Early Years: The Beginning After the End: (Remastered Edition), page 15
With that settled, I placed Sylvie on the ground beside me and prepared for the morning’s training. For the next four months, my training would consist of learning to utilize the power of Sylvia’s will, as well as condensing my mana core into the next stages.
“Accessing the first phase is simple, yet may take a lifetime if comprehension of your beast’s will does not come naturally. While your mana core is only dark red, your body right now should already be beyond that of a dark-orange-stage mage. Since the ceremony, you should be able to feel a small area inside your mana core, which holds the will. It’s best to reach the acquire stage through your own learning, not by being taught. In my experience, the best way to trigger your beast will is through continuous combat.”
“Makes sense to me,” I replied, already stretching my body.
“Good!” he said with a confident smirk on his face. “Let’s fight.”
The days went by quickly, as I was completely immersed in training. I was able to access my first phase, but I wouldn’t be able to use it in an actual fight until I gained more control over it. Virion also taught me how to conceal my beast will so other mages wouldn’t detect it. After the assimilation, my mana cultivation grew by leaps and bounds.
Sylvie didn’t seem to change much as the weeks went by, other than developing tiny wings becoming even more intelligent. Her vocabulary was still limited, but it was much easier for us to understand each other. I spent a lot of time with Tess—she dragged me out with her every free moment we had, trying to make as many memories as possible before I left. We went to holiday festivals, visited Tess’s favorite shops, and took part in other everyday activities of elven life, meeting scores of people at every event.
Then, just like that, the four months, once so far away, had passed.
Dressed in a simple olive-green long-sleeve tunic and black pants, with the feather wrapped around my forearm, I came out of my room. Grandpa Virion and Tessia were waiting for me outside.
“Arthur, take care,” he said. “We’ll find some way to contact you and stay in touch.” He handed me a small oval compass made of silver. “Take this with you so you can navigate through the Forest of Elshire if you’re ever in the area. Or maybe you can just find another princess to lead you back,” he said with a wink.
“Grandpa!” Tessia yelled, smacking her grandfather.
“Ouch! It was a joke, little one!” Grandpa Virion yelped while rubbing his side.
“As the heads of state, Alduin and Merial will be attending the tournament, but Tess and I won’t be going. This will be the last time we’ll see each other for a while. Until next time, Arthur!” He grabbed me in a strong hug, almost knocking Sylvie off my head.
“I’ll miss you, Art,” Tess sniffled, tears lining her eyes. “Be sure to come visit again! Don’t go chasing after human girls, okay? Promise me, okay?”
I hugged my dear friend and patted her head, which was awkward since she was still taller than I was. “We’ll see each other again soon. And you’d better be stronger than me the next time we meet, Tess! With Gramps teaching you, you’ll have no excuse.”
She gave me a feeble nod, either unable or unwilling to speak past the sniffling.
I waved goodbye, then followed behind Merial and Alduin, who each gave me a sympathetic smile. I hadn’t really spent much time with the king and queen, but we were comfortable with each other, and I hoped that, next time I visited, I would be able to develop a closer relationship with them.
I got into the carriage with the elf representatives, while the king and queen were escorted into a separate carriage.
“Well, look who it is!” An elf boy wearing a highly decorated purple robe smirked at me. “If it isn’t the human thug. Did the royal family finally kick you out of the kingdom?”
“I’m sorry, do I know you?” I felt like I should know this elf, but I couldn’t quite put my finger on where we might have met. Meanwhile, Sylvie was growling, pointing her horns in his direction.
He bolted up angrily, pointing an accusing finger at me. “I’m the noble you mercilessly attacked in defiance of the customs of the duel!”
It suddenly clicked. “You’re the bug I sent tumbling!” I yelled in realization—a bit louder than I had meant to.
“You dare…?” His face turned bright pink and his ears twitched profusely in anger. A few elves behind him desperately tried to cover their snickering. “You may have gotten away with cheating when we were children, but were we to duel again, I would win easily.”
