Arion stood still, swords circling him. The blood halo returned above his head.
There was not a sign of blood in his body, and yet he looked beat up. His pants were burnt till his knee.
His naked and toned chest and back were shown for all to see, and almost all women in the hall blushed. The plain looking boy had such monstrous and toned body, and the serious deadly expression looked...hot?
However, the most appealing and eye catching was the long, curved sword he held. The Voidflare was out, in his hand for everyone to see it.
Arion suddenly felt...jealous?
'How-how dare they look at my sword like that, assholes.'
After a second however, his expression became dark, and he dismissed all his powers, the halo disappeared as he was washed in a pool of his own blood.
The deadly and sharp swords around him vanished too, and finally Voidflare too disappeared.
Arion grit his teeth, his plan of hiding his powers had gone to shambles.
Still, he was confident in hiding at least the fact he had two Bonuses. And he had not shown the full extent of his powers too.
It would be difficult to explain of course, how a mere Novice with a Lesser bonus could be so powerful but again, it was not completely uncommon. Albeit rare, prodigies existed and the fact that he was a prince of a lesser noble clan could help him in a weird way too.
Before anyone could open their mouth however he felt Clara landing beside him, her eyes lingered on his bloodied body but soon found his eye.
"Are you okay?" She asked. He lingered for a moment watching the staff bring new clothes, and some cleaning the aftermath of the battle. There were nobles from other clan too eyeing him with interest sparkling in their eyes.
The son of Darius Brook, the prince of the Brooks who had taken too long to unlock his Soul Rune was now standing in front of them—and none of them could look away.
They hadn't even known he had unlocked his Soul Rune.
And yet, there he stood—right after the battle—power still lingering around him like a fading storm. The memory of it refused to disappear. Swords had surrounded him, silent and obedient. A blood-tinged halo had hovered above his head. And in his hand… that blade—Voidflare. Even now, though everything had vanished, the pressure of it remained.
Arion exhaled slowly, steadying himself. The metallic scent of blood clung to the air, thick and suffocating, though all of it was his own. His body still ached from the strain, muscles protesting even the smallest movement.
"I'm fine," he answered Clara at last.
Clara's gaze lingered on him for a second longer, as if weighing the truth behind his words. Then she turned slightly, her presence alone enough to make a few of the approaching nobles hesitate.
'Smart girl, acting like my friend...still what's her goal?'
As if the meeting was not complicated enough, there was one more problem on his head after he had showcased his power with that final attack on the vanishing Unknown guy.
'Ah, unknown deity, I'm going nuts.'
Still, at least Clara's presence made many nobles stay back.
'…So even here, she's a shield.'
He clicked his tongue internally. The staff however didn't seem to worry about her as they made their way to Arion. One of the maids bent to pull his pants down. Arion jerked her hand away and yelped.
"What the hell!? I can dress by myself, and how do you expect me to remove my pants in front of all these people?"
The maid stood up, and gave out a nervous laugh.
"Ah-ah, my bad Young Master." Her voice was not etched with fear or practiced precision, it was genuine worry and care. Arion almost let himself smile, if there weren't so many nobles here, he probably would have.
"You keep the new clothes for now, I'll take it after a while." He said to the other maid with kindness in his voice.
All three nodded and scurried away. 'Why was the third one here?' He asked himself but shook his head.
Finally he saw a group of nobles walking towards him and Clara and Joel who had appeared behind him at some point of time. The thought of having him behind him gave him an odd sense of safety and braveness that he didn't show it on his face.
Instead, his face was plain and he had a smile on his face as he looked at the group of nobles led by four figures.
His father-Darius Brook, his mother-Angela Brook was by his side. Beside his mother and father, in both sides were his siblings, namely his sisters. Serina and Serene.
Serene had long, straight black hair like their mother, often left loose. She had calm, black eyes which shone with a soft shine. They were steady, observant and mostly unreadable. Her skin was smooth ivory, slightly paler than his.
She was slim and elegant, with naturally graceful posture. She was just like he remembered, even now she had a gentle and composed expression. She looked untouchable, even to him.
Serina's hair was slightly smaller than her sisters, her hair was tied in a loose ponytail. She had bright curious and expressive black eyes. Her skin was the same as her sister and mother. She was more energetic, her slim posture was rarely still. She had a soft expression and was miles better than her sister in terms of expressions.
Unlike her sister, mother or father she seemed approachable.
Where Serene was like still water, Serina was a gentle flowing energetic stream.
They looked like an exact copy but once one looked closer the difference became more profound.
He looked at them hiding his dark expression then at the other nobles.
Arion gave a small smile as his family approached him. His father stopped and with him, the nobles did too. There were not many, only ten or fifteen of them.
