Chapter I

Tessia Eralith could not help but recognize the auburn-haired boy with blue eyes. He had features that no other person in her life ever had. His portfolio at Xyrus Academy was no less known; he was constantly getting into brawls with the already deceased brother of Bairon Wykes, whom she had to kill herself.

Now, he was standing in front of the council as the survivor of a recent attack on the wall. It was really a matter of time for her to finally see her schoolmates, but she didn't expect to see them in this situation. She remained silent and waited for his grandfather to begin speaking. He was currently just looking at the two people in front of him, inspecting them. So was the Asura, with Aldir's intimidating and unmoving eye etched on the two, reflected in their eyes.

"Reginald Bastion and Arthur Leywin, am I correct?" Virion finally spoke up while also looking down on the parchments on the council's desk. Receiving confirmation in the form of nods, he proceeded further. "The reason for requesting your presence here is due to recent events unfolding at the wall. Let's get straight to the point, who gave the command for the dive?"

The word was then transferred to Varay Aurae, the human lance. "As you understand, dives in the dungeons for less than 10 squadrons are forbidden due to it being an extremely dangerous affair. So, we need to find out who has given the command; Due to our decentralized way of operating the walls, we have multiple suspects; now we want to know who exactly. You may speak." She repeated her words.

"I'm aware of certain details; however, it was our team member and the leader, Brald Landon, who was at the meetings and received direct command." Reginald's words were not disheartening at all; if it allowed them to get closer to their target, the council was ready to listen. The lance urged the man to continue nonetheless. "During our shift at night, when we were patrolling, Brald kept cursing out the decisions of captains. Apparently, a few days earlier, scouts reported dungeons that were... previously cleared but needed some checking. However, as adventurers who were stationed in that place for so long, we didn't remember any of those dungeons being cleared at all."

"What I can clarify, though, is that it was actually the captains who voted for clearing the dungeons. We must be dealing with some different kind of betrayal, because Brald was in agreement with the command; from a logical standpoint, he was the right one."

"So it's not just one person? That's troublesome; finding one is a problem, but now there are multiple. We need to clarify that information with those who were at the meeting. The current whereabouts of Brald are unknown, am I right?"

"Our team was separated; Arthur and I were the ones who came out of the dungeon so far. It's a lot to take everything so quickly... so much happened..." Brald gritted his teeth and squeezed his fists in anger. "If there is a chance we could join a unit for reinforcements, I'm ready to go." His eyes sparkled with determination, and Arthur shared his thoughts as well.

"What about the boy?" Virion looked at Arthur, who nodded. The old elf shrugged his shoulders. The more, the better. "Tessia Eralith will also accompany you in this; she just returned from her training, and this will be her first time joining the conflict. For now, take some rest. From my understanding, you haven't slept for quite some time."

...

Arthur was in his room, finally resting after taking the first bite of something delicious in days. The bed was comfortable; it almost felt like he would fall through it because, for years, he hadn't experienced the softness. In his mind, he was literally lying on the cloud. The temperature of the room was also comfortable—warm enough to let him lay on the bed with just a tank top. He had also taken a hot shower and cleansed his body and mind all together.

His family and friends—their whereabouts and activities—were now his only concerns. 'I need to send them a letter when I get a chance... It's actually a good time for this, I think.' Arthur sat down at the desk, pencil and paper in hand, and began writing to his family. He started by telling them how much he missed them and how he was looking forward to seeing them again soon. He then told them about his whereabouts and what happened. He also told them about the people he had met and the things he had seen. Finally, he told them that he loved them and that he would write to them again soon.

Arthur wrote for a long time, and when he was finished, he felt much better at heart, although the pain in his right hand where he had the burn from the rune intensified. It was burning like hell. Previously, the Sword of Judgement literally hid in that rune, but it was painless; it was just stored like in a storage ring. 'What happened to this thing? It wasn't like this before.' Arthur was confused.

[Fool! Do you know how much time I have spent in that chest? Do you think I would like to spend more time in these confinements?!]

Arthur instantly realized, '...The sword?' But how could a sword talk in his mind? Besides, did he just complain?

[How foolish of you to consider me just a sword! Do you believe you, a mere human child, would be able to take down a king of Asuras without any aid from me? The knight's abilities aren't granted; you must earn them, you fool.] It spoke with anger in his voice and came out of Arthur's palm by itself.

The burning pain in his palm stopped, [And I'm the one who must bring you to that point; that is very troublesome considering you are a reckless fool just like your father.] Arthur's eyes popped. 'You know my father?!' he screamed in his mind. But got calmed down by the sword.

[Of course I know your father and many more; I've seen your memories... and I must say you have quite interesting... likings.]

"Oh, no... Why are you speaking to me only now?"

[Because I didn't feel like talking to your depressed soft-self, when you had so much on your mind that you couldn't even bother to consider so many things that were going on around you! Literally, you are a fool like I've never imagined myself to be able to exist!] The sword spoke his mind so freely that he didn't even consider his new master's feelings. He was becoming blindly-disrespectful and inconsiderate.

[But... yeah, you do have potential. You have the blood of Djinn in you; no wonder you were able to even accept me.]

