Chapter 13: Chapter 13 - Goodbye Elenoir, Hello Sapin
[Luz Leywin POV]
Time passed more and more in that realm, Arthur finally managed to access his first phase, but it seemed he couldn't make it last to have it in a fight. This made me realize, the fact that I was able to use my first phase indefinitely, it was due to me already having the Soul of Corruption as a common thing for at least 100,000 years of my existence. After our assimilations, the speed of mana cultivation increased considerably.
We were busy with training, and leisure time with Tessia. Yes, we went out a lot around the city, and I could see their relationship going well, with the exception of him being kind of silly and not knowing how to identify the love she felt. As for Sylvie, according to my brother, she was getting a little smarter, now speaking more or less complete sentences, but they were very understandable. So proud of my dragon niece.
And in that way, the 4 months were coming to an end, tomorrow was the day we could finally go to Sapin, but before that King Alduin asked us to have a party. I thought it was a good luck party, I mean, it also serves as one, but the real reason for this party was another.
The royal family, nobles from the Kingdom of Elenoir and even some elven journalists were all here for this party. I was dressed in a light, soft white shirt with gold trim; a long dark green pants that had a stripes on the sides, with several pink and yellow flowers; a small moss green cloak with golden lines; And finally, that elven beret of mine I got on my second day in the realm, it was quite adjustable even though I'd grown up over the years.
In that great hall, there were already several tables, all full of nobles, with an empty space in the center, maybe for those who wanted to dance? Yes maybe. The music that played there was slow, quiet and calm, something I would say was a a little like Jazz...? Yeah, but only with primitive instruments.
"Luz, here." I looked at whoever had called me, it was the queen, Merial.
She was at a fancy table and obviously more focused than the others. Next to her were Alduin and Virion, who seemed to be waving at me as I watched them. I approached that round table, sitting next to Virion, with a smile on my face.
"Hey, brat, happy for tomorrow huh?" grandpa virion said patting my shoulder lightly.
"Of course, it's not every day you get away from your homeland and then come back." When I said that Alduin laughed replying. "Well, you use plant magic and our daughter considers you a brother, I think this kingdom is your homeland too."
"But still, thank you so much for the farewell party... I was wondering, why are all the noble families from this kingdom here?" my question made the king give a light laugh as he smiled.
"As well as being a farewell party, it also represents the luck we want you two to have when you return to Sapin, and I will be making a very important announcement that requires you to still be here." He took a sip of his drink.
I watched the drinks on the table, there seemed to be fresh juices in the positions where Tessia and Arthur were supposed to be while Merial had some sort of soft wine and the rest of us had an alcoholic drink mixed with fruit. I don't understand why they give me alcohol, but maybe it's because they know I'm really not affected by it if I use my first phase.
So I took a long sip of that drink, it went down smoothly and warmly in my throat and it tasted like what I could describe as a mixture of grapes and citrus with a light dash of honey. With this incredible flavor, I started talking a little more.
"Are you sure it's okay to give such a drink to a child close to Tessia's age?"
"Are you complaining?" Virion said also taking a sip of the drink he had.
"Not too much, it doesn't affect me and it gives a good feeling to drink, this taste really is perfect for a party like this. And the heat that comes at the end of the throat... hmmm~" Alduin and Virion looked at me with mild surprise at the way I described it, and they took another sip of their drinks.
"Wait...where's your brother and Tessia?" Merial said putting her hand on her chin.
I was going to say something, but I could hear 'kyu' sounds in the distance. Arthur was wearing an outfit similar to mine, only without a cloak or beret, having something that resembles a dark green suit jacket. Tessia was dressed in a small, pale green, almost to white, dress, carrying a small green handbag with gold trim. Sylvie was on top of my brother's head, miraculously not destroying his hairstyle. The three of them were together and approaching us, with Tessia hugging his right arm.
"My favorite couple." I said smirking, everyone at our table laughed while my brother and the elf princess blushed, making her let go of him and they both sat with us.
We ate and drank, taking advantage of that party, after half an hour, some noble couples began to dance in that central space free of any obstacles. I insisted that Tessia ask my brother to dance, but she was quite embarrassed that she didn't know how to dance properly with him. I started doing my actions like their cupid, and after much insistence they went to dance a little, with Sylvie being left in my care.
