Ancient Pasts - Tbate

Widow's Crypt

Cathan Leywin Pov

I was sitting on my bed as Ellie walked in. She looked at Arthur with a disappointed look for not being awake by now. She looked at me with approval as I nodded.

"ARTHUR! WAKE UP!!" Ellie yelled out into Arthur's ear.

"What? What's going on?" Arthur whipped his head back and forth to see if there was an emergency.

"Sheesh! You suck at waking up, Brother." Ellie commented.

"I agree. Tess will have trouble waking you up, king of Elenoir." I teased as Ellie giggled.

"Haha, your hair looks crazy." Arthur shot her a grin as he ignored my comment.

"Eek! Stop it! Your hair looks weird too!" Ellie ran out of our room, reminding us to wash up.

"Yes, sir!" Arthur and I gave her an exaggerated salute, making her giggle, before going downstairs.

Sylvie woke up on her own from my sister's shouting, but her eyes kept blinking slowly as she unstably toddled behind Arthur. Azrael was already awake and grooming himself by the window.

After washing up, I made sure I had a few necessities on me. That included my seal bracelet, my dimension ring with Rupa stored inside, and the feather Miras left me that I used to cover the bond mark on my forearm.

"You're not dropping the king of Elenoir stuff any time soon, are you?" Arthur quizzed as he put on his shirt.

"Nope," I replied with a grin before running away.

When I reached the kitchen, I spotted my parents and little sister sitting around the table, drowsiness still evident on their faces from being up early at dawn.

"Hope you don't mind. The chef is cooking breakfast for you. We're probably going to go back to sleep after we see you and Arthur off. " My mother gave me a tired smile.

I pulled up a chair and took a seat next to Ellie. "Not at all. Arthur is still getting ready, but you didn't have to wake up to see us off."

Arthur walked in as I said this and took a seat next to me. Sylvie's nose immediately perked up, and she jumped to leach meat cubes from Arthur's bowl.

"Be vigilant, no matter how easy you think the dungeon may be. It's called a dungeon because you never know of the dangers inside," my father warned me, his bedhead ablaze.

I looked at my mother, the strain on her face was hard not to notice as she struggled for the right words. "...Please be careful. I know how strong you two are, but I can't stand it every time I see you hurt. It's just that." Her voice faded at the end.

"It-It's nothing. Just be safe, and Arthur, keep your eyes on that girl, Tessia, as well. You have to protect her if things get tough, okay?" Giving us a gentle smile that didn't seem to reach her eyes.

"Don't worry. I'm not going to let Arthur or his wife die." I commented with a smirk.

That comment made everyone but the blushing Arthur snicker. "Can you stop?!" Arthur shouted.

"Are you going to be coming home right after your dungeon excursion?" Father asked.

"No, not right after. We'll be back for a whole week next week. There's some special festival going on in the city, right?" I spoke up.

All professors announced in advance that once every ten years, there was a phenomenon that occurred.

Supposedly, during that entire week, the mana density in this continent reached its peak, giving mages the resources to make breakthroughs and even allowing non-mages to experience what it's like to feel mana.