78 Fate can be Cruel

~ Two Years Ago ~

Gal Farion sat meditating in the Ephemeral Sanctum, the innermost room of the Sword God Style Dojo. The only way to reach this room was to pass through the Sword God's personal quarters and only a very select few even knew of the Ephemeral Sanctum's existence.

The Sword God Style Dojo was built atop a hill beside the base of a large mountain at the very edge of the Holy Land of Swords. The personal quarters of each member were in the basement, carved down into the hill beside the mountain. The Sword God's room was the deepest and furthest back among all the rooms. The Ephemeral Sanctum reached even deeper still, to the point that it had been carved into the underground base of the mountain.

It would be fair to assume that these rooms were carved into the mountainside after the rest of the dojo had already been constructed, but that assumption would prove false. The truth is that the Ephemeral Sanctum was built first and the entire dojo is merely an extension from this one room.

The first Sword God, having reached the pinnacle of swordsmanship, felt troubled that he no longer had any goals to chase. It was as though he had lost his purpose. He had become one of the Seven Great Powers, a feat that brought him great pride. However, after losing a duel to the Dragon God, he had come to realize that there was only so much that a human could accomplish in such a short lifetime.

He was already getting up in years. Despite his flawless mastery over the sword, day by day he could feel his strength ebbing away. As a human this was his fate. The strength he fought so hard to obtain was being taken from him, and there was nothing he could do about it.

Then one day as he continued his aimless travels searching for a new purpose he came upon one of the monuments to the Seven Great Powers. The monument was built inside a cave at the base of a tall mountain. In the cave it stood on a small stone platform, about three meters in diameter, surrounded by flowing warm water. This was the source that fed the natural hot springs further down from the mountainside.

As the Sword God looked upon the monument and saw his motif, he was overtaken by memories of his past. The pride of all his accomplishments welled up within him once again and he sat in the warm cavern, a welcome break from the bitter cold outside, and meditated.

Once he finished his meditation, he realized what he needed to do. What his true purpose should be. A man only truly dies once he is forgotten. As things currently stand, all the techniques he spent his life mastering will die along with him. However, if he were to find disciples worthy of passing his knowledge to, all the techniques will live on through them.

On that day, the first Sword God decided that he would build a school here to teach his disciples the art of the sword. He built his dojo around this small cavern where he would often meditate. Over the years as new Sword Gods took his place and the dojo grew larger and extended out further and further, the natural terrain began to change around it as well. The mountain gradually began to sink below the frozen ground below it until the Ephemeral Sanctum could no longer be reached from the outside.

Even now the current Sword God still meditates in this very same room as the first Sword God. At this point the Ephemeral Sanctum could be considered a holy place for practitioners of this style.

Gal Farion was meditating early in the morning before he left to address his disciples in the Space of the Present, just as he did every other morning. Today, however, his meditation was interrupted by an unwelcome hum.

Shocked by the unexpected humming, Gal turned around to see the monument to the Seven Great Powers emitting a strange glow. After just a couple seconds, the glow dissipated and the monument returned to its normal state, but with one glaring difference. The motif beside his own, the one belonging to that of the North God, had disappeared and been replaced by another unknown to him.

'What!? What is going on? Was the North God really defeated!?'

Gal's mind was racing with excitement for the prospect of a change in the Seven Great Powers.

'I don't believe it. This is unheard of! Aside from my ascension to Sword God, this is the first time in my life I've seen a change among the Seven Great Powers! Even in my case it wasn't really a change since it was merely one Sword God Replacing another...'

As Gal studied the monument however, his excitement slowly began to get replaced with annoyance.

'The... Magic God? A magician? That doesn't make any sense. There's no way a magician defeated Kalman III.'

Over the next couple days some of Gal's disciples could tell that something was bothering him and eventually Timothy questioned him about it.

"Eh. Yeah, something has been bothering me. I'm sure you'll hear about it sooner or later anyway so I might as well tell you. The North God has taken down."

"What? Really? By who? Was it the Water God? It was Reida, wasn't it!"

"No. It wasn't Reida. It wouldn't be bothering me if it was her. Sure I'd find it surprising, but at least it would be somewhat understandable."

"Then who was it?"

"That's just it. I have no idea. The only clue I have is that they're known as the 'Magic God'."

"The Magic God?"

