Lances

|Arthur|

The City Square, which was usually bustling with a lot of activity, was abnormally packed with both normal civilians and nobles alike. On the side of the large clock tower, four orbs were creating a square while underneath these floating orbs, there were two artificers with their brown robes. The less-than-attractive clothing signified that they didn't do their work for glory and fame, but it didn't keep the mages from chanting with unnecessarily grand gestures, hands waving as if they were conducting a symphony.

Sylvie was fidgeting on top of my head, taking in all the sights and the huge crowd of people gathered. Only my father and Vincent came with me, as the women in the house had other plans.

As more and more people gathered, a crackled image began forming with the four glowing orbs as its corners. Suddenly, the fuzzy image became clearer, the mirage of colours forming into the image of the Glayder Castle.

"The three Kings and Queens of the different countries in our beloved Continent of Dicathen have gathered here on this memorable day!"

I see a very fancily-dressed man with a thick grey beard announce to an audience that looked to be in the hundreds of thousands, judging by the space the people took up.

"Attention Humans, Elves, and Dwarves alike, I go by Blaine Glayder. While most of you know me as the King of Sapin, today I speak not as the King of Humans, but as one of the representatives of the Continent of Dicathen!"

The hundreds of thousands of people all kneeled, some going on all fours in worship at the sight of the King. The blurry projection became clearer and zoomed in closer to the balcony of the Castle. There, I could see the King of Sapin in the front with the Queen of Sapin, Priscilla Glayder, seated behind him alongside a few other important-looking figures.

My eyes widened as I spotted Alduin and Merial Eralith, the King and Queen of Elenoir, with Grandpa Virion standing behind them with his arms crossed and his white hair tied neatly behind his pointed ears. Beside them are two representatives of the Dwarves, both lavished in extravagant clothing much too large for their compact figures; I assumed that they were the king and queen.

"Today marks the beginning of a new era in this Continent we call our home. I assume many of you are aware of the existing problems between the Humans and the Elves while even the Dwarves were considered just business partners. However, that is not the way we wish to continue. The representatives of all three kingdoms—your leaders—have met together many times over these past few years to unite our races. Two years ago, we had agreed for all three races to be able to become adventurers. It started with just one oo representatives, but now it has expanded. It brings me a smile when I see parties with humans, elves, and dwarves alike, working together towards a common goal. Last year marked another big milestone where Xyrus Academy welcomed students from the Kingdom of Elenoir and the Kingdom of Darv so that the new generation of mages can make friends and memories with not just humans, but all three races. We all understand how difficult it may be for some of us to adjust after constant enmity between us. However, we urge you to let go of the past and the discriminations you may hold, and think beyond that, if not for yourself, but for the children the future of this continent."

There was another big round of applause with a roar of worship and adoration accompanying it. King Glayder sat down and Alduin Eralith, the King of Elenoir and Tessia's father, got up from his seat and cleared his throat before speaking into this world's version of what seemed to be a microphone.

"It is an honour to speak on behalf of everyone here on this unforgettable day. As King Glayder so adamantly stated, I am also in agreement about the future of our continent. For some people, this may not hold much interest but for many who yearn for adventure and new places to visit, I can wholeheartedly say that this continent is filled with many unknowns. An obvious example is the very Beast Glades residing just beyond our borders. While an uncountable number of adventurers have ventured out into the Beast Glades, it is not an exaggeration to say that not even half of it has been traversed. While the mana beasts have not left the Beast Glades, who is to say that just because they haven't yet, they never will? Even in our homeland of Dicathen, there are places so dangerous, no one dares to explore, but what if I were to say that even greater mysteries and dangers are out there?"

King Eralith paused for a brief moment while the crowd in Etistin and the crowd here in the City Square of Xyrus filled with the sound of murmurs.

"That's right! You have not heard wrong, fellow citizens of Dicathen. We are announcing today, February 10th of the 1005th Cycle, that we have found evidence of another continent."

The crowds erupted into a clamour of noises, some angry, some afraid, but everyone curious. Even my own hands shook in excitement as my father and Vincent looked at each other in shock.

"Please. We ourselves don't know very much, so your guess is as good as ours. What we do know is that, out there—possibly within reach in a few years' time—is another continent that may or may not be hostile. There has been evidence of them trying to reach us as well, but on both sides, it seems that our current technology does not permit us to travel that far."

The crowd shown in the Capital was in chaos until the dwarven king rose from his chair and trotted towards the microphone.

"QUIETTTTT!!!"

The dwarven king roared into the voice-enhancing artefact.

"As Alduin said, we don't know much. However, in these times of uncertainty and possible threats in the future, wouldn't you guys all agree that standing beside one another is what's best for this continent and our people? Your children can be in danger as well. The last thing we want is to fight amongst ourselves. Our appearances may be different and our cultures may clash, but remember this...we are all born in this continent of Dicathen. I for one am proud of that and hope that future generations will feel the same way. What about you?"

