Relicta POV:
After the talk with Heiwa I am getting conflict ideas inside of myself, on one hand I urgently want to leave this place as quickly as possible and head to other kingdoms like my old plan, but now that Heiwa offered to teach me old magic I may actually need to stay and help the 2 other princes, Hanei and Leone if I remember correctly, old magic is the weakest type of magic yet ironically if merged correctly with any style of magic it'll be the top of the top, hmmm... I could simply send Joshua away to visit other kingdom but then again it wouldn't work as it's clear as day he'll need to stay and train the princes...
Should I make up an excuse about travelling and say it's outdoor training? That could work, potentially.
"No hope AHAHAHA!"
HUH?! THAT VOICE IN MY HEAD AGAIN. PESHO?
"Hello Relicta! It's me again, it seems you're having trouble, yes I'm in your head so don't bother speaking out loud"
Hm. Sure, what do you propose then? I want to go to the other kingdoms to investigate a bit.
"Why try hiding your intentions? You wanna know if anyone else got divine blessing yes? Answer is no. We don't have that much power left, you and Joshua were our last chips to gamble."
HUH?! Really? Absolutely atrocious, but still, there could be something we need to save you and the other watchers, if you all die then this world is going to collapse,
"You're a sharp one buddy! Well one simple way is to let me enter Eiko's mind, just get him to shake your hand. I'll do the rest."
Alright. If you say so Pesho.
"You're a wild one I must admit, getting turned on by your partner's mother? Damn son."
HEY HEY HEY PRIVACY PISS-SO
"I guessed as much, beside why do you monologue to yourself so much?"
Well as you already see, I use void magic so I always have to keep monologuing to remember who I am, where I am and especially my identity, I don't wanna be voided after all.
"Talk about void, I must inform you that beside yourself, there is a monster who is on the way to mastering both purity and void, may wanna look out for that."
Holy shit I'm not the main character then.
"Sweet dreams aren't made from self-judging Relicta, but there IS a way to kill that THING. Since it uses both purity and void, you can void the purity and Joshua can use Hashiru to hopefully counter the void part, that's just the surface of how to kill it though, just look out."
Got it chief, it's currently 4 Pm, soon I'll be summon to train Hanei and Leone, I think it's only me today since Joshua said he'll do it tomorrow, talk about procrastinating.
"I do feel bad for him too."
Life so miserable even gods feel bad for him, that's a shame.
"You got it wrong there, as Star Watcher, we love and accept all beings, it is out utmost desire to maintain peace and happiness for all kind, well we tried to, before your own little Void god came and slaughter some of us and humanity spiral down in morality."
Fair.
Caelum is in front of me when I was still talking with Pesho, she taps lightly on my shoulder
"Master Relicta, excuse me but Prince Hanei and Prince Leone are waiting for you alongside with Queen Heiwa, please let me escort you the training ground."
I flinch a bit at the sudden voice but attempt to keep my calm
"Ah sure, please do, thank you."
She elegantly turns around start walking at a fast pace, I needed to start speed walking to catch up,
"Imagine being outwalked by a maid when you're blessed by the gods, couldn't be me"
Shut yo ass up Pesho, I'm trying here.
"Aye, keep in mind my warnings, heed it if you will but this maid... use purity magic, tread lightly Relicta."
WHAT?! WHY HAVE YOU ONLY TELL ME THIS NOW? SHE USES PURITY?
"Calm down void boy, Void counter purity and vice versa and in this case, if the mana inside of her isn't deceiving me, you can win by leagues of miles"
Well that's not any better, but before I could think anymore, we have already reached the training ground, there stand Heiwa and the 2 prince and someone in red robe behind Heiwa..? A small figure with pale skin, is everyone here snowman or something?
