Tbate - Making A Much Lighter Path

Chapter 36 - Interest

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<<STANNARD'S POV>>

"Impossible"

someone near me muttered, describing the clear sight in front of us, Darvus continued on struggling within Arthur's grasp whilst i turned my eyes to scan my teammates. But my gaze stayed on Tessia the longest, her expression showed a sign of confusion, just like everyone else. However, her face quickly changed and expressed an emotion that is unfamiliar to me.

Fear.

I had always admired her strength as a mage, she proved herself to be the strongest in our team a long time ago. I went on missions with her and saw what the elf princess was capable of. I also felt envious of her, being a solid silver mage despite being so young.

I have never seen this expression of Tessia before, it was unexpected.

"You said that the reason for this duel is your pride" Arthur stated nonchalantly. "But you know, pride is nothing but a liability that binds you nobles so that you can't see the whole picture, that's right, your pride is nothing but a burden."

His sentence lingered in my ears but was interrupted by him loosening his grip around my companion's neck. Darvus dropped to the ground with a tud, he was panting heavily.

Everyone was silent once again, until Tessia spoke.

"You don't have to do that, Art" she said, her previous expression of fear gone and replaced by an unreadable emotion.

I didn't know who was right, and i didn't care about a potential debate between these two childhood friends. I just couldn't believe what Tessia said about Arthur is true.

'she herself probably didn't know how much stronger Arthur had gotten' i concluded while looking around my surroundings. Everyone wore a face of disbelief and some murmured amongst themselves about what just happened.

"Almost every act i do is with purpose, and this is just one of those." Arthur rebutted coldly.

"If that is true then what is your purpose-"

"It will be fine, Tessia," a husky voice called out reassuringly, interrupting the princess. "Right, Arthur?"

The familiar tone that came from behind was filled with power, immediately causing Darvus to fall silent. The rest of us all whipped around at the source of the voice.

I let out a frightened gasp before immediately dropping to my knee.

Dresh's voice, laced with surprise and apprehension, rang from within the crowd. "We salute you, Commander Virion."

As he said this, my gaze remained planted to the ground, not daring to look up until otherwise stated.

That was just the kind of figure he was to all of us.

I had read about Virion Eralith in textbooks and document the time of the old war between humans and elves. He was king at the time, and from what I had read, an exceptional one.

It was ultimately through his leadership and cunning that the human army, despite having an advantage in numbers, was forced to retreat in the end. It was no wonder why the Council, which comprised of the current kings and queens of their respective nations, turned to Commander Virion for guidance in this war.

I had the honor of meeting him once when I was first chosen to be placed in the same team as his granddaughter. At that time, I could only imagine her to be a spoiled, ill-mannered girl that wanted to chase after some lunatic fairytale. But I was wrong. She was stronger, more mature, and more dedicated to the war than I would ever be. If this was the girl that was raised by her grandfather, I could only imagine what kind of beast Commander Virion would be.