Chapter Four

/// Arthur Leywin ///

Light steps reverberated as I followed Seris.

The stairs that led to the underground basement spiralled down between a narrow space of thick walls covered in concrete, humidity making sweat drop down my forehead.

Seris walked in front of me, her fingers tracing the uneven texture of walls as she took one careful step at a time. Her retainer, Cylrit, walked closely behind me, his perlustrating gaze digging craters in my back.

"At least tell me where we are going?" I asked, taking a hurried step getting closer to her.

"As of now, you will be identified as my first disciple. If you want to find more about yourself and help me with my cause, you need to get strong", her pace slowed down as she looked over her shoulder, "power, wealth, prestige. You'll need it all if you want to succeed."

An almost silent sigh escaped my mouth. Power Prestige and Wealth. I had it all in my previous life. And these three were the most hated things in my life. With time I amassed more and more of power and wealth, but it brought me even more despair- clawing at me like a starved beast, until it turned me into an empty husk of a man. No emotions, no regard for anyone.

"Do you get me boy? ...wait, I can't call you boy every time. What's your name?" She asked, turning back, the black robe fluttering in the cramped place.

"You just remembered? My name is..." a sudden realisation hit me.

What's my name?

"What's there to think about? Just tell me your name already" she said, irritated, the sound of her tapping heel against the stone stairs becoming faster.

"Grey... just grey" I replied, pushing my inner conflict to the back side of my head.

"Alright Grey, this is where you will be training with Cylrit. Get acquainted" she said after quickly hopping down two more stairs, revealing a huge room.

Although the name brought back bad memories, I decided to go along with it. I couldn't run away from the monster that I had become earlier. After all it was me, myself. All I could do was put on a leash on that monster... put a delay to it until someone comes to break the chains.

As I was busy with my inner monologue I felt a titanic build up of mana and bloodlust, directed straight at me.

My instincts kicked in, my knees bent as a sizzling ball of grey fire flew over me as I dodged it by a hair breadth. My gaze quickly travelled backwards.

Cylrit stood with an unsatisfied expression over his face, his hand extended towards me.

"You need to do better than that if you want to hit him. Don't think of him as just any 6-year-old." She said as I saw her sitting leisurely over a wooden bench.

"First of all, why are you prompting him to kill me? Second, I'm 4 for heaven's sake", I said dodging another blast of the strange fire.

"That's soul fire in case you're wondering. A decay type mana art- a trademark of Vritra. It doesn't burn, however it can have a corroding effect on your soul itself. So I'd recommend not getting hit by them", she explained, further extending my anxiety.

"It can wha-" I was interrupted mid-sentence as a sword came crashing down on me in a vertical slash. Deviant mana coursed through my whole body, tendrils of lightning producing a buzzing sound.

Lightning popped and crackled around my body as I tested a theory. Imbuing lightning not only to augment the body but inner neurons. My vision slowed down as I saw every twitch in his muscles, every movement. He was quick, agile coupled with incredible sword arts.

A theory popped into my mind when I slowed down. Einstein's first theory of relativity.

Time dilates on moving vessels: the greater the speed, the greater the time dilation. Only when such velocities approach light speed do such effects become significant. If, and this one of those extreme IF's, a vessel could attain light speed, time aboard the vessel would cease altogether. Any person on that vessel would experience nothing at all. Though Spock and Kirk are able to trade barbs and witticisms at warp, in the real world, they would experience no time at all.

Now that the impossible is possible in this world, let's say, that a vessel moves at light speed from now to 200 years in the future. For us, two hundred years would elapse. No time would pass at all on the vessel. What would be two centuries in the world would be instantaneous on the ship.

Extremely strange, but theoretically true.

So what if... IF... I was able to travel at the time that removes the reconciliation between time. A time leap. Or maybe... a time halt. A time stopping phenomenon.

A tremor jolted my whole body. A subtle warmth spread through my whole body- especially under my eyes. A golden light illuminated under my eyes, Cylrit's slowed down form came to a sudden halt.

It was a strange phenomenon. However everything became clear as I felt my core drain at a rapid rate. It wasn't me who had sped up, but rather my perception. Lightning magic had heightened my perception to a degree that everything seemed to come to a stop.

The purple sheen around my core became more and more transparent before disappearing completely. Just as it disappeared, so did the spell. The world suddenly gained colours and Cylrit's static sword came hurtling towards me. Just at the last moment he turned his sword hitting me with it like a bat.

Due to my inspection of the spell I forgot to augment my body... and that blow sure did a number on me. I was sent crashing into a wall. I felt the audible crunch of my bones as I coughed up blood and fell flat on the floor.

My legs seemed to have lost their movements however I still couldn't help but smirk.

I stopped friggin' time.

Seris ran in my direction. Upon reaching me she took a step back and made a strange face,

"You're weird", she said as she looked at my mangled body and then the smirk at my face.

"Maybe the boy enjoys pain", Cylrit spike as he walked closer, his sword sheathing in its scabbard.

Seris smirked as she looked down towards me, "Even better"

A shiver ran down my spine- out of excitement and at the prospect of what I would be able to do with this power.

(A/n Masochist Princess goes brr)

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

Blue flames burst out engulfing the man. The foul stench of flesh burning spread as Tessia fell to her knees, barely holding the bile that had threatened to come out any second now.

The one responsible for her suffering earlier hovered a few centimetres above ground, his feet going limp and lifeless. The grip of his attacker over his neck loosened as the bandit fell down with a thud. His charred body fell to the ground like a withered leaf- crunching.

"I think I said not a single mark on my products", Another man said as he walked towards the terrified bandits. They all lowered their heads. The man looked at them with a spiteful gaze, an orange flame dancing at his fingertips.

"M- Mr. Wykes... we didn't mean to. He was the one doing it despite our protests against it." The leader said, his voice trembling under the mana induced pressure of the elderly man standing in front of him, Otis Wykes.

"Bairon, is the elf alright?" Otis spoke to his elder son, Bairon Wykes, as he walked towards his father with the young elf in tow with a gentle grip over her arm.

"She looks to be fine... just a little scared", he said and looked down at her. A wave of guilt and gloom washed over him for a slight second as he looked into the turquoise eyes of frightened elf child.

"Here is your money. Now get lost", Otis said summoning a sack of gold coins. The bandits hurriedly scurried away, leaving the corpse of their fallen comrade.

"Tch", Bairon clicked his tongue, disgusted at the behaviour of bandits.

"No need to be soft on her Bairon. She is our property. Take her to the quarters. She will awaken in a few years. Until then make the best of what she can currently do. I will hand her over to you. Do what you want to with her." Otis said and turned away, walking towards the carriage while shooting a sneer in Bairon's direction.

Bairon's stern gaze never left carriage. Once it was out of sight he let out a deep sigh. Looking down he saw the elven girl, her eyes devoid of any life, like she had come to terms with her fate.

"What's your name, girl?" Bairon asked.

"T-Tessia", she answered.

Bairon sighed once again, gripping the bridge of his nose. He bent and sat on his knees as he came to her eye level, "You don't have to be afraid of me. Although I can't promise you a return, I will try you don't get mistreated too much", he said slightly ruffling her hair, a pitiful expression over his face. Tessia didn't looked up but instead bent her neck downwards, her body trembling scantily as tears of despondency cascaded down her cheeks.

*******************************************

(A/n Short chapter but at least it ain't a cliffhanger, Rejoice lessers... kidding, anyways hope you enjoy the chapter)