Chapter - 12

Cough! Cough!

"Ehem…Before long, the masters will return, and I as the knight need to welcome them..." says Boin as he tries to find the right words, yet when saw many eyes looking at him with distrust, the word keeps going away.

"Mmm...all of you can do free training! That's all…"

Abruptly Boin stopped his word, yet the children again looked at him like they doesn't get what he meant. 

He merely adds, "Chop chop! Go on your way!” before he goes escaping the place, looking at how fast his feet move, showing he was in a real hurry.

tap tap tap

Boin said that he would welcome the masters. Yet, the direction he was heading to wasn’t the castle gate in the west, but the military barracks in the south of the training ground.

 “Hahaha. Like I thought! He must be playing truant again!”

“Yeah! He must be clearing the crime scene!”

“You mean that graveyard of empty booze jars in the barracks?”

“Absolutely!”

“Hahaha…” all the children laugh as they can picture Boin certainly will do that.

shudder

While other children were laughing merrily, there was one boy who couldn't laugh at it, his body trembling and oozing too many unnatural sweats.

Yes, the boy is Arthan.

Yesterday when he barraged Topaz with questions, Topaz let out the news that his families were all away from the castle to make him stop.

So, he put his mind at rest and can play with other children, but the information from Boin is like a bomb to his mind and bombing everything to the ground.

thump! thump!

What is inside his mind now is complicated. On one side, he was anticipating, and on the other, he was anxious.

Anticipation because he hopes something has changed. He hoped the reason they got Topaz to bring him back was that something had changed for the better.

And anxiousness because he's afraid he's just overvaluing his worth, and the reason they brought him back was mere to relieve Topaz and send him to Albea, as old Terry said they urgently need someone trustworthy.

Although he certainly knows there is simply no chance of something changing, and he is merely overvaluing his worth.

'Still...what if?'

His delusional thought and rational thought keep fighting inside his mind and wrecking his mind in confusion. One side argues ‘There is a chance!, and the other argues ‘Hell no!’

“Damn it! Damn it! DAMN IT!” shouts Arthan desperately, making all the children around him goes silent.

STARE!

All eyes were on Arthan, yet no one dared to reprimand him nor ask him.

Even his underlings were shocked by Arthan. They know Arthan is abnormal. But he never shouts it out loud like a madman.

'He got worse! Oh, god, WHY?' the four boys once again question their life decision, yet they have no power to fight it out with Arthan.

Doesn't know and doesn't care what other children thoughts of him. Arthan points to all four of his underlings.

“You four, like what sir Boin ordered… cast your spells at me like last night!”

‘I need to unwind or will go insane in no time!’

“But—”.

Chill!

Daren wants to ask if he was okay, but his words stop by a sudden chill he felt.

Glare!

“Do what I said!”

After choosing a large empty spot, like last night, a fireball from mart, a water ball from Daren and Zack, and an earth punch from Toby came to Arthan.

du du du du

Swing~

Making simple swing, Arthan easily deflects all four spells.

“Do it at a different time and from four sides! Make it harder! Work harder and develop your teamwork! Don't be meek!”

They don't know what happens to Arthan as he is a lunatic in their eyes; he can freely do whatever strange thing he wants.

But how Arthan underestimated their spells made the four of them mad. Even the ever-calm Zack face is changing with seriousness.

'We need to fucks him good!' though no one utter this sentence, but it was what transpires in each of Arthan's underlings.

After some random spontaneous adjustment, they now can cast their spells more wisely and strategically, developing their teamwork to raid their own boss.

du! du! du! du!

bam swish bam

Spells by spell fly to Arthan, and he deftly deflects them by batting them away or easily dodging them by shifting body.

“More! Attacks me in a trickier way! Faster! More in volume!” shouts Arthan, still feeling their attacks were too easy.

Though Arthan thought the feat was too easy. But for the spectator who saw them. It was a spectacle that was worth buying a ticket to watch.

“Shit! Look at that handicapped kid, Hebert!” shouts a boy in leather armor calling lanky Herbert.

"Damn! Is he for real? He’s fucking freak!” exclaims Herbert can't believe how Arthan can deflect so many spells.

It wasn’t only the soldier group who were amazed by Arthan feat. In the maid group, Belinda, Lana, and the others girls were also impressed by Arthan.

chuckle

“Hehehe…Do you still going to call him a wimp now, Lana?”

