Side Story 4: The Spectator's Sides
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Side Story 4-1: The Valkyrie’s Story
“Three, two, one, and let the race to the [Hill] begin!” The bell rings as the announcer finishes counting down, and every participant began sprinting to the pyramid placed in the center of the arena.
The battlegrounds was known as the [Battlefield of Kir Vakus], an attempt to replicate one of the great three ruins of the Demon Race. It wasn’t very accurate at all, the obelisks were twice the size of these, the pyramid more steep, and there was a monolith at the top of it. I know this, because I lived through the event myself.
Year 452, Atalin sent over half of their army to invade [Kir Vakus], the largest structure erected at the time. This was also the human’s first aggressive move, which was quite a risky thing for them to send such a large portion of their forces. They also sent the [Hero], though, which was a good choice by them.
During battle, he supported our infantry from the back using [Lightning Magic] to obliterate their front lines, and [Ice Magic] to stop their cavalry. He alone was enough to defend against the [Demon Magic] casted by enemy mages. The power of his magic was enough to completely shatter all the obelisks in the battlefield, and he even destroyed the monolith at the top of the pyramid, which was deemed an object that would never fall.
Thoth truly was a [Hero], a figure of absolute power in the war against the Demons. It’s what got me interested in him, and I immediately started following him about a month after traveling into this world. Back then, my name was ‘Avantalya Gard,’ but I changed it several times over the years to hide my previous identity. After the [Hero]’s death, people tried to search for his ‘partner,’ which was me, so it was necessary.
That man, he was a complete taciturn. I always try to communicate with him, but he never replies with more than four words. Sometimes, he doesn’t reply at all and communicate with actions. I remember one time he didn’t say a single word for over 8 months, which annoyed me greatly. The atmosphere around him was always tranquil, though, something I admired about him greatly.
During the final invasion at the [Demon Lord’s Castle], which was ironically named [Epiphany] by dumb scholars later as time went by, Thoth forcibly kept me from coming with him by using his strongest binding magic, [Chains of Gravity]. A spell that binds the target to the very ground with ethereal chains, essentially keeping them still without opposition. The downside to this kind of spell is that it could easily be disabled from any outside force, but he was able to cast it on me while we were alone, just before he went on his expedition. I didn’t expect him to know such a powerful spell, and anxiety filled my heart as he walked away and left me there. He knew that even a valkyrie like me cannot break the force of these chains.
Stuck there for 2 days and night, the chains suddenly disappeared, and I panicked instantly. The only other way to disable the chains was the caster’s death. As fast as I could, I spread my wings out and flew towards the castle. Upon arrival, battle was still raging outside the castle, and it looks like no one has entered it yet. I enter through a large hole in the roof, which lead to the throne room. It had obvious signs of destruction from an intense battle, and I immediately began to fly around in search for the [Hero] and the [Demon Lord] .
Killing all other demons inside the castle, I could not find the corpse of the two powerful existences anywhere. All that was left, was the demons that I killed, and a ruined throne room with the ceiling completely destroyed. I was filled with grief, being unable to find a single thing related to him in that room. After that, I disappeared from this world as well, for over 2 millenniums. It was only recently that I’ve gotten over the depression of his death, and now I’ve returned to try and live my life normally. At least, that was my previous goal until I had a nostalgic scene.
“...name… Aria Brynhildr…” A girl wrapped completely in bandages like a mummy introduces herself at the front of the class.
She introduced herself in the exact same way as Thoth did when we first met. He spoke two words, which was ‘name’ and ‘Thoth.’ Along with that, she was as socially awkward as he was, unable to properly speak to other classmates. Despite this, when she was left alone, the atmosphere around her was as tranquil as it could possibly get. After the removal of those bandages, the effect increased even further, and the students are now looking at her in awe. From what I’ve heard, she’s also a genius in magic, capable of freely manipulating it like some sort of light show.
This girl had similarities to Thoth, and it makes my heart ache when I see her. Taciturn, tranquil aura, high magic capability, Today, though, I was going to find another similar aspect she has with Thoth.
“What just happened!? There’s already someone at the top of the [Hill]!? It’s only been five seconds since the bell just rung!” As the announcer said, there was someone already at the top, and when I saw who it was, I nearly got a heart attack.
“Who is this mysterious girl!? She has not participated in any of the prior events, is this the first time she’s entered!?” A girl stood at the top of the pyramid, already there in a blink of an eye.
“It appears so. This girl is from [Krystalis Academy], who has an unknown reputation among the students. Her ability in combat is also unknown, the only thing on her profile is that she’s capable of magic.” The second announcer replies to the first one.
