The Star Of Annihilation

The Star of Annihilation

Chapter 16 – Awakenings (1)

Written by : eleven

Proofread by : ch17175

* * *

Shiiiik!
Lucius drew his sword out from its scabbard and pointed it at Roy in a calm manner.

Roy blinked repeatedly before realizing what was going on.

The air in the surroundings was being pushed along with a slight breeze, but the second that Lucius took his sword out, it seemed as if everything had become completely still.

Anyone staring at Lucius from afar would just see a man pointing a sword at a boy.

But for Roy who was staring right at Lucius, he couldn’t help but feel a frightening and domineering pressure from Lucius’ appearance.

It was as if there was an intangible energy surrounding every particle of the atmosphere in which they were standing in.

“Wh…What do yo-”

“Come.”

“….?”

“Attack me like you mean it. No magic.”

Roy’s eyes narrowed.

“What about body enhancement magic?”

“None.”

“Tsk.”

Roy clicked his tongue and looked away for a brief moment and then dashed, lowering his posture and kicked the ground. Maintaining his posture in a bent stance as he dashed forward, he tried to cut out as much air resistance in his movement as possible as he brought the saber below his waist and brought it upwards at Lucius.

Twack!
The wooden saber was stopped with the very tip of Lucius’ sword like he had threaded a needle.

Roy didn’t even see Lucius’ movements but didn’t give up or relent in his pressure as he twisted his body and hips giving a roundhouse kick aimed towards Lucius’ chin.

Swish!

The sound of hitting air could be heard.

Lucius simply titled his head to the side and let Roy continue to messily swing his saber towards him in a flurry of strikes.

Lucius’ eyes were moving the entire time as he narrowly dodged every single strike with a hair’s breadth and stabbed each strike of Roy’s saber with the tip of his.

It became infuriating that Lucius kept blocking Roy’s every blow with just the tip of his sword. It was as if he was purposefully trying to humiliate him by using the equivalent of using a pinky to stop a punch in swordsmanship terms.

Thud.

Before Roy knew it, his body was on the ground and his eyes were staring at the sky.

‘Huh?’

He didn’t even see what happened.

His back was in pain as it felt like it had been beaten with a club.

“That’s enough for today.”

Roy blinked repeatedly before pushing himself up in a hurry and shouting out to Lucius.

“Wait, you haven’t taught me anything! Didn’t you say-”

“Be here tomorrow before the sun rises with your little stick. We’ll continue from there.”

Roy grit his teeth. Why was he being made fun of like this? Roy felt infuriated but eventually let out a deep exhale.

‘I almost lost myself there for a second.’

No matter how irritated Roy could get, he was always quick to recollect himself due to his cold and analytic nature as a Mage.

‘Why was I so heated?’

Roy wondered to himself as he stared at the direction in which Lucius had walked away.

When using magic, he was always good at controlling his emotions and using them collectively for his purpose and not letting them distract himself from his goals. Yet… with the sword, he felt like a child all over again, learning magic for the first time.

Roy’s legs eventually buckled as he plopped down on his butt.

He started to stretch out his limbs as he brushed the sweat away from his forehead. Luckily, his hands were somewhat calloused already from his seemingly pointless ‘training’ as Lucius had mocked.

He started to review the fight and point out the details to himself.

In the distance behind one of the trees, outside of Roy’s vision, Lucius smiled as he looked at Roy sitting there and reviewing.

‘He’s not the sharpest with the sword, and quite frankly…has pitiful talent. But at least he has the hard work and right mentality to grow stronger. I don’t remember the last time I’ve seen a child review a fight without being told to; even inside the Imperial Academy.’

As Lucius walked away, he stared at the starry night sky and felt the cool air brush through his hair.

“Phew- What an interesting day.”

Lucius chuckled to himself.

As he got closer to the village, He saw the figure of Ferneth in the distance approaching him in a slow walk.

Lucius raised his eyebrow but continued to walk towards Ferneth without giving it too much thought.

Lucius stopped his steps as he saw Ferneth a few feet away from him.

“What’s up?”

Lucius asked in a nonchalant tone.

Ferneth scowled but didn’t press further as he stated his business.

[The other boy, Nate, has woken up.]

“Oh!”

[He’s currently resting his body right now and is being treated by my disciple. You needn’t worry.]

Lucius stopped his leaning posture and let his shoulders relax at the words.

“Are you ready for tomorrow?”

Lucius explained to Ferneth earlier in the day about what he had heard back from the Emperor. Tubel, the Grand Wizard, was coming to the village the next day, and the royal princes along with their envoys would be there with him. He was currently busy warping them to a nearby town and getting rest while preparing themselves to depart for the village the next morning.

[….]

“I understand that you might still have concerns. But, I promise under the name of the Emperor himself, that you will not have any harm done to you or your student.”

Ferneth stood there silently, listening to the words.

[Why.]

