[Arthur Leywin POV]
"Whew! That was Goood!" I said as I wiped the sweat off my body using a towel, I was in the backyard patio with my brother, the moonlight was the only thing illuminating the landscape.
"I agree, it was a good workout in the basics. Good job." He said, unlike me, he didn't look tired.
We were taking advantage of the fact that everyone was sleeping to train for real, of course, we limited ourselves to not using any form of deviant magic so that we did our best with the basics. Even though I had all four elements, Luz seemed to outdo me with him having only the elements of fire and wind. Maybe it was the fact that I was more used to the elements of fire and water, that way he could destroy my flames with his wind, and he could evaporate my water with his flames.
"Yes, but I think I should train the earth and wind elements even more. They weren't very good." I told my brother as I looked at Sylvie, who was lying on the grass near the back door of the house.
"I agree, let's take advantage of going to Xyrus Academy, there you focus more on these two." Luz said giving me a light pat on the back.
It's true, we still have time to improve within Xyrus Academy. I had even thought about buying an artifact that Vincent mentioned before, it was one that allowed to turn off the presence of a certain element in the person, but my brother said I didn't need it, because if he's going to give his maximum within the Academy, I should do the same. In addition to training I was always meditating when I could, I wanted to get to the dark yellow stage before school, which would be in autumn.
Speaking of the future, Ellie's birthday was approaching, and she always seemed to ask what kind of gift we would give her. Luz told me that he was thinking of giving her something of his own making, he was using the free time between training and rune study for that. On the other hand, I wanted to buy her something functional, even though my brother had a lot of money, I wanted to use my own money for it.
"How about we go to my study room? You asked Vincent to buy you books on deviant magic, didn't you?" Luz called my attention to that, so we went inside the house, with Sylvie jumping on my shoulder.
We went directly to Luz's study room, it was a large rectangular room, with several shelves, revealing some notebooks and books. The walls were full of glued sheets, with numerous symbols on them, apparently he left on these specific sheets, the symbols that were more correct among the others, so he wouldn't get confused. From the way he explained it to me before, his runes worked as if they were all pieces of a single spell, from the shoulders to the wrists of both arms, there were always five runes, the first one never changed, the others changed in relation to what he was doing. The second and third changed depending on the element used, the fourth changed if he tried to use a deviant skill, and the fifth changed depending on the magic released. In this way he was creating a kind of "runic alphabet" or at least, he was able to deduce what each rune meant.
While my brother was looking for the books Vince bought me, I went to the desk there to look at the notebooks. Randomly opening one of them, I saw drawings of various runes, along with something written in another language.
"Maybe my brother is using a language unknown to this world... Clever, so no one understands what you write." I thought as I closed the notebook.
"Found it!" He said pulling out two thick books and putting them on the table in front of me. "You can read on, I'm going to sleep! If you're going to look at my stuff, put everything back in the exact place!" He warned me and left the study room.
I kept looking at those books, until now, even though I had all the elements, I only had access to lightning and ice as deviant. According to the books, lightning had two ways to be used, externally and internally, with the internal being seen as the most powerful for an augmenter like me. I was lucky that Thunderclap Impulse was considered a base spell for more advanced things.
"I wonder, will I ever reach that Luz's spell, Hero's Thunder?... Hm... what a silly name, I still doesnt believe that this name was said for the god that gave him this ability"
It was something that always crossed my mind, according to Luz, some spells he used, were gained in other worlds, but Hero's Thunder seemed to be an evolved version of Thunderclap Impulse. Even so, he could use both spells so that one increased the power of the other. It was confusing at times.
Speaking of deviant ice form, I used more external moves like Static Void and Absolute Zero. Always wanting to reach the greatest range against any enemy.
Apart from the deviant spells of Ice and Lightning, there was one thing I really wanted to learn, mana cancelation, theoretically, is a spell that required absurd knowledge from the person. It was related to the fact that there was a small delay between a spell being cast and it being activated. During this time the mana particles form in a specific way, and hence, mana cancellation would cause those mana particles to move away from the target before the spell is activated.
