Chapter 7: Chapter Six - Six Years
(A/n You can check this story on Wattpad too. I upload the chapters there early:
https://www.wattpad.com/1272607903-tbate-another-shadow-monarch-chapter-six-six-years
/// Virion Eralith POV ///
Resting my back against the seat in my room I let out a long sigh. My breath was steady yet my heart pounded heavily against the ribcage. Telling little one about Arthur leaving already was a much more arduous task than I had imagined.
She was always a little hard to deal with. Yet, she was my granddaughter. Someone I dearly loved, and ready to lay down my life for gladly. Gripping the bridge of my nose I pried my eyes shut, my vision darkening a little.
Suddenly I felt warm palms cover my eyes. The touch was soft and comforting. The hand caressed my face and then ran its finger across the wrinkles that formed on my face.
"You shouldn't frown, Dear." A honey-tinted, melodic voice whispered near my ear. The warm breath tickled the insides of my ear, making a shiver run all across my body.
Raising my hands up, I gripped those arms and pulled them in front of me. My eyes opened, the static dark getting flushed with lights and a face. My vision was blurry but I knew who it was. The corner of her lips curved into a saccharine smile. Even after more than 150 years, I still couldn't stop my heart from fluttering like this.
Grey hair that fell well past her lean shoulders, her eyes were like a nebula in a universe that showed a blend of a variety of vibrant colours, even putting the aurora constellate to shame. A few wrinkles lined her otherwise pristine face, yet it couldn't manage to suppress her true beauty.
The tensed muscles of my face relaxed, an unrestrained smile creeping up on my face. All of my worries, all of the grief that I carried in my heart washed away by a single glance at her. I never knew that even seeing someone you loved so dearly would make you so light- like a lofty, careless cloud.
In front of me stood my wife, Lania Eralith.
"What worries you at this time, Dear?" She asked, walking towards me. Her hands stopped on the top of a chair, as she dragged it near me and sat just beside my chair. She crossed her one leg over the other and leaned onto my side, her alluring eyes demanding an answer.
Letting out a deep breath I placed my hands over the armrest,
"Nothing much, Arthur is leaving tomorrow," I replied. After spending so much time together we needed only the bare minimum of details to tell each other what was happening.
"And the little one worries you?" She asked again as she placed her hand over my own. A subtle warmth emanated from her palm. The warmth was feeble yet it was comforting. I inverted my hand and interlocked my fingers with her.
"Yes she does but…" My voice trailed off, a certain thought gnawing at my insides.
"Is it the boy?" She asked, understanding my inner strife. She was right that I was still a little worried about the boy. By now I was sure he had his own will and wasn't merely manipulated by thoughts of the Shadow Monarch. Yet, I felt uneasy. A fellow Ruler had disappeared. Nowhere to be found. Disappearing before integrating with someone was one thing. That Ruler didn't even find a vessel.
He just vanished in thin air. The other 2 Rulers other than me who have already found vessels searched for them day and night, in every universal rift, yet he was nowhere to be found.
"Yes, it is," I replied, trying to mask the other worries behind the veil of the boy.
"Honey, let me see into the future one last time… You know the war is approaching, even a minor insight…"
"SO YOU CAN SACRIFICE MORE OF YOUR LIFE FORCE?" My words came out harsh and loud. I didn't mean it, but the prospect of losing her was hard, even imagining it.
During the war between humans and elves, she would've died if she kept looking into the future, just to save me from sudden attacks and assassination attempts. However, her seemingly doomed future changed once I received the inheritance from the Brightest Fragment of Brilliant Light.
I learned how we were but mere specks of dust floating in the observable universe. I learned about the Monarchs and the Rulers, and the imminent war between them. Not only that but also another war, that will be the start of the ultimate battle.
The war against the other continent- Alacrya. Their existence was made known to me through a vessel of the Ruler that is still in Alacrya. Including me, there were 3 Rulers and according to the other Ruler, The Monarch of Iron Body has already descended, his armies arriving below Alacrya, similar in size to the continent.