Ferneth spoke the single word as if it were a statement and not a question.

[Why are you showing me… an undead… Why are you being so open-minded?]

“As great as the Empire is… there’s some things that even I don’t understand when it comes to the Emperor’s decisions. As for myself, well I just think that one shouldn’t judge others based on appearances.”

[….]

Ferneth was speechless. He was still incredibly skeptical of the Emperor and the Empire’s subjects. In fact, he didn’t see anything good out of getting mixed up with the Empire’s affairs since he now truly had a personal vendetta with the Holy Church.

But… There were a couple of things that stopped him.

Elizabeth, the girl he treated like an adopted daughter, was happy for the first time and smiling like a normal girl. When he had found her, she was a beggar at the pitiful age of four. She was malnourished and incredibly weak.

She was finally smiling and had made some good friends. And those friends of hers, were completely interesting children in his eyes. Never had he seen such an unusual pair of kids before. Especially after the recent battle, Ferneth also started paying more attention to Nate.

He felt an odd feeling that he should stay close to them. It was just a thought in the back of his mind he was always shoving away. But, he couldn’t help and think that something was going to happen with these kids at the center of it all.

Something big.

Gathering his thoughts and thinking that Lucius was just another fool, Ferneth turned around and blinked back to the village without saying a word.

“Hah- nice to talk to you too.”

Lucius shook his head as he spoke to himself in a sarcastic tone. He was a calculating man, there was no way he would have survived the slums when he was a kid if he was not. There was a lot that was going to happen tomorrow, and he was excited at the thought of a new student.

“Ahhhh~”

Lucius sighed as he walked towards his makeshift abode.

* * *

Chirp! Chirp!
The sound of birds could be heard as Nate woke up the next morning from his long rest. His entire body felt fatigued. Every strand of muscle and fiber in his body ached in protest.

“Ugh…”

Nate lifted himself up as he examined his surroundings.

He felt something heavy pressing down on his leg and he looked to see what it was.

“Huh?”

It was a ball of golden yarn? That was what Nate thought, but then it moved.

“…Uhhh.. huh- Oh! Good morning Nate.”

Elizabeth raised her head up as she rubbed her groggy-looking eyes. Her pale complexion only seemed to be whiter since the last time he had seen her.

“Hey Elizabeth, what happened?”

“How much do you remember?”

“Um…. I’m not sure.”

Nate gripped his head with his right hand and closed his eyes shut from the throbbing headache he was having.

“Ugh…”

“Just wait here Nate, I’m going to go get my master for you!”

Elizabeth quickly woke up and came to, seeing the pain Nate seemed to be in.

Hoho- the boy is awake! I wonder just how long it will take for him to realize the power in his own body.
“Huh- What?”

Nate felt a voice talking in his head and looked around confusedly.

….Boy. You can hear me?

“What? Yes! Who are you or no- where are you?”

Nate looked around confusedly trying to find the person who was sending him these mental messages.

Hmph.. you won’t be able to see me yet. And as for who I am, you may call me Varpulis.
“Yet? What does that mean?”

Relax and stay still for now. We will talk later since your friends are coming.
Immediately after those words, Nate felt like he had a connection in his brain shut-off like a switch.

Click.

The door opened suddenly and Nate jerked his head to see who it was.

A man with very average features, but dressed in a familiar black robe came in next to Elizabeth, followed by Roy.

“How are you feeling Nate?”

“….Who are you?”

Nate asked Ferneth, not understanding who the identity of the man in front of him was.

Ferneth waved his hand across his face and the image of human skin disappeared as white bones and flickering lights inside of the empty eye sockets replaced it.

“Ah! Mister Ferneth. Uh, I’m doing alright I think.”

Nate scratched his head confusedly, not sure really of his own state. Seeing this, Roy stepped forward.

“Nate, do you remember what happened when we were being attacked by the church?”

A series of images flashed through Nate’s memories as he was able to recall what had happened to a certain extent. But after a certain point in the memories, it felt like there was something blocking him from remembering.

Furrowing his brows, Nate shook his head from side to side.

“I do…. but I don’t remember much after that man attacked Elizabeth.”

Nate frowned and then peeked a glance at Elizabeth who was hiding shyly behind Ferneth. As their eyes met briefly, Nate turned his head to look away and Elizabeth did the same, both their cheeks flushing red.

[Hah. Seems like you’re still energetic enough to get out of bed it seems.]

Ferneth scoffed at the sight he was seeing between the two kids.

Roy just shook his head in disappointment and embarrassment.

“We have some time, let’s eat first and fill Nate in on what he doesn’t remember. Does that sound alright?”

Roy suggested to Ferneth as he felt rather stressed about the numerous conversations that were likely to happen today.

Inside Roy’s home, the sounds of laughter and playful banter could be heard along with the smell of delicious homemade food being eaten.

Chapter 16 – Fin