Tbate | A clash between times | The beginning after the end

Chapter 18

Arthur Leywin

"Tess, take the right!" I shouted at her. We were sparring against Caera. I hate to admit it but her swordsmanship rivals my own, at least before my training. It hasn't even been a week since we started. Grey came Monday and it's now Sunday. We started training a bit after. My swordsmanship has barely gotten better but I could feel myself getting stronger.

Tess's abilities have drastically improved. It's most likely the now gone corruption and the lessons on mana manipulation. She can now rival an A-class adventurer. Caera however was high AA-class, maybe S-rank. From fighting her I could tell that she got strong from fighting mana beasts and not people.

When we started we could almost defeat her because of that but now she was starting to learn our movements. Her ranged soul fire was a huge problem because she could control small flames individually. It was really bad for Tess because of how quickly it spread among the plants she conjured.

I had trouble with close combat because of her giant sword and the black fire that could appear anywhere on her body. It also didn't help that once I got close enough she would create her ranged flames and have them come at me from all directions to force an opening.

"Ahhh," I sat down next to Tess. "You guys ok? Should I go easy on you next time?" asked Caera, concern in her voice. "No, fighting you is great practice. " said Tess.

"That was a great show, I just hope not every Alacyran is that strong." said Gramps as he sat on a bench next to the door and watched us. "Don't worry, she's considered very strong. To the point she's famous." said Grey as he read a later volume of a book I was currently reading.

"I'm glad they're strong. No one ever fought me seriously because of fear they might hurt me. I can't fight Grey because he's too strong and because he doesn't use mana I can't learn to predict spells." said Caera.

"Grandpa, what did you guys go to the castle for?" asked Tess. "We went so that Gideon could create a new form of transportation," I responded, even though the question wasn't for me.

"Gideon? The crazy artificer?" said Tess. "Yes, that's the one, there was another but he was obsessed with trying to transport himself to the world of his favorite book so we didn't ask him." said Gramps. We all just looked at him confused.

"Anyway, I came to tell you it's dinner time," said Gramps. "Alright! Come on Caera, Sylvie's. The dining hall has a new dish!" said Tess leaving the room with Grey following suit. Soon it was just me and Gramps in the room. I started to pack up when Virion started to talk to me. "Are you going to tell her?"

"I don't want her to hate me," I replied, keeping my back to him. "She might hate you for a while but I'm sure she'll warm back up to you. Future Sylvie will probably help her understand. " Virion said with a condescending tone.

"How did you come to terms with it?" I asked. I hadn't talked to him one on one since Grey told him. "To be honest, when Grey started to tell me about it I was disgusted, someone that I trusted had such a secret. But then he told me about what your past was like. While he didn't say much I can tell it was tough." Virion paused. "I'm not saying you have to. The fear of people you care for looking at you like a monster, that's something I can't even begin to imagine."

"If you do decide to tell her, me and Sylvie will help you both." said Virion as he left me to my own thoughts. "How will she look at me once she knows? No. She deserves to know.. I trust her . I just hope she'll trust me." I went straight to my room and waited for Everyone to come back.

Tessia Eralith

"Ahhh~~. That was good food. The stuff from the VIP hall is really good." I said as I and everyone went to our rooms. "Yeah, but where did Arthur go?" asked Caera. "I don't know, knowing him he did more training," said Sylvie. We had entered Arthur and Grey's room. Mainly because it was embarrassing for anyone to enter our room.