Novel The Void Wolf

Literally posting it now.

 

Chapter 26

Spoiler: Read More

"Right, so if you sign this we can get started."

Ira said as he sat on top of a long cylindrical container that almost looked like a coffin, holding a piece of paper with blood on it. Currently, Ira, Harper, and Charles were Ira's basement. Lab equipment seemed to take up most of the space. The piece of paper Ira held in his hand was a soul contract which would kill Charles instantly if he ever decided to speak about or replicate the bloodline creation formula.

"Fine."

Charles cut the tip of his finger and signed his name in blood. As to the reason why he decided to sign the contract? Charles could be described as obsessive. The reason why he owned a run down store called "Charlie's Alchemical Concoctions" was because he was banned from the Alchemical Association for three years. His obsessiveness tended to endanger lives, and while most people would be banned outright, Charles was perhaps one of the top fifty most talented alchemists in the Kingdom. So the Association temporarily banned him and cut his funding. Thus, he opened a shabby store and sent out incredibly cheap jobs to the Mercenaries Union.

After the contract was signed it disappeared into black wisps of mist.

"What!"

Charles exclaimed. Most soul contracts ended with a flash of light, giving them a sacred nature, but the one he just signed gave him the impression that if he were to violate it, something far worse than death would reach him.

Ira ignored his outburst and waved his hand, producing a crumpled piece of paper.

"Here you go."

Ira handed over the paper.

"Careful!"

Charles berated as he gently grasped the piece of paper. It contained a process similar to genetic crossbreeding, he as an Alchemist was very familiar with the process. To spur on mutation in certain plants or herbs they could be cross-bred with species of close relation and create a hybrid, but the process could take months or years, sometimes decades. What the crumpled piece of paper held was an over-simplification of the process. Half of it was a blueprint for a micro-inscription array, which would work to filter out specific traits inside of DNA, and a micro-fusion array which would work to bond the different genetics. The other half was a process that was so open-ended, that the ingredients used could vary, allowing for a unique hybrid creation.

Charles stared at the piece of paper with reverence, the one who made the process had to be a being with incredible intelligence. He peeked at Ira, only to seem him devouring pastries at a rapid rate, clearly, he wasn't the creator of the process since he didn't know what it was.

Charles went over to a table and pulled out a few colorful glowing crystals.

"What's that?"

Harper appeared behind Charles with a pastry in hand and asked curiously.

"Mana crystals."

Charles answered as he began to crush the crystals.

"What's that?"

Harper nibbled her pastry and asked again.

"What we call the crystals produced from dungeons."

Charles answered patiently, he knew this little girl was Ira's "sister" so he didn't want to upset her and cause Ira to prevent him from completing the experiment.

"Dungeon?"

This time Ira asked a question.

"Well, it's not really a dungeon, it's more of an underground habitat containing monsters and creatures."

Charles explained but felt as if he should elaborate more so he continued.

"Mana is theorized to be one of the origin forces. It affects us all as almost all living creatures have a capacity in their body to hold mana. It's akin to each person holding a cup and scooping water from a river. It can also gather in concentrations producing crystals underground and draw in monsters which burrow within."

Charles paused briefly as he assembled a pen-like tool.

"Some small crystals draw in a few monsters, while others draw in huge ones. The more dangerous monsters tend to create territories deep within, while the weaker ones stay on the outskirt of their territories, sort of creating different levels or miniature environments. Although most people simply call them dungeons, there more like infested caverns. The Kingdom sends mercenaries to clear any mines discovered, and then the crystals are mined to create arrays. They replenish at a very slow rate, but they are nearly infinite."

Charles finished assembling his tools and put the crushed crystals into a tube, before connecting it to what looked like a very large pen. He used it to carve arrays into a few metal funnels, which varied in size.

"This process can take a few days, I'd suggest you both find something else to do to pass the time."

Charles stated as he immersed himself into creating the arrays.

"Come on, Harper. Let's go to the Bluebird. I'm starving."

Ira walked up the stairs.

"Hold on!"

Harper chased after him with a grin.

.......................................................

A few days later, a hysterical laughter could be heard from the basement in the middle of the day.

"Hahahaha! I'm done!"

Charles shouted.

Ira slowly walked down the steps.

"So what's next?"

He said as he stretched, for some reason Harper wasn't with him.

"The ingredients! Do you have them!"

Charles turned to look at Ira, his appearance was very unsightly. Bloodshot eyes, dark circles around his eyes, slightly gaunt cheeks. For the past few days, he barely ate and didn't sleep at all. He solely concentrated on his research.

"Sure."

Ira chuckled at his appearance and handed over a syringe with a gold colored liquid, a jar containing a glowing blue heart, a jar of small bones, and a vial of bright purple blood. Each of the times had a label on them except the golden syringe.

Charles carefully handled the materials, he placed them all on his workstation. He took small samples of each one and placed them on a petri dish.

"Food's ready Ira! The bill is 4500 Gre"

Harper yelled from upstairs.

"Alright."

Ira looked at Charles one more time before going up the stairs. The Bluebird restaurant had to increase it's inventory just to accommodate Ira, just one of his food bills was equal to a group of customers eating for a month. Slowly the restaurant's quality began improving as it underwent minor renovations using the money Ira provided.

...................................

A week and a half passed by, Avery visited once to evaluate Harper, and then she left. While Ira would be trained for three months by the Valkyries, Avery would train Harper for three months.

"Heh heh heh."

Charles chuckled dryly, he looked like an alcoholic vagrant, he lost most of his weight from only consuming soup-based meals, his total amount of sleep since he started was close to 4 days.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

Ira and Harper walked down the steps, and both went to sit on the coffin-like cylinder.

Charles turned around and was a little surprised. Ira looked as he always did, but Harper had a little bit of blood on her lip from Avery's "evaluation".

Crunch. Crunch. Crunch.

"So, I'm guessing it's all ready to go, huh?"

Ira asked with a nonchalant expression, while Harper looked at the workstation curiously.

"This array formation is simple but so complex."

Charles turned his decrepit and exhausted face to look at the piece of paper.

"The arrays separate the reactive elements on a molecular level, thus allowing for a seamless fusion into a new bloodline. The Kingdom is still discovering remanents of the Old Kingdom, but this is on a whole other level. Just think about it. We have teleportation arrays, but we still use candles, even though magic lights are still in development. We can make platforms levitate, but we can't grasp mass human flight. The arrays on this piece of paper makes us look like savages attempting to create fire"

He continued as he picked up four vials of bright pale blue liquid, a thoughtful expression was on his face.

"So, in other words...It's finally ready?"

Ira asked as he wiped his hands on his shirt. He turned to Harper.

"Go wash your face, kiddo."

He said with a laugh.

"Ok."

Harper said before she ran up the stairs.

Ira lifted the metal cylindrical container and placed it into the middle of the room. Charles had come to known about Ira's strength but still couldn't get over it, the solid metal cylinder weighed well over 4oo pounds, Charles brought it in pieces and assembled it in the basement, but now it seemed it was useless to do so. Ira moved to the corner and grabbed barrels filled with cold water, he began pouring them in the human-sized cylinder.

"I'm done!"

Harper giggled as she jumped down the basement stairs and rolled. She was wearing a black short sleeve shirt that actually fit her, a pair of black three-quarter pants, and no shoes whatsoever.

"You ready, Harper?"

Ira asked as he tapped the metal cylinder.

"At every opportunity."

Harper said as a smile beamed across her face.

Charles stayed silent and nodded his head. Harper climbed into the metal cylinder.

"Cold!"

She cackled as she fastened a breathing tube to her mouth. Ira smiled and clasped several leather belts to hold her in place. Charles loaded the four glowing blue vials into four slots, the mechanism was fixed to auto-inject once the lid closed and a power was put into the activation array.

Chik! Chik! Chik! Chik!

A harsh metallic sound indicated the syringes were injected into Harper's body. The sound of water being splashed was the next to be heard, and what could only be described as Harper's muffled scream.

"MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!"

Harper's muffled scream continued loudly and didn't show any sign of dissipating.

Ira placed his hand over the cylinder and closed his eyes. His bloodline resonance let him communicate his intentions without speaking. Soon the screams stopped, but the sloshing of water still continued. A pale blue light leaked from the seams of the container and then the movement stopped. Ira could still hear Harper's heart beating so he knew she was ok.

Charles looked on with an expression of obsessive anticipation. Ira finally opened his eyes and looked at Charles.

"Open it."

He said plainly. Charles nodded in response and moved to undo the activation.

Chik! Chik! Chik! Chik!

Four empty vials emerged from the cylinder, Charles removed them and placed them on his workstation.

"You can open it."

He said as he watched on.

Ira grabbed the lid and opened it easily.

"Hahaha, Holy shit!"

Ira laughed loudly as he took out the breathing tube Harper had fastened to her face and undid the leather belts holding her in place.

He slowly lifted her small body out of the cylinder.

"It...wo...worked..."

Charles said amazedly.

Harper's current appearance was far different than it was before. The roots of her hair and were pitch black, but the rest was completely pale blue and now hung to the middle of her back. Between her two black eyebrows, were three small black dots, one above the other, each decreasing in size as it went down, and her fingernails were completely blue.

"Ira...Ira...I can't...everything's so...Ira...I can't see...everything's blue..."

Harper opened her blue eyes and started to panic, everything except for Ira was a neon blue and her perspective Charles looked like a bright blue flame. Only Ira remained the same, with the exception of a black mist-like orb on his chest. Her eyes irises were gone and instead, both of her eyeballs were completely blue.

"Close your eyes and focus."

Ira chuckled. Harper closed her eyes, but her breathing was unsteady.

"Remember what everything looked like before."

Ira said softly, the bloodline resonance between Ira and Harper grew stronger and he could convey his intentions very easily.

The blue glow was still emitted from under Harper's eyelids before it slowly receded. When she opened her eyes, her irises returned and were a bright pale blue. Ira placed her down and let her stand on her own two feet.

"Woah."

Ira laughed as he looked at Harper, who was staring at her pale blue fingernails.

"You should go look at the mirror upstairs."

Ira said as he ruffled her hair.

"O-Ok!"

Harper excitedly ran upstairs.

Ira turned to Charles who still stood in shock and ignored him, he walked over to the bloodline filters and picked them up.

"Oh? Hey, were they meant to disappear?"

Ira asked surprisingly, the arrays began to deteriorate rapidly.

"Huh? Hey! No! No! No!"

Charles ran up to see the arrays breaking down, he ran to the crumpled piece of paper with the original formulas on it.

"No! No! NO!"

Charles tightly held the piece of paper and looked as if he was going to have a breakdown.

"Please tell me there is another copy!"