At this point, some of the other disciples had overheard part of their conversation and now a small crowd of excited students had formed around them, eager for gossip.

"That's impossible!", Timothy rebuked. "There's no way a magician could have beaten the North God."

"That's Right! He must have cheated!", one of the other students could be heard from the crowd.

"I bet he ambushed him while he was sleeping!", another said.

"Yeah, a mage stands no chance against a swordsman in a duel. There's no way he could have won fairly!"

Everyone in the room agreed and began mocking the cowardly mage who would dare steal the North God's rank using such cheap tactics. Everyone except for one person that is.

Gal could understand where his disciples were coming from. It made no sense that Kalman III would lose to a magician. Unlike his disciples, however, Gal happened to know the North God Personally. Kalman wasn't one to fall prey to an ambush, and even if he did, his battle Aura was nothing to scoff at. A normal mage would struggle to even scratch him. And then, even IF the mage managed to injure him, Kalman III was a member of the immortal demon race. The only way to defeat him would be to strike a mortal blow or the wound would quickly heal. All of these facts told Gal one important fact. This mysterious magician wasn't someone to be underestimated. Regardless of what circumstances led to his victory, or what tactics he used, he won the title fairly as far as Gal was concerned.

"Timothy!", Gal called out to his brother in law.

"Y-yes!?"

"I need your help with something."

"Sure. Anything you ask."

"Find out everything you can about this Magic God. See if you can track him down. If you manage to find him, send him my way. I'd like to meet him."

"Yes! Of course master. I'll leave first thing tomorrow morning!"

True to his word, Timothy made arrangements to have another member of the Britts Family, a Sword King, take over management of his dojo and he left the Holy Land of Swords the very next day.

As he walked the snowy path southward leading out of the Holy Land of Swords, Timothy couldn't help but grin in excitement at the prospect of meeting the mysterious magician who stole the North God's rank.

As Timothy traveled the country alone, in addition to setting aside time for his strict daily training regimen, he often spent his time wondering about the mysterious Magic God. He imagined himself killing the foolish mage and becoming one of the Seven Great Powers himself. He mused over the thought of having two Sword Gods at once. How would that even display on the monument? Would there be two motifs for the Sword God or would he gain his own unique title?

The only lead Timothy had for tracking down the Magic God is the fact that he must have met the North God. Unfortunately, it was well known that the North God had a habit of wandering around the world from place to place seemingly at random, so this lead didn't amount to much.

Still though, Timothy traveled from town to town, from city to city, stopping at every Adventurer's Guild or local hotspot to try and pick up as much information as he could. Any lead whatsoever on either the Magic God or the North God was welcome. It didn't help that almost everybody had never even heard of the Magic God. It didn't take long for the excitement that filled Timothy at the start of this quest to be replaced by weariness and despair.

Despite the fact that he felt his efforts were fruitless and that he was completely wasting his time, his pride prevented him from returning home empty handed. He had to find some clue, some sliver of information. Anything.

Finally, after a full year of searching, Timothy's resolve finally began to crack. He had enough. Whoever this Magic God was obviously didn't want to be found. He'd nearly traveled across the entire central continent and had nothing to show for it. He stopped by the stables and paid his fare to ride all the way back to the Holy Land of Swords.

As he rode in the carriage he fell into a deep depression. The thought of returning to his home after being gone for nearly a year with nothing to show for it... the humiliation that awaited him... he almost didn't want to go back. He couldn't even muster the willpower to continue his training regimen. He just slouched back in the carriage and wallowed in self pity as he cursed his misfortunes.

Several other passengers joined and left during his route back home. It was on the last stop before crossing the Red Dragon's Upper Jaw when an equally depressed looking man climbed onto the carriage and sat across from him. The man slumped back into the opposite corner of the carriage, rested his hand on his chin as he stared blankly out the window, not saying a word to Timothy.

The two of them sat silently during the carriage ride up until a large commotion could be heard outside as they were surrounded by bandits.

Needless to say, Timothy made short work of the ragtag crew, venting his frustrations on the poor bandits, not letting a single one escape.

When he returned, he found his fellow passenger still in the carriage looking a lot more alert than he had on the ride up until this point.

"Is it... Is it over?"

"Yeah. Was just a bunch of bandits. I took care of them."

"Y-you did? T-thank you!"

