Chapter 15: Chapter 13: The Warmage Pupil Arc

Unbidden, a memory came to me as I walked back home. I and Esteban sitting side by side in one of the beds in the orphanage, in his old room. We glanced at each other, chattering relatively happily about our futures, or what we thought they could be, more on his premise than mine. “In some years, I’ll do my best to become a mercenary and have adventures through the entire world, discovering new ruins and fighting evil creatures, saving cute girls, and drinking alcohol with the other grownups.” He had a lot of ambition for someone so young, having a lot more knowledge of the world that he didn’t share openly, except in times like these where we knew our lives didn’t run any risk. 

“Sounds like you’ll have a brief life, aiming at such dangerous things.” I was as cold as my sincerity, and my words back then were surely no different than a sharp knife. However, with a glimmer in his eyes, there was only hope, together with a great conviction. Back then, that made me jealous, as I didn’t have his knowledge nor knew what the world was like.

“How about you? If you could choose from anything, what would it be?” Life hadn’t been easy on me and I didn’t have anything like a dream or a goal that I sought to fulfill.

However, there were two very different things in specific that my heart directed itself to, similar to how the needle of a compass always aimed north. “From time to time, I dream of two girls whose appearances never change...”

He opened his mouth, curious, and as a line of saliva was starting to fall, a sucking sound I heard, making me look at him with disgust, causing both of us to laugh. “So... how are they like?”

I did my best to remember and upon getting a somewhat clear image of them; I told him with a smile on my lips, one my mouth rarely used. “One of them was certainly very beautiful, but a different interesting aspect, quite noticeable really, she had what looked like a tail, and ears that didn’t fit an appearance of a human being, a splendid sky-blue tone to them.”

In my memory, my mind reminds him of laughing a lot at that, making me flustered about telling him about one of my dreams. I pouted, and he quickly apologized upon realizing my angry expression. “I’m sorry about that. Please tell me more.” A bit reluctantly, I continued, as it was a good time without Josie around.

“There was this other girl, one with yellow hair like the sun and green eyes similar to grass, often she would point towards a certain thing... consistently a door... a cave... a wide hole in the ground, but every time I reached close to them, her hand would grab mine waking me up.”

With a weird expression, he looked at me cautiously and aware. “You sure it wasn’t a nightmare? It certainly doesn’t sound very dreamlike, but if anything, it sounded like she was warning you of danger, I suppose...” For a long time, I thought of its meaning, but without giving much importance to them as they were just things in my head, I let them go. The boy, still filled with curiosity, asked me. “What was the second thing?” At those words, I placed a finger in front of my nose while being quiet, as much as I wanted to tell him. Steps approached us, and shortly after, the caretaker entered the room.

“Ugh... whilst not, all my memories are horrible. They’re still not great.” I stared at the sky, grey, black, and cloudy as it looked, menacing the world of rain and thunders. “I wonder what he’s up to...”

 

Further away from the south base of the warmage, closer to the center of the kingdom of the castle towards the north, a certain conversation went by.

“Esteban! Stop giving trouble to your father! He already has an entire kingdom to rule!” He rolled his eyes, annoyed at the woman who yelled at him, one of many senior maids with some permission from his majesty to do so. “If you keep this up, your father might relinquish your name to the throne.”

With an aggravated and serious expression, he fought back. “I don’t care. I’m just a bastard anyway, and there are plenty of replacements, older than me, even in the line to the throne.” The woman sent him flying with a slap, causing him to fall on the brown paved floor.

To her, the boy glared but didn’t dare to harm her. Instead, like many times before, he rose from the floor and left that place quietly. “Esteban wait! You haven’t finished today’s assignments!”

But the young man didn’t stop, now with the age of sixteen a bit more aged than Aura who had three less. Quickly, his feet took him outside to the courtyard, where he stood alone, looking at the vast sky and the minuscule houses and extended fields that spread all the way to the horizon. ‘That white-haired girl sure fucked me over.’ The youngster grinned happily, thinking that he was safe from the royal family hidden in one of the orphanages. ‘I even told her to not tell anyone my name.’

He sighed, looking displeased at everything around, and then his face turned south, aware of the location where Ryhn kidnapped him too, and also by the appearance of the elder trapped in his mind. The culprit of the destruction that befell the named 55 building of his majesty. ‘Perhaps I should tell my father to warn the church about it...’ A chuckle followed by an evil grin. Esteban felt angry about his situation and how terribly bothersome the royal family had been to him, similarly to Aura, a couple of assassination attempts here and there were quite common.

For better or worse, he owned the darkness element and, by all means; it was one of the principal reasons that his body remained intact. ‘I have a long list of candidates to outdo, all in the name of the god of darkness.’ An entire meticulous and vast plan spread throughout in his mind to overthrow the kingdom and replace the one at the throne with himself. If that were to happen, the kingdom of Einhol would fall in the hands of a different god, the reason why the adorers of other divinities received exile or even kept in check by the militia.

‘18 older siblings and 13 younger ones... most unnamed... my father to be taken as the last one. And once I’m done, I’ll adventure through the world, creating the biggest expeditions this world will ever witness.’ Not once had he completely lied to the white-haired girl, but sometimes, the information given had some omitted details to it. He waved his neck to the sides, stretching it and causing some bones to do a clacking sound. ‘This world will soon come into my hands.’