Arthur was confused about what he meant by that sentence. So, the sword proceeded to explain what he meant by the blood of Djinn. His mom, who is a healer in today's world, is a descendant of Djinn, as are other healers in this world. Diviners of the elves are also descendants of the ancient race that is Djinn... So, Arthur was technically also a descendant of the ancient race. That's why he was able to enter the Knight's Temenos and accept the Sword of Judgement.

"So, was this merely a coincidence of me being a descendant of 'Ancient Race' or is there more to this?" Arthur asked for the sword.

[Obviously, there is more to play. I'll explain everything to you; that's my whole purpose for you...phew. But you won't understand anything; from what I've seen, this civilization doesn't even have insight into what Aether is. Of course, those bastard Asuras would've erased every hint about its existence.]

"Aether?"

[It's a magical element; like ultraviolet, it is purple, and without special needs, it's impossible to see. You won't be able to mend it with the human body, nor would you even be able to see it. However, I'm here to help you!]

Arthur grinned. He found this situation quite amusing. "You are overly proud of this fact."

[Of course, isn't it also part of human nature to display superiority over others? Isn't that what you guys like? To be able to show off and simply be better... than those that are next to you? Thought it was like that...] The sword's words pierce bits of human morals that Arthur had. Remembering the piece of sacks that lived in this world, most of those words were true.

[Humans, elves, dwarves, or asuras... all of them are the same. Not understanding each other, deep down in their souls. How can any of those races get closer to each other if, even among themselves, they have nothing but arrogance and hate. My master provisioned this way before its time, and for that reason he was banished by the Djinn.]

"Yeah, I saw that in the holograms. It must have been painful."

[I'm going in an entirely different direction with this conversation, but let's get back to the topic. Arthur Leywin, I will help you from now on, but don't overestimate your current self. You are still just a human being.]

...

*Knock* *Knock*

Someone was knocking on his door when Arthur woke up from his slumber. He got dressed as quickly as he could and splashed cold water on his face, then he opened the door. The unexpected guest was...Reginald. He wanted to ask if Arthur wanted to go and grab something to eat again. After all, they would be leaving soon, and they needed another feast.

Arthur replied, with 'Sure, let's go.', delighting Reginald, so both went to thecafeteria, where some soldiers were having their first meal of the day as well. They sat down with full plates and began their feast. While also having a conversation about how nice of a sleep they had.

[Good thing you got a little bit of sleep; I didn't remember how fragile the human body was... After all, the knights never slept. They were always ready for the battle.] The annoying sword started speaking again, in his mind as well, so Reginald was confused why Arthur had such an expression.

"Can you let me eat?" Arthur muttered under his breath, 'You also need to do some more research, our bodies also require some food. Unlike you, we are unable to last without it for three or four weeks?'

[And I don't remember ever inquiring about these explanations from you; it's not my fault we were bonded this way. I'm just speaking my mind; it's very unfortunate that you will be hearing all of them.]

'What did I sign up for...' Of course, Arthur didn't mean that seriously, but the sword was making this annoying. 'How am I even supposed to call this guy? Just 'sword'?' For how considerate he was of the sword's feelings, though, was not left behind.

[Ohhh, that's so cute; a human-child finally thought about addressing me as his own... Well, address me however you like. It doesn't matter to me for I exist only for battles.]

"Alright, poostain." [Okay, let's not get that far. Think of something better; can't you try a bit better.]

The two were having an inner argument. Arthur was trying to eat to his content, but his appetite was gone because of the annoying sword. While they were doing so, a feminine silhouette appeared behind Arthur. When the shadows fell on the desk, the auburn-haired boy finally turned around to see the princess, Tessia Eralith, in flesh.

"Do you mind if I sit here?" She asked, and when the boy shook his head (what else was he supposed to do otherwise?) she just sat down with her portion of food as well. "It's been a while, Arthur. You are actually the first schoolmate I've seen in years. It's relieving." She smiled when saying that.

He didn't know what he was supposed to say because everything in his mind at that moment became mushy. "Uh, same, actually. I haven't seen anybody from Xyrus for a long time, from the day of the attack, actually..." At the mention of that, both faces scrunched.

Reginald, who had meanwhile finished his meal in a hurry, stood up and said, "Arthur, I've already finished. It seems like you guys have some catching up to do, so I will leave you. Have a nice meal, your majesty." And so he left the two alone.

"How have you been? From earlier, I don't think it was pleasant at all." Tessia was right with her assumptions. Arthur went through quite a mess in just recent days; she couldn't imagine what had been happening around him for all these years. "Glayders told me that Kathyln and Curtis were okay; thankfully, they only recently entered the battlefield. What about you?"

Some memories flashed in his mind, although he didn't know if it was sword's doing, but he remembered perfect pictures of what was happening around him..."I spent some time practicing under my family friend's wing... then entered the service a few months later."

"...dang it. What about others? Have you heard nothing about the rest of the student council or disciplinary committee?"

"Nothing really, I was completely cut off from communications, I don't even know where they are right now." Arthur said hesitantly, as if trying to avoid this talk in front of the princess, thankfully, he managed to change the topic.

[You liarrr...]