Rylan opened the door and entered the room with Aelfric. Inside, Sarah stood up from the chair she was sitting on and bowed with pristine form.
“Welco back, young masters,” she said. “How was the party?”
Aelfric imdiately sighed, rubbing his neck.
“It was great until they started trying to use . Again,” he replied. “Just when I had finally convinced Luna to dance with …”
Sarah raised her body as Rylan grinned and wrapped his arm around Aelfric’s shoulder.
“Well, you already know how it goes. It’ll get easier to deal with it over ti,” Rylan said. “You’ll get more comfortable with shutting them down, at least.”
Aelfric scoffed.
“I wish I didn’t have to do that at all. I know you’re crazy impressive or whatever but trying to reach you through is low.”
“Eh, it’ll be fine. Just gotta be more decisive when rejecting them,” Rylan looked at Sarah. “Sorry for leaving you here all alone. Must have been boring as hell.”
She smiled sweetly.
“No need to worry. And, my lord,” she furrowed her brow. “You might be used to this much attention because of your past life, but that isn’t the sa for young master Aelfric. It’s his first ti experiencing sothing like this.”
Rylan blinked, then sighed and looked at Aelfric.
“Yeah, I should’ve been more understanding. My bad. I know this is all new to you, but we’re gonna get through it.”
Aelfric only smiled and shook his head.
“No, it’s alright. I know everything will be fine because you’re here with ,” he said.
Rylan smiled back at him, tapping his shoulder.
“I will always stay by your side, Aelfric. No matter what.”
Sarah grinned at this sight, her gaze warm and tender.
“Young master,” she started, looking at Rylan. He turned to her. There was now a touch of concern to her expression. “I’ve got a letter for you from the lord. It arrived while you were at the party.”
Rylan furrowed his brow as Sarah turned around and walked up to the desk. She grabbed the letter on its surface and handed it over to him. He looked at the unbroken seal. While this could just be a letter congratulating him, it could also be sothing else, given the situation back in Cantavega. He opened the letter and read it slowly.
It opened with a “congratulations!” in large letters and sharp handwriting. Rylan smiled. The first paragraph was entirely about how proud Gerard was of him and how much he regretted not being able to congratulate him personally.
He ant every word in this letter.
Rylan’s smile widened.
From the second paragraph onward, however, Gerard detailed the changes that had happened due to the Open Dungeon and what Rast’s plans were. Increasingly powerful monsters were getting closer and closer to the town, and the mana levels kept rising. It was unclear what kind of creatures lay deep in the Woodlands, since Rast had now deed exploration too dangerous.
Rylan read the final line. It was a request for help. For the good of the town and all of the innocent citizens in it, Gerard wanted to explore the Woodlands and Open Dungeon alongside Rylan.
Rylan folded the letter, letting out a breath.
“Sarah,” he said as he looked at her. His expression was now dead serious. “If we spare no resources, how fast can I get back to Cantavega?”
She was silent for a few seconds before shaking her head.
“…Based on what I know, around ten days.”
Rylan rubbed his chin.
“No way around it, then. I’m gonna go ask for so help.”
She tilted her head, while Aelfric only looked at him with so confusion.
“I’m going to set up a eting with the Headmaster,” Rylan continued. “I'll ask him for backup. It will take us ten days, but he might know of a quicker thod to send other people to Cantavega.”
Sarah and Aelfric slowly nodded at the sa ti after a few seconds.
"Do you an you want reiforcents to arrive in Cantavega before us, my lord?" Sarah asked.
Rylan nodded.
"One or two professors to help Father hold the line until I arrive would already be enough. Besides, I probably need his permission to leave and enter a Dungeon anyway, since I'm his disciple now. Not that it matters, though."
He was confident that Damian would respond, since he’d been the one to win the tournant. His abilities now spoke for him. Truthfully, he would go to the Dungeon even if Damian was against it. The main point of this conversation was to ask for reinforcents.
I’ve got to learn Whisper.
Shaking his head slightly, Rylan walked up to the desk, grabbed a piece of paper and an enchanted quill, and started writing a letter. The contents were simple: he rely requested to et up with Damian and discuss an important matter. The whole thing was about three lines long. He lifted the paper in front of his face and gave it a satisfied nod.
“…Young master, I highly advise you to write another one. That one is too…” Sarah said as she approached him from behind in a slightly reproachful tone.
