Hey, remember when this was about one Arcanist trying to make sure his Warrior friend doesn't DED himself? Me neither... That's why this chapter will be dedicated to reminding you reader's of that.
After all, this story will turn into 'Serial-Killers-Be-Jamming-And-Rapping-Them-Beats: The Musical' if I don't do anything. ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) Come on~! I know you readers were thinking the same about this! (͠≖ ͜ʖ͠≖)
If possible, Alex just wanted to lock his childhood friend inside a room until the ten day time limit Samuel mentioned passed. However, hoping that meathead WOULDN'T break out was too good to be true... Arthur needed to face his fate someday.
In the basement where the scholarly freak made gadgets and experimented doing a lot of things, a smile formed of his face as he headed towards a certain round cylinder machine. After pressing some buttons, it started shaking and making noises. Then the front of opened to reveal something he had spent his entire life perfecting...!
Everything all built up to this moment! He reached his hand inside the cylinder and took 'it' out...
What did he create? Of course, it was something he had yearned for ever since coming to Gaia...
It was... It was...
It was a bag of potato chips!
Perfectly ready made and salted just right~ His mouth watered the more he thought about it... The design wasn't that great since it was his own secret stash, but it was the contents that mattered!
As he was opening it and was about to take a bite of the crispy cheese flavoured bag of potato chips in his hands, he noticed someone at the side giving him a black look. It's as if he thought he was crazy.
Spencer's face looked as blank as this: ( º _ º)
He had no idea why his acquaintance was acting like this... Was this a thing to be possessive over?
"What? ...And no, you can't have any! These crisps are mine!!!" Alex barked and took a few steps back.
His mood was a little like this: (▀̿Ĺ̯▀̿ )
As cool as a cucumber, feeling as if it was really outrageous to share his treasure with another.
Forget about how materialistic he was... though he looked like a scholarly youth, our dear protagonist was a foodie through and through. No one could match him in terms of how cheap he could be.
"...I won't touch them."
"Really?"
"I have no interest in suspicious food."
"You take that back! Taste some and become one of 'us'!" He pressed a button on the cylinder again and threw a packet to the Museum Manager he had tried to save earlier. Spencer made a blank expression again as he caught what was thrown...
"Didn't you just say-"
"I know what I said. Now eat... and be won over by the cheesy flavour!" He shook his own packet and made a content look on his face after taking a bite of the chips, which weirded Spencer out. Though he still ate the snack he was given wordlessly.
'This is actually pretty good...' The potential foodie thought as they sat on a few seats in that place.
The basement Mr Blanche walked into was more advanced than he ever imagined. There was even an automatic door of all things...! For someone who was used to old style architecture, he felt like a country bumpkin finally making his way to the city.
"So you're going to let me stay here?"
"Absolutely, I decided to save you on a whim but it's only natural that I take this much responsibility after interfering. Don't worry. No one can enter my residence without permission, or else..." Alex's eyes landed on the 'Rune Turret' inside the room.
It was basically a big Minigun Turret, but 'magical'.
"Isn't that bothersome to do? From what I know, it is only 'Heroes' that have a role to save people."
"Don't be ungrateful and accept my kindness..." A frown appeared on his face after hearing this.
Truthfully, the scholarly freak didn't think things through and didn't know it would be this difficult to keep someone safe. It was no wonder people didn't step forward to do tedious things like this often...
But since they were in his mansion, they could all relax now. He leaned back on his chair and realised that it will probably be pretty hectic tomorrow with that woman probably finding out his identity. Alex could sense that in the foreseeable future that very same kidnapper would be knocking on his door later on, trying to take who he is now protecting.
Thinking about the 'Heroes', his hand traced the magical computer he engineered beside him and typed a few things into it. Although television sets and magical technology also existed around the Human Empire, the serious-looking man knew that none of them were anything like the one that was being used here. It was to the point he wondered how this acquaintance of his got such a thing...
After going through a few things on the monitor as if it was a touchscreen, Alex finally opened up a tab that had a video of a 'War of the Arts' that had happened years ago. These moments at the Battle Theatre were rare enough to be the ONLY times something was barely recorded into history's large archives, and each one of them had significance.
On the screen appeared Brandon Volts, a Deva Priest in purple clothes, an Asura Priest in blue clothes who also had six arms, the High Priestess of Blessed Lightning, and the woman who was considered the world's one and only 'Saintess'.
The Grand Hero seemed a lot younger in the video, as well as a lot more starry-eyed. You could see from the reactions of the five-man team that they were a little nervous facing off the Royal Families.
Darren Lancelot and the four Kings of the other four kingdoms were in the opposing team in this specific War of the Arts that happened many years ago. Their composition was lawful and harmonious.
Each King brought forth their own aesthetic that was different from the colourful stage clothes worn by the Imperial Ruler. The Alchemy King had a more fisherman style of clothing, the Shield King wore a heavy set of armour, the Sword King looked like an experienced hunter, and the Magic King looked like your typical Mage dressed elegantly.
Alex watched as these two teams used the stage and props to their advantage to hide the combative nature of their dancing and win over the audience at the same time. The Battle Theatre actually seemed to contain aspects of Capoeira...
That, and that there were specific locations that hid triggers that would complicate events on stage.
One such thing was raising the floor.
Anyway...
The reason he could deeply connect Capoeira, 'War Dance', practitioners with the Battle Theatre was because they both held similar qualities. The former was created on Earth as a martial art that hid its combative nature in the disguise of dancing.
Those who first practiced Capoeira didn't always introduce it as a martial art in front of their oppressors and instead shrugged it off as just them learning how to dance... which was why this African-Brazilian martial art was called as such.
