Thousand-Faced Dragon

Chapter 139 Twin Snakes
This was a nightmare that lasted far too long.

"What did I do wrong? Why are my father and mother looking at me like that?"

From the moment she was born, Salman Sudar was aware that she was an outsider.

After all, a normal baby would never lie in its crib with its bottle and toys dangling in mid-air, grinning at its parents who are rushing over.

Later, before she learned to say "Dad" and "Mom" aloud, her first "Mother" was not only clear in pronunciation, but also came from her heart!
"Your daughter is truly a prodigy. To awaken psychic abilities at such a young age, once she grows a bit more, she can go to Mage Street and try to become a psychic."

The invited sorcerer told them that this was "good news," not that the person was possessed by a demon, but rather that they possessed extraordinary talent.

While psychic abilities are often considered innate, in reality, the time when a child truly awakens to the point of being able to interfere with reality usually comes after they have reached adulthood.

After awakening, and undergoing professional training, one can become an extraordinary individual in this field, such as a mind mage.

To be born with psychic abilities seems extremely abnormal, even inhuman.

"Little Spirit Monster! Little Spirit Monster is here to eat brains!" A group of children saw Little Sallyman and started to cheer.

"Why do you call me that? I'm a snake, not a mind flayer! I'm not!" The very young Sallyman could only refute with words.

“Dad said that only mind flayers are like you (in fact, there are several other types of monsters that can be born with this trait, but they are not easy to deal with).”

As a child, Suliman would often cry because of her relatives' children, and she would run to her mother and father to complain.

But all she received was her mother's slightly fearful touch and her father's deliberate distancing.

I don't know when, but my father has developed a lot of protective gear to defend his mental abilities.

This puzzle didn't last long. The most basic ability of mental power is "accelerated growth," and it's said that at the highest level, it even involves the realm of time. Little Sallyman grew faster than anyone expected.

At five or six years old, she already behaved like a little adult in many ways.

"Mother, Father has gone to his mistress again, and an illegitimate child is due to be born next month."

What secret could possibly conceal a little girl who is born a mind-controller? If it weren't for her mother's insistence, Suliman would already be able to float around at this point in time.

"Uh, I can't control it, you know that."

But in front of little Suliman, the mother seemed too weak.

After all, she was just an ordinary noblewoman, not a superhuman and with no special abilities.

Suliman knew early on that her parents' marriage was purely political.

One of the unspoken rules of this kind of marriage is that if the stronger party goes slightly astray, the weaker party will pretend not to see it.

Little Sallyman sighed, despising her mother's weakness while also being angry at her father's infidelity.

"In the future, I must find a good man who is loyal to me, and it absolutely cannot be a bastard like my father."

However, even though she had seen her mother cry in secret many times, she still did not intend to turn against her father. After all, she was also a member of the aristocratic system, and this was how things were in this circle. Her father was not even too unreasonable, and everyone just made do with each other.

She thought this would be the routine of her less-than-happy childhood, and nothing would change from then on, until...
"You actually dared to bring them in! And today!"

On Suliman's sixth birthday, while she was excitedly awaiting her father's gift, she was met with a "surprise".

The father led her "younger brother and younger sister" and also brought "second aunt" and "third aunt" into the mansion.

On the spot, Sally Man's eyes reddened, and her hair flew up in anger.

In a physical sense.

That night, the Sudar family faced a real monster.

She was far less mature than she appeared. Her first mental outburst resulted in three people being seriously injured and one servant dying. Among those seriously injured was her father!

From then on, "that monster" became her nickname within the family.

Her ordinary, albeit not happy, daily life, which she managed to maintain albeit barely, has vanished.

She hadn't seen her father for a long time, but the time she saw him again was even darker.
"Ahhhh, this doesn't match my childhood memories at all!" As time passed, the real Suliman suddenly exclaimed.

“Saliman?”

Rean looked at Sallyman with some concern. Since this morning, she had been occasionally falling into a daze.

Is there something wrong with the inheritance of this heroic spirit?
Noticing Rean's concern, Sallyman opened her mouth, ready to say something.
"It's nothing, it's nothing."

The next moment, she held it back.

What can I say? I can only say that another childhood has appeared in my memory.

My childhood memories aren't exactly pleasant, given that my father was often away working, but it wasn't to this extent.

My father was always out fooling around and never came home, and my mother was weak and stayed indoors. The huge mansion was only occupied by me, a little kid, walking alone. My memories of the past were so ordinary. My mother was still very gentle, and I was just an ordinary precocious child. My mental abilities didn't awaken until I was eleven.

"My memory is faulty."

Suliman wasn't stupid; she had already vaguely sensed that her memories had been tampered with.

As a psychic, she knew that only a few could modify her memories so perfectly, even to the point of almost reshaping her personality.
"I made it myself?"

Yes, only what she did herself could bypass this instinctive resistance and defense of the soul.

One cannot deceive oneself forever, but perhaps only by deceiving oneself can one construct a truly perfect logical chain. Although it is a bit convoluted, that is the reality.

Only when you choose to believe lies and illusions can you proactively ignore all the flaws and details.

"I...I..." Sallyman was bewildered. She truly hadn't expected these things to happen after receiving the inheritance of the heroic spirit.

It seems that I have inadvertently reopened my wounds.

What was originally an ingeniously designed "false corridor" was directly washed away and was on the verge of collapse in the face of the massive external "flood".

Suliman felt a little scared and uneasy. She had a vague feeling that there was something hidden in the memories that were about to be revealed.

Once the balance of one's mind is disrupted, one will likely see even more unbearable things.
"Hiss hiss hiss (coward)."

