To Our Next Meeting!

A/N: And welcome to the arc finale!

I say finale but really, the last chapter is a far better finale. Think of this as epilogue one. The second chapter I'm uploading is epilogue two.

The whole time I was writing this chapter, I kept having a nagging feeling that this chapter was a bit underwhelming as a whole, so there's a double release!

Anyways, I hope you enjoy.

Happy reading :D

[Two days later, award ceremony]

A duel was held the day before to determine third place. It was between Doradrea Oreguard and Feyrith Ivsaar. The victor was Doradrea, who, after spending the entire day before reading... "A Man's Guide to a Buff Bod: Now with Diagrams," and managed to somewhat recover her dignity, managed to beat out the elf.

Now, on the evening of the proceeding day, the award ceremony was being held. Rather than Ingesseum, however, the ceremony was taking place in a massive hall, the Helstea Auction House, to be exact. The house that recently had renovations was perhaps one of the only places in Xyrus that could handle the massive influx of people that would want to watch the ceremony. Plus, it gave the whole occasion a classier vibe.

After a long expository speech, the host, who managed to keep his job, got to the exciting part.

—Before we begin, let us commend the other brave souls that had the courage to partake in this grand symbol of a new age.

The other contestants who were sitting in various parts of the hall stood, and the audience members applauded.

—...And now we award the 3 greatest mages of our tournament.

As the applause died down and the contestants began sitting, the host spoke again, announcing the top three.

—In third place, after a long journey with twists and turns, Doradrea Oreguard the Golem of Terra!

The audience clapped politely, as was the custom for the auction house.

Doradrea stood up and walked to the podium rather stiffly with a tight expression. It seemed she was uncharacteristically nervous.

Dipping her head, she was crowned a bronze wreath from Alduin.

—In second place, with a flaming roar to the finish, Claire Bladeheart the Dancer of the Sun!

Claire stood and walked up, but unlike Doradrea, she exuded confidence and comfortableness. Compared to Doradrea, who had little to no experience with this sort of thing due to dwarven culture, Claire was used to being in front of many people. Particularly so due to her status as a daughter of house Bladeheart.

She dipped her head and was crowned a silver wreath from Dawsid.

—And finally, in first place, the dark horse turned victor, Asher Aureus the Angel of Death, Champion of Xyrus!

Asher, however, did not stand up. In fact, he wasn't even here. He actually hadn't been seen since two days ago and didn't show up today.

Whispers broke out among the audience.

—...Asher Aureus?

The host asked, with a face that was starting to get nervous.

Asher was the main character of the show, the tournament's champion. If he didn't show, it'd spell trouble.

But right about when Blaine decided he was going to say something...

—BAM

The auction hall's doors slammed open, and a boy in a familiar white cloak revealed himself.

His cloak lightly fluttered as he nonchalantly walked through the center aisle, focusing, no, demanding the hundreds of eyes in the hall. However, he paid it no heed and continued to strut toward the podium, unaffected by the fact that he was late or the center of attention.

His balanced gait was confident yet not arrogant; though somewhat obscured by his cloak, his posture was nearly perfect.

Nobles that were well versed in etiquette couldn't help but be captivated by the display of flawless form.

Whence upon reaching the podium, Asher stood in front of Blaine, who held a golden laurel wreath.

"...Welcome, Asher Aureus."

Blaine spoke, quickly putting on a congratulatory smile. In his mind, it was too late for him to try and change the results in any way, shape, or form, so he decided that the best course of action was to build friendly relations with the boy.

'In fact, I could even lock him into our family...'

Blaine suddenly felt a shiver run up his spine. He couldn't turn around as all the eyes were focused on him, but he was almost certain that Priscilla was glaring at him.

'...Can she read minds now?'

Blaine wondered, but he kept his façade solid.

"Congratulations on your victory."

Asher paused for a moment.

Though no one could tell, Asher was actually making eye contact with Virion and the elvish king and queen.

The elder elf and the royal couple nodded slightly, and Asher discreetly turned back to Blaine.

