Chapter 23

GREY

I manipulated the aether into the mindstone— which worked, just it was really slow. "Hey, Regis, do you think there is any way to make my aether any faster?" I asked, as I canceled aether entering the mindstone. "I don't know, why are you even asking me?" replied Regis as he flew around.

"What if I try to assimilate my body with aether to make it stronger? It might work like a beast will," I suggested. "And how would that work?" Regis asked in a condescending tone, like my idea would never work.

"Well, when you assimilate with a beast will you make your body stronger to the point you can handle it, what if aether is the same?" I pondered. "If that could work then why didn't the Dijnn do that?" Regis quipped.

I just looked at him and grinned. "Because they didn't have you." If Regis had eyebrows he would've raised one of them. "And what do you think I can do?"

"That's simple, you seem to draw aether to yourself, so it might be possible for you to guide the aether," I explained.

"Are you sure? We can try but it might be dangerous," said Regis.

"If I can get stronger, to protect my new friends and life, it is worth the risk," I pumped my fist.

Regis just deadpanned me. "You're a masochist aren't you." I just smiled at him.

Using Regis I slowly started to assimilate with the aether when I felt a warm sensation on my arm. I quickly opened my eyes and pulled up my sleeve to see that Sylvia's feather was missing. I was about to exclaim in astonishment when Regis interrupted. "You absorbed the feather while trying to assimilate. It also caused some changes."

"What kind of changes?" I asked, slightly afraid of the answer.

"Well for one, your ability to manipulate aether has increased, although only slightly. Your teeth are now much whiter and, well, your eyes are glowing," explained Regis as he flew around, looking for more changes.

"Wait, my eyes are glowing?" I asked, baffled and confused.

"Not by much, it's barely noticeable when the lights are on, but it does mean you'll have a hard time hiding from now one," said Regis, stating the obvious. I just sighed and continued with my assimilation.

VIRION ERALITH

I sighed. It's been 3 years since Arthur went missing. It's now confirmed that he's either dead or on the other continent. Our experts assume we only have 1 year before the war actually starts.

Tessia seems to be much better, her team has brought back some of her emotions. The Glayder children aren't faring any better though. Prince Curtis is depressed, it seems he's thrown himself into fighting to rid himself of the guilt and memories of that day. Princess Kathyln is the same but since her parents aren't allowing her to join the war she spends most of her time here in the castle training.

I don't know the fate of the girl known as Claire other than she seemed to have joined one of the dungeon clearer teams. The person I worry the most about is Eleanor Leywin. She's only 11 yet she's so mature, she's probably forced herself to become like so. I let the Leywin's stay in the castle since I hated myself for what I did to Arthur and keeping his family safe is my way of saying sorry.

Eleanor has cut all ties with her parents completely now. She used to talk to them a little but now she ignores them whenever they try and talk to her. Alice and Reynolds are heart broken, they can't handle the stress of the consequences of what they did to their children. When I see them Alice is now nothing but skin and bone, Reynolds is also considerably thinner.

From what I know she spends her time with the Ivsaar family. On the topic of the Ivsaar family, Feyrith Ivsaar III has risen to the rank of general. His knowledge on warfare and just general subjects is second to none. I heard that because he saw Arthur as his rival he plunged himself into books on politics and war strategy in an attempt to even the playing field.

I made my way to the teleport gate to visit Tessia. She is supposed to return from a dungeon today.

Once I got close I noticed something. My little granddaughter is laughing. At two of her team members fighting of all things. "Tessia Eralith," I said as I approached. Soon everyone turned to me. "Commander Virion," everyone greeted with a bow, except for Tessia.

"You may rise, I'm not here on official business," I clarified. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, probably because they thought I was a bearer of bad news.I approached Tessia, she still was withholding some emotions but now she seemed much better. I'm glad her teammates helped her open up.

"How are you doing little one?" I asked— I didn't need to be formal since I was just visiting."I'm doing well grandpa," said Tessia as she looked me in the eyes, warmth in her eyes.

"Come on Tessia, I know your grandfather is here but I assume you don't want to be covered in blood and grim do you?" asked her teammate.

"Yeah, sorry grandpa, I'm going to go wash up now," said Tessia as she and another girl left towards the bath house. I felt a smile come across my face as I saw her genuinely smile. I then turned to Stannard—the boy who Gideon recommended.

"Thank you Stannard, this is the first time I saw her smile in three years," I said sincerely. If I could bow I would but I must uphold my image as commander.

"There is no need commander, she's helped our team out a lot. Mainly by keeping Darvus in check though," replied Stannard as he stared at the boy I assumed to be Darvus.

"If I may ask, what was the incident which caused her to act that way?" asked Stannard. He must be very brave to ask me of all people that question. "Was it something to do with that Arthur boy she keeps talking about?"