Charles turned to Ira with hopeful eyes. Ira waved his left hand and opened the black book, only to see the previous formula slowly fade until the page became empty. He shut the book and waved it away.

"Nope."

He said non-caringly.

"WHY?!"

Charles shouted, his mental state couldn't handle the sense of loss he felt.

"Hey, remember the important thing here."

Ira said in a friendly manner.

"..."

Charles looked up with a bit of optimism.

"You still have to make the prosthetic arm."

Ira laughed cheerfully, while Charles clutched his head. Ira's laughed slowly dimmed down while his eyes showed a strange look.

"...It all returns to the void..."

Ira said in a voice too low for Charles to hear.

................................................................

"Ira! Now I'm like you and Miss Avery!"

Harper shouted as she evaluated herself in the mirror, she couldn't help but touch her hair, which looked to be a mix of white and blue in color. She then traced her hands over the three black dots going downwards on her forehead. Lastly, she peered into her pale bright eyes and stared. Ira's voice woke her up from her distraction.

"Here, Harper."

Ira handed over the white status card, she accepted it and activated it quickly.

• Name: Harper
• Rating: B-
• Growth Capacity: A+
• Bloodline:<Unknown>
• Blessings: None
• Mana Capacity: Very High
• Passive Skills: Enhanced: Strength, Agility, Reflexes, Regeneration, Endurance. Partial-Spectral Physique, Spectral Senses, Spectral Manipulation, Spectral Control, Lunar Force Absorption(Inactive), Greater Sickness Resistance, Greater Cold Resistance, Greater Mental Resistance, Decelerated Aging.
• Active Skills: Phase Shift, Spectral Vision, Conjuration, Illusion Creation, Phantom Creation, Purgatorial Embodiment(Sealed).

"I don't know what it means."

Harper read on but didn't know what was good or bad. She could only look towards Ira.

Crunch. Crunch. Crunch.

Ira chewed a pastry while he looked over the status card. Harper's lycanthropic senses were converted into "Spectral Senses", much like how Ira's intuition and comprehension were converted into "Instinct".

"Come on."

He said as he went to walk down the stairs to the second floor, Harper trailed behind him still looking at her fingers.

They arrived in the sparring room and stood in the center, Charles already stood on the second floor, waiting in the corner with a depressed expression.

"Take a look and see what you can make of it."

Ira tossed him the status card. Charles caught it and opened his eyes wide, his gaze alternating between Harper and the status card.

"...Her physiology should be mostly spirit based...Maybe she'll instinctively pick up the abilities."

Charles said in an unsure manner as he tossed back the card to Ira, who caught it and took a few steps back from Harper.

"Conjuration."

Ira clapped his hands with an expression of realization.

Vssshing!

He drew his sword from its scabbard.

"Try to recreate this sword."

Ira instructed to Harper.

"Ok."

Harper said in an enthusiastic manner as she stuck out her hands. She closed her eyes as she tried to recreate the image of the sword. Slowly a translucent blue sword came into existence, faint blue ripples were constantly being emitted from around it. She opened her eyes in surprise.

"Ira! I did it!"

She giggled in an unrestrained manner as she waved the sword around.

"Here, hit me."

Ira said as he held his sword up, Harper nodded in response and ran forward.

Whoosh!

She swung the translucent sword and upon touching Ira's silver sword it broke.

"It's too weak."

Ira said as he watched the blue sword dissipate.

"You should try to create a Phantom."

Charles spoke up. Ira nodded and Harper closed her eyes again.

"Phantom."

Harper said as her eyes flashed blue. Slowly a translucent blue figure began to take form from thin air. It had no face or body features, and it looked similar to a doll.

"Get it to attack me."

Ira said as he crossed his arms.

"Attack."

Harper turned to the blue phantom and ordered. On cue, It slowly began walking forward.

"Are you controlling it?"

Ira asked as he stood casually.

"No."

Harper responded as she watched the phantom walk with hopeful eyes. The phantom stood in front of Ira and punched towards his chest.

thum.

The sound of a soft impact resonated within the silent training room. The phantom stood motionless as its fist remained on Ira's chest.

"Same as the sword."

Ira said as he raised his hand slowly.

Thwack.

He slapped the phantom away, it flew through the air and dissipated as it hit the wall.

"I think I understand now."

Harper said as she closed her pale fluorescent blue eyes. A blue shimmer began to radiate from her body and it grew increasingly vivid with the passing of each second.

"Then you attack me."

Ira said as he smiled.

"Phase Shift!"

Harper shouted as she ran towards Ira, she moved with an incredibly fast burst of speed, leaving blue after-images behind, her whole body was a semi-transparent blue.

Whoosh!

She appeared in front of Ira within a second and threw a punch. Ira reached out and caught her hand, swinging her to the side. Harper sailed in the air but began slowing down before she gently touched the floor. The blue shimmer covering her body began to disappear.

"You're pretty quick, Harper. Wait until Avery gets a hold of you."

Ira nodded with praise, Harper just giggled in response.

Whether she still would giggle when the training started remained to be seen.
............................................................

*w/n: Probably needs editing. I'm planning to proofread the first fifteen or so chapters very thoroughly so the chance of a chapter coming tomorrow is very slim and unfortunately I may create a schedule to work on after the weekend is over, so the hectic daily releases will become more organized and neater, but may not be as numerous.

 

wasnt the training supposed to start one and a half week earlier? or was it only iras? And when does ira get another power up. I want him to be super op >.>

Thanks for the chapter

 

The Valkyries said they would train him whenever he finishes outside matters, so there was no real time limit. I can't tell you exactly when he powers up, but It's very soon. I've been hinting at it for a while now.

 

okay, i thought i read "at the end of the week" somewhere. Yeah i know that something is happening with how much he is eating but from experience with other novels its usually only a really small buff at the end. And i want him to be at least as strong as avery when she awakens her valkyre bloodline, and get some cool unique abilities.

 

Love it! as always, i cant wait for more. hope to see an update soon, i love the rapidness between chapters!

Thanks!

 

Oh man, you wont be disappointed.

 

My laptop is broke, but I'm attempting mobile again. Hopefully I can keep the pace.

 

I hope you can still release chapters o~o

 

^^^^

 

I've found a way, posting the newest chapter now.

 

Chapter 27

Spoiler: Read More

"What you did with the girl, can it be reproduced?"

Lauren asked as she stared at Harper, who could only take cover behind Ira.

"No, It was only a one-time use."

Ira responded brightly.

"I see."

Lauren held an expression of deep thought as she looked at Harper. Currently, Ira, Harper, Avery, Casey, and Lauren were all at the white pagoda behind the Thynne Family Manor.

To her, It seemed giving that single chance for power would be far more useful for one of her own kin, but it wasn't her choice and it seemed that the little girl had some form of familial bond with Ira so it couldn't be helped.

"Avery, take care when training her."

Lauren said indifferently, a small, almost undetectable change in tone happened while she was speaking. It indicated to Avery to train Harper as hard as possible. Just because she accepted that Harper gained power from Ira, didn't mean she had to like it. She saw Harper as unfit of using it, she would have to suffer in her training to grow to an acceptable standard.

"It will be done, Grandmother."

Avery responded as she looked at Harper and guided her inside the manor.

"Ira, for the first week, my mother will train you. Next week I will."

Casey spoke up as she prepared to fly away.

"Ok."

Ira grinned and turned to Lauren, who in response made a faint smile.

"Shall we begin?"

She said elegantly.

.......................................................

Deep within the woods at the foot of the Mountain range the Valkyries used, there was a stone platform. In the middle stood Ira and Lauren. Lauren had a sword sheathed on her hip, over her black dress, she stood and watched Ira silently.

"Uh...What are we starting with-"

Ira began to talk but was cut short by Lauren. Quite literally, in fact, he saw her move to draw her sword but was powerless to react as she swung in a precise and mechanical manner, cutting his arms and legs off. All he could do was watch with a surprised expression as he fell to the ground with a thump.

"Wait-"

He tried to shout, but Lauren waved her hand and he was hit with a blast of spirit magic sending him off the stone stage.

"That concludes training for today, grow new limbs. I'll be back in two days."

Lauren said emotionlessly as she flew away.

Silence rained in on the forest as Ira sat, well more accurate to say, laid there with a confused expression. He examined his freshly amputated body and the limbs that sat on the stage.

"Well...Fuck."

Ira said to himself in a self-mocking manner.

"...My nose itches."

He added on with a small chuckle.

..................................................

Harper fared no better, as her current condition reflected.

"Weak. Again."

Avery said plainly. Her words summed up the first hour of Harper's training perfectly. Harper's attacks were too weak and every time she was knocked down she would have to get up again.

Well, it needed to be corrected that she fared no better than Ira. At least Avery didn't use sharpened weapons and instead used a wooden training sword. Though it still hurt nonetheless.

"Haah."

Harper crawled up from the ground with a long breath and wipe the blood from her lip. In her hands was a wooden staff, it was a lightweight weapon that was simple to use in theory, but required a lot of practice. She charged forward and swung the staff in a sloppy manner.

Thwack!

Avery smacked her to the ground with the back of her hand.

"Idiotic and weak."

Avery said indifferently. "Idiotic" was a new edition added to the berating words used against Harper.

"You can create spectral objects, right?"

Avery asked as she recalled how Ira described Harper's power.

"...yes."

Harper said as she climbed up from the wooden floor.

Avery nodded and grabbed a metal chain and dagger.

"Recreate that."

She said as she tossed it, Harper.

"Ok..."

Harper said dejectedly, three more months of abuse did not sound appealing to her but she had no choice to carry on.

...................................

The first month of training ended uneventfully.

Ira managed to grow new limbs within a few hours of losing, showing an increase of his regeneration factor, and he could dodge a few of Lauren's and Casey's attacks, so his reflexes were improving. The strange thing is when he grew new limbs the wolf sigil would reappear on his left hand, and the old limbs would turn into black dust.

Both Lauren and Casey stood on the stone platform and looked at Ira. Currently, all he had were black tights and a black leather tasset belt covering his lower body. For preservation's sake, he removed his shirt and shoes. Lauren and Casey remained unbothered by his lack of clothing and both stared at him.

"Now we move on to something, more difficult."

Lauren drew her sword and closed her eyes.

"I would like to see how far your regeneration goes."

She continued as her dark purple wings slowly emerged.

She opened her eyes and flew straight towards Ira, her speed was incomprehensible as she arrived almost as soon as her wings finished fluttering.

Shuk!

She stabbed Ira in the heart and channeled spirit magic through the length of the sword, completely obliterating his heart and sending him into the woods once again.

"aeugh..."

Ira groaned as blood poured from his mouth, he began to suspect the Valkyries wanted to kill him. Slowly life drained from his body as he stared up at the forest canopy. A bitter feeling arose within him, a familiar and disgusting feeling. He felt weak, so weak that he couldn't help but be powerless when he faced his death and as a result, certain memories slowly crawled their way into his mind.

