Arc 7. Death to what came before
Road to a Hero:
Three Chances in Another World
Chapter 19. The flood of effort
At the crack of dawn, Gray Kyojin walks up the long winding staircase to the center platform, finding Ander waiting for him. They’re both covered in rain, as the sky has started its spring pour which will continue for the next week. The ground below is already flooded, though thanks to the width of the leaves, along with the branches, it protects the levels of the tree with a thick vail to shield them from such heavy rainfall.
Gray: “And I got up so early, figured I was gonna show you up.”
Ander, sipping on some tea, sitting quietly. Gray, eager to get started, flows the cloak of darkness out of its cursed charm, as well as follows mana around his body, but Ander remains still.
Ander: “Do you hear that? The clicking of the raindrops, the birds singing, the crickets chirping? This sound of life echoes through the bog, it’s purity, it’s beautiful. All the lands of this world were…but people, no matter the race, hurt it. What is your goal, Gray Kyojin?”
Gray, with complete seriousness, holds the hate within his heart and gives the only answer he can muster.
Gray: “To kill the Sect of Anarchy, to kill Prometheus Yagari, to kill Julius Cromwell, and save my love.”
Ander: “Your goals are selfish and hateful, but true to yourself. Would you like to know my goal?”
Gray: “Um, sure.”
Ander: “Every one hundred years, a simple wooden door appears in the murderous, dangerous sands of the Ever-Desert. Through the door is all the world's knowledge, including the lives of people, locations, history of the land, everything. It is a domain of mana outside of everything, in Alfheim, the Library of Eternity. I wish to go there and understand the world, and at the end of this year, it’ll appear there.``
Gray lets down his guard, trying to process the information, right as Ander strikes. Ander is swift and powerful but calculated, reading all of Gray's small expressions to decide his next move. Gray instantly flows mana around his body in a flaming, pulsing fashion. Then his cloak stands on end, prepared to block, but Ander’s far too fast, slamming his fist into Gray’s side.
It wasn’t a random shot, it was focused, and intentional. Because of Gray’s uneven mana flow, there was a weak point, which at the moment of impact, was Gray’s right side. The attack causes all of his mana to bubble and explode, leaving his body, and knocking him back.
Ander: “Look how easy that was to break your only defense. Now most people don’t know how to do that, I’d argue that even Lincoln Valentine doesn't know how to do that because his pure strength would cleave through it anyway. In the state we’re both in, we can’t fight people that are far above us, we need to do whatever we can to win.”
Gray flows his mana out, having to wait until the flow is refined before he can get up. Once it is, he flings himself upward, about to launch his cloak toward Ander, but he’s struck again, smacked to the ground.
Ander: “Another issue. If it takes you this long to get a refined flow you’ll be killed before you ever get up. Your strength is far above most, it’s so strong that you can defeat Arthur Williams, as well as Caesar the immortal.”
Gray: “Well Caesar kinda let me kill him, it was a showing of endurance…but I ended up breaking his OD. And Arthur was also heavily weakened, I had my friends face him first before I ever attacked.”
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Ander: “Okay so you’re telling me you used a plan to win, you used everything you had and came out on top. So you’ve mastered the first rule.”
Ander grabs Gray by the leg, throwing him across the wooden platform, almost right off of the edge. Gray attempts to use the cloak and catch himself, but Ander removes it without Gray realizing it. With a bit of quick thinking, he focuses mana on his legs, kicking at the air so hard it pushes him forward, landing back on the platform.
Ander: “You rely too much on your cloak!”
Before Ander can strike again, Gray looks to the spirits around him for help.
Gray: “El-CENIC!”
A vast amount of black smoke wraps around the two, giving Gray cover. But with a quick sniff from Ander’s Lion-like nose, he finds Gray’s location in an instant. But with Gray remembering Ander had done this previously, he tries something new, a way of attacking he’s been practicing for weeks. With a punch from Gray’s fist, a ball of black flames forms and explodes forward, blasting toward Ander. But Ander easily dodges, so Gray tries again, but he struggles to get the flames to form fast enough, so he’s forced to try something else.
