Alistair

|Third Person|

A delectable aroma wafted through the air, filling the humble abode in no time. The sound of a page being turned was interrupted by a young boy lifting his head and sniffing the air. Excitement bloomed in his chest, and he abandoned his book to run towards the source of the scent.

"Mama, are you cooking something?" he asked eagerly.

The woman, her sapphire eyes blending perfectly with her snow-white hair, beamed down at her son and scooped him up in her arms. His own hair was as white as snow, but his eyes were a fiery red.

"You have a nose like a hound, my dear Alistair," she said in a soft, musical voice, "Yes, I'm cooking dinner. Are you hungry?"

Alistair nodded his head vigorously, a smile splitting his face from ear to ear. His mother set him down, and he raced over to the dining table, his stomach grumbling with hunger as he waited for his mother to serve him his meal.

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A few months later, the two of them were outside hunting. The mother was teaching the boy how to use a bow and a dagger.

"Pay attention, Alistair," she said, demonstrating how to pull back the bowstring and use Wind magic to increase the force of the attack. "You must aim properly and use a homing spell if the prey is too far."

Alistair listened carefully, absorbing every detail. With his small bow, he pulled back the string and infused his arrow with wind mana before letting it fly. The arrow hit the deer's head, killing it instantly.

His mother was impressed and overjoyed. She picked Alistair up and hugged him, causing him to laugh in delight.

"You did it, my little hunter," she said, ruffling his snow-white hair.

Alistair beamed with pride, feeling encouraged by his mother's words.

________________________________________

Alistair had grown into a skilled hunter, and his unique eyes granted him an advantage in the wild. His mother had taught him about the kingdom of Elenoir, where they lived, and the dangers that lurked within the dense forests.

Despite his training, Alistair never expected to come home to find his house burning under black flames. With wind magic, he darted towards the source of the smoke, his heart pounding in his chest.

As he arrived, he fell to his knees, devastated at the sight of his home in ruins. His mother, her once-pure white clothes now stained golden with blood, stood before him, her eyes turning red with black markings inside. She urged him to flee, but Alistair couldn't bear to leave her side.

Suddenly, a towering figure clad in black descended from above. He was over seven feet tall, with black horns protruding from his head. Just being near him sent shivers down Alistair's spine. The man noticed Alistair and spoke in a chilling voice, "So this is your child?"

Ignoring the intruder, Alistair's mother turned to her son and shoved a silver ring into his palm. "I'm sorry, Alistair, but you must run now. Take this and run!" Her voice was urgent and filled with fear.

Alistair bolted away, glancing back to see his mother summoning mana and aether to form a giant, purple humanoid statue. Meanwhile, the black-clad man summoned black flames and charged towards her.

The sound of battle echoed through the forest as Alistair ran, clutching the silver ring tightly in his hand. His heart ached with fear and sadness, but he knew he had to keep moving to stay alive.

_________________________________________

|Arthur|

I found myself in a precarious position, facing off against Danton, who, despite not towering over me, had a significant reach advantage with his sword. He wasted no time and charged towards me, deflecting the knife I had thrown at him. I dodged his attack but was caught off guard as he swiped my ankle with his sheathe, causing me to stumble.

As I struggled to regain my balance, he seized the opportunity to flip me upside down, his smug expression crumbling as I concentrated my mana and punched his wrist joint with a fire attribute technique. The crack of his wrist was accompanied by a string of expletives, and I quickly capitalized on his distraction, grabbing Pinky's knife and charging towards the wounded Danton.

However, just as I was about to land a fatal blow, he swung his sword down in a fit of rage. But he had fallen for my trap. I pivoted to my right with my left foot, but fatigue suddenly washed over me, and I couldn't move away from his attack. Just as the sword was about to cleave my skull, a wind blade materialized out of nowhere and sliced off both of Danton's arms.

As he screamed in agony, I seized the opportunity and plunged my knife into his throat, killing him instantly. I then dispatched the immobile George with a swift strike to his jugular.

