Goleil blinked, and he was back in the Colosseo. He felt his wounds begin to close, and his vision returned to normal. He fell to one knee, stabilizing himself with his glaive as he focused on remaining conscious.
He glanced around and realized the boy had disappeared, and conflicting emotions rose in his heart. Was that all really just an illusion?
'My wounds are bad and I'm weakened, but only because of the massive amount of magic I used. I must get stronger, or I'll be a sitting duck every time I use my mana...'
Only then did Goleil notice that everything was silent, the knights, the nobles, even his friends.
He glanced around at the spectators, wondering if they had seen the battle. They all had varying degrees of shock, fear, and excitement on their faces.
Lord Brentwood's face was flushed red with excitement, his grin trying to reach his ears, and his mustache jumping in glee. Lady Alnwick's mouth was agape in shock, the binoculars slipping from her hand.
Goleil spotted a massive smile on Tyria's hooded face, who he had spotted as soon as she snuck in by the grace of the rather obvious Praetorian Guards.
Guyan's eyes were the size of dinner platters, and the Adalian had a horrified expression on his face. Even the usually calm Erikson seemed shocked.
Goleil heard a small cough from beside him.
He looked up to see the forced smile and respectful look on Ty'Bral's sweating demonic face.
"Very well done my Lord, as expected of the Adzarch of prophecy," He whispered in a half-strangled tone. Goleil suppressed the laughter in his heart as he looked at the eldritch with derision in his eyes.
The silence was broken an instant later as the knights began to roar in excitement.
"Such incredible power!"
"As expected of the last Sun Guard and Redvale's strongest!"
"I didn't know it was even possible for knights to use magic?!"
"For one as powerful as Sir Goleil, of course, it is possible, you fool!"
"I wonder how far he will go!"
Goleil was internally shocked. Who knew that these knights were such incredible sycophants?! He guessed that even if he hadn't seen them, they had been watching his 'duel' with the Thrazkan.
Suddenly, Goleil heard a series of monotone voices speaking over each other in his head. He could barely hear them over the rejoicing of the knights and nobles.
[Immersive Environment Build has closed unexpectedly!]
[Immersive Environment Build did not close correctly!]
[Immersive Environment Build requires immediate attention!]
[Immersive Environment Build requires immediate total restart!]
[Restart Pending Authorization! Restart Approved?]
[Note: All Data Has Been Saved!]
Goleil finally had time to process the fact that the magical formation seemed to be speaking to him, but the messages didn't make sense. Immersive? Build? Data? Restart? There were simply too many words that didn't fit into the situation at hand. It felt like he was a layman listening to a jargon-heavy explanation from a world-renowned master.
Goleil sighed. He remembered Guyan telling him that this formation was older than Redvale itself, so it was no wonder it still held many secrets. Judging by everyone's faces, it was unlikely they had any idea of what had just happened. He reasoned that Lord Colm or Murdoc might know.
[Restart Pending Authorization! Restart Approved?]
[Note: Device Requires Restart For Any Further Usage!]
Goleil narrowed his eyes as he heard the messages in his head, it almost seemed like they were getting more urgent the more he ignored them. Eventually, he decided to just give in, more for his own curiosity than anything else.
'Approved.'
[Restart Initiated! Time Until Ready: 47:59:59]
[All personnel, be advised - Device usage will be restricted until the restart is complete.]
Simultaneously, the magical shield wall that enclosed Goleil within the formation dissipated, and rhythmically changing symbols appeared over the formation. Goleil couldn't understand the symbols, but just like with the messages he knew what they meant. It was the timer showing how long it would be until the formation was usable.
Goleil sighed when he realized nothing had exploded. He could barely stand without his head splitting, he was in no shape to fight any time soon.
He looked past the hearing crowds and out of the Colosseo, towards the darkening sky.
'Two days... Including today, that's three days. The formation will become usable again two days away from our departure. How can I use this time to the fullest?'
While he mused, it didn't take long before the knights shook off their shock from the energy curtain falling, and began to swarm the ring.
Guyan pushed through the crowd, grabbing the distracted Goleil before pulling him towards the door.
"Let's go, Guardsman, we're leaving! You need some serious rest!"
Goleil chuckled and followed the gruff Guard Captain as he shouldered his way through the crowd of proud knights.
From a deserted corner of the Colosseo, Mord was leaving a dark room, his bare chest slick with sweat. He glanced at Goleil from afar, an eyebrow raised.
"His Majesty must have done something incredible again. I'm so jealous I didn't get to see it!"
...
The heavy snow seemed to be perpetually mixed with ash, giving it a dark gray color. It was often said that the ash of the Upheaval all gathered in the sky, and gave the snow its color.
In the shelter of an old rug, an old woman gave a small boy the last few bites of bread they had. They shivered from the brutal cold, the ice seeped into their bones.
The boy looked up at the woman's skinny frame, sunken cheeks, and discolored skin. Her eyes were closed as she tried to give him as much warmth as possible.
"Grandma... I promise I'll find a way out of this for us..." He whispered as he felt the flames of determination burning in his heart. The weather was too unpredictable, if the cold lasted for much longer, they'd die.
Snow crunched as a figure walked through the street, his heavy cloak obscuring his frame and face.
The boy peeked his head out of the rug to ensure they were safe. The man stopped beside the boy and discreetly handed him a leather bag, before walking away.
After taking the small bag, the boy quickly ducked his head into the rug again, quickly opening it as he grinned.
"Grandma... Grandma," He whispered, shaking the old woman as he took out one piece of food after the other from the bag.
"Hm... mhh!? What is it, boy?" She said as she was roused from her slumber. She quickly saw the food and said, "Where did you get this food?"
The boy grinned, and said, "Don't worry where it came from, Grandma," and discreetly took a slip of paper from the bag, "The Heir of Redvale takes care of his people."
The old woman narrowed her eyes at the boy but said nothing. When one is desperate, they do not bite the hand that feeds them.
The boy quickly read the slip of paper, then ate it. While it probably wouldn't satiate his hunger, it wouldn't hurt to try.