26 Side Quest - Dawn's Ballad
A dagger whistled past Arthur's hair followed by another directed towards his guts. The sharp edge of the dagger was dulled with mana. Arthur's body caved in as he dodged the stab towards his guts and blocked the other one with his mana infused arm.
"Watch out for feints", Jasmine spoke as she spun violently on her heel and directed a kick at his heels. Arthur replied by jumping in the air and flipped backwards. Jerking her head back, Jasmine avoided the kick directed at her chin. Landing on his feet, Arthur pushed the ground once again and dashed in her direction. Once again she bent and lunged the dagger in her dominant arm at him. Using her body as an extension of the blade—like a spear -- she arched the blow at his chest while continuing a closeby attack with the hilt of the other dagger, blocking any escape.
Arthur stomped the ground. A crevice ran through the lush carpet as Jasmine stumbled. With her going off-balance, Arthur decided to take a quick advantage, directing a blow at her abdomen. As soon as his fist neared her solar plexus a whistling arc of dagger stopped him and he retreated but was blown away by a gust of wind.
Falling on his bum, Arthur looked up at Jasmine and raised his hands up. Jasmine stopped and quickly sheathed her daggers. "You said no mana", Arthur complained as placed both of his hands back on the ground. His medium-long hair fell on his face as he looked at her through the vibrant curtain of Auburn. "You used earth," Jasmine replied shortly and sat right beside him.
Arthur continued to look at the azure blue sky lined with silver-grey clouds. The coruscating streaks of the sun had turned orange with hints of pink, turning it into a lighter shade of saffron. "Thinking about something, again?" Jasmine asked, turning her head towards Arthur whilst hugging her knees.
Arthur regarded her for a short moment. Over the course of the last 2 months he had gotten close to Jasmine, surprisingly so. Taking his eyes off of her, he continued, "I was thinking about getting a weapon now," he replied.
Jasmine's whole face lit up, a sudden excitement running through her stoic face as she sat in front of him, "Really?"
"I have been thinking about it for quite a while and I think I need a weapon now", Arthur replied as he cocked his head sideways, "probably not daggers."
Jasmine's shoulders slumped, "So, what are you planning?"
"I need a sword... and 2 months. I will catch up", Arthur spoke as he stood up, looking at the sun hiding in the horizon.
(***)
"Brotheeeer," Ellie's excited squeal echoed in the wide manor as she saw Arthur walk inside the huge doors of Helstea's Mansion. Every head turned into her direction as they saw a boy much taller than kids his age. His auburn bangs fell on his face in a dishevelled state. He was wearing a black shirt with full sleeves and black pants—truly simple yet decent. The darker shade in his sapphire eyes became lighter as he saw his little sister.
Scooping down he picked her up from under her shoulders. Picking her up he held her up in the air, his hands extending above his head. Ellie hovered in the air in his grip as she giggled. Arthur looked up at her to meet her gaze, his impassive face cracking for a fraction of a second. He was still confused as to what he was doing was actually the right way to treat a sibling or wrong. However, that didn't stop him from trying his best to fit in and act normal.
(This is how he look)
Placing her down, he placed a hand over her head and patted it as her small figure hugged him, "Welfom vack", her words were jumbled as her face was buried inside Arthur's stomach. Everyone laughed loudly as Arthur looked up. His mom was the first to arrive followed by his dad. Both of them embraced their children in a bear hug.
"Welcome back, son," Reynolds spoke as Alice cupped Arthur's cheeks, slightly caressing it and then joined the hug once again. Closing his eyes, Arthur tried to feel it. The rumoured warm feeling of familial love. It was bare minimum but it was there. He could feel the confines around his heart loosen up... for the little family of his—his little sister, loving mother and the goofy-ahh father.
(A/n Aight, my bad. I just... well, nm.)
After a long moment of the fervent reunion they all parted, letting the Helsteas greet Arthur. Lilie stood in the back as she waved at Arthur slightly. Arthur replied with a feeble wave of hand of his own.
"Welcome back, Arthur. While you were gone a lot of things happened," Vincent Helstea spoke. Looking down at Ellie he could see the fragments that form the basic composition of a mana core gravitating towards her sternum. Although he did nothing for her, she was still going to awaken earlier than most humans her age.
Looking back up at Lilia, a shimmering dark red ball of mana rested in her sternum. Her eyes widened as she felt Arthur looking at her core but then a huge smile formed on her face. "Congratulations," Arthur said looking at Lilia and then at Vincent. Vincent's shoulders slumped, "Of course he knows. I wanted to announce my daughter's awakening myself in the grandest of ways," Vicent spoke in a sad tone as Tabitha and everyone else bursted out laughing at him.
Arthur stood there, feeling like a criminal for ruining his surprise. "However, I must thank you for all of this, Arthur. Thank you for teaching Lilia the method to awaken early," he said and slid an arm around Arthur. "I must ask... how did you know such a miraculous method?"
"Who knows?"
"..."
"..."
"..."
"..."
'What's wrong with them?'
'You should skim that habit of yours,' Sylvie replied mentally, emerging from the inside of his backpack.
'You should've stayed inside.' Arthur spoke mentally. Before Sylvie could respondEllie had already picked her up and sprinted away in the farthest corner of the mansion.
Arthur let out a sigh. "By the way, son. Why did you return so suddenly?" Reynolds asked as Alice looked at Arthur, waiting for his reply.
