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Condemned To Death
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16th September, 1507
The group made their way back to class, the hallways of the Academy bustling with students and the occasional instructors. Emma was animatedly discussing the upcoming mission with Kai and Finn, her excitement palpable. Finn, still riding the high of his earlier encounter with Aurora, chimed in with his own thoughts, while Kai listened intently, occasionally nodding in agreement. Susie, on the other hand, was lost in her own world, her mind racing with strategies on how to bind a soul to her Sentry pendant during the mission.
Seren, noticing that no one was paying particular attention to him, quickened his pace slightly. He weaved through the throng of students in the hallway with practiced ease until he reached Elise, who was walking a few steps ahead. He moved closer to her, ensuring his approach was subtle and unnoticed by the others. Leaning in, he whispered, his voice barely audible above the ambient noise, "I will have the materials for the gunpowder ready by tomorrow."
Elise was momentarily startled by Seren's sudden proximity and the unexpected topic. Without turning to look at him, she replied in a similarly low voice, "Alright, hand them to me tomorrow, and I'll start working on making the gunpowder at home."
Seren, however, had other plans. "No, I will come with you to your house. I want to see what the process for making gunpowder is," he insisted, his tone leaving little room for argument.
Elise frowned slightly, her mind racing with potential complications. Her little brother would undoubtedly have a field day if he found out she had brought a boy home, not to mention her mother's reaction. She was on the verge of rejecting his request when she heard something unexpected come from Seren’s mouth—an eager, almost child-like plea.
"Please," he said, his usual mature demeanor giving way to a rare glimpse of vulnerability.
Caught off guard by this uncharacteristic display, Elise found herself unable to refuse. The sincerity in Seren's eyes and the genuine curiosity in his voice disarmed her. She sighed softly, resigning herself to the potential chaos that might ensue. "Alright," she agreed, her voice barely above a whisper. "You can come with me tomorrow."
While this was happening, unknown to them, Susie had already sorted out her thoughts and saw both of them talking secretly to each other. She wanted to go and join in on the conversation but noticed that both of them were acting very differently from their usual behavior. She couldn’t help but think both Seren and Elise were closer to each other than she had thought. The way Seren leaned in to talk, and the way Elise responded without looking at him, made Susie’s heart clench unexpectedly.
‘Why do I feel anxious?’ Susie thought, her mind racing. She didn’t like this feeling and unconsciously felt a slight jealousy rise within her. She shook her head, trying to dispel the unwelcome emotions, but they lingered, gnawing at the edges of her thoughts.
...
“Arthur, do you have anything to say for yourself?”
The middle-aged superior with a wrinkled face, a black coat, and his hands behind his back said in a grave voice to Arthur, who was standing in front of him.
The office was dimly lit, the only light coming from a large window to the side, casting long shadows across the room. Hundreds of scattered sheets of paper covered the floor, and a desk behind the middle-aged man was cluttered with documents and books, giving the room a chaotic feel.
Both of them stood silently. The superior’s eyes bore into Arthur, who remained stoic, his hands clasped behind his back.
“Why did you kill those punishers when you clearly know we have a mutual peace agreement with the Ravens?” the superior demanded, his voice rising slightly.
“...they were abusing a child,” Arthur said in a plain voice, his gaze fixed on a spot on the floor.
The superior’s face contorted with anger at Arthur’s response. He took a deep breath, trying to calm himself, but his eyes remained dark with fury. He walked closer to Arthur, his footsteps echoing in the silent room.
“You think you're above the rules?” he said in a low, menacing voice.
Without warning, the superior grabbed Arthur’s collar and yanked him closer, their faces inches apart.
“Listen to me,” he hissed, his breath hot against Arthur’s face. “I have been nice to you all along, but one more mistake and I will be the first one to cut that damn thing off your shoulders and that child’s as well.”
Arthur didn’t flinch, his expression unreadable as he stared at the floor, refusing to meet his superior’s gaze. The superior held him there for a moment longer before letting go of his collar with a shove. He turned around and walked back to his desk. He placed his hand on the desk, over a few sheets of paper. The paper reacted to his touch, producing a blurry image of a small, scrawny child with black hair and dark, lifeless eyes.