“Nah, it’ll be fine. I was never good at writing stuff like this, anyway. If I get a eting, that’s enough,” Rylan replied as he turned around. Her slightly frowning face ca into view. She scoffed.
“You have lived for several decades at least, my lord. I’m confident that you’ve learned how to write a proper letter and request, especially to soone who’s now your master. Please, put more effort into it.”
Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not ant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
Rylan blinked. He scratched the back of his neck awkwardly.
“…It’s been a while since you’ve told off.”
Sarah bowed.
“I apologize for my rudeness. It’s not my place to question your decisions and lecture you, especially given your past life, but—”
“Yeah, yeah,” Rylan interrupted with a smile. “We’ve spent too much ti together for those formalities. Thank you, Sarah. For looking out for .”
She raised her body and smiled at him. Rylan crumpled up the letter he’d just written and threw it into the air, grabbing his wand with his free hand. One Firebolt later, the piece of paper disappeared into cinders. With a small sigh, he sat down and wrote a proper letter. It was uncomfortable and tireso, but Sarah was right: at the very least, he needed to give Damian the respect the man was due. They weren’t friends; formalities were necessary.
After a minute, he finished and gave the letter to Sarah. She read it quickly and bead at him.
“Much better, young master,” she said.
Rylan nodded with a grin and looked at Aelfric, who was sitting on the bed and looking at the ceiling.
“What are you thinking about?” he asked.
Aelfric flinched and looked at him.
“…Do you think people will try to approach if I enter the Academy just because of you?” he asked after a few seconds of silence.
“Yes,” Rylan replied without hesitation. “That’s why you need to learn how to spot them.”
Aelfric frowned.
“I don’t know how to do that.”
“You’ll learn. It’s the sort of thing that cos with ti. and Sarah,” Rylan pointed at Sarah with his thumb. “Will help you through it. Don’t worry.”
Aelfric sighed and looked at the ground. Rylan stood up and walked up to his brother, then tapped him on the shoulder.
“Now, sleep. I’ll try to talk to Damian tomorrow.”
Rylan stretched his arms. He took off his refined robe and started undoing his clothes. He had never been a fan of dressing up too much. Sarah glanced at him before bowing.
“I’ll take my leave, my lord,” she stated.
“Have a good night, you two.”
Aelfric nodded, gave Rylan a hug, and followed Sarah out of the room. Just like before, Rylan had Sarah guard Aelfric instead of him. He took off his shirt and looked at the sword on his waist. With a fluid movent, Rylan drew it out of its scabbard and looked at the blade.
An Open Dungeon, huh?
Gerard’s request for help didn’t an that this issue surpassed his power as a Fifth Circle Mage, but it was a good indication that things weren’t looking good.
Father can’t just go into the Woodlands.
His position as a Family Head and Cantavega’s strongest Mage hindered him. There was no room for risky plans: if he died, the town would lose any fighting chance. Rylan furrowed his brow. This remained true even if he went back to help his father. His performance in the tournant wouldn’t be enough to convince Rast and the others to settle for an attack team made of only him and Gerard. However, if soone else went with them, that would only result in him being forced to limit his abilities.
Rylan thought about this for a few seconds, running his fingers on the blade. He sheathed the sword with one fluid motion and carried it inside the bathroom.
After taking a bath, he brought it back with him to the bedroom and put it next to him on the bed. Closing his eyes, Rylan left part of his awareness focused on his surroundings and let himself drift into sleep. This ti, he dread.
In the dream, he opened his eyes and beheld a familiar view. Mountains of broken and slashed corpses rose from the sea of blood. Every so often, a loose human head rolled down the forest made of shattered limbs and bloodied bones. The tallic sll was overwhelming, and there was no sound. Trying to steady himself, Rylan looked down at his hands. They weren’t his own.
…I see.
Roland’s blood-covered hands felt unfamiliar. They were big and stable, as if there was nothing they couldn’t hold. Slowly, he moved his right hand to the hilt of the white sword on his waist and unsheathed it. The snowy blade and body glistened in the sunlight as the only beautiful thing in this scene of carnage.
“…Moonlight,” he said with Roland’s voice.
The world’s greatest weapon and his best friend. The sole partner he’d ever had.
