Alacryan Arthur

Chapter 24

Caera Denoir POV

"Who is the person we are picking up?" I asked Seris. I couldn't stay quiet any longer. We used a teleporter, which transported us right into the ascenders hall. From there we walked a few meters to the entrance of the relic tombs.

"He is a boy with great potential." she answered, carefully choosing her words.

I had to keep myself from rolling my eyes. While Seris was my mentor, she was still a Scythe and I had to stick to the customs. She of course read my thoughts, like she always did and let out a chuckle.

"Everything I tell you, and everything he might tell you, is a secret. Your father doesn't need to know it." she said. "Arthur doesn't use runes for his mana control, which allows him to use it much more flexibly. Furthermore his blood also manifested 4 years ago and he really excels in the use of the decay mana, almost as much as in all the other mana elements."

"All the other mana classes?" It was incredible to be gifted with runes of different mana elements, even three different elements is super rare. Normally one would get his runes in one element, even if one got multiple runes. In some rare cases the runes would have different elements, but from what I had heard it had been even rarer to get different elements without runes.

"He is able to control all basic elements, as well as their deviant forms." Seris stated.

All 8 elements? That was unheard of, if we exclude our Sovereigns of course. Scythe Cadell was the person with the most affinities, with his fire, wind and earth control, but that doesn't even really compare to eight, does it?

Seris saw my unbelieving face and followed up: "There is a bit more, but that's for him to tell you. I will only tell you the things you will see anyway."

What else could there even be? The only things I could think of were runes, like an emblem, or maybe even a regalia, but she said that he doesn't use runes.

"I still have to thank you for getting me out of there." I said, changing the topic. I knew I wouldn't be able to get any information from her, once she had decided that she didn't want to say more.

"Of course. You have been trapped in there way too long anyway and now that Arthur wants to explore the relictombs, it was a perfect opportunity, since he could use someone, who has experience. And you could learn quite a number of things from him, not only the decay mana."

I was excited about meeting him, he must really be strong, if my mentor speaks so highly of him.

After another minute we reached the entry to the building with the portal in it. I noticed that the line that usually was here, filled with ascenders ready to be registered, so they could enter the relictombs, was replaced with many guards that shielded the entry from the crowd of pedestrians that looked interested in this anomaly.

Seris walked toward a guard, who recognized her immediately and let us pass. We entered the normally overfilled entry hall, only to find it completely empty. This was really strange. While Seris was a powerful figure in our society, more than capable of ordering this, it really wasn't her style. This could only mean, she was working together with someone, who liked it more quiet and private, and was at least as influential as Seris.

I quickly went through the other scythes and my knowledge of them, learned either from reports and books or Seris personally.

Scythe Dragoth would love the attention, while Scythe Viessa wouldn't care enough to clear the room. This would only cause more work for her, since every named blood would ask for the reason. I knew Scythe Melzri would do the same, as she wouldn't want to put her sister through all that work for nothing.

That only left Scythe Cadell, who I knew next to nothing about. He did not reveal much about himself when he was in public, which happens rare enough in the first place. I never asked Seris about him and she never told any stories about him, as the things he does are mostly confidential.

This seemed exactly like his style. I had never met him, so I was getting quite nervous about meeting him in person. The only thing Seris told me, was that he was far more powerful than all the other scythes.

Seris flicked her hand and a swell of wind opened the huge doors leading to the portal room. I saw three figures standing next to it, talking while standing in a circle.

But I didn't even have to see the faces of two of them, to immediately know who they were.

The first one was Scythe Cadell, who looked toward us. He was quite tall, and his scarlet eyes flew over Seris and locked onto me. He mustered me for a second, before turning his look toward the second man.

This man was none other than our High Sovereign, Agrona Vritra himself. I was shocked. I had never expected that he would be present. I could basically feel Seris' stare boring through me, waiting to see my reaction.

I decided to lower my head, as was expected of me, and looked at the last person. He was a lot smaller than the other two and unknown to me.

He had auburn hair, with two onyx horns on the back of his head. He wore a black outfit, that didn't show his back, which I would find quite strange, if Seris hadn't informed me about his lack of runes beforehand. All of Alacrya loved to display their runes, with clothing that revealed their backs.

A small black mana beast sat on his shoulders, which looked a lot like a cat with wings and horns. I guessed it was his bond.

"Ah, Seris, you're here" Agrona exclaimed, turning around. He gave me a curious look. "So she is going to accompany Arthur?"

Seris answered, while walking toward the group, with me following her, my head still directed toward the ground.

"Yes, she is a promising student of mine. She manifested her blood recently and has experience with the relictombs."

My heart beat a bit faster at my mentor's praise.

"You can look up, child. No need for formalities." Scythe Cadell said to me. "What's your name?"

"My name is Caera Denoir." I answered him, with my head now up, looking at him.

He nodded.

"I am Arthur Leywin, pleased to meet you." the third person said, extending a hand. He was younger than I expected, around 10 years old. When I heard that he manifested his horns four years ago I immediately pictured him older than me, but he was actually younger than me. He gave me a smile that extended to his azure eyes. I noticed that his horns began at his forehead, making them about 20 cm long. I can't imagine how much time he must have had to meditate and train for them to reach that length after only four years.

I shook his hand, which was pretty rough, probably because of a lot of training. His little bond also looked at me, laying its head to the side. How cute.

"Well then. I am pretty sure you can't wait to enter, so let's hurry this up. " Agrona said, in a voice that didn't sound like the god-ruler of a continent, but much more like a man finishing a nice, relaxing lunch.

"Arthur, you remember everything? Cadell asked, sounding like how I imagined a parent sending their child off to their first day of school would sound like. "The zones are always possible, you might just need to think outside the box. You can get yourself some equipment in the second zone. Once you leave, just show the letter."

"I know, thanks." Arthur answered. He looked a bit into nothingness, and his bond jumped off his shoulder into Agrona's arms. I had heard that more powerful bonds could communicate telepathically, so I guess he just said goodbye. I wondered why she did not accompany us, but I didn't want to ask, considering the individuals present. I would just ask him later.

Cadell gave both of us a simulet, so we would continue through the zones together, which of course was unnecessary for the first two zones, but crucial to all the following zones.

I nodded a goodbye to Seris, who responded the same way, then I entered the portal.

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