He briefly paused and smiled.

Asher lifted his hands up, the cloak slipping back and revealing his formal elvish attire.

Then, in a single smooth motion, he pulled off his hood.

The sudden action sent ripples throughout the audience while Blaine and the rest of the royals, other than the elves, did a double take, taking in the new sight.

An adorable face that could charm even the coldest of battle hardened warriors, a pair of almost phantasmal golden eyes that seemed to be deep without end, and short snowy white hair were all already something that was enough to grab people's attention.

"...Thank you, king Blaine Glayder, High Lord of the vast realm of Sapin."

Asher's clear yet gentle voice echoed ever so softly in the silent hall.

But what all the residents of the hall were looking at wasn't the mysteriously endearing appearance but the rounded ears attached to Asher's head.

The mark of a human.

Asher ignored the stares and bowed his head, awaiting his reward.

Blaine blinked a couple times, still trying to process what he was seeing. Fortunately, he managed to clutch and return to his senses.

He lightly placed the golden laurel wreath on Asher's head.

Asher's lips curled into a smile before heading off to the podium with the rest of the top 3 contestants.

Now that the audience could see Asher's face, adorned with the golden wreath that matched his eyes almost perfectly, another round of whispers broke out.

—Er, um, now!

The host recovered and brought people back.

After that, the three tournament winners returned to their seats, and the ceremony continued with dull speeches and future plans.

However, no one paid attention to the host anymore; the human boy Asher had stolen the show.

**

Asher POV

[Two Days Earlier]

—...hurry!

—Only... left... quicker!

—How...

I could only make out muffled voices as I drifted in and out of consciousness.

For a while, I just floated about in the darkness of my consciousness.

Now, normally this is where a protagonist would reflect on his past or have a moment of deep introspection and maybe even come to find an insight or new resolve. But, I wasn't that deep a person.

Having some time to think, I began thinking back on the tournament. Especially the last match. I really had to push myself to keep up. Though I thought I'd be the strongest child in the tournament, that couldn't be further from the truth.

Claire... Bladeheart, was it? She was strong.

Her swordsmanship was something that I had heard was impressive, but I didn't think I'd need to close my acupoints up to the point that I'd cause a minor Mana Overflow. But as if that wasn't enough, she ended up growing mid-fight and managed to grow into an elemental.

Still, her scarlet flames were on another level entirely... but I felt that it was most likely due to an extraneous effect of Overflow I wasn't aware of. Perhaps it supplied mana to her?

I couldn't be sure.

—...fine?

—...extreme backlash.

...But judging from the conversation, giving mana was probably what it was. Backlash was something that occurred when mages overextended themselves either by absorbing too much or expending too much.

I was probably doing both. Anyways, this revelation sparked a few questions.

Is that a permanent effect when I create an Overflow? Or is it just a random effect that spawned? If it's the former, I could supply entire armies in the future with it, at my expense, of course.

Thoughts for when I could use my brain better. For now, I should think about what I'd gained.

A phenomenal fight, for one and for another, clues on how to conjure.

While Virion but a restriction on when I could conjure (when I became 7), I knew for a fact that any greater spells, like summoning earthquakes or great explosions or something, would be something I couldn't cast without backlash.

Still, as I said before, this was as much a blessing as it was a curse. I couldn't use the greater spells without adequately closing my acupoints since I would lack the mana to do so. However, closing it to that point would result in this: backlash.

But thanks to the fight, I've managed to find a hint.

—Asher...?

"Asher?"

But it seemed that would have to wait until later.

I pried open my eyes and focused my blurry vision, zeroing in on the direction from where the voice came from.

"...Don't hug me. Everything hurts."

"..."

Alea, who was about to put me in her embrace, stopped and sat back down, clearing her throat as though nothing had happened.

"...Pft."

I tried to laugh but ended up wincing from the pain.

"Welcome to the world, little baby."

Virion smirked as he cracked a joke.

"...Why did I have to see your face first?"

