-Chapter Four-

Hello to the New Real World

Aria flung the wooden door open to her room and slammed it shut behind her before she threw herself onto her bed, burying her head into her pillow with tears in her eyes. The deadly glare Aelius shot her way was still fresh on her mind. Any moment she spent recalling it worsened her mood every passing second. Time passed her by as she sobbed away until she picked herself up off her bed and stumbled over to the nearby mirror at her drawer, examining the red handprint on her neck with a sniffle. Her golden eyes looked back at her and she took a seat, resting her chin on her hand while she continued to gaze at herself. As the person born with the God-eyes, she was the first person in decades of her ancestors to possess the ability to see through people. Usually, her powers shed a revealing light on whatever she laid her eyes upon. But none of what she saw from Aelius made any sense. Her mind flashed back to when he collapsed the Academy wall beside her, and even took down the fourth Holy Knight. Many people were gossipping that he had been hiding his powers the whole time, pretending to be useless. But she knew differently. He shouldn’t be able to use that much Magic with the poison in his Mana core. Anxiously, the sixteen year old girl reached up to bite on her fingernails. Just yesterday, Aelius was still a timid, shy, fumbling and useless existence that would’ve had to crutch on her for his entire life. But today he changed. He was constantly fluctuating between emitting an all-enveloping aura of darkness, and at other times, an aura of light. What was certain though, was he was no longer the same person she knew. He looked at her with genuine disdain. If her God-eyes wasn’t able to tell her, even the face he looked at her with was enough to know. “This wasn’t supposed to be the way it goes…” she reached up and placed her hands on the side of her head. “How did he know? How did he know what we did?” She rose to her feet and stepped up to the window, looking out over the rest of the courtyard. My family is in danger. The Aelius I saw today without a doubt, would not hesitate to kill. But… she began to laugh. They deserve it. “Mother… oh, mother…” she returned to her desk to begin writing a letter. “I knew you should’ve never done such a cruel thing to him. Now look, it’s come back to bite us. And because of it,” Aria clenched her fists. “Because of mother…! My love for Aelius has been whisked away.” She thought back to him, but could only recall the glare he gave her. “My dear Aelius… how have things ended up this way?” Everything has gone so wrong. He was supposed to rely on me until the day we died. Yet instead, he went and got strong enough to fight the fourth Holy Knight. It’s all messed up. So messed up. Even with the poison, the fourth Holy Knight couldn’t keep up. How did he even find out about it in the first place? If he successfully removes it, how strong would he be? Oh, the Kanarian blood truly flows in that man’s veins. As she thought such a thing, she coddled herself, closing her eyes, painting an image in her mind of Aelius holding her tightly. I will make you mine again. I will fix this to the way it was meant to be.

As Aelius made his way down the cobblestone pathway in the dark of the night, he felt his chest gradually grow tighter and tighter. The Reawakened One skill that lets me triple my Mana rings is indeed incredible. Even though I’m only a Second tier, I had access to Sixth tier spells.

Alert!

As a result of exceeding Mana transmission capabilities, User’s Mana core is experiencing extraneous strain.

The contained poison is eroding the outer edges.

User is at severe risk of Mana core malfunction.

Seek immediate treatment.

Coughing up blood, Aelius stole a glance down at his hand, before he looked back up again and continued slowly making his way to his destination. But fuck, I overdid it. Even if it increases my Mana ring count, it still has drawbacks. My Mana core in its current state can’t handle any spells above Second tier. This damn poison… shit… fuck… his thoughts trailed off as he felt the strength in his legs desert him and his vision fall black. In the dark of the night, the young teenager collapsed over onto the ground up against the nearby stone wall, losing consciousness.

Before Aelius woke up come morning again, he felt he had what was the longest night in a long time. In his deep slumber while his body slowly recovered, numerous dreams visited his wandering mind. He recalled many memories he had long forgotten. An identity belonging to him that he had cast away after being consumed by rage. In his moment of doubt, wondering if his path was the right one, he began to recall.