"Humph! Why not? I also can easily do it with his staff!”

“Now that you said it, Mr Topaz seems to pamper him so much to give him such magic weapons…” Belinda stopped her words before continuing her words in a whisper, “…given his salary… where can he buy such magic weapon?”

“Who knows… but he can't be stealing it… maybe it's an inheritance from his family...” answers Lana in a whisper, uncertain with her own words.

On the other side, Arthan still feels the attacks were too easy and can’t even divert his mind, and it is out of the question for calming his nerves.

‘I need to up the difficulties! But, making them do better is impossible! Then… Ah!’

Seeing Chad group from the corner of his eyes, like finding his messiah Arthan quickly approaching them.

“Chad, can you guys give me a favour?”

“Doing the same thing as those guys?” answers Chad with a smile as he points to Arthan underlings.

“Yups, don't worry, you guys will not do it for free! I wi--”

bounce bounce

“MEATS! I want grilled meat!” interjects little Morris in a loud voice while jumping happily in front of Arthan.

‘What is it? Is this kid dumb? I thought he was acting… but seems I wrong!’ thought Arthan re-evaluating little Morris in his mind. ‘...still, those cheeks look flabby pinkish and cute… like Jigglypuff!’

blush

“Hm…I'm fine doing it for free…” says Chad awkwardly, trying to find the right words. By bashfully pointing to little Morris, he adds, “.. but, you hear him…”

pat pat

“Fine, I will give you meat and grills it myself!” assured Arthan while patting little Morris head as if it was a natural thing to do.

bounce bounce

"Yeah! Meats! Yummy meat!” scream little Morris happily.

Looking that every one of them is content with the reward, Arthan then demands, “...But I want you guys to give your all!”

“Consider it done!” answers Chad in a serious face, while the other behind him looks at Arthan gleefully.

SHUDDER!

‘Did I do something wrong? Why do I have a feeling that they have some bones to pick on me?’ looking at their glee, Arthan somehow get some bet premonition.

With five boys from Chad's group, Arthan now needed to fend off or evade nine spells simultaneously, a feat difficult to perform even for apprentices rank with the numerous spells in their arsenal.

Besides, with little Morris and another boy named Eric around, he now needs to beware of the winds blade spell, a spell infamous for being fast and deathly. An infinite number of spellcasters have fallen because of this spell.

They call this spell 'magico cheat'. It hit your opponent, and you are guaranteed to win as simple as that.

“I want all of you, except little Morris, to attack me from eights directions…” orders Arthan, making all children move on their position, “…As for you, little Morris. You can attack me from anywhere!”

"Aye, sir!" responds little Morris, “Wind Magic – wind child.”

Swuash~ Swuash~

With green winds covering his boots, little Morris runs naughtily around the eight children and creates a dust cloud in his wake.

“Great! Let's go! Come on me, all of you!” taunts Arthan in loud voices.

Watching the attacker of Arthan crazy exercise become deathlier. The soldier group and maid group were in a clamour.

"I know he is a lunatic! But that is fucking sick!"

“Yeah! He must have a death wish for making little Morris do whatever he wants!”

It was an open secret that you can't entrust anything serious to little Morris.

He doesn’t recognize how 'serious' the matter can be if his wind blade slashes into someone body. Thus making him attack you in whatever way he wants is the same as courting death.

du! du! du! du!

Arthan underlings launched four spells targeting him from every direction and different part of the body.

‘Now it becomes more interesting!’

shss!

Fireball coming first with its speed, Arthan moves to the right, and like a matrix, he bent his body backward.

pshoo! pshoo! swosh!

Two water balls came for him from front and back, and an earth punch came from the left.

Three sides were locked on!

leap~

Though he knows the right is where the trap laid for him, he still chooses to leap to the right.

du! du! du! du!

Like what he has thought, another four spells in the swarm come from four sides.

Shriek!

The wind blade from Eric was the first to arrive.

roll~

He quickly rolls his body to the right to the ground and barely escapes doom from his body cuts off by the wind blade.

Slit!

The wind blade is as big as a half-metal basin slitting open the earth and creating a one-meter long scar on it.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Three other spells hit the opened slit and made the slit become a deep crater.

“Here… your prize!” yells little Morris from behind him. “Wind magic – wind blade.”