“Let me see that! Okay then, I got her name! Right now, the first [King] of the [Hill], taking it over on the sixth second since the start, is Aria Brynhildr!” As he said that, it was Aria, the girl that was extremely similar to the [Hero].
She stood at the top of that pyramid, and released an aura I was extremely familiar with. 2,000 years ago before and during every battle, this same aura would be felt across the vicinity, giving a sense of imminent death to all those that feels it. The unique aura developed by Thoth’s nonexistent sense of morality, killing all of those that oppose him, the [Aura of the Heartless].
Something that should’ve been unique to only the [Hero], this girl was using right now. In one hand, she held a [Magic Gun]. In the other, she held a dagger. Staring down at the crowd of warriors at the bottom of the pyramid, she spoke four bold words that challenged all of them. A statement that was the equivalent to saying no matter what they do, they won’t take her down.
“I. Am. The. King.” A complete bloodbath occurred right after that.
Just like Thoth, she did better when there was a cluster of enemies surrounding her, using the corpses of their allies as meat shields and weapons. She never took more than 3 hits to kill someone, and used their own weapons against them sometimes. Unaffected by the mass murder she was currently committing, she continues to mow down their numbers and her enemies’ morale began dropping.
Soon enough, no one else dared to walk up the pyramid, due to them all suffering the pain of death once already. The way they died wasn’t very nice as well, giving them a sense of fear when fighting against her. So for a while, she stood up there alone, covered in blood as if she just dived into a pool of it and climbed out. Despite being dyed in red, she was still a beautiful figure, and the tranquil aura naturally began returning.
Only one person ascended the stairs, and quickly, that tranquility disappeared. It was replaced by the new aura that covered the entire arena. One that I was familiar with as well, because I felt it during the war against the Demon Race. An aura that declared the absolute destruction of everything around it, only held by the [Demon Lord], the [Aura of Annihilation]. The person who held this was a small child, who had the exact same appearance as Thoth. Even the same name, and seeing her also made my heart ache.
The biggest difference between her and the [Hero], though, was their personality. Based on her interactions with the people surrounding her, she was the total opposite of the previous Thoth. Her combat style was different as well, and she used a variety of [Darkness Magic] and [Demon Magic]. Something that a child shouldn’t know at all.
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Right now, two people with common aspects to the [Hero] are about to battle. A girl with the same personality and abilities, versus a girl with the same appearance and name. When the battle started, the combat abilities they display are beyond those of children. It was faster and stronger than anything I’ve seen before by the Humans. If I witnessed the battle between the [Hero] and the [Demon Lord], it would most likely be similar to this. Two insane powers clashing against each other, using everything they had to win.
At first, they're on a stalemate, taking over in speed and power. Suddenly, Aria had a massive increase in power, her speed and strength increased about twofold. After the power surge, she completely dominated the battle, the opponent being nothing more than a fragile doll to her. I didn’t care about her victory, though. There was one thing I noticed during that battle, a spell was used that hasn’t been learnt by any [Spatial Mage] in history yet. The [Spatial Magic] unlocked upon increasing the proficiency to level 8, [Teleport].
Aria Brynhildr was said to be a genius in magic. This is beyond genius, a realm of skill that only one other existence in the history of humans. A young child who was about 13 years old, had the mana supply of an advanced mage, dual wielded a [Magnum] and a dagger, knew [Gun Magic], and has the combat ability to slay over one hundred other people on her own. She also completely mastered both [Light Magic] and [Dark Magic], otherwise she wouldn’t be able to use [Spatial Magic]. With that, her [Spatial Magic] was beyond level 8, because she was capable of using [Teleport].From what I can see right now, her status is nearing level 100.
In the past, a small percentage of humans has surpassed it during their teen years. But when the level limit still existed, and experience was much harder to obtain, only one human reached that limit in 15 years, even maxing his status. Now, there’s a girl with such extreme similarity to him, nearing the limit as well at 13 years old. With these facts, I put the pieces together and came to a conclusion.
This girl is a reincarnation of [Thoth], naturally having the same personality and aspects of the [Hero]. She trained her powers for many years straight, and is doing even greater than she did in the past. I’ve heard of this happening many times, where people revive with a personality or appearance extremely similar to a deceased person. In this case, the [Hero] was revived into two different people. One inherited the appearance, while the other inherited the personality and abilities. Both were monstrous existences, and this was the only proper way to explain it. At least, as far as I know, it was.
“Thoth… I’ve found you again…” I whisper to myself.
