"This mansion reeks of blood," said Rae as she crouched on the floor, her long hair tied in a ponytail that worked to reveal her forehead. "The Council did not have the necessary strength to fight the knight, even if we knew about his corruption."
Arthur did not answer and simply stared at the youth, who grew uneasy the more he watched him. It was still hard to accept, but he understood the general gist.
Ori has created a replica of himself, using alchemy and runes. Furthermore, Ori was the chief runemaster working for the Council, and there were only three chiefs.
"How old is Ori?" he asked the youth as Rae inspected the surrounding.
"Call him Master Ori," barked the youth. "My master is in his thirties, making him a genius!" he was beaming with pride. Arthur pondered silently.
'Ori is in his thirties. That means he got here before me by eleven years, at the very least. This cannot be true. A temporal divergence shouldn't have such a gap for similarly transported people.'
This was one of the observations recorded in the book he obtained from the old couple living on the outskirts of Aquamia. However, the book was not absolute, and it could be possible that it lacked all of the necessary information.
"Lord of Hidden," Rae stood up from her spot. "We can handle the people trapped in prison beneath. However, you can also choose to send them to your city, although I doubt that they would be of benefit."
"You can take care of it," Arthur said with a wave of his hand. "I came here because I knew the knight is a foul one. But, since you are here, I have no reason to stay."
"I value your trust," Rae said as her scarf grew larger. "I will handle the situation here. You two can go outside and wait."
"Let's go," said the youth as he walked out of the room, and Arthur followed after him. So, they walked until they were outside before the youth suddenly turned around and attacked him.
"Guh," groaned the teenager as his short sword stopped midair in front of Arthur, who did not seem to react to the attack. Arthur leaned downward and watched the youth's face with interest.
"This is unmistakably his face," muttered Arthur as the youth was growing furious, and red mana exploded from his body. The youth disappeared and reappeared behind Arthur, striking again. "Why are you attacking me?" asked Arthur as he appeared behind the youth again and used his Restrain rune.
"Let me go!" shouted the youth as he fell to the ground, struggling against the ropes of compressed air. "I know that you are up to no good! There is no way that you know Master without knowing about the Council."
"Why is that?"
"You are acting dumb," barked the youth. "Anyone who knows about the council knows that Master was one of its creators," said the youth as he was on the ground.
Arthur sighed and crouched in front of the youth, looking at him with amusement. They shared the same face, but this youth was livelier than his creator.
"Ori was my senior in the runic path, and he helped me understand a lot of things about them. This was a long time ago for your Master and a short time ago for me. However, if he is truly the Ori I know, then I have to meet him."
"Why do you want to meet him?" frowned the youth. "Master is not good with people, and he never talked about any friends of his."
"I want to apologize for failing to protect him," Arthur said as he sat beside the youth. "Your Master was my friend, and we had one more friend. Does your Master have something like this?" Arthur asked as he took out the bracelet with their initials engraved.
"This is…" muttered the youth with shock, "the same bracelet my Master always wears. How did you get this? Are you truly his friend?"
"I am," Arthur sighed when he heard that Ori still wears this bracelet, but Arthur has thrown it into his subspace ever since he came to Alka. The reason was simple: it reminded him of his failure. "I failed to protect your father, and he created the Council afterward. I need to meet him to apologize."
"Let me go," said the youth, and Arthur released him. As he sat up, the youth was glaring at him. "I will believe you, for now, so hand over the information you got from the old man. I was scolded for running away."
"You didn't have to run away at that time," Arthur laughed. "What is your name, kid?"
"My name is Ark," said the youth. "This is the name my father gave me because he said I carry his hopes and dreams for the future."
"Ori has a fine taste in names," Arthur smiled as he looked at Ark with a bit of sentiment. "I find it weird that I am looking at a younger Ori. How is your Master?"
"Master is always fine," growled Ark. "He is the strongest, after all."
"I see," Arthur brightly smiled as he sighed in relief. Ori was alive, and he had grown stronger than before. "Where can I find him?"
"Master is in the headquarters most of the time. However, I cannot take you there, as only members can go there," Ark said with a frown. Arthur nodded in understanding, and he pointed at his bracelet.
"If you meet your master, tell him that you found this person," Arthur said as he pointed at his initial. "Tell him that I need to go back to my city now but will be waiting for him."
"…Are you going to take father back?"
"I don't know what your father wants to do, so you need to ask him," Arthur stood up from his spot. "Maybe he wants to stay here. It has been over ten years, after all."
***
The realization that Ori was alive and here was like the spark that reminded Arthur of his goals. Ai's revival consumed a portion of his emotions, but Arthur knew that it was just a side-effect of his powers.
[You have defeated a high-level fallen being.]
This notification from the legacy was one he received after defeating the fallen knight and losing a portion of his emotions. The legacy wanted him to fight the Enders, so a reward from it was within expectations.
[You have obtained Art of Creation – Part Two.]
This, however, was a surprise. Arthur was stuck at the end of the rei-rank, making his powers stagger. The Vetus Rank was the true beginning of strength as Arthur would have more than a manablood, but a quintessence.
"The book I read in the library before mentioned that a quintessence helped rankers use specialized skills. Before reaching the Vetus Rank, skills use unspecialized mana, making them quite weak. However, crystallization of the manablood gives them the ability to specialize, and their skills will show a leap in performance."
Arthur pondered in his study as he was back in the palace. He needed to meet Diana before returning to his city because it was a short time before the Hydra attacks, looking its child.
It would prove helpful to break through again before the hydra attacks so that he stands a chance against her. However, a problem presented itself.
"What type of mana do I have?" Arthur was confused. "I have the mana of creation, of course. However, I never heard of skills that need this mana, only runes."
This was an essential question because it would dictate whether Arthur can use his skills once he evolves or not. For example, a rei-ranker might use healing skills while being a berserk, but that would change after they evolve.
"Am I going to lose these skills?" he wondered. "What kind of skills can I use with this mana, to begin with?"
Anyone would argue that Arthur could use all skills, but that was not necessarily the case. A Vetus Ranker has different mana than the time they were a Rei Ranker, quantitively and qualitatively.
"Breaking through is going to change my mana, which already has characteristics of creation. If the mana of creation cannot use these skills that I have but other skills, then I will be at a disadvantage."
This was not within the realms of his expertise; he needed to study the second part of his Art to understand what would happen. Finally, however, his puzzlement and question boiled down to a single realization.
"I have no choice but to evolve," he realized. "I will have to deal with whatever disadvantages I have later on because I have no other Art to practice other than this one."
Arthur opened his legacy and took out his Art as he decided on this. As he thought that the knowledge of the second part was going to appear in his mind, he received a message that destroyed his hopes.
[Requirements: Evolution into A Runesmith.]
