Originally uploaded Dec 12, 2023

Arthur Pov

I gently landed back on the balcony, sheathing my sword back in its scabbard in a singular smooth motion.

The blade protested as it hummed with power and hungered for blood in my hands as I forced it back. There were still many things I didn't understand about its build and structure. Even as I slowly regained my strength and control over aether it was no use when I tried to understand this particular weapon.

It pulsed with energy that wasn't my own and radiated a hunger for blood and destruction, so much so that it felt like it had a will of its own. Maybe it was similar to the semi-sentient weapons the asuras wielded that posses a pseudo-will. It seemed as though Neoth knew more than he was letting on, put I decided on not pushing him so far.

He was pissed off enough as it is already was. A wave of golden light returned me to my sense as Sylvie returned to her human form.

From the outside you would presume she was a girl no older than eight or nine, the only thing that gave away her true identity was the pair of sharp horns that jutted out from her head.

Other than that she could have easily been mistaken to be a sibling of mine. Sharing the same pale skin with wheat blonde hair and gold eyes. And in some sense she was akin to my own blood. She was family to me.

She smiled back at me with a childlike wonder that hadn't disappeared quiet yet. She grabbed one of my arms as she spoke in my mind.

Despite being able to speak vocally she still preferred speaking to me telepathically when we were around other people, not that I had any issues with that. You eventually grow used to having two people constantly talking in your head.

'I did good right?'

I smiled back at her warmly as I ruffled her hair. "You did great."

Multiple approaching mana signature drew my attention away from my bond as I raised my head to see the remaining four Lances walking towards me. They were in their full armor, Bairon, Varay, and Mica had stern expressions with Aya donning a much more serious yet still a slightly coy face.

Well remaining as in the only ones the council believe that are still alive. Unbeknownst to them I have had Lance Alea working under my command shortly after the attack on Xyrus. But I don't believe now was the right time to reveal that, she was doing quiet well being my eyes and ears around Dicathen.

While Neoth's own forces of Djinn warriors were powerful and followed instructions with protest. They were more like a blunt hammer. Being soldiers created during and after the war between asuras and Djinn they were all created and trained to kill and destroy.

So employing a mage like Alea whose detection magic was unmatched proved useful in situation where I didn't need the target to be a corpse.

They all stopped in front of me. And we exchanged glances for a while. I wasn't sure if any of them would recognize me as Arthur Leywin. Now that I have revealed my face to the whole continent I am sure there will be some people who know of my true identity despite my growth.

'I wondered how the parents of my vessel would react.' I thought in my mind, choosing the words to describe them carefully, purposefully putting some distance between us. It wasn't a thing I liked doing, but every time I thought back to them it brought sharp needle like pain in my chest that I tried to suppress every time. Fooling myself to believe they weren't truly my parents, my physical body wasn't even that of a lesser human anyway.

Deciding to be the first one to break the ice I began to speak.

"I am aware you may not hold the most pleasant opinion about me." As I said those words Bairon scowled as I felt a wave of mana rush out from his core. Simply ignoring this I continued.

"But our objectives are the same are they not? Protecting Dicathen from the Alacryan invaders. I believe you will come around soon enough."

"Come around? You think we are gonna believe such words from you!" Bairon said through gritted teeth. Visible tendrils of yellow lightning danced on his skin.

I felt a large influx of mana by my side as Sylvie began glowing a subtle gold, preparing to transform into her draconic form to shield me. But I halted her as I placed a hand on her shoulder.

From the corner of my eyes I saw the rest of the council a couple paces behind the Lances, with only Virion near me. He looked back at me with a face of uncertainty.

He was the main reason all of this was possible in the first place. I had always planned on unifying Dicathen and leading it myself this time. But I didn't wish to be a king on a bloodied throne. Of course it took a bit of convince to get Virion on my side but he seems to have accepted my long term plan for now. And with a bit of acting the council already believes him to be the commander who reluctantly handed the crown to me in threat of me burning down the whole continent.

While I still wanted an unified continent I still had bigger plans for it. And a bit of disdain for me as their new king was still necessary for my future goals.

I took a step towards the Lances. And Bairon took a step as well as we were now both face to face.

"I don't need you to believe me. But I believe that you are an asset that is too great o just cast away." I said coldly, being happy go and nice to them now won't do anything and I needed to cement my title as king.

I could feel my own self falling deeper and deeper into the persona of King Grey that I had tried my whole last life trying to escape from. But better for me to suffer than for everyone else. And there was no turning back now, donning the name and title of King Grey once more I shall succeed, the alternative is too dire and grim.

"So what? You think we are just going to roll over and show you our bellies just because you threatened the entire council to hand over their power to you?!" Bairon was borderline yelling as I saw veins pop up on his forehead.

