"Impure?! That Puppeteer was only Impure?!"
Veritas was jolted awake by the sudden revelation caused by the runes. That Puppeteer battled 14 Wielders and Veritas alone! To think that it was only an Impure rank made Veritas shiver in fear.
"Maybe its Soul was already on the brim of ascending"
Even still, the Puppeteer was really strong!
If not for Veritas fighting with the Wielders, everyone on the Agency would have fallen. Luckily, Veritas negated the Puppeteer's strings with his Winds.
If Veritas' Soul was also on the brink of ascending, he would've been on equal standing with the Puppeteer.
Alas, Veritas was only recently made into a Pathbearer. He did not have the great experience that his enemies possessed!
He then gazed upon his Soul and opened the runes, hoping to see new text under the section of Lost Souls.
"Nothing.."
A deep sigh came from Veritas' mouth, a tear almost strolled down his cheeks but it was only imaginary to him. After gambling a great amount of risk, he was not even rewarded!
He did not stay ungrateful though... as his Soul continued to be enhanced due to this.
He gazed upon the pure white Soul that he had.. Although it did not look that much different, there was a sign of radiance coming from it.
His Soul looked a little bit more refined, it was a lighter shade of white, and it looked to have increased a small amount.
Veritas breathed out in satisfaction, seeing the progress made on his Soul. It would still take a long time for him to ascend but if he kept the consistency, someday he would ascend.
He did not know whether he needed to do a ritual or not. So, he left it for his future endeavors.
"Where the hell am I?"
As Veritas gazed upon the surroundings, he saw multiple white beds and curtains that surrounded them. There were metal tables used for examinations, and various people wearing a maid's uniform, walking around the aisles.
He was in the medical ward of the castle.
Veritas rubbed his eyes, and slowly stood up on the white bed. Inside the stalls, he saw many people laying down and being treated by the maids.
"Your majesty.. you are awake.."
A maid greeted Veritas with a light bow and tugged at her skirt. Veritas replied to her with a question.
"Where is Mother?"
"She's just outside the Medical Ward, your majesty.." the maid kept her respectful posture.
"I see. Thank you."
Veritas slowly walked towards the exit of the Medical Ward, passing by the injured Wielder's respective beds.
He dragged his sluggish feet, and made his way outside where he saw the figures of his Father, Mother, Lino, and an individual with dark-silver hair.
The four of them seemed to be in the middle of a brief discussion. It looked like Lino was reporting to the three of them.
Veritas could hear the faint voices of their words but the Winds whispered to him what they were saying.
"Thus, without Prince Veritas, the casualties would've been much dire.."
The three nodded in understanding and affirmed Lino's words. The acting-leader then bowed to give his respects, and gestured to leave.
When he turned his movements abruptly stopped at the sight of the white-haired Prince.
"Hey Lino.." Veritas raised his hands to wave at him.
Behind Lino, the three individuals turned their heads towards the direction of Veritas.
Aletheia, the Queen, rushed towards Veritas and gave him a tight hug. Following shortly, was Julius, the King, who had a worried look on his face. He wanted to give Veritas a hug too but he kept his calm.
"You've finally woken up!" Aletheia stated words of worry.
"I'm sorry for making the two of you worry."
The warm embrace continued until Veritas felt pain on his back, signaling for him to finally escape from the heavy crutches of his Mother.
Upon being released from the shackles, Veritas warmly smiled at the both of them, not noticing the individual behind them.
The individual looked at him with an empty expression but Veritas was surprised, his eyes gleamed with anticipation and excitement. Then, Veritas yelled out enthusiastically:
"A-Auntie?!"
The empty expression of the dark silver haired individual turned into an empty smile. That smile made Veritas shiver down to his core.
"I see that you are well, foolish student of mine.."
Veritas could almost see a vein pop on her forehead.
"L-Likewise.."
'Eh- scary..'
Veritas turned his attention towards Lino and nodded slightly at him. Then, Lino headed back to the Medical Ward to get some rest.
Aletheia, Julius, Mikella, and Veritas were left in the silent halls of the castle. They somberly asked of Veritas' perspective on the incident.
Before answering, Veritas had some queries to be answered.
"Is everyone alright in the Copper Borough? Are the people safe?"
This time, Mikella spoke directly to Veritas.
"I guess you could say so.. but knowing that a horrible incident happened near them, the people of Copper Borough could not be more worried."
She then added further:
"Upon examining the mangled corpses of the people, we realized that they had not come from Copper Borough. They were not even of the same ethnicity as the people of Elrod!"
"They seem to have come from another continent different from ours. It was easily noticeable due to the existence of their brightly colored hair. It was still hard to differentiate due to the devastation that occurred to them. My condolences go out to those that have fallen."
Mikella looked saddened by the situation as her always empty expression now turned into a one that felt empathy towards the people.
Veritas then inquired further about the two Wielders that were lost.
"Tell me the situation about the two Wielders.."
With that, Mikella looked even more pitiful at Veritas words, Aletheia and Julius were of the same.
