Arc | Chapter. 82: Lighthouse (Patreon)

Chapter. 82: Lighthouse

Just like that, the Crownbearer Wyvern had extinguished the human ⁠— the so-called Dragon Ruler ⁠— and by extension, it had probably done a great favor to the forefathers. While it didn’t understand what had led to a human having such a position, it didn’t really matter. All that mattered was that the human was now gone.

The wyvern watched everything be taken by the light, all while the dragons around just watched with no reaction whatsoever. It was odd, it was an incredibly strong attack that couldn’t be ignored, and in spite of the fact that it had happened before the eyes of the great dragons, they just hadn’t reacted. Was this a ploy? A test?

Had they recognized how strong and how close to the dragons the Crownbearer Wyvern was? Were they here to share their blood with it to help it reach greater heights? It didn’t understand what was even happening, but the fact that there was no animosity from the dragons was something reassuring.

However, as the light began to fade he noticed a shadow standing in front of it. Everything cleared as the sunlight began to shine into the cave chamber, and before it, the white-haired girl stood, the Dragon Ruler. She was unscathed, however instead of looking at the wyvern who had attacked she was looking behind at the destruction that had been unleashed.

Part of the forest had been consumed; the attack consumed more than the mountain with destructiveness, wisps of smoke rose from the environment. However, in spite of the destruction the Crownbearer Wyvern was feeling unsettled. The eerie silence was bashing at its brain, telling it that something was very wrong.

None of the dragons moved, no words were spoken, all there was to hear was the blowing of the wind. It was as if everything had stopped⁠— but the Dragon Ruler was alive, so why? The inability to understand what was happening filled the Crownbearer Wyvern with an uneasy feeling.

Then⁠— a sigh echoed as the Dragon Ruler turned to the wyvern, her murderous and cold gaze sent shivers down its spine.

“You know? That was in Ceylon’s direction, I can sense that she is fine, don’t get me wrong.” The woman stepped forward, cold spreading across the air. “However, whether you intended to do that or not, you overstepped the line, lizard.”

Her voice came out like a hiss, however even though it was insult the Crownbearer Wyvern couldn’t take insult from it; not when it felt as if it was about to die. It didn’t understand what or who Ceylon was, but it had made a mistake and now all it could do was…

It had to flee…

It slowly backed off from the woman that was taking slow steps in its direction. It had to run away from the territory it had claimed, it had to flee and lick its wounds, and hopefully never cross paths with the Dragon Ruler ever again⁠—

And the Crownbearer Wyvern paused.

What would that accomplish?

It had yet to fully stand up for itself. Wouldn’t that mean they would keep chasing it until the confines of the earth? At that moment, the Crownbearer Wyvern realized that, there was no escaping. Not without fighting first and showing that it wasn’t a pushover⁠— that it wouldn’t be defeated just like that.

It didn’t care who the human before it was, who the dragons around were, or what a Ceylon is. It just knew that it had to fight.

The Crownbearer Wyvern pressed its claws into the ground and readied itself, mana gathering around its body as it prepared for an explosive attack⁠. It happened in less than a second as it lunged and that’s when it saw her⁠— the Dragon Ruler hovering above it and without hesitation, she kicked.

Bones shattered, the earth split, and the wind broke as a bloodied struggle for its life began.

* * * * *

Ceylon didn’t know what happened, all she remembered was… white. And now, she was surrounded by it, an eternal expanse of white. It wasn’t a blinding light so much as it was akin to an infinite void. She didn’t understand where she was, or what she was doing there. She just remembered the light that sent her there.

And now, Ceylon felt lost.

Was this due to her class?

The choice she had made was something that she felt she wouldn’t regret. She didn’t need a class to teach her how to be a good companion, or the best companion ⁠— that much was a resolution inside Ceylon’s mind even without the System’s help. So in the end, she had chosen to be the [Illustrious Friend of the Hero], a class that sounded like a title.

One whose description was about friendship, it was about companionship, and equality. Perhaps, she would never rise to be as strong as Arc, but at least Ceylon was sure that this class would help her be the best companion there was, and more. That’s why she had chosen it, and she was sure it would be the best choice in the future.

That said, even though the class description said something about light affinity Ceylon didn’t understand it. Why was she in a place of pure light…? It didn’t make much sense to her. However, even though she didn’t understand what was happening Ceylon still walked around the white space, looking for answers.

It seemed endless, and yet in spite of the alien scenery she felt nothing but complete calm. Ceylon found it slightly disorienting, especially trying to tell in what direction she was actually going and to not retrace her steps. But eventually, she thought she got the hang of it⁠— even though nothing around was changing.

And at that moment, Ceylon received a system notification.

[You have learned a B Tier Passive Skill: Light Immunity.]

Ceylon paused on her tracks, staring at the blue message box from the System before her. As soon as she received the skill she already knew what it did, and well⁠— it was nice. Still, a B Tier skill at E Tier? She had never heard of something like that, but it still reinforced to her that her class choice had been the correct one.

But still⁠— while Ceylon was sure she had obtained the skill as soon as she accepted the class, she still found her whole situation weird. Being in the eternal white expanse and all. That was until another system window appeared.

[Danger has passed, do you wish to leave the Lighthouse?]

That… Ceylon blinked. Now, that she definitely didn’t expect.

System prompts were… rare. She had heard of them before but nothing concrete. And, well it still didn’t really answer how she had found herself here. She knew of the Lighthouse, it was… a place. That’s… all she had heard of. It was in another nation, far from Draliz, and the place held the same kind of renown as the Black Forest itself.

