3rd Person POV
As Arthur and Sylvie came back. Alice was the first one to notice him.
" Where did you go Art?" Asked Alice looking at his son. Hearing this, Vincent who was talking to the king turn his head to where Arthur is.
"Oh! Arthur! Do you find a sword your looking for?" Inquire Vincent.
"Oh! Are you planning on taking lessons with the sword?" The King inquired, putting a hand on his son's shoulder. "My boy has just started learning as well. Maybe you two can spar one day."
"Swords are merely a hobby for me, Your Majesty. I would never hope to amount to the same level as your son," Arthur replied.
"Your Majesty, Prince Curtis would only become infected with bad habits if he began sparring with mere commoners," Sebastian's hissy voice rang.
"So Art do you find one?" Reynold's chimes in, arriving with the Twin Horns who was fallowing behind him.
"Yes! I found one." Arthur responded while taking out the back up sword from his dimensional ring. Then a gasp was heard from the others who doesn't know Arthur was a mage.
Blaine Glayder POV
The boy was a mage! But isn't he to young to awaken? He looks like the same age as kath. And he's a mage already?
I decided to check his mana core. When I feel a pain in my head. I already know that my talent as a mage was a subpar at best. But, I'm still a dark red stage, and it seems this child had already surpassed me.
It seems that the kid noticed that I was checking his core, and he look at me then look away.
"Your Majesty. If I may have a word with you." I hear a voice behind me, looking back it was Sebastian who spoke. And I just give him a nod.
He then told me that he want the little boy's pet, and he want me to help him. Which I was annoyed.
Is he an idiot?
Sebastian is my royal conjurer with a dark orange stage, and he's doing great at his job. And I'm thankful for him at that.
But I'm not going to ruin the chance I have with the Leywin's for him. I've know the Leywin's through Vincent, Reynold Leywin the father of the child , is a high-silver core augmenter and the former leader of the famous adventurer's group the Twin Horns. They are a group of Elite mages that dive in the dungeons, I also tried, recruiting Reynold to be my body guard but he rejected it, because he doesn't want to leave his job at Vincent. It's a pity though, because I want him to be my lance, but I respect his decision.
And since the boy was Reynold child, I know for sure that he will become someone like Reynold when he grow up. And I need to leave a good impression on him so I can recruit him to be my lance. Or son-in-law if kath could win his heart.
"No! I'm not going to help you and. From now on your on your own, you're fired!" I told him making my voice enough for others to hear. But not to suspect anything.
Sebastian look at me at disbelief. Thinking that I was gonna help him, but instead got rejected and also fired from his position.
Turning back I saw the rest looking at us confused on what happened. I suddenly feel a man fluctuation behind me.
That Fool!!
Arthur Leywin POV
Taking out the back up sword I have, then giving it to my father to check. My father swing the sword for a few times before giving it back to me.
He then started reporting to Vincent on what happened during the auction. He reported that they arrested some intruder's and everything was now clear.
From my corner of my eye I see, Sebastian talking to the king. Augmenting my ear with mana I listen to their conversation.
My blood boil from what I heard. He was asking the king to take Sylvie, and then give it to him.
That bastard!!
I then hear the king speak "No! I'm not going to help you and. From now on your on your own, you're fired!"
It seemed the king know what's best for him to do. Not paying attention to the fool anymore, and started to play with my sister.
When I suddenly feel a mana fluctuation coming from Sebastian, is he an idiot? As I saw him pointing his staff at me. Did he think that he was strong because he was qualified as royal guard? Or, he think having a dark orange core was strong?
I think he's preparing an attack attempting to kill me. I see everyone run trying to stop him but I know they where not gonna make it.
Activating my beast will first phase. I then stop the time by using static void, excluding Sebastian and me.
I can keep this spell for 15-minutes. Before backlash happen.
Since it's was only me and Sebastian. I let my intent run wild. Stopping Sebastian on what's he doing and gasping for air. I then started to walk towards him.
Sebastian POV
I look at the king with disbelief.
Why did he reject me? And not only that he also fired me! And he look at me as if I'm just a trash compare to them.
They were just commoner, so why did he seems to value them more than against me.
Me?
An Elite conjurer, and was born from a noble house, and he see me lower than these filthy commoners?
Since he's not going to help me. I will going to help myself, since I'm from the noble house I was just gonna use my family authority after I killing the brat and taking his bond.
I then started chanting under my breath, making sure the Queen doesn't sense me, since she's also a strong conjurer.
I'm almost finish on my spell, and it seems those fools also noticed something wrong. But they were too late, pointing my staff at the brat. And from the corner of my eyes I see the other dash towards me in attempt to stop me.
Fools!
Haha.. now die brat and your bond will be mine.
As I waited for my spell to release. But nothing came out as I look around, It was then that I noticed that the colors of my surrounding had been flipped, or reversed. 'what happened!' I scream inside my head. I then feel as if air was being sucked out from my lungs.
' I can't breathe!'
kneeling down as I can't stand the pressure, who knows who's emitting. When it finally stop, catching my breath I then try to stand up.
All of a sudden, a piercing crunch sounded from beneath me before I dropped to my knees.
"..."
'That's weird. Why did I suddenly lose my balance again?'
I glanced down, only to see someone's knee bent inwards, along with the bones, tendons still attached, sticking out of the skin.
'T-t-that's my leg!'
"GAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!"
"M-MY LEG! MY LEG!! AHHHHHHH!"
IT HURTS! IT HURTS IT HURTS IT HURTS IT HURTS IT HURTS IT HURTS IT HURTS! I've never felt such excruciating pain in my life! Why should a noble conjurer like myself need to feel pain?
" Help! Help me!" I don't know what's going on but I keep shouting for help.
"It's no use." I hear voice behind me turning back I saw the brat, Looking down at me.
"You are currently at my space and there's only the two of us. And no one will help you even if you keep shouting." The boy was speaking in a manner that made me completely forget his age. The tone of his words, coupled with the way he articulated them, carried both power and dignity.
He turned his back to me as he walked away, taking a few steps forward, before suddenly glancing back at me.
He looked at me with an emotionless face, his eyes seeming to pierce straight into my brain like a hot needle, actually making me wince in pain.
'No... No, no, no... I can't breathe! I-I'm scared!' The torturous pain had been somewhat numbed. Instead, I could feel a warm sensation between my legs as my body accepted its fate of death.
His eyes continued to bore down at me in blatant disgust as I tried to stop my body from shivering.
He looked at me as if I was simply an insect, and slowly mouthed,
"Know. Your. Place."
Blaine Glayder POV
"KYYAAAAAAAAAA!" I instantly turned my head in the direction of the shrill scream.
My wife was staring wide-eyed at something behind me, causing me to turn around to get a better look.
'How is Sebastian, who was fine just a second ago, now on the ground clutching his left leg like that? His leg has several shards of bone sticking out, yet he's just glaring daggers at the boy?'
The conjurer fumbled for his staff on the ground and as soon as he grabbed it, pointed it at the boy while starting to mumble a spell.
"Enough, Sebastian!" I roared at him. Did this ignorant fool not know that all of this stemmed from his greed for a child's bond?
I grabbed his staff and snapped it in half. Sebastian just looked at me in shock—as if I'd betrayed him.
This pathetic ingrate...
Looking at the boy and the others.
"I'm sorry for my guards action kid, it seems he's spell backfire at him, and don't worry he will be punished after we come home" I said to the kid with a reassuring tone. "I will send someone to compensate you and your family for the trouble I cause you."
I then turn my head back to the guards and said.
" Bring him and let's go! We're going home!" With that I along with my family and guards left the scene.
Arthur Leywin POV
After the king and his entourage left, We also prepare to leave.
Though the mood was unpleasant from what just happened, and they were angry at that guards action.
And it seems no one has suspected about me, on what happen at Sebastian.
...
3 months passed since the incident at the auction house. And today is also my birthday, and starting tomorrow I'm going to be an adventurer.
"HAPPY BIRTHDAY ARTHUR!" everyone cried out in unison.
The whole Helstea house was decorated lavishly with festive ornaments and woven threads as the Twin Horns and the Helstea family as well as my own gathered together to congratulate my ninth birthday.
"Thank you all for bearing with me!" I gave a deep bow as Sylvie mimicked me, nodding her head.
The dinner turned out amazing as the chefs went all out tonight. My mother made sure to include some of my favorite dishes, some of which she made herself.
A panorama of noise filled the halls: laughter of the kids, the clinking of wine glasses and busy footsteps of maids and butlers. The table was pleasantly loud as Adam belched loud jokes and made fun of some of the members with their embarrassing moments while exploring the dungeon.
"Adam, you seem to forget the time when a horned mole snuck up under you while you were taking a piss in the dungeon. As I recall, you got so scared, you landed straight on your back, peeing on yourself like a fountain," Jasmine coolly said as she casually continued sipping her tea, not even bothering to look at the petrified Adam.
"Pfft!" The food in my mouth sprayed out as I tried to contain my laughter. My father blatantly roared with laughter, nearly falling back in his chair as he pointed his finger at the frozen Adam. Even Vincent had his face buried in his hands as he tried to keep from laughing.
"No! Y-You! I thought n-no one was awake when that happened?!" Adam's face turned ghostly pale and his shoulders slumped in utter defeat. Meanwhile, the women just shook their heads in embarrassment at the men's behaviors.
All in all, everyone was having a great time. Ellie chimed in eager to tell all of us about her adventures in learning how to read and write, trying to be a part of the grown-up conversations as well, while Lilia just giggled and agreed.