A warm feeling wells up in my chest, and a smile runs across my face. Although it wasn’t exactly him, his soul was definitely passed onto these two, and knowing that someone I held dear was alive in a different way, any remaining grief in my heart disappeared. Previously, my goal was to live life normally. Now, I want to watch over these two, and make sure that they won’t suffer a terrible fate.
“This time, I’ll be the one protecting you, Thoth.” I leave the arena after this, with a new sense of duty within me.
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Side Story 4-2: The Melancholy of the Genius
“Wow, you’re so talented, you’ll definitely become a [Legend Tier] adventurer!” I’ve heard this phrase, and many other compliments similar to it.
Whenever people see me in battle with the [Wheldin POS] in hand, they compliment me like that. The gun was given to me by my deceased father, who was in a special task force within the [Atalin Royal Army]. My mother was also in the army as a well known medic, so she was often out of the house, and I grew up alone. My dad died about four years after I was born, and this gun was my last memento of him.
I inherited his class, and sense of battle, training myself in [Gun Magic] as I grew up. The class I inherit is called the [Soldier of Efficiency]. Through this rare class, all mana costs related to using a gun is reduced by 60%. With this, I inherited my mother’s large mana supply, and combining these two perks I had allowed myself to be able to use an automatic weapon full of projectile enchantment.
Due to this, I’ve become a bit overconfident in my abilities. I thought that I would be the strongest person here. Until I saw that lone girl at the top of the pyramid, the victor of the [King of the Hill] event. When she first entered, she gave off a tranquil feeling, but had the appearance of an ice queen. Now, she was dyed in crimson red, and gave off a feeling of a cool beauty that won’t be dominated.
Aria Brynhildr, the girl who captured my heart. I met her earlier that day, on my way into one of the underground rooms to train with a couple of friends I had. On my way, when I encountered her, I was captivated by her beauty. I didn’t see her in any of the other events, so I was confused as to why she was here. Based off the intimidating presence she gave off, and the powerful look she had in her eyes, I immediately knew that she was strong.
Often I find that I’m being confessed to by other girls, and I accepted the first few. After that, I rejected every other confession I got, bored of the women that sought me. Now, for the first time, I found someone that I was interested in myself. Although I’ve been confessed to, I’ve never made one myself, but it couldn’t be that hard based on my experiences.
Believing that she’s truly the one for me, I’m currently aiming to befriend her, before getting close enough to become her lover. When I saw her name on the list of participants in the [Free For All], I believed that this was my chance. First, in order to confirm my thoughts about her, I tested her speed by firing bullets at her, and sure enough, she dodged every single one of them. This was probably a bad first impression on my end, I had no idea what I was thinking to suddenly propose to her after attacking her like that.
It did manage to catch her off guard, though, causing her to freeze. From this reaction, I could tell that she was a pure soul, someone who’s never been in this situation before. Unfortunately afterward, I had my head buried into a rock by an unknown third party. I found out later that it was Thoth Farlite who did this, and the timing of that attack was strange, so I assumed that she had a special relation with Aria.
After that event, I tried proposing her a second time during the [1 v 1], setting a sort of challenge for myself while I was at it. Throughout the tournament, I held back my [Gun Magic], and I felt confident that I wouldn’t lose to anyone when I used it. I was wrong, and I payed the price greatly. I was killed in a single offensive strike, despite the fact that I fired several waves of bullets at her to try and suppress her.
Now, I stood in one of the underground rooms of the arena, thinking about the events of today and yesterday. Through my life, I often got what I wanted, and I rarely ever wanted anything. A pair of combat boots, light armor, and several visiting sessions at the castle to watch other soldiers. For the first time, I wanted something completely unrelated to combat. A cool beauty stronger than anyone else in Atalin, I wanted to have the [Angel of Annihilation] as my lover.
The fact that my proposal failed twice hit me hard, and I was depressed for about two hours. I got over it, and began formulating a different plan. Love isn’t an easy thing to achieve, I need to slowly build my relation with her. Sudden proposals like that will never work, but if I take it nice and steady, I may have the chance to improve my relation. When time is right, I’ll make the proposal again. Until then, I will never give up on her.
With new resolve, I leave the room all excited to find Aria. I wanted to at least try and talk to her. Our relation had a strange start to it, so if I fix that now, it’ll make things easier for me in the future. Unfortunately, I didn’t realize that she had already left the arena, because she wasn’t going to participate in the remaining events. So I spent my time fruitlessly looking for her.
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2 little short stories based on how others see Aria so far. I’ll be getting back to the main story after this.