Promise and Duel

Slowly consciousness returned to Cylas. Groaning he picked his head up off the floor and looked out the window. The sun had barely started rising, based off that Cylas estimated he had an hour before he had to start his daily training. Standing up a slight clang sounded off from his wrist. Upon looking down the bracelet and ring still adorned his hand. Upon examining the bracelet a screen popped up in front of it.

[Divine Bracelet]

[Boosts the users overall defense by a large amount, also increases resistance to most abnormalities.]

Shocked at what just occurred Cylas glanced down at the ring on his finger and tried to examine it as well. Similarly, a description popped up for the ring.

[Analysis Ring]

[Gives the user the ability to perform basic analysis on people and items.]

After looking at both items Cylas stretched out his arms. The first thing he noticed was that his body felt extremely light compared to what it had been the day prior, the injuries that he had from the training mostly recovered and he felt extremely aware. After this realization he looked at the mirror above the table beside his bed and stepped back in shock.

"What happened to my eyes!" Cylas exclaimed. Resting his hand on the mirror he stared deeply into his eyes. His usual dark brown eyes were gone, replaced with a radiant gold. Upon further examining his face text once again popped into his vision startling him.

[Cylas Lagier]

[Level: 20]

[Race: Elioud]

[Talent: Angelic Blessing – Body is reinforced and has an affinity with the Divine]

Taking a step back Cylas looked at the description's details. The name was obvious, and the level meant nothing to him as he had nothing to compare to but looking at his race his jaw dropped.

"I'm an Elioud?" he asked.

Thinking back the glowing orb that had entered his Body when he had that dream could have caused this. Before finishing the examination Cylas began to realize the gravity of his situation. Everything that had just happened was real, which meant that the city would be destroyed in a few years' time.

Falling back onto his bed Cylas thought to himself,

"How can I possibly obtain the strength to fight something that easily slaughtered the strongest adventurers in the Alliance. Not only that but the demon had the ability to completely annihilate the city."

Continuing with these thoughts Cylas felt hopeless, there was no way he could obtain the strength necessary to stop the disaster by himself. He couldn't tell people randomly about the disaster either unless he wanted to risk looking like a lunatic. Twirling the band on his wrist Cylas muttered to himself.

"The angel from before told me that I'd need to kill to get stronger. Surely she meant monsters, and to do that I would need to join the Adventurer's Guild..."

Trailing the sentence Cylas realized the problem he was in. For years he had wanted to join the Guild, but he had never had the strength to overpower his Uncle. Even if he felt stronger now it likely wouldn't be enough to close the gap between his uncle and him. With that in mind Cylas wondered if it was worth the risk to hunt them by himself. Quickly deciding against it Cylas determined that beating his Uncle was the only way.

Time was no longer on Cylas's side, each day was a countdown until the eventual disaster at hand.

Sitting back up Cylas glanced over at the mirror again,

"How am I going to explain this to him though?" he whispered, looking into his eyes.

****************

Stepping through the inn entrance Cylas started walking towards the training room again. Compared to when he entered yesterday this time there was no one in the dining area located at the front. Most of the inns traffic came later in the day which is why his Uncle forced training on him extremely early in the morning.

Going through the lobby and into the back Cylas opened the door and went into the training room. He purposely came a bit earlier than usual to test out if anything had changed with his body. Walking across the room Cylas picked up one of the wooden swords on the rack and got into a stance.

"It feels lighter?" Cylas muttered. Though he had used the training sword for years it was hard to determine how much lighter it was compared to when he had used it before. Taking a stance Cylas began to swing the sword.

"Compared to before the swing is much faster" he thought to himself. It was easy to see that his swings were smoother than before as well. While his swordsmanship was no joke before the only comparison he had was to his Uncle and Lucius. His Uncle was regarded as one of the greatest adventurer's in the Alliance before he retired, and Lucius was even stronger than him.

Looking down at his wrist the bracelet from the Angel nestled underneath the cloth he had wrapped it under. He wasn't sure how his Uncle would react to him suddenly wearing something that expensive looking and he didn't want to have to explain more than he had to. He had tried taking both the ring and the bracelet off earlier, but they seemed to be stuck onto him.

