The Beginning After The End (New Heights Book 2)

by TurtleMe

  “Were we not going to go into a dungeon right away?” I ask while I set down my bad as well.

  She just shakes her head, picking up a few branches of wood and gathering them together.

  I go into the forest, finding some decent sized branches to make a fire with. After a bit, we got a fire started. Making myself comfortable, I take my mask off now and sit by her next to the fire. We sat there, staring at the light produced by the flame and hearing the wood as it burns and cracks.

  Trying to break the silence, I ask Jasmine, “What made you want to become an Adventurer?”

  “…”

  Her gaze never leaves the fire and I just stare back at the flame, thinking she didn’t want to answer.

  After a couple of crackles of wood made by the fire, Jasmine answers softly, “I wanted to get away from my family.”

  “I see… Are you on bad terms with your family?” I respond, my eyes staying on the fire.

  “…”

  *Crackle*

  “The Flamesworth House was a major contributor to the war against Elves. Our house has provided many powerful mages, both Conjurers and Augmenters. Our lineage in the fire attribute element is second to none. We took great pride in this, because fire is considered to be the most powerful of the elements.” She stated.

  This was the most Jasmine has talked in one sitting.

  “But Jasmine, aren’t you a…” I look up at, furrowing my brows.

  *Nod*

  “Since early on, when I first awakened and started training, my family tried to test my mana for fire affinity. I went through various tests so they can see how my mana was exerted and how it flowed through my mana channels.”

  Jasmine continued on, “When it was made clear that I had no aptitude for fire attribute, my family shunned me.”

  “…”

  I didn’t know how to respond to her. For the first time, the always aloof and cold Jasmine seemed… vulnerable.

  “I’m sorry for what happened…” was the only response I managed to utter.

  Shaking her head, she gives me a faint smile. “The Twin Horns has treated me well and I don’t dislike what I am.”

  I see her palm form a small swirl of wind, different emotions running through her face as she stares at it.

  This world was a place of discrimination and classification. The hierarchical roots imbedded into this land would never truly disappear. Normal humans were considered second-rate people, while even amongst mages Augmenters were discriminated against by Conjurers. It goes further than that, where unless one is a deviant or a dual element specialist, some elements were considered “higher class” than others. Being born from a family of powerful fire attribute mages, she was discarded as inferior because of the elemental attribute she had; something that most mages would kill to acquire. She was a dark yellow Augmenter skilled in fighting and with mana manipulation at the ripe age of 24. Many would consider her a genius but from the standards she grew up with, she considered herself average at best.

  We put in a bit more wood and laid out our sleeping bags a couple meters away so we could still feel the heat.

  Lying down, I feel for Sylvie’s presence. She was a good distance away but I could tell she was safe. She sends me a thought, saying not to worry and that I should stay safe too.

  Eyes closed, I wait to drift off when I hear Jasmine mumble something.

  “…It’s weird. When I talk to you, it doesn’t feel like I’m talking to a child.”

  I don’t respond, pretending to be asleep, hoping she wouldn’t push further for a reply.

  _____________________________________________________________

  “Good morning.” Jasmine was up and cooking something over the fire by the time I got up.

  I look to see that there were a couple of fish skewered on a branch being grilled.

  “Good morning! You should’ve woken me up Jasmine. There’s no need for you to do all of the chores on your own.”

  “…I tried waking you up... You wouldn’t budge.” Her half closed eyes that give off an apathetic atmosphere looks at me as if I was some sort of wild animal.

  “..aha… I’m sorry, I really need to fix that.” Maybe it was because I was still growing.

  After eating the grilled fish for breakfast, we put out the fire. Jasmine asked if she wanted to take a bath in the stream with her but I just told her I’d go in after her.

  Sigh… Being a virtuous King with morals seems to hinder me at times like these.

  After washing up, I put on my mask and swords, thinking we’d go hunting for some mana beasts around the area when Jasmine stops me.

  “Your opponent for these few days will be me.”

  “Huh?” I can’t help but be surprised at the turn of events. We came all the way here to spar?

  “This area is close to the dungeon we will be exploring, but for these days, I want you to focus on fighting me. I noticed that your fighting style seems… awkward at times. Like, you know it in your head, but your body doesn’t listen to you… or something along those lines.”

  Unsheathing her two daggers, she points one at me, continuing, “We won’t use any kind of mana for these next few days while sparring.”

  I unsheathe my shortsword too. “Good idea.”

  Mana should be used as a supplement to your techniques, not a replacement to cover them.

  “Use your other sword…” Jasmine eyes Dawn’s Ballad as she says this.

  “How did you know this was a sword?” I wasn’t planning on hiding my weapon from her but I was still startled.