"...What's with you and faces?"

"Yours is just that ugly."

"Excuse you, but I was rather fine back in my day."

Virion closed his eyes and placed a hand on his chest. After a brief pause, he cracked an eye open.

"Wanna see a picture?"

"Yuck."

"Ew."

Alea and I responded simultaneously as we turned out heads away.

"..."

Virion deadpanned before sighing and sitting down.

"Alright, you rascals, let's get to business."

"...I just woke up; can't I get a break?"

"No."

"Tsk."

"Now tell me what exactly happened there."

I stared at the wizened elf and closed my eyes. What he wanted to know... was the specifics of what occurred within my body.

I explained to him the intense movement of mana in and out of my body as I augmented myself to keep up with Claire and how I began forming a singularity within my body and, as my acupoints grew closer and closer to the event horizon, I ended up almost killing myself.

"Hmmm... I see."

Virion nodded, and then Alea piped in.

"So, it seems we'll have to begin some proper mana control training soon."

"Yes, though I'd like to work on more acupoint control, at the rate he's growing, mana control will be far more essential."

"Agreed."

"What do you think..."

The two of them began talking about future torture— ah, I mean, training techniques.

I sighed and prayed to whatever god or gods existed in this world to spare me some mercy.

**

[The day after the award ceremony] (Sorry for skipping around so much...)

"Ehk."

The sun glared into my eyes, causing me to wince.

This was the last day I would be spending in Xyrus.

While contestants and their families were allowed to stay for up to two weeks after the competition, I wanted to go home. There was a ton of things I wanted to try now that I had a clue on where to start.

"...Are you ready?"

Fortunately, I wouldn't be taking the carriage again but instead, the portal reserved for Royal Family members. Royal Knights and Guards were allowed to use it as well, so that was what I was posing as.

Also, the revelation of my identity didn't pose as an issue since, as the world's attention was currently on me, the human royal family demanding custody of me would reflect poorly on their moral system as well as create tensions which were all things that Sapin and the world didn't need right now.

"Yeah."

I smiled and put on a helmet. Though I looked a bit funny with nothing but an oversized helmet, I wanted to look and feel the part as a guard.

"By the way... did you really have to cut your hair?"

I cut my hair during the day before the ceremony. Unfortunately, that weirdo buff guy spent almost 5 hours cutting my hair which was the reason why I was late. I honestly didn't know why it took so long but at least it looked good. Compared to my previous scruffy look with hair that fell down to my waste and pointed in all sorts of directions, my new cut with short bangs gave me a cleaner and more civilized look.

In any case, it seemed that Alea didn't like my new look.

"Why not? Long hair was getting stuffy anyways."

I gave my best response but Alea puffed her cheeks and looked away.

"..."

I sighed.

"Alright, I'll grow it out some."

Alea's lips curved up.

"It's a promis—"

"Excuse me!"

I turned over to the sudden voice.

"?"

It was... Bladeheart?

I took off my helmet.

"Can I help you?"

"Eh? Ah... um..."

It seemed she was hesitating.

"Well, uh..."

...Speak, girl.

"Ah! Would you come to the adventurer's guild one day?"

...Adventurer's guild?

I looked over to Alea, who had her hair tied up again. She shrugged and mouthed, 'must be a human thing.' I turned back and laughed awkwardly.

"...O-oh, yeah! Adventurer's guild, uhuh... sure, sure. As long as I have time..."

I just spouted whatever came to mind first.

"...That's a promise."

Claire looked at me with clear eyes.

"..."

Tsk, how do I deny eyes like those?

"Fine, fine."

I turned around, scratching the back of my head.

However, before I turned to join the entourage surrounding the royal family's carriage, I felt an urge to say something more. Was it perhaps gratitude for giving a great fight? Or something else like respect...?

"Then..."

I rolled my head back to look at Claire and smiled.

"...To our next meeting."

I turned away and put my helmet on, joining the guards surrounding the carriage.

A/N: Well, that's that Ig.

Thanks for reading!

Rua