Isekai: The Eight Soul Fragments

After announcing his victory on the battle, Draxus instantly knelt down with the loss of strength. He paid for two compensating abilities from his [Fortune Cards], so it was pretty much understandable for Remuel who saw him overwork himself. Duke Elliot, and the scout leader were transported to Harold using his gates and began getting themselves healed. The nobles were silenced in surprise when they got noisy over Draxus's victory. Most of them began clapping while remaining speechless to the power that Draxus holds, they were shown a magnificent battle so they weren't able to help themselves. Remuel left the audience area as he noticed Draxus who used two tarot cards still isn't able to handle the compensation. Draxus vomited blood and went on all-fours position. Remuel immediately caught Draxus and carried him by lifting his arm over his shoulder. "Easy there, those compensations are huge right? Leave the rest to us for the time being." As Remuel said that, Draxus turned his gaze as he is barely able to maintain consciousness. "Thanks man..." Draxus then lost his strength and was only able to remain standing unconscious from Remuel's support. Prince Oswald came along to help Remuel carry Draxus in support to Olivia's room. She was filled to the brim with worry and panicked as to what could happen to Draxus from now on. When Draxus was laid over her bed, Olivia's eyes never left Draxus. "So Remuel, care to tell me what happened to Draxus that made him like this?" Remuel had already notified the king to postpone any invitations to Draxus until he wakes up. However, it was said that King Oscar will host a feast to the private engagement of Draxus and Olivia. Now, he was questioned by Oswald in Olivia's room about Draxus's state. "Draxus, whenever he uses one of his [Fortune Cards] he could receive a terrible compensation." Olivia who heard that kept her eyes at the face of the sleeping Draxus while asked a question filled with worry. "What do you mean by [Terrible Compensation]...?" She held the hand of Draxus that was freezing cold while receiving her answers from Remuel. "Just like earlier, he used the [XX - Judgement] to instantly master every single ability he has knowledge on and utilize them perfectly like a skill. He used three techniques that are pretty much the strongest abilities of some swords styles that he had knowledge on. So once he dispels the card, everything that he mastered will be forgotten and returned to the level of having knowledge about it. It will provide a huge burden on his mind and be exhausted for long periods of time." Oswald who understood the dangers of his ability immediately realized that Draxus placed large burdens on his body. "That's not great if he overuses that... Is this why he has twenty one of those cards?" Remuel nodded in response to his question. "Then, are there cards that have no compensation at all?" Remuel shook his head this time. "If I remember correctly, [III - Empress], [VIII - Justice], [XI - Strength], and [XV - Devil] only make you feel sluggish after the battle. [X - Wheel of Fortune] can bring him extreme bad luck which Draxus already knows how to deal with that. [XIV - Temperance] will cause him to lose emotions temporarily." Olivia who kept listening in asked Remuel a question. "What about [XVII - Stars]...? What is the compensation for that...?" Remuel's face turned a little grim before answering. ".....It amplifies the pain from the injury that will heal, so it can be healed instantly... It will also eat a huge amount of mana from his body..." Olivia who heard the explanation felt hurt as she realized that Draxus took a heavy amount of damage from his compensation, it was to the point where tears flooded in from her eyes. "Drax..." Oswald, without saying any words, signaled Remuel to leave the room for the time being. Both of them left Olivia's room so she could be alone with Draxus. Before they went to the king to ask for the plans, Oswald had one last question to Remuel. "Which [Fortune Cards] are the most harmful in terms of compensation?" Remuel's expression turned really grim as he answered Oswald. "[VI - Lovers], [O - Fool], and [XXI - World]. [VI - Lovers] allows you to connect to a person and repair their body, you can heal any kind of injury, cleanse a person from sickness and poison, or even revive them. But he must suffer the same pain the person experienced. Reviving a person will only cause Draxus to become unconscious after reviving, but the agony will be there. [O - Fool] can create possibilities out of nothing. If he's losing a deathmatch, he can create a chance using this timeline breaking card. But he will spend a lot of blood every usage. Lastly, [XXI - World], allows him to stop time for who knows how long. But if he doesn't use this ability in succession within one minute, he will instantly drain all of his mana, become lethargic, and vomit blood." Oswald, who heard the effects of the other cards looked down in fear. "Those cards won't kill him right...?" Remuel nodded and gave him reassuring words. "Yes... But he will suffer if he misuses them... Shall we go to the king? For the party later?" Remuel and Oswald went towards the king to discuss the party.