"heuargh..."

Ira made a stubborn and garbled grunt as blood filled his throat, not only was his heart destroyed but most of his internal organs were ruptured. Slowly his vision began turning black.

'nOt...lOoKinG...sO...gOOd...'

Speaking of familiarity, a child-like guttural voice made itself known as Ira fell unconscious.

..................................

Inside of a dark restaurant, mostly empty. Its current occupants were Ira, who sat at a table with a confused look. His dinner partner was a young boy with black hair and red eyes that seemed to alternate between red and yellow.

"Hypocrisy."

The boy said as he cut into a steak that appeared from nowhere.

"What-"

Ira tried to ask but he was cut off by the boy.

"Hesitation."

The boy said while he took a bite of the steak, that could only be described as raw. Ira decided to let the boy finish and stayed silent.

"Complacency."

The boy finished chewing the steak and said with a smile.

"All things you're guilty of."

He chuckled as he wiped the blood from his lips with a napkin.

"How?"

Ira asked.

"It's almost been more than a quarter of a year since you were dropped into this world and just look at you."

The boy laughed, as Ira stared at him, his usual smile seemed to be completely gone.

"You're holding onto something...Scared to become a monster? Or maybe you're hesitating because you're unsure of what will become of you?"

The boy's tone changed to a serious one as his eyes continued to alternate.

"I'm sorry to say, but you're no more. That last remnant of 'Siegfried', you cling to, whether subconsciously or not. It's nothing but a corrupted echo of a fearful and pitiful child."

The boy's face contorted when he said "Siegfried", illustrating his extreme dislike. Ira's expression darkened as he listened.

"I've taken off one shackle, so to speak, but you seem to be resisting."

The boy cut another piece of the bloody steak and ate it, While Ira thought back to the first time he was in this place if it could be called that.

"...Do you know what the void is?"

The boy asked suddenly, his tone indicated it was a rhetorical question so Ira refrained from answering.

"It's everything. It's nothing. It's there, but it isn't. It's a paradox. A thing which defies the laws that govern all beings, it shouldn't exist but it does."

The boy said with an undisguised look of admiration.

"You've been given a gift, from this place, and look what you've done. Kill some bandits, capture some criminals, and kill those dirty replicants made from your own blood. It's really mundane. If it were up to me you'd be dead already, and someone more fitting would be given a chance. That boy, Clark, for example. I'm sure that would be more interesting than watching you sit around and be appeased by simple things."

The boy pushed the empty plate with blood stains to the side and interlaced his fingers.

"No worries though. All mistakes can be corrected."

He laughed cheerfully as raised his hands toward Ira.

"Since removing the first restriction didn't seem to motivate you, I'll remove the second one too. It'll be a bit more...forcefully this time. I'll even give you the name of a few skills since this world seems to have regressed. Anyway, I hope to see you shake things up, though you are always free to do as you wish."

He said with a harmless smile.

A tingling sensation emerged from Ira's hand. He looked to see two of the four wolves fading away and the remaining two looked to be chasing the tails of the other.

Then the pain.

His screams failed to come out as his whole body began breaking apart, turning into black mist.

"Here's a funny story. There used to be three moons, you know?"

The boy spoke as if he didn't notice Ira being reduced to a dark mist-like state.

"Then one day, a greedy wolf ate one, causing the dismay of more than a few Gods..."

He trailed off as Ira , .

"...So he ate them too."

He finished as the restaurant went dark.

....................................

Ira stood on a platform with a dagger in hand and looked at a boy with brown hair and brown eyes chained onto a sacrificial altar.

"...Why?"

The boy looked at Ira and asked in a pitiful tone, voicing his uncertainty.

"...For power."

Ira said with a miserable chuckle. The irony of the situation wasn't lost on him at all. He raised the dagger and stabbed the reflection of himself. He swing was rhythmic, almost like a heartbeat.

Shlik. Shlik.

The ordered sound the dagger made when entering and leaving the, perfectly replicated the rhythm of a heart. Surprisingly, the brown-haired didn't scream. He just watched. An empty expression on his face, absent of all emotion.

"..."

He didn't say anything as blood splattered everywhere, covering both of them.

Shlik. Shlik.

The rhythm of the dagger increased, mirroring a rapid heartbeat. Slowly the boy began fading away, as he stared at Ira.

Shlik. Shlik.

The dagger replicated the beating heart once more before the body was gone.

Thump-Thump. Thump-Thump. Thump-Thump.

Now the echo of an actual heart could be heard.

.....................................

"HAAAAAAAH!"

Ira sat up and took a deep breath. His wounds were more or less healed by the time he woke up.

"One hour."

The voice of a woman shook him from his stupor as she looked at him with eyes showing praise. It was Lauren Thynne and next to her stood Casey who looked at him with wide eyes.

"You've changed."

She said as she looked at him closely. His yellow eyes seemed to be brighter than before, to the point where it would be safe to say they were glowing, and his black hair seemed to have grown a few shades darker, which was hard to describe but easy to notice if anyone had seen its previous state.

Lauren reached out her hand to help Ira up, he accepted it with a smile as he stood up and stretched.

"What's next."

He said as he rotated his shoulders.

"Hahahaha."

Lauren laughed in a satisfied manner.

"Show me what's different."

She said as she drew her sword, Ira laughed in response and took a fighting stance.

..................................

The end of the third month arrived quickly for Harper, who was now a shell of her former self. She'd probably revert back into laughter when she could see Ira, but as of now, she held a cold expression, similar to Avery's.

Harper held a partial spectral physique, meaning she should be able to go without some of the things humans need. Or at least that was the train of thought Avery had when training her. Suffocation, starvation, burning, beating, cutting, and sleep-deprivation. Those things became regular occurrences in her daily training. As a result, Harper grew noticeably colder, similar to Avery. Though it wasn't without any benefit. Currently, Harper stood with a steel baton on her hip and a seven-foot tall phantom with a female figure, in front of her. The phantom had six, very elongated arms, each of them holding a weapon. The translucent blue weapons went accordingly: Two kukuris, A halberd it held with two hands that were almost the size of its body, A great axe, and a great sword.

"Go!"

Harper ordered emotionlessly. On her command the Phantom ran towards Avery, who wasn't alone. A dozen other females that looked similar to Avery were all standing with weapons ready. Since the second month, Avery would add another female as an opponent for Harper. Since today was the end of the third month, she decided to have Harper face everyone.

The phantom closed the distance and bore down on the closest female with is Kukris, while it swung the Halberd to keep a few of the other females at distance, it's greatsword and great axe worked to protect its flanks. Four Valkyries, including Avery, slipped past the Phantom pretty easily and went straight towards Harper.

Harper grabbed the metal baton and created a long blue chain on one end, with a curved dagger on the end.

Whoosh!

Harper began swinging the chained dagger skillfully, her feet seemed to glide on the floor as she spun and twisted. The chained dagger went towards the females as if it were alive, it managed to wrap around two of them and slow them down, but Avery and one other were already on Harper.

"Phase Shift."

Harper broke off the chain from the baton and moved backward incredibly fast, she slowed down and gripped the baton with two hands.

Click.

As she twisted the baton it extended into a staff, which she rotated in her hands while waiting for Avery and the other female to arrive.

Avery was the first to arrive and swung quickly. Harper twirled the staff and blocked, but the attack was a feint and she was met with a kick to the chest sending her stumbling a few feet. The other female held a training sword and thrust towards Harper's chest.

Thump!

Harper managed to move just enough to negate some of the force behind the thrust. She swung her steel staff toward Avery and the other female, but they constantly blocked or dodged. Eventually, the other two females, who were tied up by the chains, got free. The females who were blocked by the phantom slowly destroyed it, as it only held two kukris with it's remaining arms. The steel staff was knocked from Harper's hand, but Harper didn't panic and did a few backward handsprings. She landed and took up a fighting position as, pale blue, translucent gauntlets covered her hand. Avery ran towards her and swung downwards, Harper crossed the gauntlets and blocked the attack, two other females ran towards Harper while she was busy blocking Avery. Harper wanted to use her powers to create two shields on either side of but she was kicked again by Avery.

Thwack!

She fell backward and as she tried to get up she was met with a kick to the side.

Thwack!

She rolled over and once again tried to stand up, but was kicked in the face.

Thwack!

She laid sprawled out on her back as she looked at the ceiling. Blood dripped over the three black dots on her forehead.

"This sucks."

She whispered under her breath.

"Weak, but you should be alright against normal enemies."

Avery said coldly as she turned to leave the room.

"Wash up, It's time for you to leave soon."

She added on as her and the other females left the room.

Harper wordlessly stood up and walked over to pick up her staff.

Click.

She shortened it back into a metal baton and placed it on her hip.

"I wonder what Ira's doing?"

Harper said to what formerly was the phantom she summoned. It currently had no legs and only one arm that was missing a hand.

"..."

Although it wasn't under Harper's control it's intelligence was slightly less than that of a dog, it could only follow orders.

"Yeah, well who asked you?"

Harper said as she kicked the phantom in its head.

............................................................

 

Thanks for the chapter
we all know Ira will eventually become so OP that he will eat the second moon, leaving only 1.
Anyway i love and hope for another update soon! also about your drawing, it's good and i can see the effort you put in, i could never do anything half as good but he looks like orochimaru's (from naruto) man child.

I'm sorry, its mean but that's what i saw. I'm a terrible person, but considering the fact he is an anti-hero??? it fits

 

Chapter 28

Spoiler: Read More

The third month was at it's close, and the harsh training was over for Harper, but things went a little bit differently for Ira. It all started at the end of the first month, that whole month could be described as a complete thrashing at it's finest. Ira could do nothing, but receive injuries from the Valkyries. They sought to test his physical limits, which turned out to be incredibly high, but the moment Lauren obliterated his heart everything changed.

"Show me what's different."

Lauren said as she drew her sword.

Ira laughed in response as he stood up and took a fighting stance. Slowly, a black mist-like substance gathered over his arms and legs, it curled around his appendages and stopped at his elbows and knees. It moved in a fluid manner as it curled and twisted.

BOOM!

Ira lunged forward and left a crater at his previous spot. His speed caused a sonic boom, uprooting most of the trees around him. Lauren moved her sword to block just as he arrived. It had to be noted that Ira lunged beyond the speed of sound, and the distance between him and Lauren couldn't have been more than 30 feet, he closed the gap in 0.02 seconds. The Valkyries were familiar with speeds beyond sound, so Lauren was able to react, with a combination or experience and pure instinct.

