Transmigration Into The Beginning After The End

CHAPTER 19 - MEETING

Appearing directly in front of us when we were teleported right past the gates, there was only one word that entered my mind upon seeing such a thing. 

Pristine.

The jade-like material buildings were flawless and smooth and each seemed to be carved from a single, huge stone. 

Being an awe-inspiring scene, I looked up and noticed the huge trees that intertwined with the buildings. Homes were built on unnaturally thick branches extending out of the massive trunks even larger than the buildings with smoke drifting out of their chimneys. 

Without being cautious, I stepped forward in daydream. My feet–which some part of the shoe that Mordain had gifted me remained–stepped on a soft yet slimy sensation. Before I looked down I thought I had stepped on poop but my eyes told me otherwise, seeing the soft green moss just below my feet, and with only narrow sidewalks and the main road paved with smooth stone. 

I felt relieved upon my discovery. 

But that soon came to an end, when a shadow whizzed in front of me suddenly, jolting my body on command for an attack.

Tessia–who had been still holding onto Arthur's hand–looked at the appearing guards with a surprised look. While I on the other hand cooled myself reminding me that even with my current strength I was still not enough to fight these elven guards. 

That's not all, these elven warriors emanated a dignified air, all dressed in coordinated black suits with green trimmings and a golden shoulder guard on their left shoulder. All five guards carried a rapier strapped to their waist. 

I frowned, noticing that their cores were either at a high-level or they had enough control over it. I noted mentally that I would ask for a spar when I was older or with a higher core level. 

"We welcome back the royal princess." The guards ignored Art and I as they kneeled in front of Tessia in unison. 

"I told you so," I said, giving the same treatment to the guards as they did to us. 

"..." 

Arthur's gaze flicked back and forth between Tessia and the guards, when he had processed what I had said, he turned to me. 

In a voice so cold and apathetic that someone could've mistaken her for someone else's, Tessia said, "You may rise." 

They stood up with their right first still crossing their chest when the knight in front spoke. "Princess, we arrived as soon as we saw that the royal teleportation gate had been used. The Kind and Queen are…" 

Before the leader could finish, from a carriage not too far from where we were located, three people came out. Two came running as they cried, "My baby! Tessia, you're okay! Oh my baby!" While the other only walked, steady but worried at the same time. 

The King's tall, built body was uniformed in a loose, decorated robe. His emerald eyes were pointed upwards and his thin lips were tensed, matching his short, military style hair. Anyhow, the Queen on the other hand was breathtaking. Although she was a bit past her youthful stage, her age couldn't mask the beauty that she was. Her round eyes shimmed a light blue hue, contrasting well with her lush, pink colored lips. Her silver hair was curled down, flailing past her back as she ran towards us, her well-proportioned figure visible underneath her dress. 

King Alduin Eralith and Queen Merial Eralith. It's nice to finally meet the soon to be traitors of this continent…

A smile crept across my face when I saw and recognized the last figure behind them. Virion Eralith…

ARTHUR LEYWIN

"Child. What did you say your name was?" With both of his elbows resting on the table, fingers intertwined, the King spoke first. 

I turned my eyes to Luke who had been sitting next to me while the rest sat in front and away from us. For I had thought they meant Lu's name, he on the other hand had eyes that spoke, they mean you dumb little boy.

I, annoyed by Lu's eye expression, spoke to the leaders and those present in the room. "Forgive me for my late introduction. My name is Arthur Leywin, and I come from a remote town in the Kingdom of Sapin. A pleasure to make your acquaintance King, Queen, Elder, and gentlemen." I stood up and bowed slightly at each of them individually before sitting down. 

"And you're?" Spoke the Elder whose attention locked on my friend next to me. 

Luke, who had been giving signs of sickness for a while now, stood up and bowed before giving his introduction. "My apologies for not introducing myself. King, Queen, Elder, gentlemen. I am Luke Hodges, and like Arthur here, I too am from a remote town in the Kingdom of Sapin. It is an honor to meet the royal family and the gentlemen present here." 

