Chapter One - Elderwood Guardian (II)

(A/n I will be referring to future Arthur as Grey and past Arthur as.... Arthur ofc- fucking idiots)

Anxiety, worry and desperateness. A myriad of emotions loomed over the reaction room like an overcast shadow, creating a palpable, almost suffocating pressure.

Undergoing Dragon's Awakening seemed to startle Sylvie, who was now frantically asking me what had happened from wherever she was.

It's fine, Sylv. I want you to stay away for now and if anything happens, go back to the Helsteas' house for me.

'No! I'm going to go towards you now, Papa. Hold on!' I could sense Sylvie getting closer but she was still a few dozen kilometers away.

Stay away, Sylv! Please! I need someone to tell my family what happens just in case, I transmitted, the voice in my head coming out desperate.

I didn't know if I was going to make it out of this alive, and I didn't want my family wondering what happened and why the ring activated.

'Be careful...'

Thanks, Sylv

"Why would you even think like that?" Alice yelled at Arthur, her voice cracking as tears continued to stream down her brown eyes. It was painful for Grey to see her like this. He wanted to embrace her after all she had gone through in the future but he couldn't. He was shackled.

"What's happening to my brother?" Ellie asked, her voice childish despite the seriousness and understanding in her voice. "She grew up so quickly," Grey muttered to himself remembering how quick Ellie matured because of war.

"Yeah and now let her have some fun in her life. Don't become a siscon." Regis' voice reached his ears carried by the bond they had formed. Grey's grip on his armrest tightened as it splintered because of his brute strength.

POTENTIAL VIOLATIONS OF THE SET RULES HAVE BEEN PREDICTED.

OFFENDER: GREY

PENALTY: EXEMPT

The crowd went into a frenzy, dissatisfied by the system's judgement.

THE SYSTEM SHALL BE RACIST AND AN ASS TO EVERYONE EXCEPT THE BETTER SWORDSMAN.

Everyone went silent after reading the text, leaving them baffled.

"What a courageous kid. I must get my hands on him" Blaine thought.

"Ahh- Aya let out an inaudible moan, getting turned on from the feat of bravery the boy displayed while Alea just looked at her with a confused look.

One of the abilities of my first phase, Acquire, allowed me to temporarily separate myself from the space and time around me, which seemed to also be one of Sylvia's innate skills. That phase was limited in many ways because I wasn't a dragon. The limited mana I had access to, as well as the physical burden the ability placed on me, restricted what I could actually do when I activated the 'Acquire' phase.

The most efficient way to best use this phase—I realised when I was training with Grandpa Virion—was by utilising the Thunderclap Impulse spell alongside it. I would activate my first phase in short millisecond bursts while the reaction time of my body was increased dramatically from the lightning-attribute skill; this allowed me to react and counter almost anything. That was the most efficient way I could think of, since I couldn't affect anything that was "frozen" while the first phase was activated. Even though I wasn't able to keep it up for long, that was my biggest trump card. The fact that the first phase of my beast will wasn't noticeable by those around me made it all the more useful.

Bairon's eyes widened, his jaw agape as he saw a kid, much younger than him utilise lightning magic in ways he could have never imagined. He shifted his posture as he placed his arms over his knees and started to look at the screen with a determined face, absorbing the stream of knowledge from Arthur's monologue.

However, Bairon was so mesmerised by his technique that he overlooked one fact- a raging question that remained at the tip of everyone's tongue. A confused, unbelieving look over everyone's face except Arthur's parents. "Just how many elements is Arthur Leywin capable of using?"

It wasn't just them. Kezzes had removed his chin from his palm and was now watching the screen with a new found curiosity. Not because a little boy was about to defeat an S-class monster. No... he had seen even younger asuras do that. He knew he was about to see something impossible even by asuran standards. A wave of guilt flashed over his face as he saw his daughter's runes spread over Arthur's body but the emotions were soon hidden by the emotionless facade.

Meanwhile, Tess and Caera kept grabbing their respective timeline's lover's arm, squealing for no reason at all. Tess being Tess tried seducing HIS Arthur, by faking that she's afraid of the mutated beast and rubbed Arthur's arm over her non-existing chest. Caera seeing this tried doing the same but Grey stopped her.

"I don't think I will be able to sustain my sanity if you are the one doing it, Caera" Grey spoke sheepishly, scratching the back of his head with one hand and wiping the stray stream of blood that gushed out of his nose at the mere thought.

I thought back to the time at the auction house when I had first used the 'Acquire' phase on someone else. Sebastian wasn't able to communicate with anyone besides me since I separated us from the time and space of those around us. I only lasted a few seconds before I ended up crippled in bed the next day.