I bit my lip before answering. "Yes, I don't want to talk about it myself since it was a hard time for me as well. Please do not ask again," I said in a gentle tone as the memories of that day came flooding back.

Stannard nodded in confirmation and then left. As much as I would love to talk for my granddaughter for longer I can't since I have to get back to the council.

The Asuras are helping us but even then I don't know if we can win this war.

"Brat, when are you coming home?"

CAERA DENOIR

"Show me how much you've progressed," said Seris as she got into a battle stance. I complied and rushed at her. Grey recommended that I use a normal sized sword rather than my oversized one. It has better weight distribution, better speed and better balance. In his own words, "You look like an anime main character wannabe."Once I did I noticed how much I improved.

I was currently training with Seris since Bruce still had Grey. It's been a week since then and I've been training to keep up with Grey once he finishes his training.

I layed down after the beatdown Seris gave me. I stared at the sky when a thought came across my mind. I sat up and stared right at Seris. "Master, you know, don't you?"

Seris raised her eyebrow. "What are you talking about?"

"About who Grey really is," I replied. Her eyes went wide as she took a seat.

"So he told you. How do you feel about it? I'm sure it must be difficult considering everything," she said as she looked into my eyes.

I took a deep breath. "Honestly, pretty well. I'm still sorting out my thoughts, I mean, I'm in a relationship with a 50 year old man. Crazy isn't it," I sighed.

Seris just chuckled. "I suppose it is, isn't it. You said he's gone for a year? That means you'll have that entire time to sort out your thoughts, unless you already have?"

"Somewhat, I think the only reason I'm taking it so well is because I've had 3 years to prepare myself for a giant secret. But I don't consider him the same person he was in his past life, I saw a replica of his past self in the relictombs and unless someone told me that is who he was I wouldn't be able to realize it," I said. "Anyways, master, can we end training early today?" I asked, hoping she'd say yes.

"Sure, I have work to do anyway, the less time we train the more I can work," she said before leaving.

I stared at a passing cloud. Grey… I know who you are and I love you. I'm glad to know your secret, even if you didn't want to tell me. I started to think back to when we first met. I wonder, what would happen if I never met him?

Everynight for about the first year I knew him he would scream or cry in his sleep. Even to this day he's plagued by nightmares. I sometimes hear him scream. His dreams slowly changed from begging for his family to accept him to absolute disgust.

I wonder, would he have returned to King Grey if I didn't meet him? He seems to love hurting himself… is he a masochist? I mean, it'll certainly be hard to deal with if he is.

I sighed again before I felt mana approaching me, and fast. I jumped in the air to just barely avoid… vines? I landed and cut them up, and quite easily. I immediately looked around for an elf—Grey told me they were the only ones who could use such magic. Instead I saw Sevren—he was looking at me with a huge goofy grin.

On his hand was a glove with a green crystal. "After three years I finally managed to get it to work!" he exclaimed as he shouted in joy.

I raised my brow in confusion. "Got what to work? Also, how did you use plant magic?" I questioned.

"Remember that beast will Grey brought me 3 years ago? I finally managed to turn it into a working tool!" Sevren exclaimed proudly.

"Seriously?" I asked, becoming just as excited as he was. "Can I try?" I then grabbed it without even letting him answer. Infusing mana into the glove allowed me to create and control plants. It was so cool. I didn't need a spellform! Just like Grey before his core got shattered.

"Want it? I don't think I could make the most out of it," said Sevren. I sighed, "As cool as it is, it won't work for me. It might for Seth since he's been lagging behind," I mumbled that last part. Severn raised his brow but didn't push it.

I quickly made my way to Seth's house–which took a few hours because carriages are so slow– and knocked on the door. "Hello? Oh, Lady Caera, please come in," said the maid who answered the door. "Are you here to see Seth again?" she asked. I nodded. "He's currently with Mayla."

"Of course he is," I chuckled under my breath. I soon made my way to his room—making sure I got there faster than the maids to surprise him. I slammed the door open to see the two making out.

They immediately shot up and looked at me. "CAERA!!" They both exclaimed in anger and embarrassment. I just gave them a smug smile. "It's a shame I didn't bring a camera," I joked.

"Has anyone ever told you you need to stop barging into other people's rooms?" Mayla asked, annoyed I stopped her fun. "Yeah, Grey has for the past 3 years," I replied as I sat down. They just rolled their eyes.

"So, why are you here this time? You're not one to just show up and hang around uninvited," asked Seth as he put something back in his pocket.

"Well, Sevren made something and it doesn't fit my fighting style. And since you've been falling behind in terms of strength I thought it might be useful," I explained.

"What kind of artifact will let me keep up with you monsters?" Seth asked, obviously referring to me and Grey.