Would you look at that? I never thought this boy could ever know about formularities and the importance of service to the royal household. Quite the surprise that came with the arrogant boy I had met at the cliff of the Grand Mountains. 

Maybe he is like me in some way? 

Then again, for someone like me, a phenomenon of whatever this is, to happen to someone else. Odds lie on little to none. 

Before I could continue my process and predicament in Lu's origin. The elf King spoke again after regaining his composure along with the others who had surprised expressions when both Luke and I showed signs of maturity. "It seems you two are much more mature than your ages. Forgive me for assuming. My name is Alduin Eralith and this is my wife, Merial Eralith and my father Virion Eralith. As for what happened, please tell us. We would like to hear your side of this." 

Once more, I looked over to Luke. who judging by his expression of fatigue wasn't going to tell them everything they needed to know, leaving me up to the job. 

I began telling the story. This was followed by another wave of looks of utter disbelief from everyone, including Tessia. Because of the lack of obstacles we ran into on our journey back, I never really had the need to use mana so I didn't bother explaining. 

One of the guards told me that I was a liar and to prove that I was actually a mage when, unexpectedly, Tessia's grandfather shut him down. He then clasped his hands together on the table and looked at me with a renewed, eerie interest. 

Quickly, I moved on, telling them how I had spotted a carriage and observed them carrying a tied up child into the back of the carriage before going off.

At this, the King slammed both of his hands on the table, his eyes narrowing into a menacing glare. 

"I should've known it was humans…" 

I had to correct his mildly racist comment and said, "They were slave traders. Them and bandits alike prey on, not just on elves, but humans as well, speaking as a victim myself."

This caused the King to shut his mouth before sitting back down, letting out a soft cough. 

With that in mind, I spoke my mind this time. Reaching a conversation but may be the end of mine or someone else's life if it were taken wrong. "I didn't ask Tess… *ahem* The princess this, but I am curious as to how slave traders even got their hands on the princess of this kingdom." After my words, I reminded myself that I needed to call Tess by her full name and not by her nickname. I didn't think calling her something so informal as Tess would sit right with everyone present. 

At this, the King almost looked embarrassed before saying, "My wife and I had a bit of a disagreement with Tessia and she decided to rebel by running away. We decided to let her cool off a bit before fetching her back because we knew where she usually stayed when she pouted, but unfortunately, she ran into some hu… slave traders." 

Ah… runaway princess. I sneaked in a small grin at Tess and she responded by sticking out her tongue, face flushed. 

I rolled over the details of the fight with the slave traders. Completely involving Luke in this because at least it would be more believable to their ears.

"Luckily, Lu and I had caught the slave traders by surprise and managed to dispose of them before untying the princess and escorting her here."

"So a two four-year-old managed to 'luckily' kill off four adults, one being an augmenter at that, and you simply wave it off like it's not a big deal," chimes in the king's father seated across from Tessia, leaning back on the chair so only two of the legs touching the ground. 

"Yes. Half of them were asleep and the two were simply not on guard so disposing of them was not too challenging," I refuted back. 

"You don't need to believe the words of two four-year-old children, rather, you may shrug this off as now that your daughter has been brought back without any wound or life threatening injury." Luke's words resounded in the room, pissing off the guards, who had already been more confidently relieving their swords from their scabbards. 

However, they were stopped. The elder just responded with a lazy shrug of his shoulder.

After finishing the events, I cleared my throat before asking what I came here for. "As I have mentioned, it has been almost two months since I have seen my parents. I do not plan to intrude on your kingdom for long as I wish to meet them quickly, so I was wondering if you guys had a teleportation gate that could take us to the City of Xyrus or anywhere inside Sapin."

"You're going to leave already, Art?" Tessia shot up from her seat, face stricken with panic. 

"Aye princess, I'm here too, you know?" 

Tessia's green eyes gave Lu the "I forgot you existed" look before I noticed the monarchs of this region giving each other a baffled look as they mouthed 'Art'.

The elder just shot a snide grin at this and chuckled, rocking his chair. 

"I don't think it's appropriate for a human such as myself to be inside this Kingdom for too long, Princess. Besides, I wish to make sure that my family is safe and tell them I'm okay as well," I answered, giving a sheepish smile.

