Chapter 10: 21 Pieces
Auric's life had settled into a routine of daily lessons with Lumina, who had become a constant presence in his life. With her by his side, every day was interesting and fulfilling.
As their lessons continued, he delved deeper into the world of magic, learning about its superstitions, beliefs, religion, legends, history, and stories. While Auric had some prior knowledge of these topics, Lumina's teachings allowed him to gain a more comprehensive understanding.
Lumina, a healer from the Temple of the Divine Sun, was well-versed in the history and religion of the world. Her knowledge and expertise enriched Auric's learning experience, and he appreciated her caring nature even more than Elysia's.
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As Luna had already started going to school, the once-quiet mansion was now bustling with the chatter of Lumina's noble friends, that she would bring along with her, but Auric remained an outcast among them. His unique black hair had initially piqued their curiosity, but their interest soon faded when they discovered his physical weakness.
Because of his curse he could not play with them, as he could not use magic and would start panting even for running a few meters. Since Luna went to a only noble school, all her friends were snotty arrogant brats who were silverspooned or rather goldspooned.
And they sometimes started bullying him because except Luna no one would stop them. At first they would only tease him but later it escalated to some pushing and pulling. It all started with jealousy.
They boys liked Luna but she would only talk about Auric and seeing Auric they thought he was not worth it. The girls Luna bought would also like Auric because of his cute and calm nature which added to the boys jealousy.
They thought they were better than him. Because of his disability he could not protect himself. And when they started bullying him, Luna would stop it, Which angered them more.
Auric wondered how come they had the audacity to bully him in his own house and how nobody was stopping these kids and came to know that because they were all children of important nobles the servants could not interfere and Elysia was ordered not to interfere by Avalon.
But still, everytime Lumina or Luna would save him.
All this made Auric disappointed in the family and thought how the real Auric would have felt.
Despite this, Auric found solace in Lumina's company, and she had become like a mother figure to him. She took care of him when he was ill and taught him about the world, making each day's lesson something to look forward to. As time passed, Auric's attachment to Lumina grew stronger, and the thought of her leaving filled him with a sense of loneliness.
When the day of Lumina's departure finally arrived, Auric's heart ached as he watched her leave the mansion, tears streaming down his face. But before she left, Lumina gave him a black ring that had belonged to his mother, promising that it would come in use at the right time. She assured Auric that she would find a cure for his illness and that he need not worry.
As they said their goodbyes, Lumina revealed that she was already married and had a daughter named Ellie. Auric was shocked by this revelation and couldn't understand why Lumina would choose to spend time with him instead of her own child. Lumina explained that she was living with her father in their hometown and that everything was fine.
Despite this, Auric's curiosity was piqued, and he expressed a desire to meet Lumina's family. Lumina promised to invite him to meet them later. Auric learned that Lumina's husband was her party member and childhood friend, a handsome water elementalist and a C-rank adventurer. He felt grateful to Lumina for everything she had done for him and was pleased to see her happy.
As Lumina left, Auric tearfully watched her go, feeling more alone than ever. But Lumina assured him that he would never be alone, as she and his late mother would always be with him. He was determined to protect Lumina and her hometown at all costs, even if it meant going against the plot of the novel.
After returning to his room, Auric recalled the legend Luna had told him about and which was also the main storyline, on which ' Portal of Destiny' was based.
The legend goes like this...
At the beginning of civilization, all intelligent beings were at war with each other, vying for control of the world. There was manslaughter and death everywhere, and no one was spared. Every race was against each other, including even the peace-loving elves.
As the war continued, the death toll rose. However, an even more dangerous threat arose – not just to the races, but also to nature itself – the portals.
From these portals emerged the dark tribe known as the rakshasa. Their world was already corrupted by their evil desires and nature; they had already slaughtered every living being except for themselves. They were on a rampage to devour other worlds, using their dark magic to create portals to invade other worlds.
When they arrived at Arcanum, there was already a war in progress. The arrival of this new player made things even worse. No side was spared. By the time the races became aware of the threat, it was too late. The damage was already done.
The leaders of all races joined hands and formed the alliance of the celestial order. The alliance was an oath that no race would fight against each other and would control their own region. The leading races were the humans, dragonborns, mermaids, and elves.
With this alliance, they formed forces consisting of all races and sent them through portals to kill the rakshasa. But then, they discovered the true nature of the portals. They were gates leading to different worlds that had already been invaded and corrupted by the rakshasa.
The rakshasa had established stations in these worlds and used them to invade other worlds. In the portals, they found artifacts that could be used to repel and fight against the rakshasa.
The people of arcanum then named the process of entering and collecting artifacts portal raiding.
Different types of rakshasa existed in each portal. As the people of Arcanum came together to save their world, they started to win and push back the rakshasa. But then, an even more dangerous being invaded Arcanum – Kharoth. He started his rampage and destruction, and all hope was lost. However, a brave warrior arose, and he was named Hero Tristan.
He fought Kharoth for days with an unending battle. Even when he cut off his head or any other body parts, they would regenerate. But eventually, he discovered the key to defeating Kharoth. He pierced his heart, and for a moment, Kharoth seemed to stop.
So, the hero bet on it and tore out its heart. However, since the heart was still intact, Kharoth continued to fight. Tristan then cut his heart into 21 pieces, and Kharoth died. But Tristan found out that the pieces were attaching themselves to other things, so he used all his mana to blast his soul and seal the 21 pieces, sacrificing himself in the process.
The pieces then flew out and hid themselves apart from each other in different parts of Arcanum.
These pieces were called 'Kshaya Khanita'.
{meaning "Decay Shard" in Sanskrit, suggesting that each piece holds the power to corrupt and decay anything it touches}.
The hero's comrades came to know about this and made it their purpose to safeguard the pieces. Their descendants are still protecting the pieces to this day.
It is said that if the parts are once again near each other, they will reattach themselves and resurrect Kharoth.
However, it is only believed to be a myth among the common people. Auric knew that the story, which was actually considered a myth among the common masses, was actually true and the history was actually millions of years old.
There were still pieces being protected, and they were protected by tribes, who were the descendants of the hero's comrades. And Auric knew where 12 of the pieces were located, out of the 21 pieces.
In the novel, each piece had tremendous corruption power and strength. Each piece also had some portion of Kharoth's consciousness. Even before Dave had attained the legacy, there was already a society which called themselves Asurs. It was a hidden dark society that was planning to collect the pieces.
Auric had died before the novel was completed, so he didn't know if they succeeded or not. But from what he had read, the Asurs had already collected 9 pieces and were tremendously powerful. All of the strongest people came to know this and fought with the dark society, and later Dave's party also joined the war.
...
As Auric was thinking about the storyline his focus then suddenly fell on the ring.
The black ring Lumina gave him became a symbol of hope, a reminder that Lumina and his mother were watching over him. Auric's determination to protect Lumina and her family grew stronger with each passing day.
Days passed, and Auric started his school life, hoping for a fresh start. But he soon realized that his life was about to become much more difficult.
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone