8th of Junious, 1503
Current time: 10:36:41
In the king's office.
Neoma sat in one of the two chairs in front of Kyros' desk. He was waiting patiently for the king to finish doing his paperwork. He didn't wish to disturb him, but had come here after taking a short nap. He did remember Elin mentioning that her brother wishes to speak with him as well.
A deep sigh escaped past Kyros' lips as he placed the pen down.
"I apologise you had to wait."
The king spoke as he looked towards Neoma with a slight smile on his face.
"It is okay, Your Majesty. I realise the importance of Your work. I don't have anything else to do today, so it wasn't troubling to wait for You."
Neoma replied back with a smile as well. The king didn't add on and just nodded. He leaned back in his chair, the sunlight shining through the window from behind him and hitting the desk with stacks of paper on it, barely leaving any free space.
Kyros closed his eyes as he hummed softly. The human just sat there in front of him, patiently waiting for the king of Aekodora to speak.
He didn't have to wait too long.
The king of Aekodora sat straight up and smiled again at Neoma.
"First of all, I would like to thank you for your assistance– Ah, sorry. Let me correct myself. I would like to thank you for saving the citizens of Aekodora on the 30th of Maious, this year. If it wouldn't have been for you, my kingdom would've suffered a great loss. So truly, I am very grateful for your heroic act on the last day of spring."
Kyros bowed his head down slightly to Neoma, the smile not disappearing from his lips.
Neoma just laughed nervously, not sure of how to reply to the king. He quickly looked away from him, unable to look at Kyros who was bowing to him.
"Your Majesty… I just did what anyone would do. And please… There is no need to make it sound like I was the one who stopped the attack alone. The royal mages greatly weakened the lightning and what was left for my shield to handle was just a small bit of power left behind."
Neoma replied to the elven king and glanced back over at him. Kyros was now sitting straight again, his head lifted up. The elf didn't wish to waste any more time on this and just wanted to go straight to business.
"As you know, Voruan– No. The entire planet Airi is full of magic and also dangers. The power you showed to the entire capital is a completely new copcent here. So as you can probably imagine, your story will spread fast and far no matter how much I will try to stop it. I can only slow it down, but I can not stop the inevitable."
Kyros spoke with a serious tone in his voice. He wasn't smiling at the human in front of him anymore as this was not a conversation where someone would be happy about. That is because Neoma doesn't have control over his powers.
"After some thinking and considering all of the options, I've decided to assign a person to you who will teach you how to fight and protect yourself. Hopefully, you'll also learn how to control that power in you, but that will be difficult since no one else has it.
"Since you will be taught privately, I've assigned the outdoor training grounds behind the royal palace for your lessons. Hm… I hope you are not upset. I promised Elin to take care of you until you recover and I believe this option is the best for you considering your current circumstances."
Once the king finished speaking, Neoma slowly nodded and began to think of what Kyros had just told him.
'Hmm… It is true that I need proper training to learn how to fight. I can't just always rely on autopilot mode. Sigh… I was hoping to keep it low, but I guess after what happened during the festival, there is no turning back. It is better to get stronger somewhere safe.'
Neoma smiled at the elven king in front of him.
"I am not upset, Your Majesty. Truthfully, I am actually very grateful. I promise, I will work hard each lesson."
He bowed his head down to Kyros.
"Alright. You are dismissed. Your lessons will start tomorrow at 9 in the morning. Be sure to not be late."
...
8th of Junious, 1503
Current time: 12:33:21
"Huh… So this is where I will be training."
Neoma looked around the training grounds he stood on. It was just a plain field with a few weapon racks on the side. The only difference it had compared to other training grounds was the forest surrounding it, giving the training grounds complete privacy.
A small sigh escaped past Neoma's lips as he walked to the middle.
'I should at least figure out which weapons I am compatible with.'
He thought as he looked around, making sure that no one was around watching him. Of course, he didn't assume that he had all of the privacy that he wanted. He was sure that there were still people guarding this place, guarding the entire royal palace grounds in case of an attack. After all, the security has been tightened after the attack of the Church of Inferno.
"Alvis, is there a weapon I am particularly compatible with?"
Neoma mumbled under his breath, trying to be as quiet as possible.
╭────── • ◆ • ──────╮
Of course!
There is a perfect weapon compatible with anti-magic!
Alvis will conjure it for you!
Please hold your hand out!
╰────── • ◆ • ──────╯
After reading the white text on the blue screen, Neoma held his hand out and waited patiently.
He could feel his anti-magic powers begin to move slowly towards his palm and not long after, a black cloud of smoke appeared right before his eyes. He watched as the black cloud moved around and began to condense.
Neoma first saw a handle appearing.
'So it's not a bow or a spear… Will it be a sword or a dagger?'
He wondered as he continued on watching. He could feel his muscles slowly becoming more and more exhausted.
The black smoke began to extend from the black handle. However, what surprised Neoma the most was the length of it. He assumed it would stop after a metre or so, but it just continued on extending.
'Huh? It's not a dagger or a sword? Wait… Don't tell me…'
A second later a 4 metre long all black whip appeared in Neoma's hand.
The youth glanced down at it, just staring blankly as he tried to process what had just happened.
"A whip… My weapon is a whip?!"
He couldn't help but shout out in shock. He slowly rubbed his face with his free hand out of frustration.
"A whip… A freaking whip…"
After a minute or so of regretting asking Alvis what his most compatible weapon was, he decided to just focus on training and getting stronger.
'Whatever. What matters the most is to get strong. If this weapon is truly the best for me, then so be it. I can't act like a small child and complain if I don't like it.
'You're still so immature, Neoma…'
The youth thought as he took a deep breath in and looked forward.
"Alright, let's give it a try."
Neoma mumbled under his breath as he lifted his hand up, raising the whip slightly off of the ground. After calming himself down, he swung his arm down with all of his strength.
The whip moved up and struck the ground. However, just as it hit the ground, the tip of the whip moved back up and started to head right for the youth's face.
"Huh–"
Neoma stared at his whip, unsure of how to dodge it.
'Should I just drop it?'
He wondered, frozen in one place.
Just as the whip was about to strike him, Neoma felt a quick gust of wind go past his ear and saw the whip suddenly change direction, hitting the ground instead before completely stopping.
'What… What was that?'
Neoma thought as he quickly looked around the training grounds. He saw a small knife now laying on the ground just a few metres away from the black whip.
The youth turned around after remembering that the gust of wind, which he had felt before the whip suddenly changed its direction, came from behind him.
Behind him, on one of the branches of a taller tree, sat a tall dark haired elf. He wore skin tight clothing and had bandages covering his neck and face, going up right below his eyes. He had black shoulder length messy hair and deep green eyes. In his right hand, between his fingers, were 3 small knives.
Neoma slowly parted his lips as he began to speak.
"Who are you?"