[Author's notes: So, I am not planning on talking about Arthur's journey in Elenoir since all of that is already on the web novel. ]
Jude POV:
Fire.
My mana core was on fire.
I felt like I was getting my life force sucked out of me.
Bear with it.
I needed to bear with it.
However, things were not looking good. My mana core was splintering and breaking apart. The forceful injection of mana combined by the opening of the third gate was too much. I may die already.
Just as those thoughts entered my mind, I felt a green light entering my body, soothing my mana core. It didn't help the mana core build together, however, the pain subsided. I felt like I could breathe again. And then darkness embraced me.
I struggled to open my eyes. I tried to get up but I had no strength in my body. "Mama..." I whispered at the sight of my mom on my side. I still couldn't see properly and barely managed to distinguish her.
My mom groggily got up and said, "Jude?"
I said, "Mama, I am awake!"
Mom got up excitedly and shouted on top of her lungs, "YOU WOKE UP JUDE!" before hugging me with all her might. I struggled to breathe in her embrace but decided to go with it.
Suddenly, my dad burst into the room. He said, "Oh god, Jude you woke up!" and embraced both mom and me in a bear hug.
After both of my parents calmed down, I asked them, "What happened to me?" They looked at each other as if deciding what to say.
Dad said, "You were unconscious for six months. During that time, we reached Xyrus City and decided to stay with my friend's family. My friend is a noble who provided us with magic doctors and experts for you. "
He took a deep breath.
Dd continued, "The forceful injection of mana heavily injured your core, breaking it. The doctors tried to fix your core but weren't able to, however, they were able to stabilize your condition and wake you up from your coma. Arthur ended up in Elenoir after surviving the fall. He saved the elven princess from slave traders and is now staying with the elven royalty for treatment."
"Treatment?" I inquired.
"Yes, treatment. It turns out that both of you had less stable and weaker mana cores because you awakened before your body was ready. Elves have stronger bodies and mana channels and are thus able to awaken at a younger age. This could be another reason for the breaking of your core." He let out a sigh.
Dad then got on his knees.
"This is all our mistake, " he said, "we weren't able to protect you two against the yellow core swordsman and now you can't use magic."
I let out a smile.
Mom and dad both seemed shocked as I said, "But I can still use magic?"
I created a small whirlwind around my finger. Both of their eyes widened in shock.
"Incredible!" I heard a young man's voice leak out from the door. I looked over to see a bespectacled man standing next to a young beautiful woman who I presume is his wife. He seemed to be the noble who owns this mansion.
"To be able to use magic even with a broken core.... are the fragments being used?" he muttered in deep thought.
My parents both seemed to understand. I slightly nodded my head, "Yes, I think that is. I would also like to introduce myself, I am Jude Leywin and I am thankful to you for letting us stay here and provide treatment for me" I lightly bowed.
The man shook his head and said, "Oh no need for thanks! Your old man saved my life once before, I am just repaying my debt. Also, I am sorry for not being more helpful in the treatment of your mana core."
The man then introduced himself, "My name is Vincent Helstea, this is my wife Tabitha Helstea and this is my daughter Lilia Helstea." I saw a short and young girl with brown hair. She seemed to be my age and would grow up to be beautiful in the future. She must be their daughter. I still didn't have the strength to get up so I greeted them while sitting upright.
My mom stayed with me all night, telling me about how Arthur contacted them out of the blue while they were eating. I then noticed a bulge on my mom's stomach. I asked her, "Mom, what is that bulge?"
She replied while smiling, "It's your second sibling." It took some time for it to click on me before I smiled happily. I always wanted a younger sibling and it looked like my wish was going to come true soon.
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Jude POV:
Over the days, I recovered enough to be able to walk and even fight again.
My strength seemed to have reverted to the red core, however, I was thankful for being able to use mana without a mana core. I spend time with Lilia and anxiously waited for my sibling to be born. I did not train much as I needed to focus on meditation for recovery.