The King responded back to Tessia. "It has been a couple of hundred years since the last human has stepped foot into the Kingdom of Elenoir and you, Arthur, Luke, are the first humans to be in the capital of this Kingdom, the City of Zestier. However, saving our daughter and taking the trouble of accompanying her all the way back to us entitles you both with a proper reward…"

I took a quick peek at Tessia and saw her head down, her gunmetal silver hair covering her face. 

"...Unfortunately, the teleportation gate linked with the Kingdom of Sapin opens only once every seven years, for the Summit Conference between the three races. Since the last Summit Was two years ago, it'll be another five years until the gate will function," the King continued. 

I couldn't help but to let out a deep breath in disappointment. While, in the corner of my eye, Lu had a stern look in his face. Though it was only in the corner of my eye, I could tell that he was worried about something or someone. 

"However, we are more than willing to send a group of guards to escort you back home. You are correct that it may not be wise to stay in this Kingdom for too long. While some are tolerant, many hold animosity towards humans because of the war long ago." He flashed a brief, sorrowful smile at this. 

Luke nodded in agreement and so did I. At least we were going to make it home safely. I thought. 

"For now, please make yourself at home here. We will have your escorts prepared by tomorrow morning. I do advise you not to wonder around the outside in the city though, for the reasons mention earlier." 

The King snapped his fingers and two elderly elven woman in a tan main uniform rushed out, leading Luke and I to our rooms. 

Halfway down, the elven woman took Lu in a different direction, opposite to the path that my guiding maid had taken.

The room I was led to was large, but elegantly simple in furnishings. While the furniture consisted of a couch, tea table, bed, and dresser, each looked to be handcrafted out of wood by seasoned craftsmen. As soon as I got into the room, I closed the door behind me, stripped, and headed towards the bathroom. The shower was a pleasant surprise; it was a simple waterfall that seemed to naturally flow from the ceiling and drain back out on the floor. However the constant flow of water that didn't seem to ever turn off was surprisingly pleasant temperature, just warm enough to relax my body and pores. 

As I finished dressing into a very silky robe just for your top and short pants, I placed the stone Sylvia left me inside the chest pocket inside my robe and once again, tried to study my mana core.

About thirty minutes in and making only minimal progress, I hear a knock on my door. 

"Coming!" 

Opening the door, I'm greeted by a pouting Tessia who throws a light punch at my chest. 

"You dummy! Why did you act all unfriendly when you were with my family back there," she harrumphed, slipping past me and sitting on my bed. 

"Well first of all, you didn't mention to me that you happened to be the princess of this entire kingdom!" Shaking my head, I gripped Tessia's hand and pulled her out of my room. Kids or not, I don't think that her parents were going to like her being in a boy's room. 

Now, aside from that… "Where is Luke?" I asked, finding it weird that he wasn't with her earlier in front of my door. Finding it as weird, Luke was the only person who I could trust in this Kingdom and perhaps in any other one. He and I know the truth about the stone that Sylvia gave me, and what she was, especially that demon that killed her. 

Tessia looked at me with widened eyes before returning to normal, putting a finger on her cheek like trying to remember what happened. "Hmm. Grandfather took him somewhere with the guards. Don't worry though, he will be okay…?"

"That "okay" had a question mark in the end, why?"

Was something going to happen to Luke? Were the King and Queen going to interrogate him because they were together with the horned demon who killed Sylvia? No. That is not possible, there wasn't any hint of hostility or harm when we were all together talking about the Slave Traders. 

In any case, despite his young age, he is capable of handling things himself. If something were to happen. I will cross the bridge when it comes to do so. 

"Come on, show me around the castle! I won't get the chance to visit this place again." I immediately regretted saying this. 

I heard a slight sniffle as Tessia suddenly broke down into tears, trying to talk while sobbing. 

"Art! I don't want you to *Sniff* leave…"

"...You're the first *Sniff* person I've gotten ever close to…"

"..."

I gently patted her head while she was rubbing her eyes with the arm not holding onto my hand. 

