The Beginning After The End (Early Years Book 1) (20 page)

Is
this child really only eight years old?

Shivers
ran down my spine at the tone of his voice.  Why am I nervous at the
mention of a ‘certain matter’ he wants to talk to me about?

“What
sort of matter is it?” I just ask, my face turning a bit more serious.

“I
would like your help in obtaining a few items that might be hard to find
elsewhere.” Continuing, he sits down and says with his eyes looking straight at
me.  “I need a sturdy hooded cloak or robe and a mask that can cover my
entire face.  It’s imperative that the mask has the function of changing
my voice.”

It
wasn’t hard to figure out why he wanted these items.  As the owner of the
famous Helstea Auction House that attracts even the highest of nobles and even
the Royal Family, it shouldn’t be too hard to get these items.  The mask
might be a little tricky because a Sound Elemental Artificer would need to be
the one to make this but it could be done.

Yet…
why is there such a heavy feeling in this room?

I
couldn’t quite place my finger on it…

That’s
it!

Why is
this eight-year-old child giving off the same aura as the time I was next to
the King of Sapin himself?

No.
 The atmosphere now is even heavier than that.

He was
clearly asking me for a favor.  But it feels as though he is gauging me,
almost as if he’s trying to evaluate where to put me on his list of ‘people to
keep alive’.

I’ve
never felt this from him, but that was probably because I’ve only ever seen him
with his family.

I
quickly reply, wanting to get it over with. “Sure, it shouldn’t be a problem
getting those things.  The mask might take a bit of time but I’m sure
we’ll have it before you become an Adventurer.”

His
slight nod actually fills me with relief.  I have nobles that wait in line
to introduce
themselves
to me but this kid…

“Is
there anything you would need my help in for in exchange?  I would feel
bad just asking for this without any compensation.”  He responds.

I feel
a little sweat forming above my brows.  “I-it’s fine really.  I owe
your father a lot actually.  He may be working for me but the way he
trains my guards have really lessened the number of problems that happen during
the auctions.”

This
was the truth actually.  Rey has become an irreplaceable part of the
Helstea Auction Houses.  His leadership and charisma amongst the guards he
trains is first class.  I owed him when he saved my life and I owe him and
his family now.  With the generous salary that is well above the average
and letting his family stay in our house, I feel, is actually a bargain on my
part.  Both Tabitha and Lilia have been happier now than ever after Rey
moved in with Alice and had Ellie.  I was always filled with guilt for not
being able to spend as much time with my family as they wanted but things are
now a lot better.

“Hmm,
speaking of training, that actually gives me an idea.” He says while looking
down.

I’ve
noticed quite a while ago that, when Arthur starts thinking, he has this look…
this look where his gaze focuses afar and his brows furrow, the subtle crease
near his lips and the slight twitch on his nose that make him appear to be thinking
of something above what normal human intelligence is capable of; the look of a
true intellectual.  Sigh.  It’s hard to believe that he’s the same
age as my little Lilia.

“Allow
me to start training your daughter to become a mage.” He puts down this
landmine as if he was just talking about the weather.

ARTHUR
LEYWIN’S POV:

“I’ve
been meaning to start teaching my baby sister in mana manipulation soon.
 It wouldn’t be too much trouble to include Lilia in these lessons.
 I noticed that both you and Lady Tabitha are not mages so it might be
impossible for her to awaken by herself, but if we start now, I think she’d be
able to awaken around the average age.” I say.

My
statement is met with silence.  I look up to see Vincent drop the stack of
papers he was fumbling his finger with nervously.  His face is frozen in
place and I hear his heart beating faster.

“C-can
I truly believe what you just said?
 
Can you really allow my daughter to become a m-mage?”  He says
after a seemingly long moment of silence.

“Sure.
 It’ll be a long process but it’s definitely possible. Er… I will have to
ask you to keep the lessons on a low profile though.  I would hate to be
bombarded with doting parents asking to make their children into mages.” I just
chuckle.

He
nods furiously, not finding the correct words to answer verbally.

“Sincerely…
there would be no greater happiness than seeing my daughter become a mage.” He
manages to stammer out, tears on the verge falling down.

“Great!
Then I’ll leave the items we discussed to you!  Now, allow me to excuse
myself out.  Sorry for intruding in on your work.”

I
leave, picking up the sleeping Sylvie from my lap.

I’m
glad that worked out well.

LILIA
HELSTEA’S POV:

I’m shopping
with Mommy and Lady Alice and Ellie.  Ellie seems a little bit
disappointed that her brother didn’t want to join us so I’m holding her hand to
comfort her.

“Hey Ellie.
 Do you like your big brother that much?”

“En! But
he’s a meanie for not shopping with us.  I wanted to dress him up more.”
 She just pouts.

“Do you like
me better or your big brother?”

She just
says, “Umm…I like both!”

“Kukuku.
 Lilia, what are you asking Ellie?”  My mom asks, pulling my other
hand.

She
continues, “Lilia, what do you think of Arthur?”