He recalled what the world was like before he returned. The fate awaiting it that no single person can change, even him. The truth that life on Vertex was vile, cruel and disgusting. Everywhere he had turned when he was the hero, he only saw corruption. The strong abuse the weak. Blood shed like wine. Tears fall like rain. Each moment made him realise he was nothing but a madman out for revenge, no grand hero. To remember the knowledge from his past life is one thing but for the horrific visions of war, the cries of death and stench of blood to visit his mind, he cannot help but cry out. He cannot let go of his past self.

Aelius’ eyes gradually opened and he slowly sat up, his pupils blinded by the sun until they shrunk and the bustling, busy surroundings around him came into focus. I feel like… he looked down at his hands in a daze. I feel like this hatred that gnaws away at me is something I desperately want to escape from. He recalled Alea’s words. “To live with happiness, huh,” he chuckled to himself. But even though I want to desperately escape from it, I consciously know that it is me. It is who I am. Not who I had become. It was always me. He slowly rose to his feet, clutching his chest that, though still twinged with pain, hurt less than the previous evening. The poison in my core is proof enough that my vengeance is justified. Yet there’s still everything else. Every death I witnessed. He looked up at the sun, reflecting on Alea’s words. To forgive and forget would mean to put down this crusade of mine. He began to laugh. Some passerbys’ gaze a strange face at the short, cloaked figure cackling hysterically, before they quickly ushered past uneasily. “Hahahaha!” If I ever even entertained this thought in the past, I would’ve punched myself half to death. The bastard that killed Alea is still out there. The bastards that took down my family are out still out there. Alive, living happily even, perhaps. How could I possibly rest? The life I spent dazing around in lost happiness is an old world that does not exist. I exist in a new world where the reality is simple. The weak will be trampled upon. The kind will be taken advantage of. If I ever let go of my resolve, not only will I suffer, but so will all of my loved ones. He suddenly felt an aching in his chest. Oh, how I miss you all right now. Soon. I will appear before you soon.

Aelius narrowed his eyes as he came to the security checkpoint at the south of the city. Dawnbreak, the city of his father and mother, was the most southern city of Farrien, which was the most southern nation on the Sacred Continent. This meant not only is it the first to see the sun, Sol, rise, but was also the frontline of the invasion during the previous war. Enemies would flank along the coast and attempt to infiltrate Farrien through Dawnbreak via the sea with naval cavalry. What only Aelius knew however, was that one day, the invading forces the Holy Knights were tasked to defend from, would attempt to invade Farrien through Dawnbreak as well. That was because the geography of Vertex meant that the Sacred Continent was in the northern hemisphere and the Saints’ Continent was in the southern hemisphere. Dawnbreak is the inevitable first city for the Saints to arrive in, when they invade. But that was not the only reason they would invade, Aelius smirked to himself, containing his excitement. Dawnbreak hid a secret from ancient times, and that was the reason why the Saints would want to take over Dawnbreak. In his last life, they not only succeeded, but expelled the members of Kanaria out of the city. His father’s failure to fend off the invading forces would eventually result in the King of Farrien to sentence him to execution, and his mother would eventually die from grief-stricken illness, and Aelius was completely powerless to stop it at the time, like he was with everything. The young man clenched his fists as he recalled the future. This time will be different. He will reach the ancient secret well before anyone else, and he will make sure the Saints never succeed in their invasion. The only problem was… getting out of the city. He had originally intended to use the same Magic he used the previous evening to sneak into the Kanarian Manor, however his recklessness had caused his core to succumb to the poison. Now, his parents had stationed guards to look out for him at every post. There was no way he could get out through normal means. Aelius sighed, finding an alleyway to slump down and rack his brains. I need to get rid of this poison to get out of the city, but I can only get rid of the poison once I get out of the city. Damn it! He groaned. Could he risk casting it again and quickly sneak out before his body fails him? He looked at his hand. Nope. Shit.

As another day passed by, Aelius could only think one thing. It sucks to be weak… he sighed. If he can’t sneak out, the only other option would be to make a frontal assault and breakthrough. But even with his swordsmanship, he can’t defeat the outpost guards who have both bladework and the Mana of the Fifth ring. He recalled when he collapsed Quarren Leos, the fourth Holy knight known for his defence and laughed mockingly at himself. It may seem like a crazy feat at first, but it’s easy to forget that I hit him directly with Anemos Blow fifty times when he didn’t even have any active Mana, and I only managed to knock him out for twenty minutes. He looked up at the dusk sky. Anemos, God of the Wind. I’m sorry, I’ve done your name an absolute dishonour. What was meant to be an all-conquering legacy was reduced to such a weak and pathetic move… ha… he sighed. I never expected that I would have to resort to this. He rose to his feet and left the small, busy district.