“Go back to Glowhaven tomorrow and don’t come back to the surface unless you have concrete evidence of Raven’s involvement in the disappearance of the Elysium consortium,” the superior said in a calm voice, but there was a hint of a threat that made it seem like a warning.
“...yes,” Arthur replied, bowing slightly before turning around and leaving the office. As he walked out, the door closed behind him with a heavy thud, the sound echoing in the empty hallway.
Arthur stood silently in the hallway. Then a sweet voice cut through the tense atmosphere.
"Arthy, did you get chewed out by Major?"
Arthur turned to see Mia standing beside him, her presence a stark contrast to the gloomy mood of the office he'd just left. She stood just above 5'9", her mature figure accentuated by the same black and red coat Arthur wore. One hand rested casually on her slender hip, while her short golden hair cascaded slightly over her crystal blue eyes, catching the dim light of the hallway. A red ribbon hung from the side of her hair, adding a touch of femininity to her otherwise uniform appearance.
Arthur's face remained impassive, his voice flat as he responded, "Nothing much, I got let off with a warning."
Mia's slight smile turned into a frown, her eyes narrowing as she saw through his facade. "Who are you trying to fool? I heard everything loud and clear through the walls, you stone-faced stoic," she complained, her voice a mix of concern and exasperation.
Without a word, Arthur began walking down the hallway. Mia fell into step beside him, her face growing serious as she looked ahead. "...why did you risk saving that kid?" she asked, her voice softer now.
Arthur maintained his silence, his cold expression betraying nothing of his inner thoughts. The quiet between them stretched on, broken only by the sound of their synchronized footsteps.
"Is it related to your past?"
For a brief moment, Arthur's eyes lost their clarity, as if looking at something far away. Memories flickered behind his gaze before he blinked, his focus returning to the present. Suddenly, he stopped walking and turned to face Mia. His voice carried a hint of vulnerability as he asked, "Can you do me a favor?"
...
Across the village, as the day drew to a close, Seren walked along the bustling street. The setting sun painted the sky in vibrant shades of orange and red, casting long shadows across the shops and buildings still humming with activity.
Seren glanced to his side, noticing Susie's uncharacteristic silence. Her eyes were fixed on the ground, her expression unreadable. The usual spark in her eyes was dimmed, replaced by a thoughtful, almost melancholic look.
The walk home had been awkward, with Susie unusually quiet and Elise lost in her own thoughts. Elise's mind had been racing, torn between excitement and anxiety about Seren's impending visit to her home. Her usual daydreams of romance were overshadowed by practical worries about her family's reaction.
As they reached the point where their paths diverged, Elise said a hurried goodbye and ran off. She quickly disappeared around a corner, leaving Seren and Susie standing in silence.
Despite the awkward silence, Seren's mind was working on a different level. A hint of satisfaction flickered in his eyes, carefully hidden behind his usual stoic expression. 'Hehe, Susie likely saw me acting out of character with Elise,' he thought, a sense of accomplishment washing over him. This had been his intention all along - to plant a seed of doubt in Susie's mind about his relationship with Elise.
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Seren understood Susie's feelings for him. He knew she liked him, but he wanted to transform that like into love, to bridge the gap between a simple crush and deep, consuming affection.
The street lamps with lighting artifacts began to flicker on, casting a warm glow over the sidewalk as Seren broke the silence.
"I will be heading over to Elise's house tomorrow," he said, his voice casual but deliberate.
Susie's reaction was immediate. She stopped abruptly, her eyes widening as she looked up at Seren. "W-why?" she asked, her voice tinged with anxiety, exactly as Seren had anticipated.
"I have to do some 2-man practice with the Swift cloak relic and I also want to strategize about the mission as well," Seren replied smoothly.
"Then I will also come to help wit–" Susie began, her words tumbling out quickly before Seren cut her off.
"Don't you have to go back down to the lower village to meet your family?" Seren interjected, his voice taking on a reassuring tone. "Don't worry, I will fill you in on the details after you come back."
Susie's face fell, torn between her desire to go with Seren and also wanting to be with her family who she hadn’t seen in a long time. She clenched her small hands, her knuckles turning white as she nodded silently, a troubled look clouding her features.