"Huh? Oh. Don't mention it", Timothy responded as he slouched back into position.

"So. Uh. I take it you're a swordsman? Are you an adventurer heading north to look for work?"

"No."

"I see...", the man looked away awkwardly. "My name's Aaron. What's yours?"

"Ugh...", Timothy let out an annoyed sigh, not so subtly hinting that he didn't want to talk. "Timothy."

"So... uh... where are you headed?"

"..."

"Well... um... I'm headed to the Magic Academy in Sharia. I'm supposed to be the official aide for a princess, believe it or not!"

"A princess?", Timothy said, ever so slightly interested.

"Yeah", Aaron said, excited to get a response. "We had gotten separated shortly after setting out from Shirone. I couldn't go back home after losing track of the princess. I'm certain they'd have my head! So I've had to travel all the way across the continent while having to raise funds to pay for my travel all by myself!"

"Sounds rough", Timothy said while beginning to lose interest.

"I know! All because of that stupid so-called 'Magic God'!"

"WHAT!!!!!?", Timothy stood up and bonked his head on the roof of the carriage.

"Eh!?", Aaron flinched back in surprise.

Timothy leaned forward and grabbed him by the shoulders while staring directly into his face.

"THE MAGIC GOD! WHO IS HE!?"

"Huh!? I-it was just some kid!"

"A kid!? The Magic God is a child!?"

"What? No? I mean... I don't know?"

Timothy began to shake poor Aaron by the shoulders as he interrogated him.

"What do you mean, no? Is he a kid or not? Who is he?"

"I don't know! I don't know! It was just some kid who the princess fancied!"

"The Magic God wooed the princess of Shirone? He must have put her under some sort of spell. What was the princess' name!"

"Princess Aurora! Princess Aurora of the Shirone Kingdom!"

Finally Timothy released his grasp on Aaron's shoulders and leaned back into his seat as he tried to compile this new information.

"About how old was this kid?", Timothy continued.

"Umm... I'm not sure. Maybe ten or eleven? He looked pretty young."

Aaron began nursing his sore shoulder which he thought might be dislocated.

"Would you recognize him if you saw him again?"

"Y-yes. Yes I would."

"Excellent! I'm going to need you to come with me. I need to introduce you to the Sword God."

"Wha? The Sword God? What are you talking about? I need to get back to Princess Aurora!"

"Forget about that! I'll pay you twice what she was! You're coming with me!"

Needless to say, Aaron was stuck well past his stop and continued on the carriage ride alongside Timothy all the way back to the Holy Land of Swords.

Timothy dragged him all the way up to the doors of the Sword God Style dojo on which he loudly knocked as he stood proud waiting to show off his triumph.

After a short while, someone Timothy didn't recognize answered the door. The man looked him over suspiciously.

"Can I help you?"

"Yes. Let us in! I am Sword Emperor Timothy Britts! I need to speak to the Sword God immediately!"

"Yes. Of course! I'm sorry sir. Please come in!"

While the man didn't recognize Timothy, he definitely knew of the Britts family and could tell that the sword he carried was quite valuable.

Timothy and Aaron, who was shivering from the cold due to not being properly equipped with winter traveling gear, walked through the dojo until they reached the Space of the Present.

"Sir! I've returned!", Timothy performed the Sword God Style bow to his brother and master as he introduced himself.

"Timothy? Ah. Welcome back. What took you so long? I had only expected you to be gone for a month at most."

Timothy flinched at the response, but continued on anyway.

"I've returned with information regarding the Magic God!"

"Oh? Interesting." Gal turned to address the students he had been training and directed them to continue their practice on their own.

"Brother, come. Let's discuss what you've learned."

Timothy followed Gal to his personal quarters while also dragging a very intimidated Aaron along with him.

"First off... who is this?", Gal questioned while glaring over at Aaron.

"Ah, let me introduce you! This is Aaron. He is in the employ of the Shirone Kingdom!"

Gal continued glaring at the two of them unimpressed.

"Aaron, let me introduce you to my brother, Gal Farion! The Sword God!"

"U-uh... Hi...", he just barely managed to squeak out.

"What I mean is why did you bring him here", Gal questioned with obvious annoyance.

"He has met the Magic God and told me all about him!"

"Oh? Go on..."

"It would seem that the Magic God is a small child, about ten years old. Or no? I guess he would be eleven or twelve by now."