  “…Knowing you, that black stick should be something more than just a cane or a practice stick.” She just shrugs, walking a few steps closer to me.

  I just nod, throwing the shortsword near the campfire.

  *Shhinnng*

  The translucent blade glows a light teal as it smoothly glides out of the scabbard matte black scabbard.

  Holding it out in front me, I position myself. “Get ready.”

  “Y-yeah…” I could tell Jasmine was in awe by the appearance of my sword after it was drawn. I suspect it’ll get that kind of reaction anywhere since its beauty stunned even me.

  “Hahp!” Without mana reinforcing my body, I realize just how much I was neglecting myself. My arms felt heavy and my legs felt frail as they pushed off against the ground. I was a fool. I was complaining every time I fought about the limits of my juvenile body, but instead of fixing the problem, I just masked it. “Tch,” I can’t help but get pissed off at myself for this.

  I give a sharp thrust at Jasmine’s core. We could cover our bodies with mana if we know we can’t block it, to prevent fatal injuries, but besides that, we weren’t allowed to reinforce our body.

  Jasmine crosses her two daggers; blocking the thrust with ease she knocks my blade down in a swift movement followed right after.

  My blade sinks into the ground as she prepares to use her other dagger to swipe at my head.

  I squat my legs, lowering my center of gravity as I pull my blade out of the ground. Using the momentum I gained from pulling back my sword, I spin in that direction to lash at her legs.

  My blade is met with empty air, Jasmine jumping up to avoid my attack. She won’t be able to change direction midair without the help of mana so I continue on with a stab.

  *Clang*

  I’m surprised at how heavy the force of the block was, as my hands get numb.

  Jasmine gracefully recovers after she blocks my stab by doing a summersault to regain balance.

  I give her a weak smile as I wait for my hands to get their feeling back.

  “Hey Jasmine… I think I’m going to need more than a couple of days to work this out.”

  Her lips curl up slightly as she nods in agreement.

  I have 3 years before I’ll start attending Xyrus Academy. During my time at school, I’ll have plenty of chances to focus on studying mana.

  I know what to do.

  “2 years. Jasmine, don�
��t let me use mana unless absolutely necessary for 2 years. Whether it be on missions or inside dungeons, I’ll have to train my body first.” I sheathe my sword and can’t help but get excited.

  This is just the beginning.

  Chapter 30: Last Leg

  ****Dragonspine Inn****

  INSIGNIFICANT ADVENTURER’S POV:

  “Hey hey, did you hear about the rumor going on?” I say as I put down my mug of beer.

  A burly man sitting in the same table finishes off his cup before slamming it on the table. “If you’re talking about that famous masked swordsman, I say bullshit!”

  I could tell he was a little drunk by his flushed cheeks and glazed eyes.

  “No, apparently it’s true! An acquaintance of mine supposedly partied with him. He’s traveling with Jasmine Flamesworth so it’s hard to miss him.” A skinny lad with his hair tied in a bun came over to our table to join in on the gossip.

  “So? What did your so called ‘acquaintance’ say about him?” The drunkard exclaimed, getting impatient.

  “Well they went together to explore a minor dungeon that’s been cleared already. Apparently, he’s pretty short! I think the rumors are true in that he’s not a mage.” The thin lad just shook his head in wonder.

  “Bah! I call bullshit! It’s either that masked swordsman is an Augmenter, or the rumors are just exaggerated! Did you hear some of the stories going around about him? There was even one rumor that he solo cleared a dungeon by himself? Is that even possible? B class Augmenters can’t do that, even if it’s a low level dungeon and you expect me to believe an ordinary swordsman can?” The drunkard waves his empty mug for a refill on his beer.

  “Yeah man, I would take some of those rumors with a pinch of salt. That solo clear rumor… didn’t the guy also say that Jasmine Flamesworth went in with him? She probably helped him inside right?” I take another sip, feeling a little lightheaded.

  “Right right? I’m telling you dunderheads, that swordsman is probably not even that strong! Half those rumors are probably rumors of Jasmine Flamesworth! That half-wit warrior dares call himself a swordsman? Bring him here! I’ll take him on any day!”

  Things were getting loud as the burly drunk was getting more and more intoxicated.

  The hottest topic these days amongst Adventurers were about the masked swordsman. Some stories say that he’s Jasmine Flamesworth’s apprentice, but that was a little far fetched. It was made known that he took a rank exam to place into B rank, which was really rare. More shocking than that though was, he was now an A class! Moving a full rank up in two years time?

  I just shake my head as I pity myself. Here I was, a borderline C class Adventurer. I failed the exam to move up a class three times this past 3 years. Once you gather enough merit points from going into dungeons and completing missions and quests, Adventurers are allowed the chance to move up a class upon passing an exam.