“Uuu he’s a
little scary.  How is he so strong Mommy?  I thought kids like us
couldn’t be mages until we’re all grown up?”  It wasn’t fair.  I’ve
always dreamt of becoming a mage and making Mommy and Papa happy.

My mom looks
at Lady Alice, “I guess it’s because he’s a very gifted child.  But Alice,
do you really have no problems with everything he told you?  I don’t mean
to butt in on your parenting but doesn’t it just seem a little too weird?
 How did he get so powerful during this time?  You’ve told me that he
was pretty good at fighting even before the bandit attack.”

I see Lady
Alice just shake her head.  “Of course I know he’s hiding a lot of things.
 He probably doesn’t know but it’s pretty obvious when he’s lying.
 He tends to focus his gaze on one point and his voice turns monotone when
he lies.  It’s pretty cute how he thinks he’s being sneaky actually.
‘Sigh’, Tabitha, I know he’s keeping things from us and so does Rey, but we
agreed on giving him some space until he’s comfortable enough to tell us
himself.  I guess that’s just what it means to be a parent.  I know
he doesn’t mean any harm so all we can do is just support him until he’s
ready.”

“Lying is
bad!” Little Ellie declares.

I just agree
with her on that. “Yeah Ellie! Lying is bad!”

ARTHUR
LEYWIN’S POV:

I start
concentrating on my mana core.  I’m getting too impatient with my
training.  I want to hurry up and get to the previous level in my past
life but that isn’t happening as fast as I want it to.

The little
fight with Director Goodsky made it all too real for me.  I’m too
inexperienced and weak.  It didn’t really affect me until now, but I’m not
used to fighting Conjurers.  The fact that there were nothing like
Conjurers in my previous world makes fighting one now a lot more difficult.

My
concentration wavers while my mind flashes back to my past life.  The
scene on that foggy night when the orphanage’s head caretaker, the closest
thing to a mother figure I had, was shot.  I was still young at that time,
but if I think back now, that was probably the reason I started training like a
madman.  Head mother was the one that picked me off the streets, giving me
a steamed bun.  After that, she took care of me, taught me how to read and
write, scolded me and taught me manners.

I didn’t want
to become a King; I just wanted vengeance.  I just wanted to be strong
enough to kill the ones responsible for the death of the person that took care
of me… that loved me.  It’s never as simple as that though.  It
turned out that the ones responsible for killing the orphanage head caretaker,
along with other leader figures of the various orphanages, was the military
from another country.

I realized
that no matter how powerful an individual is he’s still just one person.
 I needed authority along with my power.  Becoming a King then served
its purpose.  The first thing I did when I was appointed King was
destroying that country.  I bloodied my hands with the corpses of hundreds
of thousands of soldiers and millions all together.  The cruel thing,
though, is that no matter what kind of revenge is taken, it doesn’t change what
happened to her.  She still died an unjust death.

This life
was going to be different.  I’m not going to let the ones I treasure
suffer.

Sylvie
nudges her wet nose at me, a concerned gaze fixed on my eyes.  ‘I’m here,
feel better’ is what she seemed to say to me.

Petting her
head, I stir myself out of those damnable memories.

I wash
myself off, laughing at the crying Sylvie who still hates getting wet.
 I’m glad I had her by my side.  It’s not healthy for me to be alone
thinking by myself for too long.

Just on
time, the girls get back from their shopping trip by the time I finished
dressing up.  I hop down the stairs to greet them.

“Hmph!
Brother is a meanie!” My sister just puckers her lower lip with her arms
crossed.

“Is it
because I didn’t go shopping with you Ellie?  I’m sorry.”  I pat her
turned head, which makes her tense her face as she forces herself to keep from smiling.

“How was
shopping Mom, Lady Tabitha?  Did you guys buy a lot of stuff?”  I
ask, my hand still on my sister’s head.

“We didn’t
buy much, just a couple of new outfits for Ellie and Lilia.”  My mother
responds.

At this
time, I hear footsteps storm into our direction.  Vincent arrives next to
us with an excited look on his face.  His eyes are a little red and he has
an uncontainable smile on his face.

“You guys
are finally here!”
 
He says picking
up his daughter and kissing her cheek.

“Honey, why are
you so flustered?  Have you been crying? “What is going on?”  Tabitha
has a bewildered look on her face from confusion and worry.  Vince does
look a little crazy right now.

“You didn’t
tell them yet Arthur?”  He faces me, a smile still on his face.

Shaking my
head, I chuckle, “I just got down as well.  I was about to tell them.”

“Tell us
what baby?” My mother has a look of concern as well.  Mothers never liked
not knowing what’s going on.

“I discussed
with Mr. Vincent about teaching Ellie and Lilia mana manipulation starting
today.  Of course, only if Lady Tabitha is okay with it.”

“…”

Tabitha just
shakes her head, looking at her husband. “W-wait, hold on.  Is this some
sort of prank?  If it is, it’s not funny.”

