Arlun

Scientist Bereil suddenly froze in shock at the sudden exclamation. Slowly, as if hoping that the baby would disappear within the time it took her to turn, she turned around to face it. The baby merely maintained a blank ‘not interested look’ as this happened.

“So, I take it that you have been hiding something from me, Scientist Bereil?” The baby said, walking up to the scientist, somehow managing to be intimidating despite being tiny compared to the scientist

“It was an order, your highness! I could not very well tell you something against the orders of another prince. Please do not ask me more” The Scientist said, lowering her head.

The baby prince merely looked at her for a few seconds before saying, “I remember there was an officer that ran away in the beginning of the battle. That wouldn’t happen to be a prince would it?”-

The baby prince walked around the scientist, casting a small chair into existence with ease that boggled Arlun’s mind. Was this the power of an actual noble? The baby prince sat on the chari and continued- “I think Scientist Bereil, that it is time that I found out what exactly this mission of yours was.” The baby prince finished.

Alforien Arlford

I was irritated. It had been a damn mana eating chore to summon all of that food and water for the army. Especially with the soldiers looking on in contempt. The fools knew nothing about how tiring it was to cast and still presumed to have opinions about it.

I do not know what I was expecting when I entered the tent, but it was definitely not the scene that had welcomed me. Arlun was a dead man a few hours ago. Now he was awake and talking? Where did Medical sense run off to?

Not only that but apparently I had been kept out of the loop about the presence of another royal in the vicinity. The boy may have run away but he could return. And if he did, he would immediately be exposed as a fake prince.

Not only that, but the direct involvement of a prince told him bad things about the army’s mission. It could easily be a suicide mission given by a king to mop up undesirable heirs.That was a fairly common tactic.

Now for the hard part. Getting these people to speak the truth. It was not going to be easy but I was determined. I had to know what these stupid idiots had planned and they did not want me to know. Why was getting their trust so hard?

As I watched, Scientist Beriel fidgeted with the ring on her finger. A bluish grey metal ring adorned with a single turquoise-coloured jewel. Finally she spoke hesitantly, “ I think it would be best if you get this information from a soldier that actually knew more about wha was going on -”

I interrupted there and said, “No, I want you to tell me now.” No way was I waiting for some soldier to tell me things, especially when said soldier could easily lie. Scientist Bereil on the other hand seemed far too expressive facially to pull of any lie.”

“ But clearly your highness has decided that you wish to here this from me.” the Scientist finished, her tone having the ‘ I was gonna say it’ implication. I ignored it and gestured for her to move on.

“ The prince was tasked with finding and destroying a relic of the Elder Spirits. The Realmwatch. It is a watch that allows the user to see the merging point of Order, Space and Time.” THe Scientist said, pausing to catch her breadth. I wondered what exactly a ‘ merging point ‘ was.

“If your highness is unaware of what a merging point is, it is a point in the affinity chart where two or more elements have common points. By practicing at these points, one may be able to gain an additional affinity. For example. Enchanting and Crafting have several merging points in the process of sword crafting.” The Scientist said.

“ …” Was my response to that statement. What was that utter rubbish she was spouting? What ‘ merging points’ wasn’t that just the two affinities that had something in common. Chaos and Order had tons of things in common. Didn’t make it easy to gain both. In fact it was terribly hard to get both naturally.

There was a reason Alchemy was rare. Even if the government was actively spreading false information, it couldn’t have been this bad right? The woman had absolutely no idea about how affinities worked.

Not wanting to have to parse through the falso information or give away my cover by actively coontradicting the king, something a real prince would almost never do, I merely said, “Perhaps you could tell me more about where the watch is?”

“Ah, well that...is alright your highness.”-she took a deep breadth in, looking around in trepidation- “ The watch is located within the Valurisean mountains. Deep within the bowels of Iselgaurd. It is guarded by the perennial lava there, its presence blocking access to the artifact.”

All around the room, people suddenly came allert at the mention of Iselgaurd. Even the three diseased that had yet to leave Arlun’s side seemed ready to fight. Even I recognized the name. The Valuresian Mountains were one of the biggest sources of many rare and precious herbs that could not be found anywhere else.

The Realmwatch was likely a Trial specific artifact. If i was right, then we could find an army waiting for us in the mountains. A war needed an enemy after all.