An hour later, Aelius had found a nice area in the slums where he could keep to himself. Shit… now that I’ve come this far, I’m suddenly having doubts, he thought to himself sceptically. I don’t even know if I can cast the space dimension spell and retrieve what I need without endangering myself again. He spent a moment pondering the risk. What if I speed cast it, really quickly reach in, grab what I need and then unsummon it, in the fraction of a second? Would my Mana core be able to handle it that way? “Argh, shittttt… only one way to find out. If I pass out here, so be it,” he sighed heavily and raised his hand. To speed-cast and speed-cancel a Mana spell was a form of art that many Mages seeked to perfect, similar to a swordsman's quickdraw. It was nothing easily attainable, but Aelius did perfect it in his last life. He only hopes his skills have transferred over without any problems. “Here goes.”

A moment later, Aelius had in his hand a dozen pouches of materials he had taken from the Seventh Merchant King. Looking at them in his hand, he nervously remained still to see if any pain would immediately strike him in his core, but thankfully, no system notice popped up to tell him his Mana core had been overloaded. Some time passed and he let go a tense breath, sitting back down to rest with a groan. “Fuck… well, that’s the easy part done.” He broodingly thought about what was to come next. “I just hope you’re not second rate quality,” he said to himself as he opened one of the small pouches and regarded the Mana crystals inside. Without use of his Mana core, he can only rely on external materials to slightly supplement his needs. There’s no point in delaying. Let’s just get started. Fetching white chalk, Aelius began to draw circles at his feet on the ground. With each stroke he left, he felt his chest beat in anticipation and excitement. I’ve really missed you. I wonder how you are doing. We weren’t able to part properly last time. I really haven’t made it up to you for all the help you’ve given me, yet I’m here to ask you to aid me yet again nonetheless. But I know you will say yes.

That night, a small disturbance took place in the slums. A red light lit up one of the neighbourhoods for a moment, disturbing many of the homeless. But because it was the slums, by the time the Knights got around to bother checking it out, there was no trace of anything left behind at all. Some of the witnesses were recorded to say it both sounded and looked like some form of blood ritual, like a demonic worshipper was holding a ceremony there. At such absurdity, the Knights dismissed it as misdemeanours or the delusions of those that lived in the slums, and never looked into it again. The culprit however, who did indeed exist, would appear and cause a mess very soon.

There was a reason why Spiritualists were so rare, in the world of Magic and Mana. Spirituality was fundamentally different to Magic in a variety of ways, but the main difference was… talent was everything when it came to Spirits. With Mana, even an untalented deadbeat, as long as they had enough Mana, could raise their Mana ring tier and terrorise any Mage below them. They could cast any spell within their tier, so long as provided they had the Mana and learnt the technique for the spell. Spirituality however, had no such function where hard work could compensate for the lack of talent. Starting from what grade Spirit a person could summon, to how capable that Spirit was, all depended on the Spiritualist. When it came to Spirituality, the amount of Mana mattered less than the much more important and crucial aspect of simple control. The technique in wielding a Spirit that cannot be trained, only determined by talent, was what mattered most among Spiritualists. In his past life, Aelius fell off his horse when he and Alea summoned the Royal-grade Spirit Gaia. He wouldn’t find out about the existence of an even higher grade than Royal-grade until much later in his life. What was above Spirit Kings and Spirit Queens? The answer was… Deities.

Humming happily, Aelius approached the border checkpoint with a very satisfied smile. His harvests the previous evening were not the greatest, but exceeded his expectation nonetheless. When it comes to summoning a Spirit, the alchemic materials and its quality becomes crucial. Even with affinity, a high-grade Spirit cannot come into the Real world without the appropriate materials. He was short-handed on both quantity and quality, but he succeeded nonetheless. Even if only partially. That was how strong their bond was. That was how desperately she wanted to be by his side. That even with such a faint signal, she heeded his call and came to his aid. He wore a wide grin as he lined up in the queue for approval to leave, fully knowing the encounter awaiting him. To make it through the checkpoint, it seemed daunting yesterday. Today, it is no more than child’s play.