As I returned my attention to the table, I saw the king and queen smiling and looking at their daughter, while Virion gave me a wink for making them dance, causing a weak laugh to escape my mouth. I soon went back to watching them, Arthur really seemed to dance with class, honestly, he could blend in pretty easily with royalty here if he had pointy ears.
With a time of 3 hours since the party started, already being the night, Alduin got up from his chair, taking his glass and tapping it lightly with the spoon, drawing everyone's attention and making them fall silent. Apparently now was the news he said.
"Again, thank you all for attending. I hope this is not getting in the way of your jobs as administrators and participants in this beautiful and incredible kingdom of ours. Some of you have already been told what the real reason for this party was, but we will go in parts." Alduin's voice was very catchy, perfect for speeches.
"Firstly, today, is the last night we will have here in our territory, the humans who were both friends of my daughter and my father's disciples. They will return to Sapin tomorrow, after having stayed here for a few years. Luz, Arthur , can you get up?" At his request, we got up, giving us some curious looks.
"Secondly, I have to say something, which breaks my heart whenever I remember. Days before they arrived, my daughter, Tessia Eralith, had been kidnapped. This had not been made official at the time, so as not to cause a ruckus. But these young ones, these two boys under the age of 6, who were surviving in the forest after being separated from their family, had the courage to find my daughter and save her from these kidnappers!" I could hear noises of surprise, it really seems that very few knew about it.
"And they did it, asking only as a reward, a way to get them home safely, and now, we can deliver them this simple reward. They saved a princess, my daughter, and they didn't ask for money, nor fame. But I see that they'll earn these things, even if they don't realize it, because they are so amazing and brave!" He said this, pausing slightly, it looked like he was trying to think of the best words to say.
"Finally, it wasn't enough, while this brown haired boy took care of and just wanted to know about my daughter's protection, the other had a sharper look, and found a notebook!" He picked up the old notebook I had given him on the day of our arrival. "This notebook has the location of all slave seller points in Dicathen! And today, I come to make it official. All these outposts, which were within our beloved kingdom, have been destroyed! We estimated 2,000 to 5,000 of our race there, but we managed to rescue 4,000 elves!" Everyone was still silent, perplexed and still trying to reason what their King was saying.
"I repeat, this boy, Arthur Leywin, rescued my daughter! And his brother, Luz Leywin, did an action that resulted in us rescuing 4 thousand of our race!" With things more simplified, small claps began to be heard, which soon grew by all the nobles there, clapping as they looked at my brother and I, standing.
I was watching the royal family, and I saw that everyone was also clapping for us. I didn't know what to say, it really caught me off guard, even my brother was in shock, I had told him before about my handing over the notebook, but not how many posts I had seen on that map. But soon Arthur came out of that shock and bowed politely, accepting the round of applause, and I did the same
"Boys, no... I could call them heroes! For doing such incredible things without thinking about what they'll get in return. But my heart is heavy if I don't give them a fair reward!" When the king said this, butlers were coming to us with two boxes, one for each, and they opened them.
Inside those boxes were medals, they showed our importance and status as 'heroes' as mentioned before. The king personally put the medals on our clothes, Arthur only had one medal, it was a silver one with a symbol of leaves, branches and a shield in the center. While I received two medals, one identical to my brother's and another one that was golden with the symbol of the Eralith royal family, with jade green details on the edges.
"So, you now receive! The elven Medals of Honor! And for our friend here, Luz, this golden badge shows that even if you aren't an elf or from the royalty, you can be considered our royal representative outside our immense forest!" Alduin said with a proud smile on his face as the other nobles clapped.
I gave a sincere smile there, seeing how much I've done in such a short time, makes me have flashbacks of my past lives, when I won titles of nobility and things like that. But that smile of mine was stuck on my face.
I noticed that in the background, also clapping, were my mentors, Alea and Aya, who, just before this party, informed me that they'll receive the title of 'Lances'. I don't know how important this title is, they just told me that it made them look like the most powerful elven mages in the continent.
The rest of the party consisted of several nobles talking to me and Art, congratulating us on our medals and my title as their representative. While I secretly gave drinks to my brother to taste, even though our bodies are of children, inside we are an old man and a young adult respectively, so we wanted to celebrate in our own way too. My half-drunk brother even started reciting poems to Tessia, she might think he was improvising, but I knew very well that those poems must be from his old world.
