Arthur POV
The past two weeks have passed in a very monotone rhythm
I would spend most of my time helping Ellie with her training, and the rest would go into hanging out with my family
During the nights I would go to the beast glades to look for Alcaryans, but so far I had no luck
I explored quite a bit of S and SS-ranked dungeons, and even some AA-ranked ones, but there were no sightings of them
' Maybe they became more careful? After all, we were raiding them quite frequently' Sylvie said through our bond
' That might be the case' I answered back and started thinking about possibilities
Now that they know that something is not right, they might even send a retainer or a scythe to investigate
While I won't have any troubles if a fight between us breaks out, I won't be able to handle it quietly
I am sure that somebody would notice and report our fight, and once it gets to the council, Lances will be dispatched
But even so, I need proof for tonight's meeting with gramps, Cynthia, and Gideon
There is no need for proof to give to Cynthia since she is already from Alcarya, gramps won't need much since he trusts me and is aware of other continents' existence, so I am basically only worried about that madman
' I will go and look for it in the glades, so you should go and train with Ellie, papa '
' Got it' and like this, our little debate was over
Regis was unusually quiet these days, he said that he has something to deal with and that I shouldn't bother him
I am only worried that he is up to something, and if he is, it will be bad
I know him well enough to know what can excite him, woman, aether, himself, and mischief
And since it's neither of the first three...
I don't need to explain any further, right?
Coming to the field where we are training I saw Ellie waiting for me excitedly
One of the notable things about her was the small mana orb that was flying above her. I thought her how to create it and instructed her that she should keep it active at all times and that if she doesn't have enough mana she should just come to me or Sylvie and we would refill her core
When she noticed me she ran to me and hugged me
" What are we doing today, brother?" She asked with stars in her eyes
I just patted her head while slowly sitting down
Once I am in the meditating pose I gesture to Ellie to sit down as well
I noticed that she was a little awkward while she was taking the pose
'Guess that she doesn't like to stay still that much'
I scanned the area to make sure that no one is spying on us, after all, it would be bad if someone were to see the technique that I am about to teach Ellie
The only person that I could sense nearby was mom
I decided that it would be for the best if she is by our side so I conjured a chair out of the earth, and with a light gesture of hand told her to come and sit with us
After mom came and sat down she looked at me a little confused, and so did Ellie, and I don't blame them, this is the first time that mom is going to be with us training
Now that we were seated I conjured a sound barrier around us which earned me a surprised gasp from mom
" Now Ellie, you can deactivate your spell" I said gently and as if on order, the spell immediately disappeared
I looked at both of them, making sure that they are paying attention, and then I began with my explanation
" El, today I will teach you the technique that my first master thought me, the one that only I can use on the entire continent"
They both looked at me with immense curiosity in their eyes
From mom's expression, it was obvious that she was anticipating the continuation of my explanation
Ellie was slightly different, besides her curiosity, she was obviously very excited. She will get to learn a technique that only her brother, her hero, and idol can use, so no one can blame her
" The techniques name is " mana rotation"" I said while raising my index finger
Mom raised a hand, and after a smile and nod from me she asked me a question that both of them wanted to ask
" What is that " mana rotation" technique about, Arthur?" While she tried to hide it, I could tell that even mom was excited
I smirked and started explaining
" It's a technique that allows user to absorb mana even while they are moving, talking or, if they have enough mastery over it, while fighting"
The moment I finished my explanation she jumped out of the chair I conjured, her eyes widened and her jaw dropped
" But that's..." But she couldn't even finish her sentence, the shock from the information she just received was too much
Taking a closer look I noticed that her face became grew visibly pale. She was shaking slightly, and her hands were holding her head
' Can't blame her, the information you just blurted out as the most obvious thing in the world is the complete opposite of the beliefs that mages of this continent have, it goes against all of their logic' Regis commented
' You are awake?' I asked him
' Huh, of course that this majestic Regis is awake!'
" Mama, are you okay?" Ellie asked worriedly
Mom looked down at her daughter, and after seeing her scared face, scared from her mom being unwell, she calmed down and patted her head
" Mama is good Ellie, it's just that what your big brother said just now is really unbelievable" She said gently with a warm smile appearing on her face as she said the last part
After that, they both sat down and I started with a more detailed explanation
" It is a technique that can only be thought to those who awakened early, like me and El, and are still on the black stage" taking a quick peek I noticed that they were both listening to me intently, for different reasons but still
" If you miss learning it then, or don't meet the requirements to learn it at the black stage, you can learn it again only once you reach the white stage" after that I came closer to Ellie and activated my Realmheart
I placed my arm on her core and started to channel a little bit of aether in her body
" Ellie I want you to start absorbing mana..."