"Why don't you check it out first?" I said, handing him the glove.

Seth looked at it before turning it around in his hands."And what does this do?" Seth asked. I just realized how much confidence Seth has gained compared to when I first met him. He's now brave instead of shy, I think Grey is the one to thank for this development.

"Just put some mana into it," I said. Seth followed my instructions and once he did the plant on his desk started to grow.

"Woah, WOAH WOAH!" exclaimed Mayla as she took the glove from Seth and started examining it. "How, what wha~"

"Using a beast core Grey brought from Dicathen, Sevren managed to make that. It allows the user to use plant magic— something exclusive to Elves," I explained. "Also, I doubt Grey would want it either."

"I'm not going to ask how this works because I'm honestly afraid, but thanks Caera. Now, GET OUT!" shouted Mayla as she pushed me out of the room. She must've been really angry. I stopped her make out session, although I think she was a bit too angry. I mean, it's not like kissing is all that embarrassing, nor does it lead to anything bad, at least that I know of.

GREY

Three months later

I finally managed to assimilate my body with aether. It's now much stronger. My body no longer destroys itself whenever I try to augment myself. My healing has also gotten much better.

It was incredibly painful. My body completely remade itself, my bone broke then mends themselves, muscles torn and healed. I kept puking up strange black liquid, it might be like those purging of impurities I saw in those sucky chinese martial arts books. (AN. For those that say this isn't possible, Arthur was surrounded in blood in the original, you can't tell me he didn't throw up anything while metamorphosing)

"Have you gotten any insight?"

I turned around to see Bruce staring at me. "No, I've been assimilating my body with aether using Regis. It's now much stronger," I admitted. "Sorry for not even trying."

Bruce's eyes went wide. "Y-You did what?! How?! That should be impossible!"

"It is? I mean, I figured it was but Regis helped with it," I explained. "Is it all that special?"

Bruce sighed heavily. "Yes, yes it is. The reason our kind is so limited in our abilities is because of our weak bodies. I believe– like you said– that the shadow wolf is what allowed you to do this."

"See, you can't do anything without me!" exclaimed Regis, as if this was all him. I just sighed at my partner's antics.

"So, what do I do now Bruce?" I asked. "Well, this changes a lot of things. I had planned that the next 6 months of your training to be training yourself to minimize the recoil but now that doesn't seem necessary. I guess I'll have to change my plan on the fly," said Bruce.

"Oh yeah, I have a question. How long has it been in the outside world?"

"It has been 3 months. This zone is so unique in its properties that it wasn't possible to add the time dilation," replied Bruce. "Hmmm, that makes sense. A zone which can peer into minds and completely recreate another world despite my limited knowledge would probably be too powerful to fit that in. This place even recreated flavors of candy I've only eaten once," I analyzed.

"So, do I get three more months to gain insight?" I asked hopefully. Bruce just smiled at me, an evil smile.

"Why would I do that? Even despite the good you've done yourself you've already had your time. I don't think it helps you've forced me to change my plans by so much," chuckled Bruce. I just gulped.

The zone turned into a new room. It was long and thin. It had a marble floor and the ceiling arched over us. Rows of scones lined the walls creating a natural feeling of light. Both sides had 3 statues of men and women.

(E.N. Sconces = Scones now apparently.) (A.N I don't see the difference)

"This doesn't scream 'those statues are going to start moving' at all," commented Regis — who was now able to carry a grown man.

"Wanna try and get close to see what happens?" I asked, drawing Dawn's Ballad.

Once we got close the statues started to crack and shatter. From within the resulting rubble came what I could only describe as horrid. They were grotesque monsters made of what I assumed to be humans. It looked like someone had taken a grown man, took him apart, then put him back together inside out. They had weapons fused to their limbs.

"Chimera's," I said as Regis nodded — a gesture I don't think works well with his lupine form. All six of them had a unique weapon: Bow and arrow that used parts of its skeleton as arrows, double sided ax, long sword for an arm, a spear, a whip made from a snake spine and a… gun?

"This'll be fun," I said as the bow wielding chimera aimed at me. I quickly enhanced myself with aether and parried the attack. As I did I noticed the spear going right for my chest. I ducked under only for the ax to take off my left arm. "Shit, they're working together!" I screamed.

"Well no duh," quipped Regis. I jumped back to let my arm regenerate— a side effect of fully assimilation with aether. I then noticed the one with a shotgun was aiming at me. Regis ran forwards and bit down on its arm, causing the chimera to try and shake Regis off. The one with a whip then attacked me so I cut the wip in half and charged.

I plunged Dawn's Ballad deep into its head, causing blood to splatter my face. I turned to the other 4 that Regis wasn't dealing with. "Well, let's hope these guys are family friendly."