Chapter 38: Chapter 38
Here's today's chapter.
I was a bit busy, I had to go to my girl friends' family gathering so I barely had time to write.
Anyways, feel free to comment, rate, and critic my story!
Seriously, seeing the rank of my story climbing up there puts a smile on my face. Makes me think that I am doing something special here.
Enough of the chit-chat, enjoy!
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Following his daily routine, Artreus rose from his bed and started meditating. The rooms in the Sleeping Giant Inn is warded against Sense, blocking anyone from outside to spy on him by using Mana or Aura skills, and unless they sneak close to peeking from his window, or place their ears against the wall of his room, people would be none the wiser of anything he does from within the four corners of his room. That is why only during daybreak does he have the chance to release his Mana without anyone watching him from the shadows.
He could feel it... The ambient mana rushing inside him, Mana running through his veins, to the various Mana nodes in his body, filling his Core to the brim with the World's energy. If his Aura that he draws from his own Life Force could Reinforce his body to its limits, using Mana in conjuncture with that could push it even further, enabling the user to perform superhuman feats at the price of damaging one's own body.
Why it is so, the one who he considers as the closest person to him, Moira, has a theory. According to her, it's because of the nature of the two energy. While both could do things that the other could, Mana and Aura are far from the same, with Aura stemming from a person's own life force while Mana originates from the very planet itself. The reason Aura is the more effective and more efficient way in strengthening the body is because it knows the user's body, its strengths, weaknesses, and limits, that is why almost all Aura users tend to rely on their bodily strength in battle, with one of the downsides to Aura being harder to use it externally, either as a projectile of pure Aura or mimicking the effects of elements to use for an attack since the body couldn't harness such elements in a normal circumstance. On the other hand, Mana could be converted into various elements with ease. To do that, the caster understands the nature of the elements enough to visualize their effect and will its existence into the world, making the Mana users one, if not the strongest, ranged attacker, but even with all the power Mana could provide, it also has its own weakness, namely being unable to control the amount of Mana to infuse the body while using Reinforce. According to Moira, this is due to Mana, being the energy that originated outside of a person's body, not knowing the limits of the user's body leading to, more often than not, damaging the user's body by infusing more energy that the body could handle. Only through years of training could someone overcome the limitation of one of the energies, thankfully, time and chances to apply what he has learned are the only things that Artreus got aplenty after he and his friends were stuck in the Void Plains to face the endless horde of Hell, and after decades of practice, Artreus could say that he has enough ability to expertly utilize both kinds of energy.
Taking a deep breath, he focused both energies on each of his hands. On his left hand, he could feel his muscles tense up with overwhelming strength and toughness to bear its own power. On his right, he emitted a large ball of Mana of about one meter in diameter, which for some reason, is somehow always coming out with holy property. Numerous times he has done this routine to find out what's wrong with his Mana and it always produced the same result, with the energy he is producing imbued with Holy energy. Why it's like this Artreus doesn't have a smidgen of clue, the ambient Mana in his room is normal as far as he knew, not tinged with any form of elemental energy, more so with Holy energy that could only be found in sanctified grounds.
Artreus took another deep breath to clear his head. This is no time to think about things that he couldn't possibly figure out. The sun is about to rise on the horizon, his time for training the full capability of his powers out of sight of everyone is drawing short. Absorbing his Mana and Aura back to his body, he quickly manifested it again, but this time, using the various parts of his body. In battle, he could not rely solely on his hands and feet. Facing the hordes of demons, his whole body must become both his weapon and shield. Visualizing that he's surrounded by enemies, he willed his Aura to Reinforce his chest, blunting the damage from a punch, before focusing it on his fists, imagining it connecting to his opponent's face, decimating its head. Then, with a silent prayer, he raised a barrier to his back, blocking the weapons of his enemies, then, swinging his right hand horizontally, he conjured a Blade of Light to slice his opponents in two, before raising his hands above his head and whispered another prayer, then appearing from his palm was a ball of condensed holy energy. This is the unarmed version of Holy Explosion without using Bran's Holy Sword.
