Level Up Legacy

Arthur and his group were searching for a way to enter Yalen, while the capital was experiencing great unease. The entire city was filled with patrolling knights, conducting random searches around every corner. No one could refuse to be searched from head to toe if the knights deemed them suspicious, prompting most people to choose staying in their houses.

After the Yalen King announced that the Agard Family would be executed, the entire union attempted to intervene. Many families sought to appease the king's wrath, but anyone daring to side with the Agard Family would be considered traitors too.

This period of unrest and the strict curfew at ten o'clock kept the entire capital on high alert. However, even in this period of vigilance, shadows still roamed the capital while keeping an eye on the situation.

One such shadow made his way through the hills of the runic workshop, using the open plains to travel without notice. After passing the hills using whatever means he needed, either through distractions or runes, he entered the high-class residential section of the city.

The cloaked man reached the wooden doors of one of the houses, knocked in a certain pattern, and watched the door creak open. Then, he slipped in before a man inside closed the doors and locked them.

"You should not be this careless at such times, Oriole," said the man wearing a white shirt, black pants, and a green vest. His hand fumbled to lock the doors and activate the runes again. "Our plans rely on the secrecy of our existence in Yalen."

"Good to see you too, Vihan," said Oriole as he pulled down his cloak, letting his black curly hair dangle before his eyes. As he turned toward the healer, his eyes narrowed at the bruise on his chin. "What happened to you?"

"Just another scuffle," said Vihan as he rubbed his chin. "I should have healed it, but I cannot bother with such wounds."

"You just want Sier to see the results of his own actions," said Oriole with a smirk, and Vihan squinted at him without answering, scared that someone was watching. "Don't worry. I doubt he has time to even monitor us anymore."

"Don't change the subject, brat," said Vihan as he took out a cigarette from his front vest and began smoking. "Where did you go? Sier gave us strict orders not to leave the house, but you keep wandering off."

"Am I still a prisoner or am I a part of Mistletoe?" asked Oriole as he took off his cloak and then threw it over a nearby chair, before reaching into his jacket and taking out a mask. "Does this mask mean nothing to you?"

"You can be both," said Vihan with a smirk as he blew out the acidic smoke, one arm holding the other. "Sier can see through people and he seems to trust you. I don't care enough to decide, just don't do anything foolish, alright?"

"You should stick to drinking your whisky, old man," said Oriole as he threw the mask on a nearby table that lay beside the door and walked into the house. "I like you better when drunk."

"Me too," said Vihan with a sigh before he walked away as well. Oriole walked deeper into the house, took the staircase to the second floor, and walked to the far end. The main suite of the house was reserved for none other than their leader, the almighty seer.

"You have returned, Oriole," said a voice from within the chambers before he even knocked. "How was your little search?"

As he pushed the door open, Oriole prepared his heart for another ordeal. Meeting this man was always difficult on its own, not to mention the recent developments happening in Yalen. Dealing with him has become more challenging than fighting monsters.

"Just as before, unfruitful," said Oriole as soon as he came into the room to find the seer sitting cross-legged on the ground. The place was a mess, a mixture of potions, runes, and maps. Sitting in the center was a man with tanned skin, violet eyes, and combed hair. "Did you find the Agard Family?"

"The bastard hid them well, so much that not even my eyes could find them," said Sier as he turned toward Oriole. "I don't care about their fate, Oriole, you are smart enough to know that."

Oriole did not answer him and instead found a chair for him to sit. Even without talking, Sier could read his mind as easily as reading a book. He would just open his eyes and look at him. It was nauseating.

"That is hurtful, Oriole," said Sier with a smirk. "I don't use this power on my own members because I trust them, but you are different. You have a lot to tell me about the creator and his plans. I still don't understand what you hoped to accomplish through joining me."

Once again, Oriole did not answer him. Instead, he looked around the room to see the countless strengthening potions, perception heightening artifacts, and maps with doodles on them. Sier was reaching the limits of his sanity.

"It hurts that you would think this way about me, but this is human nature," said Sier with a smirk as he rose from the ground. "It has been a few days since Arthur returned to this world, but he is already riding the next wave."

"What do you mean?" asked Oriole with confusion.

Although the sole reason he joined the seer was because of his agreement with Reece to mend their relationship, that has proven more difficult as time went on.

"The seven families… that has now been reduced to six because of him, are plotting to ambush him here in Yalen. The empyreans are moving as well, and this might be the end for the outsider."

"Arthur cannot be defeated," said Oriole with a smile, which seemed to provoke the seer. However, he did not care. "If Arthur can be defeated, then he would not be the man we know. Defeating him is not a possibility, but an impossibility."

"Although you call yourselves friends, you idolize him," said the seer as he squinted at him. "Arthur is not immune. No one in this world is immune, and there is no such thing as fate. He has already been thrown to the other world by the incarnation of death."

"Ellen is no longer that."

"I know, Death is not the first to descend to this world," said Sier as he walked to the desk, flipping open a giant book. "I read through countless records that the Nameless has four horsemen that would descend to the world before it does. We already have famine, and there are three more to go."

"What do you want, Sier?" asked Oriole after a moment of pause. The seer too froze in place after hearing his question. "You have amassed countless artifacts and miscasts, with enough knowledge to seize the crown. What is holding you back?"

"I came to a realization too, Oriole," said the seer as he gazed at the book and closed it, reading its title. "Arthur wishes to defeat the guardians, but who am I without these eyes?"

"You failed to consider that when you helped Arthur in the beginning," said Oriole with a smile. "The outsider was always the enemy of your guardian. If you wanted to rely on the Omniscient Guardian since the beginning, you should have never nurtured its enemy."

"The guardian failed to see itself losing, but I wanted to avoid that mistake," said Sier as he turned toward Oriole while carrying the book on the table, handing it over to him. "I never would have realized that he would become someone else."

"Arthur has always been himself."

"He has always been the person you know, but not the one who joined Mistletoe and became its trusted member," said Sier as he pointed at the title. "This book was found in some ruins in Sourna. Its language is not one to belong to our world, but I used my powers to translate it."

Oriole turned toward the book in his hand, and it was indeed written in a language that he did not understand. The book was made of black leather with golden engravings and its texture seemed to mystify those who saw it.

"The title is…" said Sier as he grinned at him. "Ragnar Netherborne."

Oriole was confused for a split second before he made the connection. After returning to Earth, Arthur announced to the entire world his new, and true, name.

Arthur Netherborne.

If the owner of this book, or the man it was written about, was Arthur's ancestor, it would contain valuable information to him. What bugged Oriole was the reason that Sier would hand him such a book, but he answered his thoughts again.

"I read this book long ago, but I thought it was nothing but a fantasy. It explained the story of the man Ragnar Netherborne who stood against the unjust gods. You should read it, and you will understand who Arthur truly is."