Chapter 3: Golden Aura

"Star Fantasy" had many bosses or villains as you could call them. The final villain was—unsurprisingly—the Demon King. He was a fallen devil who was banished from the underworld. His story was never truly explained in detail but some believed he was the illegitimate child of Satan.

Anyway, Arnold was one of the endgame bosses. Classified as a dragon lord ranked threat. Dragon lords were the highest ranking species in this world. It could be said that they were at peak 9th star. Arnold was someone few could stand up against.

Those few included the hero and his party members.

Lauran, the Archmage. The one given this title has reached the peak of magic.

Flora, the former princess, now master swordsman. Some believed that she was from a fallen kingdom before she migrated to the Empire of Eulia.

Alitus, the Divine Guard of the Heavens. He was the bearer of the Holy Shield and the protector of the hero.

And finally, Olivia. She was a great strategic genius born every one hundred years. Players had tried raiding the empire during her rule, only to be defeated mercilessly by her tactics. It wasn't just that her IQ was extremely high but she was also said to be a boss level threat. That meant that if she were not the hero's wife then she would've been a threat as great as adult Arnold.

This was why Arnold had to thread carefully in the future. He shouldn't antagonize Olivia openly. Rather, he should gain her trust.

There was one other thing that frightened players about her.

She had the SS ranked innate talent that allowed her to tame Spirit Beasts.

Spirit Beasts were ranked the same as powerhouses in this world. The weakest could possibly rank lower than 5 while the strongest could be above 8. There had been speculation that there existed a level beyond 9th rank but no one believed this claim.

Olivia's favorite beasts were Neguard, the Divine Lion and Puba, the Chaos Angelic Eagle. Both were ranked at 8. This was why Olivia was feared not only for her intelligence.

The hero managed to make such a woman fall for him. It was rather sad looking at this boy who was supposed to be the hero in the future.

'I understand the kind of person he becomes but couldn't he have had more backbone?'

Arnold stood in a stance. Luke was finding it hard to keep his sword from trembling. It was a pathetic sight. Which was why Arnold was disappointed.

Everyone stopped what they were doing and turned their attention towards the fight. The duke didn't seem to mind that the servants were also watching.

He only had an interested look on his face.

Another person stepped through the backdoor leading to the training grounds.

It was Adrianna, Arnold's mother. Behind her, Victoria followed.

"Who is this?" Adrianna looked towards the duke with a questioning gaze. Even she didn't know about Luke.

'So much for saying he has his wife's blessing. She probably hadn't even met Luke before this.'

"S-Sir duke? I-Is this a t-test?" Luke looked towards Marcus. The latter continued with his silence. He was looking at Luke but it seemed like his attention was somewhere else.

"Oi! Don't look away from your opponent!" Arnold hit Luke with the sheath of the sword. It sent mind-numbingly pain up his spine.

"Gyuaah!!!" Luke fell on his knees from the attack to his head. Blood dripped down his face.

"To be a true leader of the great Berkley family; one must be strong!" Blue aura rose from the tip of Arnold's sword. He pointed the tip at Luke. "If you can survive from this aura condensed blast then I'll consider giving up my position. Does that sound fair, father?"

"…." Marcus nodded slowly. It was a plain ridiculous thing to do. How could a boy like Luke survive an aura blast from a 5th star knight? Since the blast was focused on a single point, the power was above those of normal aura blasts.

Arnold smiled evilly. Luke tried his best to stand up. His head was ringing like crazy. So much so that his vision was like looking through a tunnel.

The tip of the sword was right in front of his face. He felt the scorching heat of aura near his face.

He gritted his teeth and closed his eyes.

"Oraaa!!!" A cute shout came from behind Arnold.

"Hm?" bewildered by that noise, he turned his head, then saw a girl's shoe aim for his face, "!?" The kick made him stagger backwards and disable the aura blast after losing concentration.

"Luke! Are you okay!?" The girl stood between Luke and Arnold. She glared at the young man with dark blue hair.

"Norn!? What are you doing here!?"

Luke was taken aback seeing his childhood friend stand up to Arnold. She glared at Arnold with her hands on her hips and a pout on her lips.

"Who do you think you are to bully Luke!? Just because he's smaller than you, doesn't mean you can pick fights with him! You nobles are all the same!" The girl had long auburn colored hair and green eyes. She was the kind of girl who was small and cute but feisty.

She was Luke's childhood friend and the one who he saw as his sister.

"…." Arnold, along with the audience watching was surprised to see the girl kick him so brazenly. He tasted blood and wiped his mouth. His lips hit his tooth which tore it a bit on the inside.

'What the fuck was up with that kick!? Hoe can such power be in a small body like that?' despite having aura activated, he still felt the girl's attack.

"Why did you follow that old man with the nice suit!?" Norn pinched Luke's cheek. "Those knights kept chasing me away when I tried to get in here. Why did you leave without telling mommy at least?"

"I-I'm sorry!"

"Hohoho!" Marcus couldn't hold in his laugh. "Who's this young lady? Your girlfriend?"

"G-G-Girlfriend!?" Luke's entire face flushed red.

"No! I'm his sister. No, forget that! You're that old man who took him!" Norn ran towards Marcus and punched his stomach. "Take this! You decrepit old man! Stealing boys like a creep! Are you a pervert interested in boys!?"

"Wha—!?" Sebastian was so caught off guard by her actions that he froze.

When everyone looked at Marcus' face, they could see a dark shadow loom. Norn continued punching his gut while shouting that he was a creep.

