Chapter 45: Diviner

ARTHUR LEYWIN'S POV:

I blinked groggily, my eyes adjusting to the dim light of the small room. The air felt cool, and I noticed faint glows of light orbs hanging from thin threads, casting soft shadows on the rough stone walls. As I rubbed my eyes, trying to shake off the fog of sleep, I realized I was in a place I didn't recognize—a rather large and spacious hut.

I shifted slightly on what could only be described as a makeshift bed, and the moment I did, I noticed an old elf sitting beside me. Her silver hair glistened faintly in the low light, and she was sipping on something that smelled like a pungent herb tonic. Rinia. I didn't need to ask to know it was her.

I tried to get up but felt a weight on my chest. Looking down, I realized it was Sylvie, curled up in a comfortable position, sleeping atop me.

Across from me, on another bed, lay Jasmine, bandages wrapped around parts of her body, similar to mine. Her bond, Mistral curled protectively beside her. Mistral's glowing eyes were fixed on me, watching quietly as Jasmine rested against her soft belly like a pillow. A few steps away, on a couch, Virion snoozed in a sitting position.

My eyes narrowed in confusion, taking in the unfamiliar room. This wasn't what I expected, but I trusted Rinia enough to know that if she wanted to harm us, she would have done so already. Mistral sat quietly beside Jasmine, which helped me relax a bit.

Before I could gather my thoughts further, Rinia spoke without even glancing up from her tea. "Good to see you again, Arthur."

"Maybe I could say the same," I replied, rubbing the back of my neck, "but I don't seem to be in great shape."

"True," Rinia agreed. "If I were you, I would avoid using mana for a few days. Your mana veins have some toxic residue that I couldn't fully detoxify."

Nodding my head, I leaned back against the wall, picking Sylvie gently in my arms, waiting for Rinia to continue.

After a moment, she did. "Despite everything, you're quite composed, Arthur," she said, almost like she expected it. I stayed silent, knowing she would get to the point soon enough.

"Now, where do I begin?" Rinia sighed, her eyes drifting up as if searching for the right words.

"How about starting with why and how I'm here?" I suggested, trying to get some clarity about her intentions. It was obvious she had contacted Virion to bring us to her.

"As perceptive as always," she said, a small smile playing on her lips. "You're here because I asked Virion to bring you, as you've probably guessed." I nodded, having figured as much. "As for why—well, I have something to tell you. And a warning."

"A warning?" I asked, my tone colder than I intended.

"Calm down, Arthur," Rinia said, her voice soft but firm. "I don't mean any harm."

She paused, her expression growing more serious, and I could sense the weight of her next words. "You know I'm a Diviner," she began. "It's a rare magic, one that comes at a steep cost."

I frowned, unsure of where she was going with this. "Diviners don't use mana cores like most mages. Our powers mostly come in erratic bursts where, quite often, blurred images and clips of the future simply flash through my mind; sometimes they'd be useful, but most of the time, they were too vague and minute to make anything out of. These little flashes of the future don't expend any mana at all, actually."

"..." I stayed silent, an eerie feeling creeping up on me.

"If you were to sense my mana core, I actually have quite a normal mana core, capable of harnessing and refining the mana particles in the atmosphere, which is why I'm quite adept at water attribute magic myself," Rinia exclaimed mockingly.

"Doesn't seem like a very useful power if I can't control it, now does it?" She continued.

"Then what about the spell that you used to allow me to locate my parents and even speak to them when I was little?" I questioned.

"Ah, that's a nifty little spell I made that involves my unique powers as a Diviner, but not really. You see, Arthur, true divination is reading the future; knowing when and where something is going to happen."

I was getting lost. "Then if that is your true powers as a Diviner and you said your mana core doesn't power that magic, how do you—"

"With my own lifespan," she cursed.

"We Diviners shorten our own lifespans each time we choose to consciously look into the future. That is the true power of a Diviner. Everything else is just a useful little spell that can't be considered anything more than hat tricks."

I sat there, wide-eyed, not knowing how to respond.

"What we talked about earlier, Virion's only love and wife, was another rare Diviner that was much more powerful than I was. Her unconscious divinations and prophecies would be much longer, much more detailed than mine, and much more frequent at that." Rinia's reminiscent smile faded as she continued speaking.

"Things were looking good as she fell in love with Virion, and they married. For a time, they were happy." Rinia paused, the sadness in her eyes deepening. "But then, her visions showed her something terrible. Virion's death."

The room felt colder suddenly. "An assassin," Rinia whispered, her voice barely audible. "She saw him die at the hands of a faceless killer. And despite knowing the cost, she kept using her power over and over again, trying to find a way to prevent it."

I could see the pain in her expression, the grief still fresh despite the years. "She succeeded," Rinia said softly, her gaze dropping to her hands. "She kept him alive long enough for the peace treaty to be signed. But the strain... it burned through her lifespan, faster than anyone could have predicted. She died shortly after."

The silence in the room was deafening.

Rinia exhaled slowly before speaking again, her voice almost a whisper. " Virion's wife was my sister."

Her words rang out in my ear like a giant gong that was rung at the beginning of every year. They say the people with the widest smiles hide the most pain in their hearts. I shifted my gaze over to the sleeping Virion and remembered the times that he joked around with his cheeky grin.

I had no idea the pain that he had gone through...

I felt like some pubescent teenager who thought the world hated him. I was ignorant of the fact that there were others who might've suffered from deeper pains than I had.