( A/N I forgot how did the process with Varay go and I don't know what chapter it was)
It took us a couple of hours but we were now done
Thanks to the help of aether, Ellie was able to master mana rotation ability WAY faster than I did
Needless to say, I was proud of her
After the training, she was exhausted so I carried her to her bed
Now I was in the kitchen, eating a dinner
After dinner, I am supposed to go to the Xyrus academy and prepare for the meeting with Cynthia and others
" Mom, Dad, I have something to do in the city, but can you wait for me to come back... I have something to talk to you about"
' Will they hate me again?' I couldn't help but wonder anxiously
' You are telling them about Grey?' Regis asked, worried a little for me
' You will see' I said playfully
They look at me a little worried but that soon changed into their usual cheerful expressions
" Of course Arthur!" My dad said with a bright smile which was followed by one from mom as well
" Thanks!" I answered with a bright smile back
-----
I was now in front of the Xyrus academy gates
There were two guards guarding the gate
They were wearing shiny armor, which helped in bringing up the school's prestige. They were both using spears so they were obviously augmenters
I didn't want to be noticed so I used mirage walk
I activated Static Void to completely avoid being noticed
Once I reached the familiar doors of the director's office I used God Step to enter the room
I saw the director sitting at her desk, doing some paperwork
I went to the sofa and sit down while simultaneously deactivating the Static Void
After the world went back to normal I watched as the director was doing her work
She was scrambling something on the documents for a while
She was so focused on it that she didn't even notice me, even though I didn't use a mirage walk
After about ten minutes I decided that it was enough and that I should make my presence known
" Shouldn't you at least offer your guests some tea?" I said blankly
She immediately looked at me while simultaneously pulling out her staff and casting multiple spells, prepared to launch them at me at any moment
She looked at me and after realizing two I am she let her guard down
She was about to cancel her spells but I interrupted her
" Please let me" I said and with a snap of my fingers, her spells were gone
She looked at me dumbfounded
' I guess that she is still coming to terms with my abilities' I noted in my head
" You are here Arthur" She said and got up
She went to one of the shelves and took and tea plate and a teacup
After she placed them in front of me I notice that the cup and plate were white with a simple blue floral design
With a simple chant, a teapot and her own tea floated to us
" What are you doing here so early, there are still about two hours before the meeting?" She questioned
" I came early to break your curse of course' I said in a monotone matter of factly voice
She looked at me with her eyes wide
" C..can you really?" She asked, doubting my words, and I don't blame her
The course itself was cast by a sovereign, so it does make sense that she would doubt me
I put on a smile and gestured for her to lie down
" You should lay Cynthia" and as I instructed she did so
After that I placed my arm where her core is, it's her chest to be precise, which earned me a playful giggle
" I think that you are too young for me Arthur" She said with a playful smirk
I just looked her in the eyes, my face expressionless and my eyes blank
" *giggle* you should at least give me some reaction" and with that said we got on to the business
I activate Realmheart and examined her core
Thanks to the aether I was able to locate the curse quickly and start eliminating it
While carefully separating it from her core, I got it out
But now the hard part was coming
Now that it was out of her body, she collapsed from the shock
The course was now flying above me, caged by aether
I pulled out a beast core and started combining the two
It took me about half an hour but I was able to do it
What I created just now was essentially a pseudo beast will, or rather an artificial beast will
Now that it was done, I activated the destruction rune and destroyed it since it was too dangerous
After about an hour and a half, Cynthia woke up a little dizzy
" ...what happened?" She asked while rubbing her forehead
" You passed out after I separated your curse from you" I gave her a simple answer
She looked toward the floor and a single tear left her eye
She looked at me and smiled while a single tear was slowly sliding down her old wrinkled face
"Thank you, Arthur"
" Truly... thank you"
It took her a minute to calm down and after she did we chatted about what were we up to
* KNOCK * * KNOCK *
" Hey you old hag, I am here as you asked" I heard a familiar voice call from the other side
'It is time to start our contra measures ' I thought as I watched the director of the most prestigious academy on the continent slowly open the door