The crowd remained silent at first but a couple of claps triggered a huge boom of applause as cheers and whistles broke out. The Dwarf King wasn't as eloquent in his words as the two previous kings that spoke, but his words had a very strong impact.

"The process of joining our three races and kingdoms will take time and much effort, but today, we will be anointing six individuals—individuals that we, the three kings and queens, believe to be the most courageous, tactful, smart and powerful."

From the back of the podium, six warriors came out: two elves, two humans and two dwarves. Clad in refined white armour that varied slightly for each person, they walked up and knelt on one knee.

The three kings each made their way in front of the six kneeling knights and took out from a small ornamental box, six rings. King Glayder of the humans presented the rings to the two elf knights while the Dwarf King presented them to the two human knights. Finally, King Alduin of the Elves placed the rings on the two Dwarf knights, stating that they stand and bow to the crowd. As the cheers exploded, King Glayder went up and spoke once more.

"These six individuals will henceforth be granted the title of the Six Lances. Each Lance signifies the ties they hold not to their Kingdom, but the entire Continent. This is a truly historical moment as the first Lances have been anointed. These six individuals' main goal will be towards the well-being of the Continent, whether that be exploring dangerous and unknown dungeons in the Beast Glades, as well as working alongside us, the rulers of this Continent, to ensure that our home is protected when the time comes that we are met with foreign hostilities from a different Continent."

'Even if I use Realmheart, I can't quite beat them yet,' I thought as I estimated my strength against them.

I still had room to grow, even in the field of mana.

|Gary|

'I was correct,' I thought as I looked at the six figures before squinting my eyes, 'But why do they have aether inside of them? Is that aether preventing them from going against the Royalty?'

However, this kept me more baffled as I wondered where the aether originated from. After all, none of the mages of Dicathen other than the now-extinct ancient mages knew about this energy.

'Could they be heirlooms?' I guessed.

There was a high possibility of that. After all, the ancient mages left spatial rings and teleportation gates, they could have left more of their inheritance.

'I need to go looking for spots where they left their items,' I thought, 'Though it would be difficult, my mastery over aether will certainly make it easier.'

'But once again, I wonder how exactly they died. They were far more powerful than Dicathen is now, what kind of enemy or disaster did they face exactly?'

Many theories were buzzing in my mind but I discarded them all. It was just a waste of time to try to think of how the ancient mage civilisation was eradicated without having all the necessary information.

For the Lances, they weren't a bother. The only one who could even threaten me was the white-haired female human lance known as Varay.

She was on a different level from the others, which caused another question to come to my mind.

'The white stage doesn't have different levels like the previous core colours,' I recalled from the book on mages I read about a decade ago, 'So why is there such a huge difference?'

However, I was not able to come up with an answer. Perhaps I will only learn about this when I eventually reach the white stage by myself.' I thought I gave up.

I sighed as Kathyln patted my shoulder. I turned my head towards her, only to be blasted by a bright smile, "Let's go back now!"

My face remained as unchanging and stoic as ever (I hoped so) as I nodded in agreement. The two of us had gotten much closer after spending several months together.

This was just the start of our relationship since we still had the academy to go to. My lips curled upwards at the thought of Xyrus Academy.

Lancelot Orbel, Rachel Glidesburn, Kathyln Glayder, Tessia Eralith and her fiancé, Alistair Eralith.

Not to forget, Arthur Leywin.

It was certainly going to be interesting.

|Kathyln|

Seeing Gary think by himself, a smile couldn't help but appear on my face. Even though we spent hundreds of hours together, he was still an enigma to me.

I could tell that he had a mask on, however, his genuine feelings would sometimes leak through me and cause my heart to flutter.

Speaking of my heart fluttering, I couldn't disguise my emotions under my cold mask as I did with others. I was happy that the same was true for him, which meant that he was also feeling the same things that I did.

This mysterious attraction.

I sometimes wondered whether this was love at first sight, but that was a fabricated concept created for children's stories.

Like my mother told me, love was formed through relationships, which in turn formed from interactions and through time.

This is why I wasn't in a hurry. Although this mysterious feeling somewhat disturbed me, I was willing to take my time with Gary and develop our relationship.

We were still only 12 years old, far from adulthood. The springtime of youth hadn't arrived for us yet, at least according to my mother.

'So, don't worry Gary,' I thought as my smile deepened, 'I will be sure to find out whether this feeling is truly love. And if it is, I will make you fall for me, keep that in mind.'

Gary shivered and put his left hand on the back of his nape, causing me to giggle before I covered my mouth with my left hand.