Chapter 27 - Royal arms

In this world, families can be known for possessing their own magic. Exclusive magic techniques that are passed down generation to generation. While rare in regular blood families it is common in royal lineages. The Elysi family are no exception with their blood giving them the opportunity to acquire the magic technique 'Royal arms' and like most main line children, Sera had inherited this power.

An extraordinary technique that claims a place at the top of the magic world. Unique to other techniques, the latent potential of 'Royal arms' has the capability of increasing with every generation. Although there are many stories and rumours of the power's history, the truth behind magic's strength is only known by the Elysi family and trusted friends. Sera remember the exact night all of them years ago when her mother told her.

She was ten years old and still hadn't developed any magic technique and everyone began assuming she never would, well everyone but her father. However, as much as their assumptions upset young Sera they made sense. Her brother inherited their family's power when he was seven, her mother when she was six and she knew her grandad had been only four years old. In fact every member of their blood who'd had the true technique had inherited the magic before the age of ten. Her family would always tell her they'd started having weird sensations, visions and dreams months before awakening the power and after Sera turned nine she begged they'd start happening to her, but they never did. Then after turning ten she gave up on the idea of ever possessing the technique completely. But then one-night months after turning ten years old she had a strange dream. Still to this day she couldn't remember the dream, but she'd woken up terrified and sobbing. However, the shock didn't end there, after waking she was greeted with her entire room destroyed, looking like a bomb had gone off, the only thing that had been untouched was the bed she lay in. Her family rushed into her room almost tearing the door clean off her hinges. Her mother rushed straight to her side checking every bit of her body for injury while her father, brother and royal guards scanned her room thinking someone had broken into her room. Of course they found nothing, but it didn't stop her father from ordering guards to search the palace and alerting General Jager. Her family then bombarded Sera with questions, but she wasn't very helpful, she'd been asleep and had no idea what had happened, which as you'd probably assume didn't make her family any less worried. The next few hours were a quick blur and once it was confirmed that there had never been an intruder everything calmed down. Sera sat with her mother in their parents bedroom while her room got cleaned and fixed. She remembered the next few moments like it had happened yesterday. Her mother turned to her and held Sera's head in her hands. She stared curiously and deeply into her daughter's eyes. Her mother then closed her eyes and gently placed her forehead on Sera's. Suddenly Sera started feeling a strange link between her and her mother. She had no idea and couldn't explain the feeling to anyone, but it was definitely real. It sat in the centre of her mana core and led straight to her mother's core, like an invisible, untouchable string. Suddenly her mother's eyes snapped open, and she pulled away from Sera and the link faded away. Even to this day Sera had never seen her mother so stunned, her mouth was agape and eyes so wide they threatened to burst from their sockets.

"You've awakened" her mother stated breathlessly.

"What?" Sera remembered asking completely confused. Only a few moments later she realised what her mother meant. She searched deep into her core and discovered something new sat at the centre. Once realising what it is all she could remember was being happy, happier than she ever had been before. She'd inherited her family's power, the magic technique 'Royal arms'.

"I've done it!" she exclaimed joyfully. She leapt into her stunned mother's arms who quickly composed herself and wrapped her arms around her daughter.

"Sera. Come with me, it's time I told you the secret behind of family's magic" her mother told her calmly. Filled with excitement and curiosity Sera instantly took her mother's hand and let herself be led away. On the way out of her parents' bedroom her father appeared, he gave Sera a smile before ruffling her hair.

"She's awakened" her mother told her husband calmly. Instantly her father's face grew a humongous grin and he turned to Sera.

"Congratulations! always knew you'd do it." he said proudly, "You'll be the best out of all of us. But don't tell your brother I said that" her father told her with a joking wink causing Sera to grin and giggle.

"It's time" Sera's mother said to her father and his stare switched his wife. He remained silent for a moment before giving them a shallow now.

"You won't be disturbed" he responded his expression suddenly stern.

Sera's mother then led them out into the palace's gardens, she remembered how the cold the night air was, instantly erasing any fatigue she had in a second. They wandered through royal gardens, warm golden lights placed along the white brick paths lit up the gardens in the darkness, revealing a variety of unique, colourful and exotic flowers, trees, bushes and other types of plants. Her midnight walk came to a stop inside a small dome of hundreds of fiery lights. The dome was forged and grown from a species of nocturnal flower called flareflos. The flowers were large with red petals, they glowed like a fire, with bright orange running through the petals like blood and a bright yellow light at its centre. The species charcoal stems forged the body of the dome and the flowers lit up the inside which was nice and warm thanks to the flowers special ability to produce a comforting heat like a fireplace. Sera released her mother's hand as the air began to grow warm, they wandered across the dome and sat on a white marble bench that had been placed in the centre.

"This is the exact spot my father, your grandfather told me all those years ago" her mother said smiling softly.

"Told you what?" Sera asked.

"The truth behind out family's technique. The truth behind 'Royal arms'. This information cannot be told to anyone do you understand Sera?" her mother asked.

"Yes" Sera nodded and even till this she'd kept her promise. Well mostly.

"'Royal arms' is a magic technique like no other. Our power is thousands of years old and has been carried down generation to generation of our lineage all beginning with our ancestor king Arthur Elysi the first king of Elysia. What makes our magic so unique is that the greatest users of our power can imbue themselves into our very technique when they pass giving us the capability to draw on their power and make it our own".

"So our power grows stronger with every generation?" Sera asked mesmerized.

"No 'Royal arms' is not guaranteed to grow stronger with every generation. However its latent potential can and if the user is talented enough to bring out the full potential of their technique they are guaranteed to claim a place with the world's strongest".

"Has anyone ever been able to use 'Royal arms' full potential?" Sera asked.

"No not since king Arthur. Your grandfather was the strongest user our family had seen in centuries and when I was a child he would tell me how he always had this feeling he was not even close to using 'Royal arms' to its full potential" her mother said with the same soft smile she always wore when speaking about her father. Sera sadly never met her grandfather, he passed away two years before she was born. She always wished she got to meet him and would always ask to be told stories of how of her grandfather was a great king and powerful warrior the entire country admired. A man who truly embodied what the monarch of Elysia should be.

"I wonder what he'd have said tonight" her mum said.

"What? Grandad?" Sera asked and her mother nodded.

"They say everyone In our family has inherited the technique before the age of ten. Well that is not entirely true, there was always one exception. The first wielder king Arthur, the stories state he awakened not too long after turning ten years old just like you" her mother informed her.

"… What does that mean" Sera asked curious, ecstatic that she'd been compared to king Arthur himself.

"I don't completely know" her mother admitted, "But I know one thing and I know your grandfather would agree with me. Your father was right, you're going to be the best of us all".

Those few words her mother told her have stuck with all these years after carrying her through any of the hard or desperate times she'd experienced and just like they had in the past they echoed through her mind as her battle with Kira entered its final stage.