Canceling the spell before it explodes and wrecks his room, something that will be hard to explain to the Sleeping Giant's inn owner, Artreus let out a sigh. Grabbing the towel by the side of his bed, he wiped the sweat from his body. Washing his face with the water from the basin on a desk, he looked at his reflection upon the mirror. The figure that looked back at him is almost unrecognizable compared to when he just arrived in town almost a month ago. Not only in how developed and muscular his muscles now, but also the look of his eyes.
It was much... Darker.
Turning his eyes away, afraid of what he might see if he delve deeper, of what he's becoming.
During yesterday's match against the Twin Axe, Artreus felt like he was in a haze. Aware of what he is doing and how it is bad. It's as if the storm of negative emotions deep inside him has broken out, it finally had an outlet for it to unleash itself upon.
What's worse is that it felt good.
Just when did he enjoy torturing people? Their screams of anguish sounding like music to his ears, the feeling of their bones breaking under his fists eliciting joy, and the sight of their beaten and broken body like a work of art? And finally, when the surge of excitement has finally drained from his body, what greeted him was the horrified look of the people around him. Judging him. But all of that was naught but a drop in the bucket, what broke Artreus' heart was the look of fear upon Timothy's face and the sadness upon Juliet's. He couldn't bear it that he ran away and locked himself up inside his room, all the while convincing himself that all of it wasn't real until he lulled himself to sleep with those thoughts.
Finally, it has dawned upon him that everything was real. He did all those horrible things with a smile on his face, and now he has to face the consequence.
Dressing up with his usual clothes of a plain white long-sleeved shirt, brown long pants, and leather boots, Artreus packed the set of iron armor that he uses for weight training in his large backpack. Finishing that, his eyes then fall upon the mithril sword that Estella gifted him when Artreus saved her from the hands of the bandits. Back then he also lost himself in rage upon seeing what the bandits have done and it almost got him killed. Thankfully, he hasn't hurt innocent people in his berserk state, but what if in the future, he does? What if in his enraged state he accidentally hurt some innocent bystander, or heavens forbid, people he cares about?
That's why he must improve his control. Not only of his own strength but also of his emotion. No more losing himself in anger.
Leaving the mithril sword in his room, Artreus picked up an iron long sword and placed it on his hip. Reaching the knob of the door of his room, Artreus hesitated for a moment. What if once he opened the door and go to the world outside, that no one would be waiting for him? What if he scared away Mikaela and the kids by his display of extreme cruelty?
Seconds passed, but for Artreus it felt like an eternity. An eternity of torment as he imagines their reaction. Will they stay with him? Will they leave? Will they look at him with disgust? With fear?
A knock on the door ended the train of negative thoughts that run inside Artreus head. A voice could then be heard from behind the door of his room. "Hey, slowpoke! What's holding? Why are you not in the bar yet?" It was Mikaela.
Somewhat relieved upon hearing her voice, Artreus answered. "Just a second." He then opened the door for Mikaela. "I'm ready."
Her eyes scanning him from head to toe, Mikaela huffed. "From the looks of it, you've been ready for a long time." Punching him in the arm, she continued. "If you're already dressed up, why did you made me wait and not go straight to the bar. Come on then. Let's order some grub and meet the kids. I don't want to keep them waiting as you did. Unlike you, I have manners.."
That small gesture of hers put a smile on Artreus' face... At least he knew that Mikaela stands by him after all he did. After all, she was also there when he first went on a rampage and never treated him badly because of that.
Following her to the Inn's bar, Artreus already noticed the wary gazes that were thrown at him. Adventurers and other customers whispered with each other while trying their best not to look at him. Just like that, the bar was engulfed with a heavy, tense atmosphere, as if ready to burst at any moment.