No words left my mouth after what Rinia said, only focusing on the ever-so-slight tremble of my fingers.

"The reason I bring this up isn't to elicit pity or sorrow from you. I tell you this so that you'll realize the gravity of what I'm about to inform you of next." There was a stern conviction in her voice that made me look back up.

Elder Rinia paused as if readying her heart before she spoke. "I used my powers to intentionally look into your future, Arthur."

After all, she just told me, what she just said weighed on me all the more. "What? Wh-why?" was all I could stammer out before Sylvie sleepily hopped onto my lap, falling asleep again, leaving the both of us with a brow raised.

"Well, back to our conversation, even before the day I first met you when you were a child, I had been getting glimpses of your future; never enough to make sense of it, but it was odd to have so many visions of a specific person. It has never happened before." Rinia shifted in her seat.

"As you may already be aware, Arthur, things are changing on this continent. Dicathen is going through a new era. We've already experienced the beginning of it with the unity of the three Kingdoms and the unveiling of the Six Lances, but that's just the beginning. Through all of these changes that are going to happen, you always seem to be in the center of them somehow, Arthur." The elderly Diviner locked eyes with mine.

"What exactly is it that you learned from looking into my future?" I asked.

"Here's the tricky part. Telling you too much of what I saw can affect even the outcomes you want. On the other hand, telling you too little defeats the point of me looking into the future in order to find a better outcome," she sighed.

"How do you feel though, Rinia? You just gave up some of your life in order to see my future... are you okay?" I couldn't help but frown.

"I'll be fine. I've lived long enough, anyway. I might as well use some of it to help the future." Rinia waved her hand dismissively.

"I hate sounding like some old fortune teller warning the hero to be careful and other sorts of generic advice that he can pick up from anyone, but it pains me to say that I can only do that much." I could tell she was trying to make light of the situation to ease my guilt.

"Arthur..." Rinia's tone became serious, almost foreboding, "You will face many hardships. Whichever future you decide, that will remain constant. You will have enemies and you will have obstructions in your path, but through all of that, what I can leave you with is that you need to have an anchor, an end goal. What is it you want to accomplish in your life? That will be what determines your path."

This sounded more like a motivational speech than a prophecy, but as if she had read my mind, Rinia continued.

"Be grounded, Arthur, and I'll leave you with these two things. One, people do bad things for good reasons, so don't just take them for what they do on the surface and keep your mind sharp. Two you don't need to fight alone, it would be better to rely on others, and with proper guidance, they will become your greatest ally." Rinia's voice became a whisper as she spoke, leaving an uncomfortable silence in the room.

"I'm sorry I can't say anything more, but all I can say is to follow and trust your instincts. You are a particularly sharp fellow and I know you'll make the right choices, but always keep in mind that sometimes, the right choice isn't always the best choice."

Rinia's words left a bad taste in my mouth like one would get after taking a spoonful of a bitter tonic. Helpful and necessary, but bitter nonetheless. I had thought I would live this new life peacefully, taking care of people I had grown to care about, but fate seemed to have a different life planned for me. 

First, the horned demon that killed Sylvia, and why Sylvia said he is after Sylvie. Then the other horned demons we fought against. And Finally, the history and secrets of Mistral and others, that is still unknown to me. I didn't need to be a genius to figure out how these things would affect me and the people I care about. 

Rinia's words left a bitter taste in my mouth, like downing a spoonful of foul-tasting medicine—necessary, but unpleasant all the same. I had hoped that this second life would be quieter, a chance to take care of the people I cherished and leave the chaos behind. But fate, it seemed, had other plans for me.

First, there was the horned demon who killed Sylvia, and the cryptic warning that he was after Sylvie. Then, the others—those creatures we fought in the Widow's Crypt. And on top of that, Mistral's origins, along with the hidden truths that still eluded me. It didn't take a genius to see how deeply these threads were woven into my life—and how they would affect the people I wanted to protect.

I was about to ask Rinia about the horned creatures when she spoke first, cutting through my thoughts. "Mistral has something to tell you. I'd suggest heading outside to the caves."

I blinked, caught off guard, and glanced at Mistral. She was standing at the edge of Jasmine's bed, her gaze steady. The silent nod she gave me made it clear this wasn't just a suggestion. Without fully understanding what was happening, I hesitated for a moment before following her.

Gently lifting Sylvie into my arms, I cradled her against my chest. She stirred briefly, letting out a soft sound, but relaxed again as I stroked her head. Her breathing steadied, and she drifted back into sleep.

With Sylvie secure in my arms, I followed Mistral as she made her way toward the hut's exit. The dim light of the orbs swayed gently above, casting shifting shadows on the rough walls, adding a strange sense of weight to the quiet. Whatever this was about, it felt important—something I needed to hear.

~~

A/N: Umm... Hey, been a long time seen I updated this series, right? Well, don't worry, because the update here will still be slower 😑. There are still a lot of things in Tbate: Caera | Valkyrie Ascension, that I have to explain before catching up to this. Anyway, this chapter has lots of copy-paste but the next chapter should be interesting, it will have things that are connected to Caera's story too, so if you haven't read it, go do so. Finally, Vote and comment your opinion before going~ 

Discord -> https://discord.gg/4MSkK8cU link also in comments, make sure to join because I am going to post some questions and updates regarding the future of this story, probably on the 15th or 16th Oct.

Instagram I'd -> @grey_royalty, there isn't anything special there yet, but follow me to get more updates as I am trying to get more organized.