章 115: Their Respective Troubles
"Where…?"
Amy opened her eyes. As she was about to question where she was, she saw the familiar ceiling of her bedroom.
She stood up and held up a hand to her eye.
"This is the world of the nightmare?"
Amy had read more about the ability, and she could roughly tell how it worked. Physical contact with the target.
Fortunately, she was only grazed by his hand so the nightmare shouldn't last very long.
"Young miss!"
"...?"
Amy looked at the door. Deimos burst through unlike her usual self.
"What is it?"
"Master contacted us through a letter, young miss' fiancé, Sebastian was killed in an attack yesterday!"
Amy felt her heart drop. She ran out of bed and grasped Deimos' shoulders.
"Is that what it said?!"
"Yes.."
Amy tried to calm herself down by reminding herself that this was only just a nightmare but even in just a dream, she couldn't suppress her worry.
"Miss, you don't look too well… Could the nightmares still be affecting you?"
"What do you mean?"
Deimos and Amy decided to confirm the letter's contents before making any assumptions.
"Young miss collapsed yesterday and was plagued by nightmares for a little while."
"Huh?"
Amy gulped.
"Deimos, w-what day is it today?"
"The 14th of June…"
"..."
'Could this be reality?'
Amy tried to pinch her cheeks but she could still feel the pain, she quickly took the letter from Deimos' hands and began reading.
If this was a nightmare, then it was really able to copy Markus' words and the way he writes.
"Tell grandfather that Sebastian is dead…?"
She couldn't believe what she was reading and at the same time, was convinced.
Amy felt sick.
She released a burst of energy and shattered most of the things in her room, including the bed that she had been sitting on.
Deimos was waiting by the door.
"Young miss!"
Another maid appeared behind Deimos. She didn't look at the broken room twice before speaking.
"Young miss, Sana was killed in an accident!"
Normally, Amy would've reacted with fear and sadness, and a plethora of other emotions once she heard that. However, instead of sending her into a panic, she felt her head cool down.
The urge to regurgitate everything on the floor in front of her disappeared.
"Deimos, hand me that book over there."
The maid and Deimos must've felt the irregularity in her attitude, they both looked at her strangely. Still, Deimos followed her orders and handed her the book.
"I was right…"
She could see the book's title, but most of the words written inside it were blurred.
The nightmares could only reflect what was in her memories. If she couldn't remember, it wouldn't be able to use it against her.
Unless, of course, the memory was hidden in her subconscious.
A traumatic event for example. If she were to somehow forget the event like the Adepts that they had captured, her subconscious would still remember.
In that case, the nightmare would be able to replicate the memory flawlessly though Amy herself would have no knowledge of it.
Once Amy acknowledged that the world was a nightmare, she could see the floor begin to crumble. Deimos and the maid had vanished into thin air.
She had to close her eyes for a moment and when she opened them, she saw the young knight looking at her in disbelief.
"I-impossible! Even if it was only a graze, you should've been trapped for at least half an hour!"
Time flowed differently inside the world of the nightmare and the world outside.
A few days inside the nightmare would be a few hours outside. Since Amy had woken up without even managing to fall down, it meant that she broke through the nightmare in just a few minutes.
To the young knight, that was an unbelievable feat. She had such a firm grasp of reality, or could it be that she experienced something that made her grasp reality better?
Either way, the reality was that Amy had broken free before the nightmare could do anything to her.
Amy covered the knights that had moved to restrain the young knight but was struck by the nightmare in energy. They woke up a few seconds after but they looked apprehensive of their surroundings.
"Anything else?"
Amy had wanted to cut him down, but just those few minutes in the nightmare changed her mind. She felt the despair she would have felt had Sebastian really left this world.
Compared to that, not being able to see him was better. The feeling in her chest that rose from missing Sebastian had all but disappeared.
That's why, Amy was just a little thankful to the young knight and decided to spare his life. Though, killing him might be the best thing that would happen to him after this.
The houses weren't as merciful as the kingdom. The young knight's life would definitely be a living hell from hereon.
"Damn it… damn it…!"
The young knight bashed his head against the floor. The other knights restrained his hands and moved to stop him. He didn't show any signs of resistance, there was only despair reflected in his eyes.
Amy left the bar with several knights in tow. The remaining knights were no longer in the mood and left soon after.
…
"Taking a stroll?"
"..."
Sebastian glared at the person who had just greeted him, Gilbert Walt.
"What are you glaring at me for? Can't I take a stroll of my own?"
Sebastian turned away.
"Don't you want to trade blows?"
Gilbert scoffed.
"No."
Sebastian answered and continued stepping forward.
"What if I told you what your older brother is up to if you win?"
"..."
Sebastian stopped his steps and looked back at Gilbert. He didn't seem to be lying.
Besides, this place wasn't one where even he could act rashly.
"What are the conditions for victory?"
"Heh. You've really changed. Have you become arrogant because you defeated me at the banquet?"
"I'm not here for idle talk."
"Hmph. The winner is the person who knocks the other down first. Weapons are allowed, no fatal blows."
"Fine."
