49 Tales of an adventurer

After cleaning ourselves we sat down on the couches, where the others were already seated.

I did notice that both Jasmine and Lilia were missing.

Raising an eyebrow I see Arthur looking around, no doubt noticing them missing as well.

"Looking for something?" Mother asked.

"Some people seem to be missing," Arthur replied.

Elijah perked up at this, "Ah! Jasmine left a letter for you two before leaving again for a mission with the Twin Horns."

I see.

Looking at the letter confirms his words,

'Arthur, Fayden, had fun. 

Thanks. 

See you later.

Sincerely, Jasmine.'

Yep, that's her alright.

I could hear Arthur mumble something along the lines of, 'How very Jasmine...'

"Its a shame we couldn't see her of," He continued, this time louder.

"They'll be back, they're like warts. You can't get rid of them," Dad said, trying to reassure us.

"I guess....but there's still one more missing face..." I say, only to stop seeing the grins on the face of the Helsteas.

"If you're looking for Lilia, you won't find her here. She's at-" Tabitha began but was interrupted by Vincent.

"OUR LILY IS CURRENTLY AT XYRUS ACADEMY. SHE STARTED ATTENDING LAST FALL AND-" He too was cut off as Tabitha pulled his hair, pretty forcefully judging from the expression of pain on his face.

"I, wanted, To. Tell. Them" 

She said with a dangerous edge to her voice.

"Wow! That's great to hear," Arthur exclaimed.

"Agreed," I say.

"Its all thanks to you two. We will forever be in your debt," Tabitha said.

"She's right. We could've never imagined that there will finally be a mage from our family." Vincent added.

Arthur glanced at Elijah, "Well, I don't know about debt but....I might have a favor or two in mind,"

"I'll hold you to it, I've got nothing in mind now," I say, fully intending never to bring it up again.

Before the conversation could progress anymore Father interrupted with a stomp of his leg, "Now that everyone is here..."

Pointing his finger at us he continued, "Tell us about your dungeon dive!"

"Are you a kid or something?" Mother chimed in.

He does behave like one. 

"Hmmm....where to begin..."

We told them most of what happened, leaving out details like our beast wills and the fact that it split into 2 different bodies to fight us, and Lucas' betrayal. We told them how Sylvie informed us of the guardian and how Zeke transported me there.

Throughout the tale Ellie had eyes wide as saucers with an expression of listening to a fantastical bedtime story. They were left shocked and in denial when Elijah started explaining how the two of us worked in tandem to take on the behemoth of a beast.

By the time we finished retelling our dungeon dive, well their since I wasn't there most of the time, Father's and Vincent's jaws were left open.

"Speaking of magic and monsters, Dad what stage are you at now?" Arthur said once the overall shock had subsided.

"I've been stuck at the bottleneck of the dark orange stage for the last 2 years. No matter how much I meditate and purify mana I can't seem to break through," He replied with an embarrassed chuckle.

Arthur threw the core towards him, "Well then, use this. I used a bit of it to help me heal, but there should be enough mana to help you break through,"

Fathers hands trembled as he gazed at the core, "T-This....I-I can't...I can't just take something you both risked your life for,"

"A-Alice, they have brought home quite the present. I can't even fathom what a S class beast core would fetch," Tabitha stammered out.

Mother smiled wearily, "For all the worrying they have brought, I'm not sure if it's worth it."

"Take it Dad, you'll need it to catch up to us. We're gonna leave you in the dust otherwise," I spoke.

"Don't tell me..."

"Yep, Light orange stage." Arthur said.

"Speak for yourself. Dark Yellow stage," I quip.

"What? When?" Arthur asked.

"After the fight, when we were meditating," I answer him.

Meanwhile the others were even more shocked hearing our progress.

Dad gulped and grabbed the core tightly, absorbing the mana from it.

"Don't cry when your old man beats you in the next duel," He says.

"You're on." Arthur said, raising his fist.

I grinned in response, accepting the challenge, "We'll see about that."

_______________________________________________________________________________

Eventually it was decided that Elijah would sleep in Arthur's room.

Good, I like my privacy.

We also managed to coax Vincent into sponsoring Elijah for Xyrus academy.

Maybe I'll finally learn of these shadows I use in my integrate phase, and how exactly I am able to basically teleport into shadows. 

As far as I knew only the teleportation gates had such technology, and they were left behind by the ancient mages, same as dimension rings.

Makes me wonder if the ancient mages were like me, being able to control unique elements.

Could shadow even be considered an element?

Somehow I have the feeling its not the shadows that allow me to perform these feats.

Maybe there is an 'element' of teleportation as well.

Or more like space.

Pondering this I fall asleep.

_______________________________________________________________________________

The next morning I was faced with a dilemma.

I couldn't think of anything to give to Ellie for her birthday, which was only a few days away.

I have no idea what kind of gift she would like.

A weapon maybe?

Nah she's too young for it. Unless she is also reincarnated, which is highly unlikely.

What could I give?

Sigh.

Didn't Arthur say something about going to an artificer?

Maybe I'll find some inspiration there.

Thinking this I got out of my rom, searching for my brother.

I find him perched on the stairs with his palm open, a panicked expression on his face and the beast core near his feet.

"You okay there?" I ask, startling him as he jumps at my voice before calming himself.

"T-This core has a beast will inside it," He said.

"For real? Damn, the will of that monster would be incredibly strong. Have you tried to absorb it?" I say.

"Yes, and I almost destroyed it in the process, turns out you can only have one will," He replies.

"Makes sense, otherwise rich nobles could've had multiple beast wills which would be absolutely broken," I say.

"Anyways, you said something about visiting an artificer?" I ask.

"Yeah, what about it?"

"Well, I have no idea on what to give Ellie on her birthday. I was hoping going there could help me think of something. So, mind if I tag along?" I say, fully knowing his answer.

"Sure, I do plan to make use of some knowledge from our world, it could count as payment." 

"Huh? What are you gonna use? Nothing too world changing I hope," I say, sitting beside him.

"I don't know, we'll see once we get there. Don't worry, I'll try to avoid anything that major," He replies.

I hope this doesn't come back to bite our asses.