Arthur Leywin POV
After setting up a camp and waiting for Jasmine to fall asleep, I sneaked out and went to some secluded area where I could open a portal to head to Sylvies location
It took me five minutes to find a place where this could be done. I sensed Sylvie's location through our bond and activated one of the god runes that I got from Sylvia, the Portal rune, to open a portal to her
She was sitting by the fire and waiting for me at the entrance of the certain S-ranked dungeon. She was using a stick to poke into the fire that she was sitting by. The illumination of flames gave her eyes and hair a beautiful orange glow
" Are you ready Sylv?" She looked up to me and smiled.No matter how many times I see it, I can't shake the feeling that my daughter's smile is just too adorable
"Yes, papa!"
We entered the dungeon and headed to the lower floors in hopes of finding Alcaryans, so we can begin gathering evidence to prove that they are already here
It took us about twenty minutes to kill all the monsters on the first floor. I was mostly using Dawn and aether during it. I had to get used to Dawn before heading into fights with retainers and scythe and use aether in order to not get out of shape for, when the time comes, fight with asuras
I gave Sylvie a bell, the same one I got from the Windsom during my training in Ephoteus. I also gave her an explanation on mirage walk so she is now working on it
...
After another two hours, we finally spotted Alcaryan camp. There were roughly two hundred of them. In the cages on the end of the camp were corrupted mana beasts, and about fifteen meters from them were sprays that made them not attack the ones who used them and potions that can negate the effects of corruption.
There weren't a lot of potions there, only five actually, but I knew that we had to take them in order to save as many life's as possible in the future, one of them being Tessias
' Regis, can you prevent aether from leaving my core?'
' No problem, princess' he confirmed and I suddenly stopped feeling aether leaving my core
I asked him to do this for two reasons
1. I want to get more used to fighting with mana
2. I don't want to make potential Vritra or Asura suspicious of aether users in Dicathen if they come to check
Agrona may send some of his " lesser" subordinates to investigate the sudden stop in communication with the camp and knowing Kazess and asuras, they are probably already investigating Dicathen, so sensing a mass amount of aether in beast glade would lead them to this location
' Let's go, Sylv'
'Hm, papa' she said with a nod
We didn't put on our masks because we didn't plan on letting anyone survive today's raid
The first one to make a move was Sylvie
She created over thirty arrows of pure mana and launched them at the enemies. Twenty-four of them hit the unprepared targets while the rest missed for a millimeter
" Enemy attacks! Everyone on your positions!" one of the soldiers announced and every one of the Alcaryans stood up, prepared to fight
Even though they were now ready for battle, they were panicking. After all, twenty-four of their comrades died in a sudden attack in the middle of the dungeon
I took out the Dawn and headed straight at them. Enhancing myself with [ Thunderclap impulse] I saw the world around me slowing down. I started slashing through them, making sure that at the very least, they die painlessly
My time in Alcarya made me realize that they also have friends and family that they love and that worry about them, but if I don't kill them here then many of my people, friends, and family even, will die.
One by one, they all died. The previously lively camp was now covered in blood. Human limbs and insides were spread all around
I saw that Sylvie had a sad look on her face so I hugged her, making sure that she doesn't feel lonely
' I will never get used to it' she said in a sad voice
' Neither will I, but you will be able to handle it better with time' I tried my best to console her, but I don't think that it worked
We kept going lower into the dungeon
The rest of the trip was filled with silence. I decided not to talk so I can give Sylvie some time for herself to think
I blocked my connection with her and started wondering
' Am I a bad father for making my daughter do something like this? Would she be happier if she stayed home with mom, dad, and Ellie?'