“Then we should prepare to make the journey. How is Arlun’s health in your opinion.?” I asked

“But your highness! Iselgaurd is a lost cause! No one can survive the fires there!” One of the men said

“Oh, how hot are the fires? Are they hotter than this?” I said, summoning a bright hot flame. I had had enough of these fools taking me for granted and questioning every one of my decisions.

“Yes, it is said that the fires of Iselgaurd burn so bright and blue that the entire mountains shine with their light.They burn so hot that no one may survive their fiery heat.” the man replied. In response, I walked towards him. Until I stood rigth in front of him

“What is your name, soldier?” I asked

“Garnel sir” the man answered

“Well, Garnel. Is the flame stronger than this?” I said, summoning the strongest flame I could. It was merely an ember, but I was, due to my high affinity, able to summon an early Primal Grade flame. It was blindingly bright, its flame well over 5,000 Kelvins.

Instinctively, Garnel stepped back. The Balmeru survival instinct took over as he looked like a frightened mouse. If he was human he would have already peed himself, thankfully for him, he was a banmeru and banmeru had their excretory system rendered vestigial by the age of 1. I was especially grateful that I did not have to have the unique experience of excretion for long. Those three months that I did were excruciating.

While the soldiers were frightened by the ember, Arlun and the eunuch were attracted. Arlun was attracted because he likely had the fire affinity. That was the only explanation for his fascination with the flame. The eunuch on the other hand had a very different expression.

The expression on his face was one of thirst. Thirst for power. Thirst for the weapon I held in the palm of my hands. I had not seen it when the eunuch was a crying mess. But now it was clear. This was a man with a mission. What else could allow a man to take the harsh contempt and distaste of his fellows.

To bear being spit upon, despised for his very existence. To be treated with less respect then dirt, to be considered a stain on the species he belonged to than a mission. A goal to reach. A thing to accomplish before he let himself over to the throes of death and let himself free of his miserable situation.

And the way he looked at the flame told me one more thing. What drove him was revenge. Saying warn of woman scorned, of doing great wrongs, but they seldom speak one truth.

Revenge is a flame. Naked and strong. For as long as it burns it can fuel entire civilizations and lay ruin to many more. But be warned, for like any fire, it may burn the wielder far more easily then the one it is used against.

And here before me was one such man. A flame burning bright within, waiting to burn all those near. The question was, should I take a chance and wield it? Or was this a test, a chance given but the Trial to show my wisdom or make a great mistake?

Name

Alforien Arlford

Gender

Male

Species

Banmeru

Age

7 months

Titles

Heir candidate to the Earl of Cristanfor, Noble of the Kingdom of Mistrane,Count of Launeior ,Transmigrator

Class

[The Known: The Final Step]

Skills

[Otherworldly mana manipulation] [ Force of Will] [Conversion] [Meditation]

Stats

Strength[The amount of brute force one can use]

112

Endurance[The amount of time one can work continuously]

161

Flexibility[The range of movement of the body]

102

Precision[The accuracy of one’s movements]

113

Perception[The ability to notice nuances and advanced concepts]

133

Intelligence[The ability to comprehend the advanced concepts]

138

Wisdom[The ability to effectively use the concepts]

134

Aura Force[The ability to force your will on your surroundings]

119

Combat[The speed of one’s reactions, ability to process situations and other general combat abilities]

124

Magic Affinities

Fire[One of the greatest sources of Light and Heat in the universe, you have Greater Affinity for Fire]

97.14%

Earth[Essential for life, earth is what renders things solid, you have a Greater affinity for Earth]

99.87%

Mind[The consciousness and its relation to reality, you have Lesser affinity for Mind]

17.35%

Chaos[Everything shall be anything but what it should be, no thing shall remain as it should, you have a Lesser affinity for Chaos]

19.76%

Grandmist[The base substance that all subatomic particles are made off, you have Lesser affinity for Grandmist]

27.39%

Space [The building block of dimensions, you have an Outrageous affinity for Space

199.998%

Time[A mysterious force, you have a Minor affinity for Time]

01.15%

Will [The force that propels you through life, you have Minor affinity for Will]

9.81%

Force[The building block of Kinetic interactions, you have Minor affinity for Force

9.81%