Finally, it had been five years since Arthur last saw these gates. Standing before the main entrance of Veloria City, he said softly, "It's been a long time."
Arthur wore a black hood to conceal his identity, with Garudax perched on his shoulder. As he approached the city's entrance, the city guards stopped him.
"Stop, sir. State your name and business in this city," one of the guards demanded.
"My name is Arthur, and I am here to meet someone," Arthur replied in a deep, heavy tone.
"Hmm, Arthur, huh? Well, sir, can I know whom you are going to meet?" the guard inquired again.
"I am a debt collector, and I am here to collect a debt. I'd rather not reveal the person's name to protect their reputation."
"Good enough reason, I guess. Do you have any sort of identification proof?" the guard asked.
"No, I do not have such a thing," Arthur responded.
"Okay, sir. I will let you in for now, but if you cause any trouble in the city, you will be punished immediately. Remember that," the guard explained.
Arthur gave a smile to the guard and said, "Okay."
After some paperwork, the guard allowed Arthur to pass.
"It has been a while, huh? This air is really refreshing," Arthur said, taking a deep breath.
"Hey, you are new here, aren't you?" a rude voice reached Arthur's ears.
Arthur ignored the voice and kept walking.
"What the heck? I asked you something! Do you not value your life? Tell me!" The man came closer to Arthur, speaking directly into his ear.
Arthur was about to lose his patience.
"Bastard," the man said again. "This is too much. Looks like you need to learn a lesson by my hand." Saying this, the man was about to hit Arthur when suddenly a sharp sound echoed. The man was confused as he felt nothing in his arm. When he looked down, he saw his arm on the ground, blood dripping from the severed limb.
Seeing this, the man cried out in panic, "What the heck did you do to me? Aaaahhhhhhhh!"
Hearing the loud cry, every guard patrolling the area rushed to see what had happened. They saw the man, a city guard, on the ground with his arm severed and Arthur standing in front of him. Witnessing this, everyone became alert.
"Did you cut our guard's hand? If so, why? Speak up your reasons. If you don't, we will be forced to take you into custody," a guard demanded.
"What a joke this is. Do I look like a villain? Your guard attacked me first. I didn't even move; his hand fell off on its own," Arthur replied in a cold voice.
"Liar! You must have played a trick to cut my hand," the guard with the severed limb cried out in anger from the ground.
"This is enough. We will take you into custody. Don't resist, and it will be less troublesome for you," another guard said from the crowd, signaling the others to apprehend Arthur.
"I did not want to cause any trouble, but it looks like I might have to destroy a few lives," Arthur sighed.
Just as Arthur was about to act, a calm and collected voice interrupted, "What is going on here?"
The voice belonged to Prince August, who had just returned from a trip to Terrania. Stepping down from his carriage, he asked, "Why this commotion in the streets?"
A guard, panicked, responded, "Sir, this man in the black hood attacked one of our guards, and we are trying to capture him."
"Is that so?" Prince August said, turning his gaze to Arthur. Noticing Garudax on Arthur's shoulder, he asked, "May I know your name, troublemaker?"
"Calm and collected as usual. You haven't changed, August," Arthur said.
"Huh, that voice... Is that you?" As August was speaking, Arthur removed his hood and said, "Hi, August. How are you?"
"It is you, Arthur!" August exclaimed, his face lighting up with joy. He moved closer and embraced Arthur. Both were happy and emotional. August said, "Where have you been all these years, my friend?"
"I have been training with Guru Samarth," Arthur replied.
"Guru Samarth, you say? How is he?" Before Arthur could respond, August interrupted, "Well, put that aside. Have you seen Casia yet? If I'm happy, she would burst with happiness! Let's go and meet her," Arthur said enthusiastically.
Seeing this scenario, the guard on the ground became frustrated, drawing August's attention to him.
"Oh right, I was so happy I forgot to ask what happened here. And who is this creature on your shoulder, Arthur?"
"This is my familiar. He's quite cute, isn't he?"
Arthur then explained everything that had happened. August promptly expelled the guard and warned the others. Afterward, they proceeded to Casia's house. August knocked on the door, announcing, "Casia, Arthur has returned!" There was no immediate response. He knocked again, and a maid eventually opened the door.
"Prince August!" the maid exclaimed.
"Where is Casia? Call her," August ordered.
"Prince August, Miss Casia is not here. She is training with her father in the back training ground," the maid said.
"Guide me there," August requested with enthusiasm.
"I'm confused. Why is she training here with her father?" Arthur asked as he followed the maid alongside August.
"She didn't want to fall behind," August replied.
"What do you mean?" Arthur inquired.
"Well, you were under Guru Samarth's care, so she didn't want to lag behind. She thought that if you were strong, she needed to be strong to match you," August explained.
As August finished speaking, they arrived at the training ground. Arthur saw Casia sparring with her father, Jonathan. As their spar came to an end, August called out, "Hey, Casia, look who's here!"
Casia, wiping sweat with a towel, turned to August and asked, "Oh, August, why are you here?" She then noticed Arthur and exclaimed, "Arthur, is that you?"