  The exam differs for each class, but supposedly, to go into the A rank, which is first class considered ‘elite’ the examinee has to fight two on one with two A rank Adventurers and last for 10 minutes.

  The weird thing is that when some of the rumors reached the examinees that were there with the masked swordsman when he took his exam, they all said that he was an Augmenter. The rumor got so big around him because everyone who has been on a dungeon exploration with him has said that he uses no mana but was still a monster.

  The burly man was sobering up a little now, and was just annoyed by the fact that a midget swordsman was better than him. He was a veteran B class Augmenter after all; I could imagine that was a pretty big source of pride for him.

  *Kreeeeeen*

  The squeaky door to the pub opens and I drop the fork that was in my hand as I see a figure entering.

  “Well speak of the devil! The little midget swordsman everyone’s hyped up about is here! Where’s your little guardian?” The burly man gets up from his seat with a snide grin on his face; cheeks still red.

  The very same masked swordsman; the one responsible for all of the crazy rumors, he was here in the flesh.

  I see his blue eyes underneath the mask look up at the burly man with an unknown expression. He was wearing a simple black coat that came down to his mid thigh, the hood on the coat covering up what the mask couldn’t. If I were just passing by, even with a mask and two swords, I probably wouldn’t have noticed anything particular about him, but when you look carefully, he was an odd sight. The masked figure stood at about 1.6m, which wasn’t that tall. He had a very slim figure underneath his coat, which either suggested he was a normal person, or a Conjurer. Strapped behind him were a normal short sword on top and a sleek black stick on the bottom. I couldn’t help wondering if he was actually a Conjurer and that was his staff.

  After casting a glance at the drunkard that was calling him out, the masked man simply walked past him, uninterested, as if he wasn’t worth the time.

  “Are you fucking ignoring me? Just because you’re a little famous for your bullshit rumors, you think you’re better than ME?!” The drunkard hit his last straw as he unsheathed his giantsword from his back and held it above his head to swing down.

  “C-calm down! You know you’re not allowed to kill someone in here!” I try to quell the man, holding my arms up to stop his sword from swinging, but the masked man didn’t even turn back and just kept walking towards the front counter.

  This pissed off the drunk even more as he augmented his body and sword, which both glowed a silvery glow, pushed me aside, and swung down at the masked swordsman.

  “BOOOOM!”

  I look in horror as I imagine the bloody corpse that was probably cleaved in two from the force of that blow. However, contrary to what I expected, the sword created a small crater next to the masked man, missing him by just a hairs breadth.

  Whew… At least the drunk had enough sense to not kill the man; he probably just wanted to scare him.

  I stand back up about to calm the burly man down from swinging again but when I turn to him, I see that his face is twisted into a shocked, seething expression.

  “GRAAH!” He swings his sword again, lifting it out of the small depression he made on the ground. The customers that were seated in the dining room of the inn were all staring now, some cheering for gore.

  With mana reinforcing the burly man’s body and his greatsword, no matter how drunk he was; his power and speed were no joke. He attacked with a flurry of swings that obliterated the wooden seats and tables in the way but no matter how much he attacked, his sword always missed. The masked man was actually staying in place, not taking a step away from his position but every time the sword was about to cut him in half, he just turned into a blur, while the only thing the sword hit was an afterimage.

  After about a 5-minute barrage of attacks by the burly man and his greatsword, he was sweating profusely as his face showed his frustration, but he was more cautious now as he took a step back.

  “Is dodging the only thing you can do? I guess your guardian did all of the hard work for you while all you did was run away!” The man gave him a menacing smile, still confident that he could win against the masked man. He puts both hands on the grip of his sword and swings again, this time much faster than his previous attacks.

  *Clang*

  His greatsword that probably weighed more than the masked man himself was sent flying but I don’t know how. The sound seemed like it was knocked away by another sword but I couldn’t see it. I couldn’t even see the masked swordsman pull out his weapon.

  “Are you done?”

  *DOOOOOOOOOM*

  “A-aah…” was the only sound I heard from the drunk before we all dropped to the ground.

  I felt like I was deep underwater. I couldn’t breathe and the surrounding atmosphere seemed to want to crush me.

  “…”

  I-I’m scared…

  S-scary!

  I’ve heard that some elite fighters are able to produce a killing intent that could scare mana beasts a
way, but what the hell was this? Was there such a thing as a killing intent that could actually kill people?

  Slowly turning my head to face the masked man who was obviously the source of this bloodthirst, I feel the blood drain from my face as I look at him.

  I couldn’t tell what sort of expression he had under his mask but I didn’t need to. There seemed to be this dark, baleful aura bursting out of him. I swear I feel like that dark aura around him was alive and raging. The killing intent isn’t even focused on me but I had to will myself to keep from wetting my pants.