(***)
*****the next day*****
The door to Vincent's office opened as Arthur walked inside. Vincent was wearing his coat and hat as he got ready to head outside. "Ahhh, Arthur! You're here. I was about to call you. Let's go", Vincent said and Arthur nodded and started following him.
Walking through the hall, Arthur saw his mother—Alice, Tabitha and Lilia. Alice was holding Arthur's backpack in her hand. As he came closer, Alice took a step forward and extended a strap of the bag towards her. Sliding his arm into it Alice did the same for the other arm, "I've packed all necessary things and you're favourite stew too", she spoke and kissed Arthur's forehead.
Standing still he accepted it and continued looking at the ground, "Let's go, Arthur." Vincent said once again.
Arthur looked at the stairs and saw Sylvie running towards him.
'I am ready!' Sylvie transmitted mentally.
"Are you sure you don't want to meet Ellie, Arthur?" Alice asked in a worry-laced voice.
"She'll be sadder if she watches me leave", Arthur replied remembering the last time he left home. Saying that, he waved at his mother and walked outside following Vincent outside. It was finally the day he would select his first weapon in this world. Although using sound mana to explode organs or ripping hearts out with bare mana-infused hands was more practical, Arthur wanted to master a weapon too. Not to entirely depend on it, but to increase his arsenal.
(***)
*****AT HELSTEA AUCTION HOUSE*****
// Arthur Leywin //
Walking through the dimly lit corridors of the Helstea Auction House, I followed Vincent to the main storage room where all kinds of weapons were located. Arriving at the end of the spacious hallway, Vincent reached for the inside of his pocket and took out a bunch of keys. Finding the correct one, he unlocked the door and moved inside. Deciding on following him, I stepped inside the room too with Sylvie sitting on top of my head.
'See if you can find something useful,' I mentally transmitted to Sylvie as she hopped off my head. The room had all kinds of weapons ranging from spears to gauntlets ,claymores, hammers and even a morningstar. I walked over to the weapons on display behind the glass.
Vincent after seeing my staring at the azure coloured claymore walked in my direction, "You have a good eye. This sword can perfectly conduct ice element and boost the intensity of the output."
Taking the sword in my hand, I looked down at it. With partial activation of Realmheart flickering in and out of life in little bursts, I examined the sword. It was indeed a good conductor. Ice mana felt gravitating towards it and the mana compressor inside it seemed to act like a spring. By compressing the motes of ice mana and then releasing it, its intensity could increase. However, this wasn't an increase in output but rather something basic—an increase in vehemence of the already infused spell.
The hilt was cold at touch. However, it carried certain disadvantages. Claymore in essence was too big for me to wield. Although my physique was quite large as compared to all other kids my age, it was still not suitable for me. "Do you like it?" Vicent asked.
"I'll look around for a while more," I replied to him looking at Sylvie who went under a table. "Sure enough. You can look around and I have an errand to run. I will be back in the blink of an eye", Vincent said and bolted away in a hurry. Once Vincent completely disappeared from our sight, I walked over to Sylvie. "What did you find?"
Sylvie emerged from underneath the table with a huge black stick in her mouth. At first sight it looked like an ordinary stick, however, appearances can be deceiving. Placing one hand over where the hilt of a sword is supposed to be and another on the sheath, I pulled it. However, it stuck in its place—persistent.
I sighed and closed my eyes. My secondary core burned as Realmheart completely flared to life. Instead of materialising on my body, I infused Sylvia's draconic will inside the sword. It was a hypothesis and it worked well. The sword clicked and opened revealing a pristine teal sword.
However, this wasn't it. I could feel motes of purple inside the sword. Like it was forged in a place with high exposure to the purple motes—the fifth element. A certain curiosity bubbled inside me. Just as I was thinking of experimenting with the sword a cut formed in my finger and a drop of blood fell on the small insignia near the hilt of the sword. Suddenly, the whole sword shrinked in size, lost its extra mass and the tip curved with one sharp edge while the other got blunt. The teal sword was now a katana from my old world. Looking at the tip of the sword, I saw the words: W.k.IV etched on it.
However, I didn't stop there. Letting Realmheart still scald against my skin, I willed all of my strength, influencing the purple motes to move towards the sword. The motes inside the sword reacted to the subtle change in atmospheric motes. Suddenly, I felt my consciousness being drawn inside the sword. It was a strange phenomenon. But, I had experienced it before. The infusion of one's consciousness inside something else. I had experienced it with Sylvia when she imparted some of her knowledge about mana arts inside my mind.
The space around me warped once... and then twice before returning back to normal. But something had changed. Something inside me. It wasn't a change but rather it felt like I had an extra limb.
"Greetings master", A foreign, feminine voice ringed in my mind as I looked down at the sword in my hand. A sudden rush of feelings invaded my mind like a rising tide as I continued to look at the sword.
It was sentient!
"Yes, I am sentient. Although, I wasn't born sentient. I was a failed product who's life was Created by you," the sword spoke once again. Her voice seemed obedient—full of servitude. However, something was disrupting my thought process.
"Created?"
"Yes, it all happened when you..."
(*****)
(A/n HEYO EVERYONE. Ik, you don't like seeing me write more of this, but yeah, here is a chapter before time. No dungeons since I am still planning them, so here are some side quests for our dear Kiyotaka. There is no such thing in which Kiyo can't be good so here you go. He's got a new companion—Dawn's Ballad.
Well, that's all. See you all in Volume 03.