"Yes, it's him," August confirmed. August tried to speak, but Casia cut him off by rushing toward Arthur and giving him a tight hug while tears streamed down her face. Arthur placed a comforting hand on Casia's back. Suddenly realizing her sweatiness, Casia pulled back, embarrassed. "Oh, sorry, I'm all sweaty," she apologized.
"You're beautiful," Arthur reassured her. August coughed in a humorous way to break the tension, making Casia even more embarrassed.
"So, you're that Arthur, huh?" Jonathan remarked from behind Casia.
Arthur felt nervous and replied formally, "Yes, sir. My name is Arthur Cifer, and I am the only survivor from the southern area."
"Hmm, you're Arthur Cifer, but who is that on your shoulder?" Jonathan asked in a grim tone.
Upon hearing Jonathan, Casia noticed the creature too. "Oh right, Arthur, who is this little cutie on your shoulder?" Casia asked in a playful tone.
"His name is Garudax, but you can call him Garu for short," Arthur replied.
Casia immediately took Garudax from Arthur's shoulder and started playing with him.
"So, you are not only Guru Samarth's student, but you also have a familiar?" Jonathan asked, his tone filled with suspicion as he eyed Arthur.
"Daddy, stop teasing him!" Casia interjected, clearly embarrassed.
"Oh, so little Casia is protecting her boyfriend, huh?" Jonathan teased Casia.
"Daddy!" Casia exclaimed, becoming even more embarrassed.
Upon hearing this, the scene became so hilarious that Arthur couldn't help but burst into laughter. Casia, now even more embarrassed, started playfully hitting Arthur with both hands, like a child in embarrassment.
"Jokes aside, we have a serious matter to discuss," Jonathan said.
"Yes, sir, I understand," Arthur replied earnestly.
Everyone settle down for a cup of tea in the back garden.
"I wanted to talk about my daughter's future. Tell me, son, which profession will you choose moving forward?" Jonathan asked Arthur.
"I haven't decided yet. I don't have a long-term goal. There are some minor goals, but I haven't thought about what I want to become in the future," Arthur replied promptly.
"I see. No hesitation, huh? Well, I did not expect such an answer. But to test you, I must spar with you," Jonathan declared.
"Daddy!" Casia exclaimed, but Jonathan stopped her and said, "No, dear. This is a matter of your future. I have every right to judge my future son-in-law."
Arthur stood up from his chair and said, "Your father is right, Casia. He has every right to judge me."
Scene shifts to the training ground: Arthur vs. Jonathan
"Kid, what's your aura sense level?" Jonathan asked as he warmed up his body.
"Guruji told me that I've crossed the 4th sense, and since it's been a while, I have a feeling that I'll break through to the 5th aura sense soon," Arthur replied while stretching.
Jonathan was surprised and thought to himself, 4th sense, huh? Then I have to use all my strength. He took a deep breath and released it.
From afar, August called out, "You may start the match!"
Hearing this, Jonathan didn't waste a second and charged towards Arthur. He threw a right punch, which Arthur dodged by lowering his upper half backward. Turning to the right with the force of the wind, Arthur delivered a powerful right punch that caught Jonathan by surprise. Jonathan stepped back a few paces and said, "You're good, kiddo. You dodged first and turned that momentum into an attack. Guru Samarth has taught you well. I apologize for underestimating you. Now I shall fight with all I've got."
Arthur remained silent and prepared for Jonathan's attack. Jonathan took a deep breath and released all his aura pressure, creating tension in the surroundings. Anyone normal would have been on their knees by now, but Arthur was different. He released his own aura pressure using Gazing Paralyze from the dragon, countering it. Seeing this, Jonathan got excited and screamed, "You are a fine warrior, son. I'm going all out!"
After saying that, he charged toward Arthur with full force. Arthur and Jonathan began clashing on the battleground, their strikes creating sparks with each collision. August watched in awe and exclaimed, "What the heck is going on here? Arthur is toe-to-toe with the head security chief!"
The battle of strikes continued for a while. Jonathan then threw some fireballs in a curved line, targeting Arthur. Arthur dodged every single one of them and suddenly got behind Jonathan. Surprised, Jonathan turned immediately to counter. Arthur delivered a right punch, which Jonathan managed to counter by turning around, but the impact was significant and pushed Jonathan back. Arthur quickly closed the gap between them, and they started exchanging punches mid-air. The barrage of punches stopped when Jonathan caught one of Arthur's attacks and threw him away. Arthur managed to land on his feet and resumed clashing with Jonathan. This battle was intense, with neither of them stopping even for a second.
Suddenly, they stopped clashing and retreated to opposite corners. Jonathan asked, "Why did you stop?"
"Because you stopped," Arthur replied in confusion.
Jonathan was surprised. "So you mean you were only following my movements and countering them one by one?"
"Yes, didn't you say you wanted to spar? So I thought just responding to your attacks was sufficient," Arthur replied casually.
After hearing this, Jonathan burst into laughter. Arthur, even more confused, asked, "What happened? Did I do something wrong, sir?"
"No, no, kiddo, you haven't done anything wrong. It's just that I feel insulted that I used my full power and you were just playing with me," Jonathan said, controlling his laughter. "Dear Casia, this man is perfect for you."
Hearing this, Casia's face lit up with joy.
To be continued...