Transmigration Into The Beginning After The End

CHAPTER 23 - CEREMONY

ARTHUR LEYWIN

On the training field, I was now able to become a true beast tamer… 

Or how Grandpa Virion put it yesterday and when he saw me in the morning. 

Continuing on, Grandpa Virion explained, "Art, my first phase doesn't really make me that much faster, but I'm able to erase a bit of my presence and blend myself into the shadows. You haven't seen my second phase, right? Watch carefully. It took me over ten years for me to make a breakthrough into this phase." 

Feeling a powerful surge of mana surrounding his body, I couldn't help but involuntarily cringe. All of a sudden, the mana surrounding his body seeped back into him and my eyes widened.

Grandpa's skin turns pitch black. Even the whites of his eyes became black while his irises turned sharp and glowed yellowed. His tied white hair became unbound and was also a shiny black color. That aura that surrounded him makes me shudder and take a step back. 

"This is the integration phase. I'm going to sneak up behind you. Pay attention," He growled, his voice much raspier than before. 

Was it really sneaking up if he told me… was what I was thinking when he disappeared from my vision. I couldn't feel his presence at all but when I looked behind me as I had been told to do, his finger was already pressed against my jugular as he looked down at me with his glowing yellow eyes. 

Fast. It seemed like instant teleportation but I knew it wasn't by the skid mark from his initial position. It was a speed that even I couldn't keep up with. Not even close. No. The scary part wasn't even his insane speed. It was his lack of presence. Even directly behind me, I couldn't sense where he was. 

He turned back to normal, his face slightly flushed as Tessia began clapping as if this was a show. 

"Whew! Using that form always takes a toll on me. After training for a couple of decades, I'm able to keep the form on for a bit less than an hour. During my Acquire phase, I am simply channeling a small portion of my beast will and I'm able to borrow the speed and stealth of the shadow panther. However, with my Integrate phase, not only did my speed and stealth rise, so did my senses to keep up." I nodded in agreement. 

"Good! Let's begin the ceremony," he replied, clasping his hands together. 

We stood face to face, only an arm's length apart. Tess was now leaning forwards in excitement, as we were about to start. 

"Just let your mana come out freely. Don't try to control anything. I'll restrain you if necessary so it's crucial that you keep a relaxed state of mind and rouse the particles of mana you assimilated all these years," he instructed. 

After a nod in response, he then began exerting mana into my core, flooding my core with his mana along with mine. 

Instantly, I began feeling a warm sensation, like a hot gust of air was flowing in and out of my pores.

As I felt my body reaching its limit, a loud explosion startled me out of my concentration, only for me to see Gramps getting thrown back and Tess falling back on her chair and rolling back as well. 

An unbearable pain immediately surges from my body, as if my very skeleton was trying to crawl out of my skin. As the surges and pain continued, a distinct but familiar voice came through the unbearable pain. 

"I got you old friend."

Without even the strength to scream my vision darkened. I welcomed the darkness because I knew it would relieve me of my pain. 

Waking up back in my bed, I sat up feeling surprisingly refreshed. Sitting on my side, laying her head down on my legs was Tess. Looking at her sleeping like this, it reminded me of when Luke and I escorted her back home after saving her from the slave traders.

The door opened slowly, it made me flustered but I kept my composure. A silver plate being the first thing I saw, I thought it was a servant delivering some tea to the princess here who was asleep but I was wrong.

After the silver tray with four cups and a teapot. The familiar figure of the person who has been through the same thing as me, my stay with grandma Sylvia, the demon killing her, to us now being here because of the teleportation gate situation. 

The black hair that reflected off the sunlight. The gray-ish elven rob he had on. His pale skin complimenting his dark crimson eyes as he opened his eyes with expectations of me still being unconscious but opened wide upon seeing me. 

It had been about three months since we last saw each other. Grandpa Virion had said that he needed other special training, something different from Tessia's and mine. The king and queen didn't tell me anything either, and Tess had no information about this as well. They kept her in the dark so that she wouldn't tell me about his well being. 

"Do you feel any pain?" The crimson eyed boy said, setting off the silver tray on the table in front of my bed. 

I answered, "I'm alright." 

"Is that so? Well even if you feel some pain that you can't tolerate, tell Gramps or the king and queen, and I will be right there." An ignition of green and yellow lights appeared in his right hand, symbolizing a similar sensation of what my mother would give when she would heal my wounds. 

