Arthur was bored.
A day had passed since he arrived in Ravenheart, and he hadn't been able to do anything.
He tried to spar with some of the Song sisters, but they all declined because they were busy. Although there were two he didn't dare ask—one being Beastmaster and the other Revel.
The latter because he thought she hated him, and the former was the complete opposite… he didn't want to get close to that woman.
Fortunately, he had only seen her once—when he was presented in the throne room—and afterward, according to Seishan, she had to leave to handle some things.
It wasn't that he disliked her or anything like that; he simply felt like prey every time they shared a room, and that had only happened once…
Either way, he still didn't understand why Revel hated him. Actually, she probably didn't hate him—she just wanted to protect her sister from him?
Arthur wasn't stupid.
He could act like one every now and then, but he was clearly aware of things.
It was obvious that Seishan liked him, but… what was he supposed to do with that?
How was one supposed to act upon realizing something like that?
It wasn't as if there was a tutorial to follow…
He was also painfully aware that Cassie probably liked him too…
So what was he supposed to do?
'You should choose the one with the best Attributes!' Regis told him mentally.
'Just follow your heart. The rest will be what it will be,' Sylvie said at the same time.
'…'
Bruh.
"What the hell?! Your advice is completely opposite!"
'I need some time alone. I'm closing the door,' he replied to both of them and "cut" the communication.
He let out a sigh and got up from the bed. Then he went to his wardrobe and put on some casual but very warm clothes.
Ravenheart was a rather cold place, even though it was close to a volcano.
The Citadel was divided into three districts.
The largest district sprawled across the dark slope of the smoking volcano, protected from the cold by its heat. Millions of ordinary humans lived there.
The second district was atop a grand stone bridge that crossed a bottomless abyss toward a distant snow-covered mountain. It was much smaller than the first, yet still quite large. The bridge housed most of the Awakened who were capable of surviving the harsh winter and strong winds.
The third district was an obsidian crystal palace located at the far end of the great bridge. The palace was where the Queen lived, and where he was.
After finishing getting dressed, he left his room—which was quite luxurious, made entirely of white stone with gold and red details on its walls. It had a window that let in the sun's rays and a private bathroom with hot water.
How they got hot water, he had no idea, but he was definitely glad they did.
The hallways weren't very different from each other; the only difference was that currently, there was no one else but him.
The residential area of the palace was obviously divided by gender and roles within the clan. Since he had been personally recruited and had even seen the Queen on his first visit, his position within the clan was quite high.
In fact, only the Queen and her daughters had a higher position than him at the moment…
So no one else had a room in the same area as him… well, that was a lie.
There was someone else, but they were never present.
Either way, he had already left the palace and was now standing, looking out over the entire city.
Ravenheart was quite beautiful.
From his position, he could see absolutely everything. The rest of the third district with its guards and the constant stream of Awakened heading toward the Gateway.
The entire second district, where the residences of those same Awakened were located. And also the first district, built on the slopes of the volcano. Its countless houses, shops, and buildings. He could even see the market.
Ravenheart's market was a bustling commercial center with numerous stalls offering a wide variety of items, from Nightmare Creature materials to rare objects from the waking world. It was the most popular destination for Ravenheart's citizens who wanted to buy weapons, appliances, fashionable clothing, and crafting tools.
That was exactly the place Arthur wanted to go, so he simply started walking.
During the walk, he regretted that technology didn't work in the Dream Realm; otherwise, he would have been listening to music. And the streets weren't nice enough to ride a skateboard either.
As he walked, he continued observing the entire city, and every time he crossed paths with someone, the person smiled and greeted him politely.
The news of him joining the clan had already been made public some time ago, so most of the city's civilians knew about it. Besides, rumors always circulated.
He returned every greeting with the same level of respect, and he was grateful that the city's people had things to do; otherwise, a crowd would have formed around him. Although it was also true that six famous Saints and the other princesses lived in the same city, and they walked the streets without suffering from that.
Arthur, compared to them, was absolutely nothing in terms of popularity within Ravenheart, so in that sense, he was safe.
A couple of hours must have passed since he started walking through the city streets until he reached the market. And when he did, he didn't really know why he had decided to go…
He already had everything he needed.
So he kept walking until he found a small plaza with some benches to sit on.
In the plaza, some children were playing football, and Arthur sat for a while, watching them play. They were honestly quite bad… but they were also children, so he supposed it was fine.
The first match was lost by the team in light blue shirts against the team in red shirts, while the latter then went on to lose the next two matches.
'That was a good match, honestly…'
His opinion of those children changed as he watched them play—they were pretty good!
Finally, after sitting for several minutes doing nothing, he let out a sigh and was about to get up, but at that moment—
—The Spell spoke to him.
[You have mastered a level of your Legacy: Legacy of Life.]
Arthur blinked.