My little sister was born a few months after I woke up. It seemed weird to be holding such a small baby in my equally small hands. Dad was crying tears of joy after seeing his daughter. My little sister was very cute and would be very attractive in the future. I am not just saying this because she is my younger sister. She seemed to have the best qualities of my mom.
A year had passed, after which I could train again. My mana was stable enough even with a shattered core and my physique also had recovered enough. I focused on purifying the fragments and opening more doors of Nine Heaven's Nine Doors. I rarely sparred with dad as he wasn't strong enough to be challenging, however, I did help him train.
Time went on like this. I soon turned 8 years old. My mom wanted to hold something special so she got a big cake from me. I also got a lot of presents. When it was time for Vincent to give me a present, he said he had something big planned for later.
My mana core... can I even call it a core anymore? Anyway, my mana fragments reached the dark yellow stage. Dad broke through to the orange core stage and was able to use fire mana. He decided to become a guards order's captain over being an adventurer as there is less risk and he can live with us. I was also able to open the third door by now.
My strength seemed at a high at this point and I was happy with my progress. That damn yellow core swordsman wouldn't stand a chance against me if we were to fight again. I was still far from the twelve thunderbolt steps though, I needed to get to the fifth door for that. But I could already use the Black Wind's Advent so I was still fine. Strength-wise, only silver core mages could beat me at this point, and even they would struggle.
However, I did realize a predicament that came with my power. The royal family. The royal family would want their hands on a genius like me. An 8-year-old who can make silver core mages struggle? Who wouldn't want that? I set aside my doubts for now. I already have a contingency plan in case this was to occur.
I was hoping to meet Arthur soon. We talked using telepathy many times however I still wanted to see him. I know there are still two years before he comes, however, I couldn't help but be restless. It was my fault for not seeing through the bandit leader's acting. At the same time, I wondered what adventures he had gotten himself into in Elenoir.
Elenoir was a very mysterious place. I was really curious about elves and their cities. Not about the elves beauty of course. It would pale in comparison to Cordelia anyway. I was curious about the reason why humans and elves went to war all these years ago. Speaking about things I was curious about, I was also curious about the sword saint of Dicathen, Galahad. I remember the true sword saint Galahad of the Argon Empire in my past life, so I was curious about this Galahad.
Is he someone who reincarnated as well?
I calmed down my restless brain and went to sleep.
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Arthur POV:
It was a strange feeling being more nervous now, meeting my family, more than when I first appointed a king while amid the most powerful people in the world. "Whew~ let's do this Sylvie."
"Kyu" She responded, my excitement spreading to her.
The dull sound of metal clanging on metal rang surprisingly loudly.
Unexpectedly, I could hear the faint pitter-patter sounds followed by a childish voice. "Coming~!"
A maid opened the door together with a little girl. Immediately upon seeing me, she hid behind the maid. The maid looks at me curiously, evidently surprised to see an eight-year-old knocking on the door of a noble's estate.
"Ahem, nice to meet you. My name is Arthur Leywin. I was informed that my family is currently residing in this manor. Do you mind if I speak to them?" I give a slight bow, Sylvie rocking on my head. Before the confused maid could even respond, I heard an all too familiar sound in the background.
"Eleanor Leywin! There you are! You have got to stop running to the front door every time someone..." My mother stopped mid-sentence and dropped a small bowl of what looked to be food for... my sister.
I look down to see the girl with dazzling brown eyes, looking at me with innocent curiosity. Her light ash brown hair shimmered with a much prettier quality than Father's but I knew who she had gotten the colour from. Her hair was tied into two pigtails on the side of her head above her ears.
I struggled to peel my eyes away from my little sister and turned to face my mother. My vision went blurry as tears filled my eyes, I said one thing I knew she was waiting to hear.
"H-hi Mom. I'm home." I gestured a small, awkward wave, not knowing what to do if she couldn't recognize me. Fortunately, my fear didn't come true and she raced towards me at a speed I swear was faster than Grandpa Virion's, but that might've just been because of my blurry vision.
