CHAPTER 51 - KNOWINGLY
I turned around ready to attack, unleashing again both my swords from my dimension rings. My eyes were already losing focus but I couldn't let this being know I was seconds from losing consciousness.
The being noticed my actions, taking not a step back but rather teleporting next to me with speed. "Your actions are unnecessary."
"What is it with you asuras and popping up like some unwanted ads?" My voice had gotten tired like my body, if I were to be honest, speaking would cause my downfall now if I wasn't too careful.
It took him a couple of seconds before answering, more like he was contemplating my words earlier. "The literature you lessers use is truly low like it has always been."
After putting away my weapons, I decided to play his game… well his master's game.
"I don't know what you are talking about." I had to play innocent and dumb here if I wanted him to explain the plan his master had. "Please enlighten this lesser with why you are here."
To make it more believable, I bowed down, not fully but enough to show him I wasn't playing.
His galaxy eyes stared at me with uncertainty. "Hm, you are different to the other lessers of this continent."
"It honors me knowing that a god thinks differently towards me."
The platinum blonde hair man waved at my words like they were nothing more than a facade. Then, instantly a barrier was placed around us, more specifically the cavern where we had just been.
Concerned, I kept an eye to everything around me just in case. But let us be real, I wouldn't be able to do anything if Aldir or anyone of the asuras was here to do something to me.
The barrier was translucent for a moment before turning white, like it was a flashbang. I complained, "Ahh, dammit. What in the flashbang…"
When I managed to open my eyes, the asuran man was the first thing I saw. His expression, again, was that of a confused grandpa when you present him with a smartphone for the first time.
Like before, he dismissed it without saying anything. More like he ignored it, yet it may be in the back of his head for as long as he lives.
"I'm guessing that you know about us like you know about the Alacryans, yes?"
I titled my head in question to his words. "Alacryans?"
"You seem to not know that we have been watching you, Apollo… or do you prefer Luke Hodges?"
Dammit. If this bastard knows about me, then Kezess Indrath must know more.
"Cat's out of the bag." I announced, lifting my hands in complete defeat. "How long?"
Windsom's expression shifted to a questioned action.
My brows forward as I continued to spectate the asuran military messenger.
"How long have you been watching me?"
The galaxy eyed man only stared at me but wasn't looking at me entirely. He was looking past me like I was a translucent being. Curious, I looked behind me but there was nothing more than a horizon of never ending white.
Finally he finally answered, after thinking for so long, perhaps thinking of what to tell me and what not.
"Since you left the city of Xyrus."
That long? They…the Indrath and the other beings from Epheotus know about me? Then that must mean Agrona knew about me…
"So? What are you going to tell me?"
"Your continent is going to be in danger." As he finished that sentence, a crest appeared in front of him, like a hologram. "A war is coming and we Asuras can't engage in this war."
"So you need someone like me, a lesser, to do the dirty work for you?" I blatantly said, crossing my arms trying to test if mana could still be brought into my core.
"See it as you please but think of it as–"
"Trying to protect my family and dear ones, blah blah blah. Skip all the introduction to the hell that we may arrive at and say the truth."
The black military attire asura snarled at me for cutting off at his turn to talk.
But he let it go, saying, "You won't be alone in this secret, there is also someone else you will have to fight alongside of."
I held up a finger, taking the asuran's attention again for another second, this time I didn't want to talk over him.
"You are talking about Arthur Leywin?"
Windsom's eyes widened.
"Surprised? Well I knew something was going to revolve around him. Giving that aura of an experienced warrior even though he is young."
He nodded. Yet, again surprised but quickly wiped it off for a professional one. "That is not all, you both have something in common that needs to be protected. A lineage that can't be thrown away just because you two are of a lesser race."
I raised an eyebrow. "What are you talking about?"
Windsom undid his white room barrier, not responding to my question. "H-Hey! Windsom! Answer, what did you mean by "having something in common" with Arthur!"
Blinding me one more time, the white room was completely undone and there wasn't a sight of the Asuran man.
I cursed. Not only at myself but also at that bastard.
He didn't answer my question and I was annoyed. Being left outside of everything just like if I was the main character, pathetic beings.
I let out a deep sigh before saying, "Now then, how long will it take to arrive at the guild while using mana?"
***
It's been about three hours since then. What stayed in my mind was Windsom's words, Arthur and I having something in common. Not many things come to mind, aside from us both being in this world because of some sort of reincarnation.
Power wise or prowess, things there are different. He is much more experienced there than I am.
I had arrived at the entrance of the guild, multiple people rushing in and out for their quests and equipment material. The normal thing.
I continued walking towards the lobby, looking for someone knowingly of me or me of them.
"Excuse me? Do you know where Arth– Note and Jasmine are?" I asked the receptionist who looked kind hearted.