I turned to face my mysterious savior, knife still held in a defensive stance. Despite my exhaustion, I couldn't help but feel a twinge of unease as I realized I couldn't sense their mana at all. They were clearly at a higher stage than me, and that was not a good sign.

"Why did you help me?" I asked tentatively, feeling apprehensive.

"I-I am sorry for interfering in the fight, it just seemed that you needed help," a boy around my age emerged from the bushes, his voice timid and his expression sad. But what shocked me was that he too could use mana, and he was at a higher stage than me.

I couldn't help but wonder how that was even possible. Even elves usually awaken at 10, and I had only awakened a year ago due to my previous life experience. Was he also a reincarnate?

But as I looked into his scarlet eyes, I felt an unsettling chill run down my spine, and sweat began to bead on my forehead. I averted my gaze, unable to hold his stare.

'It looked like he was trying to get my guard down by acting weak,' I thought to myself. I fed all of the slave traders to the hounds while Alistair went to find the captive.

I climbed up onto the back of the carriage where the elf girl was locked and I spotted her crying on Alistair shoulder. It was a bizarre scene, a four-year-old boy tenderly patting the head of an elven girl in the back of a carriage as four bloody corpses were being devoured by beasts just next to them.

It had felt like a good hour before the little elf girl was finally able to settle down. I didn't blame her; being kidnapped would cause trauma even for adults, even more so since she seemed to be only a bit older than I was.

"W-What happened to those bad guys?" she sniffled, her voice coming out a bit nasally .

Not knowing if telling the five-year-old about killing was appropriate, I simply dismissed it by telling her, "Er... they ran into a very unfortunate accident."

She studied the hesitant expression on my face with the raise of a brow, only to look back down and whisper, "Serves them right." Looking closely at her now, I couldn't help but notice that she carried all of the necessary features that would allow her to blossom into quite the beauty later on in the future.

With long gunmetal grey hair that I mistook for silver in the sunlight, the girl's disheveled state couldn't mask the innate beauty that she seemed to radiate from her pores.

A pair of gleaming teal eyes shaped like perfectly rounded almonds quivered as her perky nose was so red from crying that it matched the colour of her rosy lips. While all of her individual facial features seemed to be carefully molded gems, on the fair creamy skin of her face that was the canvas, it brought her features into a surreal, almost phantasmal work of art.

Of course, this was me just observing her from speculatively as a gentlemen and king who enjoyed beauty in the world. I wouldn't go as far to say I was "checking her out".

Saying that, I couldn't help but look at Alistair as well. Short, white hair that looked like snow on top of his head. Blood-red eyes that caused chills to go down my spine. And well-crafted facial features that told me all about his genetics from just a look.

The boy helped her up to her feet before I spoke again.

"Those people that tried to kidnap you aren't going to chase you anymore. That being said, do you think you can make it to your home by yourself? And what about you, can you go home?"

Instantly, her eyes retracted in fear as a panicked expression spread throughout the rest of her face. As tears welled up and both her hands clenched tightly to both mine and the other boy's shirt, even an infant would be able to tell what her answer was through her actions.

"Look, I need to get home too . Aren't elves generally safe in this forest?" I let out a sigh, trying to pry open her claws— I mean fingers— from my shirt.

She violently shook her head, much like a dog drying itself, and rebutted, "Beasts only scared of adults...Parents warned me that children will get eaten by hounds or tree golems."

I would normally be pretty amazed about something like a tree golem, but it was becoming pretty hard to find something that surprised me after witnessing a demon king metamorph into a dragon.

"I don't have a home to go anymore, not after it was burned down," the boy added as if trying to make sure I have to escort them.

I rubbed the bridge of my nose, trying to come up with a solution for all of this.

"How long does it take to get to where you live from here?"

"..." Still holding onto my shabby shirt, she looked down and admitted, "... I don't know."

I held in the temptation to let out another sigh, since the poor girl looked like she was about to cry already, and agreed to take her back home.