“Ah—sorry, sorry. I didn’t mean to say that. I can’t recall your name, though.” I extended my hand.
Face still red, trying to preserve what little dignity he had left, he rejected my handshake and declared pompously, “I am Feyrith Ivsaar III, descendant of the noble Ivsaar family.”
A young elf girl—perhaps a few years older than Feyrith—piped up, saying, “You can just call him Feyfey like we do.”
“Don’t tell him that!” Face turning an even darker shade of red, Feyfey turned his head away and took a seat.
I sat down next to Feyfey and gave him a sympathetic pat, and he responded by angrily smacking my hand away.
Our carriage went through the teleportation gate with the now-familiar sensation of the world being pulled away from us.
“We have arrived in Xyrus,” the driver announced.
Taking a quick peek out, I saw a throng of people surrounding us, all politely clapping at our entrance. This tournament was intended to improve the difficult relationship between humans and elves throughout the continent. It wasn’t just about gathering gifted youths of all species together, but also building a future where they could learn under one roof. It was an exciting venture the nations’ leaders were embarking on and would hopefully be a turning point in interspecies relations, but it was also an intimidating move which would, no doubt, be filled with disputes and hostility.
After passing through the crowd, the driver pulled the carriage up to a small gap between two buildings and signaled to me that this would be the best time for me to leave without being noticed.
I said goodbye to Feyfey and the rest of the representatives and wished them luck. Feyfey merely whipped his head away, but he also gave me a slight wave. Jumping down from the carriage, Sylvie still perched on my head, I made my way through the alleyway and tried to remember what my parents’ home had looked like.
After an hour of wandering around, I finally managed to find the huge manor where they were supposed to be residing.
“We’re home. Sylv. We’re finally home,” I muttered shakily under my breath.
“Kyu?” she said, as if to say, “I thought we were at home before.”
I dusted off my shirt and pants, walked carefully up the flight of stairs, and took one deep breath. Then I knocked on the giant double doors.
Chapter 17
Family
It was a strange feeling—I was more nervous now, seeing my family again, than when I had first been appointed a king amidst the most powerful people in the world.
“Whew. Let’s do this, Sylvie.”
“Kyu,” she responded, my excitement spreading to her.
The dull clang of metal on metal rang surprisingly loudly.
I could hear faint pitter-patter sounds followed by a childish voice. “Coming!”
A maid opened the door, with a little girl standing next to her. Immediately upon seeing me, the child hid behind the maid.
The maid looked at me curiously, evidently surprised to see an eight-year-old knocking at the door of a noble’s estate.
I cleared my throat. “Hello. My name is Arthur Leywin. I believe my family is currently residing in this manor. May I speak to them?” I gave a slight bow, Sylvie rocking on my head.
Before the confused maid could even respond, I heard an all-too-familiar voice in the background.
“Eleanor Leywin! There you are! You have got to stop running to the front door every time someone…”
Upon seeing me, my mother stopped mid-sentence and dropped a small bowl of what looked like food for… my sister?
I looked down at the girl whose dazzling brown eyes gazed at me with innocent curiosity. Her shimmering ash brown hair was tied into pigtails on each side of her head, just above her ears. It was much prettier than Father’s hair, but I knew who she had inherited the color from.
I struggled to tear my eyes away from my little sister and turned to face my mother. My vision going blurry from the tears that filled my eyes, I said the one thing I knew she was waiting to hear.
“Hi, Mom. I’m home.” I gave a small, awkward wave, not knowing what I would do if she didn’t recognize me.
But my fears were unfounded. She raced toward me at a speed that seemed even faster than Grandpa Virion’s, but that might have just been because of my blurry vision.
“Oh, my baby! Arthur!” She arrived in front of me and collapsed to her knees, her arms around my waist. She gripped me with all her strength, as if afraid that I might disappear again if she let go.