I conjured a weak smile, knowing that Lu was now an Emitter. "You have deviant magic now?"

He chuckled, waking up Tessia from her nap but still found the resolve to sleep again. "More precisely, an Emitter. Though, its price is a little too exaggerated on my body." 

The boy with black short hair began stretching his shoulders in a circular motion. 

Seeing him after what felt like ages made me feel relieved that he was doing okay. At one point, I knew that Lu wasn't able to conjure elemental affinities. Well, I overheard it from Gramps and Queen one late night. 

However, that didn't mean that he couldn't be able to use them, which meant he needed training from someone that was good with elemental affinities. Gramps came to mind but he was training me and Tessia. Elder Rinia was next but she only is a diviner, meaning she only used her deviant magic more than anything else. 

Then the question still is on board. Who is training Luke?

The person in question must be strong if not stronger than Grandpa Virion. Perhaps even equal or above when he's using his beasts' will. 

Having to think about Luke's master, I didn't see when Grandpa entered the room. As he did, his path was on the other side of the bed, not bothering to wake up his slumbering granddaughter.

"How do you feel brat?" His lips curl up into a half grin. 

"I should be asking you that, Gramps. I saw you getting sent flying; even Tess was knocked back." 

He just let out an embarrassed chuckle. "I have to admit I wasn't expecting that great of a force. I know you probably have a good reason for not even telling me what kind of beast gave you its will but I'll ask just one more time. What sort of beast gave you its will?"

Scenes of my time with Sylvia ran through my mind, one of them being her telling Lu and I to never tell anyone I had met her. However, Virion was probably only the few people I could actually trust, and he had the right to know. If it wasn't for him, I probably wouldn't be alive.

Yet, just to make sure it was alright for me to say it. I glanced over to the one other boy who met the dragon named Sylvia. Worried that he would be against it, I gave only the stare in hopes he would change his mind. 

Nevertheless, I was surprised. 

The boy in question smiled as he nodded towards my question. He probably knew how Virion meant to me by now, and how he is my savior. 

"...Well, using her own words, it was what we called a dragon that had passed her will to me." 

A thick silence had filled the room as Virion's face was frozen in the same stricken expression he had when I told him. He began mumbling to himself, the only words I could make out being 'possible' and 'never happened'. "D-dragon…" He managed to wheeze out, his eyes staring blankly at me and then realized that Luke was in the room, giving him the same facial expression.

"Dear lord… a D-dragon Tamer. In my life, I've never thought I'd be able to see the birth of a Dragon Tamer… I-I'm even the one that trained him! HAHAHA! A Dragon Tamer!" 

Tess woke up from the now senile Virion and looked at him, confused. 

He suddenly grabbed both of my shoulders and looked at me intently. "You did the right thing by keeping this a secret. Do not tell anyone else. This power of yours has to be kept a secret until you have the strength to protect yourself and those around you." 

"I'm beginning to believe that more and more, Gramps," I responded seriously.

"Good! Although I would like to know the whole story, I am more than satisfied with what you've told me for now." He smiled back. "But… I wonder if it was okay saying that with these two hearing about it…"

He was right. If it was different, but… 

"I trust that Tess will keep it a secret, as for me. I already know the whole story." Finally the boy who was pouring tea for all of us, excluding him, spoke. Giving each of us a tea cup, he set the silver tray on the end of the bed I was resting on. "After all, I was there when Art got his beast will." 

Again, Virion's face froze in place, only having his head and eyes track Luke's facial expression for any lies. With some time given to him to digest the situation, he gave up and mumbled, "You two are a mystery." 

"What is it, Gramps? What did Art and Lu tell you? Uu… not fair, keeping secrets from me." Tess started pouting at this point.

"Hahaha, you'll know when the time is right little one. Arthur! Luke! I have good news. The teleportation gate that is supposed to open in two years will be opening early. There is a tournament that will be held in the city of Xyrus in four months. This tournament will be a very important event for the future because both the dwarves and elves are sending youths as representatives for both the tournament and as a preliminary student to your human academy. During the tournament, we can sneak you and Luke back into Sapin without the humans knowing at that time." Gramps exclaimed with a smile on his sharp face. 

"Really Gramps? Can I go home soon?" I shot out of bed. 

I would finally be able to see my parents again! I had been sending messages to my parents every once in awhile through Elder Rinia but after seeing them through the water divination technique, I wasn't able to see them again. 

"You're going to be leaving soon, Art?" Tessia asked, her face crestfallen.