Aelius’ fatal flaw has always been he was really good at putting on an impeccable smile, until he got angry. In his past life, when people saw his smile turn upside down, they knew they didn’t just step into shit… they fell headfirst into the cesspit and it would already be far too late. Even before Alter could take effect, his facial expression would turn sour if he was unappeased. What people would mistakenly take for a vain arriviste with no desires nor ambition, would in the instance of a second turn into a demon of vengeance. People soon learnt to not push their luck. Their lives were not their own.

As the young, hooded man came up to the guard, finally reaching his turn, the guard respectfully asked him for his ID and to take his hood off. After calmly handing over his student ID, he took off the clothing hiding his brown hair and brown eyes, to reveal his calm, smiling face that shocked the guard to his bones. The knight upon looking at the card, turned over his shoulder and began to call, “Captain! Captain, where are you!?” With his back turned, Aelius abandoned his no longer necessary student ID in the guard’s hands, and dashed through the checkpoint out the city walls. “H-hey! Heyyyyy! Squad! He’s making a break for it!!!” At the first guard’s call, Aelius saw ahead of him another group draw their swords and call for him to halt. Of course, he did not yield and instead attempted to slip past, but one of their attacks forced him to withdraw. Skillfully dodging the swing with no hesitation behind it, Aelius took a step back and glanced around his surroundings. Behind him, several more guards filed out of the outpost to block off the way he came, and he found himself encircled by dozens of Kanarian Knights. They all looked at him nervously, until the Captain appeared and stepped forward. Aelius looked over his shoulder to see it was the Captain of the Sixth Brigade, a man in his thirties with considerable muscle, black hair and a scar down his eyelid. “Ahem…” the man gestured to his underlings for them to calm down, before he turned to Aelius. “Young Lord, forgive us for our rudeness. I didn’t expect you to attempt to charge through the checkpoint like this,” he began to speak.

“I leave any city I wish to leave,” Aelius shrugged, returning a confident smile.

“Haiz…” the man sighed. “We have orders from the Lord to return you to him if we locate you. I just sent a message out, he will be here shortly. Let’s not make things difficult? My Knights were not trained to use violence against a mere teenager.” Aelius’ eyes narrowed at the man’s words. He’s a good person. Truly, my father has great subjects below him.

“A mere teenager, huh?” Aelius laughed. “I’m sorry, but I don’t intend on sticking around. I should warn you,” his laughter faded and his tone took a darker turn. “If you ever have to use violence and you don’t, it will constitute your downfall.”

“Don’t make things hard, kid, you’re unarmed,” one of the two Knights called from behind him.

“Well, I think I should get going,” Aelius shrugged with a smirk. “Tell my father no one is to blame. They were just not up to the task. I’d really appreciate it if you don’t bother pursuing me!” Aelius spun around and made a break toward the two knights.

“This crazy kid! Captain, what do we do!?”

“Restrain him! Immobilise him!” Like well trained Knights, at the order, they readied their stance for techniques that were non-lethal. However, surprisingly, their teenage opponent evaded them all.

Ah dang it, Aelius thought as he was kept from passing. He attempted several times but could not risk getting through them without being captured. Forcefully repelled, he landed on his two feet a few metres away from the Knights blocking him. “Since you won’t let me pass, you forced me into this,” he smiled and reached his hand up to his mouth.

“What’s he doing?” some of the Knights whispered when Aelius bit down on his hand with a sickening crunch.

“What… the f-” the Knight’s sentence was cut short as the blood from Aelius wound began to float in the air, shortly morphing into the shapes of daggers and crystalising into solid matter.

“I’m being honest, I really didn’t want to do this.” None of them could react in time as the small blood daggers laser’d into the legs of the Knights blocking Aelius’ way. “Shit!” they cursed as they collapsed, the strength in their lower bodies immediately disavowing them, and the teenager quickly hopped past, humming a cheerful tune. Before he disappeared into the tree-line of the forest before them, he turned back to the Captain.