Before he could continue swinging his Uncle walked into the room.

"Haha after yesterday you decided to come early this time huh?" he presumed chuckling to himself.

Before Cylas could respond he noticed his Uncle had immediately stopped laughing once he looked at his eyes. For a second, he thought his Uncle looked sad but just at it appeared it had gone away. Cylas assumed his Uncle would ask about his eyes but instead he started walking over to the sword rack and picked up one of the wooden swords twirling it in his hand.

"You too huh" his Uncle whispered to himself.

"What?" Cylas asked, looking at his Uncle with concern. Once his Uncle had picked up the sword his expression had slowly darkened, and he seemed like he was debating on what to do next. In this moment Cylas decided to use the ring to Analyze his Uncle.

[Doran Lagier]

[Level: 26]

[R...]

Before Cylas could read the rest his Uncle suddenly spoke up interrupting him.

"Be prepared, today will be different than usual."

With ice in his words Cylas began getting concerned

"Wha.." before Cylas could get a word out his Uncle launched toward him at an impressive speed instantly closing the distance between the two. Suddenly his Uncle was releasing massive amounts of killing intent and Cylas felt cold sweat dripping down his back.

Parrying the strike Cylas kicked back putting distance between the two. Shaken by the exchange Cylas wasn't certain on what to do next. He noticed there was a 6-level gap between him and his Uncle, but he didn't know how much of a difference that was. Before he could continue thinking his Uncle closed the gap between them once again swinging his sword.

Quickly dodging it Cylas noticed that his Uncle's strikes seemed slower than they had been the previous day. Jumping back Cylas prepared to attack his Uncle, then suddenly a foot slammed into his chest kicking him back. Rolling back Cylas used the momentum to get back onto his feet.

The kick had knocked the air of his lungs, but he noticed that it didn't hurt as much compared to before.

"Is this all you can do?" his Uncle asked. Crouching down his Uncle continued, "The world won't wait for you to be ready!"

Immediately upon finishing the sentence his uncle pounced towards Cylas. Expecting this Cylas dodged towards the side and swung at his Uncle's torso. Surprised his Uncle dropped down twirling his feet to attempt to knock Cylas down. Immediately once his Uncle had dropped down Cylas jumped back. His Uncle enjoyed mixing martial arts with sword combat and Cylas had similarly picked up his style through years of training.

Without delay his Uncle launched back up kicking up the ground beneath him. Anyone who was looking at the fight now would assume the two were equally matched. Cylas on the other hand knew he was at a disadvantage. His Uncle had significantly more experience than he had, even with the boost he got from the item he still felt the gap between the two.

Momentarily distracted his Uncle slammed the sword into his shoulder knocking him back. Upon taking the strike Cylas again noticed that it hurt significantly less than it would have before. Again, his Uncle closed the distance as the two exchanged a flurry of exchanges. Compared to before he realized he stood a chance, putting more power into his next strike Cylas used his Uncle's resistance to push himself back.

Glancing at the spot his Uncle had kicked up earlier a slight smile appeared on his face. Running to his Uncle he pretended to slip on the dirt, immediately his Uncle pounced going for the finishing blow. Waiting until the last second Cylas pushed himself out of the way using his momentum to knock his Uncle off his balance. Still on his back Cylas swung his sword at his Uncle's neck stopping right before hitting it.

Gasping for breath Cylas stood up, looking back his Uncle stood up sighing. Glancing at Cylas he walked over to the door before instructing him.

"Follow me."

Following his Uncle to the back of the Inn his Uncle unlocked a door. Inside it looked like a storage room covered with various supplies for the inn. Further back in the middle of the room another door with two locks remained. His Uncle pulled out a second key and inserted both into the door.

Immediately once both keys were turned a blue sheen covered the door and faded away.

"You had the door enchanted?" Cylas quickly asked his Uncle.

Without responding his Uncle opened the door, inside various forms of equipment sat on racks. A chest likely filled with money from the Inn sat on a table, beside it a mannequin wore equipment he had never seen before. Before he could continue looking around his Uncle started talking again.