CHILL!!

"Fuck!" exclaim Arthan when he hears little Morris voices behind him. He quickly turns his body around, and his face changes to horror.

SHRIEKS!

Wind blade two sizes of Eric wind blade, flying at breakneck speed to him.

‘…He using mid-tier casting! …why is he keeps trolling me!’

GAPS~

All children who see this scene gasping, their faces all turn into horror.

Swing-- Swing-- Swing--

Clink!

Arthan desperately swings his staff at the incoming wind blade, and with clink sounds, he barely deflects the wind blade by luckily hitting the center part of it.

Slits!!

His cloak and empty left sleeve are neatly slit apart by it before the wind blade procced to the ground ten centimetres from him and creating two meters slit mark.

Sweat...

'...Damn! I nearly become mice meat!’ thought Arthan as he saw the slit on the grounds.

Swoosh~

When his eyes are still on the slit. From behind, earth punch spell, two times as big as the one launched by Toby, out of nowhere appears and closes in at him with a loud sound.

BANG!

zu zu zu

“Ugg…” fragments of Chad large earth punch barraging him in swarm after crushing to the ground a meter from him.

“The next one, it will hit the body! Don't just stare at little Morris! We are not toys!” yells Chad with some smile plastered on his face.

“You both using mid-tier? Fine! Show me all that you got! ALL OF YOU!” taunts Arthan, nonetheless, his eyes are still on little Morris. He is still trauma by the near-death experience.

‘Gotta glues my eyes on the little troll!’

Bam! Boom! Bang!

Varieties of loud sounds booming in the cavalry training ground.

The area 10 meters of Arthan become like cratering moon, full of holes and slits. Some are wet and slippery, some jagged full of earth fragments, and some scorched black.

"He wasn't human!" affirms Herbert.

“Yes… there is no use even if we take his staff off!”

“The problem is…he was still a newbie! Then…after he gets his own spell…” remind Hebert, drop the last fact bomb to the gathering.

Gasp!!

All boys in leather armor have jeered Arthan before, and now they are in horror thinking about what would befall them as Arthan revenge.

'I need to tell Mr Cole! We need to clean this kid before he becomes a nasty problem in our plan! That bastard left his devilish nephew must be for some reason!’ add Hebert inside his heart.

Hebert has been bought by Cole, Topaz rival for the old Terry seat. His job is to do Cole biding with young servants, the appearance of Arthan can easily topple the calm ecosystem, and some measure needs, to be taken.

On the other side, the girls in the maid group are all in awe at Arthan feats.

Shrieks!!

Two wind blades came at Arthan, and in front of them, four other spells also came from four different directions, locking him with no way out.

GASP!!

When Lana see Arthan nearly torn by the wind blade, her mouth open wide, her eyes widen, and she seems ready to cast her own spell.

It was clear she was worried about someone going to be dead. 

But help from Lana is not needed because Arthan pole-vaults into the air and lands far from the center of the attack, successfully escaping from the goddess of death kiss in one piece.

“Phew…” relieved Lana.

“Phew, that was a close one!” interjects Belinda to tease Lana.

nudge

“How is it? Still thinks he is a wimp?” tease Belinda again.

Scrutinize!

“Geez… why are they keep asking me that questions?” asks Lana eyeing Belinda strangely, "You're not in love with him, are you?"

“Hahaha…” laughs Belinda out loud.

She approaches Lana left ear, and in a whisper, she says, “Are you sure it's not the other way?!”

Pinch

Stretch~

“Ou-Ouch! Let go!” cries Lana, her left ear pinched and stretched by Belinda.

Pinch

Squeeze

"Ack!" Lana pinches Belinda's belly and squeezes it as revenge.

“Release by the count of three?” offers Lana.

Nod!

release~ release~

“Grrr..” glare Belinda like a wounded feline.

Doesn't care about Belinda glare nor her growl, “Then why do you keep asking me that questions?”

“Huff!! Not telling you!” huffs Belinda with a sour face.

"Alright I'm sor--"

Ding Ding Ding

The bells from the castle gate suddenly rang so loudly and drowned all the other sounds.

All the children stop whatever they are doing and look at the gate.

Swipe~

Without bothering to dodge, Arthan swipes out all spells with his staff.

"Let's end it here..."