Due to Dragon's Awakening, I could see mana particles, so if I go really fast and train harder, I might even use this canceling technique. The fact that it was a quadra-elemental made it even easier.
But there was a problem, I couldn't use my second phase all the time, and I would need to find out which spell the target is going to do, it was even easy if the target is the type that says the spell out loud, but there are still those who can cast a spell mentally. It even gives me a headache to think about memorizing several spells just to TRY to use a mana cancelation.
I took a deep breath and after a few minutes of rereading specific chapters from the books, I got up, took Sylvie, who was sleeping, in my arms, put the two books away and went straight to my room. Arriving there I saw Elijah and Luz sleeping, unlike before, Elijah now had his own single bed, thanks to one of the spare rooms in the house, he would even stay in that room, but my parents wouldn't let him because he was my family's guest and not Helstea's, on the other hand, Luz continued to share that big bed with me that was always there.
I went to the bathroom to take care of my hygiene, put on my pajamas and threw myself on the bed, with Sylvie getting up and leaning all over me, I ended up sleeping hugging her like a plushie.
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"Brother wake up!!!!"
"Oof!" I groaned, the wind forcefully expelled out of my lungs as my sister jumped on top of me.
Rubbing my sore sternum, I gasped out "Ellie, you're not a little kid anymore. You're going to seriously hurt me one day.".
"Are you calling me fat, Brother?" Ellie feigned a gasp.
"Extremely." I added, tossing her off me. My little sister let out a surprised squeal as I tickled her. This little rascal, only learning useless things at that school for proper ladies or whatnot.
After a tear-filled surrender by my sister, I turned to see Elijah and Luz, already bathed and clothed, Elijah's glasses still clouded from the steam.
"I swear, you sleep like a log, Art. Your wife is going to seriously have to use spells to wake you up when you get older." Elijah said.
"He's right, 'she' will have to give you a lot of hell for that." Luz smirked, I knew who was the 'she' that his was saying, and this made me blush.
"Shaddup." I slurred, too tired to make a witty comeback.
After quickly washing my face and fixing my hair to a barely-presentable degree, the four of us, and Sylvie who was on top of my head, headed downstairs.
"I wonder what's for breakfast. I hoped it's meeeaaaaat." Sylv pondered excitedly, her little fox head swaying side to side in anticipation, I still can't believe that I have a bond that talks to me mentally and most of the things she says is about eat meat.
"Good morning! You guys are just in time." Our mother called out to us from the kitchen as the maids were preparinf the table. Even though there were cooks in the manor, my mother found it imperative to at least prepare breakfast for us. So, as Tabitha helped her with the meal, the maids set the table ans cleaned up afterwards.
After I came back, my family, as well as the Helsteas, both noticed the apparent change in appearance of Sylvie. I tried playing it off as her naturally transforming after digesting a lot of beast cores, but I had the sense that they knew Sylvie wasn't just a average mana beast; hell, I'd sometimes catch them talking to her like she was a human, even if she couldn't speak words out load.
"Good morning, boys—and good morning, my little princess. Did you guys sleep well?" Our father, who was talking with Vincent, turned to us, giving our struggling sister a bearbed kiss on her cheek.
"Ew, Dad! That tickles!" She pushed him away, wiping the spot she was kissed.
"Did you guys sleep well?" Vincent asked, half-smirking as he watched my father playing with Ellie.
"Good morning Aunt Leywin, Aunt Tabitha, Uncle Vincent and Uncle Reynolds." Elijah announced before he sat down next to me. He'd stopped calling my parents "Lord" and "Lady" as he got closer to them, eventually calling everyone either "Aunt" or "Uncle", but still was strange how he couldn't say my mother name, and instead he always says our surname.
After saying good morning to everyone, I got back to my seat and started eating a ham and vegetable omelet with a very light soup. Luz did the same as me, but before, he and our father made a Highfive with their hands augmented in fire.
While eating, father suddenly spoke up with a mouth full of eggs. "That reminds me... Kids, if you don't have any plans today, do you want to go with us to City Square? There's a big announcement in the Capital City of Etistin where the King and Queen reside but a couple of artificers are goinf to put up a live projection on the broadcast in City Square."