"Yet you Lances still watched as they did so. Only verbally protesting but at the end of the day you stood by as I was crowned king." I shot back. I released my own intent, carefully to not overwhelm any of the nearby council members. But enough to make my point clear.

Before Bairon could speak again I continued, this time with a small smile on my face.

"Why don't I challenge all of you in a duel? All four of you at once, of course I shall not seal away your mana cores like last time."

"Do you think a duel is sufficient enou-" Varay spoke up this time but I cut her off.

"While I don't believe that this would be enough I am of the mind that I need to drill into your minds that you are no longer the high and mighty Lances you were touted as."

There was a bit of truth in that. Despite having faced off against a retainer most of the Lances were still too confident in there abilities. And as Windsom once said they were given their powers, they did not earn it, they never learned to fully utilize it in a life or death scenario.

I want to take this opportunity to not only try to convince them to come to my side but also to firmly drill into their minds that I was more than capable enough in leading this continent.

"You son of a bitch!" Bairon cursed as he threw a mana charge punch directly at my face. I didn't even bother dealing with such an offense as I teleported directly behind him. The human Lance lost his balance as he swung at thin air and almost fell over before he caught himself.

"So what do you say? It isn't everyday you get a opportunity to fight a king after all." I mocked as I offered them a hand to accept.

Most of what I said was true. In all fairness without Wren working with Gideon to bolster their strength with artifacts the Lances were useless to me in terms of raw military strength. I had my own people under me that I trusted and they would exceed the Lance's limitations soon enough.

But they were a useful public figure. The people of Dicathen saw them as the main soldiers of this war. Someone the common folk and foot solider could rally behind. They held a deep respect and trust of the people which I lacked.

While I would have liked to have them on my side, as white core mage was still a white core mage. It would take too long for them to completely trust me, too long to further train them to break past the white core stage. But I will still see what I can do with them, who knows? Maybe I am wrong am they will come around sooner than I expect them to.

The Lances seemed to think over my offer, until Bairon grabbed my hand in a strong grip. I saw anger but satisfaction in his eyes as he accepted my invitation.

"Good choice. Now, I believe we need a suitable training arena." I said as I turned on my heels.

As I reached a warp portal at the far end of the room I placed a hand on its frame. Pushing my own aether through it the portal shifted slightly as the target destination changed.

Looking over my shoulder I motioned for all of them to follow. "Come on, I know just the place."

***

I readjusted my belt, my sword still rested in its sheath. But it prowled with a thirst for blood as if it knew what was going to happen. While I wasn't planning on using it in this little bout, it seemed disrespectful to go in completely unarmed.

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Stretching my limbs I stared across the stone field to the Lances. They each wore their regular battleplate. Mica wielded a massive hammer made of rock and stone with Bairon brandishing his spear that crackled with electricity.

All of their cores burned brightly as they prepared themselves. Just to our right was a overhanging balcony, with the council members occupying the space, giving them a clear view of the entire training area.

Neoth was present as well. His large hooded cloak obscured most of his features, giving off a brooding vibe to him. But I knew he wasn't all that pleased with having his time wasted for a such useless thing.

He was more than a little bit peeved when I brought all of them into his galleries. At first he joked about keeping them all here for an eternity as display pieces for his museum. He eventually went about silently grumbling as I asked him for a large arena to train in.

But he seems to be getting used to his new role, at least outwardly. I could still sometimes feel the animosity radiating off of him in waves whenever I struck a conversation with him.

Forgoing my dark green long coat I was dressed in a plain white dress shirt with simple black pants.

Not an outfit for a battle of any sort, but aether made up for it. A thin layer of aether tightly hugged my skin, offering me protection from everything but the most severe attacks.

The Lances, all four of them slowly began walking to the center of the arena. And I followed suit.

They marched in unison, the metal of their armor jangling together. Each of them had a face of determination with a subtle undertone of uncertainty beneath it all. All of them except Varay, she sported her usual cold and emotionless face.

Yet, the auras that surrounded them told a different story. They burned strong yes, but they wavered with each step as they drew closer to me. Like a strong flame that was ragging against the winds of a storm. Burning strong but threatening to die at any moment, devoured by rain and winds.

We were only a few paces away. They were shrouded in auras of each of their respective elements. While I gave off no such visible indication.

I wondered how I appeared to them. I had no mana core, and thus no mana signature of any kind. In the eyes of ordinary people when I was not exerting my aetheric intent I was a completely harmless unadorned human.

I could control ambient mana to a certain extent with Realmheart, and that would give off the illusion of me casting elemental spells. So these Lances were completely blind to even what magic I used.

We each stared at each other for while, all of us ready, all ready to strike. Well, they were at least, their bodies tense as mana was begging to be let out of their cores. I was more relaxed, resorting to a simple fighting stance as I placed my legs shoulder-width apart.

