Last Resort

The room was black and spacious. The floor was covered with large stone tiles that were almost purely black save for the little splash of grey patterns here and there. The wall was made of a certain kind of sturdy metal that could endure combat damage very well. Along the wall hung several types of weapons. These weapons were not magical but they were still quite valuable. In the center of the room, a young man wielding two falchions was charging relentlessly at a middle-aged man who was using only one wooden sword to repel his attacks. That sword, albeit just an ordinary wooden one, was covered with a dark brown earthen sheath. Whenever the earthen sheath was destroyed, it would immediately regenerate. The distinct characteristic of Earth Magic was its strong defense and fierce offensive power. The wooden sword’s sole purpose was to fend off attacks not to retaliate.

“Hahaha, is that all you’ve got, Arias? How long before you can hit me?”

Albert’s laughter echoed inside the room as if to provoke the young man. Arias’ face was drenched in sweat from exhaustion. However, he did not lose any concentration despite his father’s taunting. At the moment, his mind was trying to come up with a plan to finally land a hit on Albert. He fell back a little to give himself some time and space.

“You’re scared now? Want me to go easy on you?”

As Arias retreated, Albert did not go after him to make an attack and only gave his son a taunting smile. To be honest, he had always dreamt of this day, a day when he had the opportunity to train Arias himself. He wanted to see his son become a strong mage, strong enough to fight him as an equal. But that dream had shattered on the day he found out Arias was powerless. Albert had tried to keep his disappointment to himself so as not to sadden his son. But sometimes, Arias would still see the look of disappointment in his eyes. However, ten days ago, Albert found out that his son had actually become a mage. Though it was a late start, Albert fully believed in him. The bravery in Arias’ eyes was something that he saw from the first day Arias awoke after the incident.

“No need to.”

Arias declined firmly.

SWISH!

A falchion in Arias’ hand darted through the air. The blade was surrounded by small bolts that almost turned it blue.

“That blow was too straightforward…you!”

Albert shook his head at the way Arias attacked this time. He thought that it was too straightforward and tactless. It did not seem like Arias’ usual attack at all. But in that instant, he glanced at the falchion with a surprised expression and rapidly cast a spell with his other hand.

“Blessing of Terra.”

The aura of the Earth Magic quickly took form on Albert’s left leg. In less than a second, that leg had quickly turned dark brown. Albert could perform this technique in a split second because he was only using it on a part of his body. However, not every mage was capable of doing the same thing.

CLANK! …CLANK! CLANK!

Albert’s wooden sword clashed with the falchion that had been flung out from Arias’ hand, and a black dagger collided with Albert’s left leg. The dagger was hidden beneath the shadow of the falchion and they were both thrown from Arias’ hand simultaneously. With its pure black color and size that was smaller than the size of a human hand, the dagger was difficult to notice. However, its attack did not leave a single scratch on Albert’s leg.

“Nice trick, Arias. Used the falchion as bait, but the real strike came from that dagger. Not bad, not bad at all.”

Though surprised by Arias’ tactic, Albert could not help but admire him. If it had not been for the Blessing of Terra technique, he would have gotten a cut on his leg.

“If I’d known it’d be like this, I would’ve coated the dagger’s tip with poison.”

Arias muttered, disappointed that his attack could not do anything to Albert.

“You little rascal, are you trying to kill me?”

Arias’ mumbling seemed to have been loud enough to reach Albert’s ears. The man glared at Arias like he could see a little devil in his son’s body.

“I’m joking, Father. Who would dare poison their own father…though, I wouldn’t say the same if it’s a local anesthetic.”

Arias raised a secretive smile. Albert looked at Arias with slight suspicion, his brows began to furrow.

“Did you…!?”

He leaned down to pick up the dagger and saw a thin layer of white liquid coating its tip.

“You little rascal. Are you trying to paralyze your own father?”

Albert shouted in a loud voice. His brows furrowed as he stared first at his son, who was still smiling gleefully, and then, cautiously, at the dagger in his hand. With each passing day, Albert had been witnessing more of Arias’ strange tactics. If their levels were about the same, Albert might have lost to his son long ago. That mysterious master seemed to have passed on quite a lot of his knowledge to Arias.

“It’s not lethal, Father. Don’t be so angry.”

In his good mood, Arias let out a small laugh, his face still plastered with a delighted smile. At least his attack managed to hit Albert who had challenged him. Every day, Arias would train with Albert in secret. It had been ten days now since he told his parents about his power. This room was Albert’s personal training chamber that Farhan had given him when he was young. Thus, it was not strange for Albert to be spending his time here. As for Arias, no one cared about his existence anyway. Therefore, nothing seemed out of the ordinary.

