The void. A place torn away from time and space only bound by the infinite possibilities of both. Great wizards and scholars attempted to reach such a vaunted place of existence, but none was able to. Save for a select few.
“An otherworlder capable of controlling the void.” Robert had a bitter expression on his face. “I thought using those powers to save the people was my way of atoning from my mistakes but I could not have been more wrong.”
He snapped his fingers and the room pulsated for a split second into the gnawing blackness Leona was so familiar with. It was enough to disorient her into leaning against the nearby wall.
“The void.” She muttered under her breath. “Why did you accept those powers?”
“I had lost my memories from the worlds I lived before. Time and time again I would commit the same mistake in relying on a whimsical god’s power in order to fix my own mistakes.” He closed his hand into a tight fist. “With this same snap I destroyed the most powerful kingdom in the world and a third of the planet along with it.”
“You… destroyed an entire world?”
“The void isn’t just a place away from other worlds, it’s the very end of all existence.”
Once he closed his eyes it was like both of their minds were connecting through the void. The vision of a world torn to pieces flashed in her mind. The planet’s crust, mantle and inner layers of the core were all exposed as the sun was visible from behind all the flying debris floating towards the endless space of the universe.
Without enough gravity to keep the rest of the world together it didn’t take long for the blue sky to turn black as the atmosphere gave place to the coldness of the vast cosmos. Leona could only glimpse at a person beside her in his memory as the world ended.
And in another snap of his fingers she found herself sitting on the floor with ragged breath. Her head was pulsating from pain.
‘She was… smiling…?’
A flash of the surreal scenery accompanied her mind. The shattered planet facing cosmic annihilation and yet someone was with him the entire time until the end.
“Who… who was that?”
“Hm?” He looked at her with a somber yet seemingly tranquil expression. “No one. A fragment of a lost past.”
“Dad.” Yuna poked his stomach which made him bend his body forward. “Stop with the sad talk please.”
“Oof. Sorry Yuna.” He had a bittersweet smile before patting her on the head. “Dad’s been a bit tired lately, that's all.”
“Hmph. Here. I washed all of it.”
Leona remained on the floor as she pinched her nose bridge whilst closing her eyes. The sight she just witnessed was something straight out of a nightmarish vision that no human should have ever seen and yet it swirled in her mind like a violent storm. However amidst the deafening silence of space, she could still make out the last words of the person beside him in his memory.
‘Live on, Robert.’
He saw her expression as the same one he made when he remembered it all. It felt familiar. If anything it reminded him how his past shaped him into the man he was now. But then again, if it wasn’t for Xenovia, he would have never truly redeemed himself.
Anger, hatred, angst as the feeling of dread and regret swelled to unimaginable proportions when he came to be in this world. If by choice of the whimsical void or his own ability as a sage in the previous life, the fact he knew about all his past lives was enough to bring him to the brink of despair. It was only when he met another similarly weary traveler from a different timeline he then could start to move on.
The two precious daughters, the comfortable house he made for them and the path he was now walking on was thanks to that one fateful encounter. He glanced at Leona one last time before focusing on preparing the food.
“Stand up Leona, I can hardly have a guest sitting on the floor of my kitchen.”
Outside, the sound of clashing wooden weapons and explosions filled the training grounds with life. Krieg was yet again sparring against both Miyamoto and Setsuna in a two versus one match.
“Tsk.” Krieg was being driven back by the swordsman and mage duo despite his best attempts at staying in close range to the latter. “Isn’t this a bit unfair?”
“Life is always unfair to the weak.” Miyamoto raised his training wooden sword above his shoulder and remained in that stance. “So do your best to become stronger.”
“Lousy old man!”
He raised the shield close to his body and started to charge at him.
“Stone Shield!”
This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it
Setsuna chanted and the very ground in front of Miyamoto rumbled and raised in the shape of a ragged convex rock wall. Krieg narrowed his eyes.
‘What an annoying spell…!’
Instead of stopping, he bulldozed through the spell with his shield and raised the sword perpendicular to his body in order to stab his opponent, but Miyamoto was nowhere behind the destroyed rock wall.
However, Krieg knew exactly where he would attack from and lifted the already prepared blade behind him as his wooden sword blocked Miyamoto’s incoming overhead strike.
“Oho? Did you see it coming?”
“It gets quite old to be hit from the back everytime!”
He swung his sword upwards—throwing the swordsman off balance before following up with a shield bash to the stomach.
“Ugh!”
Being on the receiving end of a powerful strike from Krieg was nothing short of painful, but despite his minor victory the knight was nowhere close to being done as fast steps approached him from behind.