“You’re alive! The voice… I knew it was you! You’re back now! Yes, you’re home now. Arthur, my baby!” Her sniffles became sputters, then she broke into sobs.
I couldn’t even manage a complete sentence; I kept my lips tightly shut to hold back my own sobs.
With my head buried in my mother’s shoulder, I thought, You can be an all-powerful, immortal tyrant, but in front of your loved ones, the ability to control your emotions eludes you.
I kept repeating in half-gurgled exclamations that I was alive, that I was home, that I wasn’t leaving. My mother was a flurry of emotions. She was ecstatic that I was alive and home; she was mad that I hadn’t come back sooner; she was sad at the thought of how long I’d been away from them and how hard it must have been for me—all at the same time.
Eleanor had joined us and was patting Mother’s back. “Mama. There, there. Don’t cry.” When her attempts at comforting our mother were unsuccessful, Eleanor began crying right along with us.
“Arthur!”
I turned my head, my face still wet with tears, and saw the sprinting, sweat-drenched figure of my father. The maid must have told him I had returned.
He didn’t stop until he reached us, and then he simply slid on his knees, hugging us all until we nearly toppled over.
“Arthur! My son! Look how big you are. By the gods! You’re back, you’re back!” My father was cupping my head in his hands to get a better look at my face. Then he broke down, placing his large hand on the back of my head and bringing my forehead to touch his.
It must have been quite a scene: my mother sobbing uncontrollably, embracing me; my oblivious little sister crying with her; my father and I just looking at each other with tears in our eyes—all of us indescribably glad that we were finally together.
Eventually, we all managed to settle down. My mother pulled me to sit next to her on the couch, Eleanor on her lap. Father took a seat in a chair he had pulled up, facing me, his elbows on his knee as he leaned forward. Mother was holding my hands as if afraid to let go, and the tears welled up anew every time she looked at my face.
“Are you all right? Did you get three meals a day? You slept well and dressed warmly every day, right? Oh, my baby. Look how big you are now.” Tears escaped her eyes as she smiled at me. She stroked my hair and planted a soft kiss on the crown of my head. “Thank goodness you’re back. I’m so happy,” she whispered, her voice still trembling.
Eleanor, calmer now, was watching Sylvie and me curiously; the baby dragon was sitting next to me, attentively observing the three unfamiliar humans.
My father kept looking at Sylvie with a strange expression, but he didn’t mention her. His gaze would return to me, and his eyes would soften. He kept shaking his head, repeating how big I was now. It must have been a fulfilling yet miserable feeling for him, as a parent, to see how big his son had gotten but know he hadn’t been there with me to witness it.
“Ellie, say hi to your big brother. He was away for a while, but he’ll live with us from now on. Come on, say hello,” my mother gently urged my sister.
“Bruh-der?” She tilted her head, reminding me of a confused Sylvie.
She cupped her hands over my mother’s ear and whispered something.
“Yes,” my mother laughed, “that big brother. The one I always told stories about. He’s the one.”
My sister’s eyes were sparkling as she looked at me. I couldn’t help but wonder what stories Mother had told her.
“Hi, bruhder!” she said, beaming, and waved both of her little hands at me.
“Hello, Eleanor. It’s nice to meet you… sister.” I laughed and patted her head.
Father spoke up now. “Arthur, we were devastated after… that incident—we could barely believe it when you contacted us that first time. Tell me, how did you survive the fall?”
It took a while for me to explain everything from the beginning, and I withheld some information that I thought it best not to tell them just yet. I explained that I had subconsciously wrapped myself in a protective layer of mana and was lucky enough to hit a bunch of branches on the cliff before landing in a stream. I told them about meeting Tess and how she had been kidnapped; how, after I had rescued her, she’d led me to her kingdom and how I had been welcomed there.
“You said something about an illness that kept you from coming back sooner. What was that about? Are you well now?” my mother asked anxiously.