After dinner, everyone migrated to the living room where the fire had just been lit and area filled with a smoky fragrance.
"Happy Birthday again, Son. This present is from your mother and I, and of course, Ellie as well." My father handed me a package wrapped in cloth while Mother was holding back Ellie, who's fidgeting fingers were eager to unwrap the present.
Opening it, I saw a fingerless glove meant only for my left hand. It was black and simple but embedded on the top of the glove were 3 white stones.
"Your father hunted the material for the glove and I imbued my healing spells unto those three white stones. Each of the stones carries a single-use spell. I'm sure it'll be useful to have some safety measures while you go out on missions." My mother looked at me with sad smile. I could tell she still wasn't ready to send me off.
"Thanks Mom, Dad, Ellie, I love it. This'll be really useful for me." I gave each of my family members a big hug. Putting on the glove, I could tell how sturdy the material was, not to mention that the three healing spells would be extremely useful in a tight situation.
"Ahem! Next is us!" Vincent pulled out a small box. He dramatically got down on one knee and opened the box, revealing two silver rings, one plain, and one with a small clear gem.
"..."
Uhh.... Where was he going with this?
"Honey! Stop teasing the boy!" Tabitha smacked Vincent's shoulder while he held in his laughter.
"Okay, okay! Arthur, this is more of a present for your family than you but I'm sure you'll appreciate it as well."
"This ring," Vincent pulled out the plain ring, "Is what you will be wearing, while this ring," he handed the gemmed ring to my mother, "Is what your mother will be wearing."
Tabitha continued on for him, "Alice, while Arthur is wearing the ring, you'll be able to tell whether he's okay or not. The plain ring is able to keep tabs on the mana circulation that naturally flows in a mage's body. If the natural mana flow stops, the ring you're holding, Alice, will glow red and emit a high-pitched sound."
"We thought really hard on what Arthur may need during his time as an adventurer, but Lilia was actually the one that brought up the possibility of giving a present that'll help him and his family. Unfortunately, the rings can't do much more than that but I thought this would bring you some peace of mind Alice, Rey." Vincent shrugged his shoulders.
My mother teared up while clutching onto the ring. "Oh Tabitha, Lilia, thank you!" She hugged the both of them in a tight embrace. "Thank you, Vincent." She gave Vincent a deep bow while he shook his hands, saying how this was nothing much.
I couldn't help but smile, looking at my mother.
If this ring could free my family from constantly worrying about me, then this was the best gift I could ask for. But I couldn't help but become concerned at the psychological presence wearing the ring would have on my mother; she might end up checking it religiously.
"Well how are we going to beat that, guys?" Adam chimed in. My guardian angel Durden walked towards me, handing me a roll of parchment.
"You see, we also thought along the same lines as the Helstea family. We couldn't really think of what to give the little monster so we decided on this!" Adam waved his arm in a dramatic manner.
"Those two scrolls are sound transmission scrolls! I'm not going to elaborate on how expensive these were, because they were extremely expen—ouch!" Jasmine smacked Adam on the head.
"Cough! Anyways! With this, you now have a one-time source of communication. Just infuse mana into the scroll, Arthur, and you'll be able to send a message to the other scroll. After the holder of the other scroll receives it, Mama Leywin, she can then send the reply! After the reply is sent and the other person listens to it, the parchment will then turn to ashes! TADA! You're welcome!" Adam gave a dramatic bow.
The members of the Twin Horns were all taking turns talking smack about Adam's egotistical performance, but they gave my family a warm smile.
I could tell my mother and father's moods had turned a whole lot better after knowing that they wouldn't be sending their son off to who knows where without knowing how he was doing and what would become of him.
I gave each of the Twin Horns and the Helstea family a hug, thanking them for the presents. Lilia turned beet red while Tabitha just giggled at her.
Honestly, I already had what I needed, but the ring and scroll would be an invaluable source of comfort for my family, which I was worried about the most.
Soon after, my parents' ex-party members all left to go back to their inn. The Helstea family went back upstairs when Lilia started dozing off, tired from the long day, leaving me with just my parents. Ellie was asleep while cuddling the snoring Sylvie. I was already all packed up, prepared to leave tomorrow morning and meet up with Jasmine in front of the house.
"Tomorrow is the big day, Son. Are you excited?" My father clasped my shoulders. "Just always be careful you don't know who and what will you meet during your adventure. Don't be overconfident on yourself and always expect someone was stronger than you. Call us if you are in trouble and we will help you." He then leave with mom after they hug me.
I plopped into bed and stared at the ceiling, Sylvie asleep next to me. I had a family and now, I had people who loved me. I had people that cared about me for who I was, not for the position I had. It was a nice feeling that I would never want to give up. I'd fight for it and make sure to treasure this emotion that I was devoid of in my previous world. For that, I needed to better myself. More so than when I had been a king