Blade Over Magic

Shock

Xander let out a slight sigh of relief when the issue was resolved. He trusted Curtis completely, but he had to admit that things had seemed dicey for for a second there.

However, he retained confidence throughout, because he knew exactly what Curtis had been doing while they were training. When he wasn’t practicing magic or getting accustomed to his physique, he actually showed an huge level of skill and talent when it came to debates.

This was, ironically, discovered when he called out Xander for trying to say he wasn’t worth being loved, and it was an additional skill Xavier had him develop during the training.

And it paid off wonderfully.

"Not bad, not bad at all." Xander exhaled and glanced at the short, masked figure who was standing next to him. They hadn’t moved to follow Zeref after his defeat, neither did they seem perturbed by it.

Xander stared at them for a few seconds, then he spoke with a flat tone.

"What exactly are you doing here, Samuel?" The masked figure turned to him, and Xander seemed to see that same polite smile behind the mask.

"Aw, you caught me." Samuel hummed, seeming entirely unperturbed by the fact that Xander had identified him. "An odd thing, that sense of yours." Xander’s eye twitched. He recognized it to be Samuel due to that same jarring absence of Paths he detected when he saw him in Avoma.

He felt Aubrey try to speak to him telepathically, but he intentionally didn’t answer her.

Even though Samuel was a literal void to the Myriad Paths, he had the feeling that he wanted to speak privately, and the moment any of the others joined the conversation, he would leave.

Moreover, Mia hadn’t moved to interfere, and neither had Keir, so he judged that he wasn’t in danger for the time being.

"What? Not gonna ask how I went from being in Avoma, assisting the Major General, to following around a 6th-Floor High Mage?" Samuel tilted his head, his voice taking on a curious lilt as he regarded Xander.

Xander didn’t immediately reply. In truth, he was curious about that, very much so. But that was also too predictable. Moreover, he wanted to know something else.

"What exactly do you want, Samuel?" There was a period of silence between the two of them, the Samuel sighed behind his mask, the sound long and deep, like he was exhausted.

"I already told you, didn’t I?" Xander’s eyes narrowed as he recalled the conversation he had with Samuel after the Avoma Auction. It seemed like a lifetime ago.

’Things may appear stable on the surface. But the reality is that the world is going to be thrown into turmoil soon. You would be wise to prepare as much as you can.’

In truth, Xander had thought hard about what he could mean about that. He’d considered that maybe it was the Hell Gates, and while that was certainly a significant latent threat, after seeing Xavier’s display at Landor, he was pretty sure that would remain a latent threat indefinitely.

War didn’t seem to be likely as while not every race and kingdom was unified, they weren’t actively trying to kill each other either.

In the end, he guessed there was some grand conspiracy going on. But that raised another issue.

Why would Samuel know about that?

"Eh, anyway, I’ve stayed here too long. So I’ll he off. Oh, and by the way." His head faced Xander. "When the youngest Princess asks to speak with you privately, I strongly suggest that you accept her offer. Secondly, on your first night here, don’t be too hasty to choose violence." His words were extremely cryptic as Xander’s eyes narrowed.

"What the hell does any of that mean? And why should I listen to you? You haven’t exactly given me much reason to trust you with how mysterious you’re acting." Samuel sighed again, but it was half-hearted.

"Fine, fine. I suppose I’m not being very trustworthy at the moment. Hm..." He went silent for a few seconds, then nodded to himself.

"Alright, how about this." He opened his mouth behind his mask and uttered a set of words. They seemed to only reach Xander’s ears as Xander’s eyes constricted sharply, his heart beginning to pound.

"That girl is interesting. Pretty sure she knows some stuff about your transmigration. And who knows? You might meet another like yourself through her."

Xander felt like a bomb had gone off in his head, and he was utterly rooted to his position. It was hard to make him lose his composure with words alone, and yet, Samuel had shattered it.

Transmigration.

The mysterious thing that made Xander come to Tatonia after he died on earth. It seemed odd that something fantastical like that would just happen to him. Yet he could never figure out why, and he couldn’t ask high-tiers like Xavier or Mia without exposing that fact.

But Samuel knew.

How did he know?

He subconsciously wanted to reach out, but Samuel had already returned to place where the other mages from the Mage Tower were, standing calmly behind a fuming Zeref.