“Wind-”
When he was in the middle of dealing with his father, Setsuna had closed the gap and was pointing her staff right at his back.
“Shi-”
There was nothing he could do if not take the hit from the spell as she was at point blank range.
“-Blast!”
There was a brief flash of bright green energy before a powerful gust of wind sent Krieg flying alongside the swordmaster.
“Ugh!” He spun midair twice before landing on his back, using the backwards momentum to stand on his feet in one fluid motion. “You are a really annoying mage, Setsuna.”
“I’ll take it as a compliment.”
She smiled briefly before returning to her focused self as she prepared to cast another spell. That being said, he wasn’t about to just let her do as she pleased. He quickly grabbed a rock from the previously destroyed wall and chucked it at her hand, only for it to be deflected by Miyamoto’s sword.
“Forgetting about me, son?”
“Tch. You’re in the way!”
Krieg followed with a diagonal slash that was easily parried to the side. Miyamoto was about to use that moment to counter with an upwards slash but instead, he was caught off-guard by a shoulder tackle.
“Oof!”
He stepped in and threw his weight on the tackle which sent the swordsman flying through the air crashing into bushes. Even before the leaves had even settled, Krieg was already closing the gap towards Setsuna—who was already almost finished casting her spell.
“...rob life of warmth as thou turn flesh to ice!” As she pointed the staff at him—he tossed the shield at her. “Entomb!”
The spell froze the shield mid-air however the frozen chunk of wood kept its momentum which forced Setsuna to step to the side to avoid it and in the moment she dodged it—the knight was already with his training sword at her throat.
At first she seemed surprised, but then her expression soon changed to a bright smile.
“Haha, I concede.” She raised both hands. “That was great, Krieg.”
“Urgh! You put us quite through the wringer…” Miyamoto’s voice came from the bushes as he stood up amidst them with branches and leaves stuck to his robe. “Not bad at all.”
Krieg settled the sword in the ground and held it with his right hand as if it was a walking cane.
“Thank you for the training.” He said as he bowed. “I couldn’t find the right time to enhance myself with dragon aura but I wasn’t exactly feeling confident in using it without losing control.”
“No, it’s ok.” Setsuna shook her head slightly. “You were already using some of it without realizing.”
“I… was?”
“Yes.” She pointed with her index finger towards the place where he fought against the swordmaster. “You were exchanging blows with Miyamoto there and yet I was casting a spell right here.”
Both him and his dad looked over their shoulders towards where she pointed and that was about eighty meters or so.
“It’s… quite far away indeed.” The swordsman agreed with a nod before turning back to her. “So you’re saying he enhanced his legs?”
“Exactly.” Setsuna said with a confident smile. “I had a theory that even people without any previous experience with magic would be able to use body enhancements if they ever experienced it even once. And I’m glad I was right.”
“Hmm…”
The knight looked at his own legs and shook each of them separately for a while.
‘They do feel lighter…’ He thought while also inspecting the rest of his limbs. ‘But I didn’t feel any different back then…’
“If you’re not feeling any different.” The shrine maiden started to speak as if she read his mind. “It might be because of your lack of mana gates. Therefore your body will feel ‘strengthened’ for most of the time you’re using those limbs.”
He stared at his left hand, closing and opening.
“So this is both a blessing and a curse huh?”
“As long as you don’t overload yourself with mana. It shouldn’t be a problem. Dragons often use their magic breaths since it spills out excess mana through it so you could do the same by exercising and spending the extra you have stored.”
“I’ll take note of it.” He looked serious as the grip around the training blade tightened. “I don’t want to make Leona sad again…”
“Don’t worry.” Miyamoto gave him a slight tap on the back. “You’re doing great progress.”
“Whatever you say, old man.”
Krieg scoffed as he walked away. Despite that the swordmaster still had a faint smile on his face.
‘If only your mother could see you now…’
“He’s gotten really strong since the last time we sparred.” Setsuna approached Miyamoto with a proud expression on her face as she looked at Krieg leaving the training grounds. “We spoke about this before but never at length. How did you handle your wife’s outbursts of mana? I remember you telling me she was way stronger than him which makes me wonder how a human was able to go toe to toe against a daughter of a dragon?”
“Haha… it certainly wasn’t easy.” He spoke with reminiscent eyes. “I was a simple samurai working under a shogun.”
“Samurai and shogun… a swordmaster and a feudal lord, is that right?”
“Something like that. Although my former master was rather passionate about unifying the continent under one banner, he was soon murdered by our enemies. It was then when I sought help from the oni tribes.” He unsheathed his curved sword—the blade black as the night and it shimmered in the moonlight. “It was then where I met both my wife and my friend.”