Yet, his mother did not stop, she continued walking forward as she looked at him with worry.
Arion's smile softened as she came closer.
She didn't hesitate, didn't slow—her steps were quick, uneven, almost breaking the composed image she always carried. And then she was in front of him.
"Arion…" her voice trembled, softer than he remembered. Her hands reached for his face, stopping just short for a second—as if afraid he might disappear—before gently cupping his cheeks. Her eyes searched his, scanning, checking… making sure he was real.
"I'm fine," he said quietly.
"You are covered by Blood. Is it yours?" She asked, her grip on his face tightening. "Yes." He whispered unable to lie to his mother. "But you don't need to worry, I'll explain everything."
Throughout the conversation, he was careful that no one else heard it. Clara was near, so he couldn't make her not hear and there was Joel behind him but he didn't mind. He trusted him.
Behind her, his father stood still, unmoving. His gaze was fixed on Arion—sharp, heavy, measuring. The nobles beside him remained silent, watching. The distance between them felt deliberate.
"...You took your time," Darius finally said.
Arion looked at him trying to hide his unease, though calmed down when his mother caught him in an embrace.
He smiled wider and looked at his father. "I'm back." He said receiving a nod from his father.
"That was quite a ruckus wasn't it?" Serina said, her voice carrying a sense of energy and worry.
"Ah, didn't get the chance to celebrate unlocking my Soul Rune… so just had to fight the first guy ready for a duel." He said with a bright smile that had defined him six years ago in the same town.
"Surely no one minds, right? I mean it's not every you get attacked you see."
The staff who were stiff hours ago were now at ease seeing the smile, it looked like after his recent show of power and still remaining grounded, he somewhat was gaining the trust of the common people and the staff back.
He looked at his mother who was still embracing him as if leaving him would be the end of the world.
"Mom, you'll make your white clothes red." He joked trying to brighten her mood, that seemed to somehow bring her back to her usual composure as she let go of him.
Her white pristine robe was stained with his blood but except that everything was normal, she was smiling gently and her composure was back too.
Before Arion could process, he saw someone place a huge table and multiple chairs behind the nobles.
'How did they fit it through the doors?' However now was not the time to think all this as his father turned back and looked at the nobles.
"We already decided that the destruction won't matter, so our meeting shall start right here."
He said as all the nobles made their way to the seats.
"When did they discuss that?" He asked himself.
"Right when you were fighting, gods the shockwaves were damn strong, I was almost certain you'd die." Serina spoke again before frowning.
"Surely this is not how a prince of Brook, especially one as powerful as you should look. Ah, unless you want to show off your muscles that is." Serina said with a cheeky smirk as she looked at him up and down.
"Wow, so while I was busy dying inside, you guys were discussing about dinner?"
After a moment of silence, he simply sighed.
"Alright, I'll be back soon." He said turning back but stopped as two problems arose. One was that his father now turned to Clara, something dangerous momentarily flashing in his eyes before he masked it perfectly.
Not even Clara noticed it, however Arion noticed it while turning back.
The second problem however was that the maid who was supposed to give him new clothes had scurried away.
"Lady Clara of the Crystal, to what do we owe the pleasure of your visit?" Darius asked with a smile. Suddenly Arion felt his hand being pulled by Clara who pulled him with his arm and pointed at him with the other.
With a dead pan expression, she said. "I was bored, so Arion just called me here, I am not disturbing you right?" She asked, her voice emotionless and yet, there was a innocent curious tone in her voice.
'How devious' He thought. She maintained her usual impassive and indifferent tone instead of a seemingly fake try-hard innocent tone. But her tone was accompanied by a innocent and curious expression though she tried to hide it.
She knew that she couldn't hide it from his father, that's why she tried so that he would think she was hiding her curious tone and naturally believed her story was true.
Well but will his father fall for it. The answer was yes, and how did he know it?
His father then locked eyes with him, a rare look of acceptance and applause in it, he looked at him when Clara wasn't looking at Darius of course, such complications.
The thing unfolding in front of him would be laughable if he weren't involved so deeply in it.
While his father was convinced his son had completed his mission and even gone overboard by gaining the trust of the Crystal Princess, in actuality he was just being fooled into that fact by Clara herself.
The funny thing still, was that his son was standing right there knowing the truth and still being silent.
So she probably was here for another reason, and even he himself was being played by her too.
'Yeah, I have to actually talk to her.'
Catching Clara's hand, he dragged her with him to search for the maid.
Grimacing at both the burning pain in his back and the look of mischief he endured from others especially Serina, he took her outside the hall and immediately yelped as the maid practically appeared in front of him and shoved the dress in his face before yelping and jumping back.