Right now, though, was one of those times when my first phase wouldn't be so useful. No matter how fast I could react to this tsunami of vines, I wouldn't be able to dodge or escape from it in one piece.

There was no other choice.

As I unleashed the dormant power of Sylvia's will deep inside my mana core, I felt every pore in my body open as a surge of mana began raging in and out of my body.

The space around me distorted and the ground below my feet began cracking from the mana surrounding my body.

Color drained from my vision as I was only able to see in shades of gray. The only colors I was able to see were from the numerous particles of mana in the atmosphere around me, all shimmering according to their corresponding elements.

"WHAT? HE CAN SEE MANA??" Varay almost screamed but retained her composure soon afterwards, seeing there were people around.

"So fucking noisy." Uto spat at her, his voice seething malice. His gaze travelled to Alea, "Although I don't mind you being noisy." He threw a wink at her making her almost lose consciousness.

(A/n Don't say anything. It's 1 am here, I am practically fried from all the study I did + I am depressed since my exams are in December and... nm. So yeah, bear with the cringe.)

The surge of mana that had been rampaging around me suddenly got sucked up and compressed into my body as the feeling of insurmountable power overwhelmed me. The sense of superiority over everything, living or not, in this universe, almost drove me crazy. I suppressed the growing temptation to obliterate everything around me out of sheer mania.

"Kuh!" I gasped aloud.

The mana in the atmosphere seemed to bend to my will, as if even nature was now under my command.

Phase Two. Dragon's Awakening... Integrate.

"Interesting", The mad basilisk scientist muttered under his breath and took out a notepad and a pen as he started scribbling his wife's powers. "I wish she would obliterate me in bed." He muttered but was overheard by Kezzes as he was glaring daggers at him.

"What? Still mad she calls me "daddy" too?" Agrona spat at Kezzes and shot him a victorious smirk as he roared in anger but was calmed by Myre as she sat on his lap.

"Don't be angry. We shall have our revenge." She spoke as Kezzes calmed down a bit.

The golden runes, the same markings that Sylvia once had, ran down my arms and back with a burning sensation. I could see my hair growing longer, flowing down to my shoulder, as the once auburn color of my hair turned a bright luminescent white, swaying from the swirl of energy constantly encompassing me. In a way, it was like my body was becoming more like Sylvia's.

After calming the voice inside my head that suggested I go on a rampage, I examined my surroundings. Jasmine and Elijah were the only ones left. Elijah was beside Jasmine now, who was still out of breath and sweating in pain, supporting her with his shoulders. Elijah was staring at me with a dazed expression, his once serious face almost comical as his glasses drooped down his broken nose.

Another thunderous crash jolted my attention back to the task at hand.

The tsunami of vines that made up the elderwood guardian expanded as a face formed within the wave. The face bore down at me balefully, ignoring everyone else but me. The mana beast that once looked at us like we were insects now displayed a trace of fear.

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"Let's play," I growled, revealing a smirk.

The world moved around me in slow motion as I leaped, willing wind into the soles of my feet. I instantly cleared the distance between the elderwood guardian and myself as the storming gale I propelled myself with left a crater bigger than the spell Elijah had used.

[Thunderclap Impulse]

A surge of black lightning coiled around my body as I effortlessly dodged the thousands of vines that shot out at me.

"WHY THE HELL IS THE LIGHTNING BLACK?" Bairon roared as he looked at Arthur.

"Just like how flames change colour based on their intensity level, it is the same for lightning. Mostly it depends on the user. Due to my unique magic affinities and insight I am able to conjure a different coloured lightning." Arthur explained with a shrug of shoulders, "however, didn't you just break the rule of no questions before the system allows it?" Arthur said with a smirk as Bairon's body started turning ethereal.

PENALTY FOR INDIVIDUAL "BAIRON WYKES" HAS BEEN DECIDED. INDIVIDUAL WILL BE TRANSFERRED TO THE STRIP CLUB IN 10 SECS. BETTER MEMORISE SOME DANCE STEPS *wink wink*

Every vine that the tendrils of black lightning touched instantly disintegrated and withered away, but for every vine that crumbled, dozens replaced it. Using the vines that were shooting at me as a foothold, I breezed through the onslaught of thorn-covered vines as thick as my body, drawing nearer to the core of the elderwood guardian.

I could already feel the recoil from using the second phase as my body began trembling and I held back the need to vomit blood.

It was time to end this.