At a later time, Draxus finally woke up with extreme feelings of pain from his chest. He instantly realized his whereabouts and decided to hold in the vomit. But Olivia, who was nearby, immediately used magic to ease his pain. "Drax!" He was hugged tightly by Olivia who was tearing up badly. He hugged her back and caressed her head gently. "Ah... Sorry about that... Looks like I worried you..." Despite crying badly, Olivia kept pouring magic to ease the pain that was hitting Draxus. She learned that magic after receiving lessons from him at Mt. Valtav. "I'm glad...!" Olivia kept crying from worry and hugged him even tighter. Draxus could only let out a wry smile as he continued hugging Olivia. After some time, she came back to her senses and could only blush while looking down. "Why did you even take the suffering...?" Draxus gave her an appropriate answer. "If I held back, they wouldn't accept me... Besides, pain is nothing to me if I have to prove it to everyone that I can take care of you..." Olivia smiled happily after receiving those kinds of words from Draxus, she stared at his eyes while being slightly red. Draxus caressed her cheek and no longer cared about anything else. He then pulled her in for a kiss.

Later that time, Draxus and Olivia went out to the dining hall as they were invited to a formal feast. They had preparation as Draxus repaired his clothing by sewing and Olivia changed clothes which Draxus had to leave the room temporarily. After they arrived to the dining hall, they were greeted with a long table containing nice food that is technically served to royalty. There were many noble retainers in the room including Duke Elliot. Remuel and Harold are in the room to ensure the security of the place. The banquet was held peacefully and smoothly, as things like poisoning were even checked by Harold's magic. The banquet ended just before sunset where Olivia changed into casual clothes this time.

"We're going to be adventuring together from now on. Are you good with your magic?" Olivia smiled as she was lifted by Draxus in the form of [Princess-carry]. "It's all good Drax, let's go!" She let out an energetic noise as Draxus activated [Crystal Groundwork] and started dashing towards Beryll. When they arrived, Draxus immediately arranged a room for Olivia to stay in and paid a decent sum of two gold coins as he asked to reserve the place for a party tonight. They were handed over around a total of five platinum coins by the king so that Draxus can ensure Olivia's well being. Crystel who was given a huge surprise immediately accepted the idea. Draxus immediately messaged his friends, who are in the same town and invited them to the inn where he's staying for a small party. Keith's group, and Pauleen's group arrived to the inn and chaos had began.

During the party, Wesley, Audrey, Mitch were carrying a total of five bottles of wine that they had bought. In reaction to this, Draxus ended up gulping his saliva to the upcoming chaos that they have brought him. Pauleen who witnessed that started teasing Draxus who is on the road of being forced to be drunk. Olivia clung to his arm while laughing lightly to his friends forcing him to get drunk. In reaction to that, Lily and Julie began sulking as they gained a rival. Both of them faced Draxus which made him a little surprised and asked him who Olivia is. After Draxus introduced them to each other, both of them ended up feeling peak jealousy while Crystel started teasing the twins. Olivia immediately noticed the feelings of the two and went out to talk to them. Keith noticed that and immediately let out a joke. "We got carnage bois!" Draxus instantly retorted in reaction to it, which was beautifully ignored. After some time, the food had been finished and the party on the inn began. They were making a lot of noise while Keith recorded everything in his smartphone. Including the parts where they forced Draxus to drink a huge amount of wine and alcohol from large mugs in one go. "Chug! Chug! Chug!" could be heard as a chant from his friends. The intention of the sentinels were to get Draxus completely drunk. In which they succeeded after spending a grand total of two gold coins just from alcohol. It was still shared to some members of the sentinels including Wesley and Audrey. All of them continued on by playing card games on the inn until they dropped their consciousness from being too sleepy. Crystel had a lot of fun as she watched from the sides while talking to various new people who are friends with Draxus. Lily, Julie, and Crystel were shocked by the news of Draxus and his friends coming from a different world. After some time, Draxus was the first one to wake up, he was sober and noticed the rest of the group are asleep. Pauleen and Juniper were found talking with Crystel, Lily, Julie, and Olivia. Lily, and Julie were blushing while Olivia was smiling as she noticed Draxus. While she urged the two to go to Draxus with her. Pauleen, Juniper, and Crystel were laughing lightly. Lily and Julie were blushing as they brought their intentions to Draxus. "Us too..." which came from Lily's words while blushing gave Draxus enough information. He was flabbergasted and surprised as they bravely confessed to him. Draxus officially had started a harem and got teased endlessly by the other three girls which are Pauleen, Juniper, and Crystel. In his mind, he showed complete confusion: "Ehh? I get a harem in speed...?"

None of them ever noticed Keith who pretended to sleep while recording the unfolding confession of the twins.