Ending my inner monologue I looked up, a palpable melancholy in the room. I looked down, expecting that she would've withdrawn her hand, taking away my only comfort. However, she still held my hand, her grip tautening with every passing breath.
"I will be ok, just this one time." She said her nebulous eyes that gleamed in a variety of colours pleading to me.
"No, you can't. And I won't change my mind… I- I can't lose you, Lania. Not after all this time." I said, my emotions raging inside me.
"Oh stop this for a second. Your emotions are outrageous. Didn't I tell you to flip the emotions switch off?" The Brightest Fragment's feeble consciousness spoke.
"Oh shut up will ya? I'm having a moment here. And why should I? Are you jealous? Go get a wife or something yourself or maybe go back to sleep" I spat back.
I was met with silence for a while. "Fine, do whatever you want. Just remember, don't stray from the main goal I gave you. You know I can still kill you, right? Once the world is saved you can have the last bit of control I have and you will be liberated of my presence"
"Yeah yeah, I know, now would you mind going back to sleep?" I said. Without a word his presence vanished back, fading into nothingness.
Lania kept looking at me, her grip on my hands loosening at me, a grim expression on her face,
"Virion… please, just one time, it's necessary. Or- or Rinia will do it again." She said, a tear forming at the corner of her eye. That's when I understood it. Her sister Rinia, the younger Dracasscan, after meeting the boy Arthur, started using her powers more often. Years before when Arthur first arrived here, I took him to Rinia so that he could contact his parents. But instead of things working out, her mental condition broke down once she tried to look into Arthur.
After recovering from the initial shock, she started using her powers more often, draining her life force. Although I prevented her death by supplying her with my Divine Mana, there is a limit to what a normal species other than us can handle.
I knew it too well that if Lania doesn't do it, Rinia will do it anyways, taking her one step closer to death. But if Lania were to do it she would be endangering her life. It was a difficult decision, yet it couldn't be ignored. I had to make it, regardless of the repercussions it carried for both of the sisters.
"Just this once… promise me, Lania," I said, letting out a defeated sigh. Her face brightened up, an angelic smile forming on it (A/n: TBH, I am wheezing so hard writing this. Just feels strange writing fluff for Virion *violent wheezing* Anyways)
"Yeah, I promise, only this once." She said, placing her other hand under my hand, enclosing it in a blanket of warmth. "Thank you." She whispered.
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/// Arthur Leywin POV ///
A slight tug on my shoulder brought me out of my stupor. Looking over to my right I saw Tess looking at me, her scrutinizing gaze weighing down on me. I raised a brow in confusion, a gesture asking her what she wanted to say.
"Are you going to leave?" She asked as she kicked a nearby stone. The stone flew and crashed against a tree making a minuscule echo in the forest. I walked slowly behind her, looking at the ground, searching for another stone. Once my gaze landed on a stone I ran towards it and kicked it. The stone whistled as it tore the air and struck the same tree where Tess' stone had made its impact. The stone went past the tree, making a gaping hole in it.
"Yes, I am going, Tess. In a while that is…" I replied, my gaze solely set on the stone that had pierced two trees and was stuck in the third one.
"But why?" She blurted out, almost stumbling on her own words as she approached me. "Can't you stay here? You're the only friend I have." She said, tears already lining her eyes.
"Don't worry about that, you'll make more friends Tess," I replied nonchalantly as I rested my back against a tree. Her face fumed as she stomped towards me. I saw mana gather around her fingers.
[Burst Step has been activated]
In a near instant, the ground beneath me exploded and I vanished, reappearing behind her. I held her hand and extended it upwards.
"You have to do better than that Tess if you're actually going to pinch me." I gave her a victorious smirk as I extended my hand even upwards making her levitate. The system not only granted me an insane amount of strength but it brought about changes in my physique too. Hence I was much taller than kids my age.
"I know that very well," Tess replied, a smirk that reflected my own as she turned her head back. I looked at her in surprise as to what she meant but before I could process it, I felt my jewels rattle as mana augmented kick knocked the soul out of me.
