Chapter VIII

A day has passed, and although the soldiers in the dungeon didn't realize that, they haven't seen the sun after all. They were still sleepy, though; most took a chance for a break and slept on the dirty ground as well. So far, their job has included transporting the corpses and cleaning up the mess. Even taking good armor and weapons off the Alacryans, as they were still useful for their war efforts.

There were plenty of beast-cores to be collected as well, and each soldier has received a reward for their help during the battle. For example, Arthur could receive an Alacryan armory, but he refused and instead accepted beast cores. This sparked an argument with Regis, who kept yelling in his mind to stick with the previous option. It didn't work.

Now that they were in their tents, with Tessia still unconscious, they were remaining here for soldiers that were either heavily wounded or knocked unconscious to recover fully. Oliver returned to his normal state and worked around the encampment, helping people wherever he could. His skin was no longer stretched across his face, and his eyelids weren't dark.

It was calm; not many noises were around them except for the moment when Tessia's bond suddenly started jumping around the bed. Ecstatic about something.

"Ngh." It was a very quiet, uncomfortable grunt that almost made Arthur jump out of his seat. He instantly ran over to where Tessia was. Watching how her bond Sylvie stood over her chest and looked down on her frustrated. "Sylv?"

The transformed dragon put his paw upward and roughly brought it down on Tessia's cheek, as if slapping it. "Kyu."

"I'm sorry, Sylv." Tessia grabbed the dragon by the head and ruffled it."For long was I out?" Her blurry sight could catch sight of the auburn-haired boy and multiple people in the tent that were all turned towards her.

"A day, if not more. General Varay came by, left us a note, and asked for you to leave for the flying castle when you recovered."

She groaned, "Yeah, I'll do that." Her already rested self had no trouble getting out of the bunk bed. Arthur didn't like the idea of her getting up so quickly, so he pressured her to rest some more time. His persuasiveness worked on the girls well, unknowingly to him...

[It doesn't take a scientist to know why the girls around you were so ecstatic all the time. Come on bumhead, do you seriously not understand the reason?] If even Regis couldn't comprehend how a person could be this unattentive to people around him but at the same time be able to learn anything that comes to battle so quickly.

"Arthur, I don't remember what happened; can you remind me what happened to that man? The last thing I remember was how Sylvie dashed towards you guys, but then everything went black." Tessia felt her brain rumble, but the pain in her head remained still. Despite the fact that she slept for an entire day.

"Sylvie distracted her, and I was able to stab him. It won us time, I believe, and he in the end left because General Varay showed up with some aid." Arthur explained, leaving out some details that were to be kept secret.

Tessia nodded and said, "Thank you, Arthur. Good thing we won this time; I should get stronger for the next time we encounter such an opponent... He took me off-guard." Her fists clenched at the thought of getting defeated by the same man once again. She remembers his face clearly, so next time, she'll show him what she's really capable of.

"But how did you manage to stab him? When Sylvie and I tried to damage him, the thick layer of mana that was on him kept him protected at all times." Although their attacks weren't as powerful, because the stronger ones that they tried were all just avoided by the man. 'Or he purposely avoided our strongest attacks...'

'Mama, maybe it was because he was using some spell to attack me, and that distracted him?' Sylvie spoke through their mental link. It was a valid assumption, but Tessia was interested in Arthur's perspective as well.

He only repeated what Sylvie had said because there were no other realistic lies he could think of. Regis' existence couldn't be revealed, at least not on this stage; he was against that. [Good, they believed.]

"I see...What about your teammates? Did you find them?"

Instantly, Arthur's expression darkened. People in the tent all looked grim, looking away from the princess at the mention of "captive" teammates. Tessia realized that these teammates were now gone, and although she didn't know them personally, she paid respect to them with one minute of silence. Which was very much appreciated.

She remained silent until Arthur broke the gloomy silence. "I'm going to remain here; I've already talked with General Varay. I'm unsure what Oliver decides, but I recommend all of you to go and rest up..."

"What? Arthur, you already did a lot in this war; besides, you deserve at least some kind of rest. You were here for years!" Both Tessia and Oliver were shocked to hear him, and they tried to argue with him. This was Tessia's first actual battle in this war, and Arthur fought for years! As a teenager. That was unbelievable.

"It wasn't a tough decision to make, but I already spoke with General Varay, and she approved of my request. Reginald is injured. I don't want him to continue active service anymore, so he agreed to at least serve as a reservist in the city." He spoke like the leader of the team, which he technically was.

"So essentially, from our actual team, there are only three of us remaining. Samantha is also severely injured, which also leaves her out. Now, Oliver and I. The two person team won't survive for long on the battlefield. I believe it's our time to finally dissolve and pursue different kinds of approaches."

Oliver looked over to Reginald, whose decision he wasn't aware of. The towering man was shaking his head, and Oliver could understand that he was tired of everything that was going on around him. So this would go down as his last battle. He shook his head as well, being honest with himself, 'I'm also tired.' he thought.

"So, you guys are going to dissolve?" Tessia asked.

Oliver, Reginald, and Arthur looked at each other and simultaneously nodded, "It's better this way; I'm already too old; Oliver will be better off at reserve helping out in the camps; meanwhile, Arthur needs an actual team. So, this concludes it." They needed some alone time to think about their fallen friends as well. Not like the emotions disappear instantly.

"I see..." Tessia felt the sadness in the air; it touched her heart way more than it should've. "So, on which team will you be, Arthur?" He can't possibly be left alone on the battlefield without a team. Tessia wouldn't allow it.