"Oh, my baby! Arthur!!" She arrived in front of me and collapsed on her knees, her arms around my waist, gripping with all her strength, afraid that I might disappear again if she let go.
"You are alive! The Voice... I knew it was you! *sniff* You're back now! Yes, you're home now. Arthur, my baby!" That was all she managed to sputter out before breaking down into a bawl.
I couldn't even manage a complete sentence before shutting my lips tightly to hold back my sobs. I couldn't help but think while my head was buried in my mother's shoulder: you could be an all-powerful, immortal tyrant but when you were in front of your loved ones, the ability to control emotions betray you.
I kept repeating in half gurgled sentences that I was alive and that I was home, that I wasn't leaving. My mother was a flurry of emotions. She was happy that I was back and alive, she was mad that I couldn't come back sooner, she was sad that I had to be away from them and how hard it must have been for me all at the same time.
At one point, Eleanor walked to us and started patting Mother's back. "Mama. There, there. Don't cry." But after unsuccessfully comforting her, she began crying as well. "Arthur!" I turned my head, face still wet with tears to see outside the sprinting figure of my father drenched in sweat. I guess the maid had told him I was back.
He didn't stop before he reached, kneeling to one knee and bear-hugging all of us. Out of the corner of my eyes, I saw Jude over there, leaning towards the wall, smirking. How dare you leave me alone to struggle.
He sighed and said, "Dad, mom, I think he is dying." Both of them seemed to come to their senses as they released me. Mom was still sobbing and embracing me.
Eventually, we were able to settle down with Jude's persistence. We were sitting on a couch, my mother right beside me with Eleanor on her lap. Father was sitting on a chair he pulled up, facing me, his elbows on his knee as he leaned forward. Jude was still standing up, leaning against the wall. Mother was holding my hands and still tearing up every time she got a look at my face.
"Are you okay now? Did you at least eat three meals a day? You slept while dressing warmly every day right? Oh, my baby. Look how big you are now." Tears escaped her eyes as she squinted and smiled.
She was stroking my hair as she planted a soft kiss on the crown of my head. "Thank God you're back. I'm so happy," she whispered, her voice still trembling. Eleanor was looking curiously at both Sylvie and me while the baby dragon was sitting up next to me attentively observing the three unfamiliar humans.
My father was looking at Sylvie with a curious expression but he didn't mention her. Turning his gaze to me, his eyes softened and he kept shaking his head, repeating how big I was now. It must be a pretty fulfilling yet miserable feeling for a parent to see how big his son had gotten but not be there with him the whole time to witness it.
"Ellie, say hi to your big brother. He is your big brother like Jude. He was away for a while but he'll live together with us from now on. Come on, say 'hello'." My mother gently urged my sister.
"Hai Brother~!" She beamed, waving both of her little hands at me.
"Hello, Eleanor. It's nice to meet you... sister." I laughed, patting her head in response.
Father spoke up now. "Arthur, we were devastated after that incident, and we barely believed it when you communicated to us through our heads. Tell me, how'd you survive the fall?"
It took a while for me to explain everything from the beginning. I withheld some information that I thought might not be good to tell them just yet. I explained to them that I subconsciously wrapped myself in a protective layer of mana and I was lucky enough to hit a bunch of branches on the cliff before landing in a stream. From there on, I told them about meeting Tess and how she was almost kidnapped. After saving her, she led me to her Kingdom and I stayed there.
"You said something about an illness that kept you from coming back sooner. What was all that about? Are you cured now?" My mother chimes in, a look of concern on her face.
Shaking my head, I explain, "You don't need to worry about that anymore. I guess there was a sort of instability in my mana core that made it so I had episodes of pain. It was really bad at first but luckily there was an elder that knew how to cure it. The process was slow but he assured me it wasn't threatening if treated consistently."