If he was to compare them, then the Battle Theatre was just Capoeira in its highest form when utilising its concept. Those who entered didn't only try to gain the audience's attention, but they also fought for the sake of what they believed in under the surface. They used their clothes, their dance moves mixed with their own fighting styles, and props around them, all for the sake of victory.
This was to make sure that 'War' wouldn't scare the citizens of the Human Empire. When there was a large-scale internal conflict that couldn't be solved with words, the Battle Theatre was where things got settled... and also entertained the five kingdoms. In fact, the physical battle wasn't as important as winning over the audience.
Even if one was to use their strongest move to win the War of the Arts, the audience is the one who chooses the winner amongst them. Only after they took a side and voted would the victors celebrate.
The War of the Arts that Alex was watching was the one regarding what to do about the threat of the Space Imperial. The Church believed it was their duty to defeat the giant snake woman in the horizon to save the world, while the Imperial Ruler desired for them to wait until it actually became a problem to the Human Empire rather than taking the initiative. Gaia Humans were not used to war....
The Battle Theatre was used to settle this difference in opinion and the four Kings gathered under the Time Imperial for the sake of the empire's prosperity. The varying aesthetics they preformed reflected their pacifistic ideals.
The team lead by Brandon was entirely different though. Their performance contained the desire for the glory of a successful crusade. The music they used made those who heard it feel hyped and full of adrenaline as they imagined a thrilling victory!!!
In the end of the long 'War' (of the Arts), the Grand Hero clad in lightning was the one who won and had his request granted. The Human Empire focuses all its military power to assassinate the Space Imperial and start a 'Holy Crusade'.
After watching the full performance while munching on crisps along with Spencer, he paused the scene at the exact moment his Mentor threw his final strike that would defeat Darren Lancelot.
How could the Grand Hero have known what would result from his naive ideals of attaining glory being brought to reality...? The articles written by the News Bureau popped up into his head.
Casualties in the billions and a drastic drop in the Human Empire's population. Death of Noble Rankers from Knights, Royal Guards, Knight Errants, to State Guards all caused by one person.
The tragedy was so gruesome that even the News Bureau, who prided themselves finding and revealing interesting truths, personally held back information on the fallen soldiers, and stopped citizens from trying to reclaim their relatives.
Most of the 'United Army' formed from the best of the best regardless of affiliation didn't even have bones left after being killed by the Gorgon. That Imperial Tyrant had merely slapped the weaker people into puddles of blood with her palms.
Alex had dug into the confidential intel regarding the incident and realised the terror of the Space Imperial with his own eyes. Unlike Humans, Beasts were practically built for combat, and there was not one existence more fitting to be called a nightmare than the Gorgon of the Serpent Pits, no doubt about that...! The Space Imperial overpowered the Time Imperial and slaughtered billions of people.
Before she could fully dye the Dark Forest and the skies above it crimson though, Brandon worked together with Darren to seal her. The recording of the hard battle and tragic end of that 'crusade' made the word itself become banned everywhere.
Those who were alive to experience that true 'War' decided to forget it ever happened or conveniently change their impression on the matter. They could only go back to life as usual and recover their hearts slowly. There was nothing else that could be done... Especially when it came to the crusade.
Because reality was too harsh, they decided to forget the fallen and choose not to bring up that incident anymore. His Mentor wasn't blamed for what happened, and the 'success' of the crusade only made future generations respect him more.
The more he looked at the Archmage and Hero duo, the more he saw a parallel others couldn't...
He realised why his Mentor had taken them in after observing their dynamic closely... From what he could tell, the two of them were reminiscent to how the Imperial Ruler and Grand Hero used to be.
Arthur was a little like his Mentor while he himself was a little like Vhalen's father. Which was actually surprising... The video feed then changed to a camera that watched the brawny Warrior practice changing his sword style to fit his Battle Personas.
"Is that your friend?" Spencer asked while feeling surprised by the sudden change to a security cam.
"We knew each other from childhood."
"...'That so?" The Manager seemed to become more interested as Jasmine arose in his mind.
"Have you ever fallen out?"
"Yeah, recently... He almost tried killing me." Alex didn't hide anything as he didn't find the need to.
Spencer's eyes went wide as he didn't realise that his acquaintance also had such a hard time with childhood friends... He consoled the youth by putting his hand onto Alex's shoulder in empathy.
Sensing that they were 'comrades', Alex opened up more about their circumstances. When he was done, the Museum Manager who had experienced a slice-of-life by his own childhood friend gave a thumbs up. He complimented the freak's tenacity.
"So you learnt some news and found there's a high chance your friend will die after picking a fight with the Mirror Cult?" The serious-eyed man spoke after hearing the accurate explanation woven with lies.
He was awkwardly asking about what Alex intended to do after learning of this matter.
"I'll become an arsonist...!"
"Wait, can't things be settled peacefully...?" A cold sweat ran down the man's back as he advised.
Although Jasmine had become weird after entering the Cult, he still didn't want to her her die... NEVER!
"Nah, I'm kidding with you~ Of course I wouldn't do something so crazy out of nowhere. Hehe~"
"Then what are you planning?"
"I'll just protect him using numbers. As long as I can stop him from courting death, it should work out. Then I'll knock him out and take him out of the country! Hehe, hehehe~" The scholarly freak laughed maniacally like a standard mad scientist.
Spencer merely went along with his laughter since he didn't want to miss out on anything that would happen in these long days. He needed to watch over Alex in order to protect the girl he cared for...!
The Magic Prodigy himself looked at the screen and started to scheme. His face was twisted...
It was to the point I now realised: Isn't this reincarnated old man much more of a Yandere?
Oh well, you can't write 'Bromance' without some clear 'Romance' anyway. Good luck, Alex~! (ಡ ͜ ʖ ಡ)
I'll be hoping you succeed in your endeavours...