"I must have disappointed you Rei.."
"Don't worry about it and rest... That guy is a monster, I don't think anybody has a chance against him."
I was comforting Angelica as she lie down in a bed in the mansion my family owned in Central Empire.
"I believe you could have fought against him, Rei..." Angelica faced me with a frown, "As your elder sister I should be able to perform as well as you, but I was defeated within a minute..."
"You think really highly of me but you haven't seen me fight at full power once."
"Rei, I was very close with your mother and I know her true nature. Your true nature is from your roots, and I know you're an anomaly above the rest of us."
"I'm glad you think that of me elder sister, I will do my best to not prove you wrong in the future."
We both exchanged smiles and the mood lightened.
"Anyways... What happened to brother Gale? Didn't he participate in the tournament as well?" I asked
"He was eliminated in the first round by Leo Silvermoon. Unfortunately. Father is also here, he will be attending the banquet all the 5 Sword Gods of humanity have been asked to attend so father will probably be calling you to meet him soon."
Right after her words the door opened and Gale stepped, after looking at us both for a few seconds he announced, "Father has requested for you, Rei."
'Kind of expected.' I thought getting up from my seat that was next to the bed Angelica was resting in.
Approaching Gale he gave a light elbow to my side.
"Why didn't you enter the tournament?"
"I was recovering from an injury." I cleared my throat, "I got from an altercation with another student."
"Hmm... I see."
Gale seemed friendlier than usual which was extremely offputting but maybe he recognized my efforts and started supporting me.
"Do you know why father summoned me?"
"Probably to reward you, also to just see you... He also called for me earlier he gave me a peerless treasure of our family and told me he loved me which was unusual."
Gale pointed down to a sword on his waist.
'T-that... it's Aerinheart, a sword that's been passed down through our family for generations... Its legend comes from the fact that one of our great ancestors was stranded in the land demons resided in and he used Aerinheart to strike down all the demons who attacked him for months until he finally escaped and made it back to Central.'
"Congratulations brother." I congratulated him with a smile.
Gale had a displeased expression at my words, he was probably expecting me to be jealous of his accomplishment. I held in my laughter from his behavior.
"I wish I had received Aerinheart from father... You're amazing."
Gale's expression changed to a proud one and we stopped in front of a door.
"Go on in Rei, father will be in there."
"Alright, thank you."
"I'll see you at the banquet," Gale said over his shoulder as he walked away.
Opening the door I saw my father with a pleased expression.
"Why didn't you fight in the Crosseal, Rei?"
I didn't see any need to lie to my father so I explained to him my situation and the events that led up to it.
"You've been through some interesting things... Looks like you'll be leaving this place much sooner than I expected." He raised his hand and two objects flew out of his subspace.
One was a pure white cloak that was neatly folded on the table, while the other was a spear with a long silver shaft, with blue engravings near the blade.
"These gifts will help you on your journey in the future, the cloak is powerful armor I wore in my youth it is an old treasure of our family, and it has many powerful spells cast on it. The cloak will protect you against blades of course not the blade of a trained swordsman who infuses mana in it, but any minor attacks will be stopped, it dispels poison, and it will protect you from any spells third class and under, it also has an effect that makes the wearer's identity unreadable when your hood is up... It's truly amazing it doesn't change your facial features at all, but people seem to just not recognize you."
"The spear?" I asked with an ecstatic expression.
Julien laughed a little, "I was just about to give over it, you seem very excited."
"I really appreciate your gifts father," I said honestly while rubbing the back of my head.
"Is that so, I'm glad." He said with a smile before pointing at the spar and continuing. "Lightning Spear Phaedra, a spear I had custom-made for myself sometime before I met your mother, I used my own mana and infused it with lightning, it's a spear that will allow you to use Ven-August techniques, it should work just as well as a sword if not better for you..."
"This spear is truly incredible." I looked at the spear, its beautiful engravings gave it a fancy look and I could tell by just looking at it, that it was powerful... After all, it was made by my father's own power when he was in his prime.
"Hold out your hand, Rei."
I held out my left arm and he grabbed it, he slit his sleeve up revealing a small tattoo of a purple lightning bolt on his arm. I felt a small shock run through my arm, his tattoo faded and a small bolt appeared on my wrist.
"I've transferred ownership to you, now the spear will obey any of your commands even if you don't use any mana as a medium."
"Incredible.." I beamed while looking at the spear at the two items in front of me, I wrapped the cloak around my shoulders and put the spear in my subspace.
"Now tell me a little bit about your school life before you leave, my son."
I smiled and tilted my head at his unexpected request.
"Where should I start..."
I began telling him about everything that occurred at school, me being roomed with Dawn, as well as the Edmund incident, and some other things.