"Absolute Deflection"

Lauren raised her sword with an underhanded grip and used her other arm to brace it, as she twisted her body, white particles gathered around the sword, Ira grazed the sword causing his original trajectory was slightly redirected away from her and sent him crashing deeper into the forest. The snapping of trees and panicked flight of birds continued for a few hundred feet. Dust rose as a large scar trailed through the forest.

"M-Mother."

Casey said wide-eyed, for the first time in her life she was beyond shocked.

"I know."

Lauren looked at the site of the destroyed trees and forest with a genuine smile, excitement decorated her face.

A few moments later Ira stumbled out of the ruined forest area, trying to reattach his right arm. He laughed as he finally put it back on and it instantaneously healed.

"I'll accept it."

Ira said to himself as he grinned with elation.

Acceptance. Maybe that's what he felt. When he killed off the last remanent of his old self, it wasn't to make himself more ruthless or cold, though some his actions surely would reflect that already, it wasn't to make himself choose between good or evil since his moral alignment was already unbalanced. It was him accepting he could no longer reclaim that part of himself. His moment of desperation and agony created a ravenous need for power, and even when he no longer remained himself, deep down he still kept the childish and naive hope that maybe he could replace what once was, but now he could accept there was no need for whatever was before.

Deep down, he feared he would hurt the few people he began to care for, in exchange for power, but now along with that ravenous hunger for power was a warped sense of protection he would provide for those he saw as important. They'd grow with him whether they liked it or not, even if they had to sacrifice everything except their lives. To the rational mind that may seem incredibly irrational, but to him, it was only natural. Anything standing in the way of his distorted sense of happiness would earn his purest form of hostility. Never again would he be that pitiful boy, chained to an altar.

He'd be free to love, to laugh, to hate, to kill, and to save whatever or whoever he chose. Now all his fears and uncertainties were null and void. All because of one simple reason.

"Because I have the power to make it so."

Ira laughed to himself freely. Whether the world could handle someone with a corrupted mentality and overbearing power, was anyone's guess.

Casey and Lauren didn't mind Ira's strange outburst of laughter, instead, they approached in an unbothered manner.

"You have the ability, you just need direction."

Lauren's face still held a pleased smile. While Casey looked excitedly at Ira.

"We will be the ones to guide you."

Lauren placed a hand on his shoulder and spoke with a genuine tone of familial love, Casey also showed a warm expression. Casey already thought of him as one of her own sons, While Lauren valued him more than her own grandsons. She underestimated Ira greatly, it was safe to say that currently, he had the makings of a walking catastrophe. She wouldn't manipulate or seek to control him, she wouldn't be a parasite that hindered his development, what she sought was a symbiotic relationship. His actions were sure to increase the growth of the Valkyries. She would give adequate preparation before he carved his path into the world, just like her mother did for her, and just like she did for her daughters.

.............................................

The second month is where his real training began.

"Twist your arm as you extend it. I don't want the fastest or strongest punch. I want the most efficient. Completely extend your legs when you kick, it will allow greater impact."

Lauren said as she used her hand to readjust Ira's arms.

Currently, he had chains on each of his limbs and a blindfold over his eyes. Each limb was tied to a large stone cube. Casey stood at the side using magic to reinforce the chains, to prevent Ira from snapping them. The large cubes each weighed fifteen tons, they were cut from the closest mountain by Lauren and Casey, and each one was dragged to the stone stage by Ira. All though his muscles could carry up to fifteen tons, he couldn't transfer a force of fifteen tons into a punch, not on just with his strength alone anyway. The greater his technique, efficiency, and control, the more damage he would be able to be put into his attacks, needless to say, that was the point of his current situation.

It had been three days and Ira had been doing a complicated routine of punches and kicks while chained to the heavy stone cubes. There had been no breaks allowed, Lauren wanted to force him to control how much energy he used. It was far more practical, for him. While some may argue to use your full power in each fight, if Ira used his full power on most people it would be a waste of energy and frankly, complete overkill. It would be akin to destroying a house for one single fly. Today's training would introduce something new to Ira.

"Incoming."

Lauren stepped away from the stone stage.

Whoosh!

Dozens of arrows made from spirit magic flew toward Ira, Lauren and Casey weren't the only ones present, all seven of Lauren's daughters were standing at the sides of the stage. The reason why Lauren made him wear the blindfold was to let him use his own senses to avoid and detect danger. Ira had around 5 feet to maneuver in, that's as far as the chains allowed him to go. He moved in quick bursts, he spun, twisted, jumped, and ducked. A few spirit arrows hit him but he ignored it, he prevented his wounds from healing, to preserve energy. Even though his body could be considered nearly immortal, he needed the energy to supplement it. Going three days without eating or resting put him in a difficult position, he learned that the injuries which didn't hinder his ability to fight were not important to heal right away.

Ira continued to move in short bursts, it almost looked as if he was dancing. His movements were powerful and quick.

"Two enemies."

Lauren spoke up six hours later.

"Three."

Ira said in response.

"Good."

Lauren responded with a small chuckle.

He could hear and feel the footsteps of three Valkyries approaching, though it was almost impossible to, Valkyries trained in all forms of battle, they could be stealthy or be loud. Each step made noise that was pretty much undetectable to anyone except those without some form of incredible awareness.

The three Valkyries all charged in a coordinated manner, they each held real weapons and attacked with the intent to fatally wound and disable Ira. Two spears and one sword all swung towards Ira, while the spirit arrows avoided the Valkyries and went straight for Ira.

Ding! Ding! Ding!

Lauren rung a small bell in one of her hands which produced a surprising amount of noise which blocked out the sound of the footsteps, while her other hand tossed out some powder which smelled strongly of mint. In fact, it was so strong it covered the whole area in its smell, eliminating the scent of the Valkyries and their weapons. Ira jumped while curling his body inwards and crossing both arms together to block, one spear was thrust high while the other swept low, the sword slashed across his arms and left a deep cut which exposed the bones in his arms. He couldn't teleport away to dodge, even if he had his sight, he was still chained to four heavy stone cubes which were too heavy to teleport with.

In a battle there was little to no time to think, the Valkyries knew this, not only them, but anyone who claimed to be a skilled warrior or mage knew this. Fighting techniques are all a combination of muscle memory, instinct, and conditioned behavior. Lauren didn't want the best reactions from Ira, she wanted the impossible. Overloading his senses, misleading him with false information, and creating a confusing environment. The Thynne Family women all went through something similar to gain their battle awareness, but this was even more stressful than that.

After two hours another Valkyrie received a signal from Lauren and joined the attack, It was Judith, Lauren's second born daughter. She wielded a huge battle hammer that was taller than her. She spun it above her with very little effort, Valkyries had strengthened bodies but they could also channel magic to temporarily enhance their strength. Most skilled mages could, but there weren't many mages who would use swords and magic in conjunction, a special concentration was needed to effectively use two different disciplines.

Judith wings spread as she took flight with her battle hammer in hand.

Whooosh!

She assaulted Ira from the air.

Thwack!

Judith swung the hammer downwards and made contact with Ira's arm, the kinetic force from the hammer hit with amazing might, and bent Ira's arm backward. His whole body was covered in blood, seeing as he was still bombarded with spirit arrows and hit with weapons, but he persisted through the punishment.

"Haaah."

Ira exhaled lightly as he moved his arm that was still able to function. He twisted the chain around his arm and began to pull the fifteen ton stone cube.

Keeeeeeeeeer.

The loud grating sound of stone being dragged across stone resounded in the ears of everyone present. Ira ignored all the incoming blows and focused his strength.

"Haaah!"

Ira shouted hoarsely, as veins bulged on his arm, he probably could lift it without much resistance at full strength, but now his endurance had been worn down after three days of non-stop exertion. The stone cube lifted off the ground and swung thirty feet into the air. Judith's wings propelled her out of the way and the stone cube just missed her. It still continued forward, the Valkyries standing in front of Ira all dodged immediately as they could guess the trajectory. When the stone cube reached the peak of the swing, Ira pulled downwards with all the force he could muster.

BOOOM!

The stone cube slammed into the stage and shook the surroundings, fragments of stones shot out, and embedded themselves into trees, while the Valkyries blocked the pieces that headed towards them. The debris settled and showed the collapsed figure of Ira.

Clap. Clap. Clap.

Lauren clapped with a beautiful smile, while she walked toward Ira. She knelt down and slowly waved her glowing hand over his body. She applied some light healing and decided to let his regeneration do the rest.

"Let's get him some food. For the next three days, he'll only use a sword."

Lauren said as she stood up. The Valkyries all looked at Ira as if he were a complete abomination, though there was no rejection in their gazes, only desire, and excitement. They wished for him to marry their own daughters, and still held hope he could be persuaded to.

..........................................

The training which would drive a masochist to suicide continued for the remainder the second month. Three months were not a lot of time to make a well-trained warrior, most people would probably advise at least three years at the minimum, but Lauren didn't care as she continued to train Ira and push his limits. The combination of his instincts and Lauren's training regiment increased Ira's abilities to amazingly high levels, he was no longer the boy inexperienced in battle from before.

Eventually, the end of the third month, which consisted of sparring, putting his knowledge into practice, and gaining control of his new abilities, finally arrived.

Ira stood one the cracked stone stage, without any restraints. He wore a ragged outfit which consisted of frayed black training tights and a tattered leather tasset belt, the same as before, with his silver sword and black scabbard on his hip. What was noticeably different was his body, it appeared incredibly dense and compact. Each individual muscle seemed to protrude outwards, his whole body looked to be created for efficient performance. His shirt wouldn't be able to hide his muscle structure now, although he still had a slim physique. His height grew by one inch, causing him to measure a total of 5 feet 10 inches, and his hair was a bit longer but not by much. He still appeared as a youth around sixteen years old, just with an unusually strong and oddly slim body.

Four Valkyries in leather armor held weapons as they stood on the other side of the broken stone stage, their wings were extended, as they prepared to fight. These were Valkyries a few years older than Avery, who had already awakened, most of their "basic" training was complete, and now they needed to grow through more battles.

Lauren and Casey stood together on a nearby boulder and watched. Ira's new abilities added on to his already daunting strength made him a very dangerous person. Lauren guessed his full battle prowess was around Casey's, and would shortly be close to her own. He held a strength similar to an Elder Dragon, except he was a smaller target which worked in his favor.

"Begin!"

Lauren shouted.

The Four Valkyries flew forward in a practiced formation. One barreled straight ahead, two went for the left and right flanks, while the last went above him.

Ira didn't wait for them to arrive as he lunged forward.

Whoosh!

His strength was restrained which explained why there wasn't a sonic boom, though he still moved at an amazing speed. The other Valkyries adjusted their flight paths to intercept him, but he already met the one who charged straight ahead.