"Interesting," Jude said out of nowhere. My senses went into high alert, did he notice my beast will. Mom and dad seemed confused so Jude added while shaking his shoulders, "No it's just interesting that Arthur is still at the light red core stage even after four years. He must have really slacked off."
Curse you. I decided to take this time to truly look at Jude. He seemed to have gotten even taller. He must be nearing 140 cm already. I was 130 cm tall and would look short next to him. His face looked more defined with his bright emerald coloured eyes standing out the most. His jet black. hair perfectly contrasted with his pale skin.
God, why is he so good looking? Luckily, my parents ignored what he said and asked me about Sylvie.
"Haha, while I was travelling, I stumbled into a mana beast's den. It was only the mother and she was badly injured. A little bit after I was there, she died. While I was looking around, it seemed like she was guarding something so I picked it up thinking it was something valuable but I didn't know it was an egg. She hatched only a couple of months ago so she's still a baby. Say hi to Sylvie."
I picked her up, holding her body so her limbs dangled like a kitten's.
"Kyu~!" She purred as if saying hi to everyone.
I didn't exactly tell my family a lie when I said this but I had already promised myself to tell them everything only when I was older and more capable.
Jude seemed interested in her. He got closer to put his hand on her head however she turned her head away from him as if she was running away.
Fear. She was afraid of him. He awkwardly took his hand back and stood back where he was.
I then asked them to update me on everything that happened to them after we had separated. The only thing I was able to tell from seeing them through the water divination the first time was that they lived here in Xyrus, but nothing more so I was exceptionally curious.
After Dad explained what happened since then, my mother chimed in. "That's right! The Helstea family had gone on a trip but they should be arriving back today. They're going to be so surprised when they see you, Art!"
I turned to face my mom. She hadn't changed much since I last saw her. The only thing that I did notice was that she's lost a bit of weight and was slightly paler in complexion. My heart ached since I knew this was caused by stress and depression after losing me.
Dad's body was actually much more built now. Coupled with his beard, he looked a lot more rustic than he had before. I guess working as an instructor for the Helstea Auction House guards had gotten him in shape as well.
"Dad, Jude. What colour is your mana core now?" I asked while Sylvie made her place back on the top of my head, tail swishing in content.
A confident grin emerged from his face as my father proudly replies, "Your old man broke through from the light red stage a couple of years back and is a light orange mage."
I raised my eyebrows in surprise. At the age of early thirties, my father was doing pretty well for himself. The average mage that didn't attend school usually stagnated at the light red stage, maybe dark orange if they were lucky.
Of course, it was different for the elites who had a much purer lineage and had access to better resources, but for a standard mage, my father was doing well.
Jude added, "Dad, don't cut out the part about my help. I reached the dark yellow core." My eyes widened in surprise. Dark yellow core?
Even elites need to struggle to reach the yellow core. Dad then asked me, leaning closer, "I bet you only asked us so you could brag yourself. Let's hear it, what stage are you at now?"
Jude rolled his eyes as if 'saying didn't you hear me?!'
Scratching my cheek, I mumbled, "...light red."
"Hmmm..." my father nodded. Well, of course, he won't have a big reaction after seeing my brother's absolute genius.
"My son is still the same genius he used to be. Come on. Have a quick spar with your old man." My father grinned menacingly while clasping my shoulders.
"Don't worry, I'll restrict my core stage to dark orange to make it fair on you!" he added with a wink.
"Shouldn't your stage be the same as mine?" I asked only to be replied with, "Give your old man some slack now, will ya?"
I rolled my eyes but still felt excited internally at the prospect of facing him.
"Dear! He just got home! Let him rest." Mother pulled me back.
"It's fine Mom." I gently placed my hand on top of hers, giving her a reassuring smile.
We all get up to move to the backyard when I hear the door open.
[Author's Notes: A long chapter here. I was thinking of breaking this into two parts but I wanted to include Arthur's return here. I did refer to the web novel for his return. Going forward, Jude will NOT go with Arthur to the beast glades as he will be training in the royal palace with Galahad.]