"You're very skilled." Rosco hummed and sheathed his sword.
Davi stood in the center of a makeshift arena that Rosco had created using an ice spell. It was a basic platform made of frost, and the raven-haired man gave a bow of his head. His shirt was gone, and his body was drenched in sweat.
"Thanks for the compliment, but I'll wait for Ragna to determine if I've got it down or not," Davi stated.
Rosco chuckled. "Well, as someone who has mastered this move, I can say without a doubt, you've already surpassed me. It's like this move was made for you or something."
Davi lifted his sword and raised it to the sky. Then he took a step forward and brought the blade down as hard as he could. There was a ripple around him as his mana surged out, and the entire arena was sliced cleanly in two, in a perfect cut.
Davi felt his energy give out, and his body reached his limit as he fired off a max-powered Sky Cutting slash. As soon as his energy plummeted to zero, he took a sudden step back and sharply breathed in. He focused all his intent on his lungs and his flesh. His skin burned, as did his veins, and he became aware of a type of energy that flowed in the air around him. It was all the mana he had let out.
Suddenly, that energy swirled and was pulled into him as he breathed in as deeply as he could. The burning got worse, and in the pit of his stomach, he could imagine his Core was swelling as it was suddenly pumped full of all the energy. In an instant, he was back to full power.
"Phew." Davi wiped his brow. "This really is an amazing technique. It's a little similar to my Way of Self Iron. Perhaps that's how I got it so fast?"
Indeed, he had already learned how to use Old Bird's Flapping Wings, and Rosco even claimed he was better at it than Bruno was. In fact, the skill had rapidly leveled up the moment he learned it, and it was already S- in terms of grade.
He was grateful to Rosco for teaching him such a move, as it was insanely busted. It was a breathing technique as a well as a movement technique, and was shockingly easy to use. All he had to do was figure out where all his mana was in the air and then pull it back into his body.
Normally, when a mage used all their mana up, they'd have to wait for their Core to replenish it by resting. It was sort of like fueling a car. When it ran out of gas, it needed to be refilled before it'd work again. Mages were similar. If they were low on mana, they'd need to eat, sleep, and recover in order to cast spells again.
Old Bird's Flapping Wings broke that process. Instead, it was like a car had burned up all its fuel, and then somehow took the fumes of that fuel and reused that to keep going. It was drawing in all the particles of mana and refusing them into the Core.
This, of course, wasn't without its risks. Now that he stopped, Davi felt a sense of pain shoot through his body. It was mainly in his stomach and his head. His brain felt like it was burning up. Blood began to pour from his nose, and Davi grunted as he wiped it.
"That was your third use," Rosco called out. "Don't use it again. Drawing all that power back in causes the body to become unstable and break down. More damaged you are the less uses you'll have as well. Most people can manage three if they're at their peak. If you're injured even doing one might be bad. It can cause a burst of mana and rupture your insides. This is one of the reasons most people aren't allowed to use this technique unless they have a strong enough body or a healing factor."
"Who even taught you something like this?" Davi felt dizzy, and he collapsed back, dropping his sword. Every muscle suddenly ached, and he felt like he had worked for seven days straight without sleep.
"I told you," Rosco cracked a smile. "It's a Moore move. The Moore family can trace its line all the way back to the days of Gallenth. A few of us are even lucky enough to be born with a Golden Core. Sadly, I wasn't, nor was my son, though he still seemed to have inherited the strength of his ancestors, as well as a few of their traits. Our bloodline only has a fraction of those lands within our veins. Honestly, it was a miracle Bruno gained anything at all. He truly was blessed."
"That's cool." Davi began to lie down and looked up at the sky. It was a sickly orange as the sun began to set. "My mom was from Gallenth also."
"Was she now?"
"Yeah. She moved to Rossum, though. And then Mordheim also. She wanted to be in a lot of spots. I think she was looking for something."
"You're part of Phoenix Flight, so have you ever heard of a Phoenix?" Rosco hummed.
"They're birds that are on fire?"
"They're birds that never die." Rosco also took a seat and looked up to the sky. "It is said that they're reborn. Over and over again. That always made me wonder. What happened to them?"