My grip on her wrist weakened and she pulled it away and with quick nimble steps darted away. My hand reached down, panic overtaking me at the prospect of them shattering. "Pain" itself was something I had next to no regard for, however, "THEM" shattering was a totally different subject.
"You could've killed me, Tess." I tried to shout at her but it only came out as a slight whimper as I succumbed to the ground.
"Oh, I have seen you practice with grandpa. Something like that won't kill you." She said as she crossed her arms and smiled at me.
"You little brat," I grumbled as I stood up and started running towards her. She darted quickly, mana augmenting her legs as she ran at full throttle. Running without mana was an arduous task, yet the system worked in unique ways. My stamina and strength levels were already twice of what an average unawakened prime human can have.
Letting the mana flow from my core through my mana channels and augmenting my legs I stomped the ground. The surroundings blurred as near-instant teleportation brought me close to her. However, my weight quadrupled. Letting enough mana to augment my whole body I came to a halt.
Looking forward I saw Virion standing between me and Tess, his eyes gleaming in a light shade of golden. My own eyes started glowing in a light shade of blue as a feeble jet-black aura countered his gravity-like magic.
The sheen of golden that stuck to his hand disappeared as the oppressive gravity vanished too. "It's time, Arthur… time for you to go back to your parents." He said as he looked at me and then at Tess.
It had been 6 years already and I was currently 10. Due to the incident with the diviner Rinia I had to stay here for a longer period of time. Although Elder Lania was similar to her sister, she wasn't allowed to use her powers much. My parents still think I am dead. While I was here training with Virion, learning more about the nature of my powers, I still couldn't comprehend anything.
He tried telling me a few times but every time a migraine or some sort of glitch in the system filters out the words. Worse case my ears start bleeding. So Virion stopped telling me anything at all, focusing only on the training.
"Fine, let's go". I said back as I started walking. Walking past Tess I caught up to Virion. Walking a few steps forward I turned back, "Come on Tess, do you want me to go without saying goodbyes?" I said in a loud voice. The voice echoed in the forest. She looked the other way, wiping her eyes with the sleeve of her robe. Then with a quick sprint, she caught up to me as we started walking behind gramps.
"Won't you cry?" I teased as she landed a feeble punch at my shoulder.
"I am not a crybaby" She replied as she looked down again, "Will I see you again in Xyrus?" She asked again, looking straight at me.
"Sure. But not for a year. I plan to adventure for a whole year and then join the Xyrus academy. Your training will be completed by that time too." I said, placing my chin over my index finger and thumb.
"So long." She whispered but it was loud enough for me to hear it. Letting out a light chuckle I looked forward.
"System Tab." I said inwardly as the translucent tab appeared in front of my eyes.
NAME: Arthur Leywin
AGE: 10 Years Old
LEVEL: 39
CORE: Bottleneck of Solid Yellow
– PASSIVE SKILLS –
Mana Rotation: 60%
Unknown (LVL - MAX)
Tenacity (LVL - 20)
Bloodlust (LVL - 25)
– ACTIVE SKILLS –
Draconic Will (Phase 2 - ACCESSIBLE)
Swordless Technique (LVL - MAX)
Swordsmanship (LVL - 30)
Dash (LVL - MAX)
Burst Step (LVL - 10)
– AFFINITIES –
Fire (Proficiency - MAX) {Black Fire}
Lightning (Proficiency - 50%) {Black Lightning}
Soul Fire (Proficiency - 10%)
Water (Proficiency - MAX)
Ice (Proficiency - 40%) {Frost Fire}
Wind (Proficiency - 35%)
Earth (Proficiency - 30%)
The achievement was enormous according to the normal eye but yet it wasn't enough. I couldn't help but feel this need to get stronger. An insatiable thirst for power.
The most mysterious of these was the attribute called Soul Fire. Even Elder Virion didn't know anything about it or rather he chose not to disclose the information to me. Soul Fire as the name suggested had a corrosive effect on the very soul. But due to the low proficiency, the most I could manage were 4 wisps of Soul Fire but each of them was enough to kill a C-ranked beast in a near instant.
