Endless Leveling Done Right!

Chapter 746: My Little Star

While Alex and his group were enjoying a barbecue party at sea, Astrea was taking a stroll in Everdawn City.

Due to some unforeseen circumstances, the return trip to Frieden Academy had been moved to the next day.

This delay made the Frieden students very happy because they were given a chance to explore the city one last time.

Astrea had quietly slipped away without telling her brother where she was going. Although she loved him dearly, his overprotectiveness sometimes felt suffocating.

This was one of the rare opportunities she had to explore the city on her own. Naturally, she intended to make the most of it without her brother following her around.

Now that there was no one nagging at her for not acting like a proper noble, Astrea walked along the streets while snacking on food she bought from the food stalls lined up by the plaza of the city.

She wasn’t too worried about gaining weight even after eating so much food. Her high metabolism made sure that her figure would remain perfect, which was the envy of her friends, who were constantly worrying about their own weight.

Since she had no destination in mind, the young lady strolled without a care in the world, letting her feet take her to wherever it may be.

Two hours later, she found herself standing on a flower field.

“This might be the Everblossom Meadows I’ve heard so much about,” Astrea muttered as she looked at the countless Everblossom Flowers.

The young lady then crouched down to pick one of the flowers, looking at it with great curiosity.

According to the legend, if you made a wish and blew on these flowers, your wish would reach “The Star,” a Major Arcana who had the power to grant wishes.

Astrea smiled faintly, aware that the story about the Everblossom Flower was just a myth.

If this flower could really grant wishes, then all the wishes of the elves should have been granted long ago.

Even so, she decided to make a wish because it would be a waste not to do it right now.

“But what should I wish for?” Astrea pondered for a while.

It was then that the image of Alex holding her in a princess carry during the Singing Queen competition appeared inside her head.

Back then, she felt despair when she felt herself fall toward the ground.

If not for Alex’s help, she might have embarrassed herself in front of the countless people who had come to watch the competition.

Back then, Alex looked really cool.

She couldn’t help but blush after remembering that scene.

‘Still… Why am I getting those strange dreams as of late?’ Astrea thought.

In her dreams, she was standing on a snowy mountain, overlooking a majestic city.

To her surprise, she instinctively knew that this city was the capital city of the Aetherion Empire.

Yet, despite the fact that it was night time, she was able to see everything as clear as day.

And in the middle of the night, she saw a Snow Wolf traversing the snow, leaving the city in haste.

Snow Wolves could reach up to two meters in height, so the Aetherians sometimes used them as mounts.

While she was a good distance away from the Snow Wolf, she soon found her vision zooming into its location.

There, she saw an old man and a boy, the latter no older than ten years old, riding on its back.

The boy seemed unconscious, while the old man had a grim expression on his face.

To her surprise, she could instinctively tell that the boy was Alex.

She didn’t know how she came to this conclusion, or how she could instinctively tell that she was overlooking the Aetherion Empire.

All she knew was that everything she saw was the truth and nothing but the truth.

It was then that Astrea felt a presence behind her back.

A majestic creature spoken of in legend and fairy tales.

This creature was none other than a dragon.

The dragon, with purple scales covering its entire body, lowered its head and gently nudged the side of Astrea’s face.

“Astrea, your father will come for you soon,” the Purple Dragon said in a sad tone. “I’m afraid I cannot follow you because of my circumstances.”

“Why, Mother?” Astrea spoke out before she could control herself. “Are you leaving me?”

“No,” the Purple Dragon replied. “I will only sleep for a while. However, I tend to sleep for a very long time. I promise you this. As soon as I wake up, I will find you right away. Deal?”

“…Okay.” Astrea nodded sadly, nuzzling her mother’s face for the last time.

“Don’t worry, my Little Star,” the Purple Dragon said softly. “You are born lucky, so I’m sure you will grow up to be an exceptional lady. But since you will need to change your form to adapt to human society, you might become a bit clumsy in exchange.”

“Clumsy?” Astrea asked. “What’s that?”

“Um… For example, do you remember rolling in the snow yesterday because you tripped on a rock?” the Purple Dragon asked. “That will become a normal thing to you when you become human.”

“If that’s the case, I don’t want to become a human,” Astrea protested. “I want to be with you instead, Mother.”

“I’d love that as well, but it’s not possible.” The Purple Dragon shook her head. “The eclipse of the two suns happened ten years ago, and soon, the Aetherion Empire’s prophecy will come to pass. I made a promise with Aetherion in the past. And now is the time to fulfill that promise.”

“I don’t understand, Mother. What prophecy are you talking about?” Astrea tilted her head. “Can you eat that?”

A soft mental chuckle reached Astrea’s mind as the Purple Dragon looked at her as if she was the most precious thing in the world.

“You don’t need to understand it now, my Little Star.” The Purple Dragon held her darling daughter. “Now, sleep. When you wake up, you will forget everything. But don’t worry. Slowly but surely, your memories will return over the years. And when you remember it all, you will understand the role that you will need to play for the Aetherion Empire.”

Astrea sighed as she regained her composure. She was still standing on the flower field with the Everblossom Flower in her hand.

“A wish…” Astrea muttered. “A wish upon a star.”

The young lady then made a silent wish before blowing on the flower, prompting it to scatter and be carried by the wind.

Suddenly, the world around her froze.

And in that frozen time, a human-sized tarot card appeared in front of her.

Astrea’s eyes widened in shock as her gaze moved to the number on top of the card.

[XVII]

Soon, the surface of the card shimmered, showing a beautiful woman kneeling with one of her feet on the ground and the other one in the water.

An eight-pointed star hung above her head, illuminating the surroundings.

A moment later, the beautiful woman looked in her direction and did a curtsy.

“Go, my Little Star,” the beautiful woman said in a familiar voice that made Astrea’s heart ache a little. “Go to him.”

The eight-pointed star above the woman’s head then blazed with dazzling radiance, engulfing Astrea in its brilliant light.

When time resumed, a gust of wind swept across the meadow, carrying countless Everblossom Flowers toward the heavens.

The young lady, who had just been standing there earlier, was nowhere in sight.

It was as though the stars themselves had answered her wish, whisking her away to the place where she was meant to be.

At long last… the gears of destiny had begun to turn.

The young lady, who was blessed by luck, was sent to the place where her own destiny awaited.