"What do you mean?"
"Well, if they're reborn, why don't we see them?" Rosco chuckled. "Shouldn't their race be thriving more than any other? And yet they're gone. Like the dragons. Like the giants. Like the elves. Like the angels. Like the demons. So many species were said to be wiped out. Sometimes, I wonder if humanity will always be on top."
Davi frowned softly. "That's not something most people care to think about."
Rosco gave a nod and looked around at Fri. "Did you know most people here were from mixed species?"
Davi blinked and sat up. "What do you mean?"
"Fri, believe it or not, is a special place. This village is away from the rest of the kingdom, and most people barely know that it exists. This is because the creator of the village was from the time of Haru. Her name was Rosette. She created this place for those who were of mixed bloodlines. Children of elves and humans, humans and giants, humans and dragons, and so much more. It was even for Mutants. Now, it no longer is. Years of living and breeding and growing bred all the DNA out of everyone here, and now we're all humans and intolerant of mutants, like the rest of the kingdom. Rosette's village might still stand, but this place isn't the one she created. Like the Phoenix, it no longer exists."
"Things change."
"They do." Rosco nodded. "Not always for the better."
"Sadly, no."
"I want you to promise me something." Rosco's voice became suddenly serious.
"Yes?"
"Keep Olivia safe."
"Of course."
"No." Rosco shook his head. "I'm not telling you to simply protect her as you have been doing. That girl is special. I know she is. Her father is a very special man. I had the pleasure of knowing him, even if I know very little about him. That's why I'd like to say this. Though the idea will cross her mind, and she'll likely try to act on it eventually, please, do not let Olivia meet her father."
Davi stopped, and he looked to Rosco, his blue eyes staring into the man's. Flashes of a beast covered in scales went through his mind, as well as the smiling face of Evelyn and the dark look she had on her face when she spoke of Olivia. Slowly, Davi stood up and gripped his sword as hard as he could.
"Don't worry. I'll make sure nothing bad happens to her. I'm actually very greedy. If possible, I'd like my friends and those I care for to get a happy ending."
Rosco bowed his head and a gave a smile. "Yeah. That'd be nice."
The story that was being told was one that should have a happy ending.
Sadly, the story was about to change.
***
Ink.
Black began to drip onto a page. A quill started to scratch away, and text was forced into existence. A story was told. One that would result in the end.
'Seven. Seven remain. Six. Six will be left when this story comes to an end.'
A story was about to be told. A new tale. An end to one of the seven.
***
"Where exactly are we going?" Olivia asked, letting out a tired sigh.
Nev gave her a grin and seemed to have some sort of spark in his eyes. "You'll see."
The two of them had entered Lotus City. Unlike Fri, which had changed quite a bit, Lotus was just as she remembered it. Towering buildings, paved roads, and colorful lights that made it look as if the place were awake even at night.
At any other time, she would have been happy to see the city, but now that she had joined Phoenix Flight, she was starting to see just how dangerous places like these were…
Several windows had exploded, as had fire hydrants, leaving sections of the street covered in jagged glass or her dripping wet. It seemed like everything inconvenient that could go wrong did go wrong as she walked through the city.
At one point, an entire lamp post had fallen over and nearly crushed her, but she dodged out of the way. Nev was worried when the bad luck first started to hit her, but the further into the city they made it, the more absurd the luck got, and the more he began to find it kind of funny.
This was all to say that she wasn't exactly in a good mood. Quite the opposite, in fact. She was ticked off. It didn't help that Nev walked in front of her, a large and goofy grin on his face.
"You doing okay?" He asked, looking back at her.
"I'm fine," Olivia grunted out. She was starting to hate this stupid curse. It had been fine when Davi and Ragna were around. Most of the bad luck went to them. When it was just her, though, it was all centered and aimed at her. This harmful luck effect was likely the reason a dungeon had appeared the moment Rosco tried to tell her about her father, since it was such bad luck.
She had expected a second dungeon to appear when she spoke to him after she woke up, but it didn't. This made her wonder if there was a limit to the adverse effect of bad luck.