As if it could read his thoughts, Moonlight humd. Blue Aura flowed through it, granting it an ethereal glow. Rylan couldn’t help but smile. With a deep breath, he stared downward, following the trail of corpses and flowing blood. In the middle of this space, there was a single island made of bones. The dying figure on it was one he recognized even at this distance. His breath caught in his throat.
Pain filled his chest, but Rylan forced himself to circulate his Aura. Pure power coursed through him. ‘Rylan’ had never experienced this much energy, but he wasn’t in any mood to revel in it. With a light jump, he easily crossed the kiloters between himself and the island, landing like a leaf on a lake’s surface. With his unsteady breathing, he approached the dying person.
“…Theo,” Rylan said with a shaking voice.
Theodore threw him a bloody grin. His armor was shattered in various places, its shards sticking into his flesh and muscles. His blood flowed down unceasingly and seeped through the gaps between the bones underfoot, feeding the crimson ocean below and around them. His blue eyes were bloodshot. The large hole on the right side of his torso was too painful to look at.
“You,” Theodore suddenly said, staring at Rylan with bloodshot eyes. His irises were a piercing blue, just like Rylan’s own in both lives. “You really think you’ve changed, don’t you?”
A chill went down Rylan’s spine as he gazed at Theodore’s blood-soaked smile.
“N-No, I just—”
“You will never change,” Theodore interrupted him, smiling wider. Blood leaked through the gaps between his teeth. “You can’t. All you care about is rising to the peak. This ti, with magic. You’re the sa as before.”
“No!” Rylan imdiately retorted. “That’s not it! I’m trying to be better!”
Theodore chuckled with a gurgling sound, drowning in his own blood.
“Atonent? Repentance? When have you ever done any of that? You butchered and cut through everything in your path. This,” he raised his only arm. The several open fractures made it look like a broken, twisted branch. He pointed at their environnt with a bony finger. “Is proof.”
Rylan blinked and took a step back with a shaking gaze, trying desperately to calm himself down.
“I have already changed,” he said, his voice a bit firr. “I-I won’t let the sa thing happen again.”
He had realized his past life’s mistakes: it was the only thing he was certain of.
In response, Theodore only smiled.
“One day, you will abandon your family again. History will repeat itself.”
“No!”
Suddenly, a loud cracking noise resounded. Rylan’s gaze was drawn to Theodore’s exposed ribs. A large crack had appeared in one of them. With another sound, the crack started spreading: first to the nearby ribs, then to the man’s torso. His flesh rippled, slowly twisting itself with a sickening noise. It ripped apart to reveal scrunched-up blood vessels. They burst one after the other amidst a burst of scarlet. Rylan looked at Theodore’s face. The nose had fallen to the ground and the lips had torn themselves apart, but his voice remained perfectly clear.
“You will never change, Roland. Not for anything or anyone. Never.”
Theodore’s twisted flesh reddened as his blood boiled. Steam floated up from his broken fra. The cracking bones and singed flesh created a disturbing picture. His eyes lted and dripped out of their sockets in the shape of white tears. Rylan took another step back.
Theodore’s muscles followed suit. Soon, all that stared at Rylan was a skeleton covered in bubbling blood. There was no longer a throat or vocal cords, but he could hear Theodore’s voice all the sa.
“You will ruin everything with your own hands, again. It’s only a matter of ti.”
Rylan blinked and ran forward, unhesitatingly supporting what remained of Roland’s brother. The skull moved, staring at his face with empty eye sockets.
“I’ll be waiting for you in hell, Brother,” Theodore’s voice echoed.
Rylan opened his mouth to reply, but his words caught in his throat. The sky tore like velvet as the ocean of blood rotated. The mountains of corpses rattled, making severed limbs and heads with dead eyes fall to the crimson sea. Theodore’s skeleton caught fire, but the flas didn’t harm Rylan. Right before his eyes, the last bits of Theodore disappeared into cinders. Until the end, the man had never stopped staring at him.
The dream was coming undone. Rylan looked up and watched it happen with wide eyes.
At that mont, Moonlight moved on its own. It trembled in his grasp and escaped it, then floated in front of Rylan’s shaking fra. It pulsated with blue Aura, glowing ever brighter. Its outline was the last thing he saw before the dream evaporated, devoured by the blue.
Rylan opened his eyes, imdiately raising his body and grabbing the sword next to him. His gaze darted around, taking in his surroundings in an instant. He was in the hotel room. A single System notification floated in front of him.
[You have acquired a new Title.]
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