The brown haired girl looked at me for a second before realizing who I was. Her black honey-colored eyes widened, breaking her professional expression. "Oh! Sorry Mr. Apollo. Right down the hall on my left you will see the party that includes Mr. Note and Ms. Jasmine Flameworths. Sorry for not recognizing you!"
"No need to be startled, and there is no reason for you to apologize. On the contrary, it should have been me for not wearing the original mask. It kinda broke during a dungeon raid." I carelessly said, scratching the back of my head.
Leaving her startled, I went to where the main character was.
When I had arrived at my destination, loud voices could be heard from a couple of steps before. It was multiple voices arguing over something I couldn't hear about.
"We almost died and we have to let Lucas go like nothing more than a slap on the wrist?!" A voice exclaimed in anger towards Lucas Wykes, the brother of the lance Bairon Wykes.
Then another voice chimed in, this time it wasn't a boy's but a woman's, "That is the reason why. He is a Wykes. A powerhouse like the Flamesworths."
Jasmine?
Before there was another sentence brought over to the discussion, I knocked.
"Come in." Said a familiar voice who I had met a couple of days ago, before I even dived into the dungeon.
Upon opening the door, I was met with multiple people…
ARTHUR LEYWIN
I glared.
I glared at the two people who came out of the Dire Tombs saving us all from something or someone. I watched as Elijah bowed down to them and so did Jasmine. Sylvie was next to me, already in her fox form sitting down on the sofa not that far from me.
Sylvie had told us that the girl they were looking for had died, bringing Samantha's body like Apollo had told her.
Apollo, like me, was famous for ranking up in such a short time. His name was muttered by Brald Landon, the leader of the team Jasmine and I joined today. He was portrayed as being stronger than Jasmine and maybe even I in my Realmheart.
I pushed them all as fake rumors of someone trying to be something they couldn't only dream of, that was until now. I never thought there would be a human capable of holding so much mana.
I had seen what he was capable of storing. Just before I was caught by the elven mage, Realmheart was still active, barely alive from the little mana I had left, and I peeked at the boy's mana.
I had seen a similar mana to that boy's signature mana before. From someone…
My suspicions had been on point, it was not a coincidence that right after Luke had gone missing, rumors of my beginning days as an adventurer, hearing all about this Apollo was all there was to talk in the merchant's backyard.
"So… Where is he?"
My blunt words catched the attention of everyone in the room, including the two lances that it was intentionally for.
"I don't know what you are talking about." The elf with white hair spoke, clearly she had been told to keep quiet about this. Whether it was from her colleague or gramps, I now needed to know.
The short black haired elf on the other hand spotted me for a second, like I was some insect running around her boot, and turned her attention elsewhere.
Seeing this, I needed to change the question. "How long?"
This however changed.
Aya's eyes turned to me after what I had said, her expression changed like she wasn't trained to answer that specific question. Her lips touched each other in a form of desperation for an answer. "That is classified." She finally said after what felt like five minutes of suspense.
Kaspian noticed the atmosphere and tried to come up with other topics, more specifically, trying to get our side of the story, something different from what our lovely companion Lukas Wykes had told them. "Come on now. We are not here to fight against each other, rather I called you all for your account of the story."
We all went one-by-one telling our side of the story, surprisingly, only my team's story aligned with mine and not the noble's. Kaspian's facial expression changed slowly every time we spoke with the truth of what actually happened and not some noble sacrifice for an arrogant and cowardly noble.
After our part of the story, the branch manager let out a sigh. A deep sigh that let me, everyone know, that things were about to get more complicated than they were. "Now ladies, what is your part of the story?"
The elf with light blue eyes and white hair stepped up, taking off her hood. "Sir Kaspian Bladeheart, what I'm about to tell you requires it only to be here and not outside." She swerved around, her eyes locking with ours one by one until it reached me. "That includes you guys."
"In one of our dives, we encountered something similar to what Note's party encountered. Yet the only problem was the numbers. Tens and if not hundreds of Elderwood Guardians rose up from the dungeon, we were caught off guard. My team and I survived by locking the S-class mana beasts in an attempt to escape. We planned to investigate it later when we were ready."
The other woman let down her hood, revealing the same two women who trained Luke back on Elenoir. "That is when we encountered this team who had already fought one and killed it."
Kaspian narrowed his eyes, "And where is the rest of your team?"
I stood up, and had already cleaned Dawn's Ballad from light scratches. "Half of my team have died and only we remain."
"We are only three… he was supposed to be here with the mana beast this boy bonded with but…"
The branch manager of the guild had an expression of where this had gone. He was thinking that Apollo– Luke had died. Without real evidence that he was here, his survival chances were slim with all the mana beasts running rampage in the Dire Tombs.
"We need to be alerted. The Dire Tombs is not something S ranks and below can handle! We must send capable mages to hold their own–"
Before the light blue colored eye elf could finish her sentence. A soft but solid knock went over her voice.
"Come in." Kaspian answered back to the owner of the knock.