Chapter 4 (8/8)

Kain spent the night at the Mages Council instructed by Noe Clerico.

The next day. Inside the High Priest’s palace. "Arthur, how did you sleep last night?"

"I slept well. Thank you, mother."

"Uhm, come and eat breakfast with your father and me."

"Yes, mother."

Arthur Castillon, the first child of Wil Castillon and the two thousand seven hundred twenty fourth (2724th) child of Zora Faringray.

Wil Castillon, six hundred eighty seven (687) years old, he was born in the year of 415,141 of the 48th calendar. Wil is a tenth-tier warrior and head commander of the thirty-sixth Legion under Bifjorkian Theocracy’s commands. Each Legion has one million warriors.

Zora Faringray, four hundred sixty two thousand three hundred eleven (462,311) years old, she was born in the year of 953,498 of the 47th calendar. Zora is a Saint-tier Warrior, one of the six High Priests in the Thirteenth Scripture under Bifjorkian Theocracy’s commands. There are many Priests and Priestesses in the Thirteenth Scripture, but Zora is the only Priestess that holds the rank of High Priest.

Zora had been married over two thousand times, and she lost count of it. Before you get the wrong idea, no, this is not polyandry. Zora can only have one husband at a time. Some of her husbands made it to the Saint-tier Warrior but could not live eternally with her because either they have become Gods and traveled to higher realms, or they have died in battle with the Demi-Humans of the Dryardian Empire. No current Saint-tier Warriors would like to marry Zora for the same reason that she does not want to marry any of them. It's kinda common sense since there is no divorce in Toria Continents. Why would you want to marry someone that you have to spend eternity with? The first couple hundred of years could be fun, but after that, it's all about arguments and… let’s move on.

Out of all two thousand seven hundred twenty seven (2727) children of Zora, Arthur was the only one that was born with a Conjurer Soul. All of her other sons and daughters were born without any Elemental Soul. Because of that, they have to follow the warrior's path to get stronger. Most of them died of old age before they could reach the Saint-tier Warrior as she did. Conjurer Mages are useful in large scale battles where they have warriors to protect them while they chant for Conjuration spells. In a one on one battle, Conjurer Mages usually get killed before they could have a chance to conjure any creature. Even when they successfully conjured a creature, that creature usually failed to protect them before they had enough time to conjure another one. That is why people often see Conjurer Soul is the weakest of all Elemental Souls. There are powerful Saint Conjurer Mages like Noe Clerico, just like there are powerful Saint Mages in all other Elemental, but not all Conjurer Mages can be well respected like him.

"How was the Mages Academy of Nosh treating you?" Wil asked Arthur as he was eating breakfast.

"It was good, Father."

"You know that you can always move back here, right?"

"Yes, father."

Zora asked, "Arthur, how long are you going to defy me?"

"Mother, I have never defied you. I just don't want to be treated differently in the Mages Academy. In Nosh, no one knows my background. They did not have to show me any kind of respect that I did not earn."

"I have spoken with the Mages Council to give you a good position after you graduate."

"Mother, please allow me to choose my own path. I do not want to be in anyone's shadow. I wanted to get famous using my own power."

Wil said, "I have watched your battle with three other Student Intermediate Mages. You have done well for a Conjurer Mage."

"Thank you, Father."

The next tournament day will be a month from now. This is to allow revived magic casters to have enough time for their mana regeneration ability to work again. Any teams that have lost in the first day of the tournament will have to go back to their Mages Academies.

A soldier walked in and said, "Commander Castillon. High Priest Faringray. Executioner Bodwyn is here to invite Arthur Castillon to the Mages Council's temple."

“Executioner Bodwyn? Hmm, let him in." Zora said.

A minute later, David walked in. He smiled and said, "Hey Wil. Hey Zora. I haven’t seen you guys for like… twenty years?"

Zora returned with a smile and said while Wil nodded, "Executioner Bodwyn, it has been more than a hundred years now."

"Is that so? I didn’t know it was that long. Anyway, the leader of the Gray wants to meet your son."

Noe Clerico wanted to meet Arthur? Both Wil and Zora opened their mouth wide as they heard that. To personally get an invitation by a leader of the Colors is a goal not many magic casters can achieve. Especially that invitation came from Noe Clerico, the strongest Conjurer Mage of the Mages Council.

"We are truly honored about that. This is my son, Arthur Castillon." Zora said as she introduced Arthur.

"No introduction needed, I know who he is. Young man, I watched your battle yesterday. You were very impressive."

"Thank you, Executioner Bodwyn." Arthur humbly responded.

"Haha... are you ready?”

Arthur turned toward Zora and saw she nodded. This is a very normal reaction from Arthur because Zora is the ‘man’ of the relationship, not Wil. If Zora refused to let Arthur go, Wil would not dare to say otherwise. To be honest, who would want to turn down that kind of invitation? Definitely not Arthur. Especially when he earned that invitation using his own power. Arthur said, "Executioner Bodwyn, I am ready."

Arthur stopped eating breakfast and immediately followed David. There was a horse cart waiting for them outside of the High Priest’s palace and took them straight to the Mages Council's temple.

Inside the throne room of Noe Clerico. Kain was also present while Noe Clerico asked Arthur to join the Gray. Arthur was not surprised to see Kain there because Kain is much stronger compared to him. If Arthur received an invitation to join the Gray and Kain did not get one. That would mean his mother has pulled some strings to help him for this opportunity. Seeing Kain standing here made Arthur feel much better knowing he got here using his own power, not because of Zora’s requests. Just like Kain, Arthur immediately agreed to join the Gray when Noe asked him. Arthur also received an LYAUR as the welcoming gift for joining the Gray today. Kain and Arthur left the Mages Council’s temple together.

While walking back to the hotel to meet up with other students and professors of Nosh, Kain said, “I heard you cheered for me yesterday.”

“Uhm.”

“Why?”

“Because you were good.”

“Aren’t you supposed to be mad at me for beating the shit out of you six years ago?”

“I did not poop my pants. Yes, I was angry for three years, but not anymore.”

“How so?”

“I was weaker. How can I get mad for getting defeated by someone else stronger? On the plus side, I have learned much more from that defeat.”

“Oh? What did you learn?”

“I have learned that there is no such thing as an absolute victory until the battle is over. Even if my opponents appeared to be weaker, I still could not let my guard down. I will use all of my power for each and every battle I face.”

“I’m glad you understand it. Many idiots wanted to reserve their mana for the next battle. There is no next battle if you die.”

Several minutes later, Kain asked, “Did my team win yesterday?”

“They did, with the result of five and six. Nosh had five Student Master Mages out while Sinerin had all six. All thanks to you because you alone got three of them out.”

Kain nodded to agree with Arthur about that. Kain’s team won yesterday's tournament battle because of him. This is the first time Kain and Arthur have had an actual conversation since the duel of six years ago. They kept on sharing with each other about all the training and fighting experiences they have gained for the past nine years.

Kain said, “Hey weakling, let’s be friends.”

Arthur smiled and said, “Sure. But if I can beat you in the future, then you can’t call me weakling anymore.”

“Deal.”