The Kingdom of Elenoir was quite a long ways north so my only hope was that there would be a teleportation gate there that can could me back to somewhere, anywhere, in Sapin.

I instructed the two to wait inside the carriage while I gathered some necessities; the main reason being, I didn't want them to see the mangled carcasses of the slave traders when even I found it hard to stomach. Finally finding a backpack small enough for me to wear without it dragging on the ground, I carefully folded and stuffed a small tent inside, along with a leather water bag and some dried rations. I picked up Pinky's knife from the ground where I fought Danton and George and strapped it to the front of my waist to balance the awkwardly large equipment on my back. Before heading back into the carriage, I freed the forest hounds after realizing that, while they were able to pull a carriage, they weren't able to be ridden.

I thought briefly about riding the carriage to the elven kingdom but thought it was too dangerous and we would stick out like sore thumbs in the forest.

"Let's head out now," I said, trying to sound more enthusiastic for her sake .

"En!" They nodded, hopping out of the carriage as I led them away from the carriage where all of the dead bodies were.

I learned a lot about the two of them along the way. For one, the girl's name was Tessia Eralith and she had just turned five, which meant that she was about a year older than I was, albeit physiologically that is. The boy's name was Alistair, and he was the same physiological age as me, four.

Tessia was also a pretty reserved, if not shy, girl. She was very polite to us, considering that we were younger than she was, and never complained, making her a very agreeable traveling companion. Perhaps, if I wasn't traveling in the opposite direction of my destination, I would have actually enjoyed having her with me.

Alistair was a very timid yet strong boy. He was able to bond very well with Tessia, likely because both of them were mentally children.

I previously thought he was a reincarnate. However, his behaviour was just too childish. Either he was an actor capable of fooling even me or he was truly just a prodigy. And I was leaning towards the latter.

Getting up from the ground, I saw Alistair hold his hand out to help her get up. I noticed her hesitation when she turned a little red, but I assumed it was just my eyes playing with me in the dark.

"Sleep in the tent, I'll keep guard next to you outside." I told the two of them. Alistair also added, "I will also guard outside."

I see her thinking for a little as her eyes were fixed on Alistair, full of resolve .

"I don't mind sh-sharing the tent, if you're okay with it." She tried to sound nonchalant but her voice gave betrayed her.

"It's okay. I'm not that sleepy right now anyway," I replied a lot faster than I had meant to. Alistair just nodded as well as his face turned a bit red.

'Is he too shy to share a tent with a girl?' I thought to myself.

"...Okay," she sulked . Did her ears just droop a little?

Making sure she went inside the tent, I leaned against the massive tree trunk and began meditating . I started inspecting my mana core . Sylvia left me with something she calls her "will" but how does that affect my mana core? Inspecting even closer, I notice, ever so faintly, some markings in my mana core when,

"A-Arthur, A-Alistair?" Tessia's head poked out of the tent .

"Is there something wrong?" I asked, turning my head to face her .

"W-well! You see... beasts will more likely appear if they notice you because they will see that you are a child. Therefore, I propose that for our safety, it would be better for you to c-come inside the tent." At this point, Tessia had covered her face with the tent's opening flap, peeking with only one eye.

"Pft~ Tessia, are you scared to sleep by yourself in the tent?" I chuckled.

"A-absolutely not! I was just suggesting, for both of our safety, what the best choice would be!" she insisted leaning out, nearly tumbling out of the tent.

"If that's the case, then I'll hide up in the tree and continue to be on the lookout . You know... for 'our safety'," I winked .

"Uu..." She hid back herself inside the tent before muttering softly, "...I'm scared to sleep by myself."

Smiling to myself, I opened the flap and crawled inside the tent. Alistair followed me, with hesitation clearly evident on his face as he did.

Caught by surprise, Tessia let out a small yelp before immediately lying down with her back to me. However, that caused her to face Alistair. This caused a louder yelp out of her as she went to the other side, causing poor Alistair to sleep in the middle.