Timothy continued his speech, oblivious to his brother's stern frown.

"The boy has placed Princess Aurora under some sort of love spell and has manipulated her into following him to Sharia!"

"Timothy!"

"Yes?"

"What the FUCK are you talking about!?"

"Eh!?"

"A small child? A princess? Some love spell? And who the fuck is this? Did you just find some random guy and believe everything he said at face value!?"

"Eep!", Aaron backed away in fear. "I'm sorry! He made me come here! I just want to go home..."

"Brother! I know it's hard to believe, but trust me! That's why nobody else has heard any word about the Magic God! Nobody would expect it to be a young child!"

Gal turned and looked towards Aaron, his rage apparent on his face.

"You!"

"Y-yes Sir!", Aaron replied as he bowed so low that his head almost hit the ground.

"GET OUT OF HERE!"

"Eek!"

Aaron turned around, slipping and falling on his way out as he ran back the way he came, bursting back out the doors of the dojo at a full sprint.

"Timothy, follow me."

Gal guided a nervous Timothy back into the Space of the Present where he re-introduced him to the new recruit that had welcomed Timothy into the Dojo.

"Claude, this is my brother Timothy."

"Yes. We met just a moment ago. It's an honor to meet you, Timothy!"

"Indeed. Well met."

Timothy brushed him off as he continued to try and convince the Sword God.

"If you would just let me explain..."

Ignoring his brother's plea, Gal kept his focus on Claude.

"Claude here is a former Knight of Milis. He's got quite the interesting story to tell. Claude, if you would be so kind."

Claude explained to Timothy that he is the son of Cardinal Leblanc McFarlane of the Milis Church. Unfortunately, he had to flee the country of Milis after his father was indicted on false charges by the Pope.

The Cardinal's only weapon against the Pope, a Blessed Child with the ability to read minds, had been assassinated and ever since the Pope has been purging the church of the Cardinal's faction.

The part of this story important to the Sword God, however, had to due with rumors that Claude had overheard just prior to the assassination of the Blessed Child. Rumors had been spreading amongst the Temple Knights that the Grand Master of the Order of Instruction had met with a Superd! Naturally, gossip of this level spread like wildfire throughout the Knight Order.

Then, the very next day, while the first rumor was still making its rounds, another rumor popped up as well. Some of the Knights claimed to have heard that the Pope had met with a powerful mage known as the Magic God!

Then, two weeks later, the Blessed Child as well as her entire elite guard went missing. Their corpses were found a couple days later burnt beyond recognition in a large pit alongside their carriage.

The Cardinal arranged for Claude to flee the country and escape the Pope's purge. After fleeing Milis, with nowhere else to go, Claude, who had already achieved the level of Sword Saint, decided to make his way to the Holy Land of Swords to further hone his skill with the sword.

By the time Claude had finished telling his story, Timothy's face had gone deadpan. With this new information, he realized just how insane his story about a young child must sound.

"Now, what do you think, Timothy? Which sounds more likely to you? A Superd Assassin managing to take down the North God, or some ten year old kid that you heard about from some random bum you bumped into on the street?"

"I... I'm sorry", Is all Timothy could muster.

"Timothy...", Gal uttered in a low tone. "I think it would be for the best if you took some time off. Go home and rest. Spend some time with your family."

"Y-yes. Yes, I will do just that. I'm so sorry to have bothered you."

Timothy turned around with his head down in shame before clenching his fist and promising himself that he would track down Aaron and kill him.

"Oh, one more thing", Gal called out.

"Yes?", Timothy said as he unclenched his fist and turned around.

"Don't go killing that bum you dragged in here. I don't want to have to deal with your mess."

Timothy just stared back blankly for a moment before finally answering in a completely defeated tone.

"Yes. I understand."

~Back to Present Day ~

It's been six months since then. Timothy has done everything in his power to put the shame of what happened behind him. He tried his best to forget about what happened, and made certain that his disciples never spoke of it as well.

He is now back to managing his own dojo and taking on new apprentices of Advanced rank and below to try and prepare them to one day reach Saint level so they could train in the main Sword God Style Dojo.

But now, after everything that happened to him, after he managed to erase those events from his mind and put it behind him, now this young girl barges in talking about some young boy who she claims defeated the North God at the age of eleven... Fate is a cruel mistress indeed.