Heiwa bows lightly and greet me
"Greetings Relicta. Please come closer"
Caelum is no where to be found, I swear this woman is a ghost or something,
"Nuh uh, I'm pretty sure she's not human" Pesho stops talking already I can't hear the others, I approach Heiwa and the others but when I got near, a roar could be heard from the sky, I step back and turned up to see a fiery being in the sky, resembling a phoenix, it circles around a bit and crash down but not destroying anything but rather create a infernal pillar, around the pillars are red stars that explode and when it finally calmed down, reveals a girl with black hair with a fading purple at the end of her long hair, pure blue eyes and as I expect, short as hell but the royal uniform she wears make her look somewhat taller and less skinny, god this is too flashy now. Heiwa giggles
"Please excuse her Relicta, she loves to show off her formidable fire mastery. This is Scarlet Cailin, you can call her Cailin, she is my top student and usually train with my sons but from today on please help them improve, I understand and have informed all of them that your capability is higher than anyone in this kingdom, even surpassing me and my Head maid Caelum, it was quite something to take in for my proud sons but I assure you he'll follow your instruction with precision and obedient, I'll be observing from afar."
Hanei speaks up
"So you'll be training us, listen here, even if Mother told us all that, don't expect us to completely follow everything and if you lose, don't cry."
The urge to void this fucker is pending up inside me like a volcano
"Same" Good thinking Pesho, but we gotta help them out anyways, what a bummer.
Cailin comes up to me, almost as if she's gonna sniff and inspect me
"You are Relicta right? I don't sense any magic aura from you, what magic do you use? How do you control it?"
Finally some fucking good questions
"I use void magic." From my right hand, I do a slap gesture into the air but a black hole stars forming, it doesn't suck anything but I wave my hand and from across the training grounds, 5 void portals came out and put out harden wood I found from the dungeon, I want to test their power levels first.
Shocked by what they just witnessed, Cailin let out a small grasp, enough for me to hear it, but Leone comments
"I never expected the rumors to be true, so void users do in fact exist, you have my trust instructor Relicta, please let us learn from the best."
Flattening me eh? I'll take the compliment, unlike his brother, Hanei let out a tsk, clearly annoyed that I captured everyone attention on the training ground,
"Alright, use your strongest attack on those wood logs. Don't worry, any area your attack can and is able to affect is already blocked by a force of my void magic, it suck away all damages and effects so go all out."
Cailin "eh?" me but I explain
"Don't underestimate these woods, just do as I say."
Taking the lead, Leone step forward and furiously shout out
"MIRROR BREAKS!"
The air around us became oddly reflective, but then it broke, causing a small earth quake of where we stand, this attack made Hanei and Cailin fell over and roll a few times, but the wood only crack a bit. It seems that Leone was born with what I can only guess is reality shifting magic, what he just did is quite literally break over reality, although reality itself rebuild too quickly, causing his magic to only be offensive, to defend oneself from this kind of magic, anyone with high endurance or willpower can withstand it, when reality break, the physical and spiritual are most easy to damage, one can only brace oneself or their mind must be completely calm for it not to take effect, such simple magic to me.
"It... barely cracks, such endurance, please tell me how you got this wood."
I simply sarcastically tell him
"Don't know, the gods just gave it."
Pesho inside my head argue back
"We don't give out eldritch wood like that dummy"
After Leone steps back, Cailin comes forward with a nervous look on her face, clearly if Leone could barely do anything to it what can she possibly do.
"PHOENIX ART: LORD OF CINDER!"
Pesho ominously tells me "Brace yourself."
From below, a phoenix came out and Cailin jumps INTO it, merging herself and then promptly crash dive into the wood with high speed and precision, yet after a massive explosion blocked by my magic to not damage the surroundings or the people here, the wood again.. barely cracks, she fell down, from the sky but I step into the void portal and catch her on the way down, going back to Leone and Hanei,
"Alright Hanei, go ahead, you talk mad shit every time we meet, let me see what you're capable of"
Letting out an arrogant "hah!", he steps forward, the air around us get colder and colder, eventually reaching minus temperature, Cailin stars a small fire by her side to keep warm while Leone cracks a bit of reality around him to nullify the cold, good usages of their power, +1 point. The ground starts to get colder and more slippery when Hanei finally unleased his attack
"ICE KING: ICE AGE!"
....
Nothing happens.
Well not entirely, what appears to me is that instead of inflicting a huge area with ice and attack the wood log, he decided to freeze the wood inside-out, but much to his disappointment, the wood stands tall, with no sign of its temperature dropping outside or inside,
"Good fucking grief.." Hanei let out a long sighed and comes back
All in all, they seems to be capable of using magic although it not nowhere their full potential, Heiwa expects me to just fuck around and help them reach their higher state? Oh man I'm gonna have to come up with something here, walking up to the wood log, I touch it for a bit and let out a swift kick and break all three with ease, much to everyone's amazement, but clearly Hanei tolerance for me is withering at the speed of light.
