The Power of Arabion

Turan was at a loss for words at the shocking news that the dark elves had raised an army and even destroyed three cities.

Considering that a single city usually had dozens of surrounding villages, it was difficult to even imagine how many people had been sacrificed.

Meisa seemed to share similar feelings, as she remained silent for a while before speaking with difficulty.

"...Alright. Tell them I'll return soon."

"You must go right now—"

"I said I'm going!"

At her sharp voice, the man flinched, bowed deeply, and left the garden.

Meisa let out a deep sigh and said to Turan.

"It seems I should head back soon."

"Please be careful."

The reason for summoning Meisa when the dark elf army appeared was clear.

It would be to have her join the subjugation force.

Turan didn't bring up the idea of going to fight the dark elves with Meisa.

Beyond having to hide his bloodline, House Arabion wasn't a place weak enough to need the help of outsiders to deal with other races.

To them, Turan would look more like a thief trying to sneak in and steal their spoils—mana—from them.

"Thank you. Ah, come to think of it, at this rate I won't be able to give you compensation for teaching me the decay magic."

Meisa hesitated for a while, pondering something, then carefully opened her mouth.

"Turan, do you know that electricity flows through the human body?"

"Electricity... you say?"

When Turan showed a puzzled attitude, Meisa's face brightened.

"You don't know? Then how about I consider my debt cleared by properly teaching you this? It will surely be of great help."

"I understand."

Once Turan accepted, Meisa immediately poured out the theory.

"When people see or feel something, that part sends electricity to the brain. If you see with your eyes, from the eyes to the brain, if you smell something, from the nose to the brain. Through that electricity, the brain understands sensations and sends electricity back throughout the body to command movement."

Her words contained increasingly baffling content the more he listened.

Why would a force like lightning flow through the human body, and how could it possibly transmit things like sensations and commands?

But Turan, who had often encountered this kind of knowledge in the library, knew that there were truths that were difficult to understand intuitively, so rather than trying to understand, he first focused on embedding the content in his mind.

This was surely part of the natural laws that House Arabion had passed down for generations.

"And what happens if you accelerate this electricity with magical power?"

"The speed of recognition and reaction would increase."

"That's right. Would you like to try it?"

Though half in doubt, Turan immediately tested the theory Meisa had explained.

First, imagine very fine lightning pathways flowing through his body, and while praying for the lightning passing through those pathways to become faster, infuse it with magical power—

"How-is-it?"

The moment he used the magic, Meisa's voice from across became strangely elongated.

Turan realized that even the speed of his own blinking had slowed down as he slowly took a step.

It felt like being submerged in water...

After enjoying the slowed world for about ten seconds, a sharp headache stabbed at his temples.

When he quickly released the magic, the world instantly returned to normal.

"Did you succeed?"

"Yes, this is..."

Even just trying it briefly, he could feel the tremendous potential this magic possessed.

So much so that he couldn't understand why she would exchange something like this for mere information about decay magic.

"You probably can't adapt right away because of the headache, but once you get used to it, you'll be able to maintain it for quite a long time."

"This... no matter how I think about it, this seems too much compared to what I gave you."

At Turan's words, Meisa nodded with a knowing smile.

"Maybe so. But then Turan can repay me later when he learns an even better magic, right?"

After saying that, Meisa flew straight out of the garden before Turan could even respond.

"Ah..."

Only then did Turan realize that she had used this method to promise their next meeting.

In the distance, the man from House Arabion who had left earlier could be heard pitifully calling out for his young lady.

==

After finishing his magic practice alone, Turan ran into Asiz on his way back to his room.

From the fatigue evident on his face, he could guess that his friend had just been in an uncomfortable or difficult situation, such as a family meeting.

"Turan, I'm not sure if you've heard..."

"About the dark elves?"

"What, where did you hear that? I just heard it from mother."

"Just now during training with Lady Meisa. Was it perhaps because of those two I killed back then?"

"I don't know about that. They don't exactly go around announcing their reasons for massacring."

Even as he said this, Asiz's face was dark, suggesting that he too internally thought that the earlier clash might have been the cause.

Of course, he was merely a victim, but human feelings weren't so clearly divided.

"Is House Berk participating too?"

"Huh? No, we're not going. We're busy making magical devices. Uncle Haram will stay at the main house too."

In other words, it meant there would be no disruption to the creation of the magical device Turan was supposed to receive.

"More importantly, what are you going to do now?"

"About what?"

"What else? The war! Going on a pilgrimage alone in this situation would be suicide. If you run into an army of necromancers while traveling, you'll be ascending to the celestial palace that very day."

Asiz was suggesting that Turan should remain as Berk's guest for a while even after receiving the magical device.

For enough time for this issue to be resolved amicably, so probably a few months to a year.

"No, I can't do that."

"Why?"

"Because I'm someone who has things I need to do too."

And if possible, he didn't want to be more indebted to House Berk.

Since he didn't belong here, it would become a debt he couldn't repay.

Realizing that Turan wouldn't be persuaded, Asiz let out a deep sigh.

"Ugh, if that's how you feel, there's nothing I can do but..."

"It's not like I'm leaving forever. We can meet again after some time passes. I might come visit too."

"I suppose."

Seeming somewhat comforted by those words, Asiz smiled and patted Turan's shoulders.

"Come to think of it, I didn't notice since I see you every day, but your body's gotten really big lately?"

"Does it look that way?"