Shaking my head, I explained, “You don’t need to worry about that. I guess there was some sort of instability in my mana core that gave me episodes of pain. It was really bad at first, but luckily, there was an elder who knew how to cure it. It was a slow process, but he assured me it wasn’t life-threatening, if treated properly.”
Relief replaced her prior worried look, and she silently patted my head again.
“So what’s the story with this little friend of yours?” my dad asked with a chuckle, looking at Sylvie.
“While I was travelling, I stumbled into a mana beast’s den. She was badly injured, and she died shortly after I arrived. She seemed to have been guarding something, so I picked it up, thinking it might be something valuable. I didn’t know it at the time, but it was an egg. The egg hatched only a couple of months ago, so she’s still a baby. Say hi to Sylvie.”
I picked her up, her limbs dangling like a kitten’s in my hands.
“Kyu!” she purred, as if greeting everyone.
I wasn’t telling my family the whole truth, of course, but I had already promised myself I would tell them everything only after I was older and more capable.
I then asked them to update me on everything that had happened after we had been separated. The only thing I knew—which I had seen through the water divination—was that they lived here in Xyrus, but nothing more, and I was exceptionally curious.
Father summarized the events of their last few years, and then my mother chimed in. “That’s right! The Helstea family is away on a trip, but they should be returning today. They’re going to be so surprised when they see you, Art!”
I turned to face my mother. She hadn’t changed much since I’d last seen her, though she had lost a bit of weight and was slightly paler in complexion. My heart ached for her; I knew this was a result of the stress and depression of losing me. Father, however, seemed to be in much better shape now than he had been, probably as a result of his work as an instructor for the Helstea Auction House guards. His new physique, coupled with his beard, made him look much more rustic than he had before.
“Dad. What color is your mana core now?” I asked as Sylvie resumed her place on the top of my head, tail swishing in contentment.
A confident grin spread across my father’s face, and he proudly replied, “Your old man broke through the light-red stage a few years back. I’m a dark-orange mage now.”
I raised my eyebrows in surprise. In his early thirties, my father was doing pretty well for himself. The average mage who didn’t attend school usually stagnated at the red stage—perhaps light red if they were lucky. Of course, it was different for the elites, who had a much purer lineage and access to better resources, but for a standard mage, my father was doing very well indeed.
He then leaned closer and said, “I bet you only asked me that so you could brag yourself. Let’s hear it: What stage are you at now?”
Scratching my cheek, I mumbled, “Light red.”
My father had already been leaning forward in his chair, but upon hearing that, he jerked in surprise and tumbled completely out of it. Even my mother let out a gasp of surprise.
“Holy shit!” my father exclaimed.
“Shet!” Eleanor echoed, laughing at my father falling.
“Honey! What did I say about cursing in front of Ellie?” my mother reprimanded him, blocking my sister’s ears.
“Sorry. Sorry! Ellie, don’t listen to what your papa just said.” He then turned back to me.
“My son—still the same genius he always was. Come on. Have a quick spar with your old man.” My father grinned menacingly and clasped my shoulders.
“Dear! He just got home. Let him rest.” Mother pulled me back.
“It’s fine, Mom.” I gently placed my hand on top of hers, giving her a reassuring smile.
“Men! Always trying to fight. Isn’t that right, Ellie?” My mother shook her head helplessly.
“Papa and bruhder are men!” echoed Ellie, trying to mimic our mother’s expression, and Father and I both laughed this time.
It was good to be back.
We had just stood up to move to the backyard when I heard the door open.
“Rey! I just heard your son was alive. What the hell is going on?” A thin, proper man with glasses and neatly parted hair was standing there, sweating in his suit, his wife and daughter—or so I assumed—running in behind him.
“Vincent, everyone! I would like you to meet my son, Arthur. He’s back, Vince!”
My father wrapped his arm around the man’s shoulder.
“Arthur, this is Vincent Helstea, an old friend and the person I now work for. This is his house, so introduce yourself before we start wrecking it,” he added, grinning broadly.