He spun his body to slow down his momentum and sent a spinning kick to the Valkyrie who charge straight ahead. She raised her sword to block but was sent stumbling back. As Ira's foot touched the ground, the other sent a straight kick to the same Valkyrie with more force.

Bang!

The Valkyrie flew backward as she grasped her abdomen, her wings flapped and slowed her down as she fell to the edge of the stage.

"Dead!"

Lauren shouted indifferently.

The other three Valkyries arrived and struck in synchronization, two spears thrust from the side while a sword came from above. Ira arms shot out and grabbed both spears by the shafts, and pulled them forward, they crossed over each other and blocked the sword.

Ding!

The Valkyries pulled back their weapons, but Ira was already ahead of them, he released the spears and placed a palm on the abdomen of the Valkyrie on his left.

"Move!"

The Valkyrie above him shouted to her sister but it was too late.

BOOM!

A forceful blast sent the Valkyrie flying out of the bounds of the stage as she coughed blood harshly. One of his new abilities could alter the force of gravity on contact with his palms or the soles of his feet, and if he didn't hold back the Valkyrie may have been injured more. Though the Valkyries weren't using skills like Ironheart or even Ironwill, so it was difficult to say.

"Dead!"

Lauren repeated the same indifferent shout.

The two Valkyries took some distance from Ira. They spun their weapons and began attacking, Ira was light on his feet as he moved agilely, he'd lighten the force of gravity as his feet touched the ground and he spun, or he'd use one foot to propel himself forward and the other to slow him down. All in all, it looked strangely graceful, as sometimes he appeared to be light as a feather and other times he looked to have firm and unshakable footing. The spear swept low and the sword thrust forward, in response Ira spun his body as he jumped into the air. The spear abruptly shot upwards as the previous attack was a feint. Ira placed one hand on his scabbard while the other gripped the hilt.

"Quickdraw."

He drew the sword faster than the actual skill usually allowed due to his strength and swung to deflect the two attacks.

Ding! Ding!

The weapons were deflected upwards as Ira landed and charged forward, dropping his sword. He placed both hands on the throats of the Valkyries, but he didn't do anything further.

"Dead and dead!"

Lauren once again shouted the plain and indifferent words, signaling the end of the spar.

Even though the four of the Valkyries were apart those who had awakened within the past twenty years, they still weren't easy opponents, them sparring against Ira was a type of training, some of the newer Valkyries didn't get to face strong human opponents after they awakened, they wouldn't go around killing everyone until they found one, and it was a time of very little conflict so there weren't many to be found. If it was a real battle it may have gone a lot differently, but Ira controlled most of his ability so the chance of him losing was very little.

"That concludes your training."

Lauren said as she and Casey leaped down from the boulder.

"Let's see your growth."

Casey said excitedly, throughout the three months both she and Lauren restrained themselves from checking his growth. They looked forward to the moment the training was complete to see it.



"..."

Lauren and Casey had nothing to say or rather they couldn't say anything, Ira's regeneration factor seemed to have slowed his aging to the point where it didn't take place, much like the Valkyries. Also, instead of gaining battle awareness he received Primal Awareness, but those were the least notable things. For all the years they lived they knew nothing of a third moon, but apparently, there was one and Ira was proclaimed as it's "Keeper", the other notable skills were"Call of the Third Moon", "Run Amok", and "Nothingness". The status index the Valkyries held no mention of any of the three skills, and they were puzzled as for how they got there. Ira didn't explain, he only had a faint idea about the moon, but everything else he was lost on. Seeing Ira looked just as confused, Lauren and Casey chose not to pursue no matter how much they wanted to. Lauren guessed the inactive skills would trigger under certain conditions, the Valkyries possessed something similar to his kinetic vision skill which would activate automatically during flight. Not learning much else, Lauren changed the subject.

"Your wedding is in little more than a week, I'd suggest you stay in the capital until then, as not to miss it. When you're ready I'll take you back to the manor."

Lauren said as her wings extended.

"I'll go wash and change."

Ira chuckled as he started to walk down a forest path, broken trees covered in vegetation blocked the path, but Ira hopped over and continued on, further down the path was a river he washed in during his training. There was a wooden lodge with hygienic necessities, which housed the females who had yet to awaken, but it was in the opposite direction and Ira's appearance there would disrupt the training. They would have very little contact with outsiders, save special occasions, such as the family banquet or the upcoming wedding.

....................................................

Avery and Harper stood outside of the White Pagoda silently as the sunset cascaded over them, the air had a slight chill as it was the middle of November. The silence continued until Three silhouettes emerged from the mountain range. It was obviously Lauren, Casey, and Ira though Ira was being carried.

Whoosh!

After a few moments, they landed in front of the pagoda.

"Ira!"

Harper giggled excitedly as she ran toward Ira and hugged him.

"Hey!"

Ira chuckled as he ruffled her hair, Harper separated from him and looked at him curiously. Her eyes flashed blue, Silver flames could be seen around the Valkyries while Ira still had the black circle around his chest, though it was larger than the first time she saw it.

"You're different."

Harper said, a bit unsure of how to describe it.

"More than you know."

Ira ruffled her pale blue hair once more before he looked up at Avery and smiled.

Lauren and Casey looked at each other before nodding.

"We are going to take the girl to get her own status card."

Casey said with a faint grin as she placed a hand on Harper's shoulder. Harper looked reluctant, but Ira didn't voice any disagreement so she could only follow Lauren and Casey, albeit unwillingly. The three departed leaving Ira alone with Avery. Her dark purple hair was tied up in a ponytail, that slightly moved with the wind, her lips seemed to curve into a smile of relief.

"Ira, I-"

Wsssh.

Ira appeared right in front of her and hugged her by the waist as he lifted her into the air while spinning.

"I've missed you, you know."

He laughed as he held her up and spun around. Avery chuckled gently in response, eventually, Ira let her down. They smiled at each other before Avery's smile faded away.

"Ira."

She said seriously.

"A few weeks after leaving that village I first met you in..."

She slightly paused before continuing.

"...I asked Justin and Franklin, two Knights I was in command of at the time, to investigate your background without telling you. They came back around three months ago with a man who claimed to be your brother and informed me of some of your family's background. After they told me I killed them before they could report it to the Kingdom's Military and the one who claimed to be your brother witnessed me and fled shortly after."

Avery said all in one breath as she watched Ira's expression.

"...Why did you kill them?"

Ira asked, a bit unsure of how to react.

"I killed them because I love you."

She answered in an obvious manner. There was no blushing or embarrassment. Only certainty. As if it were a concrete fact, though it would be hard to call it anything other than that from her point of view.

"Whether you hate me or not, I will still feel the same."

Avery added on indifferently, she knew how she felt better than anyone else and could safely state that.

"..."

Ira processed everything quickly and broke into a smile. If he was in the same situation and Clark, Amy, Lance and his party, Aldis, and even Harper, threatened to harm Avery's life, he would kill them without the smallest bit of hesitation. That logic seemed normal to him, it didn't mean he was being cold to them, he saw Harper as his own blood, but if that's what he needed to do, it would be done. Avery Thynne gave him a sense of familiarity in that regard, something deeper than the bloodline resonance. Currently, her eyes showed conviction and acceptance, beneath that they showed a readiness to protect him, whether he needed it or not. He could hear her steady heartbeat was steady as if he needed any further assurance she was telling him the truth. He placed his hand on her cheek and chuckled.

"I love you, Avery Thynne."

Ira said with a cheerful smile as he looked at her silver eyes. Avery didn't look away as she grinned. They closed their eyes and slowly closed the distance before they shared a soft kiss.

Thus, that evening marked the birth of a twisted and unreasonable love shared by two people.

..........................................

Shortly after their briefly private moment, Ira updated Avery on his status card before he departed, He and Harper went to the capital by way of a carriage and arrived as it got dark, they walked towards their house with wide grins.

"Maybe I'll finally get your food. "

Harper said as she giggled.

"We'll find out while we get something to eat."

Ira mushed her face as they turned to walk inside of the Bluebird. The quality of the restaurant was good enough to be called upscale, it had been redesigned to draw in a middle to a high-class crowd and it worked pretty well, seeing as they began to receive more customers. Ms. Edda even hired a few extra chefs. Though currently, the restaurant was empty with the exception of a three or so people due to the time and the fact a lot of people were scared of being out at night, after what happened in the Capital before.

"Ah! Ira..."

Ms. Edda called out a bit awkwardly from the bar counter.

"Something wrong?"

Ira asked as noticed her expression and inquired.

"Well...There's someone at your table..."

Ms. Edda said as she showed an uncomfortable expression.

"It's fine, I'll sit somewhere else."

Ira shrugged casually.

"No...He's been coming here the past week, he's claiming to be your brother. I didn't believe him but he insisted, so he's been stopping by every day and waiting. He doesn't order anything and just sits there."

Ms. Edda explained.

"Oh!"

Ira smiled gladly. Ms. Edda felt his response was adequate for someone seeing a sibling and sighed with relief, she didn't want to upset her best customer.

"I hope you don't mind letting Harper order her food here, I'll go say hello."

Ira said as he patted Harper on the back.

"No problem."

Ms. Edda smiled as she went into the kitchen to cook a few steaks for Ira and Harper.

...................................................

To the west of the Grenitian Kingdom, an incredibly large and sturdy fortress sat. It was situated on the on the border of the Diavol Territory, to say "on the border" was a bit of a stretch. The "Diavol Territory" was referred to as the Diavol Republic, but the Kingdom refused to recognize it, it was a little degrading to call their land "Territory" as if they were animals, but they held no real love for humans either. The problem stemmed from the failure to recognize the Diavol's actual borders. Since the collapse of the Old Kingdom, the Diavol territory expanded, due to the fact since the Kingdom didn't have the power or resources to keep control of it. As more and more ruins that predated the collapse were discovered, various Entrepreneurs, Mages, Alchemists, Blacksmiths, Researchers, Warriors, Nobles, Mercenaries and just about everyone else in the Kingdom benefited from it. Nobles clamored for expansion under the cause of "Reclaiming what once was." and pressed forward. Leading to increased tension between the Diavol Republic and the Grenitian Kingdom.

The fortress stood as an insurmountable deterrent for the Diavol. It was situated in a mountainous valley, too steep to bring armies over, constructed on the grassland inside the valley. Its walls extended the width of the valley, measuring close to 1200 feet wide, while it stood around 50 feet high, it's stone ramparts were reinforced with magic arrays, a drawbridge that was currently closed, hung over a deep moat, which was made with the intention to be filled with oil, and finally was another set of wooden doors around 20 feet that were locked with a large metal plank. The current fortress was a bit empty though. It had been more than a few months since the attack on the Capital, and since the Diavol showed no obvious movements, some soldiers were called back for additional training in preparation for the future. Right now, there were about 500 people in the massive fortress which could hold 3,000 at capacity. A few defensive armaments such as catapults and ballistae were covered with tarps, they had to remained ready for use in case of a surprise attack. Signal flares and warning bells were placed every 100 feet on the ramparts for good measure. A wooden tube was loaded with reactive alchemical materials, and a string was fastened to the bottom. Pulling the string would create friction and set off the flare, sending a bright light up to 15 miles into the air if the weather wasn't good and up to 30 miles in optimal conditions.