After another sigh, he smirked while looking south, thinking of the peculiar friend from his childhood. ‘Just you wait, one day I’ll show you how great I have become!’ Esteban stepped back from the balustrade, turning around to where he came from with a serious expression. ‘Once the day comes, I’ll show you how better the world has become. Once I get rid of all these worthless, corrupt maggots that keep on biting my skin.’

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Before completely leaving, he took a glimpse to the north, noticing the great unnaturally shaped ravine that split the castle from the rest of his father's northern territory. A while later, he took a seat in the war room, one of the prohibited zones for anyone that didn’t belong to the army, except for royalty. For him, it was one of the best places to be as no maid or butler would dare to interrupt a meeting, much less enter and make a fuss to have the youngster removed. The one time it happened, a certain general, a woman called Zeina, spanked the maid in front of everyone else, making a rigorous example of her. Ever since that day, no other attempted such an outrageous deed. It was further mentioned subsequently during that evening by Germin, the head of the army, that humans learn faster through physical abuse than words of advice.

“Prince Esteban, here again to partake in a lesson?” A bald, tall, muscled fellow looked at him with a proud smile, as unlike any other of royal blood never dropped by to learn about war. Those who cared had their own strategists, teachers, and book advisors. 

“Of course, how else will I lead my army to victory if not for the general Mike’s splendid tactics?” The man placed a knuckle in front of his mouth before coughing at the obvious flattery.

‘This brat sure has guts.’ Soon after, the same hand turned into a rigid fist and struck the table, waking up every officer and major seating by the long wood that vibrated severely from the impact. “Well then, let us start, but before that, I have some important news to give all of you as it’ll influence greatly the upcoming warfare.”

Everyone stared at him firmly, as being laid back once the fist of justice slammed would only cause punishment to follow through. “What information do you have for us, general Mike?” The one seated in the opposite chair as Esteban spoke filled with curiosity, with a hint of anxiety in his eyes as the bald man didn’t have a radiant face.

“Yes, major Franciesto. One of the ten entitled monsters of our kingdom has reformed to teach their successor.” Muttering and confusion quickly expanded across the table as that would denigrate greatly their upcoming plans. 

“Which one was it?” The person next to the young prince questioned, rubbing her hands afterward, blowing some hot air on them as the conversation gave her chills.

“Possibly the one we needed the most, officer Janine, the elder Ryhn Alankhazar, the seventh tiered magus.” From his reply, the woman started massaging the hands at a faster pace, feeling nervous thinking about a solution, causing the different men to avert their gazes upon the great friction.

Not too long after, she remembered the various traditions of Einhol and the rules within it. “Could we perhaps buy some of his time? Doesn’t he have to wait a year to announce his retirement upon our kingdom laws?”

General Mike frowned heavily, letting out a sigh whilst making an annoyed face. “In a happy yet unlucky note, he does. However, the elder declared it a year ago after finding some girl to be his successor.”

The agglomerated information that flowed started to cause some reaction inside Esteban's heart, who could no longer control the excitement within him, reminding himself of the last moments he had with the white-haired girl. ‘Could it be? Was it for that reason he forced me to go through the affinity ritual?’

With some doubts as the information was unclear and she didn’t have a name at the time, the boy voiced out. “What element are we losing in the upcoming war?” The general glanced at the prince, who, despite being called a bastard, had an equal right to the throne, and also a vast line of successors to go through till it reached his standing. “Water...”

Reminded of her appearance, he always thought that if there was an element that would have befitted the girl, it would have been light or spirit. “So we’re losing a powerful healer in the back lines... tha-.” 

Esteban got quickly interrupted by the bald man whose vein almost popped out. “You stupid bastard! It is the freaking Ryhn Alankhazar we’re talking about. Give him a battlefield where there is a source of water and he’ll drown hundreds to thousands!”

Upon hearing the reply that came both with an insult which he was used to, but also with a proper explanation, the youngster gulped, unaware of what it meant to have a seventh-tier magus at his side. A bit calmer, the general added a few more words, looking in front of him, viewing every figure seated in both flanks. “It is as almost everyone knows.” His eyes glanced at the prince before continuing. “Despite being a force to reckon he was indeed a great help healing hundreds on the backline, and to be fair, a very expensive man to include in our rankings.”

The nobleman Mord, the head of the Ena household at the very end of the table, spoke loudly and clearly for all to hear, dressed in an expensive red and black attire. “They may be bad news to some extent, but the truth is also that the warmage is near to dying, being close to his eighties, I believe.” He twisted his fingers in the air and then pointed at the general across the table. “Thus, in the long term, we’ll acquire a fresh water magus equally strong, and if the god of light so desires, perhaps above.”

The words were successful in bringing a better atmosphere to the entire room, as the man’s silver tongue was quite talented. They knew that a master would make their successors into no less than their own tier with enough time and resources, but not as often would a student surpass their mentor, as that required a whole level of knowledge they couldn’t grasp easily. Nonetheless, it was a valid and clear argument that no one in the room dared to contest.

The general smashed the table, this time with less strength to cease the diverse voices who spoke happily about the matter. “As not everything is bad news since there can be horrible ones too, our neighbor kingdom Earthalia announced war upon us. Each side will have a year to prepare and obviously, we’ll be fighting them on the frontier vast field of our territory, further to the north for those who may not know.” The man glanced at Esteban once again thinking of educating him in the process as he returned one year ago, who didn’t have enough time to be knowledgeable about everything. 

Inside his mind, frustration resounded in turmoil. ‘I knew that one, you old fart.’ The last lessons the boy had before he escaped were between his six and nine years, and to be fair, a lot changed since then. 

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