' Stupid master, Sylvie would never want to be separated from you... after all, you are her papa, stupid' even though it was full of insults what Dawn told me made me cheer up
' She is right princess, Sylvie knows that this is necessary, and she also knows that many will die if she doesn't do this. Furthermore, she would never come if she believed that she can't handle it. What you have to do now is to belive in her and let yourself rely on her,that's what she wants after all' surprisingly Regis gave me a piece of good advice that made me realize a couple of things
Sylvie wants me to acknowledge her, to stop looking at her as if she was a powerless child, that she can be someone I can depend on
I came from behind and hugged her. She jolted in surprise but after realizing that it was me she took my hand, only my pinky finger to be exact
" Sorry Sylv...from now on, I will depend on you more" I said in a soft tone
" Took you long enough, stupid papa" She said with a shaky voice and tears forming in her eyes
She brushed her tears as fast as possible and looked back at me with a smile
" Let's keep going" She made a cute pose while saying it
( Like this, but just with hands behind her back)
Soon we arrived in front of the boss's room
Opening it we saw a huge corrupted Wyvern
" Papa, let me take care of it" She asked me full of determination
" Go for it" I told her with a smile
She stood before the huge mana beast, prepared to engage in a fight, but I decided to give her a little help in this fight
I opened our link completely and let her feel everything that I do. Next, I activated Realmheart
Now she should be able to feel this sensation, which could lead to her mastering it
" Sylvie, try to achieve Realmheart while you fight. Oh and you can't use aether during this one, it has to be challenging" She looked back at me and nodded
She dashed at the beast at full speed
Surprisingly, she decided to engage in close combat this time
Wyvern tried to slam her down with its tail but she just jumped before it could hit her
Sylvie infused her arms with mana and launched an attack into the air. Maybe she can't use wind mana but by doing this she made a strong wind pressure that sent the beast flying into the wall
Wyvern launched multiple breaths of pure mana at her and she started avoiding it
" Don't block them with your own blasts, try to avoid or cancel them" I said in a strict tone. Now I am her mentor so I can't go easy on her, even if she is my daughter
She nodded and started evading attacks. I could feel her concentrating on the sensation of Realmheart that I was sending to her
Her evading and Wyvern's attack kept on going for some time until something changed. Sylvie's usually golden eyes now shined in a radiating purple glow
' Congrats, Sylvie' I told her in the kindest manner possible
' Thanks, papa' even though I couldn't see her face, I knew that she had her toothy grin on her face right now
Wyvern tried to launch another attack but it exploded in its face, destroying the lower half of its jaw
After that, Sylvie created multiple mana spheres around the beast and launched them at the same time
The beast died in an instant, it never even had a chance
I took out its core and handed it over to Sylvie
" Take it Sylv, it's yours"
She looked at it with sparkly eyes before she looked up at me
" Thank you, papa" the smile that she gave me was not even fair. The only smile that could compete with it in this world would be Aleas and Ellies
We left the dungeon through the portal and now we stood in front of each other
"Sylv, because you have successfully achieved the Realmheart, I have a gift for you" I said with a smile
"What is it, papa?" she titled her head, waiting for my further explanation
I took out a horn from my dimensional rune. Suddenly ominous aura filled out the area
It was one of the horns that I took from the Cadell after I killed him. I decided to take one while giving the other one to Sylvie
" Listen Sylv, while absorbing it, focus on the spell that Agrona placed on you, we will use mana from this to break the spell. After that, you can use the horn to refine your core"
She jumped at me and hugged me
" Tent ju"
" You are welcome, my cute little peanut"
She put the horn in her ring and we went our separate ways
----
I went back to the camp, only to find Jasmine awake, looking panicked
She looked at me and her eyes widened. In the next moment, she jumped and hugged me
" Don't worry me like that again, stupid little brother"
I just patted her head and told her that I was sorry
I told her that I went to meet Sylvie to give her something that I forgot to give her previously and that I didn't wake her up so she could rest
Thankfully I already washed off all the blood so she didn't suspect anything
----
It has already been a a month since my arrival in beast glades and now I was heading to the location of the special mission that was issued by the guild with Jasmine
Kaspian informed us about it five days ago and now we are about an hour away from there
Sylvie told me that she is progressing really well in the absorption of the horn and her training. She also said that she has a hard time with the mirage walk, but that she should master it by the end of the month
My absorption of the Cadells horn is progressing very well, I am already at the light yellow stage after all
---
We finally arrived at the location of the inn, Phoenixes feather, where we are supposed to meet with the rest of the team
Inside of the inn was designed as a restaurant with a counter where you could also reserve your room
We came in and headed to the counter
" Jasmine Flamesworth and Note, the guild should have reserved the rooms for us" Jasmine said and the guy that works here handed us the keys to our rooms
We took the keys and headed to the one of the tables. We sat down and waited for the waitress to come and take our orders
" You must be Note and Jasmine, right?" I heard a familiar voice say from behind me
I looked back and my eyes widened
Beautiful bleached green hair, that almost seemed white, one part of it was hidden behind her long, pointy ear, soft pink lips, and gorgeous sky blue eyes, that made me lost in them, were looking at me
" ...Alea..."
______________________________________
So this chapter is done
I will probably release more often now that things are starting to get interesting
Sorry if there are any grammar mistakes, I was writing this one on the phone so I didn't have the program that usually shows me my mistakes, tehe
Anyway now I will write down all of the confirmed ships
ArthurxAlea
DurdenxAngela
RegisxDawn
BaironxAya
Elliex??? ( I will leave it as a surprise)
CaeraxSeris (cuz why not)
There will not be much screen time for ships other than the main one, but if you want just leave the comment and I will make it happen
If you want any other ship, just write it down in a comment
And yes, Ellie will have a lover, sorry Art