’Xander.’ Aubrey forced her force into his mind, bypassing his attempts at blocking the connection as she came to his side. Even though Xander’s expression hadn’t changed much, he had no hope of hiding his shock from her.

’What’s wrong? What what did he tell you?’ Falael and Curtis also reached him at that moment, and Xander closed his eyes for a few seconds, then he replied.

’He just... relayed some sensitive information to me. I can’t tell you guys what it is yet. Just... if you ever find yourselves face to face with Samuel and you are alone, do not engage him no matter what, and even if you aren’t alone, tread very carefully.’ The uncharacteristically stern warning surprised the rest, but Curtis was the first to agree.

’Alright. We trust you. Just tell us if you need help with anything.’ Falael nodded slightly.

’Yeah, that.’ Xander exhaled, then Keir, who hadn’t said a word this whole time, suddenly spoke up. He wasn’t on Xander’s shoulder but was with Mia who was currently at the food table, calmly stuffing her face unseen by anyone.

’Hey, where’s Mary?’ The question seemed out of place, but now that he mentioned it...

They all looked around, and Mary was indeed nowhere to be seen. She wasn’t near Xavier who had, at some point, sat across Bellion and was conversing with him, neither was she near Mia who was near the food table.

He could have sworn that she was only a few feet behind him. How had she suddenly vanished? And right under his nose too? Aubrey’s especially?

’She’s dealing with something personal at the moment.’ Just then, Mia’s voice rang in their heads.

They all felt a bit relieved, but Xander still asked with some concern.

’Is it anything dangerous?’ At that...

’Well, depending on the result, either she makes some great gains of she dies.’ Everyone froze.

But before they could question what she meant by that...

"Well, this place seems lively." The soft music came to a halt as the Ballroom went silent.

There there was the sound of footsteps. They were soft, yet they somehow were heard by all as around the room, everyone subconsciously looked towards the source of the sound.

And there he was.

Step by step, he ascended until he arrived at the beautiful golden throne when he turned and sat.

He was adorned in a purple and golden royal robe, his build not too large nor small. His angular face held a well trimmed, deep blue beard with strands of gray hair in it, and his hair which was combed neatly also had some gray strands. His eyes held the same color as the ocean, and appeared deep, like they had seen the vicissitudes of life and then some.

On his head was a glittering golden crown adorned with various gems and crystals, and as he sat, his sheer presence seemed to fill the room, giving off a wave of regality and dignity.

Behind him, two figures appeared. One of them was a woman so beautiful it was almost uncanny. Her pale skin contrasted with her nebulous purple hair, and her attire did little to hide her slender figure.

Beside her was a figure whose hood hid his face, making it hard to ascertain anything about his appearance besides the fact that he was male.

One thing stood out about both of them, though.

Both wore the signature white robes of Archmages, as they were the two Archmages affiliated with the Royal Family.

And the man they stood behind was none other than the King of Solvaren. The Ruler of Defiance.

King Hemlock VII

| Pay Respect to the King! | The very air vibrated as the hooded Archmage spoke with authority, space buzzing as everyone stopped what they were doing and gave deep bows. The only exceptions to this being the Archmages.

"We Pay Respect to His Highness!" Everyone said in unison.

King Hemlock looked around, smiled, and raised his hand.

"You may rise."

***

| Who would have thought that I’d finally find you here? |

At the same time, within the separate dimension behind layers of space time.

A humanoid figure could be seen pressing a hand down, sharp talons aiming to impale as beneath them, another figure held this hand by the wrist, preventing it from going any further. Both sides seemed to be in an intense struggle as the first figure spoke, their voice filled with morbid elation.

| Do you have any clue how much I’ve been looking for you? After all these years? And you just happen to come to me instead. Fate is a really funny thing, is it not, my dearest sister?| The figure leaned down, and Mary narrowed her eyes.

| ... You’re supposed to be dead. | That drew a bout of sharp laughter, and the pressure exerted increased as Mary visibly strained to prevent her chest from getting impaled.

| Haha! That’s no way to greet your sibling, you know? | a face leaned down, and a face with an uncanny resemblance to Mary’s was revealed, but where Mary was calm and composed even with the current predicament, this one showed unbridled madness in her eyes.

She leaned in close, her mouth mere inches away from Mary’s ear.

| I have so, so missed you. | Her voice was soft, almost tender, and she leaned back to smile ’sweetly’.

| How about we have a little reunion, shall we? |

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