"Yeah. You've kind of changed to be like uncle."

As he said, over the past three weeks, Turan's once slender body had undergone quite significant changes.

Not quite as thick as Haram's build as Asiz mentioned, but if his previous body was like a deer's, now it was more like a leopard's.

It would have been impossible without the physical training equipment prepared at the Berk mansion and Haram's thorough training.

To begin with, it wasn't easy to give a noble's body enough stimulus to build muscle in an ordinary space.

"True, lately my strength seems about twice as much. My stamina has improved a lot too."

"...That much?"

"Yeah. You should try asking for training too when you get the chance."

"Hmm."

After contemplating for a while, Asiz shook his head saying, "I'll pass."

It wasn't because he was particularly lazy, but because Haram's physical training was actually that harsh.

If anything, Turan was the odd one for accepting his teachings despite not even having a bloodline specialized for close combat.

"Well, anyway, it's good we had them made a bit bigger in case you grew more. They should fit okay."

"What?"

To Turan's question, Asiz grinned and shook his head.

"You don't need to know. Just look forward to it."

Even when asked again about what was going on, Asiz wouldn't answer till the end.

==

A few days after Meisa left for her main house, Turan visited Morgen City, the center of the Dakein Plains, along with members of House Berk.

It was to send off the subjugation force that would defeat the dark elf army.

Twenty-seven nobles from House Arabion's main family alone, four hundred knights...

When nobles and knights from vassal houses who were born with bloodlines suitable for combat joined in, the scale became dizzying.

Moreover, in the past war with Zahar, they say nobles and knights several times this number faced off against each other.

"Glory to Arabion!"

People raised their clenched fists and shouted like that whenever the subjugation force marched.

Before long, Turan could see Meisa's face at the front of the formation.

Unlike when she was recuperating at the Berk mansion recently, her skeletal face now was full of only fatigue, just like when he first saw her.

As if life at the main house over the past few days hadn't been very pleasant.

"Oh, it's Meisa. Meisa! Over here!"

When Asiz excitedly waved his hand, Midela, the head of the house who was watching from beside him, quickly lowered his hand.

While he was getting a long lecture about maintaining dignity as a noble, one of the Arabion nobles flew into the sky and shouted loudly.

["The Head of House enters!"]

Whether it was an application of wind magic, that voice carried clearly to the tens of thousands of people gathered to send off the subjugation force.

As everyone instantly fell silent, Turan saw an old man walking toward the front of the subjugation force.

'That person is...'

The current head of House Arabion, Badal Arabion.

Meisa's father appeared to be well over sixty years old at first glance.

How many years must a powerful noble have lived to age to that extent, and how much magical power would he have accumulated during that time?

"Asiz."

"What?"

"The head of House Arabion's complexion looks rather poor. Is his health not good?"

His face was unusually pale for it to be just because he was elderly, looking like he might collapse at any moment.

Asiz scratched his head at Turan's question.

"Well, I heard he was injured in a duel with the head of Zahar long ago... but given his age, who knows."

"Hmm."

Soon after, the head's aged voice rang out.

["Warriors of Arabion, from this moment you depart to protect humanity. I command you, do not return alive until you have slaughtered all those wicked other-race rabble. For humanity."]

"For humanity!"

Everyone followed the head's words and shouted, waiting for the speech to continue, but contrary to expectations, the head simply stared silently at the subjugation force without continuing his speech.

Surely it wouldn't end with just these few words? After gathering such forces?

Turan wasn't the only one who thought so, as murmurs arose among the gathered crowd.

That lasted only briefly, as everyone fell silent when the head raised his hand.

It was because everyone instinctively sensed it.

That something tremendous was about to happen.

"Ah..."

At some point, the clear sky began to cloud over, casting shadows on people's faces.

Turan realized that the head was controlling the winds in the high sky to gather clouds.

Just how skilled must one be with wind magic, and how much magical power must be invested, for such a thing to be possible?

Shortly after, he lowered his hand while muttering quietly.

["Go forth believing that I stand behind you. This is the power of Arabion."]

A rumbling thunder sound came from far, far away.

Soon after, the clouds in the sky turned pitch black, and then began to pour down lightning one streak at a time.

Once, twice, three times—

The lightning that had been falling like water drops began to pour down like rain.

Would this be what it's like when the celestial gods become angry?

Faced with this sight for the first time in their lives, people shouted randomly as if half-crazed.

"Uwaaaaah!"

"Long live Arabion!"

"For humanity—!"

"Thunder Lord, protect your descendants!"

While some shouted in fear and others in awe, each crying out whatever came to mind, Turan too watched the display of power unfolding before his eyes, unable to even breathe.

Hadn't Keorn said in the past that he saw Arabion's head crush a small hill with just a gesture?

This display of magic was no less impressive than that.

The destructive power loaded in each streak of falling lightning could be felt even from here.

It wasn't hard to guess why he would display such power despite his poor physical condition.

It was likely a show of force directed at potential forces that might target Arabion, mainly those related to Zahar.

Saying that he was still this capable, so don't even think about targeting Arabion just because part of their forces were away.

After a while, when the sky cleared, Asiz muttered with an almost dazed expression.

"Wow, I don't think even the Prea god-folk coming down would be this impressive."

While Turan agreed with those words, another thought arose in his mind.

The words of the library spirit who had told him that he possessed the bloodline closest to that of a god.

'Someday, I too...'

Turan yearned to become a mighty being like that.