"Young Master...?" She asked questioningly, Arion sighed catching the clothes. He gave her a bright smile. After thanking her, he once again caught Clara's hand and went in search of an empty room.
Stopping in front of a door, he turned back and looked sharply at Clara. "Better think of an explanation before I return." He said sharply as he entered the room, and came back a moment later.
"You didn't dress?" Clara asked. His ears turned pink as he looked at her with slight embarrassment. "There are people in there." He said quietly.
Clara looked at him with an amused expression before she shrugged and caught his hand. He almost flinched at the contact. When he grabbed her hand, he was ready and mentally prepared but he was not prepared now.
He was more embarrassed now, as she guided him in front of a room and stopped.
"You might be too weak to sense presence after your fight but I can, this room is empty." She said, Arion nodded and stepped into the room after she let go of his hand.
"Oh? Not going to say anything to me? Like, think of an excuse or something like that?" She asked, and this time her tone was mocking, completely mocking.
Cursing, he ignored her and went in the room.
A couple seconds later, he stepped out wearing new clothes. A black loose sleeveless shirt and loose black pants tied around his waist with a cord.
Arion came beside and held her hand as they walked towards the hall.
"Just curious, why hold my hand this time?" She asked in a whisper. As if realising something, Arion who had a thoughtful expression suddenly widened his eyes and let her hand go and looked away feeling heat rush into his face.
"Oh, I thought you didn't know the way to the hall. It's your first time after all." He said nervously. Clara seemed to be satisfied with the answer and looked front, her unreadable and poker face back on her face.
"As for what I said in the hall, well I wasn't expecting to meet your father so soon, so I had to make up a different lie. I will explain everything afterwards, until then stay calm..."
Arion looked at her, all nervousness and embarrassment disappearing from his face replaced by silent calculation and cold observation.
"Sit beside me...Don't try anything stupid." He finally said before entering the hall once again.
He was again the victim of being the centre of attention though he shrugged it off.
The dining hall was arranged around a long rectangular table, polished to a dark sheen that reflected the dim lights above. At the head sat two seats, reserved for the lord and lady of the house, namely Darius and Angela with another two directly opposite them at the far end.
Along both lengths of the table, nine chairs were evenly spaced on each side, forming perfect symmetry. Every seat was aligned with precision, as if even the arrangement itself demanded order.
Nothing about it felt casual. Every position carried weight.
Every signs of the fierce two minute battle had disappeared, now only two seats were empty. The ones opposite to his mother's and father's seat. His sisters sat beside each other in the side next to his mother.
However, the odd thing was that his father seemingly had no ways of knowing Clara would be present today and yet, there wad a seat arranged for her too.
'This can't be a coincidence'
Taking his seat opposite to his father, and Clara taking the seat opposite to his mother, maids finally appeared with food.
After a few minutes of silence after the food was place, the head of Brooks, his father stood up.
His gaze swept across the table once… then settled.
"Before we begin," he said calmly, "I believe we are owed an explanation."
Arion leaned back on his chair, his expression completely relaxed as his eyes met his father's. Well at least on the outside, internally he was cursing his father.
'Seriously is he telling me to disclose my secrets and powers in front of other rival nobles?'
Still he calmed down and began thinking rationally, it was time to manipulate a few nobles.
How much did they actually know How much did they suspect?
Questions bombarded his mind as he tried to find a possible explanation and deception to keep excess attention away from himself.
Clara sat beside him. Still. Silent and watching. Like she always is, watching and not helping...hell she literally was a threat now.
A noble from the left side finally spoke, unable to contain himself.
"That… display earlier—" He hesitated choosing his words carefully.
"—was far beyond what a Novice should be capable of."
Murmurs followed, low and controlled. The sight was almost amusing, Arion never knew that nobles even murmured like this, so bad it happened to be about him.
Another noble—less restrained than the first—looked at him, hostility clear in his eyes as his voice boomed through the hall.
"And that weapon...that blade was not ordinary." At the mention of the black sword they saw in his hands all eyes were immediately fixed on him.
Especially the noble who asked him the question seemed hellbent on learning about it.
'As if I'd tell you anything.'
Arion met his gaze—and understood immediately. His intent. It was a trap. Answer poorly—and he'd be forced to reveal everything.
The very thought was frustrating and...troublesome.
Arion then smiled, he didn't even stand up unlike his father and two nobles who asked him the questions. He gave them a carefree and relaxed smile.
"Is it really that surprising?" A few brows frowned. He tilted his head slightly.
"Ah! I guess I'm what you call a prodigy?" He said before shrugging and continuing in a carefree tone. "As it turns out—nearly dying does wonders."
Then with a grin, he turned to the noble who had asked him the question about his blade and suddenly the man shuddered. "Maybe you should try dying too, maybe wonders will follow you too."