Two soldiers stood guard at the rampart facing the Diavol Territory.

"All I'm saying is, something's wrong. Glen Marbot couldn't have done all that by himself. I think it was a Kingdom experiment gone wrong and they pinned it on him."

One Soldier sipped from a flask that was most likely filled with alcohol before he passed it to his fellow soldier.

"Anyone ever asked you, why would you choose to be a soldier for the Kingdom if you don't even trust the ones in charge?"

The second Soldier responded as he downed the contents of the flask and passed it back to the first Guard.

"Yeah...You're mother and sister ask me, usually right before they take turns mounting me."

The first Soldier responded as they both chuckled as steam rose from their mouths. The temperature becoming colder and the only relaxation they had were moments like these. The Fortress Commander probably wouldn't mind as long as they completed their duties.

All of a sudden something briefly shined far off in the distance.

"Hey! I think I saw a fairy."

The second Soldier shouted.

"Fuck off, you're-"

The first Soldier began to respond but was stopped he saw a faint flash in the distance. Currently, an overcast only allowed small streams of moonlight to reach the valley. After that was a second flash, and then another.

"The flares."

He said as he nudged the other soldier.

"What about them?"

The second Soldier asked.

"Get to the fucking flares!"

The first soldier shouted in an alert manner, the second soldier sobered up and ran to the nearest flare.

Deeeeeesh!

A few moments later, a flare traveled into the air and shined a light on the Valley. Numerous weapons shimmered under the light. The Western Valley was filled with an army of Diavol.

Ding! Ding! Ding!

The second Soldier wasted no time ringing the warning bell.

A well-equipped army of 10,000 stood about a thousand feet away from the fortress. Siege Towers, Catapults, Ballistae, tamed Cyclopes and even three Giants, which dwarfed the Cyclopes which were anywhere from 9 to 20 feet. Instead, the rare race of Giants stood at anywhere from 20 to 90 feet. Luckily, if that could be said at all, the Diavol only came with three Giants, that were all about 40 feet, still, they'd have no difficulty reaching over the wall. It was amazing to have three Giants, not only were they rare, but the taller they grew greater the impossibility of controlling them. They had to be seized when they were young, which in and of itself was a monumental task.

"Fuck me."

The first Soldier cursed as he downed the rest of the flask, he knew it wouldn't help the situation, but if he died tonight he'd die drunk.

...................................................
*w/n: 5.3k words hoped you've enjoyed. The status card looks off because I don't think NU or Wordpress have a grid making option, so I screenshot the status card from Royal Road, the original image on that site, just a heads up if you wanted to find a better quality version.

 

Chapter 29

Spoiler: Read More

Sebastian Fallmire. His face was freshly shaven, his hair was trimmed and he donned a new set of clothes. His current expression was one of exhaustion, he'd been coming to this restaurant for a whole week straight, waiting for the boy that may have been his brother, arriving in the morning and leaving when it closed. Before that, he spent a bit more than three months looking for "Ira", with some outside "assistance". Not counting Ms.Edda the owner of the restaurant, there were three people inside. Sebastian and two intelligence agents of the Kingdom, one male, and one female. They were part of the "assistance" mentioned before.

It all started after Avery Thynne murdered the Knights she was formerly in command of. Sebastian retreated back to the capital and decided to seek help from the Military. He reported the events of what happened, everything was easily confirmed as the bodies were recovered just outside the capital, and although there was no proof Avery killed them herself, her family carriage was seen at the gate by witnesses.

In exchange for some "protection", Sebastian had to tell what he knew to the Kingdom. He wasn't able to lie as an Arch Mage deployed magic that was able to detect lies, although there were loopholes in it. For example, a murderer could be asked: "Did you murder this person?" and they could respond "No." and pass, even if they beat the person half to death and left them to die in the woods, they were technically telling the truth, at least by the standards of truth magic.

So to combat that, a few highly skilled Alchemists concocted a truth serum of sorts. It left the target in a hypnotic state, which made it nearly impossible to evade the truth magic, though it wasn't entirely foolproof.

It may seem like going too far for one person, but if there was a chance to find out the truth behind the black pillar and a way to even weaponize it, nothing would be considered going too far.

As a result, Sebastian painted a clear picture. The Fallmire Family had a shaky history, they came from a line once famous archaeologists and researchers who were hired to locate remanents of the Old Kingdom and to decipher information, but eventually, their glory faded and became a memory. While the family was still wealthy, their prestige had long since disappeared into history books riddled with dust. George Fallmire continued in his ancestor's steps, still researching the Old Kingdom, and that's how he met Emily, who was a fellow researcher.

His parents happened onto an ancient book which was nearly indecipherable, apparently during an expedition into the ruins of the Old Kingdom, they spent months on end trying to decipher it, it went from a harmless interest to complete obsession very quickly. They began to recruit a few of his uncles and aunts into helping them perform a ritual, with the promise of immortality...Sebastian was no exception as even he became enraptured. Siegfried, his youngest and only brother was to become a vessel, a key part of the ritual.

Sebastian was to prevent the information from leaking out and manage the household until his parents returned with the secret to immortality. When his parents failed to return and instead a black pillar emerged, he destroyed all notes and records he had on hand of the event and spent his family fortune looking for any information he could find on his parent's and Siegfried's whereabouts.

Of course, the most important question had to be asked. What was Sebastian looking to gain if he did find Siegfried? "A chance to fix his mistake." was the answer his interrogators received, it was vague and open-ended, but it was the truth. Even so, Sebastian Fallmire couldn't be trusted so he was constantly put under watch, any suspicious activity would earn the Kingdom's punishment.

Finding Ira wasn't a difficult task. He had the makings of an urban legend, he beat Aldis Thynne in a sparring match at the Academy, defeated most of the deformed creatures made by Glen Marbot, and he even stopped a notorious gang boss who terrorized the slums. His eye-catching features made him easy to spot, so it was all a matter of finding his most frequented locations.

It placed his residence at a townhouse purchased by Avery Thynne, not too far from the MU and directly across from a restaurant, that he constantly visited. If there needed to be any clearer evidence, there was a table always reserved for him. The Kingdom's intelligence director decided to allow Sebastian "to greet his little brother", which was a nice way of saying "be bait". Based on the reported characteristics of Ira they didn't hope to catch him that was the last resort, they wanted to make contact with him through his brother and slowly rope him in.


Leading to Sebastian's current position. He clutched his head, right now he desperately wanted a drink. What would he say to his brother if they met-

All of a sudden two people entered the restaurant.

"Ah! Ira..."

Ms. Edda called out. Sebastian looked over to see a handsome teen dressed in black equipped with a sword, with pitch black hair, radiant yellow eyes, and a black tattoo on his left hand entering the restaurant with a small adolescent girl also dressed in black, whose black roots contrasted the rest of her pale blue hair, along with a set of hauntingly pale blue eyes, between those eyes were three black dots.

"Something wrong?"

The teen inquired.

Ms. Edda then began talking in a low voice, Sebastian couldn't hear, but guessed it was about himself.

"Oh!"

The teen exclaimed with a smile.

"I hope you don't mind letting Harper order her food here, I'll go say hello."

He said as he patted the adolescent girl on the back.

"No problem."

Ms. Edda responded as she retreated into the kitchen, the sound of cooking utensils being used filled the previously silent restaurant.

The couple in a dimly lit corner briefly looked at the teen and then to Sebastian, as they continued their "romantic" dinner.

The teen approached the table which held Sebastian with a smile.

"Brother."

He smiled cheerfully which was slightly eerie to Sebastian.

..........................................................

"Brother."

Ira smiled before he undid his scabbard and hung it on the back of the chair. He sat down in a relaxed manner.

"You order yet?"

He chuckled as he looked at a menu. Sebastian looked at Ira with a dazed expression.

"Yeah, I usually stick to the basics. Steak and roasted veggies, hope you don't mind."

Ira put the menu down as he looked at Sebastian.

"Well, you gonna say something?"

Ira asked curiously.

"You, it's really you, Siegfried I-"

Sebastian began talking.

"Don't call me that."

Ira said coldly, a sense of fear arose in Sebastian, the Kingdom informed him of Sieg...Ira's strength, they estimated him to have a rating of at least A-.

His information in the MU wasn't available as he wasn't registered to directly receive jobs request, which let the employer view his job history and combat rating.

"Y-yeah...Sorry...Ira, mom and dad where are they?"

Sebastian asked as his palms grew sweaty.

"Dead."

Ira replied indifferently as his eyes scanned over Sebastian, who felt uncomfortable under his prying gaze.

"...How?"

Sebastian worked up the nerve to finally ask, he briefly sent a glance over to the couple in the corner.

"Hahahahaha!"

Ira laughed loudly as he slapped the table.

"Funny thing. I don't seem to remember you."

He said as he looked Sebastian over again.

"I'm not misleading you, Sieg...Ira. We're brothers."

Sebastian hurriedly explained.

"Oh, I believe that. I just can't remember you on account of all those memory wiping spells."

Ira waved his hands calmly, to clear up the misunderstanding.

"..."

Sebastian's expression grew apologetic and guilty.

"Ah, so you know."

Ira lifted his eyebrows in realization, before leaning forward with a smile.

"Ira, I'm sorry...All those years ago I shouldn't have gone along with it. We all...did a terrible thing."

Sebastian spilled his heart out emotionally as tears welled up in his eyes.

"I came here to correct it, but so many things happened...It all got so...I used everything I had to find you...And then when I finally arrived some woman claiming to be you fiance...she murdered her own men...and I...I just...I've been having...these nightmares about it and about you...I just can't..."

Sebastian's tears fell as he got lost in his emotion and buried his face in his hands.

"Terrible thing? What they did wasn't terrible..."

Ira said in a warm tone and shook his head as he placed a hand on Sebastian's shoulder. It looked as if he were comforting him.

"No, it was worse than that..."

His tone changed abruptly which caused Sebastian to look up at him.

"What-"

Sebastian couldn't talk as a hand clasped his throat before he could react.

"Your pitiful fucking apology won't change just anything about that day."

Ira laughed, as he stood up and lifted Sebastian into the air by his throat. The "couple" in the corner looked up and grew tense, but they didn't say anything. A bit of hostility was to be expected, they wouldn't move if it wasn't life threatening.