"The finals of the Crosseal are starting soon, you can tell me more about your adventures later... You shouldn't miss the match.
I could tell my father had something more to say, he had a bitter expression that made me almost feel sad.
"Alright, I'll tell you more soon."
"Yes.." Julien answered.
****
Dawn walked out into the arena with a serious expression hardly reminiscent of her usual self preparing for the match.
Silas unlike her had a usual cocky expression, he still believed himself to come out on top like usual. Dawn wasn't permitted to use Excalibur in the Crosseal due to it being basically a cheat, but that didn't hinder her much with her divine talent not only in swordsmanship but also in magic these facts boosted the insane confidence Silas held.
At the sound of the announcer signaling them to begin Dawn charged forward at unprecedented speeds, Silas reacted to this in a casual fashion his staff began glowing brightly, and with a wave of his hand, a small earthquake happened to cause Dawn to lose her footing for a second.
Right as she lost her footing hundreds of magic missiles flew out of the sky toward her, Dawn appropriately countered this by summoning a nearly equal amount of magic missiles, and when she missed she simply cut away with her sword.
'This is going to be difficult.' Dawn thought while rushing towards Silas slicing apart magic missiles.
Dawn was extremely talented with magic, she received personal coaching from Malkeith... Despite all her resources Silas still outclassed her with magic but she still had swordsmanship.
"You're good, but not good enough." Silas boasted as Dawn was close to being within striking range.
Silas raised his hands to the air, his mana began fluctuating and magic circles spread out from him, the circles had a black hue to them.
"Shadow magic! Incredible." Malkeith watched the match with joy.
The shadow under Silas began to grow to an unfathomable size, and copies of himself began to rise out of the shadow, Silas and his clones all shot out fireballs toward dawn.
"Frost Barrier!" Dawn shouted and a giant wall of frost shot out from the ground in front of her. The spectators were in awe watching the incredible show of magic before them.
Dawn watched as the wall began getting pummeled, she raised her left arm towards the sky and chanted, "Aquatic Spears!" Thousands of sharp water droplets formed and began assaulting Silas and his clones.
Right after casting her spell she immediately moved on to another spell, "Cloud burst!"
Fog spread throughout the arena obscuring everyone's sight including Silas.
Silas shielded himself against the water droplets using a flame membrane he created evaporating them on touch. The fog began clearing up, and Silas saw Dawn's silhouette through the fog a massive lance of ice condensed beside him and it flew at her.
The silhouette's head exploded into a million pieces, Silas watched it with a confused expression and when the fog cleared he saw a rock in the shape of Dawn.
"Shit!" he cursed looking around, and before he could react he saw a sword approaching him from behind it stopped short and he saw the figure of a charming girl with short black hair, and piercing eyes that resembled the night.
"Surrender."
"But the match isn't over yet?"
Dawn looked at him dumbfounded if he began chanting any spells, or if his staff began glowing she would immediately silence him.
'Unique Magic: Pocket Watch.' His eyes shined a bright yellow hue.
Dawn jumped back sensing an ominous energy gather around him. Watching the match Malkeith also felt wary about the incredible mana he sensed.
A loud tick resounded through everyone's ears, and the space around Silas blew away. Silas was was in a small falling through what seemed like a crack in time and suddenly his surroundings were back to normal, he saw the silhouette again.
Blood began pouring from his nose, the magic he used had a large strain on his body.
'I only got one shot at this!' Silas turned around and cast a gravity field on a small plot of dirt behind him.
Dawn shot up from the dirt and was caught in the gravity field restraining her down nearly making her fall back into the ground, Silas tapped his staff against the ground and a small jagged piece of earth flew up to dawns neck, while other pieces restrained her.
Dawn exhaled with a look of disbelief, "You win."
The referee declared the match over at the sound of her words and immediately the crowd burst into cheers.
"This year's reigning champion of the Crosseal is Silas Westfall!" The announcer shouted with an enthusiastic voice.
Silas then fell to the ground, he passed out before the referee's announcement of his win, but despite being unconscious he held on to his pride and stood tall.
****
"What just happened?" I said out loud while looking down at the match.
'I clearly just saw Silas lose and surrender to her... How is this possible?'
[He seems to have some sort of way to manipulate time]
Hearing the voice of Althieus made thoughts click inside my head and dots connected. It explained why I was suddenly taking a sip of a drink I was I had taken a sip of prior to finishing it, it made no sense at all for a drink I finished off to have more drink it, and also for the events I watched to play out again.
'That Silas fellow is dangerous... But why am I the only one who realized the events changed.'
I looked over to where Malkeith was sitting across from my seating area, he was in a box clapping with an expression showing he was clueless as to what happened.
[I agree... Perhaps you saw through his spell because of your lineage, that is the only theory I can provide.]
'Perhaps.' I wondered.