Arc | Chapter. 25: Resolution (Patreon)

Chapter. 25: Resolution

Ceylon blinked. She didn’t understand.

“W⁠—”

“Why can’t you help?” Arc said clearly annoyed.

Ceylon felt many things looking at the sight including anxiety and a sense of impending doom, but one of them was confusion as the Hermit shivered under Arc’s gaze.

“I-I never thought your friend would be from one of the noble families of Draliz,” he said trembling. “I cannot intervene, not if it involves the elections of the new king.”

“W-Why?” Ceylon asked, still nervous. “Why can’t you help? My family is getting slaughtered!”

“That is…” the Hermit swallowed.

“You better have a damn good explanation before I beat the shit out of you,” Arc coldly said.

The old man completely paused for a moment as he hurriedly nodded. Ceylon didn’t understand how Arc even got hold of the Hermit, and from the looks of it Rory seemed confused as well.

But hopefully with Arc’s help he’ll agree… Ceylon quietly thought as she did her best to relax.

“I-I have an explanation,” the Hermit stammered, looking around at Ceylon and then at Rory. “But it’s best shared around privately.”

Ceylon paused and Arc raised her brow, before letting out a tired sigh.

“So if you two will please leave, I will be able to explain it properly to⁠—”

And Arc flicked her finger. “There, now speak.”

The Hermit blinked, Ceylon too was confused about what had just happened, but Arc quickly brushed the matter aside.

“Explain now, I don’t have all day.”

There was a moment of silence, and then the Hermit’s eyes widened as he looked at Rory.

“She is…”

“She is frozen in time,” Arc crossed her arms. “It’s exhausting to upkeep especially after fighting you, so hurry before I decide a better use of my mana is quelling my anger. Ceylon knows I’m a hero, so speak freely.” She snorted.

Ceylon blinked and realized something: the burns on Arc’s skin were now completely healed, and all that remained was the dried blood. Even though she had been in a bad condition when she got here, now she looked almost normal.

The Hermit slowly nodded and turned to Ceylon. “In short I cannot help you because otherwise my life would be forfeit. To explain quickly, there are people that want to take over Draliz, and they are not people I can fight or go against.”

He sighed.

“I’ll explain it in the shortest way possible.” The Hermit took a breath and met her gaze. “Ceylon, your family is simply but a small thing on a grand scheme of a group of heroes.”

“And again, why can’t you interfere?” Arc asked, this time more tired.

“That is because they will kill me!” The Hermit cried as he turned. “Even if you are stronger than most heroes or maybe the strongest aside from the monsters of old, it doesn’t matter; what if two come after you, what if it’s three at once?!” he growled. “The problem isn’t a single hero but multiple.”

This time, Arc got a pensive look on her face as she lightly frowned, Ceylon began to feel anxious as the Hermit turned to look at her with a solemn expression.

“That is why I cannot help you, Miss Ceylon. Not without sacrificing my life.”

At that moment, it felt as if her heart had broken. All the repressed emotions, all her stress and worries, it all came out.

“What do you mean?!” Ceylon asked, almost tearing up. “My family said you owed them dearly, that’s why I came all the way here, that you would help us unconditionally, those were your words to my ancestors. Is your word worth nothing?!”

The Hermit paused and closed his eyes.

“These are different times now, Miss Ceylon.” He grabbed her hand gently. “Unfortunately your family will be crushed under the machinations of those people⁠—”

And he was punched. The Hermit flew across the cave and into a wall as the place nearly threatened to collapse. A chilly mist began to form as Arc growled.

“Her family will not be crushed under the machinations of those people, I’ll fucking make sure of it.”

Ceylon turned only to see Arc walking past her towards the Hermit who was struggling to pick himself up. She arrived and held him by the collar, forcing him to look at her in the eyes.

“Say something like that again, and I’ll make sure to kill you, dragon.” The cave walls began to freeze. “And it won’t be a peaceful death either.”

“Y-Yes…”

The Hermit trembled as she dropped him into the ground. Ceylon paused for a moment; dragon…? Most of her concerns went away at that moment. Arc is here… But before her thoughts could get any further, Arc turned back to her.

“Let’s go, Ceylon⁠.”

“You plan to intervene?” The Hermit said coughing. “To go against the established black organizations of heroes?”

“Yes,” Arc answered curtly. “What, are you going to warn me?”

The Hermit slowly picked himself up coughing. “Yes… I do. I thought the only reason you asked for my help is because you didn’t want to deal with them, but now that I think about it, are you even aware of the heroes?”

“Aware?” She asked, this time interested.

Ceylon too raised her brow, still feeling some anxiousness. She didn’t know what the heroes of the world were doing, very little news about them spread to the masses, aside from accidents that happened centuries ago there were nearly no rumors surrounding them.

“Yes, aware,” he coughed, finally standing straight once more. “There are heroes still alive to this day from the era of oblivion, the times where the system wasn’t fully omnipotent, the times in which SS Tier beings were born. What I’m trying to say is there are monsters from that era still roaming the world.”

Arc looked on with interest. “Are they stronger than me?”

“I am certain there are heroes stronger than you, even though all your skills are SS Tier, your stats are still one of a recently born SS Tier,” he said, shaking his head. “I just mean that there are multiple organizations formed by heroes including heroes of old, and if you get involved you will die.”

“Because they will gang up on me?” She asked.

“Gang up…?” The Hermit paused.

Ceylon too felt confused, but decided not to ask about it, instead just letting the explanation continue as Arc let out a sigh.

“Will they group up and beat me to death?”

“Not only that but if they find out you are a hero every single group will scramble to recruit you to their side,” he said, shaking his head. “I would recommend leaving Draliz, especially considering you heroes have the [Appraisal] skill. With just a glance I was able to figure it out, others will too.”