Throwing back 3 thin slices of wood, I give out "homework"
"Try to figure out how to break it and show me, I'll prepare your personal training partner later, I use the void so I can't really help train other elements but the creatures I have killed in the dungeon which are now my summons can help with it, don't worry I got ice, reality breaking, fire bending, lava bending all kind of creatures, kinda scary eh? I can kill anything and just suck its soul and it's practically my slave! AHAHA!"
With that being said, I walk out of the room, after leaving drops of sweats finally roll down, it has been too long since I stand in a crowd let alone lead one, Pesho speaks again
"That girl.. Cailin, that was primordial fire. Impressive, has the fire god chosen his avatar already?"
What. primordial fire?!
"Yes. Mixed with your typical mana I have spotted several elements of primordial magic, but what bothers me is the fact that... the fire god is long dead."
WHAT?!
"Hm... it could be a similar case to you and Joshua, maybe the fire god before his death decided to grant his power one last time in hope of a new fire god rising, I can't be too sure though, thanks to the void god already killed him a long time ago. It could be his last spark have chosen several avatar, Cailin could be one of em. keep an eye on that girl Relic."
Now that we're talking about avatars, what about YOU Pesho, did you choose any avatar?
"...I'm the god of FERTILITY, if I don't exist production will not be possible, I don't need any avatar, I AM my own avatar"
That's fair.
I'm not sure what I should do now, maybe I could find Eiko to execute my plan, but where could he be?
"Why are you standing there Kanjuden?"
Huh?! That kingly voice, turning my head up, I see Eiko walking toward me
"Pardon me if I startled you, I was observing training with my wife, your ability are outstanding Kanjuden, I commend you, but it seems to me that you have some spare time currently, would you please spend your precious time with this old king?"
He sounds like a grandpa
"Yes sir, I'd love to!"
I reach out my hand and he shake it, with this shake, Pesho easily breaks the barrier in his mind without him noticing and stays there, waiting for his time. Me and Eiko then go to his tea room that is usually occupied by Heiwa and her acquaintances and friends, sitting down, he asks me right away
"How long will it take for them to break their current limit?"
I rub my chin, clearly thinking the best way to say they're still weak.
"They are ehhh.. pretty low right now, have they fought any high level monster before?"
"I'm ashamed to say no, so far they have only fended off thieves, bandits and invaders and low profile monsters"
"Right then I have an idea, I suggest that you allow me and Joshua to take them to neighboring kingdoms to learn and explore, and of course fight monsters on the way to let them gain fighting experience and further enhance their mastery, it sounds risky but you can trust in my ability to keep them safe."
Eiko stayed quiet for a bit, I sent out a signal to Pesho for him to start whispering in Eiko mind, his facial expression changed from calm to shocked when Pesho spoke up but quickly regain his composure. After a while of tense silence,
"Please train them to what you deem fit."
Then he stands up and leave the room, I let out a sigh of relive, Pesho returning to my side
"Holy shit that lad's mind was tougher than I anticipated"
No shit Pesho that's the king. But before me and Pesho could discussed anything, Heiwa walks in with a warm smile and sit down before I could say anything.
"You have far exceed my expectation Relicta, as promised, I'll teach you old magic in return, please continue help my children improve and also that child Cailin too!"
We started chatting back and forth for a while before she eventually takes out a scroll full of words and letters I couldn't read or begin to comprehend, she tells me that in order to learn old magic, I had to learn the alphabet of the old language first, it starts with simple words and chants, we spend hour in each other company and full of moments where I make myself look like I have a pronounce mental disorder with how bad I was doing with just the alphabet, she reassures me it's normal and she was like that in her youth too, when I mentioned oaths, she informed that Oaths are deeply linked with old magic and the old rulers (Primordial Gods), herself has taken the oath of the abyss which grant her the ability to comprehend and use old magic and dark magic without going insane and many perks belong to devils and cruel species but herself is a good person, the irony is palpable, her husband Eiko has taken the oath of the one above all, meaning his power is to slightly be superior to anyone he fights, it plays a huge factor as to how he came so far and how he built such a kingdom full of prosperity and power, she recommend me to choose an Oath that fits me soon, it'll help me release my full potential as soon as possible, she reveals to me Cailin's backstory,
Her true origin is unknown, Heiwa found the small girl in one of her travel when she passed by a mansion occupied by vampires and devil, Cailin was one of the slaves there, born with the power of flame, she was always one to resist the most from the vampires, one day when Heiwa came for business with a vampire, Cailin purposely cause an accident and almost burn down the mansion where she been a slave in for 10 years of her life, but failed to escape, her life was about to be brutally taken when Heiwa was moved by her will to live, she bought out Cailin and helped repair the mansion, ever since then Cailin has been Heiwa closest and best student to date.
