7 - Stormcrests

"So why exactly did you keep it a secret from me? Why did you not tell me this was your plan? Or inform me about my Essence being what it is." Arthur asked.

"Haaa." Elijah let out a sigh. "Being part of the Stormcrests, especially taking it over isn't as easy as it sounds. To understand what I mean, you first have to understand what exactly the Stormcrests are. The Stormcrests family has existed for hundreds of years now, with the sole duty of housing someone strong enough to defend the Nation of Mortalia." Elijah explained. Arthur had learned that they were currently in the Cursed Forest Thanatos, which is inside the nation Mortalia. Therefore they were citizens of Mortalia.

"As such, we had the task of creating strong enough offspring and raising them to be stronger than anyone else. My father was the strongest, my grandfather was the strongest, my grandfather's father was the strongest, and so on. We are here to fend off any potential attack on Mortalia." Elijah told Arthur. 

At first, Arthur realized that all the times Elijah mentioned him being the 'strongest' he wasn't just gloating or joking, he actually was considered the strongest in the entire nation! No, maybe even in the entire continent! Or maybe even...in the entire world? Arthur didn't know, however, he could guess that to fend off other nations and other threats he would have to be at least stronger than everyone in the bordering nations. And Mortalia was massive! It bordered 5 different nations!

After that realization, he got confused again. "So if it's a family thing, why exactly do you need me? You have Claire. Also, I'm not even blood-related to you guys, so I wouldn't even be part of your guy's 'offspring'?" Arthur asked, hoping for more clarification.

"For your first point...I want a better life for Claire. As a member of the Stormcrest family, you will often be called to war. To fight on the frontlines against the strongest opponents of other nations. Or to fend off any demonic attack from high-ranking demons! It is not a life I wish for my daughter. If you take it over you will be the main person they will call for, Claire might be called too every now and then but it won't be the same." Elijah explained. 

Arthur understood him. If he was a father he also wouldn't wish it upon his child to have to constantly fight with their life on the line against the strongest opponents of entire nations! Or demons? He hadn't even heard anything about that. However he made it a point to ask about it later, there were more pressing matters at the moment. If he was to take over the Stormcrest family he would be the main person fighting those strong opponents. Did he truly want that?

"As for your second point, you don't need to worry about that at all. Taking in other people is very common for the Stormcrest family. In fact, when I referred to my 'father', it wasn't actually my biological father. I simply got taken in the Stormcrest family when they noticed my potential, therefore becoming his 'son'. As long as you're being trained by me you will simply be my disciple, however, once you complete your training, you too will become my 'son'." Elijah explained, stating the last part with a smile while putting a hand on Arthurs's shoulder. Even though Arthur was pretty tall, Elijah was still a good bit taller than him at 6'6 so he truly looked like a father figure in this moment.

Arthur nodded, taking in all the information. He was still thinking if he truly even wanted this in the back of his mind. After all, asking someone to train his guts out for some time, then asking him to risk his life daily fighting against impossible odds wasn't something he expected.

After a lot of thinking, Arthur asked a few more questions. "First off I want to say that I need more time to think it through. This whole thing about becoming part of the family and maybe later taking it over is completely unexpected and I need some time to think about it. So will that be okay?" Arthur asked, getting a nod from Elijah in response. He then asked his next questions. "That still doesn't explain why you didn't tell me about my Essence. Also, Claire was acting weird today, what's up with that?"

"It is detrimental to know what your Essence is before you unlock it. Because in your mind, subconsciously you will develop an 'image' of what you think it looks like. This causes you to imagine that while focusing all your will into reaching your inner world, however since it's directed towards something that most of the time doesn't add up, it becomes a lot harder to enter your inner world. In simple terms, if you subconsciously imagined your Essence to look or be something else than it actually is, your 'will' to see that would've been detrimental." Elijah explained. 

Arthur understood and didn't hold it against him anymore. The longer they talked, the more of his initial worries had been cleared up. He felt like all of this wasn't that bad, besides some of the new worries that have been created. 

"And well...the thing about Claire isn't really my place to say much. However I can tell you one thing, she is a bit...untrusting. She was suspicious of you and would've questioned you a lot more if we hadn't told her beforehand to not do that. She just prefers to be on the safer side, not really trusting strangers. But when she saw your determination, you working so hard every day and even reaching your inner world within 2 weeks she-" Elijah said before being cut off.

"DAD!" Claire shouted, interrupting her father. She appeared out of thin air, a few light sparkles making her turn visible. Elijah did not seem surprised by her sudden appearance.

'Invisibility?' Arthur wondered if that was her Essence.

"Sorry. Uhm...can we talk?" Claire said to Arthur. Arthur looked at Elijah who simply nodded in response. Arthur then followed Claire a bit further away.

As they reached a far enough spot, Claire began. "Listen, I'm sorry that I ignored you for the last two weeks. Like my dad already told you, I don't really trust strangers." She explained. Arthur thought that was reasonable but it still doesn't explain her sudden change of mind.

"What made you change your mind?" Arthur asked straight up.

"Haaa...okay so. As you know I also train in Zeal, I'm part of the Stromcrests and all that. I know how much will and determination is needed to reach your inner world. Seeing you train every day, giving it your all, and not complaining about a single thing made me realize that maybe you can be trusted. 

Then when you reached your inner world within two weeks it was clear, you weren't a threat. After all, the amount of will and determination needed for that isn't just something you stumble upon, you must've lived a difficult life to build that determination." Claire explained the entire situation.

"I'm really sorry for how I treated you but now I can see that maybe you're not so bad. So how about it, wanna start fresh over?" Claire said, holding out her hand.

Arthur didn't immediately shake her hand. This caused Claire to become a bit nervous, however, she kept holding out her hand. Then Arthur smiled at her and shook her hand. 

"That was mean." Claire whined about being teased like this.

"It was simply payback." Arthur playfully retorted, both of them now walking back towards the house.

Arthur was happy with this development, he would rather be friends with her instead of being ignored. In the back of his mind were a lot of thoughts turmoiling, however, especially about his future plans and whether he should become part of the Stormcrests.

"Ah, there you guys are! Everything cleared up now?" Elijah asked. ""Yea."" They both replied at the same time. They shared a look before going into the house.

~~~

After breakfast, Arthur and Elijah once again went to the training grounds, with Claire joining them. Before the physical training, Elijah said "Okay, now that you have sufficient control over your Zeal and awakened your Essence it's time to actually train. Everything before was just a warm-up." Elijah said. 

'That was a warm-up?!' Arthur thought.

"You see, despite my Essence being incredibly powerful and me being very proficient in Zeal manipulation, my main method of fighting is swords. The reason is simple, it's a lot more efficient and saves you a lot of Zeal. Using your Essence is very costly to your Zeal reserves. Using Zeal itself is a bit better, however even that can run dry pretty fast if you overdo it. 

Our new training plan will be as follows: In the morning I will teach you everything about fighting with a sword that I know. You will learn how to use it effectively in combat to fight and kill. After that, I will teach you some basic universal Zeal techniques, which will complement your fighting style with the swords. In the evening we will work on your proficiency at using your Essence. After all of that in the end you will meditate and use the mental training method before and after dinner, till you fall asleep." Elijah explained the entire training plan.

"So much..." Arthur winced a bit at just how much he was going to have to train. However, he quickly became determined and decided that even if he didn't want to be part of the Stormcrest family later on, getting as strong as possible was still the best-case situation in either scenario. 

"Let's get to it then." Elijah said with a smile, seeing Arthurs's determined expression.