"...I'm...Sorry..."

Sebastian squeezed out his words as he could barely breathe. Both his arms grabbed onto Ira's arm, but couldn't shake his grip in the slightest.

"I'll skip the boring parts and sum it up for you."

Ira tightened his grip.

"They used a poisonous dagger to carve my skin."

He said while tightening his grip, causing Sebastian's face to grow redder, by now the "couple" stood up to stop Ira, but they were blocked by Harper, or more accurate to say Harper's phantom. Contrary to their looks they proved to be skillful as they fought with experience. Ms.Edda ran out of the kitchen when she heard the sound of combat and was shocked in place.

"Then, they stabbed me. But oh no, not just once, they did it more times than I care to count."

Ira's hand applied, even more, pressure while he smiled as if nothing were happening. Sebastian's eyes bulged as veins surged all over his face, his arms weakly clawed at Ira, but it could do nothing to stop him.

"Then they watched me die...So I won't take your worthless apology."

Ira whispered with a smile.

Craaack!

The sound of Sebastian's neck breaking reverberated throughout the restaurant.

Thump!

"Actually, I guess I did the same. Watching you die, I mean."

Ira said as he dropped Sebastian's limp body onto the floor, before turning around. Everyone stood speechless, except Harper was busy looking curiously at the couple who fought off her phantom. Ira looked at Harper and then at Ms.Edda before nodding.

"Don't kill her, Harper...and get our food."

Ira hurriedly said as Harper left behind a blue trail. She quickly dashed straight over the counter and punched Ms. Edda in the face, knocking her out cold before she had a chance to scream. Harper stepped over Ms.Edda's body and walked into the kitchen.

"Alright, you two."

Ira looked at the man and woman.

"We're agents of the-"

"I don't care."

Ira cut the man off.

Wssssh!

He appeared in front of them and placed his palms on both of their heads.

Thunk! Thunk!

They were knocked out cold as the force jostled their brains and rendered them unconscious.

"Harper."

Ira said as he stood over the unconscious man and woman.

"Yeah?"

Harper responded as she balanced a dozen plates in her hands.

"You can create illusions, so can you make it look like they tried to rob Ms.Edda?"

He asked as he waved his hand a dropped a brown duffle bag filled with weapons. It was what he retrieved from Romelyn's hideout previously.

"I can try."

Harper said eagerly as she placed the plates down on the counter.

"Hmmm. For now, make it look like the place is closed."

Ira said as he alternated his gaze between the man and woman on the floor. He reached over and placed his hand on the woman's neck.

Crack!

He bent it at an unnatural angled before he waved his left hand over her body. Leaving no trace she was ever there. Harper's eyes flashed blue as she held up her hand and aimed toward the entrance, outsiders would now see a dark restaurant if they happened to pass by late at night. After she was done she looked at Ira with confused eyes after noticing him kill the unconscious woman.

"Two robbers seems a bit unlikely."

Ira shrugged as he shuffled through the bag before pulling out a loaded crossbow and shooting an arrow near the kitchen door. Harper decided to wait for him to finish, he'd probably explain it all after he was done.

He then tied a small pouch of crossbow bolts to the man's leg and tossed the crossbow over the bar counter, he briefly stretched his arms as he went over to Sebastian's body and waved his left hand over it causing it to vanish, he then affixed his scabbard onto his hip and tidied up the table up. He then returned to the bar counter and began eating. Harper sat down next to him and ate too.

"So here's what you'll do..."

Ira said as his arm flashed past Harper and took a piece of steak from her.

"Hey!"

Harper shouted as her phantom appeared and reached for one of Ira's plates. Ira caught the Phantom's hand and pulled it toward the counter.

Bang!

Its head slammed against the counter top and broke a few empty plates and glasses.

"That should help too."

Ira said as he chewed the steak.

"Useless!"

Harper cursed at the phantom.

"Things are bit complicated since I can't just kill good ol' Ms.Edda if I did that they'd probably close the place down for a while and we'd have to eat somewhere else until it reopened if it ever reopened at all."

Ira said casually in a very reasonable manner, while Harper nodded in understanding finding no faults with Ira's logic.

"So here's what you'll do..."

Ira began explaining his plan to Harper.

........................................

"Ugh.."

Ms.Edda groaned as she clutched her heavily swollen face, she was currently on the kitchen floor, sunlight poured in through the windows outside. The last thing she remembered was-

"Ah!"

She shouted as she sat up and looked to her side. There was a man with a kitchen knife stuck in his throat and a crossbow a few feet from his body. She began to recall what happened, just before she closed up a customer drew a crossbow and attempted to rob and kill her, he fired the first bolt which luckily hit the kitchen door and not her.

He climbed over the counter knocking over her dishware and chased her into the kitchen, a struggle ensued as he chased her frantically which caused him to drop the crossbow. She tried to run out the back but he pulled her hair, ripping some of it out, and slammed her to the ground. His punches repeatedly rained down on her face before he decided to choke her, she almost lost consciousness, but somehow she grabbed a fallen kitchen knife and stabbed the man in his throat, pushing him off of her before falling unconscious.

As she remembered the events that transpired she touched her hands to the bruised area around her neck. Something felt slightly off about the situation as she felt a strange desire for steak, but she assumed it came from the shock of killing someone for the first time. She struggled to her feet and began to shout.

"Someone help! Someone help!"

As Ms.Edda shouted, a few passerby's heard her and rushed in.

It didn't take long for the news to spread of an attempted robber, who was killed by a brave widow who sought to protect her restaurant. In a few days, it would become a story that helped shake away some of the fear that the citizens in the Capital felt, and increase the popularity of The Bluebird.

The Kingdom's Intelligence Agency could do very little investigating into the matter because of the story spreading rapidly. Launching a full blown investigation would cause panic to take over once again, and repeatedly questioning the owner could be seen as harassment earning the people's distrust.

Her story seemed to add up, her injuries were very much real and she showed no hesitation as she repeated her story with ease, but those with the Intelligence Agency knew things were very wrong. Both Sebastian Fallmire and a female agent were missing from the restaurant and haven't been seen since. The boy referred to as Ira, was now directly in their sights, but due to his possible connection to the Thynne family, things needed to tread very carefully.

...............................................

The morning following the "robbery", Ira and Harper were inside of the Mercenaries Union lobby.

"Harper, you really should've eased up a little, I mean she cooks your meals."

Ira said as they stood in line.

"But, you told me to pull some of her hair out and to punch her in the face."

Harper said defensively.

"Yeah, but you really went for it."

Ira raised his eyebrows with exaggeration.

"I mean you really punched the hell out of her face."

Ira continued as he chuckled.

"But! You told me to!"

She stomped her foot in a frustrated manner.

"Yeah, but still...You really messed her up pretty good."

Ira added once again, his eyes widened as he recalled how much Harper punched the unconscious face of Ms.Edda, even though she held back she still managed to hurt Ms.Edda badly. Though if Ms. Edda knew the other option was being killed, she probably wouldn't complain.

"Ira!"

Harper shouted while pouting.

"Alright, come on."

Ira ruffled her hair and stepped up to the to the counter.

"I need to update my status card and register a new Mercenary."

Ira said to the young, short browned-hair, female receptionist as he handed over two status cards, and 200 Gre. He suddenly noticed the receptionist's name tag read Samantha.

"Hey, you registered me the first time I came here! How have you been?"

Ira shouted in realization.

"I've been well, I'm surprised you remember me. Has it been going well for you?"

Samantha responded politely and professionally as Ira began to speak. She recalled how shocked she became when she first met the boy standing in front of her. She was willing to bet now that Ira couldn't shock her anymore.

Half a year ago, she was still inexperienced in handling some matters, but now she corrected her behavior hoping to possibly become a handler for some of the top Mercenaries. What was the significance in that? Handlers were tasked with managing and advising the strongest Mercenaries. Samantha couldn't help but think of everything that came with being a Handler, daydreaming while Ira continued talking. She moved her hands to register the information and update his status card while her mind wandered elsewhere.

The salary was incredibly high and it gained them a lot a prestige within the Mercenaries Union. They would sometimes interact with leaders of the Kingdom when negotiating and planning the jobs of the Mercenaries they handled. Some would argue that skillful Handlers were just as important powerful Mercenaries. The biggest obstacle was that hundreds of people were in competition to become a Handler for any of the highly ranked Mercenaries. The top 100 Mercenaries weren't all housed in the capital, they were spread out and a sizeable amount of them were too paranoid to let others select their jobs. The most vied for Mercenary was, Rhys. The enigmatic, silent, and masked Mercenary who held the title of number one and stayed within the capital. While at the Mercenaries Union, she never spoke and was never seen without her mask, she also wasn't affiliated with a guild, she was always working alone to complete all of her jobs. Samantha set her goal in becoming the handler for the person who held the title of-



"Number one?!"

She shouted as she stood up in a flustered manner.

"Yeah, that's an odd way to put it, but, yeah."

Ira raised an eyebrow and Samantha's outburst but decided to roll with it.

"...What?"

Samantha re-read the status card and still couldn't believe it.

"I'm engaged. I suppose it's similar to being another person's number one."

Ira raised his left hand and flashed his wedding ring.

"...What?"

Samantha asked again as she tried to process what happened, the glass information screen began flashing. Notifications were sent in special cases such as this one. This particular notification was from the current head of the Grenitian Mercenary Union.

"We just talked about it. Curses. Pastries. Being engaged. Ringing any bells? Harper, you heard me, right?"

Ira turned to Harper.

"Yeah."

Harper nodded.

"Would you mind coming with me? Your situation has gotten the Union Head's attention. "

Samantha stated as she returned the cards to Ira. She tried her best to replicate her previously professional temperament.

"Ok."

Ira shrugged his shoulders, he didn't plan to do anything today except register Harper and maybe browse a few jobs, but small jobs were no longer on his mind.

Samantha closed out her receptionist desk and led Ira to the lift.

..................................................

Meanwhile, the second floor clamored as a big change occurred. The glass pillar which had the names of the top 100 Mercenaries shifted. A name unknown to almost everyone was placed at the very top, causing everyone to only pay attention to the top 3.

1. Ira
2. Rhys
3. Carter

Amidst the confusion, one party of Mercenaries that was present knew the name very well.

"You think it's really him?"

Gerald asked as he stared at the ranking pillar.

"Who else goes by the name, Ira?"

Sarah asked with complete surprise. Lance was rendered completely speechless as he looked at the pillar, Ira's growth simply wasn't fair. While they trained in the academy for a few years and clawed their way up to become a B+ party, Ira jumped ahead with what seemed to be a very little effort in his eyes. A crowd gathered around the pillar, its size slowly increasing and increasing, it appeared that everyone Mercenary in the Union building would see it soon, some Mercenaries left the second floor to go inform others. Under the loud noise and frantic commotion, Lance squeezed out a question which no one heard.