Then he blinked again.
'What? I didn't do anything at all!'
He opened his runes and went straight to that.
Legacy of Life.
Mastery Level: [1/4] Craft and Technology: You can perceive and transfer enchantments or improve Memories.
'So I was right!'
Each Mastery level of his Legacy of Life was related to a domain of War God, and the first one allowed him to interact with Memories.
Arthur was happy—very happy.
How many people could see Memory enchantments? As far as he knew, only Sunny.
Hurriedly, he went to check the enchantments of his favorite Memories.
Name: [Dawn's Ballad]
Memory Rank: Transcended.
Memory Tier: VI.
Memory Type: Weapon.
Description: [Dawn's Ballad accompanied King Gray from the first dawn to the last. It was not a weapon, but a steady step at his side. When his path ended, he understood it should not be given to another. He entrusted it to himself, in another time. Because ballads do not die. They only find a new voice.]
Memory Enchantments: [Protection], [Sharpness], [Adaptive], [Growth], [Living Ballad].
[Protection] Enchantment Description: "This sword provides light protection against any type of attack."
[Sharpness] Enchantment Description: "This sword was never sharpened, so it will be as sharp as the user's potential."
[Adaptive] Enchantment Description: "This sword can change its size and balance, adapting to the user."
[Growth] Enchantment Description: "This sword has the potential to increase its rank and tier."
[Living Ballad] Enchantment Description: "This sword can absorb the user's abilities to enhance its effectiveness in combat."
Arthur frowned slightly.
'Shouldn't it have six enchantments?'
The sword had four passive enchantments and one active one… perhaps the active one took up two slots? The Living Ballad enchantment seemed quite broken…
Although it was one he had more or less assumed it had, he had never consciously used it. On multiple occasions, the sword had taken on a purple hue, absorbing the power of Destruction and using it.
But maybe that was another property of Destruction itself?
He remembered having done it during the Siege, and if it were an active enchantment that required essence to activate, then he wouldn't have been able to use it during the Siege…
So the enchantment had another purpose.
'Maybe I could use King's Presence on it?'
That would already be incredible.
The rest of the enchantments he more or less already knew as well. During the Siege, when the Crimson Terror attacked him with soul damage, he didn't feel it as much as the others, though it also said "against any type of attack." That was good.
The enchantment he knew nothing about was Sharpness, and curiously, a few days ago, he had talked about potential, and his was quite high, so the sword's was as well.
After Dawn's Ballad, Arthur didn't usually use many Memories; he had always preferred using his abilities.
Although there was one that had held a place in his heart from the very beginning.
Name: [Infinite Lash]
Memory Rank: Dormant.
Memory Tier: II.
Memory Type: Tool.
Description: [He stretched his arms until the world lost all distance. He never reached what he sought; he only learned that there is no end. This lash knows no limits. It extends like a promise that refuses to be fulfilled, like a desire that refuses to die. As long as there is something to reach, it will keep growing. And when there isn't… it will still try.]
Memory Enchantment: [Infinite Reach].
[Infinite Reach] Enchantment Description: "No distance is out of reach."
The first Memory he had ever obtained—the one that had saved him multiple times over the years. The one he used to escape from a Corrupted Tyrant and to bind a Fallen Devil, even though it was only a Dormant-rank Memory.
'In theory, I could improve it now…'
The question was how?
Well… the answer was easier than he thought.
Arthur focused on the runes of his new Mastery level of his Legacy, and there it appeared:
Enchantments obtained: [Protection], [Sharpness], [Adaptive], [Growth], [Living Ballad], [Infinite Reach], [-], [-], [-]…
And if he focused on a specific one, it appeared:
Enchantment: [Protection]
[To which memory do you wish to apply it?]
[Infinite Lash], [Dawn's Ballad], [Umbral Husk], [Last Oath], [Silent Whisper], [Drowned Oath], [Veiled Edge], [Hidden Spring], [Tempest Shafts], [Bound Vault], [Ashwind Cloak]
At that moment, Arthur selected [Umbral Husk].
A Memory of Ascended rank that he had obtained by killing a Fallen Monster in the Dark City.
Name: [Umbral Husk]
Memory Rank: Ascended.
Memory Tier: II.
Description: [Something refused to fall. Its body endured collapse, impact, erosion—until resistance itself became instinct. This armor is shaped from that persistence. It does not harden or adapt. It simply remembers how to endure, and forces the world to exhaust itself first.]
Memory Enchantment: [Endurance].
[Endurance] Enchantment Description: "This armor has high resistance to physical attacks."
Below it appeared:
[Do you wish to apply the enchantment to this Memory?]
Arthur thought about whether to do it or not. In the end, it already had high resistance to physical attacks, but not to others. But it was also an armor that, with [Djinn of War], he wasn't going to use anymore, so he didn't know whether to do it or not… mainly because the Spell hadn't mentioned any cost for doing it…
"Yes."
