"I think that's enough fooling around, now let's look for treasure..."

As Mars sat on the throne he activated his [Energy: sense] and began looking over the palace from within, in an instant he found what he was looking for, mana conductors inside the walls now it was just a simple task of tracing them to the mana stone that had powered the entire palaces lighting system and s.n.a.t.c.h it for himself, if his luck was good he would be able to hit level 150 from the mana stone so to say the least he was very excited. Looking around Mars gave a frown as he had traced the mana stone to a bas.e.m.e.nt floor that laid quite deep underground, Mars got up from the throne and walked to a room behind the two thrones which no doubt had to be the rulers private rooms from the decorations and furniture that were several times more luxurious than before, after searching for sometime Mars found a hidden staircase that lead down to the bas.e.m.e.nt. Mars gave a frown and took his boardsword off his back as he walked down the dim staircase.

'A hidden staircase just for a rather big mana stone... This makes no sense, better be careful...'

Mars walked down the staircase with rather slow steeps, soon he reached the bottom and found a reinforced door blocking his way forwards and gave a frown before he took his adamant.i.te broadsword and cut through the door with ease, after cutting the door to pieces Mars stepped through and found his prize: The mana stone, it was rather big about 8 meters tall and 3 meters wide at its widest, but it was not the mana stone that had Mars focus.

"What... Are you?"

It was a tank in the middle of the room that was made of clear gla.s.s, suspended in the middle of the tank were... A person that was hooked up to a bunch of wires and tubes, from the naked body Mars was able to tell that it was a female but besides that he was clueless as the person had long ears like an elf, horns like a demon, a tail like a beastman, what looked like a high cla.s.s magic beast core imbedded in the middle of their chest and eerie triangle shaped pupils that looked directly at him with a hidden sense of desperation in them. Mars took a deep breath and gave a slight bow.

"Sorry for disturbing you."

Before he turned and was about to walk out of the room again when a voice appeared in his head.

"Please... Save... Me...."

Mars stopped and after struggling for a few moments he gave a sigh and mumbled.

"I am after all a gentleman..."

Mars turned back around and walked up to the tank where the person still looked at him from within and gave a sigh before he asked.

"So how do I help you?"

Mars waited for a bit but got no answer still he felt that the erie triangle shaped pupils were trying to convey something to him so he followed their line of sight down to a control panel that was right in front of him and was covered with a thick layer of dust, Mars looked up at the person again and asked.

"Can't I just smash the tank?"

The person slowly shook her head from side to side, Mars gave a sigh and mumbled.

"It just has to be complicated... Oh well I am a gentleman after all... This should be a breeze."

As it turned out it was in fact not a breeze, three hours after Mars began to turn levers and push b.u.t.tons on the control panel he looked up and asked.

"Are you just playing with me?"

As Mars looked up at the person in the tank she hurriedly shook her head before a voice once again appeared in his head.

"Just... A ... Little... More..."

Mars gave a sigh for the nth time before he continued following her instructions, soon some of the wires that were inserted in her body got detached which was the first piece of progges Mars had seen in the tree hours he had been operating the control panel, next were the tubes that detached after another two hours and then finely only the breathing mask was left on her body.

"Please... Destroy... The... Gla.s.s... Now."

"Sure."

Mars made a few cuts with [Instant movement] and soon the liquid inside the tank drained out from the giant hole Mars had cut in the tank, the... Woman stood up in the middle of the tank and looked at Mars before she removed the breathing mask and walked out of the tank but stumbled halfway, Mars moved quickly and caught her.

"Easy now."

"Sorry... I have not been walking in a couple hundred years..."

Mars gave a nod as he looked into her triangle shaped pupils from close range, the woman blushed slightly before she asked.

"... What's your name?"

"Me? I am named Mars... What's your name?"

"... I have no name, only a number which is 78"

Mars gave a nod, this woman was clearly some sort of experiment and from looking at her ears and horns he found no sercial marks which meant that she most likely grew them herself and that they were not transplanted from someone, the same should be true for her tail.

"... Well I always liked the number 78?"

"... Thank you."

Mars gave a sigh before he asked.

"So number 78 what do you want to do now?"

Number 78 thought for a moment before she shook her head slowly from side to side and spoke.

"I don't know... It's been so long..."

"Well then follow me until you find out, I'll at least clothe and feed you until you find out what you want to do with your life."

Number 78 gave a slow nod and repeated.

"My... Life..."

Mars gave a nod before he sat her down on the floor and walked over to the mana stone and put his hand on it and drained it off energy, maybe because it had been used as life support for number 78 for hundreds of years it was rather empty, most likely it would only have been able to support her life for another year or two.

"What did you just do Mars?"

"Hmm..? Oh, I absorbed the energy from the mana stone."

Number 78 cutely tilted her head to the side as she sat on the floor stark naked before she asked.

"Why did you do that?"

"To grow stronger."

Mars walked over and picked her up in a perincses carry before he began walking up the long hidden staircase while he asked her.

"Can you tell me a little bit about yourself?"

Number 78 lowered her head a bit as she collected her thoughts before she slowly started speaking.

"Well I was born on the streets of this city state, the great Kerbal city. Then when I was about five years old I was brought from an orphanage in the city into the palace where they experimented on me, eventually they put me in that tank where you found me..."

Mars gave a nod.

"I see... Well that part of your life is over now so cheer up 78."

"...Okay."

Eventually the two of them arrived in the audience hall again where Mars put 78 down on one of the thrones and began rolling up the red carpe, 78 looked at him with a confused expression on her face before she asked.

"Mars what are you doing?"

Mars spoke while he finished rolling up the carpet and put it on his shoulder.

"Well I said I would clothes you and I figured you didn't want to wear furs like me, so I figured I would make some clothes out of this carpet."

"I see..."

Number 78 blushed a little when she imagined her wearing a dress made out of the red carpet, Mars picked her up again and walked out of the audience hall with her in his arms and soon he arrived at the balcony that overlooked the grand plaza, 78 looked at the mural with a shocked expression before she quietly mumbled.

"So that's what it looks like from up here..."

Mars waited while 78 looked at the mural with awe for a few minutes before she looked up at him and asked.

"Where do we go now?"

Mars gave a smile and spoke confidently.

"Into the sky."

Before 78 had a change to question him Mars set off from the balcony and flew through the air heading towards his temporary home.