"I'll manage somehow. Commander Graves should order the formation of new teams, so I won't be left alone." It would've been even better if he was without a team, but that won't really happen, will it?

...

Another day has passed, and the soldiers have begun to wrap up the encampment and leave the dungeon. Most of the people have recovered; those who didn't were transported via carriages. Their next destination was the wall, where they'd continue their usual duty.

Arthur felt empty without his team, but his own duty called for changes. Regis was sure he'd like a new way of life where he was strong. [The beast cores that you got are corrupted, by the way, but I can help you with them. It can't be worse than a basilisk mana.] The majestic sword was already putting his plans into motion.

'Hey, Regis, I want to ask, what exactly can you do? During the battle, you kept revealing new things; if I had known, I would've performed so much better.'

[This is no spectacle; your performance was great as it was—for a human child, that is. But the thing is, I have so many uses and abilities that it'd take me hours to recount all of them. Knowing you, you'd think I'm reciting some kind of poem.]

'Not if it helps me become stronger; you know I won't miss that out. You've seen what that half-snake was able to do—break my hand and almost kill all of us.' Arthur's hand was already healing due to Oliver's healing and his own capabilities. It didn't change the fact that the man he stabbed could self heal it in a matter of seconds.

[Well, you didn't stab him deep enough. Still, you won't have that kind of natural regenerative capability either way. I believe I can teach you how to have strong healing, but regeneration will take a while.] This was enough; it still meant that it was possible and that it was a step towards power.

Back on the wall, they bid their farewells. Tessia left the wall under the command of the council; Reginald was required to go to the nearby city for full rehabilitation either way, and Oliver followed him. They've taken Samantha with them, not telling her what happened with the two teammates yet.

This only meant that Arthur remained alone at the wall, with no people that he was acquainted with, except for annoying Clive Graves. "Arthur Leywin." Speaking of whom, he was approached by the commander's son.

"I must say, I was greatly surprised by your abilities. I apologize for the previous assumptions that I made during our Xyrus days. I take them back. My view of the world back in that day was not clear, I guess due to my age." Clive stuck out his hand for the handshake, which Arthur accepted a few seconds later, still processing what just happened.

"You earned my respect as a soldier and as a human being, and I'm very sorry for every word that I said that harmed you in any way."

Arthur smiled and said, "Apologies accepted. I'm glad that we actually came to this kind of understanding."

Clive nodded and left for an urgent matter he had to complete for his father. Honestly, not that he was still with a superiority complex, but he was more understanding of his own standing in this world. Most of the nobles didn't consider their relationship with 'commoners' to be important at all. Meanwhile, he learned firsthand what it could mean to his career. Military career, to be exact.

[I bet you still feel annoyed about him. Oh, well, bet is won; I can read your exact thoughts haha and there's nothing you can do about it.] Regis hit the spot. Arthur still felt annoyed; he couldn't care less about Clive's superiority complex; he was just annoying, bugging his head everywhere.

[Alright, boy, it's time for you to finally get stronger. Find some secluded place for us to finally start...] This sounded weird coming from Regis, but Arthur stuck with the plan.

...

Somewhere in the north, close to the wall, was the city of Marlow. In this area, there were fewer activities of Alacryan's spotted since there were no dungeons close to Elshire Forest. However, not too far from the place was a heavy concentration of mana-beasts. This was in the middle of Xyrus and Marlow.

Despite the peace in Marlow, soldiers and civilians were worried about the recent news that reached them about the wall east of Xyrus. Certainly, this attack on the wall by the Alacryans was the first. During the evenings, when people were eager for some rest, they filled the living rooms and shared the news about recent events surrounding that attack. Purely speculation, but everyone wanted to hear something.

This was also the place where the Twin Horns were stationed. They were not particularly happy about hearing the news; after all, their close friend's son was stationed on that wall. Reynolds and Alice haven't received any news about him at all—at least, no letters have arrived.

"Anybody wants to order something to drink?" Adam broke the silence; he was getting fed up with the worrisome thoughts that bothered their entire party. Knowing the little brat they raised together, he would crawl out of any danger easily. "I'll get you guys something myself then."

'Shit... Arthur, where are you... not sending a letter for so long.' He still cursed in his mind due to the fact that they had made a promise to write to each other if something happened near them. So they are all okay in the end.

Helen and Angela sat down next to Alice, offering her comfort by patting her on the back. Reynolds and Durden were outside the inn; they went out to finish some errands and check town hall to see if there was anything for their party.

Jasmine was unable to sit; she was restless to learn how Arthur was. Unlike these adults, when she first met the boy, he was just a kid; now he is the same age as she was during their first meeting. You could say that he grew up in front of her eyes, and if something happened to him, it would be painful to learn.

"It's going to be alright, Alice. He was never a troublesome child, and besides, he is on a very strong team. They are more powerful than us; he is in safe hands." Helen was familiar with Arthur's teammates; it was partly through her influence that Arthur got on Brald's team. "Let's have some drinks, eat, and go to sleep. You haven't touched plate and glass for a day already, that's no good." As she mentioned, Adam brought some drinks as well.

The door opened, and Durden and Reynolds entered the building with happy expressions. Instantly, the father spoke with a spark in his eyes.

"We got a letter from Arthur!"

Author's Note:

I want to use this opportunity, to thank every reader that decided to click on this story. Thank you :) While we are at this, I'm already reaching the main stage of this story, the actual beginning of Arthur's Journey.