Discussing Caelus

Arthur Leywin:

After Aya dropped that bomb of information, I watched as the Elven King and Queen's expression contorted from an expression of curiosity and focus to one of what could only be described as dread. Alea's reaction wasn't as strong. She only responded with an audible gasp while moving her hand to cover her mouth, her expression displaying shock.

Bringing my focus away from the expressions of the people in the room, I thought back on everything Caelus had told us. For example, he seemed to think of himself as weak. In his own words, he said that 'elemental magic is too dangerous in his current state'. This shows us he is far from his prime. The information Sylvia told us also helps. When using elemental magic he seems to be strong enough to manipulate the landscape. He said this was because he was in the cord, but he also specified the area he is sealed in is separated from my core. This can only mean that the mana he used to terraform the area was his.

I was pulled from my thoughts by Aya who had whispered into my ear, her tone soft and calm as always catching me off guard, causing me to flinch as the light sound from her voice travelled through my ears.

"What are you thinking about?"

I cleared my throat before speaking, a flush of red coating my face because of embarrassment.

"Uh, I was just thinking about how strong Caelus could be." Upon finishing my sentencing, I noticed all eyes in the room were on me, as if waiting for me to explain further.

"Well, from what he told us, he is really weak right now."

I didn't get to finish as Alduin interrupted me.

"But how could he be weak? He could've killed Aya!" Alduin shouted in confusion.

"Exactly" I spoke out, confusing Alduin and Merial, Aya and Alea stayed focus waiting for me to continue speaking while Virion seemed to catch on to what I was proposing.

Virion continued my sentence for me.

"So, he is lying about being in a weakened state or just currently views himself as weak, meaning he may be many times stronger than we can imagine."

"But that isn't possible?" Alea said, her tone making it seem like a question.

"it isn't with the power or mana atleast," I responded.

"What are you suggesting Arthur?" Merial asked, her confusion was turning into curiosity.

"I believe there must be something above mana. "

Once I said this, everyone's gaze turned from their previous expression to one of deep rumination. After a short amount of time, they shot the question out at me rapid fire.

"If there is a higher version of mana, why can no one use it?" Alduin Asked.

"Why hasn't it been discovered?" Merial asked.

"How could it even be possible?" Alea asked.

"How much stronger could it be?" Aya asked.

"I can't answer your question as my knowledge is as limited as yours and this is all hypothetical." I spoke out in a somewhat apologetic tone. I realised that out of all the questions, Virion didn't ask a signal one. I looked over to him to see him still silently contemplating ideas in his mind.

"I don't doubt you, brat, but this all seems far-fetched. Do you have any proof?" Virion finally spoke up, earning a nod from the others in the room.

"while this is all hypothetical, I believe there is some evidence such as the floating city of Xyrus, I read it is still unknown how it floats."

Virion smirked before speaking.

"you're one smart brat to think of a hypothesis like this. You sure you ain't some super genius from another world?"

"Umm, yes, I am sure," I said nervously.

"well that is quite the hypothesis, anyway. We must have people look into it. If memory serves, the city of Xyrus was built by the ancient mages. Maybe if we do research on, we can learn of this higher version of mana, and maybe Caelus too." Virion spoke. His tone changed quickly, from one of messing around to absolute seriousness.

"But that will have to be tomorrow. Why don't you go back to sleep, brat? You ain't got long left here, and I plan to do some final training tomorrow." Virion spoke his tone instantly back to his normal one, an incredible power.

"Yes, Gramps," I spoke as I left the room and headed back towards my own.

On the walk towards my room, I had thought about all we had talked about, going over the information in my head. There are still so many unanswered questions I have. With every discussion, all we get are more questions. They took away from me from my thoughts when I noticed I had nearly passed my room.

'Virion will most likely get some people to research the ancient mages,' I thought to myself.

Opening the doors to my room, I saw Sylvie asleep on the foot of the bed as usual and the pendent box on the table.

'All normal,' I thought to myself as I climbed into bed and drifted off to sleep.

Arthur Leywin:

The sound of shuffling in my room drew from my peaceful sleep behind me. Slowly opening my eyes, I noticed a figure standing near the table where I had put Sylvia's pendent. Rubbing my eyes, I saw Sylvia? Standing over and about to open the box, jumping out of my bed, I dashed towards the pendent box and grabbed it before Sylvia could.

"You can't look at that yet, grandma!" I shouted, gaining a confused look from her. She didn't respond, so I guessed she was confused about what I was hiding.

"it is a surprise for later," I said nervously, not wanting her to think I don't trust her or anything like that.

"that is not what I am confused about" When they spoke, I realised that this wasn't Sylvia but Caelus.

"Why did you call me grandma?" he spoke, tilting his head in confusing.

"Oh, uh! No reason!" I blurted out in a panic. I can't just tell him I confused him with Sylvia, but it isn't my fault they look so similar, anyway.

"Oh, whatever" he spoke boredom resounding in his tone.

"What're you hiding in that box, anyway?" He said suspiciously. "A surprise of some sort?"

"Uh yes to Sylvia, I didn't know if you would tell her that's why I hid the box."

"Alright sure, but you know Sylvia watches your life through a screen of some sort. She may have already seen the surprise. If you're lucky, she hasn't.