We didn't need any instructions, we knew what was about to transpire. Yet I must give the Lances my respects for not backing down from a fight they were destined to lose. Having gone against beings that even most asuras feared made theses lesser mages appear like houseflies.

Bairon struck first. Unleashing an arc of yellow lightning that cut long jagged lines through the stone ground. At this distance it would have been difficult to react and dodge for any normal mage. And the fight would have ended there, his spell was powerful enough to reduce any lesser to a pile of smouldering ash.

Tiny particles of aether exploded in my legs as I activated burst step. At the same time aether traveled up to my arms and hands as I lunged forward for a punch.

Varay tried to block the attack, forming a thick wall of ice that erupted up from the ground. But the sheer speed of burst step carried me through as I pulverized the ice wall into tiny shards.

My punch should have connected with her abdomen but as I landed my blow the image of Varay dissipated to thin air. The million of tiny shards of ice I created them turned to me as they swirled around in like a angry storm, cutting into my thin armor of aether and into my skin, drawing blood.

Bairon was upon me again, sneaking up on me in the cover of the ice storm. His spear crackled wildly with tendrils of lightning that coiled around his weapon like wild serpents.

I met his attack head on, the motes of aether condensing into a solid blade in my hands. Quickly parrying his initial attack I followed with a flurry of slashed ans stabs, all aimed at the center of his body.

When the air pressure changed, I could feel my ears violently pop as I felt warmth on the sides of my head. Being momentarily disorientated I didn't notice a dark shadow that was descending upon me.

The ground beneath my feet cracked like a dry cookie, I could feel my body growing in weight by a hundred times as I took the full brunt of Mica's giant hammer head on.

My elbows exploded into a bloody mess of flesh and bones. With a slit tilt of my wrist the ground beneath the dwarven Lance exploded into flames as she quickly withdrew to a save distance.

Aether was already rushing to my injured body parts, mending flesh and snapping the bones back into place.

But the Lances didn't give me time to fully heal. A mirage of all four Lances, duplicated twenty times surrounded me. Each of them fast approaching with spells growing in their hands.

I waved my hand, as the fire mana in the atmosphere ignited into purple lightning, ripping into the fake images of the Lances. Only one of them, of Bairon remained. Burst step carried me forward as I forced aether into my right fist.

I unleashed a powerful blast of raw aether, only for the image of Bairon to disappear just as my spell connected.

'This illusion magic is really getting annoying.' I muttered in my mind.

I felt a searing pain in my back as a wash of lightning sent spasms across my entire body. I quickly turned, only to be blinded as shard of ice stabbed my in the eyes, blinding me.

I shielded my eyes, only for my feet to be stabbed into from below as icicles grew up from the ground. Planting me into the ground.

Then I could feel my body being pulled into a singular point. Aether finished healing my eyes as I saw a dark hole. As it slowly sucked up the loose dust and debris nearby into it void-like maw.

High level gravity mana arts. I thought, I always had difficulty with the earth based deviant. Back when I was limited to a lesser body I was only able to momentarily unlock the deviant with the help of Sylvia's will. Even then I favored my other two deviants of lightning and ice. Gravity magic drained my mana reserves too quickly and I was more accustomed to ice and lightning.

Which was a strange thought, how gravity did exert power unto to space and time. And with aether I was able to command the two. A bit odd, I thought as a long spear of aether manifested in my hands.

I threw it, and it shot through the air like a bullet. Striking to center of the gravity well, the little bit of mana I had imbued onto the tip of my spear was just enough, as my own aether and mana overrode Mica's control over the magic and dispelled it.

With a strong pull I freed myself from the ice spikes as I ripped off both of my feet in the process. I could already feel the bones beginning to regrow as I pushed off the air itself.

I could feel the temperature drop as a barrage of giant spear made of ice whose surface was dancing with tendrils of electricity began raining down on me.

With a mental push a pillar of blue fire roared to life in front of me, burning away the ice as aether formed into a sword in my hands.

Spotting a faint shimmer of light in the corner of my eye I lunged sideways, my hands wrapped around an invisible object as I lifted it off the ground.

Aya looked at me with wide eyes as she gasped for breath in my clutches. Without even turning to look I parried away a blow from Bairon's spear with enough force to knock him off his feet.

In turn I slammed the elf Lance hard onto the ground, sending cracks into the stone as her face turning red. She clawed at my hand, drawing blood in a desperate attempt to free herself. I raised her body again, slamming her into the ground again and again until she went limp and fell unconscious.

Dropping her I turned my head to face the rest of the Lances, they all flinched as they met my gaze.

"One down." I whispered.

A crater formed from where I jumped, Tendrils of black-purple lightning covered my body as I clashed with Mica.