Hours passed by as I finally grasped the alphabet in the palm of my hand, Heiwa sighed out in relive, she then give to me 3 scrolls full of pitch black but when I use void on it like she instructed, words begin to appear, she told me to practice these spells to enhance my void mastery, after that I realized old magic isn't a "style" of magic, rather its an enhancer of all things, weapons, body, mind, mastery, that's why this whole time I never saw Heiwa used any magic, she was never a witch but rather someone who teaches other and help them reach their full potential, helping another reach their peak is the peak of her own magic. After that I only respected her more. She further explains to me that I should only practice 1 scroll every 3 years or else my body may not be able to handle the sheer enhancement, I agreed.
7 Pm approaches but Joshua is nowhere to be seen, I'm now standing in the garden stargazing, I open a void portal to Joshua location and surprised to him in a bar, reaching my hand out of the void, I snap his drink and close the void, he can have his fun but I want something too, gulping down the drink, it tastes of the finest wheat of a new season, this is literally heaven. When I was enjoying myself, a voice emerged to break the silence
"Heya!"
I jumped, turning back to see Cailin standing there...
"How long have you been standing there?"
"Well ever since I asked Heiwa where you went after the talk with her, mind chatting with me?"
I hesitate a bit but agree
"Sure, come sit with me"
"The moon is beautiful, isn't it?"
Well that's one poetic conversation starter
"Yeah it is, it's a full moon after all."
"Are the gods you work for chilling on there? I'd like a photo on the moon hehe"
Her squeaky tone made me giggle a bit then she came close,
"So... Relicta, you survived that dungeon right? Was there anything down there worth mentioning more than the rest?"
Ah, a curious one she is.
"Well beside the fact my personal space is being invaded with no regards then if you're wondering about any monsters that use fire magic then I'd say quite a few, I'm not much of a descriptor but they used fire in very VERY.. weird way, I'll appoint some of the lower monster to train you, don't worry, they are not one to be underestimated, they have surprisingly high pride for beings that act by pure instinct, evolution is... WEIRD!"
She busted out in laughter and slap my shoulder
"Really? I can't wait, you know Relicta, for the longest time yet, I never seen Heiwa this confident in someone ability, not even the big guy Leone got her trust this much, how did you accumulated so much power in only 5 years? It took me a whole 5 years just to learn the basic of fire magic to enhance my own mastery!"
Ooo, I'm mildly blushing out of the compliments barraging me
"Well, everything down there was life threatening, I'll be honest, I have met death in its face many many times down there, one thing I never told Heiwa was that me and Joshua died several times down there."
The smile on her face fades quickly, I continue
"It's complicated to explain but when we're killed, we experience a time out-of-body in our spirit form, it's like a mini purgatory, but with my void ability, I voided death itself, and sucked Joshua soul away from the spiritual world and return him to his body, In a sense, we're immortals, as long as I have the will to keep going anyways."
She stayed quiet for a bit then starts holding my hand
"....I'm sorry."
I laugh, knowing me and Joshua are really not humans anymore, don't know if I should be happy or not.
"It's alright."
We spent the rest of the night talking to each other, eventually she couldn't handle the night and fell asleep, I called Caelum to carry her to bed while I wander around the castle a bit to explore on my own, on my way I finally see Joshua... with someone? I open a void in the darkness which is practically impossible to spot. It was Caelum and Joshua talking, I can barely make out what they're saying, Arg nevermind this, I'll ask him tomorrow, I need my rest.
TO BE CONTINUED....