"Honey, please don't talk with your mouth full." mother gently scolded before getting back to her conversation with Tabitha regarding the latest rumors on some mutual acquaintances. It seemed like she was getting along quite well with the noble ladies of Xyrus, seeing as the both of them often go out to brunch meetings and afternoon shopping trips.
"Sounds good. Elijah, Luz and I don't have anything planned today anyways, right?" I turned to my dork friend who was wolfing down his second omelet. He shot me a thumbs up, his cheeks filled with food.
Stolen novel; please report.
"Yeah, I have nothing to do today, just yesterday I managed to make progress in my study of the runes I found in the Dungeons and wrote it down. So going for a walk is good for me." Luz said proudly, he said he found them in the dungeons and wrote them down on papers, but I knew very well that they were the runes that appear on him everytime he enters his second phase.
"I wanna go too! Can I, Mom?" Ellie leaned forward on the table towards our mother.
"You have school today, Ellie. You can hang out with your brothers after." She answered, nudging my pouting sister back into her chair.
"Uncle Vincent. I remember you mentioned something about how you were going to visit a famous researcher that has a lab here in Xyrus. Do you mind introducing me and my brother to him after we watch the announcement today?" I said in between bites of food, while my brother facepalmed himself, as if he had forget about this fact.
"Ah, you mean Gideon? I knew that he would caught your brother's interest, but also yours? He's not just a researcher but a well-known inventor and artificier as well! He's the one responsible for designing the ships we use for rivers as well as few other well-used artifacts! I do have some business with him anyway so it wouldn't be a problem taking you two. Was there something specific you needed from him?" he quizzed, the intelligent eyes behind his glasses shining with curiosity.
"Not something we need, but something to discuss. We talked before with each other and we thought he would find it valuable." Luz's vague answer caught his interest all the more.
"Well, he's not the type to meet new people but I'm sure I can get him to pop his head out of his hole if I'm with you." He nodded to himself.
"Great! Looking forward to it." I focused back on my empty plate. Looking down, I caught Sylvke scarfing down the last of my omelette.
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The City Square, which was usually bustling with a lot of activity, was abnormally packed with both normal civilians and nobles alike. On the side of the large clock tower, there was four floating orbs creating a square while underneath these floating orbs, there were two artificers with their brown robes. The less-than-attractive clothing signified that they didn't do their work for glory and fame, but it didn't keep the mages from chanting with unnecessarily grand gestures, hands waving as if they were conducting a symphony.
Sylvie was fidgeting on top of my head, taking in all the sights and the huge crowd of people gathered. It was only Elijah, Vincent, my father and brother that came with me, as the women in the house had other plans.
As more and more people gathered, a crackled image began forming with the four glowing orbs as its corners. Suddenly, the fuzzy image became cleaner, the mirage of colors forming into the image of the Glayder Castle.
"The three Kings and Queens of the different countries in our beloved Continent of Dicathen have gathered here on this memorable day!" I see a very fancily-dressed man with a thick grey beard announce to an audience that looked to be in the hundreds of thousands, judging by the space the people took up.
"Uuh... It seems that even with this huge lack of technology, they created something like this using only magic and artifacts...? And wow... I don't think I could breathe in that crowd." Luz said in a low voice, Elijah and I were the closest to hear that.
"Attention Humans, Elves and Dwarves alike, I go by Blaine Glayder. While most of you know me as the King of Sapin, today I speak not as the King of Humans, but as one of the representative ot the Continent of Dicathen!" The hundreds of thousands of people all kneeled, some going on all fours in worship at the sight of the King. The blurry projection becomes clearer and zoomed in closer to the balcony of the Castle.
There, I could see the King of Sapin in front with the Queen of Sapin, Priscilla Glayder, seated behind hum alongside a few other important-looking figures. My eyes widened as I spotted Alduin and Merial Eralith, the King and the Queen of Elenoir, with Grandpa Virion standing behind them with his arms crossed and his white hair tied neatly behind his pointed ears. Beside them are two representatives of the Dwarves, both lavished in extravagant clothing much too large for their compact figures; I assumed that they were the King and the Queen of Darv.