"Yeah. I have to meet my family soon. Don't worry though! I'll visit you again! And maybe you can come visit me in Sapin!" I said, hoping to cheer her up.

"What about you, Lu? Are you too leaving to the human kingdom?" Her small head turned to Luke who had been serving himself tea.

He took his time to answer her. In which I was hoping and pleading that Lu would try to comfort her by saying that both of us would visit her when we had time, or something along those lines. His calm demeanor gave me chills. The swiftness of his dark blood colored eyes, as he watched the pouring of the tea fall into the small little cup as it steamed. Then his eyes turned to Tess after he had finished. 

"Hmm. That's quite an interesting topic to speak of, princess. I mean going back to Sapin after being away from my family for nearly six years might cause some trouble," Lu's closed halfway, showing us a side we haven't seen in him for quite a while now. Taking a sip of his tea, he continued, "However, that doesn't mean that I won't want to see my family again, even if they have forgotten about me over the course of the years, watching them from afar might not be a bad thing…" 

The cup was settled down on the saucer. "Even so, I will make sure that this idiot and I come to visit you, princess." 

Tessia responded to his words by nodding, "That's a promise."

"We still have four months, Arthur, Luke! Until the day the teleportation gates open, I expect you both, especially Arthur, to train harder than before! Your mana core hasn't developed at all these past three years from the assimilation you had to do. Don't focus on only training your beast's will. That should only be used as a trump card. Understood?" 

He was right. Although I have yet to activate even the Acquire phase of my dragon will, I knew that using it would only bring unwanted attention. I shouldn't use my beast's will if possible.

Continuing, Grandpa slapped my back and said, "Now! Take a bath and then rest. You reek of something rotten, brat. Little one, Luke, let's leave Arthur alone so he can recuperate."

Still, I noticed Tess still looking depressed by the sudden news of my leaving. Growing up and living with her for three years had given us a bond that was as close to siblings and while she was only nine years old, the fact that she was already showing signs of blossoming into a beautiful woman did make me feel a twinge of regret that I wouldn't be here with her as she grew up. 

"Tess! Cheer up okay? I'll still be around for a few more months and even after I leave, it's not going to be permanent. I hope you can someday come to meet my parents too." I gave her a sincere hug.

A high pitch whistle which later went low, came from Luke who was standing amazed by my actions just now.

"Eeep! W-what are you?" I can almost see the steam coming out of her head as she turned bright red. Suddenly, she pushed me away and ran out.

"Ah! Youth! Haha, sleep well, brat!" Grandpa chuckled, Lu agreeing with him by nodding. Shaking his head, Virion closed the door behind him. 

Was Tess going through puberty already?

I hopped back into bed, feeling too lazy to take a shower right now. 

"I'll just lay down for a little and then take a shower." I muttered aloud.

*Rustle* *Rustle*

I wonder if it's windy tonight. I usually didn't hear the rustling of leaves. 

*Crack*

"Kyu~"

LUKE HODGES

Walking down the long hallway, where the moonlight shines through the windows. Grandpa Virion spoke, his tone a little too serious. "Brat, I've been wondering. Just what type of training have you been through? Your form of speech and mana all seem different, almost artificial, like a veil covering your real mana core."

I tried to give myself some time before answering, of course, no amount of answer will satisfy him in any way unless I tell him the truth. Still, telling him the truth would mean that his life would be in danger. With how things are going, I don't know what has changed or what will happen if I do tell him or even everyone here. 

Agrona might even suspect things are changing with how many spies he has in Dicathen, yet, what would the headmaster of the Xyrus academy do if I tell her, Cynthia. Again, I still don't feel capable of knowing whether or not she is in Agrona's palm. The novel might have explained it but I can't remember.

After finally deciding, I took a deep breath before saying, "Gramps, I really can't tell you the reason why it might seem to you that my core looks artificial. To be honest I wouldn't blame you with how it looks from your perspective, being suspicious of my current actions." My eyes stared outside the giant sized window, fixating on the moon's reflected light from the sun. The beautiful veil of purple that fell on the trees, ground, and even the hallways in the castle. "But with certainty, what I've found out, it is not something I can talk about. I'm still trying to figure it out myself, let's not say the people who are training me. They are lost like I am. But when the time is right, I will show you all of you and give you the proper answer to any questions you guys have or have been having."

Hopefully with these remaining months I am able to really make sure that this is a lie…