"Don't mind them. Take a seat and eat." Waiting at the table, Mikaela waved Marissa, the waitress over. "What do you want to eat?" She asked.
"I don't know. I'm not really hungry." Artreus could feel the intensity of the room and didn't put his guard down even as he took a seat. Fear, anger, confusion, and other mixture of emotions fill the room and it is not uncommon for trouble to brew in such an environment.
Marissa the waitress finally arrived and Mikaela placed her order. After placing her order, Mikaela then turned towards him and call his attention. "Hey. What are you spacing out for? Place your order already so we can eat."
Marrisa also turned towards him, but as soon as she recognized him, Artreus saw her shook in fear. She tried to hide it, but her trembling voice betrays her. "E-erm... Could I take yo-your order s-sir?" Marissa asked, barely keeping hold of the pen and paper in her hands.
Artreus' heart sank after witnessing her reaction. If this was yesterday, she would've smiled at him while taking his order, even chat with him a bit, just like the days before. But now... It looks like she couldn't wait for him to finish his order so that she could leave as quickly as she could.
Annoyed by his silence, Mikaela answered for him. "You're taking too long. Just give him the usual." After writing down his order with her shaking hands, the waitress left as quickly as she could without appearing impolite. After she's gone, Mikaela clicked her tongue. "Don't mind them. Sometimes we have to do stuff that will make us disliked by people. It's common on our line of job. So put it out of your mind, will you? I don't like to see you so down in the dumps." She says to him, but quickly adding, "It's annoying to look at and I don't like being annoyed. Seriously, a grown man moping like a little kid. Annoying."
The weight on his heart lifted for a bit after hearing her bumbling for words to console him. With a smile, he says. "Thanks."
Surprised by this, Mikaela's face turn red and stuttered. "Wha? What are you thanking me for, idiot? Whether I like it or not. You're a part of the White Wolves now, and we stick together."
"I see..." So, he's part of their group now... He never really considered himself one of the White Wolves. Deep inside Artreus' heart, he could only be part of one group, and that was the 'Twenty'. Still... What is this warm sensation he's feeling? "I would still like to thank you. For accepting a person like me."
"Are you an idiot? Why shouldn't we accept you? You're strong. You're reliable. Most importantly, you're a weirdo. You're definitely a White Wolf material." Seeing him silent upon hearing her words, she asked him in a concerned voice. "You're thinking about what happened yesterday, aren't you?" Seeing him nod in agreement, she continued. "Don't worry about it. Those two buttheads are bullies who thought they could just throw their weight around without any repercussions. While it is true that you went a little bit overboard." She then threw him a pointed look after he tries to argue about it just being a bit overboard. After she made sure that he wouldn't disturb her monologue, she continued. "A bit overboard, it is not like they would die or incur permanent damage. The healers did rush in to help them faster than they did with me. To be honest, I am surprised they haven't gotten their asses handed to them earlier. Honestly, they are a bunch of assholes and you did them a favor, teaching them the error of their ways before they get themselves killed after getting themselves on the wrong side of someone far above their league who wouldn't take any of their shit."
"Now that you mentioned it. Are you sure you should be moving about already? Shouldn't you rest up to recuperate from your injuries?" Artreus' eye landed upon her left arm which was totally broken just the day before.
"I'm good to go, and honestly, I never felt this good before." She raised her arm and throwing a few quick punches to prove her point. "Also, I am so excited about learning how to use my newly Awakened powers, that I barely slept a wink. So don't you dare tell me to take even a single day off to rest."
As they were having a conversation, a muscular man approached them. Slamming his hand against their table. He leaned forward towards Artreus. "People say that you're the hotshot who dealt with the Twin Axe." After inspecting Artreus with his eyes, he continued. "I have unfinished business with them. You know. Since you defeated them, how about you and I have a go at it. How about that?" Mikaela chucked at what the man said, earning his ire. "What are you laughing at?" He tried to approach her but stopped short after Mikaela pressed a knife against his neck.
