TBATE - Brother's Once More

Meeting The Eralith Family

Arthur Leywin

Pristine.

That was the word that popped into my head as I gawked at the elven city. It appeared we had directly teleported right past the gates. What I saw before me were buildings that seemed to be built out of a jade-like material. These jade buildings were so flawless and smooth that each seemed to be carved from a single, huge stone.

Making this place look even more awe-inspiring were the huge trees that intertwined with the buildings, filling this whole city with a more distinctive and organic ambience. Looking up, I see homes built on unnaturally thick branches extending out of the massive trunks even larger than the buildings with smoke drifting out of their chimneys.

The entire ground inside this city was covered in a lush field of soft moss, with only the narrow sidewalks and the main road paved with smooth stone. The dense array of branches that fanned out from the trees covered most of the city in a canopy of shade, but there was a warm, luminescent glow throughout the city thanks to numerous floating orbs of light situated in every corner and street.

While I stood, slack-jawed, still processing the world around me, a shadow whizzed in front of me suddenly, jolting me awake. Fayden had brought me out of my daze just before Tess whirled around to face us.

Jayden Leywin

Tessia was still holding onto our hands when a group of what seemed to be guards arrived our of nowhere. These Elven warriors emanated a dignified air, all dressed in coordinated black suits with green trimmings and a golden shoulder guard on their left shoulder. These five guards all carried a rapier strapped to their waist. I mentally noted that these guards had no sensible aura radiating out of them. I knew for a fact Arthur felt the same thing about them.

Augmenters and conjurers both naturally emit a faint aura from their bodies. The fact that we weren't able to sense any mana leaking meant one of two things: Their mana cores were at a high enough level where we weren't able to sense it, or they had enough control over their mana to not let any leak out. Either way, it meant that these guys were as impressive as their attire made them look.

The guards ignored my presence as they suddenly kneeled in front of Tess In unison. "We welcome back the royal princess."

"..." My gaze flicked back and forth between the guards and Tess. Then to Arthur, whose idiot face looked about as confused as mine. Did this guy not realize this whole time that he was escorting a princess?

Arthur Leywin

I was reminded of the time when I jokingly called Tessia 'Your Highness'.

Tessia was actually the princess of this whole kingdom?

When I tried to let go of Tessia's hand she suddenly squeezed her hand tighter. In a voice so cold and apathetic that I mistook her voice for someone else's, she said, "You may rise."

They stood up with their right fist still crossing their chest when the knight in front speaks. "Princess, we arrived as soon as we saw that the royal teleportation gate had been used. The King and Queen are..."

Before he could finish speaking, I heard a cry not too far away.

"My baby! Tessia, you're okay! Oh my baby!"

Jayden Leywin

"My baby! Tessia, you're okay! Oh, my baby!"

Running towards us was a middle aged man and woman. From the crown on the man's head and the tiara encircling the woman's forehead, I assumed that they were the King and Queen.