It seemed like doing small or mild things was easy for the curse. Everything that was happening to her right now was an inconvenience and not something that would get her killed, but opening up dungeons or other things would take more power from the curse, and it would be put onto a cooldown for a bit after it did.
That might not have been the actual case, but it explained why hundreds of dungeons wouldn't just constantly open up on a member in Phoenix Flight. The higher the curse's grade, the worse the effects it could have and the shorter the cooldown would be.
Or maybe she was wrong.
Who knew?
"Will you really not tell me where you're taking me?" Olivia asked.
Nev just gave her that annoying grin again. "You'll see."
"Alright…" She wasn't worried about fighting Nev. In a fight, if he tried anything, she was confident she could beat him. What she was concerned about was what he wanted to show her.
Nev had always been more of a background character rather than anything else. Ash and Trent were the ones who bullied her the most, while Nev stood behind them and watched—despite everything that had happened, not much time had passed.
Had Nev really changed?
Had she changed?
She kept expecting something. Like Nev would lead her into a back alleyway or something akin to that and try to mock her or call her names.
What if he didn't, though?
As crazy as it was, she was kind of hoping he'd do that. It would mean he hadn't changed at all. The reason she wanted him to be the same Nev that he used to be was because if he did change and she didn't, then she didn't think she could forgive him.
Nev finally stopped in front of the last place she expected him to take her. It was the tower. The one she went to school in.
Wordlessly, Nev pushed the doors open, allowing them to enter, and they walked up the flight of stairs, heading to the classroom where it had all started.
It had been night in Lotus City, yet the closer they got, the louder the noise became until eventually Nev reached the room's door and cracked it open.
Olivia stared in silence at the sight that stood before her.
Professor Heyhe never taught. He was always quiet and seemed depressed. He'd sit at his desk and not do anything besides making them take the same exam over and over again. He never taught spell theory, he never gave combat lessons, and he never even told them the basics of mana.
Professor Heyhe was a cheap teacher who was given to the poor students for free. He wasn't there to let them pass or thrive. He was there so the kingdom could claim they did their best, while in reality, they focused all their effort on those who were willing to pay for special courses or were of noble birth.
Heyhe had changed, though.
The old him would never show up at night to give free lessons. Heyhe was doing just that. He was in front of the class, actually talking and sharing tips. He was moving around and waving his wand in the air, and the blackboard was filled with various numbers and drawings. The kids, who were all seated, looked like they were hanging onto his every word as well and were writing everything he said down.
People were actually learning?
"I told you a lot had changed." Nev saw her amazed look, and he elbowed her lightly. "It wasn't just Fri that changed. Professor Heyhe was shocked and blown away when he learned that three of his students did it. You three managed to become real Knights."
Olivia was speechless. Had she really done this? It wasn't just her, of course; Ash and Bruno had a part in it as well, since they became Arcane Knights, but she was also there, and she did it as well.
That silly dream all kids in Fri had, the one they were told to get rid of, actually managed to come true.
"Kids want to try it again." Nev rubbed the back of his neck. "To be honest, I'm even thinking about trying it again in a year when the exams reopen. So many of us didn't even bother to go because we assumed there was no way for us to pass, yet you proved us all wrong." Nev's lip trembled slightly, and he looked down. "I'm sorry. For always being mean to you."
And there it was.
Nev apologized to her. How did she feel about it? He had never done anything to her himself, but he was always there when Ash and Trent were. She had worked with Ash and was happy he became a Knight, but she still wasn't able to forgive him for the years of harassment he threw at her. Could she forgive Nev?
"Thanks," Olivia said softly. "I-I'm not going to lie. Growing up, you made my life suck a lot. The things you said really hurt me." Nev looked down at the ground, ashamed. "That said." He perked up as she kept going. "While I don't think I can just forget about all of that and become friends with you, I'm fine with putting it behind the both of us and moving forward."
Nev gave a soft smile and nodded his head. "Yeah. I'd like that."
She was an adult. She was a Knight. Part of that meant she had to be ready to move on from the events of her past life.