Gray: “El-WALNI -”
Before Gray can cast his spell, he’s punched in the stomach, breaking through the uneven mana flow once more, and hitting him to the ground right after.
Ander: “I don’t know why you push so much mana out at once. You can only push so much out, so even with all that mana, you’re only wasting it. You push all of that mana out, push it away, and pull even more in, using up the mana from before. This is why your strength has remained the same, the enhancement will never enhance itself, one aura is all you need.”
Gray: “...whatever.”
Gray focuses on the mana around Ander, attempting to light it on fire, but Ander punches Gray in the head to stop him.
Ander: “The way you fight is formed from experience, but you’ve become too used to this flaming aura. I can tell the longer you’re using the pulsing aura, you eventually refine it, but it takes too long. The instant you call it out is the same instant it needs to be a tight coating around your body. And for the next week, I’ll beat that into you. And I want you to learn all the spells you can, do you have a spell book on you?”
Gray: “A homemade one, by Ryo Hollis himself. But I don’t have any spells that kill or harm spirits, so the small amount of defensive spells I have is even smaller. I can only use six for right now, and I think I can only learn two more.”
Ander: “Only eight? That is a small amount, but I respect your devotion to the spirits. I’ll admit, I thought of you as a prodigy, a boy born into a grand family. Years ago Kioshi Van Helsing shocked the world with her appearance, killing the Guild Hunter in her first fight, and you did the same in the knight exam. But now I see, you’re a man of conviction.”
Gray stands up, and attacks again and again. As the days go by, he uses the spiritual state, his already mastered spells, and attempts to use the last few as well. All day and all night, flowing mana, flames, and passion. Even small crowds form, watching their duels, and especially Ari, chewing on meat and practicing himself. But the closer the week comes to an end, the closer Gray Kyojin’s rampage is. If the Sect of Anarchy is in Ravoria, he’ll be in the same blood-lusted state he was in while he faced them in La Bon, as they’ll be all around him. So for every day that passes, this more emotional, kind-hearted Gray Kyojin will fade, and the Phantom Knight will show his fangs.
After three days, Ander shows Gray where they have been keeping Dema, who’s extremely happy to see Gray after these past few days, rubbing her rough scales on him. But sadly, he’s going to send Dema back to Greenvale, as she’s banned in Ravoria, and easy to spot as well, so at the end of the final day, he sits peacefully in his room. While locked on Ryo’s mana signature, he enters the astral state, rushing through the astral plane. As he tumbles quite roughly through it, the powerful rushing vortex of mana breaking away at his astral self. His heart is pounding, his brain is trembling, and his physical body is sweating, but he makes it to Ryo. A massive glowing light in a sea of others. He floats in the night sky, looking down on Greenvale, watching Ryo teaching the Leviathan army.
Gray {And Ryo loved to go on and on about how he was a bad teacher. Kinda happy for him}
Gray floats down to Ryo, who felt his presence the moment he appeared, looking at him. While the soldiers are confused about who or what Ryo is speaking with, they both don’t seem to care.
Ryo: “You cut your hair, are you doing well? Eatting right? Staying clean?”’
Gray: “That doesn't matter. I just wanted to tell you I’m sending Dema back, she can’t come with me any longer.”
Ryo: “I assume you’ve gone to Ravoira, or Valatrocitus then? I hope you find whatever you’re looking for.”
Gray: “I do too.”
Before Gray leaves, Ryo gives him a look with genuine concern, like he’s losing a son or a family member. Gordon, watching from afar, takes note of this. Gray isn’t allowed in Greenvale, but he’ll let it pass, as he can do nothing against spirits anyway.
Ryo: “Please, stay safe. If you come back, if you apologize to Gordon, you should be given your title of knight back!”
Gray: “No, not until I’m finished.”
Ryo: But your spirit is damaged! Your mana is corrupting! You’re dying Gray!”
Gray: “I know. And there’s nothing I can do to stop it now, nothing want to do at least.”
Gray vanishes from the mountain, appearing back in his body, feeling faint. But he stands up, looks into his mirror, and takes note of the single black strand of hair on his head, pulling it out.
Gray: “Tomorrow, I can really start my mission.”
End of Chapter Nineteen