"Papa." A familiar voice resonated in my mind. I looked up as I saw the familiar figure of my bond, Sylvie, all grown up. A gust of wind greeted my face, blowing my hair away as she landed on the ground. The little cute dragon had now grown up into its real glory. Pitch black scales grew all over her body, its topaz eyes brimming with power and intelligence looking intently at me.
"Hey, Sylvie… I see that you've grown big, wide and tall." I said, taken aback by the changes in her. As if understanding my inner strife about the problems her size will bring her whole body was covered in a golden light. Her body shrunk. The light subsided as the ferocious dragon was replaced by a cute-looking white fox.
Tess suddenly jumped at me taking Sylvie from my grasp as she started choking the life out of her in her embrace.
"P-papa, save me." She said through our bond. I just gave her a nervous chuckle and turned my face away from her. I saw as Tess kept playing with Sylvie, the previous gloom faded away in thin air.
I was brought out of my stupor as the sound of skitters pulling a carriage reached my ears.
Skitters: D-rank beasts, my first ever kill in this world. Well, technically, second if we include the mage I managed to drag with myself. The carriage came to a halt in front of us. Virion moved forward and opened the door of the carriage.
Tess' grip over Sylvie loosened at seeing the carriage. Taking advantage of the opportunity Sylvie escaped from her hold and ran off in the carriage.
"See you soon brat," he said, flashing a smile. Then as if he had remembered something important started rummaging through his pockets.
"Aha, found it. Here, take it. Show it to anyone who questions you while coming here. It has the Royal Family Insignia imprinted on it." He spoke as he tossed me a compass.
"Well, my work here is done. Safe travels brat, I'll leave you two alone now." He said, throwing a wink, and then he disappeared from there, vanishing in thin air.
"Well, I guess this is where we say goodb-" I was interrupted as Tess tackled me into a tight hug and buried her face in my chest.
"Don't say that. We will meet again," she said, a silent sob escaping her mouth. I remained silent as I slowly caressed her gunmetal hair and drew circles over her back.
"We will… Now can you let go of me? You're squeezing the air out of me, you know." I joked trying to lighten the mood. A faint laugh reached my ears as she peeled her face away from me.
"Till we meet again, Tess." I said and she gave me a feeble nod. Deciding not to let things linger more I stepped towards the carriage and sat inside it. She waved her hand one last time and then the door to the carriage closed.
My mind trailed off from Tess to my family. They still didn't know I was alive. Searching for them in Xyrus will be a pain but I had to do it. Let my parents and Twin Horns know that I was alive. So the burden and guilt they might be carrying go away.
It's finally time to meet my parents and my baby sibling.
And it was finally time to learn the skill I had gotten from the cursed box.
– CURSED BOX –
(I) Cursed Key
(II) Shadow Extraction [Incompatible with Player's class]
My class was still "none". Perhaps by leveling more I could finally obtain a class. Should I use the cursed key now? The journey will take some time and since the penalties take place in a different space it should be safe… right?
The cursed key appeared in my hands. Suddenly a hole akin to a keyhole appeared in front of me on one of the seats of the carriage. The key produced an ominous aura, shivering slightly. Like excited for it to enter its hole.
(A/n Y'all goin' to jail if I see weird comments)
(SR/n: I'm looking at you. Yes, YOU. *Looking at you suspiciously*)
The key entered the keyhole, producing a slight 'click' sound. The space around me started shaking, molding, and morphing into something entirely different. The ground beneath me vanished as I felt myself fall into a bottomless pit of the abyss.
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(A/n: AND CUT… GUESS THAT'S ALL FOR THIS CHAPTER. SEE YA ALL NEXT TIME. TAKE CARE AND I'M OUT. Handing the MIC OVER TO SKY AND AARON)
(SR/n: What am I supposed to say to them?)
(A/n: Nothing. Just scream so hard they die.)
SR/n: I don't think I can even if I grab my megaphone though…)
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