The three tried to overcome the shock and trepidation from the scene just displayed before their eyes.And for the two older men, they had to overcome their uneasiness, doubts and fear towards the enigmatic commoner boy to whom the sword had chosen to reveal such a cryptic mystery of the universe.
Who was this una.s.suming, unimpressive, NORMAL boy...?
When asked that question, the golden-haired, clear-eyed youth just replied: "I don"t know."
And neither of the two old hands of politics, lying, scheming and sussing out plots felt that he was lying. He truly did not know.
And Lars himself realised that he did not know.
Whether his past life or his current life... Who was he?
Was there something different about him, that the sword would react to him like this...?
Was there something special about him, like how big sis Jessica[1] used to say...? "A genius beyond geniuses who must be born from geniuses... But with rotten luck"...?
And then Adrian would comfort him and pat him on the back, saying, "Yeah kid, you"re pretty good! It"s like seeing a young version of myself, work hard and maybe you"ll be as good as me someday!" Then he"d get stuff thrown at him for his overweening bragging, as always.
Lars chuckled, breaking the silence of his lonely footsteps, as he had left the two older men to muse and ruminate in the underground vault. He himself was headed to the departure point for the supply wagons to report in early so that they could make arrangements for him to tag along.
A clearly shaken Vault-keeper Noone had given him a cursory explanation of the sword: a katana, unknown origins, handed down in the Kingdom of the Sands but left here because no one could use it, as when wielded, it was unbreakable but had no other special powers except the bright light.
It was called Brightstar because of the light released when it was unsheathed by the original scabbard.
Then the two older men, looking even more aged after the spectacle they had observed, shooed him off, ignoring the fact that he was just a trainee and not allowed to wander the hallways alone.
"Jessica, Adrian. And Jayshree, Mia, Samuel, Hajiro..."
He missed them, missed his brothers and sisters.
What would they say if they saw him today...?
Would things still be the same...?
Would Samuel tell another of his bad jokes...? About how the sea is blue because the fish go, "Bloo Bloo Bloo"...?
Would Kizuma, or Hajiro - whichever his name was - go on and on about his favourite guns and weapons, actually really talkative once they got through his layers of shyness...?
Maybe Jayshree would still be the same. Just sitting in a corner, tinkering with their equipment, but always with a perfect eye for the details, knowing exactly what they preferred just from observing her teammates.
Little firey Mia... She liked to think of herself and talk as if she were the most mature and grown up, to the point she"d ruffle Mikael"s[2] hair and treat him like a kid, tut-ing at him like an old woman! It didn"t help that she was so short she had to stand on the bed to reach his head... She was too cute.
And Robin...
Robin...
His heart clenched tight for a moment, then he released a long sigh, footsteps slowing as he neared the end of the dimly-lit hallways and reached the stables and wagons area.
And even as he reached the proverbial light at the end of the a.n.a.logical tunnel, he felt a catharsis in his heart.
"Robin... I"ll find out why. Maybe... You had your reasons too..."
But his eyes hardened, sharpening.
"...But I"m still a man of Earth. I will defend my homeland! And I won"t forgive your actions!..."
He stepped out into the light, feeling a hot wind on his face, filled with the dust of the sandy ground kicked up by trotting horses, wagon wheels and dozens of men at work loading and unloading things.
He smiled.
"...But I forgive *you*, dai lou Robin."
He wondered if they"d have liked Moira if he had the chance to introduce her to them.
Yeah.
Yeah, they would"ve like her.
But now they"ve gone their separate ways, perhaps, never to meet again?
Perhaps they would - if there were another life after this for him, maybe... For them...?
Shrugging wistfully, the gloomy boy shook his head to shake off the glum emotions and put a smile on his face.
He then walked over to a man who looked to be in charge, holding a clipboard on which several sheets of paper were affixed, calling out to him and showing the letter given to him by the Vault-keeper.
"Excuse me, sir! Excuse me! Here, I have this letter from Sir Noone? I"m supposed to join your supply wagons to Mashedahk town..."
* * * * *
Duke Silvan paused as he instilled mana into the teleportation portal. Without this device, teleportation more than 5km in distance was risky and consumed too much mana - not to mention the complex calculations involved in a line-of-sight jump - or the even greater risk of a blind jump!
He had easily acquiesced to the girl"s request for a treasure to be given to the boy. And so he had instructed the vizier to take care of it by specifically giving him one of the available top-tier treasures stored in the Arena Vault - Brightstar.
He had three reasons for this.
First, it was her right after all. And he, as a man of honour, ensured to keep his word to let the boy leave the Arena and equip him with a true treasure.
Second, despite the sword being graded as a National-level treasure, despite its abstruse nature and the exceedingly great level of mana contained, it was only useful as a torch in the dark, an unbreakable hammer or to alert everyone of your location. It was nearly useless.
Third. If the weak little kitten walked around with such a treasure, wouldn"t that make him a prime target for robbery and murder...? Which, of course, he himself would not need to have any part in - he just needed to hand over the bait to the child and wait.
He gloated inwardly. Then he could just buy back the treasure - or wipe out the bandits and claim the merit for recovering it.
As the portal began to stablise, Duke Silvan asked a polite question to the girl. "Are you ready, my dear?"
But clearly, it was more of a directive than a question.
Moira paused for a split second, then nodded.
They were standing at a good distance of perhaps 1.3 kilometres from the Colosseum compound at the teleportation site. The five of them - the Duke, the Princess, Seline, Linges and last but not least, Sharon - stood within an arcane and abstruse formation inscribed on the yellow-stone floor of the teleportation portal. The circular formation spanned roughly 10m in radius while the teleportation portal itself stood about 8 metres high and 6 metres wide, enough to allow even a large load of goods or visitors through at the same time.
She looked back at the sprawling complex of buildings and the towering Arena behind her, then smiled and pursed her lips in determination.
"I"m ready."
"Good." He took her hand in his left, then waved the teleportation key that he held in his right hand - a short, dull-black wand that would go unnoticed normally.
As she stepped forward to follow the middle-aged man through the glowing blue portal, Moira felt waves of emotions crash over her soul.
It was real... Not a dream...
Her a Princess...
He, far away, liberated and free to live a common man"s unfettered life.
Her, blessed with great privilege, yet bound to the duties that came with such.
He, who she hoped would not be too sad without her, away from her... Remembering their memories together and holding fast their promise.
He was always such a weak-willed and pa.s.sive boy despite his talent and killer instincts in the ring... She hoped he wouldn"t cry, wouldn"t be sad.
She knew she was already sad.
They were going their separate ways, mayhaps to cross paths sooner than 20 years...?
Hopefully, to meet again sooner rather than later.
She held back the sudden urge to cry, the sorrowful sobs that came unbidden, and maintained an impa.s.sive, straight face as best as she could.
"Let us depart to the capitol of the Sands, Danedaar, Princess Moira."
The refined man stepped through with the melancholic blonde-haired beauty in tow, and they were followed by the hulking giant of a boy, an indifferent red-haired vixen and a stern tomboyish brunette.
*
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[1] Jessica Magallanes, mentioned in chapter 1.
[2] Here it is Mikael, because it occurred in his past life as Mikael ^_^