Nev and she left Professor Heyhe's classroom. She thought about speaking to the man, but she didn't want to interrupt him while he was in the middle of teaching. Besides, she'd be able to talk to him next time she visited. She planned to return often.
She and Nev didn't instantly head back to Fri. Instead, they went to an empty classroom. There she fired up the simulation. An old familiar one, she had done it many times.
Taking out the goblins was easy. She barely even had to try. With casual ease, she dodged past them, not even using her wand. Her knife made short work of them. They almost seemed to move in slow motion. Having a body enhanced with mana was amazing.
When the large ogre came out, Olivia expected a battle, but it was over in an instant. She dodged and, without wasting a single breath, fired her Blood Cerberus directly into it.
The heads tore at the ogre and burned it to ash in under a second. She breathed heavily as she watched it melt, almost shocked that it had gone down so easily. She had expected a fight. She killed it, though.
Olivia glanced down at her hand. "Have I seriously become this strong?"
"Well, you are a Knight." Nev chuckled. "Even a Knight in training is still a mighty warrior, right?"
"I guess." Olivia grinned softly as the simulation ended. "Maybe I have changed."
She just hoped that the change was for the better.
Shockingly, nothing else really happened after that. Nev and she left the tower, and they began the long walk back to Fri. They spoke of days that had long passed, and they also spoke of the future and what it was they had planned. Details shared only between them.
It felt good.
Bruno was the only friend she had from her village, but perhaps that could change. Possibly one day, Nev would also join a guild. Maybe he'd end up with Ash or one of the others. It would be nice to have more people from Fri in the Arcane Knights. It would make her plans go a lot smoother at the very least.
Creating a kingdom where the Knights were actually heroes.
When they did arrive back at Fri, she slept in her old bed with Davi taking Bruno's. Ragna was out in the woods, deciding to sleep with nature since he was a real man. At least that's what he claimed.
It felt nice to fall asleep under a familiar roof and in a familiar bed. This was her home, and that would never change.
When the morning came, she woke up and got to eat breakfast with Rosco once again. It was a little odd having Davi at the table, but he and Rosco seemed to be getting along well now, with the older man clapping Davi on the back and even ruffling his hair. Eventually, though, it was time to leave.
Rosco walked her and Davi to the gates and was ready to personally see them off. Ragna waited for them, and he and Rosco shook hands.
"You will visit again?" Rosco asked.
"Of course." Olivia laughed, and she hugged him tightly. "You don't even have to ask. I'm sorry we haven't talked more."
Rosco smiled softly and patted her back. "It's alright. I wish I could have done a lot more as well. Still, at least we got to talk again. Hopefully, Bruno will have time to return one day as well."
"I'm sure he will."
"He talks to me daily on the phone." Rosco snorted. "I think he is homesick."
Olivia giggled at that. "Next time I see him, I'll order him to return."
"You do that." Rosco broke off the hug and gave a sharp nod to Davi. "Remember to practice the method I told you every day."
Davi gave a thumbs up. "Will do. Next time I visit, I'll show you how far I got."
Olivia glanced between Davi and Rosco in confusion. When did they become so close?
"Will you make sure they stay out of trouble?" Rosco looked to Ragna now, and the massive man just let out a loud booming laugh.
"Of course I will!"
"Good." Rosco nodded and smiled. "Stay safe. I'm serious."
"I will." Olivia nodded.
"Visit."
"I will."
"Call me once in a while also."
"I will." Olivia placed a hand on the man who raised her shoulder. "I promise I'll come back. I'm going to be just fine. I'm Olivia Lot. I'm an Arcane Knight."
She had done it.
Rosco and she shared one last hug before she finally left Fri village behind. She walked through the woods with Ragna and Davi. Neither man said a word. They walked in front of her, showing her respect as her eyes were teary.
"We have a long way to go if we want to head back to our base." Ragna piped up. "You two sure you don't want me to throw you—"
"We'll walk," Davi said flatly.
Ragna laughed. "Well, if you insist." Ragna and Davi argued on the value of quickness versus safety, and while the two of them did that, Olivia glanced back at Fri.
