Level Up Legacy

Rega peeked from behind the branch above them, looking at the new visitors wearily. Arthur could tell that her main interest was the young girl who was almost her age.

"You can come over," Arthur said as he led the six Junior Knights and the two witnesses, Big Bear and Courage, toward the root of the Divine Tree.

The spirit hesitated before nodding, and she flew over toward them as the knights stopped with amazement. Its appearances frightened the knights, as it looked nothing like a human or a demi.

"Meet one of my dearest friends," Arthur introduced before he was stumped for words. It was unknown to the world that his Divine Tree was the same one in Shades City, so he couldn't introduce her as Rega.

As he felt the mana thrive around Rega, Arthur had to come up with a name on the spot. As the spirit hid behind his leg, Arthur introduced her.

"Her name is Mana," he said, a feeling of incoherent familiarity arising in his mind. "She is the protector of this Divine Tree and the one who is making it thrive."

"Mana," muttered Big Bear as he knelt on the ground. "A befitting name," his actions made Arthur speechless and Rega scared.

Seeing that their vice-commander was kneeling for the small spirit, the Junior Knights followed suit. But, of course, Dia and the Knight of Courage knew that such a thing wasn't necessary for Arthur or Rega, and Hana was just confused.

The name, which Arthur came up with on a whim, would live for hundreds of years as the name for this Divine Tree. After the weird reverence was over, the group walked the tree's base, which has become a small pit where the roots created a platform for the ceremony.

"You asked for names," Arthur walked to ascend the roots and turned to meet the crowd. "And I am nothing less than honored to have you as my nights. I've seen all of you in the lake that day."

As he said so, Arthur took out his phone. He didn't care a lot about people seeing it because everything could be explained as an 'ancient artifact' in this world.

"Some of you helped animals, another helped humans," Arthur looked at the giant man and Kaza before he continued. "You two worked together to follow my instructions to the letter," he said to the Mad Prince and the winged-demi. "You dived deep into the ocean, disregarding your safety," he said to the wave rider, who blushed and looked at her toes. "As for you," he stopped at Veran. "You were my eyes."

Arthur didn't say anything more, and the black-haired knight smiled warmly in response. After getting enough sleep, he looked to be quite refreshed and more easy-going.

"Step forward," Arthur gestured for the Mad Prince, and she obliged, ascending the platform. "You are hardworking and bright, aloft and dedicated. That's why your name will be Sun."

"As you command, my lord," Sun bowed down with a gratified grin, and she stepped down. The following person was the giant man who had a bashful smile.

"Your massive build didn't prevent you from being kinder to those smaller than you, so your name will be Shield."

"Thank you, My Lord," Shield bowed and retreated as well. Then came the winged demi, which Arthur called Sky, hoping he would oversee the land. Finally, the wave rider was named Wave because of her abilities.

"For you," Arthur motioned to Kaza to step forward. "Your name will be Lux, as you are the defender who keeps the darkness at bay," Kaza accepted the name humbly and bowed.

Then came Veran's role, who seemed hesitant to step forward. Arthur didn't know about his current thoughts, but he could tell that his past name was one of sentiment to him.

"My name is the only thing given to me by my parents," the knight stepped forward and muttered. "And I always dreaded the day I abandon it."

"Mind your words!" Sun muttered with rage as Veran's words offended her ideals as a knight. However, Arthur raised his hand for her to stop talking.

"Do you wish to retain it?" Arthur asked, and his words made all of the knights furrow their brows. After all, the knighthood for them was a path of no return for them, and a knight keeping his name was a disgrace to their resolve.

"No, My Lord," the unnamed knight kneeled. "I always believed that my origins are the only thing that keeps me attached to this world, but that's a mistake. It is purpose. My purpose is what anchors me to life, and after what happened in the forest, I believe that my purpose is to be your eyes in the darkness, your dagger in the night."

"Well said," Arthur grinned as he raised his hand. The tree behind him resonated with his mana, and Rega's body began glowing. The light manifested into words, and they were the knight's name. "This is my gift to you. As long as you are in Hidden City, you can sleep restfully. And this will also be your name," Arthur pushed the letters into the knight's body.

The letters merged with the knight's body, and the tree blessed him with a soft glowing light. Arthur didn't attempt to infuse his body with the mana of creation, as that would turn his internals to ashes. However, he blessed him with a part of Rega's divine energy, and it should be enough for him to sleep.

"Your name will be Lusica," Arthur said, and it was derived from words in Alvan Language that meant: "My dagger of light," he muttered as Lusica kneeled and the ceremony was concluded.

Sun, Shield, Sky, Wave, Lux, and Lusica stood before him in half a circle. The commander and vice commander stood behind the group with pride as Rega and Hana looked at each other with the expectations of a young kid.

"Welcome to my family," Arthur said at last with a grin, and the curtains of the show drew close. The knights excused themselves and left Arthur, Dia, Hana, and Rega at the tree's base.

"Do you guys want to play?" Dia said to the two children, and they both bobbed their heads. "Well, I want you to get me a pink flower with as many petals as you can. You can look for it together. Mana, don't cheat!"

"Yes!"

"Let's go!" Hana stuttered as the two began looking around the forest. As for Arthur and Dia, they looked at each other before looking to the side, avoiding direct eye contact.

"What are you going to do now?" Dia asked as she made circles with her shoes, which was a long boot of whitish-blue.

"We need to open Hidden City to the public, so the first thing to do is to clear the city and make it safe," Arthur said as he scratched his nose. "After that, we'll start amassing artifacts and selling them."

"You are going to make a lot of people bleed," Dia laughed as she jumped on the platform of roots. "You need to be careful, Arthur. This kingdom is good, but nobles will always be full of greed and thirst for power."

"And aren't you one of them?"

"I'll stab you if you say that again," Dia grinned at him, light lighting up her blue and red irises. Arthur simply sighed and gave a weak smile.

"Larza is in Freda," Arthur said as he walked to stand beside her, and he felt the princess's body stiffen. "I don't know if your father is here as well, but I believe he has some hand in this."

"I... see..." she muttered as her hands turned to fists. "How did you know?"

"I came across it by chance," Arthur's hand touched hers, and she released her fist and allowed him to hold it. "The Marchioness of Herbs seem to be involved in a scheme against the throne."

"Why should we care?" the princess said with a weak voice as she stepped to lean closer to him.

"I need Solomon to be alive to go back," Arthur said, and the princess was quiet. It was the first time he mentioned his desire to go back after their kiss in the river. "At least, we need him to stay alive for your plans."

"My plans," muttered the princess before sighing. "You are right. I don't think any other ruler would like you and me. However, that's not the only reason, right?"

"I don't want to place you against your father," Arthur said with a nod. "But I can't forgive what they did to me. This is a chance for me to take revenge, but I don't know how it would make you feel."

"I feel nothing toward him, and he is the same. The Duke of Fire was always after my mother's powers, and I'm the same for him. He was the reason that we got banished to the north, where she died," the princess said and paused.