"Just how is that fucking fair?"

............................................................

*w/n: Off to sleep I go!

P.S Don't remember the receptionist named Samantha, she can be found way back in chapter 7.

 

Love it! also i see the kingdom trying to attack ira soon, .....for some reason i don't see it going well........nah it's just my imagination, ira will definably be defeated.......sounds right!

 

I'm interested to see if harper becomes a third wheel

 

Chapter 30

Spoiler: Read More

While the news of a new mercenary being rated the highest slowly spread in the Capital, the Western Valley Fortress was desperately in need of assistance. The Fortress Commander stood on the battle-scarred ramparts and overlooked the Diavol. They attacked during the night with siege equipment, catapults, and ballistae were fired throughout the night.

"Lieutenant Commander! What are our casualties?"

A man in his fifties with a bald head and long beard yelled in a gruff voice. His towering stature seemed to match the fierceness in his voice, twelfth, a greatsword was carried on his back, adding to his intimidating image. This man was known as Commander Belmond, a veteran warrior and formerly a mercenary who was in the top 30 before he retired. So how did a former mercenary with no qualifications, get a high position within the military? The Kingdom would never give up on any mercenary in the top 100 who retired and Commander Belmond happened to settle down with his wife and children and was in need of a stable job. The Western Valley Fortress was relatively peaceful except for the occasional skirmish, which was just enough for Belmond to keep his skills honed. Unfortunately, fate had something else in mind.

"Sir, we have a total of sixty dead, thirty wounded, and ten who were sent in order to carry the message to the closest city. Leaving us with a total of four hundred soldiers."

The Lt. Commander reported calmly. The night attack wasn't that bad in terms of losses, but it was clear the previous attack was to test the defensive and to get the Fortress Soldiers to waste their supplies. Which worked, the Diavol didn't stop firing until the Fortress Soldiers returned fire.

"Shit. This fucking sucks, right?"

Commander Belmond used a spyglass at all of the tents which were moved away from the firing range of the fortress. The Diavol showed no haste in their movements and casually talked, Belmond could've sworn he saw a few of them laughing. Dozens of Cyclopes were chained to one area, eating the rancid remains of deceased livestock, while the Giants were indulging in the carcasses of a variety of monsters.

"That it does, Commander."

The Lt. Commander agreed with a sigh. As long as the Diavol didn't launch a full assault, they could last two weeks at the most and that was just being optimistic. The reality was at the first sign of weakness the Diavol would force their way in. Currently, they had the luxury to waste away at the defenses of the Fortress first. After all, why would they needlessly incur casualties?

Commander Belmond put away his spyglass and pulled out a flask of alcohol. He opened it and silently took a drink.

"You're still young, you have anyone you care about, Lieutenant Commander?"

Commander Belmond asked as he exhaled a visible breath. He took another gulp of his alcohol and handed it over to the Lt. Commander who accepted it after some hesitation.

"No, Sir. Just my younger brother who's a mercenary and my parents...Excuse me for asking, Sir, but is it true your wife is an Elf?"

The Lt. Commander gulped down the alcohol and handed it back to Commander Belmond.

"Yeah, it's true. I've also got two little half-elves running around driving her insane, while the oldest left to strike out on his own a little while ago."

Commander Belmond chuckled, which sounded hoarse and reminded one of a growling bear.

"Seems like we both have people to protect, Commander."

The Lt. Commander said seriously.

"That we do, Lieutenant. That we do-"

BOOM!

Commander Belmond was interrupted by the blast of an explosion which struck just short of the Fortress. Everyone inside grew tense and ran to the defensive armaments. Commander Belmond used the spyglass and could see a young Diavol soldier getting yelled at by a Superior.

"Stand down!"

Commander Belmond ordered as he turned to look inside of the Fortress walls.

"The bastards misfired!"

He spat in disgust. The Fortress atmosphere grew stressful and the rising tension only served to hinder morale. Under these conditions deserters and even traitors could be brought up, only those with something to protect would be the most reliable. Commander Belmond could only hope to have the Kingdom send help soon.

.........................................

Back in the Capital the news of a someone named Ira becoming number one spread explosively through the streets, it was shocking because very few could put a face to the name. The name "Ira" came out of nowhere, usually, there is a steady climb with some special cases. For example, Rhys the former number one jumped 5 places a month in the rankings. Her rise was steady and alarming, shocking everyone, in fact, until now it was the fastest speed in the Kingdom's history.

Meanwhile, the boy in question arrived on the top floor of the Mercenaries Union building. Samantha guided Ira and Harper with unsure steps, this was her first time on the twelfth floor, she never met with the Head of the MU personally. Ira placed his hands on top of his head and followed casually, while Harper trailed with curious eyes. They were stopped in a lobby area by a female secretary and a pair of guards. The secretary scanned over the trio and focused on Ira.

"Would you happen to be Ira?"

The secretary asked politely. At her level, she could instinctively see several characteristics that made it apparent Ira was more powerful than he looked. His musculature painted a clear picture for the secretary.

"Yep."

Ira answered in a plain tone, he was busy wondering if he had to buy clothes for the wedding, but based on his experiences, the Valkyries probably had it covered. The secretary nodded and looked at Samantha and then to Harper.

"I hope it's not too much to ask if for your companion to stay here."

The secretary once again spoke in a humble tone. Currently, she was speaking to one of the strongest people in the Kingdom by all accounts and she couldn't afford to offend him.

"Ok."

Ira responded with a contemplative expression. Would the Valkyries bring something for Harper too? Or would he have to buy that?

"If you would be so kind as to follow me. Oh, good work Samantha."

The Secretary smiled as she led Ira away. Harper pouted and went to sit on a couch nearby. Samantha looked unwilling to stay and spoke up.

"I-Ira, can I be appointed as your Handler?"

Samantha shouted toward Ira. The female Secretary turned and looked at Samantha with a raised brow. Surely one of the most powerful people in the Kingdom wouldn't randomly choose someone to assist them.

"Sure."

Ira shrugged as he held his chin. What would a Valkyrie wedding be like anyway? Would he have to fight a bunch of Valkyries?

"Ah! T-Thank you. Thank you so much."

Samantha bowed her head as she walked to stand behind Ira. The Secretary was slightly surprised, but who could fathom the incredible thoughts of the powerful? She simply noted that the receptionist was more skillful than she thought, she instantly seized the perfect chance that others might have even killed for.
They were led to a set of double doors where the Secretary stopped and held her hand up.

"The leader is waiting for you."

She said. Ira wordlessly walked entered, while Samantha tried to give off her most professional tempered and followed behind him. As they walked in they could see a large blue glass screen on the side of the room which constantly flashed with new information. The names of important families and people popped up occasionally. Samantha noticed the Fairfax name appear quite a bit on the list. The most eye-catching looked to be a request to help subdue a cult in the north which started to grow more and more violent each day. In the center of the room were a desk and a leather chair with a middle-aged man sitting in it. He had white streaks through his short brown hair which gave contributed to his scholarly look, his clothing consisted of a dark suit and a pair of spectacles tucked into his breast pocket.

"Welcome. Please have a seat."

The man politely said as he waved his hand in invitation, he looked at Samantha with a brief inquisitive expression but adapted to her presence quickly. Ira took a seat while Samantha hesitated before sitting down. She couldn't help, but to be nervous in front of the Leader. She tried to reassure herself by remembering that she was also sitting next to Ira, which didn't help at all.

"My name is Albrecht Gilmore, the one in charge of the Mercenary Union."

Albrecht introduced himself in a gentlemanly manner. Ira nodded in acknowledgment while Samantha panicked.

"I'm his Handler, Samantha."

She bowed lightly.

"Oh? Since when?"

Albrecht asked slightly surprised.

"Well I-"

"Like two minutes ago."

Ira shrugged. Samantha looked embarrassed, maybe Albrecht would see her as nothing more than an opportunist.

"Well, Anyway is our policy to invite ones who make the top ten ranks in here, but your case is special. You're on file as registering quite some time ago, but you abruptly made it to the top. This is the first time in history something like this ever happened."

Albrecht exclaimed in admiration. He personally read Ira's status so he knew how powerful and mysterious he was. Even Rhys wouldn't necessarily be his match. Albrecht knew just how powerful she was and even still he guessed Ira would win. It was just a feeling he had.

"I just want to let you know a few thing about the Union. The Mercenaries Union is an impartial organization between the three human countries. We don't wish to control you, but I'd like to state that your status will be the same in each country unless you take on military affiliations in one, in that case, you will be barred from the Union as per the rules. The Union is just an assembly of warriors, we technically aren't allied with any human country."

Albrecht explained. Sometimes the three countries would attempt to rope in powerful mercenaries to be their personal soldiers. Since mercenaries were given somewhat easy access to other countries they could potentially infiltrate as spies. Though if any mercenary joined a particular country they would be forcefully retired as to prevent any possible mishaps.

"That's it?"

Ira asked with a chuckle. Although his behavior could be considered a bit rude, Albrecht paid it no mind and slid Ira another mercenary identification card. The card was dark green with golden letters which read: Entry Waiver, by order of King Windsor XI. Countries would extend a show of goodwill to the best mercenaries by granting them entry waivers. It wasn't much but if it helped win their favor even a little then it was worth it.

"That's all. I look forward to seeing your work, Ira."

Albrecht said as he smiled. He felt there was something special about the boy in front of him and hoped to see results soon.

"Alright."

Ira picked up the card and waved it away with his left, causing Albrecht to raise his eyebrows slightly. Ira placed his hands atop his head and walked off casually. While Samantha looked nervously at Albrecht.

"Samantha, I hope you live up to your expectations as a handler."

Albrecht smiled.

"Yes, Sir."

Samantha bowed before leaving the room. Albrecht showed a contemplative expression, he thought of Ira's abilities once again.

"Keeper of the Third Moon, Ulta Majoris."

He closed his eyes in thought. The Mercenary Union originated from the Free City in the east, they were a city run by merchants and traded unobstructedly, as such they gained access to plenty resources, which was one of the reasons the Mercenaries Union looked to be one step ahead of the Grenitian Kingdom. Albrecht learned all types of knowledge, but even he had no recollection of any account of a third moon.

"Maybe the Dark Elves know."

He said to himself. The Dark Elves worshiped God centered around darkness, it was plausible to assume they would know. He even debated on contacting them but decided against it. They would definitely take action if the blessing Ira had any significance to them. He decided to wait until he gained an understanding of it somehow. What he didn't know was that the understanding would be arriving very soon.

.......................................

 

What could go wrong? lol, thanks for reading.

 

If Avery doesn't beat her out of the way first.