"Today marks the beginning of a new era for this Continent we call home. I assume that everyone is aware of the existing problems between Humans and Elves, while the Dwarves are considered our business partners. However, we do not wish it to remain that way. We, the leaders of the three kingdoms, have been trying to bring the races together for a few years. Two years ago, allowing all three races to become adventurers, started with just two representatives of each race, but nowadays I'm proud to see adventurer teams made up of all our variety. Last year there was another amazing event, where Xyrus Academy accepted students from the Kingdom of Elenoir and Kingdom of Darv, so the new generation will have mages full of allies that are not just human, but of all three races. We all understand how difficult it must be for some to readjust to such an idea. But we ask that you leave behind the discrimination and problems that you may have, if not for yourself, then for your children and the future of this continent."
There was an immense sound of applause and shouts of adoration over it. King Glayder sat down and Alduin Eralith rose from his seat, clearing his throat before speaking in what felt like this world's version of a microphone.
"It is an honor for me to speak here with everyone. I am extremely grateful for the way the other kingdoms are slowly changing so that this racial union on our continent is done. Some may not see the advantage in this idea, but I know that several among we have an incredible feeling to be able to go to different or even unexplored places. An obvious example of this would be the Beast Glades that are found between our borders. Even with so many explorers having already walked there and also with the help now of other races, it is not an exaggeration to say that not even half of this place has been fully mapped or known. But I tell you, there is something more mysterious than this out there!"
King Eralith paused for a brief moment while the crowd in Etistin and the crowd here in the City Square of Xyrus filled with sounds of murmurs.
"That's right! You have not heard wrong, fellow citizens of Dicathen. We are announcing today, February 10th of the 1005th Cycle, that we have found evidence of another continent."
The crowds erupted into a clamor of noises, some angry, some afraid, but everyone curious. Even my own hands shook in excitement as my father and Vincent looked at each other in shock and Elijah had his mouth a little open in a visible afraid feeling. Luz on the other hand didn't do anything, his eyes only glowed a little yellow and he shook is head in a slow motion.
"Please. We ourselves don't know very much, so your guess is as good as ours. What we do know is that, out there is another continent that may or may not be hostile. There have been evidence of them trying to reach us as well, but on both sides, it seems that our current technology does not permit us to travel that far."
The crowd shown in the Capital was in chaos until the dwarven king rose from his chair.
"SILENCE!"
Everyone fell silent at the exact moment he gave that shout into the microphone, attention going straight to him.
"I know things are pretty crazy around here, but we have to calm down. We have no idea what the real interaction will be between our continent and this new found. We must be prepared to trust the people of our precious continent, and that's just can be achieved if there is no chaos like it was having now and we work together. After all, if we're having problems with what's going on inside, who's to say with what's going on outside? And remember, even if our appearances are different , we still have one thing in common, we are born from the Continent of Dicathen."
The audience remained silent for a few seconds, until that silence was broken by a huge round of applause for the Dwarf King. Even though he wasn't as eloquent as the other two, his words were more common for anyone to understand, I even saw Elijah clapping and Sylvie looking curiously at the screen. Luz continued with a completely neutral expression and yellow eyes.
"The process of joining our three races and kingdoms will take time and much effort, but today, we will be showing six individuals, that we, the three kings and queens, believe to be the most corageous, tactful, smart and powerful."
From the back of the podium, six warriors came out: two of each race. Clad in refined white armor that varied slightly for each person, they walked up and knelt down on one knee.
The three kings would pick up rings inside ornate boxes and deliver them to those new figures. The human king gave the rings to the elven representatives, the dwarf king gave them to the human representatives, and the elven king gave them to the dwarven representatives. I looked closely at that, and when the faces of those warriors were more focused, I realized, the two elves there were my brother's mentors, while the two humans I had seen before, one in the auction house incident and another at the meeting we had with the royals while we were disguised as adventurers. The dwarves were the only ones I couldn't recognize.