"White fire," I muttered,

"What the..." This time it was Varay. She looked at Arthur with a questioning gaze and Arthur understood. He looked at the screen,

ACCESS GRANTED.

Once again the room was filled with dissatisfied grunts at the biassed attitude of the system. Arthur motioned for Varay to speak up,

"Is fire magic necessary for using White Fire?" She asked.

"No it's not. When we form spells, we materialise them in our head. Temperature, size, speed, density. While almost all ice mages have the concept of ice materialisation limited to ice spikes, swords and shards, I thought about something else. Of course it took me years and still requires my 2nd phase for me to use it, however it's not impossible." Arthur explained and smiled at her, making her heart flutter.

"O-okay, Thanks."

(A/n Ahmm, ain't that how I started the Art x Varay short story? *cough*)

My hands ignited and became engulfed in a blazing white flame that seemed to freeze the moisture in the air around it. This was the most powerful offensive skill that I had in my arsenal, but one that was also the hardest to control. While my Lightning Attribute skills were focused more towards one-on-one combat, I geared my ice attribute techniques for a more widespread form of destruction, just in case the situation arose.

The white fire ablaze in my hands grew larger as I absorbed the now-visible specks of water attribute mana particles into my body. Using the last of my strength, I released my final skill.

[Absolute Zero]

The elderwood guardian, who was in the form of a giant wave of entangled vines, rapidly became encased in ice as the very atoms that made up the mana beast froze in place where the white fire had spread.

Exploding forth the black lightning around me, deadly coils of dark electricity traced through the frozen tsunami of vines and instantly shattered it, leaving only the beast's mana core.

The second phase wore off as I heaved out a mouthful of blood. As my body began plummeting down, I couldn't help but admire the beauty of the shimmering fragments of ice that once made up the legendary S class mana beast; It had the surreal effect that one would only see in a dream.

As my consciousness faded, the last thing I heard was the distant echo of Sylv's cry in my head.

– YOU MAY KNOW PRESENT YOUR VIEWS –

"Why do you always push yourself so hard? Come here.."

"Oww oww, mom" Arthur stuttered as Alice pulled him by his ear, almost tearing it off in the process. The Leywins all hugged together. Tessia tried to force herself inside the family but couldn't as they had no room to accommodate her. Caera giggled at Tess' failed attempt. Tess again being Tess, started to cry as tears filled her eyes to the brim.

"Stop Caera, you'll make the cry-baby cry... but wait.. That's what crybabies do." Both Grey and Caera laughed heartily.

"A-arthur... how could you?" Tess asked, her voice shaky.

"I am not Arthur. I am Grey now... dont you dare call me like a pal. You were nothing more than a burden on me. Freeloading on my rescue services." Grey spat and turned his head towards Caera and started kissing her, making Tess cry her heart out.

"Aww so cute." Merial cooed as she saw the Leywins engaged in a family hug.

"How could you say that? Our daughter is crying there." Aludin reprimanded.

"Oh.. her... but isn't that what she does most of the time?" Merial replied.

"Oh yeah, well nevermind." Aludin said as he turned his attention back to people who were talking.

Blaine had formed a circle around him comprising of his lances and his wife,

"We must get the boy at any cost. No matter what happens." Blaine ordered, brimming with determination.

"I will get him." Varay blurted out.

"I have a question, system." Arthur spoke up as he peeled himself off from the hug.

WHAT?

I can't sense any mana from my future self. I am sure he doesn't have a mana core. I have no idea how I lost it but he still seems strong. Can you show us a video which clarifies our power difference.

VERY WELL. NEXT CLIP WILL MAKE CLEAR THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN YOUR POWER LEVELS. HOWEVER, YOU MUST SEE SOME NECESSARY CLIPS BEFORE THAT SO YOU UNDERSTAND THE COMPARISON.

Arthur nodded in agreement. "Can you give us a vague idea of how powerful he is?" Agrona asked and everyone looked at the system. A single image played on the screen. The dicathen corner showed no reaction but some asuras, scythes and retainers had their mouth wide open as they saw grey standing in the middle of debris and rubble with 5 bodies brutalised around him.

"Richmal." Cadell muttered.

"5 wraiths at once? Looks like I underestimated you grey. I will include you in my plans now." Agrona spoke.

"You will face the same ending, no matter what you plan. Same goes for you Kezzes." Grey eyes both of them from the corner of his eyes. It was just a statement but both of them understood one thing,

He is not kidding and he is more than capable of doing what he's claiming to do.

A wild tremor ran through everyone's spine and now a single question ravaged everyone's mind.

What has he become?