"You." She pressed her knife a little further, causing the man to take a step back, but Mikaela didn't let him escape her. Her knife caused a trail of blood as it lightly kissed his neck up to his chin. "People like you make me laugh. Tucking your tails between your legs after getting the shit beaten out of you by the Twin Axes, then acting all tough all of the sudden against those you deem weaker than you. Typical small limped dick move." Pressing her dagger further that the muscular man was forced to stand on his toes to avoid having a new hole punctured on his throat. "In this case, you chose poorly. You do realize that this man here defeated the ones who wiped the floor with your face. Not one at a time, but both at the same time. Just what in the world are you thinking, picking a fight that you know you couldn't win? Is it because he looks scrawny? Don't let his unremarkable physique or his harmless-looking mug deceive you. He will kick your ass from here to the next town if he wanted to. I would know. I have yet to win a single sparring match against him, and just look at how you're helpless against me." Pressing a little harder, her dagger drew more blood. "So go back to your table, leave us be, and learn your place. TRASH." Putting her dagger back to its sheath, Mikaela began to walk back to their table.
But Artreus knew it wasn't over. A man could be beaten, but he couldn't let himself be shamed. The muscular man raised his fist to strike at Mikaela, but before he could even throw it, Artreus quickly got up, picked up a chair, and smashed it against the man's head, knocking him down, he then followed it by stomping on the man's face, finally knocking him out. No one dared to help the muscular man, instead, the bar was silent, only a few silent murmurs could be heard as if they were afraid that their chatter would displease them.
Mikaela just huffed in displeasure at Artreus' help. "You need not do that. I have it all under control." She stated, her hand holding the pommel of her dagger.
"I know. I just dislike people who attack an opponent with their backs turned from them." Artreus answered.
"Heh. Said the man who smashed a chair against an unaware opponent. That's kind of hypocritical of you, isn't it?"
"I'm not behind him, I attacked from the front. So that's not hypocritical." Turning towards the innkeeper, Artreus rummaged in his coin pouch and picked a silver coin. Throwing it towards Douglas, the innkeeper, he stated. "I'm sorry for the disturbance. Here. For the broken chair."
"No worries, young man. He's kind of a dick so I condone your behavior for now. Just don't break any more furniture. My customers need something to sit upon. I have a business to run you know." Douglas answered. Unlike the customers and the staff who were afraid of Artreus, the man seem to feel no negative emotions against Artreus, treating him the same as always, still laughing and joking with him like usual.
"Don't worry, we won't" Artreus smiled at the old man.
It didn't take long till their order has arrived. Marissa still uncomfortable serving them, her behavior annoyed Mikaela that she snatched the tray from the poor waitress's shaking hands, and placed their meal on their table herself. The atmosphere lightened a bit as they partook of their meal. Dining on good food and drinking good alcohol, Artreus and Mikaela exchanged playful banter with each other, which led Artreus to wonder when did they become this close with each other? If you asked him a month ago if he could interact with the hot-headed Mikaela like this, he would've answered that it's not possible, not with Mikaela's fiery temper and antagonistic attitude t towards Artreus.
But look at them now...
Laughing at each other's corny joke like they were long-time friends.
Could it be possible that Artreus has found friends that he could call his own?
It has been too long, and while he is still apprehensive about having people getting too close to him, he admits that the feeling of belonging is nice. It's a feeling that he thought he would never feel again. But here it is...
Unfortunately, the feeling of bliss was cut short as town guards stormed through the door of the Sleeping Giant Inn. One of the guards pointed at their table, and the group came rushing towards them.
Pointing their spears at their group, the head of the town's guard declared. "Adventurer Artreus of the White Wolves. You are under arrest under suspicion of murder. Come with us peacefully or face the consequence."
This just goes to show that when you thought that your day is bad, it could always get worse.
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