“Alright.” She nodded.

Ceylon blinked. Was this it…? Had Arc just given up…? I mean… It made sense to her. Arc stood a lot to lose including her freedom, if she made contact with the other heroes as the Hermit said, then it would put her in a position she wouldn’t ever want to be in.

Finally, Arc turned to her, her blue eyes meeting hers, and then she softly smiled.

“No matter what, I will help you.”

At that moment, Ceylon felt complete relief wash over her. She immediately started to tear up, and the Hermit… got angry.

“Did you not hear what I said?!”

“You are the one that didn’t hear me,” Arc turned coldly. “I said, I’ll make sure to save her family, and by extension her. Do anything else, and⁠—”

“Fine, I get it!” The Hermit let out a breath. “I’d at least give you a farewell gift so you don’t kill me should things go wrong, but my hoard is gone.”

“Your hoard? It’s all frozen in ice you know? Anyway, it’s whatever.” Arc shook her head and turned back to Ceylon, dismissing the Hermit. “Leave before I get angry again.”

Ceylon looked at Arc, not understanding what was about to happen next, and before she could react, Arc pulled her into a hug. Ceylon blinked, feeling her coldness, except, it was comfortable.

“Don’t worry, I’ll make sure your family survives.”

Ceylon let the words of reassurance ring in her head for a few moments, before finally she started crying.

“Thank you Arc…”

* * * * *

I nestled Ceylon in my arms for a while, due to my low mana I actually wasn’t particularly cold, which helped her let out all of her emotions out, I heard a lot of things, namely gratefulness. It was nice, it told me I was doing the right thing. And more than anything, it was simply nice to me as well.

Eventually the dragon left and we were alone for some time until finally, I snapped my fingers quietly, all while Ceylon still embraced me. Rory blinked and turned with confusion only to see me hugging Ceylon, the Hermit was nowhere to be seen, she wanted to say something but in the end I just shook my head.

I would’ve preferred if Rory wasn’t present during this moment, but unfortunately my mana wasn’t up to it. [Stasis] unlike my other skills had a mana consumption that wasn’t sustainable, of course it was still an incredibly powerful skill but for situations like these I couldn’t help but wish for more.

I gave Ceylon all of the comfort she could have before finally, she separated herself from me sniffling.

“Thank you Arc, I don’t know what I would do without you.”

“You’re welcome.” I smiled.

She nodded as she slowly separated herself, and the first thing she saw was Rory sitting down. Ceylon paused, and I leaned in to whisper a small apology.

“Ran out of mana, I’m sorry.”

She nodded, though she still stared at Rory, who finally turned to her.

“It’s fine I’ll do my best to forget about what I just saw.” She shook her head before turning to me. “Though, how are you healed already? You were quite hurt.”

“Potions,” I answered simply even though it was a lie. Then I shook my head. “Since you’re the more experienced adventurer, what do you think will happen with this place?”

Rory blinked and turned to look at the entrance, while the nearby trees weren’t burning, the mountain and the forest itself were still ablaze. Ignited in a blazing glory that would go on to last for probably days.

“That is… hard to answer, it will probably become a forbidden zone, but it may also become recorded in the history books as a grand battle if enough information is found.” She sighed. “Where did you even find the Hermit anyway?”

“I found him in the forest gasping for air, and through his magic he teleported us into this cave.” I shrugged. “Quite lucky to be honest.”

“That does sound lucky.” Rory nodded. “But yeah, we also probably want to leave before the imperial army or something shows up, it’s… a very big event.”

I thought for a moment and agreed immediately. “Since our business with the Hermit is done then let’s just go now.”

With those words I started to talk out of the cave and into the forest, where ashes rained and breathing was hard, where the fires of hell burned and in the distance I could see hundreds of trees frozen.

A small sigh left me.

I guess I kinda went overboard…

And just as Ceylon and Rory were exiting the cave, the B Tier adventurer gasped⁠—squealed in horror as a looming shadow cast over us. I felt the air billow around me as I looked up only to see the Dragon of Flames looming over us. His gaze majestic, his eyes a golden color, and they were fixated on me.

With a flick of his claws a necklace was thrown at me, I caught it one-handed as his voice resounded in my mind.

“Arc, consider this a gift, an apology, and a token of friendship. It’s a [Necklace of Obfuscation] one of the few S Tier ones in existence, unless removed it blocks appraisals of even the SS Tier. You can also make it show any Tier or class you want.”

I blinked, and nodded. “Thank you.”

The Dragon of Flames nodded.

“If you ever wish to seek me, scream the name Regis’karr at the highest mountain of the all of Arlas, the Maw of Dragons. Until then, farewell. I’m leaving Draliz.”

And with a mighty flap of his wings he left. All while I placed the necklace around my neck, it wasn’t a gesture I expected but one that I appreciated.

“Did the dragon just give you something?” Rory asked, blinking.

“It’s just your imagination,” I said, shaking my head, the necklace now not visible. “Let’s go. We can’t linger here for much longer.”

And with those words we departed Mount Arlais, the place that had gone from an A Tier monster zone to a classified area in a single day.

* * * * *

Mount Arlais had imploded. The news spread like wildfire just hours after its occurrence, some said it had been a dormant volcano, others theorized it was the movement of a hero, and perhaps that carried some truth. However as a hero of the System, and the grand leader of one of the most infamous underground organizations, he knew what had happened.

The Hero of Flames narrowed his eyes overlooking the capital of Draliz.

“Regis fought and used all of his strength…”

The victor of the battle was unknown. His voice became whisper.

“Has a new hero finally descended upon this accursed world?”

He turned away, he had important matters to attend to, but one thing was for certain, the tides of the world were soon to change. His lips curled into a grin.

“I can’t wait…”