Slowly, their breaths turned rhythmic as they drifted into sleep. My eyes closed as I followed suit.

My eyes fluttered open on its own and it took a few seconds to remember where I was. I looked over to see Tessia comfortably sleeping on Alistair's lap.

Gently shaking the two of them awake, I whispered, "We need to go now."

Both of them slowly stirred awake, but when they realized the position they were in, their bodies shot up with a surprised shriek . "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to... w-was I heavy?" Tessia said while Alistair just turned red as he whispered back, "D-d-don't worry about i-it."

A few more days had passed by fairly uneventfully when, out of nowhere, I was struck with deep aches in my abdomen. The first pains occurred on the third day of the trip; we were inside the tent, the two of them already fast asleep, when a sudden searing ache spread from my sternum. It disappeared soon enough, but even that brief moment caused a pain that left me in shivers.

Besides that, the most exciting occurrence was when a couple of forest hounds tried to get close, but a throw of my mana-reinforced knife chased them away.

Nights passed as I continued sleeping in the tent with the two kids and they grew more comfortable around me. However, I noticed that the two of them got much closer. Sleeping closely and not getting embarrassed at all. I wasn't sad, in fact I was happy that those two would be able to get through their respective traumas better through this.

"Can you tell how far we are from Elenoir now, Tessia?" I asked on a particularly clear morning on the fifth day of our journey?

Her elongated ears twitched as she began surveying her surroundings. Suddenly, she ran to a particularly crooked tree and ran her fingers over the trunk. A few minutes of silence went by before she came, visibly excite .

"That tree is one I used to come with my Grandfather sometimes! I remember carving my name into the trunk of the tree when he wasn't looking . We're not too far anymore! I think that if we quicken our pace a little bit, we'll be able to make it by tonight!" she said, pointing to the tree.

"Sounds good," I answered, following behind her. As lovely as the journey had been, I needed to make my plans to somehow get home, and that wouldn't be possible until I got her home.

Although, I admit, I'd probably miss the two of them after this.

"Arthur? You said your family and the people close to you called you Art . I feel that, through this journey, I have gotten close enough to call you that as well . " We were crossing a stream atop a moss-covered log bridge when she suddenly stopped . "So... can I call you Art as well?" Tessia turned around, revealing a wide smile .

"Hmm? Sure, I don't mind," I said, returning her smile .

"Can I also call you Art?" Alistair asked me. I nodded my head in agreement.

"You' don't mind'? Tch, you could sound a bit more enthusiastic..." she stuck her tongue out at me .

"I would be honoured to be called Art by you, your highness," I made a bow gracious enough for a noble despite my tattered clothes .

"Hehe, and you both may also have the honour to call me Tess," she giggled, curtsying back at me.

"A-Alistair, may I call you Al?" Tess stuttered before asking him. He blushed but nodded his head in agreement.

We continued on the rest of the day, with only a few quick stops to rest ourselves and replenish our stomachs. Constant use of mana rotation had kept my body from being strained, but it was obvious that Tess was growing wearier.

It was dusk now and the fog around us seemed to be getting thicker. My sense of direction was all but useless in this blasted forest. Enough so that, if I were to get separated from Tess, I could wind up travelling in circles without even realizing it.

She suddenly turned to me, her face a mixture of happiness and hesitation before she muttered, "We're here."

Looking around, the only things visible were clusters of trees and fog. Confused, I was about to ask where we were, but I stopped myself when I saw Tess placing both her palms on a tree and muttering a chant.

Suddenly, the fog around us was sucked into the same tree and what came into vision was a giant wooden door that seemed to be propped up by itself on the ground.

Tess grabbed my hand while I grabbed Alistair's and both of us were pulled towards the door. I was reminded of the portal that Sylvia had pushed me through. The experience didn't feel any better the second time but I at least knew what to expect. As we softly landed on our feet, arriving at our destination, I immediately rummaged through my bag to make sure I still had the stone Sylvia entrusted me with. It was only after confirming that it was still there did I finally look up and take in the scene around us.