"What!? Sylvia can see everything I do?" I shouted with a red flush coating my face.

"Don't worry, she respects your privacy and isn't watching 24/7," Caelus said, causing me to release a sigh of relief.

"Well, I never asked you why you are here in the first place and how, without Sylvia?" I asked him.

"To answer your second question, me and Sylvia share separate timers on how long we can leave the seal. They are both the same length but separate, meaning we can exit at different times. Last time we exited, meaning we had to return at the same time." He answered my question, which is easy to understand, allowing me to wrap my head around it.

"What about my first question?" I once again asked.

"Well, I wanted to watch your training in person so I can give you some tips. You will do training today, correct?" He answered my question, but it made me think why can he could only watch me train? Is he really too weak to output mana? If so, it could mean his attack on Aya was a fake just to scare her away. I stopped my thought process as I realised he was waiting for me to answer his question.

"Yes, today is one of my last training days.", I finally answered him.

"It is good. I did not miss it." He spoke out.

Suddenly, Tessia burst through the door, her face turning sad when she realised I was awake, but then she turned towards Caelus and released a high-pitched squeal, no doubt alerting everyone in the castle.

After calming down the guards and telling Tessia about Caelus, we were now in the meeting room of sorts, the same place we discussed Caelus the night before.

"I am just here because I wish to watch Arthur's training and give him some tips." Caelus said to the people in the room; Alduin, Merial, Tess and Gramps.

"Why not help him with his training directly?" Virion asked Caelus.

"Well, now, you trust me and don't want me dead, I will tell you." He said, looking around the room to make sure he had everyone's attention. "If either me or Sylvia were to exert too much mana outside of the seal, we would die and be erased from existence, as mana is making our spiritual forms physical." Upon finishing his explanation, everyone's expressions change to one of relief. Apart from Tess, of course, who was too young to understand what he meant.

"Well, anyway, I have little time. I would like to watch Arthur and see his strengths and weaknesses." Caelus spoke once more.

"Of course. Why don't we get to training? I will make it twice as hard today." Virion spoke, his voice demonic and his smirk sinister. I also could've sworn I saw Caelus smirk before his expression went back to being blank.

'If any higher being exists, help me. I beg of you.' I thought to myself.

Caelus

I watched as Arthur and Virion created a gap between each other, preparing for the duel to come. While they were cresting the gap, I examined the environment of the training area. It was full of nature, with natural waterfalls, ponds, and even trees. It was a beautiful sight.

Refocusing on Arthur and Virion, I noticed them facing each other, ready to duel on my signal. They decided I would be the referee of the dual and determine when it was over. I noticed Arthur welding a clunky wooden sword, which I believe could restrict his movement in this fight. For now, I will give him my sword.

"Before this dual begins, I would like to give Arthur something better than that clunky thing," I spoke, pointing towards the sword in his hand.

The confusing on Arthur's face was visible, most likely because I had no sword in sight. I walked towards Arthur and once I reached him; he looked up at me, still confused.

"Caelus, you don't have a sword to give me?" Arthur spoke, completely lost.

"I do," I simply responded. Reaching into the pocket of the slick white robe I wore, I pulled out a ring. It was a plain gold ring. I slowly placed the ring on my finger. After I had put on the ring, I reached my hand out as if trying to grab something. With a flash of light which only lasted a second, a thin curved sword appeared in my hand. The sword was primarily blue along its curved blade, but on top of the blue was a silver design of flames, each flame had a thin golden outline. The design spread through the blue blade, giving it a radiant beauty. The sword had a circular guard and a handle which were both a divine white.

'Arthur would recognise this sword from his past life as a Katana,' I thought.

Upon seeing the sword, its divine presence entranced both Virion and Arthur. Causing me to put it in the sheathe, which was a similar colour as the handle. The only difference being that it had blue flames making it opposite to the sword it's self.

"I don't think I can use this kind of sword. I never have before and it's big for me." Arthur said as he drew his gaze away from the sheathe of the blade.

"Don't worry about it. Just ask the sword to fit your specifications." Arthur seemed confused by this too, which I handed him the sword.

Arthur unsheathed the sword, revealing its blade once more. Arthur held the blade while closing his eyes and after a short while, the sword changed its shape. The sword morphed into a thicker straight blade, which was quite short. It kept the same design features, but now fit Arthur's preferences. I noticed Virion's jaw nearly reaching the floor, and the same happened to Arthur when he opened his eyes.

"This sword it feels sturdy, powerful, and the balance is perfect, overall this is the best sword I've ever held."

"Yes, and it will continue to grow and change, so it always fits your preference. For now, I will leave it with you. Take good care of it."

"Of course!" Arthur shouted back.

I walked towards a grassy hill which I could sit on and watch the battle. Examining the area, I found the perfect one. Reaching the hill, I sat down facing Arthur and Virion, who were ready to fight at any minute.

Arthur held his new sword in front of him and Virion stood in a battle ready position. It seems he will use hand to hand combat. Normally this would be a terrible idea to do when fighting against my sword, but they will dull it for this dual.

Switching my gaze between the two, I saw they were both battle ready.

"Begin" I shouted.

In an instant, Arthur and Virion dashed towards each other, leaving behind trails of dust and big gusts of wind.