“Like I said, tell my father no one is to blame. Well, good luck with your duties, soldiers,” he playfully saluted and then disappeared, leaving all the Knights watching onwards in awe.

As Aelius quickly dashed through the forests, he felt the urge to let out a shout stab at him, and gave a victory cry. “Yes!” he pumped a fist in the air. “I took out two Fifth tiers with zero repercussions. It’s all thanks to you, Asura,” he said with a beaming smile. Though no one was around him, if they were, they still would not be able to perceive who he was speaking to. Only through Aelius’ eyes, could the red-haired beauty be seen. A woman, who if she was human, would be considered in her early twenties, with fair pale skin, floated around him as he ran through the trees. She silently smiled back, acknowledging his praise. Aelius looked at his wound and tore a piece of his sleeve to bandage it. With the materials he had on hand, he was unable to summon Asura, the Blood Deity fully. Most Spiritualists command their Spirits by manifesting them physically, after which they would cast their abilities. Aelius however, could not make her physically manifest. Worse yet, she could not even speak in her current state, because that was just how little materials he had provided when he summoned her. He does not have enough Mana to properly support her. As of this moment, she was operating only on basic instinct. That was still enough, thankfully, for her to heed his orders. Aelius and Asura were capable of a technique called Possession, which only very few Spiritualists could do, where they would merge within his body. Without summoning Asura physically to the Real world, he could cast her abilities for himself. And because his talent in control was so high, he had no difficulty in accessing the majority of her capabilities. This was the gap between Mages and Spiritualists. As long as the relative element was present, and the control was good, a Spiritualist can easily fend off high-tier Mages. And Aelius’ little blood ritual was now officially a grand success. He had broken out of the city, now running away into the Great Southern Forest. If his father had placed orders to the outpost checkpoints, he suspected his Kael might have ordered a squad to chase him down. Now, he was in a fight for time to shake off the pursuers and recover his Mana. While he can still fight with the help of Asura, her abilities were much more suited to killing than incapacitating. That was who the Crimson Princess of Blood was. The only spirit ever willing to sign a contract with Aelius, in all of his time.

1000 years ago, all life on the Sacred Continent faced extinction at the hands of the apex predator. A species that appeared out of nowhere that randomly invaded the continent from the inside. The people lost faith in Stecia as she failed to protect them, and by the end of the global massacre, very few humans remained. Desperation clawing at their throats, the last survivors thought of any method they could use to escape such tyranny. Magic blessed upon them by the Goddess was useless against these beings… almost like they came in accordance with a different God to combat Stecia. When things seemed all out of hope, a light appeared from the end of the tunnel. The survivors followed the light, as it was the only choice left to them, and it led them to the coast, where they then built ships and canoes and sailed off into the water. The invaders could not pursue them, and when no life remained on the Sacred Continent, they disappeared. Many species went extinct, or so was thought by the escapees. They fled into the sea and continued to follow the light until eventually, they arrived at a new continent, completely uninhabited, almost as though it awaited them. It became known as the promised land, eventually growing into the Saints’ Continent.

500 years passed and all life was flourishing on the Saints’ continent. The escapees left descendents behind of humans, elves, dwarves, fairies, pixies, demihumans, and anyone who was fortunate enough to make it to the coastline. To their successors, they left behind teachings of the one who guided them. Life broke away from the belief of Stecia, instead converting religion to the new God who saved them. Teachings on how to defeat the very foes that made their people go extinct. At the order of the ruler at the time, a large group of warriors were sent back to the Sacred Continent. They had 500 years of mastering their craft, and now they were ready to take back the homeland of their ancestors. When they arrived however, they found that the people abandoned on the Sacred Continent did not go extinct. Instead, they had been enslaved by the very same invading forces that forced the original Saints to flee in the first place. With rage and fury, like a righteous crusade, they went to war to free their fellow people. And they succeeded, in return of heavy losses, for their craft was not perfected yet. The invading species disappeared, but they knew they would return one day yet again. So they retreated back to the Saints Continent to reprepare, sharpen their fangs, just like their enemy was. And they patiently waited for the day the invasion would inevitably take place once more. Such a history was known only to the Saints, but there was one Sacred who also knew. One Sacred who traversed time to return with all knowledge he possessed, and was ready to act as the vanguard. Three years to go before the first appearance of their sworn enemy. None of it will be spent resting.