Four days ago, Arias’ power had ascended to the ninth level of neophyte and he should become an acolyte soon. He had wasted as many as sixty low-level quartzes, plus two low-level beastcores before he was able to reach the ninth level. Albert was pleased that Arias had been progressing so quickly. Maria, on the other hand, was becoming more and more anxious. She did not want Arias to join the Tournament that would be held in the next three months at all. It took Albert a long time to convince her not to worry too much.

Aside from training, every day, Arias would be busy brewing potions and nurturing his power. Now he was close to the bottleneck phase of the neophyte level and would soon become an acolyte. However, it appeared that learning the Thunder God’s Path grimoire was a path that required a significant amount of resources. It had been so resource-consuming even at the neophyte level that Arias did not want to imagine how many resources he would need when he reached the higher levels. The amount of resources he had used to nurture his power was almost double the usual amount used by normal mages.

“You still have a weapon in your hand, don’t you? Hurry and come at me. Don’t waste any time.”

Albert said as he raised his sword and prepared to receive another attack from Arias. But the young man stood still and did not attack. The way Arias had paused made Albert feel wary again.

“I think we should stop. Mother is already here to call us in for dinner.”

Arias replied as he turned to walk toward the door. Right after he finished saying his sentence, there came a knocking sound. Arias took a quick stride and swiftly unlocked the large iron door. It was Maria who knocked on it, just like Arias had said.

“This time too…”

Albert muttered, perplexed. Arias could always tell when someone was approaching, which was something a neophyte should not be able to do. When he tried to ask, the answer he got was: ‘It’s just an intuition’. He was not quite convinced by the answer. His son seemed to be keeping a lot of secrets from him.

“Look at you, all drenched in sweat. Were you hurt anywhere, Arias? Hurry and change into these clothes so we can have dinner together.”

Maria gave him the blue clothes in her hand with concern.

“No, Mother. I’m completely fine. You can take a look yourself.”

Arias stretched out his arms, twisting them this way and that to show her that he had no wounds before taking the blue clothes and thanking her. Albert, who was standing behind them, watched the scene with a smile. He did not know how long it had been since he had seen his family in such a welcoming atmosphere.

In another training chamber inside the Scarcia Manor, everything inside looked very similar to Albert’s chamber. The only difference was the tense atmosphere inside this room. In the center of the room, two boys were charging at a middle-aged man as if their lives depended on it.

“Fire Ball!

A ball of fire the size of a human head was quickly launched out of Mashelle’s hand, its flame burning the surrounding air with intense heat. Its target was the middle-aged man with a long polearm and an intimidating demeanor.

“Gusting Fang.”

Danesse created a green-colored wind from his hand. The wind formed into a crescent-like shape and flew toward the same target as Mashelle’s. The two of them made a good cooperative attack, with one aiming for the front and the other aiming to close any possible escape routes.

“Useless!”

Merson’s form disappeared from where he had been standing, leaving behind nothing but a fading silhouette.

Thud! Thud!

The shaft of the polearm delivered blows on the backs of Mashelle and Danesse in quick succession. The two dropped to the floor, their energy depleted. They both forced themselves to get up again soon after.

“Useless! Incompetent, both of you!”

Merson let out a loud exhalation of frustration. His hand gripped the polearm, ready to strike again.

“Let’s stop for now, Father. The two of us can’t go on any longer.”

Mashelle looked up, teeth gritted as he spoke pitifully. The pain from the pole weapon’s blow still lingered. His body was covered with bruises and scratches. He had no idea why Merson was so irritated today. Normally, his father would just sit and watch while the two of them trained together. He had never joined them like he did today.

“Why!? Why does the old man still want Albert to be his successor? All these years, that old man still hasn’t changed his mind about having Albert as his successor, even though that man has such a useless son.”

Merson said with rage, his hand gripping the polearm tightly in anger. The polearm was engulfed in flame until it burned to ash.

“Father, please be at ease. Soon, Grandfather will change his mind and make you his successor. Uncle has no other heir who could succeed him. If Grandfather made him the next clan leader, then the Scarcia Clan would come to an end.”

Mashelle interrupted to calm the burning rage inside Merson’s heart.

“If both of you performed well at the upcoming Tournament, that old man might reconsider his decision. I hope neither of you disappoints me.”

Merson looked at his two sons with expectation. His last sentence, however, sounded more like a threat. The two of them could only accept his words with their heads down and their hearts filled with fear. Since his wife passed away, Merson had changed drastically. He became short-tempered. If someone displeased him in any way, he would immediately punish them.

“I hope I won’t have to use my last method with you...Father.”

Merson’s cold and harsh voice sounded like the whisper of the wind that had blown right from hell. It was barely audible, yet it brought fear that shook both Mashelle and Danesse to the core. They both knew well what those words meant.

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