"Honestly I wished this day would never come." His Uncle said looking back at Cylas. His tired eyes filled with sadness looked over Cylas.

"After my brother … your parents were killed I swore that I would look after you. I don't suppose you remember them very well; you were only 2 at the time." he went on, running his hand through his long black hair. Scars from battles were scattered across his arm and hand.

"What are you talking about all of a sudden? Are you ok?" Cylas asked wondering why his Uncle started talking about his parents so much. In the past his Uncle had avoiding talking about or even mentioning his parents. Slowly his Uncle looked up at Cylas's face, no his eyes before responding.

"I wanted you to be strong, but I feared putting you in danger. I ended up sheltering you in my own self-interest. The world is extremely dangerous, and any mistake can cost you your life. I always was concerned of whether you were strong enough, after sparring with you I realized what I had done. Though you have learned what I taught you lack practical experience." speaking various concerns his Uncle reached for a sword.

The sword was in a white and gold sheath, like the colors you'd see upon going to the church. The handle matched the sheath, raising Cylas's curiosity. Looking at the sheath he tried triggering the ring.

[Blessed Blade]

[A strong blade that carries the blessings of the gods, moderately increases the power behind each swing.]

"This was your father's sword." he stated, holding the sword by his side.

"I didn't want to give this to you, but it's one of the last things your father owned. However, before I hand it over, you'll have to promise me two things."

"Okay." Cylas responded, not sure what his Uncle wanted from him.

Upon his reply his Uncle looked at him before nodding his head. Pulling a ring out from the table he sat at he tossed it over to Cylas before continuing.

"Always wear this ring, it's imbued with a spell that will prevent people from finding out about you."

Cylas confused about why his Uncle would give him this started suspecting his Uncle knew about why his eyes changed colors. Interrupting his Uncle, Cylas asked,

"What do you know?" he asked hoping his Uncle could give him some answers as to what was happening.

In response his Uncle chuckled,

"Nothing more than what you know." he replied in a dismissive tone, "Anyways this is important."

"If you ever meet... never mind, just promise that you won't act reckless. Value your life before all else, you can't save everyone."

The tense atmosphere in the room dissipated as he finished his sentence. Nodding Cylas grabbed the sword as his uncle put it in his hands.

"You're fired." his Uncle said with a blank look.

"Wait what." Cylas responded looking up to see a sad smile appear on his Uncle's face. With everything that had happened Cylas felt overwhelmed, realizing what his Uncle meant a smile appeared on his face.

"I have some stuff to prepare, before you go to the guild rest up. From here on out I won't be helping you." his Uncle said.

Surprised at how his Uncle was acting Cylas decided not to push the matter at risk of his Uncle deciding against him going to the Adventurer's Guild.

"Thank you for everything, I won't disappoint you" Cylas responded excitingly. Even with everything that had happened the last 2-days Cylas couldn't help but be excited that after years he would finally be able to join the Guild. Walking out of the room he put the ring on and carried the sword in his hand. As promised later today he would wait until later in the day to go to the guild.

********************

Watching Cylas leave Doran sighed, from behind him a door opened and a woman dressed in the Inn's uniform walked through, her shoes clicked against the wooden floor below and her long light brown hair swayed as she took each step.

"Why'd you decide not to tell him?" the woman asked walking towards Doran.

Looking over at her Doran sighed before responding,

"He shouldn't have to worry about it yet Nyx. It's not something a kid should have to think about."

"Keeping it from him won't help, he deserves to know." Nyx said shaking her head.

"The Lost Remnants aren't something he can deal with right now regardless. Once Eiran comes in tell him he'll be managing the Inn for a bit. It's time for us to start cleaning up."

Staring into Doran's eyes Nyx sighed, "Whatever, where are we going this time" she asked.

"The Wroth Empire" Doran replied looking away from Nyx a bead of sweat dripping down his face.

Nyx dark brown eyes narrowed in on Doran "Are we at least saying goodbye?" Clear irritation in her words she already knew the answer.

"You're always like this!" Nyx exclaimed loudly slamming the door.

Looking back through the inn's entrance Doran looked up at the sky, the sun had just started rising signaling the start to people's day.

"Why did you have to choose him too."