Ascension of the last Celestial

Valerian clapped his hands, snapping Arthur right out of his thoughts. Arthur had just been staring blankly at the cave wall, still emotionally devastated after realizing how absolutely cooked his finances were.

„Okay! Here’s the game plan," Valerian said, way too cheerful for Arthur’s taste. "First, we wait until you’re back to 100%. Then we go hunt down that S+ rank monster for you. And then, my absolute favorite part, you’ll fight it while I cheer you on from the side. Sounds good?"

It was a solid plan, but Arthur definitely didn’t miss the part where Valerian would just be „cheering him on" while he fought for his damn life. He let it slide for now, though, preferring to focus on stuff that actually mattered.

„It’s fine, but maybe you should teach me a bit more about mana and magic. It’d really help during the fight."

Getting actual mana lessons from a literal god candidate would obviously skyrocket his strength, but unfortunately, Valerian wasn’t on the same page.

„I could, but I won’t."

Arthur frowned, looking completely annoyed. „And why not? You said it yourself, barely anyone knows more about mana than you do."

Valerian sighed, slipping right back into his annoying teacher persona. „If I teach you all the deep secrets of mana and how it actually functions in the universe, your brain is just going to overcomplicate things. You think too much, Arthur. You need to stop analyzing magic and just let your elements flow through you."

„That’s a fancy way of saying you just don’t want to."

Valerian froze like a kid caught stealing. A bead of sweat rolled down his face. „No! I’d love nothing more than to teach you, but I believe in learning on the job!"

Arthur stared at him, his face saying clear as day that he didn’t believe a single word. But internally, he had to admit the guy had a point. ’I hate how much sense he makes. My best bet is probably just fighting something way stronger than me and forcing some kind of enlightenment out of it.’

„Fine, let’s just do it."

Arthur begrudgingly gave in. The only issue now was passing the time until his mana and health were fully recovered. Seeing his chance, Arthur decided to bring up the one topic he couldn’t stop thinking about.

„Sooo... how exactly did that happen again? You making out with some girl?"

Valerian’s face instantly turned bright red. He snapped his head away, completely flustered. „Wh-what do yo- you mean?! I do- don’t know anything about ma- making out!"

Arthur grinned mischievously. No way in hell was he backing down now. „Don’t tell me you already forgot about her?! Man, and I thought I was supposed to be the harem protagonist here. Tsk tsk, I guess I just can’t keep up with you."

Valerian’s face practically started glowing from the heat. „Shut up! I don’t want one of your stupid harems! I only want her-!"

Realizing what he had just blurted out, Valerian panicked. He used his mana to instantly snap the campfire out, plunging the entire cave into pitch blackness to hide his face.

Arthur lost it. He burst out laughing, a mix of pure enjoyment and heavy mockery. „Hahaha! How can you say something that bold and then act so damn shy, haha!"

Arthur summoned a small flame and tossed it into the air so it hovered right where the campfire used to be. The faint light illuminated the cave again, revealing a still-blushing Valerian.

„What’s her name anyway? You haven’t told me anything."

Arthur leaned on his side, propping his head up with his hand. He was dying to know more about the girl who could turn this untouchable god candidate into a shy schoolgirl.

„Well... her name is Seraphine. She’s my age, actually, only a few days younger. And... she’s an elf... aaand... she’s a bit obsessed with magic. She’s... beautiful..."

„So you know the absolute bare minimum, got it. How long have you even known her?"

Valerian looked away, thoroughly ashamed. „I met her a few days ago... we spent a few hours together..."

Arthur’s jaw dropped. „Wait, that’s it?! You’ve only known the girl you’re acting this tragically lovesick over for a few hours?"

Frustrated by how weird his own feelings actually were, Valerian snapped. He commanded the surrounding shadows to aggressively swallow Arthur’s small flame, throwing them right back into the dark.

„Just get back to perfect condition. If you’re not ready in five hours, I’m leaving without you..."

With a soft warp in the air, Valerian teleported out, leaving Arthur completely alone in the dark cave.

Arthur let out a heavy sigh at his friend’s dramatic antics and laid back down on the hard floor. He tried to rest, but a sudden realization hit him so hard he shot right back into a sitting position.

„Wait... the blushing, the stuttering, the sudden mood swings... don’t tell me... he’s a textbook tsundere?!"

While Arthur was busy figuring out his friend’s personality type, Valerian reappeared outside on the high cliff, looking out over the forest.

The cool night air hit him, but his cheeks were still burning. His mind was in a total knot over Seraphine. ’Why do I feel this strongly? We only met for one day.’ It was completely new to him. He loved his parents and Elena, sure, but whatever this was with Seraphine felt entirely different. Even when he had read his physique, his only thought was that spending an eternity without her wouldn’t be worth it. He needed to know why his soul reacted like this, and if she felt the same way.

But he had to put that aside for now. There were more urgent matters, Arthur’s quest, the dangerous monsters in the forest, and the orphanage. The real reason he came here.

Valerian had entered the Voidwoods for closure. He thought that by coming back and killing the monster that took Aurelia, he could finally move on. Everything else, meeting Arthur, getting his physique, was just a massive bonus, but he hadn’t lost sight of his goal.

’One step after another. Once Arthur recovers, we—’

ROOOAAAR!!!

A deafening roar shattered his thoughts, making the cliff beneath his feet vibrate. It sounded a lot like the ice wyvern Arthur had fought earlier, just way louder.

’You’ve got to be kidding me.’

Valerian narrowed his eyes, looking toward the horizon. A coordinated pack of seven wyverns was heading straight for his mountain. Leading them was a massive ice wyvern, easily one and a half times the size of the others, letting its heavy mana flow freely to show who was boss.

He looked back up at the leading beast. ’Tsk, it’s only an S-rank, not even close to a breakthrough. And here I thought the universe actually loved me and dropped an S+ rank right into my lap for Arthur.’

Valerian rolled his shoulders, readying himself to clear the sky. Arthur needed sleep, and these things were making way too much noise. ’I should probably rip the ice element core out of one of them while I’m at it.’

With a sigh, Valerian vanished.

Space warped, and a millisecond later, he materialized right on the back of one of the trailing wyverns, still three kilometers away from the cave. Before the beast could even register the extra weight, a dense, black substance formed in Valerian’s hands, shaping into a majestic spear with a dark obsidian shaft. Thin, glowing purple lines, like veins of cosmic lightning, carved down the blade, bleeding violet particles into the air.

Before the pack even knew there was an intruder among them, Valerian brought the spear down with brutal force. Black-purple lightning exploded from the strike as he drove the blade straight through the wyvern’s spine, kicking off the battle in absolute silence.

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