Marcus raised his hand. This action made everyone shiver.

"Norn! That's duke Berkley-!" Luke shouted. He thought that Marcus was about to hit her but his next action baffled everyone.

"Eh? Duke?" Norn looked dumbfounded at the middle aged man with a dark blue beard.

"Oho! Excuse me young miss! I didn't mean any harm when I asked Luke to come to my residence!" Marcus patted her head with a hearty laugh, "But I have already spoken to your mother and finalized the adoption papers. So there is no need to worry."

Sebastian sighed in relief. If Marcus hit the girl then nothing would've remained of her. It was a godsend that he was a patient man with the love for children.

Luke hurriedly pulled Norn backwards and chided her for her behavior.

Marcus continued laughing at their innocence. The tension was released from everyone's bodies.

"Don't do that again!" Luke shouted while shaking Norn's shoulders.

"Okay! Okay! Geez, stop overreacting! I didn't know, okay!?"

"I'm overreacting…? You kicked the young master…" Luke smiled wryly.

"Oh, no! The young master!"

He felt his spine tingle when a heavy pressure weighed down on him from behind. Norn noticed a towering shadow look down on both of them.

"Eh…?" Luke was shoved aside by the shadow. "!?"

All he saw in those few seconds was a big hand in the shape of a fist strike Norn in the stomach.

"!!!" Her eyes went white and saliva flew out of her mouth.

The sun behind his back cast a rather ominous shadow over Arnold's figure. His body was oozing with ominous blue aura.

"NORN!!!!!"

At that moment, Luke felt something inside his body explode. It was like a man-made dam on the verge of breaking apart. Not just Luke sensed this overwhelming outpour of aura, the same could be said for the powerhouses of the empire.

They didn't know what it was but they felt it.

A sleeping dragon woke from its slumber.

**

Marcus felt it before. It was that day he met Luke for the first time. A bandit wanted to hurt his family which was Norn, her sister and mother. The duke was called because the bandit was a dangerous criminal who slaughtered thousands of villagers. As a man who loved his citizens, he wouldn't just let such a maniac loose.

However, when he arrived at the scene, it was over.  All he saw was a crater filled with aura that burned like the sun.

It was the legendary Golden Aura. The aura of heroes.

**

Norn collapsed on the ground.

"Think twice before doing that again." Arnold was about to turn around, however, all he saw was a gigantic wall of golden aura burst toward him.

The source?

The future hero, Luke.

'Ah… Was it too much?'

That was Arnold's last thought before he lost consciousness from being engulfed by the power of a hero.

◇◇◇

Later that same day…

'….'

'Where am I…'

'What's this sweet scent?'

'This soft feeling…'

Al thought to himself as he took a deep sniff of the pleasant scent that he smelled. It was combined with the softness that he had never felt before even on a pillow.

He wanted to lay there forever.

He smeared his face and clutched onto the soft pillow. Not only was it pleasant to smell, but to touch as well.

"Mm…"

'Eh? Did I just hear a moan?'

Arnold looked up.

"….."

He could see two mountain peaks that seemed to block the sun, hang over his face. He looked down. There was a uniform similar to the uniform the maids wore in the household. Although, this one was a little more extravagant.

He pulled up the skirt a little to see what he was lying on.

"…" Two plump thighs with a garter belt appeared in his face.

"A-Al, that's inappropriate!" The woman slapped away his hands.

It was a familiar voice.

Al silently stood up and looked at the person.

"….."

It was Victoria Largun. The eldest daughter of Baron Largun. If the two mountain peaks that seemed to defy gravity didn't tell him who she was, then the beauty mark below her left eye did.

"Ahem…" Arnold stood silently as if nothing happened and turned around. It was to hide the blush on his face.

He had never even been in contact with a girl before in his life. Well, only online. The guild master of their guild (Alecs) was a woman as well. Since he was the vice guild master ,they spent a lot of time together. No one could tell that she was a woman since she used a male avatar. Only Arnold knew.

But still, that didn't make the current situation any less weird. Face to face was different than talking online.

'God, she's so gorgeous…! Dammit! These teenage hormones!'

Arnold couldn't believe how dangerous this woman's beauty was. She was just sitting there but he had already gotten a hard-on.  

"A-Are you okay?" Victoria sounded a little flustered. She fanned herself with her hand.

"…What happened?" Arnold asked.

"You…um…" Victoria fumbled with her words. She seemed to know how much of a sore loser he was. "You lost…."

"…."

Arnold looked at the orange hue cast over the sky by the setting sun. It had been a few hours ever since the fight.

'Did she take care of me ever since then?' He looked back at Victoria.

She was back to her usual self. Her expression was calm and composed.

"I see…."

He didn't freak out as he did with most of his losses in the past. Victoria would always have to calm him down somehow so what was happening was a little surprising. She always had to pat his head and tell him that everything was okay.

"Where is everyone?"

"Everyone is gathered in the dining room. The duke said that you are welcome to join them. That is, if you want to." Victoria explained and dusted off her dress. "Or would you like me to book you a table at a restaurant? There is a special dish being served at Lumourge tonight."

"I'll join them."

"Are you sure, Al?" Victoria hugged him from behind. "I know losing your right as heir is hard to take in, but you have to be strong. Don't force yourself to prove anything, okay?"

"Tch." Arnold slapped away her hand and walked out of her embrace. "Whatever."

He proceeded to leave which left Victoria standing alone on the training grounds.

Arnold could hear Victoria heave a loud sigh when he turned the corner.