Each swing of her hammer was inhumanely quick, there was no logical way a person that small could have wielded a weapons that large at such speeds.

But her movements were still far too slow. My own sword was basically an extension of my own body and will. I had trained and fought with a sword for multiple lifetimes now. Each minute step I took, each tiny, almost nondetachable shift as the arc of my blade and stab was forged in my countless battles.

Pooling all my knowledge of the more refined martial arts of Earth and Ephetous I was nearly unmatched when it came to swordsmanship. I was slowly driving the Lance back when Bairon flew towards me. His face full of rage, fire and lightning surrounded his body.

Another sword grew in my other hand as I blocked his spear with a single hand. Which seems to have only pissed him off more.

He lunged forward, but each of his hastened movements were unbalanced by his uncontrolled rage. His footwork was uncoordinated and grew sloppy with each strike he missed or I parried.

He grew desperate as he pushed more mana into his body to force it to go faster, to match my speed.

Varay joined him, conjuring a sword of ice of her own as a wild gale of icy winds surrounded all of us bombarded me. She tried in vain to cover for Bairon's wide openings as I held back three Lances at once in close combat.

Seeing a opening even Varay couldn't block in time I delivered a quick kick to Bairon's knee, his lower leg bent inwards in an unnatural fashion with a loud crack as he yelled in pain. But even that was cut short as I struck his throat with the pommel of my sword.

He collapsed backwards clutching his throat and gasping for air. Mica was growing tired as she continued to try to create distance between me, which I didn't allow.

She flew backwards and I followed, burst step carrying me at speeds that most would consider to be teleportation.

A sheen of sweat covered her face and she over-swung her hammer, I easily dodge it by slightly ducking and unleashed a blast of aether at her. She shot backwards, dropping her massive hammer which hit the ground with a hard thud.

She slammed into the aether enforced walls with enough power and speed to partially destroy it.

"Two and three." I said a bit louder as I turned my full attention to Varay. And for the first time in this life I saw a moment of despair and fear in her usual cold eyes.

I could sense her core burn like a tiny sun as she gathered her mana. And with it she unleashed a massive blast of frost and ice that took on the form of a massive serpentine beast. Its jaws wide open, ready to devour me.

I pushed forward, as I unleashed my aetheric intent. Taking on the form of a dark purple shadowy flames around me I walked forward, directly into her spell.

Varay was caught off for a moment but she recovered in a split second as her spell struck me head on.

It was cold, very cold. I could feel my hair freeze and the moisture on my skin dry up and crystalize into flakes of snow and ice.

A powerful to say the least. I was right in my decision to letting Varay deal with the retainer. And I feel she has grown in strength since I last saw her. Perhaps her encounter with the Vritra mutt pushed her to her limits.

But alas, I was still standing at the end of her spell. A heavy covering of frost and snow covered me, making me appear as if I had just stepped out of a blizzard.

Varay looked at me with dismay, she was breathing heavily. I didn't need to peer into her core to know she was growing wary.

I looked up to the balcony, Neoth looked down at me with disinterest and an annoyed look that yelled 'You brought me here for this shit?'

But the other members of the council including Virion looked back at me with a mix of horror, dismay, and disbelief.

I turned my head to look back at Varay, she held a blue sword of ice in her hands. I took a small sigh.

And it struck her, it hit everybody.

The full brunt of my unrestrained will. My full power unmasked and revealed to everyone. A technique I had taught myself after I had witness Kezess' and Agrona's king's force. Varay's eyes rolled back into her skull as she fell to the ground. I couldn't see them but I could hear someone in the balcony throwing up and screaming, while I could hear others fall unconscious just like Varay. Despite my best efforts on trying to focus my intent solely on Varay it seems I still need to work on it.

I toned down my intent, I knew that to any untrained human or mage who wasn't strong enough it was suffocating enough to stop their heart and kill them outright. I allowed the aether to gently carry me up the balcony where the council members were.

King Glayder was on the floor, his wife held him in her arms as she stared back at me like I was some unthinkable monster. Which in this case I was I suppose.

The rest of them looked at me. As if they had seems some kind of ghost.

I allowed them to gather their bearing for a bit before I spoke. Projecting my voice outwards as aether greatly altered it.

"I hope this has proven to you my abilities?" I questioned. They didn't answer immediately, instead looking back at me with a dumb look on their faces.

I cleared my throat which seems to have snapped some of them out of their trance.

"Ye-Yes, your majesty." Alduin said, his voice wavering in fear.

"Good, I hope now that I have proven myself we can all cooperate for the good of this nation." I said in a more light tone as I withdrew my will. All of them took a deep breath as they gasped for air.

I then motioned for them to enter the portal behind them I had conjured.

"Now, there are still pressing matters for us to attend to. Don't we?"