Ancient War - TBATE

Little Girl No Longer

Arthur Leywin Pov

The arrow, coated in every single element, darted through the air towards its target, Sylvie, who faced it not with fear, but with determination. Letting go of her sword, I felt the ambient mana fluctuate as she spun around.

In an instant, a sword of pure mana formed in her hand while she spun. Swinging her sword in an arc, Sylvie's sword collided with the arrow. The arrow's trajectory wasn't altered, and it did not shatter.

Pushing Sylvie's blade back, the arrow held strong, until eventually, a crack appeared in the arrow. Letting out a grunt, Sylvie pushed out more mana from her core.

With a guttural yell, Sylvie shattered the arrow. Blue shards of ice and golden shards of solidified mana fell from the air, giving the entire place a serene look. Looking at Sylvie, I noticed her looking back at me with teary eyes.

Looking at her now, I could tell how much she grew. Not only in strength, but in general. The once little girl that would always stick by my side already grew so much. It's only been a few days for us inside that forest zone, but I already knew time here moved way faster.

She was no longer a little girl.

Using a wind spell, I lifted Ellie and jumped down. Landing softly on the ground with another wind spell, I dispelled the one around Ellie, letting her move freely. As I landed on the ground, I was quickly tackled to the ground.

"Arthur!" Sylvie exclaimed, tackling me to the ground.

"I missed you too." I patted her head, taken aback by her sudden action. "But aren't you a little too big to do that?"

Ellie let out a teasing gasp as she stood next to Sylvie. "Are you calling her fat, brother?"

Feeling Sylvie's arm tigthen around me, I said the only appropriate thing for this situation. "Very."

Sylvie's face reddened as she squeezed the air out of my lungs. "You!"

"Gah. I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" I managed to wheeze out.

"Good." Ellie and Sylvie said in unison as I was released from my torture.

I let out a sigh of relief before looking at Sylvie. "Can you get off me now?"

"Hehe, sorry." Sylvie giggled as she stood up with a slight blush.

"As childish as always." I groaned as I sat up.

"Maybe it's because you always treat us both as children." Ellie shrugged innocent before turning to Sylvie.

Before Ellie could say anything, Sylvie hugged her. "It's so good to see you again, Ellie!"

"It's good to see you as well!" Ellie exclaimed, hugging her back.

"Looks like you've grown, Sylv." I ruffled her hair.

"Hey!" She shouted in protest, swatting my hand away.

"Quite the reunion, I must say." A familiar voice stated.

Looking up, I saw Aurora slowly descending. While he slowly descended, I noticed something for the first time. Aurora's runes were fully visible. His runes weren't anything like ones I had in realmheart. They seemed more- I wasn't sure how to describe it- divine.

Everything had aether running through it or covering it, but his runes were completely made of aether. They were an existence beyond everything in this world. Even the runes that Myre possessed paled in comparison to this.

It was power. Not the type of power asuras were born with, but rather true power.

The ambient aether and mana trembled at his presence, shaking as if they were fighting the urge to bow to him. Even I had to fight the urge to kneel. It felt as if everything was beneath him.

Aurora looked at me with his scarlet red eyes, sending a shiver down my spine. Averting my gaze, I glanced over at Sylvie. Seeing her with an expression similar to my own took me aback.

Unlike me, however, Sylvie was gritting her teeth and clenching her fists. As an asura, she had instincts that surpassed any other. Her actions made it obvious she was fighting her instincts to run away.

Looking at Ellie, she was thankfully unaffectced. Gently landing on the ground, Aurora closed his eyes and took a deep breath. As he opened his eyes, I felt the pressure around my body disappear.

"What was... that?" I panted for air, feeling as if the pressure forced the air out of my lungs.

Aurora regarded me for a moment before replying. "I apologize for that, but it's the result of my godrunes reacting to the ambient aether here."

Nodding in understanding, I looked over at Ellie. "Why wasn't she affected?"

"You can thank her guardian bear for that." Aurora answered. "It seems it followed after the two of you by going into her core."

Sylvie and I looked at Ellie with wide eyes while Ellie did the same but at herself. Closing her eyes for a few moments, Ellie focused on her core. As she opened her eyes, a loud crack made us look next to her, where a giant brown bear appeared.

"Looks like he's better at stealth than any of you." Aurora chuckled, walking over to Boo and holding his paw while staring intently at is. "Intriguing..."

"Bad Boo!" Ellie exclaimed, wagging her finger at the giant bear, who merely grunted and curled up into a ball with his eyes closed.

"That aside, why did you come here?" Sylvie quizzed.

"Considering how you have been draining the ambient aether-" Aurora glared at Sylvie, who just scratched her head. "- I thought it would be best if I came over here to sustain the zone's ambient aether."

"You can do that?" I raised a brow.

"If I didn't do that, why do you think those runes would exist?" Aurora snorted.

Hearing his response, I couldn't help but sigh. "Hah, you really thought of everything, haven't you?"

"Everything aside from how to feed you all." He shook his head helplessly, gaining a chuckle from Sylvie and Ellie.

"Speaking of food." Sylvie started with a proud smile. "I've been practicing my cooking skills."