse throat, echoing around him before–

’There,’ he found.

Spinning around, he slipped beneath the wild swipe of the blade, instead sending his knuckles against the monster’s sternum. While he intended to surely knock out the lizard, he instead found the strength emitting from his fist blowing right through the fiend’s chest.

In front of him, the lizard-man was reduced to an explosion of scarlet liquid, scattering to the wind.

[EXP: +3000] [23500/50000]

"Ah..." He let out, pulling his fist back.

While the intention was to knock it out and perhaps get some information from the monster, there was no chance to question a bloody mist.

’So, that’s a "critical hit"—good to know,’ he thought.

[ATTENTION: Hostile entity(s) recognized within the estate.]

"In—?" He repeated the system warning.