[As you wish.]
Whatever—it was only an Ascended Memory.
At that moment, Arthur entered his Soul Sea, greeted by its beautiful views. But he immediately focused on the orb around the core that contained the Memory.
The orb descended toward him, and at that moment, he saw the armor begin to fill with silver sparks around it. There were so many that they became too bright, and at that moment, he felt his essence reserves take a sudden drop.
But then both processes stopped, and the armor remained floating without any apparent change.
[The enchantment was successfully applied to the Memory.]
Arthur noticed that transferring an enchantment to a Memory cost him nearly a quarter of the essence from a single one of his cores. So in theory, he could perform 24 enchantment modifications before running out of essence, and once he achieved his Titan Core, that would become 28.
He summoned the Memory's runes again.
Name: [Umbral Husk]
Memory Rank: Ascended.
Memory Tier: II.
Description: [Something refused to fall. Its body endured collapse, impact, erosion—until resistance itself became instinct. This armor is shaped from that persistence. It does not harden or adapt. It simply remembers how to endure, and forces the world to exhaust itself first.]
Memory Enchantment: [Endurance], [Light Protection].
[Endurance] Enchantment Description: "This armor has high resistance to physical attacks."
[Light Protection] Enchantment Description: "This armor provides light protection against elemental, mind, and soul attacks."
'Huh, interesting.'
Now the enchantment had changed its name and mentioned "armor" instead of "sword," which made sense. It also no longer said it had resistance to all types of attacks, mentioning only those the Memory didn't already have.
Many theories could be developed about this whole process.
The first was that the essence cost must be proportional to the level of the enchantment one wished to add to the Memory, so he couldn't perform 24 similar modifications.
Another was that to make a Memory increase in rank, he wouldn't use essence, but rather Shards of the rank one wanted to improve it to. Or perhaps a slight use of essence, but not as much, and the process would depend more on the Shards than on the former.
This brought a major complication for him.
Arthur didn't get Shards when he killed creatures—he absorbed them directly…
'I knew that thing was going to cost me in the future.'
He let out a sigh and left his Soul Sea.
To finish up with his runes, he checked his Aspect Legacy again, and it said:
Struggles Answered: Low.
Before, it had said:
Struggles Answered: Insufficient.
In the days since he last checked, something had occurred that supposedly made his Struggles Answered go from Insufficient to Low.
The thing was, during that time, the only thing that had happened was the news of him joining Song…
'Don't tell me…'
If Arthur was correct, the way to progress in his Legacy of Life was to become famous.
'…'
It was the only possible explanation. It was the only thing that had changed in that time—his fame.
Actually, it wouldn't just be becoming famous, but his fame doing something for the people who made him famous? Perhaps motivating them? Or exactly what the Spell's window itself told him…
Answering people's struggles.
Being their Paragon of Purity.
Arthur let out a sigh and let himself fall back onto the bench he was sitting on.
Why did everything that happened to him want to trap him in a concept? When would he ever get to simply be Arthur?
"Are you alright, my friend?" A voice sounded from behind him.
Arthur jumped slightly in surprise.
"What the hell? Where did you come from?" he said impulsively, following the figure with his gaze.
The man put on a polite smile and sat down at the other end of the bench.
"I've been here the whole time," he replied calmly, looking at the clouds.
Arthur frowned.
"Did you?"
"Of course, my friend. Why would I lie?"
"I see." He didn't believe him at all. "Sorry for my poor language, then."
The man, who was wearing a simple black and white suit, put on a polite smile.
"No need to apologize! It's been a long time since I last interacted with people, so I might be a bit rusty and have accidentally startled you."
'He did startle me, what the hell. I was so focused I forgot about my Aether sense.'
"Oh, really?" He looked up at the clouds. "Tell me, why is that?"
"I know we're friends," the man began, "but at least buy me a coffee before we start talking about our lives, don't you think?"
Arthur let out a laugh.
"Well then, what brings you to this part of Ravenheart?"
The man's smile widened slightly.
"This place has its charm, you know? But even so, it doesn't offer anything fun! So every now and then, I go out for a walk to get some fresh air. And you, young man?"
Arthur nodded.
"Something similar, actually." The corner of his lip rose slightly. "I was thinking about something important, and there's nothing better than fresh air to think more clearly."
"Indeed, my friend." He paused and looked at him out of the corner of his eye—eyes that didn't seem to have a color of their own, reflecting the world like two pools of liquid silver. "I have a feeling we're going to be great friends in the future."
"Then," Arthur let out a sigh, "if you insist so much that we're friends, shouldn't you introduce yourself? What's your name?"