"We are having a short match!"
"Acknowledged."
Though Sebastian was confused at Gilbert's sudden shout, once he saw the maid standing by the side, he understood.
They were kept under surveillance. Gilbert informed the maid that they were going to use energy.
It made Sebastian think about what would happen had they suddenly attacked each other.
—Are you going to use your spear?
"No, I won't be able to take it out without him or the maid noticing."
—Then, how do you plan to win? Using just the Walt House's Body Strengthening would expose you. An Inheritor who can use fire cannot strengthen their bodies to that extent.
"I'll be supplementing that with fire."
Sebastian and Gilbert faced each other. The maid didn't seem like she planned to give a signal, and neither did the two.
After facing off for a few seconds, Gilbert dashed forward. The ground beneath him cracked as he arrived in front of Sebastian in an instant.
"Huff—"
Sebastian inhaled a sharp breath and clapped his hands together.
An explosion happened right in front of Gilbert's face and stopped his momentum.
Sebastian then grabbed his collar and tried to flip him over, however…
"Agh…"
Gilbert strengthened his body and buried one foot in the ground. Then he landed a punch at Sebastian. Although most of the momentum was killed by the flames, he was still sent sliding back.
—It's impossible without a weapon, use it.
"..."
Sebastian took a deep breath and stretched his hands. A flaming spear manifested itself which he pointed at Gilbert.
It was one of his trump cards, being able to create a spear made out of flames in thin air. He didn't want to reveal it to Gilbert so soon, but there was no other choice.
If this were a battle of life and death without any witnesses, Sebastian would've used everything in his power without worrying about the consequences.
With their initial exchange, Sebastian could roughly tell Gilbert's level. Although he hadn't quite become an Adept yet, he was close. Unfortunately for him, unlike Amy, he was most likely destined to stay in Apprentice for quite a while longer.
Damian had stayed as an Apprentice, not because he was incapable of becoming an Adept, but that he chose not to take the evaluations.
Nobody knew why he wanted to stay with the title of Apprentice for so long, but there was no doubting his abilities. Even Amy stood no chance against him.
Gilbert snorted. He didn't mind that Sebastian created a spear and charged at him like before.
The Walt House was a straightforward house of fighters. Instead of creating plots and play tricks, they chose to take their opponents head on.
In that sense, they were like Valians.
Sebastian swung his spear down just as Gilbert arrived.
"Thunderclap."
BOOM
"?!"
Unexpectedly, instead of being sent back, Gilbert powered through the explosion. Although it was definitely weaker than Sebastian using lightning, it was still a formidable attack.
Gilbert took hold of Sebastian's arm and pulled him.
Right after Sebastian's technique, he wasn't able to move so easily and backed with the power of Gilbert, he lost his footing.
Gilbert slammed down his fist on Sebastian's back and buried him in the ground.
"You've become weaker."
Gilbert wanted to spit on the back of Sebastian's head but before he could, Sebastian swung his spear upward and caused Gilbert to take a few steps back.
"By the agreement, I won't tell you anything, trash."
As if his actions earlier were a lie, he left without so much as looking at Sebastian twice. But, before he left completely, he raised his voice enough so that Sebastian could hear him.
"You won't live such a peaceful life so easily anymore."
As he disappeared, the maid left too.
—He's become stronger.
"Yeah…"
—You would've attained victory had that not been the condition, don't feel too down about it.
"It's not that."
Sebastian glanced at where Gilbert had left.
"He unlocked the Walt House's skill, Steel Body."
—Is that a form of strengthening?
"No, rather than strengthen, it solidifies his body. It looks like he can only use it for an instant, but he used that to his advantage and bypassed my Thunderclap during that brief instant."
—It increases his defense and inhibits his movement.
"Yeah."
Some of the houses had special skills passed down by their ancestors.
In the House of Luna's case, being able to use two of the strongest elements was a special skill, but being able to use both of the same time was what was passed down to them.
Sebastian had heard about it before, Amy had used darkness when he had been knocked out the first time he used the stigma.
It should've placed a tremendous strain on her body as she was only a Novice at the time, but she still did it for him.
Sebastian roared and struck the ground so hard that it cracked. His knuckles bled but he didn't care.
"Damn it… damn it… damn it!!!"
Sebastian continued on striking the ground without care for his hands.
—Stop. Hurting yourself won't do anything.
"I underestimated my opponent and it led to my defeat. Even after all I've been through, just because I defeated him once, I got cocky!"
—That doesn't justify your actions. Learn from your mistake and never forget it, that's how you've grown all this time and that's how you will continue to grow.
"..."
As always, he could count on Balanos to say the right words.
Sebastian stood up and healed his hands. Though the glove on his left hand was all bloody, he still had a lot more spares.
"Thanks."
—I am your guardian, am I not? It is my duty to protect you.
"Heh. I guess you're right."
Though he hadn't cooled down completely, he at least suppressed the urge to destroy the ground in front of him.
Sebastian took a glance at the direction of where the maid had vanished. Though he did heal his hands, he made sure to hide them.
He headed back to his quarters and decided to rest.
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