Seren observed her internal struggle without offering comfort. He simply continued on his way home, leaving Susie standing there, her gaze fixed on the ground. As he walked away, a small, satisfied smile played at the corners of his mouth, hidden from Susie's view.
‘The more I pull away from you, the more you will desire me. It's a dance as old as time. That push and pull, the ebb and flow of attraction. But it's not just about playing hard to get or manipulation. No, it's far more complex, far more human than that.
When something - or someone - is just out of reach, don't we tend to want it more? It's like a antique locket in a shop window, or the last slice of chocolate cake. The moment it becomes scarce, its value skyrockets.
In relationships, this dynamic can be intoxicating, but also dangerous. It's the thrill of the chase, the excitement of pursuit.
Consider the man who has everything - wealth, status, power. Does he find peace? No! He is tormented by the thought of what he does not possess, by the thought of some intangible thing that forever escapes him. And the poor man? With nothing to his name - does he not dream of riches, of comfort, of respect? In the end, both are equally enslaved by their desires.
That’s what we humans are, slaves to our desires’.
...
The night had settled over the village, bringing with it a hushed silence broken only by the occasional rustle of wind through the trees. Inside their modest dwelling, Susie had already tucked herself into her bed. Seren sat against the wall, his eyes fixed on the window where blue rays from the moon filtered through, casting an ethereal glow across the dark room.
The dual moon system of this world had always fascinated Seren. The blue moon commonly appeared in the night sky but Its counterpart, the elusive red moon, was a rarity, appearing without any discernible pattern. Sometimes it would appear every other night, while other times it would vanish for months or even years.
As Seren pondered these mysteries, his thoughts were interrupted by the sound of Susie tossing and turning on the hard concrete floor.
'I should have made a bed and other basic furniture when I still had the Nano-craft Law,' He lampooned at forgetting something as basic as this when he had perfect memory.
Pushing this thought aside, Seren straightened his posture, crossing his legs and closing his eyes. He focused inward, his consciousness diving deep into his Mind Core. Within this mental space, a piece of slightly transparent cloth flickered in and out of existence - the duplicated Swift cloak relic he had created from Elise's original. Alongside it floated three other relics: the Luminar crystal, Guard talisman, and Raindrop relic.
But Seren's attention was drawn to three orbs floating within his Mind Core. Two shimmered with intricate, colorful patterns, while the third remained completely transparent, like a perfect sphere of glass. This was his target.
With practiced concentration, Seren tapped into his soul energy, flooding his Mind Core with an ethereal blue sea of power. His brows furrowed in intense focus as he directed this energy toward the transparent orb. The sphere reacted violently, absorbing the soul energy like a voracious black hole.
As Seren worked to create a Law that would allow him to manifest the raw materials for gunpowder, beads of sweat began to form on his brow. The room around him faded from his awareness, his entire being focused on this singular task. Minutes stretched into hours, the blue moonlight slowly shifting across the room as Seren remained motionless.
...
2 hours later, Seren finally opened his tired crimson eyes, a slight smile tugging at his lips.
‘Not bad. I can create quite a bit of raw materials with this and as for the name.... I don’t need to name this Law since I won’t be needing it much’. He then looked into his Mind Core and saw that almost half of the soul energy had been depleted to create the Law.
‘It should still be enough for a few batches of the materials. I remember Elise explicitly telling me the ratio for the materials is approximately 75% potassium nitrate, 15% charcoal, and 10% sulphur by weight’.
Seren then spent the next hour and a half creating the gunpowder materials. He would occasionally take breaks in between to catch his breath since it took quite a bit of energy just to produce 1 batch of material that could then be used to create 100 kg worth of gunpowder. In total by the end, he managed to produce 8 batches and placed all of them into the black square-shaped storage artifact he had bought in Glowhaven.
He then looked through the window and saw the blue moon hanging right above him.
‘Judging by the position, it should be 12:30 now. I should start getting ready to head to the hotel’.
Seren glanced at Susie’s sleeping form, her chest rose and fell in a steady rhythm, oblivious to the night's activities.