I woke up the next day in my room, being called by... Tessia? Wait, isn't that Arthur she does this to? why me this time?
That's when I noticed, I wasn't in my room, I had slept in Arthur's room with him, apparently he was drunk enough to keep his hornor but still confused about where to sleep. I had taken him to the bedroom, but he ended up trapping me with him holding me tight by the neck as if he tried to kill me, but wasn't strong enough. And now we were in that situation, with my neck finally free as Arthur covered his face with a pillow due to a mild hangover. Apparently he wasn't used to going through this.
Leaving his room for him to get ready, while I went at high speed to my room, thus taking a shower, taking my travel bag that was ready well before yesterday, wearing simpler clothes, along with my faithful beret, and so we both head towards the castle entrance.
We were stopped by some maids along the way who handed us cups of tea and a small piece of bread. I think it was because we needed to go there as soon as possible, it was even good to think that the first real meal of the day would be with our family.
Finally at the entrance we delivered the cups to the employees who opened the doors for us and we saw that there were two carriages, one more elegant that was from the royal family and another that was from the elf representatives, even though yesterday I became an elven representative too, this happened well after they signed the roles of Xyrus' visitors, that is, I would not be obliged to follow the journey with them to the famous academy.
We saw Tessia and Merial getting ready to get into their carriage, but soon the queen looked at us and warned Tess, who came running towards us, hugging tightly.
"I'm going to miss you guys, you know that?" She said in that classic sad but feigning joy voice.
"Relax, the plan we have for you to meet us sometimes if you become a student of Xyrus is still active. Just need to impress the Academy Director, from what Virion told me." I returned her hug.
"True, and besides, my brother is now a elf representative. That is, he can use Xyrus' teleport at will during periods that they open up the connections between Sapin and Elenoir" Art said ruffling my hair, and then I straightened my beret.
With our conversation done, we said another goodbye to the royal family, as we entered the simplest carriage there. We ended up seeing other elves, but one of them I recognized right away, making me laugh.
"Hey, Feyfey! How have you been? I saw you at the party yesterday, but I couldn't find you to catch up." when I said his name, arthur soon recognized him "Sorry too, I was kind of busy at the moment to go talk to you."
"Oh! No problem, no problem! Now with you guys having won such important things, we're on the same level! And that makes us rivals!!" He said excitedly and with a proud face. "But what's up? I heard you're finally going to go back to your families. I don't know what it would have been like if I had gone through something like this, being separated from my parents and into another realm."
"Yes, you really couldn't take it" that was my thought, before we were warned that the carriage was going to start moving, a sigh of relief was released through me, today, we were going to see our parents.
As our carriage went into the teleportation gate we were greeted by the now familiar sensation of being in the middle of a fast-forwarding film, just like it was with Sylvia's portal.
"We have arrived in Xyrus!" the driver announced.
Taking a quick peek out, I noticed we were surrounded by a parade of people all politely clapping at our entrace. This tournament was supposed to be one of the biggest turning points throughout the continent. It was exciting venture that the leaders of the continent were taking, but also a scary one that would be filled with dispute and hostility.
After a few turns, the driver told us that we would pass through a half-empty space between two buildings and that we had to get ready to get out of the carriage quickly. Arthur waved goodbye to Feyfey, while I gave a little bow to the other representatives there.
In the right moment, Arthur opened the door and was jumping out of our mean of transport that was still moving but not that fast, making all this with Sylvie in the top of his head. I adjusted my beret, with my eyes glowing in 3 colors as I created a small ice ramp where I slid to the solid ground, the elves there were impressed and FeyFey closed the door after I left, thus making them return to the programmed path.
"Stop this show off!" my brother said giving me a light slap on the back of my head which made me laugh.
After around an hour of making our way, we finally managed to find the huge manor that our parents were supposed to be residing in.
I look to Art, he said "We're home... finally... Sylv, we're finally home." he was shaking with anticipation, while Sylvie was confused, the way she thought our house was in Elenoir, and well, it wasn't her fault.
We took careful steps walking up the flight of stairs and I saw my brother taking one deep breath. We knocked on the giant double doors.
Weekly Power Status
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Ranking 
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