"For Eros.. he is in a dire situation. The broken limbs that he has suffered dealt a massive blow on his entire being. Thanks to his bloodlusted state, he was able to endure the harrowing experience. He is currently resting inside the Medical Ward.."
"He might not even go back to being a Wielder now."
Veritas looked down in sorrow as he prepared himself to receive the news about Jacque.
"Jacque, he is dead."
Veritas gritted his teeth and his fists balled up in a curl.
"We've already informed his family and sent compensation. Everyone, even the King, has sent their condolences on the family and considered a proper burial to be held.."
The atmosphere amongst the 4 of them was sullen, the heavy news bore down upon Veritas' shoulders. He blamed himself for Jacque's death.
If not for his incompetency to notice the strings controlling Jacque, he would've prevented two Wielders to be out of commission.
The silence was then broken by Julius, telling everyone to follow him towards his office.
"For now, let's talk about this in my office. I will also invite you Head Wielder Mikella, its time we discuss some strategies."
"I'll stay back and tend to the wounded. Veritas.. don't push yourself okay?" Aletheia added and reminded Veritas.
"Understood."
So, Julius, Mikella, and Veritas made their way towards Julius' office. While, Aletheia went back inside the medical ward to help the maids in treating the Wielders.
3 minutes had passed and the three of them were halfway towards the office. Veritas walked side by side with his Father, while Mikella followed up in the back.
When suddenly, Veritas felt great nausea, it was as if his head was spinning and splitting at the same time. This caused his movements to slow down, and his legs to weaken.
Mikella was first to notice this.
"Are you alright Veritas?"
The words merely echoed within Veritas' mind. He felt as if he were in a state of zero and infinity once more!
He was seeing multiple visions at once.
One was a scene where he fell on the floor with Julius and Mikella slowly rushing towards him.
Another scene was a moment where the two of them were carrying Veritas.
Another was a vision of the rowdy streets of Copper Borough.
Then, a vision of the birds flying freely in the sky.
Then, he saw the loud waves of the ocean.
He saw a hut in the middle of a great storm.
He saw a lost forest with only a singular carriage being driven by an empty individual.
He saw a Golden City.
A flooded Citadel.
A black-haired girl, training with the sword.
A man.
A child.
A big tree.
A singul-
T-
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Ver█t██ tri█d to t█ink, b██ he █ou█d no█.
He fe█t █is █hysi█al ██dy fal█ on█o the groun█.
██en █veryth█ng went..
dark.
*
A bright sun shone towards the castle-like academy that was filled with Knights.
There were students dueling, practicing, sparring, studying, and many more..
The castle looked gothic, it was built with great architecture and a fearful aesthetic. Atop of it, was a 3 sharp spires that pierced the skies. It almost seemed like its purpose was to intimidate the students that studied here.
It was only natural due to the fact that the academy aimed to strengthen the student's fighting prowess.
This academy was called the Knights Academy.
It seemed like a peaceful normal day where students were going about their normal lives, studying and socializing with others.
A student could be seen sparring with another student, provoking the other of their weakness.
It was a blonde-haired student that was decimating his opponent.
"You are too weak! As expected of someone from Silver Borough!"
The student then fell to the ground due to the heavy blow of the blonde-haired student.
He spat blood out of his mouth and gasped for air before speaking out to the blonde-haired student.
"You are too rough Jame. I concede, you win."
The blonde-haired student named Jame then let out a heavy breath that showed pride. He puffed his chest out before provoking the fallen student once more.
"Damn Silvers, you are not even worthy of saying my name!"
Jame spat towards the fallen body of the student.
The student squealed due to this and tried to dodge the spit. He rolled over and he was now facing the other direction.
'This guy!'
He held his fists out into a ball and gathered sand right in front of him. He had enough of Jame's bullying! He planned to throw sand into Jame's eyes and sucker punch his gut!
"Take this bastard!"
The student turned around quickly and threw the handful of sand towards Jame's direction.
However.. Jame suddenly disappeared, the student was bumfuzzled by this and tried to look around warily. He thought that Jame saw through his attack and countered with a sneak attack!
'Where is he?!'
The student turned around warily and saw nothing in every direction. He stood up and gazed upon his surroundings once more.
Yet.. he didn't find any signs of Jame.
That is... until he looked up in the air.
Jame's body floated in a hanging position, it looked like his head was locked in the air! As if an invisible string hugged Jame's thick neck!
The student was bewildered by this and fell into the ground once more!
"What the hell!"
He looked around and saw multiple student's being in the same position as Jame!
Bodies upon bodies of students were raised in the air, not a single word to be uttered!
As he gazed upon the horrifying sight, the student felt a tight string around his neck, rendering his ability to breathe.
'I- can't!'
His body was then immediately brought up in the skies, hanging him like Jame was.
Sooner or later, his consciousness faded away.
In the normal landscape of Knights Academy, countless bodies were hanged in the air.
Ever-so still, swaying occasionally due to the winds.