“No ma’am.
 I know both you and Sir Vincent aren’t mages but it is possible for Lilia
to become one.” I give her a stern gaze, indicating that I’m not joking.

“N-no way.
 I’ve never heard of a method for teaching someone mana manipulation.
 I’ve been taught that it’s up to the child’s innate talent to awaken by
herself.  Why haven’t I heard anyone else teaching kids then?”

Tabitha had
a lot harder time believing that Lilia could become a mage than her husband.
 I don’t blame her though.  Vincent didn’t even question me, which
was surprising.  I’m sure the biggest worry for a mother from a noble
family is the future of her children and in a society where mages are the
elites; the Helstea’s lineage, no matter how rich they were, would get more
than a few looks of pity.

“Yeah I’ve
never heard of anything like teaching a child mana manipulation either Art.
 How do you plan on doing this?”  My mother quizzes.

“Mom, you
guys all know how I awakened at the age of 3 right?  I still remember what
happened and why it did.  I’m going to do what I did on myself to them.
 I’ll have to test them before I can even start but for Ellie, I’m 100%
sure she’ll be able awaken and for Lilia, around 70%.”  I say.  The
probability was higher than what I said for Lilia but I didn’t want to get their
hopes up too much.  There was still a chance she wouldn’t be able to
awaken.

“Heavens.
 T-this is.  Give me a minute.  I need to sit down.”  I see
Tabitha’s knees wobble as she’s making herself to the couch.

“This isn’t
going to be an instant thing.  It’ll take a couple of years for them to
awaken on their own after I teach them.”

The Helstea
parents just nod at this and I turn to face the confused Lilia and Ellie.

“Ellie,
Lilia, can you guys sit down on the floor over by the fireplace?”  I say,
guiding them into the living room.

“I want you
guys to sit in your most comfortable position back to back.  Leave some
space between you guys so I can sit in between.”  I calmly instruct.

Ellie is
still a little clueless as to what’s going on but Lilia has gotten the gist of
what is happening and I can see a determined look on her face.  Ellie sits
down with her legs stuck out in front of her while Lilia sits in a more
ladylike position with both her legs tucked in to her left side.

“Okay.
 Before I do anything, I want you guys to close your eyes and concentrate.
 If you try really hard, you’ll be able see some spots of light.  Do
you see it?”  I place myself between them now as Tabitha, Vincent, and my
mother are staring intently as to what was going on.

“…”

“N-no… I don’t
really see anything.” I hear a murmur from Lilia.  I expected much but I
turn to see everyone have looks of panic on them.  Ignoring them, I turn
to face my sister and ask her the same thing.  I was less afraid of her
seeing the light, but not recognizing what to actually spot.

Thankfully,
she responds, “Brother, I think I see a small pretty light!”

The next
step involved doing something that only I was capable of doing.  I had to
will mana of all four elemental attributes at the same time into their bodies.
 Doing this, they’ll be able to see a lot more clearly the specks of mana
that are scattered in their body.

“Okay I’m
going to start now.  You guys will feel a little bit feverish but I want
you guys to endure it and just focus on the specks of light.”  As soon as
I say that, I will my Quadra Elemental mana into them.

The reason
that all four elements had to be exerted unto them was because the mana that
have yet to gather and form a mana core is at its purest form, meaning that all
four elements need to be exerted at the same power into their bodies to trigger
any sort of responses from the dormant mana all over the insides of their
bodies.

*Whoosh*

“Eep!” “Hng”
I hear Lilia and Ellie yelp out a little in surprise.

“I-I
think
I see some of the lights! They’re so pretty!” Exclaims
Lilia.

“Wow! So
many!” Echoes my little sister.

“Okay, this
part is important, I’m going to help you guys with this part but your job is to
try and connect all of the little lights okay?  Do you get that Ellie?
 Pretend that all of the little lights are friends and they need to meet
together.  Can you do that for me Ellie?”  This was the trickiest and
longest part and I had to make sure that they understood what to do.

“O-okay! I
think I get it!”  “The lights are friends? Okay!” I hear from them.

I stay in my
position for a couple more minutes to trigger the dormant mana in their body,
at least enough so they’ll be a lot more apparent for them to manipulate and
gather.

Taking a
deep breath, I remove my hands from their back, instructing them to continue
gathering the little lights until the lights disappear.

“How is it?
 D-do you think Lilia will be able to become a mage?” Both the Helstea
parents are a mess.  They have anxious looks on their faces while Vincent is
nervously chewing on a fingernail.  I look at my mother and even she has a
hint of uneasiness in her eyes.

I give them
a wide smile.  “Don’t worry, both Lilia and my little sister should awaken
as a mage within a few years.  My plan is to do this with them every day
for the few months that I’ll be home.  By a month or two, they should be
capable of training on their own to form a mana cor…”

Tabitha
doesn’t even let me finish as she’s already giving me a big hug. “Oh thank you
thank you thank you.  My baby will be able to learn magic!  Oh my
goodness I was so worried what her future would be since both of us aren’t
mages. *Sniff* Uuu… thank you so much Arthur.”