Satisfied that Susie was deep in sleep, Seren reached into his storage artifact and pulled out a plain white mask. The mask appeared unremarkable at first glance, its smooth surface betraying no hint of its true nature. Seren placed the mask over his face.
Instantly, a small red ball materialized before him, hovering in mid-air and emitting a soft, crimson glow. Seren's eyes narrowed as he studied this phenomenon.
Removing the mask, Seren watched as the red ball vanished as mysteriously as it had appeared.
'Sure enough, this ball is just an illusion produced by the mask,' he mused, his thoughts turning to the practical implications of using such a device in public.
Seren donned the mask once more. The red ball reappeared, floating serenely before him. This time, he reached out, his fingers extending towards the glowing orb. As his skin made contact with the illusory surface, an unexpected force took hold.
A powerful suction emanated from the ball, focused solely on Seren while leaving the surrounding environment untouched. The force grew in intensity as Seren channeled more soul energy into it, the pull becoming increasingly irresistible until eventually it sucked up his whole body into the tiny red dot.
Seren's vision turned dark before returning to normal after a short while. He blinked, taking in the familiar surroundings of the strange cave he had been in before entering Glowhaven. The cool, damp air filled his lungs as he breathed deeply. In the distance, just like before, the flickering light of the lantern caught his attention.
He started walking towards the light, his footsteps echoing softly in the cavernous space. The darkness enveloped him, broken only by the growing glow of the lantern. When he reached it, the flame within transformed into a small humanoid baby-like figure.
"Ahahaha Seren! how was Glowhaven? Did you like it?" The flame said, spreading out its tiny arms with a big smile on its face.
Seren smiled lightly as he said, "Yes, Uncle Lantern. It was quite the wild ride yesterday,"
The flame's expression suddenly changed, its fiery features contorting in a mix of surprise and embarrassment.
"D-don't call me that," it stuttered, clearly thrown off guard by the unexpected term of endearment.
Seren tilted his head, a confused expression crossing his face. He blinked innocently, as if not understanding the flame's reaction.
"You know... t-that thing you just called me... u-uncle lantern. Don't call me that..." The flame elaborated, its voice trailing off. Despite its words, there was an undercurrent of pleasure in its tone, and it averted its gaze from Seren, the flames flickering more rapidly in what seemed to be a blush.
Seren chuckled inwardly, finding the flame's reaction both cute and amusing. He decided to push a little further, channelling the stubborn determination he had watched Emma make back at the academy. "No, I like this name," he declared firmly. "Uncle Lantern gave me good advice yesterday, and only good people are that nice. I want to call you Uncle Lantern."
The flame seemed to sigh, its fiery form rippling with the motion.
"W-well, if you insist that much, I-I guess I will comply this one time," it conceded, putting on a helpless act that didn't quite hide its pleasure. Eager to change the subject, it asked, "But what brings you here today?"
Seren's eyes lit up with excitement, practically bouncing on his feet as he replied, "Uncle Lantern, guess what? I'm going on a date today!"
"Huh?" The lantern's flame flickered wildly, clearly taken aback by Seren's unexpected announcement. For a few seconds, an uncharacteristic silence fell over the cave.
Sensing the change in atmosphere, Seren's excitement dimmed. "Should I not go on it?" he asked, his voice laced with anxiety, fingers fidgeting with the hem of his shirt.
The flame seemed to collect itself, its form stabilizing as it considered its response. When it spoke, its voice was serious, tinged with concern. "No, it's fine if you want to go enjoy your youth," it began cautiously, "but I have to warn you that you have to be extra careful down here. There are some people here who will take advantage of naive children. You must absolutely avoid these people at all costs, you hear me."
The gravity in the flame's voice made Seren pause. ‘It might be a bit too much to play dumb in this situation’ He contemplated playing dumb but quickly decided against it.
"Yes, I will make sure to be more careful," he responded, his voice filled with determination.
The flame's features softened, a warm smile spreading across its fiery visage. "Alright then, go enjoy your date and don't make that girl cry. It would be quite embarrassing for your first date down here," it said, its tone lightening but still carrying a hint of worry.
Seren let out a short awkward laugh as he prepared to leave for his so-called date.
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Condemned To Death
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