However, in comparison to the Black Forest, the Lighthouse was a manmade structure. As for how it came to exist, or what it was, Ceylon had no idea. All she knew was that it was known as a holy place, and a place where the light attunement was most prevalent in all of Arlas.

That was it…

And she was in this… place?

Now that didn’t make sense to her… but perhaps, she wouldn’t find an answer. Not now… Taking a deep breath, she nodded at the system window.

“I wish to leave the Lighthouse.”

Her words were simple, but they were enough for the system window to disappear. And once more, her vision was filled by a bright light. Though at that moment, another system window appeared.

[ Guarding Light has entered a cooldown of: 13 days, 23 hours and 59 minutes… ]

Oh…

That answered her question. A moment later, Ceylon blinked, sitting down on charred dirt. She was in the same spot as before, but looking at her imminent surroundings all she saw was ruination.

What had even happened?

Ceylon didn’t understand it, but she just had to ask Arc. Ceylon turned and at that moment she heard a cry⁠— a shadow passed by her vision as blood splattered into her surroundings, and a moment later the trees behind her exploded into debris and wood.

Ceylon blinked. What?

She craned her head to the forest where she saw the figure of the wyvern, broken and profusely bleeding, struggling for its life. Her mind blared in confusion before she heard footsteps next to her. Ceylon turned only to see the familiar companion.

“Looks like I was right: you’re fine.” She smiled gently.

Ceylon nodded somewhat confused, but seeing the disaster around her she understood. She had been hit by the attack, and somehow she was fine⁠— it probably had to do with [Light Immunity] but she wasn’t entirely sure.

“Well, let’s go help you kill the wyvern.” Arc said simply as she gave her a pat on the back.

Ceylon felt even more confused and just nodded looking at the hate-filled wyvern, she had no sympathy for the monster, and Arc⁠— needless to say didn’t.

* * * * *

The Crownbearer Wyvern was regretting its decision, but just as it was about to spread its wings to flee, it saw a human next to the so-called Ruler of Dragons. She looked like a little girl to it, and for a moment the wyvern didn’t understand. That was until the ruler spoke.

“Alright, Ceylon you can finish it off, I’m just going to beat it up some more.”

The Crownbearer Wyvern found the statement grating, but it still understood what it meant ⁠— that girl was Ceylon ⁠— and for some reason she held incredible significance to the Dragon Ruler. And that gave it an idea. The wyvern was furious, angry at the beating it received and it wanted payback.

It rose to fight and immediately pounced upon the Dragon Ruler, but it was effortlessly beaten⁠— however that’s what it wanted. The wyvern ferociously fought, or so he wanted them to believe, reserving his mana for the perfect time. Minutes passed as injuries accrued, and finally it flopped onto the ground gasping for air.

This was the time it was waiting for.

The Dragon Ruler instructed Ceylon and handed her an ice spear. The Crownbearer Wyvern was sure that such a puny thing wouldn’t be able to kill it, but it didn’t matter. It waited, gathering mana at its throat, hiding it for everyone’s sight. The human in front was weak, and all it had to do was breathe.

Finally, the girl approached and the Crownbearer Wyvern took a deep breath looking at her.

She raised her spear with a weird expression, and at that moment, it opened its maw.

Her eyes went wide and in an instant⁠— she was engulfed by blinding light. The atmosphere immediately became heavy. The wyvern felt overwhelming fear within its heart, making the breath immediately disperse, and before it⁠— she stood. The girl. She was unharmed and then she brought the spear down.

Its scales shattered and its skull was pierced⁠— immediately being felled by Ceylon.

* * * * *

Ceylon’s heart was jumping. She⁠— she had almost died right then and there… She touched her chest in surprise as the system notifications came.

[ You have defeated: Crownbearer Wyvern. Tier: A. ]

[ You have leveled up. ]

[ You have leveled up. ]

…

There were a lot of level up notifications, but no skills gained. Which Ceylon found weird, but perhaps she was expecting too much given she had already gained a B Tier skill and some other skill with a cooldown, which was at least in the same Tier…

Still, a sigh left her as Arc immediately appeared next to her and looked over her body, before she blinked.

“You’re uninjured.”

Ceylon slowly nodded. “Yeah, I am, I think it’s because of my new skill [Light Immunity].”

“Oh, you got a class?” Arc asked surprised.

There was some confusion, before Ceylon nodded once more. “Yeah, it’s a good one.”

Arc looked at her and raised her brow. “[Illustrious Companion of the Hero]? That’s quite a mouthful… didn’t even know classes could be like that…”

“Well…” Ceylon trailed off. “I didn’t know either, but do you like it?”

Arc paused before smiling. “I do, it’s nice. You’re great Ceylon.”

At that moment, there was a pause as Ceylon’s heart skipped a beat before she nodded. She didn’t really feel deserving of being called that, especially not by Arc, but she still managed to muster something to say.

“Thank you…”

Arc nodded and then frowned. “But that also means that that other attack was…” She clenched her fists. “Dragon of Water.”

In a moment, the man appeared before Arc, who asked a question.

“What happened to protecting Ceylon?”

“I did protect her,” the Dragon of Water answered simply. “Any lethal injuries she would survive thanks to my spell.”

Arc paused, before gritting her teeth. “That is… you should know that that is not what I meant.”

The Dragon of Water paused, his eyes widening. “Sorry I thought⁠—”

“Shut up⁠— Order: Slap yourself at full strength.”

And Ceylon winced, watching the dragon slap himself⁠— he flew to the ground in pain.

* * * *

Meika watched the entire interaction from a few meters away, and her mind just paused, uncomprehending of reality as a simple realization settled in her mind.

The Water Paladin’s joke wasn't actually a joke…

And then, Arc turned in her direction.