Good memories. Bad memories. A lot happened here. She lived, she laughed, she cried, and she aged. This was her home. Her father, despite all the faults he might have made, had at least done well when he left her in the care of Rosco. She wouldn't forget her time at Fri. The place where her story began.
Davi noticed her staring back, and he slowed so that he could walk alongside her. "You okay?" He asked softly.
"Yeah." Olivia nodded after a moment. She stopped staring at the village and looked ahead. "I'll see it again. It was my home after all. But I have a new home now. I'm a member of the Phoenix Flight guild." She reached up and rubbed the symbol of the bird that was on the cloak that hung off her body. "A lot of people are counting on me. So many people from my village have put their faith in me. I can't afford to let them down."
Davi placed a hand on her shoulder and gave a nod. "You won't. We won't."
They were Knights.
And so the long walk back to the base began.
***
Soon, team Ragna would be gone, and day would turn to night. When the moon was all the way at the top, Rosco would find himself seated at his table.
His head rested on the wooden surface, and a cold glass of tea sat before him. "She really managed to do it." He had seen it in battle. He knew that Olivia was able to take care of herself. The little girl he raised didn't need him anymore. "At least she surrounded herself with people who care for her."
He really didn't know what to think about that Davi kid. In the end, it seemed as if Davi was a decent person. Out of anyone who could kidnap his daughter, he was glad it was someone like Davi, no matter how messed up that might have sounded.
It was hard to believe that the girl he raised had come so far. Perhaps what he was feeling was pride?
Rosco finally stood up and was about to get ready for bed. Just as he was putting the glassware away, a sharp knock on his door echoed through his house. He let out a sigh when he heard it.
No doubt, it was Farmer Jermy wanting to speak with him over some silly thing, as the man did every night. "Go away, Jermy," Rosco called out. "I'm not in the mood!"
Another knock, this time louder.
Rosco grunted and sighed. "Damn it." He hobbled over to the door and opened it. "What do you want?" He wasn't shocked to see Farmer Jermy standing on the other side of the door. Something about the man seemed off? Jermy's eyes were a little glossy and unfocused. "Jermy?"
The farmer made a gurgling sound and stumbled forward, walking past Rosco. Rosco turned in confusion as he watched Jermy stop in the middle of his living room.
"Jermy?"
Then he heard it.
'Drip.'
'Drip.'
'Drip.'
Water. Droplets of water began to drip down Jermy's nose, ears, mouth, and even his fingernails.
***
The quill began to write. Faster, faster, faster, faster, faster, faster, faster, faster, faster, faster, faster, faster, faster, faster, faster, faster, faster, faster, faster, faster, faster, faster, faster, faster, faster, faster, faster, faster, faster, faster, faster, faster, faster, faster, faster, faster, faster, faster, faster, faster, faster, and faster.
Ink flowed like a river; the page became black. Letters were birthed. The story was finished. The tale was about to come to an end.
Rosco Moore's story had been written out.
The quill deemed it so.
***
"Jermy? What's wrong-"
Red splattered through the room. One moment, Jermy was there, and the next he was mist as his body erupted. Water surged and bubbled up so fast he popped like a balloon. Rosco felt himself get drenched in the life essences of what used to be his friend, and he slipped, falling back in horror and shock.
Where Jermy had been, a new creature took his place. Massive in height, it looked like a weird three-way mix between a horse, a fish, and a man. Covered in green scales, with the head of a horse and the arms and legs of a human, this beast, which had been hiding inside of his friend, just revealed itself.
Steam dripped out of Rage's nose as the beast turned and stared at Rosco. "You met him. You met the Dragon of Roads. You are one of the seven." Rage gave a twisted smile, blood gushing down his gums. "Bloom let his number live. I don't think that's an issue I'll have with you. Tonight, one of the seven will finally die. Tonight your story ends, 'One Who Inherited The Thoughts'."
The next day, Bruno Moore opened his eyes and slowly sat up in bed. "Huh?" The man reached up in confusion. "That's weird. Why am I crying?"
A story had come to an end.
A son lost his father. A daughter lost her father. A father lost his life.