"These six individuals will henceforth be granted the title of the Six Lances. Each Lance signifies the ties they hold not to their Kingdom, but to the entire Continent. This is a truly historical moment as the first Lances have been shown. These six individuals' main goal will be towards the well-being of the Continent, whether that be exploring dungeons and unknown dungeons in the Beast Glades, as well as working alongside us, the rulers of this Continent, to ensure that our home is protected when the time comes that we are met with foreign hostilities from a different Continent."
The audience began to show their spirits with happy cheers as I could see that some were throwing their hats and flowers in the air.
"Finally, while the title of being one of the Six Lances may perhaps give prestige compared to even those of kings and queens, this title will also attract a lot of danger. Children of the new generation who seek to be future protectors of this Continent, strive to be a future Lance! Become stronger and neither noble nor the heavens will be your limit!"
With that, the four orbs making up the corners of the projection floated down as the image of the announcement faded. The last thing we heard were the chants of "Long live the King, long live Dicathen!"
Beside me, I heard Elijah muttering to himself, "Wow... Father is really having a good time..." The children within the crowd here, already started play-acting the scene of what was shown.
I looked confuse at Elijah with what he said, while a sound barrier, which I only felt due to my training with wind mana, came out of nowhere around me, and when I saw it, it was just me, Luz and Elijah inside it.
"Why did you say that, Elijah?" Luz said, with one of his pupils still yellowish and the other a regular blue.
"Well... remember when I said that I was adopted by dwarfs?" We both nodded with what he said, and he continued. "Welp... The elder that adopted me is the father of one of the dwarfs that were named Lances... And due to age differences between us, I call him father and not brother... but either way, he never saw me as his child or his brother, so that's why I said before I never had a 'Father figure'."
"That's interesting..." I said.
"Good... But not get so impressed by him being a Lance." Luz said with a straight face to our glasses friend.
"Why?? Isn't it cool?? Being named a powerful mage??" Elijah asked.
"Because the situation is more irritating and crazy than what you are thinking. Being a Lance must seem amazing, but it's actually a form of 'prison', where you're forced to get away from everything and everyone to be on patrol at all times or being the puppet of kings." The way of seeing things that Luz had was even bizarre, maybe it was a common way of seeing after existing for so long.
"And why do you say that?" Elijah asked staring at my brother.
"Maybe it's because King Glayder kept begging us to be Lances while looking at us like we were just trophies or tools." I said that and Elijah looked at me strangely.
"Wait.. You were called to be Lances?!?!? When?!?! Where?!?! And why aren't you there?!?!" he exclaimed in panic.
"Well, we didn't tell you, but that was the topic of the meeting we were called upon the last time we were in Xyrus Adventurer's Guild." Luz said crossing his arms. "And by the way, we know the elven and human Lances. We never knew the dwarf ones... But since you know one of them... I think the only one we don't know is the dwarf girl there."
"Whataaa-?!?!?" Elijah was even more shocked.
"We'll explain later, but for now you just need to know that, at least I've interacted with four of these Lances, the two elven Lances were already my mentors while we were in the elven realm.... And that human man among the Lances. ... It's that garbage's brother."
Elijah looked even more confused with what my brother was saying, until he better reasoned the last sentence and his eyes widened. "Th-that guy... Is he Lucas' brother?"
We nodded in agreement and Elijah ended up almost dropping to his knees on the floor, but we held him, with him talking desperately. "Are we screwed, can't we even get revenge in a simple way?"
"Maybe we can. But remember, Luz and I were also called to be one of them, but we ended up declining because we still wanted to have a childhood. So there's a chance we might even get over that guy." I said trying to cheer up our four-eyes.
"Well, I think we already have a lot of new motivations to train, don't you think?" Luz said that with a long sigh, we all agreeded.
"But... a question... what are their names?" Elijah asked with curiosity in his eyes.
"The elves are named Alea and Aya. Alea was the almost-white-hair one. The human ones are Varay and... Bairon is the brother of that fucker." Luz answered him but after he also asked the same for him.
"Oh... my 'Father' is named Olfred." He answered.
". . . Yeah he has a face of 'Olfred'." Luz said laughing a little.