The sudden sound startled Sallyman, and she glared at her aunt behind her!
He's secretly cursing at me again in that snake-like voice! You don't know I already understood him, do you?
I don't know why I understood it today, but I just understood it!

I knew you'd followed me here so early this morning; you were definitely up to no good. (Purple Rose: Huh? I was worried something might happen to you.) Unbeknownst to Sallyman, a snake's hair was coldly watching her from the upper left of her head.

"Hiss (idiot)."

"How about this dagger?"

At this moment, Rean took the initiative to ask Suliman a question.

He wasn't expecting an answer, but Suliman seemed absent-minded from time to time, and Rean worried that she might suddenly run into a wall.

This is one of the commercial districts of Mosodirka, and Rean and his group came here specifically to shop this morning.

This is the city of the dark elves. The grey dwarves are excellent craftsmen, and the dark elves possess unique enchanting techniques. In addition, this is the territory of the shadow gods, so you can often find some exotic imported goods here.

Since he had come all this way, Rean naturally wanted to buy some local specialties.

"Trash. A fake shadow enchantment. It'll be ruined if you put it in the sun." Sallyman replied coldly, seeing through the trickery at a glance.

Those serpentine eyes, azure with a hint of gold, radiated a cold light, putting immense pressure on the dark elf merchant. Rean also felt a bit of pressure; was this still Suliman?

"Uh, why are you looking at me like that?" The girl lowered her head the next moment, blushing. Being stared at by Rean made her a little embarrassed.

Yes, this is Suliman.

"Hiss (fangirl)."

Sallyman turned around and glared at me again, thinking, "You stinky auntie, you're secretly cursing me again."

Seeing that Suliman had returned to normal, Rean also turned his attention to the goods in front of him.

He genuinely intended to take this opportunity to buy some nice things.

Putting aside other things, the Dark Elves are also a rare race that is proficient in both magic and martial arts. The elven armor they prepare for sword dancers and magic warriors, although its defensive capabilities are subtle, has the least impact on spellcasting.

As a knight, Rean's desire for armor is probably endless.

He would be very satisfied if he could find a "caster's armor" at a cheaper price.

Unfortunately, the armor we've seen along the way hasn't been very good.

Perhaps for the sake of dexterity and to avoid affecting spellcasting, these so-called "elf armors" are too thin and hollow, and their protective power is not good at all.

It's called armor, but its defensive capabilities are probably only at the level of light armor; it's completely unusable.

"If you want to be as tough as heavy armor without affecting your spellcasting, I suggest you go and slay a dragon. Perhaps only the hide of a real dragon can meet your requirements."

The gray dwarf craftsman directly retorted to the picky customer.

"Thwack." Rean threw out a piece of Shadow Dragon skin and spoke.

"Is this ok?"

Now it was the gray dwarf craftsman's turn to be sweating profusely. The heavy elemental fluctuations on the dragon scales clearly indicated that it was a real dragon. A land dweller capable of slaying dragons was definitely not someone he could afford to mess with.

But after observing carefully, he breathed a sigh of relief and shook his head.

"No, it's too young. It needs to be at least a young dragon over eighty years old. If it's a Shadow Dragon, its hide would need to be over 150 years old. Hmm, but that's enough to make two rogue leather armors."

The gray dwarf craftsman meant that the dragon hides were not unusable, but rather that they were insufficient for making "pseudo-heavy armor".

Even with the "layering" technique, the skin of young dragons is still too brittle.

However, it is sufficient to make two ordinary leather armors; on the contrary, due to its toughness and smoothness, it is more suitable for flexible professionals.

Rean thought about it for a moment. He really didn't need this thing. As a melee unit, if the armor wasn't tough enough, it would be suicide. But for others...
“Sallyman, would you like one? It should suit you perfectly.”

Mind warlocks can wear light armor, and they do indeed prioritize leather armor from various monsters.

Rean remembered that when they first met, Suliman had a very nice monster scale armor, which was probably also of the dragon attribute.

“No need, I don’t need it.” Sallyman knew how poor Rean was and didn’t want to take advantage of him.

"Hiss (I want it, thank you.)"

Silly woman, this is the first gift he's given you, how can you refuse?

The power of their minds allowed Rean and the silly woman to overlook some of their inconsistencies.

As for Rean, since Suliman wanted it, he would give it to her.

I owe her a lot, so it would be good to be able to repay some of it.

The man turned his gaze to the next shop. He was very interested in the unique technology of the dark elves, especially their famous "Underground Armor-Piercing Arrow" series of weapon enchantments.

"Are you planning to accept the commission?" After thinking for a moment, Sallyman still asked.

Rean came here specifically to make purchases; it looks like preparations for war.

"Not necessarily. But there is a tendency. If the plan is executed smoothly, it won't be too difficult for us."

Rean didn't plan to drag it out until the last day, because Kuku wouldn't have much time left by then.

It would be ridiculous if the power of the heroic spirits disappeared halfway through the battle.

Meanwhile, Verna added more chips, not only promising a generous reward but also saying that the "Daughter of the Black Dragon" would also accompany her on the mission.
Rean wasn't particularly concerned about these things, because Victoria had already given him the information he wanted.

"Beasts have always been our enemies. There is no fundamental conflict or hatred between the dark elves and the beasts. It is hard to refuse the opportunity to use their power to eliminate a few beast princes."

Rean remained calm, stating that after the Mind Flayers were eliminated, the Beast Order and the Dark Elves could negotiate.

If possible, he hoped they would also become mortal enemies.

"Uh, so that's what you think." Sallyman suddenly realized, but Rean stared at her for a long time before finally sighing.

You're the ambassador, aren't you? This is your mission and your position. How could you forget all that? What are you thinking?

"Hiss (You idiot in heat)."

(End of this chapter)