The man lingered for a while, then answered with amusement:
"A name? I used to have a name." A pause. "But I'm sure you already know it…"
"Oh, I do," Arthur replied, lowering his gaze. "Still, regarding what you said about spending a long time without socializing, let me give you some advice… it's bad manners not to introduce yourself when you're talking to someone you don't know."
Mordret smiled widely.
"See? I knew we were going to be good friends, Arthur Leywin."
"I don't know if we'll be friends or not, but it's nice to meet you, Mordret."
Mordret turned to look at him.
"Oh no! The pleasure is all mine, Paragon of Purity." He chuckled. "I'm in the presence of a celebrity, after all!"
Arthur remained silent and returned his gaze. Then his vision shifted, and he could see seven bright soul cores in Mordret's chest. His expression didn't change, but Mordret must have noticed something, because he spoke.
"Oh? Have you already figured me out?" He tilted his head slightly, and the polite smile he had been wearing disappeared. "How interesting you are, Arthur. Tell me… what are you?"
Arthur's golden eyes held firmly onto Mordret's silver ones.
"Even if I told you, you wouldn't understand."
"Then," Mordret began, "we're the same in that regard too!" He looked forward again. "Ah! But don't misunderstand me… I can also be very good at figuring things out, and someone who didn't have a Divine Aspect wouldn't check to see if another person had one, don't you think?"
"Why are you acting as if you didn't know it from the start?" Arthur replied dryly, focusing on the civilians walking by.
Mordret's polite smile returned as he laughed.
"I suppose you've caught me, then!"
Arthur remained silent.
"Well, this was fun!" Mordret commented as he stood up and turned his back. "You know, Arthur, since we're friends, let me give you some advice…" He turned around to look at him. "Never stay out at night looking at the moon, and take good care of Sylvie. Or don't—do as you wish."
Arthur's eyes hardened slightly.
"Sylvie?"
"You'll know what I mean when the time comes." He turned around and walked away until he stopped. "I can't wait for the war to start. Two Divine Aspects with the lineage of War God against Valor… poetic, isn't it?" Then he disappeared from one moment to the next.
Arthur blinked—confused.
'War? Against Valor? Protect Sylvie… isn't he already doing that? When the time comes?'
He actually already knew about not looking at the moon in the Dream Realm—perks of learning from Julius.
He smiled at the thought of the old man, but then the smile faded as he remembered all the bombs Mordret had dropped on him.
The main one he didn't understand was the one about taking care of Sylvie and that he would understand when the time came. Was it related to her being half-Noble Creature?
No, there was no way Mordret could know that… although he also knew that Arthur had War God's lineage. Had he smelled it on him like Seishan had?
What other strange thing did Sylvie have that could give him a clue?
Arthur immediately opened his runes and searched for Sylvie's. His eyes went directly to a specific Attribute.
Attribute: [Dreamspawn]
Description: [You are born of two worlds, belonging to both, but welcomed in neither. Your soul exists on the edge between nightmare and reality.]
That was the strangest thing he could think of, but… why would that put her in danger?
Arthur knew that Nephis was also a Dreamspawn.
'I'll have to ask her what she knows next time I see her…'
Then, the other thing that surprised him was the mention of a future war between Song and Valor… maybe the House of Night as well?
Arthur didn't know much about the third clan, but the only thing he was sure of was that they didn't have a Sovereign leading them like the other two… so it wouldn't make sense to include them.
But why would the two clans go to war? And from the way he said it, it seemed like it wouldn't be long before it happened…
'Why can't I just rest for a while?'
Arthur looked up and let out a sigh.
The excitement he had felt upon unlocking his Mastery in his Aspect Legacy had already disappeared, leaving only worries behind. For his family, for humanity's future, and for himself.
At that moment, Arthur decided to open the door in his head again and asked.
'Sylvie? Are you busy right now?'
There were a few seconds of silence, and she replied, 'I'm about to go to the Waking World… do you want to come?'
'Give me a few minutes, and I'll be there.'
'Yes! Finally, something interesting!' Regis added.
Arthur got up from the bench and, instead of walking back, decided to abuse Godstep.
The fragment cost was moderate, but just a few minutes later, he was already walking toward the palace interior. Near the Dream Gate, Sylvie and Regis were already waiting for him.
The latter entered his core, and after looking at Sylvie worriedly for a few seconds, they entered the Gate together.
The warm lights of the palace were replaced by the cold lights of the compound.
They both began heading toward the exit, continuing to talk about the things Sylvie had to do in the Waking World, and eventually, Arthur was going to ask her about the war.
But as soon as they crossed the compound's silver gates, Arthur's gaze crossed paths with something he hadn't expected.
Standing in front of a private PTV's door was a woman of otherworldly beauty. She had blonde hair falling down her back like a golden waterfall, and a blue blindfold covering her blue eyes.
She was… Cassie.
'What is she doing here?'