The Captain of the Fourth Brigade, Sir Maximus Calipeo, sped through the Great Southern Forest at speed with the rest of his squad. He still could not fathom what took place at the border a mere two hours ago, but now he thinks he knows what his Lord was so concerned about with his son. It was like witnessing a human being taken over by a demon. Whatever happened to the Young Lord, he did not know. But no matter how strong the child’s combat prowess was, surely he could not escape the best trackers in the Southern region? On foot, how could he flee from a professional tracker squad? That was his original thought, but the day soon passed by and the trail they followed of the Young Lord seemed to disappear in thin air. Scanning the area yielded nothing. It was as though he faded away. Despondently, Captain Max returned to Lord Kael to report his disappointing findings. His Lord was less distressed than he would have expected. It was like he had accepted the reality. The man gave a deep sigh and gazed out the window. Maximus did not know what thoughts may have been going through his head. He only knew that it was miraculously peculiar for the Young Lord to not only break through the checkpoint and injure to Fifth Ring Knights, but also escape them in the forest. Kael placed no blame on them, like the Young Lord had said for him not to. He was clearly aware of his son’s capabilities. In which case that begs the question, what happened to the Young Heir for him to turn into such a monster?

Aelius glanced over his shoulder to make sure he was alone, as he came to a small clearing in the forest. Ah, yet again, I’ve succeeded, he chuckled to himself as knelt down at the grass. This battle of time is my victory. Now that I’ve made it this far, even if you follow my trail, you can’t find me. “Now… how does this work again? It was voice recognition, right? Hmm… the phrase was…” Aelius wracked his brain. “Requesting permission to grant access?” At his words, there was a sudden rumbling beneath the dirt, before it split open and a small metallic console rose in front of him. “Wow… and the passcode. Ha, it’s a good thing I found out in my past life or I would have been screwed.” The console emitted out a holographic touchscreen with a number pad, and Aelius entered the code he recalled. The console’s screen lit up green, and a robotic, woman’s voice responded, “Access granted. Welcome, Saint.” Aelius narrowed his eyes as the grass parted further to reveal a stairway leading underground, and with one last look over his shoulder, descended the steps into the sleek bunker. “Command, enable concealment mode,” he called.

“Command acknowledged. Enabling concealment mode,” the robotic voice answered and the staircase shut behind Aelius, leaving no trace at all of it having ever been there. It will appear as though his footsteps disappear into nothing. Overhead, high-tech ceiling lights lit the pathway down to the bottom, the deepest level of the bunker where Aelius’ destination awaited. As his eyes took in the black matte metal, he shook his head.

“The technology of the Saints is really something. Though I despise them, seeing this scene oddly brings me comfort. I relied a lot on these things last time. This time, I need to do the same,” he sighed. “At least, I get to repel the Saints with their own technology.” He reached the bottom step which led into a large open hall, where a motion sensor awaited and tripped, turning the lights on to reveal a lab-like interior.

“It’s not the best but it will have to do,” Aelius sighed. “The most important thing here is to… grant myself access to the Particle Reformer and Accelerator at the main bunker.” Aelius approached a large console spanning the entire wall at the end of the room, with numerous keyboards and screens. “My skills as a hacker will let me bypass any defence of any bunker, even if I don’t know the passcode.”

Bunkers - when the Saints arrived five hundred years ago, they left behind these facilities as seeds. Each were equipped with a range of tools to allow anyone with knowledge to compile any piece of tech. When it came to the Saints technology, preparation was everything. Though the lab was barren, it had the tools needed to turn materials into tech. Though it was meant for the use of high-ranked Saints only, one slippery little Saint has snuck in and converted it into his own homebase, with daemons to defend it more advanced than most Saints could even conjure up. Netrunning was yet another skill Aelius possessed, and it has served him well through his time. With this, he had the rudimentary basics to begin carrying out the steps in his plan. If a soul were in earshot, they could hear the young voice of a teenager cackling away in madness. A madness that will turn the ambitions of any other force upside down. Such was his crusade, his righteous agenda. Beseched by the Goddess, he is the Chosen ordained.