As we continued walking in silence, except for Tess' soft sniffles, we made it outside, in the courtyard at the back of the castle. The floating orbs were giving off a dim, luminescent glow, lighting up the well-kept garden in a gentle atmosphere. 

I couldn't help but imagine how differently this scene could've been played out if we were ten years older. 

Before I could even have the chance to finish my thought. A blatantly clear killing intent bombarded my senses. Milliseconds later a faint glimmer gave off the position of a projectile aimed at Tessia. I pushed the still crying princess out of the way and I prepared to parry the projectile with a mana infused hand. 

At that instant, a figure in black was facing my back, his right arm in a stance to attack. Grabbing the projectile, I immediately spun myself to block the assassin with whatever was thrown at me. To my surprise, I was face to face with Tessia's grandfather. 

I jumped back out of range before angrily shouting, "What the hell! Why are you trying to kill us?" 

"Kid. It may hurt a little but I doubt that toy you're holding could kill anyone," he chuckled.

I looked down at my hand to see a pencil sized projectile with both ends blunted and coated in a layer of something close to rubber. 

I was tricked! 

"Haha! Nice reaction, nice reaction! I didn't think you'd catch my little present and use it to block my next attack! Truly marvelous! However, your usage of mana was mediocre at best!" 

He proceeded to throw me a wooden sword fit for my size as he took out a wooden sword of his own, just a bit bigger. 

"Here I come!" Not even giving me the time to get in a stance or even the chance to accept his impromptu training, he dashed towards me. 

This crazy old bat!

I lowered my stance and, instead of being defensive, I launched myself at him as well, accelerating my speed to throw off the timing of his swing. Aiming for the fingers gripping his sword, I swung upward, reinforcing my entire body. 

Right before my sword came into contact with his hand, I was met with only air as he disappeared from my sight. 

Whipping my head back, I spotted him a couple of meters apart from where I was standing. 

"You're a scary little brat, aren't you? Looks like I'll have to be a bit more serious!" the grandpa smirked. 

His speed increased even more. Even with my previous life being a life of only training and battles, I was only barely able to keep him in my sight. However, being able to see him and being able to respond to his attacks are two different things. 

I felt like a sandbag as I could only curse at my own body. 

I was able to block one move of his out of every three he landed on my body. 

Screw techniques, this old bat was messing with me through sheer speed. The only reason I was able to keep somewhat was by using sword techniques and footwork to minimize my movement, along with the fact that, because of my size, I was a small target. 

After about ten, long minutes of being treated like a wooden training post, I started noticing some patterns in the grandpa's attacks. 

As he flashed behind me about to do a horizontal sweep to my legs, I put all of my strength into my legs and leaped back with my sword tucked into my armpit pointing at his head. 

With a solid thud created from my blow landing, the old bat stumbled a little before gaining balance. 

"HAHAHAHA! I guess I deserved that one! I guess he was right!" He laughed, rubbing his swollen forehead. 

Tessia was surprised at first but after realizing it was just a spar, she settled down. She used this chance, though, to jump out and stomp towards the elder. 

"Grandpa! You hurt Art too much! You should've gone easier on him!" Pinching the elder's side.

"AHH! That hurts little one. Haha I'm afraid if I went easier on Arthur, he'd be the one bullying me!" He gently answered as he picked up his granddaughter. 

"Wait what do you mean "he was right–

He flashed in front of me and suddenly placed his right palm into my sternum. "Just as I thought. Your body is in a dangerous state…"

I stared blankly at him. Through constant use of mana rotation and meditation, my body should be a lot healthier than even most well-fed four-year-olds.

Virion, noticing my doubtful gaze, pressed his palm on my sternum at a certain angle, triggering a familiar searing pain. 

"Your mana manipulation is good for a beginner despite your age, and your sword techniques and fighting experience are frightening enough to make me wonder what sort of life you had led to learn all of this." His eyes narrowed. "But you failed to mention one critical thing in your story earlier."

I could feel my heart beating beginning to rise as I started to suspect that he found out about Sylvia through Luke who he had interrogated and left him to death's door.

"I've decided. Arthur, become my disciple!" He nodded, throwing me entirely off guard.